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NPR's Scott Simon talks with husband and wife Cruz and Robinella Contreras, founders of the bluegrass quintet Robinella & the CCstringband. They got their start playing a Knoxville brew pub. Now the group has a major label record deal and a rapidly growing fan base.

The Dolly Parton amusement park's parent company will fund all tuition and fees for select programs. "Their futures should be grown with love, not loans," Herschend Enterprises CEO Andrew Wexler says.

The last installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy opens in theaters next week, and the three films could eventually earn $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales. But the project almost never happened -- Kim Masters reports on New Line Cinema's $400-million gamble on director Peter Jackson's sweeping vision.

When an old master's painting fetches tens of millions on the auction block, it makes headlines around the world. But at any given time, a handful of artworks are unavailable at any price. NPR's Renee Montagne talks to Kelly Devine Thomas of ARTnews magazine about the "most wanted" works of art.

A new exhibit celebrates Joseph Cornell, one of the most influential and idiosyncratic American artists of the 20th century. The self-taught artist created small wooden boxes filled with knickknacks he collected in New York junk shops. As David D'Arcy reports, the results were beautiful, almost religious creations that inspired just about every visual artist who followed him.

If hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to decline for the rest of the month, Gov. JB Pritzker plans to lift his executive order that mandates face coverings indoors by Feb. 28. The plan does not apply to schools.

In his latest book, Gore Vidal takes readers behind the scenes as America's founding fathers fought and worked to create a new country. In an interview with NPR's Bob Edwards, Vidal discusses Inventing a Nation, the historical writer's work about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Hear the extended interview and read an excerpt from the book.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Andrew Bolton, curator of a show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art called "Bravehearts: Men and Skirts." The exhibit reveals how skirts came to thought of as feminine attire, since men have worn skirts throughout history -- and many still do.

Over the past five years, Indonesia has weathered terrorism, political upheaval and economic crisis. At the same time, the world’s largest Muslim nation has gone through a kind of artistic Renaissance. NPR's Rick Karr reports on the dynamic art scene in the island nation. View a photo gallery of Indonesian art.

Actor Russell Crowe is in command of the screen and the sea this weekend. Crowe stars in the new Peter Weir film Master and Commander. The movie is based on the novels of Patrick O'Brian. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan offers a review.