Friday, March 31, 2006

Ellen Soffer's acrylic Blue Sound in West Edge Arts Co-op show at Marjorie Lyons Playhouse


blue sound
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
Members of the West Edge Artists' Co-op have installed a new art exhibit at MLP in conjunction with the current production, Boy Gets Girl, says Debbie Engle. The exhibit will be on display throughout the duration of the play, and may be viewed during regular business hours after the play closes.

The West Edge Artists' Co-op is a non-profit, comprehensive artists' collective in Shreveport, Louisiana. The co-op will open a gallery space at 725 Milam Street in May 2006. Exhibits/installations of local professional artworks are available through their Citywide Gallery Program. Call 318.221.6961 for more details, or email the co-op at weaco_op@yahoo.com.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Melody Moore steams her train into Java Junction, Fri, Mar 31, 7 pm; all ages

Java Junction's media maven, Cristal, says "Melody Moore will be playing tomorrow night at Java Junction from 7-9, instead of 8-10."

MELODY MOORE
www.myspace.com/melodymoore
Friday night, March 31
7-9 p.m.
FREE Show
ALL AGES!

BRIAN MARTIN
www.brianmartinmusic.com
www.myspace.com/brianmartin
Saturday night, April Fool's Day
8-11 p.m.
$3 Cover
ALL AGES!

"Don't miss Brian Martin!" says Aaron Butler. Cristal adds, "He's not from 'round here, so come see him at Java Juntion while he's in town."

Noids, Ghost Town Flood, Chris Alexander and friends at Mia's, 2109 Market St, Sat, Ap 1, 9 pm

Don't you love it that local youth are producing post-psychedelic posters for their gigs? This one's by the multi-talented Paul Garner of the Noids.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The Tuna Helpers, songster-comics from Austin, visit 846 Texas St, Shreveport, Th, Mar 30, 8 pm

minicine? hosts
The Tuna Helpers, of Austin, TX

"This is as much a music event as it is a theatrical performance," says the loqucious David Nelson.
"Two crazy sisters and their long lost third..."

Recommended for color and sound: http://www.thetunahelpers.org/

Thursday Mar 30
8 pm
846 Texas Avenue
$5

Please see http://www.swampland.org

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Star cellist Shauna Rolston previewed her mesmerizing style at Suzuki Music School; to perform with the SSO Sat, Ap 1, 7:30 pm, Civic Theater

The gleaming black cello cradled by Shauna Rolston sent rays of light across the Hurley Music Bldg. The Canadian cello star was playing a recital for Laura Crawford's Suzuki Music School students and parents at Centenary College. She was simultaneously creating a new and cool pathway in classical music.

After the performance, students gaped at the slick, synthetic-looking surface of her instrument. They eyed her ravishing smile. "Awesome," came to mind.

Rolston attacks cello like a dervish. What better way to top off her long black hair and black dress - trimmed with denim for this informal afternoon concert - than with a high-tech instrument? Vive la difference, indeed.

Rolston's web site, shaunarolston.com, brings you a classical star of the new order. Having sat at her feet and listened to her encyclopedic attack and enjoyed eye contact with her as she played, I must recommend her. She performs with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 pm Sat, Ap 1. See below for the straight stuff.

Shauna Rolston, cellist, to bow with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra in concert on Sat, Ap 1, 7:30 pm, Shreveport Civic Theater

The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra promises an evening of humorous classical music called “April Fools” at 7:30 PM on Sat, Apl 1 at Shreveport’s Civic Theatre, says director Kermit Poling.

Selections include Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, Mozart’s A Musical Joke, Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G Major (“Surprise”), and Grandma’s Aching Back. Grandma’s Aching Back was composed for the evening’s guest cellist, Shauna Rolston. It is based on children’s stories by Heinrich Hoffman of three small ones who misbehave.

Named a "Young Artist to Watch" by Musical America, celebrated cellist Shauna Rolston is considered one of the most compelling musicians of her generation. Described as impressive, fearless, and provocative, Rolston has been captivating audiences - worldwide - with her passion for music since the age of two, says her scintillating web site, shaunarolston.com.

Her CD “This is the Colour of My Dreams”, which features music by contemporary Canadian composers, won Best Classical CD at the 2002 West Coast Music Awards. Her most recent CD, “Shauna and Friends,” features arrangements of popular favorites for solo cello. Her latest video, “A Pairing of Swans,” with prima ballerina Evelyn Hart (directed by Veronica Tennant), was premiered at the 2004 International Moving Pictures Festival, and two of Shauna’s previous videos, “smokin f-holes” with Squeezeplay, and “Words Fail,” with dancer and choreographer Peggy Baker, are featured regularly on BRAVO.

Admission is $5 for students and higher for everyone else.

Tickets: the box office at (318) 227-TUNE (8863) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mon - Fri. The box office opens at 12:00 noon on concert days at the Civic Theatre.

PARKING: Limited valet parking is available at $3. A free shuttle will depart one time from Uptown Shopping Center at 6:15 p.m. A second free shuttle will depart from the AmSouth Bank parking garage located on the corner of Milam and Market Streets at 5:30 p.m. Both shuttles will continue to make pickups at the AmSouth garage every 10 minutes until concert time.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Analyzing the Stradivarius: science, music and history meet Tues, Ap 4 at Centenary College, 11 am


stradivarius
Originally uploaded by Alexandre Van de Sande.
Violin maker Dr. Joseph Nagyvary will present a talk on “The Chemistry Behind Stradivarius Violins” Tuesday, April 4, at Centenary College. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 11:10 a.m.-noon in the Hurley Music Building's Anderson Auditorium, says the college.

Dr. Nagyvary is a retired professor of biochemistry who has made and played violins for many years. He has worked to understand why violins made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari are such quality instruments, drawing from varied disciplines including music, history, physics and chemistry. Dr. Nagyvary believes he has uncovered one of Stradivari's secrets and has incorporated this discovery into the instruments he constructs. He will be assisted in the presentation by Kermit Poling, resident conductor of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, who will play on several instruments to demonstrate their tonal qualities.

The Northwest Louisiana Section of the American Chemical Society has helped fund Dr. Nagyvary's visit.

More info: Lisa Nicoletti at 318-869-5261.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Bluegrass, quilting, weaving, line dancing: down Home artists bring folk fun to Artspace, 710 Texas

From the gleam of the wood floors to the calming white walls of the restored building, Artspace remains a whaaaat experience in Shreveport. It is uptown. And it seems to offer something for everyone.

A plethora of folk artists and an array of down home activities is currently the focus of the accomodating SRAC staff. And parking, that nemesis of downtown comfort, is complimentary and safe at the Blue Scroll Mural lot across the street from Artspace.

Thur, Mar 23
6 pm - 8 pm
Cornrowing with Njeri Camara
And for the children...braiding rugs with Jane Heggen
$5.00 covers both activities



Fri, Mar 24
5:30 pm - 9 pm
Folk Film Festival; see details in an earlier SptBlog post, please.
$5.00



Sat, Mar 25
10 am - noon, and
2 pm - 3:30 pm
Weaving on Looms with Jane Heggen
$5.00

Sat, Mar 25
1 pm-- 6 pm
Bluegrass Jam
Free



Thur, Mar 30
4 pm - 8 pm
Quilting Bee with the
MLK Intergenerational Quilters' Club
also,
Storytelling with Myra Davis
6 pm - 8 pm

Textile Artist session with Kaye Reilly
And for the children:
Folk Line Dancing with Tarama Davenport
$5.00 covers all activities


Fri, Mar 31
4 pm-8 pm
Quilting Bee with the
MLK Intergenerational Quilters' Club
6:00 pm-8:00 pm
Storytelling with Myra Davis
Square Dancing with Marvin White, Caller
Domino Games with Wilbert Williams
$5.00 covers everything!


Sat, Ap 1
10 am-6 pm
Dominos Tournament
Free

Sat, Ap 1
10:30 am-12:00 noon & 2:00 pm-3:30 pm
Hands-On Activities: Collage Quilt Squares
with Jane Heggen
$5.00

Sat, Ap 1
1:00 pm-5:00 pm
Quilting Bee with the MLK Intergenerational Quilters' Club
Free

Sat, Ap 1
6:00 pm-8:00 pm
Folk Tales with
Shirley Henry and Thelma Harrison
$5.00

More: Artspace, 673-6535 or SRAC, 673-6500

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Red Dirt Roots: Folk art in North Louisiana, airs at Artspace Fri, Mar 24, about 6:30 pm, along with films All Rendered Truth and Honeysuckle

Artspace Film night, Fr, Mar 24, beginning at 5:30 pm:

5:30 All Rendered Truth, by Patrick Long and Scott Blackwell. This hour-long documentary captures some marvelously eccentric folk artists, mostly in Alabama and Georgia.
6:40 Red Dirt Roots: Folk Art in North Louisiana, is Robert Trudeau's 35-minute long documentary based on folk artists honored by Artspace. It's heavy on the music, featuring the infectious acoustic group Dirtfoot, as well as fiddlers & pickers, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers and rapper Allen Brown (Rocko).
7:15 Honeysuckle - The production is a dramatized autobiography of professional dancer William Cook as "Cotton," a young boy who grew up in rural Northwest Louisiana in the early 1940s.

$5
Artspace: 673-6535.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Clare Gormley, Met soprano, in Shreveport to sing Eliza in My Fair Lady, Sat, Mar 25, 7:30 pm, Shreveport Civic Theater

Shreveport Opera has My Fair Lady, Sat, Mar 25, at 7:30 p.m., says Eric Dillner. This musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion will present Metropolitan Opera soprano Clare Gormley as Eliza.

Conductor Dan Gettinger will give a pre-show talk at 6:30, says Jennifer Gallagher. Valet parking is available. A shuttle service is available from the AmSouth garage and the Uptown Shopping Center starting at 5:30. Call (318)227-9503 to purchase tickets.

Gormley is a global opera star and has her first record out. On the album Where Morning Lies she sings spiritual songs from, says her record company, her adopted homeland of America (she's from Oz), including songs by Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and Ned Rorem as well as Ricky Ian Gordon. Clare also sings traditional African American spirituals made famous in concerts by the likes of Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle.



The Times says the show will sell out. And City of Shreveport Water Department head Tad O. Joy claims responsibility for recent record-breaking crowds for symphony and opera performances in Shreveport. "We added a diploid enzyme to the filtration system that is called 'Culture Plus' in our industry," he said. "We'd never tried it before," he admitted, "but we got it cheap from the Crescent City when they were shut down. Sadly, we had to ship the remainder of the supply back to the Big Easy last week."

Said market meister Scott Green of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra: "Uh oh."

Monday, March 20, 2006

Judging for the Louisiana Film Fest underway: screenings & awards at Centenary College on Fri, Mar 31 & Sat, Ap 1


On the set of Departed.
Originally uploaded by Evan Lane.
Louisiana Film Fest schedule, according to lafilmfest.org . . .

Fri, Mar 31

3:00-4:30pm: Festival Check-In & Registration
3:30-4:30pm: Student Workshop: DIY Filmmaking, Chris Lyon, award-winning student filmmaker
4:30-5:15- Screening Session 1
5:30-6:30pm: Screening Session 2
6:30-7:30pm: Dinner Break
7:30pm: Joe screening with guest filmmaker Sasha Wolfe

Sat, Ap 1

9-10:30am: Festival Check-In & Registration
10:30-11:30am: Screening Session 3
11:30am-12:30pm: Screening Session 4
12:30-1:30pm: Lunch
1:30-2:30pm: Screening Session 5
2:30-3pm: Awards Ceremony
3-4pm: Student Workshop: How to Tell a Story Visually, Sasha Wolf
(followed by a casual chat: What is it like to work in the film and television industries?

Events at Kilpatrick Auditorium, the Smith Building, next to the gym alongside King's Hwy.
Park in the Centenary lot adjacent to Woodlawn & King's Hwy.
Info: Chris Jay, Robinson Film Center, 424-9090.

Mosquitosophagus plays on the deck at Java Junction, Fri, Mar 24, 8:30 pm


Eric Dean oil, 2004, Shreveport
Originally uploaded by trudeau.

"We will be playing outside, weather permitting," says artist-musician Eric Dean of the Mosquitosophagus show this Fri. "Java junction is on kings hwy across from Centenary. It's an all ages venue with coffee and a liquor license." Dean is joined by Pete Fetterman and Destiny Toro in his eclectic group.

Mosquitosophagus, experimental music with a considerable variety of instruments.
Fr, Mar 24
Java Junction, 8:30 pm.

$3

See more at myspace.com/mosquitosophagus and at myspace.com/javajunctionla

Saturday, March 18, 2006

The Big Positive, Shreveport, and Jetpack, Nashville, at Lil Joes, King's Hwy, Sat, Mar 18, 8 pm

John, on keyboards, and Steve, slinging guitar, founders of The Big Positive, are gifted harmonizers and, evidently, demented entertainers. They have been joined in recent times by Carter (aka dj jalapeno), bass, and Chadwick, ferocious drummer. I highly recommend sampling a bit of their recorded work at myspace.com/thebigpositive.

Sat, Mar 18, they are listed at Lil Joe's taverna, King's Hwy (myspace.com/liljoesbottleneck).

Also on the miserable little stage Mar 18 is a Nashville group, Jetpack (myspace.com/jetpack), who sound like a fast & furious batch of singing guitar whippers, if you ask me.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Montessori Art Auction Sat, Mar 18, 6 to 11 pm, S'pt Convention Hall

The Montessori School for Shreveport presents the 2006 Art Show & Silent Auction at the Shreveport Convention Hall, 400 Clyde Fant Parkway, Shreveport, LA, from 6 pm to 11 Sat, Mar 18.
Admission: $15.00

Sunday, March 19, 2006
Stand Up Sale / free Admission

The ticket price covers admission to the Art Exhibition, the Silent Auction of goods and services, hors d'oeuvres, and entertainment. There will also be a cash bar and live music. Benefits both the school and the artists, says Angie day, Head of School.

Above, the producers (from left): Angie day, April Sharlow, Jennifer Moorhead, Donna Walker and Shalinee Singh.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Irish music, gourd art, braiding, making toys, folk films; Artspace activities continue at 710 Texas St

Artspace Folk Art exhibit activities in the immediate offing . . .

Th, Mar 16, 7:30 pm
"Irish Twist"
Shreveport Symphony Orchestra woodwind quintet
$15 adults, $5.00 students: 222-7496.

Fri, Mar 17, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
St. Patrick's Day fun with the Conly's Irish Band
$5.00
The Conly's have been performing traditional Celtic music in the Shreveport-Dallas-Houston-Jackson
area for over twenty years. It's Bill Conly on guitar,
mandolin, bodhran, bazooki and lead vocals, Bob Jordan on lead guitar and banjo, and Betty Waddoups and Keith Waddoups on flute, penny whistle, bodhran and snare.
Cash bar.

Sat, Mar 18, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Folk games & toys; artist, Jane Heggen
$5.00
Bring the kids for "old timey family fun" with marbles, jacks, checkers, and make your own clothespin jar.

Sat, Mar 18, 10:00 am - noon
Fine Art Gourd Masterpiece Workshop with artist
Susan Breeland
$5.00

Learn the process of curing, carving, and painting a gourd into a unique piece of art with Susan
Breeland. Breeland's gourd creations are available for purchase in giftspace.

Thur, Mar 23, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Cornrowing with Njeri Camara
And for the children... Braiding rugs with Jane Heggen
$5.00 covers both activities

Learn the art of braiding "cornrows" from a veteran cornrow queen and community activist Njeri Camara. who began braiding hair at the
age of 16.

Fri, Mar 24, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
"Folk Film Festival"
$5.00

* All Rendered Truth by Shreveport natives Patrick Long & Scott Blackwell.
* The debut of a documentary showcasing the local Shreveport folk art scene by Shreveport artist and storyteller, Robert Trudeau.
* End the night with the encore presentation of the William (Bill) O. Cook film, Honeysuckle.

See more of Breeland's gourd art at nwlaartgallery.com.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Folksinger John Smith returns to Fairfield Studios, Shreveport, Tues, Mar 21, 7 pm

John Smith! Despite his name. Because of his marvelous name. He might as well be named Mister America, right?

Anyway, Smith is a savvy singer, songwriter and entertainer, according to Dana McCommon, the lapidary overseer of all things at Fairfield Studios. Smith proved himself, if there were any doubting Johns out there, in his prior visit to the intimate folksinger's stage at the boutique studio near the corner of fairfield and Jordan.

Tu, Mar 21, 7 pm
220-0400
reservations@fairfieldstudios.com

Paintings, photos, artful crafts at the Montessori Art Exhibition & Silent Auction, Sat, Mar 16, 6 to 11 pm, S'pt Convention Hall


ftthomsen1
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
The Montessori School for Shreveport 2006 Art Exhibition & Silent Auction will be held Sat, Mar 18th, from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. and Sun, Mar 19th, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Shreveport Convention Hall, says Donna Walker.

Proceeds from art sales will provide revenue for both the artists and the school. The art will be presented exhibition-style, with pieces being displayed in one of four galleries: Representational, Contemporary, Photography and 3-Dimensional/Craft.

Artists' Reception, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m: Meet the artists.

Illustrations of much of the art and info at msshreveport.org.

Roxie Randle, Milsaps U, says Happy 3.14, or Pi Day

Cookies and cupcakes frosted with the symbol for pi are not a bad idea, says the former CMHS student. Who knew a thespian would be so wild about math?

How did you celebrate this national covert holiday - which has had people so buzzed in math labs across the world??

Shreveport Celtic Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Gaelic Quintet to perform at Artspace Th, Mar 16, 7:30 pm / photo Neil Johnson

The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra's Woodwind Quintet will perform at 7:30 PM, Th, Mar 16 in ArtSpace - 710 Texas Street in downtown Shreveport.

“Folk Music with an Irish Twist,” features Sally Horak Hundemer – principal flute, Theresa Zale Bridges – principal oboe, Thomas Phillips – principal clarinet, Sara Scurry – principal bassoon, and Thomas Hundemer – principal Horn. Young flutist Eliza Rodriguez, an 8 th grade student at Caddo Middle Magnet, will join the Quintet with her penny whistle for a number called “Belfast Hornpipe,” says Kermit Poling.


Tickets: (318) 227-TUNE (8863)
$15
$5 for students with ID.
More at shreveportsymphony.com, including background on bassoonist Sara Scurry and flautist Eliza Rodriguez.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Down the rabbit's esophagus with artist Michael Harold: elastic ruminations from a fellowship award winner at azazaza.com


the rapture, by micah harold
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
If you think you know the nature and ruts of local artists, I must ask "How well do you know the work of Michael D Harold?" He's a quiet and supportive wild man, living above and below ground and in the digital ether, simultaneously.

This week Harold says,"I just launched a web site called www.azazaza.com that contains most of my writing (including 4 books, essays on virtual reality, global computing, transmedia poetics, etc.,) and annotated images of painting and sculpture that date from the early 80s to the late 90s."

There's much art - paintings and collage, electronic media, work by his friends and children (the illustration above is by his talented son, Michah) as well as writing of diverse and stimulating intrepidity. The site is colorful and elegant - a model to be enjoyed by artists and writers alike.

Awarded Shreveport's multi-disciplinary artist fellowship for 2005, Harold shows us an amazing body of work on this site. When you see his visual fluency as well as hear his tales of cyber intelliventure, you will, I think, agree with the jurors.

Probably more to be consumed transcontinentally than at home: azazaza.com.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Images by Rosebery & Goldthwaite in Artspace: Abandoned Shreveport under the lens; opens Fr, Mar 17, 6 pm


Heater & Bulb
Originally uploaded by mikerosebery.
Mike Rosebery and Charles Goldthwaite are booted miners. Crawling through weeds and windows while packing their cameras and lenses, these two newcomers to Louisiana have gone subterranean. Their broken-glass adventure has taken them past the veneer of sexy, big-box Shreveport. They've slithered into the shadows and taken the measure of abandoned Shreveport.

Some 50 of their photos will be displayed this month at Artspace. The reception for the opening of this intriguing show is Fr, Mar 17, 6 to 9 pm.

Park free at the Blue Scroll Mural lot.
Artspace: 673-6535.
More at mikerosebery.blogspot.com.

East Bank Theater frappily hacktures Wm Shkspr - abridged - Mar 17, 18, 19

“The Compleat Wks of Wllm Shkspr (abridged)” opened March 10 at East Bank Theatre with a three-man cast. The farce compresses all of William Shakespeare’s plays into a manic 90 minutes. Too, there's a 15-minute intermission.

Director Heather Peak Hooper promises "No moments of seriousness. That’s right. Even the tragedies – “Hamlet,” “Othello,” “Romeo and Juliet,” et. al. – get a send-up. In fact, “Hamlet,” gets the second half by itself. The play is, after all, considered Mr. S’s masterpiece."

Actors Pat Maxey, Nate Wasson and Michael Blake Powell are the Bard's servants.

From the opening use of composer Cole Porter’s “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” to the conclusion with the three actors playing “Hamlet” backward, the show tries not to miss a comedic trick, says Hooper. And at several points, the audience is brought into the play.

“The Compleat Wks of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) is scheduled at 8 p.m. March 17-18 and at 2 p.m. March 19 at East Bank Theatre, 630 Barksdale Blvd. in Bossier City. Tickets are $13 for adults and $11 for seniors, students and military.

Reservations: 741-8310.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Tom Hanks' Walking on the Moon movie at SciPort; opens Mar 18, IMAX Theater



Only 12 humans have walked on the moon. Beginning Saturday, March 18, you’re next, via SciPort’s IMAX Dome Theatre. Do it with Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon, says spacey walker Eric Gipson. It is an IMAX film narrated by award winning actor Tom Hanks.

With never before seen photographs, CGI renditions of the lunar landscape and previously unreleased NASA footage, Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon will transport you to the lunar surface to walk alongside the 12 extraordinary astronauts who have been there. Viewers will virtually experience what they saw, heard, felt, thought and did.

Magnificent Desolation will have a 3 month feature run, says Gipson. The March 18 through April 30 schedule:
Monday – Friday: Noon, 2:15 pm
Saturday: 11 am, 3 pm, 5 pm
Sunday: 3 pm, 5 pm

IMAX Ticket prices:

$ 8.50 General Admission
$ 7.00 Children (3-12), Seniors and Military
$ 6.00 Groups 15+

Info: (318) 424-3466, toll-free (877) 724-7678, or visit www.sciport.org.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Northwest Louisiana Artists' Triennial Competition display at Meadows Museum this month


Painter Jerry Wray
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
As you enter Meadows Museum you are greeted by a giant model of a red trailer truck - sort of a fantasy fire engine cum space vehicle - by Bennett Sewell. It is an anomaly in the show you are to see: the newly-opened NW Louisiana Artists' Triennial Competition. The Triennial is an exhibit of work by highly capable artists who seem united in pursuing the romantic and calming capture of things domestic. It is an alluring exhibit, if not an exciting one.

There are two Sewells in the show. Bennett's brother Patrick Sewell offers a painting and a "found wood stone sculpture." He has proven himself at Bistineau Gallery and in other displays an insightful practitioner of this primitive-canny form of construction.

The paintings of nationally-recognized artist Albino Hinojosa, associated with Louisiana Tech, are among many elegant pieces of art in the Triennial.

Jerry Wray's painting of a magus represents a new direction for her brush, she said. Young artists James Borders and Callie Baldwin also add vigor to the room via sketches and mixed media pieces.

Some 36 artists are represented in the Triennial. Upstairs are landscapes by Meg Harder, the New York artist who curated the Triennial. Also on display are Standard Works by North Carolina Artists.

869-5169

Shreveport Little Theater's To Kill A Mockingbird: competent cast, tight direction and a diminutive star, Haley Evans

Shreveport Little Theater's production of To Kill A Mockingbird is a righteous, emotional piece of work. It's the sins-of-our-fathers night at SLT when a group of doctors, lawyers and students come together on stage to testify about our past.

While it amusing at times to hear actors with Louisiana accents trying valiantly to adopt the Alabama form of drawl, the production is marked by tight direction and cross-cast competency.

I could not help but imagine that a star is being born in the form of Scout Finch, as played by Eden Gardens School 4th grader Haley Evans. She is animated, sensitive to her lines and seemingly unflappable.

From Jim Cowles' caricature of a cracker to Henry Walker's gravid Atticus, the production brings us vivid stereotypes. Also notable are Thelma Harrison as Calpurnia and Tyler Krieg as Jem.

Director Bobby Darrow is leading Shreveport Little Theater into the new century with a successful plan that mixes entertainment and art.

Tickets and schedule for this mostly-sold out show:
shreveportlittletheater.org
424-4439

A new point of view re the shotgun houses of Allendale: an artists' community

Artists' community in Allendale?

Abandoned, vacant houses beckon to visionaria like musician-producer Ron Hardy. "Those houses have been empty for 2 to 3 years. People who want to play and create a new community - this is a place to do it."

If you like the idea of gathering your hearty creative gang in a block-busting arena, say hello to Hardy at Artspace, Fri, Mar 10, 6 to 9 pm. It's a cd release party for Hardy's R N B / hip hop album and a new rap cd from a Shreveporter named Rocko.

Talk to Hardy - who knows the neighborhood of which he speaks, since he lives on Hope St near Milam - at 424-9297.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Testifying hip hop from Ron Hardy & groovebuds: cd release party at Artspace Fri, Mar 10, 6 to 9 pm

One of the busiest artists in Shreveport, Ron Hardy is a singer, percussionist, songwriter and producer. This week he brings a new album to Artspace for a debut. The cd release party is Fri, Mar 10, from 6 to 9 pm.

Rap and r & b and the spoken voice of Hardy, aka Tarumbae, fill the album. No banging by the outlaws on this one. The bass notes will make your car ring like a New York bell, but you will find a righteous voice atop the steel.

The Ron Hardy sonic team is a highly effective group. Stanley Robinson is chief musician and is responsible for vocals, keyboards, bass drum and sequencing. With these solid tracks Robinson proves himself a local supastar, if a quiet one.

Young Budd rips tracks with smooth rapping and melodic turns, as well. Rocko is a reformed Angola veteran who sings both on this album and on his own new cd, also available Fri at Artspace.

The hottest track on the Hardy cd may be the one sung by the rapper Shedd. It is a politcal critique called simply America.

Hardy's collection is perfect for a party. But because he's a deep musician, there is thought and care in each bouncing track. The cd is called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and is a righteous hip hop disk.


More of Hardy's musicians: Daryl Mims, guitar; AJ Cascio, harmonica; Michael Cascio, guitar; Makalani Jones, trumpet; Dan Garner, guitar; and Andre Caston, high hat. The background vocal platoon includes Jamal hall, Miller Kennedy, Tamela Burks, Clevonda Lee, Robert Gibson, Tracey Turner, Linda Jamison and Barabara Norton.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Texas St video night: Canadian Astria Suparak in Shreveport with touring experimental films

Quantum Leaps”:
Microdot Microcinema at Minicine? by Chris Jay

“Quantum Leaps,” a touring experimental film exhibition curated by Astria Suparak, visited David Nelson’s minicine? venue Tuesday night, presenting a showcase of recent works from filmmakers who color outside of the lines, off of the page, and into a different universe. Suparak, who has curated shows involving the likes of Miranda July and Cat Power for venues like Brooklyn’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, introduced “Quantum Leaps” as an attempt to explore definitions of sex.

But films like “Nugglies” (a flash animation involving flying neon pianos, something like what would happen if Lisa Frank designed an Aphex Twin video) and “Yoga Deathmatch” (Jim Munroe’s machinima meditation on the karmic cycle as represented by first-person shooter video games) seemed like good, clean fun. If there was a unifying theme of sex, it was lost on me, as my eyes took the wheel while my brain fell asleep in the passenger’s seat.

In fact, the lack of an easily-identified, neatly-packaged theme is exactly what I love about minicine? The first image that appeared on the screen following Astria’s introduction was a flash-animated, disembodied owl’s head that duplicated itself several times and spun off into a .JPEG of space. It’s that kind of party at minicine?, and that’s why I go. For the duration of these screenings, the viewer is allowed to stop trying to make sense of what s/he is experiencing, because there’s often no sense to be made.

Not all of the pieces included in “Quantum Leap” are small, fun morsels of insanity. There were more reflective, thought-provoking pieces in the showcase as well. These include Caroline Koebel’s “I Want to Have Your Baby,” a very intimate series of confessions of love, and Seth Price’s funny/poignant “Folk Music & Documentary,” during which a counter culture stereotype simply repeats to the camera the words that are shouted at him by someone off-camera. The flying neon hot dogs of “Taco Monde” were fun, but these two films made “Quantum Leaps” memorable.

You can view still frames from “Quantum Leaps” at:
http://www.astriasuparak.com/quantumleaps.htm

“Yoga Deathmatch” can (and should) be viewed at:
http://www.yogadeathmatch.com

Chris Jay is a writer, a filmmaker, and a hip-hop artist living and loving in Shreveport, Louisiana.

M-C, globe-cupping designer/photographer/videoblogger, to follow polyglot auteurs at Austin's SXSW

M-C is based in Montreal but she trips round the world pursuing the digital arts. Her life is a neat trick; it seems mostly to comprise hanging in expansive rock clubs, shooting photos & video and speaking to sundry web-oriented conferences.

She was one of the 6 videobloggers chosen to provide coverage of SXSW, says her blog, whixh is reached via http://www.mcturgeon.com/

As a person who's been following her artful peregrinations for some time I'm looking forward to her views, whether photographically or videowise.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Need a shot of grunge with a chaser of pop? Centenary College has Better Than Ezra & The Terms Fr, Ap 21

Centenary College and Fighting Squirrel Productions will sponsor a concert featuring Better Than Ezra and The Terms Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in the Centenary Gold Dome, says the college's PR office.

They call Better Than Ezra a grunge-pop band. Founded in New Orleans, the trio migrated to Los Angeles in the early 1990s. Their popularity boomed in 1995 with their bad single, "Good." The latest album, "Before the Robots," was released in 2005.

Opening the show will be Baton Rouge-based band The Terms, who "play in the alternative rock style." Their 2005 album, "Small Town Computer Crash," follows themes of postmodernism, says their creative director.

Fighting Squirrel Productions is a student-led organization at Centenary.

Tickets for the concert - $15 - go on sale to the public Wednesday, March 15, at www.centenarytickets.com.
More: 318-869-5117.

Louisiana Campaign for Smoke Free Living supporting concert series


Topaz, June, Jason.
Originally uploaded by Rich Anderson.

An item from nola.com says "Republic New Orleans, in association with the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living, will host the first show in a series of monthly concerts to promote and cater to smoke-free lifestyles on Friday March 10th. Papa Grows Funk will perform for the concert portion of the night, and DJ Quickie Mart (a former Shreveporter) will perform during the after-party."

There are probably a dumpster load of Shreveporters who'd like to see smoke-free concerts. Nothing against ailing New Orleans, but where's the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living money hiding in this half of the state?

Monday, March 06, 2006

Quantum leaps: an evening of new video at minicine, 846 Tex, Tues, Mar 7, 8 pm


clockwork zygote
Originally uploaded by mappamundi.


Astria Suparak will screen a curated selection of new video work at mincine?, 846 Tex, says David Nelson. The program Quantum Leaps includes work by a dozen artists.

"Quantum leap", a physics term deriving from the mid 1900s indicating significant and swift advances (originally via a sudden shift in energy within an atom), became the title of an early 1990s American television series featuring a time travelling, body-swapping, do-gooder scientist. In 2006 this inspirational screening of new video follows suit, cataloguing heroes, compressing history, and hallucinating futures.

We are in a hyperdated time populated by minor celebrity comebacks and movie remakes, soundtracked by mash-ups and remixes, and backdropped by vintage/old school/retro simulacra, says Suparak. Artists now are as inspired by history they weren’t quite conscious for as by their lived experiences. Here it is possible to amalgamate eras, to break out of social and gender constraints, and to cobble together a fantasy lineage. Many of the artists bypass ineffectual adoration for social edification, by documenting communities, reincarnating overlooked experimental films, sharing Communist souvenir collections, assembling biographies of personal heroes, and dispatching personal visions of history through the storytelling tradition, says the curator.

Suparak is an artist who also curates for museums, festivals, and bands, including PS1 Contemporary Art Center, The Liverpool Biennial, Kurtzfilmtage Oberhausen, Yale University, and Anthology Film Archives. She brings experimental film and video art to non-institutional venues such as skating rinks, ships, sports bars, churches and elementary schools. Her work can be seen in numerous publications, streets, and collections. Suparak currently resides in Canada.

Tue, Mar 7 / minicine? / 846 Texas Avenue / 8PM / $5 Donation
More at swampland.org

NYC downtown experimental blues & noise rockers hit Shreveport's minicine Tues, Mar 14, en route to Austin's SXSW

On their way to perform at SXSW in Austin and fresh from the Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh) and the CAC in Nashville are Jonathan Kane, Rhys Chatham and Tony Conrad and bands. Evidently it will be a bit like Warhol and entourage on the road, inasmuch as they carry connections to Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca and the Velvet Underground. In Shreveport they will stop at minicine, 846 Texas, Tues, Mar 14.

From Jonathan Kane's new myspace.com site:

Jonathan Kane is a Downtown NYC legend -- as co-founder of the no-wave behemoth Swans, and the rhythmic thunder behind the massed-guitar armies of Rhys Chatham and the rock excursions of La Monte Young -- and one of the hardest-hitting drummers on the planet.

With his solo work, Kane summons Swans' concussive wallop, Chatham's dense guitar strata, and the perpetual propulsion of 70s krautrockers Neu, then steers it all head-on into... the blues. Make no mistake about it: Kane is a bluesman, and beneath the high-decible bombast, he's powering guitar-driven minimalism into the blues, and the blues into guitar-driven harmonic maximalism. So roll with Jonathan Kane down his Highway 61 of the mind -- it's the shape of blues to come.

Says record company, Table of the Elements, about Rhys Chataham:

In the 1970s, New York composer Rhys Chatham altered the DNA of rock,
marshaling massed-guitar "armies" and fusing
overtone-drenched minimalism with the fury of punk rock. His work prefigured No Wave and cast a huge influence over the work of his proteges,
including Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth. Performing this material for the first time in two decades, this Downtown NYC icon revisits those glorious years in
the life of a city and a milieu in which the raw, the sophisticated and the danceable merged.

I'm listening to Kane's work at myspace.com/jonathankane and it's quite listenable minimalist blues.

Tues, Mar 14, $10
846 Texas Avenue
More at swampland.org and from producer David Nelson.

Friday, March 03, 2006

James LeBlanc, Shreveport to Muscle Shoals studios, Java Junction Sat, Mar 4, with son Dylan

"I didn't know who he was, really," exclaimed Java Junction owner Lee Bamberg about guitarist James LeBlanc. "But people kept pouring in to see this guitarist and his son. It was one of our best crowds ever. He's a phenomenal player."

Dyland & james LeBlanc
Saturday, March 4
8-11 p.m.
No cover
All Ages

Java Junction's Cristal Wilcox says, "Come Saturday for a family affair with accomplished Nashville songwriter, James LeBlanc, and his mega-talented son, Dylan. James has written for all sorts of famous folk, including Rascal Flats, Reba, and many others and he's goood! His son Dylan can straight up play. Needless to say, talent is flowing through this family, some come grab an earful of it Saturday."

www.myspace.com/javajunctionla

The Three Tenors with the SSO, Sat, Mar 4, 7:30 pm, Shreveport Civic Theater

The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in association with Monica Robinson Ltd. will present an evening of Broadway music called “The Three Phantoms TM ” at 7:30 PM on Saturday, March 4 at Shreveport ’s Civic Theatre. Singers featured in “The Three Phantoms TM ” are Craig Schulman – tenor, Cris Groenendaal – baritone, and Kevin Gray - baritone. Each actor has played the role of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. Under the baton of resident conductor Kermit Poling, selections for the evening include favorites from Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me Kate, Company, Paint Your Wagon, Nine, Secret Garden, Man of La Mancha, Jekyll & Hyde, Sweeney Todd, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, and The Phantom of the Opera.

See more at http://shreveportsymphony.com/

Winners in the SSO Luxury raffle will be announced. Last call for ticket sales at $100 each. Info: 227-8863.

Visual Arts Company show at La St Exhibit Building; reception Fr, Mar 3, 6 pm


Brittany Skillern
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
Visual Arts Company is having an art show and reception at the LA State Exhibit Museum Fr, Mar 3, from 6-8pm, says painter LaShea Britain. "The show looks really great, and is the largest one we have had so far," says the senior art major from LSU Shreveport. She and classmate Brittany Skillern have assembled the Visual Arts Company mostly from art major classmates.

VAC has shown at Marjorie Lyons Playhouse and the Renenwal Center, says ms Brittain.

See more at http://www.lashea.blogspot.com/ and at http://www.sec.state.la.us/museums/shreve/shreve-index.htm.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Inexpensive way to enjoy downtown Shreveport Fri, Mar 3: outdoor movie presented at Riverview Park by Robinson Film Center, 7 pm



"Movies & Moonbeams," an outdoor cinema program featuring family-friendly films projected on a huge inflatable screen with theater-quality picture and sound, will return Friday, March 3, in downtown Shreveport's Riverview Park with “Back To The Future”. Screening will begin at dark - around 7 p.m, says Clare France. The park is located on the Red River near Sci-Port. The program is meant to provide unique, low-cost entertainment opportunities for area families.

Presented by The Robinson Film Center, SPAR, and Shreveport Green, the program debuted to an audience of more than 400 in November of 2005.
Admission: $1.00.
Concession stand food.
Learn more about at www.moviesandmoonbeams.org

Robinson Film Center: (318) 424-9090

Clementine Hunter: 18 of her works on display at Artspace; gallery talk Sat, mar 4, 2:30


Clementine Hunter
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
At Artspace this week, activities inspired the Folk Art exhibit:

Thursday, Mar 2
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm & 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Tatting
Tillie Linscomb
And for the children....
Big Loom Weaving
Jane Heggen
$5.00, both activities

Tillie Linscomb, cowgirl, rodeo competitor, and tatting extraordinaire will offer two tatting workshops.

Fri, Mar 3, 6:00 pm - 8:00
"Where the Red Fern Grows"
Filmmaker, Jim McCullough, Jr.
$5.00

Do you know "Where the Red Fern Grows"? Do you know that a Shreveport filmmaker produced this quintessential right of passage film? Come and meet filmmaker Jim McCullough, Jr., who is best known for his work on the family
classic, "Where the Red Fern Grows." He also wrote the "Four Hat Solution" on creative problem solving, "The Heart Attack Myth," and "Why God is Democrat: In Her Own Words."

Sat, Mar 4, 10:30 am - 12:00 noon & 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Hands-On Activity: Pinch Clay Pots with Stuart Orchard
$5.00
Stuart is an Arts in Education Residency Artist in Caddo Schools and through the ArtSmart after school Educational program.

Sat, Mar 4, 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
"Gallery Talk: Clementine Hunter Artworks"
Thomas N. Whitehead
Free

Take a stroll through 18 original works by Clementine Hunter with the
region's foremost authority on the life and works of Hunter, Thomas N. Whitehead, co-author, "Clementine Hunter: The African House Murals."


Sat, Mar 4, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
"Folk Art Is..."
Dr. John Vlach
Free

Internationally acclaimed for his work in folk art and architecture, especially African American material culture, John Vlach is a professor of
American Studies and director of the Folklife program at George Washington University. His ten books include Plain Painters: Making Sense of American Folk Art, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, By the Work of Their Hands: Studies in Afro-American Folklife, Back of the Big House: The Architecture of Plantation Slavery, The Planter's Prospect: Privilege and Slavery in Plantation Paintings, and Barns.

Sat, Mar 4, 6:00 pm - Reception
7:00 pm - Honeysuckle Film Fest
$5.00

Bring your family, friends, and kinfolks! Join William (Bill) O. Cook, author; Candy Peavy, Producer; D. J. Harmon, Composer; Richard Folmer,
Narrator; and the cast and crew of the original Shreveport production, Honeysuckle.
Honeysuckle is a filmed version of the live musical production, Honeysuckle, which was staged at Shreveport's Performing Arts Center in 1998. The
production chronicles the dramatized the autobiography of professional dancer, William O. Cook, as "Cotton," a young boy who grew up in rural NW La in the early 1940s. He lived in a plantation setting that had not changed much since the Civil War days. Racial issues and personal
triumph are celebrated through music, dance and hilarity.

Sun, Mar 5, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Sunday Gospel Lunch
Ever Ready Gospel Singers
$25 - Advance Reservations

Peach Tea, Soul Food and soulful Gospel Music by the famous Ever Ready Gospel Singers. This style of music is called Southland Gospel and is distinguished by blended four part harmonies over foot stomping, hand slapping and sometimes a guitar "rapping" in the background. The vocals
flow in an intricate diversity that ranges from hallowed tones to majestic power.
(Advance reservations; $25 for lunch and entertainment.)

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

EverReady Gospel Singers headline Gospel Brunch at Artspace Sun, Mar 5, 1 to 3 pm


20040710_23-17-43.jpg
Originally uploaded by BrianBush.
Is there any more rocking example of folk art than that offered by a powerful gospel group? Is there a better way to cleanse the mind than by hand clapping, shouting and testifying along with the voices of gospel music?

"Artspace is hosting a Sunday, March 5th, Gospel Brunch featuring the EverReady Gospel Singers, from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm," says SRAC chef Pam Atchison. "This is a seated brunch, with delicious food, and tickets are $25 each, and I'd like to sell 150 of them," continued Tyler Pecora, Folk Art exhibition agent.

Dress: you can certainly garb with flair for this event.

Info: call Karen or Chammie or Jennifer (673-6500 or 673-6506) to reserve your seats.