A sculptor, installation and video artist primarily producing works that address the experiences of Black women, Simone Leigh has received a multitude of honors. She now adds the first African-American woman to represent the United States at the prestigious Venice Biennale to that list. Leigh works primarily in ceramics, a …
The images are striking. A toddler, his tiny sock caught on barbed wire as he’s passed through a barricade in Albania. A couple holding hands as they walk down a street filled with burning wreckage from a Haitian earthquake. A young refugee from the war in Sierra Leone jubilantly raising …
Most of what I know about poetry can be summed up in this opening line: “There once was a girl from Nantucket …” I’m kidding, of course (kind of). But we’re talking poetry today because American poet Louise Glück was just awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature. In announcing …
As a war correspondent, Dickey Chapelle talked her way onto the front lines of battlefields from WWII to Vietnam and revolutions in places like Hungary, Algeria, Lebanon and Cuba. Unmistakable in her uniform of fatigues, harlequin glasses and pearl earrings, Dickey covered the world’s hotspots. She took photos under fire …
In 2017, a replica of the ancient Greek Parthenon, widely acknowledged to be the first symbol of democracy, was erected in Kassel, Germany. Built from 100,000 banned books, it was the creation of Argentinian artist Marta Minujin and erected on the site where thousands of banned books were burned by …
When tattoos began popping up everywhere in our research this week, we took it as a sign and discovered Maud Stevens Wagner, credited as the first female tattooist in the United States. Born in Kansas in 1877, little is known of her early life. By adulthood, Maud was performing as …
Today’s autumnal equinox has us feeling a bit metaphysical, so let’s turn to ancient Greece and the story of the Oracle of Delphi, a collective of women over time whose divine communication with the gods made them among the most powerful women in the ancient world. From about 1400 BC …
Three young Black girls in flowered dresses are pictured laying on a lawn, one gazing skyward, one looking askance and one looking straight at the camera, flowers wrapping her hair, as she seemingly dares the viewer to look away. The photo is from the series Mayflowers by visual artist Carrie …
With dozens of books to her name, author Denise Swanson could be forgiven for easing up on the publishing pedal a bit. After all, her cozy mystery and romance novels have sold tens of thousands of copies worldwide, and her audience on Facebook and other social media has crossed the …
