Open Call

Meet the Top Creators

Out of more than 1,600 submissions from across the country, these creators were selected to reinterpret works from the National Gallery’s collection through original short-form videos.

Launching throughout 2026, their recreations will premiere across the National Gallery’s social channels and appear in a special in-museum installation later this year.

About Open Call

Open Call is the National Gallery of Art’s first nationwide creator campaign, inviting artists of all backgrounds and experience levels to reinterpret works from the collection through original short-form video.

Following more than 1,600 submissions from creators across the country, the National Gallery selected the top creators whose projects will bring fresh perspectives to the collection.

The project celebrates creative voices from across the United States while expanding access to the museum’s collection in new and unexpected ways.

Each selected creator receives:

$3,000 upon completion of their final video
Features across the National Gallery’s social channels
Inclusion in a special installation inside the museum opening later this year

Meet the Creators

Kate Sinchinova's embroidered greenery — **Name:** Kate Sinchinova
**Handle:** @katrin.vates
**Inspired by:** *Picking Flowers* by Auguste Renoir
**About me:** I went to Krasnoyarsk Art College in Russia, then I worked as a graphic and prepress designer for about 19 years. I started to embroider in 2019 being self-taught in embroidery. My inspiration is greenery along the roads, city parks, squares and Asian Art, especially Japanese prints. Thanks to them, I came up with several techniques in embroidery.

Photograph of Vita Kari in their textile studio — **Name:** Vita Kari
**Handle:** @vitakari
**Inspired by:** *Still Life with Sleeping Woman* by Henri Matisse
**About me:** I'm a Los Angeles–based queer visual artist exploring virality, digital identity, and diaspora through performance, video, and textile work.

J Hann wearing a puppet mask — **Name:** J Hann
**Handle:** @jhannham
**Inspired by:** *Mound of Butter* by Antoine Vollon
**About me:** I'm a puppeteer and fiber artist based in New York City. I use traditional craft work including felting, crochet and embroidery to create fantastical and weird worlds.

Nneka Jones's embroidered portrait of a woman — **Name:** Nneka Jones
**Handle:** @artyouhungry
**Inspired by:** *Young Woman with Peonies* by Frédéric Bazille
**About me:** I'm a multidisciplinary artist reimagining storytelling through hand embroidery, portraiture and mixed media art with contemporary interpretations of historical and cultural narratives.

Photograph of Lauren Young and dog — **Name:** Lauren Young
**Handle:** @abstruselike
**Inspired by:** *The Thinker (Le Penseur)* by Auguste Rodin
**About me:** I'm a self-taught fabrication artist transforming mirrored glass into large-scale sculpture and installation work that challenges perceptions of craft, labor, value, and fine art.

Portrait of Liza Hamilton — **Name:** Liza Hamilton
**Handle:** @wooliza
**Inspired by:** *Green Wheat Fields, Auvers* by Vincent van Gogh
**About me:** I'm a Southern Oregon fiber artist who works exlusively with wool, inviting nature indoors for our mental health and wellness.

Heather Rios blows a bubblegum bubble — **Name:** Heather Rios
**Handle:** @Heather_Rios_Arte
**Inspired by:** *Plate 51: Grasshoppers and a Caterpillar with a Four O'Clock Flower* by Joris Hoefnagel
**About me:** I grew up in a pink farm house in rural West Virginia where we raised chickens and plants without electricity or running water.

Portrait of Megan O'Cain in her studio — **Name:** Megan O'Cain
**Handle:** @_meganocain
**Inspired by:** *Mound of Butter* by Antoine Vollon
**About me:** I'm a Brooklyn-based fashion designer who creates immersive worlds via my garments through utilizing nostalgia, narrative storytelling and a signature sense of playfulness.

Diagram of Xiaolan He's Death and the Miser costume remix — **Name:** Xiaolan He
**Handle:** @gabbyhe_
**Inspired by:** *Death and the Miser* by Hieronymus Bosch
**About me:** I tell stories through fashion. My content brings a modern, whimsical twist to historical narratives, making them feel accessible and engaging.

Photo of Heather Werner working on a headdress modeled after Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit — **Name:** Heather Werner
**Handle:** @heath.er.wer.ner
**Inspired by:** *Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit* by Anne Vallayer-Coster
**About me:** I have been a hair and makeup artist for twenty years, specializing in avant-garde runway and editorial work. I see beauty in the bold.

Photo of Jessie Lamsworth wearing cobalt blue feathers — **Name:** Jessie Lamworth
**Handle:** @jamworth
**Inspired by:** *Hahn / Cock* by Katharina Fritsch
**About me:** I'm a Maryland-born artist and maker with an imagination for delightfully out-of-the-box creations, including punny wearable art, food sculpture, prop fabrication and more.

Photo of Jo Steel mid-transformation into Portrait of Rembrandt — **Name:** Jo Steel
**Handle:** @ArtistJodySteel
**Inspired by:** *Portrait of Rembrandt* by Rembrandt Workshop
**About me:** I'm an artist and cosplayer with 7M+ followers, known for transforming into hundreds of iconic characters and real people.

Photo of Julyssa Rose — **Name:** Julyssa Rose
**Handle:** @julyssarose
**Inspired by:** *Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast* by Ludolf Backhuysen
**About me:** I am a jewelry designer, writer and entrepreneur with a passion for discovering poetry in the everyday.

Alexandra Sorenson's recreation of the hat and shirt from Andries Stilte as a Standard Bearer — **Name:** Alexandra Louise Sorenson
**Handle:** @_alexandra.louise_
**Inspired by:** *Andries Stilte as a Standard Bearer* by Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck
**About me:** I'm a costume designer and seamstress, creating handmade fantasy dresses. I create sewing videos for her online audience of over 5 million followers.

Photo of Fariha Nizam — **Name:** Fariha Ali
**Handle:** @nailjob
**Inspired by:** *Picking Flowers* by Auguste Renoir
**About me:** I'm an LA-based nail artist and the content creator behind @nailjob, known for detailed, visually driven nail art and distinctive digital storytelling.

Diagram of Christina Ernst's Alexander Calder-inspired shoulderpiece — **Name:** Christina Ernst
**Handle:** @shebuildsrobots
**Inspired by:** *Untitled* by Alexander Calder
**About me:** I'm a software engineer and the fashioneering content creator behind She Builds Robots. I'm a Maker-in-Residence alumna of the Chicago Public Library.

Carina Laventure's photo interpretation of Mary Cassatt's Woman with a Sunflower — **Name:** Carina Laventure
**Handle:** @carina.psd
**Inspired by:** *Woman with a Sunflower* by Mary Cassatt
**About me:** I'm a photographer currently attending Howard University whose work centers Blackness and creates space for the unseen and unspoken.

A portrait of Gretchen Lohse and Thomas Hughes holding stacks of mini pianos with their cats at their feet — **Name:** Gretchen Lohse and Thomas Hughes
**Handle:** @carolclevelandsings
**Inspired by:** *Roses* by Vincent van Gogh
**About me:** We create visual compositions that deconstruct melody and reassemble it through rhythm, textures and images. The musical concept of Klangfarbenmelodie (“sound-color melody") reflects our approach.

Photo of Ruthie Darling hooked up to an IV filled with coffee — **Name:** Ruthie Darling
**Handle:** @ruthiedarling
**Inspired by:** *Mound of Butter* by Antoine Vollon
**About me:** I'm a British-born photographer. I currently serve as a staff photographer at the New York Times.

Moody portrait of Hector Harold — **Name:** Hector Harold
**Handle:** @yectorharold
**Inspired by:** *Portrait of a Man (Possibly Peter Vogelsang Sr.)* by American 19th Century
**About me:** I'm an LA-based filmmaker and video artist. I'm currently developing what may be the first narrative film spoken entirely in Louisiana Creole.

Qurissy Lopez's floral photo collage — **Name:** Qurissy
**Handle:** @qurissy
**Inspired by:** *Pansies in Washington* by Alma Thomas
**About me:** As a photographer, artist and digital storyteller, I center Black identity, archive and lineage rooted in memory and care, building community across image-making, podcasting and online spaces.

Portrait of Mychael Shane — **Name:** Mychael Shane
**Handle:** @MychaelShaneArt
**Inspired by:** *Little Dancer aged 14* by Edgar Degas
**About me:** I'm a Detroit-based scratchboard artist who creates emotionally charged portraits using light, shadow and texture to reveal dignity and untold stories.

Catie Free snipping a bald cap — **Name:** Catie Free
**Handle:** @probably_prisma
**Inspired by:** *Still Life with Fruit and Nuts* by Robert Seldon Duncanson
**About me:** My process is crafty, experimental and accessible. It shows that art can be made at home by anyone.

Marissa Diaz wearing a bejeweled pink cardigan — **Name:** Marissa Díaz
**Handle:** @marissaconqueso
**Inspired by:** *Ginevra de' Benci* by Leonardo da Vinci
**About me:** I'm a Tejana writer, filmmaker and artist. My work explores the curated self and the moralization of sexuality and the body.

Drawn self portrait of Taylor Mazer — **Name:** Taylor Mazer
**Handle:** @tlmazer
**Inspired by:** *Interior of the Pantheon, Rome* by Giovanni Paolo Panini
**About me:** I'm an award winning full time artist/illustrator based in Grand Rapids, MI

Portrait of Chloé-Eloïse Mallet — **Name:** Chloé-Eloïse Mallet
**Handle:** @chlo_mallet
**Inspired by:** *Study of Lilia* by Carolus-Duran
**About me:** I'm an Ivorian-American Filmmaker raised in Johannesburg who just graduated from USC’s Film and TV Production program. I aim to create films to amplify marginalized voices and celebrate diverse communities.

**Name:** Kyle and Michaela Leeser
**Handle:** @t.v.dinner
**Inspired by:** *Death and the Miser* by Hieronymus Bosch
**About us:** We are a husband-and-wife creative duo whose decade-long collaboration brings imaginative stories to life through hand-crafted mixed media and video art.

Portrait of Nate Baranowski — **Name:** Nate Baranowski
**Handle:** @nate.baranowski
**Inspired by:** *Chalice of the Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis* by French 12th Century, Alexandrian 2nd Century B.C., Alexandrian 1st Century B.C.
**About me:** I'm a chalk artist, muralist and street painter based in South Bend, IN. I specialize in creating immersive 3D illusion art.

Portrait of Esy Casey — **Name:** Esy Casey
**Handle:** @esyesyesyesy
**Inspired by:** *Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary* by Jan van Kessel the Elder
**About me:** My film and video art has screened internationally and is available on the Criterion Channel, PBS and Kanopy.

A paper sculpture of a sunflower with Claude Monet's Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son at its center — **Name:** Alley McGlynn
**Handle:** @alleymcglynn
**Inspired by:** *Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son* by Claude Monet
**About me:** I'm a paper artist creating whimsical, handcrafted scenes inspired by storytelling, nostalgia and nature - bringing tiny worlds to life through intricate dimensional art.

Portrait of Ryan Freeman holding a three-tiered purple cake — **Name:** Ryan Freeman
**Handle:** @Ryfree23
**Inspired by:** *Hahn / Cock* by Katharina Fritsch
**About me:** Working in cake, I produce vibrant, edible sculptures that explore the ephemeral beauty behind how we practice the art of celebration.

Portrait of Kevin Hopkins — **Name:** Kevin Hopkins
**Handle:** @kevinhopkinsart
**Inspired by:** *Sir Charles, Alias Willie Harris* by Barkley L. Hendricks
**About me:** I'm an artist whose practice explores themes of belonging, survival and imagination, contextualized within the Black American experience.

A sculpture inspired by Giovanni Paolo Panini's Interior of the Pantheon, Rome — **Name:** Michelle Wen
**Handle:** @michelle_wen_artist
**Inspired by:** *Interior of the Pantheon, Rome* by Giovanni Paolo Panini
**About me:** I'm a ceramic artist from Brooklyn, New York. My practice consists of carving, wheel throwing and sculpting, often referencing art history and geology.

Portrait of Karen Thi — **Name:** Karen Thi
**Handle:** @karenthibakes
**Inspired by:** *Farmhouse in Provence* by Vincent van Gogh
**About me:** I'm the cookie artist behind @karenthibakes. I've been in the space for over 10 years and am a two-time Food Network show winner.

A figurine head inspired by Barkley L. Hendricks' George Jules Taylor — **Name:** Jessica Lowe
**Handle:** @artofjessicalowe
**Inspired by:** *George Jules Taylor* by Barkley L. Hendricks
**About me:** I'm a Southern Missouri artist and a multi-disciplinary creator; sharing ceramics, costume design and storytelling with a digital community of over 650k followers.

A portrait of Gracelee Lawrence — **Name:** Gracelee Lawrence
**Handle:** @gleeleelawlee
**Inspired by:** *Plate 51: Grasshoppers and a Caterpillar with a Four O'Clock Flower* by Joris Hoefnagel
**About me:** I make work testing the intersections of food, the body and technology, occupying the transfigurative space between physical and digital realities.

Portrait of Shawn Smith — **Name:** Shawn Smith
**Handle:** @shawnsmithsculpture
**Inspired by:** *Still Life with Apples and Peaches* by Paul Cézanne
**About me:** I'm a sculptor working in wood, metal and 3D prints. I create public artworks and exhibits my work in museums and galleries worldwide.

A hand holding up a peach from a bushel of peaches — **Name:** Herb Williams
**Handle:** @Herbwilliamsart
**Inspired by:** *Still Life with Apples and Peaches* by Paul Cézanne
**About me:** I'm an artist still playing with crayons.

A portrait of Deanna Shaver — **Name:** Deanna Shaver
**Handle:** @sweetreplica
**Inspired by:** *Still Life with Fruit and Nuts* by Robert Seldon Duncanson
**About me:** I'm an artist specializing in realistic food sculpture and custom props.

**Name:** Rebecca Rose
**Handle:** @rebeccarosenft
**Inspired by:** *Watson and the Shark* by John Singleton Copley
**About me:** I'm a Florida-based artist creating spatially collaged digital animations rooted in dynamic storytelling. My award-winning works blend monochromatic characters with vivid technicolor environments in immersive tales.

Olivia Heung's remix of George Stubbs' White Poodle in a Punt — **Name:** Olivia Heung
**Handle:** @oliviaheung
**Inspired by:** *White Poodle in a Punt* by George Stubbs
**About me:** I'm a digital artist from Honolulu. My work blends images, code and physical media to reconstruct our surroundings and draw new worlds.

Topher Sipes remix of da Vinci's Grotesque Head of an Old Woman — **Name:** Topher Sipes
**Handle:** @topher_sipes
**Inspired by:** *Grotesque Head of an Old Woman* by Leonardo da Vinci
**About me:** I'm a multimedia artist and public art designer creating immersive works through drawing, virtual reality, projection and digital fabrication.

Photograph of Ben Treat — **Name:** Ben Treat
**Handle:** @franticframes
**Inspired by:** *The Thinker (Le Penseur)* by Auguste Rodin
**About me:** I'm a stop-motion animator behind Frantic Frames, creating intricate animations while pushing the boundaries of practical animation.

Apay’uq Moore's remix of Rodin's The Thinker — **Name:** Apay’uq Moore
**Handle:** @inspiredbybristolbay
**Inspired by:** *The Thinker (Le Penseur)* by Auguste Rodin
**About me:** I'm a Yup’ik multidisciplinary artist from Bristol Bay, Alaska. My work focuses on the Yup’ik Way of Life.

What's Next

New recreations will premiere throughout the year across the National Gallery’s social channels and inside the museum through a special installation opening later this summer.

Follow along as creators from across the country reinterpret the collection in unexpected ways.

Questions?

You can reach the team at [email protected].

Open Call

Meet the Top Creators

About Open Call

Meet the Creators

What's Next

Questions?

West Building

East Building

Sculpture Garden

Open Call

Meet the Top Creators

About Open Call

Meet the Creators

What's Next

Questions?

West Building

East Building

Sculpture Garden

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