To hell and back

Years before the 2020 pandemic, artist Michelle Gagliano developed a fascination with Dante’s Inferno and set out to interpret each of the poem’s 34 cantos through one painting per week. She completed the project, and exhibited it in 2017. But as the virus and social and political unrest escalated this spring, the work called her […]

All in favor, say pie

Shaun Jenkins, owner of Soul Food Joint, grew up in a pie-loving household. The weekend before Thanksgiving, his mom would make about 40 pies, and folks would stop by to pick one up after church—free of charge. Jenkins carries on that tradition by baking a bushel of his own favorite sweet potato Thanksgiving tarts every […]

PICK: Help Desk

Help yourself: Even with COVID-19, the show must go on—online that is. Help Desk: A Stay-At-Home Play is a one-act comedy that magnifies the funny-not-so-funny frustration we’ve all faced while working with a help desk. And it doesn’t take long for the ironic to spiral into the absurd in Don Zolidis’ livestreamed play. Make sure […]

PICK: Like A Wrecking Ball

Breaking walls: Miley Cyrus, watch out: multidisciplinary Australian artist Tony Albert comes in swinging with his latest work, Like A Wrecking Ball: Using Art and Humor to Confront Racist Statues in Australia and the USA. Scholar-activist Jalane Schmidt will moderate as Albert and Native American artist Nicholas Galanin address problematic colonial legacies. The virtual workshop […]

PICK: Fiebre Tropical

First crush: Juli Delgado Lopera’s debut novel Fiebre Tropical tells a coming-of-age story that combines visually rich prose with characters who are as colorful as their Miami setting. Fifteen-year-old Francisca narrates as her Colombian family’s American dream decays after arriving from Bogata. She seeks survival strategies amidst alcoholism, evangelical rituals, and the pressure of coming […]