Parker Millsap to Perform at Summer Breeze
The 2013 Summer Breeze free concert series continues with Parker Millsap performing on Sunday, June 16, at 7:30 pm in Norman’s Lions Park at the corner of Flood and Symmes.
Parker Millsap writes bluesy, folksy melodies with lyrics that have pleasantly surprising turns of phrase while simultaneously recalling gut-bucket blues from a bygone age. To really get to know the man, you must listen to his music. Millsap is a poet. At times his work can be dark and brooding, at other times hopeful, but most of all he has something to say. As Millsap says, “Telling stories is what any art form is about anyways. I wouldn't want to do it if I wasn't saying something.” And the great depth and range of his voice color his stories with a sense of experience beyond his years.
Millsap released his debut album Palisade last April. Lyle Deiter of Currentland described it as “a refreshing acoustic offering, with Millsap playing some mean acoustic guitar and harmonica, and Michael Rose playing some sweet bass to balance things out and keep things moving along.” Millsap and Rose are also busy touring musicians. Their entertaining and energetic live performances draw rave reviews throughout Oklahoma and Texas, and most recently California, Colorado, Utah, and the Pacific Northwest.
Links:
Parker Millsap website
Video: Palisade
Summer Breeze Concerts are produced by the Performing Arts Studio and are made possible in part by grants from the Norman Arts Council and the Oklahoma Arts Council, and from businesses and individuals including: Michael Miller; Skye Diers, Gingerbread Nursery School and Kindergarten; Dentists Jamie Belknap, Donna Sparks, and Kristen Wolever at Norman Smile Center; Andi Berry, Wyoming Art Therapy; and Republic Bank and Trust. Additional support comes from David Fries Roofing; Tom McAuliffe - Don Cies Real Estate; Old Republic Title Company of Oklahoma; Dale Wares - Wares Properties; Sally Phillips & Dennis McDonald;
Mike Goodman & Karen Furman; The Montford Inn; and City of Norman Parks and Recreation Department.
Bring seating and your favorite refreshments, and enjoy a relaxing evening in the park filled with great music!
For more information contact The Performing Arts Studio at 405-307-9320.
Norman Poet Robert Ferrier Featured at Second Sunday
The July 14 Second Sunday Poetry Reading at the Norman Depot, 200 S, Jones, will feature well known Norman writer Robert Ferrier. The free reading begins at 2:00 pm. Light refreshements will be served. All are welcome.
Ferrier, a Hugo native, is the author of four published novels available at SynergEbooks.com, Amazon.com and other E-Book publishers. His poetry has appeared in Oklahoma Today, Möbius, The Mid-America Poetry Review, Blood and Thunder, Broomweed Journal, Crosstimbers, Westwiew, The Exhibitionist and Metro Library Magazine.
His books, Rhythms and Ambient Light, each won the OWFI award for Best Published Book of Poetry. Ferrier was a 2007 nominee for Poet Laureate of Oklahoma.
Enjoy an exhibit of paintings in the Depot Gallery by Tulsa artist Dian Church while attending the poetry reading.
Texas Ice Houses
Part town hall, part tavern
they sell block ice but mostly beer
bread, bologna and milk
cigarettes and soda water.
Their calling card a million bottlecaps
gleaming like ice chips on concrete
crushed by pickups outside a tin shed
cobbled from salvaged ceiling panels.
These places shimmer like mirages,
rising specters from San Antonio roads,
splotched roofs banged together
like top hats on skeletons of two-by-fours
and sawed-off telephone poles.
Dominoes click in cool dark,
juke box and hot chicken wings,
then couples dance under porcelain signs:
Nehi, Lone Star, Pearl, Lucky Strike.
One old cowhand, his face a weathered map
says This ain’t no Stop & Go
find a post and hitch,
this is a stop and stay.
Robert Ferrier
Artistic Tradition at Geatches Studio Celebrated at Norman Depot
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The artistic tradition of Geatches Studio will be celebrated at the Depot Gallery, 200 S. Jones, Norman, with an exhibit featuring eighteen Geatches artists, both current and past. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 pm on May 10 in conjunction with 2nd Friday Circuit of Art. The exhibit remains through June 28. Music for the opening reception will be provided by Dennis Borycki. Light refreshments will be served.
Converted more than 50 years ago from a 1920s grocery store on Hudson near NW 25 in Oklahoma City, an average of 100 accomplished artists draw and paint at the Geatches studio every month. Those showing in this exhibit include: Ladd Adams; Veida Blick; John Brandenburg; Jim Cobb; Kathryn Dean; Tom Delheimer; Janie Deupree; Sam Echols; Kay Graff; Brenda Hollis; Bill Hood; Larry Layton; Ted Majka; Sherrie McGraw; Bhupinder Obhrai; Dennis Parker; O. Gail Poole; and Gary Yazzie.
The old, vacant grocery store building that is now Geatches Studio, was rented by Dick and Edith Goetz in 1954 for an art teaching studio. They ran the studio and taught there until 1978 when they moved to New York so Dick could teach at the Art Students League. Student Mary Geatches purchased the studio equipment and continued operation until 1985 when she and her husband were tragically killed in a traffic accident. The students banded together, formed a board, and purchased the equipment from the Geatches daughter. Mike Larsen began teaching in 1986 and Ted Majka began open studios in 1987. In 1990 Larsen turned over teaching to O. Gail Poole, followed by Ted Majka in 1991.
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“The most remarkable part of the Geatches story is what the five board members did to keep the studio tradition going after Mary’s death,” says Sharon McAllister. “With their determination and commitment, the studio has evolved into an active retreat for artists today. Their passion was art, providing a common place to work from life and enjoying an artistic camaraderie. Presently two teaching classes are held weekly and two open studio sessions are available for artists to paint or draw.”
“In the past twenty-seven years, I have seen first-hand the Goetz influence enrich and change lives. Now people who never knew the Goetz's are being touched in the same way because of these people who have chosen to keep the studio alive.” says Dennis Parker. Geatches Art Studio is an active place where the classic tradition of working from life is practiced.
Kathryn Dean, found Geatches Studio after she retired in 1995 and has been painting ever since. “I love all the people that paint there. ”Dean says. “We have fun. Saturdays we do our own thing -- there is freedom to experiment.” Tom Delheimer agrees. “The people are wonderful. We can paint every week and we paint from life.”
Depot Gallery hours are 8 am to 3 pm Tuesday through Friday and 10 to noon on Saturday. For further information, phone 405-307-9320. Gallery exhibitions are made possible in part by a grant to the Performing Arts Studio from the Oklahoma Arts Council.
