7th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibit and Sale to be held in April

Macon Arts Alliance is pleased to announce that the 7th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibition and Sale will be held April 14-22, 2012 in the Historic Round Building in Central City Park in downtown Macon. This year's exhibit will feature 60 Georgia artists and five regional artists from throughout the Southeast.

Fired Works began in 2004 as a local pottery show and has since grown to become the largest exhibit of functional and sculptural pottery in the state of Georgia. In 2011, the exhibit expanded to become a regional exhibit, featuring artists from neighboring states. The growth of the exhibit has helped to solidify Macon as a destination for arts tourism in the region.

"It is fitting that Fired Works would be held in Macon, Georgia. People have been making pottery at the banks of the Ocmulgee River since 2500 BCE," explained Jim Coleman, executive director of Macon Arts Alliance. "In fact, the oldest piece of stamped pottery ever discovered in North America was found at the Ocmulgee National Monument."

The ten day event, held each year in April, now features many special events, such as Cocktails and Clay, a cocktail party-style clay workshop for adults; free workshops for kids and teens; a "Mugs for Jugs" fundraiser to benefit the fight against breast cancer; and the popular Preview Party, where patrons are able to meet and mingle with the many artists in the show. The Preview Party will be held on April 13, the Friday evening before the official Saturday kick off of the exhibit and sale.

For more information on Fired Works, contact Jonathan Dye, director of communications for Macon Arts Alliance at (478) 743-6940 or jonathan@maconarts.org.

Pianist Anton Nel Performs at Mercer’s Fickling Hall In Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of McCorkle Music Building

Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music continues its yearlong season of concerts in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of McCorkle Music Building by presenting pianist Anton Nel in concert at Fickling Hall, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Nel will perform a program on the School’s Steinway piano that includes works by Bach, Brahms, and Schubert. Tickets are $10 for the general public or free with Mercer I.D. Call (478) 301-5470 or buy online at tickets.mercer.edu. Nel will also conduct a Master Class for Townsend students at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in Fickling Hall. The public is invited to attend and listen as Nel works with students and gives them feedback about their performances.

The winner of the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition, Nel has enjoyed a remarkable and versatile career that has taken him to the Americas, Europe, Asia, and South Africa, where he made his auspicious debut at the age of 12. In The New York Times he was described as “an uncommonly elegant pianist,” while the Wall Street Journal said of Nel’s recital at the Lincoln Center, he “tossed off with the kind of virtuosity that used to make audiences swoon.”

In the U.S., he has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra; the Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Detroit Symphonies, among many others. Overseas he has, in recent seasons, appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Much sought after as a chamber musician, he regularly appears with some of the world’s finest instrumentalists and singers. Nel has recorded numerous acclaimed concerto, chamber and solo CDs. He holds the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also heads the Division of Keyboard Studies.

Wolfe’s The Colored Museum Puts Black History Center Stage at Mercer

In celebration of Black History Month, Mercer Theatre presents The Colored Museum, a modern satire by playwright George C. Wolfe, at the Back Door Theatre at Willingham Hall on the Macon campus of Mercer University, Feb. 16 – 26. Performances run Tuesday through Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 general admission, $5 for students and those with Mercer I.D. Tickets are available at the door or by calling (478) 301-2974.

Theatre major Sheri N. Wilson directs the production of what is widely considered a modern classic and one of the most important works of African-American theatre.  The play is structured like a Vaudeville show with a variety of scenes and characters that capture elements of African-American culture and history over the past 200 years.  “The vignettes poke fun at, enlighten, teach and criticize a myriad of different aspects and issues within the African American community,” Wilson said.

Wilson jumped at the opportunity to stage the play as her senior project, having performed in a production years earlier. “The play presents different perspectives of how African Americans came to be who they are today,” she said. “There are funny elements, touching elements and serious elements that will hopefully enlighten the audience and peak their interest so they can discuss the African American experience in a new way.” The cast is comprised of Mercer students and alumni, many of whom are making their debut performance in this show.

The American Boychoir to perform at Vineville UMC

The Music and the Arts program at Vineville United Methodist Church will host a performance by the world renowned American Boychoir on Sunday, February 19 in the sanctuary. This free concert, directed by Fernando malvar-Ruiz, starts at 4:00 p.m. and is open to the public.

The American Boychoir was founded in 1937 in Columbus, Ohio as the Columbus Boychoir and has been located in Princeton, New Jersey since 1950.

The mission of The American Boychoir is to sustain and move forward with a distinctively American voice the one-thousand-year-old boychoir school tradition. The American Boychoir is committed to being the finest choir of its kind in the nation and among the finest in the world. The American Boychoir achieves this each year by recruiting and training talented choristers from across the country.

The mission of The American Boychoir School is to combine the training program for mastery of choral music with a superior academic program in order to create a profoundly integrative educational experience which emphasizes creativity and such traditional values as self-discipline, self-reliance, hard work, teamwork and dedication to long-term goals.

It is a testimony to the vision of the institution’s founder, Herbert Huffman, that after seventy-four years the objectives stated in the School’s original charter are as apt today as they were in 1937:

• To build character in young boys and prepare them for good citizenship.
• To provide an exceptional training program for musically talented boys, regardless of their religion, social background or financial circumstances.
• To make this unique opportunity the motivation for general educational attainment.
• To help enrich the cultural life of the nation and to produce a musical organization that is recognized throughout the country as the finest of its kind.
• As today’s stewards of The American Boychoir School, the board, faculty, staff, parents and students affirm these objectives.

For more information on this concert and others in the 2011-2012 Music and the Arts series at Vineville, contact Dennis McCleary at (478) 745-3331 or email: music@vinevillemethodist.org.

Call To Artists: 2012 World in Conflict Juried Art Exhibition

Deadline:  March 2, 2012 – The World in Conflict Art Exhibition is organized by the Art Department of the Humanities Division and the Big Read Committee of Middle Georgia College.  All entries must be received by March 2, 2012 at 12 p.m.  The artworks chosen will be displayed from April 2 – April 27, 2012 in the Peacock Gallery of Middle Georgia College.  The opening reception and awards presentation will be April 2 at 6 p.m.

Theme:  Artists are encouraged to consider many aspects of the World in Conflict theme, from their own personal perspective to the ways in which conflict has affected local, national, and world events in the past and present.

Awards:  There will be an award of $150.00 for Best of Show.

Eligibility:  Works in all the fine art media completed within the last three years are eligible.  All art should be original works created by the artist.  Photographs, original digital artworks/prints, and hand-pulled prints are acceptable.  The competition is open to all artists in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Jury Panel:  The jury panel for the artwork will consist of the art faculty at Middle Georgia College and from two Community Arts Representatives from around the Cochran and Macon, Georgia areas.

How to Enter:

1. Method of Selection:  The artwork will be selected by digital images.   The jury panel retains the right to decline any artwork that does not conform to the entry guidelines.  Artists may enter up to 3 artworks.  Please include one view of each 2-dimensional work.  Up to 3 views of each 3-dimensional work may be included.
2. Presentation:  Artwork may not exceed 5 feet by 5 feet or 150 pounds in weight.  All 2-dimensional artwork must be properly framed and have wire for hanging (no alligator clips or Velcro).  Sculpture must sit on a flat surface or be prepared to hang.  Please include directions for special installations.  Improperly prepared work will not be chosen or displayed.
3.  Submitting Digital Images:  Images must follow the stated guidelines to be considered.

·       Send JPEGs with .jpg extension, no more than 800 pixels in the long dimension at a browser resolution of 72 dpi.

·       Filename of each image:  individual’s last name, first name, middle initial and entry number (1^st entry, 2^nd entry, etc.)  For example, John S. Doe’s 1^st entry would be DoeJohnS1.jpg.  For multiple views of a single 3-dimensional work, add a, b, or c (ex. – DoeJohnS1a.jpg).  Use letters and numbers only – no special characters or spaces.

·       Email images as individual attachments to a single email.  Put World in Conflict in the subject line and list your full name and address and give a typed and numbered inventory (same order as the JPEG images and including, the title of the artwork, medium of the artwork, price of the artwork (NFS if not for sale), and the date of creation).

Send to:  cagnew@mgc.edu

·       All components of the entry must be received by the deadline for consideration.

Paperwork:  The same information included in the email for each image should be printed out and included as labels on the back of  the artwork accepted for the exhibition at the Peacock Gallery at Middle Georgia College.

Entry Fee:  None

Sales:  Artists set their own prices.  Artists receive 85% of the sales price; the Student Art League of Middle Georgia College retains 15% commission.  Art does not have to be for sale.

Delivery & Pick Up of Accepted Work:  Accepted work may be shipped or hand-delivered to the Peacock Gallery, Russell Hall, Middle Georgia College, 1100 Second Street, S.E., Cochran, GA 31014. Please call 478-934-3043 to make arrangements if you are hand-delivering & picking up your artwork.  Shipping to and from the gallery (as well as shipping insurance) is the artist’s responsibility.  The artist must provide return shipping labels with his/her artwork and its container(s).  Middle Georgia College and the Peacock Gallery will not be responsible for work damaged in shipping to or from Middle Georgia College. All accepted work must remain at the Peacock Gallery for the duration of the show.  All artwork must be received by no later than March 30 at 10 a.m.  All artwork that was hand-delivered must be picked up by May 4 at 12 p.m.

Liability

Middle Georgia College and the Peacock Gallery will take every reasonable precaution to prevent loss of or damage to your work while it is in possession of the Peacock Gallery.  Middle Georgia College and the Peacock Gallery are only responsible for your works of art while they are in our possession, and not while in transit (either by you or your designee, or shipped to or from us).  Artists are encouraged to insure their work in transit.  Works left after the pick-up deadline become the property of Middle Georgia College and the Student Art League.

Calendar

- March 2, 12 p.m.  All entries must be received.

-March 30, 10 a.m. All work accepted into the show must be received by the Peacock Gallery to be hung.

-April 2, 6 p.m.  Opening Reception and awards ceremony.

-May 4, 12 p.m.  All hand-delivered artwork must be picked up

The Backlot Players present "The Spiral Staircase"

The Backlot Players, Inc. present "The Spiral Staircase" by F. Andrew Leslie.  This murder/drama is based on David O. Selznick's famous motion picture by Mel Dinelli. 

As thunder and rain echo offstage, the town constable arrives at the isolated Warren household to report another in a series of apparently unprovoked murders that have  shocked and terrified the village.  Without exception the victims have been young girls - and all with a noticeable defect or imperfection of some kind.  Because of this here is fear for the safety of Helen, companion of the bedridden Mrs. Warren, who has been unable to speak since undergoing the shock of witnessing her parents'  horrible death some years before. To say more would blunt the excitement of the thrilling climax where everyone, and most of all, Helen, remains in doubt-filled suspense until the final, shocking moments of the play.

February 10, 11, 16, 17, 18,  2012 at 8:00 p.m.

February 12 and 19 at 2:00 p.m.

Adults - $15.00 

Seniors (62 and up) and students -$12.00

Tickets are nonrefundable.

The Rose Theater, 23 W. Johnston St, Forsyth, GA 31029

Call (478)994-0443 or visit www.thebacklotplayers.org for more information. Box Office hours: 4:00 to 7:00 Mon. -  Thurs. during the first week of the show and Mon. - Wed.  during the second week of the show. Box Office opens 2 hours prior to show on actual show dates. All seats reserved!

Tubman Museum Kicks off Black History Month 2012 with Freddie Styles

On Friday, February 3rd, The Tubman Museum kicks off its celebration of African American history month 2012 with a reception to mark the opening of a special exhibition of works by one of Georgia’s most respected contemporary artists.  Entitled Freddie Styles: Roots, Pine Needles and Faxes, the exhibit is the first one-person show by the artist at the Tubman Museum.

Freddie Styles is a native of Madison, Georgia.  He is an abstract artist committed to a form of abstraction informed by a passion for the intrinsic beauty of nature.  This exhibition features a selection of works completed mostly in the last fifteen years, works in which the artist used tree roots, pine needles and vintage coated fax paper to craft paintings and collages that interpret an natural world pared down to organic shapes and vivid color.  In these recent works Styles has achieved a unique method of reflecting nature’s forms, textures, patterns and colors, revealing a window to a more spiritual world.

The reception will be held at the Tubman Museum from 6 to 8 p.m.  The artist will be in attendance.  There will be refreshments and live music by Dean Brown and Dub Shack.  The reception is free and open to the public.  The Museum is located at 340 Walnut Street, in downtown Macon.  Roots, Pine Needles and Faxes will remain on view at the Tubman through March 31, 2012.

For more information about this event, and other African American history month programs, contact the museum at (478) 743–8544 or www.tubmanmuseum.com.