Frederic Edwin Church was born in Hartford, Connecticut on this date (May 4) in 1826. In recognition of this and in appreciation of the various contributions to VPR by Gregg Hertzlieb in all of the journal’s volumes since 2001, I invite readers to revisit a commentary on Church and his painting...

Carol Ann Duffy has been named the new Poet Laureate in Britain, a post first held by John Dryden in 1668 during the reign of Charles II. Other notable poets who have held the position include William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson, John Masefield, Robert Bridges, John Betjeman, and Ted Hughes...

The month of April was one filled with many days of rainy weather here in Indiana, calling to mind the often-repeated phrase in such a wet spring season: “April showers bring May flowers.” Therefore, on this first day of glorious May, perhaps Claude Monet’s painting, Spring Flowers...