I’m Robin, Editor of Misstropolis.
I hope this site brings you some joy and some knowledge (or at least a nice distraction) during this surreal, enlightening and historic time.
I like to write about art, style and purpose. If you have ideas for stories or would like to contribute, I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading!
Misstropolis
Spirit & Style, Inside & Out
All in LIFE
Can those of us who feel shock at Donald Trump’s second election victory learn from our reaction? Can we embrace our shock as a teacher capable of illuminating the blind spots we stubbornly cling to and collectively nurture in our echo chambers and tribal communities?
Documentary filmmaker Stephanie Johnes has received accolades, awards and standing ovations wherever she screens her latest film Maya and the Wave, which took over ten years to complete. This month, it plays at the Angelica Film Center's Village East location and you won't want to miss your chance to catch the wave.
Ubiquitous and seemingly benign, the common grid stealthly forms the basis for much of the way Western society organizes information, designs space and represents reality. Throughout history artists have used the grid as a guide in their representational work and as a form through which to comment on the aesthetic, ideological and personal issues of their times. Female artists especially have creatively co-opted the grid with great success. Here, we explore some of the artists who painted beyond words, tested infinity and exploded the grid and everything it represents.
Modernity's most intrepid symbol continues to inspire, provoke and spur artists working today.
The public art nonprofit Now + There announces their bold plans to rebrand and reframe the organization as the Boston Public Art Triennial. As the city of Boston celebrates a momentous opportunity to connect communities and spark conversations about historical misrepresentations and urgent social issues, the team behind the inaugural Triennial discusses their collaborative vision and how they will bring it to life.
It seems spring is here at last. Let the season opener (Red Sox and otherwise) inspire you to get out and explore something new. Here are a few exhibition and reading selections to help you embrace the best of Boston and beyond.
Following a three month leave from Misstropolis to work on my book, I’m happy to be back. But in the time I’ve been away, the news has descended even deeper into depths of despair. Again and again, art gives me the courage to carry hope into the next day. Two things inspired this piece: Hank Willis Thomas’ instantly iconic Boston monument to Dr. Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King “The Embrace,” and the CDC report on mental health in the US, which found that suicide rates rose 5% for people between 25-44. My message? Embrace hope despite everything.
It’s that time of year again. Welcome to the holidays! This year, do this first: give all your joy away, and we promise, you’ll get it back with interest. Someone is still wearing the smile you gave them last year. You’re entitled to the big, exploding-heart warmth that spreads through you when you give a special, selfless, carefully considered gift. Allow yourself that feeling. Make every gift count.
This week I had a birthday. It happens to the best of us. 53 is so inconsequential, I’m embarrassed to even mention it. But despite not wanting to give it too much thought, I do still have a couple birthday wishes. Nothing crazy, just a few things that popped into my head when I woke up.
These are my birthday wishes: anti-gravity seat cushions, planet saving inventions from Elon Musk, an end to school shootings, social media influencer transparency, healthy school lunches for all American kids and mammography machines that don't bruise. Is that too much to ask?
Warning: This is not a guide with “something for everyone.” This is a guide to help you find the right thing for the people you care about most. After all not everyone gets a present, just the ones who have been very, very good.
This year during Women’s History Month, I’ve thought a lot about women and anger. Throughout history and around the world, women have been socialized to doubt, fear and repress their anger, especially in periods of hyper masculinity or aggression. But in recent years women have shown incredible courage and creativity in honoring and channeling their anger and turning it into a catalyst for social justice.
Valentines Day is as good an excuse as any to binge on love-inspired art. This year for Valentines Day, give yourself the gift of enjoying some passionate, obsessive, transporting, heady, gorgeous and sexy works of art that make you feel something or learn something or do something that may come close to love.
With more and more companies announcing permanent work from home options for employees, what will this mean for American personal style? Will sweatpants bring the end of dignity or the beginning of acceptance and empathy?
When it comes to buying books, stay true to your independent spirit.
Why you should always support local independent bookstores and never buy a book from Amazon again.
Writer and avid tennis player Jim Baldwin shares a short story about a Father’s Day game he will never forget.
The collective fury compelling people of all races to take to the streets across America and even beyond to London, must continue to fuel direct action after the protests end. Here are some ideas to keep you informed, engaged and and active in the Commonwealth and beyond.
Anne Buckley takes us on a sensory journey across the globe from South America to the South Pacific via an expert-led virtual chocolate tasting. The ultimate tour guide, we discover, comes from humble pods that grow in the jungle and inherit the flavor of the land.
As quarantine drags into month three, author and parenting expert Susan Callahan discusses her strategies for finding work-life balance and the philosophy of white space as a means toward finding clarity in chaos.
What does it mean to be a college graduate in 2020? How are students managing the disappointment of losing their senior spring with its long-awaited celebrations and recognition? And how is society treating the experience, listening or talking over them? From east coast to west, we check in with college seniors and come out feeling hopeful for the generation which will lead us as the virus recedes and a new reality comes into view.
Giving voice to the tangled emotions of her generation missing college graduations due to the shutdown, Georgetown Senior Kaleigh O’Connor mourns for and then chastises herself for mourning for, her lost senior spring.
