Art space
John and Glenn Ketner of Rowan Investments Inc. are so pleased with artists’ response to their warehouse-turned-studios on North Lee Street, they are making another 3,000 square feet available for more artists.
The space is located between the current Rail Walk Studios and Gallery and Cascade Sculpture. It connects to Rail Walk through double doors and has its own front and back entrances. The space is under renovation and should be ready for the first artists to move in by the end of summer.
The rent begins at $200 a month, depending on size requirements of the artist or art group. Artists may add dividers and decor of their choosing and may use their part as studio or for exhibit space or both.
Rail Walk Studios opened in September 2006 and is home to four artists: Jimmy Alston, Norma Velasquez Frink, Annette Hall and Marietta Smith. It is open to the public on Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and other days with varying hours and by appointment. The group plans to add more public hours as more artists are added.
Interested artists should call 704-431-8964 to schedule a time to visit Rail Walk and see the new area. Rail Walk Studios and Gallery is at 409 N. Lee St.
Art shows
CONCORD ó Shows by two North Carolina artists are opening this week at the Cabarrus Arts Council Galleries.
“Plastipressionisms” by David Edgar and “Illustrations” by Walter Stanford will be shown through Aug. 17.
Edgar, an associate professor of art at UNC-Charlotte, uses plastic found objects, such as detergent bottles and bottle caps, to create sculptures. He has a varied background, including several years as art department chair at Ashland University in Ohio, director of the Crealde School of Art in Winter Park, Fla., and work as a production artist on EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Tokyo.
He holds an MFA in sculpture from the Cranbook Academy of Art in Michigan and a BFA in sculpture from the Minneapolis School of Art and Design. An exhibiting sculptor since 1975, his work is found in corporate, institutional and private collections.
“Plastipressionisms” will be shown in the arts council’s Gallery C. For more information, visit his Web site: www.shadetree studiosonline.net.
Stanford, a Kannapolis graphic commercial artist, will display original works of art as well as the commercial project each ultimately became, such as a CD cover or magazine illustration. An East Carolina University graduate, Stanford spent the first 13 years of his professional career as a freelance illustrator, specializing in editorial and imaginative pastel renderings for such publications as Entrepreneur Magazine and The Chicago Tribune.
In 2000, he joined an advertising agency and added the computer to his list of tools as he designed corporate identity materials and trade show graphics for a variety of clients. Earlier this year, he formed his own company which provides creative services to the advertising industry and also allows him to pursue fine art as a regular part of his business.
For more information, visit his Web site: www.walter stanford.com.
The arts council galleries will also open the annual juried show for advanced high school and college arts students, “Raw Talent II,” on July 23. A collection of woodcrafted works by last year’s winner, Michael Poorman, and “Whimsical Sculptures” by Raleigh artist Joel Haas also will be featured.
In conjunction with his show and Raw Talent II, Stanford will present a gallery talk, “So You Want to Be a Professional Artist” at 7 p.m.Tuesday, Aug. 7. He will show a slideshow highlighting his illustration career and discuss methods to acquire clients and work. He also will focus on steps young artists can take to put themselves in position to use their skills in a career.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.
For more information, call 704-920-ARTS or visit www.cabarrusartscouncil.org.
Fisher Street tour
Salisbury-based band Fisher Street is in the midst of their summer tour, playing shows throughout the month of July in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.
The band is composed of five musicians: Justin Dionne, vocals and guitar; Eric Finland, keyboards; Jennie Brooks, drums; Therron Causey, saxophone; Dan Hazard, bass guitar. The band’s tour is to help promote their debut EP, “In the Background of the World,” which was released in February.
The band took June off while Dionne attended summer school at Catawba College and Finland fulfilled an internship. June was not a total break from performing though: Dionne and Brooks performed for several benefits for the American Cancer Society, and Dionne also performed with the Salisbury Symphony at their summer Pops at the Post concert.
The band kicked off their tour July 6 at The Evening Muse in the NoDa area of Charlotte during the gallery crawl. Following is a schedule of remaining performances this month:
July 12: The Cowboy Caf (with Buster Brown) Arlington, Va.; July 14: Quiet Waters State Park, Annapolis, Md.; July 15: Ragtime, Arlington, Va.; July 17: Bangkok Blues (with Buster Brown) Falls Church, Va.; July 20: Club Triangle, High Point; July 25: The Root Bar (with Ian Heikel) Asheville; July 26: The Vintage Porter (with Ian Heikel and Clay Dies Young), Salisbury; July 31: The Cave (with Jeremy Messersmith) Chapel Hill.
For more information, visit www.fisherstreetband.com or www.myspace.com/fisherstreet band.
Music at Reynolda
WINSTON-SALEM ó For the second year, Reynolda House Museum of American Art will host the Eastern Music Festival in two Sunday afternoon performances.
This is the 46th season for this nationally recognized festival offering innovative programming and a famous summer training institute.
The first performance will be 3 p.m., July 15. The Eastern Chamber Players will play a program including music by Debussy, Copland and Tchaikovsky.
The following Sunday, July 22, 3 p.m., students from the EMF Piano Program will take part in a Young Artist Recital.
These two concerts will feature music faculty and students from all over the United States and the world in solo and chamber performances.
Admission to each concert is $16; $13 for members and students.
For information and to purchase tickets to the July 15 and July 22 concerts, call 336-758-5150.
Cosmic Collisions
The Margaret C. Woodson Planetarium at Horizons Unlimited presents “Cosmic Collisions” 5 p.m. July 21.
Stars, planets, and galaxies are always in motion, and since gravity pulls them together, they collide.
Using advanced simulation and imaging technology, this program takes you far back in time, way into the future and deep into space to witness the story of cosmic collisions.
Guests should park and enter in the back of the building accessible from Lilly Avenue. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.
Admission is $2 per person over 3.
For information, contact Horizons Unlimited at 704-639-3004 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Made in America
NEW YORK ó Naxos has released the first commercial recording of composer Joan Tower’s “Made in America,” featuring the Nashville Symphony conducted by their Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin.
The CD, distributed in the United States and Canada by Naxos of America, also features Tower’s “Tambor” and “Concerto for Orchestra.”
Joan Tower’s work is part of the groundbreaking Ford Made in America program, the largest orchestral commissioning consortium in the country’s history, which involved 65 American orchestras. The Salisbury Symphony was one of the orchestras that took part, performing the work in 2006.
For more information on Ford Made in America, visit www.fordmadeinamerica.org.