Flying Swine performance of Savage in Limbo at Chill Wine Bar, Beacon NY, 12/12-12/21

Of all those who awaited the long delayed opening of the wine bar Chill, I'm sure few breathed the sigh of relief Donald Kimmel of Flying Swine was allowed to let loose once the joint finally opened its doors. Flying Swine had received a NYSCA grant, distributed by the Duthcess Arts Council, last year for a production of Savage in Limbo by Shanley in 2008. The play is set in a bar, and in a vision of seamless, site specific verisimilitude, Kimmel envisioned producing it in the wine bar - once it opened. Fortunately, Chill opened for business just a couple of months back and Savage in Limbo will have its run this month.
Below are all the details you should need:

FLYING SWINE presents the first show produced on an Actors Equity contract in
the city of Beacon in over 25 years!SAVAGE IN LIMBO, by John Patrick Shanley
Featuring Estelle Bajou, Michael Benjamin*, Phil Gardiner, Heidi James*
& Mary Sheridan*.
Directed by Donald Kimmel - Set Design by Dana Kenn - Costume Design by Erika Furey
Stage Managed by Polly Solomon*
*Member, Actors Equity Association
Site specific, fully realized professional theatre in a non-traditional setting, CHILL Wine Bar, 173 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508.
Performances Fridays @ 7pm, Saturdays @ 4pm & 7pm, Sundays @7pm, December
12-December 21.For reservations, call the SWINELINE, or purchase advance tickets @ ARTISAN WINE SHOP, 180 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508.Advance tickets $20. Day of show tickets $25 at the door Groups of 10 or more $17Students & Seniors $17

PS. Flying Swine is looking for a few fine folks willing to open their homes and host a few of the actors during the run of the rehearsal and performance schedule. If you're interested, more details are posted over at the Beacon Citizen Network.

The latest on Habitat for Artists

Fog descended heavily around midnight last night. I walked down to Spire to see the effect the thickened atmosphere had on the artists habitats.

Just twelve hours earlier Habitat Alley was a center of commotion as the last of the structures were erected for tomorrow's official launch of the project. Below you see Donald Kimmel, Simon Draper and Alexis Elton as the skin is placed on the habitat that Sharon Butler plans to use as an unplugged writing refuge for the Summer.


Here Donald and Simon are working on the Flying Swine Performance Stage/Communitat. On Saturday, visitors will be welcome to adorn the structure with cladding of their own creation. Donald will be on stage, performing, somewhere between 3 and 5pm on Saturday.

Alexis is back in town from New Mexico for a short stint. She's been working on her own structure out west, made of steel, burlap, mud and unlit matches. She'll be showing an installation of the documentation of her habitat and her life outside of Santa Fe during Spire Studios' Open Studios on Saturday. Alexis' arrival yesterday reminded me of a flurry of building taking place on this site two years ago.

The HFA backyard, as it were.

Grant me the strength

A Beacon contingent was on hand to receive a number of grants from the Dutchess County Arts Council at a potluck ceremony on Thursday night, March 6 in Kingston. The DCAC administers the funds in Dutchess and Ulster Counties for the NY State Council on the Arts Decentralized Program. The program funds community arts projects sponsored by non profit organizations.
Almost fifty programs and projects from the two counties received funding from this grant program. The ceremony was sort an informal Oscar ceremony set before a backdrop of savory and sweet dishes arrayed in casseroles and tin foil. The only thing really lacking was the orchestra keeping the acceptance speeches to the utmost brevity. That said, It was interesting to hear of all the efforts and energy being put forth by many people to enhance the cultural life in our slice of the Hudson Valley.
Jennifer Mackewiecz and I accepted the grant given to BACA as the sponsoring organization for this year's Windows on Main St which will be held in August.
Donald Kimmel of Flying Swine was on the scene Thursday night. Flying Swine received funding for an upcoming autumn performance of "Savage in Limbo" by John Patrick Shanley. The play is set in the bar and the performance will take place this fall in the long anticipated wine and beer bar that should open in the coming months by Jim Svetz, owner of the Muddy Cup.
Beacon artist Rick Price and Gigi Fris of the Beacon Sloop Club were on hand to accept funding for a mural that Rick will be creating that for the Sloop Club. The mural will depict scenes of the of the environmental legacy of Pete Seeger, the sloop Woody Guthrie and the activities of the Sloop Club. Rick is in the process of planning the composition. Upon completion of the mural in the coming months, it will temporarily be installed on the side of the building that houses the River Winds Gallery. The Sloop Club is hopes to find a future permanent home for the mural closer to the waterfront, possibly somewhere at the Long Dock development.

Stephanie Heimann and Ronnie Farley of Fovea Exhibitions Beacon Gallery received funding for an upcoming exhibit called Women on the Front Lines scheduled to open on May 10 and run through July 6.
Given the amount of territory the DCAC covers, and the number of artists living and working in the county, very few of those artists are actually members of the council. I can attest to the eager efforts and intentions of the Council's board and staff to effectively serve as an advocate for artists' interests and exist as a relevant resource for the area's artists. As artists, we represent a substantial portion of the stakeholders within the constituency that the Arts Council serves, and through membership artists can help shape how culture and the arts in our area are developed.
I encourage all artists living and working in the area to consider joining the DCAC, particularly "contemporary artists" whose work exists outside of traditional contexts of art and who feel that their interests are not necessarily served by the activities of the Council. It is through the feedback support from such artists that the Council's benefits artists can be further developed.

Flying Swine: Poe's Mask of the Red Death. This weekend only.

Beginning tonight, Flying Swine will be performing Edgar Allen Poe's Mask of the Red Death in the theatre at Beacon Studios. Poe's The Raven will also be presented.

Performances will be held at:

8pm Friday, Oct 26

7pm &10pm Saturday, Oct 27

7pm Sunday, Oct 28

Admission: Adults, $10. Students, seniors, and groups of 15 or more, $7

For information and reservations, call the Swineline: 845-230-7010.

I could be wrong, but I believe that these performances will be the first to be held in the old high school's theater since the students moved in 2002. At one point, here were big plans for the use of the theater under the direction of The Beacon Cultural Foundation, but other than a few community meetings, I think the theater has remained dormant for years. If someone knows otherwise, please let me know.

What I did this week.

On Saturday, I attended Go North's launch of a program of talks held at the Howland Center as Christopher Stackhouse and John Keene spoke about the collaboration that resulted in the book Seismosis. Christopher's work is currently featured in Go North's "Out of Line" exhibit. The book is available for purchase at the gallery as well as on Amazon.



Audio from the talk will soon be on hand at the gallery for those who are interested.

On Monday night, A and I attended the final Porcine Preview Readings held by Flying Swine at the Howland Center for the Summer. This was the first of the readings that we had attended, and it was fun. Deborah Brevoort's Signs of Life was the subject of the reading. The first two scenes of this play were among those previewed as part of the ' Swine's Taste of Bacon fundraiser shindig last May. Dan Da Silva was back again in the role of the male lead, and he has simply metabolized this role. It's not often that I make it out to see theatre and I know I haven't seen much GOOD theater, but, Dan seems like the kind of actor that takes the medium, and humps it over the fence into something really visceral. It's a fun play, and Da Silva sells it completely.

One thing I missed (by that much) was the monthly critique on Tuesday night. The group started at Spire, then headed down to Main St. to talk about Steve Rossi's, and Peter Iannarelli's WOMS installations. Maider Bilbao Echevarria, the current Artist in Residence at HVCCA. came up for the critique. Maider's exhibit will be opening at the museum in Peekskill on Sept. 16. The next critique is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 18 at 7:30, if you are interested in discussing your work, contact Sara at crazyoutburst@hotmail.com. Sara has layed out an extended schedule for the critiques (which I'll be posting soon) to allow for easy scheduling for everone. I'll have a section in the sidebar with current information on meeting places for each critique.

I did manage, for the first time. to attend a meeting of the Beacon Art Salon at Chthonic Clash on Wednesday. About 10 people were in attendance. The discussion revolved around the upcoming show of BAS members at Chthonic called "Interpreting Beacon" will will be opening on Second Saturday in Sept. (the 8th.) There was some talk about the next city wide open studio the group will be planning in December, and discussion regarding what sorts of activities the group may get into in order to fill the needs of the members. If you are interested in finding out more about BAS, hit the link above. It's free to join, and there is a yahoo group you can sign on to to receive info on opportunities or activities.

Porcine Preview #5, Aug 20 at the Howland Cultural Center

Flying Swine's fifth Porcine Preview staged reading will happen on Monday, Aug. 20 at the Howland Cultural Center. Deborah Brevoort's Signs of Life will be the selected reading.

The Porcine Previews are Free to the Public, and yes, donations are welcome.
Reservations can be made by calling: (845) 454-3222

A few images from Second Saturday, June 2007

Last week's Second Saturday line up of happenings were blessed with great weather which resulted in what felt like one of the more bustling, well attended installments of the monthly event.

I wasn't able to make it around to many places during the day, but here are a few images of things I did see - primarily a few spaces at the Beacon Studios, and the opening at the Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh. I will be posting more images later this weekend on the maykr flickr page. Angelika posted images on her blog of some of the gallery goers attending the opening reception at the Ann Street Gallery. Stacey Ward Kelly's website has images from the installation of Rick Price's mural at the Howland Public Library, and other studios.

Suspended pieces in Will Walker's studio at Beacon Studios.

Elia Gurna's Studio at Beacon Studios.

Flying Swine's reading of "Inventing Van Gogh"

Kirsten Kucer's installation at Beacon Studios

Peter Iannarelli installation in his space at Beacon Studios.

Richard Bruce's studio at Beacon Studios.

Opening Reception at Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh.


Eleanor White at Ann Street Gallery.

Installation of Bo Gehring's 60' long sculpture in the gym at Beacon Studios.

Carol March and Shannon Murphy's shared space at Beacon Studios.

Super Happy Colossal Second Saturday Fun Time

There is much much going on tomorrow for Second Saturday.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Flying Swine will be giving a reading of "Inventing Van Gogh" 7:30pm at 458 Main St.

BAS's open studio map.
Artists throughout the city will be opening their studios for visitors as part of the Open Studio event organized by the Beacon Art Salon . The Open Studio will run from 1-5pm.

The largest concentration of open studios is at the newly renamed Beacon Studios at 211 Fishkill Ave. This weekend's edition of POJO's Enjoy section covers the open studios.

As for galleries, bau's new exhibit is bau 30: Fresh Ink, a printmaking event. A group show of various printmakers. The reception is 6-9pm, bau is located at 161 Main St.

Bannerman Island Gallery at 150 Main St. is hosting a reception from 4-6pm for "CANACADEA" Landscapes in Resin by Carla Goldberg.

RiverWinds at 172 Main St is opening an retrospective exhibit of plein air painter Peter Billman. Reception is from 5-8pm.

Freshman Fine Art at 4 S Chestnut new exhibit is Denise MastrosimoneSmith: "Plantscapes - Transforming Images - Large Scale Color Drawings." Reception from 4-7pm.

Van Brunt Gallery will be opening a group show called No East No West featuring Lori Field, Reiko Fujinami, Elisa Pritzker, Hu Ren Yi, Kathleen Sweeney, Carl Van Brunt and Catherine Welshman. Reception from 6-9.

There is an art auction and reception happening at the Tallix facility located at 310 Fishkill Ave at 5pm. I had to go to Peekskill to learn about this event, and all I know is that it is going on. The event is sponsored by Hudson River HealthCare, The Preservation Company and Entergy. I can't tell what organization the auction is benefiting, but if you'd like event and ticket info, click here.

I'm sure there's other stuff going on, and of course, other galleries will be open late.....of course stop by Go North, I'll be there earlier in the day, and I'm sure a bit at night.

Plus, don't forget "In the Mix" at Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, (see previous post)

If you happen to be in Peekskill on June 9 or 10, that city's annual open studio event will be happening.
Also in Peekskill on Sat., HVCCA will be hosting an opening reception for Size Matters XS, and exhibit of small painting.

That's all I've got to give on this subject.

Flying Swine: Inventing Van Gogh June 9, 16

Flying Swine will be presenting #3 in its series of Porcine Previews; Inventing Van Gogh by Steven Dietz.
The free readings will be, once again, held in Beacon and Garrison.

In Beacon: June 9 @ 7:30 at 458 Main St. (next door to Van Brunt Gallery.) A "Porcine Postlude at the Piggy Bank will follow.
In Garrison: June 16 at 7:30 Philipstown Depot Theatre, Lower Station Rd. 845.424.3900
In Beacon June 9 (Sat) at 7:30 458 Main Street, by van brunt gallery Porcine Postlude at The Piggy Bank
In Garrison June 16 (Sat) at 7:30 Philipstown Depot Theatre, Lower Station Road 845.424.3900
Free to the public, donations gladly accepted
Reservations, call the swineline 845.230.7010 flyingswine@earthlink.net
A special exhibit of local artist self-portraits will be on exhibit at each location.