Children’s, youth choruses seek singers
Children and teenagers are invited to join the Durango Children’s Chorale (ages 7 to 11) and Durango Youth Chorus (ages 12 to 17) under the direction of artistic director and conductor Amy Barrett.
No audition is required. The Durango Children’s Chorale rehearses from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, and the youth chorus rehearses from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Tuesdays beginning Sept. 1.
To preregister or for more information, email Robin Randolph at rbrandolph57@gmail.com or call 946-9459.
Plein air painting demonstration offered
Landscape artist J. Milton “Milt” Beens will serve as Mesa Verde National Park’s artist in residence from Monday to Sept. 13.
Beens will offer a free demonstration of plein air painting for the public from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sept. 10 on the back porch of the chief ranger’s office, located next door to the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum in Mesa Verde National Park.
Beens will share his approach and techniques for painting on location. No reservations are necessary.
A Durango resident, Beens has painted for more than 50 years, drawing inspiration from the Southwestern landscape both in his pottery and his landscape paintings. In recent years, Beens has focused on oil painting and has received numerous awards and honors.
Mesa Verde’s artist in residence program offers professional writers, composers and visual and performing artists the opportunity to pursue their particular artforms while being surrounded by the architecture of the Ancestral Pueblo people and the natural landscape of the park.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/meve/supportyourpark/artists_in_residence.htm or www.beenspottery.com.
20 bands to play at iAM Music Fest
iAM Music Inc., a community-based nonprofit, will host the iAM Music Fest on Sept. 11-12.
Musicians, performing artists and poets will come together to celebrate music, dance, performance and poetry to raise money for the nonprofit. More than 20 bands will perform on eight stages to raise money for scholarships for mentorship and music lessons and to bring music into the schools.
A full lineup of bands will perform on Main Avenue starting at 8 p.m. Sept. 11 and from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sept. 12. Headliners include Hello Dollface; Flobots; The Sugarthieves; Copper & Congress; Eldergrown; Tyler Spencer; and House of Stairs. Other entertainment includes The Cannondolls, Carute Roma, Afrobeatniks, Andre Rodriguez, Imaginario aerialists, poetry, spoken word and dance burlesque aerial performances.
For more information, visit www.iammusicfest.com. Tickets will be available at the door.
Snowdown poster to be unveiled
The Snowdown board of directors announced the 38th annual premier winter celebration, “Snowdown, Back to the Eighties.” A kick-off and poster-unveiling party will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Sept. 23 at The Lost Dog Bar & Grill, 1150 Main Ave.
Attendees will be the first to see the official 2016 event poster and will have a chance to meet the artist, Brandon Walter. There will be opportunities to sign up to volunteer, along with food and a cash bar.
For more information, call Linda Brockway at 442-4025; email events@snowdown.org; call Marlene Gebhardt at 382-0518; email info@snowdown.org; or visit www.snowdown.org.
Environmentalist, author to give lecture
As part of the annual members’ exhibit “The Natural World: a Fragile Harmony,” the Durango Arts Center will present “Courageous Carnivores and Compromised Conservationists,” a lecture by Michael Soulé, environmentalist, conservation biologist, author and retired professor emeritus of environmental studies at University of California Santa Cruz on Thursday.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for a reception with information from San Juan Citizens Alliance, La Plata Open Space Conservancy, La Plata Electric Association Solar Initiatives, Green Business Roundtable Partners, Conservation Colorado, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Healthy Community Food Systems and small, organic growers. Maria’s Bookshop will offer selected titles for sale.
The lecture will begin at 6:30 p.m., when Soulé will be introduced by Bruce Baizel of Earthworks, an oil and gas accountability and advisory firm. Baizel also is the co-founder of Round River Conservation Studies and a lawyer and writer.
Tickets are on sale for $10 at the Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
For more information, visit www.DurangoArts.org.
Auditions open for play festival
The Durango Arts Center will host open auditions for the upcoming 10-Minute Play Festival from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday and from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Anyone 16 or older is invited to audition for roles in the winning plays of the 2015 10-Minute Play Contest. No preparation or experience is necessary. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 -10 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 11.
For more information, call 259-2606, ext. 17, or visit www.DurangoArts.org.
Printmaker to present exhibit, workshop
Michigan artist Andrew Jagniecki will exhibit “Earth, Water, Sky,” a collection of prints emphasizing the process of relief printmaking, from Thursday to Oct. 31. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, during the First Thursdays Art Walk, in the upstairs Art Library at the Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
This exhibit will feature a collection of woodblock, etching and linoleum reduction prints available for sale.
Jagniecki also will teach a color-reduction linoleum printmaking workshop Sept. 26-27 at the Durango Arts Center. Participants will draw and carve original images onto linoleum blocks several times to print multiple layers of color, building from light to dark and allowing each layer to influence the tone of colors.
Participants will use acrylic inks and a hand-pulled method of printing with hand tools. The workshop is $195 for center members and $225 for nonmembers.
For more information, visit www.durangoarts.org.
Herald Staff
