Arts & Culture

"The likenesses of Washington and several others are completely off. It's one of the obvious ways fact and fiction kind of coexist here."

Darius Van Arman, like so many others, wound up in Charlottesville to attend the University of Virginia. He initially studied math but said he wasn’t fully invested in academics.

Jazz began in America, and today this country hosts dozens of festivals that celebrate the music – New Orleans, Newport, Monterey. But Virginia is home to many jazz fans and performers who will converge next month on Charlottesville.

In his 20 years as host of Weekend Edition Saturday, Scott Simon has occasionally treated to listeners to stories about his pets and other animal encounters. Simon’s newest book is a collection of some of those stories and many others.

A Carroll County musician is making waves among fans of a music genre known as dungeon synth.

“Blacker Than a Hundred Midnights Down in a Cypress Swamp” centers on the 1970s work of painter Mary Lovelace O’Neal.

Music can soothe and calm our nerves, and playing music can also have a powerful emotional impact. Music therapists are trained to use music in therapeutic settings. Last year, Virginia began a new program to license this profession.

For this milestone, the Sounds of the Mountains Festival at Camp Bethel has brought in six performers, the most it's ever had.

A new compilation of Roanoke-based musicians was released last week. It's titled, "Neighbors: A Compilation to Benefit Roanoke Refugee Partnership."

The Taubman Museum of Art is celebrating 75 years with more than 200 newly acquired works, architecture tours, and launching an oral history project.