Google Arts & Culture is an app and website that was launched in 2016 but recently went viral with it’s newest update.‍

What is the Google Arts & Culture App?

• Google Arts & Culture is an app and website that was launched in 2016 but recently went viral with it’s newest update
• Google created Google Arts & Culture to make fine-art more easily accessible by offering virtual tours of museums and sharing art education
• The sudden popularity of this app comes from the "Is your portrait in a museum?" feature
• Users can take and submit a photo of themselves, then Google Arts & Culture app will scan it’s database of paintings and share a painting that resembles the photo submitted
• The app will show a percentage of how much the painting matches the photo submitted
• When a user opens the app they are shown a feed of educational articles
• Scrolling past those articles takes the user to the “art selfie” feature

Why should parents care?

• The popularity of this app is attributed to it’s “art selfie” feature. If the sole purpose of having an app is to take selfies, it might not be the most productive app for students to have
• Some users have been insulted by the paintings they were paired with
• The app has sparked privacy concerns for becoming a facial recognition database. However, according to Google they only store the selfie for the time it takes to deliver the matching paintings

Google Arts & Culture in the News

Apps that involve uploading one’s face, getting feedback and sharing the results aren’t always a great idea. –The Washington Post

[Using Google Arts & Culture] and finding a look-alike in a piece of art can teach people to see themselves in paintings, potentially sparking a new interest. –Chicago Tribune

What can parents do?

• If your teen is interested in fine art, encourage them to highlight their passion using apps that positively impact their digital footprint
• Check out our Parent App Guide and teach your student to use apps in our Green Zone
• Challenge your student to find offline ways to learn about art
• Let your student become the expert, ask them to pick a museum they would like to go to nearby. Then, take your family on a field trip to the museum they chose
• Use the Google Arts & Culture app, as a family, to enhance your museum trip
• Inspire your students to use the app to learn more information about some of their favorite pieces of art