Read: https://artspiel.org/interview-with-daina-higgins-on-graffiti-risk-and-the-art-of-impermanence/

I was honored to be interviewed by the independent curator Michele Jaslow of Radar Curatorial on "Graffiti, Risk, and the Art of Impermanence". The interview is accompanied by a video produced by author and photographer Daniel Paterna and published in the online independent journal Art Spiel. 

It was a pleasure to host author and photographer Daniel Paterna and Michele Jaslow in my Sunset Park studio in December, 2025. Daniel really captured the essence of my ideas and inspirations, as well as the overall mood of my space. This video, "In the Studio with Daina Higgins", is featured in my Artspiel.org interview with Michele Jaslow, "Interview with Daina Higgins: On Graffiti, Risk, and the Art of Impermanence".

I was honored to be featured on Haystack Art's "In Conversation" blog series, where I discuss my inspirations for my Blackbook I and Blackbook II print edition with Haystack, a fine art print publisher.

"In Conversation with Daina Higgins, Who Will Always Have a Canvas Outside"

I was honored to be interviewed for Issue 012 of the "OnTV" Artist Insight Interview series by Thomas VanDyke, of Thomas VanDyke Gallery in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

J&M STUDIOS Spring Open Studios 2026

_{This event is a two-day exhibition of international contemporary art, showcasing the work of current residency and studio artists within our growing creative community. Co-presented with NARS Foundation, the event invites the public to meet over 40 artists and engage with a wide range of artistic practices and perspectives. Visitors are welcomed into the intimacy of the studio environment, offering a glimpse into the evolving creative processes of the artists who shape our community.}

Studio #407

201 46th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11220

Directions: J&M STUDIOS is two express subway stops from Manhattan. Take the “N” or “D” to 36 St. Transfer to the “R” one stop to 45 St. Walk to 46th Street then make a right and walk down 46th street to the building on the corner of 46th street and 2nd Ave on the right.

Hands On A Studio Exhibition by the Long Island City Studio Collective Opening Friday, April 24, 5-7pm Please join me! For our Long Island City Studio Collective's Studio Exhibition, Hands On Opening Reception: Friday, April 24, 5–7 PM On View: Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26, 10 AM–6 PM 21-16 40th Ave, 4th Floor Long Island City, NY 11101 Directions: One block from the M Train stop (F on weekends) at 21st-Queensbridge, five blocks from the 7/N/W stop at Queensboro Plaza. Entrance is on 40th Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets. The studio is a walk up stairs to the 4th floor. Contact me directly for elevator assistance. Artists: Elham Bayati, Katie Davis, Sarah Fairchild, Adrian Hatfield, Erika b Hess, Daina Higgins, Julie Himel, Heather Jones, Kurt Lightner, Jodi Lightner, Kira Nam Greene, Hannah Rotwein, Amy Sacksteder, Laura Sanders Hands On is a studio exhibition featuring the work of painters, sculptors, and artists working in textile and mixed media from the Long Island City Studio Collective. For each of these artists, making is a physical act, an engagement with material shaped directly by the hand. With the accelerating influence of artificial intelligence on so many aspects of our lives, this hand-built realm remains outside AI’s domain. These works carry within them evidence of the artist’s body, its rhythms, hesitations, decisions, and touch. Hands On proposes that the act of making is not merely a means to an image, but that it transmutes the work with a bodily intelligence, a somatic knowledge that remains uniquely human. www.licstudiocollective.com www.dainahiggins.com Image: Detail of Keeping The Family Together, 2024, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 33 x 25 inches @licstudios2116 @laurasandersstudio @bitterdrinksforoldmen @sarahfairchildstudio @erikabhess @adrianhatfieldart @dainahiggins_studio @heatherjonesstudio @jodilightner @hannah_rotwein @elybayati @amysacksteder_studio @juliehimel @kiranamgreene @kdavisstudio

I am thrilled to have a work on paper in Palladium/Athena Project Space’s inaugural work on paper exhibition! Study for Keeping the Family Together, 11x8.5 inches, Acrylic, colored pencil, and ballpoint pen on 100% cotton rag paper, 2024, $750 USD, framed in a custom shadow box frame (frame size 16x12 inches). DM @palladium.athena.project for purchase

I am participating in the Fall 2025 Sunset Park Open Studios in Sunset Park, Brooklyn! I am in the J&M / NARS Foundation building on the corner of 46th Street and 2nd Avenue. Our building houses studios for over fifty local and international artists. Please note that my studio is #407, which is a walk up stairs to the fourth floor.

Friday, October 17th, 6 - 9 PM
Saturday, October 18th, 1 - 5 PM
Sunday, October 19th, 1 - 5 PM

Daina Higgins Studio
Studio #407
J&M Studios
201 46th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11220

Directions: NARS is two express subway stops from Manhattan. Take the “N” or “D” to 36 St. Transfer to the “R” one stop to 45 St. Walk to 46th Street then make a right and walk down 46th street to the building on the corner of 46th street and 2nd Ave on the right.

100 WORKS ON PAPER
KENTLER BENEFIT EXHIBITION

Exhibition on view: September 20 - October 17
Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 5pm

Kick-off Party: Saturday, Sept. 20, 4 - 6pm
BENEFIT: Saturday, October 18, 6pm

More than 100 original drawings and works on paper donated in support of our annual Benefit, celebrating 35 years! The exhibition will open with a public reception on September 20th, then remain on view for three weeks prior to the ticketed event on October 18th.

All Benefit proceeds support our 2025 Exhibitions & Events, Kentler Flatfiles and K.I.D.S. Art Education. In addition to funding these vital nonprofit programs, the Benefit showcases the incredible talent of our international artist community. THANK YOU for your generosity!

BENEFIT EVENT INFORMATION:
PURCHASE ONE TICKET • CHOOSE ONE WORK OF ART!
$300 individual / $350 couple
Tickets are limited! (check back soon for link to purchase)

HOW IT WORKS:
• Ticket Holders DRAW A NUMBER upon arrival at 6pm.
• When your number is called, you CHOOSE ONE WORK OF ART from the wall!
• In the meantime, bid on silent auction items, enjoy delicious local fare and celebrate with fellow Kentler supporters!

I wrote a short editorial, "In Praise of Colored Mud", about the enduring appeal of painting in the age of artificial intelligence for (the)Magazine, a print and digital magazine organized by Trudy Giordano. The volume 3 issue of (the)Magazine is thematically centered around AI. A full e-pub or print copy can be purchased here.

Jonathan Stevenson's essay, "Daina Higgins: At Home With Discord", is published on Two Coats of Paint. The essay originally appearing in the catalogue, Growing Up Graffiti.

Belonging: The Long Island City Studio Collective

April 10 – June 13th, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 10, 5-7pm
Contemporary Art Matters
243 N 5th Street, Suite 110
Columbus, OH 43215

NYC Counterpart, Open Studio Reception:

Tuesday, May 6th, 10am-6pm

2116 40th Avenue, 4th Floor

Long Island City, NY 11101

info@contemporaryartmatters.com

From the Press Release:

Belonging: The Long Island City Studio Collective

Co-curated by Rebecca Ibel and Laura Sanders

Participating Artists: Elham Bayati, Laura Bidwa, Sarah Fairchild, Adrian Hatfield,

Erika b Hess, Daina Higgins, Dion Johnson, Heather Jones, Kurt Lightner, Jodi Lightner, Nikos Rutkowski, Amy Sacksteder, Laura Sanders and Johnny Taylor.

Contemporary Art Matters is pleased to present Belonging: The Long Island City Studio Collective, an exhibition featuring the work of fourteen painters from this New York City collective. The show will be on view at the gallery’s 243 N 5th Street, Columbus, OH location, April 10- May 30th with an opening reception on Thursday, April 10th, 5-7 PM. In addition, a special LIC studio exhibition will take place during the first week of May, with a May 6th reception at the studio’s 2116 40th Ave., Long Island City, Queens location.

Belonging: The Long Island City Studio Collective, celebrates the power of solidarity between artists. By establishing a presence in NYC, the collective members gain access to a thriving arts community and the vast cultural opportunities of one of the world’s most influential artistic centers. Housed in a centuries-old former factory in Queens, the studio collective equips artists to strengthen their role within the larger art world by welcoming visits from gallerists, curators, and collectors. It serves not only as a workspace but also as a professional hub. Founded in 2021 by Kurt Lightner and Laura Sanders, the collective emerged from a shared ambition to create a dedicated space beyond the artists’ home bases to cultivate new opportunities for increased visibility and career growth. With members hailing from diverse geographical regions, the studio fosters connections that extend beyond local communities, expanding the members' cultural networks.

Inspired by the resilience and ingenuity that arise from artistic kinship, this exhibition presents dynamic works reflecting a spectrum of creative visions, all bound by a spirit of camaraderie that provides fuel for an artist’s lifelong practice. An artist’s journey is uniquely unconventional, yet one constant may be the network of support formed through creative communities. Collectives have long served as both a remedy for isolation and a means of sharing resources. With the establishment of The Long Island City Studio Collective, these artist allies have nurtured a space for collaboration, resource-sharing, and mutual encouragement, where they can belong to the conversation within a vibrant, global art scene.

Coinciding with the exhibition, Contemporary Art Matters is delighted to release Growing Up Graffiti, a catalog featuring new paintings by Daina Higgins, accompanied by an essay about her work by Jonathan Stevenson, a contributing writer for The New York Times and Two Coats of Paint. Higgins’ work reflects her personal engagement with graffiti culture and a fascination with forgotten urban sites, places unguarded from the expressive hand of a spray-paint-wielding artist. In this exhibition, Higgins revisits her formative roots in graffiti while incorporating its hallmark medium, spray paint, into her compositions. In the title painting, Growing Up Graffiti, a glowing neon tag beckons to us from under a freeway overpass. Its intensity is challenged by the last rays of sunset and the eye of the moon peering out from behind wisps of suggested curtains, subtly veiling the scene. Her vivid and layered approach to painting echoes the overlapping nature of memory. 

Opens Thursday, September 26, 5-7 PM. More info here: https://contemporaryartmatters.com/flora-and-fauna/#

August 17th - 22nd

FREE! RSVP Required. RSVP here: https://www.intoaction2024.com/

Resolution Studios

2226 W. Walnut Street

Chicago, IL 60612