Thomas Hart Benton—painter, muralist, and writer from Missouri—often stopped at College of the Ozarks, in the mountains of southern Missouri, to visit his long-time friend, art teacher Steve Miller.

The Sheldon Museum holds a broad representation of the history of American art. Its comprehensive collection includes more than 12,000 objects.

Pleasant weather with ocean breezes, a rich wetland with coastal birds, a vibrant harbor with cafes and restaurants, a haunting coastline by the desert, and tribes that still cling to ancestral ways make this region of Namibia an attractive destination to visit.

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in thirteen extraordinarily wide-ranging programs in the 2015-16 BSO season.

A World Heritage Site, Namib Sand Sea has unique natural wonders such as the Sossusvlei clay pan, which fills with water every 5-6 years; towering red-orange dunes, whose colors and patterns shift with the wind and light; and the Sesriem Canyon, a deep gorge, which harbors birds and desert animals. A hot-air balloon ride over the natural spectacles is a once in a life-time experience with indelible images.

Situated in the south-western Atlantic sea-board of the African subcontinent, Namibia has natural assets ranging from a haunting coastline to desert dunes of red-orange sand and national parks teeming with wildlife. Windhoek is the capital to a young nation of thirteen cultural groups and colonial descendants, all of whom contribute to a vibrant city.

The Berkshire Theatre group announces shows at the Unicorn in Stockbridge and the Colonial in Pittsfield. There are world premieres included.

The sculptor Len Poliandro and his wife Ling have relocated from Williamstown in the Berkshires to Tuscon, Arizona. .During a visit last fall we spoke with Poliandro about the progress of his experiments to pour glass over metal, In the beginning the success rate was just one in ten. Now it is relatively rare that the glass breaks. In the beginning, some years ago, experts told him that it couldn't be done. With commitment and adventurous risk taken he has proven them wrong. Previously he has shown his work at the Eclipse Mill Gallery in North Adams.

With a distinct French flavor, spiced by influences from New Wave films to student revolutionaries, Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) announces its productions for the 2015/2016 Season, the company’s 39th. The four operas – Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony, Jules Massenet’s Werther and Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow – comprise all-new BLO productions of both popular classics and works not seen often in Boston.

Award-winning directors Scott Edmiston and Summer L. Williams are also scheduled to be a part of the company’s 25th Anniversary Season.

The Solid Sound 2015 lineup features Tweedy (which features Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and his son Spencer), Mac DeMarco, Real Estate, Parquet Courts, Shabazz Palaces, Richard Thompson Trio, King Sunny Ade and His African Beats, Taj Mahal, Cibo Matto, Jessica Pratt, Luluc, William Tyler, Bill Frisell, The Autumn Defense, NRBQ, Stained Radiance (Nels Cline + Norton Wisdom), Glenn Kotche and Jeffrey Zeigler, and many others.

In March, WAM Theatre will be a beneficiary of Jayne Atkinson’s special event, Can You Hear Me Baby? Stories of Sex, Love and OMG Birth!, which is concluding this year’s Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Adapted from true stories that come from the hearts of mothers and fathers, this event brings together birth stories and original music to dramatize the joy, challenges, personal courage, and profundity of birth. Can You Hear Me Baby? takes the stage at the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, MA on March 27 at 7pm and March 28 at 2 and 7 pm. Proceeds will benefit the National Perinatal Association, Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, and WAM Theatre.

Shakespeare & Company presents its lineup for the 2015 summer season, which includes three Shakespeare plays, Henry V, The Comedy of Errors and Hamlet, plus the Regional Premiere of Red Velvet by Lolita Chakrabarti, and the World Premiere of Jane Anderson’s Mother of the Maid, starring Tina Packer. In addition, the summer season includes The Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza, and opens with the provocative new play by Sarah Treem, The How and the Why. The summer season was announced today by Rick Dildine, his first as Shakespeare & Company’s new Executive Director.

Dorset Theatre Festival Artistic Director, Dina Janis states that “When I went about looking for the right plays for us to present this summer, my one criteria was to find plays that were moving, that make people care. These plays all have that quality, and whether funny, sad, or thought-provoking, people will walk out of the Playhouse this summer inspired and moved by what they have seen.”

Berkshire Theatre Group announces 2015 Summer Season Musical, the 10th Annual Community Theatre Production, The Fitzpatrick Main Stage productions and a medley of lively acts scheduled to perform at The Colonial Theatre and The Unicorn Theatre. BTG will be announcing a second round of programming, including The Unicorn Theatre's Summer Season, in the next several weeks.

The stars return to Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer for the first season of artistic director Mandy Greenfield. These include newcomers Kyra Sedgwick, Audra McDonald , Cynthia Nixon as well as the return of Jessica Hecht. The festival runs from June 30 – August 23, 2015.

The Ports of Los Angeles and Hamburg are two of the busiest and most important harbors around the world. One in the USA, the other one in Europe where I lived nearby for the first 20 years of my life. The word and photo essay allows for a glimpse at both ports. One series of photographs were taken in a matter of minutes, the other one during a visit of Hamburg Harbor in 2011 along memory lane.

On a miserable January day the media gathered for lunch on stage at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. Artistic director Julianne Boyd announced programming for the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage. There are still slots to fill on the Mark St. Germain second stage. Once that is complete Boyd will move on to schedule the cabaret largely based on who is available for the 99 seat basement venue. The company will again collaborate with the Berkshire Museum to present a youth oriented production.

In its new, enlarged, and enhanced space, The Cooper-Hewitt Museum has increased its ability to present provocative and compelling perspectives on design. At its best, this museum pays homage to design as if it was great art: visitors are infused with delight and a sense of wonder by what design was, is, and what it means in our lives.

“Festival 2015 delivers a remarkable range of dance from ballet to tap, music from classical to jazz, brand new works commissioned by the Pillow, and the most astonishing performers in the world,” comments Ella Baff, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow. “We start the season with Ira Glass’s Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host and the re-opening of the Jacob’s Pillow Archives as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of public access and a major expansion of its home, Blake’s Barn. We end with a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company, a world premiere by Mats Ek, and the up and coming company MADboots Dance. Quite a range indeed.”

James Turrell is best known for developing Roden Crater in Arizona as an epic scaled celestial observatory and light work. The project is incomplete and not accessible to visitors. But it is the heart and soul of work that is world renowned. In 2013 there was a touring retrospective of his work. The approximate scale of that exhibition, some 32,000 square feet, will be used for a 25-year-long Turrell installation at Mass MoCA.

On November 17 Mass MoCA announces plans for the renovation and programming of 130,000 square feet of industrial space as the final phase of development for its North Adams campus. Planned to open in 2016 the museum must match a state grant for $25.4 million. Works from the estates of Robert Rauchenberg and Louise Bourgeoise will be on view in addition to installations by Laurie Anderson, Jenny Holzer, James Turrell and Gunnar Schoenbeck.

Here is the run down on the 2015 Tanglewood Season. Clip and save.

On the foothills of the mountains, Zacatecas is a museum city carved out of pink stone; it is also a city of museums. It is a joy to walk the streets and to visit the museums of this fabled silver city in northern Mexico.

The capital of Jalisco, Guadalajara is a vibrant cosmopolitan city. Designated as "best place to live" by a national survey, it is home to thirteen universities, an abundance of historical treasures, lovely plazas, beautiful fountains, and compelling murals.