Mark Rothko was one of the giants of American art in the 20th century, known for his luminous abstract paintings, rectangular fields of color and light, which for many had an almost spiritual quality to them.

Rothko died in 1970. His life has been turned into art in the play "Red," written by John Logan. Staged first in 2009, "Red" is now at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in a production directed by Robert Falls.

Actor Edward Gero plays the role of Rothko alongside Patrick Andrews as Rothko's assistant.

I spoke to Gero last week about his role:

A transcript is after the jump.

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Stormtroopers in London promote Friday's release of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3D." Photo by Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images.

Here are four arts and culture videos from public broadcasting partners around the nation.

Starting in the late-1960s, Swedish journalists traveled to the United States to document the anti-war and Black Power movements. Premiering Thursday (check your local listings), Independent Lens will air "The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975," which combines music, the journalists' original 16mm footage, much of it never seen until now, and contemporary audio interviews from leading African-American artists, activists, musicians and scholars:

Watch Looking Back at the Black Power Movement on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

NYC-ARTS is the new name of the WNET program formerly known as SundayArts. The new website and weekly magazine program, which airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at noon in the New York City area, made its debut last week:

MN Original profiles Christopher Poor, founder of Arms and Armor. Poor and his artisans research, model and create pieces for theaters around the world, including Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, as well as many museum and private collections, feature films and television productions:

WHYY's "Friday Arts" for February looks at Pennsylvania Hospital's "Flowers to Pharmacy" exhibition, profiles Suzie Brown, a cardiologist who has found a second career as a singer-songwriter, and explores the first major exhibition devoted to Henry Ossawa Tanner's work in 20 years:

Watch Friday Arts for February 2012 on PBS. See more from Friday Arts.

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A visitor looks at "Haran II" by Frank Stella, which is part of the exhibition, "Guggenheim Collection: The American Avant-Garde 1945-1980," at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. The exhibition, running through May 6, showcases more than 60 works produced after World War II from the Guggenheim museum's permanent collection. Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.

By Nick Flynn

The thin thread that holds us here, tethered / or maybe tied, together,
what / do you call it--telephone? horizon? song? Listen / to yourself
sing, We are all god's children / we are all gods, we walk the earth /
sometimes, two sails inside us sometimes / beating, our bodies the
bottle, a ship inside each / until one day, for no reason, it sails--
hello? / damn phone--until one day it sails / out of sight, until one
day it cuts out of / earshot, bye-bye muttered into your cupped palm,
bye-bye / boat, bye-bye rain--Look / maybe this is the place we've been /
waiting for, maybe this place / is the day, inside us, inside each /
corpuscle, the day, that day, everyday is / inside, my body, your body,
everyday is / this thread, everyday you said, come / get me, everyday
you said, it's been way too long / you said, bye-bye, bye-bye, not a day /
went by, the thin, the thread, so thin, this thread, are you still / here,
is it still, your heart, is it well / well welling?

Nick Flynn is a poet, playwright and memoirist whose most recent book is "The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands" (2011, Graywolf Press), a collection of poems that are linked to his latest memoir, "The Ticking is the Bomb" (2010, W. W. Norton & Company). He teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

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Children participate in Monday's celebrations of the Chinese Lantern Festival in Zibo, China. The Lantern Festival marks the last day of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Photo by Hong Wu/Getty Images.

I recently had a chance to see a performance of Mark Morris' "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato" at Washington's Kennedy Center, a piece he first presented in 1988 and that is widely considered one of the masterpieces of dance in our era. Earlier today, I talked to Morris about the piece, his company and what he's working on now. He joined me on the phone from Tulsa, Okla.:

Here's an except of "L'Allegro," a section titled "The Walking Duet":

Editor's note: Jeffrey Brown's conversation with Mark Morris from 2001 can be found here.

A roundup of the week's arts and culture headlines.

 
Don Cornelius, the creator and host of "Soul Train," died this week at the age of 72. The New York Times quotes Lonnie G. Bunch III, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture: "He was able to provide the country a window into black youth culture and black music... For young black teenagers like myself, it gave a sense of pride and a sense that the culture we loved could be shared and appreciated nationally."

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Websites devoted to art sales stand to become heavyweights in the wheeling and dealing of fine art, reaching out to investors and forming partnerships with highly-regarded galleries and museums, via The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal reports that art values and sales in 2011 rose at major auction houses.

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NBC is launching its own publishing house exclusively for e-books, via Wired.

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The Rhode Island School of Design and the U.S. Department of State are launching an initiative to promote cultural artistic exchange, via The New York Observer.

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Shukree Hassan Tilghman's documentary 'More Than a Month' follows his campaign to end Black History Month, celebrated each February. Tilghman argues that the designated month sets African-American history apart from the rest of the country's past, cramming the study and recognition of African-American contributions into a few weeks. The film features numerous opinions and interviews from around the country, via ITVS.

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Brazilian dancer Edson Barbosa warms up for her performance Thursday at the Prix de Lausanne 40th International Ballet Competition in Lausanne, Switzerland. The international competition is open to dancers aged 15 to 18 who are not yet professionals. Winners receive scholarships granting free tuition in a world renowned dance school or company. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

In 1996, Wislawa Szymborska was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. She was little known outside of her native Poland, but the award helped make her a major figure in modern world literature. Szymborska died Wednesday in Poland at age 88. Earlier today, I spoke to Szymborska's longtime translator, Clare Cavanagh, professor of Slavic languages and comparative literature at Northwestern University, about the poet's life and work:

A transcript will be posted soon.

Editor's note: In 1996, poet Robert Hass appeared on the NewsHour to talk about Szymborska after she won the Nobel Prize. You can read that transcript here. And in 1999, poet Robert Pinsky read one of Szymborska's poems on the program. You can find that here.

Photo by Mariusz Kubik.