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Rise Up!
Art, Sounds and Shrines:
A Benefit for the New Orleans Arts Council
ARTSomerville and the Somerville Arts Council invite you to join in upcoming month-long fundraiser for the New Orleans Arts Council.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Feb 2 to March 3: Exhibit dates
Thur, Feb 2, 6-8pm: Shrine decorating event
Fri, Feb 3, 6-9pm: Opening reception; music by Shaun Wolf Wortis and Gato Malo; beaded necklace making with Spark Craft Studios
Sat, Feb 4, 3-5pm: New Orleans Photojournalist Donn Young discusses Katrina, its aftermath and rebuilding New Orleans' arts landscape
Fat Tues, Feb 28, 6-8pm: Mardi Gras Pancake Feast; acoustic music by Eric Goodrich
Thurs, March 2, 6-9pm: Closing celebration with Revolutionary Snake Ensemble plus New Orleans Delta Blues musician Jeremy Lyons
Gallery information and hours
THE NAVE GALLERY
Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, 155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville, MA
Gallery hours: Thursday 4:00-8:00 & Saturday 1:00-5:00
For detailed directions or more information, please visit: www.artsomerville.org
"Rise Up! Art, Sounds and Shrines" Exhibit: Feb. 2-March 3, 2006
"Rise Up!" celebrates the rich cultural legacy of New Orleans, as interpreted by over a dozen artists--from Somerville local artists like Hilary Scott and Karen Aqua to Donn Young, a veteran New Orleans photographer whose work hangs in the New Orleans Museum of Art. In addition to Young's powerful, poignant black and white images of New Orleans Jazz greats and other photo essays, Berlin-based photographer Bill Kouwenhoven's moody, mysterious color landscapes of New Orleans will also be on display. "Rise Up!" also includes a wonderfully strange, voodoo-inspired, eight-foot totem by Somerville sculptor Wayne Viens as well as shrines by A.E. Ryan, Susanne Bartz and V Van Sant. Other artists in the show are Joey Pesce, Alice Grossman, Sandra Salamony, Josh Yeager and political cartoonist Scott Getchell. And finally, New Orleans rising art star Lorna Williams, a 19-year-old School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts student, will showcase a work created especially for the show.
"Rise Up!" will also include a diverse collection of New Orleans-themed postcard art, created by local, national and international artists and craftsters. Jewelry, crafts and mini shrines donated for the event will also be on sale. Collectively, this exhibit aims to capture the unique, resiliant and soulful spirit of New Orleans. It also reflects the solidarity of artists working together for a cause and the vibrant community spirit of Somerville.
Shrine Decorating Event: Thursday, Feb. 2, 6-8pm
In addition to a month-long visual art exhibit, "Rise Up!" will include a community shrine to New Orleans, which the public will be invited to embellish--with photographs, art, beads and money donations. Somerville artist HIlary Scott has created a six-feet tall wooden shrine structure as a beautiful base for this project. We look forward to seeing this shrine come alive and grow over the course of the exhibit. To get things started, we invite the public to this special shrine decorating event! People are encouraged to bring found objects, New Orleans momentos and materials for decorating the shrine; additional materials will be available at the event. (free)
"Rise Up!" Opening Reception, Friday, Feb. 3, 6-9pm
Join us to kick off the month-long "Rise Up!" exhibit! Participating artists will be there to discuss their work and Shaun Wolf Wortis & Gato Malo will be on hand to provide New Orleans-style rhythm n' blues + riff-orientated jazz-punk-soul. Expect Wolf Wortis to churn out hip-swaying shaamon rock and soul backed by an all-star band; he will also perform a song he wrote called "Rise Up" in response to Hurricane Katrina. Spark Craft Studio will also be on hand to lead a bead-making class ($10 suggested donation for beadmaking; opening and music free).
Donn Young speaks, Saturday, Feb. 4, 3-5pm
Donn Young, a lauded, veteran photojournalist whose photos have appeared in Time, Newsweek and the New York Times, is flying up from New Orleans specially to give a presentation on how Hurricane Katrina has affected the city's artists, its arts scene and its cultural heritage. Young speaks from first-hand experience as the hurricane ravaged his studio. For nearly four weeks the libraray of photography he built over 35 years--over a million images-- lay beneath ten feet of water. The Archive Records Management Association of America and Louisiana State University has deemed his work "historically significant" and has launched an ambitious project to salvage and restore the collection. Young is now visually documenting the ravaged spaces of many New Orleans artists and musicians. He will present this work, past work, speak of his own experience during and after Hurricane Katrina, discuss the LSU restoration project, and share perceptions on the future of New Orleans' arts landscape. (free)
Mardi Gras Pancake Feast: Tues., Feb. 28, 6-8pm
Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras in French, is traditionally celebrated by eating pancakes. Pancakes became a staple of Fat Tuesday as a way to use up all the perishable ingredients in one's home for one last feast before lent. We decided to honor this tradition with a pancake dinner of our own! Come out and celebrate with us, have some pancakes and support artists in New Orleans. Eric Goodrich will be on hand, playing acoustic guitar music, including bossa nova selections from Black Orpheus, the film tale of Orpheus and Eurydice set against the backdrop of Carnival. Admission for this event is a $10 suggested donaton.
"Rise Up!" Closing Reception with the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble: Thurs, March 2, 6-9pm
The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is a riotous funk & street beat brass band, playing New Orleans-style and other modern improvised celebratory music--from '60s R&B to West African funk. Led by saxophonist Ken Field, the group has performed at the Krewe of Muses 2005 Mardi Gras Parade (New Orleans), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Following the Snakes' performance in the Nave Sanctuary, there will be a closing reception in the gallery with music provided by New Orleans Delta Blues musician Jeremy Lyons, who has been living in Boston after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Lyons, who mixes up fluid finger picking with searing slides on his steel guitar, is not to be missed. Admission for this event is a $10 suggested donaton.
artwork from top: Susanne Bartz-"Saint Hope"; Emily Arkin-Community shrine photo; Donn Young-"Madonna of Desire" New Orleans, 1994; Alethea Roy-"Pancakesss"; "Revolutionary Snake Ensemble" flyer by Emily Arkin based on photo by Claire Folger
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