Fine Arts

If you want to see paintings by Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, you don't have to visit the Baltimore Museum of Art. You can view works by those artists and many others at the new home of Renaissance Fine Arts in Pikesville. A "Masters" section is one of the many features of the gallery, which opened this fall at 1848 Reisterstown Road. There are also areas with contemporary art, sculpture, vintage posters and custom framing, and a separate boutique featuring jewel-encrusted frames and other art objects by Jay Strongwater.

Courses at St. John's St. John's College is offering a number of continuing education and fine arts courses starting Sept. 13. Registration deadline is Thursday. Tuition is $210 for preceptorials. In preceptorials, up to 15 students meet with a St. John's tutor for a close reading of one book or several works relating to a theme. Preceptorials this fall include works by psychologist William James, Plutarch's Lives, the first two novels in Paul Scott's historic epic, The Raj Quartet, and film director Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai.

Twenty-two clowns-in-training line the curb outside the Chesapeake Arts Center to learn the finer points of the pie-in-the-face gag. Never slam the plate - you'll break a nose. Touch your victim's shoulder so they know it's coming. Give the plate a twist to rub it in. Follow with a big "Hoop-la!" After the details are ironed out, the kids pair up. Before you know it, shaving cream is melting in hair, eyes, ears and noses. This is Michael Rosman's Circus Camp, a weeklong program in Brooklyn Park that teaches kids 7 to 17 big-top skills, including tightrope walking, juggling, unicycle riding and, of course, pie throwing.

Charles Parkhurst, a museum director in Baltimore and Washington and one of the "monuments men," an Allied Forces team that chased down leads, pried open crates and snooped around museums, salt mines and castles in search of art stolen by the Nazis during World War II, died Thursday at his home in Amherst, Mass. He was 95. His death was confirmed by his wife, Carol Clark. From 1962 to 1970, Mr. Parkhurst was director of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Mr. Parkhurst's tenure in Baltimore was marked by a $5 million to $7 million increase in the worth of the museum's collection, a figure he estimated in a 1973 Sun article.

Donna Hepner said she generally avoids nature whenever she can. But when the opportunity arose to take an outdoor art class, she took it. On a recent afternoon, she sat in a garden and sketched reflections of a tree in a pond, with ink, pencils, and charcoal. As she made marks on the paper, her work took on life. "When you create art outdoors you need to be relaxed and open," said Hepner, 41, of Joppa. "If you try to control nature, it doesn't work well." Hepner was one of several students who participated in art classes offered by the Maryland Institute College of Art at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton.

When Kevin Schoffstall opened his gallery, Fells Fired, during the 2006 holiday season, he was young, optimistic and giddy with the possibility of selling so much art that he could quit his day job and throw pots for a living. A year and a half later, he's still young, at least. Shoppers have wafted away. Fuel costs jacked shipping prices for his favorite clays and glazes heavenward. He's had to sell his best pieces at deep discount just to get them out the door. Two other galleries in his Fells Point neighborhood closed.

A new report confirms complaints that a lot of teachers and school districts have voiced about the federal No Child Left Behind law - that the focus on reading and math doesn't leave enough time for other subjects, such as social studies, art and music. It's a dilemma that didn't originate with NCLB but has been exacerbated by it. The best solution is to recognize, as Maryland does, that exposure to a variety of subjects is what constitutes a well-rounded education. According to the Center on Education Policy, more than 60 percent of school districts have increased instruction time in elementary schools for either or both English language arts and math since 2001-2002, just before NCLB was enacted - and 44 percent have done so at the expense of other subjects.

The Fine Arts Advisory Council is seeking parents and community arts advocates to serve on the council, helping to ensure that high-quality, equitable and consistent fine-arts programs are provided for students in Howard County public schools. The council will hold a membership and information meeting for parents and community members from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Monteabaro Recital Hall, Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia.

Introducing children to the performing arts is an excellent New Year's resolution, and parents and grandparents can easily meet that goal at two events this month at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts: the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra's family concert, "Tchaikovsky Discovers America," on Saturday, and the Russian American Kids Circus on Jan. 13. The orchestra has made bringing classical music to children its mission, which may well pay dividends later...

WITH THE exception of reigning sovereigns (including the pope), presidents and cardinals, introductions made between strangers abide by these rules: Youth is introduced to age - `Strom Thurmond, may I present Doogie Howser?' Men are introduced to women - `Dame Edna, this is Count Victor Grezhinski.' Lower ranks are introduced to higher - `Colonel Sanders, this is Sgt. Bilko.' Individuals are introduced to groups - `Mickey Mouse Club, this is Britney Spears.'" Such tongue-in-cheek witty info is from the new and delightful Schott's Miscellany almanac for 2008, by Ben Schott.