About On Art
On Art is an Emmy Award–winning film and art studio founded by painter and filmmaker Viviane Silvera.
Based in New York City, the studio creates hand-painted documentaries, immersive installations, and public programs exploring memory, identity, trauma, and the relationship between art and neuroscience.
Our films combine original painting, animation, archival materials, and personal storytelling to make the invisible processes of memory visible.
On Art's PBS documentary SEE MEMORY won the 2026 NY Emmy Award for Directing, following three Emmy nominations, and received the 2025 Telly Award for 2D Animation.
Building on this work, the studio is developing two new documentaries, THE MEMORY LOOPHOLE and PROJECTING ALEPPO, extending its exploration of memory into personal and family histories.
FEATURED — WHITEHOT MAGAZINE Artist Viviane Silvera Explores the Visual Language of Memory
Paintings in Motion
Our primary medium is the hand-painted film. Each project is composed of paintings animated frame by frame. By reducing cinema to its most essential gesture—the painted mark—we create moving images that foreground process, perception, and time. The result is not simply film, but a material experience of thought and memory unfolding on screen.
Installations & Exhibitions
We collaborate with museums, universities, and public institutions to bring our work into immersive environments, including:
Multi-channel or room-scale installations
Large-scale projection mapping
Immersive screenings with live discussions
Solo and group exhibitions
Past presentations include the UCLA Semel Institute, Yale University, Art Basel Miami, the Edward Hopper House Museum, and additional academic and cultural venues.
Programs & Public Engagement
On Art produces workshops, courses, and speaker events that connect our creative work with audiences in education, mental health, and community settings.
Our offerings include:
University programs exploring visual storytelling, memory studies, and trauma
Corporate wellness and professional development talks focused on creativity and cognitive resilience
Online classes centered on the artistry behind film
Educational and reflective arts-based sessions in clinical or therapeutic settings
While our programs draw on research in memory and neuroscience, they are educational and reflective in nature and do not constitute clinical treatment.
Recognition
On Art’s work has been recognized for its distinctive approach to hand-painted filmmaking, neuroscience storytelling, and public engagement. See Memory, created from more than 30,000 individually hand-painted frames, is a three-time New York Emmy-nominated PBS film and a 2025 Telly Award winner for 2D Animation.
Silvera’s films and installations have been licensed, presented, or collected by institutions including Vanderbilt University, Duke University, Tufts University, Vassar College, Columbia University, UCLA Semel Institute, Yale University, Art Week Berlin, and a range of museums and academic institutions.
Our Approach
On Art operates at the intersection of rigorous studio practice and interdisciplinary research. We collaborate with neuroscientists, clinicians, storytellers, and art institutions to produce work that is both aesthetically driven and intellectually grounded.
Above all, we are committed to creating visual experiences that help audiences see memory—not as static record, but as something dynamic, expressive, and capable of transformation.
