Mini CityArts

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City Arts Orlando Celebrated its Grand Opening In The Historic Rogers Kiene Building In Downtown Orlando. The Downtown Arts District’s gallery marked the opening of its new location with a ribbon cutting with Orlando Mayor
Buddy Dyer and Orlando City Commissioners. When Pam Schwartz and I arrived on the scene the gallery was too packed to get inside. Another artist, Jonathan Stemberger, was already set up across the street documenting the scene on a large yellow canvas. I have seen him at other events recording history much the way I do, so I was pleased to get a chance to meet him. He gave me his card, or so I thought. When I got home and took it out of my pocket, it turned out to be a sticker with a silhouette of a Jackal-ope on it.

I worked from the far corner to sketch the crowd pressing through the doors below the historic spire. While working, Gladiola Sotomayor shared with me photos she had taken of the mural we had worked on together that now hangs in the Orlando International Airport. I have been through the airport multiple time and not seen it yet. At sunset there is a golden column of light that shines down Pine Street only on the Rogers Kiene tower. It was exciting to see, and I splashed down some vibrant yellows and oranges in response.

With the sketch done, Pam and I went inside to explore. This building offers far less space than the former City Arts Factory a few blocks away. Artists still have to pay for the right to exhibit their work. Inside it was very crowded and the music was highly amplified. Violinist Michelle Jones performed all night. I admire how she is turning the violin into a hip pop instrument.


I was most curious about the new gallery space upstairs that had formerly been a screening room for films. The stadium seating had been removed to open up the room. I have seen and sketched so many amazing performances in that space over the years, so it will be missed by me. Now it was filled with artwork created by patients in the Integrative Medicine department at Orlando Health. The program is called Arts in Medicine. I sketched Andrea Canny who was part of a similar program funded by LIVESTRONG. A dancer was in the center of the room, so it was impossible to get close to any of the paintings on display. 

The hall ways upstairs are narrow and a woman knocked into several paintings causing them to slip on their hooks, almost falling off the wall. Another woman slammed her hand against the canvas saving it from slipping further. Together they righted the canvases. Across from them, Heisenberg, from Breaking Bad glared, his portrait covered in blue crystals of Meth.

 Though there might not have been enough space, the people who love visual arts spilled out into the street.

“Violectric Rocks OCSA” Benefit Concert For Osceola County School.

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Violectric, the internationally acclaimed electric rock string quintet, plus keys and drums, rocked for a cause and performed a special benefit concert put on by the Thespian Troupe #6640 of the Osceola County School for the Arts in an effort to help them raise funds to be able to attend their annual state conference held in Tampa, FL. I went to the Osceola Performing Arts Center, (3151 N. Orange Blossom Trail, Kissimmee, 34744) to sketch the benefit concert. All proceeds raised from the show went directly to the students for the student trip.

Five years ago, Violectric hosted a workshop and concert at Osceola
County School for the Arts and one of the violin students named Mohammed
took a special interest in the emotions evoked during their
performance. While at the mere age of 11-years-old, Mohammed Kahn had a
fire lit beneath him and he began diligently working towards his goal.
Now, years later, he is using all that he learned during Violectric’s
workshop and his passion for show production to host the benefit show.

Formed in 2008, the accomplished members of Violectric have been
performing in various groups, orchestras and together for over 20 years
across the globe. Led by esteemed musician, violinist,  Michelle Jones, the group is a unique fusion of the passion and beauty of classical
string instruments with the excitement of cutting-edge modern technology
and effects. They are committed
to music education offering programs throughout the United States and
Asia including master classes and performances combining their unique sounds with
student string groups, which they produce in partnership with
the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and School for the Arts as their artists in residence. 

Passion PR Five-Year Anniversary Bash!

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I went with Pam Schwartz to Gilt Nightclub (740 Bennett Rd, Orlando, Florida 32803) for the Passion PR Five Year Anniversary Bash. Ilene Lieber who runs Passion PR has always been great about helping me promote events.

The evening promised to be an Explosion of Live Entertainment All Night. There were complimentary cocktails and light bites from 7 pm to 8 pm, photo opportunities, swag bags, DJ music and more. Celebrity look alikes were everywhere. Mariah Carey got on stage and did an admirable lip sync performance. Austin Powers worked his smarmy British charm on all the ladies.

I decided to sketch the poker table. Pam kept winning and placed some huge bets that brought back amazing returns. I took her place when she went to the bathroom and kept loosing. The guy next to Pam had a few too many drinks and was boisterous and a bit obnoxious each time he won a hand. Michelle Jones who founded the Violectric String band was also on a winning streak. There really wasn’t any payout for winning (other than Mardi Gras beads and candy), so there was no harm in taking chances. When it was time to go, Pam tried to bet all her chips and loose but she kept winning, stacking up a mountain of chips. All the money earned at the event went towards supporting Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando.

Violectric at Lake Eola.

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The popular electric string quintet with keyboards and drums known as “Violectric” rang in the holiday season with their exciting annual “Violectric Holiday Show” presented by the City of Orlando Families, Park and Recreation at the Walt Disney Amphitheatre at Lake Eola Park, (99 N Rosalind Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801). Free and open to the public, the concert featured traditional holiday songs like “Jingle Bells,” “O Christmas Tree” and “Hanukkah, O Hanukkah” mashed up with classic rock tunes like “Kashmir,” “Born to Run” and “Sweet Dreams”, plus modern hits, delivering a fun-filled, energetic, and highly-unique holiday show unlike anything seen and heard before.

Violectric teamed up with Old Forrester who hosted a VIP “Backstage Speakeasy” Pre-Party including a special behind-the-scenes with a band and a “End of Prohibition” After-Party open to all with a cash bar and 1920’s costume contest. Guests were also encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the concert, which would be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

Formed in 2008, the accomplished members of the “Classic Musicians Who Rock!” Violectric have been performing in various groups, orchestras and together for over 20 years across the globe.  Led by Grammy Recording Artist “Vinylinist” Michelle Jones, Violectric is a unique fusion of the passion and beauty of classical string instruments with the excitement of cutting-edge modern technology and effects.  Violectric’s custom arrangements of classic and modern rock tunes like “Billie Jean,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Moves Like Jagger” and “Chandelier” cannot be heard anywhere else.

Violectric has a signature look in that the violins are illuminated by neon. Of course Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance towards the end of the concert. That couple certainly gets around. They have been at just about every holiday event I have sketched.

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

Magic and Mayhem at the Fringe.

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The magic show opened with a single spotlight on stage illuminating a fluffy white bunny named ChaChing,  who sniffed the air from it’s perch. Large panels were used to make the band members of Fretless Rock appear magically on stage. Being seated in the front row on the far side of house right, I could see the high heels peak out from behind the moving panel, kind of destroying the illusion.

Michelle Jones formed Fretless Rock in 2008. Elizabeth Chaconas performed on viola and the ever smiling Yamilet Trujillo performed on the electric cello. the magicians were James Songster and Joshua Songster. The magic was straight forward slight of hand. An audience member was called up on stage and asked to pick a card from a deck of cards. She accidentally showed the magician the card when he asked her to show it to the audience. The magicians never spoke instead relying on over the top. I’ve to get their points across. The music from the strings added a nice backdrop for each act. The volunteer had to write her name on the card since she had slipped up and let the magician see the card. Somehow the card ended up inside one of the green helium balloons. Which she had to pop with a needle.

Overall, this was a fun family friendly show. The musicians got to play along and become part of each trick. Elizabeth was used for her sex appeal and Yamilet played the coy smiling innocent of the group. The only person who ever spoke was Michelle who asked the audience to sing along if they knew the words to the song they were about to perform. ChaChing managed to steel every scene he was in.

You can catch Magic and Mayhem on the first Friday of every month at Fat Fish Blue at Orlando Improv, 9101 International Drive Orlando Fl. Tickets are $10 and dinner and drinks are available for purchase. Call (4070 480-5233 for a reservation.