Heidi Whitman’s ‘Ahab’s Head: American Vengeance’
Blood. And destruction. Those are the central elements of Heidi Whitman’s 2025 one-room installation “Ahab’s Head: American Vengeance” at the…
Christopher Frost’s Revolutionary War Insurgents
Under a 19-foot-tall granite obelisk at the center of Arlington’s Old Burying Ground, off Pleasant Street, are the bodies of…
Somerville Arts Council Director Greg Jenkins Honored
A party was held last night to honor my friend Greg Jenkins, who was pushed out of his role as…
Goodbye, Pearl Fryar, Topiary Gardener
In the early 1980s, Pearl Fryar began transforming his home in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a fantastic topiary garden, often…
‘Everything And More’ At Street Theory
The all-women exhibition “Everything And More,” at Street Theory Collective in Cambridge from Feb. 12 to April 11, 2026, explores…
Greenberg’s Great Train & Toy Show
Greenberg’s Great Train & Toy Show at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Massachusetts, March 21 and 22, 2026. If this…
‘Crafting the Mind’ At Somerville Museum
“What would have happened to me if I’d been treated in the 19th century?” wondered Rachel May after receiving care…
One Of The Best Exhibits Of The Year: Masako Miki’s Furry Cosmic Creatures
The creatures populating the exhibit “Masako Miki: Midnight March,” on view the MassArt Art Museum in Boston from Jan. 29…
Yinka Shonibare: How Do We Offer Compassion To Immigrants And Refugees?
In a darkened gallery, black-painted model buildings glow from within. Looking in the tiny windows of 18 little buildings—Notre Dame…
Goodbye, Pearl Fryar, Topiary Gardener
In the early 1980s, Pearl Fryar began transforming his home in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a fantastic topiary garden, often…
Goodbye to Isaiah Zagar, Creator Of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
Saddened to hear that Isaiah Zagar—creator of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, one of the great visionary art spaces of the world,…
Dazzling Light Restoration Of 1936 Art Deco Cambridge Storefront
Wow! You need to check this out in person: Newly restored architectural lights delineating the facade of First Church of Christ,…
Dirt Palace: Providence’s Feminist Art Collective Celebrates 25 Years
Twenty-five years ago, in a derelict library in Providence’s Olneyville neighborhood, a group of women came together to found a…
Steve Plattner’s Photos Of Visionary Art Environments
Cincinnati photographer Steve Plattner is showing his portraits of visionary artists and their environments in the exhibition “Persistence of Vision”…
Backyard Wonderlands: Photo Exhibit Documents People Who Transform Their Homes Into Visionary And Folk Art Worlds
For a decade, Greg Cook has been making pilgrimages to visionary art sites, folk art environments, and “yard shows” from…
Waterfall At Beaver Brook Reservation
Another waterfall close to Boston is the Cascade at the Commonwealth’s Beaver Brook Reservation along the Belmont-Waltham line. Beaver Brook…
Escape From The Bitter Cold In A Greenhouse
When it gets especially freezy out, I like to escape to a local greenhouse for a bit of warm, green…
Frozen Waterfall A Short Walk From End Of Orange Line
The Cascade in the Middlesex Fells is always dazzling after a fresh snow–and especially after a few weeks of freezing…
The Start Of The Mississippi River
At the end of the summer, the 11-year-old and I drove up to the start of the Mississippi River in…
Century-Old Shipwreck Emerges From Sand At Ipswich’s Crane Beach
In February, pieces of a century-old shipwreck began emerging from the sand at the northwest end of Ipswich’s Crane Beach—a…
Listening For Bats At Mount Auburn Cemetery
The group of nine of us began looking and listening for bats at Cambridge’s Mount Auburn Cemetery as night fell…
Welcoming Spring At Bread & Puppet
“It’s more important than ever to remember the ways of our ancestors,” Maria Schumann told the crowd as she launched…
‘Homecoming’: Toy Theater Mulling Migration
“Homecoming” was a meditation on migration, immigration and home–from bird sightings to immigrants crossing the globe. The original toy theater…
Bread And Puppet Theater In Winter
Visiting our friends at Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover, Vermont, buried under the snow and fringed with the icicles…
Bread and Puppet Theater’s ‘Life and Death Precision Dances with Happiness Obligation Prologue’
With temperatures hovering around zero, we went to see Bread and Puppet Theater perform “Life and Death Precision Dances with…
Janet Echelman’s Dazzling Net Sculptures Lift Aerial Dance At ArtsEmerson
Janet Echelman is probably the most successful living artist affiliated with Greater Boston. She and her team at Studio Echelman,…
Manual Cinema’s ‘4th Witch’ Riffs On ‘Macbeth’ For A Puppet Fable Of War And Betrayal
World War I-style biplanes bomb a restaurant, orphaning the proprietor’s daughter. French newspaper headlines warn of the advance of Macbeth’s…
Keith Knight
By a lucky coincidence, we recently bumped into Keith Knight, the “K Chronicles” cartoonist and creator of Hulu’s “Woke,” at…
Books I Read In 2025
Here are most of the books I read (finished and unfinished) during 2025 in roughly the order I read them.…
Goodbye To Boston Cartoonist Dan Moynihan
Heartbreaking to hear the news this afternoon of Boston cartoonist and designer and my friend Dan Moynihan suddenly dying on…
Goodbye, Cambridge Poet Charles Coe
Charles Coe, the poet and storyteller and teacher and musician (his beloved didgeridoo) and longtime arts administrator for the Massachusetts…
Wooden Folk Toys Meet Bauhaus Ballet In Lesley Barnes and Ross McAuley’s ‘Fashion Play’
“Wooden friends” began appearing in illustrator Lesley Barnes’s social media in 2019—along with her pop-up book “Bauhaus Ballet.” They were…
Some Cartoonists To Check Out At Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo
Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo–aka MICE–is Dec. 7 and 8, 2024, at Boston University’s Fuller Building, 808 Commonwealth Ave., Brookline. Free…
Photos: 19th Annual Honk Festival In Somerville
The 19th annual Honk Festival of Activist Street Bands took place in Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts, from Oct. 4 to…
Photos: 2024 Somerville Porchfest
Somerville Porchfest is part hootenanny, part a giant open studios for bands. Inspired by an event in Ithaca, New York,…
Boston Rock History And Vintage Views Of Local Streets In Charles Daniels’s Photos
Charles Daniels always had one or more cameras with him—when he was strolling local streets; when he was emcee at…
‘Road To Ruane’ Remembers Legendary Boston Rock Impresario And Wild Man
“Billy Ruane walked into the room and he said, ‘I need an extra room for my birthday party. I think…
If You Could Play One Of the World’s Best Violins Which One Would You Choose?
On Monday afternoon, musicians from the Boston chamber orchestra A Far Cry were picking out violins to borrow for the…
Oscar-Winning Documentary ‘Last Repair Shop’: Repairing Instruments To Make People Whole Again
“The Last Repair Shop” is an astonishing, tender, heartbreaking, inspiring look behind the scenes at the expertise and love that…
34th Annual World AIDS Day Vigil And March
“Everyone we lost,” Nigel Griffith said, “..it is because of them we’re still here keeping up this fight.” He was…
Building ‘The Giant Puppet And People Making Mayhem Parade’
We recently bumped into Muffy Pendergast, who for some years now has organized “The Giant Puppet And People Making Mayhem…
A Visit To The 2025 Topsfield Fair
We paid a visit to the 207th Topsfield Fair, which runs from Oct. 3 to 13, 2025. Descended from an…
Photos: St. Peter’s Fiesta In Gloucester
At the start of summer in the last days of June, Gloucester celebrated its 98th annual St. Peter’s Fiesta—my beloved…
Photos: 19th Annual Honk Festival In Somerville
The 19th annual Honk Festival of Activist Street Bands took place in Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts, from Oct. 4 to…
Photos: Cambridge Carnival Parade
The 30th anniversary Cambridge Carnival included a parade of masqueraders costumed in feathers, plumes, bright-colored silks, and satin with jeweled…
Christopher Frost’s Revolutionary War Insurgents
Under a 19-foot-tall granite obelisk at the center of Arlington’s Old Burying Ground, off Pleasant Street, are the bodies of…
Goodbye, Pearl Fryar, Topiary Gardener
In the early 1980s, Pearl Fryar began transforming his home in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a fantastic topiary garden, often…
Goodbye to Isaiah Zagar, Creator Of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
Saddened to hear that Isaiah Zagar—creator of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, one of the great visionary art spaces of the world,…
First Boston Public Art Triennial: An Afternoon Tour
The first Boston Public Art Triennial officially opened on May 22. For a decade, the nonprofit Now+There had been installing…
MLK Memorial ‘The Embrace’ Unveiled At Boston Common
“This work is really about the capacity for each of us to be enveloped in love, and I feel enveloped…
Deceased Beech Tree Turned Into Statue In Somerville Park
When a massive, old European beech tree at Somerville’s Symphony Park declined into disease, the city’s Parks and Open Space…