The Commonspace > October 2005 > It's All Happening

Saturday, October 8
Carnivale d'Art
Touhill Performing Arts Center on UMSL campus, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd.
$5-$11, all ages, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., 314-961-9772, www.carnivaledart.com

Ah, the plight of the "mid-sized arts" organization: not so scrappy and upstart to be everyone's favorite underdog (thereby attracting the grassroots attention they might) but not rollin' in the big-bucks endowments of the Artistic and Cultural Powers That Be. Happily, St. Louis' midsized arts organizations (from Piwacket Theatre for Children and Compton Heights Concert Band to Young Audiences and That Uppity Theatre Company) have figured out that in this case, a rising tide might lift all boats, if they all links arms and hold on tight. Today's a chance to sample from all these groups in one convenient location, and thereby help your dollars and attention go further. Dance, theater, music and more await you.

Saturday, October 15
Festival: "Artica: Big River, Big Dreams"
Start at base of Arch steps for parade; festival site at north end of Lenore K. Sullivan Blvd. on riverfront
Free, all ages, 1 p.m. parade/2:30 p .m. festival start, 314-752-9528, artica2005@aol.com

Artica's back, and we could tell you all about it, but why not just read the inside scoop from co-founder Nita Turnage?

Thursday, October 20
Film: "No Man's Land"
Winifred Moore Auditorium at Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood
Free admission, 7 p.m., 314-968-7487, www.webster.edu/filmseries.html

waving white flags in No Man's Land First, the WiniMoore has, bar none, the cushiest theatre seats in town, so you should come enjoy those for their own glory. However, tonight's screening (sponsored by Focus St. Louis) has particular relevance for our city as a site of many relocated Serbs and Bosnians: the story (a 2001 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film) focuses on a Bosnian and a Serbian soldier who find themselves trapped together in a wartime trench. Ten years later, it should be interesting to see how much (if at all) things have changed.

Friday, October 21
Forum: "Working Class Media & Democracy"
Friends Meeting House, 1001 Park
$15, all ages, 7 p.m., 314-776-7732, tonypec@pww.org

Media conglomeration and corporatization are facts of life in today's landscape, but there are still plenty of alternative outlets available for folks willing to seek them out...and support them. Tonight's forum, moderated by State Representative Jeanette Mott Oxford, features Lizz Brown from WGNU, Joel Wendland from Political Affairs and Johnson Lancaster from the Belleville News Democrat.

Friday, October 21-Sunday, October 23
Theater: "Trois Jeux Corts"
Tin Ceiling Theatre, 3159 Cherokee (@ Compton)
$8, 8 p.m. all nights, 314-351-6652, tinceiling@gmail.com

This is a practically irresistible come-on, from some publicity materials circulating about the latest outing for the innovative Tin Ceiling group: "If you're wondering why St. Louis theatre doesn't usually contain advice-giving talking furniture, basement-dwelling superheroes or ghosttown inhabitants named Chicken, then put your minds at ease!" Yeah, we pretty much were just wondering that when we heard of this show, bringing together three original, locally penned one-act plays, including "All Trains West Have Passed" by Robert Strasser, "Ruby, Arizona" by Robin Garrels and "Sequential Heart" by Jason Lauderdale. Get out and support something local, whydontcha?

Saturday, October 22
Rock'n'Roll Craft Show
Junk Junkie, 6933 Hampton
Free admission, all ages, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., www.rocknrollcraftshow.com

Some things just come along and make you happy by their mere existence: this is such a thing. A bunch of local artisan/craftitioner types got together, recruited some musician/banderiffic types, and voila! A DIY dream craft show was born! The goods will be set up all fancy-like, by department (not just sequestered by artist), so that you can move about and see things in different settings than you might be used to at the typical boothed fair. Check the website for a current lineup of artists and bands participating. Rawk! Shop! Need we mention this is just in time for early holiday gifting?

Saturday, October 22
Bus Tour: St. Louis Gallery Scene
Departs from Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Dr. in Forest Park
$65 (includes lunch), all ages, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., 314-655-5298, www.slam.org

Local art scenestress, musician and gal-about-town is your tour guide for this voyage out into the world of St. Louis art galleries, from the long-established to the just-emerging. Tour participants will have the opportunity along the route to talk with the curators and artists whose work is contributing to a vital gallery culture in town.

Sunday, October 23
Film: "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision"
Auditorium of the Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Dr. in Forest Park
$5, 3 p.m., 314-721-0072, www.slam.org

It's hard for folks of my age to remember the controversy that surrounded the design and building of the Vietnam Wall (which was dedicated in 1982: I was nine). But imagine you're a 21-year-old architecture student whose proposal has won a massive design competition to commemorate one of the most divisive moments in our nation's history. That's Maya Lin. This documentary provides a rare glimpse into the creative process of the young artist as well as a compelling summation of the controversy and debate that were sparked all over again by the monument.

Thursday, October 27
Folk School of St. Louis Showcase
Schlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust
$5 suggested donation, all ages, 7-10 p.m., www.folk-school.com

Sometimes we all feel like creatures out of time: whether you're convinced you are inhabited by the spirit of Dorothy Parker, a 1930s gin-runner, a bobby-soxer or ancient African royalty, the modern way of life can be a bit too much at times. Lucky for those who merely want to play old-time instruments the old-timey way (the hammered dulcimer, banjo, finger-picked bluegrass and so on): for them, there's a gathering place called the Folk School of St. Louis. Classes and jam sessions happen there on the big front porch regularly, and tonight's a chance for you to hear the fruits of their labors as well as help out the nonprofit in continuing its mission of education and outreach. Performers at the show include current staff and students, as well as local musicians who are friends of the school.

Friday, October 28
Film: "The Cat and the Canary"
Auditorium of the Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Dr. in Forest Park
$5, 7 p.m., 314-655-5299, www.slam.org

An excellent warm-up for All Hallows' Eve, this classic silent film exploits the "creepy old man/haunted house" genre, telling the story of a greedy family who conspire to drive a wealthy, elderly relative to his death. (Take the folks! Really!) New Music Circle will provide appropriately creepy live musical accompaniment to the 1927, Paul Leni-directed flick.

Friday, October 28
Lecture: Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic for the New York Times
Contemporary Art Museum-St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd.
$10, all ages, 7 p.m., 314-535-0770 (reservations required), www.contemporarystl.org

Michael Kimmelman The recent arrival of CAMSTL (and its courtyard-sharing sister institution, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts) has dramatically raised the profile of the Lou on the national art radar (we believe it's housed deep inside a mountain in the middle of Manhattan): further proof positive, tonight's appearance by Michael Kimmelman. The Times critic will offer his thoughts on the contemporary art world and engage in some Q&A with the audience. Arty types will be out in force, no doubt, basking in the glow.

Saturday, October 29
Film: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar
$6.50, midnight, 314-995-6270, www.landmarktheatres.com

Let's do the time-warp again, folks...Rocky Horror returns to the big screen, closing out this year's "Reel Late" midnight movie line-up. Enjoy Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick's performances before they were all, you know, "big," and Meat Loaf when he seemed more of a natural fit than anything he's done since (everything being subjective, of course). Naturally, since this is 2005, The Man has weighed in and decreed "no outside props; prop bags available." Something about that stinks of filthy commerce to us, but whatever.

BONUS NOVEMBER EVENTS!
(in the unlikely event the November issue isn't 100% prompt in its publication...)

Wednesday, November 2
Forum: "Green Visions of Education"
Carpenter Branch Library, 3309 S. Grand
Free, 7 p.m., all ages, 314-727-8554, www.gateway-greens.org

Okay, smarty-pants: if you could remake the education system, where would you start? Got any actual ideas for how to change schools from pre-school to university level? This forum, sponsored by the Gateway Green Alliance and the Universal African Peoples Organization as part of their "Black & Green Wednesday" series, aims to provide some answers to those questions from an anti-oppression perspective. Panelists include Don Fitz from the MO Green Party and Fundi Sanyika Anwisye from Hofi Ni Kwenu Academy — Douglass Institute.

Thursday, November 3
Poetry: Readings @ Schlafly Tap Room
Schlafly Tap Room (you read the name, right?), 2100 Locust, upstairs in the Club Room
Free admission, all ages, aaron@belz.net

Turns out Aaron Belz isn't just a generous sponsor of the fabulous talk show "Free Candy, with Amanda & Julia!," but he also has been organizing this fantastic reading series at various hip spots around town for the last few years, part of his declared mission to bring poetry out of the safe sanctuaries in which we like to keep it cloistered away, and into the hurly-burly of real life. What's more real-life that poetry in a bar? It's well in keeping with the poetic tradition. Tonight's program is something like "Chicago, South," as all four poets (Garin Cycholl, Chris Glomski, Chuck Stebelton and William Allegrezza) hail from Chicagoland and are bringing their talents so far downstate they're actually in a neighboring state. The beer is tasty and the ambience warm.

Sunday, November 7
Film: "Rivers and Tides, Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time"
Auditorium of the Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Dr. in Forest Park
$5, 3 p.m., 314-721-0072, www.slam.org

Wow. If you haven't seen this stunning portrayal of artist Andy Goldsworthy, a Scottish sculptor possessed of the patience of Job, you are in for a treat. Set aside your notions of what watching an artist work might be like: Goldsworthy takes as his canvas the whole of the natural world, and his materials of choice include twigs, stones and ice. Yes, ice, leading to some awfully temporary installations when the temperatures warm up. "How is this art?" some among you (I'm lookin' at you, Dad) might ask. Filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer's reverent sweep of the process and the product may change your mind about that, too. Really. Go see this movie.