diff --git a/src/art/manifest.js b/src/art/manifest.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfa90d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/art/manifest.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+export function validateArtManifest(m) {
+  if (!Array.isArray(m)) return ['manifest must be an array'];
+  const errors = [];
+  m.forEach((a, i) => {
+    if (!a || typeof a !== 'object') { errors.push(`entry[${i}] must be an object`); return; }
+    if (!a.id) errors.push(`entry[${i}].id required`);
+    if (!a.src) errors.push(`entry[${i}].src required`);
+    if (!Array.isArray(a.tags)) errors.push(`entry[${i}].tags must be an array`);
+  });
+  return errors;
+}
+
+// Seed set of placeholder pencil assets. Real convention art is added here as data.
+export default [
+  { id: 'detective-alley', src: '/art/detective-alley.png', label: 'Detective in alley', tags: ['detective', 'alley', 'rain', 'coat', 'tired'] },
+  { id: 'neon-street', src: '/art/neon-street.png', label: 'Neon street', tags: ['street', 'neon', 'rain', 'city', 'night'] },
+  { id: 'worn-portrait', src: '/art/worn-portrait.png', label: 'Worn portrait', tags: ['portrait', 'face', 'worn', 'close-up'] },
+  { id: 'doorway-figure', src: '/art/doorway-figure.png', label: 'Figure in a doorway', tags: ['doorway', 'figure', 'shadow', 'coat'] },
+  { id: 'rain-pier', src: '/art/rain-pier.png', label: 'Pier in the rain', tags: ['pier', 'rain', 'water', 'night', 'wide'] },
+];
diff --git a/tests/art/manifest.test.js b/tests/art/manifest.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ffa5d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/art/manifest.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import artManifest, { validateArtManifest } from '../../src/art/manifest.js';
+
+describe('art manifest', () => {
+  it('flags malformed entries', () => {
+    expect(validateArtManifest([{ id: '', src: 'x', tags: [] }])).toContain('entry[0].id required');
+    expect(validateArtManifest([{ id: 'a', src: '', tags: [] }])).toContain('entry[0].src required');
+    expect(validateArtManifest([{ id: 'a', src: 'x' }])).toContain('entry[0].tags must be an array');
+  });
+
+  it('ships a valid, non-empty seed manifest with unique ids', () => {
+    expect(validateArtManifest(artManifest)).toEqual([]);
+    expect(artManifest.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
+    const ids = artManifest.map((a) => a.id);
+    expect(new Set(ids).size).toBe(ids.length);
+    expect(artManifest.every((a) => a.src.startsWith('/art/'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});