Author: Matthew Westphal

America’s First Racially Integrated All-Girl Swing Band

“The International Sweethearts broke attendance records at places such as Washington DC’s Howard Theatre, Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Cincinnati’s Cotton Club and the Riviera in St Louis. They played in the same venues as Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie, were considered some of the most talented musicians of their day and toured France and Germany as a USO act in 1945. Unfortunately, racism and sexism largely swept them from the public record; they became footnotes in other people’s stories.” – The Guardian

Rina Lazo, Who Assisted Diego Rivera And Became A Major Muralist In Her Own Right, Dead At 96

“Mexican muralism taught her the importance of expressing a political and social consciousness, but she softened the militancy that was common in the post-revolutionary era. In allegorical paintings, prints and murals with a subtle yet richly colorful palette, Ms. Lazo celebrated Mesoamerican cultures, especially the Maya, and the spiritual abundance of the natural world.” – The New York Times

Broadway Musicals Are Stretching Their Curtain Calls Into Ever-Longer Encores (As The Audience Stands Up And Dances)

Alexis Soloski: “These post-curtain moments have less to do with telling the story and more with telling the audience how to feel about the story they have just seen and what they should tell their friends. As someone who loves a Broadway musical, but is often ready to scurry up the aisle once that musical nears the three-hour mark, I spoke to some of the creators behind eight current musicals to discover how and why each of them had built in an encore.” – The New York Times

How Ed Harris And Aaron Sorkin Are Interrogating ‘Mockingbird’

Sorkin, playwright of the Broadway adaptation: “I absolutely wanted Atticus to be a traditional protagonist, so he needed to change and have a flaw … It turned out that Harper Lee had [already] given him one; it’s just that when we all learned the book, it was taught as a virtue. It’s that Atticus believes that goodness can be found in everyone.”
Harris, who plays Atticus: “He’s trying to hold on to a belief that’s being eroded slowly but surely.” – The Atlantic

Restoration Of Ghent Altarpiece Reveals Stunning Details

Conservators working on the five lower central panels discovered that the Van Eyck brothers’ original work had been painted over as early as the mid-16th century; removal of those additions (as well as the centuries’ accumulated grime) uncovered an unsuspected level of naturalism. Says the project’s head, “Botanists can actually identify every plant in there. The ones that couldn’t be identified — those were overpaintings.” – The Art Newspaper

U.S. House Votes For Biggest Increase In NEA Funding In Six Years

“The House approved a $1.4-trillion spending package on Tuesday that includes a $7.25-million increase for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This increase is the largest for the NEA since 2013 and brings the organization’s total funding to $162.25 million, its highest since 2010. The spending bills will also increase funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The House spending package, comprising two bills, now heads to the Senate, which is expected to approve both bills.” – Artsy