Side Streets opens tonite at the Glave Kocen Gallery

The new Glave Kocen Gallery is featuring a new exhibition of Richmond Artists, sponsored by Richmond Magazine. SIDE STREETS opens Friday, November 16 at 7pm and it features the work of the artists listed below:

Mehmet Sahin Altug,
Andras Bality,
Melissa Burgess,
Adam Ewing,
Kimberly Frost,
Steve Hedberg,
Sterling Hundley,
Matt Lively,
Laura Loe,
Robert Meganck,
Amie Oliver,
Jay Paul,
Louis Poole,
Keith Ramsey,
Fiona Ross,
Jeff Saxman,
Gordon Stettinius,
Chris Smith,
Doug Thompson,
Ed Trask,
Sarah Walor,
Steven Walker,
Robert Young

A portion of the proceeds of this exhibition will benefit ART 180.

ALSO!
Rob Tarbell will be showing his latest work "Struggles" at ADA Gallery, reception tonight from 6-8pm. Ceramic artist Fiona Ross says Rob's new porcelain sculptures are FREAKYGOOD!

I posted a variation of this on the 1708 blog this morning and it took so much friggin time to look up all the artists websites that I haven't had time to write about SPINNING INTO BUTTER which is running at the Firehouse Theatre Project through Saturday evening. It is an incredibly funny - and relevant play. It nailed academia so acutely it gave me the chills. Afterwards there was a talkback that gave us food for thought on the way home. It is one of the best plays I've seen in quite sometime. Ed Slipeck created an amazing set, the casting was flawless and Morrie Piersol did a fabulous job leading this group of thespians to success. More information on the play and the Firehouse can be found here.

Pollak Prize Quote of the Day!

"You were soooooooo good!"
- Mandy Moore, pop singer and star of HBO's Entourage
talking to Harry Kollatz, Jr, Master of Ceremonies

Last night I collected myself and the arsenal of remedies I am taking for whatever strain of crud that's been draining into my bronchial system. I knew it would be a well worth the effort since it was the tenth anniversary of the awards ceremony for the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts.

Several friends and colleagues were award recipients and then of course my better half, the Harryman, was the M.C.

I sat in the back row to avoid interrupting the show with my coughing and it proved to be the best place to take in the spectacle of artists being moved by the rare opportunity to watch other Richmond artists receive accolades.

My two favorite responses to Harry's "suave"* introductions were Jerry Donato's and Johnny Hott's. When Jerry was asked if he had anything to say he simply said "no." After the standing ovation he and Joan Gaustad received for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts he was probably speechless. Joan nearly swallowed her words with emotion.

When Johnny Hott accepted his award for Excellence as a Vocalist/Instrumentalist he walked on stage with with his lovely, if tearful, six year old daughter Odessa and said he didn't know if he would be the musician he is today or be part of the Richmond music scene if it weren't for his friend Bryan. These two acceptances both brought tears to my eyes which quickly evolved to laughter with Mr. K's laser wit. He was "on" last night and it added another level of joy to a beautiful evening at the Singleton Performing Arts Center.

The complete list of the award recipients for the
Theresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Arts:

Photography: Georgianne Stinnett
Vocalist/Instrumentalist: Johnny Hott
Fine Art: Jack Wax
Dance: Pam Turner
Enemble: Modern Groove Syndicate **
Film: Sonali Gulati
Lifetime Achievement: Gerald Donato and Joan Gaustad
Emerging Artist: Colleen Curran
Applied Arts: Karl Green
Theatre: Richmond Shakespeare Theatre
Words: Laura Browder


The artful graphic above and the description of the Pollak Prize below are from the Richmond Magazine website:

This is Theresa Pollak posing for her bat mitzvah portrait at Temple Beth Ahabah on Franklin Street in 1913. A born and raised Richmonder, she had a full life ahead of her.

Pollak established in 1928 what evolved into Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, where she taught for 41 years. During the 1930s she founded the art program at the University of Richmond, her alma mater (she graduated from Westhampton College, now part of the University of Richmond, in 1921). Pollak’s work was often shown in exhibits and collections, and she was a lifelong student. In 1958, she enrolled in the Art Students’ League of New York and learned from abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann. Pollak died in September 2002 at the age of 103. In 1998, Richmond magazine introduced the honors named for her. Several past recipients are no longer among us: jazz violinist and educator Joe Kennedy Jr.; artist, mentor and professor Richard Carlyon; theater director Ernie McClintock and actor Mary Sue Carroll. Three Pollaks were posthumous, those for artist Esther Elizabeth Motts, editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly and musical enthusiast and broadcaster Eric E. Stanley. Perhaps no one honoree was more influential than Carlyon, himself a student of Pollak. He recalled in 2001, “One valuable lesson I learned from Ms. Pollak was that you can’t feign seriousness in the pursuit of art.” Or, in the words of Roger Carroll, the 2006 Vocalist honoree, “There ain’t nobody lyin’ up in here.”

*Harry's comments as described by award recipient Laura Browder
** The pianist for Modern Groove Syndicate is Mandy Moore's beau

Henry IV, part I

I love Agecroft Hall and have been anticipating an evening of Shakespeare on its grounds all week. It's not The Globe but one can count on a ringside seat at The Richmond Shakespeare Company's productions. "Henry IV" was no exception, though it was standing room only. At The Globe, during Shakespeare's day, the groundlings stood or sat on the ground and they might boo or throw cherry pits on stage if they were displeased with a production. The Groundlings stand Globe as in Shakespeare's day and with their payoff being a more affordable ticket price. I dodged cherry pits during a production of The Tempest at The Globe during the summer of 1999 and wish we had been able to see the TRSF version which ran from mid June through the first week of July (during much kinder weather).

Agecroft Hall, one of Richmond's greatest treasures, offers theatre audiences the opportunity to picnic in its Elizabethan Gardens prior to enjoying a plein air production of Shakespeare. It is a delectable treat since the gardens surround a romantic Tudor Estate that was created in England more than 500 years ago. It was moved and painstakingly reconstructed in Windsor Farms by Thomas C. Williams during the late 20's and is currently run by non-profit foundation and is open to the public.

Scents of herbs and the ancient boxwoods from Agecroft's gardens waft over the crowd while the cicada and crickets add a sultry tone to this TRSF's version o Henry IV. Exciting moments of this Sopranos(ish) play were abundant but we particularly enjoyed the breezy wake cast by characters running from one another. How can a family feud in 100 degree heat with the sounds of summer as a soundtrack? Humor! The cast's ability to maintain their energy and enthusiasm in the heat wearing period costume was impressive but I couldn't help but wonder if it would have been more fun for them if they were dressed in the street clothes of today, weather appropriate, of course; as the thespians of Shakespeare's day. Maybe it wouldn't be as much fun? I know one thing - if they were Shakespeare's peers they'd be drinking pints of ale in the heat since potable water was much harder to come by. I hope to see Part II of "Henry IV" next summer since it was a very lively- if sticky evening.