Robert blogs on art, creativity, politics, CSA, religion and culture. Many overlap into multiple categories, like motivational or random favorites. Robert is a life-long artist, writer, musician & actor, a professional creative his entire adult life. Born in 1959 in Detroit, he has lived in New York, New Orleans and currently in Charleston. His commission portraits and fine art are part of over a thousand collections throughout North America. Read his bio.
BLOG CATEGORIES
ALL BLOGS
LOVE
This Valentines I’d like to take a moment to admire those who take seriously the idea of love, integrating love into our daily lives. Love is a verb. Love is pure potential. Love is the life force that makes all things possible. Love is more action than feeling or...
The Flow with Bob Martin
I met Bob at Spoleto last Spring. And we hit it off immediately. I love real talk and that's Bob's specialty. Small talk only gets you so far. We cover a lot of ground in this far ranging podcast. The conversation is raw and honest and I hope meaningful to the...
Adventures in Wonderland Exhibition Proposal
Grant application and EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION Adventures in Wonderland A Collaborative Exhibition Proposal of Imaginary Realism · Nick Cerrato and Robert Maniscalco We propose to develop Adventures in Wonderland, a collaborative touring exhibition of Imaginary Realism...
The Unselfconscious Mark
I talk about the unselfconscious mark a lot. It is something all artists strive for, even realists. The idea of removing ego from the creative process is a tantalizing for many. To make a mark that has no guile, no agenda, no desire to please is the goal certainly of...
Press Release Identity and Self
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 26, 2026 "Now, that's Art to Believe" rm Contact: Robert Maniscalco, artist/author robert@maniscalcogallery.com mobile: 313-689-2993 click on text for more information ↓ Robert discovers old photo he took in 2010 and created a...
Susie Jackson
Susie Jackson This portrait of Susie Jackson came about as I was recently browsing my photographic archives, looking for a something to paint for the MOJA Exhibition, coming up at City Gallery. I stumbled upon some photographs I took in February 2010. At the time, I...
Best of Show Award
I'm humbled to report "Reflections on Nothingness" has received the Best in Show Award, in the 2026 Low Country Fine Art Showcase, for the second consecutive year in a row. The juror was multi-disciplinary artist Larry Moore, whose first response to my piece was,...
What is a Beginner
People may wonder why I teach mainly to "beginner" and "intermediate" painting classes. Why not hold more advanced workshops? The answer is simple. I don't believe in the concept of "advanced." If we are good, we are always dealing with fundamental issues when we...
Birthday – My Collaboration with Nick Cerrato
How Birthday was Born It was a glorious day, filled with discovery and serious sharing. It is a story some may find disturbing. They don't matter. "Birthday" was an idea that had been in Nick's mind for years. But he didn't have the ability to paint certain elements...
Why Ask Why?
"Why Ask Why?" is perhaps more to the point than, "to be or not to be?" I wrote a blog last month about my idea of why Nick, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy, decided to purchase my painting, called Cassandra. You can read my story here, if you like, but the...
Identity and Self – an Exhibition
This touring exhibition, called "Identity and Self" is available for your museum or arts venue - contact Robert for 2026-27 schedule "Identity and Self" - An Exhibition Description "Identity and Self" exhibited at the Park Circle Gallery in April 2026 and...
The Great Reset
Whatever redeeming qualities Republicans of the past had, such as conservative values, fiscal restraint, etc., have been reset by the new Republicanism, otherwise known as Trumpism. The current MAGA/GOP will have to be completely remade after this dalliance with...
Nick and Cassandra
It was just another day of the indentured servitude at the Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition, warm but not as bad as it can get. Trapped like rats for seventeen days in a row, out in the elements, selling our wares. I guess God thought I needed a reminder of just...
Would you like to find inspiration in your inbox, rather than ads for more stuff? Connect to Robert Maniscalco
Maniscalco Gallery on Facebook
Exhausted but exhilarated having made a couple paintings during the first ever Charleston Plein Air competition at Mary Martin Gallery. The St Phillips painting was sold on the spot at the gallery as I was turning them in today to this nice couple. Talk about fresh art?! The Pineapple Fountain with City Gallery behind, is a view we don't often see. ...
Call Now
"Last Tango in Wonderland" is another collaboration with Nick C. Cerrato in which I painted what was behind his abstract expressionistic painting, which happened to be We the People of the world, being danced upon by the Epstein class. ...
...
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.Day one of the MMG plein air festival in Charleston. A pretty ambitious painting of St Philip. ...
"Evil's Place," another collaboration with my dear friend and great artist, Nick C. Cerrato. ...
"Tempus Fugit" captures the instant fire and ice meet, when strange entities are released into the human psyche. Another collaboration between myself and artist Nick C. Cerrato. ...