DETROIT (AP) — A U.S. exhibition featuring the works of roughly 40 Saudi Arabian artists aims to share their expressions, foster conversations and challenge conceptions of life in the conservative Islamic nation. “Epicenter X: Saudi Contemporary Art” opens July 8 and runs for about three months at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. … Continue reading
BOSTON (AP) — A Boston museum has doubled its reward to $10 million for information that leads to the return of 13 works of art stolen in 1990 in the largest art heist in U.S. history. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s board of trustees announced the increase Tuesday, May 23. On March 18, 1990, two … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Old Dominion University says its new Barry Art Museum will open in the fall of 2018. The school said in a press release that the museum’s groundbreaking took place on Tuesday. The 24,000-square-fooot facility will primarily focus on the American glass art movement. It will display more than 100 pieces from … Continue reading
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A 36-foot military museum on wheels that is filled with artifacts from dozen of Virginians who served in both world wars will roll into Newport News. Daily Press reports (http://bit.ly/2oMO8mY) the display is part of an annual convention that will bring distinguished combat veterans to the town for a series … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — To kick off Black History Month, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia is exhibiting four decades of work by Murry DePillars, an artist known for his vivid colors and geometric shapes as well as his political commentary and African-inspired patterns. “Murry DePillars: Double Vision,” which features 37 pieces … Continue reading
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Slain reggae legend Peter Tosh is getting some of the same historical treatment in his native Jamaica as the late Bob Marley. A museum devoted to the life and music of Tosh is opening near the Marley museum that has long been a major tourist attraction in the Jamaican capital. The … Continue reading
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Five Dutch Golden Age paintings that were among a trove of art stolen from a Dutch museum more than a decade ago have been returned after being recovered in Ukraine earlier this year. Now the Westfries Museum in the northern town of Hoorn is crowd-funding to pay to restore the paintings, which … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Donald Trump’s running mate is meeting with veterans aboard a historic battleship at a Norfolk museum before an evening rally in Colonial Williamsburg. Local media outlets report that Mike Pence will hold a roundtable discussion Tuesday afternoon with about 30 veterans aboard the USS Wisconsin, which is anchored in Norfolk. The … Continue reading
FORT BELVOIR, Va. (AP) — A nonprofit foundation is breaking ground at Fort Belvoir for the National Museum of the U.S. Army. The event Wednesday’s marked the ceremonial start of construction for the Army Historical Foundation’s $200 million project. The organization says on its website that the Army is the only branch of the U.S. … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — A festival featuring workshops, storytelling and performances including concerts with bands such as Public Enemy and The Roots will celebrate the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture this month. The Smithsonian announced Wednesday that the three-day festival, “Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration,” on the Washington Monument … Continue reading
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — A bell from a Virginia church founded by slaves is being shipped from Virginia to the nation’s capital so it can be rung Sept. 24 at the dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/2cbKyM1 ) reports that the bell of First Baptist Church of … Continue reading
SEATTLE (AP) — Paleontologists with Seattle’s Burke Museum have unearthed the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex that lived more than 66 million years ago, including a rare nearly complete 4-foot long skull. The remarkable discovery includes the dinosaur’s vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones, and represents about 20 percent of the meat-eating predator. Several … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lonnie Bunch leans forward to peer inside a slave cabin from Edisto Island, South Carolina. The dark and cramped interior defies his attempts to showcase the small living space its occupants subsisted on. Bunch flips on the flashlight on a borrowed smartphone, illuminating for his guests the craftsmanship, the hard work and … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — The opening seconds of the trailer for “The First Monday in May,” the new documentary about the dizzyingly star-studded Met Gala, show pop star Rihanna tossing her fashionablehead in slo-mo as the red-carpet cameras click furiously. Suitably, she sports a glistening tiara. And then suddenly we’re looking at a boyish, bespectacled … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian and Bill Cosby can’t seem to escape one another. After facing criticism for an exhibit of works from Cosby’s personal art collection, the Smithsonian plans to include two items related to Cosby at its new African-American history museum on the National Mall. There are no current plans to acknowledge the … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 