There may be no better way to beat the winter blues than to catch a live performance at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Art After 5, where the blues is jazz and the scope is international. The winter 2008 program schedule includes acclaimed favorite performers as well as innovative emerging artists.

For Hindus in India and across the world, Krishna is understood to be both God and man. He is an incarnation of the god Vishnu and the supreme deity as well as a beloved baby, a flirtatious youth and a kingly counselor. For many centuries, Krishna’s divinity has been woven together with his human story in exquisite poems and images.

In 2006, the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired Office Love, a tapestry by William Kentridge, whose work encompassing drawing, video, sculpture and theater, has made him one of the strongest artistic voices to emerge in post-apartheid South Africa.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present the first-ever exhibition devoted to Nepalese Art of the Malla period (1200-1769) — an artistic “Golden Age.” Marvels of the Malla Period: A Nepalese Renaissance 1200-1603, on view through June 2, 2008, explores a time of remarkable creativity, when the fame of Nepal’s artists spread to Tibet, Bhutan, India, and even the Chinese court of Kublai Khan.

In Spring 2008 the Philadelphia Museum of Art will open a landmark exhibition featuring the rare surviving works of art from the first commercially produced porcelain made in America. Between 1770 and 1772, the city of Philadelphia was home to an ambitious and complex commercial and artistic undertaking that mirrored attitudes of American independence that were flowering throughout the city and the colonies at the time.

Lee Miller (1907-1977) was one of the most original and ambitious photographers of the 20th century. She performed with unique success on both sides of the camera, starting her career as a fashion model in New York, working as a studio assistant to Man Ray in Paris, independently creating haunting, surrealist-inspired images as well as portraiture, and serving as a war correspondent during World War II.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will be the only East Coast venue for the first major exhibition in 15 years to be devoted to Frida Kahlo in the United States. Frida Kahlo (February 20-May 18, 2008) examines the art of one of the most influential artists of the last 50 years.

The kimono, the national dress of Japan, is celebrated worldwide for its elegant, distinctive silhouette. Though quintessentially Japanese, the kimono form has influenced fashion designers in every corner of the globe.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt, an exhibition taking a fresh look at the quilting tradition in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, and introducing new artists and new motifs in works ranging from the early 20th century through 2005.

Effective now through January 6, 2008, more children will see the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s critically acclaimed Renoir Landscapes for free, thanks to a new special holiday discount, the Museum announced today. Families can receive free admission for a child (ages 5-12) with each adult ticket purchased. Renoir tickets for children are normally $12 Mon.-Thurs. and $14 Fri.-Sun. (Children under five are always admitted free.)

The Annual Young People’s Exhibition features work from more than 400 students enrolled in the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial’s Saturday Young People’s Program. This exhibition includes drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture by young artists (ages five to eighteen), and paintings and drawings by parents enrolled in the Saturday painting classes.

The Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial celebrates the yuletide season with an installation of a traditional Italian presepio in Fleisher’s Frank and Betty Louchheim Lobby, 719 Catharine Street in South Philadelphia.