Monday, December 31, 2012

Jane Austen's Emma airs on Masterpiece New Year's Day


Happy New Year! Rhode Island PBS proudly encores Jane Austen's beloved story, Emma on Masterpiece Classic on New Year's Day. The two-hour Part 1 starts at 1 p.m., with the hour-long Parts 2 and 3 starting at 3 and 4 p.m., respectively. From the Masterpiece Web site:
Emma Woodhouse (Romola Garai, Atonement) was born with the sun shining down on her. The radiant, privileged girl grows into a remarkable talent for matchmaking, as observed by her loving but disapproving father (Michael Gambon, Cranford) and childhood friend Mr. Knightley (Jonny Lee Miller, Endgame). 
When the decidedly less privileged Harriet Smith arrives, Emma meddles with fate to find her a match, until her flawless intuition is called into question.
Dissuaded from more matrimonial predictions, Emma nonetheless continues to cheerfully contemplate superior men — and meets one of her own in the handsome, gleaming Frank Churchill. But after being so busy managing everyone else's heart, does Emma know her own? 
A fiercely funny new version of the Jane Austen novel, Emma was adapted by Sandy Welch (Jane Eyre).
For a complete synopsis (including plot spoilers!) click here.

Friday, December 28, 2012

2012 in Review and 2013 Predictions on A Lively Experiment on 12/28 (12/30 at noon)


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Donna Perry – GoLocalProv.com columnist
Maureen Moakley – Political Science professor, University of RI
Dave Layman – Corporate communications consultant
Jim Hummel – Hummel Report investigative reporter

Topics

  • 2012 in Review 
    • top local and national stories 
    • best and worst political moments 
    • biggest winners and losers, and 
    • the “Only in Rhode Island” moments 
  • 2013 Predictions
    • the panel’s predictions for the people and issues that will be making headlines in 2013

A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1).

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on Cox 808; Verizon 478; Full Channel 109; and Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

On Facebook? So are we! "Like" A Lively Experiment on Facebook!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Preview of 2013 General Assembly Session on A Lively Experiment


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Senator Dawson Tucker Hodgson – Senate Deputy Minority Leader
Senator James Sheehan – Senate Deputy Majority Leader
Representative Joseph Trillo – House Minority Whip
John Marion – executive director, Common Cause RI

Topics
A preview of this year’s General Assembly session including:

  • the 2014 state budget
  • a same-sex marriage proposal
  • gun control
  • and the merged state education board
  • Also, the role of the legislative Oversight Committees

A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1).

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on Cox 808; Verizon 478; Full Channel 109; and Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

On Facebook? So are we! "Like" A Lively Experiment on Facebook!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Artist Project "NetWorks 2012" Premieres in January

Five years ago, a unique Rhode Island arts project launched through collaboration between Joseph Chazan, M.D. and Umberto Crenca, Artistic Director of AS220. "NetWorks" was created to document, celebrate, and foster the richly creative and diverse Rhode Island artistic community. Each year since its launch in 2008, the project has created an archive of video and photographic profiles that are enriched by museum and gallery exhibits, catalogues, and panel discussions.

This January, NetWorks 2012 debuts twelve new video portraits of exceptional Rhode Island artists. Each portrait in the NetWorks project introduces the viewer to an artist’s work, process, and sources of inspiration, in fewer than ten minutes.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS is pleased to present the two-part NetWorks 2012 as part of its ongoing series, Rhode Island Stories. Part one of NetWorks 2012 airs on Saturday, January 5 at 7 p.m. The one-hour program profiles* Kate Blacklock, Brian Chippendale, Wendy Edwards, Richard Fishman, Lucas Foglia, and Corey Grayhorse.

Part two of NetWorks 2012 airs on Saturday, January 12 at 7 p.m., and profiles* Bunny Harvey, Tayo Heuser, Eugene Lee, Meg Little, Jane Masters, and John Udvardy.

Networks 2012 is produced by Richard Goulis. Executive producer for the NetWorks project is Joseph A. Chazan, M.D.


*The 2012 Artists
Kate Blacklock is an artist who has worked in various mediums including sculptural ceramics, photography and painting. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and her MFA in Ceramics from RISD. Her interest in the arts, specifically ceramics, began when she was a young girl when she witnessed her mother’s work with the Natural History Museum in New York City. Kate has used her work to portray themes and messages that hold personal importance to her. For example, some of her works have explored feminist notions of sexual objectification and containment. Currently, Kate is teaching in the Industrial Design Department at RISD; a position she has held since 2002.

Brian Chippendale is a musician/artist who has been based in Providence, Rhode Island since 1991. Brian studied printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design and his work in printmaking includes making posters for bands and shows. As a musician, Brian is well known as the drummer/vocalist for the band Lightning Bolt with fellow RISD graduate Brian Gibson. He was a founding member of Fort Thunder, an abandoned, pre-Civil War textile factory known as a workspace for local, avant-garde artists. In addition, Brian engages in a wide variety of the arts including playing in a solo project called Black Pus, drawing comics, sculpture, painting, printmaking and collage. In his own words, Brian has “always been fascinated by paper and what you can create with paper” and he has always tried to tell a story with his art.

Wendy Edwards is a painter whose work has been exhibited throughout the United States, particularly in New York and Boston. More recently, her work was exhibited in Paris, France, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and was included in the "Couples Discourse" exhibition at the Palmer Museum, Pennsylvania State University. Wendy received her BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and her MA from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, both in painting. According to Wendy, the core of her work (what excites her most) is color and patterning. She initially found her creative spark while visiting her grandmother in New York City; the lively and vibrant atmosphere served as a radical change from her experience growing up on a farm in Virginia. Currently, she is the Chair and a professor of Visual Art at Brown University where she teaches primarily painting courses.

Richard Fishman is a Professor of Art as well as the Director of the Creative Arts Council at Brown University. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and his MFA from Tulane University. According to him, his work is primarily informed by two things: 1) an investigation of the connection of living things in the natural world and 2) exploring the fundamental questions surrounding human existence. In the past few years he has focused on a combination between old world techniques using stone and glass as well as new technologies involving computer aided imaging and 3-dimensional rapid prototyping. He has also spearheaded innovative research into creativity and the mind through his teaching, including projects such as the Creative Mind Initiative, the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, and the course Hybrid Art.

Lucas Foglia was raised on a small family farm in New York and is currently based in San Francisco, CA. A graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Art, Lucas exhibits and publishes his photographs internationally. His artistic career began when he was a high school student and his mother gave him his first camera. Over the years, Lucas has come to use photography as a means of exploring the diversity within various communities. In addition, he enjoys capturing the relationships between the inhabitants of said communities. According to him, what he loves most about his work is having the opportunity to discover new places and people through the artistic medium of photography. His photographs have been published in Aperture Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and British Journal of Photography among others.

In the world of Corey Grayhorse, Japanese Street Culture collides with Haute Couture, and Hello Kitty courts Marie Antoinette. She takes these icons from their original context and transforms them into something new, contrasting the traditional with the contemporary. Ultimately, her goal is to transform fantasy into reality. Corey’s artistic endeavors are rooted in her grandmother who, as she describes, was “a fabulous person whose life was full of peace, love and color.” From there, Corey became involved in her high school’s photography program, which is where she really got acquainted with photography and the process of taking photographs. She also went on to study at Santa Monica College before making the move to Los Angeles. Experienced in a variety of fine art endeavors, including digital photography, art education, and gallery coordination, Corey Grayhorse possesses a unique eye for composition, lighting, set design, and photo manipulation.

Bunny Harvey spent the majority of her childhood in New York City, and it was this experience which initially sparked her interest in layers and the clash of different sensory elements. For the most part, her work explores the hidden, unseen elements of landscape. In her own words, she uses all of her senses to, “allow [her]self the luxury of getting lost in seeing, in thought and in the exploration of paint itself.” Her paintings are at once depictions of particular places and distillations of elements that cannot be seen, but which are essential to the experience of being there. Through her work, Bunny hopes that the paintings will stand on their own as reminders that it is a wonderful thing to "get lost" in a pond, a wooded place, a field, or in a work of art, and come away renewed, energized, thoughtful, confused, enlightened, angry or amused.

Tayo Heuser was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in various parts of Africa/Europe. She returned to the United States to study painting at the Rhode Island School of Design – where she received her BFA - and continued her education to obtain a Masters degree from Vermont College. She now lives and works in Providence, RI. Tayo began her career as a figurative artist, but eventually became much more intrigued by and focused on abstract art. What she likes most about abstraction is that it is without any sort of narrative and, therefore, viewers are able to prescribe their own meaning to each piece. Heuser's most recent sculpture and drawings were featured in her solo exhibition at Cade Tompkins Projects in 2011 in Providence. In 2009-2010 her sculptural drawings were featured at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. for a yearlong solo exhibition.

Eugene Lee has been the resident designer at Trinity Repertory Theatre Company in Providence, Rhode Island since 1967. In addition to his work at Trinity Rep, he is an adjunct professor at Brown University. He earned BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Yale Drama School and three honorary Ph.Ds. Mr. Lee has won Tony Awards for his work on various stage shows such as Bernstein's Candide, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and Wicked. He has also received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design. Eugene is the production designer for NBC's Saturday Night Live and has done a great deal of work in theatre and film.

Meg Little discovered her love for art while attending a liberal arts college. According to her, she spent more of her time finishing art projects instead of doing the work for her classes. For over 15 years, Meg has used historical techniques and durable modern materials to create striking, abstract hooked rugs. Cultural artifacts from around the world and contemporary art by artists such as David Hockney and Jasper Johns have served as the primary inspiration for Little's designs. She says, "Living with functional art turns the everyday into a celebration." Meg utilizes a basic design vocabulary - stripe, spot, circle, cross, spiral - which mirrors the simplest hand gestures and has been used for decorative purposes since pre-historic times.

Jane Masters was born in England, but her parents operated a hotel in Barbados. So, throughout her childhood, she split her time between the lavish warmth of the Caribbean and the contrasting atmosphere in the boarding schools of Great Britain. Her childhood and, more specifically, her experience being surrounded by the vibrant colors in Barbados have had a substantial influence on her artistic work. Jane received a B.F.A. in ceramics from Kansas City Art Institute and her M.F.A. in Sculpture from San Jose State University. In her own words, "Drawing is the starting point for most of [her] practice.” Jane explores both traditional and experimental processes in drawing, such as silver point, charcoal, scratchboard, piercing, pricking and burning. Through these processes, she creates abstract compositions on a variety of substrates with a strong sense of dimension, movement and tactility.

John Udvardy is a sculptor who taught as a full-time professor at RISD for 35 years. His educational credits have also included teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Yale University, Brown University and he served Artist-in-Residence at Dartmouth College. John began his career in high school after he won a scholarship to study at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Essentially, John’s art explores the relationship between nature and man-made forms. Most of his pieces begin as a drawing and, afterwards, he sets out to find material and artifacts that he can relate to his original sketches. He has an extensive exhibition record, exhibiting widely throughout the United States in many group and one-person shows.


WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on digital 36.1; on RI cable, Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08; on MA cable, Comcast 819HD (check local Comcast listings for standard definition channels), Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on DirecTV 36, Dish Network 7776. WSBE Learn transmits on digital 36.2; on Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 109, Comcast 294 or 312.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Dust Bowl, a Film by Ken Burns, Premieres January 3

The Dust Bowl, a Film by Ken Burns, chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the "Great Plow-Up," followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s, nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Vivid interviews with twenty-six survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom seen movie footage, bring to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible human perseverance. It is also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us—a lesson we ignore at our peril.


The Dust Bowl, a Film by Ken Burns premieres on Rhode Island PBS on Thursday, January 3 at 8 p.m., and concludes the following week, January 10 at 8 p.m. For more information about The Dust Bowlvisit the PBS Web site

Click here to see a dramatic photo gallery of a collection of images from the era. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Downton Abbey, Season 3 Preview at the Park Theatre in Cranston

The long-awaited Season 3 of Downton Abbey on Masterpiece premieres Friday, January 18 at 9 p.m. on Rhode Island PBS. But fans of the international television sensation can get a sneak peek of the new season before the series makes its American television debut.

Rhode Island PBS and The Park Theatre in Cranston are partnering to present a free public screening of the first hour of the new season on Thursday, January 3, at The Park Theatre, Rhode Island Center for the Performing Arts, 848 Park Avenue in Cranston.

 David W. Piccerelli, president and CEO of Rhode Island PBS announced the pre-screening party is sold out, but that 350 tickets are available for the free public screening at 7:30 p.m. Tickets must be picked up at the Park Theatre box office in advance of the January 3 show. 

"We – as much as the fans – are eagerly awaiting the new season of Downton Abbey," said Piccerelli. "The response to the series has been amazing."

Downton Abbey, Season 3 is set in the early 1920s – around the same time The Park Theatre opened in Cranston in 1924. "The Park Theatre is a beautiful and most appropriate location to celebrate this new season of Downton Abbey," Piccerelli said.

"We are happy and honored to work with Rhode Island PBS to bring this Downton Abbey preview to the 'big screen,'" said Yusuf Gandhi, director of programming at The Park Theatre.

Guests are asked to bring non-perishable food items or canned goods on the night of the show, in a post-holiday food drive to benefit the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

"The holidays are a time of year when we remember the needs of our neighbors and respond generously," said Gandhi. "Unfortunately, hunger does not come and go with the holiday decorations - there are local families facing hunger and food insecurity all year long."

Collection boxes for food donations will be located in the Park Theatre lobby.

Written and created by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey won an impressive six Primetime Emmy® Awards and a Golden Globe® in its first season. Recent honors for Season 2 include 16 Primetime Emmy® nominations, multi-category nominations from the Critics’ Choice Awards and from the Television Critics Association. Viewers were no less passionate, with 17.1 million tuning in across the seven episodes, making Downton Abbey, Season 2 the most-watched Masterpiece series on record.

Downton Abbey, Season 3 is a Carnival/Masterpiece Co-production, in association with NBCUniversal. It is written and created by Julian Fellowes. Gareth Neame and Julian Fellowes are Executive Producers. The Producer is Liz Trubridge. The first two episodes are directed by Brian Percival, who won an Emmy® Award for his direction of season one. Other episodes are directed by Andy Goddard, Jeremy Webb, and David Evans.

About The Park Theatre 
The Park Theatre is a state of the art, multi-purpose performing arts center, with plush, comfortable seating for approximately 1,000 for concerts, comedy, theatrical performances, speakers, opera, dance recitals, children’s and family shows, movies, sports, presentations and remote entertainment through the theatre’s satellite-enabled HD projector, and other special events. The Park Theatre complex also includes the Stage Door Restaurant and Lounge, as well as a restaurant and banquet hall that can double as a conference and meeting center. Free parking is available for all events behind Cranston City Hall. 

About Rhode Island PBS 
WSBE Rhode Island PBS is operated by the Rhode Island PBS Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, established in 1987 as a public charity to raise funds and provide support services for Rhode Island’s public television station. WSBE-DT is a viewer-supported member of the PBS network of public broadcasting stations, and transmits on two channels: Rhode Island PBS (digital 36.1) and Learn (digital 36.2). Committed to lifelong learning for 45 years, WSBE Rhode Island PBS uses the power of noncommercial media to educate, engage, enrich, inspire, and entertain viewers of all ages in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and eastern Connecticut. For more information about the programs and education services at WSBE, visit www.ripbs.org.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Outside Influence on Pension Reform - A Lively Experiment (12/14 and 12/16)


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Jim Hummel – investigative reporter, The Hummel Report
Dave Layman – corporate communications consultant
Maureen Moakley – political science professor, URI
Wendy Schiller – political science professor, Brown University

Topics
  • Trimming the General Assembly sessions
  • Crafting a “fiscal cliff” compromise
  • The Central Falls mayoral election
  • Outside influence in the state’s pension reform battle 
A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1).

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on Cox 808; Verizon 478; Full Channel 109; and Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

On Facebook? So are we! "Like" A Lively Experiment on Facebook!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

World War II: Saving the Reality

Over the course of five decades, Kenneth W. Rendell amassed the largest and most comprehensive private collection of original World War II memorabilia in the world. Directed by Tim Gray and narrated by Dan Aykroyd, World War II: Saving the Reality opens the doors to this private museum in Natick, Massachusetts.

Rendell, a South Boston native who lives in Wellesley, opened the 10,000-square-foot museum in 2004 and has filled it with 7,000 military and historical artifacts of World War II he has collected. He provides a guided tour of the museum's 30 exhibits, which chronicle the end of World War I and the rise of Nazism to the start of World War II and the fight in Europe and the Pacific.

The period artifacts, both small and large, include propaganda posters, Hitler Youth uniforms, Winston Churchill's original siren suit, French Resistance clothing and radios, spy gadgets, General MacArthur’s license plate, a Japanese admiral's uniform, Field Marshall Montgomery's signature beret and even a Sherman tank. Some of the museum's more significant documents include General Patton’s copy of Mein Kampf and his personal map of Sicily, the original order to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and a revealing letter from Dwight Eisenhower to his wife.

Supplemented with archival photos and footage, the film also features interviews with more than 50 World War II veterans, civilians and Holocaust survivors who offer absorbing first-person accounts of these historical events and speak to the complexities, moral ambiguities and emotional toll of the war.

Rhode Island PBS airs World War II: Saving the Reality on Monday, January 7 at 10 p.m.

Friday, December 7, 2012

A Lively Experiment (12/7 at 8:30 p.m. and 12/9 at noon)


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Lisa Blais – Ocean State Tea Party in Action
Maureen Moakley – political science professor, URI
Scott MacKay – political analyst, R.I. Public Radio
Jim Hummel – investigative reporter, The Hummel Reporter

Topics
  • The state pension lawsuit
  • Candidates for state GOP and Democratic Party chairs
  • Refocusing the mission of the Economic Development Corporation
  • State tax incentives
  • Impact the federal Budget Control Act will have on Rhode Islanders 
A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1).

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on Cox 808; Verizon 478; Full Channel 109; and Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

On Facebook? So are we! "Like" A Lively Experiment on Facebook!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

I, Claudius Returns After 36 Years


The original landmark 1976 series I, Claudius returns to Rhode Island PBS, beginning 12/12/12 at 2 p.m.

The history of the Roman Empire as experienced by one of its rulers is the BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves's I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the BBC's most successful serial dramas of all time.

I, Claudius follows the history of Rome, narrated by the elderly Claudius, from the death of Marcellus, nephew and son-in-law of Augustus, in the first episode to Claudius' own death in the last. The series opens with Augustus, the emperor of Rome, attempting to find an heir, and his wife, Livia, plotting to elevate her own son Tiberius to this position. The plotting and double-crossing continue for many decades, through the conspiracy of Sejanus and the rule of the lunatic emperor Caligula. Underestimated as an idiot because of a stutter and a limp, Claudius cleverly survived the treachery around him by exaggerating his ailments, eventually rising to power himself.

The series, which aired in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre, stars Derek Jacobi as Claudius, with Siân Phillips (Livia), Brian Blessed (Augustus), George Baker (Tiberius), John Hurt (Caligula), and Patrick Stewart (Sejanus).

I, Claudius will make its Rhode Island PBS prime time premiere on January 3 at 10 p.m.