Arts Month Kick-Off Celebration!

Save the date! October is National Arts & Humanities Month, and to get it started in high style, the City of El Cerrito Arts & Culture Commission is sponsoring a free Arts Month Kick-Off Celebration on Saturday October 1st from 2 to 5 pm at the El Cerrito Community Center,  7007 Moeser Lane.

ACT ONE  …. Cast members of the Contra Costa Civic Theatre’s fall production of “My Fair Lady” sing a medley of beloved songs from the classic Lerner and Loewe musical.

ACT TWO … Chinese Traditional Dance and Folk Dance – Ah-Lan Dance Studio presents an exciting dance and arts performance by students of Ah-Lan, who has been teaching Chinese dance, ballet, and modern dance in El Cerrito and Albany for over 15 years. Students will perform a wide variety of cultural forms, including Tibetan, Mongolian, Uighur, and traditional Tai-Chi dance and Han dance.

And (drum roll please) … ACT THREE … guaranteed to get you out of your chair onto the dance floor, Guarandinga plays original, high energy music propelled by Afro-Caribbean beats from the central coast of Venezuela.

Perfectly blended with gritty East Bay funk that runs deep from Oakland to Richmond, Guarandinga’s unique take on Latin Afro Pop makes this band’s original music provocative and infectious!

But wait, there’s more! El Cerrito’s first Poet Laureate Maw Shein Win reads from her new chapbook on Nomadic Press, Score and Bone, accompanied by El Cerrito musicians Dan Plonsey and Thomas Scandura.

Throughout the Celebration “Recycling Queen” origami artist Nga Trinh will teach kids and adults how to fold a Samurai Hat, a Glider, a fan, and more, using recycled paper.

And actor George McRae will get us in the mood for Halloween with a staged reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.

Local arts and cultural groups will have information about their ongoing programs. All performances and activities are free, and local gourmet bakery EncoreCake will provide their delicious and artistically decorated cupcakes!

Check out the list of arts and cultural events, film showings, performances and exhibits in October in El Cerrito on the City of El Cerrito Arts & Culture Commission’s Arts Month web page.

Do you have an arts event that’ll take place in El Cerrito during October? Or do you want to get involved with or volunteer to help out at the Kick-Off Celebration? Call City staff liaison Suzanne Iarla at 510.215-4318.

Arts Day Festival in El Cerrito

Save the date! October is National Arts & Humanities Month, and to celebrate, the El Cerrito Arts & Culture Commission is sponsoring a free Arts Day Festival on Saturday October 17th from 1 pm to 5 pm at El Cerrito City Hall, 10890 San Pablo Ave. We’ve packed the day with a slew of fun indoor/outdoor activities for kids (of all ages) and adults.

The final schedule is here!

“The Puppet Circus” shows at 2 pm & 4 pm;
Les Blank short films at 2 pm;
Poetry reading with Kirk Lumpkin at 4 pm;
Artist’s talk with Deb Danziger at 3:30 pm / “Beyond & Below” exhibit by Deb Danziger – all day;
Photography workshop with Dale Mead at 2:30 pm, repeated at 4 pm (bring your own camera or smartphone);
Popular light classical music (string trio) at 1:30 pm;
JCT Trio (chamber music) at 3 pm;
The Del Mars (surf music) – all day;
Up-cycling craft activity – all day;
Chalk art activity – all day;
El Cerrito Historical Society: History Room Open – all day

Who can resist a puppet show by the Puppet Company of Children’s Fairyland (2 to 2:30 pm & 4 to 4:30 pm), the chance to get down and make chalk art on the sidewalk, and croonin’ surf music by the Del Mars (1 to 1:30; 3:30 to 4; 4:30 to 5 pm).

And there’s more! Film shorts by Les Blank, a poetry reading by Kirk Lumpkin, street photography workshops, light classical music by string trio Florian Altvater,violin, Milda Martisius, viola, and  Andrew Ritchie, cello, and chamber music by the JCT Trio.

Painter, muralist and art teacher Deb Danziger will give an artist’s talk from 3:30 to 4 pm about her solo exhibition in the City Hall Gallery, entitled Beyond & Below.

Jellyfish in Eagle Nebula.  Oil on Canvas, 36″x 12″.  © Deb Danziger

Visit me all day at our creative reuse “Make ‘n Take” booth, where we’ll get crafty turning discarded or well-loved but no longer wanted fabric, books, ephemera and scads of other fun stuff into unique treasures. If you missed the ACC booth at the July 4th Festival, or if you came by and loved it, here’s another chance for you to make stickers, magnets, bookmarks, collage masterpieces, garlands, mail art, and much more. Also, free books while they last!

Local arts and cultural groups with exhibits at the Festival will include El Cerrito’s Playland Not-At-The-Beach, The Arts & Culture Commission of Contra Costa County, the El Cerrito Historical Society, and the Shadi Holiday Display Committee.

All performances and activities are free, and there’s free parking across the street in the DMV lot. For sustenance while you’re enjoying the Festival, two excellent local companies will provide food for purchase. WhipOut! Food Truck has a great variety of American Food, and local gourmet bakery Encorecake will have their delicious cupcakes for snacking and dessert.

Want to get involved with or volunteer to help out at the Arts Day Festival? Or are you hosting an arts event, performance or exhibit in October in El Cerrito that you’d like to have included on the Arts Month web page? Other questions? Call Suzanne Iarla at 510-215-4318

El Cerrito Arts Month pARTy!

What a blast! We had a fantastic time last night at the Arts Month pARTy put on at El Cerrito City Hall by the City and the Arts and Culture Commission. There was something for everyone. At one end of the hall, face painters and body artists extraordinaire Mike and Vickie Resso were busy from the moment they set up until the end of the evening, adorning faces and arms of kids and adults alike. Perhaps I’m biased, but this was my favorite, a Maori design tattoo which Mike painted on George’s face:

El Cerrito Arts and Culture Commission Chair Joyce Hawley wore her orange face-paint proudly, in honor of Halloween and the Giants. Vickie Resso did a wonderful job:

Outside City Hall, the highlight of the evening was the installation of the first of 12 kinetic abstract copper sculptures by artists Jonathan Russell and Saori Ide. The wind sculptures were commissioned by the City for the San Pablo Avenue Public Art Project. Fabrication is still underway, with installation expected to be completed by early 2013.

Berkeley artists Russell and Ide spoke briefly about the project.

The Time Out Quartet provided lively jazz music in the room just outside the City Council chambers, which offered great acoustics.

Everyone had a blast posing with the crazy props, wigs, and costumes that photographers Shelly and Scott, of Photography for Good, brought along. Getting to take home the zany and fun photos that they printed out on the spot was a real treat.
Upstairs, in the City Hall Gallery Space, people were fascinated by the current exhibit of Oakland-based artist Shelley Gardner’s sculptures, which are made of a screen/wire armature that she covers with fabric, threads and dried natural materials.

Okay, one last photo showing face painters Mike and Vickie Resso working on two more happy subjects.