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Slow Art Day 2025 in Mexico City: A Citywide First

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In 2025, Mexico City hosted its first city-wide Slow Art Day – and what may be the largest city-wide in the world – with 35 participating venues, coordinated by art writer and cultural organizer Constanza Ontiveros Valdés.

Ontiveros Valdés organized an unexpectedly wide range of participants, from established museums and galleries to alternative and emerging cultural spaces across the city.

The venues offered a rich mix of programming, including yoga, meditation, aromatherapy, workshops, panel discussions, and multidisciplinary artistic happenings. She noted that the accessibility and inclusiveness of Slow Art Day encouraged participation across diverse spaces, all eager to explore slow looking in ways that felt authentic to their communities.

We received reports from seven of the 35. Below are those highlights.

Galería Oscar Román

Galería Oscar Román featured an artist-led conversation titled “Sombras del Pintor” (Shadows of the Painter) with artist Saúl Kaminer, followed by a guided visit to his exhibition “La Tierra en el Cielo” (The Earth in the Sky). Kaminer shared insights into his creative process and the narratives behind his work, inviting participants to engage slowly through conversation and close observation. The session encouraged reflection on the relationship between art and nature, with visitors spending extended time discussing individual works.

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Arte Abierto
Reported by: Guadalupe Salcedo, Communications

Arte Abierto‘s Public Programs Team designed a Slow Art Day experience around the exhibition long last happy by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone. Participants engaged in contemplative observation of the large format sculptures the sun and the moon (2022), followed by individual and group body activations inspired by dance and performance. The program invited participants to explore the idea of opposing forces through both stillness and body movement. Adults and children took part, and the event received significant public and media engagement.


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kurimanzutto

Host: Constanza Ontiveros Valdés, Art Writer and Cultural Projects Coordinator
Venue contact: Julia Villaseñor, Communications and Media Director

At kurimanzutto, participants were introduced to Slow Art Day through breathing and relaxation exercises before engaging in close looking with works by Haegue Yang from the exhibition Arcane Abstractions. The group explored intricate paper collages from the Mesmerizing Mesh series and interacted physically with the sculptural installation Mesmerizing Votive Pagoda Lantern. The session concluded with a hands-on activity in which participants created visual responses to their observations and shared reflections.


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Alejandra Topete Gallery

Natalia Martinez Aanaya, Communications Manager shared that Alejandra Topete Gallery participated with Between Threads and Stories, featuring works by Jason Kriegler and Claribel Calderius. The program included individual meditation sessions throughout the day and an empowering roundtable discussion led by Maria Ortiz, Cultural Mediator. Visitors were encouraged to form personal connections with the artworks through guided dialogue and slow observation.

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Naranjo 141 Gallery

Naranjo 141 gathered participants to look slowly at five selected works from their current exhibition. The session began with a brief introduction to Slow Art Day and the gallery’s residency program. Visitors then spent six to seven minutes in silent observation with each of five selected works:

  • Lily Alice Baker, Mothers’ Meeting (2024)
  • Colleen Herman, Blood Bloom in a Blue Field (2024)
  • Lee Maxey, Face the Front (2024)
  • Kataria Riesing, Holster (2024)
  • Pauline Shaw, Blackout (2025)

After slow looking, participants came together for a facilitated group discussion, sharing observations and personal responses over light refreshments. The session concluded with informal conversation and continued engagement with the exhibition.

Lee Maxey, Face the Front (2024)
Lily Alice Baker, Mothers’ Meeting (2024)

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Tinta Naranja

Host: Tinta Naranja
Contact: Mark Jerusalmi

Tinta Naranja focused on close observation of graphic design and visual culture. Participants explored original materials related to the Mexico 1968 Olympic design system, discussing the origins and historical context of the typography and imagery. The session concluded with a participatory activity in which attendees designed their own names using Olympic-inspired typographic forms.


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Zona de Riesgo Art

Zona de Riesgo Art hosted a free evening program that combined slow looking, guided meditation, sound art, and collective reflection. The event opened with a brief introduction, then featured two guided meditative experiences led by artist Mónica Martz M.

The first, Realm of the Devas, combined guided meditation with sound art by Bruno Bresani and the projection of two visual works by Mónica Martz M.

After a short pause, Mónica Martz M. led a second meditation that explored The Human Realm, accompanied by sound art from Mercedes Balard and Montserrat Coltello, alongside projected works by Bruno Bresani.

Following the meditations, participants gathered for an open conversation, sharing sensations, images, and reflections that emerged during the experience. The evening concluded with expressions of gratitude among artists and attendees, highlighting the value of creating spaces for stillness, contemplation, and shared presence.


Check out the below video and more on their website featuring their Slow Art Day event and see their event Instagram post here.

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Together, these seven reports represent just a portion of the 35 venues that participated in Mexico City’s first citywide Slow Art Day. The range of formats—artist talks, guided observation, movement-based practices, meditation, and slow making—demonstrates how Slow Art Day can scale across a major global city while remaining grounded in local artistic practice. Check out a great article summarizing the day (in Spanish).

We thank Constanza Ontiveros Valdés for her leadership and all participating venues, artists, facilitators, and visitors for making this inaugural citywide Slow Art Day possible. We look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

Flemish Masterpieces at Sint Pauluskerk in Antwerp

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For their 7th Slow Art Day 2025, Sint Pauluskerk (St Paul’s Church) in Antwerp, Belgium offered a rare viewing experience as two masterpieces of the Flemish community were presented side by side for the first time in four hundred years. The Flagellation by Peter Paul Rubens and The Carrying of the Cross by Anthony van Dyck were temporarily displayed at eye level due to partial restoration work in the church.

Slow looking participants viewing The Flagellation by Peter Paul Rubens and The Carrying of the Cross by Anthony van Dyck. © Lucid.

Normally installed approximately four meters high, the paintings’ lowered placement allowed Slow Art Day participants to examine details that are usually difficult to see. Visitors were invited to spend time closely observing both works and share their observations and questions during guided discussion with the three guides who were present, Regina, Stéphane, and Armand.

Slow looking participants viewing The Flagellation by Peter Paul Rubens and The Carrying of the Cross by Anthony van Dyck. © Lucid.

Sint Pauluskerk has been a pioneering leader in the church wing of the Slow Art Day movement, and their continued involvement has helped demonstrate how churches and other religious organizations can become powerful spaces for slow looking.

We thank the wonderful Armand Storck and the team at St Paul’s Church for making this exceptional viewing opportunity possible and for supporting Slow Art Day 2025. We look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. – Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Mindfulness and Slow Looking at MAAT in Lisbon

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For their first Slow Art Day 2025, the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon, Portugal participated with a guided slow-looking session held within the exhibition Transe by Rui Moreira, whose work is known for its meditative atmosphere. The event featured these 6 works:

  1. Mindfulness – “I’m a giant lost in the woods”
  2. A Noite (O Telepata)
  3. A máquina de emaranhar paisagens VII
  4. Nossa Senhora do Aborto I
  5. Telepata I
  6. Eclipse I
Capturado com OldRoll Classic M.

The session was led by Mário J. Rodrigues, a psychologist and certified mindfulness teacher, who opened with a brief mindfulness exercise. Participants then looked slowly at each work for ten minutes. The session concluded with a group conversation, allowing participants to share observations and reflect on their emotional and sensory responses.

The event was promoted via a reel on Instagram.

MAAT also holds monthly art and meditation sessions, and you can check out their programming on their website.

We thank Joana Simões Henriques, Head of Public Programmes at MAAT, for organizing this Slow Art Day experience, and look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram

Cameron Art Museum Hosts Second Slow Art Day

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For Slow Art Day 2025, Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina invited visitors to participate in a self-guided slow-looking experience designed to encourage careful observation and personal meaning-making. The museum emphasized that slow looking is not driven by curators or historians, but by individuals forming their own connections with artworks.

Visitors were encouraged to intentionally select three to four artworks and spend extended time with each, using a printed Guide to Slow Art that offered practical suggestions such as finding a comfortable place to sit, bringing a notebook and pencil, and building meaning through sustained observation and conversation with companions

Th guide suggested visitors spend time with artworks from the exhibition The Game Changers, which highlighted the Abstract Expressionist artists Helen Frankenthaler, Richard Diebenkorn, and Robert Rauschenberg. Suggested works included:

  • Girl Squatting (1960) by Richard Diebenkorn
  • Tiger’s Eye (1987) by Helen Frankenthaler
  • Autobiography (1968) by Robert Rauschenberg


From left to right: Helen Frankenthaler, Tiger’s Eye, 1987. Color etching, aquatint, lithograph, and
silkscreen. Collection of Cameron Art Museum, Belden Collection. Richard Diebenkorn, Girl Squatting, 1960. Oil on canvas. On loan from the Akron Art Museum, purchased with funds from the Phyllis Albrecht Memorial Fund. Bottom: Robert Rauschenberg, Autobiography 1968. Offset lithography on paper. On loan from Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Gift of Blake Byre, A.B. ‘57.


Slow Art Day participant viewing Robert Rauschenberg, Why You Can’t Tell #2, 1979. Lithograph and collage on paper. On loan from the Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina,
Greensboro, NC, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Dorsky.

Slow Art Day participants viewing Robert Rauschenberg, Autobiography 1968. Offset lithography on paper. On loan from Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Gift of Blake Byre, A.B. ‘57.

By offering a clear framework while leaving interpretation open, Cameron Art Museum created a Slow Art Day experience that supported independent exploration and reflection throughout the day.

Below is their front desk signage for the day, and you may download their Slow Art Day Flyer to see how they framed their instructions for the day. (PDF, 7.5 MB).

We thank Ashley Rowland, Education Assistant, and the Cameron Art Museum team for hosting Slow Art Day 2025 and look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. – Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Citywide Slow Looking Along Route 66 in Bloomington, IL

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For Slow Art Day 2025, Bloomington–Normal, Illinois once again led a citywide Slow Art Day – they were the first to pioneer citywide events several years ago. Led by Pamela Eaton of Eaton Studio Gallery, the citywide Slow Art Day has grown into a statewide collaboration with a number of sponsors and leaders coming together. See the beautiful poster below.

The collaborative citywide scope of the event was documented by the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway. These photographs captured the range of venues and the conversations taking place across the city during the Slow Art Day weekend.

Here are a few reports we received from across the 2025 Citywide.

Eaton Studio Gallery
At the Eaton Gallery, their Slow Art Day event centered on Star Crossed Pollinators, a refurbished sculpture by artist Herb Eaton originally created in 2000 for Bloomington’s Sesquicentennial celebrations. The work was on view during Slow Art Day as part of its refurbishment process ahead of its planned move to a permanent location at the McLean County Museum of History.

Photos below are of artist Herb Eaton with the original sculpture in 2000 on the left, and the new version in 2025 on the right.

Inside Out Accessible Art (IOAA)
IOAA hosted artists demonstrating their techniques alongside other artists who brought individual works to discuss with patrons. The open format encouraged dialogue and allowed visitors to spend time with both artistic process and finished work. Photographs of the event below were taken by Shelley Schultz.

Red Raccoon Games
Red Racoon in downtown Bloomington hosted artist Gina LaMonica, whose works were shown via the table setup below.

The Bloomington–Normal Slow Art Day demonstrated how a coordinated, multi-site approach can support slow looking at scale while remaining grounded in local artists, studios, and shared civic spaces. We thank Pamela Eaton, Eaton Studio Gallery, Inside Out Accessible Art, and all participating organizations and artists for making this citywide Slow Art Day possible. We look forward to seeing what they come up with for their citywide Slow Art Day in 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

Meditations on A.I. in Vänersborg, Sweden

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For Slow Art Day 2025, Vänersborgs konsthall in Vänersborg, Sweden, hosted a guided slow-looking event centered on the exhibition A.I. vs Själen (A.I. vs the Soul). The program combined meditation, independent observation, and group dialogue in a focused gallery setting.

Participants engaging in slow looking and discussion during Slow Art Day at Vänersborgs konsthall. Photo courtesy of Vänersborgs konsthall.

Selected artworks were chosen by participants from two designated walls within the exhibition A.I. vs Själen (A.I vs the Soul)

Eleven participants took part in the free event. The session began with a short introduction to slow looking as a practice, followed by a guided meditation designed to help participants settle into the experience. From there, facilitators offered simple, structured prompts to support a 10-minute slow looking exercise. Participants then gathered to share reflections and discuss their thoughts. Conversations focused on perception, attention, and how the themes of technology, AI, and the human soul emerged through extended looking.

Following the discussion, the gallery invited participants to continue the conversation over a traditional Swedish fika, offering coffee and biscuits in a relaxed social setting.

Poster for the event.

We thank Hanna Tobiasson, Cultural Coordinator at Vänersborgs konsthall, for creating a Slow Art Day experience that thoughtfully engaged questions around technology and its growing influence on how art is created, perceived, and discussed today. We look forward to seeing what the team at Vänersborgs konsthall comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Follow Vänersborgs konsthall on Facebook.

Carol Rossi Hosts Community Slow Looking Experience at the de Young Museum in San Francisco

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For Slow Art Day 2025, yoga-based movement instructor Carol Rossi of Lobey Movement returned to Slow Art Day – she was a pioneer who helped launch the movement back in 2010 – and hosted her own slow-looking session at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, California. Drawing from her background in yoga and mindfulness, Rossi designed a self-guided Slow Art Day experience.

In preparation for the day, Rossi created and shared a dedicated Slow Art Day webpage that outlined simple viewing tips and a short guide to the artworks she selected. Her materials encouraged participants to spend extended time with each work, notice physical details and emotional responses, and resist the urge to move quickly. Rather than formal facilitation, the structure supported personal pacing and reflection, allowing participants to engage with the museum in a focused yet flexible way.

Rossi documented and reflected on the experience through LinkedIn and Instagram, sharing photographs, excerpts from her viewing guide, and personal observations about hosting Slow Art Day. These posts are great practical examples for others interested in creating their own Slow Art Day experiences to follow. Her approach shows how hosting can begin with clear intentions, simple prompts, and a willingness to invite others to slow down together.

At Slow Art Day HQ, we actively encourage this kind of individual-led design. Slow Art Day is not limited to institutions; anyone can host a slow-looking experience, whether as a yoga instructor, educator, designer, or community member. Resources like Carol Rossi’s website and posts offer concrete inspiration for those considering hosting their own event, much like other community-driven Slow Art Day efforts we have seen in recent years.

We thank Carol Rossi for her pioneering support of Slow Art Day, and for returning to work with us again. We look forward to seeing what she comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

Slow Walking Video at Gorgas House Museum

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For Slow Art Day 2025, students at the University of Alabama participated in a project titled Walking In It, developed under the direction of Professor Sharony Green and presented in connection with the Gorgas House Museum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The project focused on an experimental video that encouraged people to notice walking and to think about it as something shaped by history and circumstance, not a simple experience that everyone can take for granted.

As part of the project, students enrolled in Professor Green’s Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 history courses contributed 30-second long videos of themselves walking through campus and around Tuscaloosa. These clips were combined into a single “digital quilt” bringing together repeated movement across shared spaces.

Gorgas House Museum on Slow Art Day.

The completed video was featured online and projected onto the exterior of the Gorgas House Museum on April 4, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The projection was designed as a come-and-go experience, allowing Slow Art Day participants and passersby to encounter the work throughout the day. The setting of the projection on Gorgas House, the campus’s oldest dwelling constructed in 1829, provided historical context for the project’s focus on movement and access.

Watch the video projection:

Additional components were coordinated by Sonya Harwood-Johnson, Director of the Gorgas House Museum. These included interpretive displays featuring nineteenth-century shoes and an interactive station where members of the campus community could decorate miniature boots produced with a 3D printer, inspired by a Mexican artist’s project.

In addition to the video projection, the Slow Art Day project included a campus-wide scavenger hunt. Participants were invited to move through campus using the scavenger hunt prompts, with a prize offered to those who completed the activity.

Students also created a short video previewing the event, offering viewers a sense of the site and project setup:

The project received coverage in The Crimson White – Gorgas House hosts The University of Alabama’s submission to global Slow Art Day – the University of Alabama’s student newspaper, which reported on the Gorgas House Museum’s participation in the global Slow Art Day initiative. Across digital platforms, the project reached a wide audience, with more than 1,100 views on Instagram and over 1,200 additional views and impressions across other social media channels.

Professory Sharony Green and students.

We thank Sharony Green, Sonya Harwood-Johnson, and the participating students for their innovative Slow Art Day events, and look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Read more about the project, Walking In It: An Experimental Video, on the Gorgas House Museum website. You can follow the Gorgas House Museum on Facebook and Instagram.

Meditation and Slow Making at Gothenburg Museum of Art

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The Gothenburg Museum of Art in Gothenburg, Sweden, participated in Slow Art Day 2025 by offering two structured activities for adults and children. The program combined guided meditation, slow looking in the galleries, and hands-on making in the studio.

The group gathered in front of Oracle, a sculpture by Norwegian artist Jone Kvie, on view in the exhibition Apocalypse: From Last Judgement to Climate Threat.

Photo by Linda Noreen.

For adult participants, the museum hosted a guided meditation led by Pernilla Ljungkvist, artist and yoga teacher, around the sculpture. Through stillness and focused attention, participants were invited to engage with the sculpture more deliberately.

Participants practicing yoga. Photo by Linda Noreen.

For children ages 6–12, the museum offered a two-part workshop. The first part took place in the museum’s collection galleries, where participants practiced slow-looking exercises and completed a drawing activity based on careful observation.

The group then moved to the Museum Studio, where a selection of objects was presented. Participants chose one or more objects to reinterpret by painting with watercolors, drawing with colored pens, or shaping forms in clay. The emphasis throughout was on slowing down, observing closely, and working deliberately. Across both activities, the shared goal was to encourage sustained attention and mindful engagement through observation, reflection, and making.

Photo by Jonna Kihlsten.
Photo by Jonna Kihlsten.
Photo by Jonna Kihlsten.

We thank Jonna Kihlsten, Art Educator, and the Gothenburg Museum of Art team for designing inclusive Slow Art Day experiences, as well as Pernilla Ljungkvist for leading the meditation session. We look forward to seeing what Gothenburg comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Follow Gothenburg Museum of Art on Facebook and Instagram

Six Weeks of Slow Looking in Arizona Border Town

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For their third Slow Art Day, Studio 917 Gallery in Douglas, Arizona, extended their event beyond a single day, transforming it into a six-week slow-looking experience. Located in the small town bordering Sonora where visitors often come to shop before discovering local art, the gallery intentionally selected a range of diverse works designed to appeal to audiences of different ages and backgrounds.


The exhibition opened with a busy first day, welcoming a steady flow of visitors from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. As the weeks progressed, word of mouth expanded the gallery’s reach. Visitors traveled from nearby communities including Tucson, Agua Prieta, Bisbee, and Willcox, while tourists from farther afield stopped in while visiting the U.S.–Mexico border, including guests from Kansas, Minnesota, Texas, and California.

Visitors engaging with artworks during the extended Slow Art Day exhibition. Photos by Allyson Armstrong.

Featured Works:

  • Untitled by Gabino Rivera (c. 1930)
  • Social by Conrado Massaguer (Havana, 1930)
  • Parenthesis by Peter Konsterlie (2017)
  • Untitled by Chloe Foster (wood-fired, salt-fired ceramic, 2025)

The selected artworks encouraged visitors to linger and look closely. Gabino Rivera’s early 20th-century work reflects the experience of immigration and labor in Douglas, where Rivera arrived as a young man to work in the local smelter. Conrado Massaguer’s Social, originally a magazine cover from Havana in 1930, offered a contrasting cultural perspective. Contemporary works by Peter Konsterlie and Chloe Foster added further range, from conceptual painting to ceramic practice, reinforcing the gallery’s goal of presenting varied entry points for slow looking.

Untitled. Gabino Rivera @1930. Sr. Rivera immigrated to Douglas, AZ as a young man to work in the smelter.
“Social” a magazine cover by Conrado Massager, Havana, 1930.
“Parenthesis”, Peter Konsterlie 2017.
Untitled,  Chloe Foster, Wood, Salt Fire, 2025.
Visitors engaging with artworks during the extended Slow Art Day exhibition. Photos by Allyson Armstrong.

By extending Slow Art Day across six weeks, Studio 917 Gallery created repeated opportunities for intentional looking and conversation, allowing both local residents and traveling visitors to encounter the artworks at their own pace. The approach reflected the rhythms of a small-town gallery while remaining connected to the global Slow Art Day movement.

We thank the team at Studio 917 Gallery for their continued commitment to slow looking and for sustaining this expanded Slow Art Day format year after year. We look forward to their next Slow Art Day.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Follow Studio 917 Gallery on Instagram and visit their website at https://www.studio917.art.