Jan 20 Weekly Poem: Elizabeth Alexander honors MLK Day with stories of the black experience By Victoria Fleischer Poet Elizabeth Alexander "cant untether" herself from history, especially when reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. When she offered her own work in commemoration of the holiday, Alexander read four poems that travel through history to "give us a… Continue reading
Jan 20 La Scala, Berlin Philharmonic conductor Claudio Abbado dies at 80 By Ellen Rolfes Italian conductor Claudio Abbado died peacefully in Bologna at the age of 80. He will be remembered for his extraordinary conducting skills, a teacher who championed both new music and new talent. Continue reading
Jan 17 Bolshoi Ballet hopes dancing, not drama gets the spotlight in 2014 By artsdesk It's one year exactly since Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Moscow-based Bolshoi Ballet, suffered a viscous acid attack, masterminded by a jealous Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko. Here's an update to the story and a look back at some NewsHour… Continue reading
Jan 17 For Rita Moreno, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, an Oscar and now a SAG Life Achievement Award By Victoria Fleischer Rita Moreno is the only Latino American to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and an Oscar. And on Saturday, the 82-year-old actress will receive a new award: the Screen Actor Guild (SAG) Life Achievement Award. In October, Moreno sat down… Continue reading
Jan 16 POLL: What are your picks for the Academy Awards? By Victoria Fleischer Early Thursday morning the Oscar nominations were announced in Los Angeles. But, before the Academy decides, we at Art Beat want to hear from you. Tell us, what -- and who -- should win at the Academy Awards this year?… Continue reading
Jan 16 And the Oscar nominations go to … The announcements are in! This year's Oscar nominations were released Thursday morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "American Hustle" and "Gravity" lead the pack with 10 nominations and "12 Years a Slave" is not far behind… Continue reading
Jan 16 ‘American Hustle,’ ‘Gravity,’ ’12 Years a Slave’ lead Oscar nominations The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday this year's Oscar nominations. "American Hustle" and "Gravity" lead the pack with 10 nominations and "12 Years a Slave" is not far behind with nine. Those films will be… Continue reading
Jan 15 ’12 Years’ writer on how Hollywood does a ‘poor job’ depicting slavery By Victoria Fleischer At Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony, the movie won Best Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for six other awards, including best screen play. Screenwriter John Ridley spoke to PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown in November about his film, adapted from the… Continue reading
Jan 15 In Detroit, a $330 million deal could save the art and the pensions By Victoria Fleischer While debate raged about the prospect of liquidating the collection at the Detroit Institute of Art, U.S. Chief District Judge Gerald Rosen, the federal mediator in the Detroit bankruptcy, came up with an innovative, alternative solution. Rosen called the head… Continue reading
Jan 13 Foundations pledge $330 million to spare Detroit art collection By Colleen Shalby The Detroit Institute of the Arts holds several thousand works of art valued at hundreds of millions of dollars… Continue reading