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
If you go, you may never want to leave. Welcome to Campo, the innovative Creative Arts Institute in tucked away Garzón, Uruguay. Founder Heidi Lender has built a haven for connection, quiet and creativity, drawing artists and art enthusiasts from all over the world. Campo’s Artfest takes place December 28, 29. it just might be the answer to how to exit 2020 and start all over again.
She’s speaking. Simone Leigh will be the first black woman ever to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale in 2022. In collaboration with the ICA Boston who commissioned and will organize the show Leigh will bring her powerful unapologetic voice to issues of authorship, agency and understanding America through a black female lens.
Jay Calderin, second in our new Visionary Series, founded Boston Fashion Week 26 years ago to champion the local community of diverse, creative talent. This year, BFW will be entirely virtual, and will celebrate the next generation of fashion visionaries.
More than one of the world’s best tennis players, more than the world’s highest paid female athlete, Naomi Osaka is a force for social justice and a quiet style icon on the rise.
The explosion in the port area of Beirut reduced much of photographer Rania Matar’s birthplace to rubble. True to her activist nature, she responded with a collaborative campaign, raising thousands for reconstruction and boosting awareness for crisis-fatigued Americans.
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.
Sarah Dinnick’s mesmerizing photographs transport us from isolation to understanding, connection and empathy. With an intense respect for her remote subjects, she shows how intimately we are, through our experiences, connected.
Millennials have a native trust in technology, writes Grace Kenney, a recent college grad. Contemplating the meaning of her art history degree in light of new challenges to art institutions, hierarchies and traditions, she explores the role technology might play moving forward and the benefits that she believes will impact a wider, more diverse audience.
Writer and avid tennis player Jim Baldwin shares a short story about a Father’s Day game he will never forget.
The first in a new series on Visionaries, Bridgitt Evans of VIA Art Fund demonstrates what compassionate engagement and direct action look like in this fragile moment. “I know, right now, in every town in America, artists are putting their minds, hands, bodies and voices to work to communicate our fears, heartbreak and rage.”
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.
A little style inspiration for Mother’s Day 2020 (possibly the weirdest Mother’s Day yet). Alisa Neely shows us how to dress for the day like the Queen you are.
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.
The daughter of two creative legends in very different fields, jewelry and accessories designer Jessica Kagan Cushman comes by her artistic talent naturally. Friend and author Lenore Shannon poses four questions from a safe distance of at least six to find out what the artist has been up to during lockdown. Just in time for Mother’s Day.
Reflecting on her experience slowing down and enjoying an empty calendar during the shutdown, blogger, mum and UK transplant Anne Buckley asks, “are we learning lessons just to lose them?”
As we near the end of National Poetry Month, two new poems by James Baldwin about slowing down and appreciating the beauty that’s been there all along. It just looks different now.
