Pick of the July Art Loop

The first stop was at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts where very few studios were open. The Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition was still worth the visit. My favorite of the Duets (partnered works by each artist) was a large object photographed into the sun by John Schlesinger of Philadelphia. I had not consciously looked for its partnered work and it took me a long time to realize that a lone Styrofoam cup with holes burned in microcrystalline wax was the ‘large object’. Perspective made the cup look gigantic in the photograph and created the intriguing pairing.


The charcoal drawings by Edgar Jerins (top) in the Beckler Family Members’ Gallery were captivating. Jerins’ drawings are rich, real and full of detail and perspective that make you feel you are in the picture with the people he portrays. You can almost hear some of them sigh.


The artists in residence, Jung-A Woo and Hoyun Son, who had each studied at the Chicago Art Institute, presented their plans for a five-week project in residence with the DCCA, the Latin American Cultural Center, and the Delaware Horticultural Center. Their Movable Feast – a study in food and culture – will explore how food affects culture and art. They will show the final product at the August Art Loop.


The Louis L Redding Gallery had lively and imaginative portrayals of African American life and music by Michael Angelo Wallace, a native of Philadelphia. With vivid colors, Wallace goes from almost cartoon-like images of church to Biblical exegeses and back to cubist and surreal images doubling as outlines musical instruments (Ornithology, lower image). Top that off with cool jazz in the background and delicious snacks by Copper Café and my hat goes off to Jeni Barton for planning a great evening.


See www.WilmingtonDE.gov/artloop
See www.mangeloart.com
See www.jerins.com

Jazz Fest Recap

By Chuck Holdeman, Guest Blogger

Chuck is a regional composer of lyrical, contemporary classical music, including opera, orchestral music, songs, chamber music, music for film, and music for educational purposes. www.chuckholdeman.com

I caught two notable events on the last day of this summer's Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington.  Having a daughter and her son in tow, we all went for a delightfully free visit to Wilmington's impressive "new" Queen Theatre for the 1:00pm show by JazzReach performing Hangin' with the Giants, aimed at children from Kindergarten to 4th Grade.  I speculated with my grandson Carl about what kind of giants we might encounter, but indeed these were Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk. (What!! no John Coltrane?? ...Well, he was mentioned.) 

These giants were portrayed by cartoon characters, appearing on a movie screen over the heads of the six musicians, their well-mimicked speaking voices timed via PowerPoint, which only crashed once (later to resume).  Duke Ellington periodically consumed various flavored ice-cream cones.  It was explained: "He was so cool he was ice-cold; he could even keep ice cream in his pockets."  The MC was the vocalist of the sextet; he had a cue-book to keep him on script, although there were amusing incidents of improvisation---he really made hay when the PowerPoint projection accidentally froze.  In almost every tune---the order was the chronology of the composer/giants---there was audience participation.  Our MC strolled through the audience with his cordless mic, giving almost everyone, parent and child alike, a chance to respond with, for example, "salt peanuts, salt peanuts." It was an excellent band with two saxes, the vocally astute MC plus piano, bass and drums.  The JazzReach website describes a Brooklyn-based ensemble with a floating personnel list.

Saturday evening, we caught the Rufus Reid set.  We enjoyed it, but I could not help wondering if much of the material was better suited to an intimate club rather than an heavily amplified, crowded outdoor setting.  (Although, it was great to see Rodney Square absolutely full of enthusiasts on a lovely evening with plenty of tempting good [and also junk] food for sale!)  Rufus is a bass player from north Jersey, an accomplished and polished veteran, and we heard plenty of bass solos, mellow stuff.  The last tune in the set was quite memorable; an intense, up-tempo tune with a very long angular head, brilliantly manipulated by his sax, trumpet and rhythm section.

Chapel Street Actor wins National Competition

DEartsinfo congratulates Chapel Street Players and Patrick Cathcart.

Patrick Cathcart won the top prize for lead actor in the American Association of Community Theatre competition. Cathcart played Edward Albee's crazy character, Jerry, who both horrifies and

fascinates Peter, the quiet businessman played by Brian Turner.

The one-act was directed by Andrew Mitchell for Chapel Street Players and won the Delaware State competition and then the Eastern States Theatre Association festival before taking the show to the national level.

This was Delaware's first national theatre prize!