Internationally known tap dancer Bill Evans will be in Lawrence Oct. 4 to perform a solo concert.

Evans will perform at 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H. He is in town as a guest of the Kansas University dance department.

Evans was artistic director of the Bill Evans Dance Company, based in Seattle and Albuquerque, for 30 years ending in 2004. The company performed in all 50 states and throughout Mexico and Canada.

He was a professor of dance at the universities of Utah, Washington, Indiana and New Mexico, and now is professor emeritus from the latter, serving as an artist in residence around the country.

Evans, 69, was recently voted one of the top three American tap dance artists in a Dance Magazine reader poll.

Tickets to the concert are $10.

Arts Commission seeks funding input

The Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission has scheduled a brainstorming session this week to determine how to spend an approximately $10,000 budget surplus.

The commission, a city advisory board, early this year opted not to organize a sculpture exhibition downtown, as it has in years past, because of the possibility of city budget cuts. The commission’s budget was not cut, however, leaving the group with money to spend by the end of the year.

The brainstorming session will begin at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H. A survey conducted by the Cultural Arts Commission this summer found that the top need for artists and arts groups was a need to better communicate the availability of arts activities, performances and exhibits, so those types of ideas will be the focus of the session.

Spencer Museum adds phone tours

Patrons of the Spencer Museum of Art can now learn more about the museum’s collections by dialing their cell phones.

“An Ear for Art” allows people to call a number (338-9467) and enter a corresponding number to learn more about what is in the galleries. The system also will be available soon through the museum’s Web site. www.spencerart.ku.edu.

The phone system also allows patrons to leave feedback for museum staff members.

“An Ear for Art” was the result of a $12,900 grant from the Shumaker Family Foundation.

KU set to host Double Reed Festival

The Midwest Double Reed Society and the Kansas University double reed studios are presenting the Double Reed Festival next weekend.

The festival will be a meeting of players and teachers of oboes and bassoons. This year’s program features Daniel Stolper, instructor of oboe at Interlochen Center for the Arts and professor emeritus at Michigan State University, and George Sakakeeny, professor of bassoon at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

They will perform a recital, which is free and open to the public, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Swarthout Recital Hall, in KU’s Murphy Hall.

A member recital will follow at 4 p.m. Oct. 4, also in the Swarthout Recital Hall. For more information on the festival, visit www.mdrs.org.

Topeka group hosts Kansas competition

The Topeka Art Guild will host its second annual “Kansans Paint Kansas” reception from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery, 5331 SW 22nd Place, in the Fairlawn Plaza Shopping Center.

The event will feature a juried competition of artists from across the state. It is a fundraiser for the art guild. It will include works in various media, music and food.

Entries for the competition can be taken to the gallery from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. today. For more information, visit http://topekaartguild.org.

Spencer Consort plans fall concert

The Spencer Consort will present its annual fall concert at 2 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Spencer Museum of Art’s Central Court.

The consort, which plays instruments in a style close to that heard during the 17th and 18th centuries, includes John Boulton and Joy Laird on recorder and flute; Elizabeth Egbert Berghout on harpsichord; and Paul Laird on Baroque cello. The group also will be joined by soprano Sylvia Stoner Hawkins and cellist Hsun Lin.

The program includes works by William Boyce, Franz Joseph Haydn, Henry Purcell, Georg Philipp Telemann and other composers.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Governor’s Arts Awards deadline nears

The Kansas Arts Commission is seeking nominations for its 2010 Governor’s Arts Awards.

The deadline for nominations is Oct. 15.

The awards are given annually in the categories of artist, arts advocate, arts community, arts in education, arts organization and arts patron. Those selected will be honored at a reception and awards ceremony March 11, 2010, in Topeka.

To submit a nomination, review program guidelines at http://arts.ks.gov/gaa/guidelines/index.shtml. For more information, contact Margaret Weisbrod Morris at margaret@arts.ks.gov or (785) 368-6545.