Story Archives of 'Arts'

Currier Museum of Art

By Deborah Schachter on Saturday, December 12, 2009.

As she settled into a new culture and learned a new language, Qamar learned to weave and paint – and found joy in her new community – at the Currier Museum Art Center.

Idea Smackdown: Round III

By Jen Nathan on Thursday, November 19, 2009.

Ding! Another round of Championship Ideas Smackdown has begun.

In the right corner: a slew of clever ideas.

In the left corner: overwhelmed producers who can't decide what to schedule first.

YOU are the referee. Let us know what you want to hear on Word of Mouth next week:

  • Health Care in the People's Republic
  • Death to Receipts
  • Muslim Teen Handbook
  • How Green is Your Pet?
  • Psychology of Terrorism

Not Your Grandpa's Lute

By John Diliberto on Thursday, November 19, 2009.

The lute brings to mind images of Medieval royalty, slowly promenading across a decadent ballroom floor. For lutenist Ronn McFarlane, this couldn’t be further from reality.

For The Love of Movies

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, November 19, 2009.

Film critics are in trouble. The century-old profession grew up alongside cinema, and the thoughtful reviews and theoretical writings from high-profile critics shaped how we understand the movies. But as journalism struggles financially and more reviewers are getting laid off or fired, critics wonder what’s to come of their profession.

That’s where film critic Gerald Peary stepped in. He’s been writing about film for over 25 years, and has been a weekly columnist and reviewer for The Boston Phoenix since 1996. He’s now stepped behind the camera for the first time to direct a film about his colleagues.

It’s called For The Love of Movies, and it looks at the past, present, and future of film criticism. It screens tonight at The Music Hall in Portsmouth. We're joined by the film’s producer, Amy Geller, and writer and director Gerald Peary.

Boston Phoenix: Gerald Peary: No Respect?

Los Angeles Times: Roger Ebert: Back to the future of film criticism

Huffington Post: David Sterritt: Do Film Critics Have a Future? Who Cares?

Life In Hell: How To Be a Clever Film Critic

listen: Windows Media | MP3

Pecan Pie and Community

By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

In the rural town of Greensboro, Alabama, a group of designers is hard at work, baking pies. Three full-time volunteers run an innovative experiment called PieLab: part design studio and part pie shop.

Local residents come in for a thick slice of chocolate peanut butter banana cream or good old sweet potato pie. Then they sit and talk about issues facing their community. The designers hear their challenges and work with them on finding solutions.

It’s an idea that appealed to our curiosity and our stomachs, so we called them up to find out more. Joining us is Amanda Buck, one of the designers and bakers at PieLab.

Fast Company: PieLab in Rural Alabama Serves Up Community, Understanding, and, Yes, Pie

Read Amanda's recipe for fig, goat cheese and honey pie in a lemon crust

PieLab Promo from Project M on Vimeo.

(Photo courtesy of PieLab)

listen: Windows Media | MP3

Indie Video Games

By Virginia Prescott on Monday, November 16, 2009.

Most video games are full of camouflaged men and buxom women flipping and kicking on the screen, carrying machine guns and leaving explosions of dust and blood in their wake. But if you reboot and discover the DIY video game movement, you might see something a bit more refined.

In the surreal game Blueberry Garden, flowers blow back and forth against a stark, hand drawn landscape, and you can hear a bird in a top hat landing on floating islands and pieces of cheese. The game won this year’s Independent Games Festival in San Francisco. It’s kind of like a Sundance Festival for indie video game developers, a place where gaming aficionados can step out from behind the controllers and show off games they themselves design.

Joshuah Bearman attended this year’s conference for The New York Times Magazine and joins us with more on the indie video game scene. We also hear from Chris Dahlen, who lives in Portsmouth and reviews video games for the Onion A.V. Club.

New York Times Magazine: Can D.I.Y. Supplant the First-Person Shooter?

Fierce Developer: Make your own XBOX games in 10 steps

(Photo courtesy Patrick Brosset via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

listen: Windows Media | MP3

And Now We Hear From You

By Avishay Artsy on Monday, November 16, 2009.

Our segment on those old cassette mixtapes from ex’s that we just can’t let go of got a response from a listener named A. Rioux, who wrote:

Here's What's Awesome: Robots in the Ocean, Lightswitch Ghosts

By Brady Carlson on Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Welcome to Here's What's Awesome, answer the secret word and you'll get an extra fourteen cents. It's a common word, something you find around the internet.

Robot going surfing

20,000 Robotic Submersibles Under the Sea

This Weekend: A Night at the Theatre

By Rick Ganley on Friday, November 13, 2009.

While some may be planning their annual trip to the theatre for a production of the Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol, there are other performances happening this weekend in New Hampshire. Hippo Editor Amy Diaz talks with Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley about some.

listen: Windows Media | MP3

Idea Smackdown: Round II

By Jen Nathan on Wednesday, November 11, 2009.

Ding! Another round of Championship Ideas Smackdown has begun.

We had a killer ideas meeting yesterday and now we need YOU to tell us what you want to hear on Word of Mouth next week:

  • Death to Receipts
  • Microcinemas
  • Tech Crafting
  • The 2012 Industry
  • Private Prisons
  • Carbon Footprint of Pets
  • School House Rock for Science
  • DIY Video Game Designers
  • Is NBC Too Big To Fail?
  • A Mixtape for your Kitchen