KINGSTON — Narragansett Elder Dawn Dove will lead the opening ceremony Saturday when the Tomaquag Museum presents its traditional Strawberry Thanksgiving on the quadrangle at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.

The Strawberry Thanksgiving celebration will feature storytelling, traditional music and dance performances and demonstrations of traditional art forms from such artists as Dawn Spears, Silvermoon LaRose and Mikala Jackson.

“At our annual Strawberry Thanksgiving we celebrate Creator’s gift of the strawberry, a traditional symbol of love and friendship,” said LaRose, the museum’s assistant director.

“This event has become increasingly popular each year, drawing in guests of all ages not only to experience local Indigenous culture but to engage in the celebrations along with members of the tribal community,” she added. “It’s a great day to make new friends and lasting memories, which is exactly what the strawberry represents.” 

The free event will also include children’s activities including games and crafts, support Indigenous empowerment, and an outdoor market of Native artists and vendors featuring a wide selection of traditional and contemporary art, jewelry, prints and gifts. Food, including light lunch fare and strawberry dishes, will be available.

In case of rain, the event will be held on Sunday, July 11.

— Sun staff

Arts & Culture Community Phoenix Community Alliance Travel, Shopping & Leisure Uncategorized
Taylor Costello
June 7, 2023

In the summer, air conditioning is your friend! When air conditioning arrived in the Valley, this new luxury first appeared Downtown, mainly in commercial spaces, such as the Westward Ho in 1929 and the former Fox Theatre, located on Block 23, in 1931.

Eventually, air conditioning in the desert became commonplace, but more so a necessity to weather the summer months. Below are a few Phoenix Community Alliance Member art and culture institutions that will encourage you to get out of the house periodically but not break a sweat while you do!

Phoenix Art Museum (1625 N Central Ave.) 

On display through July 23, “MOVE: The Modern Cut of Geoffrey Beene” exhibition shows off the imaginative, expressive fashion designs of the titular designer. (Photos by Taylor Costello)

A great museum shares the same traits to protect its precious art and assets inside its walls against deterioration, such as a controlled environment and minimal direct sunlight.  

A stable low humidity with cool overall temperature (between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit) in their galleries make “MOVE: The Modern Cut of Geoffrey Beene,” a special exhibition on the imaginative, expressive fashion designs of the titular designer, a staple for generations to come! 

MOVE: The Modern Cut of Geoffrey Beene is on display through July 23. 

Heard Museum (2301 N Central Ave.) 

A collection of Heard Museum’s 400 Katsina Dolls, which belonged to Senator Barry Goldwater. (Photo Courtesy of Heard Museum’s Facebook)

The home of former Senator Barry Goldwater’s 400 Katsina dolls, the Heard Museum hosts countless permanent and rotating exhibits that tell the stories of the Indigenous people of the Southwest and elsewhere.  

Exhibits to explore the different facets of culture include “He‘e Nalu | The Art and Legacy of Hawaiian Surfing” (Through July 16) and the ongoing “Substance of Stars,” an immersive examination of four Indigenous cultures and their spiritual values, told through commissioned artwork by native artists, like local muralist Thomas “Breeze” Marcus.

You can also find a large-scale mural by Breeze and muralist El Mac, at 111 W. Monroe Street.

Arizona Science Center (600 E Washington St.) 

The Arizona Science Center’s staff pose with their 10ft pair of functional scissors, made in-house, for the grand opening of ‘The Science of Guinness World Records’ in May. (Photo by Taylor Costello)

Literal big things are afoot at this Downtown institution! To kick off their latest exhibit, ‘The Science of Guinness World Records’ in May, the Arizona Science Center staff unveiled the largest* pair of functional scissors made in-house for the ribbon-cutting event. These scissors measured 10ft in length and weighed 93 lbs., which required six people, including Mayor Kate Gallego, to wield.  

The exhibit delves into the sciences behind the unique record-breaking feats encompassing their books and allows patrons to break those records. 

*-Hang tight, though, while they await confirmation from Guinness if their ginormous scissors are, in fact, going to break a world-record!  

 The Science of Guinness World Records is displayed through New Year’s Day 2024. 

The Arizona Science Center also recently announced they will be offering summer camps to families at no cost this year due to a summer enrichment grant awarded by Governor Katie Hobbs. CAMP INNOVATION is intended to inspire, educate, and engage curious minds through hands-on science. To learn more and register, click here.  

Children’s Museum of Phoenix (215 N 7th St.) 

The focal point of the Children’s Museum of Phoenix is “The Climber,” constructed from 50 tons of steel and running through all three floors of the building. (Photo by Taylor Costello)

The 1913 Monroe School, where the Children’s Museum of Phoenix is located, once was the largest elementary school west of the Mississippi and housed a young Jackson Pollack as a student. In 2008, the historic building was revived using local bond funding to unleash creativity for new generations of children. 

Highlights include a Noodle Forest (a collection of swimming noodles hanging from the ceiling), a children’s grocery store, their KIDchen, an enclosed outdoor playground, and hundreds of different spots to play centered around an ultimate indoor jungle gym called “The Climber,” constructed from 50 tons of steel. 

The museum is for children up to age ten, but all ages are tempted to trek through “The Climber,” which runs through all three floors of the building. 

The Nash (110 E Roosevelt St.) 

Zazu West performing at the Nash during a Django Reinhardt-themed concert, pictured January 13, 2023. (Photo by Taylor Costello)

Jazz is alive at The Nash! Recognized as one of the “Great Jazz Venues in the World” by Downbeat Magazine, the venue has spent more than ten years keeping the spirit of jazz thriving through different ways of engagement. 

The Nash, named after the renowned local jazz drummer Lewis Nash, gives a platform to a rotation of touring jazz musicians and vocalists while furthering the genre for generations to come. Teenage musicians can receive a crash course from Phoenix’s best musicians with educational programming from jam sessions, jazz camps, and workshops. 

Archwood Exchange’s Buy Black Marketplace (850 N 5th St., 7th Floor) 

Ali Nervis (left) and Henry Dickerson (right) co-owners of Straw and Wool hat store in Downtown Phoenix are co-founders of the Archwood Exchange nonprofit that hosts the Buy Black Marketplace. (Photo: Contributed)

For more than six years, local nonprofit Archwood Exchange has acted as an incubator for new Black-Owned Businesses in the Greater Downtown area, supporting entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses. Successful businesses whose ventures evolved into storefronts include Stardust & Sage (a Botanical and aromatherapy shop) and The Diaspora Collective (authentic fashions and home décor designed by Black artisans). 

Their Buy Black Marketplace activation gained a new physical anchor on Wexford Science + Technology’s seventh floor after being displaced from its former Roosevelt Street location.

The Buy Black Marketplace sets up shop twice a month, starting in July, from 12 PM to 4 PM. Check Archwood Exchange for a complete list of times. 

The Churchill (901 N 1st St.) 

The Churchill keeps their customers cool, and the summer at bay, using two evaporative cooling units, a misting system, and two 16 ft. diameter fans to circulate the air. (Photos Courtesy of The Churchill)

A different way to think of coolness! Under the arched roof in Roosevelt Row, 10 storefronts give visitors various ways to gather, shop and eat local. The Churchill is a collective for artisanal pop-ups to house operations under a 9,000-square-foot courtyard.  

Made from a structure of enclosed repurposed shipping containers by LOCAL Studio, this communal space keeps the summer at bay using two evaporative cooling units, a misting system, and two 16 ft. diameter fans to circulate the air. 

The Churchill’s Participating businesses include: The Brill Line, Infruition, So Far So Good, Cosas, Freak Brothers Pizza, State Forty Eight, Stoop Kid, Cayla Gray, Mod Co., and a Neighbor Market and Gourmet Pantry. 

For More Summer Family-Friendly Programming & Classes Check Out: Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix Center for the Arts, Valley Youth Theatre and Xico Art y Cultura.

Central air conditioning isn’t scarce, so luckily, this list isn’t a complete rundown of cool things to do Downtown in the months ahead. If you want a more exhaustive list of weekly events and occurrences, bookmark the Downtown Phoenix calendar or check out our weekly What’s Happening Guide!  

Photo: Courtesy of Greg Yamamoto

106th King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade & Ho‘olaule‘a

Saturday, June 10, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In its 106th year, this parade will include floral floats, local and national marching bands, pā‘ū riders on horseback and a motorcycle unit. The route begins at King Street in front of ‘Iolani Palace and ends at Monsarrat Avenue and Kapi‘olani Park. Afterwards, enjoy a vibrant celebration at the park with food, music, hula, cultural activities, games, education, demonstrations and workshops.

Free, Family-Friendly Event, parade route spans ʻIolani Palace to Kapi‘olani Park, kamehamehaday.hawaii.gov, @hawaii_sfca

SEE ALSO: 5 Ways to Celebrate King Kamehameha Day This Year

World Ocean Day

Thursday, June 8, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Waikīkī Aquarium is offering entertainment throughout World Ocean Month. On Thursday, June 8, celebrate World Ocean Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with activities for the whole ‘ohana, like crafts, educational programs and watching staff feed sharks, reef fish and seahorses. The next day on Friday, June 9, from 10 a.m. to noon, join the aquarium for a beach cleanup at Ala Moana Beach Park. OZONE Day takes place on Saturday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Outrigger Hotel with education, fun and games.

Family-Friendly Event, Waikīkī Aquarium, 2777 Kalākaua Ave., waikikiaquarium.org, @waikikiaquarium

Photo: Courtesy of Don Rostow

2023 Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival

Saturday, June 10, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Listen to steel guitar masters from O‘ahu singing and playing your favorite Hawaiian music. The festival will be live-streamed on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase’s Facebook and YouTube.

Free, Family-Friendly Event, Windward Mall, 46-056 Kamehameha Hwy., hawaiiansteelguitarfestival.com, @hawaiiansteelguitarassociation

Donnell Rawlings

Saturday, June 10, 9 p.m.

Donnell Rawlings first gained fame during his hilarious sketches as Ashy Larry on Chappelle’s Show, and his career soon grew as a comedian, actor and podcaster. In 2021, he was honored by The African-American Humor Awards in 2021 with the Redd Foxx Award and is currently filming his new special for Netflix this spring produced by Dave Chappelle.

$35 to $45, Blue Note Hawai‘i, 2335 Kalākaua Ave., bluenotejazz.com, @bluenotehawaii

Photo: Laura Dornbush

Kamehameha Day at Waimea Valley

Saturday, June 10, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In celebration of Kamehameha Day, all kama‘āina will receive free admission to Waimea Valley with proof of residency. Explore the valley, interact with cultural artisans, enjoy refreshments and snacks by Ke Nui Kitchen and swim in the falls.

Family-Friendly Event, Free, Waimea Valley, 59-864 Kamehameha Hwy, waimeavalley.net, @waimeavalleyoahu

Father’s Day Keiki Workshop

Saturday, June 10, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Have your keiki make dad a special magnet in this keiki workshop to show appreciation for all that he does. The magnet can be decorated with googly eyes, stickers and markers. City Mill team members will provide instructions and materials. There are 30-minute sessions beginning from 10 a.m.

Family-Friendly Event, Free, City Mill, various locations, tickets available here

SEE ALSO: June Events for Kids on O‘ahu

Photo: Courtesy of State Foundation on Culture and the Arts

2023 Young Artists of Hawai‘i

Through Saturday, June 17, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

View an annual student art competition and exhibition presented by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. This program recognizes creative excellence among Hawai‘i’s public and private school students kindergarten through sixth grade. The Hawai‘i State Art Museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free, Family-Friendly Event, Hawai‘i State Art Museum, 250 South Hotel Street., hisam.hawaii.gov, @hawaiistateartmuseum

Still from Gush. Photo: Courtesy of Honolulu Museum of Art

2023 Sundance Institute Indigenous Film Tour

Saturday, June 3, to Sunday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Honolulu Museum partners with the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program to present a film tour, a 73-minute theatrical program featuring a short film followed by a feature-length film. This curated selection is a celebration of Native life and an exciting look at the breadth of inventive storytelling from Indigenous artists supported by Sundance Institute. Also, on Saturday, June 10, at 7 p.m., stick around after the screening to talk story with programmer Sarah Fang and video artist Anuhea Nihipali about the themes of both films.

Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 South Beretania St., honolulumuseum.org, @honolulumuseum

Photo: Courtesy of Pacific Whale Foundation

7th Annual Whale Film Festival

Thursday, June 8, to Monday, July 31

This annual festival features films by storytellers from around the world to raise awareness about the ocean, marine wildlife conservation and environmental stewardship. The festival kicks off on World Ocean Day with an in-person event on Maui, and the films will be available online throughout July.

Pacific Whale Foundation, pacificwhale.org, @pacificwhalefoundation

JCCH Craft & Collectibles Fair

Saturday, June 10, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Shop for gifts and treats at this family-friendly outdoor event with local Japanese and Japanese-related vendors. Take advantage of the 20% off kimono sale at the gift shop as well.

Free, Family-Friendly Event, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, 2454 South Beretania Street, jcchawaii.org, @jcchawaii

Oldham County is home to many things – horse farms, trains, history and a Kentucky Derby hat maker – but the list doesn’t stop there. Several distinctive artists call Oldham County home and they will have their place among regional and national artists at this year’s Arts on the Green at The Maples Park (AOG).

Crestwood artist Josie Wiseman will be one of them. Since 1993, she has been creating her one-of-a-kind jewelry. No two pieces are the same, setting her work apart and ensuring a quality piece for whomever purchases it.

She said she became interested in making jewelry because “I love jewelry, particularly handmade jewelry.” When Josie and her daughter saw an ankle bracelet she knew they could make, Josie purchased the necessary materials and embarked upon a hobby that would become a curative career.

The next step was to take a silversmithing class at the Louisville Visual Arts Association. She took additional classes in North Carolina, California and Mexico and finally decided to add fine silver clay to her material list. For embellishment, she handsets precious stones in fine silver or 14 karat gold. Each piece is designed, cut formed, soldered and polished by the artist so the buyer receives a truly handcrafted piece of Silver Kingfisher jewelry.

Pewee Valley’s Gene King, owner of King’s Woodworking, will return to AOG this year. Gene is a self-taught woodworker who became interested in the craft about 10 or 11 years ago as a hobby.

“I started out making outdoor furniture, then I got bored,” he said. He tried his hand at crafting other wooden items, but wanted to create something different. He stumbled across a YouTube video for MTM Wood, a company based in Russia that makes unique cutting boards. He corresponded with the owner who gave him a lot of information. “It took me two years to figure it out,” he said.

Gene uses a variety of woods to make cutting boards, cheese boards and lazy susans, and completes them by applying a mineral oil and bees wax finish. His hand crafted all natural hardwoods selection includes walnut, maple, cherry, padauk and jatoba. He gets woods from Bagdad Lumber in Shelby County and imported wood from Indianapolis, Ind.

Each board requires 20 hours of hand sanding. At that rate, he may produce one or two a week or as many as four if he has upcoming shows or an order to fill.

La Grange artist Crystal Carol grew up on the Great Plains. Always fascinated with nature, one of the first things she drew was horses. “My childhood love of these free and wild beings have inspired my art ever since,” she said.

As a self taught artist, Crystal has experimented in various media. She creates one-of-a-kind paintings and drawings on canvas, wood and leather. She has been strongly influenced by the symbology represented in the pictographs of the Plains Indians.

But she is also inspired often by the symbols used in other cultures such as the Anasazi in the Southwest, the ancient Celts and the Paleolithic cave paintings found in France. “There is a fascinating similarity in the portrayal of symbols in cultures from different parts of the earth and different times. When I speak through my paintings, I hope my two-legged brothers and sisters can find the protective meanings and connections I want to share.”

Crystal’s art was featured on “That’s Clever”, an HGTV show. She established SpiritHorse.Gallery and donates 10% of all profits to Native American creative endeavors or local food and farming endeavors.

These are just three of the great local artists who will be represented among many regional and national artists at Arts on the Green at The Maples Park in Crestwood on June 10 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and June 11 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event is organized by the non-profit, Arts Association of Oldham County (AAOOC).

This will be the 23rd year for this juried fine arts and crafts festival which will feature 15 food trucks daily from the Louisville Food Truck Association, children’s activities, local entertainment, adult beverages and free shuttle bus service to and from the park and three designated sites: South Oldham Middle, South Oldham High and Camden Elementary Schools.

For more information, contact Helen McKinney, artsongreen@aaooc.org or 502-487-0379 or the AAOOC at 502-222-3822 or execdir@aaooc.org

Mark-making like everything is a metaphor, queer avant-garde anti-capitalist horror, not your daddy’s dad jokes, performative food artistry, painting every ocean, gay and gonzo illustration art, looking at men, smoothing out information overload, fateful individual and collective creative journeys, Puck and the Scottish play, a big arts party in the park, Indigenous crafts and Native playwrights, a hot take on a cold classic of ancient theater, a celebrity guide to activism, poetry in the former temple, LGBTQ elders get their flowers, and a project aimed at sustaining the theatrical voices of women of color.

Beck+Col: Red Night

Thursday, June 8

Lauren Powell Projects presents Beck+Col: Red Night at the art room. Artist duo Beck+Col use costume-based performance and video to build alternate universes populated by monsters, spawning a counter-mythology and the queering of existing norms. Tonight they present a group exhibition and first look inside their new film Red Night, set in the colorful world of a queer chosen family of five monsters, in which they highlight the helplessness of individualism through the narrative of a slasher flick. For the occasion, the gallery is transformed into the monster’s home: yellow, orange, and blue monochromatic spaces filled with set pieces, costumes, and artworks from the film. 908 S. Olive St., downtown; Opening reception: Thursday, June 8, 5-8pm; On view through July 28; free; laurenpowellprojects.com.

Big Dad Energy

Big Dad Energy at the Virgil. A night of transmasculine comedy observing Pride Month and Father’s Day in iconic style. Big Dad Energy: The Return is hosted by actor/director/producer Marval A Rex, produced by Jett Fink, and featuring Jake Noll, Janaya Kahn, Joey Soloway (creator of Transparent), Kai, and 7G (British artist Seven Graham), the night promises a stellar line-up of diverse, international, essential voices from the film, comedy, theater, and streaming worlds—all with something special to say about masculinity and culture. 4519 Santa Monica Blvd., East Hollywood; Thursday, June 8, 8pm; $25; weho.org.

Soup & Tart: Los Angeles at MOCA. Taking inspiration from Soup & Tart, an event devised by Fluxus artist Jean Dupuy in 1974 and held at The Kitchen in downtown New York, Soup & Tart: Los Angeles brings together 50 artists, musicians, and dancers from across Los Angeles’ cultural landscape, inviting them to use two minutes each in any way they like—an improvisation, song, action, movement, or text. As the performances roll on, a lineup of L.A. chefs will serve up their delicious takes. The Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo; Thursday, June 8, 6pm; $30; moca.org.

Danielle Eubank

World Oceans Day at the Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles. The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles celebrates World Ocean Day with a presentation by acclaimed artist Danielle Eubank as she discusses “One Artist, Five Oceans,” a 20-year project wherein she, as an expedition artist, sailed and painted the waters of every ocean on Earth—both to raise awareness for climate change, and pursue a spectacular discourse between abstraction and realism on the canvas. The evening’s program will be followed by a raffle to raise money for the Los Angeles chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. “I have painted all of Earth’s oceans to show that we are just as interconnected as are our oceans,” says Eubank. “There is a unifying preciousness amongst these bodies of water and all that rely on them, which is everyone.” 2433 N. Broadway, Lincoln Park; Thursday, June 8, 6-10pm; $30; worldoceanday.org.

Maryam Khosrovani & Kaveh Irani at Hamizianpour + Kia, installation view

Maryam Khosrovani & Kaveh Irani: Extensions of a collapsing landscape, intubated futures, at Hamzianpour & Kia. In a counterintuitive but ultimately inspired two-person show, sculptures and paintings by Kaveh Irani and works on paper by Maryan Khosrovani dance their way through allegorical figuration and narrative abstraction along an emotional continuum where everything is a metaphor. Irani’s emotive, anthropomorphic industrial elements rendered in both pigment and concrete are enlivened by ebullient color and pattern, suggesting sublimated stories of survival and secret joy. Khosrovani for her part makes endless marks and performative perforations that feel like they are code for something—their sinewy nearly organic shapes reinforcing a hidden, lived story. As with any well-chosen pairing, each series brings out fresh aspects in the other, and creates a new story within the story. 5225 Wilshire Blvd. #212, Miracle Mile; Open daily through Saturday, June 10; free; hamzianpourandkia.com.

Mike Kuchar at Ghebaly Gallery

Friday, June 9

Mike Kuchar: Big, Bad Boys at Ghebaly Gallery. Kuchar has been an influential figure in the underground film and comics scenes since the 1960s, who together with his twin brother George gained cult recognition for their over-the-top, no-budget films that sent up Hollywood epics, celebrating camp as an artistic sensibility. Throughout the ‘70s, Kuchar began to support his filmmaking with gay erotic drawings with a unique combination of gonzo lewdness and uncompromising joy, garnering an underground fandom and critical acclaim. 1109 N. Poinsettia Place, West Hollywood; Opening reception: Friday, June 9, 5-8pm; Artist talk: Saturday, June 10, 3pm; On view through July 8 with live figure drawing sessions throughout; free; ghebaly.com.

Manuel Betancourt at Book Soup

Manuel Betancourt, in conversation with Grace Perry, discusses The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me about (Desiring) Men at Book Soup. Betancourt has long lustfully coveted masculinity—in part because he so lacked it. As a child in Bogotá, he grew up with the social pressure to appear strong, manly, and ultimately, straight. And yet in the films and television he avidly watched, Betancourt saw glimmers of different possibilities…His book grapples with the thrall of masculinity, examining its frailty and anxieties along with its erotic potential. 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; Friday, June 9, 7pm; free; booksoup.com.

NKSIN at Albertz Benda

NKSIN: Revival at Albertz Benda. NKSIN’s monochromatic paintings tackle universal emotions—desire, envy, joy, and grief—in the age of information overload. Bombarded with an overwhelming amount of news through social media and the internet at large, NKSIN’s figures reject the adversarial effects of technology, seeking to restore the capacity to reflect and function effectively. NKSIN’s subjects showcase a minimalist sophistication and meticulous color gradation, emphasizing the artist’s ability to construct a bridge between the digital and the physical. Opening reception and sake tasting: Friday, June 9, 7-9pm; On view through July 8; free w/rsvp; albertzbenda.com.

Tru’o’ng Công Tùng: the state of absence – voices from outside, 2020–ongoing. Gourds, water, soil, seeds, machinery, time, and temperature…, dimensions variable. (Image courtesy of the artist)

Saturday, June 10

Carmen Argote, Alberta Whittle, and Trương Công Tùng at ICA LA. Including drawings, sculptures, and works in process, I won’t abandon you, I see you, we are safe maps Argote’s journey toward a deeper understanding of her interior self and the binaries that it holds—adult and child, man and woman, resident and exile, individual and collective. Originally from Barbados and currently based in Scotland, Whittle directly engages her diasporic heritage to create works that meditate on the journeys, both historical and present, of Black communities across the Caribbean Sea and beyond. Characterized by a poetic sensitivity to history, landscape, and materiality, Trương’s dynamic installations often incorporate natural materials that bear the traces of time and the echoes of generations and are composed in such a way as to reimagine the land from a site of colonial empire to one of communion. 1717 E. 7th St., downtown; Opening receptions: June 10, 3-6pm; On view through September 10; free; theicala.org.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Jonathan Blandino and Taylor Jackson Ross (Photo by Ian Flanders at Theatricum Botanicum)

Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Theatricum Botanicum. Celebrate the iconic Theatricum Botanicum’s 50th season with Shakespeare’s most infamously lethal couple, feeding each other’s ambitious passions. Unable to be sated until the bones are picked clean, they continue to devour the very food that brings their disastrous end. On the lighter side, no summer season would be complete without the company’s signature production, which infuses Shakespeare’s beautiful language with music and song to heighten the pleasure. The most magical outdoor theater setting in Los Angeles is the perfect place to conjure an enchanted forest inhabited by lovers both fairy and human. Shakespeare’s beloved world of wonder is where magic, romance, comical misunderstandings, and the pain of unrequited love are resolved, and all is reconciled through revelries and the power of nature. 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Performances of Macbeth begin Saturday, June 10; A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins on Sunday, June 11; both run through the end of September; $30-$60; theatricum.com. 

Tarfest

Tarfest 20th Anniversary Edition at Pan Pacific Park. Celebrating local artists and culture with musical performances throughout the day, creative activities, curated art installations, adult beverages, and food trucks, “Tarfest has been part of the L.A. community for 20 years,” says founder James Panozzo. Music curated by Raghav Desai of Minty Boi Presents, K-pop by the Korean Cultural Center, and Mister Psychedelia. Issues-based art installations by Dani Dodge, Pam Douglas, and Snezana Petrovic, plus a large-scale public wall-drawing session led by TAG Gallery and the Southern California Women’s Caucus for the Arts. Family creative activities hosted by Japan Foundation Los Angeles, The Korean Cultural Center, The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and others. 7600 Beverly Blvd., Mid-Wilshire; Saturday, June 10, 2-7pm; free; tarfest.com.

Native Voices at the Autry

American Indian Arts Marketplace and Native Voices 29th Festival of New Plays at the Autry. Celebrate contemporary and traditional Native art forms at the Autry Museum of the American West’s 32nd Annual American Indian Arts Marketplace where you can purchase one-of-a-kind artwork, jewelry, and fashion. Tickets to the Marketplace also includes the only Actors’ Equity theater company in the country devoted to developing new works by Indigenous playwrights, Native Voices Festival of New Plays (2:30pm); Indigenous Films from the Sundance Film Festival (11:30am); and special live vocal and dance performances (hourly from 1pm). 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park; Saturday-Sunday, June 10-11; 10am-5pm; $16/day; theautry.org.

SALT at 2220 Arts + Archives

Sunday, June 11

SALT: Volta x Heidi Ross at 2220 Arts + Archives. The Poetic Research Bureau and dance theater company Volta present an immersive performance that enables audience members to experience a collapsing relationship through taste, sound, dance, and poetry. Directed by Mamie Green and Megan Paradowski of Volta, writers Sammy Loren and Ellington Wells reimagine Euripides’ iconic tragedy Medea, and otherworldly harpist Melissa Achten scores the piece live. The atmosphere of “dark mania” will seize more than eyes and ears, as the audience sample edible installations by conceptual artist and chef Heidi Ross. 2220 Beverly Blvd., East Hollywood; Sunday, June 11, 3pm; Monday-Tuesday, June 12-13, 7pm; $30; 2220arts.org.

Writers Bloc presents David Fenton and Jane Fonda

Tuesday, June 13

Writers Bloc presents David Fenton with Jane Fonda at New Roads School. Interested in making an impact for climate change? For gun violence prevention? For social justice? For human rights? Public health? Head straight for David Fenton. Fenton has been a social activism guru for decades, having worked with Yoko Ono; Nelson Mandela; Bruce Springsteen; Carl Sagan; Jesse Jackson; and countless other public figures in their crusades for social change. The Activist’s Media Handbook is a handbook for people who seek to be part of the solution. He tells stories of his successes and mistakes, and offers lessons he learned the hard way. 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica; Tuesday, June 13, 7:30pm; $25, $55 includes signed book; writersblocpresents.com.

Installation view, Anselm Kiefer: Exodus, Gagosian at Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles (Artwork © Anselm Kiefer. Photo: Jeff McLane)

Wednesday, June 14

Beyond Baroque presents Jerome Rothenberg and Charles Bernstein at Gagosian/Marciano Arts Foundation. An evening with poets Jerome Rothenberg and Charles Bernstein inside Anselm Kiefer’s remarkable exhibition Exodus. Two of the most consequential figures in radical poetics over the past half century, Rothenberg and Bernstein will explore some of the themes that occupy Kiefer—Jewish mysticism, the poetry of Paul Celan, and the formulation of a global poetics in response to the Holocaust—in a conversation and readings of their poetry. 4357 Wilshire Blvd., Koreatown; Wednesday, June 14, 6:30pm; free; beyondbaroque.org.

Alison Saar for the Lorraine Hansberry Initiative

The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative at Gloria Molina Grand Park and the A C Bilbrew Library. In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry became the first Black female playwright on Broadway with her play A Raisin in the Sun. It continues to be one of the most produced plays in the world, but Hansberry’s contribution to the world was far greater than that single play. Her entire body of work as an artist, journalist, and civil rights leader has proven to be as incisive and relevant today as it was during her short lifetime. Over 60 years later, female playwrights of color remain the most proportionally underrepresented demographic on American stages. This initiative aims to keep the national conversation about race, justice, and economic equality going by honoring Hansberry—in this case, with summer programming centering around special installations of sculptor Alison Saar’s statue of Hansberry.

Sculptor Alison Saar, The Lilys Executive Director Julia Jordan, and Playwright Lynn Nottage with the Lorraine Hansberry Statue, To Sit A While, in NYC’s Times Square in June 2022

Titled To Sit A While, the statue features the figure of Hansberry surrounded by five bronze chairs, each representing a different aspect of her life and work; the life-size chairs are an invitation to the public to sit with her and think. Originally unveiled in Times Square on June 9, 2022, the statue is currently on a national tour, with recent stops in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Detroit, as well as a return exhibition installation at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where its stay coincided with BAM’s production of Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Olive Court, 200 N. Grand Ave., Opening reception: Wednesday, June 14, 6pm; On view through June 30 with movement and theater workshops June 20, 25 & 27; A C Bilbrew Library, 150 E. El Segundo Blvd., Willowbrook; On view July 7-31 with a special theater panel July 29; free; lorrainehansberryinitiative.org.

Not Another Second, installation view

Ongoing:

Not Another Second: LGBT+ Seniors Share Their Stories at The Watermark. Photographer Karsten Thormaehlen’s candid portraits and one-on-one, AR enhanced interviews with the 12 LGBT+ seniors invite them to tell their stories of integrity, resilience and humanity while paving a better way for future generations. These stories come from the individuals who were a part of the generation that lead the Stonewall uprising, founded political group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and helped end the US military policy commonly referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” 947 Tiverton Ave., Westwood Village; On view through June 29; free; notanothersecond.com.

My Own Private Rodeo, by Coyote Park

From the L.A. Weekly Pride Guide, which is being frequently updated throughout the month: It kicked off over a week ago, on Harvey Milk Day, but the WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival continues through June 30, with a bunch of cool exhibits. This weekend we recommend checking out the following: “Angelic Troublemakers” (digital drawings and photographs relating to the theme of LGBTQIA+ Pride) at West Hollywood Library;  “My Own Private Rodeo,” in collaboration with ONE Archives Foundation and HIT presenting new works by Coyote Park posing the question, “What does it mean to exist in a way that our elders weren’t allowed to?” at ONE Gallery; and Rainbows, Wigs, and Shades, Dustin Gimbel‘s ceramic totem installation celebrating diversity at Sunset Plaza, 8624 W Sunset Blvd. More info on these and other events at wehopride.com/artsfestival.

Kaveh Irani at Hamzianpour + Kia

Maryam Khosrovani at Hamzianpour + Kia

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NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WLUC) – Negaunee’s Jackson Mine Park has just received a splash of color.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the Art in the Park Project. Nine Negaunee Highs School students submitted art pieces relating to Negaunee or the U.P.

Elizabeth Gleason is one of those artists. She said her artwork is trying to draw attention to the Native heritage in the U.P.

“We’re not full but we are part Indigenous,” Gleason said. “So, I think it’s very important to share that kind of culture that a lot of people have up here, especially because it’s not recognized a lot and I just love to do that.”

Gleason said this is an opportunity for students to make a name for themselves.

“More often than not, art is kind of overlooked and seen as just an ‘extra thing,’” Gleason said. “It’s really cool to be recognized, especially as a high school student, to kind of kick start your whole learning thing, especially if you want to go into that for a career eventually.”

The project is a collaboration between the City of Negaunee, the high school and Honor Credit Union. The credit union donated $2,000 to the project.

Member Center Manager Sarah Wackerle said she wants to draw more attention to the talent in Negaunee.

“I’m really excited for students, families, friends, people who don’t live in the area that can come and check out the artwork that’s done locally so, again, just really focusing on the local artwork of our students,” Wackerle said.

Wackerle hinted that the project may expand to more students and artists in the future.

Copyright 2023 WLUC. All rights reserved.

Artist and memoirist Françoise Gilot, known for her tumultuous relationship with Pablo Picasso, has died at age 101 following heart and lung issues.

Gilot’s daughter, Aurelia Engel, confirmed her death to the New York Times. The centenarian is also survived by her two children with Picasso, Claude Picasso, director of the artist’s estate, the Picasso Administration; and fashion and jewelry designer Paloma Picasso; as well as four grandchildren.

During her life, Gilot was incredibly productive artist, painting well into her 90s and leaving behind some 1,600 canvases and 3,600 works on paper, according to Agence France Presse. She often worked with watercolors to create her vibrant paintings and was a dedicated ceramicist. Gilot received numerous honors in her native France, including the nation’s highest order of merit, the Legion of Honor.

Picasso met Gilot, 40 years his junior, in 1943, approaching her table at a Paris bistro with a bowl of cherries. When she and her friend told him they were artists, he allegedly responded: “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Girls who look like that can’t be painters.”

But Gilot, who was born in a Paris suburb into an affluent family, had been an artist since she was three years old. She started out borrowing brushes from her watercolorist mother and, at her father’s insistence, maintained a gruelling schedule of eight hours a day of both painting and legal studies. She had even just had her first show, having dropped out of law school to study art at the Académie Julian.

Pablo Picasso and Francoise Gilot in 1952. Photo by Roger Viollet via Getty Images.

Despite being married to dancer Olga Khokhlova, Picasso was immediately entranced by the 21-year-old artist and, whose early work had a distinct Cubist bent. Gilot became a key muse for the older artist, who depicted her in masterpieces such as Woman-Flower (1946) and Femme assise (1949), which sold at auction for £8.5 million ($9.6 million) in London in 2012.

In the end, Gilot was the only woman to leave Picasso on her own terms. (The two were together for a decade, but never married.)

“Pablo was the greatest love of my life, but you had to take steps to protect yourself. I did, I left before I was destroyed,” Gilot recalled in Artists and Conversation, a 2021 book by Janet Hawley. “[Picasso was] astonishingly creative, a magician, so intelligent and seductive… But he was also very cruel, sadistic, and merciless to others, as well as to himself.”

Francoise Gilot and her daughter Paloma Picasso in 1952. Photo by Roger Viollet via Getty Images.

When she left him, Picasso told her “you imagine people will be interested in you,” according to a 1979 article in People. “They won’t ever, really, just for yourself. It will only be a kind of curiosity they will have about a person whose life has touched mine so intimately.”

Picasso has been back in the headlines recently as exhibitions around the world mark the 50th year since his death. The renewed attention has also brought up his well-documented mistreatment of women. This dark legacy is the subject of a critically panned exhibition, “It’s Pablo-matic: Picasso According to Hannah Gadsby,” at the Brooklyn Museum.

In a followup to her 2018 standup special that skewered Picasso’s problematic personal life, comedian Gadsby pairs the late Spanish artist with women artists such as Renee Cox, Käthe Kollwitz, Dindga McCannon, Ana Mendieta, and Marilyn Minter. Gilot and Picasso’s other lovers and muses, such as the artist Dora Maar, are mentioned in the exhibition, but their work is notably absent.

Francoise Gilot in 2015. Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images.

For her own part, Gilot was outspoken about her time with the famous artist, infamously publishing a best-selling memoir about their relationship, Life With Picasso, in 1964. (It was later adapted into the 1996 film Surviving Picasso, with Anthony Hopkins as the title role and Natascha McElhone playing Gilot.)

The book detailed Picasso’s physical and emotional abuse. “He took the cigarette he was smoking and touched it to my right cheek and held it there,” Gilot wrote. “He must have expected me to pull away, but I was determined not to give him the satisfaction.”

Picasso filed three unsuccessful lawsuits against the book, and never forgave Gilot for writing the revealing account of their life together. He attempted sabotage her art career, and would remain estranged from their children for the rest of his life.

Gilot and Jonas Salk after their wedding in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, France. Photo by Michel Ginfray/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images.

Gilot went on to marry twice, having her third child, Engel, with Luc Simon, a childhood friend. (The marriage lasted from 1955 to 1962.) In 1980, she married scientist Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine. They remained together until his death in 1995, but spent half of each year apart to focus on their respective careers, with Gilot keeping studios in New York and Paris.

She also served as chairwoman of the fine arts department at the University of Southern California, 1976 to 1983.

Françoise Gilot. Three Travel Sketchbooks: Venice, India, Senegal. Photo courtesy of Taschen.

Her work can be found in the collection of institutions including the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York; and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

In recent years, Gilot’s profile as an artist had risen. Gagosian organized “Picasso and Françoise Gilot: Paris–Vallauris 1943–1953,” the first exhibition pairing her art alongside that of Picasso, in 2012. In 2018, she published a facsimile edition of a trio of sketchbooks she made from 1974 to 1981, while traveling to India, Senegal, and Venice. Last year, the New York Times declared her an “‘It Girl’ at 100.”

Paloma à la Guitare’ set an auction record for the artist with a £922,500 ($1.3 million) sale at Sotheby’s London in 2021. Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for Sotheby’s.” width=”1024″ height=”705″ srcset=”https://www.mecreates.com/story/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1319220356-1024×705.jpg 1024w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/06/GettyImages-1319220356-300×207.jpg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/06/GettyImages-1319220356-1536×1057.jpg 1536w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/06/GettyImages-1319220356-2048×1410.jpg 2048w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/06/GettyImages-1319220356-50×34.jpg 50w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/06/GettyImages-1319220356-1920×1322.jpg 1920w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Francoise Gilot, Paloma à la Guitare set an auction record for the artist with a £922,500 ($1.3 million) sale at Sotheby’s London in 2021. Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for Sotheby’s.

Gilot’s auction record stands at £922,500 ($1.3 million), set at Sotheby’s London in 2021 for her oil painting Paloma à la Guitare, according to the Artnet Price Database. It was her first work to hit seven figures, and she had to wait for that milestone until the year she turned 100.

Picasso, on the other hand, for a time commanded the highest price ever achieved at auction with the 2015 sale of Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’) for $179.4 million—since eclipsed only by Leonardo da Vinci’s $450 million Salvator Mundi.

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The Creative Advantage to Receive $100,000 Grant

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced a $100,000 grant for arts education will go to support the expansion of The Creative Advantage in Seattle Public Schools. 

“The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support a wide range of projects, demonstrating the many ways the arts enrich our lives and contribute to healthy and thriving communities,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “These organizations play an important role in advancing the creative vitality of our nation and helping to ensure that all people can benefit from arts, culture, and design.” 

The Creative Advantage is a citywide initiative to establish equitable access to arts learning for every SPS student. It is a coordinated network that includes SPS, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle Foundation, and more than 100 community-based arts partners. 

“We’ve received this grant for eight consecutive years, which is incredible,” said Gail Sehlhorst, SPS program manager for Visual & Performance Arts. “It’s been foundational in realizing equitable access to arts education across the district through culturally relevant teaching, certificated teachers, arts partnerships, arts integration, and career connected learning.” 

Organizations will carry out arts projects in three NEA funding categories: Grants for Arts Projects, Our Town, and State and Regional Partnerships.  

The Creative Advantage received funding through the Grants for Arts Projects category, which will allow for the engagement in outdoor arts programming, artist residencies, and public programs by Indigenous Creatives Collective. It is comprised of works by resident Indigenous artists knowledgeable about Native ecological systems. Multidisciplinary arts programming will include an exhibition and other public arts events hosted on the organization’s wooded property in South Seattle. 

Since the implementation of The Creative Advantage, Seattle Public Schools has doubled the number of elementary music and visual art programs and is now in 89 of the district’s 106 schools. The team is developing more opportunities to connect arts to career for secondary students through Media Arts Skills Center courses offered in the summer and during the school year. 

Learn more about The Creative Advantage.