How to Walk to School redux: how I got it wrong

I first met Jacqueline Edelberg in January 2010. She came to the Kansas City Public Library to talk about her new book “How to Walk to School”. She gave a lovely talk. I had read the book a few times before she came. She and her story inspired me.

Jacqueline connected with local Kansas City notables to include then Mayor Mark Funkhouser. Mark, inspired as well, asked Jacqueline to come back again to help with his Schools First Program. Mark asked me along to listen as I’m a writer who writes about things here, including education. It was a time of hope for change. I thought I saw what could be done and a bit about how to get there. I got it wrong.

Recently, I re-read “How to Walk to School”. And this piece goes out to my fellow Kansas City artists. Food for thought…

A key element of the Nettelhorst Elementary School, in Chicago, (continuing) Renaissance is art; art that connects with children, art delivered by giving artists. Sure there’s a bevy of wonderful parents, great teachers, supportive community leaders, taxpayers, and school leaders. There’s even a French market periodically on the school grounds. Local businesses love to help out. Yes, the financials are umbrella’d beneath a healthy “.org” trust. This book is an exquisite blueprint for those searching for a design.

Back to we artists. We have an opportunity in Kansas City to connect with schools. It’s not easy, though. I’ve tried, yet not hard enough. Educators are wary of artists. Without active arts programs in the schools, they’re not used to working with us and we’re not used to partnering with them for the most part. There are exceptions in Kansas City of which I’ll be happy to discover. The Chamber of Commerce is wishing for a city-wide arts festival. You may have read about that. Anyway, we seem to have an opportunity to enrich children and their lives with art. But, it’s going to be difficult.

As an artist, you’re probably like me…living a bit more than leanly. We want to sell art, tickets to shows. We’re competing for grants and we’re downright busy doing this thing we have to do. We wish to sustain our art in some way. This education connection may not pay off financially, I know. I shared my concern with its difficulty.

I find it awkward watching a half-billion dollar performing arts cathedral being built out the west view of my window on Walnut, while to the east, this city smolders, schools closed, teachers let go, and children…well, I’m not sure how they’re doing really. No resentment for the disparity just puzzlement.

“How to Walk to School” redux, has me thinking about connecting with a city school somehow as an artist, a writer. I’m not sure where to start but I will soon. I know people have great intentions from many perspectives. I expect our new mayor will address education on his agenda very soon. What I understand now, knowing there’s so much more to understand, is that Jacqueline’s blueprint includes many elements and people with various skills and talents. I now know that as an artist there’s a place for me to assist and connect somehow.

Have a read of this book if you can. There may be a place for you in the future renaissance of Kansas City’s public schools.

What will I do without my Present?

Present Magazine folds its last page today with a gentle sound. Pam Taylor and Pete Dulin did so much for me as a new writer in this rich city so full of art and beautiful artists. I am so grateful to them for letting me find this writing voice of mine which is still a bit raspy and needing practice. Mixed emotions, for sure. What will I do without my Present? Write on…I suppose. Thank you, Pam and Pete.

“Cowtown Ballroom…Sweet Jesus”, I missed it

I remember the night at the Tivoli in May (I think) 2009 when "Cowtown Ballroom…Sweet Jesus” premiered. I was with my Kansas City native friend Marc. I'd recently moved to KC. We were there to see another film which I forget. That night in the lobby by the ticket window, I met Joe Heyen. Despite my suggestion to Marc, we didn’t see Cowtown. Marc told me all about the place later from his “having gone there many times” perspective. Fast forward to this past week.

Tony Ladesich and I had lunch together. I didn’t realize that he was a producer and the director of photography for the film. Duh. My bad. Anyway, Tony gave me a copy to watch and this week I watched closely and thoroughly enjoyed it; learned a great deal about this city and the music. Now when I go to the now Cowtown Mallroom on Sundays, it’ll mean so much more.

I’m from Philadelphia. Wow, my whole music experience was different. I graduated from a rather hoity-toity prep school in Delaware in 1971, the year Cowtown opened. Despite my preppy education, and industrial very Catholic urban neighborhood upbringing, the priests were rather left wing and even radical by today’s standards. By 1971, the counterculture in Philly seemed a distant memory. The San Francisco cultural scene never took root where I lived. With a great density of universities, what I saw at the few protests I attended were college students engaged in active political dissent. SDS was pretty active. Lots of speeches, some drugs stuff, but more sit-ins and petitions.

Philly music had a great deal of soul, too…soul music that is. It was a cool musical stew without defined color lines. Local TV DJ Jerry Balavat, The Geator With The Heater, was a Philly white Catholic kid who helped blend the tunes really well. We danced a lot. Later, heading to a rather un-college military academy, I missed the whole ferment of cultural change, big time.

Watching the film, it struck me how “California to me” the sound was here then. Looking at the lists of artists who played at Cowtown, it was music I had shelved for the most part. Dumb ass me thought Brewer and Shipley were commercial San Francisco hippies, for the song, One Toke Over the Line, when it hit our Philly airwaves sounded really lame next to James Brown and the Stones. Such as it was from my little lens. Cowtown seemed like a very fun scene and the three years must have been amazing.

Watching the film opened my eyes to a wider bit of America. Made me realize what I missed. Reminded me that experience is alright, but context has meaning too, place. Tony’s artistic construction of the film, the visual narrative and feel, the atmosphere was very beautiful, felt really authentic…this coming from a younger person, a musician, who has a resonant local authenticity of place all his own. This must have been a genuine labor of intense love for many people…Tony for sure.

Today I feel blessed, Tony…grateful for your gift, happy to know you and this city a bit better. Thank you. See you at the Mallroom (which now will feel like a musical cathedral to me).

Late to Alacartoona, but not really

Last night I watched Alacartoona’s film Night is the Mirror. I suppose we remember Alacartoona as a band; the title for a collection of musicians. Having never seen Alacartoona, you could say I’m quite late and naively new to this, now no more, phenomenon. The film transported me somewhere, not to the forgotten cabaret as the trailer suggests, but rather to Prague and Dresden around 1969 when I was a young student (a year after the “Prague Spring”), to the film “Unbearable Lightness of Being” which made sense to me much later, explaining more about what I saw and felt.

In Dresden (then East Germany), I saw my first Theatre of the Absurd-like play. In Prague, saw a few interesting cabaret shows. Since all this was in foreign languages, and my German at the time was marginal, it was hard to figure out the verbal bits. My friends helped me out with that but the visuals and music, the atmosphere seemed really cool, and cerebral; a word I didn’t know at the time.

That’s where “Night in the Mirror” took me…back, then forward again, then into the film (1988) “Unbearable…” and then to the book (1985-ish) which I dove into later.

I know the four artists of Alacartoona no longer perform, but the concept seems an important one to sustain. In watching the film, I felt compelled to translate some of it into German (even French). The context would fit well in the city of Strasbourg, France (Alsace) which is a culturally complex place with French and German swirling like a blender that doesn’t always blend well…conflicted. What would happen if this concept could reside in a context where it could really shine? I know lots of Kansas City folks saw it, enjoyed the performances, and “got it”, with all its delicious edges. But to me, this deserves translation, and exportation…back home. I envision seeing this in Berlin, Prague, Strasbourg, and Vienna. I hear this in German, French, and Czech colloquial, spoken music.

Alacartoona…four artists who it feels are four sides (or more) of our faceted intellects, the puppeteer with the spotlight, and the amazing cartoon painter could perhaps, over lunch in a dark edgy joint, consider reconstituting this…concept…with French and German performers, a translated script(s), and a plan for export. Alacartoona lives…every night, it seems.

Sorry for being late on this…show?...concept?...whatever...it ain't over, folks :-)

still resisting the upgrade

eenie meenie mynie moe

A Christel Highland design...page 78 in the May 2011 issue of Kansas City Spaces

click the picture above to read

Local Music coming to Trezo Vino

Watch this space...more info on the way...in the meantime check out their website 11570 Ash Street in Leawood, Kansas

The MET's 2011 - 2012 Season

For more information visit http://www.metkc.org/

Rules for Widows by Michael Ruth
Sept 8 - Oct 2, 2011
Shortly after her husband's unexpected death, Iris uncovers mystery secrets about the man with whom she built her life and family. As the family gathers together, Iris finds herself in an emotional standoff with her overbearing sister Liddie, dealing with the nagging questions and frustrations of her thirty year old, unemployed son Chuck and her daughter Erika, who has returned for the funeral with her new girlfriend, Nif. One good question leads to another. Comedic and poignant by turns, as allegiances shift and more secrets are unearthed, this family repeatedly faces the question: "How much do you really want to know?"
Featuring Jan Rogge as Iris and MET Core company member Marilyn Lynch as Liddie. Other casting in progress..

All My Sons by Arthur Miller
Nov. 10 - Dec. 4, 2011
The quintessiential American family drama by one of America’s greatest playwrighst! All My Sons by Arthur Miller, based on a true event, is the Post-World War II story about the Kellers, a seemingly “All American” family. Layer after layer of secrets cover a terrible truth. During the war, the father, Joe Keller, allowed his factory to ship faulty airplane cylinders to the U.S. Armed Forces, killing over twenty American pilots. He framed his business partner for the crime and engineered his own exoneration. Now his older son, Larry, is missing in a plane crash and the younger has come home to reveal that he is about to marry the partner's daughter. Held up to the clear light of day, the affair is revisited, and truth is revealed.
Casting in progress: Featuring MET Core company members: Matt Griggs, Donette Coleman and Courtney Stephens, Costumes by Atif Rome.

The Seagull by Anton Chekov
Jan. 12 - Feb. 5, 2012
An international masterwork! When a hush descends on Chekhov’s restless country estate dwellers — as it often does, abrupt and unbidden — the air remains alive with crosscurrents of thought, clashing chords of longing and the steady thrum of time passing. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience this 19th century masterpiece. The play elegantly displays the poetry of everyday life; The silences, cliches, stammerings and attempts at high expression by his characters are a mirror to our own improvised lives. The Seagull contains, as Chekov put it, “5 tons of love.”
Featuring MET core company member Bob Paisley as Trigorin, Coleman Crenshaw as Konstantin and Jessica Franz as Masha. Other casting in progress. Costumes by Atif Rome.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Dale Wasserman
March 1 - 25, 2012
McMurphy is a charming rogue who contrives to serve a short sentence in an airy mental institution rather in a prison. It seemed like a good idea at the time! This, he learns quickly, was a mistake. He clashes with the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. In the contest of wills that ensues, he quickly takes over the yard and accomplishes what the medical profession has been unable to do for 12 years, he makes a presumed deaf and dumb Indian talk. He leads others out of introversion, stages a revolt so that they can see the world series on television, and arranges a rollicking midnight party with liquor and chippies. Funny and moving, horrifying and tragic, tour de force roles for every actor involved and an unforgettable theatre experience for every audience member.
Featuring MET Core company members Alan Tilson and Jan Chapman as Nurse Ratched. Other casting in progress.

Pride and Prejudice by John Jory
Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen
April 12 - May 6, 2012
All the wit and romance of Aune Austen’s classic 1813 novel comes to life in this refreshingly past paced and engaging new adaptation. Finding a husband is hardly Elizabeth Bennet’s most urgent priority. But with four sisters, and overzealous match-making mother, and a string of unsuitable suitors, it’s difficult to escape the subject. When the independent minded Elizabeth meets the handsome but enigmatic Mr. Darcy, she is determined not to let her feelings triumph over her own good sense— but the truth turns out to be slipperier than it seems. In a society where subtle snubs and deceit proliferate, is it possible for Elizabeth and Darcy to look beyond his pride and her prejudice, and to make the best match of all?
Featuring Robert Gibby Brand as Mr. Bennet and MET Core company member Katie Ligon as Charlotte. Other casting in progress. Costumes by Georgianna Londre Buchanan.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
May 31-June 17, 2012
Tragedy tomorrow, Comedy Tonight! Outrageous, farcical things pile upon one another to create a glorious car wreck in this riotous “Roman” musical farce. The slave Pseudolus strikes a bargan with young Hero—if Pseudolus can arrange for Hero to get the girl of his dreams, Hero will reward Pseudolus with his freedom. And from this, all else ensues. Winner of multiple Tony Awards, this play could accurately be titled, “Many, many, funny things happened on the way to the Forum!”
Casting in progress. Directed by Bob Paisley. Costumes by Georgianna Londre.

Tommy at the MET, May 17th to June 5th

This Tommy's gonna go > to the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre

The Photography of Ray K. Metzker at the Nelson-Atkins, through June 5th

This one is my favorite..."My Philadelphia"...a nice contrast to Roxy Paine's silver tree outside...

Yael should leave his office as well

Read Yael's parting shot to the editorial ridden body of Mark Funkhouser. Yael should write a book...with Mark :-)

David Petraeus for President

Perhaps with his recent re-assignment announcement as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) this may be a bit premature. Too early for a bid in 2012 as the Democrats’ face-off candidate to Donald Trump? Conjecture is often worthless, but in this case envisioning Petraeus as president is pretty easy for me.

Here’s a soldier statesman approaching 37 years of public service; 41 if you wish to include his four years at West Point. He graduated in 1974. David’s a scholar as well with a Ph.D. in International Relations from Princeton University. He’s a prolific writer and a calm wise communicator. Is he the right person for the job? I think so.

Serious times ahead that demand serious competent skillful leadership. Times will require strong wise diplomacy, too and despite David’s insightful military skills, he knows the paramount importance of diplomacy and international engagement. Business and economics? Consider his experience stewarding the defense budget. His multiple talents include dexterity with the numbers and resources necessary to “support and defend”.

It’s comforting to me knowing that Petraeus will be advising our National Command Authorities as part of his full-time yet-to-be-approved job. His counsel will be priceless; counsel we’ve needed for a while in this less-than impressive Cabinet.

David’s greatest talent, in my opinion, is the value he places in people and their education. For in the end, people matter most. He more than knows this. He lives it. We’ll see where this all goes, but it was wonderful to hear that General David Petraeus is candidate for DCI. It’s cool to think of all the talented people he’ll bring into his new fold. It’s amazing to think of all the people he’s mentored over the years and he’ll be the first to tell you, he’s thankful for countless mentors as well.

I hope he runs for President some day. Best wishes, General.

And if he chooses not to run, here’s a nudge to General Lloyd Austin… :-)

With Tony Ladesich

Spent this afternoon with Tony Ladesich discussing, art, film, songs, storytelling, the world, and food...we shared meatloaf recipes. He kidnapped me to have lunch at El Camino Real in KCK...wow...I'm hooked :-)

Should Kansas City organize a regional arts festival?

With such a rich variety of artistic happenings and venues, museums, galleries, studios, performing arts stages, local music haunts, the Arts Institute, film fests, first Fridays, third Fridays, and let’s include high school music and theatre productions, from my vantage point it feels as if there’s a festival happening all the time. For Kansas City to hold a MidWest, a la SouthBy “center by center” arts happening would be cool and for that to happen corporate underwriting needs gathering. If and when organizers organize we’ll see the start of a club system with SXSW-wrist-banding, color coding, and hospitality marquee tents for members only.

If and when this festival grows, we’ll see artists moving further out to the edgy bits of the area to practice their art in places where the rent is reasonable. Progress is good and progress will progress. This will be interesting.

What could encourage distant travelers to come to Kansas City for an arts festival? There’s certainly plenty here, yet regularly scheduled arts events of all forms seem to be suffering from a lack of ticket purchasers, subscribers, and gallery patrons from in and around our Metro. Could a festival throw a wider net across the nation, or even the world, to announce we’re here…creating? Perhaps so.

Yet with all this hopeful feeling, I sense we may be missing an opportunity with our arts. When thinking of the many art forms, and perhaps this is the teacher in me writing, while we may seek commercial artistic success, we could contemplate how our artistic community could engage with schools and the children therein. I’ve met a few people recently with a vision of selling Kansas City to perspective businesses with this “we’re a wonderful arts city” elevator speech. Exciting stuff, yet perspective families looking to move to KC know schools are challenging…to the suburbs they will go. That’s business I suppose.

But back to children and schools, even the private ones, with scant arts programs…should Kansas City organize a regional arts festival, one that embraces our children, and enriches their schools? Now there’s something for which to be festive…our future.

Bill's birthday?

The House of Saud must feel the rumblings from Damascus

Revolutionary fervor in Syria; Bashar al-Assad, the seemingly untouchable modern-ish leader of Syria, whose family graced the pages of Vogue Magazine recently, worries while ordering rather lethal means to ensure a follow-up article for the Winter fashion issue. I sense the House of Saud’s foundation must feel the rumble of change. No doubt, our government is concerned for a number of reasons.

Saudi Arabia, while a powerful country, possesses a fragile side. It’s not a mere issue of oil production and revenue, making them a sort of one-commodity pony. One should consider the House of Saud’s sacred trust as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (Mecca and Medina). King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz’s role is so much more than symbolic.

With so much change recently, presently and sure to come, I wonder how these changed people will carry this change with them to the Hajj this year in November by our calendar. More than three million participated last year; people from all over the world to include the United States. While our vital national interests focus upon energy access, my concern here suggests that we remember the important religious role of the House of Saud. As we are learning, these struggles of leadership consist of struggles between people.

We may have a noble American belief in self-determination, yet our current intervention in Libya must have the House of Saud wondering about our rather scattered ways to foster this word we use freely..democracy. Writing about Saudi Arabia in the United States is a delicate matter requiring finesse and awareness of economic implications, continued regional military basing arrangements, and yes, oil.

So many American companies and people are there working. So many service members and contractors serve there. We have our interests, yet do we really understand The House of Saud? Do we understand the implications should the house crumble?

Amid our hopes for increased oil production in Saudi Arabia to ease the pain of the rumored $6/gallon of petrol price by this summer, we should be concerned for the people who will grant our wish. The House of Saud must feel the rumblings from Damascus. Do we?

Mudbound's dirt

This month at our Kansas City Central Library's "downtowners" book club, we gathered to discuss Hillary Jordan's novel Mudbound. It was a real page turner for me mainly because it was so one-dimensional and I wanted to get it over with and continue reading The Sheltering Sky, a 1949 novel by Paul Bowles. She didn't transport me anywhere. It's pleasant politically-correct stuff for an Oprah-produced film and is certainly in some producers paws. A recurring image is dirt...and mud...land which men, mainly, think important. The women are pretty cool and from them we get an appreciation of the importance of relationships. But all in all, save yourself and read some William Faulkner instead...you'll be transported. Mudbound is pablum, in this readers opinion...or read Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Visit our library :-)

Troy is back in town

Troy Meiss is back in Kansas City for a time. I’m really happy to see him again. Last night he opened for the Brannock Device who opened for Mike Watt at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. Troy made Patrick Deveny’s beautiful guitar sing as he sang along. Troy shared a new song with us last night in a duet with Elaine McMilian…a song of redemption…we all need that from time to time…Tonight, Troy plans to share more at the Brick in Patrick’s Musical Family Thursday Night gathering of artful originality. Welcome home again, Troy…you are loved…and quite edgy…and that Facebook picture of the turntable arms you currently use says a ton…be sure to give Patrick back his guitar. By the way, Patrick, the Jaykco straps looked awesome…

_____________________________________________


Wide I'd by Troy Meiss

I’m heaven sent
Also hell bent
On force word feeding the infidels

Cherish this moment
A need for atonement
Who gave them the right to judge

This is just a ride
Clarity abides
When we view ourselves through different eyes

I may not embibe
But I still subscribe
To the concept and notion of utter absurdity

I came to make your own
A fort built out of stone
Whatever it takes to keep the adults away

I want a Fisher Price brain
One that won’t complain
Cause it’s never done any good for me anyway

[guitar solo]

The toothpick dips
As the breath mint drips
Like watches melting over sandy dunes

The visuals I stole
From down the rabbit hole
They spread pretty nicely onto sourdough

I’m not afraid
Thinks it’s overpaid
And it’s always scrounging for some overtime

We’re coming to an end
I hope (missing lyrics here)
Cause I’m fine fine I’m fine I’m finely seeing again
And I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine I’m finely breathing again
And I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine I’m finely believing again
And I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine

Kansas City’s Plaza does not require saving

For those believing in saviors and being saved this will appear as blasphemy, if one believes in that concept, too. Here goes…perhaps all will be well, life will continue without arterial bleeding if some would realize that the Plaza is what it is; a business, a marketplace, a collection of tenants who pay rent to purvey goods, a collection of adventurous people with financial stakes in the venture, and a beautiful public space. It is not, in my humble opinion, a cathedral nor an architectural masterpiece worthy of a national register.

The architecture is simulacra, a copy of somewhere else, a sort of retail Williamsburg theme park (financed restoration complete with costumed actors, thanks to Standard Oil and the Rockefeller family). Our Plaza is not our Plaza unless some readers here are deed holders. It’s amusing to me to walk from the West Plaza area down the hill to the Plaza shopping area. I see the signs in front yards and store fronts, on porches, encouraging me to save our Plaza. It makes me feel quite helpless; the signs, old and tattered, with a profile of the Seville Spain tower, look old, faded. The Country Club Plaza is not a country club.

The piece below, in our blog here, encourages us to let progress take its course and consider the benefits of the recent office building proposal. Robert writes a nice mental nudge for us to ponder.

In a way, it’s an awkward encouragement to save “bricks and mortar”. Business must innovate and change to meet the needs of customers who in the end pay for things. True, there’s a tax connection on this areas profit and loss report. But the philosophical grist of “saving” something that’s already changed, a place of business seems rather quixotic. We’re distracting and limiting business innovators, frightening investors, and making a nuisance of ourselves when we try to insert ourselves amid a game where we have no “skin”, no stake.

Most citizens don’t know the architectural connection to Seville Spain, and why should it matter?…perhaps the Plaza should have an orange store to remind us. Yet a fruit shop / juice bar cannot make a requisite profit margin to whisk past the overhead into the profit column.

This bit of writing takes Robert Anderson’s column a few steps further by suggesting we step back from the Plaza ink-absorbing kerfuffle and allow those with their literal and figurative skins in the business game (that is in no way a game) conduct business, and, with hard work and tenacity…grow.

Donald Trump’s VP

Mr. Trump has an enormous staff of talented people. He has a television show that shares a bit of his energetic and entertaining vetting process; a sort of Shakespearian gauntlet serial of tragedy, history, and even love stories. One has to love the definite articled Donald, right?

I imagine a show, in fact writing the script, wherein Donald Trump selects his Vice-President; Joe Biden, please box up your things. It should be good fun and certainly could fill a season of intense dramatic television, culminating with an announcement party in Vegas…better yet at a golf course. For Trump’s “veep” will certainly have to be a scratch golfer. Golf will be the centerpiece of his administration, I predict. We haven’t had a good golfing President since Ike, really. We need a golfing President, badly. So much good business can occur there.

The following season will consist of his campaign, of course. Selecting his personal campaign staff serving as a compelling subplot. But that VP of his, whoever survives the grueling vetting, will be the real star of this show. Trying to think ahead here and yes I’m skipping the primaries…boring. Low ratings. That show would never sell.

Donald should select his son Donald as VP. He seems a pleasant chap, attractive, working quite hard as his father’s Executive VP. This wouldn’t be nepotism at all, right? We have the Kennedy precedent. This country needs another dynasty family; one that understands golf instead of sailing. Sailing has poor demographic appeal. Golf, though…now there’s a game for the masses.

Well, just thought I’d share this script idea with you and yet I suspect someone in Trump’s staff has it written already, with at least three good working titles for definite articled Donald’s final approval. As for Donald, Jr.? You’re hired. On to 2012.

Pictured: Donald Trump Jr. from here. Photography by Steve Becker

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s bankruptcy shockwave: Kimmel to Kauffman

And then there were four…This past Saturday, one of America’s “Big Five” orchestras, The Philadelphia Orchestra, filed for bankruptcy. Times are lean. Corporate giving programs shrink. The Kimmel Center, opened in 2001, struggles to sustain. Philly city mothers and fathers are not pleased with the burden.

The Kauffman Center for Performing Arts opens September 16, 2011. Should we worry?

You may think that this has nothing to do with you. Consider this. It took a great number of generous patrons to build the Kauffman; almost a half a billion dollars when all “action figures” get installed. It created numerous jobs for which we should be thankful. Moshe Safdie’s architectural creation is stunning; a shining jewel on this Kansas City hill of ours. Excitement and optimism abounds. What’s to worry?

It will take more vision to sustain this house in order to make it a home for all of us. Despite premature visionary plans, we should be aware that we will be purchasing the tickets. Our employers will underwrite. Our city government must keep an eye on this artistic ball. This, one of our many homes for the arts here, deserves our attention and forethought. It’s good to have the Kimmel Center in Philly as a benchmark case study for lessons learned and those not taken to heart.

As an artist, I’m not in a position to discuss business. This center is huge business however and journalistic critical ink locally is scant. Understandable. No one desires to be a stick in the mud. My keyboard has a view of the place out my Walnut Street window. This emerging grand design has been something I’ve watched grow over the past two and half years since I moved here. I’ve crawled inside it covering the Kansas City Art Institutes gang of 16 who collaborated with Safdie last summer to design and paint a beautiful mural in one of the performance halls. Great stuff. It’s a reminder every day. I’m hopeful.

What concerns me is artistic content given the numerous venues in the city. My critics will state that the Kauffman will enhance the attraction for world class artists, bring them here, and we shall buy tickets and come. My concern is that “classical music / ballet / opera” is too…well, classical. Bravo to the Opera recently for their updated “Marriage of Figaro”. Good fun. Can’t wait to see the ballet’s May program…two modern pieces and a fresh world premier of Bill Whitener’s “Mercy of the Elements”. I’ll call this very cool. Hope this brings a younger crowd to see these amazing young artists dance with heart and soul.

We have great companies in the symphony, opera, and ballet. The ballet gets a new home soon down near Union Station, moving from 1616 Broadway. I hope all the companies remain on good speaking terms. I hope patrons and corporate underwriters stay engaged. I hope you keep your job, in the meantime, so you can have some fun and buy a ticket once in a while. But this is a big small town, I’m learning. I see the same lovely faces at opera / ballet / symphony events.

One artistic content glimmer is something that happened in New York City this past winter…something called the Ecstatic Music Festival held at the Kaufman “with one f” Center. New music, eclectic variety, younger audience, emerging composers…fresh exciting contemporary art. Not that dead composer stuff isn’t beautiful…I love it. However, to build an audience for the future, one needs to look to younger people. This festival celebrated the here and now and we have our share of here and now composers in this city. We should awaken to the reality that genre no longer matters. The nature of performance art resides in the seats…in you. It emanates from a stage, from artists who dance, sing, and play. But it enters your soul, makes you feel something.

That’s no cause for you to worry. That’s cause for you to get excited, feel some anticipation. Remember, you’re going to sustain this and other venues in town beginning with your local playhouse, your favorite little theatre in town, and you’ll follow who you enjoy. You’ll pay your taxes and buy the tickets.

So, what’s to worry? Well, who’s the coach for this Performing Arts Team? Who will facilitate the companies, develop the programs, the seasons? Who will curate this performance art gallery? Who will pay the rent? How should our city government involve themselves in the process and the sustainment. After all, our city government is like a soccer team…no quarterback. We have a team captain, though.

A few of my responders note that I take a 30,000 foot view of things and fail to miss the details. Guilty often. My purpose here is to get us reading ahead a bit. My nudge is to look east to Philly at the Kimmel and see how things are going there ten years on. And I was wondering if you heard about the Philadelphia Orchestra’s bankruptcy announcement. Do you care? Do you worry? Did you get your taxes filed on time?

Best wishes, Kansas City…

pictured above, the view from the atrium of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Photo is from Wikipedia

Moves to the Mercy of the Elements with the Catherine Wheel Suite, too

It’s a privilege to watch ballet dancers rehearse. So elemental. Gestures, stretching, correcting, repeating, stopping, starting again mid-routine...memory, muscle, love and heart. Quite amazing to watch a choreographer choreograph using voice but more so actions; leading with example. This is an art form we see on stage; results of months of work, crafting. It seems so perishable like so many other performance arts. Yet, we remember.

Eddie Verso remembers well, dancing Moves in 1961 under the direction of its creator Jerome Robbins. He’s been in Kansas City for the past few weeks passing the artistic torch to the Kansas City Ballet Company. You may remember Eddie from another Robbins piece: West Side Story. It’s odd the recent Music Hall production folks failed to realize Eddie was in town. I knew, but thought his connection would receive gallons of commercial ink. It (the show) did. He didn’t. So, here’s to you Eddie.

Eddie and I had a very brief chat before rehearsal. We discussed the silence of Moves, punctuated with a few stomps and thigh slaps. I sensed that was the secret to the music-less tempo. He smiled and said, that’s the trick. I’ll use the word art. This piece demands aesthetics more than athleticism. More heart than muscle, he related. We side-stepped the West Side Story story. It’s all been said. A 50 year anniversary soon and a book of participant memoirs. Eddie will contribute. I look forward to reading.

This day was about bringing a memoir to life, literally. This day saw a piece of art being resurrected with Eddie’s love. And you’re gonna love it as well. That’s Moves, people.

When you attend this performance you’ll see Bill Whitener’s world premier of his Mercy of the Elements. This dance has the canvas of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Quintet in B-flat Major (for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Piano) as a canvas upon which Bill brushes his human paint. I haven’t seen the paint, just listened to the music. It fits this sunny mild time of year quite well. Close your eyes and imagine dancers while listening. I did a few times. There’s optimism and elements. For in the second of the three movements, each instrument has a go solo. I imagine the dancers will as well. This is not your chemistry class periodic table elements. Think fire, wind, and earth…or Earth Wind and Fire if you need to get your groove tonight. Bill shared that there’s an influence of folk dance. But this is a premier, so lips sealed.

The third piece will be Twyla Tharp’s The Catherine Wheel Suite with music by David Byrne, Yes, Talking Headers, you heard right. That guy, who you met Burnin’ Down the House. Seriously. Here’s a musical preview…listen…imagine, slip off your rock and roll shoes and trade them in for some ballet slippers. Comfortable until you leap a few times. Then…go online, or call, and get some tickets. Open your eyes to the incredible art form that is dance, moving near you in a very real way, at our Kansas City Ballet, May 5 -8…next stop, the Kauffman.

pictured above, rehearsing Moves: Kim Cowen, Aisling Hill-Connor, Nadia Iozzo and Rachel Coats. Photo by Lisa Lipovac

That enchanting time of year: April

I left my window open last night. This morning my heater, after more than a few weeks of rest, blew off the chill after my manual nudge. April 18th? You’re kiddin’ me, right? Those blossoms on the trees across the street have survived a flew hard whooshes of wind and now there’s a hint of green buds. Suppose Spring may be here. And after all, a cool day like this serves as a nice memory in July. Sizzle.

Yesterday seemed a bit grey in the first act, but the second act in the afternoon really came on strong with colour and fresh light. The overcast day seemed miles away in the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre. Act One: dreary rainy London in February (perhaps a bit too harsh to judge English weather so symbolically). Act Two: somewhere on the coast of Italy in April. I’m sensing you’re seeing where this is going. Spring Break 1922. Right you are.

This time of year, after a bleakish midwinter, shoveling that snow, deadlines, heating bills and taxes (Oh joy, today’s tax day…did mine in bleak midwinter), you need a break. Strains of the olde MickeyDee jingle...”so get out and get away”…doesn’t rhyme with MET, sorry. You won’t be sorry if you go see Enchanted April. Take some friends. Lottie did.

Lottie sees an ad for “those who love wisteria and sunshine”, or rather oversees the ad while sneaking a peek at her soon-to-be-new best friend Rose's newspaper. They talk, Lottie convinces. They recruit time-sharing strangers in good social standing: a Lady and an older women with references. They go without men to this castle by the sea. Then men appear; two husbands and the landlord, all nice chaps, really. A story about an acacia tree. A grumpy yet fun castle-keeper cum chef named Costanza. Add an exploding hot water heater.

You may remember the dreamy atmospheric 1992 film released that April. How timely. The 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim received a trade paperback re-release and in 2002 came the audio version read by Nadia May (aka Wanda McCaddon). 2003: along comes this young UCLA grad, Matthew Barber who adapts it for the stage. He receives a Tony Award nomination (no envelope, sorry) for best play. In 2010 a preview for a musical version. Not sure any recessionary investors bit, though. Whew. One wonders why so many adaptations. Next the video game: Not So Extreme Spring Break?

This play is just what I needed yesterday. Just a tad grumpy from a few nights with little sleep, the Sunday afternoon vacation to Italy by way of London was the right ticket. Fellow travelers enjoyed it too. Laughs, a few sniffles, some ooh and ahh’s as we entered the theatre for act two. Delightful actors, with posh English lilts in their musical speech that sounded soft and rather, well…posh. Costanza’s Italian broke that ice. And as always, before, at intermission, and after the show; goodies at the MET’s now legendary goody table. A greeting from Alan at the front, and hug goodbye from Karen upon exiting. You have four more enchanting opportunities to see all this...Wednesday through to Saturday, the 23rd.

Please pardon my lack of objectivity here. Have a lovely second half of your April.

Photo courtesy of the MET...Lottie (Katie Gilchrist) stands, holding forth, while Lady Caroline (Danelle Drury) lounges, attempting to get some peace and quite...not a chance.

An acacia tree and wisteria for an Enchanted April

Enchanted April at the MET

Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941)

Enchanted April playing at the Metropolitan Ensemble Thetare...

From the (1922) novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, adapted for the stage by Matthew Barber, in 2003. Four women share an Italian villa and...change.

Sunday, Apr 17 at 2pm
Wednesday, April 20 at 1pm
Thursday, April 21 at 7:30pm
Friday, April 22 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 23 at 7:30pm

At the Kansas City Ballet in May

pictured: dancers Kim Cowen, Aisling Hill-Connor, Nadia Iozzo and Rachel Coats rehearsing for "Moves", photo by Lisa Lipovac

I'll be posting a piece soon about this...in the meantime, here's the program for the Kansas City Ballet:

Moves
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
The performance opens with the Kansas City premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Moves. Danced without musical accompaniment, Moves features the stark clarity of the body as an expressive instrument, placing the focus on precise and changing choreographic patterns. Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times called Moves, “An extraordinarily powerful experience as theater and dance. Mr. Robbins achieves so much in the simplest terms.”

Mercy of the Elements
World Premiere by William Whitener
Music: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
William Whitener says, "I have chosen the rarely performed Quintet in B-flat Major for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Piano as the music for my new ballet because of its unusual combination of instruments and its element of surprise. The score is filled with quirkiness, gorgeous melody lines and great depth of feeling all of which lend themselves to dancing – especially when played live by musicians at our May performances."

The Catherine Wheel Suite
Choreography: Twyla Tharp
Music: David Byrne
The New Yorker calls The Catherine Wheel Suite, “A multi-level poetic fantasy with a twist of scalawag comedy.”

Christel Highland's facets

This month, I'm writing a profile of fashion designer, Christel Highland for Artist INC...

Christel Highland presently focuses upon her emerging line of fashion which she has been developing over the past year. What’s interesting about this artist is her many talents; facets which often overlap and support one another. She writes prose and poetry, designs and styles fashion shoots (a theatre-like art form), creates visual art pieces, curates art, assists artists to sell their art (even features art as part of her fashion line website), models professionally, designs clothing, and constructs it as well.

Check out her fashion line at Pistol Threads / Christel Highland

When discussing this interview, I sent Christel the guideline questions for review. As a writer, she dove right in and crafted the answers below. Enjoy…

Mapping your career
· What should an artist consider when creating plans for his/her art practice?

That everything you do is a business and reflects on you as a brand. It shouldn't enter into your thought process while creating, however, everything before and everything after that creative birthing is business. Try to learn as much as you can from every situation- whether it's what to do, or what not to do, all the time. If you pay attention all the time, everything you put energy towards will benefit.

· What key strategies have you used to learn about areas where you possess weakness?

I've learned to focus less on my weaknesses and trust that opportune situations will present themselves for collaboration. I read once in a business book that it's better to focus on your strengths, and find people who are strong where you are weak rather than spending energy beating yourself up over any perceived weaknesses or trying to strengthen those areas. I try to remember that whenever I'm stressed out about my weak points.

· What resources in your network or the community have you found to be the most useful to further your art/business practice?

Kansas City is an amazing place to be creative. At every turn I've found resources. Mostly in the wealth of people who have knowledge beyond my experience. I love talking to people who have lived more than me, or found more success than I have. There certainly is no shortage of those sorts of artists and people in general to learn from.

· What strategies have you used to successfully sell your work?

I can't say that I've found huge success yet. I think that I'm learning how to sell right now. Mostly, I think that my job presently is to elevate my presence in order to attract respect for my art, and the brands that I've created. There's this strange balance of mystery and simultaneous lack of self consciousness that has to be found in order for an artist to become successful, I believe. There are times where you cloister up in preparation for creativity, there are times where you are being creative (I've found that I enjoy creating alongside someone else- in all areas. I have trouble creating when only my own energy is stagnating.), and there are times when you are public and you present what you've done. For me, at the end it's as if I've given birth to something that now (hopefully) stands on its' own and finds a new home or life apart from me- whether its' an art piece or an article of clothing.

· What one thing would you differently in regards to your art/business practice, you had it to do over again?

I try not to think that I've made mistakes. In the grand scheme of things, I hope that my perceived mistakes in the short term will benefit me in the long run when the stakes are higher. I've learned a lot in a relatively short period of time with regard to my business and art becoming a single unified force.

· How do you balance family with your art practice?

I don't know. I'm learning. I've struggled with guilt- guilt when I'm with my family because I'm not in the studio, and guilt when I'm in the studio that maybe I'm not the best Mommy I can be. It's hard, but I don't think that it's a situation exclusive to artists. I learning to maintain focus on my children and those with whom I have close relationships when I'm with them. That said, it's hard. I get frustrated when I'm not working, and not moving toward my goals. I know that causes my relationships to suffer. I think because of that, I've kept my close circle relatively small because I value those people so much because I know what it takes to be close to me. I am extremely driven and focused, but I try to exert a similar energy toward those that I love in order to maintain harmony when I'm accepting of "down time." Most of what I do centers around my work in one way or another. I'm grateful for the people who by choice, or by chance, are stuck with me. I'm a lot to handle, and I hope to make it worthwhile for all of us.

· Discuss your perspective on the pros and cons of a day job?

I'm no expert in this arena, either. I've really only had a handful of day jobs: One was at a drycleaners when I was sixteen or so. I like clothes, and I like being around people that don't know me. I think it's fascinating to see how people act toward others- especially when they don't know you. Another was cleaning rooms at a hotel. I was obsessed with John Irving at the time (I still have a bit of a crush on him.) and I loved getting a peek into the lives of others. Plus, I love cleaning. It's a satisfying process to see progress in a short period of time. During college I worked a few short term jobs- at a health food store, a fabric store, and a pizza joint. Then, when I finally left theatre and film work, I worked for a clothing manufacturer. I enjoy hard work, and I can think of specific instances with each "day job" where I had joy and pride and where I learned something.

I can say that now I don't think I'm suited to work for someone else, but if I had to, I think that I could find a positive aspect of the work that I could learn from and take pride in. I think as long as you can have that thought behind what you're doing, there's no con to any experience- including a day job.

· What type of day job do you feel is the best compliment to a successful art practice? Why?

I think that depends entirely on the artist's personality.


Finding money
· What strategy do you use to keep up on potential grant opportunities?

I have only applied for a few grants. I look for opportunity all the time.

· How do you balance the time needed to apply for grants with time for your art practice?

Hmm, I guess I'll answer this as it relates to my business. I seek and deal with money as the need arises, then making my clothing is a reward for taking care of business, and then making my art is the ultimate reward for the making of the clothing.

· What techniques have you found beneficial in successfully applying for grants?

Finding the right people to help me.

· What strategies to you use to keep good financial records?

I'm learning. I keep all of my receipts. I do what everyone else has to do when tax time comes.

· Why is important to maintain good financial records?

Dealing with money, in the past, has probably been my least favorite thing. The prospect of it doesn't even drive my work- which is why it's so pure, in a way. That said, I do like having a nice studio, a nice apartment, a decent car, and money to buy socks and shoes for my kids. I don't believe it's evil, by any means. Now, after starting my business, I realize that by maintaining a record of where things are going I can see how I can make my products better and my business grow in an unemotional way. Looking at the numbers takes all of the guesswork away so that you can progress by looking at the past impartially.


Promoting your work

· As an artist who was new to Kansas City, how did you navigate the Kansas City Arts Scene?

I threw myself on the scene with confidence. I had been through a creatively dry period, and an emotionally difficult time when I decided to devote my self to something that I think I'm really good at. I don't know if that was the right thing to do, but that's what I did. I felt like I had to impress people, in a way, because I didn't attend the arts institute, and I didn't have years on the scene. So, I diligently took every business dealing very seriously as well as every creative endeavor. I think that even though my personality might not appeal to everyone, no one can criticize my devotion to doing good work or to treating creative people with respect in any business dealing.

· How have you developed a network of peers?

I moved around a lot as a kid, and through that I learned that you follow a breadcrumb trail every time you move- all of the time, in fact. It's never the first people you meet that become your lifelong friends and collaborators, and KC was certainly no exception. The good people are already there and have been for years (I had a few long time friends in place in KC), or they're sitting back watching and observing. My first peers on the KC scene aren't a part of my life anymore, but they did introduce me to important people intrinsic to the development of my current network. I think that people come in and out of our lives and we don't have a clear picture of what their purpose is until they leave our lives sometimes. It's really amazing to think about how our little worlds of people are constantly in flux- all benefiting our individual goals and dreams. Right now, I'm focused on continually growing my network outside of this market in a constant effort to gain the exposure that I believe my work deserves.

_________________________________________________

a bit about Christel Highland...

Christel was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the infamous cowtown, and home of Jesse James. Her Dad, a country veterinarian, pawned his shotgun to settle the score with the hospital. Her nickname, “Christel the Pistol,” (pistol had a better ring than shotgun) stuck. Mom, a farm girl with a Masters in Home Economics, taught “the Pistol” to sew at a young age.

After studying theatre, dance, and creative writing in college, Christel carved out a career in the performing arts. She worked steadily in theatre and film as a costuming professional for over a decade, continuing to design for projects that feed her passion. As a costumer and wigmaster, she created for the world premiere of Stand By Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story performed at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee as well as the film About Schmidt starring Jack Nicholson.

In addition to designing and creating clothing in her River Market studio on Delware Street, Christel curates for artists in the Crossroads Art District in Kansas City, writes prose and poetry, makes sculptural fine art, and raises her two little Pistols; Otto and Clive.

To the clubhouse

His last hole, he said today
Number 18, a par four
Slight dogleg left, work the ball?
Or just play the fade, 3 wood Dad
Keep it in the fairway, short grass
That smooth swing, the address
Tee it low into the breeze
Hit the driver? 3 wood, Dad
You once could clear that oak
Keep it in the fairway, short grass
The shot, clean, true
Heads for that damn oak, fades right
To the middle, the rough is deep
The slow walk, down from the tee box
I caddie, carry clubs, pull out the 4 iron
Wipe it clean, slide the tee
Grooves shallow, after untold
Thousands of shots, coffee?
Remember that eagle here?
That seven iron shot?
I was eight I think, you were…stronger
Too many bogeys that day though, 83
That was a shot, though
The ball landed behind the hole
Backspin, right in there
4 iron? Watch, the grip, a good lie
Twilight, sun behind the clubhouse now
Head still, listening, whoosh, divot flies
Ball true, straight low, at the pin
You’re on the dancefloor, Dad
Remember how you danced with Mom?
She’s watching from the clubhouse porch
Probably ordered you a Manhattan already
Nothing like walking down the fairway
All the way to the green, cleats clean
Let me clean that club, here’s your putter
There it sits, a nine footer, maybe, less?
Mark the ball, clean it, reset
Titleist word points to the hole
Flag out, cup’s a calling you, Dad
Make this your last birdie,
He’ll par the course if he sinks this
Walk around, line it up, he crouches
Behind the ball, I stand behind
We agree, soft stroke, she’ll break left
That old blade putter shines
The one I held and swung
On the living room rug, practice
Feet shoulder width, a bit bess
Grip soft, feel the clubhead, moment
Forever, this putt better go, I know
Eyes closed, listening, imagining
The tap, the pause, the sound
Of the dimples rattling the metal
The flag flaps in my hand, he smiles
In there, good hole, 72
Yeah, no kiddin’ you hit par today
You kept it in the fairway, or
Maybe those putts were it, 6 under par
For putts, by my count
To the clubhouse, Dad
I’ll clean your clubs and
Take your card, let’s sign it
This day, sun, a bit of wind,
Greens were moist on the front 9
It must have been the hot dogs
We munched, halfway, mustard
Relish, take it all in, to hell with that oak
We wish we had had more
But we have this crazy game
Meet me in the clubhouse later,
What a round, Dad.
What a round.

pictured: the 15th hole at Rock Manor Golf Course, near Wilmington Delaware...where Dad loved to play and where I learned the game that we both love...

Figaro getting married

this Lyric Opera of Kansas City production of "The Marriage of Figaro" has me thinking of a number of things...somehow the film "Rachel Getting Married" keeps rolling around in my head...

photo of Andrew Gangestad (as Figaro) and Sari Gruber (as Susanna), is by Aaron Lindberg

________________________________________________

The commercial media narrative for this, the last opera piece performed at the Lyric, is a farewell party to the performance space, a love letter, a Valentine as the director expresses so lovingly in his program notes. Next year we’ll be walking into the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, five blocks from the venerable Lyric. You’ll also read around town how this rendition of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro receives a contemporary treatment. An opera that takes place behind the stage of an opera, placed in the setting of the Lyric’s offices and dressing rooms, the unmasked stage, a wedding ceremony onstage or rather on the stage where the characters work and perform.

Mozart’s operatic version of Piere Beaunmarchais’ 1778 play collided with the gentrified audience of Vienna at the Burgtheater around this time of year in 1786, three years before the Bastille received a barbeque’ing. This was a time of revolutions. We should know, as things sparked after our declaratory letter we Americans dispatched to mad King George III from Philly. Mozart, like Lorne Michaels, had to be mindful of his patrons and tone things down a bit to slip past the censors and ensure his salary checks continued.

All this historical stuff reeling around the art, then and now. Some things seem unchanged. Art forms with a contemporary feel become museum pieces later on, only to be re-shaped centuries later. We love to hold a mirror to ourselves. And yet sometimes we hesitate to mess with a classic that has stood the test of time with that mythical ingredient of “posterity”.

As in contemporary music, we see cover bands and tribute bands. Cover bands play someone else’s composition with their own interpretive creativity. Some bands cover songs but endeavor to sound exactly like the originals; love those Elvis and Beatles costumed and coiffed interpreters. Classic stuff indeed.

This farewell opera, this “Figaro getting married” contemporary patina interpretation has old Mozart humming (and probably smiling) in the background. The company changed a few lines…how does one say “email” in Italian?…the English language Twitter-like feed above the stage broadcasts the status of the players. Figaro sends emails, one which is a crafty note that get’s his boss in a pickle, one that could get him fired from his Stage Manager gig if the IT person traces it to his IP address. Office romances abound, too. The Executive director’s casting couch gets a workout. I was thinking The Office (the original rough-hewn hand-held Ricky Gervais BBC version) blended with Jonathan Demme’s film Rachel Getting Married...sprinkle a bit of social-networking in this, too.

On this opening night of The Marriage of Figaro, this past Saturday, I had a great deal of fun. People laughed in more places than the “right ones”. This felt to be approachable sitcom with a classic soundtrack. Fun choreography and acting anchored in gorgeous singing, harmony, and energetic projection without microphones. Mozart always feels fresh to me, and this blend of theatre, opera, artistic design, and music literally rocked the house. A few aficionados overheard at intermission verbally presented dissertation like philosophical analysis of the update. And for those seeing Figaro getting married for the first time, it was a joy to imagine their wonder, their connection with this piece in years to come. For the wonderful long-time patrons I felt a bit of their poignant bittersweet melancholy as the stage became bare to the bones at the end. The end of the beginning which begins this Fall five blocks south. Memories over forty years at the Lyric.

This was a swirly night for me. The wind swirled strong as we all made our way home out the front entrance on to 11th Street…whoosh. I headed on foot to see some friends perform their eclectic punk-ish music at a little bar called Coda across the Street from the Kauffman. I walked down Broadway, dodging cars and cheating on the stoplight cues. I’m used to the choreography. This downtown is my home now. As I approached the beautiful looming shape of the Kauffman from its north face, I sensed a feeling of continuity after seeing the bare black skeleton of the Lyric. I saw this new organism-like space, metal vertebrae and all. Then further to the south, looking back at the glass mirror south face absorbing the lights of my city twinkling as the wind whistled. I tried to take it all in, this night, these artists, these builders, this architect, that director, and all the people who make us feel what I felt at that moment in the wind on our Kansas City Broadway.

My mind and heart seemed too small. I tried really hard. Then I smiled and trotted down the last block to Coda, opened the door, and felt the warm rush of authentic contemporary music and raucous poetry of my four friends collectively called The Brannock Device. It’s fun to be in a city to experience the spectrum of art forms. There’s quite a variety from an amazing collaborative opera production creatively presented with contemporary comedic irony…to a four piece mind-twisting post-punk orchestral abstract.

That’s was my night. This is an attempt to share what I felt. This kind of stuff is what we feel when we allow our senses to absorb this thing we call art. This is what artists do. For as much as this night was a farewell to a building, a place, and as much as that new building is on our minds, what keeps me grounded and inspires me are all the magnificent people that create and fill these buildings.

The most wonderful slice of those folks?...the audience...art resides in us.

___________________________________________________
Saturday, April 9th was opening night...the opera's next three performances are:
Wednesday April 13 at 7:30pm
Friday April 15 at 8pm and
Sunday April 17 at 2pm

purchase tickets here

Casting bells instead of cannons

Artists, intrusive
My friend Reilly Hoffman, sculpts
Intrudes upon metal with fire
Makes lotus bowls, that when dinged
Play music like Elaine McMilian
Who intrudes upon silence with guitar
Voice and poetry
Instead of sirens
Christel Highland changes bodies
With personal fabric architecture dreams
Crafted, constructed, colour
Laura colours canvas with paint
Taut drums of white fabric
Into windows of hues, places, palette
And my brother Mike changes ground
Architects, designs spaces for living
And I intrude upon blank paper
With ink, on screens with symbols
Loving: how artists intrude
Casting bells instead of cannons.

For Elaine on her birthday

pictured above "Lotus" by Reilly Hoffman...photo by Matt Nichols

Dinging our bell

Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I frequently visited Independence Hall on Chestnut Street and liked to throw a penny at the Liberty Bell to make it ding. You can’t throw pennies at it now. The bell now enjoys a maximum security existence in the Liberty Bell Center across the street. One now must undergo a thorough historical orientation, after a detailed security search, before seeing it un-dinged. I don’t think I took the bell and hall for granted as much as recognizing them as places and things quite real and approachable. History is history in books but this was history I could touch…and ding.

And at this Independence Hall, there once gathered a group of men (no women, please) who formulated this declaration of our present independence and later the constitution for this still imperfect, yet beautiful, union of ours; a Union defended by some, succeeded from in later years. Gettysburg battlefield, a frequent family outing destination, made that union concept quite real to me as well.

...but meanwhile, back at Independence Hall in downtown Philly, where one can secure a delicious cheesesteak for lunch from the numerous trailer-truck vendors…sweet peppers and onions?

Independence Hall gives me thoughts about local governance despite its federal model birthplace. I contemplate all those men from the various colonies at the time. Some where appointed delegates. Some were self-appointed nobility. Some, like Ben Franklin, were one of the appointed committee of five to draft the declaration. He also resided across the street. All these people, from various backgrounds with localized experiences, talents, position (lest we forget some were royally appointed gentry), and perspectives. Colonies had nuanced differences in their local governance procedures and methods. All had Parliament in London as a model in there heads I suppose. For example, Franklin had recently visited England and Ireland. I wonder how that coloured his views in the summer of 1776…

From local governance ultimately to union, from “…all politics is local” (thanks for that phrase, Tip O’Neill) to our present fascination and instantaneous C-Span access to our federal Capitol’s gleaming edifice on “The Hill”. Capitol Watch…and we watch closely. It’s been quite a journey from colony to Philly (with a stop in the Big Apple) to DC. It’s been an interesting few years watching our local commentary (and dwindling number of commentators) shrink while our national media swelled to a very lucrative profit producing production. Our attention is drawn to Washington, DC along with our…Hope. “All politics seem national” now, Tip.

It’s beginning to feel like a new colonial time to me here in the Midwest territory. Our delegates along with the self-appointed gentry seem a bit too distant from home in their cozy second homes in Georgetown, Fairfax, and Alexandria.

Local pamphlets, what we now call blogs, have a revolutionary spice to them reminiscent of Franklin’s Philly print shop. This blog adds good local focus in an otherwise national news media stream.

Our new halls of independence could just be places like this where we exchange, listen, respond, and form new ways for unison, while discussing topics that make us wish to personally secede rather than collectively succeed. Our new bells won’t be cast in an English foundry, like the one I dinged. We’re casting ballots now, casting about in our local pond for new ways to govern this colony of ours, mindful that we owe a delegate or two to the national assembly. It’s a difficult exercise in balance…from local to national assemblies of all kinds lest we forget those cool business conventions which you may attend. Vegas, DC…similarly themed parks, right?

It’s nice to visit places like Independence Hall (grab a cheesesteak across the street), Capitol Hill, The White House, Vegas, Hollywood...the Big Apple. It’s entertaining to watch and read about national league rock star governing and self-appointed resourced ditherers. But it’s good to come back to the colony, your local territory. Take care of home. And ding your own local bells. It starts here. It all “started” in the colonies and continues to do so now.