Author: Kevin Ledgewood

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa’s Bama Art House Film Series Winter 2023 will take place in January and will feature three movies. Screenings will take place at the Bama Theatre on Jan. 24 and Feb. 7 and 14 at 7:00 p.m., one half hour earlier than in previous series.

The box office, doors, and bar will open at 6:00 p.m. Single Tickets will be priced at $10 general, $9 seniors & students and $8 Arts Council Members and will be available at the box office prior to screenings. Discount Punch Card Tickets ($70) will also be available and will be good for any 10 Bama Art House films with no expiration date.

Patrons can visit www.tuscarts.org and to view the list of films, details and accompanying trailers.

January 24, 2023

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) Winners were announced in The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa’s 2022 Juried Show for West Alabama artists at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center on Friday, December 2^nd during the First Friday Art Walk. The exhibit will be open weekdays through December 16^th with limited holiday hours then will continue January 9-20, 2023.

West Alabama artists were allowed to submit up to three works for judging including two- and three-dimensional pieces. The competition was juried and the winners selected by Shawn Dickey, Department Chair and Professor of Art in the Department of Art and Design at Mississippi University for Women.

Established in 1985, the West Alabama Juried Show represents The Arts Council’s mission to promote the arts in Tuscaloosa County. The exhibit offers local artists in West Alabama counties the opportunity to have their work displayed in a public setting and win cash awards for their efforts.

The following prizes were awarded:

The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama Purchase Award – $1,000

Charlotte Wegrzynowski for “Scatter”

Will be displayed at the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama

Gail Skidmore Memorial Award of Excellence Contributed by The Arts Council – $300

Rachel Wakefield for “The Red, The Blue”

One Cash Award contributed by The Arts Council – $100

Deborah Hughes for “Where Form Meets Substance”

Honorable Mentions

Daisy H. Young for “pregnancy is a portal; joint observations I”

Stephen Blades for “Composite God 1: Crescent”

Sharony Green for “Sis Lou and Ettie”

Visit https://tuscarts.org/gallery-exhibits-competitions/competition-west-al-juried/ for more information about the show. 

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council, Bama Theatre or CAC, patrons should like the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa is announcing its annual Small Grants Program, awarding projects by Tuscaloosa County artists and non-profit organizations. Grants to all local teachers for arts related projects are also available through the Community Foundation’s Arts in Education Grant. 

The Arts Council is now accepting grant applications from local artists and organizations for upcoming projects taking place between Oct. 3, 2022 and May 15, 2023. The deadline for applications is Oct. 3, 2022 with recipients announced by Oct. 31, 2022. A one-to-one match of funds is required for those applying for grants.

Organizations may apply for Small Grants Program awards for such projects as exhibits, festivals, residencies, consultants, attendance at seminars, institutes, workshops by artistic and/or administrative staff and productions. Professional artists may apply for grants covering pilot or short-term projects or opportunities such as seminars, workshops, conferences or apprenticeships with master artists. Since the advent of the Small Grants Program in 1986, local artists and organizations have received more than $140,000.  

The maximum Small Grant available to organizations is $1000 and $750 to individuals. 

The Arts in Education Grant provides funds that are specifically earmarked for arts related projects through the Community Foundation of West Alabama. Local educators pursuing any arts related project can apply for funding from the Foundation through The Arts Council with a deadline of Oct. 3, 2022 for grant activities which will be taking place between Oct. 3, 2022 and May 15, 2023. 

Guidelines and applications for both grant programs are available online at https://tuscarts.org/small-grants.  Additional information is available to individuals or groups interested in applying by contacting Shannon McCue, Education Director, at education@tuscarts.org or 205-758-5195, ext. 4.

For more information about The Arts Council, Bama Theatre, or Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center, patrons should follow and like “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and Twitter and also Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release                                            
The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa
Contact: Kevin Ledgewood
pr@tuscarts.org
205-758-5195, x6

DINAH WASHINGTON CULTURAL ARTS CENTER WILL HOST THE WORK OF CARSON GRUBAUGH IN HIS EXHIBIT “PRESENT”

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will host an exhibit of works by artist Carson Grubaugh in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center Aug. 5-Sept. 30, 2022. “Present” will open on Aug. 5 during the First Friday Art Walk from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.  

Grubaugh holds bachelor’s degrees in both Art and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He now teaches Visual Art at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa.

He was named the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Emerging Artist of 2011 and placed 3rd in the Portraiture category of the 15th Art Renewal Center Salon. His art is displayed at numerous museums and galleries in the United States, Canada, England, Spain and Germany.

The artist collaborated with Dave Sim on the Eisner Award nominated graphic novel “The Strange Death of Alex Raymond” and the comic book “You Don’t Know Jack: Two-Fisted Comic-Store Manager.” A collection of his short comics works, “Six Macro Cons,” has also been published. Grubaugh recently created the world’s first comic book series entirely illustrated by an Artificial Intelligence, “The Abolition of Man.” The first issue will be released in October of 2022.

Along with his publisher, Sean Michael Robinson, he runs the comics-centric YouTube channel, Living The Line.

The Arts Council Gallery and UA Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m.  For more information about The Arts Council gallery visit https://cac.tuscarts.org/cacgallery.php.

In addition to the galleries of downtown Tuscaloosa, The First Friday Art Walk also features art friendly coffee shops hosting the work of local artists. Visit www.firstfridaytuscaloosa.com for complete First Friday information.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should follow and like “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and also Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release                                            
The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa
Contact: Kevin Ledgewood
pr@tuscarts.org
205-758-5195, x6

JASON GUYNES EXHIBIT CONTINUES THROUGH JULY IN THE ARTS COUNCIL GALLERY
AT THE DINAH WASHINGTON CULTURAL ARTS CENTER

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will continue the exhibit of oils and drawings by Jason Guynes, titled “Unrealism,” through July 29, 2022 in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center. Due to the holiday weekend, there will be no First Friday Art Walk on July 1.

Jason Guynes is a professor of art and chairperson of the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Alabama. He holds the MFA from Tulane University and the BA in Art from Belhaven College. He has had academic appointments at universities in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama and has been working in academia for thirty years, serving as a chairperson for twenty-six years. While at the University of West Alabama he founded and served as director of the UWA Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, an ongoing national exhibition of outdoor sculpture. At the University of South Alabama, he oversaw the design and construction of a state-of-the-art glass blowing facility and program, as well as the creation of an MFA program in Creative Technologies and Practice. He served as President of SECAC, the second largest arts organization of its kind in the US, from 2014 to 2017. Guynes exhibits his work internationally in competitions, galleries, and museums, and his work has been featured in Creative Quarterly’s virtual gallery, Negative Capability Journal, and Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual 8. In addition to exhibitions, he has completed numerous private and public mural commissions throughout the United States with major commissions in Mesa, Ariz., Joplin, Missouri, Philadelphia, Penn., and Mobile, Ala.

“Unrealism” is an attempt to depict reality in a contemporary form which inevitably entails an effort to capture that which is not seen and which goes beyond knowing from a purely visual standpoint. The work in this exhibit contains pieces from two bodies of work addressing different themes in similar ways. The oil paintings are from a series exploring the artist’s personal narratives and the drawings deal with experience and memory as it relates to place.

“The paintings relate to my upbringing among people who enjoy a good story. The struggle I engage in is to construct a narrative that has universal appeal, but to do so in a way that displays a uniqueness of personal experience, and that adequately captures those parts of any story that are felt rather than seen,” said the artist.

The University of Alabama Gallery at the DWCAC along with the Paul Jones Museum will continue the “Flow” exhibit through July also.

The Arts Council Gallery and UA Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m.  For more information about The Arts Council gallery visit https://cac.tuscarts.org/cacgallery.php.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should follow and like “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and also Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa’s Bama Art House Film Series Summer 2022 will take place in June and will feature two movies. Screenings will take place at the Bama Theatre on June 14 and 21 at 7:30 p.m.

The box office will open at 6:30 p.m. and doors/Bama Bar at 6:45 p.m. Single Tickets will be priced at $8 general, $7 seniors & students and $6 Arts Council Members and will be available at the box office. Discount Punch Card Tickets ($60) will also be available and will be good for any 10 Bama Art House films.

Patrons can visit https://tuscarts.org/bama/bama-art-house/to view the list of films, details and accompanying trailers.

Tuesday, June 14:
“Firebird” (2021)
Winner at Film Festivals in Cleveland, Austin, San Francisco, Key West, San Diego
Rated R | 1h 47 min | Drama, Romance
Written by: Peeter Rebane (screenplay, Tom Prior (screenplay), and Sergey Fetisov (story)
Directed by: Peeter Rebane
Stars: Tom Prior, Oleg Zagorodnii, Diana Pozharskaya

Tuesday, June 21, 2022
“Lost Illusions” (2021)
Winner of 7 César Awards including Best Film; Venice Film Festival nominee for Best Film
Not Rated | 2h 29 min | Drama, History, Romance
Written by: Jacques Fieschi (adaptation), Xavier Giannoli (adaptation), Yves Stavrides (collaboration)
Directed by: Xavier Giannoli
Stars: Benjamin Voisin, Cécile de France, Vincent Lacoste

The mission of the Bama Art House series is to bring current and contemporary independent film to West Alabama, transforming the historic Bama Theatre into a cinematic art house. 

The Bama Theatre is located at 600 Greensboro Avenue in Downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should follow and like “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit bamatheatre.org for further information.

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will host an exhibit of works by Jason Guynes June 3-July 29, 2022 in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center. Opening on June 3 during the First Friday Art Walk from 5 p.m.-7 p.m., the exhibit will be titled “Unrealism” and will consist of drawings and works in oil.

Jason Guynes is a professor of art and chairperson of the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Alabama. He holds the MFA from Tulane University and the BA in Art from Belhaven College. He has had academic appointments at universities in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama and has been working in academia for thirty years, serving as a chairperson for twenty-six years. While at the University of West Alabama he founded and served as director of the UWA Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, an ongoing national exhibition of outdoor sculpture. At the University of South Alabama, he oversaw the design and construction of a state-of-the-art glass blowing facility and program, as well as the creation of an MFA program in Creative Technologies and Practice. He served as President of SECAC, the second largest arts organization of its kind in the US, from 2014 to 2017. Guynes exhibits his work internationally in competitions, galleries, and museums, and his work has been featured in Creative Quarterly’s virtual gallery, Negative Capability Journal, and Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual 8. In addition to exhibitions, he has completed numerous private and public mural commissions throughout the United States with major commissions in Mesa, Ariz., Joplin, Missouri, Philadelphia, Penn., and Mobile, Ala.

“Unrealism” is an attempt to depict reality in a contemporary form which inevitably entails an effort to capture that which is not seen and which goes beyond knowing from a purely visual standpoint. The work in this exhibit contains pieces from two bodies of work addressing different themes in similar ways. The oil paintings are from a series exploring the artist’s personal narratives and the drawings deal with experience and memory as it relates to place.

“The paintings relate to my upbringing among people who enjoy a good story. The struggle I engage in is to construct a narrative that has universal appeal, but to do so in a way that displays a uniqueness of personal experience, and that adequately captures those parts of any story that are felt rather than seen,” said the artist.

The University of Alabama Gallery at DWCAC along with the Paul Jones Gallery will feature the opening of the “Flow” exhibit on June 3 during First Friday.

Information about all the downtown galleries and exhibits open during the February First Friday Art Walk is available at www.firstfridaytuscaloosa.com.

The Arts Council Gallery and UA Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m.  For more information about The Arts Council gallery visit https://cac.tuscarts.org/cacgallery.php.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should follow and like “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and also Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will present the annual Tuscaloosa County School System Visual Arts Showcase May 6-25, 2022 in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center.

The TCSS Showcase will open on May 6 from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. during the First Friday Art Walk and will be comprised of works by both middle and high school students. Each art teacher will select seven to ten pieces with the display including a variety of media. There are six high schools, six middle schools and two intermediate schools in the TCSS.

Also featured during First Friday will be the third lantern workshop presented by Flow Tuscaloosa in the Black Box Theatre from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. The workshop is free and open to all ages. Workshop participants will work with artists to build lanterns that connect to the history and ecology of the Black Warrior River watershed, and in May, the group will gather with their lanterns for a parade down the Riverwalk. Visit https://flowtuscaloosa.com/ for more information about the project.

Gallery hours during the month of May are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m. and also by appointment.  For more information about all gallery events taking place on First Friday and the locations, visit www.firstfridaytuscaloosa.com.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in Downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about the CAC, The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should LIKE the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” and follow tuscarts on Twitter. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) “Westwood Art Month at the Bama” will take place April 26-May 4, 2022 and will feature the fine arts programs of Westwood Elementary. The annual event will include an exhibit of the students’ visual art in the Bama Theatre’s Junior League Gallery and the 15th annual Musical Extravaganza in the theatre on May 3. The event is sponsored by The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, Westwood’s adopt-a-school partner.

The Musical Extravaganza will take place on May 3 at 7 p.m. on stage at the Bama Theatre. The Westwood Singers II (Grades 1-2) will perform three musical selections, and the Westwood Singers (grades 3-4) will present “On the Radio.” Over 100 students in grades one through four will participate in this production, with Merry Livingston conducting the choral ensembles.

Admission to the musical is $5 for adults and teens and $1 for children twelve and under who are not performing on stage.

Art work created by students in grades K-4 will be displayed at the Bama’s Junior League Gallery April 26-May 4. All work is original and consists of drawing and painting. Awards for Best of Show, first, second, third and honorable mention will be presented in grades K-2 and 3-4. Admission to the exhibit is free. 

Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. and also during Bama Theatre events. Enter the gallery through The Arts Council offices, located on the second floor of the PARA Building, if visiting during office hours.

The Arts Council is Westwood’s partner in the Tuscaloosa County Adopt-A-School program. For more information about the program, visit the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama at www.tuscaloosachamber.com/aas. The Bama Theatre is located at 600 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should LIKE the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” and follow tuscarts on Twitter. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.)  The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will recognize artists, educators, volunteers and patrons of the arts tonight at the 24th Druid Arts Awards ceremony at the Bama Theatre. The winners and their families will be honored at a reception at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center at 6 p.m. with the awards presented at 7 p.m. in the theatre. The Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre will perform a short program prior to the ceremony in the theatre.

In founding and perpetuating the Druid Arts Awards, The Arts Council determined that local citizens who were working as volunteers, artists, educators and corporate sponsors was very large and growing.  The Council also realized that the work of these individuals as well as supportive businesses was not often publicly recognized.  It was for this reason that the Druid Arts Awards were established, and it has become a bi-annual presentation to honor these special individuals who have achieved distinction in the arts over a number of years in Tuscaloosa County.

Nominations for volunteer, artist, and educator were requested from the community in each of the categories of music, visual arts, dance, literature and theatre. Nominations were also requested for Patron of the Arts, Corporate Sponsor, Tuscaloosa’s Home Grown and Special Awards. Tuscaloosa’s Home Grown was established to honor those native to Tuscaloosa who have become recognized in their field on a national/international level. Individuals or groups who have contributed to or supported the arts through actions outside of the aforementioned categories are honored with a Special Award. Nominations were submitted by citizens of Tuscaloosa County, and a committee comprised of members of The Arts Council Board of Directors made the final selections.

2022 Winners:

Music

Artist – Osiris Molina

Educator –John Cain

Theatre

Volunteer – Cooper Shattuck

Educator – Lyndell McDonald

Artist – Norquina “Q” Rieves

Visual Art

Artist – Michael Moore

Educator – Ruth O’Connor

Literary

Artist – Laura Hunter

Educator – Michael Martone

Dance

Artist – Lucy Rogers

Educator – Alden Phillips McShan

Volunteer – Theresa Rubio

Special Award – Gail Windham and Anna Gantt

Home Grown Award – Ransom Wilson

Corporate Sponsor of the Year  – McAbee Construction

Patron of the Arts – Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports in Memory of Bill Buchanan

The Bama Theatre is located at 600 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council, Bama Theatre or CAC, patrons should LIKE the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” and follow tuscarts on Twitter. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.

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