Art reveals the world to us in new ways. David and Art is KWBU's weekly feature focusing on art.
The module is hosted by David Smith, an American historian with broad interests in his field. He’s been at Baylor University since 2002 teaching classes in American history, military history, and cultural history. For eight years he wrote an arts and culture column for the Waco Tribune-Herald, and his writings on history, art, and culture have appeared in other newspapers from the Wall Street Journal to the Dallas Morning News.
The very first record he remembers listening to when he was little was Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic’s recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and that set him on a lifelong path of loving music and the arts. He’s loved history for almost as long, and finally saw them come together in his career. He believes that history illuminates the arts and the arts illuminate history—that they co-exist and are best understood together.
Follow David on Twitter @DavidASmith12
-
This week on David and Art, David Smith highlights Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer whose music brings to life tales from Russia's past, shedding light on the cultural identity and artistic evolution of the nation during the 19th century.
-
Host David Smith delves into the captivating tale behind the infamous theft of a masterpiece, intertwining the artist's turbulent life with the enigmatic allure of one of the world's most iconic paintings.
-
To kick off black history month Let’s remember a musician whose life spanned a big portion of the country’s history.
-
-
Innovations that came with industrialization influenced some of the most popular painting we know.
-
The gifts that the muses bring to artists are rarely finished products.
-
Trying to make political points by turning other people against certain artists is a regular feature of American politics.
-
When New Years Day rolls around, it’s also the birthday of an American jazz legend that too few people know about.
-
There’s complexity in all kinds of art, even the sort that looks simple.
-
Reaching beyond show tunes and contemporary pieces, the music of Jules Bledsoe is both deeply personal and resonant.