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June 5, 2023

Cambridge Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Cambridge

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Arts Arts Portal Lead Spy Highlights

Washington College Opens New Doors for the Shore’s Young Writers: A Chat with Roy Kesey

June 4, 2023 by James Dissette
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For six years each summer The Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference at Washington College has opened its doors to 30 or more regional high school students wanting to immerse themselves in four-days of literary workshops, one-on-one meetings with working writers, panel discussions, and literary comradery.

Associate Rose O’Neill Literary House Director and Director of the Writers’ Conference Roy Kesey sees the intensive workshops as an opportunity for high school students to cultivate a sense of identity as writers and share their enthusiasm with established writers teaching poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and journalism. The previous six conferences were under the directorship of poet James Hall, also Director the Rose O’Neill Literary House.

Launched originally as an affiliate of the College’s national literary journal Cherry Tree, the conference has broadened WC’s reputation as a haven for aspiring writers while awarding each year the country’s largest undergraduate literary award.

Elyie Sasajima, this year’s recipient of the prestigious $80,000 Sophie Kerr Prize, attributed her transformative journey as a writer and her decision to attend Washington College to her attendance at the summer conference.

The 2023 Cherry Tree Young Writers’ Conference takes place July 11-14. Registration deadline: June 23, 2023; scholarship deadline, June 16, 2023.

The Spy recently interviewed conference director Roy Kesey.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more about Cherry Tree Young Writers Conference and to register, go here.

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Filed Under: Arts Portal Lead, Spy Highlights

38 Years and Counting: Chesapeake Music Director Don Buxton Sets the Stage for 2023 Season

June 3, 2023 by The Spy
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In the Spy’s recent interview with Chesapeake Music’s long-tenured executive director, Don Buxton, the veteran mastermind behind one the most prestigious  classical music events in the Mid-Atlantic region revealed exciting details about the upcoming 2023 season, promising a feast for the senses and a celebration of musical artistry.

With an infectious enthusiasm, Buxton shared his appreciation for the exceptional talents of the performers,  marveling at their ability to captivate audiences through their appearances on public television broadcasts, live performances at prestigious venues like Lincoln Center, and their extensive discographies. These musicians, according to Buxton, transcend the label of “world class” and embody something more profound — a level of artistry that makes them household names.

Chesapeake Music’s 2023 season is set to kick off in grand style during the first two weeks of June. Buxton has invited the public to witness the behind-the-scenes magic during free open rehearsals on June 8th and the following Wednesday. These unique opportunities offer an inside look at how these remarkable performances are meticulously crafted, showcasing the power of subtle adjustments that transform musical pieces.

This year’s festival also welcomes rising stars such as violinist Randall Goosby, whose performance earlier this year left audiences spellbound. The festival is further invigorated by the presence of the vibrant Terrorist String Quartet, finalists of a prestigious competition, who infuse the event with their infectious energy.

Buxton spoke about Chesapeake Music’s commitment to cultivating a new generation of classical music enthusiasts. The organization offers free student tickets, extending the invitation to accompanying parents and teachers. Additionally, new patron deals entice first-time attendees to experience the transformative power of live performances, creating lasting connections and cultivating an ever-growing audience.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information and ticket sales please go here.

Chesapeake Music holds its 38th annual Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival for two weekends, June 9-11 and June 15-17, at the Ebenezer Theater in downtown Easton. The program of six remarkable and diverse concerts promises to delight, surprise, and engage you. The festival opening extravaganza features works by Mozart, Wiancko, and Brahms, followed by a light reception following the concert.

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Filed Under: Arts Portal Lead, Spy Top Story

Delmarva Review: Baltimore Is Where by Kerry Graham

June 3, 2023 by Delmarva Review
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Author’s Note: “My love for Baltimore is fierce; I’m proud and protective of my city. I’m also impatient for us to improve, for Baltimore to be a place people won’t be so quick to criticize. This vignette captures the discouragement I sometimes feel that we’re so far from where we should, could, be.”

Baltimore Is Where

IF I STOP BELIEVING IN PRAYERS, it’ll be Baltimore’s fault.

Baltimore is where I learned when to pray: before dinner, at bedtime, kneeling during Mass. Back then, it felt like magic, a longer version of the wish I’d make blowing out birthday candles. Praying made me feel powerful. The Creator, Nurturer, Protector of all things was listening to me say I love you. I hope for. I’m afraid of.

Thank you.

At first, I was too young to even imagine receiving a response. But when, eventually, I discovered prayer is supposed to be a dialogue, I became eager for the holy half of the exchange. God doesn’t just hear. God answers.

Even me.

Baltimore is where I learned the quietest part of prayer: how to listen, discern, receive. I practiced waiting instead of willing. Once I’d trained my ear, I delighted in the clarity of these conversations. Even when I didn’t like what I heard, I never again felt like I was talking to myself. Baltimore is where I came to expect divine answers.

Except when Baltimore is why I pray. Then, it’s as though the line has been severed. I’m again alone. While wrapping myself in words, I wonder if there’s a reason these particular prayers don’t seem to make their way to heaven.

dddddGod, I just want blood to stop staining our streets.
ddddddddddGod, please don’t make anyone else choose between eating and electricity.
 ffffddfddfseffefdfdGod, when will our children know they are legends?

I pray any and everywhere. Running before breakfast, waiting in line, leaving work, I pray. I pray I pray I pray.

Sometimes I want to give up—until I remember how much I love. God. Baltimore. People. So, at least for now, I’ll keep saying prayers like they’re candles on a cake.

⧫

Kerry Graham is a Baltimore-based writer, book coach, and former high school English teacher. Her newsletter, Real Quick, is a monthly glimpse into her writer life. Kerry is a Creative-in-Residence at The Baltimore Banner. This “vignette” was published in the current Delmarva Review, Volume 15.

The Review selects the most compelling original nonfiction, poetry, and short fiction from thousands of submissions during the year. The nonprofit literary journal is designed to encourage fine writing from authors everywhere. Over forty percent are from the Delmarva and Chesapeake region. The book is available from Amazon.com and other major booksellers. Support comes from tax-deductible contributions and a grant from Talbot Arts with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council. Website: www.DelmarvaReview.org

 

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Filed Under: Delmarva Review, Top Story

Shore Lit June Notes and Musings by Kerry Folan

June 3, 2023 by Kerry Folan
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On Saturday June 17, the town of Easton will host the second annual Delmarva Pride Festival, and I’m thrilled to announce that Shore Lit will be participating with a Pride Pop-Up Bookshop celebrating queer stories for everyone. 

We’re partnering with our friends at The Ivy, the cherished Baltimore bookstore, whose brilliant booksellers have put together a stellar collection of titles with queer and trans themes for you to browse and shop. There is truly something for everyone: romance, sci-fi, memoir, children’s, YA, poetry, literary fiction… you name it. 

We’re especially excited that award-winning author and illustrator Elizabeth Lilly will be joining us in the afternoon to chat and sign books! Elizabeth’s work for children deals with the difficulty of understanding and loving yourself: Geraldine is about a lonely giraffe navigating life in a human school, while Let Me Fix You a Plate is about the food and love in her dual Colombian and American cultures. Elizabeth finds pride and joy in her identity as a lesbian, bi-racial, Colombian Latina, and she’s put together a curated capsule featuring some of her own favorite inspiring YA and picture books. Stop by and say hi!  

What Else I’m Reading

Book-ban attempts aimed at LGBTQ+ content are soaring: seven out of the American Library Association’s top thirteen most challenged books feature queer stories. Shore Lit stands in defense of literary freedom with PEN America and the ALA, who remind us that banning books is “an attack on every person’s constitutionally protected right to freely choose what books to read and what ideas to explore.” 

Free people read freely, y’all. So this month I’m making a point to read some of these frequently banned titles (descriptions pulled from the internet): 

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. ALA Alex Award winner and Stonewall-Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book. “Started as a way to explain to the author’s family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity–what it means and how to think about it–for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.”

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson. New York Times bestseller. “In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.”

Flamer by Mike Curato. Lambda Literary Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. “It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone’s going through changes―but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. ​Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in his debut graphic novel.”

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison. ALA Alex Award winner. “For Mike Muñoz, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work–and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew–he’s smart enough to know that he’s got to be the one to shake things up if he’s ever going to change his life.”

This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson. Guardian Best Book of the Year. Garden State Teen Book Award Winner. “There’s a long-running joke that after ‘coming out’, a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. This book is that instruction manual. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums.”

What Else I’m Looking Forward To on the Shore This Month: 

Film: Sky Hopinka @ Academy Art Museum, Easton

6:00 Tuesday, June 6

Free

The Native filmmaker and MacArthur Genius will present several of his experimental shorts, followed by a Q&A with Salisbury University professor Dr. Ryan Conrath. 

Theater: Alice in Wonderland @ Dorchester Center for the Arts, Cambridge

June 8–11

$15 adults; $10 students, Free for children under 5

Produced and performed entirely by local students, Groove Theater’s Student Lab production of Lewis Carrol’s classic is a family-friendly romp through Wonderland.


Lecture & Concert:
Maryland Spirituals Initiative Gospel Concert @ The Avalon Theater, Easton

6:00 Saturday, June 17

$10

This unique Juneteenth celebration will feature artist Ruth Starr Rose’s illustrated collection of African American spirituals, which was lost for nearly a century and just recently rediscovered, with lectures from the Water’s Edge Museum scholars and a gospel choir performance. 

Book Fair: Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival @ Talbot County Free Library, Easton

10:00-2:00 Saturday, June 24

Free 

More than 20 children’s book authors and illustrators will be at the library to kick off the 2023 Summer Reading Program. The best part: any kiddo who signs up gets a voucher good for one free book from the attending author of their choice.

 

 

Shore Lit aims to enhance cultural offerings on the Eastern Shore with free community author events. This newsletter is written by Shore Lit Founder and Director Kerry Folan. 

 

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Filed Under: Arts Lead, Arts Portal Lead

Academy Art Museum Instructor’s Studio Sale

June 3, 2023 by Academy Art Museum
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Something for Everyone!

The public is invited to the Academy Art Museum for an Instructor’s Studio Sale on Saturday June 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The instructors are bringing their studio works to you. Enjoy perusing their bins and racks of paintings, pastels, fine art prints, drawings, pottery, photographs and more. Plus art books, supplies and frames. Who knows what hidden gems you might find? All in a festive outdoor market atmosphere. Rain location is in the AAM performing arts room.

Participating instructors include Barrie Barnett, Bernie Dellario, Diane DuBois Mullaly, Mary Pritchard, Sheryl Southwick, Meg Walsh and Stewart White.

While you’re there, it’s a great time to visit the current exhibits inside the museum.

The Academy Art Museum is located in Easton, Maryland at 106 South Street, corner of S. Harrison Street. Convenient on and off-street parking.

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Filed Under: Arts Notes Tagged With: Academy Art Museum, Arts, local news

Smooth Jazz Guitarist Ronny Smith Comes to the Mainstay

June 3, 2023 by Spy Desk
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On Friday, June 23rd at 8 pm, the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD, in partnership with the Maryland State Arts Council’s Touring and Presenting program, is excited to welcome the smooth jazz sounds of guitarist Ronny Smith and his six-piece band.

Baltimore-born, Grammy-nominee Ronny Smith is one of the most exciting guitarists on the contemporary jazz scene.  Smith’s playing brings to mind that of Joe Pass, Larry Carlton, George Benson, Wes Montgomery, and even 70’s Johnny Guitar Watson. His style quickly impresses the listener with the broad range of his influences – from urban jazz/ funk, to raw, edgy blues, an infectious rhythm and blues groove, and straight-ahead jazz swing. His 2013 release Can’t Stop Now hit #1 on Billboard’s New and Active smooth jazz chart and ultimately reached #25 on the Billboard Top 30. Renowned jazz journalist Scott Yanow wrote, “Guitarist Ronny Smith’s mellow tone, subtle creativity and ability to groove over catchy rhythms have made him an increasingly popular force in contemporary “smooth” jazz.” The veteran guitarist’s artistry and spirit of eclecticism has led him to build a loyal Mid-Atlantic following on his own terms, and gained a public recognition that has resulted in consistently sold-out appearances at the top jazz clubs in Baltimore and D.C.

Ronny Smith

Tickets are $20 in advance of the show and can be purchased online at mainstayrockhall.org. Phone reservations are accepted by calling (410) 639-9133 (tickets reserved by phone are $25 when paid at the door). The Mainstay is located at 5753 N Main Street in Rock Hall.

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Filed Under: Arts Notes Tagged With: Arts, local news, The Mainstay

Main Street Gallery, Cambridge, Celebrates 12 Years and Presents its Summer Show with Karen Jury

June 2, 2023 by Spy Desk
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“Peony on Green” by Karen Jury

Main Street Gallery in Cambridge, MD has lots to be excited about. The city’s only member owned and operated Coop is turning 12 this summer and will celebrate with a champagne party on Second Saturday, August 12 from 5-8 pm. This is a free event and all are welcome to join us and meet our artists. The gallery will also be celebrating its guest artist for the July/August exhibition, Karen Jury, a resident of Chester, MD, whose show, “Creating Texture with Photo Encaustic” will be on the walls for the celebration.

If you are wondering what photo encaustic is, Karen says, “It all starts with a camera and a photograph and ends with wax and heat.”  To make a photo encaustic image an artist prints a photo onto paper and adheres the paper to a substrate. Then comes the wax and heat part as the artist paints the photo with a heated wax mixture called encaustic. The many and varied results of this process can be seen in Karen’s arresting images of nature. “My love of flowers, landscapes and textures is evident is my work” she says.

Karen didn’t start her career as a photo encaustic artist, however. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University she worked as an art director for a number of companies and colleges until she decided to take time off to raise her family. It was then that she rediscovered photography. Initially she photographed families, their pets and their significant events. Later she had the opportunity to photograph performances during Songwriter Festivals in Miami and Key West. “I enjoyed the creative aspect of portrait photography” she says “….and the creative aspect of shooting talented musicians”.

Still, the artist wanted to figure out something more creative to do with her photography. It was a friend, who after listening to Karen speak about her past and her love of textures, suggested she try Photo Encaustics. “Eureka….!”, Karen said. “I fell in love. I took courses online, a lot of trial and error, no injuries, and years later I am happy to share my encaustics.”

In addition to Main Street Gallery, Karen’s work can be seen at The Artist’s Gallery in Ellicott City. She has also shown her work at Kent Island Federation of Arts and the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis.

“Creating Texture with Photo Encaustic” will open on Thursday, July 6 and run through Sunday, August 27. The public is invited to two artist receptions which will take place on Second Saturdays, July 8 and August 12 from 5-8 pm. The receptions are free and light refreshments will be served. Karen will give a brief artist talk on the July 8 opening at 7 pm and the August reception will also be the champagne celebration of the gallery’s 12th Anniversary. Gallery hours are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11-5. Online shopping is always available on the gallery’s website at mainstgallery.net.

Main Street Gallery is located at 518 Poplar St. in Cambridge.  The gallery is currently reviewing work from prospective members and guest artists. Please contact the gallery through its website or by phoning 410-330-4659 if you are interested in being a part of this vibrant artist community.

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Filed Under: Arts Notes Tagged With: Arts, local news

Musician Carrie Rose Brings Breathing in Nature to Adkins Arboretum June 17

June 2, 2023 by Adkins Arboretum
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Carrie Rose intertwines solo flute with recorded owls, grasshoppers and water. As dusk falls on Sat., June 17, these sounds will mingle with breezes, bird and frog calls and stirring turtles and fish when Rose performs Breathing in Nature on the wetland boardwalk at Adkins Arboretum. All are invited to attend.

Featuring compositions by Rose and other contemporary and classical composers, along with friendly introductions to each piece to engage curiosity and intellect, the program will also explore the writings of environmentalist Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring and The Sense of Wonder.

Rose is a flutist, composer and teacher in the Washington, D.C., area. As a performer, she unfurls a luscious array of classical chamber music, grooves for folk dances, freelances with regional orchestras, wails out avant-garde music and presents in-person and recorded Breathing in Nature concerts. Her compositions have been featured at numerous venues in the Baltimore-D.C. region, and she has performed in the D.C. area with ensembles that include the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Arlington Philharmonic, Cathedral Choral Society and Washington Concert Opera.

Flutist, composer and teacher Carrie Rose will blend solo flute with the music of the natural world when she performs Breathing in Nature at Adkins Arboretum on Sat., June 17.

Seating begins at 7 p.m. on the wetland bridge and boardwalk. Music from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m. will include Syrinx by Claude Debussy, Owls for Flute and Owl Sounds by Carrie Rose, Sonata Appassionata by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Canto del Alba by Mario Lavista, Waterweave for flute and water sounds by Carrie Rose, Tango Etude #3 by Astor Piazzola, Prelude in C Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ave Maria by Charles Gounod and Suvisoitto (Summersounds) flute and grasshoppers by Usko Merilainen.

Wine and treats will be available for purchase before the concert. Attendees should bring chairs. The concert is accessible.

The program fee of $20 for members/$25 for non-members increases by $5 on the day of the event. Advance registration is encouraged at adkinsarboretum.org or by calling 410-634-2847, ext. 100.

Breathing in Nature is sponsored in part by the Caroline County Council of Arts and the Maryland Arts Council.

A 400-acre native garden and preserve, Adkins Arboretum provides exceptional experiences in nature to promote environmental stewardship.

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Filed Under: Arts Notes Tagged With: Adkins Arboretum, Arts, local news

Looking at the Masters: Calder Circus by Beverly Hall Smith

June 1, 2023 by Beverly Hall Smith
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Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania into a family of artists.. His grandfather and father were known for their public sculpture commissions, and his mother was a portrait artist. Alexander, better known as Sandy, started making small sculptures of mixed materials by1902.  The first one was an elephant. By age ten, Sandy had a small workshop. However, his parents having experienced the artist life, wanted Sandy to choose another line of work. Sandy graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey with a degree in mechanical engineering. The following inscription was written in his yearbook: “Sandy is evidently always happy, or perhaps up to some joke, for his face is always wrapped up in that same mischievous, juvenile grin. This is certainly the index to the man’s character in this case, for he is one of the best natured fellows there is.” 

“Calder Circus” (1926-1931)

Calder held several jobs as a hydraulic engineer, draughtsman, mechanic, and timekeeper at a logging camp. From the camp he wrote home to request paint and brushes to paint the mountain scenery. He started his art studies in 1923 at the Art Students League in New York City. He frequently visited Coney Island, the circus, and the Bronx and Central Park zoos. He began the creation of the “Calder Circus” (1926-1931). Over the next several years the “circus” grew to over 70 miniatures of performers, almost 100 accessories, 30 musical instruments, records, and noisemakers. Eventually the work filled five suitcases. The figures were made of wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, cardboard, leather, cloth, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, bottle caps, and other found objects.

Calder moved back and forth from Paris to New York from 1926 until 1933. He performed the show over 70 times. In Paris his audience included critics, collectors, and artists from the theatre, and literature, including the Parisienne avant-garde, Miro, Duchamp, Cocteau, and Leger. Paris audience members sat on bleachers made from champagne crates, and they ate peanuts. They were given noisemakers to sound when Calder gave the signal. In New York his audience included members of high society. Calder announced the acts in French or English, choreographed all the movement, gave voice to the performers and animals, played music, and created sound effects. The shows were so well received they often lasted for two hours. 

At the lower right-side corner of the display is the “Little Clown Trumpeter.” In a performance, Calder would place a balloon in the clowns mouth and then blow through the hose until the balloon burst and knocked over the bearded lady that was placed in front of him. The figures in the middle are a cowboy wearing wooly chaps, a bull made of wire and corks, a cowboy on horseback wearing a red bandana and holding his black hat, and a woman waving an American flag. A street lamp, and a dachshund fill in the left front corner. At the rear, three trapeze artists hold onto the high wire that Calder would vibrate to animate them. In case one should fall, a net was suspended beneath.

“Clown, Camel, Kangaroo”

The clown (10.5’’x7’75’’x5’75’’) is dressed in a long brown coat with arms made of Yarn. Calder would strip off the clown’s clothes in layers until he was dressed in coveralls, and revealed to be a thin wire figure. The camel is a cloth sculpture sewn together and wired for stability (6.5’’x5’75’’x4’25’’). The kangaroo is made from shaped pieces of metal nailed to a wooden base on a wheel. When the kangaroo is pulled by an attached cord its legs appear to move, similar to a child’s pull toy. As a result of the success of his inventions, Calder went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1927, to meet with a children’s toy manufacturer. They signed a contract for his Action Toys: a hopping kangaroo, a skating bear, and a goldfish that appeared to swim, opening and closing its gills when pulled.  

“Monsieur Loyal and Lion Cage”

 

Standing in the center ring, ringmaster Monsieur Loyal in top hat and tails points to the lion in cage. Out of the cage for a performance, the lion completed a few tricks and then sat on a pedestal. The lion then dropped a few chestnuts as if popping, which were quickly removed. Calder planned to add scent to the performance, but he found musk perfume too expensive and abandoned the idea.

“Elephant and Rider”

 

Other attractions at the Calder Circus included a sword swallower, Sultan of Senegambia, who threw spears and axes, a belly dancer who gyrated, a horse and chariot, cows, seals, a tightrope act, dogs, and other acts from the circus and the side show. The rider on the elephant appears to an English Kings Guard wearing a bearskin hat and bright red tunic. The elephant has a tube running through its body. In a performance the tube/trunk hung down as if the elephant were drinking water, but when Calder blew into the tube the trunk raised up and spewed out small pieces of paper to  give the effect of  spaying water. 

“Rigoulot, the Strong”

 

 Calder included well-known circus performers in his show. May Wirth, a famous bareback rider from the Barnum and Bailey circus, performed in the center ring. “Rigoulot the Strong” was a popular performer. When Calder loosened the cord, Rigoulot bent forward and picked up the barbell with his wire-hook hands. When the cord was tightened, the figure returned to the upright position and groaned. The figure then proceeded to lift the barbell backward and over his head.

During the run of the “Calder Circus” from1926 to 1931, Calder added a new dimension to the show with a series of figures constructed of wire only (1929). After meeting Piet Mondrian in 1930 and after being introduced to totally abstract art, he wrote a letter to Mondrian stating it was “the shock that converted me. It was like the baby being slapped to make its lungs start working.” It was then that Calder began to work as he said, “Just as one can compose colors, or forms, so one can compose motions.” He began creating his “Mobiles” in 1931.

Calder gave the last performance of the Calder Circus in 1961, for the filming of Le Cirque de Calder by Carlos Vilardebo. The Whitney Museum in New York City raise $1.25 million in 1932 to the purchase the Circus. The work continues on display at the Whitney.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

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Filed Under: Arts Lead, Arts Portal Lead

Auditions for Harvey at Church Hill Theatre

June 1, 2023 by Church Hill Theatre
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Auditions for Harvey, Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama will be held at Church Hill Theatre on Monday and Wednesday, June 12th and 14th at 5:30 PM and Saturday morning, June 17th at 10 AM. Directed by Bonnie Hill, the play runs three weekends from September 8 – September 24.

In this whimsical period comedy, Edward P. Dowd introduces his imaginary friend, Harvey, a six-and-a-half-foot rabbit, to guests at a society party given by his sister, Veta. She has seen enough of her brother’s eccentric behavior and decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter and the family further embarrassment. The results are both surprising and hilarious. In 1950, this delightful and amusing play was made into a film starring Jimmy Stewart.

Ms. Hill is looking to cast six men and five women in this period comedy. Ages for male and female characters range from 25 to 80. More information about the characters can be found on the Church Hill Theatre website: https://www.churchhilltheatre.org/shows/auditions.

Familiarity with the script is beneficial, but not necessary. Scripts are available for your perusal at CHT but must be returned.

Construction and technical assistance are also needed.

For further information, call/email Bonnie Hill at 410-708-2870/ bonniehill@zimbracloud.com

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Filed Under: Arts Notes Tagged With: Arts, Church Hill Theatre, local news

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