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25 Years After Art Heist, Empty Frames Still Hang In Boston's Gardner Museum

12:23pm March 18, 2015

by NPR Staff

On March 18, 1990, robbers stole $500 million in art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Author Stephen Kurkjian explains why anyone would bother to steal work so priceless it couldn't be sold.

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Some of the artifacts that were handed over to Iraq during a ceremony Monday in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Returns Dozens Of Looted Artifacts To Iraq

3:31pm March 17, 2015

by Jackie Northam

Some of the artifacts date back more than 4,000 years. Among them is the head of a statue of Assyrian King Sargon II, similar to one destroyed by militants with the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

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Looks Matter: A Century Of Iconic Food Packaging

1:49pm March 17, 2015

by Tove Danovich

Many of the boxes, bags and bottles that contain our edibles were once groundbreaking — both in their design and in how they changed our perception of what's inside. Designers tell us their favorites.

When There's Art On The Bus, You'll Get To Your Stop Sooner

1:33pm March 17, 2015

by Gregory Warner

A decade ago Kenya banned the practice of covering minibuses — called matatus — with wild images. The concern: window blockage. Now the art is making a comeback, and powerful bus owners are behind it.

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A detail from the north wall of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals shows workers on the automobile assembly line. After Detroit declared bankruptcy, the murals were at risk of being sold. Click here for a larger view.

Arts

In Detroit's Rivera And Kahlo Exhibit, A Portrait Of A Resilient City

8:01pm March 16, 2015

by NPR Staff

This is the first exhibit to focus on the time Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo spent in Detroit. It's a big step for the Detroit Institute of Arts as it recovers from the tumult of the city's bankruptcy.

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Architect Michael Graves Dies At 80

2:34pm March 13, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

He was celebrated for designing everything from grand hotels to teapots. Graves died at his home in Princeton, N.J., of natural causes, his firm said.

Planet: bottom of a glass containing half-and-half, water and food coloring. Moons: bottom of a glass containing coconut milk, water and food coloring. Stars: salt, cinnamon, baking powder and Tums.

Science
Arts

Behold! The Cosmos Created From The Contents Of A Kitchen

12:13pm March 13, 2015

by Poncie Rutsch

From spices, flour, milk, water and food coloring, a photographer creates startlingly realistic-looking images of space. These photos are convincing enough to impress an astrophysicist.

Arts

A Travel Show For Your Favorite Weird-Museum And Dance Enthusiast

4:23pm March 11, 2015

by Linda Holmes

Ovation's American Canvas has a lot of fun in San Francisco, starting with the art installation at Alcatraz.

Karen Van Lengen and James Welty created a multimedia installation to encourage visitors to experience buildings like Grand Central Terminal not only through their eyes, but also their ears.

Arts

Museum Asks Visitors To Listen To New York's Buildings

7:16pm March 10, 2015

by Hansi Lo Wang

Iconic architecture, long a subject for academics and designers, is being explored with sound in a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.

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Architect Frei Otto is known for the large-scale roofs on the sports facilities for the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Arts

A Day After His Death, Frei Otto Awarded Pritzker Architecture Prize

6:22pm March 10, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

The prize's jury, in its citation, said the German architect had developed "a most sensitive architecture that has influenced countless others throughout the world." Otto died Monday. He was 89.