Category: Educational

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-Davila

Betty, 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.

April 12, 2017
World Premiere of “To Dust” has reached its goal!

A new composition for orchestra and multimedia by Bryan Curt Kostors to debut with the Downey Symphony Orchestra, January 23.

To Dust combines live orchestral music, visual projections, film, photography and design. As the orchestra performs, the visual elements of the piece will be projected live in the Downey Civic Theatre. It tells the story of an important part of the California Water Wars: the draining of Owens Lake by the city of Los Angeles after the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913. Where there was once a large, shallow lake that supported boating, ferries, birds, natural vegetation, and people, there now sits an expansive scar of dried dirt, dust, and salt.

The Kickstarter funding campaign for a new musical multimedia project To Dust has surpassed its goal of $14,000. Donations will be accepted until November 18 at midnight if you would like to help bring to life this exciting project that will make its world premiere here in Downey with the Downey Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sharon Lavery.

The money being raised will go to support the costs of filming on location in the Owens Valley and editing and finishing the multimedia presentation. For more information, visit the Kickstarter page by clicking here.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bryancurtkostors/to-dust

November 16, 2015
Harmonic Movement at the Downey Theater Oct 4

Downey Arts Coalition is proud to present a free community event, with the opening of our new group art show at the Downey Civic Theater, themed “Dance and Movement,” as well as a screening of the upcoming documentary film “Landfill Harmonic.” The theater opens at 2PM, with the screening beginning at 3PM.

To support the event DAC applied and was accepted into the City of Downey’s financial aid program for use of the Downey Civic Theater, which reduces rental fees to make it more affordable for non-profit groups to hold events there.

We are excited to bring, for free, a presentation of the new documentary film Landfill-harmonic, a co-presentation with the GlennFest Film Festival, which is running right now in downtown Downey. The film is described at its website as follows:

Landfill harmonic follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a paraguayan musical youth group of kids that live next to one of South America’s largest landfills. This unlikely orchestra plays music from instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight. With the guidance of their music director, they must navigate this new world of arenas and sold out concerts. However, when a natural disaster devastates their community, the orchestra provides a source of hope for the town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.

The Downey Civic Theater is located at 8435 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA 90241

September 25, 2015
Elsa Van Leuven to Demonstrate for Paramount TAG Sept 12

One of Downey’s long-time artists and teachers, Elsa Van Leuven, will demonstrate for the Paramount Traditional Artists Guild on September 12th. The public is welcome. The demonstration begins at 2PM at Progress Park Plaza in Paramount, at 15530 Downey Ave.

Elsa Van Leuven

Born in Oklahoma, moving to California in her mid-teens. Her artistic talents first developed along the musical line, majoring in Music at Los Angeles City College, singing with the Hollywood Bowl Chorus and appearing as soloist with the Los Angeles Opera and Downey Symphony Orchestra. She became intensely interested in oil paintings and began her studies with Nona Taylor plus taking workshops under such well-known artists as Joyce Pike, Don Foster, Gilee Barton, Sandy Bergeron, Tom Anderson and Hal Reed. Her paintings hang throughout the U.S., Canada, and England and more locally have hung in Flavia Gallery, Huntington Beach, Virginia’s Gift Shop at Knott’s Berry Farm, Old Town Gallery, Seal Beach and in Solvang and Palm Springs. Also at Lindsey Gallery, S.R. Brennan, Moreton Gallery, Haggenmaker Gallery, Lu Martin Gallery, Anenberg Gallery in various locations here in California. More recently she has enjoyed working in an impressionistic style of the Romantic period. These works convey a sense of tranquility and beauty of times past.

The Downey Arts Coalition is proud to have presented her work as part of our art shows at the Downey Civic Theater.

August 27, 2015
STEAM Festival with Stay Gallery May 23

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

May 12, 2015
Photos from Downey Museum of Art presents Vic Joachim Smith

On January 10th, 2015 the Downey Museum of Art presented work from it’s collection by one of Southern California’s original modern artists, Vic Joachim Smith ~ early work. Presented at the South Gate Civic Museum and Art Galleries, the exhibit will be up for the month of January. The Other Theatre Company also presented a short play titled “Off Kilter” by Barry Slater, directed by Alistair Hunter. It featured Claudia Duran as an optimistic art curator, sparring with Daniel Houston Davila as a embittered former artist. Special thanks to Roy Anthony Shabla, director of collections, for putting together this exhibit with the DMOA board members.

January 23, 2015
Vic Joachim Smith: Early Work from the DMOA, Jan 10

Downey Museum of Art is proud to announce its first exhibition for 2015. Vic Joachim Smith ~ Early Work opens Saturday, January 10^th, 1 pm, at Southgate Museum and Art Galleries. This is an important show.

Vic Smith moved to Southern California from the Pacific Northwest to pursue a calling in art. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1954 and later developed the arts program and taught at Cal State Fullerton.

During the 1950s and 60s, Smith exhibited throughout Asia and Europe alongside other renowned American artists such as Pollack, Rothko, Kline, and De Kooning. California institutions, including the Museums of Art in Downey, Newport Harbor, Laguna, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland, also hosted exhibits of his work. In 1967, Los Angeles Times art critic William Wilson noted, “The art of Vic Smith is so good, I can’t understand why it isn’t more famous.”

Downey Museum of Art holds in its collection one complete early series by Vic Smith. “High Sierra” will be shown in its entirety as well as samples of other early work and ephemera.

Simultaneous to Vic Joachim Smith ~ Early Work, Downey Museum of Art will offer a second show, Selections from the Collections, featuring large, avant garde, and constructed paintings from its permanent holdings, including the work of Charles Villiers. Both exhibits are hosted by the Southgate Art Galleries.

The opening reception will include live music and theater. Featured at 3 pm, The Other Theater Company will offer a production of “Off Kilter”, a short play about how to look at modern art. And throughout the reception, Isaac Takeuchi will perform Bach and original cello compositions.

The Southgate Museum and Art Galleries is located at 8680 California Avenue, just north of Firestone Blvd. The opening reception is Saturday, January 10, from 1 to 5 pm. Admission is free.

Editor’s note: The Long Beach Museum of Art will exhibit one early painting by Vic Smith in February.

Roy Anthony Shabla is Director of Collections for Downey Museum of Art, and a poet and painter living in the Los Angeles area.

December 30, 2014
Stay Young Festival of the Arts, May 29-June1

Stay Gallery is hosting it’s first annual ‘STAY YOUNG’ Festival Of The Arts to celebrate our local student talent.

Over 60 curated art works will be displayed by artists from Downey High, Warren High, and Downey Adult School.

Exhibit opens on Thursday, May 29th from 6p – 9p

ASB members invite the community to come together on Saturday, May 31st for a family friendly day of fun filled activities.

Stay Gallery is located at 11140 Downey Ave, north of Firstone Blvd.

May 19, 2014