Trio scheduled to bring ‘Groove’ to KU campus

Eclectic pop trio GrooveLily will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Hawk’s Nest at the Kansas Union.

The group is known for its fusion of jazz, folk and pop influences.

Lead singer Valerie Vigoda is a classically-trained violinist who has toured with Cyndi Lauper. Keyboardist and songwriter Brendan Milburn was trained at New York University in musical theater and writing, and drummer Gene Lewin has recorded jazz with George Coleman.

Newsday proclaimed GrooveLily “an alternative to alternative music.”

The show is free for students and $10 for others. For ticket information, call 864-SHOW.

Mardi Gras dance to help fights AIDS

To raise funds to help local individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, the Douglas County AIDS Project will have its annual Mardi Gras dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Liberty Hall.

The evening will include music by Kelley Hunt and Vibralux.

Tickets are $18 for the full show and $10 after 10 p.m. All proceeds go to help the local fight against AIDS.

Tickets are available at Liberty Hall, 642 Mass., or at the DCAP offices, 2518 Ridge Court.

For more information, call 843-0040 or e-mail dcap@sunflower.com.

Lawrence Art Guild sets All Member Exhibit

The Lawrence Art Guild’s Annual All Member Exhibit will open Tuesday and continue through March 16 in the Lawrence Arts Center gallery, 940 N.H.

A catered wine reception to mark the exhibition’s opening is set for 7 p.m. Friday.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

Moved by the arts

Clay Center artist and entertainer Robert Pearson hopped a train when he was just 12 years old to flee tiny Concordia and head to Hollywood. He made it … eventually. Now he’s back in Kansas, and his artwork is on view at ad astra galleria. Read more on Page 3D.

43rd Art in the Park seeking applications

The Lawrence Art Guild is inviting artists to submit applications for the 43rd annual Art in the Park.

Applications are available at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.; Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.; online at www.lawrenceartguild.com; or by calling guild president Elaine Matt at 841-2065.

The show and sale will be May 2 at South Park, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

Community theater to have auditions

Auditions for “The Philadelphia Story” by Philip Barry will be 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501 N.H.

The 1930s American classic is a romantic comedy that gathers the privileged of Philadelphia for a flurry of wedding preparations and mistaken love. The cast has roles for six women and 10 men.

The show is under the direction of Ron Willis. Scripts are available for checkout at the theater with a $10 deposit.

Performances will be April 9-25.

Collegium Musicum to play ‘Songs, Dances and Sonatas’

Lost love, sadness and the creative talent of women composers are subjects covered in Kansas University Collegium Musicum’s “Songs, Dances and Sonatas.”

The group includes an instrumental ensemble with 14 members directed by Paul Laird, associate professor of musicology, and a choir of 13 singers directed by Greg Ramsdell, a doctoral candidate in choral conducting from Greenville, Pa. It primarily performs music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and baroque periods, with attention to the way the music might have sounded at the time it was composed.

The performance, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in Swarthout Recital Hall. For more information, call 864-9716.

Metals artist to talk at KU symposium

Metalsmith Gary Griffin will give a talk 6 p.m. Monday at the Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Miss.

Griffin is artist in residence and head of the metalsmithing department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. His work has focused on commissioned utilitarian pieces for residences, including lighting fixtures, doors, hardware, tables, sideboards, fireplace screens, tools, gates and fences. He has exhibited in the United States, Mexico, South America, Japan and Europe.

The lecture is part of the Hallmark Symposium Series, which is free and open to the public.

For more information, call 864-4401.

Art exhibition features graduate students

The 2004 Graduate Student Exhibition, which opens today and continues through Feb. 27 at the Kansas University Art and Design Gallery, highlights the work of several master of fine arts candidates in their first and second year of study.

The exhibition includes painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, printmaking, metals, textiles, ceramics and mixed media. Central to the exhibition are questions of personal and cultural identity, nostalgia, modernity and spirituality.

A reception will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at the gallery, on the third floor of the Art and Design Building.

For more information, call Chris Johnson at 832-1321 or e-mail zionsun@ku.edu.

Kansas Woodwinds showcases KU talent

The Kansas Woodwinds, an ensemble featuring woodwind and horn faculty at Kansas University, will give a concert 7:30 p.m. Monday in Swarthout Recital Hall.

The performance, which is free and open to the public, will showcase the talents of Larry Maxey, clarinet; Margaret Marco, oboe; Alan Hawkins, bassoon; David Fedele, flute; Paul Stevens, horn; Robert Koenig, piano; and guest artist Vince Gnojek, saxophone.

The six members are active as performers, teachers, clinicians and adjudicators.

For more information, call 864-3436.

Faculty recital explores variety of jazz, baroque

An upcoming Kansas University faculty recital will run the gamut from jazz to baroque music.

The free show, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Swarthout Recital Hall, will feature Mike Hall, assistant professor of trombone at KU, and explore the themes and variations of several noted composers.

For more information, call 864-3436.

Theatre for Young People to stage ‘Really Rosie’

Kansas University’s Theatre for Young People will give public performances of the musical “Really Rosie” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 22.

Performances for students in Lawrence and Douglas County schools will be Tuesday, Friday and Feb. 23. All shows are in Crafton-Preyer Theatre, Murphy Hall.

Maurice Sendak, author of “Where the Wild Things Are,” created “Really Rosie” by combining two of his books, “The Sign on Rosie’s Door” and “The Nutshell Library.” It follows Rosie, who decides to stage a musical movie about her life.

The musical is under the direction of Jeanne Klein, director of the Theater for Young People program.

A free reading of Sendak’s works, with special guest readers, will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Borders, 700 N.H. Among the guest readers are Greg Hurd, host of “River City Weekly” on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6; Sandy Praeger, Kansas insurance commissioner; Sue Hack, Lawrence city commissioner; and Cathy Hamilton, host of Sunflower Broadband’s “Home & Away.”

Tickets are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8 for KU faculty and staff and $5 for students. They’re available by calling 864-3982.

Grant education subject of arts commission events

The Kansas Arts Commission will present two workshops for prospective grant applicants for fiscal year 2005.

One workshop will take place Wednesday at Jayhawk Tower, 700 S.W. Jackson, Topeka. Another will be Thursday at The Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd.

Sessions will include an overview of grant programs, as well as planning and budgeting.

A behind-closed-doors gallery tour will be included. Topeka workshop participants will tour the gallery at the Mulvane Art Museum.

The workshops are free, but registration is required by Monday. For more information, contact the Association of Community Arts Agencies of Kansas at ACAAKJolene@aol.com or 825-2700.

Playwrights wanted for K.C. competition

Rockhurst University’s Play’s-in-Progress is seeking manuscripts that have never been performed or given a public reading for its workshop on April 15.

Submissions are being taken until March 1. The winning playwright will receive a $250 award.

Student actors will read the selected work at 7:30 p.m. April 15. The audience will have an opportunity to discuss the play with the playwright, director and actors following the reading.

Manuscripts must be 35 to 110 pages in length. Send manuscripts and a self-addressed stamped envelope to Charles Kovich, Rockhurst University, 1100 Rockhurst Road, Kansas City, Mo. 64110. For more information, call (816) 501-4607.

ESU magazine calls for poetry entries

“Used INK,” the Emporia State University arts magazine, is having a poetry contest.

Poems must be no more than 36 lines, typed. The contest is open to anyone, and poems in any theme and style will be accepted. There is a $3 entry fee per poem.

Postmark deadline is March 19th. For more information call Ron Dushane at (620) 343-7787 or visit www.geocities.com/usedink2003/poetrycontest.html.

Exhibition open to Kansas artists

The Hays Art Council is inviting Kansas artists to enter the 35th Annual Smoky Hill Art Exhibition.

Two and three-dimensional, original works may be entered. Deadline for slides of works and entry forms to be submitted is March 11. Entry fee is $15.

A juror will award a cash prize of up to $2,000 as well as a $250 award to the winner of the Smoky Hill Landscape Award.

The exhibition opens April 30 and will run through May 28.

For more information, call (785) 625-7522 or visit www.haysarts.org.