Dragons and Lotus Blossoms: Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art..

Fishermen trawling for fish accidentally discovered the shipwreck in the early 1990s, and in 2000, the Birmingham Museum of Art bought some of these treasures at a San Francisco public auction.

OK, so it’s not in a studio, but the weather was too nice to stay inside and a day trip to Bluff Park is almost like going to a different world and time, which makes it worth the excursion.

Frank Fleming learned to express himself the hard way, and some might say in another world, which shows up in his work today.

DeeDee Morrison is achieving her dream of being an artist the unconventional way. Instead of attending SCAD or Rhode Island School of Design, she signed up as the only female in a class of 19 in a welding class at Bessemer Tech.

Woody Allen has been quoted as saying that “Ninety percent of success is showing up” and Rowland Scherman is a living testament to those words. In 1961, photographer Scherman showed up when a volunteer group called the Peace Corps came into being under the John F. Kennedy administration.

Once upon a time two boys went to the old ball game. We had giant snow cones that were bubblegum flavor and were great.

At this point, I think it’s pretty clear that I think graffiti is art. We’ve featured Birmingham graffiti in our SEEN section and on our cover on more than one occasion, and in an artistic context. What wasn’t clear to me until recently, however, was that the status of graffiti as art was in question at all.

When I arrived at Bare Hands Gallery downtown on a recent Saturday to talk to artistic director Wendy Jarvis, I came bearing tape recorder, notebook and list of questions. In return, Jarvis and Rachel Staggs, an artist and volunteer, offered me a cup of strong tea, refreshing on a cold afternoon.

North and the surrounding blocks will turn once again into the bustling art show known as Artwalk, now in its ninth iteration. In recent years, Artwalk has blossomed into a premium event, featuring scrumptious vittles, live music, wandering street acts, work by over 100 artists to peruse and all at the cost of nothing.