Art Connection

Virtue

Through his imagining of the life of medieval visionary Hildegard von Bingen, playwright Tim Slover has posited the notion of a personal experience of the divine against the practicalities of sustaining a religious community. We visit The Screening Room, an exhibition space in Miami’s hip Wynwood neighborhood. Carola Bravo, an artist known for immersive, site-specific installations challenges the viewer's idea of time and space. A prodigy pianist from Uzbekistan, Behzod is the first artist in-residence at Park University’s International Center for Music in Kansas City, Missouri. The National Bottle Museum, located in Ballston Spa, New York, strives to preserve the history of our nation’s first major industry: bottle making. View more on arts and religion at pbs.org/religion.

Vision

For over 75 years, the Chamber Music Society of Detroit has invited audiences to experience an array of compositions performed by acclaimed musicians and ensembles. let’s have a listen. The Nevada state museum is home to the original coin press of the Carson City Mint. Built in 1869, Coin Press Number One continues to mint uniquely designed coins that are works of art. We take a look at the technical and creative process. After serving in the United States Navy, artist Arthur Kettner decided to go to school to study and create art, and he hasn’t looked back since. The Corrales Art and Studio Tour in New Mexico offers visitors the opportunity to enter the artist’s studio and see how a creative vision comes to life.

Vision

Cake artist Tennille Finnegan Saldivar discusses all the preparation, technique, and creativity that go into her cake masterpieces. We meet Ted White, the “Song Peddler” of Florida, who travels around with his unique piano contraption. National Heritage Fellow of Santa Fe, Ramon Jose Lopez, shares how his rich heritage influences his artwork. And we travel to Las Vegas to meet teen film and television actor Sean Kyle who recounts his life-altering tale of surviving a rare form of cancer.

Visual Sound

Seventh generation Chimayo New Mexican weaver Irvin Trujillo shares the practices of his forefathers, while finding ways to carry the art of weaving into the modern age. “Bass Structures: The Mark of Sound” is a multi-dimensional art, music, and science experience that showcases the visual state of sound pioneered by artistic partners Emmanuel Fritz and Collin Schipper. Photographer Sarah Beth Ernhart captures the personalities of her client’s four-legged friends. And ceramicist and craftswoman Rachel Sevier incorporates natural beauty into her creations, transforming clay into detailed works of art. 

Vivid Lives

Theater director, Stephen Svoboda, interprets the human condition through his unique mental lens and transforms the world we live in by using art. We meet Sacramento, California artist Kevin Mount whose art not only inspires him, but everyone around him. We visit our nation's capital and attend the first annual Uprising Festival. And we go inside the Jewish Museum Milwaukee and see how they re-create the designs of an individual who perished in the Holocaust.

Voice

Singer Martina Bruno is known as “The Angel of New York.” As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Music Under New York program, she goes below ground to sing for the city’s subway riders. We head to Reno, Nevada, to meet artist and social media influencer Sarah Hambly. With a love for pop culture, she sews a wide range of couture garments that she shares online. At “A Tropical Reef” in Largo, Florida, there is underwater art everywhere you look. For the store’s dedicated staff, keeping corals isn’t just a task, it’s an art form. colorful corals become living works of art. We take a trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to meet ceramicist Michaelene Walsh. With her hands, she sculpts clay into a variety of recognizable objects that are full of meaning.

Warhol & Lynch

In collaboration with the Rodger and Hammerstein Estate, a Florida theater and Broadway director create new orchestrations for the wartime classic South Pacific. Tarissa Tiberti, Executive Director of Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art discusses the Gallery's current landmark exhibit of Andy Warhol's work called "Warhol Out West." A converted diesel bus becomes a mobile artist residency program called The Cargo Space. And we meet critically acclaimed film director David Lynch, and we learn how his background in painting informs his illustrious career in cinema.

Ways to Create

Art Fort Lauderdale is an art fair unlike any other. For 4 days, attendees take part in a curated experience, traveling the Intracoastal Waterways to homes full of artworks. Michelangelo was a sculptor, painter, architect, and poet during the Italian renaissance. We travel to the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio to see an exhibit of his Sketche. Artown is an arts and culture festival in Reno, Nevada. As a way to celebrate the event, each year an original promotional poster is released. We see how one of these posters is made. David "Top Hat" Charlton is an artist whose canvas takes on many different forms. Whether he is tattooing clients or spray-painting buildings, he loves to create. We travel to St. Petersburg, Florida, to meet the artist.

Weaving History

See how parent, Jack Little, gets creative with Legos by designing a new Lego project that commemorates one of the most important events in railroad history, thereby blending art and design with history. Wisconsin artists and architect Harry Wirth shares his philosophy of simplicity that has encompassed is life. We take a look inside the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado where student and violinist Usha Kapoor studies and preforms. And we visit master weaver Porfirio Guiterrez as he expresses his appreciation for an art that's not only beautiful, but historically significant.

Wire Illusion

Jim Stevens has been creating art for over 30 years when in 1993 an old war injury, thought to be benign, left him legally blind. From then life became a series of re-discovery and methods of art. We meet a speed painter that makes his act more dynamic than simply painting. Sculptor Lawrence Schloss observes the world around him and shapes it into his abstract Judaic sculptures. And author Kimberly Willis Holt helps to inspire the next generation of great writers.

Wisconsin's Treasures

Take a unique look at some iconic Wisconsin breweries with Wisconsin based photographer, Paul Bialas. Installation artist, Jonathan Latiano, creates works that lunge out of the floor or emerge from the ground and play with temporary themes. We visit the Harley-Davidson Museum for its 110th anniversary celebration and we chat with Mark Simon, an innovative storyboard artist.

Women in Art

Janice Darko founded the Black and Art Dental Student Association. As the first black female student at the University of Utah School of Dentistry, she wanted to promote oral health equity and provide ways for students to express their identity through art. We visit one of the gallery shows organized for the dental community. The Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio partnered with community organizations to create the "Black Futures Series." As part of the series, choreographer Countess V. Winfrey developed a new dance work about the black experience. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is the nation's leading voice promoting equity and education for women and girls. AAUW has continually worked hard for fair pay and recognition for women. In Utah, part of that effort is to provide a venue for women to display their art and be rewarded and honored for their artistic skills and hard work.

Wool Fashion

Join us as we visit Troy, New York, home to the Art Center of the Capital Region. This Art Center has provided a vibrate space for artist and community members to explore their creativity. We take a look at international fashion designer Anna Cohen's new collection of sustainable apparel. We stop by Gotham City FX, a full service costume, prop, and special effects shop to see how the talented team creates impressive pieces of art. And painter Judy Curducci discusses how she found inspiration in her subjects' body language and how that helps capture the true essence of the people she observes.

Working Hands

Ceramic artist, Gary Dudley, takes his memories, turns them into sculpture and then casts them in bronze. Abstract artist, Jason Rolf, draws inspiration from his surroundings and then challenges his viewers to navigate through his work. Rawhide braiding is dying out, but Tim George is a master of the craft and we take a look at this highly detailed oriented work and we discover the limits in the time sensitive art of glass blowing with Steven Monser.

Work of Art

We meet Dominic Moore-Dunson, a dancer and choreographer who created “The Black Card Project.” This dance theatre production explores African American identity. Florida’s Seraphic Fire is a vocal ensemble with a wide-ranging repertoire that attracts attention and admiration. From medieval to modern works, their performances are full of artistry and style. We get an inside look at the re-opening of Mass Art, Art Museum in Massachusetts. As a non-collecting museum, the space is ever-changing. A wide range of works are always on display. When anglers are tying flies, they aren’t just completing a task. They are also making a work of art. We see how these artificial flies are designed.

Works of Passion

Richard Sherman, one of the songwriters behind the cherished film, Mary Poppins, gives us a behind the scenes take of the recent film Saving Mr. Banks. Actor Steve Martin shares how he developed a passion and skill for playing the banjo. Christie’s tells us what to look for when buying vintage wines and dancer David Ward helps describe the physics behind a dancer’s leap.

World Class

For fifty years, the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus has been producing world class jazz performances in Ohio…and they also celebrate the genre through education. We learn more about their programming and a special award they give out to high school students. In Norfolk, Virginia, designer and artist Matthew McGuinness teamed up with students from the governor’s school for the arts to create a mural that explores what lunchtime means in the city. Diana Solomon-Glover is the librettist of “This Little Light of Mine.” The opera dramatizes the story of civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer. We meet Solomon-Glover and find out more about Hamer’s life.

Your Best

A navy sailor with a love for art, Brodrick Antoine creates portrait murals in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. We learn more about some of his striking works. At five years old, Lin He began his musical training in Shanghai, China, and today, one can find him excelling at his craft. From performing at Carnegie Hall to teaching, he has made a name for himself in the world of music. We take a trip to Ohio to meet multi-disciplinary artist Holly Romano. Combining alternative and traditional artmaking methods, she collaborates with nature. Founded in 2008, Fountainhead is an organization that elevates artists and gives back to the community through a residency program that has welcomed artists from across the globe.

Yo-Yo Champ

Artist Patricia Moses finds her craft in the balance between teaching and learning. She finds joy in instruction her students on how to problem solve though their craft. Sixth grader Emma Brandenburg and her violin are the perfect match, as the music is a testament to the practice and study behind her considerable talent. We uncover the story of Steve Brown, a competitive yo-yo who watched the yo-yo movement of the 90s grow into the international phenomenon it is today. And discover the history of Kansas in a quilt.

Bold Visions

Charles M. Carrillo is a Santero—a carver and painter of images of Saints. We meet the artist at the exhibit “Visions of the Hispanic World” at the Albuquerque Museum in New Mexico and hear how he connects to his heritage and culture. For Louisiana artist Byron May, stainless steel is his canvas of choice. With a background in graphic design, his artwork is bursting with bold colors and shapes. Born in Havana, Cuba, Irene Rodriguez is an internationally renowned flamenco dancer. Now residing in Tampa, Florida, she shares her talent through dancing, teaching, and choreographing.