Art Battle Registration Open

Are you up for the challenge, Lake Charles? The Arts Council will host its second annual Art Battle during this year's Spring Art Walk on April 13th. Last year the Art Battle was wildly successful and brought out an insane number of people for its first go-round. This year we are moving the Art Battle into downtown to better concentrate all our Spring Art Walk efforts to showcase downtown businesses and local artists.

Ten teams of up to four artists can compete in the Art Battle, but the team only has one hour to create a mural from scratch! Any mediums, materials, and subjects are accepted, and you'll receive a blank, primed piece of plywood with its size ranging from 2'x3' to 4'x6', depending on the number of teammates.

The winning mural will be selected by the amount of tips audience members put into a team's tip jar, and 50% of the tips will go back to the team. Last year, Painting With A Twist snagged first place with over $300 in tips in their jar! The winning mural will be put on display at Central School for 30 days after the competition. A fee of $25 is required with registration, and teams are responsible for bringing all of their supplies and materials.

All of the completed murals are featured in a silent auction during the evening, and 70% of the sales also go back to the team. Registration forms are available at the Arts Council office, and your payment confirms your spot. Call us at 439-ARTS for details! Registration ends March 30th.

To sum up:
Team sign-in: 5:30 p.m.
Battle: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Silent Auction: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Tickets for The Sleeping Beauty on sale!

Photo by Danley Romero
of Romero & Romero Photography

The Lake Charles Civic Ballet (LCCB) will present the full length story ballet of The Sleeping Beauty on Saturday, March 17th, at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 18th, at 3 p.m. at the Rosa Hart Theatre. Saturday evening's performance will feature the Lake Charles Symphony orchestra, conducted by Bohuslav Rattay, performing Tchaikovsky's famous score, and is sponsored by L'Auberge Lake Charles. The Sunday matinee will be performed to the classic soundtrack. Tickets are available at the Civic Center box office, 337-491-1432 or via ticketmaster.com.

The Sleeping Beauty is the classic tale of Princess Aurora who is cursed by the evil Carabosse into a deep sleep and is awakened by the kiss of Prince Desire. LCCB's Artistic Director, Lady Holly Hathaway Kaough, has staged the company's version after the choreography of Marius Petipa. This performance is perfect for all ages with the lavish sets and costumes as well as the beautiful choreography and music making this a must-see event!

Be sure to visit www.lakecharlescivicballet.com to register to win two tickets in the sponsor seating for the Saturday performance with the Symphony!

The Lake Charles Civic Ballet was founded in 1968 by Lady Leah Lafargue Hathaway, and the company was awarded 2011 Arts Organization of the Year award by Mayor Randy Roach at the Arts Council's Mayor's Arts Awards this past October. 

Central School Seeking Memorabilia for Centennial Anniversary!

Lake Charles, LA—Friends of Central School has begun preparing for its anniversary event on April 28 from 10am until 4pm.  The group seeks to collect memorabilia and other photo artifacts from members of the community who either attended Central School or have relatives who attended school at this historic community landmark.  Items collected will be on display through the end of April at 809 Kirby Street and will be returned upon the event’s conclusion. 

Designed and built in 1912 by New Orleans architectural firm Favrot & Livaudais, Historic Central School sits in the historic Charpentier District in Lake Charles and is a comprehensive arts and cultural center.  Upon entering Central School for the anniversary event, visitors will be greeted by docents who will provide a free special tour of the building’s history.  Also featured will be live music, an art exhibit highlighting 100 years of Central School, and other surprises. 

As part of this anniversary event, a limited number of pewter ornaments have been created to commemorate the cultural history of the facility.  Proceeds will go toward the historic preservation of Central School.  For more information, contact the Arts Council at 439-ARTS.  Artifacts are being accepted now at 809 Kirby Street, Suite 202. 

Poetry Out Loud Winners Announced!

From left: Erica McCreedy with Arts Council, Keaghan Kane,
Raven Dobbins, Elizabeth Salvador

This past Friday, February 17^th, ten high school students representing Sulphur High School, Washington-Marion High School, DeRidder High School, Westlake High School, and home school groups competed for the top three honors at the SWLA Regional Poetry Out Loud Competition at Central School.

Elizabeth Salvador, a home school student, won third place in the competitions with her performances of “The Children’s Hour” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and “The Donkey” by G.K. Chesterton. Raven Dobbins, a freshman at Washington-Marion High School, was awarded second place for her recitations of “Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe. Keaghan Kane, a senior level home schooler, was honored with first place for her moving renditions of “Preludes” by T.S. Eliot and “Crossing the Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Keaghan Kane

“I couldn’t be more proud of our students who won this year,” stated Erica McCreedy, project coordinator for the Arts Council. “This program engages the younger generations in the arts to not only create future artists but also future investors in the arts.” Salvador, Dobbins, and Kane will continue on to the State Poetry Out Loud Competition to hopefully follow in the footsteps of the 2011 Louisiana State Champion, David Douglas, who came also from Washington-Marion High School and represented Lake Charles at the National Competition. Over $50,000 in stipends and awards are given at Nationals.

Poetry Out Loud is coordinated in the Southwest Louisiana region by the Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana, and it was initiated by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005. The program engages high school students by challenging them to memorize and recite poetry in a competitive setting. Performance poetry helps build confidence and public speaking skills while allowing students to experience the oral history of poetry.

For more information on Poetry Out Loud, contact the Arts Council office at (337) 439-2787 or visit www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org.

Grace & Glorie Hit Lake Charles Little Theatre Stage

The Lake Charles Little Theatre presents Tom Ziegler's play Grace & Glorie February 24th through March 11th. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Ziegler's play has seen the talents of Estelle Parsons and Lucie Arnaz when they performed the title characters on Broadway.

The play, which is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, centers around Grace, a fiesty 90 year-old cancer patient who has checked herself out of the hospital and returned to her homestead cottage to die alone. The volunteer hospice worker, who appears with the pain medication Grace willfully left behind, is a Harvard MBA recently transplanted to this rural backwater from New York. Glorie is tense, unhappy, and guilt-ridden with her old child having been killed in an auto accident when she was driving. As she attempts to care for and comfort the cantankerous rustic, this sophisticated urbanite gains new perspectives on values and life's highs and lows.

The Little Theatre's production of Grace & Glorie is directed by James Johnson. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students with a valid ID. Visit www.thelclt.com or call 433-7988 to purchase tickets or to find out more information.

Louisiana Crossroads presents Tribute to Little Walter

The Louisiana Crossroads series continues as The City of Lake Charles presents “A Tribute to Louisiana’s Little Walter, Featuring James Cotton with Henry Gray”. The man who invented amplified Blues harmonica, was a French speaking Creole from Marksville, Louisiana. Little Walter Jacobs revolutionized his instrument and changed the musical landscape forever. James Cotton, who began his own recording career at Sun Records in 1953, is Little Walter’s peer in every sense. He replaced Walter on harmonica in Muddy Waters’ Chicago-based band when Walter went out on his own. When they inducted Little Walter to the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame, James Cotton got the call to pay tribute, as he will do for us here on Wednesday, March 7 at 7:00 PM. at Central School Arts and Humanities Center Theater, 809 Kirby Street. This show will feature Louisiana pianist and National Heritage Fellow Henry Gray, a major blues artist in his own right, who also played with Little Walter back in the day. Henry will treat us to timeless music and stories that only he can tell. A few special surprises are in store as well. The concert will be broadcast live via 100,000-watt regional National Public Radio affiliate KRVS, simultaneously streaming audio worldwide via krvs.org. Advance tickets are $10 on line at www.louisianacrossroads.org, or at the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana on the second floor of Central School. Tickets at the door are $12.

The Louisiana Crossroads 12^th season in the Central School Theatre will wrap up with De Temps Antan, Cedric Watson, Anna Laura Edmiston and David Greely—Exploring Quebecois, Acadian and Cajun/Creole Connections, April 11, 2012.

For more information, please call (337) 491-9147 or visit the department of cultural affairs at www.cityoflakecharles.com.  

Live @ the Lakefront 2012!

Are you ready, Lake Charles? The Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana is partnering with the City of Lake Charles to bring the Lake Area a brand new music festival that will celebrate our downtown identity and the newly renovated Lakefront Promenade. Live @ the Lakefront will be held at the Arcade Amphitheater at the Civic Center on three consecutive Fridays on March 16th, 23rd, and 30th, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Festival-goers can spread a blanket on the amphitheater's grassy hill and listen to great music with the lakeshore scenery and cool weather as the perfect backdrop. Live @ the Lakefront will act as a fundraiser for the Arts Council with the proceeds from all Coke, Budweiser, and Miller sales going towards the Arts Council's efforts to support the arts in Southwest Louisiana.

Bands and musicians from the local music scene and from across the state representing almost every musical genre will take the stage by storm each Friday evening. The line-up includes: Certain Satellites (alternative/new wave), Wendy Colonna (acoustic/soul), and Twangsters Union (Southern rock/country) kicking off the festival on March 16th; Bobcat (indie rock) and Grammy-nominated Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys (Cajun) on March 23rd; and Iberville High Life (blues) and City Heat (jazz/R&B) closing the festival on March 30th.

"We have an exciting opportunity to give the Lake Area a great music festival that will showcase our local and regional music as well as our local art scene," stated Matt Young, Executive Director of the Arts Council. "We are proud to work with the City of Lake Charles and our concert sponsors Isle of Capri Casino, JPMorgan Chase, and Tobacco Free Living to bring our community a music festival that can become our own JazzFest or Festival International."

The festival will be free to the public, and it will also showcase local artists, children's activities, vendors, and Lake Area food booths. Live @ the Lakefront is co-presented by the Arts Council and the City of Lake Charles and is made possible by Deep South Productions and generous sponsorships from Isle of Capri Casino Hotel, JPMorgan Chase, and Tobacco Free Living. Event partners include Townsquare Media, Gator 99.5, Coca-Cola, 107JAMZ, Cajun Radio, KISSFM, 92.9 The Lake, the Porch Coffee House & Cafe, American Press, Lake Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau, Knight Media, Southwest Daily News, the Jambalaya News, Lagniappe, Thrive Magazine, KPLC, Beverage Sales, Southwest Beverage, and Redfish Rental.

For details about Live @ the Lakefront, call the Arts Council office at 439-ARTS or visit www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org.