Art and Artists
Check Out the Museum’s First Artworks
Featured Artist:
Heloísa Nora (aka Poorly Drawn Cats)
About the Artist
Heloísa Nora
Heloísa Nora has been capturing the liquid essence of felines with just a few expressive pen strokes since 2016. Fans have even gotten tattoos of her work (“cattoos”). She volunteers with Crazy Cat Gang, a Curitiba-based, women-led NGO that doesn't just rescue cats—it also gets at the root of the issues causing abandoned cats through community education. She also supports other cat rescue efforts like the nonprofit Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center in New Jersey.
Follow @poorlycatdraw on Instagram to find out when commissions reopen (next expected July/August 2024). Heloísa has donated a percent of the commission cost of her works to help “kitties to be fed and treated!”
The Cat Museum of New York City is proud to welcome as the first artworks in its collection two pieces generously donated by the Brazilian artist and cat lover Heloísa Nora (also known as Poorly Drawn Cats).
“Cat with Pumpkin” (2022), the museum’s first acquisition, is an original drawing by Brazilian artist Heloísa Nora, aka Poorly Drawn Cats. It was made by the artist as an homage to her own 2018 piece of Twitter fame.
“Cat with Pumpkin,” ink on paper, by Heloísa Nora, 2022.
For reuse, please credit Heloísa Nora of Poorly Drawn Cats (https://www.poorlycatdraw.com) and tag @poorlycatdraw if posting to social media. (Heloísa has been incredibly generous to the museum and others who appreciate her work when it comes to her art reprint policy, and she is already well-known, but attribution is the least that artists like her deserve.)
“A Portrait of Churro” (2023), Front
Drawing by Heloísa Nora
Churro
Photograph by Jenny Pierson
“A Portrait of Churro” (2023), Back: Note from the Artist
Drawing by Heloísa Nora
In “A Portrait of Churro” (2023), Heloísa Nora of Poorly Drawn Cats captures the rotund majesty and vacant stare of rescue cat and unofficial Cat Museum NYC mascot Churro (@thecultchurr), who is on a diet and exercise regimen.
On the back of the piece is a handwritten note from the artist to the Cat Museum of New York City. The text of the note reads: “For the awesome Cat Museum of New York City: a portrait of Churro ♥” and is accompanied by a stamp of her iconic cat with a thumbs-up.
“A Portrait of Churro,” ink on paper, by Heloísa Nora, 2023.
For reuse, please credit Heloísa Nora of Poorly Drawn Cats (https://www.poorlycatdraw.com) and tag @poorlycatdraw if posting to social media. (Heloísa has been incredibly generous to the museum and others who appreciate her work when it comes to her art reprint policy, and she is already well-known, but attribution is the least that artists like her deserve.)
You can also buy Heloísa’s book Reasons My Cat Is Mad from Unbounders
(currently only available in ebook format; pictured below is the hardcover edition released in 2020).
Stickers and prints by Heloísa Nora; mugs were produced by Jenny Pierson from earlier privately commissioned drawings of Churro by Heloísa Nora, who donated a portion of the proceeds to cat rescue efforts.
With your support, we will offer more products by Heloísa and other artists in the museum gift shop after we launch! Until then, check out her Threadless shop.
Heloísa also drew a portrait of Spike, an adoptable cat from no-kill NYC shelter Ollie’s Place, and helped him successfully find his forever home.
More Museum Artwork Coming Soon!
If you would like to volunteer to contribute your artwork or photographs to the museum collection ahead of our launch, please email catmuseumnyc@gmail.com with “Art” and your name in the subject line. Please include your social media or website where we can preview the work you would like us to consider, along with details about how you should be credited, your intentions about how we use the artwork, an artist/cat lover’s statement, and any other biographical, geographical, and logistical information we should know (how large the artwork is, for example).
Please stay tuned for formal calls for artwork after we launch the museum. At this time, we regret that we cannot offer compensation (beyond the possibility of partnerships, gift shop merchandise profit-splitting opportunities, and/or shipping costs—although we would prefer to meet you and accept your work in person if you are local to New York City). When we launch and secure the means to fairly pay artists, photographers, and other creators, we plan to actively solicit submissions from BIPOC, LGTBQ+, women, and other artists who are underrepresented in traditional art spaces.