Sunday, February 07, 2010
Arts & Extras: Festival to feature fascinating, eclectic art
Arts & Extras column
Mike Allen, arts columnist
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You'd expect a Marginal Arts Festival to be eclectic and wild in its offerings, and this year's festival in Roanoke looks like it won't disappoint. Although, I feel the need to pose a rhetorical question -- when universities and regional art museums are involved, can an event still call itself marginal?
The festival starts Thursday and continues until the "Fat Tuesday" wrap-up party on Feb. 16.
The opening kickoff takes place in the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, as the museum holds a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday to launch two new exhibits. The first, "When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans," combines photographs by Sasha Pflaeging and audio interviews conducted by author Laura Browder to tell stories of women in combat.
The second is an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Stanley Lewis, the university's 2010 Frances Niederer Artist in Residence.
Other highlights among the numerous offerings include the artwork of Colette Fu, daughter of Local Colors maven Pearl Fu.
Colette Fu, a Fulbright scholar, traveled to China and took photographs documenting ethnic minorities in the Yunnan province, which she used to create enormous pop-up book displays. Friday at noon she'll give a talk about her travels at the Taubman Museum of Art.
"We Are Tiger Dragon People," the arrangement of Fu's pop-up books, will be on display starting at 5 p.m. at a reception that's free to festival passport holders.
Also Friday, Ed Dolinger's Dialog Gallery in its new downtown Roanoke location at 208 Fourth St. will hold an opening reception for "Sew Me Up," an exhibit by five artists who use sewing and embroidery to depict the human body in ways that are in some instances erotic, controversial and shockingly explicit. Roanoke artist Susan Jamison, who curated the show, says, "It's definitely not like grandma's needlepoint."
At 7:30 p.m. in the church at 434 Church St. (also known as the "Church on Church & Fifth") the silent film "Nosferatu" will be screened, accompanied by a live score provided by Magic Twig Community and Rootstone Jug Band. Quirky author Jack Pendarvis will also speak.
Saturday's lineup starts at 10:30 a.m. with the festival's second annual parade in downtown Roanoke, featuring an amusing "Art Rat" float by Roanoke artist Ralph Eaton, and other avant garde creations.
At 1 p.m. the Roanoke Main Library downtown will feature an exhibit by clothing designer Patsy Bessolo and music by punk band Oinker.
At 7 p.m., The Water Heater will host "Living Sculpture," featuring Virginia School of the Arts dancers.
The Dumas Center for the Arts will present a sample at 8 p.m. of a folk opera in progress, "Miss Lucy," dramatizing the life of pioneer Roanoke educator Lucy Addison.
Feb. 14 at the Taubman, Pearl Fu will host a Chinese New Year's celebration from 3 to 5 p.m., complete with face painting, paper cutting, paper folding, dragon dance and dumplings, while Colette Fu will hold a pop-up book workshop from 2 to 5 p.m.
At 8 p.m. at Hollins University's Wyndham-Roberts Library, authors Moira Crone and Michael Martone will read from their experimental fictions.
The festival concludes at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 with the "Fat Tuesday Celebration," a closing soiree with food, performances and a cash bar at the Jefferson Center.
Some individual events have admission fees, but admission to all events is covered by the purchase of a $20 festival passport. For more information, e-mail info@marginalarts.com or visit www.marginalarts.com.
Transportation museum seeks public input
The Virginia Museum of Transportation is seeking suggestions from the general public as to how the institution could improve.
The request for feedback stems from a $1 million matching grant offered to the museum by Norfolk Southern Corp. for the development of new exhibits.
There will be three public comment sessions, all to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the museum's conference room.
The Feb. 18 session will focus on the railroads' role in Virginia's history, culture and economy. The Feb. 23 session will focus on other modes of transportation, and March 2's session will focus on the museum's role in the community.
Those who wish to attend should call 342-5670 or e-mail info@vmt.org.
In addition, a survey is available at www.vmt.org.
Events rescheduled
In anticipation of inclement weather, the opening reception "Best in Show," the annual art show and sale that benefits the Roanoke Valley SPCA, has been rescheduled for Feb. 19. It will take place 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke.
The History Museum of Western Virginia's "History Is Served" lunch at Hotel Roanoke featuring journalist Ann Compton has been postponed until Feb. 28.
And the Roanoke Civic Center announced a new date for the Broadway in Roanoke production of "The Wedding Singer," which was postponed because of snow. The musical will now take place March 31 at 7:30 p.m. All tickets already purchased will be honored.
On the Arts blog
For the first word on the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge's plan to launch events tied into Virginia's "Minds Wide Open" celebration of women in the arts, visit my blog at blogs.roanoke.com/arts.
