The STAR Gallery at the Steamtown Mall invites the public to the 5th Artist Market and Music Festival on July 19th, 11 am til 6 pm. Local artists will display and sell their art and local musicians will keep everyone entertained.
For the first time at the mall, a group of Argentinian Tango Dancers will perform for 2 hours. The group is called ‘Argentine Tango’.
Sligo Creek Band, a regular at our market, will play bluegrass music.
Local musicians in the Steamtown Rhythm Band will continue to entertain everyone with their music.

Tables to sell art are $25. If anyone is interested in selling art, call the Gallery at 969-2537

The 9th Annual Mudball Festival hosted by John Bromberg will take place on Saturday, August 23rd, and Sunday, August 24th, from noon until dusk each day. There will be two days of puppets and music.

The Festival will be held on the festival grounds at PMS Farms, 639 South Preston Road, Lakewood, PA, 20 miles north of Honesdale.

Camping is available. All activities are free. For further information, contact John Bromberg at 448-2033.

Electric Theatre Company (formerly known as The Northeast Theatre) is the Mayor’s pick this year to host a party celebrating the arts in Downtown Scranton. This is the party of the year, a midsummer masquerade. Black and white attire is required, but creative interpretation of black and white is encouraged… anything from formal wear to black jeans and t-shirt. Prizes will be given to the most creative takes on black and white and the party includes a fabulous buffet of food and beverage by Vida Tapas Bar, live music by Trio Barocco and Cuban Tres, clowns, buskers, acrobats, plus dance music by NEPA’s top deejay, Conor McGuigan, and more.
Each year, the Mayor and his wife Donna choose a not-for-profit arts group and host a party. This year, in part because The Northeast Theatre is changing its name, they chose Electric Theatre Company. And the folks at the Theatre have taken the Mayor’s choice as both as an occasion to honor him, and a challenge to themselves; they aim to make it the best party Scranton has seen in years. The name of the event is Sparks & Feathers! and it is described as A Midsummer Masquerade. Those attending are required to dress in black and white, but are thereby encouraged to interpret that dress code in whatever way their whim may take them, from donning formal wear to black jeans and t-shirts. (Prizes will be awarded to the most imaginative interpretations.)

When and Where -Electric Theatre, 326 Spruce Street 2nd Floor, Downtown Scranton
Saturday, July 19, 6 to 9 p.m.
Admission-Tickets in Advance are $50, Tickets at the Door are $60
ing at 5:30 p.m. Only students 25 years and under are eligible for rush tickets.
No one will be admitted who is not dressed in black and white
Buying Tickets
Tickets may be purchased by phone at 570-558-1515, or online at www.electrictheatre.org

Artists and Educators,
Please accept this letter of introduction from a new and thriving
convergence of schools and individuals active in the visual and
performing arts. The Harris Conservatory for the Arts is a community
of some of the finest educators and artists currently working in
Northeast Pennsylvania. It is becoming known as the area’s “one stop
shop” for the arts.
Walking the halls of the 20,000 square foot facility brings to mind
images of the popular movie “Fame” based on the school for performing
arts in New York City. Stretching dancers grace the bright and
spacious dance studios, professional paintings create a gallery along
the hallway, a piano plays a classical melody, athletic tumblers do
breathtaking acrobatics and the tone of an operatic solo fills the
air.
This unique collaboration of professional schools and artists have now
created a vibrant and flourishing community with literally an excess
of a thousand guests weekly. We are now searching for new members to
join a family. Tenants can rent space in the building on an hourly,
monthly or yearly basis and can meet any artists budget. Rental fees
include just about EVERYTHING, and with the guaranteed traffic of
artistically interested students and their families, this conservatory
provides a truly exceptional opportunity for growth and development of
new and existing programs.
The conservatory is centrally located in Luzerne just off the Cross
Valley Expressway and Wyoming Avenue. Among the building’s many
features is its 1,800 sq ft rehearsal area. For those groups who may
require even more space, the gymnasium allows enough room to suit just
about every need. A new parking lot has recently been constructed to
meet the demands of the every growing weekly visitors to the
conservatory.
The main tenant of the facility is the Joan Harris Centre. This
nationally recognized school of dance has a 25-year history of
educating budding dancers in its family friendly atmosphere. Many of
the Joan Harris Dancers have gone on to dance with professional dance
companies performing at the Lincoln Centre, on Broadway, and across
the east coast. Their enrollment of nearly 700 students come from all
across the Northeastern Pennsylvania and range in age from 3 through
adult.
Many other noteworthy groups such as the nationally recognized
Northeast Mustang All-Star Cheerleaders, Christine Leandri School of
Music, Miss Kimberly’s Studio of Vocal Arts, Kindermusik of Wyoming
Valley, a theatrical school Back Stage Pass, and various other artists
join the dancers. Wyoming Valley Art League has adorned the walls with
paintings created by their members.
There are many openings for schools and individuals to join our
family. Perfectly suited for the center is string musicians and
schools, martial arts instructors, and physical fitness trainers in
aerobics, Pilates, yoga. We are interested as well in building up the
visual arts offerings at the conservatory with painters, potters,
sculptors and other mediums. The conservatory is open to all sorts of
new concepts since our mission is to be as diverse as the arts
themselves. We believe that through cross-pollination of ideas and
ideals we can create something magnificent.
The Harris Conservatory for the Arts is open to visual and performing
artists interested in becoming a part of this unique community. The
conservatory is located at 545 Charles St. in Luzerne. For more
information please call 570-718-0673 or feel free to stop by any
weekday between 2:00 and 9:00 PM and Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00
PM. Also, feel free to call my cell phone 262-3874.
We are looking forward to meeting you!
Sincerely yours,
Nancy Kingsbury
Director of Development
Harris Conservatory for the Arts

COME join us on the Shikellamy State Park Overlook of the confluence of the North and West branches of the Susquehanna River at Sunbury, PA. Yes, it’s a special place. A special place for our settler forefathers and Native Americans, a place of gathering, a place of Ceremony, a place of watch.

REMEMBER; Mother Earth is single minded, purposeful,
proactive, results orientated. Her focus and objectives change with
each Season. Summer is Her time to grow Her crops, Her work of the
year. Summer too is our easy time to work our purpose, our projects,
our personal undertakings for this good year. Summer is our time to
create value in our lives, to grow our Souls, so that the Creator
might choose to invest the Life Force in us for yet another year. Come
join Mother Earth in working our common fields of consciousness in
this good Summer Season.

FAR BELOW US; Great Sister Water, the big veins of the
Susquehannas join together, washing away our fatigue, our heartache,
our fears; and bringing us sustenance, compassion, renewal. Long ago
the Susquehanna was our vehicle of trade and travel. Today She gifts
us with recreation and memories. Remember your River Song. Remember,
listen to the River singing, listen to the River singing.

IN CEREMONY; Earth Spirits of Place help us remember our
Heritage, the Heritage of Earth, the River, our Peoples, and your
personal Heritage too. Father Fire, the Sacrament of the Summer
Season,helps us recognize the shallowness of “living in the now”. The Green
Corn People and the Old Ones of the South help us reconnect with
Heritage and regain our Power to grow our lives, our Souls, to live
totally in this wonderful, marvelous, this good Summer Season. Come,
sit by the Fire; sit by the Fire by the River, it’s been so long, so
very long, come, remember.

NOTE that the work is neither religious nor Pagan in any
way. It’s timeless, essential Spirit stuff, and common to all.
Remember, without Spirit, you’re road kill.

TIME AND DATE: Saturday, June 21, 2008, Ceremony at 4:00 pm sharp.

LOCATION: At the Shikellamy Overlook (named in honor of
the Iroquois Chief Shikellamy, a statesman and friend to both the
Colonists and Native Americans) on the Western shore of the
Susquehanna, just off of RT 15, going South from Northumberland, or
North from Shamokin Dam. BRING: Folding chairs,
cushions, Ceremony stuff, drinking fluids. Note that clique sticks
will be provided so that everyone will “have a drum”. No alcohol,
drugs, or pets. Come early and help set up the poles and ribbons.

SPONSORED BY: “Friends of Shikellamy State Park”.
www.FriendsofShikellamyStatePark.org. AND YES; it’s
a full day of MUSIC, POETRY, FOOD, COOL STUFF. For information,
schedule of events, directions, contact Mark Cox, Event Coordinator at
Tel: 570.274.6907 or Email Mark at sunburycox@verizon.net, and on the
web; www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/shikellamy.aspx

CONTACT: Joseph for program details and free information
about our work; Tel: 570.454.6491, or Email jburinsky@psu.edu

This is an invitation from the director of C.A.U.S.E., Coalition of
Artists United for Social Engagement.
I took it upon me to create a new project centered around the cruel
issue of cluster bombs. In short: cluster bombs are bombs containing
hundreds of smaller bombs and once exploding the smaller bombs spread
the area and cause hundreds of victims of which 30 % are children.
This is not only during impact itself but also after, meaning that not
all explode immediately but often then when children play on
playgrounds; fields and farmlands causing severe disability or death.
An absolutely unacceptable situation!

At present there are a number of international conferences aiming at
putting a complete ban on the production and use of cluster bombs. The
final conference will take place on December 2nd and 3rd in Oslo,
Norway, and to support an NGO especially centered around creating
awareness and acting as a pressure group I decided to create a new art
project titled “They bomb children, don’t they?”.

I therefore would like to invite you to participate and to visit a
specially made information digital document where you will find
extensive information about the issue itself, as well as how you can
participate and contribute. You can view this at
www.the-cause.org/clusterinfo.swf
Note: if it opens in your browser chance is it will look too small. To
view it full screen choose in your toolbar ‘view’ and ‘full screen’.

I look forward to hear from you and to your participation.

Sincerely,

Gino d’Artali
Director C.A.U.S.E.
www.the-cause.org
info@the-cause.org

Listed below the upcoming exhibits for the Northeast Photography club for the remainder of the year. For further information, please contact Mandy Welman,
Northeast Photography Club, 570.687.0545.

Dates: June 12 6-8pm runs until July 11
Location: Waste Management Office on Main Ave in Old Forge across from Brownie’s Pizza
Theme: Nature Photography
Opening Night will feature awards, door prizes and refreshments.

Dates: August 21 6-8pm runs until September 24
Location: Gallery 408, 408 Lackawanna Ave., Olyphant
Theme: Unseen Club Photography
Opening Night will feature awards and refreshments.

Dates: October 3 6-8pm runs until November 2
Location: AFA Gallery, Lackawanna Ave, Scranton
Theme: Unseen Club Photography
Opening Night will feature awards and refreshments.

Dates: November 7 6-8pm runs until December 5
Location: One Point Showroom, 101 Pittston Ave, Scranton
Theme: Unseen Club Photography
Opening Night will feature awards and refreshments.

The “Moscow Train Station”, a mural by Mark S. Ciocca, will be presented at the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum, McDade Park, on Sunday, July 13, at 2:00 pm. The event and museum admission is free for those attending. The mural is sponsored by the Scranton Area Foundation. For further information, contact the Museum at (570)963-4804.

The fourth annual Scranton Jazz Festival will take place Friday, August 1st through Sunday, August 3rd at the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in downtown Scranton, PA.

The main stage will host thirteen international, national and regional groups and musicians. Downtown Scranton will come alive for three nights with music at numerous participating venues.

This year’s jazz, blues and world beat headlining artists include: Spyro Gyra, the New York Voices, jazz legend Phil Woods, Hendrick Meurkens, the Marko Marcinko Latin Jazz Quintet, Donny McCaslin, Sherrie Maricle & Five Play, J.D. Walter, the Chris Parker Group, bluesman Michael Powers, Jay Ashby, Enja recording artist, Bob Degen, originally from Scranton, and many more.

Information on tickets and artists is available at www.pajazzallliance.com. Radisson Hotel package information: 570-342-8300.

illustration by jime grabowski

The fourth annual Scranton Jazz Festival will take place Friday, August 1st through Sunday, August 3rd at the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in downtown Scranton, PA.

The main stage will host thirteen international, national and regional groups and musicians. Downtown Scranton will come alive for three nights with music at numerous participating venues.

This year’s jazz, blues and world beat headlining artists include: Spyro Gyra, the New York Voices, jazz legend Phil Woods, Hendrick Meurkens, the Marko Marcinko Latin Jazz Quintet, Donny McCaslin, Sherrie Maricle & Five Play, J.D. Walter, the Chris Parker Group, bluesman Michael Powers, Jay Ashby, Enja recording artist Bob Degen, originally from Scranton, and many more.

Information on tickets and artists is available at www.pajazzallliance.com. Radisson Hotel package information: 570-342-8300.

Light up your summer on Friday, August 5 at the Blue Heron Gallery, 121 Main St, Wyalusing, PA. A great evening (5 - 10 p.m.), of music and dancing with The The Jim Waltich Jazz Trio - admission $10,annual benefit fund-raiser for the gallery. Evening includes the new exhibit of art based on the theme of Fire, a poetry reading, the release of the accompanying catalog and free Lindy dance lesson. For information call 570-746-4922 or wchamber@epix.net for tickets or visit www.blueheronart.org.

The Red Shoes Dance Company featuring AFA friends Rachel Dare and Nasim Mahdavi will be dancing at the Steamtown Cigar Club on May 30th and then having their Spring Festival on June 13th at 7pm.

At Starbucks at the Steamtown Mall on First Friday, June 6, there will be an event called “Arabian First Friday and Visions From the East”. There will be bellydancing from 7-9 PM and and an exhibition of photographs of Afa Artist Rachel Dare from her Rotary trip to India and Nepal.

The Cultural Council of Luzerne County is sponsoring a bus trip to the Roberson Museum in Binghamton, NY, to visit a docent-directed tour of the the exhibit, ‘Visons of the Susquehanna’, 250 years of paintings by American Masters, on Friday, May 30, 2008, leaving at 10 AM. The cost is $50 per person, including lunch, transportation and admission. Call 408-4439 for information or reservations or contact www.cclcarts.org.

The Wyalusing Community Corp (WCC) is hosting their annual picnic and
meeting on Thursday, May 5 at 5 p.m. The Guest speaker is Dr. Robert
Spiegelman, who is sociologist, multi-media artist, writer and an authority
on the Sullivan/Clinton campaign that traversed through PA and NY State in
the late 17770’s. This lecture will be very stimulating and engaging with
an accompanying power point presentation. The event will be held at the WCC
Building, also the Blue Heron Art Gallery, at 121 Main St in Wyalusing, PA
Check out www.sullivanclinton.com for an advance
look at Dr. Spiegelman’s projects regarding our history. The lecture is free.
For further information call 570-74-4922 or wchamber@epix.net

We have established a new meeting site for our monthly meeting.

Northeast photo Club
www.northeastphotographyclub.org
meeting held at 5 Morgan Hwy, Suite #6
Scranton, PA
Meetings on the first Wed of each month @ 7 pm
Meetings consist of presenters, critiques, contest &
discussions. Field trips and other outings.

AFA Gallery Member Richard Muehleisen will be taking part in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic Cowboy Jamboree on Friday, April 11th, at the Scranton Cultural Center, Scranton and Saturday, April 12th, at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. He will be displaying his paintings and pen and ink depicting western scenes as well as displaying some of his western artifacts such as saddles, bridles & so forth. Check it out on www.nepaphil.org. Tickets are on sale now and start at $18.00. For further information, call 570-341-1568.

The Mulberry Poets & Writers Association (MPWA) announces its Seventh Annual Regional Poetry Contest. The overall winner of the contest will receive a $150 cash prize. Two other winners will share $150 in cash prizes - $100 for 2nd place and $50 for 3rd place. Several poets will be recognized with an Honorable Mention.
Judges will be Dr. Richard Brook, Jim Warner, Jennifer Diskin, Susan Jaffer, and Jerry Grealish.
All winners will be invited to present their poetry at a public reading on or about Saturday, June 7, 2008, at the AFA Gallery, 514 Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, PA. The winning poems will be published in the 2008 edition of The MPWA Journal.
Submissions are due by April 15th - Tax day!
For further information, contact the contest coordinator Richard Aston, of Wilkes-Barre, at 570-829-3163 or by e-mail at astonrj@yahoo.com.

STAR Gallery at Steamtown Mall has opened a Children’s Art Making Corner in the lobby in front of the gallery. Every Saturday from 12 to 2pm children in the community are invited to make art with a local artist for $5 per child. For further information call 969-2537 or Simona Gavern at 344-3048 or just show up to enjoy the activities.

On Sat, May 3, beginning at 9am we will paint a mural on two walls at the Gino Merli Veterans Center in Scranton. Our mission is to brighten up the environment by painting an outdoor scene inside to be enjoyed throughout the year. We will have sketched a basic scene and then encourage artists bring it to life with their special approach. It will be a fun day to share with fellow artists and give a gift to our veterans. All supplies will be provided. This is a great opportunity for those of you who have wanted to be more involved at AFA and to develop new friendships. Please join us. Call: Judith Youshock 842-4133 to confirm.

The Everhart Museum invites you and your friends to Wine on the Wing: A Wine-Tasting Cultural Event, showcasing the current exhibit ‘Flocks & Feathers’. Date - April 10, 2008, from 6 to 8 PM. Sample wine and food as you follow our sommeliers as they migrate to regions around the world, educating you about the history of the wine and grape. Learn about environment impacts on vineyards and how vineyards affect migratory birds. Music, literature and poetry readings will complement the various wines from around the world.
Cost: $35/person for Everhart Museum members
$40/person for non-members
For reservations, call the Everhart at 346-7186

The Cultural Council of Luzerne County embraces the inspiration of the Susquehanna River. The 2008 Wyoming Valley RiverFest celebrates the Susquehanna River’s legacy of inspiring art and its continuing ability to do so. The January issue of Art & Antiques magazine says, “Painter, poets, politicians and pundits have long enlisted [the Susquehanna] as an emblem of national identity, economic promise and ecological consciousness.”

For 250 years the Susquehanna has been a source of artistic inspiration for some of America’s most important landscape painters starting with Benjamin West, and Thomas Doughty, and continuing with such notable painters as Worthington Whittredge, Jasper Cropsey, George Inness, and Thomas Moran, all of whose works are featured in the exhibit “Visions of the Susquehanna” on display at the Roberson Museum, Binghamton New York, May 15, 2008 through August 30 2008. In collaboration with the RiverFest Committee, the Cultural Council of Luzerne County is sponsoring a trip to view the exhibit Friday, May 30, 2008.

The Cultural Council is also coordinating an effort to give area artists and photographers the opportunity to experience the river first hand and to create their own visions of the Susquehanna. On Saturday June 21 2008 and Sunday June 2008, The Wyoming Valley RiverFest will offer artists and nonartists alike two separate opportunities to paddle in the wake of these American Masters. Beginning at the Harding Boat Launch Route 92 Exeter Township, Saturday’s trip gives paddlers the chance to travel 14 miles through the heart of the Wyoming Valley and see for themselves the beauty of the river. The trip ends at Wilkes-Barre’s where En Plaine Aire painters will be practicing their craft, and where children will be creating their own river inspired art works. For those interested in a shorter trip, Sunday will offer them the chance to paddle from Nesbitt Park to Canal Park in Plymouth Township. This is the section of the river which figures so prominently in Jasper Cropsey’s monumental painting ” The Valley of Wyoming” a masterpiece of 19th century landscape painting. This section also lets paddles run the Nanticoke Rapids, one of the few sections of fast water on the Susquehanna. Both trips will offer the paddler the chance to see an array of wildlife including Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, and Great Blue Herons and will open a whole new perspective on this nature resource which for 250 years as been inspiring those who experience first hand.

Plans are also in the works for Sundays in May to arrange for artists to kayak to one or more of the islands in the river for a few hours of creativity from a vantage point on the valley that is new to them.

Selected works will part of a juried art show planned for September 2008 in Wilkes Barre.

In this way, the ripples created by artists in the past will expand and will continue inspire into the future.

For more information on the bus trip to the exhibit “Visions of the Susquehanna” and the kayak events, visit the Cultural Council’s web site at www.cclcarts.org or call 570 825-6463

The Century Club in Scranton is sponsoring a series of art lectures entitled “Great Artists From Mexico”. All events are open to the public free of charge (bus trip excluded). Programs are held at the Century Club, 612 Jefferson Avenue, Scranton, a handicapped accessible building.

SPRING SERIES

March 4 7:00 PM
Diego Rivera and other Mexican muralists

April 15 7:00 PM
Frida Kahlo

April 18 Bus trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to view the Frida Kahlo Exhibition. Price - $65

May 6 7:00 PM
Remedios Varo

Professors from the University of Scranton are the presenters. Lectures are acciompanied by slides.
For further information, contact the Century Club at 342-0204 or the series coordinator, Louise Finetti, at 342-1839

John Bromberg, The Sisyphis Project - Part II: THE PERFORMANCE (wherein Kasper comes to the aid of Sisyphus)

PERFORMANCE on March 9th at 3PM, with Peter Schumann, Ekumen Chorale, Pictures Moved by Strings Puppet Theatre, and Marywood University students at the Sette LaVerghetta Center for the Performing Arts.

WORKSHOPS: March 6, 7, 8 with Peter Schumann, founder and artistic director of Bread and Puppet Theatre