The deadline is Thursday, June 1, for entries to Art Melt 2012, the largest multi-media, juried art exhibition in Louisiana. The show is annually presented by Forum 35 and will take place on July 14 at the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St., and also will include appearances by local and regional musicians and performers, an … Continue reading →

The rain was thick the last time, the sky so gray that it blotted out the river. This explains why Jordana Pomeroy kept directing her gaze toward the window. Visitors to the LSU Museum of Art know this window — it overlooks Lafayette Street and offers a full view of the Mississippi River’s glory. That’s … Continue reading →

As it happened, Brian Kelly also was in Baton Rouge Gallery, hanging documentations of his paths that Mary McBride could have measured in inches, yards, miles, even years. But she didn’t. If she did, she didn’t say it. That’s not to say she didn’t notice, either. She’s been keeping tabs on everyone around … Continue reading →

How about this storyline for a film? A dystopian society is the setting, where the ruling class wields power from a vast tower complex within the city, oppressing the working class. And the working class’ labor seems only to benefit the ruling class. Sound familiar? The only thing missing is an annual reaping of children to compete … Continue reading →

Pick a corner, any corner. They’re all good for an old-fashioned stake out. Now, try not to appear too conspicuous. Take in a few exhibit cases in the gallery while the visitors make their way around the room at the West Baton Rouge Museum. You might see some tools used by the ancient inhabitants at Poverty … Continue reading →

The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge has been awarded a prestigious $300,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to fund cultural district planning in the economically challenged Old South Baton Rouge neighborhood that falls between LSU and downtown. The grant will allow the Arts Council and Center for Planning Excellence to collaborate on … Continue reading →

Judi Ann Mason once said that the story was set in the past, present and future. And as confusing as this may seem, Mason’s statement becomes crystal clear at the end of her play Indigo Blues: A Love Story. Yes, there is a twist in this story — a major twist. But the only way to learn what happens is to attend UpStage Theatre’s production of this mix of comedy and drama, which opens Friday, May 18. Continue reading →

The balance is as multi-layered as Demond Matsuo’s work, mixing the up-and-coming with legends, humor with the serious and comparisons of work by the same artist. Take for instance, Matsuo’s 2011 mixed media work “Horae.” It hangs opposite from his work “Icarus IV” in the LSU Student Union Art Gallery, allowing visitors a comparative view of both. Continue reading →

On this day, Charles Barbier had yet to stand back to look at the bigger picture, a picture that tells a story of heroes who passed through Baton Rouge. Real heroes — the kind who served and fought for their country. They were men and women, black and white. Some returned to the capital city; some never … Continue reading →

General auditions will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 20, for New Venture Theatre's production of the Broadway hit musical The Color Purple, at Independence Park Theatre, 7800 Independence Blvd. Call-back auditions will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 22. Rehearsals will begin Wednesday, May 23, and performances will be Thursdays through Sundays, July 19-29. Greg Williams Jr. is the director, … Continue reading →

Tickets are on sale for the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra’s “Mozart on the Lake” concert at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at Chef John Folse’s White Oak Plantation, 17660 George O’Neal Road. The event begins with cocktail hour. The symphony and its conductor and musical director Timothy Muffitt will perform a concert outdoors in … Continue reading →

The majestic chambers of the Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd., will come alive with music and merriment at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 17, as the historic building hosts “The Jewel of the State Gala.” Proceeds will be used to complete a master plan to refurbish the building’s grounds, which were last updated 72 years ago … Continue reading →

The Robert A. Bogan Fire Museum Board of Directors will host a Beer Tasting/Crawfish Boil fundraising event at the Fire Museum in the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge building, 427 Laurel St., from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 19. The event is the first planned by the newly formed Board of Directors to raise funds … Continue reading →

The Southern University Laboratory School Video Production Department’s premiere of its second feature-length movie, Drama High 2: The Senior Year, will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at The Rave Mall of Louisiana 15. Drama High 2: The Senior Year is the sequel to last year’s Drama High: The Movie. The … Continue reading →

Thoughts of kissing Marian the librarian bothered him at first. Oh, not Harold Hill. His mission is to keep Marian off balance until he can con the people of River City into buying his band instruments, then skip town with the money. Well, maybe “con” isn’t an appropriate word. “Sales pitch” is better, because Hill is … Continue reading →

The West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen, will have an opening reception at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 6, for Louisiana’s Top 200!: A Bicentennial Celebration Exhibit. The show runs through July 29. This history exhibit is made up of crowd sourced content revealing ideas collected from hundreds of Louisiana residents about the top 200 people, places, and events that have shaped the character of the state. Continue reading →

The addition of more live music will give the ninth Hot Art, Cool Nights more of a “festival feel,” according to the event’s chairman. The event will be from 6-10 p.m. Friday, May 11. Seventeen of the venues participating in the art hop will feature bands such as the The John Gray Trio and … Continue reading →

The Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, 715 St. Mary Blvd., Lafayette, will present a Louisiana bicentennial celebration of the arts from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 12, when it hosts the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra in consort with its year of Louisiana Art and Artists. Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne will give a … Continue reading →

Arts for All will sponsor tours of three St. Francisville art galleries on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13. Tours will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Birdman Coffee and Books, 5687 Commerce St., St. Francisville. On the day of the tour, tickets will be sold from … Continue reading →

It only happens once a year, and the Claude L. Shaver Theatre in the LSU Music and Dramatic Arts Building will shimmy, groove and shake when students in LSU’s Musical Theatre class take the stage for their annual Singo de Mayo performance. The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 6. Tickets are $15, general admission; $10, … Continue reading →

Fuel prices won’t affect this trip in any way. Just take a seat inside Independence Park Theatre, and let the Baton Rouge Concert Band do the driving. Or flying, because this trip begins in the United States, then makes its way around the world, introducing audience members to Korean folk songs, Armenian dances and … Continue reading →

One hundred and fifty roles, four actors and 39 steps. This isn’t adding up. Wait a minute. The 39 Steps are Alfred Hitchcock’s. Now the equation makes sense. Really, it does. Because all of Hitchcock’s films are known to have a twist, so why should a play based on his 1935 movie The … Continue reading →

The eighth annual Art for Food fundraiser for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank will be 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 3, next to Citizens Bank at Perkins Rowe. Featured artists will be Dennis Hargroder, Sally McConnell and Julie Cornelius. Admission is a $5 donation to the food bank, which will provide complimentary food and … Continue reading →

Baton Rouge Gallery, in partnership with Art21 as part of its Access ’12 initiative, will present one more screening in its series of advance screenings of each episode of the sixth season of Art in the Twenty-First Century, the only primetime national television series focused exclusively on contemporary art. The remaining screening is at 8:30 p.m. … Continue reading →

The Louisiana Sinfonietta, under the direction of Dinos Constantinides, will present its final concert of the 2011-12 season, “20th Century Classics and Music from LSU,” at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 29, in the LSU School of Music Recital Hall, Dalrymple Drive on campus. The program will begin with the masterpiece by Richard Strauss, “String Sextet,” from his … Continue reading →

The iPad in her hands is a wondrous creation, but no matter how high it sits in the technological hierarchy, it will never been able to play the clarinet in her lap. That’s a human thing, making music. And this young clarinet player immediately — and willingly — traded technology for the Wieniawaski “Concert No. 2” … Continue reading →

Each thread is patiently strung, cascading from one side of the Gill Hamilton Gallery to the other, allowing visitors to experience the entire color spectrum. The visitors have been many since Gabriel Dawe’s arrival in the previous week. Some witnessed his installation of the first string, then returned a few days later to see his progress. And … Continue reading →

The Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 River Road S., has extended the exhibit John Clemmer: New and Selected Works to Sunday, May 6. This exhibition celebrates Clemmer’s many contributions to the arts in Louisiana. “John Clemmer has been an icon on the Louisiana art scene,” curator Elizabeth Weinstein said. “We’ve received great … Continue reading →

It’s official — Leslie Decoteau has changed her mind. She’d set her sights on law school after high school graduation, but now she’s looking at a career in business management and marketing. Now, bear in mind that Decoteau is a junior at University High School, so all of this is subject to change. Then again, she’s … Continue reading →

The Louisiana Association of Museums has announced its 2012 award winners who will be honored at the Monday, April 30, annual meeting at the LSU Rural Life Museum. This year’s winners are: Cary Saurage, Heart and Soul Service Award. Michael Robinson, Elizabeth McLundie Bolton award. University of Louisiana … Continue reading →

It’s not that difficult to explain, really. Imagine having Ludwig Van Beethoven pen a composition for your violin-cello-piano trio. Well, that’s what it’s like to have contemporary composer Pat Metheny write for you. Or Paul Schoenfield. Or Mark O’Connor. Or Kenji Bunch. Or Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin. Now, Kapustin didn’t want to do it at first. … Continue reading →

Let’s meet the contestants. First there’s Olive Ostrovsky, whose mother is an ashram in India and whose father is perpetually working late. Next is the unkempt William Barfee, who spells words by writing them out with his “magic foot” method. OK, now where is Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre? Stand up, please. She’s a neat freak who is … Continue reading →

The Associated Women in the Arts’ exhibit Views of the Castle will run through May 28 at Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd. The show features original paintings of the Old State Capitol depicting different views of the buildings and its grounds. For more information, visit the website. On the Internet: … Continue reading →

The LSU Department of Theatre’s Dance Concert 2012, directed by Molly Buchmann, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29, in the Claude L. Shaver Theatre in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building, Dalrymple Drive on campus. The department’s annual Dance Concert features a blend of various styles of dance … Continue reading →

The initial plan was that the choir would sing only two songs preceding High Mass. The visit was special, but even more special to the parishioners of Notre Dame Cathedral was that the bishop would be visiting. This was the Notre Dame de Paris, where Mary Queen of Scots married Francis II of France, where Pope … Continue reading →

Those at the meeting were only a sampling of the 50-plus members of the BR Walls Project, a group of leaders, building owners and artists who started out with a vision of transforming the city’s landscape. That vision is quickly becoming reality as the group edges closer to raising the funds for its … Continue reading →

In celebration of Louisiana’s bicentennial, the Pointe Coupee Historical Society will present an original play based on accounts of Julien Poydras petitioning the United States Congress for Louisiana’s statehood. Poydras: 1812 Overtures will be performed Wednesday through Sunday, April 25-29. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Julien Poydras Center auditorium, … Continue reading →

Southern University’s famed marching band gets a lot of credit for its show-stopping dance steps and magnificent sound. But Director of Bands Lawrence Jackson said the university’s symphonic band will show the public there is a lot more to Southern’s music. Jackson will conduct the Southern University Symphonic Band in its annual Spring Concert at 7 … Continue reading →

The Louisiana Association of Museums will launch its annual conference in Baton Rouge from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, with a special event titled the Heirloom Roadshow at the West Baton Rouge Community Center, 749 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. The fundraiser is designed to provide the public with an opportunity to learn more about … Continue reading →

The third annual Art in April with Champagne! is set for 6-10 p.m. Friday, April 20, in downtown Hammond. The event will feature work by more than two dozen regional artists throughout the downtown strolling area, live music, and a creative, champagne cocktail challenge. Art in April offers exhibits by artists from across … Continue reading →

Ah, the Paramount Theater, where a 10-year-old could feel awfully grown up taking in a Saturday morning movie by himself. Yes, alone with no parental accompaniment. That’s the way it was in Rex Reed’s Baton Rouge, where a kid could board a bus in Villa Del Rey subdivision, ride to the Paramount on the corner of … Continue reading →

Dawn Abraham has her favorites. Tom Schedler and Roland Dartez have theirs. And Florent Hardy simply summed it up with a single phrase. “It’s a patchwork of experiences,” he said. Hardy is the state archivist. Schedler is the secretary of state, and Dartez is the executive director of the Police Jury Association. And all gathered … Continue reading →

Kenneth Fulton, longtime choral director of the LSU School of Music who is retiring this year, will make his farewell conducting appearance when the LSU A Cappella Choir performs with the LSU Symphony Orchestra at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in the LSU Student Union Theater, Raphael Semmes Drive on campus. For this program, Fulton chose … Continue reading →

Tickets are on sale for Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s spring concert From This Pointe On ..., set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at the Baton Rouge River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, 275 St. Louis St. The concert will feature Act II of Swan Lake, three contemporary company premieres and the 2007 crowd favorite, “Link/Unlink.” Baton Rouge native Helen Daigle, first soloist in the Louisville Ballet, will dance the role of Odette in the Swan Lake excerpt. Continue reading →

You don’t have to be an opera fan to hum “Vesti la giubba.” What? Never heard of it, you say? Well, maybe you haven’t been paying attention to the latest Taco Bell commercial. Ah yes, now it’s coming back to you, the song with which you hum along while the commercial touts the triple steak stack. Continue reading →