SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history. Several leaders, dignitaries and artists, including Prince Charles and Rihanna, attended the ceremony that began ...

Anna Biret is an artist with a gift for seeing the world as a deeply rich place of light, contrasts, colors, textures and shapes. With this kind of vision and attitude, ordinary moments can become extraordinary — if only for the fraction of a second it takes to make a photograph.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history. Several leaders and dignitaries, including Prince Charles, attended the ceremony that began late Monday in ...

Since Tbilisi Mural Fest began in 2019, the streets of Georgia’s capital have seen the towering, large-scale works of artists like Collin van der Sluijs (previously), Case Maclaim, and Faith XLVII (previously), whose celestial, intersecting circles are a highlight of this year’s event. The 2021 festival features nine pieces in total that range in aesthetic and subject matter, including a mythological, black-and-white stencil by MonkeyBird (previously), bold botanicals by Thiago Mazza (previously), and a striking trompe-l’œil papercut by 1010. More

SCI-Arc’s Master of Science in Fiction and Entertainment is a one-year, three-semester program during which students work with world-renowned professionals from the entertainment industry to develop expertise in worldbuilding, storytelling, film, animation, visual effects, and video games to build new forms of creative practice.
 Our perception of the world is unquestionably determined by the extraordinary shared languages of fiction and entertainment. Through these stories, we exchange ideas and engage with our environment. Fictional worlds have always been sites where we can prototype new scenarios and emerging cultures. More

WASHINGTON (AP) – “Gifts from the Heart” is the theme of President Joe Biden's first White House Christmas. First lady Jill Biden was scheduled on Monday to unveil decorations matching the theme, said to be inspired by people the couple met as they traveled the country this year. “The things ...

Previously having captured the Dolomites and New York City’s Central Park in a candy-colored glow, photographer Paolo Pettigiani now adds urban and rural France to his ongoing collection of infrared images. The magical series documents the rolling lavender fields of Provence in watermelon hues and Versailles’s landscaped terraces or the Gothic abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel in bright, saturated tones. Pettigiani shoots each location with a full-spectrum camera that unveils otherwise invisible wavelengths and enhances the trees, grasses, and stone surfaces that reflect infrared light with varying shades of pink. More

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The World Health Organization on Sunday urged countries around the world not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concerns over the new omicron variant. WHO's regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, called on countries to follow science and international health regulations in order ...

Brimming with emotion, Bowei Yang’s portraits create a space of healing in which the photographer and his subjects can explore their identities, liberating themselves from their conservative backgrounds.

MIAMI (AP) — Bob Dylan has been telling stories through songs for 60 years. But recently America’s master lyricist has also captured moments in a new series of paintings that, just like his songs, are intimate and a bit of a mystery. The most comprehensive exhibition of the Nobel laureate’s ...

Two people in the United Kingdom have tested positive with the omicron variant of the coronavirus, a new contagious strain that has spurred governments to shut down travel from southern Africa.  U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed on Saturday that two people in the towns of Chelmsford and Nottingham have ...

From her workshop in Shipley, West Yorkshire, artist Samantha Yates crafts long-stemmed botanicals in colorful stained glass. She draws on her background in horticulture to shape the curved metallic borders and gleaming petals and leaves. “I love the limits with the copper foil technique (no painting, no fusing), the challenge of trying to recreate 3D with 2D, (and) asking myself what are the essential qualities of that plant, that flower, that leaf? Is it color, shape, the stem outline?” she explains. More

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union nations on Friday agreed to impose a ban on travel from southern Africa to counter the spread of a new COVID-19 variant. The 27 nations acted within hours upon the advice of the EU executive which said all needed to be extra cautious in dealing ...

A decade into her weaving practice, Australian artist Tammy Kanat (previously) continues to explore the possibilities of fiber, texture, and knots. Her giant wall hangings rely on patches of tufted wool, concentric circles in linen, and fringed, silk motifs suspended in lopsided brass rings to evoke organic forms and naturally occurring patterns. Focusing on energy and movement, each abstract piece contrasts high piles and flatweaves comprised of thousands of knots that Kanat composes without a preconceived plan. More

Ruby Silvious’s quaint seaside scenes and bucolic landscapes nestle between the torn edges and wrinkled folds of a used teabag. The Coxsackie, New York-based artist (previously) paints miniature scenes of everyday life on the stained paper pouches, leaving the string and tags intact as a reminder of the repurposed material’s origin. Silvious sells prints of her watercolor pieces on her site, and you can follow her latest projects and news about upcoming exhibitions—she will be showing her upcycled works in France and Japan in 2022—on Instagram. More

BRUSSELS (AP) — A slew of nations moved to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday, and stocks plunged in Asia and Europe in reaction to news of a new, potentially more transmissible COVID-19 variant. “The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will ...

The World Health Organization will meet Friday to discuss what an alarming coronavirus variant with a “large number of mutations” could mean for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments as European countries started to ban flights from South Africa and surrounding nations. The variant known as B.1.1.529 was detected in small numbers ...

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday issued a memorandum to U.S. attorneys to prioritize prosecution of federal crimes on commercial aircraft that endanger the safety of passengers, flight crews and flight attendants. “Passengers who assault, intimidate or threaten violence against flight crews and flight attendants do more than harm those ...

During the winter months of late 2020 into early 2021, photographer Carla Rhodes cared for a birdfeeder that hung outside of her home in Woodstock, New York. The suspended food source garnered attention from myriad cold-weather adventurers, including a brilliant northern cardinal, numerous pairs of mourning doves, and furry little field mice, who visited the area amongst the snow and frigid temperatures. Thanks to a camera stationed nearby, Rhodes documented the curious cast of wildlife who wandered into her yard, an endeavor that culminated in the striking photographic project Beneath the Bird Feeder. More

Towering over cut-out voids are artist Peter Callesen’s sculptures of existing architectural ruins and stately edifices. Constructed with a single sheet of white paper, the miniature buildings appear to surface from their original flat piece into three-dimensional forms complete with crumbling facades and tipped columns. Each work juxtaposes the soft, fragile material with the sturdy subject matter and “is a reminder of what once was present and that even material like stone can change and break,” the artist says, explaining further: Almost as creation in reverse, the ruin as a motif for my works deals with the themes of rise and fall, through typical gothic architecture inspired by romantic painters. More

The White House on Wednesday said 92% of federal employees had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the Nov. 22 deadline set by President Biden as part of a bundle of mandates in September. An additional 4.5% of employees have a pending or approved exemption request, ...

Maryland will offer 1,000 Uber ride credits worth $10 each to residents for a sober ride home during the holiday season.  The rideshare credits will be available starting at 4 p.m. today through 11:59 p.m. Jan. 1. Each rider is limited to two $10 credits while supplies last.  “No one ...

 What does a full day of sun look like at the earth’s southernmost point? Robert Schwarz, who was stationed in the antarctic for 15 years as part of the experimental Keck project, filmed an illuminating timelapse while at the snowy location that shows the bright star floating above the horizon for an entire five-day period. Shot in March 2017, the footage captures the bright sky just before the first sunset in months, when the pole experiences a dark period from April to August. More

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration's vaccine mandate for millions of federal workers seems to be working, with no apparent disruption to law enforcement, intelligence-gathering or holiday travel. Of Tuesday, one day after the deadline for compliance, 92% of the 3.5 million federal workers covered by Biden’s mandate reported to ...

DALLAS (AP) — Determined to reclaim Thanksgiving traditions that were put on pause last year by the pandemic, millions of Americans will be loading up their cars or piling onto planes to gather again with friends and family. The number of air travelers this week is expected to approach or ...