Music isn’t the only art form you can experience outdoors at MASS MoCA this summer: Amanda Lovelee's Homecoming and Pep Rally for the Trees opens on our annual Community Free Day (June 13), and invites visitors to contemplate and celebrate the assisted migration of two “trees-in-residence”. MASS MoCA’s expansive collection of long-term outdoor exhibitions will reopen for the season (May 23) and the indoor galleries continue to sing with newly installed works by Laurie Anderson, the recently opened Technologies of Relation, and a participatory commission by Boston-based Chilean artist Daniela Rivera (on view beginning July 11).

“Daniel Chester French helped give form to America’s highest ideals – liberty, courage, sacrifice, and shared civic purpose,” says Chesterwood Executive Director Miguel Rodriguez. “His sculptures continue to remind us that democracy is not only preserved in our institutions, but also in the values and stories we choose to honor. At Chesterwood, keeping his legacy alive means preserving not just the home and studio of a great artist, but a space where art, history, and the American spirit continue to speak to each new generation.”

Giant, which won multiple awards in London, is based on a true incident in 1983; the children’s author Roald Dahl wrote a book review about a non-fiction book on the 1982 Israeli-Lebanese war. In his review, Dahl expresses multiple statements that most would consider antisemitic condemning Israel.

We often treat awakening as a destination—a distant mountain peak we must climb through sheer effort, “magic” mantras, or intellectual gymnastics. But there is a persistent shadow that follows the practitioner: the Delusion of Lack. It tells us that who we are right now is insufficient, and that the peace we seek is always just one more book, one more form, or one more retreat away. In my work with students, I see this delusion manifest in two primary ways: the Abyss and the Shield.

One afternoon we went to see a Robert Rauschenberg show at the Galerie Sonnabend on the rue Mazarine. It consisted of, among other things, flattened, used, tattered, cardboard boxes stuck to the gallery wall.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons announce their 2026–27 subscription season — the orchestra’s 146th — running from September 18, 2026, through May 9, 2027. Subscriptions (fixed and flexible “choose your own” packages) are available now, and single tickets may be purchased starting July 31.

Sinuous planes of flat aluminum, intersected and punctuated by bright swirling aluminum tubing, create counter movement, suggesting rivulets of water, creeping vines, or musical notation, and coaxing the curving leaf-like, wave-like forms into a rhythmic stream of luxurious movement.

This intimate, 50-minute performance (no intermission), sung in English, brings to life one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages—queen of two nations, mother of kings, and a commanding political force. Set during her imprisonment in Salisbury Tower, Flower and Hawk unfolds as Eleanor reflects on the triumphs and betrayals that shaped her extraordinary life.

The Crochet Coral Reef was created in 2005 by the artists and sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim to raise awareness to the beauty and plight of coral reefs worldwide. The Berkshire iteration features hundreds of corals crocheted by community members in the Berkshires and beyond over the last year. The corals, made of a variety of colors and textures, are being assembled into a vibrant reef in the CenterStage Theatre, where lighting and sound will immerse visitors in an underseas wonderland.

Innocence, Kaija Saariaho’s searing meditation on collective guilt, received its New York premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. Many of the artists from its world premiere at the Aix-en-Provence Festival five years ago are present here: Susanna Mälkki conducts, bringing  her close collaboration with Saariaho to bear, alongside the brilliant director Simon Stone. Stone makes a work live in the moment, a powerful invitational tool for audiences.

Ultimately, six passengers embark and depart a train car on a journey from LA to Seattle. But the interactions that we see among them are not what actually happened but are rather the thoughts of those passengers who didn't engage with one another.

The 2026 Sarasota Filn Festival, which runs April 10-19, is a more restrained affair, with greater emphasis on the films than famous faces. Though there are still parties to open and close the 10-day event, the most notable name on the visitor list is Julian Schnabel, who is probably as well known as a painter as he is as a film director.

Dimitri Krymov's Play on the Chekov play, Uncle Vanya, is a trickster's reckoning and wonderfully inventive.

Palm Beach Dramaworks (PBD) in South Florida presents a riveting professional production of Arthur Miller's classic historical drama, "The Crucible." A large cast of gifted performers act impressively natural and with nuance.

Between 8 - 9 Million people in the USA protested on 3/28/26 at perhaps 3300 locations in the USA. The population protested, held rallies, and demonstrations! We learned that: two-thirds of all protests happened outside of major urban areas. Americans everywhere are awake, declaring themselves as: 'We the people.'

In small town Arkansas, Starra was the basketball queen until Sidney arrived. Now, the newly-crowned upsets Starra's primacy, and the loss of another key player on the team could undermine their going to the state championships. A wide array of issues arise in this thoughtful and energetic look at the world of these girls.

The Krymov Lab NYC is presenting its unique, lively version of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov at La MaMa in New York. Krymov had more than five plays running in Moscow when he planned a visit to New York in 2022. Putin invaded Ukraine just as he left, and Krymov decided not to return to Russia. New York is fortunate to have him staging work here. There is much to learn from his gift for drawing in an audience and helping them live within his productions.

The script is incredibly flexible. The work can be performed by an actor of any gender, age, or nationality. In fact, when Daniel Radcliffe leaves the cast in late May, Mariska Hargitay is taking over the role.

His figures are friendly monsters: part human, part animal, part spirit. Haynes is a storyteller, an American humanist with a long history of supporting those that need the most help.

In 1956, around the time that Elvis Presley was first called the “King of Rock and Roll,” he stepped on the stage of what is now the Sarasota Opera House for four shows that apparently attracted relatively small crowds. Just four years earlier, the theater was packed and the streets outside were crowded for the star-studded premiere of “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Cecil B. DeMille’s look at the circus world that had been partially filmed in Sarasota. It would go on to win the Academy Award for best picture.

In a crazy, mixed-up world, Keith Partridge and Marcia Brady fall star-crossed in love, and a plague of carnage befalls their television houses. Despite the accumulation of body sacks, the farce remains a laugher with a mix of surprisingly listenable music.

Innocence, a twenty-first century masterpiece, has its Metropolitan Opera debut on April 6.  Many of the artists attached to the world premiere in Aix five years ago come with this production,   first and foremost, the composer Kaija Saariaho.  

This summer marks the debut of The Mount’s refreshed visual identity, honoring Edith Wharton’s legacy while embracing the organization’s evolution into a vibrant, multidisciplinary cultural center.

: The French have a fascination with Charles Bukowski, he seems to confirm their deep-seated need to equate creativity and self-destruction.

For more than two decades, hundreds of writers, painters, composers, dancers and others have come to the Hermitage Artist Retreat on Florida's Manasota Key for inspiration to create new work. They stay in historic, waterfront cottages as they develop new exhibits, prepare for premieres of plays and symphonies, share ideas with other creatives on the campus or take time to recharge by walking on the beach and watching sunsets.