Monday, December 28, 2009

SlowExposures 2010 bring Fine Art Photogaphy to the South.....‏

Opens Friday, September 17th, 2010
Pike County, Georgia

SlowExposures, held annually in Pike County, Georgia, is the nationally recognized juried photo exhibition which faithfully captures the South's rural character through fine art photography.

The eighth showcase of photography opens on Friday, September 17th, 2010, in pastoral Pike County, located one hour south of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The photo celebration includes cutting edge seminars and workshops, a local children’s photography contest, satellite shows and a traditional, black tie SlowExposures Ball on Saturday, September 25th.

In addition to the primary collection of over ninety photos, a self-driving road tour features a map of the satellite shows and historic sites throughout picturesque Pike County.

SlowExposures is the annual fundraiser of Pike Historic Preservation and is dedicated to supporting the historical and cultural heritage of the rural south through contemporary photography.

All proceeds from the show and the dinner/dance go to the preservation of Pike County's historic buildings and landscapes.

SlowExposures attracts hundreds of visitors each fall.

For more information, please visit www.slowexposures.org or contact Slow Exposures, PO Box 489, Zebulon, GA, 30295, (770) 567-3600.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

UGA to exhibit New York paintings by professor emeritus James Herbert

The University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art presents an exhibition of paintings by James Herbert on view Friday, Jan. 8 through Wednesday Feb. 3 in Gallery 101 of the art school.The opening reception on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. is free and the public is invited to attend.

A world-renowned filmmaker and painter, Herbert has work in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, Minn. and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He has won two Guggenheim Awards (one in painting and one in filmmaking), a Tiffany Foundation Award, A Gottlieb Foundation Award and three National Endowment for the Arts senior painting grants. Herbert taught painting and filmmaking as a distinguished research professor at the art school until he retired in 2006.

In mid-2006, Herbert moved to Brooklyn, New York to continue painting.The UGA exhibition is a selection from the 120 large-scale acrylic canvases completed by Herbert since that time.

“I’ve been painting for the last 3½ years in a studio in an industrial area of Brooklyn called Bushwick—among the wholesale importers, metalwork shops, razor wire and dust from five cement plants. A lot of artists have studios here and there are emerging galleries getting attention and lots of bands and young people,” Herbert said recently. “But it is the edgy, cluttered urban intensity that revises my feelings for painting—and the spectacular light, sometimes more like Italy than the gray city I expected. My new work does not illustrate or embrace these things but reflects them I think, at least in attitude or reaction.”

“We are delighted that our long-time distinguished faculty member, Jim Herbert, will premiere new paintings created in his New York studio,” said Georgia Strange, director of the art school. “Our dynamic community of artists in the school of art welcomes Herbert’s vital, energetic work.”

Gallery 101 is located on the first floor of the art school, which is located at 270 River Road on the UGA campus. For more information, see http://art.uga.edu.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Final Weeks to Enter Olympus Share the Experience Photo Contest

/PRNewswire/ -- The National Park Foundation issued a reminder today that there are just a few weeks left to enter the 2009 Olympus Share the Experience photo contest, which is seeking this year's best photo of the 392 national parks or other federal recreation lands. More than 2,000 photo entries have been submitted to the contest so far.

The Share the Experience photo contest closes at 11:59 pm ET on December 31, 2009. The grand prize winning photo will be featured on next year's Federal Recreation Lands Pass and will receive an Olympus E-3 Digital Camera.

The 2008 winning photo was taken in Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

The winning photo from this year's Share the Experience photo contest sponsored by the National Park Foundation and Olympus.

The 2007 winning photo was taken at the Grand Canyon. Amateur photographers are invited to submit up to three photos to the Share the Experience contest through December 31, 2009. In addition, at the end of the submission period the public will be invited to vote for their favorite photo. Enter by visiting www.sharetheexperience.org or pick up a brochure and entry form while visiting a Federal Recreation Land this year.

Share the Experience is the official photo contest of America's national parks and federal recreation lands. Sponsored by Olympus and the National Park Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, the Share the Experience Photo Contest showcases the more than 500 million acres of Federal Lands and draws entries from all across the United States.

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Holiday Extravaganza to Open at TCPA in Carrollton

The 21st holiday season of the Townsend Center for the Performing Arts will begin on Friday, December 11, with the annual Rudolph to the Rescue Toy Drive reception and International Juggling Champion and Comedian of the Year Mark Nizer.

The Rudolph to the Rescue reception begins at 6:30 p.m. and features refreshments, holiday music and a trip to Toy Land in the Dangle Theatre. An unwrapped toy is the ticket to the catered affair.

Creating new ways to delight and entertain his audiences is at the heart of Nizer’s mission. Audiences can don 3D glasses to see the inventions of new juggling tricks and technologies. His unique wit and sense of fun has set the performer apart from his peers in venues around the world including The Improv, The Comedy Store, Walt Disney World, universities and major cruise lines.

Holiday show tickets for Mark Nizer 3D are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for children. A season ticket package is available and offers significant discounts for three or more shows with the best seats in the house.

The Townsend Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and one hour before show times. Call 678-839-4722 or go to http://www.townsendcenter.org for information on the 2009-2010 season, educational outreach programs at the TCPA and directions to the theatre.

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

‘A Christmas Carol’ returns to The Grand Opera House

Come celebrate the transforming power of the spirit of Christmas as you follow Ebenezer Scrooge on his magical journey in “A Christmas Carol,” when this vibrant production comes to The Grand Opera House in Macon. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18. Tickets are $28 for adults, $22 for students or children and can be purchased through Mercer Ticket Sales at (478) 301-5470 or online at www.TheGrandMacon.com.

Ever since legendary theatre pioneer Charles Jones adapted the Dickens classic for
Nebraska Theatre Caravan nearly three decades ago, the national touring production of “A Christmas Carol” has delighted audiences across America. By artfully combining elements of spectacle, music and dance, Jones created a stage version that not only delights children, but also transports audiences of all ages on a magical journey right alongside Ebenezer Scrooge.

With all the warmth and comfort of a cup of Christmas cheer, “A Christmas Carol” is
packed with laughter, pageantry and gorgeous costumes. Every memorable detail of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol springs to life, from spine-chilling ghosts to heartfelt renditions of traditional British carols. Crotchety Scrooge, lovable Tiny Tim and all the fascinating characters that audiences have come to love make Charles Dickens’ enchanting story a treasured holiday event.

The Nebraska Theatre Caravan’s national touring production of “A Christmas Carol” has been an American holiday tradition for 28 years, entertaining thousands of families across the country. So join Ebenezer Scrooge on his unforgettable magical journey and his discovery of the true meaning of Christmas in a stage show that has become one of the most treasured family gifts of the season.

The Grand Opera House
A performing arts center of Mercer University, The Grand Opera House is a historic 1,000-seat theatre located at 651 Mulberry St. in downtown Macon, Ga. The Grand brings the very best in live, professional performing arts and entertainment to Central Georgia. In addition to its popular Broadway Series of nationally-touring productions and its GrandKids Arts Education Series for elementary, middle and high school students, The Grand hosts a variety of special events throughout the year. It is also home to the Macon Symphony Orchestra, the Central Georgia Opera Guild and The Nutcracker of Middle Georgia. For a complete schedule of upcoming performances, contact Mercer Ticket Sales at (478) 301-5470 or visit www.TheGrandMacon.com.

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"Hogaku: New Sounds of Japan 2010" on UGA campus in January

The University of Georgia Center for Asian Studies, the Japan Foundation and the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta will present “Hogaku: New Sounds of Japan 2010,” at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 15, at Ramsey Recital Hall inside the Performing Arts Centerat the University of Georgia in Athens.

The event is free and open to the public.

“Hogaku: New Sounds of Japan 2010” is a trio of performances featuring traditional Japanese music. Each showcase performance will feature a different instrument, performed by Japan’s top young talent in Japanese traditional performing arts.

A pre-concert lecture by Hogaku Journal editor Takafumi Tanaka will be held immediately before the performance in Ramsey Recital Hall, starting at 7 p.m.

The duo Tsugukaji will perform on the koto, a Japanese zither. Formed eight years ago, Tsugukajiis renowned for its special awareness of the koto’s sound. They are known for their blend of vocals with koto music and their collaboration with various composers to produce contemporary works.

Kotoist Ai Kajiganolearned to play the koto as a young child from her mother. She has performed in China, Australia, France, Italy, Germany and South Korea and released her first album in 2001. Tsugumi Yamamotohas performed throughout Japan and was a bronze award recipient at the Kenjun Memorial Concert. Together they perform as Tsugukaji.

The duo Oyama x Nitta will perform on the tsugaru-shamisen, a fretless lute from northern Japan. With both classic and original repertories, they are leading figures in the tsugaru-shamisen scene. Yutaka Oyama began studying the tsugaru-shamisen under his grandfather, Mitsunou Oyama. In 2001 and 2002, he won the Outstanding Player Award at the tsugaru-shamisen competition sponsored by the Japan Folk Association. He has performed widely on Japanese television and has performed in Russia, Morocco, Ghana, France, Madagascar, Uganda, Qatar, Greece, Singapore, Ukraine and Lithuania at performances hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation.

Masahiro Nitta was inspired by his father at the age of 14 to begin playing the tsugaru-shamisen.In 1998, after only playing for seven months, he won the junior high school national championship. In both 2000 and 2001, he was awarded the championship title at a national tournament. In 2004, he starred in the motion picture Overdrive and is currently performing with his father as the team Nitta Oyako as well as in the fusion band Esoragoto.

Drum soloists Hide & Mihowill reunite for this performance. Playing a variety of percussion instruments, the duo explores the possibilities of folkloric performing arts.

Hideyoshi Saito first started studying traditional Japanese instruments in high school, eventually studying the taiko drum, vocals and dance on Sado Island with the renowned drumming group Kodo. In 2004, after 17 years with Kodo, he went solo, releasing his first album in 2005. He is the only soloist in Japan on the chappa (small cymbals).

Miho has been playing the taiko drum since 1990 and has performed throughout Japan, South Korea and France with the taiko ensemble Kodaijin. Since going solo in 1999, she has toured the Middle East with Leonard Eto’s taiko ensemble Leopro and performed on Eto’s 2002 album Duets, 2005 album Blends and 2006 album Ocean. Since 2006, Miho has been touring with the guitar, bass, and drum band WHB by the Powersupreme and has toured Africa, Australia and Japan with the band eno, which features traditional Japanese instruments. She also performs frequently as a soloist.

For further information, contact the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta at 404/926-3022 or info@cgjapanatlanta.org.

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Monday, December 7, 2009

Perm Ballet Comes to Georgia and South Carolina

/PRNewswire/ -- The world-famous Perm Ballet from Perm, Russia is coming to Savannah, Spartanburg, Charleston, and Charlotte to perform the classical ballet Sleeping Beauty. The Perm Ballet cast members are all graduates of the Perm Vaganova School and are considered to be the third best ballet company in the world. Their connection to the St. Petersburg Vaganova School occurred when the school was evacuated to Perm from Leningrad during the siege during World War II. When the siege was lifted half of the school remained in Perm and the instructors have fiercely maintained the traditions of the famed St. Petersburg institution.

The Artistic Director of the theater is Mr. George Isaakyan and the Artistic Director of the Ballet is Natalia Akhmarova. Both of these outstanding directors have won numerous international awards and are considered to be at the very top of their professions. The Prima Ballerina is Elena Kulagina. Her titles include Honored Artist and Peoples' Artist of Russia. Other featured dancers include Yaroslave Araptanova, Natalia Moiseeva-Poleshchuk, and Robert Gabdullin. There will be a total of 65 dancers on stage to present this timeless ballet.

The unique feature of the Perm Ballet is that the cast has been together for some years as the company strives to maintain continuity of the cast. The result is the most beautifully choreographed ballet performance in the entire ballet world. Leading dancers from the cast include numerous winners of prestigious ballet competitions, and the ballet has performed all over the world in the past 30 years. The artistic director is an Honored Artist of Russia.

The tour that brings the Perm Ballet to the four southern cities is part of a tour that spans California across the country and up into New York and Canada. When the ballet learned that Dr. Mike Donnelly of the Hermitage Ballet of St. Petersburg was free this February they asked him to select four cities and to serve as the impresario for the ballet in those venues. Dr. Donnelly will continue to insist that the ballet provide free master classes for ballet students on point in the cities the ballet will appear.

Discounted tickets for students and military, both active duty and retired, are available.

Contact:

Dr. Mike Donnelly
907 Bradwell Street
Hinesville, GA 31313
Phone: 912 980 0028
Email: info@mmarttravel.com
Web site: http://www.russianseasonsballet.com/

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Popular Art Exhibit, Sale Returns December 3

Art lovers and artists can celebrate the winter holidays at the third annual “Good Things Come in Small Packages” show and sale on the UWG campus.

The popular exhibit will feature a one-day art sale with artwork by UWG faculty, students, alumni and community residents on Thursday, Dec. 3. An Opening Party will celebrate the event that evening from 6 to 8 p.m. The party and art sale are free and the community is invited to attend.

Submissions of art no larger than 12” x 12” x 12” will cover the walls of the Main Gallery in the Humanities Building and will be available for purchase from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Good Things exhibit is an eclectic range of works including oil, watercolor and acrylic paintings, photography, charcoal, pencil and ink drawings, ceramics, mixed media, printmaking and sculpture. Artists and the Department of Art benefit from the sales.

“In these tough economic times, making the choice to support local artists and buying something handmade and unique is a powerful statement,” said Stephanie Smith, instructor of art and coordinator of the Gallery exhibits. “Giving handmade items is a gift from the heart.”

The Good Things show and sale sold out in the last two years. Take the opportunity to own a work of art at reasonable prices and benefit both the artist and the Department of Art. For more information, call 678-839-4950 or e-mail slsmith@westga.edu.

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Deep Sea: Drawings by William O. Golding Opens at the Morris Museum of Art December 12

Deep Sea: Drawings by William O. Golding, an exhibition of twenty-nine remarkable maritime drawings by self-taught African-American artist William O. Golding (1874–1943), opens to the public December 12, at the Morris Museum of Art. Shanghaied from the Savannah waterfront when he was eight years old, William O. Golding chronicled his travels world-wide through drawings that he created near the end of his life while a patient at the U.S. Marine Hospital in Savannah. Between 1932 and 1939, he executed approximately sixty drawings, literally drawn from his memories of the ships on which he sailed and the ports he visited around the globe.
“Golding’s is a remarkable story of a remarkable life, most of which was spent as a merchant seaman at the very end of the Age of Sail. He traveled the world at a time when most Americans spent their entire lives within fifty miles of their place of birth, and he had the innate ability to share, with stylistic verve and wit, a life’s experience that was so rare and unusual as to be, for all practical purposes, unique,” said Kevin Grogan, director of the Morris Museum of Art.

Deep Sea: Drawings by William O. Golding remains on display through March 14, 2010.
Artist BiographyWilliam O. Golding was likely born on January 15, 1874, but his future was determined on July 15, 1882. In a letter he wrote in 1932 to Margaret Stiles, the recreation director at the U.S. Marine Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, and a member of the Savannah Art Club, he recalled the day that he and his cousin were strolling along the wharf in Savannah. According to Golding, the two boys passed the ship Wandering Jew and overheard Captain William Potter ask his wife, Polly, to select one of the boys. She chose Golding, who was invited aboard; by the time he wanted to leave, the ship was already out at sea. He did not see his home again until a brief visit in 1904.

When he was in his fifties, Golding, whose nickname was "Deep Sea," returned permanently to Savannah, when his declining health forced him to remain on land. During the 1930s he was a patient intermittently at the U.S. Marine Hospital, where he received treatment for a chronic lung condition. (The hospital, which accepted seamen, veterans, and government employees, recorded his birth date as January 15, 1874.) During his time at the hospital, Golding was befriended by Miss Margaret Stiles, the facility’s recreation director. She encouraged him to draw and supplied the necessary paper, pencils, and crayons that he used to create the works of art inspired by his peripatetic life. Stiles bought some of his finished drawings and arranged for the sale of others.

There are few details known of the forty-nine years that Golding spent at sea beyond those provided by the drawings themselves. By his own account, he sailed the Seven Seas on a variety of vessels—merchant ships, whalers, and yachts. His duties aboard ship and the length of time he was associated with each vessel remain unknown. When he was fifty-nine, Golding stated in a letter to his patron, Miss Stiles, that he still sailed in his dreams—he wrote, “now [I] only goes to sea in my sleep…”—and met his cronies (“other old shell backs”) to swap yarns.

Golding executed all his drawings from memory. His sometimes fanciful drawings of ships are meticulously detailed, and they often include specific information regarding captains or ports of origin. Port cities often appear similar at first glance, but careful observation reveals that Golding included distinctive topographical characteristics of the land and architectural details of the cities themselves. Certain stylistic elements—including flags, buoys, lighthouses, smaller vessels, people, animals, and a sun with triangularly pointed rays beckoning from behind a cloud—appear frequently in Golding's work. As he diligently recorded his life in his drawings, he seems to have recalled only the happiest of times. The weather is always favorable, and the people, animals, and vessels are busy, robust, and productive.

Golding stated that he had traveled the world, including visits to Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, and Europe. He was adamant about drawing only the places and vessels that he knew personally and refused to draw Bali or Hawaii, since he had not seen either place.
Copying a technique found in marine prints, he carefully colored in a frame and a nameplate (sometimes complete with drawn screw heads) at the bottom center of the work.

Information concerning Golding's final years is also scarce. He is listed as a resident of Savannah with his wife, Josephine, in the 1940 city directory. He died there on August 25, 1943.

Although it is not known now how Stiles exhibited Golding's drawings, several exhibitions of his work were mounted after his death. His drawings were included in the landmark exhibition Missing Pieces: Georgia Folk Art, 1770-1976, which traveled from the Atlanta History Center to the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah to the Columbus (Georgia) Museum. In 2000, the Telfair Museum of Art organized a retrospective exhibition, Hard Knocks, Hardship, and a Lot of Experience: The Maritime Art of William O. Golding, and the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta exhibited his work the following year in Maritime Memories. Golding's work is found in the permanent collections of the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens and the Morris Museum of Art, which holds thirty of his drawings—nearly half his total output.

[Klacsmann, Karen Towers, The New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2008.]

Related Events:

Tuesday, January 12, 5:00–7:00 p.m
Deep Sea: Drawings by William O. Golding Opening Reception
Reception in the galleries at 5:00 p.m. is followed by a lecture about the artist by Karen Towers Klacsmann at 6:00 p.m.

Morris Museum of Art

Founded in 1985, the Morris Museum of Art is the oldest museum in the country that is devoted to the art and artists of the American South. The museum’s permanent collection of approximately five thousand paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures, dating from the late eighteenth century to the present, is displayed in galleries dedicated to, among other things, antebellum portraiture, the Civil War, genre painting, still life, landscape, Southern impressionism, and modernism in the South. It is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and on Sunday, noon–5:00 p.m. For more information about the Morris Museum of Art, visit the museum’s web site at www.themorris.org or call 706-724-7501.
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