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Some paintings have the power to make art come alive, buta new activation this week willtruly makebrushstrokes jump off the canvas.

In honor of the late American painter Edward Hopper's birthday (he wouldbe 142 years old!), the Meatpacking District is hosting a series of 3-D interactive painting installations that you can become a part of. The free event, titled "Step Into Hopper" pays homage tothree of the artist'srenowned works from July 19 through July 22 in Gansevoort Plaza (38 Gansevoort St.)

RECOMMENDED:Five of the coolest things to see at this years Whitney Biennial

In this first-of-its-kind event, see life-size re-creations of Nighthawks, Soir Bleu, and Early Sunday Morning. Youll be able to pose with these recognizable works and createyour own interpretations of theart with the help of live performers. Activities begin at 1pm on Friday, July 19, then run all day Saturday-Monday, before wrapping up at 5pm on Tuesday, July 23.

The activation, hosted by Meatpacking BID, was created in partnership with The Whitney Museum of American Art, whichis home to the most Edward Hopper works of any museum worldwide.The museum celebrates the artists July 22 birthdayevery year as a tribute to his impact on American art.Hopper was one of themost prominent realist painters of 20th-century America and is widely known for his depictions of the urban and rural American experience.

Take a seat inside Hoppers iconic diner scene, complete with a live barista serving coffee from a neighborhood vendor on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21, from 11am onward while supplies last.

Transporting visitors into Hoppers introspective take on French caf culture, a clown performer will be present on Friday, July 19, Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 to set the scene.

Step off the bustling streets of present-day New York City and into the stillness of this portrait of Seventh Avenue in the 1930s all weekend.

If you want to see the original paintings of "Soir Bleu" and "Early Sunday Morning," head to the Whitney where they're currently on view.After viewing his art at the Whitney, you can make some art of your own and even explore a map showing NYC spots he painted.

For the more athletic art lovers, there's even a 60-mile round-trip bike ride from the Whitney Museum to the Hopper House in Nyack.

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You can step into Edward Hoppers paintings in NYCs Meatpacking District this weekend - Time Out

Riviera Coast Scene,Winston Churchill, circa 1935 Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert

During his downtime, Winston Churchill had a hobby: The celebrated statesman was an avid amateur painter.

Now, an exhibition in California is spotlighting the former British prime ministers artistic side. Ten of his works are on display at Winston Churchill: Making Art, Making History, which is open at Heather James Fine Art in Palm Desert.

Not only was Churchill one of the greatest statesmen of the modern era, but his personal foray into painting showcased his inner workings with resulting artworks that are technically adept and aesthetically beautiful, says Jim Carona, the gallerys co-founder, in a statement. These works read like pages out of his diary, mementos of the moments and places that were meaningful to one of the most important men of his day.

The ten images, which have never been publicly displayed, come from the largest private collection of Churchills works outside of the United Kingdom. They include landscapes, seascapes, a still life and an interior portraitall bursting with vibrant color.

Churchill took up painting in 1915, when he was 40, according to the gallerys website. Following a disastrous military campaign during World War I, his sister-in-law,Lady Gwendoline, handed him a brush and suggested he try his hand at art.

Painting became a passion that Churchill would return to for the rest of his life. He took inspiration from Impressionists and Post-Impressionists such asJohn Singer Sargent andPaul Czanne. Like many of them, he enjoyed painting en plein air.

The self-taught artist was open to experimenting with new styles and dedicated to improving his technique. In his 1948 bookPainting as a Pastime, he described how he meticulously honed his craft.

I had hitherto painted the sea flat, with long, smooth strokes of mixed pigment in which the tints varied only by gradations. Now, I must try to represent it by innumerable small separate lozenge-shaped points and patches of coloroften pure colorso that it looked more like a tessellated pavement than a marine picture.

He also reflected on the experience of coming to painting later in life.

To have reached the age of 40 without ever handling a brush or fiddling with a pencil, to have regarded with mature eye the painting of pictures of any kind as a mystery, to have stood agape before the chalk of the pavement artist, and then suddenly to find oneself plunged in the middle of a new and intense form of interest and action with paints and palettes and canvases, and not to be discouraged by results, is an astonishing and enriching experience. I hope it may be shared by others.

The politician rarely sold his works. Instead, he kept them in his home or gave them to friends, colleagues and even some famous figures. Recipients of Churchills work included Elizabeth II and several American presidents, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, among others.

Winston Churchill: Making Art, Making History isnt the California gallerys first showcase of the statesmans work. Six years ago, the gallery, which has a close working relationship with the Churchill family, staged a different show featuring ten of his paintings.

Churchill created over 500 artworks in his lifetime. According to the gallery, he painted about half of them in the 1930sjust before his first term as prime minister began in 1940. Some even believe that his art influenced his work.

Although painting was just a hobby, Churchill learned new skills which he used in his political and diplomatic life, saidDuncan Sandys, Churchills great-grandson, in a 2018 statement. It gave him a sanctuary during adversity and, I believe, made him more effective in 1940 as Hitler prepared to invade Britain.

Winston Churchill: Making Art, Making History is on view at Heather James Fine Art in Palm Desert, California, through December 31.

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Check Out Ten Never-Before-Seen Paintings by Winston Churchill - Smithsonian Magazine

Art, they say, is in the eye of the beholder.

Depends on the beholder I suppose, but I see nothing of any merit, originality, or genuine provocation in a painting called Jesus Speaks to the Daughters of Jerusalem, that depicts Jesus on the road to Calvary, disfigured with a Looney Tunes cartoon face.

The artist, who goes by the name of philjames reckons his work is allegedly about, reimagining and re-presenting historical painting and sculptural forms to generate a sense both of the familiar and the uncomfortable through the displacement of notions of time, place, and history combined with the seemingly seamless interweaving of somewhat obscured pop-cultural references. Yeah, right!

Im all for making people think again about long-assumed images, and that certainly includes Christians, but this offering seems more Emperors new clothes than cutting-edge and constructive commentary. In other words, totally naked, in all sorts of ways.

In Sydney, Australia, where the picture was displayed, there was an organised and active protest, to the point where the picture was eventually removed. A Roman Catholic group named Christian Lives Matter launched the campaign, and called the paintingshocking disrespectful art. The artist and workers at the gallery claim that theyve received numerous abusive calls and letters and even threats of physical violence. If so, thats repugnant.

The founder of Christian Lives Matter, Chris Bakhos, thanked the hundreds of supporters who had respectfully called for the work to be removed and said that the picture was, another cheap and low attempt at mocking Christianity.

For many years now there has been an open season on Christianity, in art, literature, television, film, and theatre. We are widely mocked and criticised in popular culture. There are many reasons for that, one being that the consequences of having a pop at Christians/Christianity are either positive or harmless. Theres prestige in mocking what is still considered part of the establishment, and in spite of what some may claim, the possibility of physical violence or career damage is minimal.

The obvious contrast here is with Islam. Ive interviewed Salman Rushdie, author of the Satanic Verses, who was attacked and almost murdered, KurtWestergaard, the Danish cartoonist who drew the picture of Muhammad wearing a bomb in his turban, and lived the rest of his life under police protection, and others who have felt the sting of religious extremist intolerance. So, theres clearly inconsistency if not hypocrisy on display, and also a certain smugness.

The obvious contrast here is with Islam

But all that being said, the Jesus-like response to any controversial issue is based not on the failings of others but on the call of the Gospel. Were made by God to worship and to love, to celebrate the heart set free, but also to relish all that is given to us, and that certainly includes art and literature. The vocation of the Christian is not to limit but to broaden our vision, not to be reactive but pro-active. The Church has been the hand-maiden of creativity, whether it be the magnificence of the renaissance, the literature of Dostoyevsky and Tolkien, or even Monty Pythons Life of Brian.

If the last seems out of place, let me explain. The very freedoms, the very openness, that allows what seems to be mockery of the faith is a product of the precise Christianity that seems so under siege. Such authentic liberty would never exist in an atheistic society witness the former Soviet Union, Maoist China, National Socialist Germany or various Islamic states. The paradox that these ostensible radicals fail to appreciate is that the license they enjoy is a consequence of what they appear to despise.

The paradox that these ostensible radicals fail to appreciate is that the license they enjoy is a consequence of what they appear to despise

As for the works themselves, we have to differentiate. Anything that obliges me to think deeper about my faith is to be welcomed, even if it does sometimes hurt. Nobody welcomes a trip to the doctor but it doesnt mean we dont have to go.

Take the above-mentioned Life of Brian for example. There were demonstrations back in 1979 and the film actually banned in certain places. But today when we watch it, we see not Jesus mocked at all, but a biting rejection of collective foolishness, herd mentality, and not listening when truth is spoken. Much of the Christian response at the time was shameful.

Jesus with a fatuous cartoon face isnt the same thing at all, does nothing to make us think, and is insulting rather than constructive. My response, for what its worth, would be to politely ask the artist or the museum director out for lunch or a coffee, to explain what the Christian faith means, to talk about how fellow believers in so much of the world face daily persecution, the horror of blasphemy laws, and how we feel when we see what we hold so dear insulted for no apparent reason. It might work, it might not. But then we have to have faith, dont we?

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Remove this disrespectful painting, said the Christians. But what would Jesus do? - Premier Christianity

LEXINGTON, Kentucky In between receiving her MFA and becoming an assistant professor of painting at the University of Louisville, Megan Bickel took an unusual detour for a career artist, earning an MA in Digital Studies in Language, Culture and History at the University of Chicago.

I share this information because I think knowing Bickels twin pursuits makes her work more readable, if not fully knowable.Knowledge, visual perception, and the disruption of both by new technologies are at the heart of the artists current exhibition, Orgonon, at Institute 193. Together, her 12 recent paintings all firmly ensconced in both the digital and the tactile convey a vibrant and disquieting sense of what it feels like to be alive right now: to witness a flourishing of creativity amid war and environmental destruction and to sense an uneasiness with artificial intelligence even as weve come to depend on it in our daily lives and interactions.

Bickel begins the works by digitally collaging her own photography, often selecting textural imagery, such as cloudscapes, grass, and trees, or sequined, mesh, and holographic fabrics. She reproduces the collages on canvas with an inkjet printer before mounting them on hardboard; she then intervenes with oil and acrylic paints, sometimes in thick globs and other times with an almost translucent lightness. Additional materials, such as hydraulic cement or holographic cellophane, amplify the works physicality or further confound the viewers visual perception.

In the shows titular work, a rough-edged triangle sits askew in a bed of tall green grasses. The digital image of a clouded sky fills the triangle, transforming it into a portal to another dimension, while a pixelated camouflage pattern at the bottom edge suggests an encroaching military presence or, perhaps, the potential for digital images to become corrupted into unreadable grids of color.

I had assumed Bickel had created the illusion using Photoshop, but the triangular area is actually a piece of reflective fabric that the artist had placed in the grass and then photographed. The clouds were not digital manipulations at all, but rather the sky reflected in the fabric. (The camouflage pattern appeared on the fabrics reverse.) That I was so ready to accept the image as a fake felt unsettling to me.

Bickels painterly interventions in Orgonon are minimal a line of green tracing a long blade of grass, some curves around the perimeter. But she also paints on the sides of the panel, which indicates a desire to draw the viewer back into the material realm, to remind us that this is, indeed, a physical object.

A much bolder application of paint features in I write because I cannot paint (2024), with its pronounced stripes of dark brown, tan, and green, and thick ribbons of Pepto Bismol pink dancing across a pastoral inkjet background. Small sections of yellow appear at first to be paint, but could also be fabric placed in the field. The work, with its playful abstractions floating across a photographed landscape, conjures notions of augmented reality.

Other works, however, resist such easy associations. Once I saw a war comic and the guns went budda budda budda and wham. My rifle was actually more like krang (2024) gently evokes the sea through sequined fabric that shimmers like the scales of a fish, as well as hundreds of small, iridescent pink brushstrokes that seem to move like a school in the ocean, and graceful arcs of deep green paint. But a smooth golden form and daubs of electric pink paint around the edges of the canvas prevent the work from becoming a mere oceanscape. Is the golden rock talisman or trash? Does the shocking pink represent toxic slime?

Similarly, in Fishbrain, what do you think about, when your kitchens on fire (2024), muted sequins glimmer inside an area thats been masked off to resemble a Zen-like stack of rocks. Peaceful, except that after enough time the aqueous layer of micaceous iron oxide starts to recall an oil spill slowly coating the ocean life with its slick, malevolent sheen.

According to the gallery statement, Bickels research assesses how Google Vision API [] would impact the fate of climate reporting due to current labeling production design. If a computer doesnt recognize that an image represents an effect of climate change, then is it even happening? What if our perception becomes so distorted that we no longer see the extent to which a digital hegemony is shaping our physical world? While Bickels research may attempt to answer the first question, her art responds to the second with a mesmerizing and uneasy open-endedness.

Megan Bickel: Orgonon continues at Institute 193 (193 North Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky) through July 27. The exhibition was organized by the gallery.

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Theres Something Toxic About Megan Bickels Landscapes - Hyperallergic

Todays toast of Pittsburgh sports is about to be immortalized in art.

Paul Skenes, the rookie who is the first Pirates pitcher in 49 years to start a Major League Baseball All-Star Game, will be the subject of a live acrylic painting by Baldwin Township artist Kait Schoeb at a July 26 prelude to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.

Her work during the Black Tie & Tailpipes Gala at Downtowns PPG Wintergarden is based on a photo of Skenes, who will be with his team in Arizona that evening. After its completion, the portrait will be put up for auction to benefit Grand Prix charity partners.

Originally, I was just going to do the skyline, because we wanted to have something broad to appeal to everybody, Schoeb said about the oft-captured Pittsburgh panorama.

But with Skenes performing historically significant feats on the mound for the Pirates, the gala organizing committee decided hed be an eminently suitable subject.

Then when I saw he got the All-Star game, I was like, sweet! the artist said. And then when I saw that they had him starting, I was like, oh, this is perfect. This is perfect.

As a full-time artist with her a business called Paints By Kait, Schoeb has produced portraits of plenty of prominent Pittsburgh athletes, including Sidney Crosby, Troy Polamalu, Andrew McCutchen, Hines Ward and Jaromir Jagr.

Painting people is definitely my favorite subject, and I really love realism and painting in oils, so thats kind of my bread and butter, she said.

She uses acrylics for live paintings because they allow her to finish a painting much more quickly than her preferred medium.

One of her early works in oil is of a bus driver named Kletus. Her Baldwin High School art teacher, Jane Riccardi, suggested that a photo of him would make for a good project for Schoeb to work on between 11th and 12th grades.

I didnt want to paint over my summer. Thats the last thing you want to do when youre 17 years old, she admitted. I wound up doing it, but the whole time I didnt have my teacher behind me saying, Change this. Do this. So I didnt know how people were going to react to it.

It wasnt until I came in my first day of senior year that Mrs. Riccardi almost fell off her chair.

With the portrait making such a positive impression on the teacher, She entered me into everything that she possibly could, and I wound up either winning first place or taking the entire show and getting best in show, Schoeb recalled. So thats when it hit me that I was like, oh. Im really good at this. But it still wasnt something that I thought could be a career path.

Further encouragement and recommendations came from pastel artist Linda Barnicott, best known for her paintings of Pittsburgh landmarks, including this years The Place for Smiles to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of Eatn Park.

Linda was the first person I saw who was doing artwork as an actual career and succeeding at it, Schoeb said. Ive met A-list celebrities, and thats fine. But meeting Linda, I was shaking in my boots, because Im such a huge fan of hers.

Schoeb relocated to Seattle for a while, but she returned to her hometown because of health issues within her family.

Im over the moon that Im back, over the moon in every aspect of my life, she said. Its so much better that Im here.

Through networking, she met Black Tie & Tailpipes Gala volunteer Jessie Tait, who recommended Schoeb for this years event.

And despite their subpar record for the majority of her lifetime, shes happy that her subject turned out to be a player for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Im a Buccos fan, through and through.

For more information about Paints By Kait, visit paintsbykait.com.

Harry Funk is a TribLive news editor, specifically serving as editor of the Hampton, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine Creek and Bethel Park journals. A professional journalist since 1985, he joined TribLive in 2022. You can contact Harry at hfunk@triblive.com.

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Baldwin Township artist helps launch Vintage Grand Prix with painting of Paul Skenes - TribLIVE

Since a very young age, Robert E. Bear has been interested in wildlife and nature, in what could be a case of nominative determinism, which theorizes that one's name can have an impact on their career, personality, or character. This was further reinforced by his experience exploring the woods and rivers with his cousins, who are of Native American descent, at the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Minnesota. At the age of 12, Bear took up painting, primarily focusing on wildlife, as a way to immortalize the beautiful creatures he saw.

Bear also credits his father, who was a silhouette artist, for awakening his interest in art and becoming his first art teacher. Despite his father tragically dying when Bear was eight years old, his interest in art never waned.

"I would get in trouble in school because I spent most of my time drawing instead of studying," Bear says. "Even before I graduated from high school, my mother signed me up for a correspondence course in commercial art and illustration. I completed that course before I went to the Army. After my military service, I went to college to study for a bachelor's and master's in art, then became an art teacher."

With a teaching career spanning more than three decades, most of which was spent teaching art, Bear has received multiple awards, including Who's Who In American Education (1994/95), Who's Who In America (2000), and National Honor Society Outstanding Teacher (2005).

Bear also worked as a museum exhibit specialist, and it led to him receiving a scholarship to study under Robert Bateman, who is one of the most famous wildlife painters in the world. Over the years, Bear created an impressive collection of wildlife paintings, featuring subjects such as mammals, birds, and insects in their natural habitats. The paintings range in size from 6"x9" to 52"x84". These paintings were done in a variety of mediums: oil, acrylic, gouache, and acrylic with gouache, and painted on mounted rag paper, canvas, or gessoed masonite. Most of these paintings are for sale, and Bear is open to inquiries from interested buyers.

Bear shares that he named his business Cave Bear LLC after a DNA test revealed that he had a significant amount of Neanderthal genes. Neanderthals were responsible for some of the earliest cave art, and Bear is continuing their legacy by creating depictions of nature. According to Bear, he is inspired to paint by the beauty of God's creations, so he loves spending time outdoors in nature, soaking in the scenery, and envisioning his next project. He also came up with an acronym for art, which stands for "Aesthetic Rendering of Thought".

"This definition of art applies to an extremely wide range of pursuits, such as painting, photography, cooking, music, and many more," he says. "If you can come up with an idea (thought), put it in a form (rendering) that can be appreciated in a pleasing way (aesthetic) by one or more of the five senses, then that's art."

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Robert E. Bear, Founder Of Cave Bear LLC, Showcases His Love For Nature Via Idyllic Wildlife Paintings - International Business Times

Visually dense and conceptually expansive, Space Makers: Indigenous Expression and a New American Art surveys multiple movements and styles often absent from museums of American art. The exhibition foregrounds flat, organic abstraction from midcentury New York known as Indian Space Painting amid a mix of graphic works by Native American artists from the 1960s to the present, as well as 19th-century Indigenous objects from multiple regions around the country. Interpretive text emphasizes shared visual forms among nearly three dozen works across two galleries, while motifs echo through distinct media and time periods.

Groupings of objects frequently combine examples of historic Native art, New York paintings, and contemporary Native art. One grouping revolves around a 19th-century naaxein, or Chilkat robe, with columns of trapezoids and ovals that contain multitudes: eyes, nested shapes, faces, profiles of bird heads, and a bold black line that unifies the atomized composition. An undulating mount animates the textile as if it were being danced, evoking its origins and intended use in a Tlingit community in Southeast Alaska. To the right of the robe hangs a 1944 oil painting Untitled (Don Quixote) by Robert Barrell, an artist active in New York. At left is Nathan Jacksons 1963 woodblock print Kooshta, from his student years at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. Jackson and Barrell each isolate and reposition elements of historic Northwest Coast design of the kind seen in the robe. Here, the naaxein appears as a vital source of inspiration for diverse artists working decades later in far-flung contexts.

In the late 1930s, artists such as Barrell, Steve Wheeler, and Peter Busa began to blend Picassos Cubist vision with Indigenous design principles, especially those from the Northwest Coast and Peru. These artists sought to make flat paintings without regard for figure or ground, pushing Picassos deconstructed pictorial space to a logical conclusion. In Untitled (Don Quixote), shown with the robe mentioned above, Barrell uses an energetic, sinuous line to unite an overwhelming assortment of shapes and elements from Native art, including animal profiles from the Northwest Coast, fragments of Din (Navajo) woven textiles, and ancient open-palm plaques from the Ohio River Valley.

Barrell and the others inspired a wider movement that came to be known as Indian Space Painting, in which a shared interest in flat pictorial space and Native art coalesced in a 1946 exhibition at Gallery Neuf in New York that also included Gertrude Barrer, Howard Daum, and Ruth Lewin. At the same time, a number of these artists launched Iconograph magazine, articulating a diffuse interest among New York painters in Native American art. The show includes a digital copy of the first issue.

In addition to the recognized Indian Space Painters, Space Makers includes more famous New York artists who also pursued abstraction in the 1930s and 40s. Paintings by Stuart Davis and Jackson Pollock flank a panel of text describing the Art Students League of New York, a leading art school that helped shape multiple movements in modern art. Davis taught at the League in the 1930s, and his students included Busa and Pollock, the latter here represented by a pre-drip canvas. Also included in Space Makers is a 1953 painting on paper by George Morrison, an Anishinaabe artist from Minnesota who moved to New York in the 1940s, studied at the League, and largely disavowed critical efforts to identify Indigenous themes in his East Coast abstractions.

We might expect to see 1940s-era New York painters juxtaposed with historic Native art, since New York artists enjoyed multiple opportunities to view Indigenous art, including the 1941 show Indian Art of the United States at the Museum of Modern Art. But while Pollock is often recognized as lifting his drip process from Din sandpainting, little attention has been paid to an earlier, pervasive interest in Native art among New York painters.

In that way, Space Makers helps redefine elements of modern American art, expanding the story of abstraction beyond a persistent focus on expressionist technique. And curator Christopher T. Green advances a step further by including more recent work by Indigenous artists in an exhibition that destabilizes a New Yorkcentric story. Equally critical for Space Makers is graphic work associated with the Institute of American Indian Arts. Founded in 1962, the Institute revolutionized pedagogy in Native American art by emphasizing direct experimentation with a wide range of materials and the study of global art history. This contrasted with earlier approaches through which Native art students considered only historic Native art and their lived experience as source material, and professional artistic production was tightly regulated through a series of juried competitions.

A satellite room in Space Makers presents digitally interactive materials including a relational map of the artists and themes. Nodes include IAIA, Indian Space Painters, Indigenous Visual Design, and the Art Students League of New York. Individual artists or styles branch out from nodes. A single artist, Seymour Tubis, occupies the center and connects to each node. Tubis studied at the League in the early 1940s, where he drew upon the Indian Space Painters concepts and then taught at IAIA starting in the 1960s, impart[ing] the movements abstracting design principles. While his artwork does not feature in the showa notable omissionTubis emerges as a pivotal figure in the narrative. For decades, many observers have described IAIA as the birthplace of contemporary Native art. Space Makers hints at a longer trajectory: Indian Space Painting too may be seen as a point of origin for contemporary Native art.

The Indian Space Painters sought to break through models of pictorial space rooted in figure/ground distinctions, and one institution, IAIA, radically changed the practice of Native studio art. Each movement relied on deep engagement with the formal aspects of historic Native art, and by focusing on both, Space Makers identifies a loose set of entangled histories that offer a promising method for relational art history.

But for curators and scholars today, the challenge is to tell stories that move beyond categorical thinking and disregard strong definitionsreceived or expandedof Native American or American art. Per the wall text and the shows subtitle (Indigenous Expression and a New American Art), however, Space Makers ultimately recasts narratives of American art rather than Native American art. In a fully relational and flat history, Native artists and objects would command the focus of analysis as much as their non-Native counterparts.

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Space Makers Charts the Influence of Native Art on American Abstraction - ARTnews

Kitchen Remodeling Franchise Continues Ongoing Success as it Continues to Transform the Industry

LA CROSSE, Wis., July 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kitchen Solvers, America's premier kitchen remodeling franchise, is proud to announce its continued growth and commitment to franchisee success. A trusted name in the kitchen remodeling industry since 1982, Kitchen Solvers has built a reputation for exceptional quality, personalized service, and a commitment to the 'Pleasant Remodeling Experience' for over 50,000 satisfied homeowners. Their continued franchise success and growth are due to their latest cutting-edge implementations.

Revolutionizing the Kitchen Remodel with InnovationKitchen Solvers is solidifying its position as an industry leader with two exciting advancements:

"By integrating new technologies like AI into the remodeling experience, we're creating a seamless journey for homeowners, from initial concept to completion," said the President of Kitchen Solvers, Thomas Miskowski. "This personalized and efficient approach ensures every homeowner achieves their perfect kitchen."

Kitchen Solvers offers a unique franchise model that empowers individuals to enter the lucrative kitchen remodeling industry, even with no prior experience. The brand provides extensive training and coaching, ensuring franchisees have the tools and knowledge to deliver exceptional customer service and high-quality results.

"For over 40 years, Kitchen Solvers has thrived on strong partnerships with our franchisees," Miskowski added. "Our new advancements ensure our franchisees have the resources and support they need to succeed. We can't wait to work hand-in-hand with new owners and provide them with comprehensive support. Our commitment to collaboration makes our franchise opportunity ideal for both experienced business owners and individuals with a passion for creating dream kitchens."

Kitchen Solvers has the product depth and services to accomplish a full kitchen remodel or just an upgrade. Its services include custom kitchen cabinets, cabinet refacing, kitchen design, expert installation, storage solutions, countertops, backsplashes, and more. For further information on Kitchen Solvers and its robust offerings, visit http://www.kitchensolvers.com.

Kitchen Solvers is actively seeking qualified franchise partners to join its growing network. With a proven track record of success, industry-leading support, and a commitment to innovation, Kitchen Solvers offers entrepreneurs a compelling opportunity to build a rewarding career. To learn more about Kitchen Solvers Franchise opportunities, visit http://www.kitchensolversfranchise.com.

About Kitchen SolversKitchen Solvers has been building strong franchisee partnerships since 1984 and recognizes the value customers find in unmatched quality products and impeccable customer experience. We take pride in our 'Pleasant Remodeling Experience,' which takesall ofour home remodeling projects to the next level. Kitchen Solvers has had the pleasure of serving over 50,000 satisfied homeowners with full kitchenremodels,bathroom makeovers, and cabinet refacing projects. The Kitchen Solvers' hands-on approach to coaching and training has given each franchisepartnerand their employees trust, confidence, and integrity to provide remodeling services nationwide.Learn more about Kitchen Solvers Franchise at http://www.kitchensolversfranchise.com.

Contact: Tom Farrell, Franchise Elevator | (847) 945-1300 Ext. 270 | [emailprotected]

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Kitchen Solvers Strengthens Franchise Opportunity with New Advancements & Innovation - PR Newswire

Installing a smart thermostator upgrading the one you already havewill have an outsize impact not only how comfortable you are in your home, but also on your household budget. Heating and cooling your home accounts for nearly half of the average homes utility bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

A programmable thermostat can help reduce those costs by turning your HVAC system on when you anticipate being home, and off when you dont think youll need indoor climate control. A smart thermostat goes far beyond relying on a simple schedule. It will enable you to create more sophisticated schedules for every day of the week, and give you complete control over your HVAC system, even when youre away from home. We continually test and evaluate smart thermostats and can help you find the right one for your home.

TechHives editors and contributors have been testing smart thermostats for more than a decade, installing them in our own homes to gain truly real-world experience before we commit to our opinions. We continuously test the latest smart thermostats, along with the apps that control them. We blend those experiences with our general knowledge of smart home devices, so were able to assess how well these products integrate with other smart system youll want to use.

Updated July 16, 2024 with a link to our Degrii Smart Thermostat review.

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $249.99

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is simply one of the finest smart home products in any category. Its spectacularly useful as a standalone device, but its designed to work with other important smart home platform on the market today. An included smart sensor allows you to monitor temperature and occupancy in a second location in your home. The user interface is polished and easy to use.

Anyone whos looking to install a smart thermostat should consider this Ecobee model. The only caveat for homeowners who want to use Siri voice commands is that youll need an Apple HomePod or HomePod mini to use as an interface with the Ecobee.

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $249

Nest practically invented the smart thermostat category when it released its first learning thermostat in 2011. Google offers detailed instructions that make installation relatively easy for inexperienced do-it-yourselfers. While the Nest is designed to learn your habits and automatically control your homes temperature, theres a robust set of manual controls for users who prefer to keep a closer watch over their homes environment.

Nest is still the best for choice users who dont want to think about their thermostat. Since Nest is now manufactured by Google, its designed to work best with other devices in companys ecosystem, including security cameras and smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. the thermostat is also compatible with Amazons Alexa smart home speakers and displays, and its Matter implementation enables it to work in the Apple Home ecosystem as well.

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $189.99

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced shares the user interface of the more expensive Premium model at a lower price. The Enhanced has all the features of the more expensive model except for the Premiums fancy radar technology and the fact that it doesnt come with Ecobees remote room/occupancy sensorsbut you can add one later if youd like.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced is a great choice if you find the Premium model to be too expensive. Youll have the option to add a remote temperature/occupancy sensor if you decide you want one later, and the total price will be approximately the same as a Premium model. You will also need a smart speaker in your smart home setup if you want to use voice commands with this thermostat.

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Amazon Smart Thermostat uses cloud-based machine learning to analyze how you use your HVAC system, and then uses what Amazon calls Hunches to predict when to heat or cool your home. The thermostat performance improves as it learns your habits over time.

The Amazon Smart Thermostat is designed to work with Amazons Alexa virtual assistant, so its best for homeowners whove already committed to Amazon smart home products, especially since its not compatible with Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit.

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Google has designed its entry-level Nest Thermostat for users who think the flagship Nest Learning Thermostat is too expensive. At this price, you get a similarly attractive design and the same polished approach to programming and controls, but you wont get remote sensors that can help your HVAC system achieve a balanced climate for your entire home.

The Nest Thermostat will only read the temperature in the room where its installed, since it lacks the remote sensors that can connect to the Nests more expensive model and help refine its programming. This model is best for smaller home or apartments or for properties that dont have much temperature fluctuation from room to room.

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Price When Reviewed: $129.00

If youve got a high-voltage heating system designed for baseboard, radiant, fan-forced convector, and similar types of heaters, the Mysa Smart Thermostat will do the job. It looks great, has Wi-Fi capabilities built in, and has an easy-to-use mobile app with support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit.

There arent many choices on the market if youve got a high-voltage heating system. Fortunately, Mysa has designed a thermostat that meets the standard set by the other thermostats on our list. Unlike homes with a central HVAC system, youll need to install a Mysa Smart Thermostat for each of your individual heating units in different rooms of your house.

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Price When Reviewed: $149.99

The Sensibo Air Pro adds smart home capabilities to standalone heat pump and window unit air conditioners, and the Pro model features an integrated indoor air quality sensor. Sensibo has designed a product thats easy to set up and use.

Since the Sensibo Air Pro has no physical buttons, youll need to control the thermostat with a phone app. For the unit to work, your air conditioner will require an infrared remote instead of a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi remote. If you use an in-room AC unit, Sensibo can offer you many of the same features enjoyed by people with a whole-home HVAC system.

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Price When Reviewed: $149.00

The Cielo Breez Plus is remarkably easy to set up and use. Its also quite versatile, since it can record humidity and supports geofencing in addition to controlling the temperature for a single-room air conditioner.

The Cielo Breez Plus may not look as good as other models we tested, but weve included it here because its compatible with more air conditioner models that any of its competitors in this category. The Cielo smartphone app is well-designed and absurdly easy to use.

A thermostat shouldnt be difficult to install, even if youre only moderately handy. The manufacturer should provide comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand instructions with plenty of photographs or illustrations to guide you through the process. The thermostat itself should be clearly indicate which wires go where, and most companies provide labels that you can attach to the wires coming out of the wall as you disconnect and remove your old model. The wires themselves should be color coded, but a good practice is to photograph your old thermostat for reference before you take it down.

Smart thermostats typically require more electrical power than a set of batteries can provide. Fortunately, they dont require so much power than they need to be plugged into the wall. They rely instead on low-voltage power provided by your HVAC system. Many smart thermostats require the presence of a dedicated C (common) wire for this purpose, while others can siphon electricity from another source, typically the R (power) wire. But the latter practice is known to cause problems with some HVAC systems, including permanent damage.

If you pull out your existing thermostat to install a smart model and find no C wire connected to it, look inside the wall to see if theres one that hasnt been connected. If theres no C wire, our advice is to have one installed. Some smart thermostatsincluding our top pick, the Ecobee Premium, come with power adapter kits that can be installed if you dont have a C wire and dont want to pay to have one installed.

The short answer is typically yes, because youll install a smart thermostat in each of your existing zones. Heres a longer explanation if youre not sure what a multi-zone HVAC system is. If you have a larger home, your HVAC contractor might have installed a zoned system that lets you set a temperature target for different roomsor different levelsinstead of heating or cooling your entire home to a single target temperature. In this case, youll have multiple thermostatsone for each zonethat connect to a central control panel. The control panel opens or closes the dampers in each zone as needed to bring that zone to your preferred temperature. Youll program the entire system using a single app.

Better HVAC systems offer multi-stage heating and cooling, meaning they can operate in steps, versus simply switching between on and off states. A two-stage system, for example, might have a low setting and a high setting, while a three-stage system might have low, medium, and high. When the ambient temperature is already close to your desired temperature, the system doesnt need to ramp up to its full power to reach your target temperature. Conversely, when the ambient temperature is far from your desired temperature, the system can kick on at full tilt and then switch to a lower-power mode as it approaches the target. As a result, multi-stage HVAC systems are more efficient than single-state. Virtually all modern smart thermostats support both single- and multi-stage HVAC systems.

All of the smart thermostats weve reviewedapart from the ones designed work with portland and window air conditionersare compatible with heat pumps. Not sure what a heat pump is? Its an appliance that redistributes warm and cold air. In heat mode, it draws warmth from the air outside your home and releases it inside (a ground-source heat pump absorbs heat from the ground). This is a greener method of heating in that it doesnt consume fossil fuels, such as natural gas. In cooling mode, a heat pump absorbs warm air inside your home and releases it outside. These appliances work best in milder climates that dont experience freezing temperatures, although they can be combined with a conventional furnace for heating when outdoor temperatures get very low.

Most smart thermostats are designed to work with central air conditioners, but there is a class of device that can control portable air conditioners (the type with casters that vent out a window) and window air conditioners (the type that sit on your window sill). These types of thermostats typically depend on the air conditioner in question have a remote control, as many modern units do. The Sensibo Air is our top pick in this category.

Most smart thermostats are designed to work with central HVAC systems. If your home is heated by high-voltage heaters (baseboard, radiant, or fan-forced convector, for example), youll need a thermostat thats specifically designed to work with that type of heater. The Mysa Smart Thermostat is our top pick if youre looking for a smart thermostat for a high-voltage heating system.

Geofencing uses a thermostats app and your smartphones GPS chip to establish a perimeter encircling your home. When you leave the perimeter, you presumably no longer need to heat and cool your home, or you can at least have the thermostat adjust the temperature so that its not running unnecessarily. When you cross the perimeter again as you come home, your HVAC system can kick into action so your house is comfortable when you walk in the door.

Geofencing is greatprovided everyone who lives in the home has a smartphone. Motion and proximity sensors offer an alternative means of determining if your home is occupied and therefore in need of climate control. Some remote sensors deliver the added benefit of monitoring the temperature in remote locations, which can help reduce problems with hot and cold spots. Some smart thermostats can also tap into door and window sensors as well as the motion sensors for your home security system. And proximity sensors on the thermostat itself can trigger its display to turn on when you walk past it, making the screens a handy feature in their own right, even if for no other reason than providing a nighttime pathway light. Youll find remote sensors with a growing number of high-end smart thermostats from Ecobee, Nest, Honeywell, and other manufacturers.

Smart thermostats connect to your Wi-Fi network and from there to the internet. This means you can monitor the temperature inside your home and control that status of your HVAC systemwhether its heating, cooling, or just running its ventilation fanfrom anywhere you have internet accesstypically using the thermostat app on your smartphone.

Every smart thermostat comes with an app so you can control it with your smartphone or tablet, but the best models can also be integrated with other smart-home devices and broader smart-home systems. This can range from being able to adjust the temperature with a voice command via an Amazon Echo (Alexa), Google Home (Google Assistant), or Apple HomePod (Siri) smart speaker to linking the thermostat to your smoke detector. That last feature will automatically turn off the systems fan if smoke or fire are detected, which will preven smoke from being circulated throughout your home. Other options to consider include IFTTT support, Apple HomeKit compatibility, smart-vent connectivity, and tie-ins with home security systems.

A landlord thermostat is just like any other thermostat except that its controlled by the person who owns the home or apartment and is renting it to a tenant. These are typically installed in residences where the landlord or a building manager is for paying for heating and cooling and therefore has a financial interest in keeping those costs under control. Even in situations where tenants are responsible for the heating and cooling bills, a smart thermostat can contribute to a more energy-efficient building. The thermostat usually has tamper-resistant features that prevent anyone else from making adjustments to it. While it might seem that the landlord is benefitting the most from installing a smart thermostat, smart home featuresincluding smart thermostatsare an attractive feature for renters, who likely are willing to pay more rent in exchange for the convenience and the opportunity to reduce their energy costs.

We install thermostats in a single-family home with a conventional HVAC system and use each one for a week or more to determine how effective it is at maintaining a comfortable environment. The homes existing thermostat was wired with G, R, W, and Y wires. There was also a C wire in the wall that was connected to the furnace, but that had not been previously used.

While there is no regulated standard for color-coding HVAC wires, industry practice has the G wire connecting the thermostat to the fan. This wire is typically green. The R wire, typically red, is for power. Some systems have separate power wires for heating and cooling and are labeled RH and RC respectively. The typically white W wire is for auxiliary heat; i.e., a second source of heat. The Y wire, which is typically yellow, connects the thermostat to your air conditioner. Finally, the C or common wire is used to carry power and is typically blue (think cerulean if you need a mnemonic).

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Best smart thermostats for 2024: Reviews and buying advice - TechHive

LAKELAND, Fla. Four times in eight days. Thats how many times a Lakeland mobile home park has flooded recently, according to a group of neighbors that includes Carol Coy.

Its so hard to see this, said Coy. This has been one of the most frustrating things I think Ive ever been through.

Coy and the others live at Citrus Center Colony, a 55-and-older mobile home community off W. Beacon Road in Lakeland. She and other neighbors say the community has flooded repeatedly over the years, even after routine afternoon showers.

During one rainstorm last June, floodwater seeped into the home of Coys 73-year-old neighbor.

I walked over to her house just to see if I could take her blood pressure because she was screaming she was so upset, she remembered. Seeing what some of the elderly have gone through, I guess thats whats been the most upsetting thing.

Over the past eight days, there have been four more rounds of localized flooding in low spots of the mobile home park: Monday, July 8; Friday, July 12; Sunday, July 14; and Tuesday, July 16.

Neighbors at Citrus Center Colony continue to contact ABC Action News seeking help. They want a meeting with the mobile home parks management, Bedrock Communities; they want some of the lowest lying neighbors relocated; and they want Bedrock to fix the infrastructure problems that they think are causing the flooding.

They need to put bigger pipes in here so that the water flows, so that it doesnt back up in the middle of the street here, Coy said.

ABC Action News has sent multiple emails and made multiple phone calls to Bedrock Communities seeking answers. So far, the company has not responded.

According to Kevin Cook, a spokesperson for the City of Lakeland, Citrus Center Colony was built in the 1950s before many modern-day stormwater infrastructure requirements were in place.

As private property the park would need to build their own retention ponds and stormwater collection. Unfortunately, when the mobile home park was created there weren't stormwater systems that we have today and there were no requirements. Today, a development would be required to include stormwater infrastructure, Cook wrote, in part.

The mobile home park owners are responsible for managing the storm water in the park, Cook continued. Based on the repeated flooding incidents, the current system is either undersized and/or there are blockages causing the lack of proper drainage.

"We're ending up with more questions than answers" I-Team Investigator Adam Walser explores why one Tampa Bay subdivision is still enforcing parking rules despite the new law which took effect on July 1st.

Subdivision continues to ban pickup parking despite new Florida HOA law

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Lakeland community continues to flood and neighbors are desperate for answers - ABC Action News Tampa Bay