Art reveals the world to us in new ways. On KWBU, we have a new 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
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When people play an instrument, they develop the ability to understand what’s going on when they listen to other musicians. The opposite is also true. -
A century ago, pianos were a common presence in houses all over the country. Now, not so much.
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Thinking about some historic music recorded 60 years ago at a historic venue.
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While a painting’s form may be traditional, the message it conveys might be something else entirely.
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Many of our traditional images of Christmas come from a New York print shop in the second half of the 1800s.
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While mainstream news coverage may overlook particular art scenes, there are other ways of putting them in the spotlight.
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The art world encompasses city parks, both because of the art behind them and because of what they do for us.
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If a work of art is powerful enough, it can make you forget for a moment where you are.
