Velvet

A Baltimore artist whose portraits of family and friends painted on black velvet capture the poignant and gritty flavor of working class life in the city was named the winner yesterday of this year's Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. Tony Shore, 35, accepted the $25,000 award from Mayor Sheila Dixon amid tears of joy and gratitude before a crowd of several hundred assembled at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where the work of the finalists is on display. The award is named after the longtime Baltimore civic leader and his wife.

NEW YORK -- IF YOU'RE EVER LOOKING TO TAKE IN A tourist attraction where employees bark at you incessantly, herd you through one velvet-rope line after another and try to sell you cheesy, overpriced souvenir photos at the end of your visit, have I got the place for you. I know, I know. That pretty much applies to any tourist attraction in the country, doesn't it? But in this case we're talking about the world-famous Empire State Building and its 86th-floor Observatory, which towers nearly a quarter of a mile above Fifth Avenue and offers a spectacular view of Manhattan and beyond, assuming you haven't passed out from hunger during the wait to get up there.

For more than a decade, Baltimore native Tony Shore has made members of his large, extended family in the city's Pigtown neighborhood the subjects of his signature realistic paintings on black velvet, a material he associates with his working-class origins and the tastes it inspired in his youth. His most recent paintings, on view at C. Grimaldis Gallery, are an extension of earlier work in which the artist rendered his family members in domestic settings -- watching TV, doing housework, sitting on the steps outside their homes -- with remarkable sensitivity both to their personal dignity and to the artistic possibilities of the oil on black velvet medium, which in his hands allows colors to float out of the inky background like luminous bubbles of illusionary space.

Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks will sponsor a class on making embossed velvet scarves from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 29 at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way. Participants will learn how to use rubber stamps, velvet and an iron to create an elegant and fashionable scarf. The cost is $20, and includes materials and the use of equipment. Registration and payment are due as soon as possible. Information: 410-313-7279. Registration: 410-313-7275. Seasonal music at central library Brass players from the Maryland Youth Orchestra will perform seasonal music at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at the central library, 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway.

Leaping lizards! Velvet is back for men this fall. No, not lounge-lizard wear, but beautiful silk- and cotton-based velvet blazers in colors like black, chocolate brown and garnet. "Velvet blazers are being tipped as one of the season's hottest items for men -- for fashion-conscious men, that is," says David Wolfe of the Doneger Group, which forecasts fashion trends. In New York, velvet blazers are selling like crazy, in spite of the warm weather. Stephen Cardino, men's fashion director for Macy's East, says most of the store's stock is being bought at this point by 16- to 24-year-olds who wear them clubbing.

Three cheers for old school glamour. The lush fabrics, the classic tailoring. The jewels, the makeup, the hair! When celebrities find a way to bring back old Hollywood, and make it their own, it reminds us why we love to star-gaze in the first place. On the red carpet of last week's Academy Awards, actors and actresses combined style and beauty and grace, each in his or her own way. Elegance and romance ruled the night, but there were other trends that emerged. "The mermaid hemline was very in," said celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, "very fitted all the way down and then flared out."

The unrehearsed stars of Making Friends had no signs of stage fright during the filming of the weekly cable television program last week. The residents of the Humane Society of Carroll County acted naturally. A curious beagle sniffed the video equipment. An energetic Labrador refused to settle down. A docile mongrel repeatedly licked the emcee's face. The cats' paws stuck to the rug. The tiny bunny snuggled in a caretaker's arms. It was all in a day's taping for Nicky Ratliff, humane society director.

NEW YORK - Designer Zac Posen flits from rack to rack, pulling out corseted dresses, woolen pants and silk blouses from his Fall 2003 collection, imploring guests to stroke this fabric, to study that carefully crafted seam. The aim, he says, is to dress "women of all ages." It's an intriguing emphasis for the 22-year-old wunderkind who became the toast of the New York fashion scene last fall with a collection made almost entirely of beautifully tailored cocktail dresses and Greek goddess gowns.

A huge heart was hung atop the 1,000-year-old Prague Castle in November, and it beat in a great splash of red neon until Czech President Vaclav Havel left office Sunday. Jiri David, the artist who created the 56-foot-by-56-foot neon sculpture, installed it over the president's headquarters to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in what was once Czechoslovakia. "A heart is a symbol of love, understanding and decency," Havel said when he switched on the heart, "and that was something that accompanied our Velvet Revolution."