Cedar Park Jazz Series, a long-standing fixture on summer Friday nights in the area, returns this week. Filled with melody and positive vibes, this event is a summer highlight for many members of the Cedar Park community.

Unfortunately, for the past two years, funds have been insufficient to allow the Series to cover the entire summer, leaving many neighbors disappointed. Cedar Park Neighbors is raising funds to support the Series this year. Please consider making a contribution here.

The Series kicks off this Friday, May 25, with a concert by Dr. Ketchup. See the flyer below for more information on Cedar Park Jazz Fridays.

 
We’ve seen more and more of these little calls for an art-free world popping up around the neighborhood for a while. We have noticed retorts on a lot of them. Have you seen any?

The 2012 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours will take place in October and local artists and studios are welcome to participate. Registration is open until June 1.

Launched in 2000, POST is the largest tour of artist studios and creative work spaces in the region. Eighteen West Philly artists participated in last year’s event (see more here) and we hear that many have already gotten on the list of this year’s tours. If you are not one of them, you still have a chance to do it. Please visit this page for more information and to register.

The 2012 Tour dates for venues West of Broad Street are October 6-7.

Modeled on New York City’s Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop, Backyard Writers is a selective West Philadelphia-based writing workshop for emerging and established fiction and prose writers. Founded in February of 2011 with support from UPenn’s Kelly Writer’s House, and consisting of 10 writers, group members’ work has appeared in Glimmer Train, Tin House,The Sun, Story Quarterly, Indiana Review, Plain China, Philadelphia Stories, and Apiary, and earned them current positions in the creative writing faculty at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and the Community College of Philadelphia.  

Members have also received such honors as the Leeway Foundation’s Transformation Award, the Community College of Philadelphia’s Judith Stark fiction award, and numerous Best Short Story Awards. They have also published chapbooks with Popular Ink Press and Finishing Line Press, directed Thread Makes Blanket Press here in West Philadelphia, and been contributing writers to Philadelphia Weekly Paper.  Among them, they hold MFAs in Creative Writing from the University of Wyoming, Virginia Commonwealth University, Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia (enrolled), and Rutgers-Newark (enrolled).

Backyard Writers invites the general public to an outdoor reading event, featuring beverages and light refreshments for any and all interested in supporting the West Philadelphia literary arts community, and listening to a taste of their newest work.

Eight members of Backyard Writers will each give a short reading from approximately 7:30-8:30 p.m., followed by merry making in the beautiful backyard of collective house, “Fancy House” in a kind of literary salon meets backyard barbecue.

Sunday May 13. 7 p.m. 4951 Catharine Street. RSVP to eisenberg.emma@gmail.com

The Backyard Writers (with relevant links to bios/stories):

Emma Eisenberg
Kathleen Furin
Ben Goldstein
Sara Graybeal
Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela
Nathan Long
Maxime McKenna
Patrick McNeil
David Poplar
Emily Zimbrick-Rogers
 

Here’s a couple of interesting art openings for your gallery crawl this Friday.

disTURBIA @ Art on the Avenue Gallery

If you haven’t noticed, Lancaster Avenue between 38th and 40th streets has become Philly’s newest gallery row.  Opening Friday May 11, Art on the Avenue Gallery at 3808 Lancaster Ave brings us disTURBIA, a show of mixed media sculpture installation and drawings by Romanian artist Raluca Ungureanu. Ungureanu defines “disTURBIA” as, “a term derived from the words  ‘suburbia’ and ‘disturb’ meant to describe the dark side of urban living.” Her work aims to engage the viewer in a dialogue about rootlessness and alienation in the big cities of today’s rapidly changing world. Born and raised in the mythic land of Bucovina, surrounded by a deep ancestral forest at the foot of the divine monastery of Voronet, one of the oldest in Europe, Raluca has carried the imprint of her origins, and has brought them to bear on renditions of New York and Philadelphia.

Free admission.  Through June 2.  Art on the Avenue Gallery.  3808 Lancaster Avenue.  artonave.org.  215-662-1074.
Opening: Friday, May 11, from 6 – 9 pm.
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 5 pm or by appointment.

Monsters Under the Bed @ 40th St Artist-in-Residence Program Gallery

The exhibition features a selection of puppets from Martina Plag’s puppetry atelier, “studium-praxis.” This installation specifically focuses on designs built at Martina’s 40th AIR Space studio over the past nine months. Each puppet or set displayed in the exhibition has been designed for a specific performance and to serve a very specific function.  The objects in Monsters Under the Bed are designed by Martina Plag, but most of them were made with the help of talented artists, each bringing their own unique approach to puppet making. Supporting artists include: Pam Raines, Stephen C. Layne. Bill Hanson, Deborah Glassberg, Laureen Griffin, Leah Walton, Lorna Howley, Leila Ghaznavi, and Cory Palmer.

Free admission. 40th St Artist-in-Residence Gallery, 4007 Chestnut Street.  40streetair.blogspot.com.
Opening: Friday, May 11, from 7-10 p.m.
Gallery Hours: May 18th & 25th, 3-7 p.m., or by appointment.

– Emma Eisenberg

Here’s an assortment of events taking place in the neighborhood this weekend (May 3-6). For more events, visit our “Happenings” section.

• Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 4pm – “MAYA 2012: Lords of Time” Exhibition Opening Celebration, Penn Museum (3260 South Street)

This is one of the biggest and most anticipated exhibitions of the year. The opening celebration features Maya music and dance, arts and crafts and cultural traditions from Mexico and Central America. All celebration activities are open to the public with MAYA 2012 tickets or with general admission to the Penn Museum. Click here for more information on opening weekend programs.

•  Sunday, noon – 4pm – Dock Street BIG Bottle Release Party, Dock Street Brewery (50th & Baltimore)

Dock Street Brewery celebrates the release of an array of limited, naturally-carbonated beers in 750ml Champagne format. Only 12 cases will be released and available for sale on Sunday. Apart from the beer, there will be live music by Shakey Lyman (classic old school blues) and Dock Street will be preparing slices of pizza all afternoon. For more information, visit this page.

• Friday & Saturday, 10am – 3pm – Philadelphia Children’s Festival, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (3680 Walnut Street)

The 28th annual Philadelphia International Children’s Festival features family-friendly music, theatre and dance performances, as well as a host of fun and interactive activities in the Fun Zone on the Outdoor Plaza including crafts, face painting, jugglers and more. Individual tickets are $10 and include access to the Fun Zone. For more information on the shows and to buy tickets, click here.

• Thursday, Friday & Saturday – 8pm – The Tempest; Saturday – 1pm – Kid Curio and The Improv Avengers, Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Ave)

Curio Theatre presents shows for adults and children alike this weekend. The second week of Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins tonight at 8 p.m. and on Saturday bring your little ones to Kid Curio, an interactive show where kids don’t just come and watch the show, but are part of the action. Tickets for both shows are available here.