What a weekend! I tried to get to everything. my shoedazzle.com-adorned feet sure are tired!
First up: Wilmington's Art on the Town on Friday, with great weather and an amazing artist roster. My evening favorite: Yakime Akelá Brown at the Grand Opera House, whose work was described as "colorful, eclectic and textural". They weren't kidding. His sizable works were a profusion of color and strong brush & palette strokes. More than once I sneaked over to touch a piece, so I could feel the energy he created. Also of note: Milton Downing's abstract acrylics at CCAC; Katlyn Cofranciso's wild ceramic work at Red Mohawk that made me cackle out loud; and Randy Ciurlino's digital photography at DCAD's faculty exhibit. It was a melancholy end of Loop, however, as we enjoyed the last show at Red Mohawk Gallery, simultaneously recognizing its 1-year anniversary. Although "the Cool has left the City", the Mohawk promises he himself won't be far away. He'll return periodically to host shows and keep his brand of energy alive in Wilmo. For now, please join me a in a moment of silence—with your fist in the air.
Next, as we soberly honored September 11, we also celebrated the good and the right, heralding the return of the Brandywine Arts Festival. Resurrected by Barry Schlecker and a host of artists and business supporters, the Fest couldn't have asked for a better welcome back: the aisles were packed with visitors, new artists and veteran favorites, in addition to excellent food & drink and a non-profit area that saw great traffic. Among my Artist notables (no in particular order): Mitch Lyons, Joy Davis (Joy Davis Designs), Rick Phillips, Jim Sprinkle, Jannine Lavner (Pick Me jewlery), Erin McNichol, Adopt-A-Bot, Eunice LaFate, Leah Van Rees, and Colleen Zufelt. But there were so many others! Hope you got to check it out.
To close the weekend, I attended Serafin String Quartet's CD Release & Send-Off Party, hosted at Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories in nearby West Grove, PA. It was a veritable Who's Who of Delaware Music, with David Schelat, Grant Youngblood, Mark Hagerty, Brian Stone, and Julie Nishimura among the attendees. The Serafins (violinists Kate Ransom & Timothy Schwarz, violist Ana Tsinadze and cellist Lawrence Stomberg) performed beautifully, as always. I do love to watch Ana play; she displays both intensity and gentle grace in performance. She introduced their first piece, Sachidao, as a "wrestling folk song" from the Republic of Georgia, composed in 1947 by Sulkhan Tsintsadze as part of his Three Miniatures for string quartet. (Tsindaze herself also hails from Georgia.) The short, lively piece was a great opening selection, highlighted with plucking violin strings. They followed with Amazing Grace, by Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning composer Jennifer Higdon. They closed their performance with two movements from Sanzas de Panama for String Quartet by William Grant Still, from the current CD. The first was in a Spanish style and the second an African style, which began with "drum sounds" from the ensemble tapping on their instruments and ended in a fervent jaunt. The Quartet is off to their September 25 premiere in London, but will return to open the Calvary Community Series on October 10. Their CD is available at www.centaurrecords.com.
We offer suggestions for arts lovers to discover (and re-discover) established and emerging artists, musicians and performers in and around Delaware. Although we particularly like to celebrate smaller arts organizations and individuals, we cover nearly anything that strikes us or that we feel you should know about. Periodically, we welcome guest bloggers and artists to join us.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
DAIB Takes a Bite of The Fringe
Fashion and food at Bite of The Fringe. Photo: Jessica Graae |
Cakes from Copper. Photo: Jessica Graae |
No time to linger over cocktails and cupcakes -- the show got rolling with the trailer for "In 200 Words or Less," a film about looking for love online (and in Delaware) by Mauro Giuffrida, which will be playing at Theatre N during the festival. Next up, an engaging live performance by Lary Moten, written by Ed Shockley. Going solo for the night, Moten transported viewers back to the day after the Montgomery Bus Boycott started, in a short piece highlighting the indignities, hope and dark humor.
Cakes by Cupcake Kaboom! Photo: Jessica Graae |
Last year's 24-hour Extreme Film Festival will be a little different this year: filmmakers will have 48 hours to complete their submissions from script to post-production, but, like last year, will be assigned a mystery prop, location, line of dialog and genre. We screened one of last year's winning entries, the crowd-pleasing "Predators in Pink" (see all of last year's winners here). The short horror-comedy, like all of last year's entries, featured the fuschia feather boas that decorated the room.
Eddy Seger took the stage for a snippet of his one-man storytelling show, recounting his nearly two-month solo adventure canoeing the Estella Dawn the entire length of the Mississippi River. City Theater Company, Delaware's "Off-Off Broadway" theater, offered the short two-person scripted piece "From A to Z" by George Tietze, featuring a fighting couple attempting to communicate with the aid of actor improv games.
The fashion show finale. Winning piece, "My Fringy Lady," on the far left. Photo: Holly Quinn |
The night was capped off with the extreme fashion show everyone had been waiting for, and it didn't disappoint. Artists created fashion with everything from recycled Juxtapoz magazines to balloons (and more than a little duct tape!). Models wearing the creations of artists including Joe Sielski, Sara Crawford (Anara Originals), Jeni Barton, David Sanchez (Spaceboy Clothing), Mike Dodson, Reverend Eleven and Queen B, and JulieAnne Cross strutted the room one at a time, each a work of fringy-funky art. In the end, the winner of the night's fashion show was Joe Sielski, with his "My Fringy Lady" piece, inspired by "My Fair Lady" and featuring a wild, towering hat topped in large paper lanterns, accessorized with a Goodwill jacket and a gauzy skirt. We loved all of the fashions, and hope to see this event return next year!
Tickets for the Fringe Wilmington festival are on sale now at www.fringewilmingtonde.org.
-Holly Quinn with Jessica Graae
-Holly Quinn with Jessica Graae
Monday, August 30, 2010
Artists and Neighbors Gather Around the Fountain
Born Sisters performing at the Around the Fountain festival in Cool Springs Park. Photo: Carey Corbin |
Set up in the semi-circle in front of the Cool Springs fountain, musical acts Born Sisters, Sean Dougherty (a guitar teacher at The Grand) and former Montana Wildaxe member Chip Porter and Friends entertained the neighbors as they strolled the arts-lined sidewalks and seated on the outdoor bandstand's steps.
Jewelry by Gimme Faith Design at the Around the Fountain Festival in Cool Springs Park. Photo: Carey Corbin |
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