Arts and Entertainment

At the end of January, Japanese taiko legends KODŌ stopped by the Meany Center for the Performing Arts as part of their One Earth Tour. Writer Nandini Daga praises the group for their spellbinding performance that is nearly “identical to a performance that would take place in Japan.”

The “Art as Activism” exhibit, now showing at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, highlights four local Iranian artists and their responses to the crisis enveloping their home country. Writer Theron Hassi walks through the exhibit featuring a haunting set of mixed media works, combining discolored images of protest, graffiti, and other symbols.

“Freedom’s Path” is an ambitious Civil War film with genuinely impressive production quality, but quite a few narrative missteps. The film, which took over 10 years to make, is writer, director, and UW alum Brett Smith’s first feature film. Read contributing writer Justin Shen's full film review. 

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With an Art Building renovation, the Jacob Lawrence Gallery will better reflect its namesake, whose paintings about the Black experience have inspired generations.

The new exhibition at the Henry Art Gallery, “Thick as Mud,” brings together artworks created by eight artists from around the world and invites viewers to ponder these associations.

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Pianist Behzod Abduraimov performs at the Meany. Abduraimov is a world is a renowned pianist who has traveled all around the globe, stunning audiences with his technical skill, passion, and nuance. Read writer Zinnia Hansen's review on the Jan. 24 solo piano performance. 

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Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more.

At "UW Dance Presents" Jan. 20-22, two of the pieces are new works grounded in deep investigations of the history and spirit of jazz music.

Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more.

Nathan Jones (2015) tells stories through animation. Both of his UW degrees — creative writing and art — are reflected in is his work. 

Opportunities on campus and in the community that are free or discounted for UW students. 

"Americans spend more than half a billion dollars annually on 150 million units of imported Christmas lights. U.S. News & World Report ranks the best Christmas light displays. And ABC’s reality TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” recently premiered its 10th season. Christmas lights, in short, are not only ubiquitous but also central to American culture. But that has not always been the case. The man credited with popularizing Christmas lights in the early 20th century, Albert Sadacca, had never celebrated Christmas. In fact, he was a Jew from the Muslim world," writes Devin Naar, associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the UW.