The Litribune
disseminating hope and creative diversity
68 Bands, 5 Venues, Next Weekend
Midwest Fest, organized by DITR agent, Corey Densmore, in cooperation with the Litribune’s Dan Climie kicks off next Thursday, May 20th at the DAAC & Founders Brewing Co. Let’s not forget all the hard work that Joey Basch and Juliet Bennet-Rylah have dedicated to making this event a success.
The line up is a veritable who’s-who of Michigan/Midwest powerhouse acts including Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Paucity, Prussia, Graham Parsons & the Go-Arounds, Ghost Heart, Hard Lessons, and many many more.
What’s more, a portion of all proceeds from the festival will be donated to the Litribune’s Creative Youth Center (a soon-to-come tutoring center for underprivileged youth in Grand Rapids, focused on creative writing skills through project-based learning).
Weekend passes for the festival are available at Vertigo Records, Sparrows Coffee Tea & Newstand, The Strutt in Kalamazoo, and on the DITR webpage. Day passes also available. Your wristband will get you into all that day’s/weekend’s events, including after parties at Founders, Mexicains Sans Frontieres, and more, as well as scoring you sweet specials at local bars/restaurants.
This Festival is a representation of just what we can accomplish with enthusiastic collaboration of a community. You’re not going to want to miss this. We’ll see you next weekend!
trip the light, tomorrow night
photo credit: jonathan clay
article originally published to the rapidian: Mar 23rd, 2010 by Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth
ArtPeers, an arts organization encouraging local art, and Dance in the Annex (DITA), a contemporary dance collaborative, are hosting the premiere of something completely unique in Grand Rapids: Trip The Light 04.14.10 at Wealthy Theatre, doors at 7pm, curtain at 8pm, tickets $8/$7/$6.
Trip The Light is a benefit to help ArtPeers pursue its nonprofit 501(c)(3) status, which will enable ArtPeers assist local artists in diverse, significant ways – including acting as a fiduciary for local artists who apply for grants and other funding.
“We can better serve local artists and the community, as a nonprofit organization,” said ArtPeers president Erin Wilson. “Almost all arts funding goes through nonprofit organizations: ArtPeers could play a more meaningful role for local artists.”
Unlike the normal bar scene concert or studio dance production, this event is bringing local musicians, dancers, and other artists together to support local art.
“Local dancers choreograph all the time, but never before like this,” said ArtPeers President Erin Wilson. “Trip The Light features local musicians – playing original music, live – while dancers perform original movements based on these songs. The only thing close to this was ‘Salmagundi’ (August ‘09), one of Wealthy Theatre’s most acclaimed live events of 2009.”
Along with the event being a fundraiser for ArtPeers, it is also supporting the arts is by collecting art supplies for Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth.
With more and more arts programs being cut from Grand Rapids Public Schools, Boys & Girls Clubs (BGC) is focusing on their arts programming to ensure the arts remain accessible to youth.
“I try hard to keep the youth that come into our Clubs involved in creating,” said Boys & Girls Clubs Art Director Stephanie Trompen. “They do not get to engage with art in an experimental setting in many of their formal educational structures.”
Audiences will receive $1 off tickets when they bring an art supply donation for BGC. They need the following items: paper (any color), paint,colored pencils, matte board or thick paper, markers, crayons, paint brushes, scissors, glue, tape, glitter, stickers, stencils, beads, yarn, ribbon, fabric, shoe boxes, Clorox wipes, and Sharpie permanent markers.
In December ‘09, ArtPeers & DITA put out a call for submissions for local, original music. The overwhelming response allowed DITA to select amazing songs to which they’ve choreographed original movements; they’re currently in rehearsal.
Musicians performing 04/14 include:
• A.B. & Coconut Brown • Charles The Osprey • Ritsu Katsumata • Paucity • Rick Beerhorst • Lights At Sea • Seth
Choreographers and video submissions include:
• Amy Wilson • Rachel Finan • Catherine Herrman • Carolina Pava • Sara Schneider • Shawn Bible • Rachel Siegel
In addition, local artist Kaili Rodriguez will also be doing live drawing/paintings at the event and artwork will be auctioned in the Wealthy Theatre lobby.
Trip The Light is a celebration of local artists and is an event benefitting countless sectors of this community. Bring an art supply and some friends and do not miss this groundbreaking event.
THIRD THURSDAY: LOCAL POET SHOWCASE
Thursday, March 18, 7pm
We’re pleased to announce that the Third Thursday event for this month will be held at 7pm, on March 18. We’ll be welcoming six members of our literary community in celebration of poetry. The Local Poet Showcase features Jamie Smith, Caitlin Mackenzie, Matthew Landrum, Neil Kaufman, Benjamin Davey, and Z.G. Tomaszewski. Each poet will read three of their works aloud, and the audience is invited to respond with questions and comments. This event is free, and open to the public. For more information, call us at 616.458.8418, or email us at info@literarylifebookstore.com.
2ND ANNUAL POETRY CONTEST AT LITLIFE
Call for Submissions: February 1 – March 15, 2010
We’re completely excited to announce that we’re sponsoring a 2nd Annual Poetry Contest here at LitLife! Our first contest was a great success—we read some amazing poetry submissions, published a wonderful chapbook anthology, and hosted a champagne celebration for contest participants at the conclusion of National Poetry Month. We can’t wait to start it all over again! So, beginning on 2/1/2010, you may submit up to two (per poet) original, unpublished poems in any style or length. Entries must be typed, and sent to the bookstore along with a cover letter including your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. Each entry should be mailed, along with a $5.00 entry fee, to the following address:
Literary Life Bookstore & More
c/o Poetry Contest
758 Wealthy Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Entries must be postmarked by March 15th. The contest will be judged by Heather Sellers, a professor of English at Hope College. Sellers won an NEA grant for fiction and was part of the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers program. Her books include a short story collection (Georgia Under Water), three volumes of poetry, and three books on the craft of writing.
Winners will be announced at a champagne celebration at LitLife on Friday, April 30, at 7pm. The winning entries, along with select poems of interest, will be published in Volume 2 of the LitLife Chapbook Poetry Anthology. Look forward to notification of other events during the 2010 National Poetry Month, as well!
Questions? Call us at 616.458.8418 or send an email to info@literarylifebookstore.com. Happy writing, and good luck!
A Singing Conversation
Join us at Literary Life Bookstore & More tomorrow evening from 6pm to 7pm for the first in our “Singing Conversation” series. Come and welcome Joseph Scott (White Pines) and Timothy Showalter (Strand of Oaks) to the neighborhood.
Curious about their inspirations for writing? Wonder how writing lyrics transforms into performing a song? How does all this translate from the artist to the audience?
In addition to the singer/songwriter discussion several poets featured in the winter issue of the Litribune quarterly will give a reading of their original works.
After the “Singing Conversation” follow the musicians as they will be playing a show at the D.A.A.C. at 8pm with Graham Parsons & the Go Rounds.
Literary Life & the Litribune make it to Publisher’s Weekly. Zachary finally scans Article.
Click image to enlarge.
A Conscious Benefit
Love great art? Great food? Supporting great causes? Then mark your calendars for the 15th of January!
The opening reception reveals work from 4 local artists: Rebecca Green, Justin Kellner, Molly Pettengill, and Cory Schneider. Buy some work, and 100% of the profit goes to the Farm Sanctuary Organization.
You’ll also eat great vegan food, donated and prepared by Brick Road Pizza Co. Can’t beat that…
And…at 7 p.m. be sure to catch our film screening of the documentary, “Earthlings” which portrays the ways in which humans use animals for their own economic interests…sad topic? You bet. But there are ways you can help…come to find out more..
And the best part is…Admission is Free! So no excuses..
Can’t make it the 15th? No worries, the show will be up until the 28th, so there is plenty of time to stop in and show your support.
Extra Special Thanks to Dylan Drier, C.C., Mercy for Animals, Brick Road Pizza Co., Jenn Schaub and all of the crew at the DAAC, and Allie Farlow.
www.earthlings.com
www.farmsanctuary.org
www.brickroadpizza.com
www.mercyforanimals.org
*Movie contains graphic material, viewer discretion is advised.
Don’t forget to check out:
Wake Up Weekend, January 22-23, 2010! Visit http://www.g-rad.org/vegan for details!
Call for submissions: local music
Groundbreaking dance collective to set new choreography to local tracks; musicians and dancers to perform at ArtPeers event, live auction, 04.21.10
Grand Rapids 12.21.09 – ArtPeers announces an open call for submissions of original, local music, through 01.21.10. The groundbreaking modern dance collective DITA (Dance in the Annex) will set new choreography to four of the submitted tracks. The musicians will perform live at Wealthy Theatre 04.21.10, accompanying DITA. Bands will receive professional audio/video recording and still images of the performance, to use as a stand-alone music video, and for promotional use.
The 04.21.10 event, called Trip The Light, benefits ArtPeers efforts to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. “We can better serve local artists and the community, as a nonprofit organization,” said ArtPeers president Erin Wilson. “Almost all arts funding goes through nonprofit organizations: ArtPeers could play a more meaningful role for local artists by collaborating with them to acquire funding for their work.”
ArtPeers vice-president Mike Knorr said Trip The Light is a “unique concept performance that pulls together local music, performing artists, and visual artists, in the spirit of community and cross-pollination in the arts.”
Music submissions can be mailed to DITA, 1233 Dunham SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, or emailed as MP3 attachments to: amy@danceintheannex.com. Alternatively, music can be dropped off at The Sparrows Coffee Tea & Newsstand, located at 1035 Wealthy SE, during regular business hours – music could be transported on CD or thumb-drive.
Submissions “don’t need to be perfectly polished, or recorded in a professional studio,” Knorr said. “The musicians will be performing the songs live at Wealthy Theatre, ultimately, where they’ll sound magnificent.”
Knorr added that musicians whose music is selected will be asked to perform live 04.21.10, as part of the Trip The Light event, which “will include a live art auction, visual arts and another opportunity to value our local artists.”
DITA cofounder Amy Wilson said modern dance “incorporates all possible forms of music: there is no limit to what we could consider, musically, for Trip The Light.”
ArtPeers is an arts organization created to encourage community patronage of locally created performances, exhibitions and concerts, to connect different peer groups within the Grand Rapids creative community, and to develop opportunities for artists’ creative and professional growth.
