|
|
Arts Updates, Interviews, Calendar, Calls for Artists and Volunteers, Auditions --- It's All Here in Arts Blast, Arts Blast on the Air, and on Facebook. | Supporting The Arts & Arts Councils Everywhere | |
Volume 5 No. 23| June 30, 2023 | |
Check your weekend plans. No Live in the Loop or Comedy Zone at Riverside Theatre this weekend, June 30 and July 1, but heads up for next weekend! Vegas Nights are Back! Closed July 3 and 4.
| |
|
Stop the presses! This Disney film turned Tony-winning Broadway hit inspires everyone to fight for what's right and seize the day.
It's time to carry the banner with Disney's Newsies! Set in turn-of-the century New York City, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy, and leader of a band of teenaged "newsies." When titans of publishing raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions and fight for what's right!
Based on the 1992 motion picture and inspired by a true story, Newsies features a Tony Award-winning score by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Sister Act) and Jack Feldman and a book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots). Featuring the now classic songs “Carrying the Banner,” “Seize the Day,” and “Santa Fe,” Newsies is packed with non-stop thrills and a timeless message, perfect for the whole family and every audience.
| |
|
Putting the Pieces Together with Deborah Bottorff | |
|
Mosaics can be as simple a project as a decorated flower pot or as challenging as Anita Prentice's many artistic benches that offer a beautiful resting place for residents of Fort Pierce.
Those who've tried their hand at working in mosaics know the pieces of tile, glass, broken dishes, or small stones added to a base and then grouted can end up as a piece of art too heavy to manage.
Stuart artist Deborah Bottorff has the solution: foam! "EVA Foam is paintable, bendable, but most of all, lightweight. Traditional ceramic mosaic is too heavy to easily hang on a wall. The foam is also very easy to cut, making it possible to achieve special shapes that I would not otherwise be able to with traditional mosaic."
At a May workshop at The New Studio for the Visual Arts in Jupiter, Bottorff's students created a "festive sun using an easy template to explore their own colors and creative ideas!"
| |
Bottorff started working with mosaics as a child in crafts classes. "I liked the precision," she said. As an adult, her 3-D mosaics were made of poster board but "the medium didn't stand the test of time. Not until 11 years ago, did I find the foam medium that I use today."
The artist described her process:
"My Foam Mosaic typically is applied to a blank canvas, but can go on any surface that will accept the resin glue." The supply list includes canvas or other suitable substrate, foam boards, paint rollers, X-acto knives, resin glue, sharp scissors rulers and protractors.
"I research or take a photo that I can clearly see that I has the ability to be translated to mosaic. Or sometimes I go straight from imagination as with abstracts. The entire design is sketched on the canvas in loose detail.
The foam boards come in white 9X12 sheets. I choose a color scheme for the work and have my acrylic paint mixed to match each color.
Two or three coats are applied to the foam board with a roller to achieve the smooth and resilient finish.
When dry, I cut the foam boards, piece by piece to fill in my sketch. Each piece is glued until the entire canvas is filled with the colorful pieces."
| |
|
Foam hasn't changed the artist's love of traditional materials for her work, however. " I completed a mosaic sidewalk project for Martin County as a part of the Creek District. I just completed a piece as a charitable contribution to the Caring Fields Felines Sanctuary in Palm City. I have done many projects for my home through the years."
Bottorff's recent pieces include a large, stylized dragonfly and a smaller abstract for a MartinArts show at the Cultural Courthouse in Stuart, a commission to "re-create one of my works called Coconuts for a client," and two new pieces for a show at the Palm Room Gallery, Harbour Bay Plaza, Sewall's Point.
Deborah was the winner of the Creek District Mosaic Competition and has a permanent mosaic installation in the sidewalk of a children’s park in Stuart.
|  | |
In addition to her exhibition with Martin Artisans Guild at the Palm Room, Bottorf's work is on permanent display at Bridge Road Fine Arts Gallery, Hobe Sound. More viewing options are on YouTube (deborah bottorff) and:
Deborahbottorff-Artist.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/deborah.bottorff
Instagram: dbottorffartist
Twitter: Deb B @ deborahbottorff
| The multi-talented artist has "painted with acrylics and oils, ceramic mosaic, stained glass, clay sculpture, pottery, murals and furniture refinishing. I also play the piano and write music." | |
|
Celebrate the 4th at Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.
According to historical documents, Edison woke up early each Independence Day to spend time with his children and set off a giant firecracker in his yard. The children dressed in holiday costumes and they all tossed Chinese firecrackers. Edison even made his own fireworks with TNT added and called them "incendiary torpedoes." As part of the holiday, the family enjoyed ice cream and watermelon, just as many American families do today.
| |
Mr. Butcher Goes to London | From Clyde's June Newsletter: | |
Clyde was invited to be part of "ORCHID CONSERVATION - Finding the Rare Florida Ghost Orchid." J.P. Wright & Company of Florida partnered with GrowTropicals, UK, to form an Orchid Conservation Collaborative Display at the Chelsea Flower Show. Partners from elite institutions around the US and UK replicated an Everglades setting including a live Florida Ghost Orchid.
Behind the Scenes:
Getting to the Chelsea Flower Show
How was Clyde Butcher invited to showcase two images at the Chelsea Flower Show? John Parke Wright III met Clyde Butcher in 1998 in Naples, Florida, and they became friends. Parke accompanied Clyde to the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve, where Parke experienced Clyde's passion and knowledge during this trip to the Florida Everglades. Several years after they met, Parke accompanied Clyde to Cuba during "The Year of the Mountains."
| |
Preparing mural prints is never a simple process. The two images chosen to be part of the display were Cigar Orchid Pond and Ghost Orchid 2. These were to be produced as 20ft by 8.5ft murals! Because of this, the images had to be printed in 4 sections. The images were printed digitally on our 60" Epson printer, then shipped to England, where they were mounted to dibond panels. The panels then had to be transported to the show and affixed to the wall in a seamless manner.
| |
Parke imagined a huge mural of Clyde’s Ghost Orchid 2 and Cigar Orchid Pond images as backdrops to the Orchid Conservation exhibit. Clyde's work helped the Orchid team create a warm and welcoming environment at this year's Chelsea Flower Show, welcoming 160,000 plus visitors. The team won a Silver Medal for Education at Chelsea, and most exciting, a Florida Ghost Orchid carried over from the Chicago Botanic Garden flowered at Kew Gardens, where it was on display after the Chelsea Flower Show.
Photos from top: Clyde with Parke Wright in Cuba in 2002; The team installs the mural panels in London; Inside the booth at the Chelsea Flower Show.
|  | "After walking deep into the swamp for about an hour, I came upon this scene. For nine years, I returned to this area until the plants were full and the light was right for a photograph. To me, this image captures the essence of the swamp, with its many lush layers. Getting the depth of field correct to capture the diversity in this small area was a particular challenge." -Clyde Butcher | |
Celebrating the 4th in Brevard County | |
July 1: Thunder Over the Indian River Fireworks & BBQ, OUC Indian River Plant, Port St. John, PortStJohnCommunityFoundation.com
July 2: Stars & Stripes Free Picnic & Concert with Melbourne Municipal Band, Suntree United Methodist Church, Melbourne, MMBand.org
July 4: Symphony Under the Stars & 4th of July Fireworks with Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Riverfront Park, Historic Cocoa Village, BrevardSymphony.com
July 4: Great American Celebration | 4th of July Fireworks, USSSA Space Coast Complex, Viera, VieraCommunityInstitute.com
July 4: MelBOOM Fireworks, Front Street Park, Melbourne, melbourneflorida.org/departments/parks-recreation/fireworks
July 4: Fireworks Viewing at Green Gables, Melbourne, GreenGables.org
July 4: Red, White & Boom, Chain of Lakes Park, Titusville, members.titusville.org/events
July 4: Salute to America Concert with Melbourne Municipal Band, Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Indialantic, MMBand.org
|  |  | |
CELEBRATION OF FREEDOM – A PATRIOTIC CONCERT
St. John of the Cross Catholic Church Fine Arts Series
On Sunday, July 2,at 7:00 p.m., St. John of the Cross Catholic Church will present a concert , Celebration of Freedom, as part of their Fine Arts Series. The performance will showcase the Paradise Women’s Chorale, along with the St. John’s Brass Ensemble, The Dolls, and the The Vero Beach Pipes & Drums. The concert will be held at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church at 7590 26th Street in Vero Beach. This event is free to the community; a free-will offering will be accepted.
This concert will offer patriotic musical selections to include Battle Hymn of the Republic, America the Beautiful, Eternal Father Strong to Save (The Navy Hymn), and much more. Donations collected at the performance will benefit the Gold Star Mothers of Indian River County, and also the World War II Memorial Monument that is planned to be built on Memorial Island in Vero Beach.
| Balancing with Adam Conard | |
Hear the artist in conversation on Arts Blast on the Air this week.
Learn the ancient art of stone balancing from Master Balancer Adam Conard (ZOTO) on Saturday, July 15, at 11 am to 12:30 pm at McKee Botanical Garden. Balancing and stacking stones is one of the rarest and most ancient art forms dating back to prehistoric origins and predates 2D cave paintings, which is considered one of the earliest art forms. Stacking stones is more popular; but done as an artform at the masterly level is very rare. Adam will describe the differences between rock stacking (common) and stone balancing (rare) and touch briefly on the history of the art form and how he got started balancing. Included in Adam’s demonstration will be techniques, setting a base, selecting stones, visualizing balance points, and equilibrium lines. At the completion of Adam’s demonstration, he will have an assortment of smaller stones and will lead a hands-on session where guests can try it out themselves. He will go over safety and will work with everyone individually as they try to create a balance. It is recommended that guests bring a water bottle, wear sneakers or closed-toe shoes, and bring bug spray.
Adam’s Playing with Gravity exhibition is on display throughout the Garden through July 30.
| |
Make It an Artsy Summer for the Kids! | |
Soup's On! Or Will Be Soon With Some Helping Hands | |
Indian River Clay will be open to community potters for the purpose of Soup Bowl making!! We will be donating 1200 bowls to the Samaritan Center for their Soup Bowl fundraiser in November. This is the 31st annual Soup Bowl, and the sale of the bowls helps homeless families in our community. Please mark your calendars… all wheel throwers and hand builders are welcome. Registration is not required. Clay and glazes will be provided, but please bring your own tools. We will have volunteers wedging clay for you!
Don't know how to make a bowl but want to help? Stop in and wedge clay and/or help clean up. We look forward to seeing everyone in the studio for this wonderful cause.
For Making and Trimming:
Saturday July 8: 12pm-6pm
Sunday, July 9: 12pm-6pm
Monday, July 10: 6pm-9pm
Saturday, July 15: 12pm-6pm
Sunday, July 16: 12pm-6pm
For Glazing:
Saturday, August 19: 12pm-6pm
Sunday, August 20: 12pm-6pm
Monday, August 21: 6pm-9pm
The soup bowl project raises money for the Samaritan Center Transitional Housing program. Follow the links below to find out more about the program and the soup bowl efforts.
https://www.facebook.com/SamaritanCenterSoupBowl/
https://www.ccdpb.org/programs/samaritan-center/
| |
|
Elegant Threads
Artists who create fine wearables, wall installations, or unique surface designs are invited to apply for inclusion in this exhibition with awards totaling over $4,000. We welcome art created to decorate our bodies or our environments. All mediums are considered for the following categories: wearable art, jewelry, accessories, contemporary art quilts, unique surface designs, and 3D sculptural pieces made primarily using fibers and upcycled found materials.
Lighthouse ArtCenter is voted one of the top three galleries in Palm Beach County, Florida. With over 2,500 square feet of freshly renovated, well–lighted exhibition space, and almost 60 years in business Lighthouse ArtCenter is the cultural heart of a vibrant community.
- Exhibition Dates: September 7 - December 2, 2023
-
Application Deadline: August 7, 2023
- Awards Reception and Guest lecture: October 19, 2023
- Ticketed Runway Show: November 16, 2023
|
Riverside Dance Festival
Student Workshops: July 24-August 5
The Riverside Dance Festival is a unique experience in Intensive Summer Study presented by Riverside Theatre and Ballet Vero Beach. Accepted students will experience day-to-day life with Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre. Students will have the opportunity to take daily technique classes in ballet and contemporary dance forms from Terminus and Riverside’s own distinguished faculty. They will also participate in master classes, open rehearsals, and work towards the creation of their own work to be performed alongside Terminus in a mixed repertory concert to culminate the festival.
All applications/auditions will be submitted digitally this season.
| |
|
Helping People Succeed
Art for Living Calendar and Call for Artists
From Jackie Holfelder:
What would the holiday season on the Treasure Coast be like without Helping People Succeed’s Art for Living Calendar? The festive and fabulous fundraiser has been brightening homes and offices for almost a quarter of a century.
Area artists are invited to submit examples of their original art work through July 10, 2023 for inclusion in the perennial favorite and there’s a welcome mat out for new artists who would like to apply.
Thirteen artists will have their entry selected for inclusion in the 2024 Art for Living Calendar, all proceeds of which benefit Helping People Succeed.
All guidelines, criteria and responsibilities, as well as an application, can be found at www.hpsfl.org.
Helping People Succeed is a local nonprofit organization that has been serving the Treasure Coast for more than 59 years. Through its diversified, effective program services – Helping People Succeed serves, on average, 8000 children and adults per year. Helping People Succeed’s mission is to transform lives by realizing potential, creating hope and building futures through education, counseling, training and employment.
To learn more about Helping People Succeed, visit www.hpsfl.org or contact Glenna Parris at 772.320.0778.
| |
|
Revealed: The songs Americans want to learn how to play the most
- ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ takes first place as the most searched overall
- ‘Riptide’ by Vance Joy comes in second by a whisker while ‘Jingle Bells’ takes third on the podium
- Both songs in the top two have the highest searches on how to play them with an ukulele
‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ is the song Americans want to learn how to play the most, a new study reveals.
The study, conducted by ukulele enthusiasts at Ukulele World, analyzed over 1,000 songs based on searches for how to play them on guitar, piano, ukulele, violin and cello to discover which song is the most searched in the United States overall and for each instrument.
‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, written by Harold Arlen and made famous by Judy Garland, comes top of the list with a total of 48,960.8 average monthly searches. The majority of the song’s searches are for how to play it on the ukulele, with 39,296 monthly searches, likely influenced by Hawaiian singer and songwriter Israel ‘IZ’ Kamakawiwoʻole, whose version is played entirely on the instrument.
Second on the list is ‘Riptide’ by Vance Joy with 45,200.8 average monthly searches. Once again searches for how to play the song with the ukulele are the highest at 32,085.8, followed by the guitar at 11,519.2.
Traditional holiday song ‘Jingle Bells’ comes in third with 44,753.3 average monthly searches in the US. Americans are most likely to want to learn the piano version of the song, with 28,330 average monthly searches.
Further down on the list, ‘Hallelujah’ is fourth with a total of 32,199.2 average monthly searches. Originally by Leonard Cohen but reprised and popularized among younger generations by Jeff Buckley, the classic ballad is popular on all instruments, with the piano on top with 13,505.8 searches, followed by the guitar with 10,541.7 average searches and by the ukulele with 6,025.
The top five closes with Beethoven’s ‘Fur Elise’, among the most classic piano pieces, one that many are eager to learn despite the difficulty of some of its parts. The piece receives 30,470 average monthly searches in the US, mostly for how to play it on the piano.
A spokesperson for Ukulele World commented on the findings: “It's always inspiring to see people keen to learn how to play a song on an instrument and it’s fascinating to discover which songs they want to start with or are just curious to check out. Songs like ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Fur Elise’ are considered classics that it’s very common to start from, mostly for their popularity rather than their level of difficulty.
“It’s also very interesting to see a modern and fairly new song such as ‘Riptide’ by Vance Joy in the top three, this is probably because the song is almost entirely played on an ukulele, and for anyone keen to play the instrument one it must a great fun to learn”.
https://www.ukuleleworld.com/best-online-ukulele-lessons/
| |
|
Bookmark On the Calendar at WilliMiller.com for frequent updates. Calls for Artists, Auditions, & Volunteers are now online.
Catch up with events at Willi Miller's Arts Blast on Facebook and pick up some laughs and interesting info on the Willi Miller's Arts Blast Extras page. And now there's a Facebook Arts Blast on the Air!
Click to Subscribe to Arts Blast
To opt out of receiving Arts Blast, "unsubscribe" at the end of the page.
______________
| |
If you have an arts-related event coming up, scroll down for information on submitting it for a free basic listing. Limited advertising is available. PLEASE use that format!
Event schedules can change, often at almost the last minute. Verify, double check, and then do it again before you head out the door. And when you do go out, take a mask. Without one, you risk being turned away.
To Submit Calendar Information for ARTS BLAST!
Information is to be received in an email at least one week before publication.
Use this format for Calendar entries:
Who (organization)
What (Event)
When (dates, time)
Where (Name of venue, address)
Why (a brief description of the purpose)
Web/Facebook address
Contact for public use (for tickets, questions, etc.)
Then add a short, descriptive release if available.
Send only one photo, with caption, unless more are requested.
Media contact with email for Arts Blast followup (not for publication)
Copyright ©2019-2022 Willi Miller's ARTS BLAST!, all rights reserved.
| |
|
Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care? (Benefit) What do I want them to do here? (Call-to-Action)
Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining"!
| | | | |
