This year’s CoastWalk turns up Japanese treasures
Creating art and musical instruments from trash gathered from beaches, the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies staff and volunteers kicked off their annual Coast Walk (clean up campaign) Thursday with fun, food and education at their headquarters on Smokey Bay Way.
The clean up effort is ongoing with individuals and groups stopping by the office Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.to pick up data cards to document their finds and observations of marinelife, wildlife and shoreline activity, contributing to the research as well as the cleaning of beaches. Of course picking up trash isn’t limited to CACS volunteers. Anyone who treasures planet Earth and her oceans is encouraged to pick up trash every time they take a walk. Earthlings are also urged not to clutter their planet with trash in the first place.
Documentary Film Fest offers colorful cultural perspectives
Nine films usher in the 9th Annual Homer International Documentary Film Festival at the historic Homer Theatre, the longest running movie house in Alaska.
This year’s festival will mark the second year of Digital Film in Homer with PINA: 3-D, a dancing spectacle which has won Best Documentary at various European Film Festivals.
The Gala opening Thursday will feature Marley, the story of the reggae legend Bob Marley featuring never-before-seen historical footage and inspiring music. Audiences across the nation have been raving about this soul-moving documentary. Following the film, there will be a live reggae concert by a local, six-piece band, Uplift.
Mac Sutton, son of Homer Theatre owner Jamie Sutton, said when the films are screened, they keep Homer audiences in mind for its interest in art, music and social commentary. The eventual winner of the Academy Awards for Best Documentary has been presented at each of the previous Homer festivals. Each of these films won Sundance, Tribeca, Berlin Film Festival and or other awards.
Seth Freeman wraps up Alaska tour in Homer
Guitarist Seth Freeman returns to AJ’s Oldtown Steakhouse at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, where he will play acoustic guitar and sing.
His performance here wraps up an Alaska tour that included the State Fair in Palmer.
Born in Searcy, Ark., Freeman has played guitar since the age of four, taught by his grandfather and father. He also learned from Jim Turner and later Paul Travis, one of the area’s leading instructors, according to promotional information on his website.
In addition to guitar, Freeman plays drums, bass, lap steel, piano, mandolin and dobro. He was voted most talented of his high school class, and has long pursed his dream of making a name for himself in the music industry.
Arts Briefs – Sept. 12
Fresh laughs every night A spoof on television shows, the “Comedy Cocktail Party,” will continue Wednesday nights through September as a fundraising event for several local nonprofits. Producer Sally Oberstein, along with the help of a creative comedy team of Michael McKinney and Alan Olson, wrote the skits. Most of the money from ticket sales [...]
Muller fired up for ninth-annual basket burning
For the ninth consecutive year, artist Mavis Muller is out on the beach at Mariner Park, braving winds, rain and occasional kite surfers who hit the surf at the base of the Homer Spit, as she constructs a large, intricately woven basket of natural materials.
Construction of the basket, as well as a walking labyrinth, began Sunday and continues through Sept. 15. The actual burning of Muller’s impermanent art project is slated for Sept. 16.
Wooden Boat Festival provides variety of entertainment
The Kachemak Bay Wooden Boat Society is staging its 20th annual Wooden Boat Festival Sept. 6-9 primarily behind the Pier One Theatre on the Homer Spit.
The fun starts Thursday at the Salty Dawg Saloon with sea chanteys, tall tales and fisher poets at 7 p.m.
At 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Gart Curtis’ ex-navy motor whaleboat Pyro, (named for the U.S. Navy ammunition carrier the USS Pyro) will be giving harbor tours. Mako Haggerty will be presenting the tours. Check in with Mako’s Water Taxi above ramp 2 in Homer Harbor. Tickets are $10. Call 235-9055 for reservations.
Then Friday, movies and speakers will entertain at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center.
First Friday brings an array of art to explore
Homer art galleries are holding First Friday receptions to exhibit new shows from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 7.
The Art Shop Gallery unlocks the treasure corner to display a variety of art, including original works from their Summer Artist Series. All of the works on display will be available at half price.
Picture Alaska art gallery is hosting an invitational show with the theme “Under Foot.” The media, and how to interpret the theme, is left to the imagination of the artists.
The Back Room Gallery of Ptarmigan Arts presents “Alaska Wax: Original Batiks on Rice Paper and Encaustics on Wood” by Janaan Kitchen of Anchorage from Sept. 7 thru Oct. 3.
Kitchen has been creating traditional batiks for nearly 40 years. She uses melted paraffin/beeswax and fiber-reactive dyes on rice paper.
Community helps Pratt make big plans for museum’s future
The Pratt Museum hosted afternoon and evening gatherings Thursday to present the design for the new building expected to be completed in 2014. The design incorporates many suggestions from residents.
Representing the Anchorage architect firm Livingston Slone, Joseph Abegg displayed schematics and drawings and explained the interior and exterior features of the new building to be constructed considerably southwest of the current museum.
The single-level structure will feature a room with an exterior deck for community gatherings and educational sessions that can be accessed separate from the main display gallery.
Art Briefs – Aug. 29
Johnny B boogies Renowned boogie woogie pianist Johnny B (Bushell) and friends perform at Pier One Theatre this Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 7:30 p.m. He’s calling the show, “We Alaskans; This Song is for You.” “It includes popular songs that fit with lots of stories and visuals, some that stem from the pioneers,” Bushell [...]
Rock musical closes Pier One season
This weekend Pier One Theatre stages a musical for its final show of the summer, Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey with music by Tom Kitt, directed by Marc Oliver with musical direction by JulieAnn Smith.
As with Andy at the start of the summer season, Pier One closes with a bang, a rock musical in the style of Rent.
The plot, according to Pier One, follows the problems of a suburban family of four, a husband and wife with two teenagers, who are dealing with trying circumstances. The storyline involves the mother’s bipolar disorder, the treatments she goes through and the effects on her family. The cast of six provide a compact and intimate story, backed by a live band of rock instruments and strings. Despite the serious nature of the theme, the story, while moving, also provides some humor. The core of Next to Normal is its reality. The characters are as real as anyone in today’s world and the trials they go through mirror modern day problems to the T.
