great gift shopping everyday in downtown youngstown - open house tues at SMARTS

The space that houses the SMARTS program downtown is like a hidden present along Federal Street.

Go inside and open the doors, and you'll find an explosion of color, laughter, music, dancing, opera, creative writing, and art throughout its two floors.

But you'll also find shopping - in the SMARTS Store. From 60 artists!


In fact, I think I can do just about all of my holiday shopping in here.


The SMARTS program will be having its annual holiday open house on Tuesday December 6th from 10am to 6pm.

There will be refreshments, music, and hands-on activities for kids.

Check out the variety of gifts for sale:






















as a bonus, all sales get a 10% discount on tuesday.

SMARTS (Students Motivated by the Arts) is a FREE downtown after-school program to provide instruction to grades k through 12 in art, music, an dance for children from all income levels.

Through its affiliation with YSU, students in the university's music education program and other programs teach students in various disciplines.

All proceeds from the SMARTS Store benefit future programming for students (maybe your children) downtown.

More information about SMARTS is available here.

this weekend's first-ever "Mahoning Commons Fest" includes grand opening of Calvin Center Idea Incubator

The stretch of Mahoning Avenue directly adjacent to downtown youngstown contains some of the city's best artistic/cultural institutions.

And now one more establishment - The Calvin Center Idea Incubator - will open its doors this weekend.

From the Mr. Peanut Bridge...


to the gateway into Mill Creek Park at Fellows Riverside Gardens...



. . . The first ever Mahoning Commons Fest on May 1st and 2nd will highlight a maturing corridor in the city of Youngstown.

- - -

Let's look at what's going on up and down the block for both days.

Starting from the Mahoning River, the lifegiver of livegivers...

Rust Belt Brewery in the B&O Station
noon to 8pm - brewery tours and beer tasting
www.rustybrew.com


The Victorian Players
Built in the 1890s, the renovated church is now the Little Theater of Spring Common and will be offering tours from noon to 5pm Saturday, and noon to 1pm on Sunday. Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:00pm will be performances of their latest production, The Heiress.
www.victorianplayers.org


The Calvin Center Idea Incubator
The city's newest venue for theater, art and music will have its' Grand Opening celebration. The Artists of the Rust Belt will have a full market there, with an exhibition by Art Youngstown - local food and brews as well. Valet bike parking for all cyclists. Music throughout and bands from 8pm to midnight on Saturday.




Star Supply
Now celebrating it's 40th year as Youngstown's #1 funky and good-valued supply store.





Rockview Church
Hungarian Bacon Fry from noon to 5pm on Sunday


The Ward Bakery Building
The Spring Open Studio and Art Sale of over 30 artists in a former bakery building. Fine furniture, photography, glass, sculpture, painting, jewelry, etc.


The Weller Gallery at Fellows Riverside Gardens
Exhibition of colorful hand blown works of glass inspired by tropical and natural plant forms.

AND

A free shuttle taking you from location to location will be hosted by good people with The Purple Cat.

live music . . .



entertainment . . .



. . . more to love about livin' in the city.

a draft egg: stepping through experimental Youngstown-themed pysanky

in an effort to develop a new cottage industry to suit my entrepreneurial interests, this blog will now add "fine crafts" to its expanding repertoire.

presenting . . . meditations on experimental patterns for Youngstown-themed pysanky.

- - -

but what are pysanky?

from the verb pysaty meaning " to write ", pysanky are decorated eggs. In today's experiment, we'll use alternating layers of applied wax and multi-colored dyes to create a pattern upon the surface.

First, let's use a rubber band to assist with drawing in pencil some symmetrical ovals around the egg.



Next, we'll grab our kistka to apply the wax to the surface of the egg.


One takes the kistka and holds it in a candle, heating the metal to a temperature where wax can be melted into it, like ink within a pen.


Then, just like a pen, one can write out with wax across any surface:


Now we can cover over some of our pencil lines with the wax . . .


. . . making the pattern more and more unique.

Let's add little "Y"s to the surface, just like the ones you'll find on Youngstown State's football helmet.


Now we're ready for the first layer of dying. How about some good ol' Youngstown Red, like the color of the Mr. Peanut Bridge.


After five minutes, we have the following:


Now we can put even more wax on the surface, covering up the red parts of the egg for the next color.


And after putting the egg in black dye for a while, here is the result:


Next comes the fun part. Using the candle to melt off the existing wax on the egg.


After wiping off a little bit of the heated wax, our pattern first begins to appear.


Now we can take off the wax from all around the egg.


And here's the final product:


Youngstown-themed pysanky in Youngstown's colors of black and red.

- - -

Getting back to the entrepreneurial side of things, what is the sale price you think one should sell a Youngstown-themed hand-crafted egg for?


while this was the first "draft" egg, look for these eggs to soon hit the marketplace . . .

"the power of the arts" series to begin wednesday - public welcome

as you look around Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, do you think artists and cultural organizations are more on the periphery or do they effectively occupy a leadership role, especially in terms of the development of the region?

if you want to delve deeper into this question, and get engaged yourself, then check out:


The Power of the Arts is a three-part dialogue series that gets underway this Wednesday, September 30 - from 4:30pm to 6pm at McMenamy's in Niles.

The first gathering is titled:
Valley Arts & Culture: What is Advocacy?

Donna Collins from Ohio Citizens for the Arts will discuss enhancing the greater community through advocacy.

The discussion is free and open to the public (with light refreshments), but reservations are required by calling 330.394.5600

The second part, on October 21st, is:
The Developing Valley: Works in Progress

The third part, on November 18th, is:
Our Arts and Our Valley: A Call to Action

you can click here to see additional details about the speakers and themes.

If you want to be a part of a movement to elevate the arts in the region, this may be a great place to start...

a call for artists: $103,000 commission at new YSU business school

The Ohio Percent for Art Program is looking for artists regarding indoor and outdoor pieces at the new YSU business school being built (construction cam here).

The commission: $103,000


from the request:

"This area will have a strong pedestrian link and will establish an urban edge of the campus. The artist should be able to work with a design team and architects. Three locations have been identified as potential sites for artwork: screening around north east parking area, south outdoor green space and inside gathering spaces which includes the atrium and cafe.

The new building is a three-story 110,000 square foot building designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) certification. Designed to provide a professional business environment in which to educate students and engage the business community, the new building will provide public gathering space, a conference center, large auditorium, and visible and accessible centers for international business, entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, business development and consulting.

As such, it will be a focal point within the University that will invite individuals and organizations from the region to join YSU in ways that support economic and community development. The new building will bridge the university with the downtown community and become the high-profile ''southern entrance'' to the YSU campus."

all materials are due Aug 28 2009

you can access the proposal here.

now this is cool - Rust Fest digital art and new media celebration begins saturday

sometimes you get the feeling Youngstown is a laboratory of ideas - with attempts to try new things popping up all over the place.

enter Rust Fest


Rust Fest is the first attempt of what hopefully will be an annual celebration of new media art - incorporating light, sound, projection, etc - and is taking place at the McDonough Museum of Art (right across from the Butler on Wick Ave.) from this saturday June 13th to July 24th.

From the exhibition's website:

Rust Fest will feature a presentation of screen based work in all forms - from animation to computer games and novel visualization environments - to works in second life.

Helping to kick off Rust Fest will be a live performance at 7pm (opening reception is from 6pm to 8pm) by Potter-Belmar Labs, professors in New Media at the University of Texas at San Antonio.



Twenty-five pieces will be on display, which includes work from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Minnesota, University of California at Berkley, New York University, and the Rhode Island School of Design.


From yesterday's story in the Youngstown Vindicator:

With all of this innovative artwork, audiences have to wonder where the contradictory title Rust Fest fits in.

“The title of the new media festival references Youngtown’s history as a steel-producing giant,” said Brothers. “The remnants of the steel mills, with their corresponding ‘rust’ aesthetic, have influenced a number of artists, working in many different media, from the Youngstown region since the closing of the mills in 1979. The term ‘rust’ represents this unique collective artistic consciousness, specific to the Steel Valley.”

Maas and Brothers hope that more local artists are inspired by new media, so that Rust Fest can become a permanent part of that Youngstown consciousness.

Nice.

drink beer in the old train station, listen to music by the river, see art being made in front of your eyes - all weekend

just go here first:
http://www.artistsoftherustbelt.com/arbfest09.html

it's got it all: music schedules, menus, artist listings.

from their website:

"Artists of the Rust Belt create and present their work in the epicenter of the newly thriving Rust Belt of America, Youngstown, Ohio. Our goal is to produce three major shows annually presenting the work of local artists and local musicians from the greater rust belt region."

A Free Art Show and Music Festival
Presented by The Rust Belt Brewing Co. at the B&O Station
530 Mahoning Ave, Youngstown, OH 44502

vindy article here about the cooperation with the SMARTS program.





eggs benedict brunch next to the mr. peanut bridge!