PORTLAND – Plenty of people along the way have doubted George Smith and his vision and ambition to create the first-ever doctoral program in philosophy and art theory. But Smith, a Portland resident and a former dean at Maine College of Art, proved the doubters wrong earlier this month. That’s when the Board of Trustees […]

Family and friends honor Gov. Baldacci’s service, informally for now, as he prepares to leave office.

South African Damon Galgut’s new novel is on the short list for the Man Booker Prize.

With less than a week before Christmas, the holiday programs are winding down. But we’re not done quite yet. • At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Merrill Auditorium and the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ host “Christmas with Cornils,” featuring municipal organist Ray Cornils playing a holiday program on the Kotzschmar. He will be joined by the […]

In early 1941, Edward Weston was approached by the Limited Editions Club of New York and invited to make photographs to illustrate its deluxe edition of Walt Whitman’s epic poetry collection “Leaves of Grass.” Although he initially balked at the suggestion, the opportunity the project offered to travel cross-country and visit parts of the United […]

After 60 years of quiet exploration, I’ve discovered where good paintings go to die. I report sadly that they expire in the reception rooms and hallways of America’s law offices. Going to see a lawyer is often antipathetical to the tranquility needed to take in a good painting. Without a kindly emotional exchange, the paintings […]

After a successful run with a traditional publisher, Mainer Van Reid is back with a self-published book of short stories.

PHILLIP HOOSE Maine author Phillip Hoose will be signing copies of his book “Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice.” Hoose won a National Book Award for the work, which tells the true story of Colvin, an African-American woman from Alabama who was arrested in 1955, when she was 15, for refusing to give her bus seat […]