Author Tyler Heffern

When I read The Mirror’s article on the removal of the Black Lives Matter flag from Counseling & Psychological Services’ office last Wednesday, I was disappointed, yet unsurprised. It follows a trend...

For those who read my columns every week, this is my last hurrah, my final issue. After all the columns I’ve written this year, from Byzantine mosaics to Mesoamerican sculpture, I have introduced artworks...

In 1885, Congress dedicated Feb. 22 to a celebration in honor of George Washington’s birthday. This marked the first time the United States created a federal holiday that commemorated a person’s birth....

In the summer of 1941, the accomplished African American artist Jacob Lawrence traveled to New Orleans. Though this was his first time visiting the South, he had spent his career completing more than 60 panels...

Eleven months before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the United States’ subsequent entrance into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered to Congress in his State of the...

Before the Spanish colonization of Central and South America, the continents were inhabited by thriving civilizations. The Mayans, Aztecs and Olmecs were among the many societies that lived in Mesoamerica for...

When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon Bonaparte was serving as a soldier in the Royal Army and rose swiftly through the ranks, until becoming general at the age of 24. In November of 1799,...

Surely everyone knows the legend of the werewolf. A half man, half beast that transforms once a month–on a full moon–into its most dangerous self. The original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Werewolves have...

Since the time of Leonardo da Vinci, the “Salvator Mundi,” or ‘Savior of the World,’ has been the artist’s most copied work. His pupils and art students created many different versions, but da...

In 1888, Vincent van Gogh moved to Arles in the south of France with his artistic rival, Paul Gauguin. Despite being one of the most famous artists in our collective consciousness, and a pioneer of the...