Disney-Britton

HEAVY A reveler makes his way through the French Quarter during Mardi Gras day on February 9, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) Today is Mardi Gras, also called Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, a French Catholic tradition that celebrates debauchery before Lent begins with Ash Wednesday for Christians. Mardi Gras is always celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter. This year, Easter is on Sunday, April 16. Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival, which begins on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6. January 6 is also known as Kings’ Day or Twelfth Night, and it celebrates the arrival of the three wise men at Jesus’ birthplace. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Robin Pogrebin “Untitled” (2016) by Hassan Massoudy, who is based in Paris. He is having his first solo show in New York at Sundaram Tagore Chelsea. Credit Hassan Massoudy, via Sundaram Tagore Gallery NEW YORK---The Iraqi-born artist Hassan Massoudy , who is based in Paris, draws on his classical training in calligraphy to create vibrantly colored oversized letters evocative of traditional Arabic script. Having formerly produced headlines for Arabic magazines as a student, Mr. Massoudy now bases his compositions on texts from Eastern and Western poets, authors and philosophers. And at a time of uncertainty for immigrant artists, he is having his first New York solo exhibition, at Sundaram Tagore Chelsea. The show, “ Words, Breath, Gesture ,” features more than 25 works on paper as well as several paintings on canvas that Mr. Massoudy has created with his own tools and inks. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Behind the Poster By Erik Piepenburg A poster for “Baby Screams Miracle,” a play at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington. Credit Woolly Mammoth Theater Meilan Mizell had a baby about two weeks before she was asked to be the model for artwork promoting “Baby Screams Miracle,” Clare Barron’s dark drama about a family praying its way through a cataclysmic storm, now at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington. In the image, shot by the photographer Cade Martin in collaboration with Jamin Hoyle, a freelance art director, Ms. Mizell portrays a water-drenched and windblown woman screaming (or is she laughing?) as she gazes at a lit candle in her hands. On the day of the shoot, Gwydion Suilebhan, the theater’s director of brand and marketing, asked Ms. Mizell to imagine losing her baby, echoing a theme of loss and fragility in the play itself. A messy photo shoot turned into an emotionally raw experience.[ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Elisabetta Povoleldo I link ] A “Risen Christ” by Michelangelo that fell into oblivion until 1997, when scholars attributed it to the Renaissance master. Credit Alessandro Vasari, via The National Gallery ITALY---It might seem odd that a nearly seven-foot-tall statue of Christ by Michelangelo — and a nude one at that — would go unnoticed for centuries. But that’s what happened to “Risen Christ,” a monumental figure that was transferred to a country church about 35 miles from Rome in the 17th century and that fell into oblivion until 1997, when scholars attributed it to the Renaissance master. Father Tuderti says he is convinced that the unknown provenance of the work ensured its salvation through the ages. Both versions of the statue will be exhibited at the National Gallery (the Minerva one in a plaster cast), so that they can be studied side-by-side for the first time.[ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton His Jesus drawings were made ever more interesting by the handwritten phrases beside them such as: "No pool of Alpine fountain at its source was purer." Goodmorning from Key West! In New York City today, New Museum visitors will explore Raymond Pettibon's graphic images of rising seas, cathedrals, surfers, and even Jesus too ,  but in Key West, as we head out to church, we'll be looking out over true blue waters. Admittedly, Pettibon is an atypical guide to religion. He is a legendary social critic, whose work, The New York Times described as "deeply creepy, beyond dystopian." There is nothing reverential about his work, but it does prompt both practical and spiritual questions. On this morning, Raymond Pettibon's drawing raises one question: how do you know when your source is pure?

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Glenn Kenny Movie poster for "Keep Quiet" HOLLYWOOD---“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,” says an old song about bigotry. But to hear the former far-right Hungarian politician Csanad Szegedi tell it, he was essentially a self-taught anti-Semite. In “ Keep Quiet ,” a documentary directed by Sam Blair and Joseph Martin, Mr. Szegedi recalls the pride he felt as a student reading far-right newspapers pushing a nationalist narrative. For his part, Mr. Szegedi disdains what he calls “cosmopolitan” Jews who insist “all Hungary gave the world was peach schnapps and baggy pants.” Then Mr. Szegedi learns an inconvenient truth: He is of Jewish lineage. His grandmother was an Auschwitz survivor. His colleagues initially suggest that this could be a good thing, inoculating the party from accusations of race hate. That strategy seems to last about half a minute, and Mr. Szegedi is expelled. He begins to embrace his Jewish identity, perhaps out of necessi...

HYPERALLERGIC Carte-de-visite of Harriet Tubman, found in an album from the 1860s (all photos courtesy Swann Auction Galleries) A previously unrecorded photograph of Harriet Tubman has resurfaced from an album of cartes-de-visite, showing a considerably younger image of the abolitionist than those captured in other known portraits. The rare picture, preserved in an album of 44 cartes-de-visite, was taken by an unknown, local photographer in Auburn, where she moved to care for her family after the war. It comes to public eye as the collection is part of a forthcoming sale by Swann Auction Galleries, Printed & Manuscript African Americana. The album was once owned by Emily Howland, a schoolteacher born to Quaker abolitionists from Sherwood, New York. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Randy Kennedy Nathalie de Gunzburg with Carl Andre’s “The Way East West (Uncarved Blocks),” center. Left to right in back: three sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, Dan Flavin’s “Untitled (Fondly to Helen).” Right, Glenn Ligon’s “Stranger #39.” Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times NEW YORK----It’s quite a distance — stylistically and chronologically — from the brightly colored geometry of the French early-Modernist painter Sonia Delaunay to the Shaker-like austerity of the Minimalist sculptor Carl Andre. But in her collecting life, Nathalie de Gunzburg, the chairwoman of the Dia Art Foundation’s board in Manhattan, has bridged the gap. Their Upper East Side townhouse is a well-lived-in shrine to many artists from that generation — Andre, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and Robert Smithson — but also to bold outliers like Louise Bourgeois. Here are edited excerpts from a conversation during our visit. [ link ]

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE By Noga Tarnopolsky Micha Kirshner’s “Aisha el-Kord, Khan Younis Refugee Camp,” a 1988, gelatin silver print, reminds many of the Christian pieta. Image courtesy of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem ISREAL---At the center of the Israel Museum’s blockbuster exhibit “Behold the Man: Jesus in Israeli Art” is a life-size photograph of a woman draped in black caressing the head of a small baby asleep on her lap. Micha Kirshner’s 1988 image “Aisha El-Kord, Khan Younis Refugee Camp” may evoke the politics of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it just as powerfully conjures the pietà, or the Roman Catholic tradition of painting and sculpture in which the Virgin Mary holds the dead body of Jesus on her lap or in her arms. But while the photo may be a reference to the pictorial Christian tradition, Kirshner himself is Jewish. [ link ]

HERALD MALAYSIA Within one year, photographs of all 20,000 objects currently on public display will be shown. After that, the intention is to have images of 200,000 works of art. VATICAN---The Vatican Museums have launched a new YouTube channel and updated their website, offering high-resolution images of their masterpieces along with mobile-friendly information. The Musei Vaticani YouTube channel shows a number of short visual tours of some of its collections and a range of promotional videos highlighting tours and services offered on-site, including signing guides for deaf people. Meanwhile, its website has been overhauled to be compatible with all electronic platforms and devices. The site currently features a little more than 3,000 high-resolution photographs of masterpieces in the museums’ collections. [ lin k]

ARTDAILY Georgia O'Keeffe, Cross With Red Sky (Black Cross With Red Sky), inscribed Cross with Red Sky/1929/Oil on canvas/40 x 32 inches on the backing, oil on canvas, 40 by 32 in. 101.6 by 81.3 cm. Executed in 1929. Photo: Sotheby's. NEW YORK---Sotheby’s S|2 gallery is presenting Now You See Me, an exhibition of works by nine of the most celebrated female artists of the 20th century that spans four continents and a hundred years of creative output. Assembled together for the first time, these works reveal the aesthetic and ideological kinship of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Barbara Hepworth, Frida Kahlo, Tamara de Lempicka, Joan Mitchell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mira Schendel and Tsuruko Yamazaki – particularly in their shared relationship to the landscape. Now You See Me is now open to the public in New York through 5 March 2017. Elizabeth Goldberg, Chairman of American Art, stated: “We are excited to introduce S|2’s latest project, a tribute to the independent, p...

SPUTNIK INTERNATIONAL Forbidden Fruits Japanese artist Mari Shimizu makes what some would consider deeply dark and disturbing creations, but what she defines as representation of ineffable human emotions. "My doll shows fear and anxiety inside the person, oppressed desire, a trauma and a desire of the mind which isn't understood by others," she told Sputnik. "My grandfather on my mother's side was a sculptor of Buddhist art and my grandfather on my father's side was managing a cabaret in Manchuria. "I want to show through the form my dolls take how religion and philosophy are influenced by culture. "I'm interested in both of human belief and human desire," Ms. Shimizu told Sputnik. [ link ]

ARTNET NEWS By Sarah Cascone NEW YORK---The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is the latest cultural institution to respond to President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, which targets citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. In rejection of the climate of fear being promoted by the new administration, “Muslim in New York: Highlights from the Photography Collection” celebrates the important place of Muslims in the melting pot that is New York. [ link ]

ARTNET NEWS By Lorena Muñoz-Alonso Russell Haines finishing one of the works for “Faith.” Courtesy the artist. UNITED KINGDOM---Several artworks by the artist Russell Haines installed at Gloucester Cathedral as part of an exhibition celebrating religious diversity were stolen or vandalized. The Observer reports that Haines’ exhibition, titled “ Faith ,” caused a stir last month when it first opened, with Christian groups slamming the use of Islamic images inside the 11th-century cathedral, and the reciting of a Muslim prayer in the show. But now, a number of paintings out of the 37 that were on display, alongside video projectors and sound systems, have been stolen. [ link ]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By Peter Plagans NEW YORK---Pee-Chee folders, I was surprised to find, are still sold in stationery stores. When I was in high school back in the antediluvian age, these paper carriers of quite a limited amount of homework were the choice of the cooler guys dressed in narrow jeans and white shirts (with packs of Lucky Strikes showing through the pocket to irritate the faculty), who didn’t want to be seen toting around those nerdy leather book bags. I liked them because of the cheesy brush-and-ink drawings—of football players,... [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Holland Cotter His Jesus drawings were made ever more interesting by the handwritten phrases beside them such as: "No pool of Alpine fountain at its source was purer." NEW YORK---Never has verbiage, generated by advertising, the entertainment industry and mouthy politicians, been so present and pervasive in everyday life, seeping from smartphones, spewing from flat screens. And few artists have more cannily predicted and reflected, not to mention contributed to, this phenomenon than Raymond Pettibon , whose career retrospective, with more than 700 annotated drawings and paintings, fills three floors and the lobby of the New Museum. Nearly every piece in “ Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work ” is dominated by an image. Most are done in pen and ink, and sometimes paint, on notebook-size sheets of paper in a wired, graphic style. But many of the images — of Joan Crawford, or Jesus, or a surfer, or an explosion. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton "The Creation" (1935) by Aaron Douglas. Oil on Masonite, 48 x 36 in. (Onloan from from the Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.) Graphically powerful depictions of African-American faith resonated with us this month. The most recent event was (Aretha) "Franklin," a world premiere dance choreographed by Nicholas A. Owens as part of the Dance Kaleidoscope's "Diva's" concert in Indianapolis. The first however was " The Creation " (1935) by Aaron Douglas at Washington, D.C.'s National Museum of African American History & Culture. Located on the top floor of the museum, the modernist landscape depicts the first man witnessing the creation of life at the hand of God. Tickets for today's final dance concert can be purchased online , and passes to the museum are  free online !

THE TENNESSEAN TENNESSEE---“Secrets of Buddhist Art: Tibet, Japan and Korea” opens at the Frist Center’s Ingram Gallery. Organized by the Newark Museum and featuring 109 Buddhist paintings and sculptures by Japanese, Korean and Tibetan artists that span the late 13th century through the early 21st century, the exhibition delves into how artistic representation and art objects function within the “secret” Vajrayana sect of Buddhism. Sand Mandalas represent the cosmic order, and their construction from millions of grains of colored sand is a devotional expression unique to Tibetan Buddhism. [ link ]

YAHOO NEWS By AFP Anish Kapoor whose huge works of public art are landmarks in cities from London to Chicago, was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, in India in 1954 to a Hindu father and a Jewish mother (AFP Photo/JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK) UNITED KINGDOM---Sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor was named on Monday as this year's winner of the million-dollar Genesis Prize, awarded for commitment to Israel and Judaism, organisers said. British-Indian Kapoor "is one of the most influential and innovative artists of his generation", they said in a statement. He won the prestigious Turner Prize in 1991 and was knighted in 2013. "Kapoor will use this award, and the global platform provided by the Genesis Prize, to raise awareness of the plight of refugees in order to engage the Jewish community in a global effort to help alleviate the refugee crisis," it said. The award is granted by the Israeli government, the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency and the Genesis Prize Foundation. [ lin...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Jason Farago Parviz Tanavoli's sculpture "The Prophet" has been installed at MoMA as part of a move to honour artists from Muslim-majority countries cited in Trump's travel ban. (moma.org) NEW YORK---In one of the strongest protests yet by a major cultural institution against President Trump’s executive order on immigration, the Museum of Modern Art has rehung part of its permanent collection with works by artists from some of the majority-Muslim nations whose citizens are blocked from entering the United States.Seven works by artists such as the Sudanese painter Ibrahim el-Salahi , the Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid , and the Los Angeles-based Iranian video artist Tala Madani , were installed Thursday night in MoMA’s fifth-floor galleries, replacing seven works by Picasso, Matisse and Picabia, among other Western artists. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Virgin with Child, St. John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene (about 1530-40). Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola, Italian, 1503-1540). Oil on paper, laid down on panel, 75.5 x 59.7 cm (29 ½ x 23 ½ in.) UNITED KINGDOM---Culture Minister Matt Hancock has placed a temporary export bar on a 16th century masterpiece by Parmigianino , to provide an opportunity to keep it in the country. The Virgin and Child with Saint Mary Magdalen and the Infant Saint John the Baptist is at risk of being exported from the UK unless a buyer can be found to match the asking price of £24.5 million. This exceptional artwork is a rare example of a religious easel painting from the last decade of the artist’s short career. It is one of the finest examples by Parmigianino remaining in private hands and is the only late religious painting by the artist in the United Kingdom. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Cloth that was once used for wrapping the scrolls. ISRAEL---Excavations in a cave on the cliffs west of Qumran, near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, prove that Dead Sea scrolls from the Second Temple period were hidden in the cave, and were looted by Bedouins in the middle of the last century. With the discovery of this cave, scholars now suggest that it should be numbered as Cave 12. The excavators are the first in over 60 years to discover a new scroll cave and to properly excavate it. Excavation of the cave revealed that at one time it contained Dead Sea scrolls. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Robin Pogrebin Norman and Irma Braman beside Picasso’s “The Lovers” (1923). Credit 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Max Reed for The New York Times FLORIDA---If there is one thing Norman and Irma Braman have learned over their many years of collecting, it is this: Do not hesitate. Acting decisively has enabled them to secure the prized artworks that fill their home here overlooking Indian Creek. There are Picassos, Warhols, de Koonings and an entire room full of Calders. While the Bramans now agree on everything they buy, that wasn’t always the case. “We’ve had works that she did not like and we got rid of them,” Mr. Braman said. “We’ve been married for 60 years. We don’t buy anything anymore without being on the same page.” [ link ]

MASHABLE By Yi Shu Ng Nalina Nair, a political activist, poses as Kali the destroyer in this photo. MALAYSIA---It's ironic that men who worship female deities would harass women. But that's exactly what one Malaysian artist is fighting against through a photo series depicting Hindu Goddesses. Ruby Subramaniam created the photo series in response to a Facebook group that was set up to threaten Hindu women with spray paint, should they be "inappropriately dressed" during Thaipusam. The photo series, titled " This Body Is Mine ", attempts to fight body-policing by giving a contemporary art spin to Hindu Goddesses. [ link ]

VULTURE By Devon Ivie Still image from opening scene featuring the meteorite striking through one painting to another era in church history If you have a background in art history, you know those paintings aren’t there just for aesthetics. They’re also there to tell a story about the Roman Catholic Church. “The paintings of the opening scene are a quick chronological overview, with obvious shortcomings, of the most significant moments in the history and art of the entire arch of Christianity and the church,” showrunner Paolo Sorrentino explained to us. The pope’s walk through religious history “ends with the light of a comet that becomes a meteorite striking Cattelan’s pope,” Sorrentino continued. “Because, both seriously and humorously, Christianity begins with a comet that over the centuries takes on a different appearance and mysteriousness as a meteorite. [ link ]

FORBES By Joobin Bekhrad The Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. (Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg) While originally a religion and way of life, given the way the term "Islamic" is being tossed around like candy today, one could be forgiven for mistaking Islam for a country. If we in the West don’t refer to Andy Warhol as a "shining example of Christian art," or speak of Mark Rothko’s paintings as representing Jewish modernism—that is to say, if we don’t define them by the religious traditions into which they were born—then why do we do so when it comes to Iranian, Arab and Turkish artists for example? Why does everything—art, architecture, music, cuisine, you name it—fall under the label of "Islamic" when it comes to regions such as the Middle East? [ link ]

WRTV-6 By Matt McKinney Copyright 2016 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. INDIANA---A drafted executive order obtained by ABC News looks an awful lot like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that now-Vice President Mike Pence signed in Indiana two years ago, which prompted national and local outrage and ultimately a "fix" to satisfy its many critics. The religious freedom executive order, titled as a draft as "Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom," may never be signed by Trump, as it is still in draft. But if signed, it would exempt "all persons and religious organizations" from providing health care options like contraceptive coverage, and expand the definition of religious organization to include "closely held for-profit corporations, operated for a religious purpose, even if its purpose is not exclusively religious."[ l...

THE BLUE BANNER By Maggie Haddock NORTH CAROLINA---A complaint against a piece of student art displayed in Zeis Hall causes upset for its portrayal of religious figures. The piece, Faceswap , portrays Saint Gudula, patroness of Brussels with a Snapchat filter covering her face. Removal of the piece, which as of now is not under discussion, would breach UNC Asheville’s policy on freedoms of expression and speech. The initial complaint about the piece was made under the assumption the image was actually a distortion of the Virgin Mary and not Saint Gudula, according to Kusek. “The image is a remix of a photo of a statue that, by the way, is also an abstraction of its original subject,” Kusek said. “At no time was it a critique of religion.” [ link ]

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE By Adelle Banks A platinum and diamond necklace that Elijah Muhammad, onetime leader of the Nation of Islam, gave his wife is on display at a gallery of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks WASHINGTON, DC---Long before the grand opening neared for the Smithsonian’s new museum devoted to African-American history, Amirah Muhammad had a difficult decision to make. Should she donate the platinum and diamond necklace that Elijah Muhammad, her grandfather and onetime leader of the Nation of Islam, gave to her grandmother after designing it with the word “Allah” above their family name? The National Museum of African American History and Culture , [which opened September 2016], tells many stories of African-Americans of diverse faiths who have shaped U.S. history. Close to 10 percent of the 2,586 artifacts in its inaugural exhibitions are related to faith and religious history. [ link ]

BREITBART NEWS By Thomas D. Williams, PhD JAPAN---In a historical first, the Catholic Church has beatified a Japanese samurai warlord who died in exile after refusing to renounce his Christian faith. As an official envoy of Pope Francis, Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the ceremony for Justo Takayama Ukon Tuesday in Osaka, Japan, with some 12,000 people in attendance. Born in 1552, Ukon was a renowned feudal warlord who protected Christians at a time when authorities attempted to stamp out all vestiges of the religion, exiling missionaries and all Christian samurai who would not abandon their faith.[ link ]

ARTDAILY Master of the Saint Lucy Legend, Mary, Queen of Heaven, ca. 1485/1500. Oil on panel, 78 7/16 × W: 63 11/16 in. (199.2 × 161.8 cm), National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection. FLORIDA---The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art presents "A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe," a major international loan exhibition that brings together more than 100 works including stained glass, precious metals, ivories, tapestries, paintings, prints and illuminated manuscripts. The exhibition focuses on the late medieval and early Renaissance period in Europe (roughly 1300-1500), a time in which societal changes prompted a new interest in human experience, the enjoyment of nature and the pursuit of pleasure. The exhibition will bring together sacred and secular art to reveal the role of the senses in courtly ritual and religious practice. [ link ]

THE INDY CHANNEL INDIANA---The University of Indiana and the FBI are investigating after flyers were left on doors across the Bloomington campus by a group that identifies itself with white supremacy. IU Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel posted a statement on Monday saying the flyers were found on the office doors of faculty members of color and scholars of race and ethnicity. “Posted under the cover of darkness, targeting the office doors of faculty members of color or scholars of race and ethnicity, these flyers were clearly meant to intimidate, threaten, scare, and provoke anger among faculty, staff, students, and visitors,” said Robel. The group that's taking credit for the posters said on its social media page that it had done the same thing on at least 30 campuses across the country. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Alexandre Cabanel's Le Paradis Perdu, (Paradise Lost) is now in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay. CALIFORNIA--- Gallery 19C , a Los Angeles based gallery specializing in 19th Century European Paintings, announced today the sale of "Paradise Lost", by Alexandre Cabanel , to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Intended for King Maximilian II of Bavaria as part of a larger tableau of thirty decorative historical canvases for his Foundation “for the gifted,” or Maximilianeum, Paradis Perdu was to be the artist’s most important and largest commission for an institution outside of France. Cabanel had already, by the 1860s, undertaken many mural schemes, complex iconographic programs, and decorative cycles in public buildings and private residences and his prowess as a religious painter, in the tradition of the great Italian Renaissance masters, had been noted by no less influential a figure than the critic Théophile Gautier. [ link ]

JEWISH JOURNAL For her bat mitzvah project, 12-year-old Tanya Andrusier of Bal Harbour gave 250 backpacks to Israeli soldiers with disabilities of Jewish National Fund’s Special-in-Uniform program. She raised the funds for the backpacks by selling paintings she created. Courtesy (Sergio Carmona / Courtesy) Using her talent as an artist, 12-year-old Tanya Andrusier of Bal Harbour inspired others with her bat mitzvah project. Tanya, who recently celebrated her bat mitzvah, gave 250 backpacks to Israeli soldiers with disabilities at an Israel Defense Forces base in Israel during the summer of 2016. These soldiers are part of Jewish National Fund's Special in Uniform, an innovative program that aims to integrate young people with disabilities into the IDF. Tanya raised the funds for the backpacks by selling paintings she created. "I felt relieved that all the money was worth it because I worked really hard on this and when I gave them the backpacks and they smiled at me, I fe...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton "Freedom of Worship" (1943) by Norman Rockwell (1894-1978). Following President Trump's  announcement  of a travel ban on Muslims, a museum group has now announced that  Norman Rockwell's  "Freedom of Worship" painting will begin an international tour in 2018. Heads and hands at prayer are the dominant features in Norman Rockwell's 1943 work. Painted during an era when white Americans avoided associating with minorities, the artist crossed that line by grouping eight profiles including a black woman in the upper left and a Jewish man carrying a religious book in the lower right. The color choices of beige and gray also reflect that mood. Can't wait until 2018? Giclee prints are available online at Art.com.

CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY By Hannah Brockhaus Credit: Unsplash. ITALY---Ugly churches with bad acoustics don't do justice to the richness and beauty of the liturgy – and it's this connection between art and faith that's vital for priests to understand today, a Vatican official insists. A project to study the training of priests and other cultural workers in the Church in the aesthetics and history of art, especially as it contributes in the creation of religious art fitting for sacred spaces, has been launched by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture. Along with the Italian bishops' conference and with support from the Foundation for Arts and Artistic Culture, the project will examine the training leaders of a diocese, such as clergy, religion teachers, catechists and more, receive on the relationship between faith and art. [ link ]

LIVEMINT By Trisha Mukherjee A visitor clicks pictures in front of an exhibit titled ‘Peace Owners’ by Nepali artist Sigdel at the India Art Fair in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters INDIA---All roads at India Art Fair in New Delhi led to the Nepal Art Council booth where world leaders Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un were turned into Buddhist Gods by a Nepali artist who brilliantly captured the global political tide in his tongue in cheek satire. A multi-disciplinary artist, Sunil Sidgel has created portraits of the three leaders in the traditional Nepali Paubha painting style, ideally used to paint images of Gods, but a fly on each of these images is what takes the viewer aback indicating the satirical undertone. [ link ]

THE WISCONSIN JEWISH CHRONICLE By Amy Waldman “Prelude to The Final Solution” by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz, 1992. There are traveling exhibits of both photographic works and the original fabric art. Milwaukee is to house the original fabric art, starting Feb. 17, 2016. The original fabric art exhibit next travels to metro Detroit. Courtesy of Art & Remembrance. WISCONSIN---Prior to 1977, Esther Nisenthal Krinitz used words to tell the story of how she and her sister Mania survived Nazi-occupied Poland. At 50, Krinitz began working in a new medium – textiles. Between then and her death in 2001 at age 74, she created the 36 exquisitely detailed collages featured in “Fabric of Survival: The Art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz.” The exhibit opens Feb. 17 at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, 1360 N. Prospect Ave., a program of Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Molly Dubin, the museum’s curator, said this particular Holocaust-related exhibit is unusual for several reasons. [ link ]

THE HUFFINGTON POST By Rajan Thapaliya Photo by Nuchhe Man Dangol INDIA---Recently, I visited Kathmandu, Nepal and New Delhi, India. As I am from a Hindu background, I went to Temple. But this time I saw these temples in a new light. I began to wonder why I saw an erotic art in the temple. This is a holy place, but there are so many pictures of people in sexual poses. Why?” When I asked with people about it, they said that this art is called “Tudal.”  There are many reasons for its existence in temple art. Some people believe it’s for karma. According to Hinduism, karma is the sum of a person’s previous state of existence. Actually, in Hinduism it is Mokshya, which means salvation, freedom from materialistic things. After seeing these images, people can feel normal. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Joshua Borone Clockwise from top left: “Freedom of Worship”; “Freedom of Speech”; “Freedom From Want”; and “Freedom From Fear” (1943). Credit SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN NEW YORK--- Norman Rockwell’s most famous paintings are going on tour. "Four Freedoms,” four World War II -era works inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, will travel around the United States and France in the exhibition “Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms,” scheduled to open in June 2018 at the New-York Historical Society . They are “Freedom of Speech,” depicting a dignified Everyman standing up to speak his mind; “Freedom of Worship,” with a group in prayer; “Freedom From Want,” with an idyllic family dinner; and “Freedom From Fear,” which shows parents tucking in their children. [ link ]

T HE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Robin Pogrebin The collector Bernard Lumpkin with one of his favorite paintings, Henry Taylor’s “The Sweet William Rorex Jr.” It’s a portrait, Mr. Lumpkin said, “but there’s obviously a lot more going on.” When his father was ailing, Bernard Lumpkin felt a new urgency to understand the elder man’s experience as an African-American who grew up in the Watts neighborhood in South Los Angeles before moving to New York to become a physicist. So he used his earnings as a producer in MTV’s news and documentaries division — where he no longer works — to begin buying art by minority artists. “Sometimes people still come over who don’t know me well and they say, ‘Bernard, why do you have so much African-American art?’” he said. “It’s something I’m constantly reminded of. The collection became a way for me to continue that conversation with my father.” [ link ]

INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER By Keshia McEntire Danielle Badgett (left) protests President Trump’s Muslim ban at the Indianapolis International Airport. Hundreds of people gathered at the Indianapolis International Airport on Jan. 29 to protest President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. The diverse crowed chanted “Refugees are welcome here,” while holding signs with declarations such as “Give me your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free”; “Jesus was a refugee”; and “Build bridges, not walls.” This protest was one of many that took place at airports across the country. On Jan. 26, Trump issued an executive order to prevent citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries (Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq) from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The order also prohibits refugees from being admitted into the U.S. for 120 days and puts a preference on Christian refugees over Muslims. [ link ]

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS By Michael Granberry Pieces from the Keir Collection. (Museo De La Catedral-Basilica De San Martin, Ourense, Spain, via The New York Times) Talk about powerful credentials. Sabiha Al Khemir is the distinguished scholar of Islamic art in residence at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also senior adviser for Islamic art at the Dallas Museum of Art, which on April 18 will convene a free landmark exhibition: "The Keir Collection of Islamic Art Gallery." Al Khemir is curating the show. Given her résumé and the exhibition she worked tirelessly to present, she's one of the first people we asked about the impact of President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, now and in the future. "It just happened," Al Khemir said. "So, we're still processing the news." [ link ]

HYPERALLERGIC By Hrag Vartanian An image from Meural’s report on Americans and art (via Meural) Meural, a new online art buying platform that believes in “democratizing” art, commissioned a study from the internet-based market research firm YouGov PLC on Americans and art. The survey was conducted last November, and the sample size was 1,105 American adults. Art in the United States continues to be an enigma. This country has some of the strongest art institutions, best-known artists, and the most (and arguably the best) arts professionals in the world, yet the divide between the art community and the American public is something people are constantly trying to figure out. Maybe part of the appeal of American art is the constant desire by artists, curators, and other arts professionals here to expand the audience. What these stats don’t tell us is how we’re going to do that. What’s next? [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Snow Day" (2010) by Tom Torluemke. Acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 in (Auction Ends Feb 6 at 9:30pm ET) At the center of Tom Torluemke's  "Snow Day," a naked white man stands erect in the snow with his feet bound by a rope. He doesn't move. He simply bleeds into the white snow as he is pelted over and over by iceballs of snow. "The painting, " Snow Day ," is a bit funny, a bit sad and a bit ironic," said Torluemke . "The character in the painting only has to bend down and untie his feet, but he's not doing that, he's just letting himself get hammered by snowballs. Notice the kid's hats and gloves." The painting is being auctioned off as part of a Paddle 8 fundraiser for  Waterkeeper Alliance , the largest and fastest-growing nonprofit that’s solely focused on clean water. The exhibit and auction will be held at  Sotheby's, NYC on Monday, February 6.