Weekend Top 6 Picks for July 16th and 17th.

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Saturday July 16, 2016

4pm to 8pm Free. Cruisin’ Downtown DeLand Car Show! East Indiana Ave Downtown DeLand, Deland FL. Classic cars and rods.  Live DJ, giveaways, shopping & dining. Fun for the family! Every 3rd Saturday night! INFO: & for showing your car 386-738-0649

8pm to 10pm Free. The Orlando Shuffle. Beardall Senior Center, 800 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, FL. The Orlando Shuffle is always free, family-friendly, and fun. It takes place the 1st and 3rd Saturdays every month. Come play, learn, or just hangout 7 to 9 p.m. at the Beardall Courts, at 800 South Delaney Avenue between Orange and Delaney Avenues. Retro attire is encouraged.

10pm to Midnight Free. #Otown Get Down. St. Matthew’s Tavern at the Orlando Beer Garden 1300 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida. Good people of Earth, hello and welcome to #OTownGetDown!

This is a gathering of local Artists and Entertainers who will be donating their time and talents for #PulseNightClub.

All proceeds from the ART AUCTION and RAFFLE will be given to Pulse Nightclub and the renovation of their establishment.

This is a FREE EVENT. All that we ask is for you to enter the auction and raffle!

Sounds by:

Dizzlephunk

Featured Artists:

Rip Halsi

Chris Tobar Rodriguez

Alexander Ray Watkins Jr.

Edward Seymour II

Frankie Messina / #ApartmentE

Bernard Cruz

German Lemus

Performances by:

Eturn Azar Javaheri

Kaleigh Baker

Phraydoe Peans

SETGANG SOUTH

JaWaan LaRue

Raffle donators:

Orlando Weekly

Red Bull

Juice Bike Share

KŪLT

We The Seeds

Sunday July 17, 2016

10pm to 4pm Free. Lake Eola Farmers Market. South East section of Lake Eola Park, North Eola Drive, Orlando, FL. Weekly.

Noon to 3pm Free. Music at the Casa. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, North Park Avenue, Winter Park, FL. Alborea Dances Flamenco  Alborea Dances is a multicultural Entertainment Dance Company, created and directed by Jenny and Ernesto Caballero, who have been dedicated to the world of dance for more than 20 years.

They have combined their experiences as dance educators, performers, choreographers and events coordinators, to present dances from Spain, Bolivia and Middle Eastern countries.

After many years of performing in International festivals and important venues around South America, Europe and the United States, life brought them to Florida to delight their audiences on the stages of Universal Studios, Sea World, Walt Disney World, Resorts, Hotels and Conventions.

Also, they have been featured on The Travel Channel’s Great Hotels Series and Orange County TV’s “Central Florida’s World of Dance” series.

2pm to 4pm. Free. Yoga. North East section of Lake Eola Park, Near Red Pagoda 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, FL. Weekly.

Beartoe at Love by Design in the Milk District.

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Love by Design held in the Milk District, (2424 E Robinson St, Orlando, FL) was an all-day celebration of The City Beautiful’s talent, diversity and resilience. Local artists and designers will donate original work for sale and auction. Food and entertainment will be provided by local musicians and food trucks. Proceeds will benefit OneOrlando, the fund formed by the mayor’s office to respond to the needs of our community in the wake of the Pulse Tragedy.

Beartoe was the second band to get on stage a fly I arrived. It was a scorcher with the limited audience sitting under a tent in a parking lot. I was devouring a “Thor” from the Swedish Food Truck. A Thor, is basically a hotdog in a wrap surrounded by mashed potatoes and those crunchiest I usually only experience on Thanksgiving on top of green beans. It was a very filling meal washed down by a pear cider. It felt good knowing that proceeds would go to OneOrlando.

 Beartoe has been writing, performing and touring from The Historical
DeLand florida for over 10 years. With a 4 piece outfit they bring soul,
blues, country and folk together in a powerful way. They are very
quickly becoming recognized as a Florida staple. Look for them on the festival circuits and around
Florida. This is an act you don’t want to miss.

Inspiration for the World Mural Pulse Orlando.

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I went to The Falcon (819 E Washington St, Orlando, Florida) to meet International Mural Artist Michael Pilato and learn about ways to be involved in the new large-scale Pulse Orlando Mural being created in honor of the 49 souls.

Michael’s talent for painting and passion for transforming the grief-experience into a creation of beauty, inspiration and healing has now led him to Orlando. He gave a brief presentation about his (and his painting partner Yuriy Karabash) unique murals Titled Inspiration soon to be a global movement. Michael explained the creative process in which our entire community will be involved. Local artists of all styles are needed!

Michael’s deep desire to connect with human spirit inspires his murals to transform beyond his own brush. The entire Orlando community is invited and encouraged to participate in the creation of what will be the largest public art display of Remembrance, Healing, Acceptance, Beauty and LOVE, yet!!

All who are wanting to be a part of this endeavor are encouraged to attend. No idea, paintbrush, pencil, crayon or hand print is too small…

This is your art.
This is our voice.
This is Orlando’s mural.

Michael was at my 49 portraits event. He was inspired by the varieties of styles seen that night. the Orlando more is still in a state of flux but there is huge support to make this project a reality. H will like take the form of many murals which can also be experienced interactively. If a cell phone is pointed at the mural, software will cause a square to pop up over certain faces on the wall. Interactive media then will tell more of a person’s story. Amazingly, when I entered the Falcon,  Michael asked me to be on the board for this project.

There are many layer of meaning behind Michael’s murals. He got choked up a he spoke about his daughter, who he was very close to. She died unexpected at the tender age of 19. After her death, a red tailed hawk visited Michael, and he painted the hawk for her in murals. She appears in several places in recent murals, as a flower, and her childhood picture appear behind another larger portrait. A tattoo of d falcon on Michael’s wrist remind him of his daughter as he paints. Grief is transformed it beauty. The Orlando mural faces the monumental task of transforming hate into love. I will help in any way I can with this project while continuing my every day sketches try it to understand I tragedy. It is important to note that artists who assist with the mural will be paid. Michael is searching for various styles an each artist is given a panel, or panels to work on in the air conditioned comfort of their own studios. The ideas are still taking form.

Three little girls at the meeting handed out paper hearts with crayon rainbows on them.

Ragtime at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

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I went to a dress rehearsal for Ragtime the Musical at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts presented by Encore! Cast Performing Arts. Entering through the stage door I got lost in the maze of backstage hallways and found myself backstage for Pecha Kucha. The whole audience was holding up glow sticks while Bob Kodzis stood on stage inspiring them to follow their dreams. What an amazing sketch opportunity.  I had gone to the wrong theater and so had to backtrack. Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty. The music includes marches, cakewalks, gospel and ragtime. Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States in the early 20th century: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem
musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the
matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia.

Coalhouse Walker Jr. dreamed of finding his lost love Sarah. When he discovers she is living with a rich white family in New Rochelle, he immediately goes to the home. Sarah refuses to see him. Despite this, he returns each week to play Ragtime on the family piano in hopes that someday she will come down to see him. Hearing Coalhouse’s music, Sarah finally descends to forgive him, and the lovers were joyfully reunited.

 The musical includes cameos by many of New York City’s historical greats, like Houdini an JP Morgan. The rich and poor mingle in the vast city. Tateh , a Jewish immigrant sells paper cut out silhouette to scrape by with his young daughter. One day he creates a stack of silhouettes, that when flipped come to life by moving. Someone offers to buy the book for a whole dollar. Tateh vows to create more moving pictures. The next one he would sell for two dollars.

Ticket sales on July 9th and 10th, Benefited USO Central Florida. The USO
strengthens America’s military service members by keeping them connected
to family, home and country throughout their service to our nation.
That mission is accomplished on a daily basis thanks to the dedication
and generosity of the American people. Whether it is a commitment of
time from a volunteer or a contribution of dollars from a donor, USO
Central Florida turns this generosity into centers, programs and
services that reach troops across 14 counties in Central Florida.

Love by Design in the Milk District.

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In response to the tragedy at Pulse, AIGA Orlando created Love by Design, an event that sought to inspire and empower us all to stand against discrimination.  Love By Design was for civic leaders, creative professionals and anyone else who cares about the future of our city. Representatives from the LGBTQ and Muslim communities shared their stories as we all begin the process of healing from our collective heartbreak. Together, we will determine how to move forward as a city that lives with more love every day.

Even more than a reflection on this tragic event, Love by Design was an all-day celebration of The City Beautiful’s talent, diversity and resilience.

Local artists and designers donated original work for sale and auction. Food and entertainment was be provided by local musicians and food trucks. Proceeds will benefit OneOrlando, the fund formed by the mayor’s office to respond to the needs of our community in the wake of the Pulse Tragedy.

AIGA Orlando is a professional association for design and creative professionals. Formed in 2000, the association currently has about 250 members, and grew 68% in 2015 alone. Their mission is to nurture a thriving creative community and serve as a hub for creatives in the area.

When I arrived, Beemo was the first band to get on stage. It was a scorching hot day and [ ordered a pear cider to quench my thirst as I sketched. Anna McCambridge Thomas helped organize the art available for sale. A tent helped keep the small audience coo in the parking lot behind the Milk Bar. Partial proceeds of all drink sales went to the One Orlando fund as well. “Is there light? Is there time? To set our world to right?”

50 Angels in the Dr. Phillips Plaza.

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Original SOLD, 1 of 5 Prints SOLD

After the “Beautiful Together” Pulse Memorial Concert, John DiDonna directed a moving tribute to the victims by having 50 angel’s wings made at the Orlando Shakespeare scenic shop out of white fabric and PVC. Similar wings had been used by a hateful out of town Baptist group that planned to protest at victim’s funerals claiming that the shooter was sent by god. Hundreds of locals went to funerals where the Baptists might protest to keep the hate mongers from disrupting a families peace of mind as they had to grieve the loss of a son or daughter. Unfortunately passing cars honked their support for the loving counter protesters, which in itself became a disruption.

I left the concert early to start the sketch. Two silent lines of 25 angels each walked to the plaza from behind the Performing Arts Center. They encircled the plaza which was now full of candles, banners flowers and grieving messages of support from around the country and around the world. A light drizzle began to fall. John quickly staged the angel so that they formed an even phalanx around the plaza. Each held a candle. The 50th angel was to honor “The Voice” singer Christina Grimme who was shot days before the Pulse Tragedy at the Plaza Live in Orlando. I sketched from under my umbrella. As if on cue, the rain stopped as the huge audience flowed out of the theater and into the plaza.

The silent vigil moved so many to tears. One reader thanked me for being a witness to all that has been happening these past weeks. Her sincere gratitude finally caused me to start crying. Betsy Brabandt was in tears as she stopped to say hello. I think it was impossible to experience this outpouring of love and grief without being overwhelmed. Wendy Wallenberg did her best, joking with me and even joking with  two women who were crying in front of a large rainbow colored flower display. She managed to make them chuckle even as they cried. “Life is like that,” she said. “It keeps coming at you from all angles.”

City Commission Patty Sheehan spoke with Wendy explaining that the loss of a partner and other losses had helped prepare her for the incredible losses felt this week. She has been an emotional rock and voice of reason through out the week. A woman in tears came up to Patty and hugged her, thanking he for all she has done. I looked away, trying to keep from once again breaking down. There were 49 wreaths in the City Hall lobby and the flowers are now dead. Patty was going there after the concert to pick the flowers to use in 49 shadow boxes being prepared for the grieving families. She did this task alone, another silent and lonely vigil for those who had died.

I joined Wendy and several of her friends at the Grand Bohemian for drinks afterwards. Due to a waitress mix up, I ended up with a second drink on the house. I needed it. I usually rush back to my studio to do a write up before midnight. I couldn’t do it. I needed to numb some of these feelings if only for a moment. We all have so much grief, some of it unrelated to the tragedy, but it all bubbles up to the surface to be faced during evenings like this.

Beautiful Together

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The Dr. Phillips Center of the Performing Arts had a sold out house for the Pulse victims concert titled “Beautiful Together“. I sat in the isle on my artist stool so I didn’t have to worry about sitting in a sold out seat. With minutes to go before the show, Mayor Buddy Dyer and his entourage sat center stage. From my vantage point, I had a great view of the sign interpreter. I couldn’t see huge chorus but I had sketched them earlier during the rehearsal.

Once again, white flower pedals fell from the rafters as names were read for the 49 victims of the terrorist attack at Pulse. The emotional response was just as heightened on the second viewing. This time more pedals fell in a constant cascading stream set to “Lord of the Dance”, by Sydney Carter . A poet named Fredy Ruiz came out, and recited a poem by Maya Angelou titled “And Still I Rise“. It was a magical moment when words written 40 years ago seemed to perfectly address the tragedy and how we all must rise up despite the loss.

The ballet was still lyrical and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus lifted every soul. The audience response completed the magic of the evening. Everyone was hungry for any message of hope and the best way to express that longing is through the arts. Orlando has an incredibly vibrant arts community and on this evening 50 plus organizations came to get to help Orlando heal.If you missed this powerful evening, it is worth seeing on You Tube.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for July 9th and 10th.

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Saturday July 9, 2016. 

 4pm to 6pm Free. Young Voices. JB Callaman Center 102 North Parramore Ave Orlando FL. Teen Open Mic Every second Saturday of the Month.

7pm to 11pm. Free. Second Ybor City Art Walk. 7th Ave Ybor Tampa, Florida. Officially beginning the second Saturday of July (the 9th) we are bringing back the Ybor City Art Walk! Featuring a number of arts organizations and artsy businesses, be sure to R.S.V.P. here to get the official map for the walk!

Here are the participating locations:

The Bricks of Ybor

Bloodline Tattoo

Ybor Arts Colony

Hot Wax

Wandering Eye Art Gallery

Dysfunctional Grace

Moon Over Havana Arts Gallery

Live Arts Labs

There will be other businesses joining the lineup so stay tuned! For any questions please feel free to contact the Ybor Art Alliance here through Facebook.

Expect to be wowed!

10pm to the next morning. Free. Creative Sleep Over. Defined Enterprises 279 Douglas Ave, Altamonte Springs, Florida. You ever wondered what would happen if a bunch of creatives got together and slept under one roof? No need to imagine anymore, every second Saturday Defined Enterprises opens it’s doors for all the creatives to spend one night out of the month together. Feel free to bring your own set of tools that allow you to create. Bring your own pillows and blankets. Food and beverages will be served through out the night.

Creatives, artist, dancers, directors, photographers, musicians, engineers, gamers, techies, models and innovators, you guys are all welcomed.

Every second Saturday.

Bring board games and things that will help us collect memories.

Sunday July 10, 2016

10am to 4pm Free. Lake Eola Farmers Market. South East corner of Lake Eola.

Noon to 2pm Donation based Community YogART class: 7 Chakra series. Artegon Marketplace 5250 International Dr, Orlando, Florida. Every 2nd Sunday of the month YogART will be hosting FREE Color Therapy Yoga classes for the community at Artegon Marketplace (located in the community room across from section B6 – use movie theater entrance)

We are excited to bring you our “7 Chakra Series” that will focus each class on each individual chakra: breaking down it’s color, meaning, location and function. This particular class will revolve around our second major energy point known as “The Sacral Chakra”.

Color Therapy glasses will also be provided for those who wish to experience the effects of color therapy. Orange will be the primary focus for our Root Chakra but you may wear any color you want to work with.

This is an ALL LEVELS class which incorporates stretching, breathing exercises and light yoga poses geared around the Sacral Chakra.

We also have a color wheel on our site that explains the benefit of each color (glasses) Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. http://www.yogartinc.com/color-therapy-chart/

Please bring your own yoga mat and prepare to unwind

Check out our lovely YogART instructor’s website for more info on her, and some great articles.

 4pm to 6pm Free. Art X Social Change Night in the Milk District. Art X Social Change Night in the Milk District. Proceeds of Art X Social Change Night will benefit Equality Florida’s Pulse Victims Fund and ArtReach Orlando, a local nonprofit arts outreach program that works with children in under-served communities exploring the nexus between art and social justice in Orange County, Florida. Donations are accepted at the door.

Art X Social Change Night is a summer session of local art revolving around the theme of social issues and community action held at The Milk District’s Spacebar. The goal of this event is to encourage civic participation and create communities that are engaged with social issues and change through art. The event will feature visual art, music, song, spoken word, poetry, plays, dance, print graphics, and more all around social themes such as the environment, gun violence, lgbt rights, justice, women’s rights, equality, world peace, civil rights, education, mental health, and more.

Don’t forget to purchase some frosty beverages from Spacebar and support the local Milk District!

To submit as an artist/performer, email RickyLy2007@gmail.com with name, issue subject, descriptions, video/jpeg files if applicable, scripts, etc by Wednesday June 29th. We also have space available for vendors and advocacy organizations. Send us an email!

Art X Social Change Night event pre-registration and mini art project – get involved in a little interactive art project we are doing that day by filling this form out before Sunday.

Pecha Kucha at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

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On January 8th Pecha Kucha moved into the grandeur of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, Florida). Eddie Selover  took to the stage to introduce the speakers in the brand new Disney Theater. Pecha Kucha means chit chat in Japanese. The concept is simple. Speakers present 20 slides and they can only speak for 20 seconds with each slide. There is no stopping, no going back or revising one’s words. What results is a concise easy to digest presentation without extraneous and pointless verbiage. The presentations become a for of pure poetic communication. Even poets could learn to ed and extract just the heart of the subject.

On this evening the presentation that left the biggest impression was by Evan Miga. In high school, Evan was told the the dollar bill is s well designed, that it could not be reproduced. Evan took that as y challenge and us” his computer and Photoshop , he set about producing a bill that was indistinguishable from the original. Friends were impressed and asked for then own copies. The problem was that one of this friends spent the bill. Soon, the FBI came knocking on Evan’s door. He had to answer
so me serious questions. The agents must have realized that the young
student was n, a criminal mastermind and he got off with a slap on the wrist.

The next Pecha Kucha titled “Breaking the Surface” is Friday July 8th at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, Florida) starting at 6pm.  Tickets are $24.25.

SPEAKERS:
Andrae Bailey, CEO of Central Florida Commission on Homelessness
Julian Chambliss, Rollins History Professor
Michelle Jones, Bandleader of Violectric
Kostya Kimlat, Magician Extraordinaire
Bob Kodzis, Cheerleader and Creative Catalyst
Ama McKinley, HuffPost Contributing Blogger
Marc Middleton, Founder and CEO of Growing Bolder
Alejandro Musa, Getaboard Foundation
Shawn Welcome, Performance Poet and Founder, Diverse Word

Beautiful Together before the show.

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After the Beautiful Together rehearsal at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, all the performers were served dinner and some waited in the loading dock area. The fellow in the foreground was with the chorus that was in the upper platform on stage. The conductor gave him a compliment saying he had the most impressive facial hair.

After eating, many performers posed for photos and selfies. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra storage crates cluttered the space. Several women eating dinner were at a table near a large electronic door. A stage hand hit the button to lower the steal door and the surprised performed dodged away to avoid getting crushed. In the green room down the hall, a TV showed dance in on stage performing an improvised dance. I thought in was a recording but it was actually a live stream of Yao dancers on stage as a pre-show at the audience entered the Disney Theater.

I was sitting with Carolyn Blice, a Philharmonic French Horn player. When she saw orchestra members walking on stage on the TV, she realized she better gel on stage. I used that as my clue to go into the theater as well. I was excited to see the performance along with a full audience.