Art: The American version of Impressionism is perhaps best-known in the work of painters such as Mary Cassatt and Childe Hassam, but there is a rich tradition that comes from eastern Pennsylvania, and today the Society of the Four Arts opens an exhibition that brings that tradition to a wider audience. Painting the Beautiful contains more than 60 paintings from the James A. … [Read more...]
The View From Home 41: New Releases and Notable Screenings, Aug. 7-31
It’s difficult for me to write about Grosse Pointe Blank and especially High Fidelity with any degree of objectivity. For almost 10 years since its theatrical release, High Fidelity held the unshakable position of my favorite film of all-time. This might sound like an eccentric or dubious choice coming from a lover of Tarkovsky, Bresson, Godard, et al. So be it. For the past … [Read more...]
School of Rock brings band, dreams to Philly, Cleveland
For every kid who learns to play an instrument or sing (or both) in hopes of joining a rock band, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the pinnacle. Just ask the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who formed in Hollywood, Calif., in 1983 -- the same year the hall was established in Cleveland -- and got enshrined during its 27th annual induction ceremony last month. But even for the members … [Read more...]
‘Lazhar,’ thankfully, avoids school-movie platitudes
If the American education system is waiting for a Superman, then so, too, are American movie audiences clamoring for a film that correctly represents education as it really is. Our school-centric films are typically besotted with hokey, artless hyperbole, from crusading educators dodging bullets as they turn inner-city gangbangers into Shakespearean scholars to prep-school … [Read more...]
Bak Middle teams with Juilliard for a week of jazz workshops
Until recently, you weren’t likely to hear mention of the local Bak Middle School of the Arts and the Juilliard School in New York City within the same sentence. Starting Monday, that will officially change when Juilliard’s world-class faculty and graduate students come to Bak to educate 81 students, ages 12-18, in one of its series of weeklong Summer Jazz Workshops 2011. The … [Read more...]
Pianist Weisman brings meaty program to Piano Lovers series
Assaff Weisman leads a busy life as a pianist, teacher at the Juilliard School, and chief of an international chamber ensemble whose debut disc arrives later this year. To put it another way, he’s a thorough, expert musician, the kind on whom the classical world depends to keep the art form relevant and fresh for audiences and students. What remains for him is to carve out a … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Sept. 25-28
Art: Award-winning Lake Worth sculptor and master builder Norman Gitzen has been chosen to participate in Miami GuitarTown, a public arts project featuring 10-foot-tall fiberglass Gibson Les Paul model guitars that are painted by local and national artists. The enormous guitars will be showcased throughout Miami in parks, landmarks and sponsored locations and will be auctioned … [Read more...]