FAITH RINGGOLD

NEW YORK — (AP) — Author-visual artist Faith Ringgold, poetry critic Helen Hennessy Vendler and photographer Susan Unterberg will be honored this spring at the American Academy of Arts and Letters ' annual awards and induction ceremony. The academy, an honorary society based in Upper Manhattan, announced the awards Thursday. Ringgold, known for her paintings, sculpture and intricate narrative quilts and her themes of social justice, will receive a Gold Medal for Painting. Vendler, who has been cited for championing the works of Seamus Heaney, Jorie Graham and many others, will be given a Gold Medal for Belles Lettres and Criticism. Unterberg will be presented an award for Distinguished Service to the Arts, in recognition of her founding the organization Anonymous Was a Woman, which since 1996 has provided grants to artists who identify as women.

NEW YORK — (AP) — Author-visual artist Faith Ringgold, poetry critic Helen Hennessy Vendler and photographer Susan Unterberg will be honored this spring at the American Academy of Arts and Letters ' annual awards and induction ceremony. The academy, an honorary society based in Upper Manhattan, announced the awards Thursday. Ringgold, known for her paintings, sculpture and intricate narrative quilts and her themes of social justice, will receive a Gold Medal for Painting. Vendler, who has been cited for championing the works of Seamus Heaney, Jorie Graham and many others, will be given a Gold Medal for Belles Lettres and Criticism. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Artist Faith Ringgold, poetry critic Helen Hennessy Vendler and photographer Susan Unterberg will be honored this spring at the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ annual awards and induction ceremony.

For decades the 90-year-old artist best-known for her story quilts has refused to bow to convention, as she stitched a vibrant tapestry of art, history and social commentary.

(AP Photo)NEW YORK – One of the country's oldest cultural instititutions, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, is undergoing some of its biggest changes in more than a century. AdHarjo, the first Native American to be appointed U.S. poet laureate, said she looked forward to having an influence on future academy choices. “There are so many incredible Native visual artists,” she told the AP, while also citing such authors as N. Scott Momaday and Leslie Marmon Silko. But the academy will still call itself an academy, while working to make itself more accessible to artists and to the general public. Besides choosing members, the academy also gives dozens of prizes and grants each year, totalling more than $1 million.

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. One nominee, “Judas and the Black Messiah," arrives on HBO Max (as well as in theaters) on Friday. Ad— Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo's last writing partnership turned out pretty well. Ad— AP Film Writer Jake CoyleMUSIC— Sia’s Golden Globe-nominated directorial debut, “Music,” will be accompanied with a 14-track album. Ad— “Silence of the Lambs” is three decades in the rearview mirror, but only a year has passed as CBS’ “Clarice” picks up the story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling.