How to Turn Your Chromebook Desktop into an Art Gallery

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Are you tired of that stock desktop background that came preloaded on your Chromebook? Sure the idyllic sunset at sea is a nice image, but it could be so much more. Google's found a way to shake things up and adds some culture to your computer.

Google Wallpaper Art is from the company's Cultural Institute, and it will change that stock photo to a digitized work from the Google Art Project. Announcing the app in a Google+ post, Google Happiness Evangelist Francois Beaufort said the app will include masterpieces by such prominent artists as Van Gogh and Monet, as well as works by world-renowned street artists.

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The Wallpaper Art app will automatically refresh the work of art on your desktop each day, and its Next Wallpaper button lets you refresh to another image on demand. If you find yourself particularly drawn to one painting or photo, Wallpaper Art provides the work's title, the name of the artist who created it and the cultural institution that currently houses each masterpiece.

If you don't have a Chromebook, but use the Chrome browser, Google has previously released a similar extension that fills empty tabs with works of art from the same digitization project.

1. Click the Search icon.

2. Type "web store" and open the Chrome Web Store.

3. Type "Wallpaper Art" into the search field and hit return.

4. Under apps, find "Google Wallpaper Art" by gci-wallpaper and click Add to Chrome next to it.

5. Click Add App. 

6.  Click on this notification to open the app. Search Wallpaper Art in the search screen, and click on the icon.

7. Click Next Wallpaper to change the work of art. 

Your Chrome OS desktop will now be a little less ordinary:

Chromebook Tips

Henry T. Casey