Boldly painted. Joyfully feminist.

painter Gwenn Seemel with a painting of James Baldwin — Gwenn Seemel with their portrait of James Baldwin

Hi! I’m Gwenn Seemel.

I make brightly colored paintings that are both playful and intense, and I release all my work directly into the public domain, free for use by anybody for any reason. Because of that unusual choice, I was invited to give a TEDx talk in Switzerland. My art has appeared in Newsweek as well as on the cover of an Oxford University Press book. I live in Lambertville, New Jersey.

These days, I’m working on a project that would include portraits like this one of James Baldwin. At the moment, I’m focused on finding an institutional partner who could help me turn this series into a collaboration. Check out the project proposal and please feel free to share it with any potential partners.

52 Weeks of Firsts sculptures: First Steamboat, First Zoo, and First Continental Congress by American artist Gwenn Seemel — Gwenn Seemel’s *First Steamboat*, *First Zoo*, and *First Continental Congress*

Painting for Mural Arts Philadelphia, the National Constitution Center, and Historic Philadelphia!

These three artworks are part of 52 Weeks of Firsts, a public art exhibition that’s on display throughout Philadelphia in 2026. The project celebrates some of the many ways that the US’s first capital has been first for other things as well—everything from the first cheesesteak to the first protest against slavery in America.

Over the course of five weeks in November and December 2025, I covered every surface of three large sculptures of the #1, working as part of a team of 25 artists who were painting 52 sculptures in all. Learn more about First Steamboat, First Zoo, and First Continental Congress here.

Come celebrate art and Philly on any given Saturday in 2026! My work will be the focus on May 30^th at the Independence Seaport Museum, August 8^th at the Zoo, and September 12^th at Carpenters’ Hall.