3 posts tagged “art”
Austin Pals!
While you're getting over the shock of Garcia's article and coming to the realization that Shreveport (yes, Shreveport!) is a temporary film Mecca, here is something you can do with your time. It's at Claudia Reese's Cera-Mix studio, and it should be awesome!
From Claudia's E-mail:
We are having two workshops this summer and I am sending this to you in case you or someone you know would be interested. The first one is on Paper Clay and the second is Ceramic Sculpture. Let us know if you are interested! You can open the attachment or go to cera-mix.com to see about the workshops. Thanks! Claudia
I bitch, and I moan about this place (Is Target really cool? Is that rebel flag supposed to be ironic? What is a TGI Friday's and why do they serve something called a Sicilian Parmesan Crusted Quesadilla? Gator tastes best if you do what to it?), and then, when you least expect it, it turns on you and goes from ugly strip center to Bohemian honkytonk of a town.
A good example was this past weekend. Though it's hard to say, I was wowed by what our city of Shreveport had to offer.
I love being able to start off this way, sounds kind of regal and cultured:
We began the weekend by taking the Shreveport Symphony rehearsal for Holst's "The Panets". Watching Michael Butterman, the conductor, up there going through movements and then replaying and rehearsing those movements was pretty amazing. The highlight for the kids had to be the free donuts which led to jittery behavior which led to the banging of the seat which led our departure.
Next stop was Artbreak. Artbreak is run by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, and is one of the largest children's art fest in the country. I know, I know. I didn't want to believe it either. I wanted to believe that Artbreak was some sort of anti-art festival. Where children would be prompted to "break" free of the arts. The festival in my mind had fingerpainting fires and small weapons practice on ceramic sculpture. Not so, the festival was full of bright faced little tykes still believing that art is a viable occupation. In fact, I got a little misty-eyed at the unbridled exuberance of the crowd.
In any other buzzing urban center, this first part of the day would be enough, but not Shreveport. Next was the Tour Des Jardin (my Babelfish translates this as: "May I have a cup of squash?"). This was a tour of the master gardens of Shreveport. I never know you could grow so many plants. Also, did you know that flowers don't come from shops? They come from the ground!
As the night fell on our little ville, the vibe changed. We dropped the kids off and headed downtown with friends (Q, Meesh, Patrick and Jen) to the opening of the complementary art exhibit to the aforementioned symphony. A place named Artspace (a public art space, thusly proving out the name to be quite literal) which hosted local artists as they tackled the concept of visually representing the music renditions of Holst's planets.
If this wasn't enough (this would be the time most would think our city would retreat to the Outback for Awesome Blossoms), it was time to meander through our downtown streets to see if there was more fun to be had.
SIDE CONVERSATION WITH NO ONE IN PARTICULAR: Did you use "meander" and "downtown streets" in the same sentence? This particular night Shreveport was a walkable city. Yes, I said meander. Didn't I use the word correctly?
The end of the night was spent at the opening of the Robinson Film Center. This center was the brainchild of some the coolest cats in Shreveport. These guys and gals were crazy enough to think they could create an Indie and Foreign film enclave in Shreveport, Louisiana. And if this wonderful edifice was any indication of success, look out Mann's Chinese!
This was an interesting event in that Heidi and I found the food, drink and live music in a back room. The room became a bit like a watering hole in the African savanna, and we were like the lounging zebras enjoying a night of rest and safety among our other animal friends. As a result, liquored up and well fed, we left the room, only to find the party had ended 20 minutes before exiting. In other words, I can't tell you much about the center except for the fact that it's cool, has good food and, I think, will show movies.
Well, here's to more nights like this in Shreveport. Who knows? Maybe the activity level will remain this high here and we will have to move back to Austin in order to slow things down.
Ah, love! Valentine's came and went as it always does, leaving a litter of expensive champagne bottles, empty bottles of perfume and tossed packing from Victoria's Secret. The exception was at 10860 Belle Cour Way where the Kallenbergs spent the time wrestling with children, making pizzas (we can't give our Italian friend Matteo and his beautiful, immaculate family the Lees enough props for that recipe), and drinking of small amounts of cheap wine.
While I would love for our Valentine's Day to have a happy/raunchy ending (something to do with bad love poems turning into nights of passion), it doesn't . Instead, the climax (and I use that word very liberally) of the night was Heidi and I passing out in our children's beds while reading award-winning period fiction ("Johnny Tremain").
That's not to say that we didn't celebrate Valentine's Day (as my friend Alex says: "For me, every day is Valentine's day." - subtext: As long as his Viagra refills don't run out). We brought a tradition from our friends in Casa des Couleurs to show our love for: each other, our pets, the books we're reading, the people we know, those we don't, the migas at Las Manitas and the pommes frites at Pastis.
I give you (and all the other animate and inanimate things we love) the biggest damned Valentine we could create:
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