Gordy Grundy

Artist and Columnist

Mortensen appeared truly grateful for the award. He even confessed to being a little nervous. The award and Dennis Hopper meant a lot to him.

Kisa Lala

Writer & Curator

We may not be biologically inclined to sustain happiness, but we are driven by the continuous desire to attain it. With this endeavor in mind, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister has been making the Happy film, a project on happiness.

Alison Winfield Burns

Author, 'Infatuation'

Neglect and inaction slew our loved ones. Mowed them down like lawn. But if Freddie Mercury is in his grave, so is Mayor Koch. May God rest their souls. Don't we wish them all back again, oh so ardently and with so many tears, don't we wish?

Charles A. Birnbaum

President, The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Nationally, in the wake of urban growth and renewal, there is considerable debate about whether public parks and open space should be given away or sold to for-profit enterprises. Are they valuable civic resources or just places to put stuff?

Catherine Schreiber

Producer, writer, actress

Of all the shows I've worked on, The Scottsboro Boys Musical is the one I'm most passionate about because of its historical significance, its artistic brilliance, its ability to change lives, to make an impact, and to keep the conversation going.

A.J. Walkley

Author, 'Queer Greer' and 'Choice'

I recently had the pleasure to sit down with filmmaker Becca Roth as she heads to Kickstarter to make her LGBT-related documentary, One: A Story of Love and Equality, a reality.

Mark O'Connell, L.C.S.W.

Psychotherapist in private practice

What if Cinderella attended the wrong ball? What if Cinderella were a 4-year-old boy named Jake whose parents desperately want him to get into an elite private school? These are among the questions raised by the new play A Kid Like Jake.

George Heymont

San Francisco-based arts critic

Whether your name is Odysseus or Belle Poitrine, random encounters with multiple lovers or an errant cyclops can become major distractions. The important part of embracing change is to take that first big step toward finding a new you.

Alexandra Roxo

Filmmaker, Knockout Pictures

As two queer female filmmakers, we were interested in doing a series of interviews with queer women in the TV world. Over the next month we will be chatting with amazing women who have penned and directed your favorite shows. We decided to start with writer/director Jamie Babbit.

Barbara Ernst Prey

Artist; Member of the National Council on the Arts

Another artist might not be able to pull it off but Sargent makes it work. His oils, too, have this quality - a dash here, a couple of brushstrokes there, something only a master can execute. It is like jazz - you have to have the basics before you can improvise.

Peter Clothier

Author and Blogger, The Buddha Diaries

Much of it is desiccated by now, so it becomes a glorious and absurdly democratic mess, a homage to the creative spirit in each one of us, and to the wildly diverse human imagination, as well as a reflection on the old belief in the durability of art versus the impermanence of life.

Antonia Opiah

Entrepreneur & Founder of un-ruly.com

You Can Touch My Hair was a way of telling those who have stolen a touch how it makes me feel -- like an object put on display. But I also wanted to use it as an opportunity to further understand why someone might think that act or solicitation is okay and why black hair is such a novelty.

Erica Firpo

Freelance journalist. Contributes to Forbes travel, BBC Travel, Cathay Pacific Discovery.

Venice. Floating city, contemporary art contradiction. The Venice Biennale is a six-month celebration of contemporary art, and in part a celebration of the ancient archipelago that refuses to be defined.

VisualNews.com

A place where you can find daily visual inspiration from around the world.

When it comes to contemporary art, the Palace of Versailles isn't exactly the first place that springs to mind. Now Italian artist Giuseppe Penone is bringing a new flavor to the magnificent place.

Linda Stratmann

Author

"The tower of ivory is assailed by the foul thing" wrote Oscar Wilde of his encounters with the Marquess of Queensberry, although later, in Reading Gaol, he feared that history would consign him to "the lowest mire," while judging Queensberry as "the hero of the hour."

Eboo Patel

Named by US News And World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders

Like all important works of art, Greer's play leads with story, aspires to beauty, and avoids didactic lessons. This is a work about history and faith, about how maddeningly long it takes for religious traditions to change, and about how inspiring it is that they do so at all.

E. Nina Rothe

Global Culture Explorer

Plot for Peaceis a new eye-opening, thought-provoking documentary co-directed by Mandy Jacobson and Carlos Agulló, which recently premiered at the Sheffield Doc/Fest.