Residents invited to work on ‘sound suits’
Denton residents can lend a hand in creating part of a performance art project with the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design and artist Nick Cave.
Cave, a 2012 fellow of the UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts, is leading art, design and dance students through a project that will culminate in Nick Cave: Heard.
Cave, an installation artist and former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and the students are making “sound suits” — art that is one part sculpture, one part costuming and one part performance.
The 30 suits include horse heads that are covered with raffia over an armature of metal and hardware cloth, as well as horse bodies covered in raffia.
UNT dance students will wear the sound suits in three performances of Nick Cave: Heard. Denton performances are March 12 and 13 on the UNT campus and the final performance will be on April 1 at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.
Robert Milnes, dean of the Visual Arts and Design College, said members of the community are welcome to help complete the suits in supervised sessions, with no art experience needed.
Once trained, volunteers can complete a costume at home.
Denton residents ages 13 and older can attend a noon to 5 pm session today in Room 231 of the UNT Art Building.
The Art Building is at 1201 W. Mulberry St., on the southwest corner of Welch and Mulberry streets. Metered parking is available on Welch. Visitors can park in the Union Circle parking garage at 350 Welch St. Call 940-565-4005 or 940-565-4003 for more information.
Artist contributes work to exhibit overseas
Denton painter Pam Burnley-Schol has been invited to include her artwork in “Gold” at the Imperial Belvedere Palace Museum in Vienna, Austria, in March.
Burnley-Schol was invited because the painter uses 24-karat gold leaf paint in her recent still life pieces.
Burnley-Schol was one of 140 contemporary artists invited to join the group exhibition.
Curator Thomas Zaunschirm specifically asked for a painting called Transfiguration: Cabbage amp; Steel, which is a still life of a head of green cabbage and a sliced head of red cabbage next to a grater. The mundane items are painted onto a gold leaf background.
In her gold-leaf paintings, Burnley-Schol suggests that the things that sustain us — tools, food and the air — are the true treasures of our existence, even if we don’t assign them a royal value.
Wilson choir members to take part in festival
Five members of the Wilson Elementary School All-Star Choir were recently selected to the Organization of American Kodaly Educators National Children’s Choir.
Fifth-graders Victoria Bustos, Jillian Cheek, Samson Hudson and Allie Smith and fourth-grader Morgan Cayce auditioned and were selected among thousands of entries from across the country. This is the second selection for both Victoria and Samson.
The students will join the National Children’s Choir in performing during the final concert at the group’s national convention on March 18 in Phoenix.
The Wilson All-Star Choir is under the direction of Cecile Johnson.
Strutters win big at dance competition
The Ryan High School Strutters recently competed at the Showtime International Texas Dallas Challenge at Keller Central High, winning seven team awards and one individual honor.
The drill team earned the competition’s highest recognition by being named Grand Champions in the medium team division. The group also swept the best in category awards in their division, winning for best jazz, pom-pom and lyrical performances.
Ryan’s drill team finished the event with the judges’ award and sweepstakes honors in the medium team division for jazz, pom-pom and lyrical performance.
Kati Sharbono earned the Just for Kix Kickmaster recognition in the individual portion of the competition.
Cassie Mayer is the Strutters’ coach and sponsor. She is assisted by Keli Jones.
Denton ISD grads appear in short film
Two graduates of the Denton school district were in a film that recently screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
Christopher Grant, who graduated from Denton High School in 2001, and Stephen Plunkett, who graduated from Ryan High School in 1999, were in a short film titled Rolling on the Floor Laughing.
The film was written and directed by Russell Harbaugh.
Grant will play the role of Sam Phillips in the national tour of Million Dollar Quartet, which will travel to Dallas in March.
Photos show things that aren’t there
The opening of Earthwise Gardens in Denton features local photographer Angilee Wilkerson’s ”Prairie Series,” along with several other regional artists’ work.
Earthwise is a new local supplier of sustainable food at 728 N. Elm St. The exhibition will run in the shop’s gallery space through the end of February.
Wilkerson’s series of images are deceptively quiet, offering an outward vision of the prairies and flood plains of the North Texas and south Oklahoma landscapes. On closer inspection, the photos unveil the palpable presence of what is absent: a small patch of flattened prairie grass where a pack of animals had recently rested, the remains of two birds of prey who had fought to the death and a sense of some undefined presence in a sea of grassland.
Earthwise is open 8:30 am to noon Saturday.
