Arts Commission seeks poet laureate

The Kansas Arts Commission is taking nominations for the newly created post of poet laureate.

The position is designed to recognize a poet of exceptional talent and accomplishment while encouraging appreciation of the genre among a wider audience throughout the state.

Nomination deadline is Sept. 1. Nominees must be 18 years old and nonstudents, have resided in Kansas for the past 10 years, intend to remain in the state during the poet laureate term of two years (July 2005-June 2007) and be willing to travel.

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have a poet laureate. The position is established by tradition as an honor given to an individual writer in recognition of a high level of achievement in the art of poetry.

Guidelines and nomination forms are online at target=”_blank”>http://arts.state.ks.us/programs.html. For more information, call (785) 368-6545 or e-mail karen@arts.state.ks.us.

Lawrence City Band wraps up season

The Lawrence City Band will wrap up its summer season in South Park with its Season Finale concert.

The free concert, under the direction of Robert Foster, will be at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the park, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

It will feature perennial favorites like “1812 Overture” and “Stars and Stripes Foreve,” as well as fireworks.

The band will be back in action Aug. 20, when it plays a “Sesquicentennial Celebration” concert on the Lied Center lawn.

Brown Bag Concert features jazz band

The Tommy Johnson Experiment will entertain outdoor diners Thursday during the Brown Bag Concert.

The show runs from noon to 1 p.m. at the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts streets. People are encouraged to bring their lunch and enjoy free bluegrass music.

The summer concert series is sponsored by Lawrence Parks and Recreation and Downtown Lawrence Inc. It continues through July.

KPR to feature finalists

from piano competition

The top students from the Kansas International Piano Competition at Kansas University will showcase their talents Tuesday on Kansas Public Radio, FM 91.5.

Prize winners and finalists will perform during Rachel Hunter’s classical music program, 11 a.m. to noon.

Scheduled to play are:

• Heidi Ching, 15, Windsor, Canada, honorable mention.
• Yvonne Chen, 14, Virginia, finalist.
• Eric Chang, 16, California, third prize.

The competition was July 5-7. Participants have stayed at KU for the institute’s summer academy, which includes taking master and studio classes and courses in sight reading, music theory and accompanying.

Organ concert includes artists and dancers

Kansas University and Lawrence musicians and artists will collaborate for a concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bales Organ Recital Hall.

Graduate student and organist Sabin Levi will be joined by John Koster, violin; Chris Wootton, large drum and tambourine; Rorie Orgeron, guiro; and Geoffrey Ward, narrator.

Artwork by Herb Friedson and Bill Bowerman also will be featured, with Bowerman presenting a slide show.

KU dance students under the direction of dance professor Willie Lenoir will perform as well.

The program will include music by Nicolas de Grigny, Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartok and Sabin Levi.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Children’s theater program sets sail

Children in first through fifth grade are welcome aboard Lawrence Community Theatre’s summer School’s Out, Theatre’s In program.

The program will feature a musical version of “Treasure Island” July 26-30. Pirates, parrots and pigaloos will take the stage. There will be theater games, music, scenery and costume projects.

Veteran teachers will work with the children on singing, story telling, acting and construction projects. Annette Cook, this season’s Mama Rose from “Gypsy” will lead the program.

For more information and to register, call the theater at 843-7469. Some scholarship assistance is available.

Van Go to unveil Benchmark 2004

Van Go’s signature Summer JAMS program, Benchmark 2004, will be unveiled Friday at Van Go’s work site, 715 N.J.

The program employs 20 at-risk youth ages 14-18 working for minimum wage and producing benches for local businesses and community organizations. By the end of the year, JAMS will have benches at 108 locations throughout Lawrence.

The benches will remain on view to the public from Friday through Aug. 13, when prospective buyers may begin signing up.

Van Go provides arts-based vocational training and services to at-risk youth, age 14-21. For more information, call 842-3797.

Online book seminar set for the fall

Fort Scott Community College will be host to a 15-week Great Books Online Seminar and Discussion program this fall, starting in September and running through December.

The program operates under the idea that by reading the great books of our civilization and discussing them with others, a greater understanding of the works can be reached.

Participants are not required to meet at a specific time and place, but rather post comments and questions online in an ongoing non-contemporaneous discussion. The cost is $50 for enrollment, plus the cost of the books.

For more information, call (620) 223-2700, ext. 426.

Lawrence thespians act in Colorado

Three Lawrence natives recently traveled to Creede, Colo., where they performed for the nationally recognized Creede Repertory Theatre.

Diana Dresser returned for her ninth season. Christy Brandt and her husband, company photographer John Gary Brown, are both celebrating 30 years with the theater. The couple married on the Creede stage in 1981.

The theater started 39 years ago when 12 Kansas University students answered an advertisement from the Creede Jaycees.

For more information, visit www.creederep.org or call (866) 658-2540.

Entry deadline nears for art exhibitions

El Dorado — The entry deadline for the national and regional art exhibitions in El Dorado is Friday.

Both exhibits, to be on view in October, have a $1,250 best of show award.

The national show of two-dimensional media, juried by Warren Rosser of the Kansas City Art Institute, will be at the Erman B. White Gallery on the Butler County Community College campus.

The regional show, featuring juror Robert Regier, will be at the Coutts Memorial Museum of Art. The regional show includes Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.

Entry fee is $30 with three slides. Send entries to: Fine Art of Living Well, P.O. Box 503, El Dorado 67042. For a prospectus or more information, contact Keri Myers at kmyers@eldoks.com.