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CLASSROOM By Sara Ipatenco "The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ" (2008) by Kehinde Wiley. Oil on canvas, 131" x 112" During the day on Holy Saturday, Jesus lay in his tomb and his followers mourned his death. A guard stood watch to make sure no one tried to steal the body. Early Sunday morning, it was discovered that Jesus was no longer in the tomb and had risen from the dead, which marks Easter Sunday and the end of Holy Week. Matthew 27::59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed . [ More ]

FEDERALIST By William Newton “Jacob,” Francisco de Zurbaran. As Christians celebrate Holy Week and Jews celebrate Passover, an exhibition now at The Frick Collection in New York reflects on some of the most important figures in the history of both religions, as imagined by one of Western art history’s most important artists. “ Zurbarán’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings from Auckland Castle ” is a visually stunning show that opened at the Meadows Museum in Dallas before moving to Manhattan last month. It brings together for the first time in this country 13 monumental paintings of the biblical patriarch Jacob and his 12 sons, the founders of the 12 tribes of Israel, by the Spanish Baroque painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664). [ More ]

CLASSROOM By Sara Ipatenco "Pietà" by Kelvin Burzon in Noli Me Tangere In the early morning hours of Good Friday, Jesus was arrested. This is also when Judas betrayed Jesus by kissing his cheek, the sign he arranged with those who bribed him to let them know which man was Jesus. Jesus stood trial where he was whipped, beaten, spat upon and then made to carry his own cross up the hill where he was nailed to it. A crown of thorns was forced on his head, as well. Late in the day, Jesus died. He was removed from the cross, wrapped in cloths and buried in a nearby tomb. Luke 23 : 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. [ More ]

AMERICA MAGAZINE By Margot Patterson Michelangelo Pieta Sculpture - Stock image (iStock photo) I never think of turning to art to deepen or enhance my experience of Lent, and yet so many artists have depicted scenes from the life and Passion of Christ I wonder why I don’t. I take it for granted that art can inspire, that artists portray Jesus, Mary and the saints to make us see them as they see them, to enlarge our understanding of them, to make them real. Befriending one or more artists, studying their Christian art—whether displayed on a museum wall or reproduced in a book—strikes me as a rich, rewarding Lenten practice, a way to immerse one’s self in both art and faith. Human beings are relational; we learn from dialogue and interaction. [ More ]

THE ART NEWSPAPER Works by Unkei, the master of Buddhist sculpture, on show at the Tokyo National Museum. Asahi Shimbun via Getty Image The four-year-old Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris pulled off a major coup last year by welcoming more than 1.2 million people to see Impressionist and Modern works collected by the Russian industrialist Sergei Shchukin between 1898 and 1914. Although the Shchukin show boasts a higher number of overall visitors in our 2017 survey, we rank exhibitions by the number of daily visitors. So, despite attracting 8,926 people a day, the exhibition comes second to a display at the Tokyo National Museum of 22 Buddhist sculptures by the renowned Japanese artist Unkei (around 1150-1223). Around 11,300 visitors a day saw the exhibition—around 1,000 fewer daily visitors than when the gallery topped our 2010 survey with a show marking the 400th anniversary of the artist Hasegawa Tohaku’s death. [ More ]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By John Jurgensen In NBC’s live production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ airing Sunday, John Legend will play Jesus Christ with an ensemble cast. NBC Since its birth in 1970 as a rock-opera album, “Jesus Christ Superstar” has taken form on Broadway, in a feature film, thousands of community productions, a hit concert tour with a Jesus chosen via reality show, and a failed concert tour starring former members of the Sex Pistols and Destiny’s Child. Somehow there's room for more in the musicians 48 year existence, this time as a live production on broadcast television.  “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on NBC.  [ More ]

CLASSROOM By Sara Ipatenco Belkis Ayón's “La cena (The Supper)” (1991), collograph, collection of the Belkis Ayón Estate Maunday Thursday, often called Holy Thursday, is the last day of freedom Jesus had before he was arrested. Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples, which is still celebrated in Christian churches as Holy Communion. Jesus washed his disciples' feet to demonstrate humility and love for fellow humans, as well as to bring home his message of helping others to know the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. After the meal, Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he stayed late into the night. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. Matthew 26:26 "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'” [ More ]

CLASSROOM By Sara Ipatenco "Judas accepting 30 pieces of silver" by Bernard Fazling On Wednesday, Jesus continued preaching his message to the people while the elders, chief priests and scribes began to plan his death. It's on this day that Judas, one of Jesus' 12 disciples, took a bribe to betray Jesus to those who wished to kill him. Matthew 26:15 - And said to them, What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. [ More ]

THE WASHINGTON POST By Aida Muluneh “City Life.” (Photographs by Aida Muluneh) My journey began in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the midst of a revolution that overthrew a 2,000-year-old monarchy and eventually led many of us into an exodus of uncertainty. Increasingly, I was finding traditional forms of artistic expression — in music or visual arts — more exciting and innovative than contemporary art pieces. When I create my photographs I am responding to the many images of war, suffering and hate that bombard us daily. And my own efforts underscore my belief that as Africans we must be part of the creation of images that tell the story of a continent in transition between past, present and future through our own authentic voices and lenses. H er work is featured in “Being: New Photography 2018,” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York through Aug. 19. [ More ]

CLASSROOM By Sara Ipatenco . "Jesus Preaches in the Temple" (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard On Tuesday, Jesus was questioned by the Jewish leaders, who weren't convinced that he was the messiah. Jesus told these leaders several parables in an effort to get them to believe that he was, indeed, the messiah. His efforts weren't successful. Matthew 21:13 - Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"  [ More ]

CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER Record-breaking tourism spending in Northern Kentucky was fueled by demand for bourbon experiences, restaurants and new hotels, and the Ark Encounter (pictured). The travel and tourism industry in Northern Kentucky had a record-breaking year last year. MeetNKY | Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau said Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties generated 2017 visitor spending of $450 million. That represents an increase of nearly 16 percent compared to 2016. The spending was fueled by demand for bourbon experiences, restaurants and new hotels, and the Ark Encounter.More than 1 million people visited the Ark Encounter in its first year of operation. Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis, expects 2017-2018 attendance to be in the 1.4 million to 2.2 million range. According to Ham, more than 95 percent of Ark Encounter visitors come from outside Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. [ More ]

CLASSROOM By Sara Ipatenco "Christ driving the Traders from the Temple" about 1600, by El Greco. Image courtesy of National Gallery of Art, London, UK On Monday, Jesus entered the temple to discover that people were hawking their wares in the house of God. He got angry and overturned their tables, driving them out of the temple. He preached to the people about reserving the temple as a place for prayer; then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton 2018 Alpha Omega Prize Finalist:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XQ5S8WL Gary Gee's "Even with a Cracked Crown, a King is Still a King" (2018). Underglaze, hematite, black diamond, and gold luster on ceramic. 6' x 3-1/3" x 3 It is Palm Sunday, and today we celebrate when Jesus entered into Jerusalem as King by spotlighting a recent ceramic work of Indianapolis-based sculptor Gary Gee . A 2016 graduate of Herron College of Art & Design, Gee blends urban street art and hip-hop while incorporating religious and cultural iconography. You can follow him on Instagram with his “Monday Motivations,” and his work is also featured on one of the Arts Council of Indianapolis High Art billboards that move across the city.  This past Friday, he hung one of his smaller works in our home following the closing of his most recent show, and that’s why “Even with a Cracked Crown, a Ki...

THE HINDUSTAN TIME S Tara - 21 Avatars of the Goddess is an exhibition of Thangka religious art made by artists from Bhutan who depict various forms of goddess Tara who is revered in Buddhist and Hindu mythology. Goddess Tara is worshipped by Hindus as a form of the Goddess Durga, while Buddhists consider her a tantric meditation diety of Vagrayana Buddhism. An exhibition in Mumbai pays homage to the benevolent goddess. Titled Tara - 21 Avatars of Goddess, the exhibition showcases a collection of 23 Thangka paintings made by Buddhist artists from Bhutan that depict legends and stories associated with Tara. Thangkas are religious art which use symbolism and allusion based on Buddhist scriptures. They are important teaching tools and often narrate stories of the Buddha, influential lamas, deities, and bodhisattvas.[ More ]

CRUX President Trump, left, takes the oath of office from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, right, with Trump’s wife, Melania, and children Donald, Barron, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany at his side during inauguration ceremonies at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017. (Credit: Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters.) One of the two Bibles Donald Trump used to take the oath of office is joining others used by American presidents at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. The Revised Standard Version edition Bible given to the future 45th president of the United States by his mother when he was a child is the same Bible he used when he attended First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. In January 2017, President-elect Trump showed the hard-bound Bible to David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network and described an inscription Trump said was made by his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who died in 2000. [ More ]

THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION MOCA's new Project Atrium cast light and shadow on charcoal grey walls JACKSONVILLE, FL---In “ Project Atrium: Anila Quayyum Agha ,” the new exhibit in the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville’s Haskell Atrium Gallery, two laser cut steel sculptures suspended from the ceiling with lanterns inside cast patterns of light on shadow on the gallery’s walls. The exhibit, titled “The Greys In-Between,” is the work of Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha. For the purposes of the exhibit, the walls of the 40-foot-high Atrium Gallery have been painted charcoal grey. The patterns cast on those walls are inspired by Islamic architectural motifs. As they hang from the ceiling the sculptures, gradually, almost imperceptibly, are turned by a motor and the patterns on the walls slowly change. “Visitors should stop and look and stay and explore,” said MOCA curator Jaime DeSimone said. [ More ]

HI-FRUCTOSE By Andy Smith "Between the tides" Oil on canvas, 38 x 66 inches Aleah Chapin’s vulnerable figures exist within a spectrum of emotions: joy, contemplating, stoicism. Yet, in each, the painter has the ability to tie our natural states to nature itself, often crafting lush environments for her subjects. The artist is particularly influenced by the region she inhabited in her youth. “Intimate, revealing and personal, the latest paintings by [Chapin] explore the passage of time as seen through the body; depicting friends and relations, all of whom she has known throughout her life growing up in a unique island community on the US Pacific Northwest Coast,” a recent statement says. “ … Set within a wild Pacific landscape, Aleah Chapin portrays the physical journey of the body in poetic terms, imbuing the forms of the older women with natural, sensuous vitality.” [ More ]

STRAIGHT By Gurpreet Singh Many Visions, Many Versions: Art from Indigenous Communities in India continues through Sunday (March 25) at the Surrey Art Gallery.  SURREY, Canada---For those in Canada who might not know that India has its share of the Fourth World, an art exhibition in Surrey is worth visiting. Curated by Aurogeeta Das and David Szanton, " Many Visions, Many Versions: Art from Indigenous Communities in India " is at the Surrey Art Gallery until Sunday (March 25). The work reflects not only the diversity of India, but also the diversity within Indigenous communities in that country. Widely known as Adivasis, they make up less than nine percent of the Indian population, and are scattered in different states in the Hindu-dominated nation. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "We Shall Gather at the River" (1992) by Gilbert Young ATLANTA, Ga---The International Theological Center's Gilbert Young Artist-in-Residence Program (ITC/GY) is a new venture for ITC. The artist’s presence on campus, and proposed arts and cultural projects are designed to be a component of ITC’s religion and arts program and expand its engagement with the surrounding community. The plan is to develop innovative, unique programming that will expose students of all ages, and the community at-large, to fine African American art in an intimate studio/gallery setting on the ITC campus. ITC believes this program can expand the awareness and use of visual arts by our students and graduates in worship and ministry contexts. Gilbert Young is a nationally renowned artist, muralist, and art conservator. Born and raised in Cincinnati Ohio. [ More ]

SOTHEBY'S By Anthony Calnek MORTON AND BARBARA MANDEL AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, ONE OF THE MANY INSTITUTIONS THEY SUPPORT Now the couple is parting with 26 masterworks from their collection, the proceeds from which will go entirely to a non-profit family foundation. To be auctioned at Sotheby’s in May, the collection is estimated to bring in excess of $75 million, which will help the Mandel Foundation achieve its mission “to contribute to the flourishing of the United States and Israel as just, inclusive and compassionate societies, and to improve the quality of life in both countries.” From its headquarters in Cleveland, the foundation supports leadership training, management excellence in the non-profit sector, the humanities, urban renewal and Jewish life. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Jason Farago Some of the life-size paintings in “Zurbarán’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings From Auckland Castle,” at the Frick Collection. Credit Michael Bodycomb NEW YORK---About 10 years ago, the English church tried to sell off a dozen paintings in Auckland Castle, the former home of the bishops of Durham: full-length portraits of the biblical Jacob and 11 of his 12 sons, painted in the 1640s by the earthy Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán. (A 13th painting, of Jacob’s youngest son, Benjamin, belongs to an aristocratic collection.) An appeal went out, a pious financier stepped up, and, holy of holies, both the Zurbaráns and the castle are now owned by a charitable trust. Auckland Castle is currently closed for restoration, with a view to exhibiting religious art of the past and present, and its 12 Zurbaráns — united with the 13th, happily — are on an American holiday. After an initial outing at the Meadows Museum in Dallas, they’ve arrived at the...

THE JEWISH PRESS By Saul Jay Singer Arthur Szyk, Purim, The Holiday Series. New Canaan. When most people think of artistic media, they rarely consider postage stamps, which are typically viewed as simply a means to transmit mail. In fact, stamps are miniature works of art that represent one of the purest examples of graphic design, as they chronicle the history and arts of the issuing country and reflect the national ethos and culture. This is particularly true of Israeli stamps that, above and beyond being among the most beautiful in the world, have particular significance to us as Jews and as Zionists. Israel annually issues a set of “Moadim L’Simcha” stamps commemorating the Jewish New Year, which are always among my favorites, but it also periodically issues stamps commemorating the other Jewish holidays, including Purim. [ More ]

CHRISTIAN TODAY The stormtrooper art by Ryan Callanan. LONDON--- controversial art display of a Star Wars Stormtrooper being crucified like Christ has been relocated from its prominent place in a central London church. The crucified life size figure – of the iconic Imperial adversary first seen in 1977's hit Star Wars – was the centrepiece the Stations of the Cross exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook church in central London, showcased by contemporary art collective Art Below. The display, created by street artist Ryan Callanan (Or 'RYCA'), drew ire from some parishioners, however, who deemed it offensive or distracting, according to The Art Newspaper. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton "All in One" (2016 © 2017) by Aïda Muluneh, courtesy the artist and David Krut Projects Aïda Muluneh  is the master photographer exploring questions about life and spirituality through decorative body painting. Rooted in Ethiopian tradition and custom, the paintings in her images — are of stark whites, vibrant reds, azure blues, and monochromes sometimes dotted with black. This spring, Muluneh is one of the artists featured in the Museum of Modern Art’s “ Being: New Photography 2018 ” exhibit, and closer to our home in Indiana, Muluneh's  exhibition, " Memory of Hope " continues this month at Purdue Galleries. On Friday, March 23, at 3:00pm,  Aïda Muluneh will present a talk, “ Crossroads of Afro-futurism in Fine Art Photography ,” at Purdue University in Matthews Hall room 210.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Aida Muluneh: Memory of Hope" February 27 through March 31, 2018 Fountain Gallery, 330 Main St., Lafayette INDIANA---Through her bold, striking images, photographer Aïda Muluneh asks provocative questions about the life that we live as people, as nations, and as beings. Her carefully composed photographs read as poems, using symbols and painted figures to tell stories of the past, present, and future. Work from two recent series will be included: World is 9 and Memory of Hope. Born in Ethiopia in 1974, Aïda Muluneh grew up in Ethiopia, Yemen, England, and Canada. She holds a degree in film from Howard University in Washington D.C. Her work has been shown in South Africa, Mali, Senegal, Egypt, Canada, the United States of America, France, Germany, England, and China, to name a few countries. Purdue University Galleries will present work by photographer Aïda Muluneh in exhibition “ Memory of Hope ” at the Fountain Gallery through March 31.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Paolo Veronese (1528– 1588), St. Jerome in the Wilderness and St. Agatha Visited in Prison by St. Peter. This fall, The Frick Collection will present a focused exhibition on two important Renaissance paintings by the celebrated artist Paolo Veronese (1528– 1588), St. Jerome in the Wilderness and St. Agatha Visited in Prison by St. Peter. While the paintings are known to scholars, their remote location in a church in Murano, an island in the lagoon of Venice known today for its glassmaking studios and shops, has made them difficult to study. St. Jerome in the Wilderness has been exhibited outside the church only once—in 1939, in the Paolo Veronese exhibition at Ca’ Giustinian, in Venice— while St. Agatha Visited in Prison by St. Peter has not left the church since being installed in the early nineteenth century. [ More ]

ARTDAILY In this file photo taken on July 15, 2005 Muslims kneel at London's Central Mosque in Regents Park during Friday's prayers. Carl DE SOUZA / AFP. LONDON (AFP).- Two London mosques were given special listed status Tuesday in recognition of their architectural and historic importance, in a move a government minister said celebrated "the rich heritage of Muslim communities in England". The London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre in Regent's Park, central London, and the Fazl Mosque in the southwest of the British capital were both listed as Grade II buildings by the government's culture department. Although there are around 1,500 mosques in Britain, fewer than 20 percent are purpose-built according to Heritage England, which compiles the listings. The country's first purpose-built mosque opened in Woking, a town south-west of London, in 1889. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Angelos: Let There Be Light" Immersive retrospective exhibition of renowned Greek artist Angelos Opens Saturday 28 April 2018 LONDON – Following the record-breaking sale of his work "Girl with a Pair of Doves" at Bonhams in London last year, an immersive exhibition featuring Greek artist Angelos Panagiotou opens in London in April until early May 2018. Curators and architects Constantine Lemos and Maridia Kafetzopoulou " Angelos: Let There Be Light " will present a retrospective of the artist’s career at The Great Hall, The Hellenic Centre . This is his first solo show in London in two decades. Angelos’ work is defined by idealism and a sense of wonder. His respect for the planet and his love for Earth’s natural beauty, compels him to express a fierce spirituality in his paintings.

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Ted Loos, March 8, 2018 Tiffany Zabludowicz in her living room, which includes Artie Vierkant’s “Detachable Storage Rack for a Metallic Structure 25” (upper left); a desk, left, by the French designer Jean Prouvé; Item Idem’s inflatable hot dog “Untitled (Bond Dog)”; “Corn Cobs” by the art collective Puppies Puppies; Josephine Meckseper’s “SS22” (center); and Tracey Emin’s “Concorde III” (right). Tiffany Zabludowicz has so much art in her two-bedroom SoHo apartment that a perfectly braided loaf of bread on her kitchen counter is immediately suspect: Is that a Claes Oldenburg-style sculpture of a challah, or the thing itself? Ms. Zabludowicz, 25, was born into a prominent London art-buying family. Her parents, Poju and Anita, preside over the Zabludowicz Collection, with holdings of some 4,000 works and an exhibition space in a former Methodist chapel in the Belsize Park neighborhood. So right out of the gate, Ms. Zabludowicz was an art-wo...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Elisabetta Poveledo The characters of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II in “Universal Judgement.” Credit Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York Times The musical merger between the Vatican Museums, the keepers of one of the greatest artistic troves of humanity, and Marco Balich , best known as the designer of over-the-top spectacles — among them the closing ceremony of the Sochi Olympics in 2014, both ceremonies for the Turin Games in 2006 and the 550th anniversary celebration of Kazakhstan — wasn’t an obvious match. He has a lot at stake on the production, which is set to debut on March 15. He has booked the capital’s former symphony hall for at least a year. If it’s successful, it would become Rome’s first permanent theatrical production along the lines of Broadway in New York or the West End in London. The Vatican has approved the project, on the condition that it would respect the artistic, religious and spiritual values that the Sistine Chapel embodies. [ Mor...

FINANCIAL TIMES By Harriet Fitch Little Former trader, Christian Levett on why he buys both ancient and contemporary works Christian Levett collects classical antiquities, contemporary art and — ideally — works that reveal some interplay between the two. In his West London kitchen, a large calico embroidery by Tracey Emin hangs above the mantelpiece. On the countertop, a first-century BC Roman marble head of a woman averts her gaze. Behind her, a more involved spectator: a bronze torso by Cuban artist Yoan Capote that looks classical until you notice the man’s body has a brain where his genitals should be. Levett began his collection while working as a financial trader in his twenties. His flat is packed — even his teenage sons’ bedrooms contain exhibition-quality works. But for Levett, who estimates that he has made more than 3,000 purchases over 25 years, the works in London are considered offcuts: “What’s in here is nice, but it’s a lot of bits and pieces really,” he says. [...

ANGELOUS By Pablo Kay ‘The Virgin of Guadalupe, Christ Carrying the Cross, Saints, and Souls in Purgatory’ (1770-80) — José de Páez​ LOS ANGELES, CA---Mexico produced some very impressive Christian art during the 18th century, and a traveling exhibition currently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is here to remind Angelenos why. Featuring more than 100 works on loan from south of the border, “Pinxit Mexico” (“Painted in Mexico”) offers a look at Mexico’s 18th-century artistic culture while still under the Spanish crown. The works are in LA thanks to a collaboration between LACMA and Fomento Cultural Banamex, A.C., in Mexico City. “Pinxit Mexico” will be at LACMA until March 18, before it moves to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where it will be on display from late April until July 2018. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton "Adam & Eve" (1937) by Mahmoud Saïd (Egyptian, 1897-1964) It’s been a week of unusual conversations about race. On Wednesday, Ernest’s mom, who is African American, reported that her tax preparer in Cincinnati asked her, “Aren't you white?” Then on Friday, we saw Eric Coble's new play, “ Fairfield ” a wickedly funny farce about racism in our schools. In the midst of this, Sotheby’s announced the upcoming auction of “Adam and Eve” by Mahmoud Saïd (1897-1964). The Egyptian painter depicted the two biblical icons with different races. His Adam is African dark and his Eve is European pale, yet in their embrace, they are one love. Great art has the power to reconcile our divisions, and that’s why “Adam and Eve” by Mahmoud Saïd is our art of the week .

CHELSEA NOW By Gerald Busby The Rubin Museum of Art’s Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room allowed Gerald Busby to disappear “into wordless peacefulness.” | Photo by David De Armas When I discovered the Rubin Museum of Art in 2007, three years after it opened, major renovation had already begun at the Chelsea Hotel, my home for over 30 years, and I faced the alarming possibility of eviction. Something guided me to the Rubin, whose atmosphere I found serene. It was the perfect counterpart to the banging, crashing, and drilling that daily intruded on my consciousness through the walls, ceiling, and floor of my apartment. The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room was where I went to find calmness. In the Shrine Room “I” disappeared into wordless peacefulness. Calm versus chaos — the Rubin Museum versus the Chelsea Hotel — was the context I created to deal with the stress I felt. The Chelsea Hotel and the Rubin Museum of Art have been the arenas where my worst demons have actualized and reshaped them...

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION By Nedra Rhone Theresa Easton, a retired school teacher from New York who has spent 30 years amassing a collection of art and memorabilia of African American interest, has converted the third floor of her home into a art gallery. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com ATLANTA---It started with books -- first editions, most all of them signed and some of them with a story behind the story on the pages. Tucked on a second floor bookshelf are the full works of Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Walter Mosley and other authors of the contemporary African-American literary canon. When any author of note passed through Barnes & Noble Headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York, Theresa Easton, a former New York City school teacher was there with a book in hand. Eventually she graduated from books to art, sports memorabilia and other items until she amassed a collection celebrating decades of black achievement including more than 200 works of art by 64 different artist...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: My Journey into the Heart of Scriptural Faith and the Land Where It All Began" - Hardcover – March 6, 2018by Kathie Lee Gifford (Author),‎ Rabbi Jason Sobel (Contributor) On March 29, at 6:00 p.m., The Today show's Kathie Lee Gifford visits Museum of the Bible to share her transformative experience of visiting the land of the Bible as expressed in her new book, The Rock, the Road and the Rabbi. As a lifetime student of the Bible, Kathie Lee Gifford has been traveling to Israel since she was 17 years old. The book paints actual locations within the Holy Land with a personal narrative and pictures from Kathie Lee's journey. In addition, each chapter ends with messianic Rabbi Jason Sobel taking the reader into a deeper understanding of Hebrew culture, language, and heritage. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of the book. [ Tickets ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Sandra E. Garcia Ayón’s work “La Cena” (1991) depicts a version of the Christian “Last Supper,” replacing the Jesus figure with the princess Sikán. Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Time In 1993, the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón , known for her signature collage-based style and her work reflecting the Afro-Cuban religion Abukuá, was invited to show at the Venice Biennale in Italy. She was determined to make it, despite obstacles in her home country. Cuba was going through an economic depression at that time, leaving it dark and uncertain, with drastic food and fuel shortages. With no other way to get to the airport 20 miles from their home in Havana, she and her father mounted their bikes and started riding. Ayón raced ahead of her father, who rode with her work strapped to his bicycle. She made it in time to board, but he did not, —and neither did her work (though it did eventually make the trip). For Ayón, who was born Jan. 23, 1967, in Havana, art was...

ARTDAILY Bartolomé Pérez de la Dehesa (c. 1634 - 1698), The Annunciation, approx. 8 feet high x 5 feet wide. ©Hearst Castle®/CA State Parks. SAN SIMEON, CA.- A painting of the Annunciation, one of the most prominent works of art (approx. 8 feet high x 5 feet wide) in the Assembly Room at Hearst Castle, has been securely identified as a masterpiece by the Spanish painter Bartolomé Pérez de la Dehesa (c. 1634 - 1698). Primarily known for his floral still-lifes, Pérez was named painter to King Charles II in 1689. Only a few large-scale figural compositions by him exist. “This is a major new discovery for the oeuvre of Pérez,” remarked Mary Levkoff, museum director at Hearst Castle. “Thanks to the keen attention of Carson Cargill and Laurel Rodger, two of our guides responsible for public education, the signature and inscription were noticed in the raking light of late autumn.” [ More ]

CHRISTIAN HEADLINES By Amanda Casanova WASH., DC---A Washington, D.C. imam, a Muslim leader, is encouraging his Muslim friends to visit the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. The Muslim leader is just one of many different types of people that are visiting the museum and enjoying its exhibits. The president of the museum, Cary Summers, told media last week at the National Religious Broadcaster’s International Christian Media Convention that the imam visited the museum with his family and later told Summers what he thought of the facility. "We had one of the imams from one of the mosques in Washington come and spend three hours [at the museum]; he brought his wife and five daughters," Summers said. "He saw me a week later and he told me that he had been there, which I knew, and I said, 'What did you think?' And he said, 'I'm telling you, every Muslim, they should come to this museum.'”[ More ]

CHRISTIAN DAILY By Rachel Cruz (REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque)A woman looks at a Bible inside the Museum of the Bible. November 15, 2017. The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. opened its doors to the public in November 2017, and its president, Cary Summers, revealed that he is pleased by the visitor turnout. Summers relayed to Christian News Journal that attendance to the museum had been "above expectations" so far and they had to increase sites where guests could take a break from sightseeing to eat. According to reports, 200,000 people have actually been to the Museum of the Bible two months after it opened. The Museum of the Bible stands at a 430,000 square foot property that took $500 million from the family that owns Hobby Lobby to build. Its main presentations are interactive and digital, touching on the Bible's history that can also be personalized for visitors depending on their ages. [ More ]

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST By Stefanie Waldek All images courtesy of adjaye associates Ghanaian president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo unveiled today Adjaye Associates’ designs for the National Cathedral of Ghana as part of a ceremony celebrating the country’s 61st year of independence. “It is an immense honor to be granted the opportunity to contribute something of this scale and import to my home country,” British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, the firm’s founder and principal, said in a statement. “I have sought to craft a building that not only understands its landscape but one that will be unique to Accra and the Ghanaian Nation.” [ More ]

ARTNET NEWS By Henri Neuendorf Raphael's Madonna di San Sisto (1513–14). Photo: Wikimedia Commons. RICHMOND, VA----A local art enthusiast may have identified a rare print by Renaissance master Raphael hanging in a small, rural church outside of Richmond, Virginia. The artwork, which could be a significant and valuable copy of a famous painting by the Italian artist, apparently went unnoticed by church staff for decades. In November 2015, Italian expat Federico Colagrande, a Renaissance art fan, attended a funeral at Gilboa Church, a quaint brick building in Louisa County that dates back to 1849. After mourners left, Colagrande and his girlfriend Annette Bronson stayed behind to explore the church, a pastime the couple called “extreme churching” in a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. [ More ]

BLOUIN ARTINFO By Anya Harrison Set of Shrine tiles, Mumbai, India, 1980s. Tiles from a Parsee household show the constantly burning fire representing Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god (The Trustees of the British Museum) “It is wholly indeterminate” — so reads a wall text by the American conceptual artist Robert Barry just before you leave the British Museum’s small but densely packed exhibition, “Living with Gods: Peoples, Places and Worlds Beyond,” on view through April 8. The text could just as well serve as its summary. Amulets, crosses, totems, posters, lamps, textiles, icons, items of clothing — these, and many more, are a kaleidoscopic accumulation of both everyday and venerated objects that form a gateway to discover the myriad forms of religious belief — or faith — that have sustained individuals and communities for millennia. Curated by Jill Cook, “Living with Gods” dispels with chronology or the grouping of objects by region or religion. Instead, it opts for a more fl...

ARTDAILY A picture taken on February 24, 2018 shows a view of a mosque and city walls of the ancient site of Zabid, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ABDO HYDER / AFP . ZABID (AFP).- Once Yemen's capital and famed as an architectural marvel of early Islam, the town of Zabid is fighting to survive as a brutal war closes in on its fortified walls. The sand-coloured town overlooking the country's west coast was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 for its centuries-old urban planning and architecture, including the world's fifth oldest mosque. Riven by neglect and poverty, it was placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage in Danger seven years later. Yemen's three-year war, which has killed nearly 10,000 people and pushed the country to the brink of famine, is now threatening the fate of Zabid. So far the town has been spared in the battle between Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels and a government allied with a military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia. [ More ]

THE ART NEWSPAPER By Christina Ruiz Jatta became the first woman to lead the Vatican Museums last year Governatorato SCV-Direzione dei Musei In May 2016, Barbara Jatta was summoned to the Roman home of her boss, Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, the librarian and archivist of the Catholic church. He told her he had received a letter from the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, its central bureaucracy, informing him that Jatta had been chosen to lead the Vatican Museums. Jatta was asked immediately to leave the Vatican Library, where she had worked for around 20 years and led the prints department from 2010. She would serve for six months as the deputy to the museums’ then director, Antonio Paolucci, before succeeding him. And that was that. “I went white; I was shocked. It was a radical change for me,” she remembers. “These are the Pope’s museums,” Jatta says. As such, they reflect his priorities, interests and political ambitions. [ More ]

ARTDAILY Mahmoud Saïd, Adam & Eve, 1937 (detail). Est. £300,000-500,000. Courtesy Sotheby’s. LONDON---Appearing at auction for the first time, this sumptuous painting by Mahmoud Saïd depicts the Quranic icons, Adam and Eve as two imposing, almost surreal, figures within a lush desert oasis. Saïd is renowned the founder of modern Egyptian art during a time of intellectual renaissance in the country, and this daring and vivid work from 1937 perfectly encapsulates the dialogue between the history of art in Europe and the sensuous qualities of the prevailing Egyptian spirit. Adam and Eve will highlight Sotheby’s 20th Century Art / Middle East auction on 24 April, when it will be offered with an estimate of £300,000-500,000. [ More ]

THE GUARDIAN By Peter Bradshaw Rooney Mara brings her customary intensity to the title role as Jesus’ ‘favourite pupil’, but the result is a bit too solemn to be a convincing reinvention This movie, from screenwriters Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett and director Garth Davis, sets itself a bold task: to rescue Mary Magdalene from an age-old tradition of patriarchal condescension and misinterpretation. And yet it winds up embracing a solemn, softly-spoken and slow-moving Christian piety of its own. The film suggests – quite persuasively – that the peace-loving and quietist message of Christianity was finally understood by Mary, but not the macho male apostles. But the drama’s need to forgive Judas and Peter makes the story toothless. And the dreamlike vision of Mary Magdalene floating underwater is a bit of a cliche. The performances of Mara and Phoenix are careful and respectful, though with nothing like the lightning-flash of energy and scorn that they have given to secular...

THE DALLAS NEWS By Deborah Fleck Bodhisattva Guanyin, China, Song dynasty, c. 1125, Polychromed wood, The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection. Photo by Thierry Ollivier. The Kimbell Art Museum presents the U.S. debut of From the Lands of Asia: The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection . Opening Sunday, the exhibit will feature almost 450 objects from key periods in the history of art in China, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea and Vietnam. Americans Samuel and Myrna Myers visited Paris in the 1960s and fell in love with the city. They decided to make it their home and soon began collecting art. Over 40 years, they gathered about 5,000 pieces. The exhibition, which will run through Aug. 19, was curated by Jean-Paul Desroches, former chief curator of the Musée des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris, and senior curator of the French National Patrimony.  [ More ]