Women Writers 2019 – Technology Enhances Creativity and Communication

Join four local women who will give practical and creative advice on enhancing and improving your creative and communications skills regardless of whether you are a business person, an educator, an artist or  want to explore tools to express yourself using various forms of technology.

The Heritage Business and Professional Women, the Arts Commission, the Boyle County Public Library and Centre College have joined forces to bring this evening to the community on April 22 at the Boyle County Public Library.

The evening will begin with refreshments at 5:30 and the program will start at 6:00.  There will be plenty opportunity to interact with the presenters and the other attendees.  The program is free to all thanks to a generous grant from the Betty Hinz Fund of the Kentucky Business and Professional Women’s Foundation.

Topics will include working collaboratively from remote locations, building your own website, blogging, podcasting, branding and preparing written material for submission to potential publishers.

Reservations are not required.  For information contact arts@historicdanvilleky.com or Mimi Becker at 859-691-0316.

 

Lisa Williams              Candace Wentz

Tara Strauch

Learn to Make a Basket

The Arts Commission makes it easy for you to learn a new skill AND help preserve one of Kentucky’s most treasured art forms.  Join us on June 29th from 9:00 – 12:30 at Constitution Square and you will complete the Shaker basket shown above from start to finish.  Teresa Arnold will guide you and all basket materials and tools are provided.  At the completion of the class you will have your basket, skills and the tools to continue on your own. Class is $35.00 all tools and materials included.  Email arts@historicdanvilleky.com to register.

Do You Have a Quilt Treasure?

The Arts Commission and a group of quilters from the Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild will be restoring this vintage quilt from the Perryville Brummett Family collection.  Come out and watch the work on some Saturdays during Farmers’ Market beginning May 4th.  You are welcome to join in, but certainly you can ask questions about the techniques, the fabrics and the history of the designs of the ’30’s and ’40’s.

Scarlet Cup Theater Announces Spring Show

The Scarlet Cup will celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the first production of Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie, with its own production at an outstanding venue, Stephen Powell’s private glass studio on Stanford Avenue in Danville.  You will not want to miss the opportunity for this very special evening of theater.  The box office will open March 1st on-line at danvillearts.org. Watch for additional program announcements and special activities to commemorate the event.

Arts Commission produces new play for schools

 

New play by Liz Orndorff for schools

You don’t want to miss this inspiring and thought provoking musical. FREE admission to the public performance.

Donations are welcome to continue this type of program for our schools!

Vince DiMartino named 2018 Arts Citizen of the Year

The Arts Commission has named Vince DiMartino the 2018 Arts Citizen of the Year.  DiMartino will be presented with the award on January 9, 2019 at the Annual General Meeting of the Arts Commission at 5:30 at McKinney Conference Center at Constitution Square.  The public is invited to attend the presentation and reception.

The Award recognizes an individual, or individuals, who have distinguished themselves in their artistic career often beyond the local area.  DiMartino is not only an internationally noted performer, but through his work has been instrumental in bringing top performers to Danville and has fostered the development of numerous young musicians while serving on the faculty at Centre College.

While he has performed and lectured the world over, he still finds time to share his talents in Danville through dedicated involvement with the Brass Band Festival, solo performances and with guest artists at special events.

In his spare time, DeMartino serves on the Danville/Boyle County Planning and Zoning Board.

 

 

A Beautiful Day for Art

            

Monday, October 1st was a beautiful day for student from Kentucky School for the Deaf with teacher Alex Meckes and Pat Williams’ students from Forkland to enjoy a day of Plein Air painting at the historic home of Tim and Lisa Montgomery on Lexington Avenue in Danville.  The students had the opportunity to work and observe experienced painters from the area as they explored painting in natural light.  The concept of Plein Air, or outdoor, painting has been around for centuries, but is most familiar with the French Impressionist period.  The event was sponsored by the Arts Commission of Danville/Boyle County in conjunction with the Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky.

Big kids have art goals, too

Older students share thoughts and insights
regarding their education

It’s a fresh school year. School buildings are open and kids are walking through the doors, sometimes with excitement and sometimes reluctantly as the days of freedom are over.

Teachers and administrators have many goals for the academic year. Students have plans, too. Most often, people talk about what the younger students think they will learn in the  new year. However, the older students truly have some thoughts and insights into their education.

Gabe Cruse, freshman at Boyle County High School, has had some art classes in middle school. His experience has interested him in studying landscape drawing. Gabe has no plans at this time for an art career, but is looking forward to trying out some new skills in Carrie Snow’s art class.

Hunter Vandiviere, a sophomore at BCHS, also took art in middle school. This year, he would like to learn about the cultures of different artists. He particularly likes the work of Salvador Dalí, a Spanish artist whose life spanned most of the 20th century. Dali is considered a surrealist painter, but was also a filmmaker, sculptor, writer and printmaker.

While students in Freida Gebert’s advanced theater class demonstrated the art of fainting without causing personal injury, Ian Birney described his plans for the year as president of the BCHS Thespian Troupe and considering his college choices. Ian has performed in productions at Ragged Edge Theatre (RET) and hopes to attend college to major in drama and business.

“Always need a backup plan,” he said. To prepare, he is focusing on his vocal skills.

Ian’s classmate and Thespian Troupe VP junior Alyssa Wray already has experience in community theater at RET and West T. Hill Community Theatre. She is working to improve her audition techniques as she hopes to continue a career in musical theater in community theaters.

At Danville High School, Libby Hale and Jenna Haines are both enrolled in Scott Walker’s musical theater class. Libby, a junior, has already taken several theater classes at DHS, so she is taking this class to develop her vocal skills with an eye to studying theater at Centre College. She is so focused on building her portfolio, she convinced Jane Dewey to supervise her in an independent study class concentrating on defining her personal style as a performer.

Sophomore Jenna Haines realizes she will need to build her self-confidence if she hopes to continue her acting career. She has performed in high school productions, has joined the forensics team and signed up for speech class this year.

Alejandra Nieto, a student in Shelly Stinnett’s art class at DHS, is a senior with the goal of becoming a tattoo artist. She has researched the possibilities for professional certification and has set her goal for this year to improve her skills in shading and dimension to enhance the realism and depth of her artwork.

At KSD, Sarah Joiner wants to develop her personal creative style without relying on internet images as her inspiration. This is her second year in art with teacher Alex Meckes. As a senior, she is considering a career in psychology with the possibility of using art in therapeutic settings. Throughout her life, Sarah has found art to be calming and soothing and hopes she can provide the same opportunities to her future students and clients.

Art can change lives. It can give focus and offer opportunities. For these students and the many others who are sitting in classrooms around our community, art class is a special time each day to explore personal ideas and learn new skills. Many students may not pursue art as a career, but clearly it is approached with optimism and curiosity this new year.