Arts
The Arts
A Biden Cabinet Secretary For Arts? Advocates Are Hopeful
Arts and culture make up a huge, $877 billion industry that generates more than five million jobs across the country. But the amount of federal funding for the arts is tiny when compared with smaller industries like agriculture — so what are arts organizations hoping for under the Biden administration?
![The final restoration project by the nonprofit Advancing Women Artists group features works by Violante Ferroni, an 18th century prodigy about whom little is known today. Francesco Cacchiani/AWA](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/02-current-restoration-ph-f-cacchiani_slide-3ae6770e866a70db5de0c8c526de6638b1fc427b-500x500.jpg)
‘Where Are The Women?’: Uncovering The Lost Works Of Female Renaissance Artists
For centuries in Italy — the cradle of Renaissance masters — women with artistic talent were not allowed to enter academies. And the names of the few female artists from centuries past have mostly faded into oblivion.
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You Might Be Ready To Forget 2020. This Short Film with ‘Auld Lang Syne’ Reminds Why You Shouldn’t
Produced by a diverse group of filmmakers assembled by 1504, a studio based in Birmingham, Ala., For The Sake Of Old Times pairs the performance of “Auld Lang Syne” with archival footage from 2020, particularly of the summer’s racial justice protests.
![Annye Anderson poses for a picture](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/mrs-a-a83292149bd124ef401322ad1b4f30a715f775a3-500x500.jpg)
‘Brother Robert’ Book Reveals True Story Of Growing Up With Blues Legend Robert Johnson
Blues legend Robert Johnson has been mythologized as a backwoods loner, his talent the result of selling his soul to the devil. Wrong and wrong again, according to Johnson’s younger stepsister, who lives in Amherst, Mass. She tells his true story in Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson, a memoir about growing up with her brother she published in June.
![A scene from Priya's Mask, a new comic book and animated film that tackles the challenges around the pandemic. It's the latest installment of the Indian superhero series Priya.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/priya_mask_animation10_wide-2f2d114d8f08657a096813ab35ebd184483bc136-500x500.jpg)
India’s Female Superhero And Her Flying Tiger Are Out To Fight The Pandemic
Priya’s Mask is the latest installation in Priya, the hit comic book series targeted to Indian children. This time, Priya and her flying tiger Sahas befriend a little girl named Meena to show the sacrifices made by frontline health-care workers — and why it’s important to be courageous and compassionate during the pandemic.
![Jon Batiste performs during the National CARES Mentoring Movement's 2nd Annual for the Love of Our Children Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Jan. 30, 2017 in New York City. Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for for National CARES Mentoring Movement](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Jon-Batiste-performs-jazz-CREDIT-Bennett-Raglin-Getty-Images-for-National-CARES-Mentoring-Movement-500x500.jpg)
In ‘Soul,’ Jon Batiste’s New Orleans-Inspired Jazz Music Helps Bring Pixar’s First Black Lead To Life
Pixar’s new animated film Soul is the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school school music teacher with big dreams about performing jazz onstage. “Music is all I think about, from the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I fall asleep at night,” he says. “I was born to play.”
![Michael Rohde disassembling a 120-year-old piano to salvage the metal and fine wood for other uses. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Michael-Rohde-Piano-Recycling-salvage-wood-CREDIT-Tom-Banse-N3-500x500.jpg)
Play Us A Memory, Piano Man…And Recycle This Old Instrument
Sure, you’re a good Northwesterner because you recycle your beer cans, cardboard boxes and plastic milk jugs. But what about that dust-collecting piano you have long wanted to unload? It doesn’t fit into the recycling bin. Creative upcycling might be the answer.
![Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw starred in Love Story — a romantic tearjerker that became the highest grossing movie of 1970. Since then, it has inspired countless ugly cries — and plenty of parodies, too. Paramount Pictures](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/genloves101615publicitypicturesrentalretailp38383e5e004ed57381d396c35c3009e01aaab27dabf51-s_custom-bbc822c9952806bd7b9821dad36fd9d5b23bdb7f-500x500.jpg)
Successful, Sentimental And Satirized, ‘Love Story’ Celebrates 50th Anniversary
Fifty years ago, a simple but tragic love story became a global sensation that stunned the entertainment industry. Love Story, the romantic tearjerker starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw, broke box office records and the book it was based on was a bestseller that was translated into more than 30 languages.
![Photo of host Sueann Ramella and guest Ted Tremper talking virtually for a recording of Traverse Talks with Sueann Ramella.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/110_Ted-Tremper-Thumbnail-2-500x500.png)
‘Traverse Talks’ Episode 10 – Part 2: Ted Tremper On Finding Humor And Accepting Failure
In part two of this episode of “Traverse Talks with Sueann Ramella,” comedy writer Ted Tremper talks about how jokes impact thoughts and beliefs in an accessible way. And he discusses how he implements rules from his mother and advice from his father in his daily life.
![A Sugar & Spice Holiday, starring Jacky Lai and Tony Giroux, is Lifetime's first Chinese American Christmas romantic comedy. CREDIT: Kailey Schwerman/Courtesy of Lifetime 2020](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/sugar-and-spice-2-bb6e58350f5196737f41ab5d9009fb01830a17de-500x500.jpg)
Holiday Rom-Coms Go Beyond Diversity To Center New Christmas Stars
Rare were the Christmas rom-coms with Asian, queer, Latinx or disabled characters. When Black characters started to show up, they generally played sidekicks — or they starred in family holiday movies, not the kind of Christmas rom-coms where Mom’s always there to help with a thorny relationship dilemma, the cider is forever mulled and not a single problem can’t be solved by declaring love under the mistletoe.
![Photo of Ted Tremper, a guest on Traverse Talks with Sueann Ramella](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/109_Ted-Tremper-Thumbnail-500x500.png)
‘Traverse Talks’ Episode 9 – Part 1: Comedy Writer Ted Tremper On Finding Humor In Tragedy
In part one of this episode of “Traverse Talks with Sueann Ramella,” comedy writer Ted Tremper talks about growing up in the Northwest as the overweight-funny kid. He says his mom’s untimely death while he was in college shaped much of his outlook on life and his career. Tremper has written for “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,”” I Love You, America” with Sarah Silverman, and has written his own episodic comedy called “Shrink.”
![John le Carré, master of the spy thriller, died this past weekend at the age of 89.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/john-le-carre-credit-nadav-kander_custom-b6a7694ee37ad18f129c1586ed444fa95e28830e-500x500.jpg)
‘He Makes Us Love George Smiley:’ The Legacy Of John Le Carré, Master Of The Spy Thriller
NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly speaks with British writer Robert Harris about the legacy of John le Carré, whom he’s called “one of the great post-war British novelists” and who died Saturday at age 89.