“How did artists progress from Egyptian sculptures to a work such as Frishmuth’s The Vine – two of the works on the front cover? To find out, we focus on innovations that gave the sculptors who created them – and all those who followed – greater power to make viewers stop, look, and think about sculptures. This jargon-free book is a great introduction or refresher for anyone interested in art or art history. Since it provides a framework for looking at any period of Western sculpture, it will make your next museum visit (virtual or actual) more enjoyable. If you’re the friend, partner, or relative of an art enthusiast, it’s a first step toward sharing their excitement. Most importantly, though, Innovators in Sculpture can help you find more subjects, styles, and periods that intrigue you and appeal to you – that show the world the way you think it can and ought to be. And what’s the point of looking at art, if not for moments like that?” – Diane Durante
Innovators in Sculpture by Dianne L. Durante examines the past five thousand years of sculpture by examining great innovative works of sculpture. By understanding the ideas behind those sculptural innovations one can connect with the minds of those artists from years long past.
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“Never let up. In stories, things go from bad to worse, even if nobody wants them to. If she wants to apologize, interrupt her. Whenever anyone is about to release tension, interrupt her. Is the couple on the date about to kiss? Pull them apart. You might think the audience will love you if you give them what they want. Not true. Make them want it, then yank it away.” – Matt Bird
An invaluable resource and reference guide on the concept (the Pitch: Does this concept excite everyone who hears about it?, Story Fundamentals: Will this concept generate a strong story?, The Hook: Will this be marketable and generate word of mouth?), character (Believe: Do we recognize the hero as a human being? Care: Do we feel for the hero? Invest: Can we trust the hero to tackle this challenge?, dialogue (Empathetic: Is the dialogue true to human nature? Specific: Is the dialogue specific to this world and each personality? Heightened: Is the dialogue more pointed and dynamic than real talk? Strategic: Are certain dialogue scenes withheld until necessary? ), scene work (Does this scene begin with the essential elements it needs? The Conflict: Is this a compelling collision of competing agendas? The Outcome: Does this scene change the story going forward?), tone, theme, and more.
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“Marva Collins taught school for two years in Alabama, then moved to Chicago, where she taught in public schools for 14 years. Her experiences in that system, coupled with her dissatisfaction with the quality of education that her two youngest children were receiving in prestigious private schools, convinced her that children deserved better than what was passing for acceptable education. She took the $5,000 balance in her school pension fund and opened her own school on the second floor of her home. The Westside Preparatory School was founded in 1975 in Garfield Park, a Chicago inner-city area. During the first year, Collins took in learning disabled, problem children and even one child who had been labeled by Chicago public school authorities as borderline retarded. At the end of the first year, every child scored at least five grades higher proving that the previous labels placed on these children were misguided. 60 Minutes, visited her school for the second time in 1996. That little girl who had been labeled as borderline retarded, graduated from college Summa Cum Laude. … Marva’s graduates entered colleges and universities, such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. They became physicians, lawyers, engineers, and educators.”
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“We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Victor Frankl
The remarkable story of Victor E. Frankl, who survived imprisonment in Nazi Concentration Camps, and was motivated by his search for meaning. A powerful demonstration of the importance of free will.
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“This book challenges the premises of the growing crusade against law enforcement. In Part One, I rebut the founding myths of the Black Lives Matter movement—including the lie that a pacific Michael Brown was gunned down in cold blood by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. I document the hotly contested ‘Ferguson effect,’ a trend that I first spotted nationally, wherein officers desist from discretionary policing and criminals thus become emboldened. In Part Two, I outline the development of the misguided legal push to force the NYPD to give up its stop, question, and frisk tactic. In Part Three, I analyze criminogenic environments in Chicago and Philadelphia and put to rest the excuse that crime—black crime especially—is the result of poverty and inequality. Finally, in Part Four, I expose the deceptions of the mass-incarceration conceit and show that the disproportionate representation of blacks in prison is actually the result of violence, not racism.” — Heather Mac Donald
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