Declan Ryan

Toni Morrison was a giant of American literature, with career highlights that include the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Medal of Freedom. Aside from her luminary literary output, Morrison was also a lifelong scholar and educator who held professorships at a number of institutions including Harvard, Rutgers, and Bard. These two threads […]

For years, the creators of superhero stories used animals as a shorthand to convey a hero’s greatness — a name can signal the agility of a spider, the ferocity of a wolverine, or the secretive nature of a bat. For kids raised in a world where superhero stories have taken over film and television, the […]

The casual fan may remember Jim Breuer from his role opposite a young Dave Chappelle in the 1998 stoner comedy “Half Baked,” or from his SNL days alongside Will Ferrell and David Spade. He’s been busy since — his most recent record, “Live in Portland,” hit No. 1 on the iTunes comedy chart early last […]

From ancient myths passed down around the campfire to the modern CGI versions on premium cable, people love stories about dragons. Through some pretty impressive technological innovation, The Strong Museum is hosting seven full-sized animatronic dragons this winter and spring in its rotating exhibition space. The Lost World of Dragons explores a number of notable […]

MAGsocial’s Cocktails with Creatives series offers a chance for members of the community to meet up in an informal setting and hear from up-and-coming Rochester artists. This installment features a variety of talented visual artists from across different media. This iteration’s artists are Christy Roushey (House of Roushey), who adorns her canvases and products with […]

Pittsburgh-based standup Krish Mohan seems like a pretty mild-mannered guy — he even named his tour “Politely Angry.” That doesn’t stop his political material from sparking strong reactions. On his last album, he relates, “A man in Paducah, Kentucky threatened to decapitate me with his bare hands. The dedication!” Mohan’s set touches on pop culture […]

When a full moon coincides with a night when the moon and earth are extra-close to each other, the resulting phenomenon is called a “perigee syzygy.” That’s a mouthful, so most people just call it a Supermoon. Rochester’s A-List Adventures is leading a trek through Ellison Park to view this astrological spectacle away from the […]

Opening this week at George Eastman Museum, Alejandro Cartagena’s new exhibition is a meditation on found images. The artist, who is based in Monterey, Mexico, has salvaged thousands of discarded images from landfills near Mexico City. These photos have been subjected to reconfiguration using a blade, yielding haunting frames where central subjects are transposed or […]

Fela Kuti was a defining figure in 20th century music, and the best-known pioneer of the Afrobeat genre. He used his visibility as an artist to advocate socialism, Pan-Africanism, and to fight against government corruption in Nigeria. A tireless activist, Fela Kuti was arrested more than 200 times during his career. Academy Award-winning director Alex […]

Whether it’s signage or seating, design is all around us and shapes the way we experience life. Good design can be invisible until you stop to appreciate it. The SUNY Design Invitational opens this week at The College at Brockport, presenting new work from SUNY faculty members statewide, who are both actively creating good design […]

One of the defining talents of today’s youth is a fluency with the short film genre — check out TikTok if you don’t believe me. The 9th annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival challenges young people to fit a classic Newbery-winning children’s story into a minute and a half, and the results are outrageously creative. This […]