His mother told him to pass it on. And he did. He passed it on to his students who became teachers, and they passed it on to their students. He passed it on to other artists, who passed it on to their colleagues. And they’ve gathered in the Louisiana Art & Science Museum on … Continue reading →

Forum 35 has announced the jurors for its 10th annual Art Melt, set for Saturday, July 20, at the Capitol Park Museum, 660 N. Fourth St. Jordana Pomeroy, executive director of the LSU Museum of Art, will serve as the local juror; Susan Edwards, executive director and CEO of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in … Continue reading →

1. 12th of Never. James Patterson, Maxine Paetro 2. The Hit. David Baldacci 3. Whiskey Beach. Nora Roberts 4. Daddy’s Gone a Hunting. Mary Higgins Clark 5. Fly Away. Kristin … Continue reading →

THE OLD MAN’S LOVE STORY By Rudolfo Anaya University of Oklahoma Press, $19.95; 176 pp. An old man loses his wife, his lifelong companion, who dies of old age. He struggles to understand the void she leaves in his life. This … Continue reading →

Library Summer Reading Programs open this month at East Baton Rouge Parish Library. This summer is sure to be packed with great books, exciting programs and prizes. With a program for every age group, the entire family can participate. All locations of the Library will have reading logs for each age group (children, teens, and adults) beginning … Continue reading →

DEAD LIONS By Mick Herron Soho Press, $25.95; 347 pp. ANOTHER SUN By Timothy Williams Soho Press, $25; 316 pp. Continue reading →

SULPHUR SPRINGS, Texas — After a feverish month of inspiration, Colleen Hoover had finally fulfilled her dream of writing a book. With family and friends asking to read the emotional tale of first love, the married mother of three young boys living in rural East Texas and working 11-hour days as a social worker decided … Continue reading →

A compilation of arts events for the week ahead. SUNDAY IN THE PARK: noon-3 p.m., Galvez Plaza Stage, North Boulevard. Outdoor concert featuring the Phunky Monkeys. (225) 344-8558. AN AFTERNOON IN ST. FRANCISVILLE: 1 p.m.-5 p.m., St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, St. Francisville. A walk in a mature beech-magolia woodland setting … Continue reading →

That moment when everything comes together exactly as you envisioned it happens at least once if you’re lucky. And Greg Williams Jr. doesn’t take his good fortune for granted. He’s written plays in the past, comedies and musicals that have been produced by New Venture Theatre, and he was more than satisfied with each of … Continue reading →

There’s strength in numbers. Artist Stephan Wanger knows that. He wanted to make a strong statement with his art, wanted to create sweeping scenes of Louisiana in rich, bright colors and careful contrasts. He decided to use the mosaic form — with Mardi Gras beads serving as the medium, lots of beads on large surfaces. Continue reading →

Baton Rouge Gallery’s May exhibits featuring the work of gallery artists James Burke, David Horton and Lisa Qualls, will continue through Thursday, May 30, at the gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive. During the exhibition, guests will experience Burke’s reimagining of a 1950s canoe expedition through northwest Canada, Horton’s colorful narrative paintings that provide allegories to life situations and … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Washington saw an increase of about 1 million visitors last year, one of its largest in a decade, counting a record 18.9 million tourists at the nation’s capital in 2012, officials announced Tuesday. Statistics released by the tourism bureau Destination D.C. show a 5.5 percent increase in total visitors compared with 2011. … Continue reading →

PEORIA, Ill. — Here’s a place where the word caterpillar does not refer to fuzzy little insects. The new Caterpillar Visitors Center is all about the roaring black-and-yellow machines that dig and lift at massive construction and mining sites. Caterpillar Inc., maker of the heavy machinery ranging from bulldozers and excavators to tunnel-boring machines … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Decades before New York’s Central Park was created, Green-Wood Cemetery’s ponds, hills and winding paths provided not only a pastoral final resting place for the nation’s elite but also a recreational spot for picnics and horse-drawn buggies. The still-active cemetery in Brooklyn was the largest cemetery in the world at the … Continue reading →

RICHMOND, Va. — Among the swords, the wrenching letters home and the haunting photographs in the Museum of the Confederacy’s new exhibit on Gettysburg, few artifacts embody the ferocious battle more than the eight battle flags recovered from the bloodied fields where Pickett’s Charge was fought. The men who carried them were first in … Continue reading →

Her movie producer friend knows she’s never been to Baton Rouge, yet he keeps seeing her throughout the city. And so does anyone else who passes one of the city’s many digital billboards. “Audra McDonald,” they blare. And then there’s her photograph, followed by the why, where and when — the why being the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra’s Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation Great Performers in Concert Series. Continue reading →

As part of an upcoming exhibit at the LSU Museum of Art focusing on the photography of famed jazz photographer Herman Leonard and works by LSU professor emeritus and painter Ed Pramuk, Louisiana Public Broadcasting will screen a half-hour documentary on the life and work of Leonard. The filmmakers will discuss the film afterward. Continue reading →

The 5th annual Cruisin’ Cajun Country Cruise, featuring classic and muscle cars, will roll through Iberia Parish Thursday-Saturday, May 16-18. Participants can take in New Iberia’s Main Street historic district, food and live music, while spectators can enjoy free car shows and entertainment. Registration will open at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Super 8 Hotel … Continue reading →

One can’t help wondering if Nick LaRocca would have believed it if someone had told him exactly how much influence his song would have over a stadium of 90,000-plus. Make that more than 100,000 when the addition to Tiger Stadium is complete, when more voices are added to the crowd’s roar when the LSU Tiger Marching Band … Continue reading →

JERUSALEM — An ancient limestone tablet covered with a mysterious Hebrew text that features the archangel Gabriel is at the center of a new exhibit in Jerusalem, even as scholars continue to argue about what it means. The so-called Gabriel Stone, a meter-tall (about 39.5 inches) tablet said to have been found 13 years … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — When I was young, I learned a lot about travel from my mother. She taught me how and what to pack. She taught me to keep a travel diary to record my memories. And most importantly, she taught me how to power-sightsee. Continue reading →

It seems wrong to use a word like ordinary to describe any aspect of Jack Bedell’s poetry. His words are full of evocative metaphors that summon the smell of cane fields burning, the flash of a big redfish at the end of a fishing line, diamonds of light dappling a farm pond on a summer day. Continue reading →

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW By Nathaniel Rich Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $26 Mitchell Zukor is a disaster waiting to happen — and waiting for disasters to happen to himself and the rest of us. The lonely neurotic at the center of … Continue reading →

Best-Sellers for May 12 Continue reading →

More than 20,000 students throughout the state voted to choose the winners of the 2013 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award and Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Award. Young Zeus by G. Brian Karas was the top choice among third through fifth graders while Smile by Raina Telgemeier received the most votes among middle school students. The Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice … Continue reading →

Tickets are on sale for the St. James Center for Spiritual Formation’s fourth annual Summer Sounds at St. James series of musical concerts. This year, programs are scheduled at 7 p.m. Wednesdays in July at St. James Episcopal Church, 205 N. Fourth St.. The series opens on July 3 with a performance by the National … Continue reading →

A compilation of arts events for the week ahead. SUNDAY IN THE PARK: noon-3 p.m., Galvez Plaza Stage, North Boulevard. Outdoor concert featuring Route 90. (225) 344-8558. MOVE OVER MRS. MARKHAM: 2 p.m., Theatre Baton Rouge, 7155 Florida Blvd. The final production in Theatre Baton Rouge’s 2012-13 Season of … Continue reading →

There was no police tape, no officers blocking onlookers from the crime scene. It was a different time, a time before DNA tests and digital technology. A time when veteran Chicago photojournalist and author Steve Schapiro could show up with his film-loaded camera in hand and no one would question his presence. Martin Luther King’s associate Hosea Williams simply let him into room 306, where the television was still blaring and cold coffee was stagnant in plastic foam cups. Continue reading →

Hot Art, Cool Nights, the Mid City Merchant’s spring art hop, is set for 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday, May 10, in the Mid City Art and Design District. This is the 10th year for the event, which features local artists and their work at many midcity locations. There also will be live music and refreshments along the way. Continue reading →

Summer camp isn’t just for kids anymore. At least not at Theatre Baton Rouge. “We have a summer camp for adults that is popular,” Jack Lampert said. “They take it seriously, but they have a lot of fun. And in the end, we do a production, and everyone really gets into it.” Lampert is … Continue reading →

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Striped balloons dot a bright blue sky. Red rocks silhouette a lone dead tree. A white ladder leans on a brown adobe dwelling. On a road trip around New Mexico, this mix of motifs and cultures seems to echo across the centuries and turn up at every stop, whether you’re visiting … Continue reading →

The lanky, charcoal-gray dog with a distinctive, wiry hairdo would stand out in most other animal shelters, but no one gave him a second look on Hawaii’s island of Kauai. But thanks to a tourist willing to take him across the Pacific, an Airedale Terrier-Irish Wolfhound mix named Grady now enjoys a spacious California loft with … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Disney Cruise Line’s oldest ship, the Magic, is getting a makeover, including the addition of a children’s area themed on Marvel Comics superheroes and a three-story water slide, the company announced April 26. The Magic launched in 1998. Other updates when the ship goes into drydock in Spain for a month … Continue reading →

This is the story of the Sankofa child, whose Nia, or purpose, is to provide balance for the world of ImBalynce. Those who live in this world have heard the story, but many dismiss it as a myth. Stories of good and evil, a savior’s battle with a destructor, have been floating around since before The Shattering nearly 3,000 years ago. Continue reading →

There is a lot we don’t know about our nation’s literary tradition and a lot of 19th-century writers who defined their age but are read no longer. Professor Philip Gura of the University of North Carolina breathes new life into old and largely forgotten novels. Continue reading →

Southern Repertory Theatre in New Orleans has announced its new Mainstage season full of passion, politics, spirit, sex and satire. Four productions will investigate the voices and histories of an eclectic cast of characters as they grapple with universal issues of love, truth, salvation and self. The Mainstage season will feature a Broadway play, an unforgettable … Continue reading →

Best-Sellers for May 5 Continue reading →

Gregory Grandy, environmental manager, landscape architect and volunteer environmental educator, is passionate about Louisiana’s landscape, particularly preserving its coast. Grandy’s lifework is dedicated to preserving Louisiana’s coastline, a topic he will share at the Thursday, May 9, Foundation for Historical Louisiana’s monthly Heritage Lecture. The lecture will be held at 6 p.m. at FHL headquarters in the … Continue reading →

A compilation of arts events for the week ahead. SUNDAY IN THE PARK: noon-3 p.m., Galvez Plaza Stage, North Boulevard. Outdoor concert featuring Captain Green. (225) 344-8558. A PASTICHE OF GARDEN STYLES: 1 p.m.-5 p.m., LSU Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road. Spring garden tour. $20. http://www.lsu.edu/hilltop or (225) 767-6916. FREE … Continue reading →

Alistair is Philip, Philip is Philips the Butler, Linda is Sylvie, Walter is the father-in-law and Mrs. Markham is, well, Mrs. Markham. And Mrs. Markham is not only the one who creates this scenario to fool Olive Harriet Smythe, she’s also the one who keeps up with who’s who. Otherwise, Miss Smythe might take her … Continue reading →

Each character has a story, and those stories play out in Jitney, August Wilson’s gypsy cab station that serves Pittsburgh’s Hill District when others won’t. The district was Wilson’s boyhood home, the setting of the 10 plays in his Pittsburgh Cycle. Jitney is number eight in that series and second in UpStage Theatre’s plan to perform … Continue reading →

Joe Moore wants people to know that his students can do more than bang on drums. The percussion doctoral candidate and director of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra’s Percussion Ensemble will showcase the range of the four member group at LYO’s upcoming concert Sunday, May 5. “I chose a melodic keyboard piece and then one with … Continue reading →

The Concert Choir will be there. The Wind Ensemble will, too. In fact, all of the Southern University Music Department’s concert ensembles will be performing on Friday, May 3, at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church . Throw in a few solos by the department’s vocal and piano professors, and you have the music department’s Potpourri: The … Continue reading →

Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond will pay homage to jazz legend and alumnus Bill Evans with a festival in his honor. The 12th annual Bill Evans Jazz Festival honors the deceased seven-time Grammy Award winner and 1950 Southeastern graduate, considered the most influential jazz pianist of his generation. Sponsored by Southeastern’s Arts and Lectures … Continue reading →

Tickets are on sale for “Singo de Mayo,” a musical revue, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2, in the LSU Union Theater, Raphael Semmes Drive on campus. A play on words makes this grand finale performance by the LSU musical theatre troupe. This year, “Singo de Mayo’s” program will comprise a medley of Broadway tunes, classics … Continue reading →