Arts and Culture

Arts and culture

Stephen King Inspired 'It' Filmmakers to Become Storytellers

By • Sep 5, 2017

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- In 1989, when Stephen King had already published more than 20 books, three teenagers were discovering his horror novel "It," a 1,100-page epic about a group of adolescent outcasts and a shapeshifting villain who most often manifests as a child-eating clown.

'To E Or Not To E': USC And UCLA Quibble Over How To Spell Shakespear(e)

By • Aug 24, 2017

If Angelenos know one truth, it may well be this: There is absolutely no love lost between the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. In the classroom, on the football field, around campus — few places escape the pervasive sway of LA's great rivalry.

But this week, the battle has found a new theater: the proper spelling of Shakespear(e).

Elvis Fans in Maine Cling to Tickets 40 Years After Death

By • Aug 16, 2017

PORTLAND, Maine - Elvis died the night before he was supposed to kick off a tour in Portland, Maine.

Forty years later, fans like Anne Salamone are still hanging onto those tickets. She says she can't bear to give up the tickets or the memories.

Many other fans still have their tickets.

She tells WCSH-TV that her uncle bought her tickets when she was in the eighth grade. She was crushed to learn Elvis died on Aug. 16, 1977, in Memphis.

The Portland shows on Aug. 17 and 18 were supposed to kick off the first leg of his 1977 tour.

Don’t Know A ‘Barrel’ From A ‘Butt’ From A ‘Hogshead’? Allow This Maine Cooper To Explain

By • Aug 11, 2017
Nick Woodward / Maine Public

These days, a “Cooper” might refer to a brand of cheese or a compact car. But a hundred years ago, a cooper was commonly known as person who built wooden casks to store wine, whiskey or other consumables — and the craft is still alive.

To Write About Older Men, Maine Children’s Author Lois Lowry Says She Imagined She Was One

By • Aug 9, 2017
Tristan Loper / Flickr/Creative Commons

Lois Lowry has written more than 40 books for kids and young adults, won a bevy of awards for her work and had one of her books, “The Giver,” made into a 2014 film starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep.

Ex-'Prairie Home' Host Garrison Keillor Busy As He Nears 75

By Jeff Baenen - Associated Press • Aug 4, 2017
Jeff Baenen / Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Former "A Prairie Home Companion'' host Garrison Keillor is keeping busy in retirement.
 
Keillor turns 75 on Aug. 7. The next day he boards a bus for a 28-city tour that he vows will be his last.
 
The Minnesota humorist signed off as host of "Prairie Home'' at the Hollywood Bowl last July. He turned the show over to mandolinist Chris Thile, who starts his second season in October.
 
Keillor tells The Associated Press he misses being on the air, and hasn't listened to the show since leaving.
 

Youth Rock Orchestra Pairs Maine Musicians With Touring Bands

By Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler • Aug 3, 2017
Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler / Maine Public

There’s an old joke: “What do you call a viola player with a beeper? An optimist.” The idea is that classically trained musicians may have a harder time getting gigs than rock or folk artists. But there’s a project in Maine that’s designed to put young orchestra musicians on a live stage to give them a sense of what it’s like, and for some young players, it’s renewing their interest in music.

EB White’s Onetime Maine Home Is For Sale For $3.7 Million

By • Aug 2, 2017
Mark Fleming / Yankee Magazine

For just $3.7 million, you can now buy a historic 44 1/2-acre saltwater farm in North Brooklin, Maine, with a guesthouse, ponds and lovingly maintained gardens.

There has been something of a spider issue. But for potential buyers of this house, that’s a selling point.

Maine International Film Festival Getting New Exec Director

By • Jul 31, 2017

WATERVILLE, Maine - There's a change in leadership at the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville.
 
Mike Perreault is taking over the top post from Shannon Haines, who's served as festival director for 15 years.
 
Haines will remain involved with the festival in her role as president and chief executive officer of Waterville Creates!
 
The Maine International Film Festival has made a name for itself by drawing big names from Hollywood for the "Mid-Life Achievement Award.''
 

Falmouth Woman Who Released Album As 12-Year-Old Helps Kids Find Their Voice

By Jonathan Woodward • Jul 25, 2017
Issa Oppenheim-Pressman

When Chandra Oppenheim’s debut album, “Transportation,” came out in 1980, it was quickly embraced by the tastemakers of the day. She played gigs at CBGB in New York and sold out shows in Berkeley, California, and she was only 12 years old.

Lauren Hutton Thrilled to Get 'Mid-Life Achievement Award'

By • Jul 21, 2017

WATERVILLE, Maine - Lauren Hutton has been honored with a Maine film festival's "Mid-Life Achievement Award.''
 
The 73-year-old model and actress tells the Morning Sentinel that she was thrilled to receive the award, which means she has a lot to look forward to and accomplish.
 
The organizers of the Maine International Film Festival decided to honor her for her work in films like "Paper Lion'' and "A Wedding.''
 

Portland Art Gallery Names Philadelphia Artist as Director

By • Jul 13, 2017

PORTLAND, Maine - A contemporary art gallery in Portland, Maine, has hired an interdisciplinary artist from Philadelphia as its new executive director.
 
Thirty-one-year-old Kelsey Johnson is currently a curator in photography and new media at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The Portland Press Herald reports that she is also a recipient of a Pew Center grant for a survey of women artists in the 1970s, and she begins work at the SPACE Gallery in August.
 

Postage Stamps Commemorate Centennial of Artist Andrew Wyeth

By • Jul 13, 2017
Matt Slocum / Associated Press

CHADDS FORD, Pa. - The U.S. Postal Service is issuing stamps commemorating the centennial of artist Andrew Wyeth.
 
The Postal service says Wyeth "found endless inspiration'' in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and in rural Maine. It said Wednesday each one of the dozen Andrew Wyeth Forever stamps will feature a detail from one of his paintings, including perhaps his most famous painting, 1948's "Christina's World.''
 

Longtime Magazine Focusing on Aroostook County Publishes Last Issue

By • Jul 5, 2017
Paul Cyr / Paul Cyr Photography

Echoes, a quarterly magazine published in - and about - Aroostook County, has put out its last issue. 

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, back in 2013, Editor Kathy Olmstead, a retired journalism professor from the University of Maine, told Maine Public's Morning Edition host Irwin Gratz that Echoes was the creation of two people "from away" with "compatible dreams."

For disclosure, Kathy Olmstead serves on Maine Public's board of trustees.

Adult Horn Players Hone Their Skills at Grown-Up Summer Camp

By • Jun 28, 2017
Patty Wight / Maine Public

Summertime is camp time, and it’s not just for kids anymore. Adults are signing up for camps that focus on everything from wine tasting to bird watching and playing the horn — what’s often called the French horn.

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