Call For Artists: Cash & Carry Farmers Market

The Cash & Carry Farmer's market located in the historic Cash & Carry building on 801 Enterprise boulevard is opening the market to arts and craft vendors for the entire month of December.  The Farmer's Market is held weekly on Tuesday afternoons from 4 p.m. -6 p.m.  Space is limited, so secure your spot now by contacting Jacob Manceaux at lclocalroots@gmail.com 

Jazz in the Arts

Jazz in the Arts returns to Central School December 16th at 5 p.m. for a performance by Saxophonist Mike Kittling and Vocalist Verlin Chretien.  There will be a silent auction at 4 p.m., also on hand will be Dasia May and Reginald Larkins of Dancing Classrooms DC Dance Company.  Tickets are $10 in advance, and $12 at the door.  All proceeds go toward the Jazz in the Arts Scholarship fund.  

Jazz in the Arts is a non-profit organization under the umbrella of the Arts & Humanities Council of SWLA.  For more information call the Arts Council at 337-439-2787 or Pat Daigle at 337-794-5744, or visit www.jazzinthearts.org

Ballet Legends Exhibit Opening at 1911 Historic City Hall

The City of Lake Charles will host IDA AND EM, an exhibition honoring two ballet legends of Lake Charles, at the Historic City Hall Arts and Cultural Center. The exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, November 30 from 5:30-8pm and will hang through February 2.

In 1950, two friends, Ida Winter Clarke and Emily Coleman, began a collaboration; Ida as a choreographer and dance teacher, and Emily as a costume and ballet set designer/executor. 

The dedication and creativity of Clarke and Coleman acted as the catalyst to bring the world of ballet to Lake Charles. The IDA AND EM exhibition honors not only these two remarkable women, but also the men and women who gave their time and devotion to promote ballet in Calcasieu Parish, and the hundreds of aspiring young dancers who were a part of this enormous effort. 

Ida and Emily’s most notable creation, “The Nutcracker”, premiered at the historic Arcade Theatre in 1963 with nine future productions over a 30 year period. This was the first full-length performance of “The Nutcracker” in the southeastern United States, and required two years of work and hundreds of loyal volunteers. Many more ballets were mounted, and many more young people were inspired by the beauty and discipline of dance. The exhibition encompasses a period of 3 decades, from 1956-1986, and includes dozens of vintage costumes, set designs and sketches, as well as photos of the dedicated and talented performers, designers and stage hands. Also included is a short film containing memoirs from many of the people involved in this 30 year effort. See how Ida and Em set the stage for the today’s young dancers.

Also opening on the same evening will be Paint on my Fingers in the first floor gallery. Artist Mary Hillier will present to meet and greet guests. Hillier was born in Lake Charles and now resides in Lafayette. As a child of French-speaking parents, she remains humble and close to her roots through art.  Her exhibition contains her favorite subjects including the figure, human face and all God’s creatures. Hillier’s images are transferred from her inspiration straight onto the canvas. She said, “They are mostly abstract and usually colorful. Several images repeat among people and pets such as roses, sunflowers, flamingos. All have meaning to me. Perhaps you also think of a rose as a scent from heaven? A sunflower as a staff of pure power and righteousness? A beautiful bird as a messenger?”  Her hands are her tools, thus the title of her show.

Historic City Hall is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Admission to the arts and cultural center is free, however donations are gladly accepted.  For more information, please call 491-9147 or visit www.cityoflakecharles.com.  

Cinderella's Holiday Dining

The Children's Theatre company will present "Cinderella's Holiday dining" on Saturday Dec. 1st at noon.  The event begins as children enter through a castle surrounded by toy soldiers before dining. Children will join their favorite storybook characters, such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Prince, Snow White, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, and Aladdin for dinner.  Character meals include pizza, dessert and a drink.  The seating will incorporate a visit from each of the characters as they make their way around the dinner table.  Children can also enjoy photographs and autographs from the characters.  Children are are encouraged to wear their favorite costume.  Hot cocoa and gingerbread will also be served.  

The cost is $25 per person, seating is very limited and reservations can by made by contacting the Children's Theatre box office at 337-433-7323 or by visiting www.childrenstheatre.cc

City of Lake Charles Presents “Swamp Pop Christmas Concert”

The Louisiana Crossroads series continues as The City of Lake Charles presents “Lil’ Band O’ Gold Swamp Pop Christmas Concert” Wednesday, December 5 at 7:00 PM. at Central School Theater, 809 Kirby Street. The Boys are back! If you missed this Christmas special last year – here’s another chance. Get tickets early – this show will sell out quickly. From covers like Dolly Parton’s Hard Candy Christmas to Swamp Pop originals, LBoG will leave you swooning and in good the Christmas spirit.

This will be a one-of-a-kind, over-the-top holiday extravaganza featuring CC Adcock, Steve Riley, Warren Storm, "Dickie" Landry, David Egan, Tommy McLain, "Lil" John Troutman, and other guests . The gang will reunite for an all new Christmas show filled with amazing music, infectious spirit, and surprises better than anything you’ll find in your stocking.

 Advance tickets for the Lake Charles shows are $10 and can be purchased at the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana on the second floor of Central School or on line at www.louisianacrossroads.org. Tickets at the door will be $12. For more information, please call (337) 491-9159 or visit the department of cultural affairs at www.cityoflakecharles.com.

Louisiana Crossroads 13^th season will continue with Joel Savoy's Honky Tonk Merry-Go-Round & Special Guests, January 30; and Zachary Richard - An Acadian Homecoming, April 10, 2013. Tune in for live broadcasts via 100,000-watt regional National Public Radio affiliate KRVS, simultaneously streaming audio worldwide via krvs.org. For a complete line-up of season 13, including the Lafayette performances, go to www.louisianacrossroads.org. 

McNeese Art Briefs

Heather Ryan Kelley, professor of art at McNeese State University, has had work accepted in the exhibition, “Man, Machine and Nature,” on display in the Sisson Gallery at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Mich. Kelley’s piece, “Volume” is an etching that incorporates text and the image of the back of a semi-tractor trailer. The exhibition is sponsored by the Mid America College Art Association and the Los Angeles Printmaking Society and is on view through Nov. 16.

            

Dr. Jacob Blevins, professor and head of the department of English and foreign                    languages at McNeese, has two articles appearing in American Notes and 

Queries - one an introduction to an edited cluster on Robert Herrick and the 

other an article on Thomas Traherne and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He has also been        

invited to speak at Cambridge University in December on Traherne for a special 

symposium on future directions of Traherne studies.

            

Dr. Scott Goins, professor of classics and director of the McNeese Honors College, and Barbara Wyman, instructor of English and Latin, co-authored an English 

translation of “The Consolation of Philosophy,” a work written in the 6^th century by 

Anicius Boethius, published by Ignatius Press.

   

McNeese English instructor Chris Lowe’s chapbook - “X&O: Stories”- has been named a finalist for the Iron Horse Literary Review’s Single Author Competition. 

His story, “Harrison’s Famous Pulled Pork,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2011. Another story, “Barrier,” has been accepted by Vine Leaves Literary Journal 

to be published in an upcoming issue and in its Best of 2012 anthology. He was also one 

of the featured writers at this fall’s Eudora Welty Writer’s Symposium at 

Mississippi University for Women. 

            

Dr. Dafydd Wood, McNeese instructor of English, has had an article, “Sound,” recently published in the fourth edition of The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.

Dr. Baerbel Czennia, assistant professor of English at McNeese, recently had published 

an essay titled “The Futurity of Fame: Eighteenth-Century Paths to Immortality” in a collection titled “Great Expectations: Futurity in the Long Eighteenth Century.”

Dr. Molly Martin, assistant professor of English at McNeese, presented a paper, 

“Malory’s Royal Couple in Space” at the 38^th Annual Conference of the Southeastern 

Medieval Association in Gulfport, Miss. She will also present a paper, “Competing for 

Space and Place in Malory’s ‘The Day of Destiny’” at the 128^th Modern Language 

Association Annual Convention in Boston, Mass., Jan. 3-6.

Dr. Wendy Whelan-Stewart, McNeese assistant professor of American literature and 

women studies, presented a paper, “Gwendolyn Brooks, Citizen Poet, Rewrites the 

‘Odyssey’ with a Difference” at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of 

American Women Writers in Denver, Colo. She presented another paper, “Acting Out: Burlesque Speech in Sylvia Plath’s ‘Lady Lazarus’” for the Southern Comparative 

Literature Association meeting in Las Vegas, Nev. 

Mila Tangier, McNeese Master of Fine Arts student, has had two poems, “Daphne” and “Metamorphosis,” accepted in the fall edition of the literary journal, Quiddity.

Ellen Frazel, McNeese MFA student, has had a story, “Intersections,” appear in Issue 

5 of Fiddleblack.

Lori Mosley, McNeese MFA student, has a poem, “In Conversation with the Tangerine Jesus,” accepted for publication in an issue of the print magazine - burntdistrict.

Ben Sutton,  McNeese MFA student, has three poems from his series, “Eternity, Ohio,” accepted for publication in a literary issue of Salt Hill. Another poem from the series will 

be published in the 2013 issue of Handsome, while another two poems from the series, “Refutations by Memory,” are due to appear in Whiskey Island and Barrow Street publications. A poem from the series titled “Notes from the After-Images” will 

be published in the next issue of Third Coast. His chapbook, “Eternity, Ohio,” was a 

finalist for the Ahsahta Chapbook Prize at Boise State University.

            

Call for Artists: Mardi Gras 2013 Poster Contest

The glitter and glow of the 2013 Mardi Gras season begins with summoning artists to submit original artwork for the annual poster contest promoting Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana. Entries need to be in hand by Friday, Nov. 30.

The winner receives $400 and the privilege of having his or her artwork printed on a commemorative poster showcasing Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana.

No computer generated or digital art is accepted. The winning poster will be scanned in and printed with the finished product being 16 by 20 inches. The poster must include the phrase “Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana 2013,” and all entries become the property of Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana.

The drop off for entries is Healthy Image Marketing Agency/Thrive Magazine, located at 836 University Dr., in Lake Charles. Call 337-526-9009 for more information.