Arts Council resumes performances
The Haines Arts Council is hosting a concert at the Chilkat Center after nearly two years of pandemic-caused hiatus.
Classical pianist Roman Rudnytsky will perform at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9. It will be his fifth performance in Haines and is part of an Alaska-wide tour by the classical pianist.
“We’re very pleased to be getting back into action with our presentations,” Haines Arts Council president Tom Heywood said. “He’s doing a big tour of Alaskan towns. For many of us, it’s the first time getting back into presenting.”
Because Rudnytksy’s concerts attract a generally older crowd, Heywood said, the arts council decided to require proof of vaccination, or proof of COVID-19 recovery within 90 days, and masks to attend the concert.
“This concert, we’re drawing the line on vaccinations,” Heywood said. “It’s not going to be a permanent policy. It’s going to be in the Chilkat Center main hall so there will be an opportunity to spread out. We wanted to provide a maximum feeling of safety to anyone who wants to attend.”
Rudnytsky is a concert pianist of Ukrainian background and has performed in 100 countries. He graduated from Juilliard School in New York, and is a professor of piano and music and professor emeritus of Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music.
The program for November’s concert will include music by Beethoven, Mozart, Manuel de Falla, Sergei Prokofieff, Gustav Holst and Edvard Grieg.
“Roman will be great. He’s a fantastic player,” Heywood said. “He’s always been a crowd pleaser. He likes to talk about the composers and pieces he performs. It’s an impressive display of classical skills.”
Heywood said other performances are scheduled for 2022 including a duo in April and another pianist for May. They also plan to resume the Northern Lights Showcase and film screenings but have not scheduled dates for those events yet.
First Friday
First Friday art events around town return in earnest on Nov. 5 with exhibits or activities at eight locations around town.
Haines School art teacher Giselle Miller will exhibit “Wax and Water,” a display of encaustic or hot wax paintings at Haines Brewing Company. The technique involves adding color to hot wax and applying the resulting solution to wooden surfaces.
Miller’s original pieces are created on handmade wooden boxes.
Miller grew up in Juneau and she says the pieces were inspired by “the water that has been woven into my life,” including an ocean passage across the Pacific and the rivers of Southeast.
She said the art of encaustics lends itself to organic, flowing images that are not always predictable, but evolve over many layers of the medium. “The end result can be as magical for the artist as it is for a first-timer viewer,” she said.
Across Main Street at Corlix, the former Yarn Shop, student Patience Nelson will display creations in a variety of mediums, including watercolor and acrylic paintings and clay sculptures. Patience’s mom Susie McCartney said her 10-year-old daughter has been a “creative machine” since she could hold a crayon.
Patience has studied with Miller as well as with Linnus Danner and Kelleen Adams. Her items will be for display only.
Haines Real Estate is sponsoring an exhibit of “barn quilts” by Liz Cornejo at 26 E. Barnett Drive during an open house there.
The quilts are plywood-sized paintings in the design of fabric quilts. Akin to Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, modern barn quilting started about 20 years ago in the Midwest, with paintings – some as large as a barn wall – created as tributes to loved ones.
Examples can be seen around town on Lynnview Avenue and 1 Mile Mud Bay Road.
Cornejo makes the quilts in 2-foot and 4-foot squares. Painted on signboard and coated in Varathane with ultraviolet protection, they’re meant to be hung outdoors. “They’re kind of indestructible,” Cornejo said.
Author and photographer Larry Johansen, a recent arrival to Haines, will feature his books and photos at Alaska Rod’s. A Ketchikan native, Johansen’s large-format photos chronicle scenic corners of Alaska’s Panhandle. He’s also a baseball buff who has chronicled the game as played in pioneer-era Alaska in his book, “The Golden Days of Baseball.”
“Little Wonders,” an exhibit of Merrick Bochart creations in paint and ink, will be on display at Ampersand Alaska. “Trash to Treasures Part II: Bringing Hidden Art to Life ‘’ will be on exhibit at Haines Sheldon Museum.
First Friday is a monthly promotion, 5-7 p.m. at various locations.
Glass-bead making will be available at the Extreme Dreams studio on Mud Bay Road on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6-7, noon to 5 p.m. A student torch will be available for visitors to“get the feel for making a bead,” said artist John Svenson. New, glass-blown objects are available for purchase.