Pop-ups are the magic of paper crafting, starting with a sheet of paper. For mixed media artist and paper engineer Maryann J. Riker, Easter is the perfect time to add color to the environment with handmade popups of cards, eggs and everything else – bunnies and chicks included.
"From a simple flat sheet of paper, a few folds and a cut can create three-dimensional shapes that surprise and amaze," Riker said. "Paper is such a versatile medium and yet one tends to think of it as a just plain, flat surface."
Riker recently led a free Easter popup workshop at the Easton Farmers' Market Winter Mart, where she taught the versatile v-fold in popups that created more three-dimensional pieces as well as 3D paper Easter eggs for baskets and ornamental stands. She also included small origami boxes.
Riker teaches paper and book arts in the Easton/Phillipsburg, New Jersey, area and at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem. She will lead another free workshop in Easton, this time on Book Arts, on April 18 from 10 a.m. to noon, at the ACE Gallery C at the Quadrant Book Mart and Coffee Shop, 20 N. Third St. The workshop will be held in conjunction with the venue's exhibit, "A Lotta Sheet – One Sheet Books and More," running April 12-May 24. An opening reception will be held April 18 at 1 p.m., following the workshop and lunch.
Based on the simple one-sheet book structure that has been traced historically to the papermaking tradition of China and Japan, the exhibit will showcase various works using this simple but creative structure by local artists and poets. Riker said with one sheet, a few folds and one cut, a book can be constructed from any size sheet of paper.
"It can be a zine, a chapbook, a tea light, or a container," Riker explained. "It can be printed, Xeroxed, folded, cut and editioned. It is only limited by one's imagination."
Paper and scissors will be provided; participants should bring their own ephemera, poetry, words, stamps, glue sticks, specialty papers and additional doo-dads to create a one-of-a-kind or multiple of this structure. Registration can be made at justarippress@gmail.com; include name, email, contact phone, and number attending.
Riker's artists' book and collages have been exhibited both nationally and internationally and are in museum collections across the country. She is one of four artists along with Maryann Miller, Liz Mitchell, and Maria Pisano, in the special invitational exhibit, "Crossing the Delaware: New Jersey Women of the Book at Lafayette College," running through June 30 at the Skillman Library on campus.
According to the museum prospectus, "Riker collects everyday ephemera – buttons, vintage advertisements, old photographs, ribbons, lace, jewelry – and creates colorful, whimsical books that suggest lighthearted stories, but that invariably convey thoughtful messages about gender, race, and consumerism."
For further info: justarippress.com
ARTS ROUNDUP
Two of a Kind, the award-winning husband-and-wife duo of David and Jenny Heitler-Klevans, will present a free Peas and Qs performance for families on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., as part of SteelStacks' Easter weekend activities in Bethlehem. The performance includes songs, puppets, movement and stories, with an emphasis on interaction and participation. Easter egg-painting will follow the event.
An Easter brunch at the Musikfest Café on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. will feature music by the Gary Rissmiller Duo. Reservations must be made in advance by calling 610-332-3378. There will be three free PEEPS hunts on the Air Products Town Square beginning at 1 p.m. for ages 3 and under; 1:30 p.m. for ages 4-7; and 2 p.m. for ages 8 and older. The Easter Bunny will be on hand for photos. Guests are encouraged to bring their own bags and baskets for the hunt.
For further info: steelstacks.org
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Award-winning modern/Afro-Caribbean choreographer Ronald K. Brown will be among panelists for the discussion, "Dancing Toward Spirituality: Practice and Feeling," on Monday at noon in the Interfaith Chapel, Hogg Hall, 151 Quad Drive, at Lafayette College in Easton. The event is free and open to the public.
Brown will be joined by choreographer, yoga teacher and Urban Zen Integrative Therapist Keely Garfield, and Odissi choreographer, dancer and assistant professor of film and media studies Nandini Sikand. Moderator will be Lafayette's Principal Choreographer-in-Residence Ben Munisteri.
The group will explore ways in which dance has been used historically as prayer, how dance continues to break down borders between body, heart and mind, and how dance might unite people of all faiths.
Brown is the founder of Evidence, A Dance Company and has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, PHILADANCO, and Ballet Hispanico, to name some. He is recipient of the Fred & Adele Astaire Award for outstanding choreography in the Tony-winning musical, "The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess."
Garfield's Keely Garfield Dance has performed worldwide. She has created work for dance companies, ballet dancers, students, children, musical theater, film, and MTV. She is a clinical coordinator for the UZIT program, has led trips to Haiti after the earthquake, and works primarily with oncology patients.
Sikand, an Odissi dancer, is co-founder and co-director of Sakshi Productions, a neo-classical and contemporary dance company. She is associate director/choreographer of Harmattan Theater, a performance group committed to an environmentally and socially engaged theater. She is an assistant professor of an interdisciplinary film and media studies program at Lafayette College.
For further info: lafayette.edu/dance
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Broadway singer/actress Linda Eder will perform Saturday at 8 p.m., at the Sellersville Theatre, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville, Bucks County. Eder made her Broadway debut in "Jekyll & Hyde" and also appeared in "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Her recent release, "Linda Live," includes signature songs such as "Someone Like You" from "Jekyll & Hyde," "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables," and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," from "Evita."
For further info: st94.com
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Orpheus debuts a new commissioned work by improvisational, classical pianist Fazil Say on Wednesday at 8 p.m., at the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College. The event, part of the Chamber Music Series, includes works by Wagner (Siegfried Idyll), Mozart (Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488), and Haydn (Symphony No. 80 in D minor).
For further info: williamscenter.lafayette.edu
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