A hearty welcome to those of you paying your first visit to KERA’s new Arts+Culture Blog! For a little background, I recommend that you read a brief explanation of this blog (also found at the “About” link atop this page.)

The blog was officially launched for public viewing today, although we’ve been blogging here for several weeks now just to get used to the interface. There are already many great posts to check out, including Gini Mascorro’s primer on this weekend’s Lone Star International Film Festival, and KERA critic at large Jerome Weeks’ review of Risk Theater Initiative’s “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” (featuring the audio version of his commentary from this morning’s Morning Edition).

Each week, Gini will have a rundown of some great happenings on our Deep In The Arts calendar – including some that didn’t make it on the air. You’ll also see more great reviews and commentary from Jerome, notes on jazz and other topics from Morning Edition local host Sam Baker, notes from Think senior producer Jeff Whittington and much more.

Our goal is to provide an open discussion of arts and culture in North Texas, so we encourage your input. You can reply to any post by clicking on the “Comments” link at the bottom right of the post; we’ll check the comments every so often and post all but those that don’t “play by the rules” (no profane, inappropriate or unrelated content). Leave your e-mail address with your comment and we might even contact you for further discussion – who knows?

Have a look around and make yourselves at home. We plan on being here for a while!