Upcoming Grand Center events

Grand Center, St. Louis’ premier Arts and Entertainment District, is delighted once again to host the Grand Gallery Walk, Friday, May 16 from 5 to 9 pm.

The Grand Gallery Walk offers visitors a journey through Grand Center’s historic streetscapes lined with galleries—large and small—featuring an eclectic mix of paintings, sculpture, photography, pottery, jewelry and mixed media from world-renowned artists.

Guests are invited to design their own course for an enchanting stroll through more than a dozen galleries and museums throughout the District. Complimentary trolleys will be on hand to welcome participants aboard for a delightful twilight tour of Grand Center’s exciting collection of artistic venues and exhibits. Signage throughout the District will indicate designated trolley stops.

A Grand Gallery Walk Passport will be issued to patrons, good for discounts at Grand Center’s restaurants, including Reggie’s Backstage, Best Steak House, Joe Boccardi’s Ristorante, The Bistro at Grand Center, Tempt Café @ the Contemporary, and NaDÅ�z Euro Bakery and Café. Passports will be available at all participating galleries and museums.

Those visiting six or more galleries or museums may enter to win prizes at a drawing taking place at Sheldon Art Galleries at 8:45 pm. Participants do not have to be present to win.

Prior to making its District debut later this summer, Craft Alliance is ready to preview some of the excitement it intends to bring to Grand Center. The organization will add to the Grand Gallery Walk festivities by showcasing window projects and a Plein Air artist demonstrating the craft of clay throwing. Craft Alliance in Grand Center will be housed in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters building on the corner of Grand and Olive.

“The Grand Gallery Walk promises a charming evening of all that Grand Center has to offer,” said Kelly Weber, Director of Grand Center’s Art Programming. “From museums to galleries and area restaurants all located in one District, so rich in history, visitors will be sure to enjoy themselves. We’re especially thrilled to give art enthusiasts and novices exposure to such a high caliber of visual arts and we hope everyone will join us.”

The Grand Gallery Walk features the following galleries, museums and special exhibits:
Arthur and Helen Baer Visual Arts Galleries at Centene Center for Arts and Education
• Think...Imagine...Explore...Create!: Reed School's adventure into imagination

Bruno David Gallery
• Alex Couwenberg: Working Space (Main gallery)
• Shawn Burkard: Over and over and over (Front room)
• Jill Downen: Cornerstone (New Media room)

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
• John Armleder & Olivier Mosset

Craft Alliance
• Plein air artist demonstration with a clay throwing wheel, window projections and summer class info.

The Continental Affair
• Join us on the first level of the Continental Life Building for refreshments, music provided by The Valerie Tichacek Trio and art displays by Greg Edmondson, William Lobdell, Catharine Magel, Kim Mosley, and John Troy.

Grand Public Art Plaza
• Michael Oliveri: E-scaping the Grid

Greenberg Van Doren Gallery
• Visual Noise: Sculptural Works by John Baldessari, John Chamberlain and Frank Stella

MOCRA (Museum of Contemporary Religious Art)
• Miao Xiachun: The Last Judgment in Cyberspace

The MOTO Museum Newly Renovated
• The History of the Motorcycle: 100 Motorcycles. 100 Years.

Portfolio Gallery and Education Center (Opening Reception May 16 from 5 to 9 pm)
• 4 OF A KIND: Anthony High, Keith Sheapard, Bonnye Brown and Edward Hogan (all artists from the Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, Kansas community)

PSTL Window Gallery at Pace Framing
• Grand Center Artists: Brandon Anschultz, Bunny Burson, Michael Byron, Judy Child, Jill Downen, Debra Drexler, Cheri Hoffman, Paula Hoffman, Barry Leibman, Eva Lundsager, Jessika Miekeley, Charles Schwall

The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
• Dan Flavin: Constructed Light

Schmidt Contemporary Art Gallery
• Louis Cameron: Recent Paintings, Collages, and Video

Sheldon Art Galleries (Opening Reception May 16 from 5-9 p.m.*)
• *See you in the Funny Papers: The Rich Tradition of St. Louis Cartooning
• *Herb Snitzer: Photographs from the Last Years of Metronome, 1958-1962
• *Clifford R. Martin: Navy Photographer
• Weese Fellows Exhibit 2008: Don Koster and Jen Maigret
• Things that Matter: Art by Children with Autism
• *Cowgirls: Contemporary Portraits of the American West

SLUMA (St. Louis University Museum of Art)
• Discerning Palette: Jerry O. Wilkerson Retrospective

Third Baptist Church
• Art, organ music and light refreshments in the Narthex. Art provided by Shaw School

Vaughn Cultural Center
• Art of Kenneth Stanford

Please join us at the
Sixth Annual Visionary Awards!
Wednesday May 21st, 2008 at
the Sheldon Concert Hall in Grand Center.

Honoring Women Dedicated to
Advancing the Arts in St. Louis 

Peg Grigg
President's Award

Sue Greenberg
Outstanding Arts Professional

Carrie Houk
Successful Working Artist

Jeanne Trevor
Lifetime Achievement Award

Lois D. Conley
Jane Ellen Ibur
Outstanding Arts Educator

Ashley L. Tate
Emerging Artist

Emily Piro
Outstanding Young Artist

To Guarantee your seat RSVP by May 13, 2008

sponsored by:
BROWN SHOE                      A.G. EDWARDS        
ST. LOUIS MAGAZINE        ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL
IMAGE WORKS                    KWMU

The Visionary Awards honorees are recognized for their contributions in the areas of leadership, philanthropy and service, arts administration, and visual and performing arts among others. Recipients are selected by a committee of recognized arts leaders in the community from nominations submitted by the general public. The awards are given based on the determination of the committee and the overall representation of the artists.

The event itself was created by Grand Center, Inc. as a way to highlight the work of women artists and arts leaders in the community. Each year, hundreds of women and men involved with the arts attend the event.

The Visionary Awards will take place on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Sheldon, 3648 Washington Avenue in Grand Center. For more information, please contact Jessica E. Stack at 314.289.1523 or via email at jstack@grandcenter.org.

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS
$250 VIP
VIP cocktail reception (Prior to the event at 5:30pm)
Listing in the awards program
Reserved seating at the awards ceremony
Table for ten at the awards

$100 Donor
Open cocktail reception
Open seating at the awards ceremony

$35 Young Friends [Under 30 Years of Age]
Open cocktail reception
Open seating at the awards ceremony

CALL 314.289.1523 for information regarding sponsorship opportunities.

Proceeds from this event will contribute to the restoration of Grand Center as a nationally significant Arts & Entertainment District thus enhancing the quality of life in St. Louis and the cultural tourism drawing power of the City. 

GRAND CENTER TEAMS WITH KETC AND THE SHELDON CONCERT HALL TO PRESENT
“JANIS IAN: LIVE FROM GRAND CENTER” ON JUNE 19th.

Janis Ian will take center stage at the Sheldon Concert Hall when Grand Center and KETC/Channel 9 bring the legendary Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter to St. Louis for a single performance. Ian’s concert will be filmed “live” and aired on Channel 9 on a June 27th as part of the ongoing — “Live From Grand Center” series. This special concert will feature Ian at her best, as she performs a retrospective of her work and shares her most current songs, all while providing anecdotes from her life.

Ian’s amazing career spans four decades. In 1965, at the age of fourteen, Ian recorded her first album. She gained notice in 1967 as a folk singing wunderkind when Leonard Bernstein featured her in his CBS television special Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, resulting in her then controversial song “Society's Child," becoming a national hit that was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Ian’s 1970’s masterpiece “Between the Lines” was nominated for five Grammy awards (winning two) and featured the iconic lament of teen insecurity, “At Seventeen.” In Japan her album “Aftertones” was No.1 for six months and a disco collaboration with Giorgio Moroder went platinum throughout Europe, Africa, and Australia. She received her seventh Grammy nomination for a jazz duet with Mel Torme. With a musical range from folk to pop to jazz, Ian’s live performances have been called “overwhelming to the spirit and soul,” and “drenched with such passion, the audience feels they’ve been swept up in a hurricane.”

In addition to her June 19 performance, Ian will be releasing "Society's Child: My Autobiography," in July. A new double CD (her 25th) will be released that month, featuring songs from her 40-year career.

Ian’s show is being made possible, in part, thanks to a gift from Anheuser-Busch Companies. Tickets to “Janis Ian: Live From Grand Center” at the Sheldon Concert Hall begin at $20 and will go on sale May 1 through MetroTix (314) 534-1111.

CINEMANIA
July 5, 12, 19, 26

Returning for a second year, audiences are invited to enjoy our free summer film fest on Saturday evenings in July. This year’s theme is “musicals” and the four we’ve chosen have garnered 19 Oscars among them! The musicals include: An American in Paris (July 5); Funny Girl (July 12); West Side Story (July 19) and Moulin Rouge! (July 26). Grand Center is collaborating with Cinema St. Louis to bring these films to the district. The summer film fest will be shown on the grassy lot west of Grand Boulevard and next to the Bruno David Gallery on Washington Avenue.

Dinner And A Movie:
We hope you’ll visit one of our district’s restaurants for dinner and then join us for our outdoor movie. We’ll also have movie refreshments available. Please bring your own blanket or chairs. Movies will begin at sundown.

See you at the movies!

The Grand Center Arts & Entertainment District will celebrate the opening of the Fall Season with a street festival on Saturday, September 27, 2008. The event will showcase the District and include a Gallery Walk, the EarthWays Center Energy Festival, and more! This year’s event will also focus on dance and showcase more than 50 dance organizations from the Metropolitan area performing on outdoor stages. District Restaurants will be open and more food, wine and beer vendors will be set up to make this a fun day to spend in Grand Center. Check back for more details to follow!

First Night Saint Louis 2009 Call to Artists!

It’s not too early to be thinking about how your talent or craft could interpret our theme for this year’s First Night. “Kaleidoscope,” or the continually changing pattern of shapes and colors, is the perfect theme to launch us into the new year. Whether you are a musician, theater troupe, dance company, visual artist, storyteller or just a unique individual with a grand vision, we are already accepting submissions for participation in our event on December 31st, 2008.

Stay tuned for event and schedule updates on First Night 2009, “Kaleidoscope!”