Arts Briefs – Oct. 14

Lyons brings ‘Cows with Guns’ to Homer
Homer Council on the Arts presents two shows featuring singer/songwriter Dana Lyons in a mix of comedy, ballads and love songs. Lyons is best known for his dynamic performances and outrageous hit songs, “Cows With Guns,” “RV” and “Ride The Lawn.”
Lyons has toured in 46 of the 50 American states, around the East Coast of Australia and across Ireland, England, New Zealand, Mexico, Kazahkstan and Siberia. He performs at festivals ranging from Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, to the Harley Davidson Festival where he shared the stage with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steppenwolf, Nazareth and Blue Oyster Cult.
Lyons’ shows run Friday at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at the Homer Council on the Arts building on Pioneer Ave. Admission is $12 for members, seniors and students, and $15 general admission. Tickets available at HCOA and the Homer Bookstore.
This performance is sponsored in part by grants from WESTAF, Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Share your statehood memories
The Pratt Museum is hosting a “Statehood Show-and-Tell” from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Bring your Statehood memories and memorabilia to share with others in Celebration of Alaska Day.

Pratt welcomes new collections manager
The Pratt Museum’s new collections manager is Pete Lundskow, most recently from the Boulder History Museum in Colorado where he was collections curator. Lundskow has spent most of his museum career working in state level museums starting with the Ohio Historical Society, the Kansas Museum of History, the University of Utah and the Indiana State Museum, all located in those state capitals. His educational background is in American Studies where he concentrated in Museum/Archive and American Art History. 

Write a novel in a month
National Novel Writing Month is a nonprofit literary crusade that encourages aspiring novelists all over the world to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. More than 150,000 writers from 90 countries have participated in the contest. An informational meeting will be held Oct. 22, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Kenai Community Library. If you would like more information about National Novel Writing Month, or would like to talk to participants from NaNoWriMo chapters in your area, please visit our website at www.NaNoWriMo.org, or contact Amy Murrell-Haunold, this year’s Kenai Peninsula Municipal Liaison at (907) 283-1598 or kenaiqueen2007@yahoo.com.

Jazzing up Autumn
Jocelyn Shapiro-Westphal presents “Jazzline” in three shows on Oct. 23, at 7 p.m and Oct. 24 at 3 and 7 p.m.
This is Shiro-Westphal’s ninth-annual choreographed performance featuring the talents of Homer youth and adult dancers. This year’s performance includes Broadway-inspired musicals, a Michael Jackson montage, the Spirit of the Drum dance and numbers from the Phantom of the Opera. Jazzline is a celebration of community talent and commitment to the arts. Proceeds benefit Bunnell Street Gallery youth art programs. These shows sell out to standing room only, so please purchase tickets early.
Tickets are $8 for youth 18-and-under; $12 for Bunnell members and $15 for general admission. Tickets are available at the Homer Bookstore and Bunnell.

Winners announced in Homer doc fest
The Sixth-Annual Homer International Documentary Film Festival exhibited the eight best documentary films produced around the world during 2008 and 2009.
“The Cove” barely won over “Food Inc.” as the audience voted for movies with potent messages over those that simply told interesting and unusual stories well. “The Cove” tells the story of Ric O’Barry, the dolphin trainer on the original “Flipper” TV show and his current campaign to save these beautiful and intelligent animals from the slaughter by their captors in a small bay in Japan. The audience comments ranged from the shock and horror they felt at the callous slaughter of the magnificent dolphins to the wonderfully told adventure of the commando-like raids that produced the proof of the atrocities.
To the pleasure of all who have seen this film, Associated Press has reported that the Japanese town chronicled in the film has agreed to free all of the dolphins beyond the few they sell to aquariums around the world.
“Every Little Step” won the Jury award for the Best Film in the Festival. The film is a fascinating portrayal of real-life dancers as they struggle through auditions, hoping to play the parts of struggling dancers in the Broadway 30th Anniversary Revival of “A Chorus Line.” The hopefuls perform for the very people who created the landmark roles in the original. As powerful as the hit play, these are the actual stories of singers and dancers we got to know and join in triumph and heartbreak and terrific music.

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