This week on Open Studio, Jared Bowen sits down with the legendary director Anne Bogart to talk about Bartók's only opera: "Bluebeard's Castle" for Boston Lyric Opera. Teaming it with work by 19th century composer Alma Mahler, Bogart stages the production inside a cruise ship terminal in South Boston. Bogart says her "Bluebeard’s Castle" is a psychological thriller and an immersive experience that rides the waves and plunges the depths of human emotion.
Next, we continue to mark Women’s History Month with Katherine Bradford. In 2021, Bradford won the prestigious Rappaport Prize, which is given annually to a contemporary artist with strong New England ties and a remarkable record of achievement. We bring you a conversation Bowen first had with Bradford in 2021, when her paintings were on view at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard.
Finally, in 1967 when Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio he made history as the first Black mayor of a major American city. To mark his historic win, he commissioned an artist to paint a mural celebrating diversity. We head to Cleveland, by way of our PBS partner at WVIZ, to look at how restoring and rededicating that mural has also meant a recommitment to racial unity.
