MCC – Some news and upcoming events for the week of October 5, 2005

In Missoula…

Missoula was recently named one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People by America’s Promise, a children’s advocacy group founded by Colin Powell. For more visit http://www.americaspromise.org

The Institute of Medicine and Humanities presents A Look in the Mirror: Body Image in the Contemporary Society, four Wednesday evenings in October, at St. Patrick Hospital, from 7:00 – 8:30 each evening. The first program, Concepts of the Body: From Rubenesque to Rail Thin, is on October 5, featuring Robert Martensen, MD, PhD and Herbert Swick, MD. On October 12 the program is Who Defines the Body? The Influence of the Media and Popular Culture, with speakers Jerry Brown, PhD and Kimber McKay, PhD. For more information call 329-5662.

The Montana Museum of Art & Culture presents a noon hour gallery talk by Dr. Jeff and Yvonne Gritzner on Thursday, October 6 at noon in the Meloy Gallery of the UM PARTV Building. Dr Jeff Gritzner, Chair of The University of Montana’s Geography Department, and Yvonne Gritzner, Program Officer for the Montana Committee for the Humanities, traveled the Silk Road region last summer, and will share their experiences in a talk titled Reflections along the Silk Road. This gallery talk is in conjunction with the Museum’s current exhibition, Ancient Threads, Newly Woven: Recent Art from China’s Silk Road. This event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Barbara Koostra, Director, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, 243-2019, or e-mail [email protected].

Dark Star Orchestra performs Saturday, October 6,at the Wilma Theater at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are available at http://www.inticketing.com, as well as The Source at the UC, Rockin Rudy’s, and Rainbows End.

The International Wildlife Media Center introduces Cinema Classics every Thursday night at 7:30 for some of the greatest films ever made. The film on October 6 is Rebel Without a Cause (1955) featuring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. For more information please call 728-9380 or visit http://www.wildlifefilms.org.

The Missoula Public Art Committee and Allegra Print and Imaging host the unveiling of the first two murals of the Heart of Missoula by Hadley Ferguson this Friday, October 7 at 6:00 p.m. at 111 West Broadway as part of First Friday Gallery walk. There will be an artist reception following the unveiling.

The Brunswick Studios, Dana Gallery and Bella Donna are also participating in this week’s First Friday Gallery Walk. At the Dana Gallery, there is an opening reception for Theodore Waddell New Works on Paper, and Contemporary Indian Art, featuring the art of Dwight Billedeaux, Jason Clark, Jeneese Hilton, Chris Rowland, Robert Walker, Francis Wall and John Well-Off-Man. Bella Donna is featuring artist/photographer Ron Williams with a display of his black & white photographs of Unmasked Nudes.

The University of Montana Department of Music presents Fern Glass, faculty, cello, at 7:30 p.m. on October 7, in the Music Recital Hall. For more information call 243-6880.

The Candidatos are proud to announce the return of I’m Sorry & I’m Sorry, their nationally successful comedy, for a special five-show, hometown run at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts on the following dates: Thursday, October 6 at 8:00 p.m., Friday, October 7 at 8:00 p.m. (including a post-show reception); and Sunday, October 9 at 7:00 p.m. (including a post-show discussion). Parental discretion is advised as the show includes macabre subject matter, ribald humor, and two curse words. Tickets are available from the MCT Box Office at 728-PLAY. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students/seniors. For additional information, please visit http://www.thecandidatos.com.

Unity Dance and Drum, presents special classes and a presentation with Youssouf Koumbassa, Fode Bangoura, and Facinet Bangoura, all world-leading master dancers and musicians from Guinea, West Africa, from October 8-10. There will be dance and drum classes, as well as a presentation on Monday, October 10, on the University of Montana campus. The presentation is free of charge and cost for classes is $15 per class (one scheduled free class for UM students). All welcome. For more information call 549-7933.

Fact and Fiction presents Claude Allick on October 7, reading and signing Wet Storage and other Stories, at 7:00 p.m. Call 721-2881 for information.

St. Patrick Hospital and Living Art present the new SPH Women’s Care Office Open House and the photography exhibit by Marti de Alva on Friday, October 7 from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m., at the Missoula Medical Plaza, 900 N. Orange Ste. 102. For more information call 327-3027. Marti de Alva’s website is http://www.myexpose.com

The University of Montana Department of Drama/Dance presents UM Dancers on Location, a site-specific concert, at the Oval on the UM campus on October 8 and 9 at 1:30 p.m. For more information call 243-2875.

Anne Murray is at the Adams center on Saturday, October 8. For tickets and information visit http://www.griztix.com

The Montana Natural History Center presents Saturday Discovery Day with the Western Montana Astronomical Association on October 8 at 6:00 p.m. Registration is required, so please call 327-0405 or visit http://www.thenaturecenter.org

The Muses, a duo with a special blend of voice and instrument, are performing at Missoula Public Library on Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the large meeting room. The duo specializes in Irish and Scottish music and they bring a sense of fun to the stage by seeking audience volunteers for some of their acts. They play a total of ten instruments. Their instrumentation includes: harp, guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, bells, penny whistle, concertina, and bones. The Muses add new life to old songs and include many original materials in their Celtic repertoire. For more information call 721-2665.

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, to be held February 16-22, 2006 at the historic Wilma Theater, has issued a official Call for Entries is on-line in downloadable jpeg and pdf formats at http://highplainsfilms.org/festival/entries.html. The competitive event is open to non-fiction films and videos of all styles, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Films and videos with release dates prior to September 1, 2004 are eligible for entry but will screen out of competition if selected. Awards will be given for Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary and best documentary about the American West (the "Big Sky Award"). An awards reception will be held the final night with repeat screenings of award winners. If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, please reply to [email protected] . For more information visit http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org or call 541- FILM

Elsewhere in Montana and the Region…

In Great Falls the eighth annual The Art of Wine, featuring a silent auction, food private wine tasting, and art occurs on October 7 at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, corner of First Avenue North and 14th Street.

Superior hosts Oktoberfest on October 8, featuring crafts, activities for children , live music, microbrews, and food. Held on the lawn of the old brick school building on River Street. For information call 822 4388

In Whitefish the annual Flathead River Writers Conference runs from October 7-9 at Grouse Mountain Lodge. The event features speakers, panel discussions, and workshops.

Call 862 8757 for more information.

Anne Murray performs at the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings on October 7. For tickets and information call 256-6052 or visit http://www.albertabairtheater.org

The Glacier Jazz Stampede – 4 days and 18 bands – is in Kalispell from October 6-9. Call 862-3814 or visit http://www.kalispellchamber.com/jazz

Tony Furtado is at Miller’s Crossing in Helena on Friday, October 7 at 9:00 p.m. Call 442-3290 or visit http://www.millerscrossing.biz

Emmylou Harris, along with special guest Buddy Miller, performs at the Spokane Opera House on October 6. Call 1-800-325-SEAT or visit http://www.ticketswest.com

From the Montana Associated Technology Roundtable…

Bozeman, Montana’s Hatch fest gives public inside look at movie biz
Movie stars Kevin Bacon, Peter Fonda and Liam Neeson will be here to mentor the filmmakers at this year’s festival. Other big-time players include Frank Pierson, past president of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, and Patrick Markey, producer of "A River Runs Through It."

Arts HELP States Reap Rural Economic Gains – New NGA Issue Brief Paints Picture of Governors’ Efforts to Revitalize Rural Communities Through the Arts
Incorporating the arts into states’ existing rural economic development policy helps not only to diversify rural economies but to provide these previously struggling communities with a competitive advantage in the 21st century’s global marketplace as well.

For more about the Montana Associated Technology Roundtable, visit http://www.matr.net

Nationally…

From the National Business Committee for the Arts…

The UPS Foundation, Atlanta, GA; Capital One Financial, headquartered in McLean, VA; and The Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, joined forces to launch IMPACT: A Fund for Change Through Volunteerism – a grant-making fund to help not-for-profit organizations manage volunteers more effectively. This Fund combines financial resources from the three companies. The National Human Services Assembly (NHSA), Washington, DC, is providing management and staff support. For information, visit http://www.ups.com .

Massachusetts’s Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development – established this year to help secure increased state funding for arts, culture, and domestic and international tourism – recently held its first in a series of statewide public forums in Salem on September 12. The goal of the forums is to solicit ideas from the cultural and tourism communities, as well as the general public, to help the Committee develop policies that strengthen arts, culture, and tourism in Massachusetts. The Committee will release $467,000 in Massachusetts Cultural Council grants for arts, humanities, and science organizations and schools across Essex County, Massachusetts. For information, http://www.massculturalcouncil.org .

To learn more about the National Business Committee for the Arts, visit http://www.bcainc.org

From the Center for Arts and Culture….

Access for the masses
Christian Science Monitor, 9/23/2005
"Public-access television, whose future may hinge on a bill before Congress, is TV’s public square – a community outlet for the civic minded, musicians, and even bonsai lovers."- contributed by ArtsJournal.com http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/p11s01-altv.html

New Emergency Fund
BackStage, 9/21/2005
Americans for the Arts in response to Hurricane Katrina establishes a new permanent emergency relief fund to provide grants intended to assist with rebuilding arts communities. To be eligible an organization must be "a locally based arts funding and/or service organization, which could be either a government arts agency or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, . . . located in an area declared a disaster by a governmental agency." http://www.backstage.com/backstage/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001178033

NEA Chairman Says Agreement Restrictive
New York Times – AP, 9/27/2005
Dana Gioia criticizes the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity: "A proposed agreement that gives governments more power to protect their own country’s artistic heritage could open the way to international censorship, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts said Tuesday. ‘It could restrict the free flow of artistic expression among artists,’ said Dan [sic] Gioia, chairman of the national endowment. ‘I believe the individual artists would not gain. It gives power to governments, not to the individual.’" http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Art-Censorship.html

To learn more about the Center of Arts and Culture, visit http://www.culturalpolicy.org

Internationally…

Cambodian Villagers Looting Ancient Graves
Washington Post – AP, 9/22/2005
"Poor villagers in northern Cambodia have pillaged about 100 historic sites for ancient artifacts to sell, discarding piles of human bones and worrying experts that the country’s cultural heritage will disappear before it is studied, officials said Thursday." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092200461.html

Smuggling Probe Finds Peruvian Artifacts
Washington Post – AP, 9/23/2005
"More than 300 ancient Peruvian artifacts, including a 3,500-year-old clay pot and a burial shroud used by royalty, have been recovered in south Florida as part of a smuggling investigation, federal officials said Friday." The items, described as "priceless" and "invaluable" parts Peruvian cultural heritage, will "be taken back to Peru once the U.S. investigation is over under a 1997 memo of understanding between the two countries." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/23/AR2005092302126.html

Finally…

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration, began Monday at sundown. For a humorous look at one of the yearly rituals of this holiday, visit Shofar Idol . Happy New Year!

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Thanks for your comments & corrections

Tom at MCC