Arts
The Arts
Poetry Challenge: Honor Martin Luther King Jr By Describing How You Dream A World
As we enter 2021, we can all draw inspiration from both King and Hughes. Morning Edition resident poet Kwame Alexander and host Rachel Martin suggest we write our way out of the unprecedented events of the past year and into a space of possibility.
With A Leap Across Gender Norms, Northwest Ballet Student Looks To Rewrite Rules Of Dance
The way that ballet dancer Ashton Edwards leaps through the air is pure art. The fact that he does it in pointe shoes is a rare feat. Edwards is an 18-year-old ballet student with the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s elite Professional Division in Seattle. He has been studying classical ballet since he was 4 — but always in male roles.
‘I Just Followed My Interests’: Garry Trudeau On 50 Years Of ‘Doonesbury’
The ground-breaking comic strip Doonesbury has been with us for a half-century. It was the first daily comic strip to win a Pulitzer Prize for tackling social issues, politics and war. It’s also been censored for some of those same reasons.
‘Ambitious Girl’ Book Reminds Kids: Your Dreams Are Not A Drawback
When now Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris was “accused” of being “too ambitious” on the campaign trail, it spurred her niece, activist and author Meena Harris, into action.
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Outlawed’ Frontiers Of Gender And Sexuality Beckon In This Sly Western
Outlawed opens in an alternative America of 1894 that was torn asunder by a flu epidemic some 60 years earlier. West of the Mississippi, centralized government has been replaced by a patchwork of Independent Towns. One of the few things this fragmented America agrees on is that women are put on Earth to bear children. That’s it.
A Biden Cabinet Secretary For Arts? Advocates Are Hopeful
Arts and culture make up a huge, $877 billion industry that generates more than five million jobs across the country. But the amount of federal funding for the arts is tiny when compared with smaller industries like agriculture — so what are arts organizations hoping for under the Biden administration?
‘Where Are The Women?’: Uncovering The Lost Works Of Female Renaissance Artists
For centuries in Italy — the cradle of Renaissance masters — women with artistic talent were not allowed to enter academies. And the names of the few female artists from centuries past have mostly faded into oblivion.
You Might Be Ready To Forget 2020. This Short Film with ‘Auld Lang Syne’ Reminds Why You Shouldn’t
Produced by a diverse group of filmmakers assembled by 1504, a studio based in Birmingham, Ala., For The Sake Of Old Times pairs the performance of “Auld Lang Syne” with archival footage from 2020, particularly of the summer’s racial justice protests.
‘Brother Robert’ Book Reveals True Story Of Growing Up With Blues Legend Robert Johnson
Blues legend Robert Johnson has been mythologized as a backwoods loner, his talent the result of selling his soul to the devil. Wrong and wrong again, according to Johnson’s younger stepsister, who lives in Amherst, Mass. She tells his true story in Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson, a memoir about growing up with her brother she published in June.
India’s Female Superhero And Her Flying Tiger Are Out To Fight The Pandemic
Priya’s Mask is the latest installation in Priya, the hit comic book series targeted to Indian children. This time, Priya and her flying tiger Sahas befriend a little girl named Meena to show the sacrifices made by frontline health-care workers — and why it’s important to be courageous and compassionate during the pandemic.
In ‘Soul,’ Jon Batiste’s New Orleans-Inspired Jazz Music Helps Bring Pixar’s First Black Lead To Life
Pixar’s new animated film Soul is the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school school music teacher with big dreams about performing jazz onstage. “Music is all I think about, from the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I fall asleep at night,” he says. “I was born to play.”
Play Us A Memory, Piano Man…And Recycle This Old Instrument
Sure, you’re a good Northwesterner because you recycle your beer cans, cardboard boxes and plastic milk jugs. But what about that dust-collecting piano you have long wanted to unload? It doesn’t fit into the recycling bin. Creative upcycling might be the answer.
