About Sarah Urist Green

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Sarah Urist Green is a curator and art educator seeking to demystify the worlds of art, artists, and museums for wide audiences. Green is the creator of The Art Assignment, an educational web series developed in partnership with PBS and Complexly. Since launching in 2013, The Art Assignment has grown to become one of the most widely viewed and respected art education projects online, with over 500,000 subscribers and nearly 30 million total views.

With the 2020 release of her book You Are an Artist, Green combines art history with art prompts offered by some of the most innovative artists working today. The book has helped thousands of "aspiring artists and makers to open their imaginations and begin to create," as NPR put it.

Green is the former curator of contemporary art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where she organized the exhibitions Graphite and Andy Warhol Enterprises, among others, and was instrumental in developing The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres. She holds a master of arts in modern art history from Columbia University and a bachelor of arts from Northwestern University. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two children.

 

About The Art Assignment

 

The Art Assignment is an educational video series that introduces you to innovative artists, presents you with assignments, and explores art history through the lens of the present. The series premiered in 2014 as a co-production of PBS Digital Studios and Complexly, with episodes featuring emerging and established artists who share assignments relates to their approaches to art. The episodes serve as open calls for makers around the world, and thousands of artworks have been created and shared in response. 

The series has since expanded and evolved, offering a wide range of content in an ongoing effort to demystify art and art history for broad audiences. Our Case For series makes arguments for the continued relevance of movements, artists, and types of art. Through our Art Cooking series, we explore the life, work, and eating habits of artists you know and (maybe) love. With Art Trip, we bring along for the ride as we investigate the art offerings of locations as disparate as Venice, Italy, and Marfa, Texas. Other episodes delve into questions and criticisms that arise about art, and explore alternative art histories. 

Designed to be used in the classroom or enjoyed independently, The Art Assignment works to demonstrate the diversity, accessibility, and relevance of art and artists. Celebrating risk-taking in the creative process, The Art Assignment exposes you to alternative approaches to art-making, now and throughout art history.

Production Team

Mark Olsen

Mark is Director, Editor, and Master Drone Operator™ of The Art Assignment. He is also an Art Director and Motion Designer on a number of Complexly projects. When he’s not working, he’s likely drinking coffee or playing with his dog, Alex. Not both at the same time though, that’d be dangerous.

Brandon Brungard

Brandon Brungard is an editor and sound designer for The Art Assignment. Brandon also produces, shoots, and edits for Crash Course and The Brain Scoop channels on YouTube. Brandon studied engineering in college and likes to spend his time stressing out about the demise of video games due to touch screens. His other hobbies include hiking, not sleeping, and naming his pets after various types of pasta.

Many talented individuals have contributed to The Art Assignment since its premiere in 2014, including Sheridan Gibson, Zulaiha Razak, Seth Radley, Niki Hua, Stan Muller, Meredith Danko, and many other members of the Complexly team. Other creative contributors include Virginia Lefler (research assistance and writing), Molly Schwartz and Dana Schechter (animation), Jason Weidner (music), and Matt Kelm (logo design). Guest writers have included John Green and Joanna Fiduccia.

 
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The Art Assignment is a production of Complexly.

Complexly is the production company for Crash Course, SciShow, and a dozen other education video channels and podcasts. Founded in 2012 by Hank and John Green, Complexly has a worldwide audience of 20 million subscribers and 2.4 billion views on YouTube, making it one of the largest global online educational companies. Complexly makes content that reflects their enthusiasm for understanding and imagining the world complexly. Learn more at complexly.com.

From 2014 to August 2020, The Art Assignment was produced in partnership with PBS Digital Studios, a network of series that bring you fresh and insightful content through the familiar lens of PBS. Since 2012, PBS Digital Studios has been an innovator in digital-first educational programming.  Learn more at pbs.org/digital-studios/.