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Posts
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June Arts Newsletter
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City renews Stay Gallery funding for 3 years
The Downey City Council approved a renewal of the Arts in Public Places funding that supports Stay Gallery’s downtown lease. The gallery provides an open, public community center for the arts in Downey, featuring exhibits of local artists, events for the Downey Unified School District, classes, and more. The Downey Arts Coalition will also be more involved in bringing programming to the gallery in the years to come.
To read more about the decision, visit The Downey Patriot:
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Defying Gravity, a play about the Challenger Apr 28 – May 14
The Downey Arts Coalition, in partnership with the City of Downey is proud to announce the return of Defying Gravity, a play by Jane Anderson, performed at the amphitheater of the Columbia Memorial Space Center. This powerful portrayal of the lives affected by the Challenger Space Shuttle is produced by the Downey Arts Coalition as part of the CMSC’s City of STEM events in the month of April.
Performances: April 28, 29, 30, May 5, 6, 12, 13, 14. 2017
Friday & Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 7PM (90 minutes)
Tickets: $20, $15 for Students and Members of CMSC, and are available at the door on the day of the event, by phone or in person at the Space Center (562) 231-1200 (10am to 5pm Tues-Sat), or on Downey’s online sign-up system. (To purchase tickets Click Here)
The Columbia Memorial Space Center was built by the City of Downey as a monument to the efforts of ordinary men and women who played a major role in the success of the US space program through their work at North American Rockwell. Like the Challenger, the center’s namesake the Columbia, was also lost to tragedy. This play is a family event that will allow all generations to come together to experience a pivotal chapter in aerospace history.
The Story
Dramatic, comic, and deeply moving… Defying Gravity is an impressionistic collage that explores the emotional core of the 1986 Challenger Shuttle disaster. At the center is the teacher selected as the first civilian in space. Past, present, and future lives weave together, drawing parallels with art, religion, relationships and science. Artist Claude Monet takes the audience and play’s characters on a quest of the perspectives, aspirations, guilt and fear that stimulates our fascination with space. Our upwardly aspiring nature cannot be checked by one single tragedy.Reviews of the play from its off-broadway debut:
“Flies high in its attempt to describe man’s fascination with space and its conquest…. You will certainly not be bored. ” – New York Post
“[A] clever and uplifting fantasy … [with] ear catching musings about art, religion and the outer limits of human possibility.” – New York Times
The Production
The outdoor amphitheater of the Columbia Memorial Space Center will be outfitted as a functioning theatre, with theatrical lighting, video projection, original music and historical NASA recordings of the event. Audiences will be both elated and moved by the emotional highs and lows of this stunning moment in history. This engaging experience will bring our community together around the grand ideals and harsh realities of reaching for the stars. There is much to learn for those that experienced the event in their lifetimes, as well as the next generation that was born after the tragedy took place.
Educational
Before the show, as the audience waits to be allowed back into the amphitheater, they are treated with a short presentation about the history of the Challenger and the country’s reaction to the tragedy. Following the show on one of the closing performances, we will arrange a talkback with the cast and engineers from the Downey plant that worked on the shuttle program.Cast & Crew
The Teacher … Kerry Wieder
Elizabeth, her daughter … Bianca Meiloaica
Ed, a retiree … Daniel Houston-DavilaBetty, his wife … Peggy Painton
C.B., an engineer … Zach Johnson-Dunlop
Donna, a bartender … Jaime Soria
Monet, the painter … Forrest Hartl
Directed by … Lana Wahlquist
Producer … Andrew Wahlquist
Co-Producer … Rebecca Lane
Assistant Director … Alistair Hunter
About Downey Arts Coalition
Downey Arts Coalition is a volunteer driven community service organization for the arts in Downey. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) (EIN 95-2505168), DAC sponsors and supports arts related projects and events in the community, including visual arts, performing arts, music, poetry and film.
Sponsorship
Join us in bringing this special, uniquely Downey event— as an individual, a community sponsor, or a business sponsor. Program ads are available in full page, half page and business card. Partner with us to keep the arts and sciences prominent and accessible in our community.
Click here to learn about becoming a sponsor.
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Downey Symphony presents Beethoven’s 5th – April 8
Saturday April 8th, 8 pm
Downey Theater
8435 Firestone Blvd., Downey
The spring and final concert, “Symphonic Classics,” will feature a performance by Los Angeles cello player Benjamin Lash. The performance will include the most popular symphony in the classical music repertoire: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The concert opens with another popular gem, The William Tell Overture, by Rossini, followed by Tchaikovsky’s charming and impressive, “Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra,” performed by Lash.Benjamin Lash, Cello
Cellist Benjamin Lash was a top prizewinner in the Washington International Competition. Recent concerto performances include Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra, and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Benjamin has participated in summer festivals including the Sarasota Music Festival, Taos, Aspen, Holland International Music Sessions, Fortissimo Fest in Bulgaria, and 2016 Franco-American Chamber Music Festival in Missillac, France.Benjamin began studying cello at the age of six. In his early teens, as a first place winner of multiple Chicago area competitions, he performed concertos by Saint-Saens, Shostakovich, Hindemith, and Haydn. Benjamin received his Bachelors of Music from the Colburn Conservatory of Music where he studied with Ronald Leonard. He completed a Master of Music degree at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in cello performance. He is a recipient of the USC Music Faculty Endowed Scholarship and studies with Ralph Kirshbaum.
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Poetry Matters featuring Bonnie Bolling March 30
Poetry Matters featuring Bonnie Bolling
March 30, 7-9 pm
Stay Gallery
11140 Downey Ave., Downey 90241Poetry Matters will welcome back Bonnie Bolling as featured poet on the fifth Thursday in March. Bolling returns to us on a visit from Dubai, where she and her husband have lived for several years. When in Long Beach, Bolling is Editor of Verdad, an online, twice-yearly literary and fine arts journal. Bolling’s new book, The Red Hijab, has won the John Ciardi Prize for poetry. and is published by BkMk Press.Doors open at 7 pmOpen microphone session at 7:30 pm.Poetry Matters is curated by Lorine ParksIn The Red Hijab, Bolling becomes a journalistic embed, who “stands on the corner, leaning next to the sign / that says in three languages: no uncovered women allowed / adjusting and re-adjusting my black hijab, me a white, female, United States citizen / on this narrow, broken footpath keeping my silence and distance.”“This is one of the finest set of verses I have read in years. With the bitter-sweet melody of the philosopher and the outcast, the listener of a country’s moans, that is, the sweeper of grabbed-up joys those lost shredded flags of lettuce-like things people grasp before death, so, perhaps, they will blossom into something else that will escort them to life—this voice here, leaves it on this table, for us. A total masterpiece.”
—Juan Felipe Herrera, Poet Laureate of the United States“These are points of meditation that sing with a quiet hope for us all. These are poems of experience, modest and exact—poems that achieve a brilliant, honest light.”
—Christopher Buckley, Modern History and Star Apocrypha“All of her people resonate with remarkable depth and presence. There is no polemic here, no agenda, no travel narrative. The Red Hijab transcends all these. It is another remarkable book by Bolling, and it is a gift to us from a true artist. ”
—Frank X. Gaspar -
Call to Artists: Earth Recycled, submit by March 26
Downey Arts Coalition and Downey Symphony are proud to accept submissions for our April 8th group show, “Earth Recycled.” The deadline to submit is Sunday March 26th. The art will be on display at the Downey Theatre on April 8th, during the Downey Symphony concert.
Oftentimes we are more focused on the latest technology, current events, going through life at a fast pace, hence forgetting to “smell the roses,” and in doing so, we inadvertently overlook the damage we cause our Mother Earth.
Artwork must be regarding ecology, conservation, recycling, pollution, Earth/Nature appreciation, and/or made from recycled items. Inspire caring and respect for our Mother Earth through your art.
Selected artists will be featured in the Symphony concert program, with your contact information, and will be publicly recognized from the stage.
Email curator Andrew Hernandez at: andrewh@www.downeyarts.org
1. Jpeg of artwork
2. Title, Medium and Size
3. Short description, one sentence, of relation to theme.
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Clifton Snider’s new book The Beatle Bump at Poetry Matters Feb 16
On February 16, Poetry Matters is excited to welcome back Clifton Snider at Stay Gallery. Snider will read from his new book, The Beatle Bump, published by Downey’s own Los Nietos Press. Poetry Matters welcomes all Beatle fans to hear Snider’s take on the Fab Four. Open mike at 7:30, Clifton and the Beatles at 8.A must read for any Beatles fan, Clifton Snider’s book of poems, The Beatle Bump, is an inspired, unique look at the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time. Written in the years after the murder of John Lennon, The Beatle Bump explores the Beatles as an archetypal, in the Jungian sense, world-wide phenomenon. The poems, often irreverent and playful as were the Beatles themselves, are written in a variety of forms—free verse, song lyrics, nonsense verse, a sonnet, and even a couple of fan letters. The Beatle Bump is both a time capsule and a work of lasting art.
Stay Gallery is located at 11140 Downey Ave, just north of Firestone Blvd. Handicap accessible.
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Downey Symphony Trio of Treasures Saturday Jan 28
Michelle Tseng, violin
Anthony Moreno, baritone
Robert Blake, piano
Friends of the Downey Symphony—
We’ll be presenting a very special concert on Saturday, January 28, in the Downey Theatre. Concert-goers have asked for piano and vocal music and to hear again some of the great young musicians who have performed in recent years. In response, instead of an orchestral concert, we’re presenting three dazzling musicians. They’ll be performing a range of pieces by Debussy, Saint-Saens, Rachmaninoff, and work by Spanish and Latin composers, including Ravel, Piazzolla, Granada, and Ginestra. Please join us for a great evening!
Downey Arts Coalition presents “Dreamscapes,” a group art show of local and established Southern California artists, in the lobby of the Downey Theatre. Come early to experience this exploration of our mind’s eye as we translate our dreams to the visual arts. Curated by Eloise Ball.
Read more about the show at The Downey Patriot.
Ticket PricingGOLD – Orchestra Rows C through L – Balcony Rows BB through DD – $35.00
SILVER – Orchestra Rows A, B, M, N, O – Balcony Rows AA, EE, FF – $30.00
STUDENT – Silver section seats with current student I.D. – $10.00Click here to purchase individual tickets for any of our concerts, or call (562) 861-8211.
For more information, please visit us at www.downeysymphony.org or call at (562) 403-2944.
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Artist in Residence: Roy Anthony Shabla
Roy Anthony Shabla – Downey artist, poet, and filmmaker – is the first ever Artist-in-Residence at Stay Gallery from December 5th to January 28th, 2017. Shabla is a recognized painter and Stay Gallery, near the corner of Downey Avenue and Firestone Boulevard, will be his studio and exhibition space for the next two months.
Shabla is a late Abstract Expressionist and will be painting eighteen foot canvases – the largest the gallery has shown – as well as assembling junk sculptures and hosting evenings of films on art. The public is encouraged to visit.
Roy Anthony Shabla is Director of Collections for Downey Museum of Art and sits on the Advisory Board of Nuvein Foundation for Literature and the Arts. His films are represented by Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. He will be the featured artist at LACDA in January.
Shabla will perform Travels with my Rant, a poetry-and-improvised-music event comparing life in Downey to life in Paris, for Poetry Matters – a Downey Arts Coalition monthly poetry gathering at Stay Gallery – on January 19th. Local Downey musicians Josue Quiquivix, Andrew Ariza, and Gabriel Armenta will back him.
Shabla hosts a monthly cultural event, the green salon – a gathering of artists, poets, musicians, and other creative people – which will happen in January at Stay Gallery on Saturday the 28th. The gathering will also serve as an after-party for Downey Symphony which is performing that night.
Abstract Expressionism is the important American movement in art which shifted cultural focus from Paris to New York. It was supported by the CIA during the Cold War as a contrast to the Soviet Union’s Social Realism, demonstrating the artistic freedom of the West to the world. The most recognizable Abstract Expressionist painters were Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Shabla will show films about these artists during his residency. Follow Stay Gallery on facebook or Instagram for more information.
Local educators are encouraged to schedule field trips to the gallery to visit and workshop with Shabla. See staygallery.org to start the process.
A Community Day when the public is invited to collaborate on a painting with Shabla is planned for Saturday, December 17th, beginning at 11am. Plan to get your hands dirty!
As the first Artist-in-Residence at Stay Gallery, Roy Anthony Shabla intends to create large abstract paintings to enthrall the cultural enthusiast and also expose the community to an important American art form. Come participate in this historic event.
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Call to Artists: Dreamscapes – Submit by Jan 15
DREAMSCAPES
“You journeyed in joy and despair
Before you encountered lies and old age
Love made you suffer at twenty at thirty
I’ve lived like a fool and wasted my time
You no longer dare to look at your hands and now I feel like crying
Over you over the one I love over everything that has scared you.”
― Guillaume Appollinaire, Zone
(Translated by David Lehman)
Sponsor: Downey Arts Coalition and Downey Symphony
Where: Downey Civic Theater, 8435 Firestone Blvd., Downey, CA 90241
When: Saturday, January 28, 2017 – 6:30 p.m.
Duration: Thru Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Theme: Dreamscapes
Parameters: All Medias, Mixed Medias, All Sizes, Self- Contained. Artwork must be regarding theme.
Fee: $5 per selected art piece
Submission Deadline: Sunday, January 15, 2017, Midnight
Dreamscapes: Take us into a surreal world, where your imagination is set free and reality is tweaked. A place free from conscious rational control, which may lead you to whimsical places, or to your darkest fears.
Selected artists will be featured in the Symphony concert program, with your contact information, will be publicly recognized from the stage, and will have the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets to the evening’s performance.
For consideration, please submit images, with a one sentence description, of your artwork via email to Eloisa Ball at ej@www.downeyarts.org.
Those chosen will be sent an artist’s information packet explaining details about delivery and retrieval.
