Exhibits highlight black photographers
In an arrestingly beautiful photograph, the crescent-shaped opening of a niqab, a Muslim face cover, reveals a woman’s dark skin, the white of the garment mirroring the whites of her probing eyes. The tight composition and simplicity of the image highlight the woman’s intent gaze. In an interview about his photographic portraits, artist Chester Higgins once said, “What I find most... READ MORE
Making flowers bloom during the winter
Avoid going to the Dark Side in the dead of winter. Brighten your home by forcing branches to awaken indoors and flower now before spring. “Forcing” describes the process of coaxing flowers into bloom indoors, after they have completed their winter dormancy requirement. Materials cut after January 15 usually open well indoors. You may have experience forcing bulbs such as paperwhites ... READ MORE
Premiere brings Matisse to life
After more than 100 years, the art collecting Cone sisters of Baltimore, the great French artist Henri Matisse, and the modernist literary icon Gertrude Stein are together again — on stage, at least, at the Howard County Community College in Columbia. They are the leading characters in All She Must Possess, a world premiere play by Baltimorean Susan McCully, being presented at the Rep... READ MORE
Why tall = small, and other conundrums
Sometimes, dear friends, we are plunged into modern-day situations that are so absurd, so illogical, so incomprehensible, so inexplicable, that all we can do is throw up our hands. So it went with me one recent morning at my neighborhood Starbucks. I had agreed to meet a friend there to give her some career advice. I was early. She wasn’t there yet. So I decided to buy a cup of... READ MORE
Putting presidents in historical perspective
This month, we celebrate Presidents’ Day. Reading about our nation’s chief executives never becomes old. Historians (both professional and amateur) as well as politicians and reporters sift through the archives, interpret documents, and find lesser known materials to expose to a wider audience. Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, by Gordon S. Wood, 512 pages, Penguin... READ MORE
Laurie Metcalf gets her first Oscar shot
Laurie Metcalf has won three Emmys and a Tony Award in her nearly 40-year year career, but the veteran stage and screen actress still feels uncomfortable in front of a camera. “Even after all those years on ‘Roseanne,’ I have a real fear of cameras. They make me inhibited,” Metcalf, 62, said on a recent afternoon in Los Angeles. “I think ‘Why don’t I know where to put my ... READ MORE
Mural artist makes the city his canvas
When he sees a nondescript wall or side of a building, “Sir” James Thornhill sees art. To him, it’s like a blank canvas waiting for artistic reinvention. Thornhill literally “paints the town,” with colorful murals that honor heroes and heroines — especially local notables associated with the historic district of Jackson Ward, a section of Richmond known as the “Birthplace... READ MORE
Hamlet in the age of Twitter and Snapchat
To be or not to be. Is that really the question a twitchy millennial — a man-child with little self-awareness and a slippery grasp on reality — might be asking himself in the midst of existential angst? Apparently not, if Michael Kahn’s uneven wreck of Hamlet, onstage at the Shakespeare Theatre Company through March 4, is to be believed. And that’s why we see the Danish prince ... READ MORE
Silk painter shares her skill with others
Living in Egypt as a child during WWII, Diane Tuckman recalls, “they were shooting Jewish girls in the street...My family and I escaped [in 1949] and went to France.” Though less harrowing, even in France “it was a very difficult time after the war, with ration tickets and very little housing.” But eventually, Paris became home and much more to Tuckman. For it was there that she... READ MORE
International tai chi champions
Many recreation centers provide instruction in the ancient martial art of tai chi. But it’s a rare program that sends 17 of its members to China to participate in an international competition, and no doubt even rarer when such a group sweeps the awards in their categories. That’s exactly what happened, however, when a group from the East Columbia 50+ Center’s tai chi class traveled ... READ MORE
