John Seed

Professor of Art and Art History, Mt. San Jacinto College

Xiadong's brushwork is deft and direct and the varied locations that appear in his work suggest that his oeuvre is his travel diary. A documentarian with a heart, his canvases strike a balance between blunt description and narrative empathy.

Bill Bush

Publisher of Artweek.LA, a leading online magazine dedicated to the Los Angeles art scene

Phillip M. Miner

Freelance writer and founder, Outspoken Collection

Pfluger has shot editorial work for Time, The New York Times Magazine, and too many other publications to name. He also has an impressive body of personal work. He uses his camera to explore his past and his relationships with men, including his father and potential hookups.

MutualArt

World's largest online art information service

It's London's turn in the great art fair cycle, and Frieze and its satellites have descended upon the British city for the eleventh year. As expected, the powers behind Frieze have a world class line up of special exhibitions, film and a sculpture park that will pair contemporary and historical pieces.

Elizabeth Sobieski

Contibuting Editor, The Art Economist

At 72, Joel Shapiro exhibits all the excitement and passion of a young artist anxious to present new work, rather than a desire to simply relax into the satisfied world-weariness of a veteran of decades of museum shows and international recognition.

Eduardo Vilaro

Artistic director, Ballet Hispanico

Recently I received an email from an audience member asking me to consider the importance of having "only Spanish dancers" as part of Ballet Hispanico, the dance company I direct. For me, being Latino is a complex and personal experience that cannot be neatly branded.

Michael Giltz

Freelance writer

Fun Home the book is cool and removed as it analyzes Alison Bechdel's memories and her father from various stages in Bechdel's life. Fun Home the musical is more like her father: remote and hard to like.

Kate Quarfordt

Educator, writer, theater director, artist and mother. www.katequarfordt.com

It's two weeks from opening night of Dead End, the first-ever production in Irondale's 30-year history that puts teenage actors from the group's Young Company in prominent roles alongside their professional adult counterparts.

Christian Nilsson

Associate Producer at HuffPost Live

The musical opens with a big dance number that features a mermaid, giant, witch and every other character we've yet to formally meet. Subsequently, the score provides only enough to keep the audience engaged up to the show's tearjerking finale.

Bessie A. Winn-Afeku

Photographer. Social Artist. Creator of lifeandcomposition.com

The arts bring people together that would not normally be connected. It is programs like Atlanta's ELEVATE, a program whose mission is to initiate positive urban growth through arts economics -- or the concept of culture being a driving force for commerce.

Annette Insdorf

Director of undergraduate film studies, Columbia University, and author of PHILIP KAUFMAN

Given the highly publicized drama of Roman Polanski's personal life, his superlative work as a filmmaker is sometimes relegated to the back burner.

Laurence Vittes

Classical Music: An Investor's Guide

There's no denying the entertainment value of high-level classical music competitions. They come pre-loaded with a 24/7 soundtrack of the most 50 Shades of Grey, romantic music ever written. Sure, competitions are barbaric but so is the Super Bowl.

Tony Woodcock

President, New England Conservatory of Music

What's the most intimidating experience you have ever had? A one-on-one with an aggressively demanding boss? An IRS audit? Being pulled over by a traffic cop?

Clara Lieu

Author; visual artist; adjunct professor, Rhode Island School of Design

When I was at the very beginning of my career I had no exhibition history to speak of, so I had to start somewhere.

Robert Gagnier

Los Angeles-based journalist

"When we lost Rodney King last year during Father's day, I was tremendously moved -- and I wanted to know why."

David Finkle

Writer, Drama Critic

The thing I'm bursting to tell you immediately about Two Boys is that Anne Strawson (Alice Coote), the detective inspector at the center of it, is about as dumb a cop as you'd hope to avoid on a case where you've been victimized.

Joanna Zelman

Front page editor, The Huffington Post

The music started again -da dah- he stepped forward and I stepped back -dah da dah. We were stumbling and tripping along the way but there were fleeting moments when we were flying. After the song ended, he asked, "It's magical, yes?"