Spring has arrived once again, the weather is transforming from mostly dreary and wet, to bright, beautiful and fresh—and you're still around to enjoy it. Bravo! This means you're also around to enjoy a new season of art shows, performances, concerts, book readings and signings, film screenings, and festivals. Here's a quick breakdown of what you can find in The Stranger's Spring 2018 edition of the Art + Performance Quarterly, which hit the street this week...

James Baldwin’s face is in a brand new painting at Seattle Art Museum. The painting, "Resist," by Mickalene Thomas, was commissioned for Figuring History, a show that challenges “a Western painting tradition that historically erases or misrepresents people of color.” Katie Kurtz breaks down what's happening in it in Anatomy of a Painting.

The Stimson-Green Mansion is 117 years old and has never had a play produced inside it—until now. For an immersive take on Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, the opulent interior will be transformed into the castle where Hamlet is set. Read more about it in Rich Smith's piece, An Immersive Production of Hamlet in a Mansion on First Hill.

Writer and filmmaker Charles Mudede once spent a full year in a hotel room watching Oxford Blues starring Rob Lowe on repeat. Since Lowe comes to Seattle this spring, Mudede muses about what he learned watching Lowe shake his butt: My Year in a Hotel Room with Rob Lowe.

People new to town probably have no idea what the Inscape building is. Located on the outskirts of International District/Chinatown, it formerly housed detained immigrants about to be deported. Now it’s artist studios. Katie Herzog investigates in her piece: Inscape Used to Be a Prison for Immigrants. Now It's a Home for Artists.

There is no valid case for not loving Paul Simon, writes lifelong superfan Sean Nelson. Simon has announced that he is retiring from his 60-year career, and the Seattle stop on his farewell tour is May 18 at Key Arena. Nelson waxes poetic about Simon in his piece, Stop Pretending You Don't Like Paul Simon.

And finally, we have the Spring 2018 Calendars, in which you can find: The Best Art Shows in Seattle, The Best Classical Music & Opera in Seattle, The Best Festivals in Seattle, The Best Readings & Talks in Seattle, The Best Theater, Dance, and Comedy Events in Seattle, The Best Jazz Concerts in Seattle, and The Best Film Events in Seattle. And of course, you can find everything happening in Seattle this spring in our Things To Do calendar.