newshour:

Before and After: the Southwest drought from space

Dead Trees in Memorial Park, Houston, Texas
Before (left): May 3, 2010 | After (right): September 26, 2011

The Southwest drought has had a devastating impact on the state’s trees. The Texas Forest Service estimates more than 500 million trees were killed by the drought. The trees that were under the most stress were actually urban trees, when local governments restricted watering public landscapes. These pictures from the Texas Forest Service show Memorial Park in Houston, where trees turned brown and died over the course of a year.

Move the slider over to see before and after shots of this image and more here. 

(Image from USGS)

-KC

Um, notice how green the golf course remains even as the trees all around it are dying?

Richard Serra, My Curves Are Not Mad, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas

While we’re at it, here’s another Serra, this one from Dallas.

Richard Serra, Vortex, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas

My photo, taken from inside the thing.

manpodcast:

Richard Serra, Vortex, 2002. Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Photo via Flickr user Jeff Stvan.

This week’s Modern Art Notes Podcast featuresRichard Serra, our greatest living sculptor. A retrospective of Serra’s drawings has just opened at its originating institution, The Menil Collection in Houston. It will be on view through June 10.

To download or subscribe to The Modern Art Notes Podcast via iTunes, click here (or click on the image!). To download the program directly, click here. To subscribe to The MAN Podcast’s RSS feed, click here. You can stream the program and see more images of artworks discussed on the podcast here.

Ohhhhhh…I got a picture of this thing. Comin’ up.

George Krause | Wimberley High School Texans football player, 2005, from his ongoing series of Sfumato Portraits

Frederic Leighton, Portrait of May Sartoris, c. 1860, oil on canvas, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas