Hermann Nitsch gives us paintings that are dark, passionate, and absorbing. Painting, though, is only one aspect of his output. Theater, action painting, musical events - these are just a few of the dynamic activities that fill this artist's life. His mind moves as quickly as his performances, which manage to combine drama, philosophy, and tranquility.

In a dramatic protest against Donald Trump's words and actions, his entire Arts and Humanities Committee has resigned. Outraged by Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, all 17 members wrote a letter of protest. In a not-so-subtle jab at the President's pronouncements, the letter from the committee included the word "resist", if you take the first letter of each paragraph in the document. The committee was formed by Ronald Reagan in 1982 as an advisory council to the President on issues of "arts and humanities education, cultural exchange, and creative economy", according to its website.

One of my favorite actors, Cynthia Nixon has played roles as varying as Eleanor Roosevelt and Miranda Hobbes in "Sex and the City". Now she is being praised for her performance as poet Emily Dickinson in a film called "A Quiet Passion". This role demands grace and restraint, which Nixon embodies beautifully. The film contrasts Dickinson's fresh ideas with her personal bitterness over the pitfalls of aging.

If you like your architecture spiced with humor and fantasy, then you will delight in the building facades of Alex Chinneck. Trained as a sculptor, Chinneck has turned his efforts to the face that buildings present to the world. Try to imagine an inverted windmill, in which the wings do not move but the building rotates. And that's just the beginning of his fertile imagination.

"In A Heartbeat" is a brief film that has captured the attention of the internet. The animation concerns two boys who have fallen in love, and is both delicate and gentle in its approach. It was produced at Ringling College of Art and Design. It features a lovely sound track, and unusual for its genre, a happy ending.

You could have attended the recent Special Popup Exhibition at the Peninsula Museum of Art in Burlingame, California, and taken gripping selfies as you stood in front of my mirrored digital paintings, all for free. Or you can pay between $25 and $35. to see the most recent incarnation of Yayoi Kusama. Living voluntarily in a psychiatric facility in Tokyo, Kusama at age 90 continues to pour out her unique visions of pumpkins and polka dots. Her hallucinations began at age 10, and she has propelled herself to the top of the art world by utilizing them as a powerful vehicle for self-expression.

The genius of Alberto Giacometti is explored in a film called "Final Portrait". The film concentrates on the artist's studio, a cluttered warren of paints, sculptures, tools and eccentricities, all based on archival material and photographs. Precise models of Giacometti's sculptures were produced for accuracy and then destroyed so that they could not end up as "originals" on the black market. Stanley Tucci produced the film, with background material that included the artist's difficult relationship with his wife in an open marriage.

Design Museum Holon is exhibiting "The Architecture of Sound/The Sound of Architecture", an attempt to make the museum itself into a giant musical instrument. Visitors to the museum are the "performers", with hollow corten ribbons acting as echo chambers.

Running out of canvas and oils? Then consider joining the next World Bodypainting Festival. The 2017 fest produced some pretty extraordinary accomplishments, where flesh and fantasy interact vividly.

c. Corinne Whitaker 2017