The Art Assignment

channel · in 43 videos (2013–2026)

Sarah's PBS Digital show, made with John, in which she visits artists around the country who give viewers art assignments; it premiered in 2014. Sarah left her Indianapolis Museum of Art job to host it, and in 2026 John counted it among Complexly's shows.

Includes: Emotional Furniture, Imprint Highlights

Videos by year: 2013: 2 · 2014: 12 · 2015: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2019: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2021: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2026: 2

Also known as: Art Assignment, Art Cooking

Threads

• John asks viewers to subscribe to The Art Assignment (2013) — ask, promotion (not a request), 2013–2015
• The Art Assignment: Sarah's PBS Digital Studios show (2013) — project history, last documented in 2020 (looked back on in 2023), 2013–2023
• John invites viewers to do The Art Assignment's meet-in-the-middle assignment with a friend and share it (2014) — asked in 2014; no response reported, 2014
• John (with Sarah): host regular livestreams on Vlogbrothers and The Art Assignment, starting the next day (2020) — promise, open (updates through 2020, not reported done), 2020

Also named in the threads: The brothers known as each other's brother: 'John Green's brother' and 'Hank Green's brother' (2007) · Mental Floss YouTube channel, made with John and Hank (2013) · SciShow Kids: launch of the science channel for young kids (2015) · John asks viewers to like his video to test the one-like-per-ten-views ratio (2020) · John: the Vlogbrothers like-to-view ratio will revert to the mean (2020)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Sarah Urist Green (30) · SciShow Space (2) · You Are an Artist (3) · Dave Green (2) · Crash Course (8) · doobly-doo (5) · Facebook (3) · The Fault in Our Stars (film) (3) · YouTube (7) · Tumblr (3)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2013

• 2013-09-24 · Started from the Bottom: Benjamin Franklin and Drake Compared — announcement: In the description John says he and his wife Sarah are working together on a new show called The Art Assignment. — video description
  • John says The Art Assignment, his new show with his wife Sarah, is produced and distributed by PBS Digital, and asks viewers to subscribe. — video description
• 2013-10-22 · Question Tuesday: The Fault in Our Stars Movie Edition — announcement: John: Sarah is leaving her job at the Indianapolis Museum of Art to curate and host The Art Assignment, a show with PBS Digital; John jokes he should have said so weeks ago. — 00:02:26

2014

• 2014-01-24 · The Naughty Professor: Hank and John at the Beach - REUNION! — announcement: John says the first episode of The Art Assignment comes out in late February and asks viewers to subscribe via the doobly-doo link. — 00:00:48
• 2014-02-21 · Ranting about Books — announcement: Hank announces the first episode of The Art Assignment is online now and asks viewers to go to youtube.com/theartassignment and watch it. — 00:03:45
• 2014-02-25 (said on 2014-02-22, implied) · John and Chris Meet in the Middle — ask: The description invites viewers to join The Art Assignment and lists the rules: pick a friend, find the exact midpoint, agree a time, don't communicate until you meet, document and share it. — video description
  • John announces that Sarah's new PBS show, The Art Assignment, has just premiered: she visits working artists around the country, gives art-historical context, and they set an art assignment. — 00:00:36
  • John's assignment: pick a friend and meet that person at the exact geographical midpoint between them; he and his best friend Chris chose each other and must get there by 2 o'clock. — 00:00:47
• 2014-03-11 · Question Tuesday: TFIOS Movie, Existential Crises, and Symbolism — John says participating in The Art Assignment is the most fun he has had in a long time, like early Vlogbrothers: a tight-knit community doing projects and responding to each other's work. — 00:01:36
• 2014-03-25 · I Gotta Go: Signing Off and Thinking about Inspiration — recommendation: John points viewers to The Art Assignment video in which he and Sarah talk about the definition of art. — video description
• 2014-03-28 · New Album, New Channels, New Fabric, New Internet Thing! — announcement: Hank presents The Art Assignment, a project with PBS and Sarah Green that brings culture to YouTube, launched before How to Adult. — 00:01:29
• 2014-05-27 · ALL THE SHIRTS (and some paths to community) — announcement: John: Sarah's new show The Art Assignment is going great, with a new assignment from artist Kate Gilmore and a thriving community making everything from gifs to sculptures. — 00:02:11
• 2014-06-24 · In Pursuit of Quiet — John describes The Art Assignment as a cool PBS show about contemporary art starring his wife and, to a much lesser extent, himself. — 00:00:15
• 2014-09-30 · Keeping it EVEN REALER — John asks whether he should focus on Mental Floss, Crash Course, The Art Assignment, Vlogbrothers or the Wimbly Womblys, and whether doing all of them means doing none well. (unsure) — 00:01:38
• 2014-11-07 · New Crash Course and Pizzamas! — announcement: Hank announces a significantly larger relationship with PBS Digital Studios that will basically double Crash Course content; PBS is likewise viewer-funded and partnered with them on Frankenstein MD and The Art Assignment. — 00:02:18
• …and 7 statements more in 2014 — all statements of 2014

Also named in: Jelly Face, Sharpie Face, Peanut Butter Face, and Mummy Dancers: The 2014 Project for Awesome

2015

• 2015-02-03 (said on 2015-01-30, implied) · Beards, Birds, and the Paper Towns Release Date: Question Tuesday! — recommendation: John's favorite Art Assignment video is Christoph Niemann's Emotional Furniture; he also enjoyed the Highlights video in which he made prints with Sarah. — 00:01:16
• 2015-03-24 · Is Obamacare Working? The Affordable Care Act Five Years Later — John says the ACA does not seem to hurt the job market and has brought labor-market freedom: Sarah Green could leave her insurance-providing museum job to start an art show with PBS Digital. (hedged) — 00:04:22
• 2015-05-12 · Becoming Someone Else — John explains that he and Sarah make The Art Assignment with PBS Digital: they visit contemporary artists around the country who give viewers art assignments. — 00:00:17
  • John loves that The Art Assignment makes him do and think about unusual things; here, what has and hasn't changed in the last few years. — 00:03:04
  • John thanks Tameka Norris and asks viewers to check out The Art Assignment's many assignments and videos about contemporary art. — 00:03:22
• …and 1 statement more in 2015 — all statements of 2015

2016

• 2016-07-19 · Pretty Bad Ways to Start a Conversation — recommendation: John calls Sarah's Art Assignment video The Case for Kanye West brilliant; since watching it he has listened more carefully to Kanye's music. — 00:00:02
• 2016-08-30 · My Body Is a Broken Temple — John says in the almost five years since The Fault in Our Stars, Crash Course, The Art Assignment, Alice and some movies happened, but he has not published a new book. — 00:02:20
• 2016-09-13 · YouTube's New Thing (and a New Thing of Our Own) — John says they have always had to build homes off YouTube for non-video community stuff: Art Assignment submissions go via other sites, Crash Course lacks worksheets, and P4A needs social media. — 00:01:19
• 2016-09-20 · Failing to Follow Up The Fault in Our Stars — John says writing had become miserable, and as he gave more time to Crash Course and The Art Assignment he realized he has amazing work he is lucky to do. (hedged) — 00:02:19
• 2016-10-04 · Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London — announcement: John says Mark was filming the day for The Art Assignment, so an 'Art Trip: London' video like this one, but much better, is coming soon. — 00:00:27

2017

• 2017-08-08 · What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy — John says they are in Venice to film the Venice Biennale, a huge art show, for The Art Assignment, Sarah's PBS show; filming starts tomorrow. — 00:00:25

2018

• 2018-01-02 · BRING IT IN 2018 — recommendation: John praises Art Cooking, a series on Sarah's PBS Digital channel The Art Assignment (e.g. Salvador Dali's crawfish tower), for teaching food and cooking together with art. — 00:00:27
• 2018-04-10 · Who Do Tax Breaks Benefit? — John says Sarah made a brilliant Art Assignment video last week (week of 2 April 2018) on how extremely wealthy people sometimes use art collecting to avoid taxation, which prompted this video. — 00:00:00
  • John highly recommends Sarah's Art Assignment video on the shocking truth about art and taxes. — 00:03:37

2019

• 2019-01-08 · I Quit Social Media. Here's How It's Going — John has more time: he wrote an Art Assignment video about Agnes Martin, and spends more time with his family. — 00:01:33
• 2019-03-05 · Way, Way Down the Rabbit Hole — announcement: John: Sarah asked John to make an Art Assignment video about the picture, Three Young Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, taken by German photographer August Sander in 1914; he agreed and began researching. — 00:00:00
  • John tells the whole story, as far as he knows it, in the Art Assignment video linked in the doobly-doo. — 00:02:55
• 2019-03-26 · Optimism and Spider People: Question Tuesday from the Looking for Alaska Set — John's favorite Catholic saint is probably St. Francis, but Sister Corita Kent would be his favorite if canonized, as a recent Art Assignment video explains. (hedged) — 00:01:57
• 2019-07-09 · Life Hacks My Wife Taught Me — recommendation: John recommends decorating your walls, which he once thought an unnecessary expense: album art, prints made with an Art Assignment video, or student art shows; it enriches indoor life. — 00:02:26
• 2019-09-10 · Another Contender in the Room — John says he has read and helped edit Sarah's writing, including the wall labels she wrote as a museum curator and the Art Assignment videos she now writes for her PBS Digital series. — 00:00:58
  • John says the book gathers assignments Sarah commissioned from artists for The Art Assignment plus many new assignments and essays on how contemporary artists work. — 00:02:26
• …and 1 statement more in 2019 — all statements of 2019

2020

• 2020-03-03 · Consciously Experiencing Human Dignity — recommendation: John says Sarah and Complexly producer Brandon Brungard made a brilliant Art Assignment video last week (week of 24 February 2020), The Case for Video Games, and viewers should watch it. — 00:00:00
  • Asked in comments how the like/view ratio is holding up, John says it holds incredibly well on the Art Assignment video; here it is still a little off because people are conscious of it, but reverting to the mean. — creator comment
  • 33ranjit (quoted): YouTube commenter 33Ranjit wrote that Art Assignment videos look at what humans do without shirking problems but never ridicule others: exercises in consciously experiencing human dignity. — 00:00:29
  • John loves Art Assignment videos for finding ways to do that, from artists who get little critical attention to art forms like video games often treated as not proper art. — 00:01:56
  • John says that over six years Sarah has shown millions what is important about the art world, and shown the art world what is important about the rest of the world. — 00:01:56
• 2020-03-17 · together. — announcement: John says that starting tomorrow he and Sarah will host regular livestreams on Vlogbrothers and The Art Assignment channel, drinking a little wine and making a little art. — 00:02:55
• 2020-04-03 · 11 Little Tips for Better Video Chat (For Teachers...and Everybody Else) — Hank says he didn't foresee that these channels and others like The Art Assignment, Healthcare Triage and SciShow Kids would suddenly become more useful during a pandemic, since he didn't think there would be one. — 00:00:12
• 2020-04-07 · I am an artist. — recommendation: John says viewers can still do the Art Assignment free on YouTube, where many of the book's assignments began, and links a playlist. — 00:03:05
• 2020-05-19 · Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun — announcement: In a comment John says he will do a livestream about PIH's work in Sierra Leone later in the week, plus an evening livestream. — creator comment
• …and 1 statement more in 2020 — all statements of 2020

Also named in: The Utah Monolith, What It Means, Why It Matters, and Whether It's Aliens

2021

• 2021-12-01 · Loving the Loves of Your Loves — recommendation: John notes Sarah made a fascinating Art Assignment video about that painting and why it is art-historically significant. — 00:01:27

2022

• 2022-08-02 · Liberty Leading the People: How Revolutions Turn — recommendation: In a comment, John recommends Sarah's Art Assignment discussion of the painting's symbolic imagery and the political courage required to paint it. — creator comment

2023

• 2023-12-24 · John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated — announcement: John says the first episode of The Art Assignment comes out in late February (2014). — 01:34:23

2025

• 2025-12-16 · John Green's Brother — John says in real life he is Hank Green's brother: at an art show last week (week of 8 December 2025) someone recognised Sarah from The Art Assignment and asked if she was married to the brother. (playful) — 00:00:29

2026

• 2026-02-14 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! — recommendation: John says he found out about Alexei Leonov's art through an Art Assignment video called Art in Space, and that The Art Assignment remains maybe his all-time favorite YouTube channel. (hedged) — 06:48:20
• 2026-05-26 · Hank Green Is a Fool — John says that in 2011 he and Hank founded Complexly, which has made lots of educational content, from Bizarre Beasts to The Art Assignment to SciShow to Crash Course. — 00:00:58