Mindfulness and Slow Looking at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation

Posted on December 13, 2025 by Jessica Nocella

For their second Slow Art Day, the B&E Goulandris Foundation in Athens, Greece, invited all visitors to explore selected works from its permanent Collection and to take part in one or more of their three specially designed mindfulness activities.

On April 5th, 2025 all visitors were welcomed with a special printed slow looking guide (available in both English and Greek) at the Museum’s Reception Desk. This included information and instructions on how to practice slow looking, allowing them to fully engage with four carefully selected works from the permanent Collection:

“Laughing Man” by Camille Claudel [on the first floor]
“The Traveller” by Igor Mitoraj [on the second floor]
“Maria Callas no. 4” by Julian Schnabel [on the third floor]
“Untitled” by Alexis Akrithakis [on the fourth floor]

Visitors were encouraged to keep and reuse this guide during future museum visits to explore even more works from the Collection in a similar immersive way.

“*Maria Callas no. 4*” by Julian Schnabel

On the same day, art historian, art educator and mindfulness instructor Lydia Petropoulou led three mindfulness activities. The morning mindfulness workshop “I See, I Hear, I Feel, I Paint“ was designed for parents and children aged 6-12. Two mindfulness sessions designed exclusively for adults were then held in the afternoon. Titled “Mindfulness at the Museum“, they took place in the temporary exhibitions gallery where the exhibition “Catch Me” by Nicholas Kontaxis was on display.

What a great design for the day. More museums might decide to imitate what the B&E Goulandris Foundation did here.

At Slow Art Day HQ, we certainly appreciate integrating mindfulness as well as offering activities for both children and adults – and we are excited to see what the B&E Goulandris Foundation come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Jessica Jane, Phyl, Ashley, and Johanna

P.S. Check out B&E Goulandris Foundation on their Facebook and Instagram.

From Canvas to Table: Slow Art and Slow Food at The Mart

Posted on December 10, 2025 by Jessica Nocella

For their 5th Slow Art Day, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (The Mart), Italy, organized an event in collaboration with a local Slow Food collective, an association committed to restoring value to food – respecting those who produce it in harmony with the environment and ecosystems – while enhancing the knowledge preserved by local territories and traditions.

This is the second collaboration between The Mart and Slow Food, with the first occurring during their 2023 Slow Art Day. For this event, five local producers focused on cheese, chili, preserves, wine and baked goods.

For the 2025 event planning, the Slow Food producers were invited a week earlier to look slowly at the two works of art selected for Slow Art Day. Afterwards, they were asked to associate one of their food products with each work they had just observed – so cool.

Two of the local producers observing and discussing “Gianfilippo Usellini, Il Carnevale dei poveri, 1941”

On the day of the event, twenty “Amici del Mart” (Friends of The Mart who are enrolled in The Mart’s Membership program) repeated the slow looking experience with the same art works, taking time to observe them on their own before group discussions.

They were then divided into five groups, each with some “veteran slow lookers” as well as first-time participants. The groups discussed the works and assigned scores from 0 to 5 against emotions and aesthetics connected to the pieces (prompted by the question “Would you put this work in your home?”).

Friends of The Mart (Amici del Mart) sharing their opinions on “Piero Dorazio, Senza titolo, 1974”

Afterwards, participants enjoyed a tasting with the five local producers, who paired food with the artworks based on color, atmosphere and emotions evoked. During that tasting, the producers shared the story behind their pairing choices, offering a personal and creative look at the link between the artworks and food. What a great design.

All the Amici and the producers (almost) ready to start the tasting experience

The event proved to be a wonderful way to bring food and art together, while giving visibility to local food producers.

We at Slow Art Day HQ have always believed that Slow Food and Slow Art belong together and love what The Mart is doing to lead the way. We look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Jessica Jane, Ashley, Johanna, and Phyl

P.S. Explore The Mart on their Facebook and Instagram.

Glen Foerd Hosts 4th Slow Art Day

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Jessica Nocella

For Slow Art Day 2024, Glen Foerd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania invited participants to look slowly at four selected works of art, led by Executive Director Ross Mitchell.

Glen Foerd itself is a beautiful mansion and grounds on the banks of the Delaware River (learn more about the venue and its history on their website).

Their collection is an eclectic mix of works from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, where Italian masterpieces sit next to works by local Philadelphia artists. The beauty of slow-looking is that it brings deep observation and appreciation to all works of art no matter the provenance.

*Exterior of Glen Foerd. Photo by Ashley Moran.*

For the event, participants were invited to spend at least 10 minutes with each
of the following selected pieces:

Luigi Setanni (American, 1908–1984). Village and Calvary, c. mid-1930s. Oil on canvas
Thomas Sully (Attributed) (American, 1783 – 1872). Head of a Young woman in a Black Feathered Hat. Oil on Panel
Edith Emerson (American, 1888–1981). A Florentine Garden. Oil on canvas
Talia Eve Greene (American, 1976). Threadbare and Tarnished: Tales from a Gilded Age, 2017. Mixed Media

Luigi Setanni (American, 1908–1984). Village and Calvary, c. mid-1930s. Oil on canvas

Thomas Sully (Attributed) (American, 1783 – 1872). Head of a Young woman in a Black Feathered Hat. Oil on Panel

Edith Emerson (American, 1888–1981). A Florentine Garden. Oil on canvas

Talia Eve Greene (American, 1976). Threadbare and Tarnished: Tales from a Gilded Age, 2017. Mixed Media

Afterwards, Ross led the group through a discussion about each work.

*Executive Director Ross Mitchell leading the discussion in front of three of the works.*

Participants looking slowly at the selected works.

Participant taking in the mixed media work in a separate room, by Talia Eve Greene – Threadbare and Tarnished: Tales from a Gilded Age.

Participants were also given a flyer with a series of prompts (download the flier).

Flyer of the event Download

Ashley Moran, volunteer at Slow Art Day HQ, visited Glen Foerd for their fourth Slow Art Day in 2024, and very much appreciated their selection of art and the lively discussion facilitated by Executive Director Ross Mitchell.

We are excited to see what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2025.

– Ashley, Jessica Jane, Johanna, and Phyl

P.S. Slow Art Day 2025 is coming up on April 5. If you have not done so, please register your museum, gallery, church, hospital, sculpture park or movie theater here: https://www.slowartday.com/be-a-host/

Italian Slow Art Club Visits Venice

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Jessica Nocella

For their second Slow Art Day, Piero Consolati’s Slow Art Club, an independent group of slow looking art lovers in Italy, decided to focus on the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is packed with amazing 20th-century European and North American art, all thanks to Peggy Guggenheim‘s passion for collecting art and running galleries. The museum itself, once Peggy’s home, is in the stunning Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal.

For the event, the Slow Art Club decided to focus on five works that they had selected from the museum’s website (below you can see the images of three of them).

Willem de Kooning, Nude-Woman on the Beach, 1963, Oil on paper mounted on canvas

René Magritte, The Empire of Light, 1953-54, Oil on canvas

Yves Tanguy, The Sun in His Jewellery Box, 1937, Oil on canvas

After slow looking at the selected artworks, participants shared their thoughts and rated the pieces using a subjective scoring system. Participants were thrilled to see the wide range of emotions and aesthetic opinions that slow looking brings out in everyone engaging with art. They really enjoyed discussing what they had observed, but what they appreciated the most was museum visitors joining their discussions and wanting to share their thoughts too.

Over the past 18 months, Piero Consolati’s Slow Art Club has visited nine different museums practicing the art of slow looking, and he reports that their membership is steadily growing.

At Slow Art Day HQ, we celebrate Piero and his Slow Art Club. We love what they are doing not just on Slow Art Day but throughout the year. Amazing!

– Jessica Jane, Johanna, Ashley and Phyl

P.S. Slow Art Day 2025 is coming up on April 5. If you have not done so, please register your museum, gallery, church, sculpture park or movie theater here: https://www.slowartday.com/be-a-host/

Self-Guided Slow Art at the Cameron Art Museum

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Jessica Nocella

For their first Slow Art Day, the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina, organized a self-guided viewing activity. They provided visitors with a flyer (shown below) which had a framework for participating and suggested artworks ranging from paintings to quilted art.

This is a great flyer/set of instructions. Other museums should feel free to copy anything they’ve done here.

We are glad to welcome the Cameron Art Museum to the Slow Art Day movement and look forward to what they come up with for 2025.

– JJ, Johanna, Ashley, and Phyl

300 Attend The BIG Show in Rural Canada

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Jessica Nocella

For their first Slow Art Day, the Glengarry Artists’ Collective, a volunteer-driven organization of artists in eastern rural Ontario, Canada, designed “The BIG Show”, an event highlighting local art and artists.

The Collective’s mission is to create programs focused on community, and they encouraged visitors to slowly look at a selection of 149 artworks by 39 artists. About 300 participants attended the event.

Slow looking participants at the Glengarry Collective Slow Art Day event, 2023.

Ahead of Slow Art Day, the Collective posted a promo on their website and printed posters for the venue.

On April 15th, they welcomed participants at the venue and encouraged them to use the following prompts when viewing the artworks:

Look
Take time (5 to 10 minutes) and slowly let your eyes wander all over the work. Look at it from different angles and distances.
Observe
Notice the colors, shapes, textures and markings on the surface of the artwork. Where does your eye focus?
Feel
What words come to mind about this art work? How do you feel looking at this art work? Does it evoke any memories?
Share
Share your experience of the work with someone or post an image of the work online with a word of reflection and #slowartday2023.

Slow looking participant contemplating an image from a distance at the Glengarry Collective Slow Art Day event, 2023.

The hosts Alison Hall and Yvonne Callaway toured the venue, looking and talking with visitors. They agreed to let the audience choose the works they wanted to look at slowly, rather than imposing a selection on them. The photos above offer a sense of the engagement generated. They told us at Slow Art Day that, “There was lots of art talk, more than at most shows. People engaged with the works and each other.”

We love that the Glengarry Collective was able to bring out so many people in rural Canada and look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

PS. Stay up to date about events by the Glengarry Collective via their Facebook page

Slow Art Day Comes to the ‘Heart of the World’

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Jessica Nocella

Slow Art Day has come to the Sierra Nevada Santa Marta in Colombia, known as the ‘Heart of the World’ to the indigenous communities who inhabit the coastal mountains and valleys.

Photographer Natasha Johl organized this first Slow Art Day at Sonidoselva, a cultural center in Minca. After giving a short speech describing the simple methodology of slow looking, Johl invited participants to look slowly at her photography exhibition Dream Weaver, which presents a series of photographs taken over nine years that represent the ordinary, simple, and often overlooked moments of life.

In a world where images shout at the viewer, I believe there is a dignity in silence.
Natasha Johl

Generous Dreamer Unframed Giclee. Natasha Johl.

As we Watch Unframed Giclee Print. Natasha Johl.

The main subject of her photos are the indigenous group of the Arhuacos, which descend from the Tairona, an ancient South American civilization that now reside in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Arhuaco have developed an understanding of the earth, which gives equal measure to the human mind and spirit and the forces of nature.

Natasha Johl (on the left) and members of the Arhuacos (on the right).

Slow Art Day visitors engaging in the exhibition (we love the light in these photos).

We at Slow Art Day HQ love that slow looking at art has made it to the ‘heart of the world’ and we look forward to seeing what Johl and her colleagues put together for Slow Art Day 2024.

– Jessica, Ashley, Johanna, and Phyl

New Perspectives with the Art Gallery of Ontario

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Jessica Nocella

For their 8th Slow Art Day, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), one of the largest art museums in North America, invited participants to join one of two slow looking offerings with the AGO collection: either by designing their own slow looking tour, or by joining a guided tour.

Participants engaging with “Paysage du Midi et deux enfants” by Pierre Bonard (note the slow motion captured in each of the photos from AGO)

For the guided tour, one of the AGO’s art educators asked participants to look at three artworks:

Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet by Tintoretto
Paysage du Midi et deux enfants by Pierre Bonard
Unearthed – Midnight by Otobong Nkang

Participants engaging with “Unearthed – Midnight” by Otobong Nkang

AGO curator Mellisa Smith reported that the post-looking conversation gained momentum through the tour as people became more comfortable sharing. This was a function of the trust participants built with each other as they experienced the act of looking at the art through each other’s eyes.

For the final session of the guided tour, the AGO hosts asked participants to wander slowly across the entire length of Tintoretto’s painting, “Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet.” Specifically, they asked observers to pay attention to a trick with perspective that occurs with this painting. When viewed from the side as one slowly walks its length, Tintoretto’s painting seems to emphasize the gaze of the disciples towards Jesus, thus focusing the viewer on his status as the main subject. This is truly a painting which needs to be seen slowly.

Participants slow looking at (and moving around) “Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet” by Tintoretto

When asked if they would do anything differently next year, the AGO told us two things:

In the future, they hope to try a more densely curated space, and investigate how participants are able to center themselves in a more chaotic space.
They would like to also avoid choosing artwork with in-depth wall texts, as visitors couldn’t help but
to read the labels (understandable!)

We encourage art educators and curators to listen to an episode of the CBC Commotion podcast series hosted by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and featuring AGO curator Melissa Smith – Slow Art Day and the value of lingering. Smith mentions a point that we always like to reinforce about slow looking: it is about building your own meaning with a piece, and you don’t have to have any prior knowledge of art or the piece to do that. Yes! That indeed is the power of slow looking.

We really appreciate the Art Gallery of Ontario’s long-term commitment to Slow Art Day, and can’t wait to see what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.

– Jessica Jane, Johanna, Ashley, and Phyl

P.S. You can follow AGO on their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

Museo Universidad de Navarra Hosts First Slow Art Day

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Jessica Nocella

For their first Slow Art Day, the Museo Universidad de Navarra, in the heart of Pamplona, Spain, invited participants to look slowly at three contemporary works for art:

“Incendi” (1991), by Antoni Tàpies
“Untitled” (1969), by Mark Rothko
“El número y las aguas I” (1978), by Pablo Palazuelo

Antoni Tàpies. 1991. *Incendi*. 251 x 603

“El número y las aguas I” (1978), by Pablo Palazuelo.

Slow Art Day at the Museo Universidad de Navarra

The museum offered free tickets, which sold out in a couple of days – slow looking is in demand around the world!

The team at the museum reported that participants were excited to look slowly, share their impressions, and see through each other’s eyes.

Importantly, the museum itself enjoyed hosting their first Slow Art Day and plans to participate again next year. We look forward to seeing what they come up with for 2024.

– Jessica Jane, Johanna, Ashley and Phyl

Philosophy and Slow Looking at Gothenburg Museum of Art

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Jessica Nocella

For their fourth Slow Art Day, the Gothenburg Museum of Art in Gothenburg, the second-largest city in Sweden, designed a slow looking event focused on artwork by the South Korean artist Lee Bul.

Lee Bul, *Installation 5*. Photo credits: Hossein Sehatlou

Art Educator Jonna Kihlsten chose Lee Bul’s art, in part, because she approaches her work both philosophically and with a focus on the observer’s physical experience. As a result, her work opens space for contemplation, reflection and philosophical conversation (and, obviously is great for slow looking).

For the event, philosophy teacher and consultant Mathias Tistelgren led a slow viewing and discussion on Lee’s work Scale of Tongue.

Mathias Tistelgren engaging with the audience. Photo credits: Anna-Lena Åsemyr

We at Slow Art Day HQ are fans of Lee Bul’s art – and really love the idea of having a philosopher lead slow looking sessions. We can only guess what the Gothenburg Museum of Art will come up with for their 5th Slow Art Day in 2024.