Art and Culture

National Arts and Humanities month is a way for us to remember the power of art in society. 

This is National Arts and Humanities Month, a designation intended to draw our attention to the role these elements play in our busy lives, both personal and public. The advocacy group Americans for the Arts launched the event in 1985 as National Arts Week, in part to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993 it shifted to a month-long celebration.

Robert Lynch, the CEO and President of Americans for the Arts, says the special designation of October is “an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the positive impact the arts bring to our communities.”

The songs of the beloved Wings Over Jordan Choir were among the first to be broadcast nationally on the radio in the United States. The choir specialized in loving arrangements of old spirituals, including this one - "Rock a My Soul."

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies.

According to the dust jacket, “Brock Clarke is an award-winning author of seven previous works of fiction, including the bestselling An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England.  He lives in Maine and he teaches at Bowdoin College.”  His latest novel, Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe? is one peculiar book.  

Once nearly lost in the shadow of a celebrated American artist, a woman from Brooklyn is increasingly seen as a leader in abstract expressionism. 

The combined choirs make The Banks Brothers and the Greater Harvest Back Home Choir of Newark, NJ a spectacular aural feast - two great choirs singing old time gospel before a massive and appreciative audience. 

This week on Act Locally Waco, KWBU's Kateleigh Mills and Brodie Bashaw bring you this week's upcoming events - like Waco Cultural Arts Fest, smooth jazz at An Evening With Ellington, Waco Walk to End Alzheimer's and Baylor Homecoming. 

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies.

Richard Russo is a talented and widely admired writer.  His latest novel Chances Are… is the story of “Three old friends [who] arrived on Cape Cod in reverse order, from farthest to nearest: Lincoln, a commercial real estate broker, traveled practically cross-country from Las Vegas, Teddy. A small press publisher, from Syracuse; Mickey, a musician and sound engineer.  All were sixty-six years old and had attended the same small liberal arts college in Connecticut where they’d slung hash at a campus sorority” (3).  The group is rounded out with “Jacy,” (6).  I am about the same age, and I attended a small liberal arts college in Philadelphia, I could not help missing a healthy measure of intrigue.

This week on the Fine Tuned Music Series we feature local punk-rock band Rad Dragon. The band combines Josh Riddle on guitar and vocals, Austin Parker on bass, Bryce Buckmeyer on lead guitar and Zack Zajicek on drums. Rad Dragon talks about their experiences performing in Central Texas, the changes in the genre and also the underground music scene. 

Famous artists can sometimes obsure other artists who were close to them. Seeing through the shadows is a good way to discover a new artist. 

In this roundtable discussion Dr. Gary Mortenson, dean of Baylor's School of Music, Keep Waco Loud's Katie Selman and Jacob Green and Dick Gimble, instructor at McLennan Community College and son of music legend Johnny Gimble sit down to talk about the changing landscape of the Central Texas music scene. KWBU's Kateleigh Mills moderates the discussion. 

The Thunderbold of the Midwest," Brother Joe May was an incredibly versatile vocalist who never recorded secular music, despite tremendous pressure from his record label. 

Once a year a small town in Central Texas turns into a capital of Western Art, and it's something worth seeing. 

Still going strong after 30 years, the Mighty Sons of Glory continue the proud "hard gospel" tradition of their heroes, the Mighty Clouds of Joy. 

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies.

Toni Morrison is one of the great writers of her generation.  Few writers have the emotional and literary power of Morrison.  Add to that her development of many stories of the African American experience.  She deftly spins tales of great passion, empathy, and love.  Morrison gives readers a particularly intense focus of the tragedy of slavery as well as the aftermath leading up to the present day.  Her numerous novels include The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and God Help the Child.  My particular favorite is Sula.  In honor of her recent passing, I am dedicating this review to Toni Morrison.