In some of the most exciting and insightful productions and performances of the year there was a notable cross pollination and invention as vernacular street cultures and indigenous art forms conflated into high art. Classic works were not just revived but reinvented from the insight out. The best works of 2016 raised the bar through risk taking and challenging audiences. These rare experiences tend to make the majority of what we experience ordinary and enervating. In an era signified by ubiquitous standing ovations what is truly worthy of special recognition?

“Troublemakers” documents Virginia Dwan’s unflinching belief in projects unimaginable to most – in sheer vastness of scale and sometimes limitlessness of time to realize. Her generous patronage made some of the most profound Land Art projects realities, like Heizer’s “Double Negative,” Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” and more recently in 1996, Ross’s solar spectrum environment for the Dwan Light Sanctuary in Montezuma, New Mexico, to name but a few. Her philanthropy continues to this day with her 2013 bequest of her collection and archive to the National Gallery of Art, of which “From Los Angeles to New York: The Dwan Gallery 1959-1971” is being curated by James Meyer to open in the newly renovated East Building in 2016.

“Phil and Grace Kelly had a special relationship that evolved from mentor to collaborator to friend,” said Jill Goodwin, Woods’ wife and business manager of 40 years. “From the moment they stepped on stage in Pittsfield, and especially after he passed the torch by putting his cap on her head, their relationship grew. Phil was proud to be a part of ‘Man With The Hat,’ and they appeared together at major festivals around the world. Phil and Grace were in touch frequently, up to the day he died. Joining Phil’s group again will be a very special moment for all of us.”

For decades, no centuries, public art in Boston was a bronze statue of mostly historical men sometimes on horses. Unlike most contemporary cities, there were few and mostly small examples of public art sprinkled throughout the city and the region. The long time Mayor Menino regime was frightened of public art. Conservative institutions and universities seemed to ignore what was happening outside the region as well. Public art was something other cities invested in, but not Boston. However, the year 2015 began to demonstrate that there was a new flowering of public art. And about time, too!

The new Pop Art Design exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art pairs 150 art works and design objects in an exhibit that sparkles with wit and irreverence. And it reminds you of how Andy Warhol's "Campbell soup can art" was first received with ridicule...by non-connoisseurs. That was just about the time that the elite collectors woke up and began buying Warhols.

Vigne Surrau is a relatively new producer that focuses on Sardinia's age old grapes to craft wine that is memorable of centuries before. Using state of the art technology, this small vineyard is gaining worldwide popularity.

In 2013 we interviewed abstract artist Ellsworth Kelly during an exhibition of his relief series in wood at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. A graduate of the Museum School he maintained close times with the city and its museum. He passed away yesterday at his home in Spencertown, New York.

Inspired immigrants, excited by their new land and still carrying a touch of the old with them, created works for the Second Avenue Theatre early in the 20th century. The joy of the forms they created lives on today, in the original works and the work they inspired in the Broadway musical theatre.

This is Paul Goldberger's eighth book, but his first on an individual architect. I had a chance to review his book and interview him recently. Goldberger spent 4.5 years and many hours in conversation with Gehry and his clients and colleagues in writing the book, published last month by Alfred A. Knopf.

Britain's Jane Baker was among the artists living near South Station back in the day. She was an incredible fashion designer. Jane created a complete set of outfits to go on a cruise with the legendary Oona Tropicana who was rumored to be mobbed up. During a recent holiday chin wag she revealed that she served lobster thermidor to her extended family for Christmas. That made me bonkers with envy.

Dynamite Divas features appearances (via Mr. Maurice's "Assimilator") by soul singers of the past such as Nina Simone (performing "Mississippi Goddam" and "Young, Gifted and Black"), Dinah Washington ("This Bitter Earth"), and film excerpts of sensational older divas. There's even a cameo by a Beyonce impersonator, asking "Why Not Me?"

Paddy's Bistro (645 Main Street) in Dalton, Massachusetts, adjacent to Pittsfield, doesn't even have a website. To get news and weekend specials, the only way to find them is to visit their Facebook page or call them at 413-684-1111.The lack of marketing is a real ploy for the consumer that looks for fine dining.

CUE Art Foundation presents a solo exhibition of new work by Athena LaTocha, which has been curated by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. The show features a large-scale immersive installation of an ink-wash drawing by LaTocha that spans the entire length of the gallery. While the work depicts a landscape, its more abstract elements leave the viewer to decipher what they see.

The musical Bridges of Madison Country premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. It moved to Broadway for a successful run. Now it is being produced by regional companies. Jack Lyons reviews a production at The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Joe Rosen celebrated the season with a holiday concert that took us around the world of music, in time, and place and style. Aram Katchaturian’s Trio was a highlight of the concert. The virtuosity of each instrumentalists was on display. The moods of the movements drastically changed, marking gypsy tones and mournful joy.

For a small play, on a small stage, in a relatively small theatre of 335 seats, with a ticket price one third that of Broadway, and 20 actors singing and dancing their hearts out, all backed by a 14 piece orchestra, a rarity both On and Off Broadway, Once Upon A Matress, is the best bang for your buck in the city.

Our Boston correspondent Mark Favermann grew up in the south and attended Washington and Lee. In his community Jews were definitely a minority. So his Christmas experience was quite different from that of friends and classmates.

“The Christians” revolve around a charismatic and highly successful Pastor Paul (an absolutely mesmerizing Andrew Garman) of a Christian congregation who suddenly announces during his Sunday homily that he has had a change of heart concerning the Bible’s representation of the place known as “Hell”. In fact, he claims there is no such place.

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will allow the museum to expand and strengthen its Native American Fellowship program.

Visual art is evolving in wonderful technical directions. Boston Cyberarts is continuing to foster this development. A Fall 2015 exhibition showcased a whole group of artists working not only visually but auditorially. Hearing and seeing was believing.

A hidden jewel in a wooded residential neighborhood of Amherst, MA, the Theodore Baird House By Frank Lloyd Wright is an early Usonian style residence built in 1939 for an Amherst College professor and his wife. It is a unique example of the flamboyant master architect's craft. It is an architectural icon by an architectual legend.

Israel, the Promised land of the Bible, is today a modern, thriving, bustling and vibrant country. In today’s Israel, cities, towns, villages, fertile farms, green forests, sophisticated industries and well-developed commercial enterprises have replaced barren hillsides, swamps and desert wilderness.

Music at The Colonial Theatre includes, legendary reggae band, The Wailers (part of the 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival); Grammy Award-winning pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, Richard Marx; Grammy Award-winning Walking In Memphis singer, Marc Cohn and “the godfather of British blues,” John Mayall.

Evgeny Kissin dares us to share his adventurous take on life, music and poetry. At Carnegie Hall in an evening of Jewish music and poetry, he was full of passion and mournful joy.

Hey kids get out your calendars. The 2016 season is beginning to shape up. OK James Taylor is returning to Tanglewood over the Fourth of July. But the season will be old by then. The fun starts at MASS MoCA on Saturday, June 11 with The National. That's almost as wicked cool as Wilco. Then Surf's Up on June 19. It's a day gig so no curfew when Brian Wilson presents his iconic Pet Sounds in its entirety. Multivalent trumpet ace Chris Botti slips into Ozawa Hall, where we have seen him before, on June 24. By front loading the season in such a manner July will seem like so over man.