American Academy of Arts and Letters expands, diversifies
(AP Photo)NEW YORK – One of the country's oldest cultural instititutions, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, is undergoing some of its biggest changes in more than a century. AdHarjo, the first Native American to be appointed U.S. poet laureate, said she looked forward to having an influence on future academy choices. “There are so many incredible Native visual artists,” she told the AP, while also citing such authors as N. Scott Momaday and Leslie Marmon Silko. But the academy will still call itself an academy, while working to make itself more accessible to artists and to the general public. Besides choosing members, the academy also gives dozens of prizes and grants each year, totalling more than $1 million.
Harry Connick Jr. honors workers during pandemic road trip
FILE - This May 28, 2019 file photo shows Singer Harry Connick Jr. with his daughter Georgia at a special screening of "Pavarotti" in New York. The special will air June 21 and will follow host Connick Jr. and his filmmaker-daughter Georgia on road trip celebrating and thanking essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. With the help of his daughter, Georgia Connick, who is a filmmaker, and a bunch of GoPro cameras, he embarked on a pandemic road trip to meet essential workers around the country who were risking their lives during the pandemic. I just want to reach out and meet some of these folks, sanitation workers or elementary school teachers or people that are working at food banks, said Harry Connick. It was highly emotional, said Harry Connick.