AitN: February 26, 2018

On February 12, the National Portrait Gallery unveiled paintings of President Barack Obama ’83 and First Lady Michelle Obama. The portraits, by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, have caused a sensation, with The Washington Post reporting that “thousands of visitors lined up for hours to see the works and snap selfies in front of them.”

Rep. Beto O’Rourke ’95 (D-Texas) is making a long-shot bid to defeat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R.-Texas) to become the first Democrat since 1994 to win a statewide Texas office. The New York Times profiled O’Rourke’s campaign on February 19 in “The Lone Star Long Shot Who Wants to Topple Ted Cruz.”

Sam Reider ’11’s album, Too Hot To Sleep, was released on February 3. In this new work, the accordion player (and a Department of State ambassador of American music) uses jazz and bluegrass influences to create a unique sound.

On February 22, NBC announced that Brandon Victor Dixon ’07 and Jin Ha ’13 will be starring in a live-action television performance of Jesus Christ Superstar that is slated to air on Easter (April 1).

On February 22, chef Anita Lo ’88 co-hosted a vegetarian dinner at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival as part of The New York Times' Cooking Dinner series.

Jeff Witten ’10, LAW’15, BUS’15 appeared on Shark Tank to promote his digital wallet business, CoinOut. At the end of the February 18 episode, Witten accepted an offer for $250,000 from investor Robert Herjavec. Forbes covered the app in a February 18 article, “Cashing Out With ‘CoinOut’: Jeffrey Witten’s Digital Wallet Gives Value To Pocket Change.”