Rain, rain, go away. That's the hope of street artists who will converge on the sidewalks of south Bethlehem on April 18, for ArtsQuest's inaugural Urban Street Art Festival at the Banana Factory community arts center, 25 W. Third St. Unique art forms by some rather unique demonstrating artists include break dancing, body painting, rollerblading, glass blowing, metal sculpture, and 3D illusion art. The festival coincides with southside Bethlehem's annual Spring on 4th celebration.
A highlight of the free community event, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be the appearance of award-winning chalk illusion artist Jennifer Chaparro, director of the International Street Painting Society and award-winning master of chalk art. The Florida resident has had her sidewalk creations featured at festivals and art shows throughout the country and abroad. Her first-time appearance in the Lehigh Valley will pair her with Allentown artist Holly Fields-Scott of Bella Pintura, a local art and design firm.
Fields-Scott said she hadn't worked with Chaparro but was familiar with her art and recommended her to ArtsQuest as a performance artist when the Bethlehem festival was in the planning stage. The two artists will be working along with local high school arts students in transforming the Banana Factory parking lot into an enormous chalk scene.
Fields-Scott's work has been featured at First Friday at the Banana Factory. She created the 3D PEEPS illusion art for SteelStacks' New Year's Eve celebration in 2011. Another of her projects was a Steel Workers Memorial 3D illusion executed on canvas 25-feet wide by 45-feet long.
Chaparro will be in Bethlehem on April 17 to present a free, hands-on workshop from 4 to 7 p.m., introducing the public to the fun of chalk art. The program will include a chalk art history lesson, demonstration on how to scale and create street scenes, and the opportunity for participants to create their own 3D chalk art work. Space is limited; advance registration is encouraged by calling 610-332-1300.'
"I learn something with each piece. It's a growing experience," said Chaparro, in a phone interview from her home in Florida. She said she began street painting about 11 years ago with the assistance of her two teen daughters. An artist all her life having worked in graphic design for advertising and marketing, Chaparro now chalks up traditional Italian masterpieces and American Masters, 3D anamorphic art, custom advertising pieces and interactive art. Her work can average 6-feet-by-15-feet to 15-feet-by-30-feet.
It takes a big area for an illusion to work, she explained, usually involving two days and such tools as washable tempera paint as a primer, big sticks of soft pastel chalk, basic sponges, gloves, and knee pads. Every surface presents a challenge in the way chalk will adhere and blend. Chaparro said she enjoys interacting with the crowd while she works and seeing how her art is being shared by those taking photos, especially since rain will wipe her canvas clean.
Footnote: A special ticketed preview of the festival will be Sunday's 7 p.m. screening of the 2011 Academy Award nominee, "Exit Through the Gift Shop," a Banksy film that takes a look at some of the nation's most legendary street artists. It will be shown in the ArtsQuest Center's Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas.
For further info: bananafactory.org
ARTS ROUNDUP
In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Boscov's Berks Jazz Fest, a number of local artists are being recognized for their creative jazz interpretations in the 1th annual Frank Scott Memorial Art Show, "The Art of Jazz," in the Cohen Gallery East at the GoggleWorks Center in Reading. A meet-the-artists reception will be held Sunday during the Berks Jazz Fest as part of the Second Sunday activities at the GoggleWorks, located at 201 Washington St. The Berks Arts Council presents the Berks Jazz Fest opening Friday through April 19.
Berks County students have 17 works of art included in a companion exhibition in the venue's Café Gallery. GoggleWorks artist Charles Farrell's assemblage, "Syncopation," captured first prize in the juried art show curated by Kristen Woodward. GoggleWorks artist Birdie Zoltan received second place for her mixed-media sculpture, "Notions of a Harp," and received the inaugural "Musician's Choice Award" as chosen by world-renowned bass player Gerald Veasley. Third place was awarded to Allentown artist Ely Molloy for his portrait, "Miles." The exhibit runs through April 26.
Honorable mention went to artists Cheryl Elmo, Amy Forsyth, Kate Perkins, Amy Schade, and Elaine Soltis. Hamburg Area High School's Jasmine McNeill's painting was the only student work chosen for the main exhibit.
Footnote: This year's Berks All-Star Jazz Jam on April 16 is in memory of Jeff Golub, dynamic guitarist and a mainstay at the fest, performing 11 times starting in 1997 with his Avenue Blue band. The event will be held at 8 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza Reading ballroom in Wyomissing.
Golub last performed in 2012 with Mindi Abair and David Pack, and with Henry Butler celebrating his blues CD, "The Three Kings." He passed away in 2012 from PSP, a rare and debilitating brain disease. Close friends and musical collaborators Steven Miller, Rick Braun and Bud Harner put together some of Golub's early works, some never before released, in a collection titled "The Vault." Guest artists include Abair, Braun, Dave Koz, Kirk Whalum, Philippe Saisse, Boney James, Brian Culbertson, Jeff Lorber, Bill Evans, Gerald Albright, Peter White, Richard Elliot, and Steve Ferrone.
"The Vault" will be available for sale at the Berks Jazz Fest, with proceeds benefiting Golub's family – wife Audrey and sons Chris and Matthew.
For further info: berksarts.org berksjazzfest.com
***
The Greater Reading Alliance of Community Theaters and the Penn State Theater Department will present a staged reading of "Our American Cousin," Tom Taylor's comedy classic in a new version by Lowell Swortzell, on April 17 at 7 p.m., at the Berks History Center, 901 Centre Ave., Reading. Director is Patricia Perfect.
Additional readings will be held at the Penn State Berks Theater on Penn State Campus, Broadcasting Road, Spring Township, on April 18 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and again on April 19, same times.
The event marks the 150th anniversary of that fateful night – April 14, 1865 – when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated during a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre. The reading recalls history of the day and events at the theater where Laura Keene, said to be Lincoln's favorite actress, and her theater troupe are rehearsing for a play known at the time as "the most performed play in America and Europe." It was an end to Lincoln’s dream of a reconstructed South.
For further info: 610-375-9106
***
The 40-voice community choir, Concord Chamber Singers, will present "Our Americana" featuring "The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass" with Louie Setzer and the Appalachian Mountain Boys on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., at the Charles A. Brown IceHouse, 56 River St., Sand Island, Bethlehem. Artistic director is Dr. Jennifer Kelly.
The Concord Chamber Singers will be joined by the Dave Roper Trio for a cabaret fundraiser on June 5 at 7:30 p.m., at Northampton Country Club in Bethlehem Township, Northampton County.
For further info: ccsingers.org
***
SATORI presents its 10th annual Student Chamber Music Competition on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., at Community Music School, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. Students will compete for cash prizes and a performance opportunity with SATORI. The event is free and open to the public.
For further info: 610-435-6036
***
The New Hope Art League is holding its sixth annual juried show from May 15-25 at the Rolling Green Barn, Route 202 and Aquetong Road in Solebury Township, Bucks County. An awards reception will be held May 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. Jurors are Stanley Beilen and Georganna Lenssen. A portion of the proceeds will go toward an art scholarship for a high school student pursuing art in college. Deadline to submit art including paintings, work on paper, mixed media, photography, digital art and sculpture is Wednesday.
For further info: newhopeartleague.com
***
An exhibition of paintings by Miles DeCoster, titled "Uccello Rosso: The First Ten Years," is underway through April 28 in the Schmidt Gallery of the GoggleWorks, with an opening reception Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Uccello Rosso is described as a bird-like character inspired by a small and seemingly insignificant skating bird in the triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch. The exhibit features more than 50 panels illustrating the life and times of the fugacious bird.
For further info: goggleworks.org
***
The Allentown Symphony Orchestra presents "Beethoven's 9th" on Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m., at Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. Music director/conductor is Diane Wittry.
Featured works include Wittry's world premiere of "Ode to Joy Fanfare," Estacio's "Borealis," Liszt's "Les Preludes," and Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9." The Allentown Symphony Chorus will perform under the direction of Eduardo Azzati, with featured soloists Sara Pearson, Jennifer Laubach, Noah Baetge and Jeremy Galyon. A short film, "Borealis," photographed by astronomer and visual artist Jose Salgado (ASO concert, "The Planets," April 2012), will focus on the Northern Lights.
For further info: millersymphonyhall.org
***
New York City-based Jessica Lang Dance (JLD), founded in 2011, brings its award-winning ballet repertory to the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College in Easton on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Lang was awarded the 2014 Bessie Award for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer in recognition of the elegant works she created on her newly-formed company of dancers at the Joyce Theater. The JLD program at Lafayette includes the 2014 piece, “Scape,” commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra to John Adams' Violin Concerto.
Lang was in residency at Muhlenberg College in Allentown in 2014. She will teach a ballet master class on Tuesday at the Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Arts in Bethlehem.
For further info: williamscenter.lafayette.edu
***
The LU Philharmonic and The Bach Choir join for a community celebration, "What Passion Cannot Music Raise" with works by Stravinsky and Beethoven on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., at the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. Soloists are Laura Heimes, soprano, and Ben Butterfield, tenor. Conductors are Eugene Albulescu and Greg Funfgeld.
For further info: zoellnerartscenter.org
#