How to find (and share) your inner artist
One day, on a whim, Martha Weiss, 76, a retired psychiatric social worker living in Washington, D.C., wandered into an art studio and signed up for a class. “Painting was something I had never done in my life,” she said. “I didn’t even think I could draw.” Slowly, with the support of other new painters in her class, she found that creating art was soothing. “Most of the ... READ MORE
Kennedy Center honors stars, shows 50+
Actress Sally Field and the long-running children’s TV show “Sesame Street” will be honored and feted at this year’s Kennedy Center Honors gala this month. Others chosen to receive the award for lifetime achievement in the arts include singer Linda Ronstadt, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and the musical group Earth, Wind and Fire. Field, 72, was a television star at age... READ MORE
Ingenious play about an autistic genius
Imagine — or allow the Round House Theatre’s excellent cast and stage crew to imagine for you — the story of a 15-year-old math genius with Asperger Syndrome (a form of autism), whose attempts to solve the murder of a neighbor’s dog leads him to delve into the mysteries of the human mind and heart. The boy, whose relations with others of the human species are, at best, on the... READ MORE
Counting one’s blessings despite tears
You know what they say about rain. Into each life some of it must fall. But gushers of it? Count your lucky stars if that has never happened to you. I’m counting mine after a tear-soaked dinner recently with a woman I hadn’t seen in more than 50 years. She was a high school classmate, but we were not close. We hadn’t laid eyes on one another since that day in 1962, when all... READ MORE
Beautiful books address varied interests
The Bibliophile As Garrison Keillor once said, “A book is a gift you can open again and again.” Consider these exceptional coffee-table offerings for the readers in your life — from star gazers to sports lovers to bird watchers and more. Mission Moon: How 50 Years of Space Exploration Defined Houston, by Houston Chronicle, 160 pages, Pediment Publishing hardcover, 2019 It’s... READ MORE
Guests can stay inside an Edward Hopper painting
When Alex Nyerges, director and CEO of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, heard curator Leo Mazow’s idea that the museum should build an actual hotel room to mimic one of Edward Hopper’s paintings he said, “I thought he was crazy!” But Mazow’s idea evolved and was accepted — and now, Nyerges said, “I’m so glad we did it.” In an innovative move, the museum allows... READ MORE
Mannheim Steamroller rolls into town
Every November and December for the past 35 years, the neoclassical new-age band Mannheim Steamroller goes on tour, its three troupes giving 80 performances in the space of two months. “The music is so uplifting and full of joy,” said Roxane Layton, group spokesperson and one of its 20 members. She plays percussion and recorder. “Like a steamroller, it really moves you. It’s... READ MORE
Historian makes history as Smithsonian secretary
A girlfriend convinced Lonnie G. Bunch III to jump out of an airplane when he was 17 years old. “I jump out, and I’m yelling, screaming, cursing,” Bunch — now the new head of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. — recalled in an interview with the Beacon. But he learned something important from the experience. “It taught me that I could do things that scare the... READ MORE
Structure in the wintertime garden
The leaves have fallen, nothing is blooming, the garden looks forlorn. Can you stand three more months of this? If not, how can you create beauty in the winter garden? Structure provides the interest you need now as well as the framework for all seasons. Of course, structure can mean literal structures: pergolas, potting sheds, garden gates, stacked stone walls. However, structure... READ MORE
Cabaret series honors legendary singers
Richmond theater aficionado Mark Singer, 69, has attended performances in major cities all over the world, but he is still impressed by the “fantastic talent” he sees among Richmond performers. Because of the quality of local talent, Singer subscribes to Legends on Grace, a series of cabaret-like performances presented by the Richmond Performing Arts Alliance (RPAA). RPAA... READ MORE
Arts 2024
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