PRINTPaint it red
Venues turn artrageous from 6 to 9 p.m.
Mike Schrantz
ARTRAGEOUS FRIDAYS With the entire span of venues stretching just over half a mile, there is no reason not to visit all 15 galleries involved in July 24th’s Artrageous Friday.
July 22, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
Tomorrow there’ll be no excuse for boredom. If an image-broadcasting photo booth and 30 acrylics of Christ watching over a makeshift bookstore don’t get you out, there’s probably no hope you’ll ever be lured from your house.
Artrageous Friday is an artful evening during which some of Columbia’s most creative establishments open their doors to show off their collections and, in many cases, a few surprises.
Artlandish, one of the newer locales on the roster, will host a belt-busting grand-opening reception. Co-owner Lisa Bartlett explains tomorrow is the first day anybody will be able to see inside the studios at 1019 E. Walnut St. Visitors can tour the building and view supplies, art exhibits and workshops.
If music is what moves you and intimacy doesn’t intimidate, Carpe Diem is a new, small downtown dig worth mentioning. This bohemian haven, located at 807 Locust St., can hold about 20 people and typically offers art; music and theater lessons; lectures and recitals. Artistic Director Alex Innecco is hosting a live pianist this Friday and has also invited some of his musically gifted friends to provide entertainment. “Maybe a flute,” he says.
But if crafts pique your interest, then you might be attracted to 25 Ninth St., where Mustard Seed Fair Trade will teach people how to make Indonesian shaker instruments from paper towel and toilet paper rolls. If the cardboard creations don’t impress, Mustard Seed has a second workshop on making Ugandan jewelry beads from strips of magazine pages.
“Truthfully there’s a lot of creative forces coming out of fair trade,” says Mustard Seed Director Jessica Canfield. “Recycling is a choice for us, but in these other countries it’s really a necessity.”
Orr Street Studios, 106 Orr St., is hosting a kid-friendly activity. Anastasia Pottinger, a local artist, rigged up something she calls the SnapRAGEous Photo Booth, a space where the mantra is “be as goofy” as you want. Pottinger is handing over creative license to her subjects. A handful of people can sit in the area where Pottinger will take their pictures. She will project the images onto the wall and later put them up for sale online.
Orr Street Director Elaine Johnson vows her studios will be like a bomb shelter for kids “so parents can relax,” she says. To add to the calming environment, Orr Street is also serving virgin mint juleps and providing live music by Nick and The Fireflies.
Not all places are damage resistant though, and the least of all is Bluestem Missouri Crafts, where three types of glass will be on display. Sue Brockmeier’s stained glass creations, including lamps with stained-glass shades, mirrors and frames as well as Tony Cray’s blown glass bottles, bowls and vases share floor space with Cecilia Labora’s lampworked glass bead jewelry (torched glass that’s been formed into beads after cooling around a metal bar).
Calvary Episcopal Church is lending its series “The Life of Jesus Christ” to the Artrageous evening. Artist Bob Bussabarger painted memorable events in the New Testament. No matter where you go on Artrageous Fridays, you’ll certainly see enough to make your evening complete.
LR Hults wants a refrigerator. Hults, the founder of Theatre NXS, wants to commandeer a retired walk-in fridge from a former meat packing plant. “It’d make a perfect black box theater,” Hults says. A black box theater would allow the group to move the stage area and seating to fit their needs.
Theatre NXS is set to open the last play of its first season July 24. The play, Adult Entertainment, is part of the Surburban Motel Series by George F. Walker and is advertised for mature audiences, but Hults assures that “it’s not about the industry.”
The play is set in a seedy motel room, but the plot is more of an R rating than an X. The play focuses on public defender Jayne who hopes to convince her husband to take the rap for a crime she’s committed. With the help of lover, Max, a burnt-out detective, the two start scheming to salvage their careers.
The main goal of Theatre NXS is to perform plays that are both challenging creatively and socially. This season has been what Hults refers to as an “artistic success.”
This year, the company performed world premieres by Don Nigro. Performing edgier plays challenges audiences to think rather than giving them a place to escape.
“We want to do theater for grown ups,” says Hults, “We’re doing theater about something. We’re not going to be afraid to do R-rated stuff that we won’t let kids in to see.”
The second season will begin in the winter of next year.
--KRISTIE ARONOW
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