My country ’tis of thee … of thee I sing!
Mar
5
2011
We just loved seeing a creative American like Sonny Rollins honored in the White House. That’s the way it should be every day, not once a year. More arts, education, and humanities in our country! Here, the great jazz saxophonist accepts 2010 National Medal of Arts from President Obama. What a moment! “I’m very happy ...
Good god! Apollo visits Los Angeles, twice.
The bronze art treasure, Apollo Saettante, Apollo the Archer, is visiting Los Angeles through the summer, far from his home in the Real Museo Borbonico in Naples. The luminous statue arrived on the cliffs of Malibu, California, where he received a tender beauty treatment from Getty Museum conservationist Erik Risser and curator David Saunders, antiquities ...
Harry Houdini, who he? See: Skirball Center
Mar
3
2011
Houdini: Art and Magic, coming soon to the Skirball Cultural Center, traces magician and escape artist Harry Houdini’s evolution from fledgling circus performer in the 1890s, to stage magician at the turn of the twentieth century, to star of stage and film. Featuring more than 150 artifacts, the exhibition illuminates Houdini’s compelling story through historical ...
Honoring America’s greats: National Medal of Arts
President Obama this morning honored some of our nation’s great artists in a ceremony at the White House. Receiving the 2010 National Medal of Arts were Robert Brustein, the theater producer and critic; Van Cliburn, the pianist; Mark di Suvero, the abstract expressionist sculptor; poet Donald Hall; and the pioneering dance organization, Jacob’s Pillow Dance ...
Congratulations, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival! 1
Mar
1
2011
President Barack Obama will tomorrow honor Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government. The medals will be presented by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in an East Room ceremony at the White House on March 2 at 1:45pm, streamed ...
Cocktail correction!
Feb
27
2011
arts·meme wishes to correct a regrettable error in the story below, in which we wrongly accused Ms. Fonda of not drinking. This is untrue: She was! Concerning the beverage in question, sources at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art inform us: It was a martini in that plastic glass – take-out from the Patina ...
A martini with Jane Fonda 2
Feb
26
2011
“If you’d had the day I’ve had, you’d be drinking a martini,” said Jane Fonda, as she entered LACMA’s Bing Theater, speaking directly to the audience before taking her seat on stage. She was slated for a conversation prior to the screening of Alan Pakula’s marvelous thriller “Klute,” the actress’s breakthrough dramatic role from 1971. Still ...
James Dean would follow Eartha Kitt anywhere! 1
Even to Katherine Dunham‘s dance class circa 1955 … but who wouldn’t? Eartha Kitt danced with the Dunham troupe from age 16 to 20, approximately, touring Europe, and becoming a cabaret sensation in Paris. James Dean, on the other hand … this great photo care of koolcatshipchicksblog. fabulous dunham historic photos here.
James Dean, moody, on location in Griffith Park 2
“Location Filming in Los Angeles,” a wonderful new book written by arts·meme pal, Marc Wanamaker in collaboration with Karie Bible and Harry Medved, provides a delicious historic tour of location shooting all ’round our fair city. In the rare promotional photo above, James [“You’re tearin’ me apart!“] Dean broods while filming “Rebel Without a Cause” ...