Jacaranda Blossoms at the New Broad Stage

A Closer Look at Darfur

Ten Artists + Ten Curators= One Great Show!

Off of the Streets and Into the Gallery

Radio Drama at SMC

Check It Out!

Composer Harry Partch at the Cloud Chamber Bowls

This local company consistently breaks barriers with provocative programming and dazzling talent.  Jacaranda opens its sixth season in the new Broad Stage this weekend with a salute to three Asian-inspired California mavericks: Lou Harrison, John Cage and Harry Partch.  I use the term maverick here to describe true adventurers, artists who bravely left the herd behind – not just a few unbranded calves lost someplace on the prairie.  Jacaranda has combined the musical tones of violin, cello, French horn, flute, harp and drums with a Javanese gamelan, a Zen-inspired string quartet, the whimsical power of cloud chamber bowls, alongside mega-harps and a bass marimba inspired by ancient Greek and Chinese tuning. 

Sherry Frumkin has always had a commitment to showcase artistic responses to important and often controversial political issues.  In this exhibition fine art photography is used to not only illuminate the genocide crisis in Darfur but also to educate the viewer and turn the gallery into a classroom for political action.  When I first met Barbara Grover she was a gifted political consultant.  Today, she is a gifted artist.  But whether she's working in the realm of politics or art, her goal to make the world a better place has been steadfast.

4th Anniversary
Open House
Santa Monica Art Studios
6:00 – 9:00 pm
Saturday, October 18
1:00 – 5:00 pm
Sunday, October 19
Santa Monica Airport
3026 Airport Avenue 

Thirty-four resident artists will open their studios and invite you to see painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, installation and mixed media works in progress.  At the same time, in the  Arena 1 Gallery curator Steven Hull asked artists to make works about the moon for a group exhibition, Luna Luna in the Sky.  Will You Make Me Laugh or Cry?  The wide range of works included in the exhibition along with that of the many resident artists ensures that no matter what your taste in art, you’ll find something enchanting.

While you’re at the Airport, if you haven’t exhausted your viewing abilities, be sure to stop by Jodi Fuchs  and Michelle Oppenheimer’s  studio at 2900 Airport Avenue Studio F.  These two very talented artists will also open their studios to the public this weekend making even more art available at our hometown airport.

In describing his work Robbie Conal has said “My paintings are intended as satirical counter-infotainment. If they tickle people into thinking along with me about social and political issues, I’m a happy man.”  He should be a very happy man, indeed, considering the effect his work has had over the years throughout Southern California.  This monumental retrospective of his work, juxtaposes political posters found plastered on construction site walls, traffic light switching boxes, freeway underpasses and bus shelters with refined paintings that pack a visual and political punch.

Eric Bogosian's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Talk Radio - a gut-grabbing and powerful drama about a Cleveland radio shock jockey - follows Barry Champlain, an aggressive, abusive shock jock who rails against his callers, his colleagues and himself in a desperate, no-holds-barred attempt to find meaning and connection in the world.

In Denmark, David Lohr proved to be a fascinating read!

This Saturday, the books are people and at the Santa Monica Main Library you can check a few out. There's a Buddhist, a teenager, a nudist and a raw foodist all available to check out for a 30 minute conversation at the Santa Monica Public Library’s first Living Library.  They've been doing this in Europe for a while, but Santa Monica is one of the first US libraries to try it out.  This is the kind of thing that makes me love our library system!  They'll have a group of volunteers who will serve as Living Books, willing to share their personal life story with you, the reader.   Isn't that wild?  But be sure to bring a bookmark - if you try to dogear someone's pages you might get arrested for assault.  And don't spill coffee on them!