It's hard for our generation to imagine controversy over color photography. In a day and age when many art schools have shut down their traditional black-and-white darkrooms in favor of going digital, color is simply taken for granted. The Cincinnati Art Museum's 'Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970–1980,' which opens Friday, explores that groundbreaking decade, when landmark exhibitions by several artists changed the face of art photography forever.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s recently appointed Steven Goldstein as the Weinberger Chair of Acting for the Lyric Theatre. He has impressive stage, film and opera credits, appearing in productions staged by David Mamet, William H. Macy and renowned opera director Francesca Zambello.

I know more critics who love theater than who live to spew out negativity. In fact, I've often said it seems nonsensical (if not masochistic) to carve out a career as a critic if you hate the theater and never enjoy the experience. Why subject yourself to night after night of torture if you really find actors or directors incompetent or self-serving?

Convinced that no good can come of ignoring or forgetting a shameful aspect of American history (some 5,000 murderous, illegal lynchings, mostly of African-American males, from 1882 to 1968) the National Underground Railway Freedom Center has taken a traveling show that sometimes elicited anger in earlier venues and hopes to make it a means of furthering understanding rather than undermining it. 'Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America' opened last week and runs through May 31.

Come Monday, Cincinnati's CET will unveil what the Public Broadcasting System says is the first public television station to devote one of its new digital channels to 24/7 arts programming. The immediate impact of CETarts will be to offer expanded broadcast of PBS shows CET already features on its primary channel, but in the long term the Channel 48 folks wants to develop some local arts programming for the channel and already has meetings scheduled with various organizations.

"Nick Spencer Cincinnati" — the results of this Web search yield a litany of news and critical opinions surrounding the now 31-year-old former co-owner of alchemize bar, two-time candidate for City Council and founder of the one-off Desdemona Music Festival in 2006. Buried in that search, though, is news about Spencer's latest venture: writing comics.

As part of a recent groundbreaking $85 million dollar grant to the arts focused on music from longtime Cincinnati arts philanthropist Louise Nippert, beginning in the latter half of 2010, the Ballet will be generously funded to the tune of about $200,000 for three productions per ballet season with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra accompaniment.