Artic vs Artsmia
A side-by-side look at the Artic and Artsmia MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Artic for art & culture work as a local process; choose Artsmia for art & culture as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Artic when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_artworks, get_artwork, get_artist.
Choose Artsmia when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_artworks, get_artwork, department_highlights.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Art & Culture | Art & Culture |
| Quality signal | 53/100 · Good | 52/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | 3 |
| Full listing | View Artic | View Artsmia |
Tools & capabilities
Artic tools 4
search_artworksSearch the Art Institute of Chicago collection by keyword. Returns artwork titles, artists, dates, mediums, and image IDs. Use get_artwork to fetch full details.get_artworkGet complete details for an artwork by ID. Returns title, artist, date, medium, dimensions, description, credit line, and high-resolution image.get_artistGet an artist's biography and their artworks by ID. Returns name, birth/death dates, bio text, and linked artwork IDs.get_exhibitionsBrowse current and past exhibitions at the Art Institute. Returns exhibition titles, descriptions, and status (active or closed).
Artsmia tools 3
search_artworksSearch the Minneapolis Institute of Art collection (~90k objects). Accepts free text ("monet water lilies") or Elasticsearch field syntax: artist:"Van Gogh", country:"China", department:"Asian Art", room:G3* — combinable with free text. Returns artist, date, medium, gallery location (on-view status…get_artworkGet full details for one Minneapolis Institute of Art object by its numeric collection id — title, artist, date, medium, dimensions, credit line, department, gallery location, curatorial text, and image URL. Keyless.department_highlightsBrowse artworks from a Minneapolis Institute of Art curatorial department, with imaged objects ranked first. Departments include "European Art", "Asian Art", "Decorative Arts, Textiles and Sculpture", "Photography and New Media", "Arts of the Americas", "Art of Africa and the Americas". Keyless.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Artic
{
"mcpServers": {
"artic": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-artic"
]
}
}
}
Artsmia
{
"mcpServers": {
"artsmia": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-artsmia"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Artic is categorized under Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Artsmia belongs to Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Artic for art & culture work and Artsmia for art & culture.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Artic has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Artsmia has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add artic and artsmia as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Artic has a quality signal of 53/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Artsmia has 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.