Posts Tagged ‘arts’

We published an article a few months ago that focused on the major cuts to the arts in the new Louisiana state budget. Ostensibly the arts faced some of the deepest cuts, and many were outraged at the prospect of suffering independent art councils. Today we learned that the National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has awarded the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge $250,000. It doesn’t exactly cover all of the cuts, but it will certainly mitigate their effect. Here’s to hoping that the arts will continue to survive and thrive in our great city.

Art Melt is a juried art show that occurs every year in downtown Baton Rouge. Showcasing Louisiana’s 18+ artists, Art Melt is an opportunity for these young budding artists to showcase their talents at a statewide level. Art Melt is this Friday, July 10 from 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public and usually has attendance of several thousand. This year, it’s in the Brunner Gallery located in the Shaw Center for the Arts. Selected works of Art Melt will continue to be on display through July 20 in the Brunner Gallery. Aside from visual arts, there are several musical groups lined up to perform, including: Baton Rouge Symphony, Opera Louisiane, Michael Foster Project, DJ OttO and others. There’s also dance and culinary productions scheduled.

I’ll be there, so if you’re headed out keep an eye out for me.

You can read more on the Art Melt web site →

Baton Rouge Little Theater is performing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. Opening this Friday, it’ll run from July 10-August 2. Tickets can be purchased for $27 (or $23 for groups of 10 or more) on their web site. The theater is located at 7155 Florida Blvd. and is sponsored by the Dow Louisiana Federal Credit Union, 89.3 WRKF and TJM Restaurant Management. I reproduced the schedule below because their web site is pretty atrocious and I want to save you guys from the sheer terror of negotiating it:

7/10/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/11/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/12/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM
7/16/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/17/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/18/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM
7/18/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/19/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM
7/23/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/24/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/25/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM
7/25/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/26/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM
7/30/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
7/31/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
8/1/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM
8/1/2009 7:30 – 10:30 PM
8/2/2009 2:00 – 5:00 PM

The Red Stick Animation Festival, an international animation convention, is going on right now in downtown Baton Rouge. A highly acclaimed affair, it frequently brings in top talent to showcase. Just announced, Disney is previewing their latest feature “The Princess and the Frog” this Friday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. in the Manship Theatre, which is downtown in the Shaw Center.

The movie is set in New Orleans and an animator from the studio will be there to introduce the exclusive preview. The movie is set to be released this Thanksgiving. Following the preview, Disney is showing “Bolt,” an animated feature that premiered last year. What’s interesting is that this marks Disney’s return to 2D animation. The animator who’ll be speaking also worked on “The Lion King,” which is one of my favorite childhood movies. I’m personally excited to see where this’ll lead Disney in the future. We’ve been lacking good 2D movies as of late (of course, Pixar has produced enough amazing 3D ones).

The festival is hosting a “princess ball” in anticipation of the showing, which starts at 7pm at the Old State Capital downtown.

The events are all apparently free and open to the public. However, a “Red Pass” is required to participate. Unfortunately, the site seems to be down at the moment. We’ve contacted the Festival to get more information.

[Update: I just contacted the officials and they say that you can register onsite even though the site is down. And it is, as of right now.]
[Yet another update: The site is now fixed. I recommend registering before attending.]

More information about the festival can be found at their web site.

Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts will be traveling to Baton Rouge next week, April 28th, to host its annual Arts Gala at the Manship Theatre in the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown. The show begins at 7pm and it’s free and open to the public—all are invited to attend! The students will be performing dance pieces, comedy sketches, musical ensembles and more. Plus, alumnus Josh Tickell will be showing his documentary “Fuel,” an Audience Choice Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The full program is as follows:

• Dance piece #1: City at Night (Impulse Dance Company – Ali Arsement, Autumn Billings, Meagan Evans, Ashlei McDonald, Stephanie Michot, Anna Tan)
• “Behind the Scenes” Josh Callendret filmmaker
• Solo Dance Piece #2: “A Path of Her Own” Anna Tan
• Segment from “Greater Tuna” Mason Joiner and Kyle Richard
• Dance piece #3: “Fives By Six” (Impulse Dance Company)
• Josh Tickell video appearance
• Instrumental music trio (Trio in A minor, Opus 188) Dylan Blanchard, Phillip Larroque, and Dr. Charles Jones
• Poetry Recitation: “Dulce Et Decorum Est” Dylan Staley (Poetry Out Loud state competition 3rd place winner)
• Instrumental music duo “Idyll” Susannah Robichaux and Dr. Charles Jones
• Poetry Recitation: “Mrs Kirkorian” Dylan Staley
• Vocal Performance of “Nancy Hanks” by Gabby Hildestad
• Vocal Performance of “The Wizard and I” from Wicked by Stephanie Boyd
• Finale: Piano: Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2 “Tempest” Performed by Anna Tan

In addition, pieces from the school’s visual arts students will also be on display, including sculpture, ceramics, watercolors, and pen and ink drawings.

More information is available on the LSMSA web site.

I graduated from LSMSA, which means I can personally vouch for the students. Their art is going to be incredibile. In fact, I’ve seen some of it already and it’s just superb. If you’re a patron of the arts, I highly recommend this event, oh, and it’s free, too. Can’t go wrong there.

The Louisiana State Budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year is, by now, old news. In one of the most controversial moves in his tenure, Governor Bobby Jindal has proposed a cut of $1.3 billion from the previous budget. This is just one of the many unfortunate consequences of the global recession. This post is the beginning of a new, continual series to examine the new budget and put the effects into perspective. This first installment is focused on, ostensibly, the most draconian of all the Governor’s cuts: the arts.

When a tourist comes to this state, they do so to experience our rich culture. It’s definitely su generis to Louisiana and what we pride ourselves in. The arts are just one of the many indelible aspects of our culture and to harm the arts in any way is an egregious act—except during economic downturns. Arguably, this is the only excuse one can imagine to this iniquity. However, is this as appaling as many believe? The answer isn’t as clear as it may seem.

Continue reading “Focus on the Budget: Arts” →