Arts & Culture

It’s not that the question catches Shauna Sweeney by surprise. But in the same way that the auburn-haired singer/songwriter has been patient about the doors that have opened in her career, she’s not about to rush an answer that perhaps says more about her as a person than as an artist. So, she pauses for

Drawing saved Niki Lopez. When she was 11, her mother joined the Brooklyn-based United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors cult, becoming one of the secluded wives of sexual predator-leader Dwight D. York. Niki went with the preteens; her 2-year-old sister was holed up with the toddlers; her brother, just 6 months old, would never know the

The way Area Stage Company founders John Rodaz and Maria Banda-Rodaz met could be a script for a theater love story—a play about a couple whose chance meeting was orchestrated by destiny. It’s 1989. A woman is riding on a tram down Lincoln Road. It’s her first day in the United States after moving from

One of the ongoing discussions in performing-arts circles, especially for those charged with filling venues, involves the potential of entertainment that’s still relevant today to continue capturing audiences in years to come. Andrea Bocelli, for example, most certainly will pack the new 6,500-seat Hard Rock Live on Nov. 7. However, will the genres that the

Like an epic novel, the visual stories of Rolando Chang Barrero traverse time and back again. They require heroes ready to confront the toughest of challenges across the generations. In his last year at Southwest Miami Senior High School, in 1990, he created graphic T-shirts to raise awareness about heroin addiction, urban wear that would

Craig Johnson might be new to Fort Lauderdale, but the executive director of ArtServe already is serving as a gracious host to the city’s cultural community. “ArtServe has had a remarkable history,” says Johnson, who joined the storied nonprofit this spring. “Now we’re building upon that legacy to reposition the organization as a creative laboratory.”

Multimedia artist Sibel Kocabasi is sitting in the living room of her Lake Worth home and studio; over a gracious setting of hors d’oeuvres, Turkish coffee and rosé, she shares her commitment to human rights. Born and raised in Turkey, she has a deeper understanding of the Syrian refugee crisis. Turkey has about 3.6 million

Though numbers only begin the tell the story of Kelley Shanley’s tenure at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, they’re also impossible to ignore. During his decadelong run as president and CEO (he’s celebrating 20 years overall), the Coral Springs resident has been involved in two major capital campaigns. A $60 million effort, completed in

South African-born Johann Zietsman remembers growing up around his mother’s singalongs, where friends and family—musical or not—would stand around a piano and sing together, sometimes for hours at a time. Zietsman found his own musical niche by high school, becoming a drummer in the school’s marching band. He later transitioned to the trumpet and French

When online pet supply retailer Chewy had its opening day on the stock market in June, CNBC host Jim Cramer held up paintings of his two dogs, Nvidia and Marley, on his investment/finance show, “Mad Money.” It just so happens those two paintings were the work of Coconut Creek artist Josh Lawson, whose custom pet

Gloria Hernando is steadfast in her belief that everybody has a bull inside them. But as the emerging Miami-based artist’s own journey suggests, it’s one thing to recognize the symbolism and another to take that spirit by the horns—and run with it. Before the 28-year-old debuted her first solo exhibition this spring at Paradise Plaza

Singer-songwriter Jake Miller says he’s making the best music of his life right now. It’s a simple declaration on the surface, but as the graduate of Cypress Bay High School in Weston later shares, it’s not one he takes for granted. Though 26, the son of Weston residents Bruce and Lee Miller is enjoying a