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
Friday, March 10, 2006
Shreveport Little Theater's To Kill A Mockingbird: competent cast, tight direction and a diminutive star, Haley Evans
Shaylen Braggs, the phenomenal Haley Evans, Tyler Krieg, Henry Walker & Thelma Harrison
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.)
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
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.
"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.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Bill Joyce NewYorker cover image on Katrina bumped by the Cheney shooting incident
KATRINARITA GRAS
by
William Joyce
My wife was going to a 12th night party dressed as Hurricane Katrina. Her hair was styled in great swooping whirls. Her dress was a hoop-skirt wrapped in black netting and festooned with dozens of tiny houses, cars and other stormy ephemera.
A friend of mine (whose whereabouts since the hurricanes I was unsure of until I saw her on Christmas Eve) explained that it’s generally accepted that people in New Orleans will burst spontaneously into tears during even the most cursory conversations.
“Any little thing will trigger it,” she said. “I mean you say hello and you’ll get sobs. But everyone knows to just be quiet for a minute and it’ll pass.” Then she added with that cheerful, attractive insolence so common to New Orleanians. “I add 15 minutes of “cryin’ time” to everything. Goin’ the grocery store takes forever. There are more tears than in Tolstoy.”
Like my wife’s dress this line got a laugh. It had to.
It’s glad/sad time down here. Glad you’re alive. Sad about everything else. If you can’t laugh about it, baby you are toast.
There’s been some controversy about having Mardi Gras this year. That it is somehow inappropriate given the scale of the recent tragedy and disaster.
The punch line to that misguided sentiment is that Mardi Gras is a celebration actually devoted to being inappropriate in a community that has courted disaster since the day it was founded.
You don’t build a city on land that sits below sea level and is surrounded by water and not expect to get soggy at some point. It is a geographical crap-shoot well understood by New Orleanians and Mardi Gras is part of their gallant disregard for that particular and unpleasant reality.
It’s one of their ways of laughing at doom.
The history of Mardi Gras is so deep, vast and strange, that it’s difficult to encapsulate. Starting hundreds of years ago with the shepherds of Arcadia and detouring through most of the more interesting cities in history it has always been steeped in sin and redemption.
The Romans. The Greeks. The Catholics. They’ve all put in their two bits of paganism or piety.
But it’s fitting somehow that much of Mardi gras pomp and plumage would evolve from the carnivals of Venice, that other impossible city at odds with time and tide.
And for all this historical pedigree there’s still something very childish about Mardi Gras.
If you are exposed to it as a kid you will never be quite like other people. How could you be?
You’ve watched an entire adult population, your parents, your aunts and uncles, your teachers or your school principles; all your authority figures, suddenly transform into Poseidon, or Mae West or a cross-dressing Santa Claus. Everyday life becomes an overnight Technicolor fever dream. Schools close. The daily schedule is thrown out for a new schedule of parties and parades that become an unending delirium where it’s not inconceivable but in fact highly likely that you might look out the den window at any given moment and see several dozen men and women dressed as Yogi Bear drift nonchalantly by in a papier-mâché galleon.
It’s like somebody knocked over the TV set and cartoons came spilling out.
For those of us who grew up in Louisiana, ”The Wizard of Oz” was like a documentary. Dorothy left Kansas and simply went to Mardi Gras.
Talking trees and wicked witches seemed perfectly normal if you’ve seen your librarian walking down St. Charles dressed in a gorilla suit and a set of woman’s breasts complete with blinking neon nipples.
As a result we tend to grow up with a keen sense of life’s absurdity and a healthy regard for the curative potential of fun.
And there is no fun quite like a Mardi Gras parade. Its epic silliness can be very seductive. It is one of the marvels of modern man that the quest for giving or catching cheap plastic beads can lead people of every temperament to engage in behavior that is singularly, perhaps historically ridiculous.
Not that I’m a pillar of normalcy but I do pay taxes and manage to mingle in polite society occasionally, yet I once led an organization, called the Mystik Knights of Mondrians Chicken. In homage to the great painter we rode in a giant cube shaped chicken, wore costumes the color of yolks and threw egg shaped beads, while white helium balloons were periodically released from a hole in the chicken’s ass.
After three years with this same float we were told by the parades organizers that we would have to change our design. The Novelty of our cubist chicken had apparently worn off. It just wasn’t weird enough anymore.
There are people, ordinary both feet on the ground people who, during Mardi Gras sport titles like The Lord of Misrule or the Abbot of Unreason.
It’s all so perfectly foolish. And essential.
It fills some vast human need to, however briefly, be something else, a satyr, a god, or anything deliciously forbidden. You simply don a mask and give in to enchantment, desire or foolhardy joy.
This year’s Mardi Gras will be the most surreal of all. Never has the gaiety confronted so grim a reality. The walls of rubble, the vanished neighborhoods, and the memory of the city from before the storm haunt every street.
But Mardi Gras has had troubled times before. One newspaper wrote in 1851, “The carnival embraced a great multitude and a variety of oddities. But alas! The world grows everyday more practical, less sportive and imaginative. Mardi Gras with its laughter-moving tomfooleries must content itself with the sneering hard realities of the present age.”
The streets of the city are in black and white now. Like Dorothy’s Kansas. A thin coat of grayish dust covers entire neighborhoods since the flood.
Maybe this will make the traditional green, purple and gold colors shine out even brighter.
New Orleans is a “let’s face the music and dance” town. It always has been. Try as they might, the sneering hard realities cannot keep it down.
But it’ll be harder to catch the beads this year. Those spontaneous tears will make it tough to see.
William Joyce
by
William Joyce
My wife was going to a 12th night party dressed as Hurricane Katrina. Her hair was styled in great swooping whirls. Her dress was a hoop-skirt wrapped in black netting and festooned with dozens of tiny houses, cars and other stormy ephemera.
A friend of mine (whose whereabouts since the hurricanes I was unsure of until I saw her on Christmas Eve) explained that it’s generally accepted that people in New Orleans will burst spontaneously into tears during even the most cursory conversations.
“Any little thing will trigger it,” she said. “I mean you say hello and you’ll get sobs. But everyone knows to just be quiet for a minute and it’ll pass.” Then she added with that cheerful, attractive insolence so common to New Orleanians. “I add 15 minutes of “cryin’ time” to everything. Goin’ the grocery store takes forever. There are more tears than in Tolstoy.”
Like my wife’s dress this line got a laugh. It had to.
It’s glad/sad time down here. Glad you’re alive. Sad about everything else. If you can’t laugh about it, baby you are toast.
There’s been some controversy about having Mardi Gras this year. That it is somehow inappropriate given the scale of the recent tragedy and disaster.
The punch line to that misguided sentiment is that Mardi Gras is a celebration actually devoted to being inappropriate in a community that has courted disaster since the day it was founded.
You don’t build a city on land that sits below sea level and is surrounded by water and not expect to get soggy at some point. It is a geographical crap-shoot well understood by New Orleanians and Mardi Gras is part of their gallant disregard for that particular and unpleasant reality.
It’s one of their ways of laughing at doom.
The history of Mardi Gras is so deep, vast and strange, that it’s difficult to encapsulate. Starting hundreds of years ago with the shepherds of Arcadia and detouring through most of the more interesting cities in history it has always been steeped in sin and redemption.
The Romans. The Greeks. The Catholics. They’ve all put in their two bits of paganism or piety.
But it’s fitting somehow that much of Mardi gras pomp and plumage would evolve from the carnivals of Venice, that other impossible city at odds with time and tide.
And for all this historical pedigree there’s still something very childish about Mardi Gras.
If you are exposed to it as a kid you will never be quite like other people. How could you be?
You’ve watched an entire adult population, your parents, your aunts and uncles, your teachers or your school principles; all your authority figures, suddenly transform into Poseidon, or Mae West or a cross-dressing Santa Claus. Everyday life becomes an overnight Technicolor fever dream. Schools close. The daily schedule is thrown out for a new schedule of parties and parades that become an unending delirium where it’s not inconceivable but in fact highly likely that you might look out the den window at any given moment and see several dozen men and women dressed as Yogi Bear drift nonchalantly by in a papier-mâché galleon.
It’s like somebody knocked over the TV set and cartoons came spilling out.
For those of us who grew up in Louisiana, ”The Wizard of Oz” was like a documentary. Dorothy left Kansas and simply went to Mardi Gras.
Talking trees and wicked witches seemed perfectly normal if you’ve seen your librarian walking down St. Charles dressed in a gorilla suit and a set of woman’s breasts complete with blinking neon nipples.
As a result we tend to grow up with a keen sense of life’s absurdity and a healthy regard for the curative potential of fun.
And there is no fun quite like a Mardi Gras parade. Its epic silliness can be very seductive. It is one of the marvels of modern man that the quest for giving or catching cheap plastic beads can lead people of every temperament to engage in behavior that is singularly, perhaps historically ridiculous.
Not that I’m a pillar of normalcy but I do pay taxes and manage to mingle in polite society occasionally, yet I once led an organization, called the Mystik Knights of Mondrians Chicken. In homage to the great painter we rode in a giant cube shaped chicken, wore costumes the color of yolks and threw egg shaped beads, while white helium balloons were periodically released from a hole in the chicken’s ass.
After three years with this same float we were told by the parades organizers that we would have to change our design. The Novelty of our cubist chicken had apparently worn off. It just wasn’t weird enough anymore.
There are people, ordinary both feet on the ground people who, during Mardi Gras sport titles like The Lord of Misrule or the Abbot of Unreason.
It’s all so perfectly foolish. And essential.
It fills some vast human need to, however briefly, be something else, a satyr, a god, or anything deliciously forbidden. You simply don a mask and give in to enchantment, desire or foolhardy joy.
This year’s Mardi Gras will be the most surreal of all. Never has the gaiety confronted so grim a reality. The walls of rubble, the vanished neighborhoods, and the memory of the city from before the storm haunt every street.
But Mardi Gras has had troubled times before. One newspaper wrote in 1851, “The carnival embraced a great multitude and a variety of oddities. But alas! The world grows everyday more practical, less sportive and imaginative. Mardi Gras with its laughter-moving tomfooleries must content itself with the sneering hard realities of the present age.”
The streets of the city are in black and white now. Like Dorothy’s Kansas. A thin coat of grayish dust covers entire neighborhoods since the flood.
Maybe this will make the traditional green, purple and gold colors shine out even brighter.
New Orleans is a “let’s face the music and dance” town. It always has been. Try as they might, the sneering hard realities cannot keep it down.
But it’ll be harder to catch the beads this year. Those spontaneous tears will make it tough to see.
William Joyce
Friday, February 24, 2006
Parade umbrella workshop and second lining with Robert Trudeau at Artspace Sat, Feb 25, 10:30 to noon
Decorating umbrellas and dancing to the Mardi Gras mambo - including the Cajun and Zydeco jigs as well as second line - is the agenda when kids, parents and grandparents meet at Artspace Saturday morning between 10:30 and noon. Their host is yours truly, Robert Trudeau, author of How To Mardi Gras, a guide to Louisiana's Carnival celebration.
Expect to hear Crescent City and cajun lore and get a global perpective on Carnival. Be ready to glue and staple decorations on your parade umbrella (any sort will do).
$5 / Join us at any point in the morning!
Artspace: 673-6535.
Expect to hear Crescent City and cajun lore and get a global perpective on Carnival. Be ready to glue and staple decorations on your parade umbrella (any sort will do).
$5 / Join us at any point in the morning!
Artspace: 673-6535.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Forgotten Shreveport: coming to Artspace March 16 via the photos of Mike Rosebery and Charles Goldthwaite
These two camera-toting fellows are recent arrivals to Shreveport. So they've had a ball adventuring in the sort of places routinely ignored by long-time residents and the less than intrepid. They've brought back canny, stimulating photos.
Forgotten & abandoned Shreveport:
Artspace, March 16 - Ap 27
See more at mikerosebery.blogspot.com
Forgotten & abandoned Shreveport:
Artspace, March 16 - Ap 27
See more at mikerosebery.blogspot.com
Caddo Magnet High School archives growing , alumni association to be organized Fr, March 3, 6 pm, at CMHS Performing Arts Center
"I'm gathering objects and documents for the Caddo Magnet High archives," says Sue Borne, chair for the Friends of Magnet endeavor in Alumni and Archives.
"Also, the Friends of Magnet / PTSA members are hosting a reception for all CMHS grads Fr, Mar 3, at 6 pm, in the PAC foyer. This is an effort to get former students together and encourage them to organize an alumni association." The event takes place before the performance of the spring play presented by the Caddo Magnet Players; it is The Importance of Being Earnest and stars Amy Updegraff and Tyler Davis, says drama teacher Betty Walker.
"Please ask them to bring any memorabilia with which they're willing to part. Pictures, programs and yearbooks are most welcome. And please let any and all grads know about this event," says Mrs. Borne.
More info: Lynn Yancey at lynny@sport.rr.com or Sue Borne at smborne@bellsouth.net.
The photo does not feature alum. Here are some of the best orchestra players at CMHS this year, which means they are the best in the state of Louisiana. Left to right, bottom row first: Abbie Pool, Ann Schaumburg, Christina Lake, Ann Payne and Adam McFarland. Stephen Clark, William Hock, Edward Charity, Salil Joshi and Rachel Zavecz.
"Also, the Friends of Magnet / PTSA members are hosting a reception for all CMHS grads Fr, Mar 3, at 6 pm, in the PAC foyer. This is an effort to get former students together and encourage them to organize an alumni association." The event takes place before the performance of the spring play presented by the Caddo Magnet Players; it is The Importance of Being Earnest and stars Amy Updegraff and Tyler Davis, says drama teacher Betty Walker.
"Please ask them to bring any memorabilia with which they're willing to part. Pictures, programs and yearbooks are most welcome. And please let any and all grads know about this event," says Mrs. Borne.
More info: Lynn Yancey at lynny@sport.rr.com or Sue Borne at smborne@bellsouth.net.
The photo does not feature alum. Here are some of the best orchestra players at CMHS this year, which means they are the best in the state of Louisiana. Left to right, bottom row first: Abbie Pool, Ann Schaumburg, Christina Lake, Ann Payne and Adam McFarland. Stephen Clark, William Hock, Edward Charity, Salil Joshi and Rachel Zavecz.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Goodbye, New Orleans: author Mike Tidwell speaks in Shreveport Wed, Feb 22, 7 pm, Convention Center Ballroom
Mike Tidwell, author of Bayou Farewell: The Rich and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast, will speak in the ballroom of Shreveport Convention Center at 7 pm, Wed, Feb 22.
The event is a Shreveport Bar Association fundraiser to bring awareness to the plight of Louisiana's disappearing coast.
Shreveport Bar Association for tickets: (318) 222-3643.
Background: Goodbye, New Orleans; It's time we stopped pretending and the proactive siteKatrinanomore.com.
The event is a Shreveport Bar Association fundraiser to bring awareness to the plight of Louisiana's disappearing coast.
Shreveport Bar Association for tickets: (318) 222-3643.
Background: Goodbye, New Orleans; It's time we stopped pretending and the proactive siteKatrinanomore.com.
Monday, February 20, 2006
The curves of life in wood, as guided by master carver Zack Woodard / Artspace, Th, Feb 23
Adult wood carving owes its name more to safety and skill than to subject matter, says Artspace folk art exhibit manager Tyler Pecora.
On Thursday, February 23, from 6:00 pm -8:00 pm, Zack Woodard, President of the North Louisiana Woodcarvers Association, will further define these terms in his adult woodcarving workshop. He
will demonstrate the skill necessary to create a sculpture from a single block of wood.
Woodard has been artfully whittling for more than twenty-five years. He is known for his carved faces, human forms, birds of prey, fish, animals and stylized pieces. Woodard's works are on exhibit and are available for sale in the giftspace at artspace.
Also featured on February 23 is a workshop for young human beings. They will work with artist Jerry Davenport to create whirligigs. A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member (general sense) that spins or whirls. See the recently-mounted whirligigs atop the street poles outside artspace.
Both activities are being offered for a $5 fee, which includes all materials.
Shreveport Regional Arts Council,
673-6500, or artspace at 673-6535.
On Thursday, February 23, from 6:00 pm -8:00 pm, Zack Woodard, President of the North Louisiana Woodcarvers Association, will further define these terms in his adult woodcarving workshop. He
will demonstrate the skill necessary to create a sculpture from a single block of wood.
Woodard has been artfully whittling for more than twenty-five years. He is known for his carved faces, human forms, birds of prey, fish, animals and stylized pieces. Woodard's works are on exhibit and are available for sale in the giftspace at artspace.
Also featured on February 23 is a workshop for young human beings. They will work with artist Jerry Davenport to create whirligigs. A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member (general sense) that spins or whirls. See the recently-mounted whirligigs atop the street poles outside artspace.
Both activities are being offered for a $5 fee, which includes all materials.
Shreveport Regional Arts Council,
673-6500, or artspace at 673-6535.
Dillner, Gayle & Johnson: Shreveport Opera tweaks their marketing image to effective results
" I love the marketing this year. It really did wonders for our production of Faust. We had the youngest audience that we'd ever had," says season coordinator Jennifer Gallagher.
Credit for the Red Accent series goes to photographer Neil Johnson and creative director John Gayle at Gremillion & Pou, says Gallagher. Eric Dillner is Shreveport Opera's general & artistic director.
Say hello and get tickets to the Feb 24 fundraiser by calling Jennifer M. Gallagher, Season Coordinator, at
Shreveport Opera
212 Texas St., Suite 101
Shreveport, LA 71101
phone: 318.227.9503
www.shreveopera.org
Credit for the Red Accent series goes to photographer Neil Johnson and creative director John Gayle at Gremillion & Pou, says Gallagher. Eric Dillner is Shreveport Opera's general & artistic director.
Say hello and get tickets to the Feb 24 fundraiser by calling Jennifer M. Gallagher, Season Coordinator, at
Shreveport Opera
212 Texas St., Suite 101
Shreveport, LA 71101
phone: 318.227.9503
www.shreveopera.org
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Tailor of E. Kings Hwy at MLP: adept cast brings elan to first production
Tailor of E Kings Hwy: Sarah Smith, Phillip Brooks, Tim Broderick, Courtney Gaston
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
At Marjorie Lyons Playhouse Phillip Brooks oy-veys across the stage, providing a Jewish father foil for one and all. Jeni Loer and Courtney Gaston are charming and capable as the adult women. Sarah Smith brings a light-up-the-stage smile and voice as the daughter. And Tim Broderick's laser gaze and stentorian voice supplies edge.
Director Walter Schoen has made a lovely chicken broth from the dramatis personnae. Kallenberg's work in progress is a pleasant surprise.
See it Feb. 16 - 18 at 8 pm. Box office: 869-5242. See more at http://www.centenary.edu/playhouse.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
The 11th Hour is the theme for the Krewe of Highland Parade 2006, Shreveport; parade rolls Sun, Feb 26
The Krewe of Highland is one of Shreveport's grassroots successes of the turn of this century. Unlike the parades hosted by the Geminians and Centaurians, the Highlanders are low-key, funky (see Float Entries, below) and full of satirical arrows. This is the rare parade where beads are returned to the floats as the parade is in progress. Physicians, rednecks (did I say that?) and the less well-endowed join forces to party through a checkered, if vital, neighborhood.
Here's the Krewe of Highland dope for 06:
BAL MASQUE XI: Friday, February 24, 7:30 p.m., Randle T. Moore Center, 3101 Fairfield Avenue. Tickets ($35.00 for Krewe members, $45.00 for non-Krewe members) available at Columbia Café, Northwest corner of Kings and Creswell, 425-3862. Music: the RnB dance band Powerhouse. Dress—masque, with formal attire or costume. Breakfast after the bal at Columbia Café, $15.
Parade X1: Sunday, February 26, 2:00 p.m., beginning at Kings Highway and Creswell Avenue. The parade will roll north along Creswell Avenue to Herndon Street, then east to Highland Avenue, then south along Highland to Olive Street, then east on Olive to Centenary Boulevard, then south on Centenary across Kings Highway to Gladstone Boulevard, then west on Gladstone to end at Creswell. The Carnival de Columbia takes place at Columbia Park immediately after the parade. Shimmy to music by award-winning group Dirtfoot.
Royalty: King XI: Trey Baucum; Queen XI: Kathleen Clark; Captain XI: Mary Brownfield; Grand Marshal XI: Sherry Allen; Duke and Duchess of Dalzell: Harvey Dillahunty, Linda Sinitiere.
To enter a Float: Call Chuck Reid, 869-4897, 518-6042. Entry fees:
* floats rented from other Krewes ($150 for large, $100 for medium and $50 for band floats)
* Motorized floats $45
* Automobiles $15
* Motorcycles-Mowers-Go-Carts-Fourwheelers $10
* Walkers & Bicyclists $5.
Send check with float name, address and contact person and phone number to Krewe of Highland, 810 Wilkinson Street, Shreveport, LA 71104. There will be a FLOAT MEETING for drivers at the Highland Center, 520 Olive Street, Board Room #1, Tuesday, February 21, 6:00 p.m.
Floats begin staging at 10:00 a.m. at Byrd High and Gladstone Street on parade day. At least one member of your float must be a member of the Krewe of Highland!
TO JOIN THE KREWE OF HIGHLAND: Annual membership rates: Individual, $10; Family, Club or Organization, $25; Sponsors $250. Make checks payable to Krewe of Highland, 810 Wilkinson Street, Shreveport, LA 71104.
More Information - Chuck Reid, Parade Chairman, 869-4897, 518-6042; or Cyndie Reid, Bal Chairman, 869-4897, 272-0166. Thanks to Robert Marak of the Highland Area Partnership for the story.
Here's the Krewe of Highland dope for 06:
BAL MASQUE XI: Friday, February 24, 7:30 p.m., Randle T. Moore Center, 3101 Fairfield Avenue. Tickets ($35.00 for Krewe members, $45.00 for non-Krewe members) available at Columbia Café, Northwest corner of Kings and Creswell, 425-3862. Music: the RnB dance band Powerhouse. Dress—masque, with formal attire or costume. Breakfast after the bal at Columbia Café, $15.
Parade X1: Sunday, February 26, 2:00 p.m., beginning at Kings Highway and Creswell Avenue. The parade will roll north along Creswell Avenue to Herndon Street, then east to Highland Avenue, then south along Highland to Olive Street, then east on Olive to Centenary Boulevard, then south on Centenary across Kings Highway to Gladstone Boulevard, then west on Gladstone to end at Creswell. The Carnival de Columbia takes place at Columbia Park immediately after the parade. Shimmy to music by award-winning group Dirtfoot.
Royalty: King XI: Trey Baucum; Queen XI: Kathleen Clark; Captain XI: Mary Brownfield; Grand Marshal XI: Sherry Allen; Duke and Duchess of Dalzell: Harvey Dillahunty, Linda Sinitiere.
To enter a Float: Call Chuck Reid, 869-4897, 518-6042. Entry fees:
* floats rented from other Krewes ($150 for large, $100 for medium and $50 for band floats)
* Motorized floats $45
* Automobiles $15
* Motorcycles-Mowers-Go-Carts-Fourwheelers $10
* Walkers & Bicyclists $5.
Send check with float name, address and contact person and phone number to Krewe of Highland, 810 Wilkinson Street, Shreveport, LA 71104. There will be a FLOAT MEETING for drivers at the Highland Center, 520 Olive Street, Board Room #1, Tuesday, February 21, 6:00 p.m.
Floats begin staging at 10:00 a.m. at Byrd High and Gladstone Street on parade day. At least one member of your float must be a member of the Krewe of Highland!
TO JOIN THE KREWE OF HIGHLAND: Annual membership rates: Individual, $10; Family, Club or Organization, $25; Sponsors $250. Make checks payable to Krewe of Highland, 810 Wilkinson Street, Shreveport, LA 71104.
More Information - Chuck Reid, Parade Chairman, 869-4897, 518-6042; or Cyndie Reid, Bal Chairman, 869-4897, 272-0166. Thanks to Robert Marak of the Highland Area Partnership for the story.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Mystic India, IMAX film, at SciPort this weekend only, Feb 18-19
Mystic India: an Incredible Journey of Inspiration, a big-screen film showing a land of many mysteries and fascinations, and shot in more than 100 locations, will show one weekend only at Sci-Port Discovery Center’s three story IMAX Dome Theatre on Saturday, February 18, and Sunday, February 19, 2006, says Eric Gipson.
Presented in partnership with The Multicultural Center of the South, the film reveals India’s ancient civilization, incredible architecture, colorful festivals, and fascinating peoples and landscapes. The new release from Giant Screen Films will be presented as a two-for-one double feature with the following schedule:
Saturday, February 18
Mystic India/Top Speed 10:30 am
Mystic India/Lewis & Clark 12:30 pm
Mystic India/Dolphins 2:30 pm
Sunday, February 19
Mystic India/Lewis & Clark 2 pm
Mystic India/Space Station 4 pm
Traditional Indian folk and classical dancers will perform in the IMAX Dome Theatre during the intermissions of each double feature.
IMAX Ticket prices for the February 18-19 Mystic India double feature are:
$ 8.50 General Admission
$ 7.00 Children (3-12), Seniors and Military
$ 6.00 Groups 15+
Presented in partnership with The Multicultural Center of the South, the film reveals India’s ancient civilization, incredible architecture, colorful festivals, and fascinating peoples and landscapes. The new release from Giant Screen Films will be presented as a two-for-one double feature with the following schedule:
Saturday, February 18
Mystic India/Top Speed 10:30 am
Mystic India/Lewis & Clark 12:30 pm
Mystic India/Dolphins 2:30 pm
Sunday, February 19
Mystic India/Lewis & Clark 2 pm
Mystic India/Space Station 4 pm
Traditional Indian folk and classical dancers will perform in the IMAX Dome Theatre during the intermissions of each double feature.
IMAX Ticket prices for the February 18-19 Mystic India double feature are:
$ 8.50 General Admission
$ 7.00 Children (3-12), Seniors and Military
$ 6.00 Groups 15+
Chris Alexander, multi-divertiti artist, and friends on Sat, Feb 25th, Java Junction, Shreveport
Techno, rap, rock, jazz: trying to confuse the coffeehouse set, perhaps? Edgy ducks pooting in a turbulent pond?
Would someone please write a review of one of these cross-over collisions?
Hats off to Chris Alexander for both performing, co-producing and making the splendiferous posters.See and hear more at his www.myspace.com/chrisstmarvinalexander site.
Would someone please write a review of one of these cross-over collisions?
Hats off to Chris Alexander for both performing, co-producing and making the splendiferous posters.See and hear more at his www.myspace.com/chrisstmarvinalexander site.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Dorothy Kristin Hanna and Sondra Fraleigh present EastWest Somatics Workshop March 13 - 17
EastWest Somatics Workshop: Expression & Myth,
Excavating Body Memories and Possible Selves
March 13-17, 2006
Arodasi Dance Center
Shreveport, Louisiana
Dorothy Kristin Hanna and Sondra Fraleigh, instructors.
Workshops meet Monday - Friday from 10am to 5pm. Tuition is $792.
Course content includes imagery and myth, guided
movement practice, core movement patterning, experiential anatomy, somatic yoga, hands-on movement therapy, intuitive dance.
Plus, Sondra Fraleigh is an expert at Butoh.
Info: dorothykh@earthlink.net or Eastwest@frontiernet.net
Illustration: Katura Kan Butoh Performance at the Art Institute of Chicago
Excavating Body Memories and Possible Selves
March 13-17, 2006
Arodasi Dance Center
Shreveport, Louisiana
Dorothy Kristin Hanna and Sondra Fraleigh, instructors.
Workshops meet Monday - Friday from 10am to 5pm. Tuition is $792.
Course content includes imagery and myth, guided
movement practice, core movement patterning, experiential anatomy, somatic yoga, hands-on movement therapy, intuitive dance.
Plus, Sondra Fraleigh is an expert at Butoh.
Info: dorothykh@earthlink.net or Eastwest@frontiernet.net
Illustration: Katura Kan Butoh Performance at the Art Institute of Chicago
Houma, Louisiana's, Dax Riggs & Tessie Brunet, aka Deadboy & the Elephantmen, have a buzz
Of the duo Deadboy and the Elephantmen the New Yorker says "The two hail from Louisiana, and their spooky blues rock is pure swamp gothic, with Riggs singing like a ghostly David Bowie."
Enjoy their snaky Louisiana story (they're based in Houma) as crafted by their record company at FatPossum.com.
There are a trio of mp3's at deadboyandtheelephantmen.com so you can see the kind of indie effort that gets the bacon today.
Which probably will remind everyone of the celestial randomness of the entertainment biz.
Enjoy their snaky Louisiana story (they're based in Houma) as crafted by their record company at FatPossum.com.
There are a trio of mp3's at deadboyandtheelephantmen.com so you can see the kind of indie effort that gets the bacon today.
Which probably will remind everyone of the celestial randomness of the entertainment biz.
See Patrick Long's folk art documentary, All Rendered Truth; see ArtSpace calendar of Folk Art Funktivities
Cool reminders from SRAC's calendar:
Saturday, February 18
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Black Heritage Festival Celebration
Join SRAC for a festive day in Vivian at the Black Heritage Festival
Celebration or enjoy a Folk Film Fest at artspace. The Shreveport Federal Credit Union, SRAC and the Black History Parade Association of Vivian are co-producing the 2006 Black Heritage Festival Celebration in Vivian, Louisiana. The festival includes an 8:00 am community breakfast at Vivian Elementary/Middle School and a M.C. "5-cents" Jones Art Exhibit and Auction from 9:30 am-11:00 am at the Vivian Library.
10:30 am-12 noon and 2:00 pm-3:30 pm at artspace
Whirligigs
Jerry Davenport
$5.00
Make - and take - a whimsical whirligig in a children's workshop that
commemorates the festivity of Folk Art with veteran Art-in-Education artist,
photographer, and ArtSmart Resident Artist, Jerry Davenport.
1:00 pm
All Rendered Truth
Free
Screening of All Rendered Truth, a feature-length documentary by Shreveport
natives Patrick Long and Scott Blackwell that traces and showcases the lives
and artistic environments of self-taught Southern Folk Artists.
Thursday, February 23
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Woodcarving
Zack L. Woodard
And...for the Children
Whirligigs
Jerry Davenport
$5.00 covers both activities
Learn how to carve a block of wood into a piece of art. Zack L. Woodard,
President of the North Louisiana Woodcarvers Association has made a life of
woodworking for over twenty-five years, beginning with his first carved
realistic duck. Woodard is known for his unique carved faces, human forms,
birds of prey, songbirds, fish, animals, stylized pieces, and birdhouses.
Carved works by Woodard are available for sale in the giftspace at artspace.
While the adults use the sharp tools, Jerry Davenport will teach the younger
folks to make - and take - a whimsical whirligig commemorating the festivity
of Folk Art.
Friday, February 24
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
"Fiddlin' Friday"
Bill Kirkpatrick & Mary Grimsley
$5.00
Listen to "old timey" tunes with new twists performed by fiddlers Bill Kirkpatrick and Mary Grimsley who are consistent award winners in the Louisiana State Fiddling Championship. Bill Kirkpatrick was born in 1928 and is a longtime resident of Shreveport, where his working hobby is being a member of the "Louisiana Hayride String Band." They play old time country music breakdowns and waltzes, western swing, and Cajun music. Mary has received a number of first place awards, including the Louisiana State Championship. She has played venues from the Louisiana Folklife Festival to the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Mary learned to play by ear growing up in a family where her mother played piano, her father played bass, and both grandfathers played fiddle. She often played with her husband, the late Tex Grimsley, fiddler and fiddle maker.
The rendering of Artspace above is by photographer Mike Rosebery. He writes "Charles Goldthwaite and I will have a photo show here in March 16-April 27, 2006." See more of Rosebery's excellent work at MikeRosebery's PhotoBlog.

Slava Veder's “Burst of Joy,” 1974: part of the Pulitzer Prize Photos traveling exhibit at Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
"I spent a couple of hours yesterday with the just-up Pulitzer Prize Photo exhibit at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum and wanted to encourage anyone with an interest in either history or photography not to miss this extraordinary event," says Neil Johnson.
"This is no boring dusty traveling exhibit. The Museum has transformed the round middle part of the museum into a venue to put on this huge exhibit. The large prints and beautifully written stories behind each image cover the dioramas and other glass cabinets. In other words, they have created a massive expanse of temporary wall space to show this exhibit making it unlike any other local exhibit in memory."
"The exhibit presents every award winner from 1942 through 2004; there are so MANY icons of photography on there, along with their dramatic stories: the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, the shooting of Oswald in Dallas, the napalmed running girl in Viet Nam, the firefighter cradling the burned child after the Oklahoma City bombing, the flames of the World Trade Center towers. But there are so many, many more that stop you and move you and stay with you long afterwards, right up to the most recent powerful image of the American soldier with his Iraqi prisoner. World-changing, heart-changing, mind-boggling, awe-inspiring. Give yourself at least two hours to see it. It is virtually impossible to breeze through it."
"On a personal note: The Pulitzer Prizes for Photography, as per the rules set forth by Joseph Pulitzer, go only to newspaper photographers. Magazine photographers (a large number of legendary shooters and their legendary iconic images) are left out even though they are out there putting their careers and even lives on the line for the exact same reasons as the newspaper photographers. So many have died doing their jobs. Hopefully, as newspapers continue to change along with the rest of the news media in this digital age, the prize will evolve and eventually go to any news photographer for their still images that record and reveal deep truths about this confusing fast-paced world."
"The photo exhibit is up through May 1 at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum at the Fairgrounds on Greenwood Road. It is $5 per visit unless you go on the first Sunday of March or April when it is free, but the fee is well worth the visit. The Museum spent $50,000 to mount it and is to be highly commended. After several years of touring, the curator came down from New York and said this is the best mounting of the exhibit she has experienced. It is scheduled to continue touring the world until 2009. We are not "lucky" to get it. The Museum worked long and hard to get it. The Museum and the Friends of the Museum have given a great gift to this community."
Neil Johnson
Neil Johnson Photography
www.njphoto.com
"This is no boring dusty traveling exhibit. The Museum has transformed the round middle part of the museum into a venue to put on this huge exhibit. The large prints and beautifully written stories behind each image cover the dioramas and other glass cabinets. In other words, they have created a massive expanse of temporary wall space to show this exhibit making it unlike any other local exhibit in memory."
"The exhibit presents every award winner from 1942 through 2004; there are so MANY icons of photography on there, along with their dramatic stories: the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, the shooting of Oswald in Dallas, the napalmed running girl in Viet Nam, the firefighter cradling the burned child after the Oklahoma City bombing, the flames of the World Trade Center towers. But there are so many, many more that stop you and move you and stay with you long afterwards, right up to the most recent powerful image of the American soldier with his Iraqi prisoner. World-changing, heart-changing, mind-boggling, awe-inspiring. Give yourself at least two hours to see it. It is virtually impossible to breeze through it."
"On a personal note: The Pulitzer Prizes for Photography, as per the rules set forth by Joseph Pulitzer, go only to newspaper photographers. Magazine photographers (a large number of legendary shooters and their legendary iconic images) are left out even though they are out there putting their careers and even lives on the line for the exact same reasons as the newspaper photographers. So many have died doing their jobs. Hopefully, as newspapers continue to change along with the rest of the news media in this digital age, the prize will evolve and eventually go to any news photographer for their still images that record and reveal deep truths about this confusing fast-paced world."
"The photo exhibit is up through May 1 at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum at the Fairgrounds on Greenwood Road. It is $5 per visit unless you go on the first Sunday of March or April when it is free, but the fee is well worth the visit. The Museum spent $50,000 to mount it and is to be highly commended. After several years of touring, the curator came down from New York and said this is the best mounting of the exhibit she has experienced. It is scheduled to continue touring the world until 2009. We are not "lucky" to get it. The Museum worked long and hard to get it. The Museum and the Friends of the Museum have given a great gift to this community."
Neil Johnson
Neil Johnson Photography
www.njphoto.com
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Fairfield Studios Home Concerts an island of urbanity; singer-songwriter Annie Gallup, hippie poetry songstress, performed this week
Twisting her meter and rhyme in songs and schtick, Annie Gallup charmed an audience of some 75 at Fairfield Studios this week. She was accompanied by bassist Sean Kelly, who thumped and bowed his bass and sang harmony.
Baby boomers dominated the audience - after all, a Wed night at 7 pm - but all ages were represented. Supper, included in the $15 ticket, was comfort food on a buffet table. Filling if uninteresting.
Dana McCommon, engineer and architect of FFS, has developed the long, narrow room aside the studio as a foyer and art gallery. There painter Tony Reans and portraitist Talbot Hopkins exhibited their work.
All in all, Fairfield Studios was a pleasant surprise for many friends who came to view art by Hopkins - my wife - and Reans. Many said, "It's not easy to find." In a world of giant signs this is a quiet storefront adjacent to Harrison Paint across from the State Building (Jordan near Fairfield).
The Home Concerts are sweet but It's hard to know whether the performers are going to suit you. I offer 2 suggestions:
1) listen to the performers' music samples. A Google search will quickly take you to their mp3 pages.
2) if you want something a bit different and uptown, go regardless of research. The Home Concert series performers are part of a national circuit and they've all won their spurs.
3) Ring or email Dana at FairfieldStudios.com (220-0400) and ask for a quick rundown. Or call host Alan Dyson. They will be happy to say Hello and answer questions.
Next concert: a return show by the winning singer John Smith, March 21.
Baby boomers dominated the audience - after all, a Wed night at 7 pm - but all ages were represented. Supper, included in the $15 ticket, was comfort food on a buffet table. Filling if uninteresting.
Dana McCommon, engineer and architect of FFS, has developed the long, narrow room aside the studio as a foyer and art gallery. There painter Tony Reans and portraitist Talbot Hopkins exhibited their work.
All in all, Fairfield Studios was a pleasant surprise for many friends who came to view art by Hopkins - my wife - and Reans. Many said, "It's not easy to find." In a world of giant signs this is a quiet storefront adjacent to Harrison Paint across from the State Building (Jordan near Fairfield).
The Home Concerts are sweet but It's hard to know whether the performers are going to suit you. I offer 2 suggestions:
1) listen to the performers' music samples. A Google search will quickly take you to their mp3 pages.
2) if you want something a bit different and uptown, go regardless of research. The Home Concert series performers are part of a national circuit and they've all won their spurs.
3) Ring or email Dana at FairfieldStudios.com (220-0400) and ask for a quick rundown. Or call host Alan Dyson. They will be happy to say Hello and answer questions.
Next concert: a return show by the winning singer John Smith, March 21.
Come to Shreveport's Artspace for the Folk Art Is exhibit; consume chicken fried art and funktivities Feb to April
Howard Finster! Guided by voices and inspired by a wordy God, the untutored painter Howard Finster printed inspirational encomiums around all the charmingly blocky images he drew. He covered his environment - house, yard, homemade museum, etc - with paintings and detailed commentary.
In the process this late fanatic became America's folk art darling. See Finster's work and more at artspace, 710 Texas St, downtown Shreveport. The Folk Art exhibit, Feb thru March, is fascinating.
In the process this late fanatic became America's folk art darling. See Finster's work and more at artspace, 710 Texas St, downtown Shreveport. The Folk Art exhibit, Feb thru March, is fascinating.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Artquotes.net features Shreveport painter Bill Gingles / See his work online and at Montessori Art Auction, Mar 18
In artquotes.net this week Shreveport-based artist Bill Gingles is given quite a dose of respect:
"This month's fine artist profile is of the United States abstract artist painting in an expressionist style. His artist interview and contemporary paintings are now online."
Gingles: "At its core, my work is about the duality of existence: positive/negative, male/female, physical/spiritual and the dynamics that occur when they converge or mix like the spirituality of sex or the effects of time on people and things."
While his sales tend to be in Houston and New Orleans, many locals have pieces by Gingles because of the Montessori Art Auctions. He will again have pieces for sale at this year's Montessori benefit, he says.
Here's the book on the annual auction: "The Montessori School for Shreveport 33nd Annual Art Exhibition and Silent Auction will be held on Saturday, March 18th, and Sunday, March 19th, at the Shreveport Convention Hall. The theme this year is "Go Wild for the Child."
This event is the school's largest fundraiser. The money raised helps keep tuition within the reach of the average family in the Shreveport-Bossier area. Tickets can be purchased for $15 per person."
See more at MSShreveport.org. And there's a visual feast awaiting you at billgingles.net.
"This month's fine artist profile is of the United States abstract artist painting in an expressionist style. His artist interview and contemporary paintings are now online."
Gingles: "At its core, my work is about the duality of existence: positive/negative, male/female, physical/spiritual and the dynamics that occur when they converge or mix like the spirituality of sex or the effects of time on people and things."
While his sales tend to be in Houston and New Orleans, many locals have pieces by Gingles because of the Montessori Art Auctions. He will again have pieces for sale at this year's Montessori benefit, he says.
Here's the book on the annual auction: "The Montessori School for Shreveport 33nd Annual Art Exhibition and Silent Auction will be held on Saturday, March 18th, and Sunday, March 19th, at the Shreveport Convention Hall. The theme this year is "Go Wild for the Child."
This event is the school's largest fundraiser. The money raised helps keep tuition within the reach of the average family in the Shreveport-Bossier area. Tickets can be purchased for $15 per person."
See more at MSShreveport.org. And there's a visual feast awaiting you at billgingles.net.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Houston's long-lived independent record store, Cactus, closes its Montrose doors
Story from the Sara Cress Houston Chron music blog, Handstamp:
Cactus Music and Video closing
Cactus' manager Quinn Bishop announced today that Cactus Music and Video is closing on March 31, 2006.
Not only is this depressing news for those music fans who feel at home at Cactus, it will also hurt local artists trying to sell their CDs. Every band I know will rattle off all of the Web sites where a person can buy its CDs and always adds, "and, of course, Cactus." Many of them also champion Bishop as a person who cares about Houston music.
There will still be all the other places where you can buy your CDs (if you still buy CDs, that is) but no other place matches, for me, the leisurely, funky atmosphere of Cactus. And no other music store in town hosts in-store performances with well-known touring artists. It will most certainly be missed.
Do you think Cactus' closing will have any effect on Houston music? Will you happily just go to Soundwaves instead? Or do you no longer visit music stores at all? Discuss in the comments.
Handstamp music blog
Cactus Music and Video closing
Cactus' manager Quinn Bishop announced today that Cactus Music and Video is closing on March 31, 2006.
Not only is this depressing news for those music fans who feel at home at Cactus, it will also hurt local artists trying to sell their CDs. Every band I know will rattle off all of the Web sites where a person can buy its CDs and always adds, "and, of course, Cactus." Many of them also champion Bishop as a person who cares about Houston music.
There will still be all the other places where you can buy your CDs (if you still buy CDs, that is) but no other place matches, for me, the leisurely, funky atmosphere of Cactus. And no other music store in town hosts in-store performances with well-known touring artists. It will most certainly be missed.
Do you think Cactus' closing will have any effect on Houston music? Will you happily just go to Soundwaves instead? Or do you no longer visit music stores at all? Discuss in the comments.
Handstamp music blog
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
KSCL Battle of the Bands postponed due to rain; will try again Fri, Feb 10, 4 to 9 pm, Centenary College amphitheater
The Big Positive are 4 local lads who went whaling from Barataria Bay and came back with a silver harpoon and a papal petroglyph. And 33 plaice. Runes up and down their arms. Sea chanteys. Empty bottle o rum.
These sailors can sing, too.
They've been added to KSCL's Melee of the Musicians Friday night. That's at the Shell, the classic amphitheater behind Meadows Museum. About 9 pm, which is the end of the evening's show.
These sailors can sing, too.
They've been added to KSCL's Melee of the Musicians Friday night. That's at the Shell, the classic amphitheater behind Meadows Museum. About 9 pm, which is the end of the evening's show.
What, you don't have a myspace.com site? You kidding?
Trudeau's back on myspace.com. Please find my alternative self at myspace.com/roberttrudeau.
Soon, I'll open a myspace page for Triage music and podcasts. New sketches are coming, too. BTW, who's your favorite local wit or band with a myspace site?
Soon, I'll open a myspace page for Triage music and podcasts. New sketches are coming, too. BTW, who's your favorite local wit or band with a myspace site?
Painter Mary Louise Porter at Turner Art Center gallery, Centenary College
An exhibit by Louisiana artist Mary Louise Porter will be on display at Centenary's Turner Art Center gallery through Friday, Feb. 17, says Bruce Allen.
Porter's vivid, contemporary landscapes and three-dimensional media have been exhibited nationwide. She also paints walking canes in custom themes, having been inspired to give personality to her mother's "ugly, brown cane." Examples of her artwork can be found at www.artcanes.com.
Having received a BFA and MFA in painting from Louisiana State University, Porter now teaches a survey of the arts course for Louisiana Virtual School as well as studio classes for Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts.
More info: Bruce Allen, exhibit coordinator, at 318-869-5260 or ballen@centenary.edu.
Porter's vivid, contemporary landscapes and three-dimensional media have been exhibited nationwide. She also paints walking canes in custom themes, having been inspired to give personality to her mother's "ugly, brown cane." Examples of her artwork can be found at www.artcanes.com.
Having received a BFA and MFA in painting from Louisiana State University, Porter now teaches a survey of the arts course for Louisiana Virtual School as well as studio classes for Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts.
More info: Bruce Allen, exhibit coordinator, at 318-869-5260 or ballen@centenary.edu.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
KSCL Battle of the Bands, Fri, Feb 3, Centenary College, 4 pm to 9 pm
Battle of the Bands: is there a more primal experience? Feral musicians howling at the moon over caterwauling soundscapes atop a pounding tropical pulse. Anyway, I hope it's something like that because I'm one of the judges this year.
This one's held in the amphitheater at Centenary College with everyone's tongue in cheeks, I believe. May the swankiest band win.
4:10 Riptied
4:35 Alicia Liddell
5:00 Hoodlum Circus
5:25 Heath Forbes
5:50 Missoni Lanza
6:15 Infinite Division
6:40 Chris Alexander
7:05 Dale Cooper
7:30 Tuesday's Debut
7:55 Siddhartha
8:20 Brosius
8:45 Lumenz
9:00 Tally and announce winners
Kindly send all complaints to
Sara Hebert
Station Manager
KSCL 91.3 FM
((318)869-5421)
This one's held in the amphitheater at Centenary College with everyone's tongue in cheeks, I believe. May the swankiest band win.
4:10 Riptied
4:35 Alicia Liddell
5:00 Hoodlum Circus
5:25 Heath Forbes
5:50 Missoni Lanza
6:15 Infinite Division
6:40 Chris Alexander
7:05 Dale Cooper
7:30 Tuesday's Debut
7:55 Siddhartha
8:20 Brosius
8:45 Lumenz
9:00 Tally and announce winners
Kindly send all complaints to
Sara Hebert
Station Manager
KSCL 91.3 FM
((318)869-5421)
Wizard of Oz ballet a collaboration between Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet & Shreveport Symphony Orchestra; Fr, Mar 10, Sat, Mar 11, Civic Theater
The Wizard of Oz, a new ballet in the classical tradition, will be presented by the Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet on Friday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m., at Shreveport’s Civic Theater.
There will be an original symphonic score composed by the Shreveport Symphony’s concertmaster Kermit Poling. The Symphony will accompany both performances of the ballet, says SMB's Susan Gross.
Guesting in the role of the Wicked Witch will be Jacob Sparso of Ballet Oklahoma. Original sets have been created by David Steen and Don Hooper. Principal costumes are by Michael Jones, also of Ballet Oklahoma.
Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet Junior and Senior Company dancers will be supplemented by a cast of local children, bringing the total cast to almost 100. Emily Camden and Brittanye Dutton will alternate in the role of Dorothy.
Tickets range from $10 to $30. For further information, call the Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet office between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays: 459-1457. For tickets the week of the show, call the Civic Theater box office, 673-5108, or visit the box office in person 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There will be an original symphonic score composed by the Shreveport Symphony’s concertmaster Kermit Poling. The Symphony will accompany both performances of the ballet, says SMB's Susan Gross.
Guesting in the role of the Wicked Witch will be Jacob Sparso of Ballet Oklahoma. Original sets have been created by David Steen and Don Hooper. Principal costumes are by Michael Jones, also of Ballet Oklahoma.
Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet Junior and Senior Company dancers will be supplemented by a cast of local children, bringing the total cast to almost 100. Emily Camden and Brittanye Dutton will alternate in the role of Dorothy.
Tickets range from $10 to $30. For further information, call the Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet office between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays: 459-1457. For tickets the week of the show, call the Civic Theater box office, 673-5108, or visit the box office in person 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Arctic Monkeys: "scrappy and brilliant group from Yorkshire that is currently awash in hyperbolic praise"
NY Times hype, freshly spied, can deliver a sort of carbonatical intoxication to folks like me. Re the Arctic Monkeys are hot!
But the hypemachine has its balancing wheel today. It's the online mp3 and, of course, it reveals a nice kachunk of the real story.
This week the NYTimes cleverly pumps up the Arctic Monkeys hysteria. Here's the article and here's the Arctic Monkeys myspace.com site, with 4 of their Yorkshire-inflected teen puddings.
But the hypemachine has its balancing wheel today. It's the online mp3 and, of course, it reveals a nice kachunk of the real story.
This week the NYTimes cleverly pumps up the Arctic Monkeys hysteria. Here's the article and here's the Arctic Monkeys myspace.com site, with 4 of their Yorkshire-inflected teen puddings.
Louisiana Dance Theater's annual gambol at the Strand was in abeyance of SRAC funds
"Due to the cutbacks in SRAC's budget we weren't sure whether we were going to be able to put on this show at the Strand Theater," Carol Anglin told the audience at La. Dance Alive! on Jan 20.
Happily, the money was allocated and Anglin's La Dance Theater group took the stage. They shared the evening with Randy Allen's Impulse Dance Theater of the La School for Math, Sci & the Arts and with the scintillating Orchesis Dance Company of Grambling University.
Also contributing two solo numbers was nationally-known Shreveport dancer Michael Phillips. A member of La Dance Theater who didn't dance with the ensemble because of conflicts with lacrosse and fencing, Phillips danced to Billy Joel's Summer, Highland Falls and, later in the show, to Dean Martin's Aint That a Kick in the Head.
While each troupe presented dance that was well-rehearsed and pleasing to the eye, Phillips and the large Orchesis Dance Company were at a riveting level of expertise.
More info at Carol Anglin Dancenter: 318-861-3006.
Happily, the money was allocated and Anglin's La Dance Theater group took the stage. They shared the evening with Randy Allen's Impulse Dance Theater of the La School for Math, Sci & the Arts and with the scintillating Orchesis Dance Company of Grambling University.
Also contributing two solo numbers was nationally-known Shreveport dancer Michael Phillips. A member of La Dance Theater who didn't dance with the ensemble because of conflicts with lacrosse and fencing, Phillips danced to Billy Joel's Summer, Highland Falls and, later in the show, to Dean Martin's Aint That a Kick in the Head.
While each troupe presented dance that was well-rehearsed and pleasing to the eye, Phillips and the large Orchesis Dance Company were at a riveting level of expertise.
More info at Carol Anglin Dancenter: 318-861-3006.
Wine and cheese in Marshall, TX, with artist Dennis O Bryant and model Karen Partee, Sat, Feb 4, 6 pm
Wine and cheese in Marshall, TX, with artist Dennis O Bryant, Sat, Feb 4, 6 pm
Originally uploaded by trudeau.
It's O Bryant's way of thanking Partee for her inspiration in 4 paintings. They were recently exhibited at Bistineau Gallery and featured in the Times.
RSVP: 903-578-0319 or deno707@sbcglobal.net
Annie Gallup at Fairfield Studios in a Home Concert Wed, Feb 8, 7 pm, $15
Along with music by Annie Gallup and bassist Sean Kelly, the Wed, Feb 8, Home Concert groovers will be able to enjoy an art exhibit in the Fairfield Studios lobby. Paintings by Tony Reans and prints and photos by Talbot Hopkins will be on view. The Reans and Hopkins show will additionally have a reception at Fairfield Studios, corner of Fairfield and Jordan, on Fri, Feb 10, 5 to 8 pm.
FF Studios host Dana McCommon: 220-0400.
Annie Gallup show: 7 pm / $15, with supper.
FF Studios host Dana McCommon: 220-0400.
Annie Gallup show: 7 pm / $15, with supper.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Computers in the classroom: "Today's tech-savvy students are stuck in text-dominated schools"
"Today's tech-savvy students are stuck in text-dominated schools," says research in a report entitled Listening to Student Voices - on Technology. It arrived via Ednews@email.admail.net.
My students at Caddo Magnet High are encouraged to bring their laptops to school and use them during social studies class. They can take notes, research relevant material, make instantaneous contributions to class and email me their essays.
There are 2 desktop computers in my room and students are encouraged to use them for any academic purpose during class. Students also use the units under my purview before and after school and at lunch. They check the class web site for assignments and notes, download material for class activities, download and edit videos, crop photos, and check email.
Thus I try to foster a a sense of cooperative inquiry in academic activities - using the tools of the business and academic world.
Students who stray from appropriate and academic sites are banned from the privilage for a week or longer.
At the end of each semester my students must present a brief digital individual portfolio composed of images of samples of:
academic papers, activities in which they participated and photos of themselves and friends.
The classroom digital cameras are available from me upon appropriate request. They go into circulation several times a day. I also check out the *teacher videocam" to students when needed. Also, I have a friend who gives away refurbished computers to families in need; several of my students have gained from his generosity.
Thanks to a program called Louisiana InTech I spent 56 hours in intensive workshop sessions designed to help me guide students in the use of digital tools. Thanks to fluent and generous teacher Mike Rabourn of the Caddo tech team, the sessions were very helpful. Another fellow teacher who's been inspiring and generous with his time and expertise - wireless in my classroom, for instance - is William Bill Knox.
My students at Caddo Magnet High are encouraged to bring their laptops to school and use them during social studies class. They can take notes, research relevant material, make instantaneous contributions to class and email me their essays.
There are 2 desktop computers in my room and students are encouraged to use them for any academic purpose during class. Students also use the units under my purview before and after school and at lunch. They check the class web site for assignments and notes, download material for class activities, download and edit videos, crop photos, and check email.
Thus I try to foster a a sense of cooperative inquiry in academic activities - using the tools of the business and academic world.
Students who stray from appropriate and academic sites are banned from the privilage for a week or longer.
At the end of each semester my students must present a brief digital individual portfolio composed of images of samples of:
academic papers, activities in which they participated and photos of themselves and friends.
The classroom digital cameras are available from me upon appropriate request. They go into circulation several times a day. I also check out the *teacher videocam" to students when needed. Also, I have a friend who gives away refurbished computers to families in need; several of my students have gained from his generosity.
Thanks to a program called Louisiana InTech I spent 56 hours in intensive workshop sessions designed to help me guide students in the use of digital tools. Thanks to fluent and generous teacher Mike Rabourn of the Caddo tech team, the sessions were very helpful. Another fellow teacher who's been inspiring and generous with his time and expertise - wireless in my classroom, for instance - is William Bill Knox.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Java Junction's partisizers arrive Saturday, Jan 28, 8 pm
One of the more elaborate posters in recent memory, this baroque piece says, I think, that Chris Jay will not rest while there is anything left in this town to synthesize or integratize.
A vivid, succinct poster saves 20 to 30 minutes of a blogger's life
Hats off to Alex Kent and Alan English of the Times and Don Echols of Gypsy Mountain, who sent us this piece. Bon chance, mes amis.
Monday, January 16, 2006
In Dallas, at the tony islet called the Nasher Sculpture Center, next door to the DMA
The Women of Giacometti is the road show (Jan 14 - Ap 9) at the Nasher Sculpture Center, downtown Dallas.
It's a low-key display - who can tell the difference between the women and the men in Giacometti's gaunt figures? But the Nasher is a spacious venue and I felt like I was walking round inside the magnified movement of an enormous watch, and the Giacometti's were the pivots.
The best part of the exhibit was downstairs, where we were able to see the Swiss sculptor's entrancing early work and view a film - well, part of it - on his life. He was a charming man and worked in some charmingly funky ateliers in Geneva.
The sculptures that kept drawing me back for an additional taste were gaunties about 3 cm tall.
The Nasher's steel-studded garden was easily the greenest spot in parched Dallas. The theme is not monumental coolness, as in the Dallas Museum of Art's concrete-and-water sculpture garden. At the Nasher it's mortality and vanity. We all look like damned sculptures when we're wandering among the witty and frozen but expectant figures of this collection.
See the Talbot Hopkins photo of the Richard Serra steel for an idea of the Nasher's grand view.
It's a low-key display - who can tell the difference between the women and the men in Giacometti's gaunt figures? But the Nasher is a spacious venue and I felt like I was walking round inside the magnified movement of an enormous watch, and the Giacometti's were the pivots.
The best part of the exhibit was downstairs, where we were able to see the Swiss sculptor's entrancing early work and view a film - well, part of it - on his life. He was a charming man and worked in some charmingly funky ateliers in Geneva.
The sculptures that kept drawing me back for an additional taste were gaunties about 3 cm tall.
The Nasher's steel-studded garden was easily the greenest spot in parched Dallas. The theme is not monumental coolness, as in the Dallas Museum of Art's concrete-and-water sculpture garden. At the Nasher it's mortality and vanity. We all look like damned sculptures when we're wandering among the witty and frozen but expectant figures of this collection.
See the Talbot Hopkins photo of the Richard Serra steel for an idea of the Nasher's grand view.
Friday, January 13, 2006
The Reshaping of Shreveport Blog
For the past year I've run Shreveport Blog as an internet news post for the arts. It has been a serious and consuming hobby. Today I've reconsidered that pathway. The flow of selected and jazzified press releases was an experiment in new media, and I can see that its usefulness to the community was limited.
No matter; I enjoyed the endeavor and have developed new friends by the experience.
Now I want to focus on you. Shreveport Blog is a model. Your arts organization, your personal art flow or your business ought to communicate with clients and friends via a similar format. You can have your own version of it very cheaply, and for a reasonable fee I will set you up and make sure you are comfortable updating, when needed, this sort of flexible comunications satellite.
Photography is also a service for you to consider. Page back over the year of posts on SptBlog and decide whether you'd like to hire me to cover your event or start-up situation.
Video documentary work is a growth area for me. And I continue to be a creator of soundtracks. Arts-minded projects in video and music will consume much of my time in the near future.
Shreveport Blog will certainly continue to exist, but from today it changes directions. What's recommendable in arts & entertainment this weekend you may find in other media outlets.
The reshaping begins with a still life by artist Talbot Hopkins. Please see her web site, TalbotHopkinsArt.blogspot.com, and consider having your own such easy-to-manage info center.
No matter; I enjoyed the endeavor and have developed new friends by the experience.
Now I want to focus on you. Shreveport Blog is a model. Your arts organization, your personal art flow or your business ought to communicate with clients and friends via a similar format. You can have your own version of it very cheaply, and for a reasonable fee I will set you up and make sure you are comfortable updating, when needed, this sort of flexible comunications satellite.
Photography is also a service for you to consider. Page back over the year of posts on SptBlog and decide whether you'd like to hire me to cover your event or start-up situation.
Video documentary work is a growth area for me. And I continue to be a creator of soundtracks. Arts-minded projects in video and music will consume much of my time in the near future.
Shreveport Blog will certainly continue to exist, but from today it changes directions. What's recommendable in arts & entertainment this weekend you may find in other media outlets.
The reshaping begins with a still life by artist Talbot Hopkins. Please see her web site, TalbotHopkinsArt.blogspot.com, and consider having your own such easy-to-manage info center.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Indie, experimental psychedelic aleatory strum and bash from Tungsten74 at minicine? Wed, Jan 11, 8 pm, 836 Texas
Tungsten 74, based in Brooklyn, claims to be amused at being mentioned by the New Yorker as an experimental rock band. See their citation on the tungsten74.com site. They are due at minicine? Wed, Jan 11, says David Nelson.
Opening for Tungsten is ecelectic local band Mosquitosophagus. Recently writer Jennifer Flowers interviewed Mosquito Eric Dean and the band in an article on pop musicians' enjoyment of classical music:
"For Dean, who also enjoys the rhythmic cycles of classical Indian musicians like Ravi Shankar, an appreciation of classical music can be gained with open-mindedness. "I don't know how someone can be a musician and not sample every style. For centuries, (classical music) was all that music was."
Dean, Pete Fetterman and classically trained violinist Destiny Toro recently started the band Mosquitosophagus, which experiments with a 150-year-old cello, a laptop, drums, a guitar, Toro's violin and the soundboard of a piano they found in a trash heap.
So they don't have the whole piano, and nobody knows how to play Fetterman's mother's cello. But Mosquitosophagus believes that as long as something can make noise, it's fair game."
At minicine?, writes Nelson, "Our new space is not really open officially but we could not let this chance pass..... Tungsten 74, on tour, returns to Shreveport... Mosquitosaphagus ReAwakens from a lengthy sleep... Hard hats still required."
Wed, Jan 11
846 Texas Avenue
8PM
$5
Opening for Tungsten is ecelectic local band Mosquitosophagus. Recently writer Jennifer Flowers interviewed Mosquito Eric Dean and the band in an article on pop musicians' enjoyment of classical music:
"For Dean, who also enjoys the rhythmic cycles of classical Indian musicians like Ravi Shankar, an appreciation of classical music can be gained with open-mindedness. "I don't know how someone can be a musician and not sample every style. For centuries, (classical music) was all that music was."
Dean, Pete Fetterman and classically trained violinist Destiny Toro recently started the band Mosquitosophagus, which experiments with a 150-year-old cello, a laptop, drums, a guitar, Toro's violin and the soundboard of a piano they found in a trash heap.
So they don't have the whole piano, and nobody knows how to play Fetterman's mother's cello. But Mosquitosophagus believes that as long as something can make noise, it's fair game."
At minicine?, writes Nelson, "Our new space is not really open officially but we could not let this chance pass..... Tungsten 74, on tour, returns to Shreveport... Mosquitosaphagus ReAwakens from a lengthy sleep... Hard hats still required."
Wed, Jan 11
846 Texas Avenue
8PM
$5
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