The Downey Arts Coalition is bringing you back to the 80’s with a new fundraiser event benefiting the Downey Symphony Orchestra. It’s a “Totally 80’s Flashback Party” with the music, style and attitude from the decade. Saturday June 20th, 8PM to 2AM at The Epic Lounge in Downey, 8239 2nd Street, just west of Downey Avenue.
Also at the party, a photo backdrop, and “80’s Icon” Look-a-like contest, auction, and big prizes. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, or purchase a table for four with special benefits- drink tickets, snack and a souvenir included.
To purchase tickets online Click Here, or contact Pat Gil at the email/phone number on the poster.
Come join fellow artists, art advocates and art lovers in celebrating the start of the fifth year in pursuit of our objectives to stimulate, develop, foster, encourage, and promote public interest ín, and appreciation of the arts in Downey and throughout the area.
May 30th, 2015 “Pat’s Patio” 7901 7th Street, Downey, CA 90241 12 Noon –4 PM
All are Welcome
DAC Member Meeting and business will begin promptly at 12 Noon
Potluck
Hot Dogs and Buns will be provided
Contact Pat at patgil1031@gmail.com or 562-879-3029 to get your item on the potlucklist.
DAC Meeeting Agenda
Opening Remarks: by Andrew Wahlquist
Business:
– Membership vote on the acceptance of the By-Law Update.*
– Membership vote on the slate of officers presented by the nominating committee.
Celebration: Adjourn for Food and Beverages, conversation and networking.
This edition of POETRY MATTERS – Thursday May 14th at Stay Gallery – will feature
Nancy Lynée Woo and Lucid Moose Lit. This exciting group of young poets will share personal and compelling poems of grit and struggle in America. Lucid Moose Lit is a socially conscious literary press publishing diverse voices in poetry, prose and art. Their goal is to inspire conversation, spark empathy and connect diverse readers through thought-provoking books and “zines” (small hand-made pamphlets.)
The founders, Nancy Lynée Woo and Sarah Thursday, are mainstays of the Long Beach poetry scene. Nancy is a 2015 PENN Center Emerging Voices Fellow, and Sarah is editor of CadenceCollective.net, co-host of the 2nd Monday Poetry Party at Gatsby Books in Long Beach.
Their first anthology, “Gutters and Alleyways,” features over 80 of the most active poets and artists in the area. A second anthology, “Like a Girl: Perspectives on Feminine Identity,” will be released in the Fall.
Featured readers for this Thursday will include Nancy Lynée Woo, Raquel Reyes-Lopez, Elmast Kozloyan, and Downey’s own Trista Dominqu and Frank Kearns.
STAY Gallery
11140 Downey Ave Downey 90240
Doors open at 7 p.m. and an open mike begins at 7:30.
STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, ARTS, and Mathematics. Join the Stay Gallery team in a new event to celebrate student creativity on May 23rd from 10-1pm at Downey Federal Credit Union. They are partnering with Downey High School Engineering Department and Columbia Memorial Space Center to host a variety of fun science and art activities for the entire family to enjoy. This event represents Stay Gallery’s partnership with Downey Unified School District and our efforts to integrate the arts into modern day education. Thanks to program sponsors like Downey Federal Credit Union, we are making this a reality! #steamcity #stayyoung #staygallery
DOWNEY – The Downey Arts Coalition will host an open house on Tuesday, May 12, at 7 p.m., at the Epic Lounge. The event is free to the public and offers an opportunity to connect with others who have an interest in supporting and participating in local art events. Refreshments will be served, along with the showing of a short film, “Premeditative,” by co-directors Gene Aversa and Carlos Quinterro. Artwork by local glass artist Terry Walker will also be featured.
“Premeditative ” is a drama about a high school student who snaps after repeated bullying and harassment, and makes a drastic decision to take a gun to school. The film centers on his inner turmoil and his decision as he walks to school, before he makes a very dire mistake.
Glass artist Terry Walker has been an important part of the Downey Arts Coalition since 2013, and has brought her work to many festivals and art events. Her work is popular as it makes affordable gifts for friends and family. She recently completed a new mosaic, entitled Triumph, for DAC’s recent “Rebirth” art exhibit at the Downey Civic Theatre.
Glass mosaic “Triumph” by Terry Walker
The Downey Arts Coalition is also celebrating its fourth anniversary this year. Since its founding in 2011, the group has sponsored art exhibits, monthly poetry readings, and produced two Broadway plays and two free music festivals. Art shows for the Dia de los Muertos celebrations, the City of Downey rooftop events, and the Downey symphony concerts are curated by members of DAC. The non-profit organization has also hosted movie screenings by local filmmakers, and recently assisted with publicity for the Glenfest Movie Festival that was free to the public at the Downey Krikorian Theater.
Art curator Pat Gil explains, “Whatever someone’s passion is – music, film, theatre, dance, poetry – we can work together to help you express it in our local community.” Gil describes DAC as umbrella organization that provides “a place for local artists, arts organization, and community leaders to share and collaborate.”
Reflecting its commitment to the community, the DAC website offers a calendar promoting city concerts, art shows, and music events. Everyone, no matter what their interest, is invited to come for an evening of networking and stimulating conversation. For further information go to downeyarts.org.
DAC Open House screening of “The Whexican” by Forrest Hartl
Join us this Sunday, May 3, at the Epic Lounge for the benefit concert for local Downey musician Russ Lewark, who is battling Myelodyplastic Syndrome (MDS)
Live Music by: Dennis Roger Reed Band – Fossiltones – Ben King
Raffle Prizes, PhotoStache “Booth”, and other amusements
Please donate $20.00 at the door on arrival – and grab your free “One Foot In Songbook” CD as you leave and Dennis Roger Reed CD, and Kahuna Cowboys Jug Band CD
Make Music Downey is back this year in a smaller format on June 27, 2015. With venues at The Epic Lounge, Stay Gallery, and Mambo Bar & Grill, the focus this year will be on local talent.
Margarita Ezcurra is scheduled as the feature reader at April’s Poetry Matters, which will take place on Thursday, April 16. The bilingual installment is a first for Poetry Matters, with Excurra reading her work in both Spanish and English.
Ezcurra was born in Bolivia and moved with her family to the United Sates in 1968, after witnessing the South American conflicts while seeking political asylum with Argentina. She is promoting her new collection, Because I Have Lived, Poems From Two Worlds. The text includes a Spanish and English version of each poem on facing pages.
Poetry Matters will be held at Stay Gallery, located at 11140 Downey Ave. in Downey. Doors open at 7:00 and the event begins at 7:30 p.m.
Singer/songwriter Macain Treat (originally from Downey) brings a Free concert based on the new album “Angels Singing in The Dark,” the debut recording by the Santa Monica based music collective Tenth and California, Produced by Macain Treat , a veteran Los Angles session and touring musician, this modern Americana Gospel recording contains 7 original selections along with 3 inspired reinterpretations of classic hymns.
“Angels Singing In The Dark” features musical contributions from some of the best session musicians in Los Angeles. The band collectively has recorded or toured with such legendary artists as Roger Daltrey, Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, PINK, and Ray Charles to name a few. “The most wonderful thing about working with such talented musicians,” Macain explains, “is being able to throw anything at the musicians on the stage or in the studio and know they can pull it off”.
Tenth and California has it’s roots at Trinity Church Santa Monica, a community of believers that formerly met at the corner of 10th and California. “We are a spiritually hungry group that puts God as our focus in worship and hearing His word through music” said Macain. This desire to share the teachings of God’s word accompanied with a calling to share their experiences of faith became the foundation for the record.
The concert is sponsored by the Downey Arts Coalition and the First Baptist Church of Downey, Sunday April 19 at 6:30pm, 8348 Third Street. Admission is free, but donations will be collected to support the future efforts of the musicians. CD’s also for sale.
April 11 – “Romantic Gems” Downey Symphony concert & Rebirth art exhibit
Downey Symphony Orchestra closes their season on Saturday, April 11, with “Romantic Gems.” The program will include pieces by Johannes Brahms, and the violin concerto of Jean Sibelius, as performed by the winner of the 2013 Downey Symphony Young Artist Competition, 18-year-old violinist Hao Zhou. Hao began playing the violin at age six and currently studies under Aimée Kreston at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. The art exhibit, Rebirth, will take place in conjunction with the concert, and will run for a month long. The mixed media exhibit will showcase art, submitted by 33 local artists, that portrays the theme of rebirth — death, life, and transformation. This installation is the largest yet for this space, with over 50 total pieces on display. Both the exhibit and concert are a celebration of Easter and the welcoming of spring.
The exhibit will open at 6:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 8:00 p.m. Purchase tickets at http://www.downeytheatre.com/Event
The art exhibit, Rebirth, will take place in conjunction with the concert, and will run for a month long. The mixed media exhibit will showcase art, submitted by 33 local artists, that portrays the theme of rebirth — death, life, and transformation. This installation is the largest yet for this space, with over 50 total pieces on display. Both the exhibit and concert are a celebration of Easter and the welcoming of spring.