Tag Archives: art

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore”

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Fairplex’s assistant director of development Laura Smolka-Gallardo is our guest blogger this week:

Do you remember reading the beloved limericks in Shel Silverstein’s books as a child? (Do you know where the sidewalk ends?)

Or perhaps you remember watching the Halloween episode of “The Simpsons” when Homer, Marge, and Bart recreate Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem, “The Raven?”

Experiencing poetry goes beyond memorizing and reciting meter in front of your sixth grade class (though I still remember all of the words to “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost!).

This weekend at Fairplex, poetry will come to life through 250 student artworks in the inaugural “ArtReach” regional art exhibition.  The call for submissions challenged students to create a dialogue between two different art forms, and the response has been greater than expected!

Held at the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts, the artworks featured in the exhibition were selected thorugh a juried process.  The show represents students of 27 art teachers from 17 public high schools representing 9 local districts.  Students from the Career & Technical Education Center (CTEC), a program of The Learning Centers at Fairplex, will also be participating, displaying works from their classes held on-site at the Fairplex grounds.

In addition to the words of Silverstein, Poe, and Frost, a variety of poetry served as the students’ inspiration to create their entries (20 pieces alone were inspired by Poe’s work, including seven about “The Raven”).  Some students used lyrics from their favorite song or even composed their own poetry for the competition.  Just as varied is the range of media and content submitted, from digital media to ceramics, from cement sculpture to portraiture.

Lugene Whitley, the exhibition’s manager/curator, noted the need for such an opportunity: “Teachers have shared with me that there are very few, if any, opportunities for students to display their artistic talents.  Most student artworks are exhibited at their schools or in small gallery spaces, so to have a space like the Sheets Gallery where hundreds of students can see their work professionally framed and presented to a large audience is really very special.  It has also allowed our CTEC students the hands-on opportunity to layout and install an exhibition.”

So if you see me at the door on Friday night during the ArtReach Opening Reception, be sure to start me off with “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…”

EXHIBITION DETAILS
Friday, March 2
6 – 9 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday, March 3 & 4
noon – 5 p.m.

Parking and entrance at Gate One

Forget the necktie

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Dads hate ties. Most dads like cars, though. So celebrate Father’s Day at the 44th Annual L.A. Roadster Show instead. Admission is actually less than a tie and you get to hang around with some really cool car guys and a whole lot of their classic pre-1935  roadsters, most of which are better cared for than a Hollywood starlet.

Anyway, here are the details: Saturday and Sunday, June 14 and 15, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Yes, you read 7 a.m. This means you can take in the roadster show and still make it home in time for Sunday dinner. All good, since sometimes moms don’t love cars as much as dads do.

Park at Gate 17. Hop on the tram. Admission is $15 per person; free for children under 12. You can purchase a special weekend pass for both days for $25.

 

Forget the necktie, part 2

You can set the stage for a perfect Father’s Day celebration at Wine & Cars Under the Stars, the sipping and noshing and oohing and aaahing (at the classic roadsters) benefit for the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts. It’s this Saturday night, 6 – 11 p.m. at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum; adults only, of course, because it’s about adult beverages of all kinds. There’s an auction, too, and dancing. Whooeee!

Last year’s event was wicked awesome, with guests enjoying a “drive-in” movie. This year’s feature film is Viva Las Vegas, an Elvis fave from 1964.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s has some new twists that promise to make it even cooler. The new Wine World of Sports competition pitted entries from the wineries of golf, baseball, hockey and appropriately, car racing greats. It was the Dodgers’ Tommy Lasorda versus golf’s John Daly, fighting cork to bottle with racing’s Mario Andretti.

And the winner? LASORDA, Pinot Grigio, Veneto IGT 2007, which won Best Wine and Best of Class. Lasorda himself will join other wine lovers at the Saturday night soiree. He has a blog, too, in case you want to hear him sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It’s pretty funny.

Tickets are $100 per person, $50 of which is tax deductible. For ticket info call Wendy Schwartz at 909.865.4207 or visit WCUS tix.

 

Forget the necktie, part 3

 

If you’re really serious about Dad’s special day, the Giant RV Show is here through Sunday, the 15th, in the White Avenue lot. It’s free and there are deals to be made, folks.

 

See you Saturday night!