Posts by Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Staff Editor and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book "Street Art Stories Roma" and most recently contributed to "Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini." You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
Art
May 22, 2017

10 Stencil Artists Changing the Way We Look at the City

The street art world is full of artists who use different techniques, from freehand spray paint to elaborate installation art. But perhaps no other technique is so tied to its practitioners like the stencil. Stencils are nothing new—they originated over 35,000 years ago when pre-historic man held their hand to the wall and blew pigment on it.

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Science
May 19, 2017

45 Years Ago NASA Launched an Infographic for Aliens to Find in Outer Space

Did you know that in the 1970s NASA attached a sort of extraterrestrial “greeting card” to its space crafts? Known as the Pioneer plaque, it was bolted to the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 in 1972 and 1973, just in case alien life was encountered. Using clear graphic design to spell out the spacecraft's origins, NASA was convinced to do the project by the legendary Carl Sagan.

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News
May 17, 2017

If You Ever Wanted to Own a Castle, Italy is Now Giving Them Away for Free

With more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country, Italy is drowning in culture. Its deep historical roots mean that the Mediterranean gem is overflowing with historic churches, monasteries, and castles. All of this cultural patrimony is a great boon to the Italian economy—tourism makes up 11% of Italy's GDP—but those dollars are mostly concentrated in cities like Rome, Florence, and Venice.

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Art
May 16, 2017

Syrian Refugee Builds Mini ‘Blue Mosque’ with 15,000 Popsicle Sticks to Celebrate His New Home

Artist Husam Muhajer recently completed a scale model of Istanbul’s iconic Blue Mosque. In an interesting twist, the finished model is composed of 15,000 wood popsicle sticks. Muhajer is a Syrian refugee who was forced to leave his country 2.5 years ago and is currently living in Istanbul. When Muhajer was suddenly evacuated from Syria, his models were destroyed and he was left without any documentation of his past work. So what inspired him to begin again?

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.