PLAY: Go. See. Do.
September 2-8, 2010
Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
Thursday, September 2, 2010
7-9 PM - Elaine McMilian's Songwriter Showcase - Robert Paulson, Darren Matheson (Hot Dog Skeletons) & David Regnier (Dead Voices)
Czar Bar, 1531 Grand.
June Yong Lee, Torso Series #6
Youngsuk Altieri, Ambiguity.
Topographies: Work by June Yong Lee and Youngsuk Altieri
Exhibit runs August 31 to October 2, 2010.
Reception and artist talks: Thursday, September 9, 5-8 PM
This exhibition brings together the work of two promising young Korean-born artists, both recent MFA graduates of Indiana University Bloomington. June Yong Lee creates photographic work which "maps" the torso skin of his portrait subjects. Youngsuk Altieri references ecology and insect life in her prints, video, and interactive computer generated sculptures. Both create artwork which balances the grotesque and the sublime while remaining fixed on an "honest" view of nature.
UMKC Gallery of Art, 5100 Rockhill Road.
6 PM - Book Discussion: Vintage Notions with Author Amy Barickman
Author Amy Barickman discusses her new book based on the wisdom of Mary Brooks Picken, a pioneer in the field of “domestic arts.” Vintage Notions: An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion and Fun shares Picken’s dedication to educating women and encouraging their entrepreneurial spirit. The book includes much of Picken’s work—including needlework, textiles and illustrations—as well as essays; signature monthly projects; seasonal recipes; and advice on health, spirituality, and fashion.
Barickman is the founder and owner of Indygo Junction and The Vintage Workshop. She has published more than 800 patterns and authored or co-authored 80 books.
Kansas City Library, Plaza Branch, 4801 Main.
Friday, September 3, 2010
8th Annual KC Irish Fest - September 3-5
Kansas City Irish Fest features more than 30 of the world’s top Irish performers from 5 different countries, food, activities, and more.
Crown Center. www.kcirishfest.com
Santa Cali Gon Days Festival - September 3-6
www.santacaligon.com
6 PM-9:30 PM - Melissa Dehner - First Friday
Honey Tree Gallery, 504 E. 18th Street.
Brother Bagman and The Super Massive Black Holes
Crosstown Station, 1522 McGee.
Anne Garney, Plaza Corner.
6-9 PM - Landscape Paintings by Anne Garney
THE b Gallery, 2016 MAIN. www.annegarneypaintings.com
4-7:30 PM - Wine Tasting at Inland Sea & Amigoni Estate Urban Winery
Currently pouring our 2008 Malbec , and Viognier. Extra: the new Amigoni Estate Urban Red is being sold at the tasting room now, a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc clone 214, and 1% Petit Verdot. Also, now available, the Amigoni Estate Cabernet Franc 214 Clone.
Livestock Exchange Building - West Bottoms, 1600 Genessee St., Suite 160.
2010 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards Exhibition - Opening Reception: Friday, September 3, 6-9 PM. Gallery talk with artists: Saturday, September 4, 2 PM. Exhibition runs September 3 - October 30.
Featuring recent and brand new work by this year’s Fellows Ari Fish, Sonie Ruffin and Caleb Taylor. Earlier this year, these three artists were selected by a panel of curators from Kansas City, New York, and Los Angeles to receive $10,000 unrestricted cash Awards this year.
Grand Arts, 1819 Grand Blvd.
6-9 PM - Vintage Notions Author Amy Barickman Book Signing, Vintage Fashion Sale
Fashion Group International will host a First Friday book signing and vintage fashion sale. Author and Fashion Group member, Amy Barickman, will be on-hand to sign her new book, Amy Barickman’s Vintage Notions: An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion and Fun.
Barickman’s book is filled with creative ideas, practical advice, vintage fabrics and samples of authentic handiwork, sewing patterns and illustrations of fashion and dress that celebrate the rich heritage of women who create. And while Amy’s book nourishes the creative spirit, it also brings to life many inspiring stories from the past. She hopes that those stories will “spark conversation and encourage creative pursuits, uniting generations through the common thread of sewing and the creative arts.”
A vintage fashion sale will also be featured with designer clothes from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Clothing prices start at $5 and nothing is more than $20. It’s the perfect time to find a little Mad-Men-inspired fall dress.
TOMBOY Design Studio, 1817 McGee.
Matthew Huff
6-10 PM - Matthew Huff, La Familia - Exhibit runs through September 24.
LA FAMILIA is a collection by Matthew Huff materialized as black-and-white iPhone pictures with white ink encoded drawings printed at 1,000 times their original size, giving them a very raw punk-like aesthetic.
The original photographs were taken using an iPhone 3G equipped with a fixed 2.0 mega pixel digital camera. Huff’s pictures are mostly taken while on tour with his band LAZY or while traveling the United States. The photos range from portraiture to landscape and documentary with a quick snapshot-like feel. While spontaneous, they are inherently embedded with a potentially greater purpose than Facebook or Twitter. Though an avid user of both, Huff tends to take his cell phone pictures out of their immediate Internet exposure and content into a seemingly more permanent printed form. His last exhibition contained one hundred and ninety of his printed iPhone pictures.
The text and symbols drawn with white pen and ink are Huff’s original written language, heavily inspired by Hispanic street gang graffiti. Being raised in Los Angeles County, Huff was keenly observant of the ever-present gang graffiti, particularly throughout his neighboring city Azusa, where he spent much of his time skateboarding. The best skateboarding spots were located in the heart of the Azusa 13’s territory, giving him an early exposure to the street gang's cryptic communication. Thirteen represents the letter M, being that it is the thirteenth letter in the alphabet, and Azusa’s “13” was a reference to its affiliation with the Mexican Mafia, one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the United States. This sharp contrast of creativity and hostility are very similar to the images depicted in the film Dog Town and Z Boys about the history of skateboarding and its revolution in the Santa Monica, Venice Beach area.
LA FAMILIA is directly inspired by Huff’s passion and interest in life’s duality:
positivity informed by the negative, creation from chaos, smooth yet abrasives, black, white, and the gray areas in between.
Plenum Space, 504 East 18th Street.
9 PM - Greaserama Pre-Party, 10 PM - Gibber Jabber, 11 PM - Nevermores, Midnight - Cretin 66
Pre-party for Greaserama Car Show.
recordBar, 1020 Westport Road. www.greaserama.com
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Pepper Party Festival
Peppers grown by local farmers are still heating up the market. Many varieties of peppers are available at the market from sweet bell peppers to spicy jalapeño peppers, and many kinds in between.
Activities for the kids include storytelling, art projects with Wonderscope, pepper roasting and recipe sampling. Between 10:30 AM and 11:15 AM, there will be a flash performance of music from Carmen by the Lyric Opera.
The Farm to Table Festival Series is sponsored in part by the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, the University of Missouri Extension, AT&T Yellowpages, 105.1 JACK FM and Tastebud Magazine.
City Market, 5th and Grand. www.thecitymarket.org
8:30 PM - Dennis Winslett Quartet with Harold O'Neal
KC-based saxophonist Dennis Winslett’s latest musical projects have found him taking traditional jazz concepts beyond its boundaries, incorporating electronic music and rock-oriented textures into his sound. This set will feature KC native and rising star NYC pianist Harold O'Neal.
Blue Room, 1616 East 18th Street.
10 PM - A Benefit for Artist Jess Keller - The Prolific, Apple for Archers, Gypsy Diver, Voices Beyond the Door
Local artist Jess Keller spent the last 5 years chronicling the Kansas City local alternative music scene. Her apartment was broken into in July and her equipment was stolen. Local bands are joining forces to help raise funds and restore this brilliant artist.
Crosstown Station, 1522 McGee. www.theprolific.net
Things To Be Next To - New and Recent Work by Alberto Aguilar (Chicago), Peter Fagundo (Chicago), Warren Rosser (Kansas City), James Woodfill (Kansas City)
Exhibition runs September 4-October 15, 2010. Opening reception: Saturday, September 4, 6-9 PM. Public roundtable conversation with artists + curators: Saturday Sept. 4, 3:30 PM
Co-curated by Kate Hackman (CSF) and Shannon Stratton (threewalls), this exhibition developed through extensive artist reviews and studio visits by each curator in the partner city. The project stems from each organization’s interest in cultivating relationships with artists, arts professionals, and arts communities in other cities to the benefit of the communities they serve, and extends each organization’s history of collaborating with other artist-centered organizations in the Midwest and nationally.
As the exhibition travels from one city to the other, the contrasting characteristics of la Esquina in Kansas City and threewalls in Chicago will be used to advantage to evince and amplify a sense of the different contexts in which this work was created, while also drawing out a rich field of connections among these artists.
La Esquina, 1000 West 25th Street. www.charlottestreet.org
Tom Petty Tribute: A Review - recordBar, 1020 Westport Road.
The Sexy Accident
Indie Pop Alliance show - Dead Girls, Making Movies, The Sexy Accident
The Brick, 1727 McGee.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
2-4 PM - Opening Reception: UrbanSuburban Exhibition 2010
This sixth annual exhibition and fundraising event features work by over 80 artists that includes painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, fiber, mixed media, jewelry and Judaica by artists from Missouri, Kansas, Mississippi, New York, and California. This display of artwork will be featured in the Kansas City Jewish Museum¹s Epsten Gallery and KCJMCA Project Cases throughout the first-floor of Village Shalom.
Epsten Gallery at Village Shalom, 5500 West 123rd Street (at Nall Avenue),
Overland Park. www.kcjmca.org
Monday, September 6, 2010
Fifth Annual Bike for the Brain (B4B) - 7 AM - registration, 8 AM ride/run/walk
To raise awareness about mental illness that affects the brain causing emotional, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms. The event supports community organizations providing help to those affected by mental illness. Highlights include: An “up/down auction; cycling courses of 10, 25, 50 and 64 miles as well as a run and walk for those who don’t ride; the annual B4B Tricycle Challenge, and a “Wheel of Fortune” where participants can give a donation. A variety of performances will add an artistic flavor to the festivities. The bicycle ride is $25 per rider and $20 for sign up prior to September 3.
Johnson County Mental Health Center, 6000 Lamar, Mission. 913-323-6529, www.bike4thebrain.org
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
6:30 PM - Anne Bass Discusses Documentary, Dancing Across Borders
Ballet enthusiast and philanthropist Anne Bass hosts a screening of her new documentary Dancing Across Borders and answers audience questions. The film chronicles the story of Sokvannara Sar. On a trip to Cambodia in 2000, Bass saw Sar perform with a traditional dance group. She was impressed with his natural grace, and upon returning to America, she contacted his parents and teacher to ask him to study ballet.
Sar was initially turned down by the School of American Ballet. He studied privately with Olga Kostritzky, head of the boys program at SAB, for two years and was then admitted to the school. Sar studied for five years at the School of American Ballet before being invited to join the Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s Professional Division.
Kansas City Library, Plaza Branch, 4801 Main.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
6:30 PM - Author Discussion: Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, The Great Typo Hunt
Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson discuss their new book, The Great Typo Hunt. The two men form a group called TEAL (Typo Eradication Advancement League) and set out with markers and chalk to right the errors displayed across America.
After fixing the bad grammar on a sign in a fake Native American watchtower, however, they were charged with defacing federal property and the typo-ridden complaint accused them of, among other things, violating criminal “statues.”
Along the way, Deck and Herson also discovered deeper dilemmas involving education, race, history, and how we communicate. The event is co-sponsored by Rainy Day Books. Copies of The Great Typo Hunt will be available for sale, and the authors will sign copies purchased during the event.
Kansas City Library, Plaza Branch, 4801 Main.
2-4 PM - Wyandotte Art Association - 45th Anniversary Art Show/Artists' Reception
The Wyandot Art Association is hosting an artists’ reception in honor of its 45th anniversary. The show is entitled, “Art Through the Ages.” There will be refreshments, a display of artwork, and a member of the Association will be available at all times to answer questions or show some of their artwork.
Membership in this association is open to any person, age 16 years and over. The Wyandot Art Association is a non-profit organization founded July 8, 1965 by a small group of local artists who share common interests and goals in the Kansas City area.
West Wyandotte Library, 1737 N. 82nd Street, Kansas City, KS.
9 PM - Singer-songwriter Eric Sommer, Just Married, People Depot
Eric's acoustic sound has been compared to Martin Sexton, Bert Jansch and Steve Howe, and his vocal mix is one that borrows from Elvis Costello, Bugsy Low Low and a bit of Frank Sinatra. Eric has created a solid catalog that incorporates great writing with musical inventiveness and a true rocked-out feel. Jim Reed of Savannah Connect calls Eric "...one of the finest American guitar players on the road today, Eric’s truly an American original - a poet, songwriter, showman... and the master of all things Americana”
recordBar, 1020 Westport Road. http://myspace.com/ericsommer
8 PM - Over The Rhine
Crosstown Station, 1522 McGee. www.overtherhine.com
These places also always have something great to do:
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