Deep focus
Free State filmmaker sets sights on future in cinema
Quinn Brabender eats an entire bag of candy, chugs 12 bottles of Jones Soda and a cup of coffee, and passes out on his computer keyboard. He wakes up 36 hours later, disoriented, in bed. "What time is it?" he mumbles, checking his alarm clock. Brabender gasps. "I'm wasting valuable experimentation time!" he shrieks, stumbling to his feet and rushing out of the room.
Couch witnesses relationship revolution in student's play
In Lawrence, gaudy couches - worn with age and perched on front porches - are synonymous with college students. "Around April or May, they always end up on the curb and get thrown away. You just kind of wonder, 'How long has that couch been around? Why did they throw it away?' And you put it in the back of your truck, and now it's in your living room," says Adam Lott, a Kansas University senior.
Renaissance man
Exhibit honors native son whose artwork became the bold signature of a new era in black culture
Growing up in Topeka, Cyrene Holt knew that her uncle - "the artist" - was making important work in New York. "Everyone was really impressed with what he was doing," Holt says. "But thinking that he was going to be famous or known - I don't know if that was thought of because of the fact that black people weren't recognized in that way."
Writers to read musical, voyeuristic poetry
Two Kansas University graduates return to Lawrence today to share their poetry. Kevin Rabas and Matthew Porubsky will give a reading at 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt. Both have books published by Lawrence-based Coal City Review. Porubsky's "Voyeur Poems" was released in May 2006; "Bird's Horn & Other Poems," by Rabas, came out last month.
'Black Jack' puts history onstage
It's a case of history repeating, but this time someone else is in charge. "The Ballad of Black Jack" returns this week to the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H., where it had a moderately successful run last year as the kick-off to Civil War on the Western Frontier activities.
Summer lovin'
A look at what we dig about the sultriest season
Aah, summertime. It stirs a sense of euphoria in most of us. School's out, the sun is shining, and the world seems to move at a slower clip. In homage to this glorious season, we explore some of the elements that define it - from lightning bugs to lemonade, longer days to lingering poolside.
City seen
Metro transplant's art hails urban landscape
Janet Satz feels like a voyeur when she visits the city. Whether she's in Chicago, where she grew up, or New York, where she lived before moving to Lawrence, she often finds herself glancing into high-rise windows while riding the train into the heart of the metropolis. "There's always something going on, something behind the facade," Satz says. "I find the city is very mysterious."
Flappers delight
1920s musical comedy challenges cast, promises fun
Director Mary Doveton's assessment of the Lawrence Community Theatre's summer show as "frothy" and "fun" describes what she hopes will be the audience experience.
Band gears up for rolling gig in annual art car parade
With song titles like "Minivan Mama," "In High Gear" and "Hammer Down," surely The Global Warmers were destined to play in an art car parade. The Lawrence band, which describes its genre as automobile-based rock, will perform on the back end of a decapitated 1991 Chevy Suburban during Saturday's Art Tougeau Parade.
Reading the fine print
Exhibit, book chronicle history of retired KU art professor's works on paper
When Emily Stamey shows Roger Shimomura's early prints to people who know the artist for his paintings, she always gets the same reaction. "They say, 'Oh my gosh. He was doing that 20 years before I thought he was doing that," says Stamey, a doctoral student in art history at Kansas University.
Rebel with a cause
Lawrence native sets beauty, currency as destinations in dance
Karole Armitage didn't set out to be a rebel. For most of her first 20 years of life, she executed pirouettes and jetes in pretty tutus as a classical ballerina. When that started feeling rigid and automatic, she ditched Europe for New York and became a modern dancer.
Human nature
Environmental art project raises fears about marring habitat, natural beauty
Del Christensen moved last fall to the north end of Louisiana Street, where railroad tracks cut through the short span that separates his home from the woods that line the Kansas River.
By design
KU professor weaves culture, care into award-winning furniture and sculpture
When Tom Huang looks at a chair, he doesn't just see a place to sit. He sees an intimate object that connects everyone who has ever rested there, waited there, dreamed there. He imagines the sentimental value it might hold for a family. He senses the hands of the artisan who crafted its legs and seat and back.
My chemical romance
Mysteries of love may boil down to science
A young man gazes at his date across the dinner table and starts a conversation with himself. I'm falling for her, he thinks. She's beautiful. Kind and thoughtful. Incredibly intelligent. I can't get her out of my head. It must be love.
The faraway nearby
Artists take fresh look at familiar Lawrence neighborhoods
On the daily commute between his East Lawrence home and his downtown office, John Reeves keeps his eyes peeled for more than just stop signs and oncoming cars.
Imagination grows in 'Garden'
Children have wonderful imaginations. In a perfect world, they always would use them purely for fun. In the real world, they often use them as escape routes from the unbearable.
A way with words
Each year the Lawrence Arts Center and The Raven Bookstore sponsor the Langston Hughes Creative Writing Awards to recognize excellence and encourage achievement of emerging writers in Douglas County. This year's awards went to Jean Grant, fiction, and Doug Crawford-Parker, poetry. Each will receive $500 and will read during a reception at 7 p.m. today - Langston Hughes' birthday - at the arts center, 940 N.H.
Lawrence author tips her hand with debut of mystery novel
In the middle of Illinois, on a long return trip from visiting family in Canada, Elisabeth Lee plucked a heroine from a couple of road signs.
State of the arts
Recent gallery closings spur creative community to rethink the scene
Sometimes it takes bad news to shake people out of complacency. That might be the best way to describe what's going on at the moment in Lawrence's visual art community.
The scan man
By chance, Lawrence man adopts scanner as new artistic medium
Bill Bowerman's family has learned to spot that twinkle in his eye. It's the spark that flashes when he gets his hands on something that might look interesting in his artwork. When they see that light, they know they might as well say goodbye to Bowerman and whatever he's holding.
Strip deals wry Pearls of wisdom
Cartoonist Stephan Pastis lives on the edge. As the creator of the wildly popular comic strip Pearls Before Swine, he's simultaneously trying to captivate a generation that turns to "South Park," "Family Guy" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" for laughs AND make a living selling his strip to daily newspapers, whose subscriber base skews toward the over-50 crowd.
Taking a shot among the pros
LHS photographers have work accepted, honored in five-state competition
As an artist, it takes courage to create something and then let other people see it.
Artist creates rural world to escape chaos
Susan Hunt-Wulkowicz grew up amid concrete and skyscrapers in downtown Chicago, but she always dreamed of a life in the country.
Poet well-versed in voyeurism
Matthew Porubsky is not that interesting. At least that's what he likes to tell people when they ask him how it felt to experience some of the scenarios in his poems.
Taking time out
Parents who coach their kids tread line between being involved and spoiling fun
"Pass! Pass!" Mike Maddox yells, as a gaggle of 5-year-old boys sprints down the hardwood in the Deerfield School gymnasium. His son, Anderson, leads the pack, dribbling enthusiastically - and sporadically - toward the hoop. He opts not to pass. His lay-up misses the mark, and a boy on the opposing scrimmage team snatches the rebound.
Sluggish sales spell the pits for Olive Gallery
Gallery's plans to fold in late February cap string of art venue closings
When Olive Gallery and Art Supply opened in April 2003, the young owners envisioned a home for emerging artists and cutting-edge work.
Pat Kehde & Mary Lou Wright - Literary Arts
Indie bookstore cultivates loyalty with personal service, local focus
For a blissful six months in 1996, The Raven was the only downtown bookstore selling new books in Lawrence.
Laurie McLane-Higginson - Educator in the Arts
Motivated teacher pioneered district's elementary art program
When Laurie McLane-Higginson started teaching in the Lawrence school district in 1982, she was the only art instructor for the city's 17 elementary schools.
Mary Anne Jordan - Visual Arts
Textiles artist weaves stories with fiber
Mary Anne Jordan believes everyday fabric tells stories.
Dan Sabatini - Volunteer in the Arts
Architect taps the arts as his muse
Lawrence architect Dan Sabatini designs buildings.
Greener pastures
From hippie hangout to art gallery, Fields calling it quits after 38 years
The year after the Beatles released "Strawberry Fields Forever," Kansas University dropout Kim Kern opened a hip little head shop on Massachusetts Street and named it after the psychedelic anthem.
Potter builds up culture with clay
Mexican artist to visit Lawrence for Gallery Walk
As a 12-year-old boy, Juan Quezada began taking long trips to the mountains near his village in northern Mexico to collect firewood for his family. He went alone, and as he walked he scooped up shards of beautifully painted pottery left behind by artisans of a bygone culture. He admired the precise geometric decoration painted on the remnants, and in his spare time, he dug clay and tried to make his own pots.
Art a la carte
Two exhibitions open tonight at the Lawrence Arts Center. One features the photography of Bill Snead and the other show highlights new paintings by Aaron Marable,
Image is everything
Exhibit chronicles storied, 50-year career of Lawrence photographer Bill Snead
Bill Snead is scared of heights. Still, in March 1963, he edged out onto a rickety scaffold 258 feet off the ground to photograph a worker installing copper sheathing on the Kansas Statehouse dome. Shot with a wide-angle lens, the resulting picture shows two men at work: the roofer and Snead, whose jacket and camera fill the bottom of the frame - proof that he had serious guts.
Man in motion
KU grad's kinetic sculptures garner national acclaim
It all started with a wooden duck that quacked and pooped. A talented 17th-century clock maker built the creature, which did most things a real duck would do, including eat and "digest" food.
Art a la Carte
The mysterious disappearance of 17-year-old Randy Leach after he attended a pre-graduation party in 1988 in Linwood is the subject of "Leaves of Words," a new play by Kansas University graduate student Tim Macy.
Strong enough
Gallery reopens doors after owner's fight with breast cancer
Black and white threads hang limp from the working end of an unfinished shawl on Diane Horning's loom.
Come on and take a free ride
Having a ball in Lawrence without spending a penny
If you've done your research - like every good college student should - you arrived in Lawrence knowing the city has a rep for its wicked entertainment scene.
Star tours
Even amateurs can drink up the heavens' out-of-this world views
These days, the term "stargazing" might be used more often to describe the kind of red-carpet gawking perfected by Joan Rivers than the subtle pastime of sitting quietly and observing celestial bodies aglow in the night sky.
Three pennies for your thoughts
In-your-face musical challenges young actors
Forget what you know about "traditional" theater.
Art a la carte
Ever wonder how museums came to be? An exhibition opening Saturday at the Spencer Museum of Art looks back on how early collecting evolved into the institutions we visit today to view art, cultural artifacts and objects of modern science.
Governor's Arts Awards recognize Lawrence standouts
Two of the eight recipients of the 2006 Governor's Arts Awards are from Lawrence. Dee Hansen, associate professor of music education at Baker University, was recognized for her role as an arts advocate. Dave and Gunda Hiebert were singled out for their vigorous support for the arts as patrons.
Pop reunion
Artist recreates former selves with dolls inspired by '80s toys
It wasn't an Easy-Bake Oven. Or an Astronaut Barbie. Or a Speak & Spell.
Better singers, better people
Retiring FSHS choral director known for cultivating talent, citizenship
If ever there were proof that Free State High School choral music director Pam Bushouse is one of the most beloved teachers in the district, it might be this: Junior football lineman Caleb Stephens says, if forced to choose, he'd give up his gridiron career in a heartbeat to sing in her choir.
Art tease
Here's a sneak peek at the newest public art in Lawrence. Your mission: Hit the streets and find it.
Lawrence artist Bounnak Thammavong wants to make pretty sculptures. Pieces that catch your eye, make you stop and look. Tempt you to walk around them, consider what he had in mind when he sculpted them.
Looking back on the dance
Readers recall prom dates who disappeared, showed up just in time - and some who stuck around forever
Prom night has come and gone at area schools, but the memories are still fresh.
Art a la Carte
The 940 dance company ends its season this weekend with a bang - literally. Artistic director Susan Warden's newest piece, a fast-paced work titled "BANG," will conclude the New Works Concert. The program also includes four new dances by members of the troupe. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday at the Lawrence Arts Center.
Art a la Carte
The Seem-To-Be Players wrap up the Lawrence Arts Center's Family Theatre Series with performances of two classic fairy tales: "Hansel and Gretel," which tells the frightening story of two children who outsmart an evil witch, and the comedic "Hans in Luck."
Art a la Carte
Welcome to Art a la Carte. I'm Journal-World arts editor Mindie Paget.
For art's sake
Stephen Johnson honored as record number of artists donate work to 26th annual Lawrence Art Auction
Before Stephen Johnson made a living at art, he made a point of living at the Lawrence Arts Center.
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