Art Beat

‘The Good Wife’ Makes the Political Personal

On the new CBS drama "The Good Wife," Alicia Florrick (played by Julianna Margulies), is an attorney turned dutiful political wife whose husband's sex tape with a prostitute lands him in prison and her back in the workforce.

Weekly Poem: ‘If a Person Visits Someone in a Dream, in Some Cultures the Dreamer Thanks Them’

Jean Valentine has published 11 books of poetry and is also the editor of "The Lighthouse Keeper: Essays on the Poetry of Eleanor Ross Taylor." Last month, she won the 2009 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets.

Francine Prose Unlocks the Life and Diary of Anne Frank

By Arts Desk

A new book by writer Francine Prose called "Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife" asks how much we really know about Frank and her famous work, and wonders what more the talented young writer could have produced if…

We All Have a Story

All artists carry stories -- stories shaped by personal histories, cultures and family experiences. Fifteen of them are brought together at the Kohler Arts Center in "American Story," an exhibition of artists with diverse backgrounds.

Welcome Home: A Look at Living in Slums

A multimedia exhibition from Norwegian photographer Jonas Bendiksen on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., documents the experiences of families living in unplanned, off-the-grid slums in Nairobi, Mumbai, Caracas and Jakarta.

Art of Contemporary Pakistan Comes to U.S.

A new show at the Asia Society entitled Hanging Fire -- which refers to an idiom meaning "to delay decision" -- is the first U.S. museum exhibit to focus on contemporary art in Pakistan, and an attempt to alter the…

Weekly Poem: ‘September, Inverness’

Robert Hass served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. His books of poetry include "Time and Materials" (2007 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner); "Sun Under Wood: New Poems"; "Human Wishes"; "Praise"; and "Field…

Ken Burns’ Parks Doc Begins Sunday on PBS

Ken Burns' new 12-hour documentary, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," begins Sunday.

Conversation: Writer Lorrie Moore

By Arts Desk

It's December 2001 and a young midwestern college student named Tassie Keltjin is about to get a more worldly education when she accepts a part-time job as a nanny to the adopted child of a sophisticated Middle-aged couple. What happens…

Christo and Jeanne-Claude (Part 2)

Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been working on a proposed environmental art installation in Colorado for years, but have been met with significant resistance from local residents.