Welcome to Art a la Carte. I’m Journal-World arts editor Mindie Paget.

Andre De Shields – a Broadway actor, singer, writer, composer, lyricist, choreographer, director and educator – is on the Kansas University campus this weekend to work with students and talk to the public. De Shields played the original Wiz in “The Wiz” and has many other Broadway, TV and film credits to his name. He’ll be featured in a free public interview and question-and-answer session at 7:30 p.m. today in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union.

The Lawrence Youth Symphony will play works by Bach, Wagner and Sousa, among others, during its spring recognition concert. The 45-member group features band and orchestra students in grades 7 through 10 from the city’s two high schools and four junior highs. The concert gets under way at 2 p.m. Sunday at Central Junior High School. Admission is free.

Bookmaker Xu Bing has been one of the most significant artists to emerge from China since the Cultural Revolution. For his best-known and most controversial work, “Book from the Sky,” the artist spent several years carving 4,000 undecipherable character blocks used to print an unreadable book. Since relocating to the U.S. in 1990, Bing’s art continues to challenge assumptions about language. The Spencer Museum of Art is displaying his work in an exhibit called “Book from the Sky to Book from the Ground,” on view through April 29 in the White Gallery.

I’m Mindie Paget with Art a la Carte.