Camille Gavin: Artists make their chalk talk at Via Arte
| Wednesday, Oct 07 2009 04:43 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Oct 07 2009 04:43 PM
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11th annual Via Arte
When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Marketplace, 9000 Ming Ave.
Admission: Free
Information: 323-7219
'The Skylight Zone'
When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Gaslight Melodrama Theatre & Music Hall, 12748 Jomani Drive
Admission: Evening performances: $20, adults; $18, seniors; $9 children 12 and under. Matinee: $18, adults; $9, students and children
Information: 587-3377
Artists of all ages and levels of experience will pick up their chalk and get down on their knees this weekend for Via Arte at The Marketplace.
Spectators can stay upright, of course. But remember to step carefully around each square so as not to disturb the artist or the artwork.
Now in its 11th year, the festival is sponsored by the Bakersfield Museum of Art.
"Via Arte is a wonderful family activity and everyone finds it so fascinating to see these beautiful artworks come to life on the pavement," said Emily Falke, the museum's chief curator and organizer of the two-day event.
Areas in front of Starbucks and Tahoe Joe's that normally are used for parking will be divided into squares of pavement. Each is sponsored by a business, an organization or individuals.
Featured artist is Michael William Kirby, an internationally known muralist and street painter based in Baltimore. Kirby is noted for his dramatic, three-dimensional pavement art pieces.
A special Via Bambino area will be open to children who want to do their own sidewalk art on a 2-by-2-foot square. Cost is $10, which includes a souvenir box of chalk.
Various kinds of musical and theatrical performances are scheduled for various times each day. Clay-doh the Clown will be there, as well as Tony O'Brien and his Smooth Jazz band, Bahiyya Almas Belly Dancers, Thee Majestics, The Beagles, Mento Buru and Chesterfield King & the Sultans of Swing.
Proceeds from Via Arte will be used for the museum's educational programs.
'Skylight Zone'
Gaslight Melodrama is celebrating the Halloween season by featuring a show that takes audiences into the fifth dimension, coupled with a down-to-earth, and locally inspired, vaudeville revue.
First on the playbill is "The Skylight Zone," a parody of Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone," an eerie television series of the 1960s that still pops up occasionally on cable channels.
In keeping with the original, the Melodrama version will be performed in "glorious black and white," says writer-director Michael Prince.
"Auntie Ilenie Weenie's Halloween Hoedown," is the title of the vaudeville revue following the main play, which pretty much tells you what it's all about. Written and directed by Warren Dobson, it features a character lifted from Gaslight's popular "My Big Fat Oildale Wedding." Trout's, a famous Oildale landmark, is the setting for the hoedown.
Prince will appear in both shows, as will Greg Ramsdell, Jay Stodder, Coryn McBride, Scott Hillberry, Jennifer Prince and Michael Kubik.
Troubadour on tour
A victim of budget cuts, folk singer and songwriter David Nigel Lloyd is no longer employed by the Arts Council of Kern, so he's going on the road as a member of the "Can-Us '09" tour.
For the past six years Lloyd has been the council's director of education programs. Given his position's relationship with Kern County schools, and the reality of California's budget crisis, his departure came as no surprise.
"As schools have been so hard hit with the new state budget, my department budget for fiscal year 2009-10 went down by 82 percent," he explained, adding that it was not a surprise, as he and Jeanette Parks Richardson, ACK director, saw it coming almost a year ago.
There's a possibility he may return as a consultant in the future. Meanwhile, he and his wife, artist Gita Lloyd, will get along on their savings, plus his unemployment benefits and any proceeds gained from the tour.
"Can-Us '09," the name of the tour has a double meaning. It refers to the Canadian and American venues the troupe will visit as well as the fact that people everywhere are losing their jobs. As Lloyd puts it, "It has this defiant subtext: Go ahead -- can us!"
Throughout the tour, Lloyd will share the stage with several Canadian and American musicians as well as a troupe of improv actors. The tour ends on Oct 30 at the Magnet Theater in New York's Chelsea district.
