Newark Art Loop

Terry Foreman was locking up the door of the Newark Arts Alliance as we strolled up to enjoy our first Newark Art Loop. Apologetic, Foreman offered to reopen just for my friend and me. “The Newark Art Loop is not like the Wilmington Art Loop. The merchants are not hosting an evening like they do in Wilmington,” said Foreman.

Nonetheless, we still found a trove of treasures: At Newark Natural Foods, the delicate gouaches by Barbara Paul Selby had contrasting styles: the full-colored, delicate pastel effect and a gouache of green and blue reminiscent of book illustrations.

At Adria Café, Yaprak Soysal’s photographs showed his mastery of capturing reflections on water and the detail of enlarged flowers.

Samuel Coppola’s technique of intricately detailed color and pencil work (see black and white sketch above) is an interesting contrast to his fantasy works, which had less appeal for me than the junk food on display in Cereal Bowl where the works are being shown.

Gecko does a regular exhibit of jewelry for each monthly loop: Lisette Ffolkes’ necklaces of jointed Chinese-style fish on a double necklace are worth seeing. A brief tour of Cucina di Napoli left me hungry to see more of Nancy Williams Woodward’s work in acrylic. Caffe Gelato featured acrylics by Karin Lang – all scenes of Greece in a Mediterranean blue and white. Striking, but I felt they priced a bit high.

The Newark Arts Alliance will have a reception for the artists in the September show juried by Yolanda Chetwin on September 11 from 6 to 8 p.m.

See www.newarkartsalliance.org.

ARTY at the Party!

Our fun-loving, party-hopping correspondent, ARTY, is back---this time fresh from the City Theater Company Annual Picnic, held last Saturday at the home of CTC Board Prez, Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald.

Arty was thrilled to rub elbows with BOTH long-time CTC actors and supporters as well as new fans & friends. Kerry Kristine McElrone and Jim Burns, CTC Gal and CTC Guy respectively, stopped by, taking time out from work on the upcoming "NOT Just Shakespeare in the Park", a free, three-day outdoor theater collaboration from CTC and the City of Wilmington. Be sure to join them for that event next week---September 8, 9 & 10 in Willingtown Square on Market Street.

CTC Producing Artistic Director Michael Gray was thrilled that there's already buzz on the street for the 09-10 season, launching with "Sweeney Todd" in December. Actor Mary Catherine Kelley, seen most recently as Queen Elizabeth in CTC's "Beard of Avon", arrived with a de-lish cake in hand...amaretto flavor, perhaps? Actor Todd Holtsberry--often seen as the CTC Barker--distributed postcards promoting his performances in "4Play", showing next week at Philly Fringe.

As I polished off my second piece of chicken along with a fabulous potato-and-bean salad from Barb Bullock and James Kassees, I got a sneak-peek at the season marketing materials. Great stuff by Phengo Photography+Design. I'm thinking I can't wait for December....CTC's coming season will deliver an early holiday gift, for sure!

If you, too, cannot wait that long to get your fix of "Delaware's Off-Broadway", look for info on CTC's annual "relive the retro" adult party & fundrasier, PROM NIGHT!, coming October 24.

See http://www.city-theater.org/.

Got a party you'd like ARTY to attend? Send us an email at info@artsinmedia.com.

Wilmington Gets Its Fringe On

Just when you thought you’ve heard about all the fun arts happenings Wilmington has to offer, something new comes to town! On October1-4, 2009, the city offers its very first Fringe Wilmington Festival, with a preview party on September 30. The festival will boast performance and visual art, as well as a 24-hour filmmaking competition. The presentations will take place at various locations, including The Baby Grand, OperaDelaware Studios, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, as well as other venues along Market Street.

What is a Fringe Festival? The festival gets its name from one that started 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Several alternative theater companies performed on the “fringe” of the Edinburgh International Festival, and a tradition was born. Today, fringe festivals can be found in New York City, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Houston. These festivals offer opportunities for artists and performers to showcase material that might not be seen otherwise, because of its edgy, offbeat or “alternative” quality.

Some highlights of Fringe Wilmington include Robin Gelfenbien’s My Salvation Has a First Name, a Wienermobile Journey, OperaDelaware’s performances of “Black Horses” and “The Stronger” and Project Capoeira’s exciting Afro-Brazilian dances.

Tickets for individual performances are $10 or less, and all-access packages are available starting September 1, 2009.

See http://www.fringewilmingtonde.com/