Art & Design

Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts are the first same-sex couple to be featured on the cover of Essence.

Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts are the 1st same-sex couple on the cover of Essence

7:57pm February 25, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

In the interview with the magazine, the couple opened up about their love story and how their relationship blossomed into marriage, as the duo tied the knot in August 2020.

Composer, conductor and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey leads a rehearsal of his Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) at the Rothko Chapel in Houston on Feb. 18.

At the Rothko Chapel, Tyshawn Sorey explores sound — and silence

4:15pm February 24, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Invited to write a new work for Houston's Rothko Chapel, the composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey created a work that is both intimate and vast, like those Mark Rothko paintings.

Hale Woodruff. Normandy Landscape. 1928. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Fund, BMA 2002.279

Arts

Meet the security guards moonlighting as curators at the Baltimore Museum of Art

3:50pm February 23, 2022

by Susan Stamberg

The museum invited their security officers to curate an exhibition of their own. The result is a show filled with art from the sixth to the 21st century.

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Arts

Lost mittens become an art installation on lost love in Baltimore

9:14am February 20, 2022

by Don Gonyea

Bruce Willen and his wife created the "Library of Lost Gloves and Lost Loves" in a Baltimore park. It's an art installation made of lost winter gloves and mittens.

Arts

Hood Century spotlights midcentury modern design with Black influence

8:02am February 20, 2022

by Don Gonyea

Don Gonyea asks Jerald Cooper about midcentury modern design and Black culture.

Arts

Not their first rodeo: How Black riders are reclaiming their place in cowboy culture

7:00am February 19, 2022

Black cowboys are often missing in pop culture depictions of cowboy culture. In reality, they have been a big part of cowboy history, as some estimates suggest as many as 1 in 4 cowboys were Black.

Arts
Economy

Looking good in the metaverse. Fashion brands bet on digital clothing

12:22pm February 16, 2022

by Miranda Mazariegos

Fashion brands are betting people will spend on virtual outfits in the immersive digital world known as the metaverse.

In one of Estevan Oriol's photographs, a subject wears Nike Cortezes while kneeling in front of an old car.

Sports
Arts

An oral history of the Nike Cortez, 50 years after its release

2:11pm February 15, 2022

by Sean Saldana

Or, how the Nike Cortez — named after a conquistador — became a staple of Chicano streetwear.

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NPR's Culture Desk suggests movies, books and songs for Valentine's Day.

For Valentine's Day, a few of our favorite love stories to read, watch and hear

11:47am February 14, 2022

by Miranda Mazariegos

Valentine's Day reminds us we can relearn and redefine what it means to love and be loved. So, we offer some books, songs, and movies about passion, devotion, and relationships to take on the journey.

Ivan Reitman died over the weekend, his family said. The director is seen here last year at the premiere for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a sequel to his 1984 film.

'Ghostbusters' director and 'Animal House' producer Ivan Reitman has died

10:31am February 14, 2022

by Bill Chappell

Reitman has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His movies often blended elements of comedy, horror and drama — a mix that was tricky to perfect.