A collage is an artwork made by gluing different materials onto a surface to create a new image. Artists make collages by cutting out pictures from magazines, newspapers, or photographs, then arranging and pasting them together in creative ways. You might also add fabric scraps, colored paper, ticket stubs, or dried flowers.

While artists have combined materials for centuries, collage became popular as a distinct art form in the early 1900s when artists like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque started gluing newspaper clippings and wallpaper into their paintings.

Making a collage lets you combine things that wouldn't normally go together: a dinosaur's head on a ballerina's body, or a city street floating in outer space. The fun comes from how different textures and images interact. A kindergarten class might create a collage about the seasons using magazine cutouts of flowers, snowflakes, and falling leaves. An artist might make a collage exploring memory by combining old family photos with handwritten letters and vintage postcards.

The word also describes any mixture of diverse things. Someone might say a neighborhood is “a collage of cultures” or describe a movie soundtrack as “a collage of musical styles,” meaning many different elements combined into something new and interesting.