S1: It’s time for KPBS Midday Edition on today’s show. We’re talking about the arts and culture shaping San Diego. I’m Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. A new exhibit from the African American Museum of Fine Art is celebrating the stories of African-American women throughout history with a curated fashion collection , then a convention to celebrate and empower San Diego’s Filipino-American creative community. Plus , your weekend preview. That’s ahead on Midday Edition. A new exhibit weaves together the stories of African American women across history through the garments they wore. It is called Clothes Story. It was brought here in partnership with the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art , and it’s on display now at the Mesa College Art Gallery. Joining me live to talk about the exhibit is curator and cultural event director Kenneth Green. Kenneth , welcome to midday.
S2: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me today.
S1: Well , I’m so glad you took the time and that you’re here.
S2: It’s a , um , a , um , an exhibition that really first starts with stories. I’ve been working on closed doors for about maybe four years now , physically , but probably in my head about maybe ten years. Ten , 15 years. Um , I think two ways we we really got us started. One , it became a matter of space. Um , I’m a cultural event designer in Atlanta , and I build lots of historical events. So , as you can imagine , I collect lots of props , lots of costumes , lots of music , just a lot of things. But then what really brought it into focus was the George Floyd event. Um , as during that time I really started to kind of assess my life and started to think about , well , when it’s all said and done , what are you leaving behind ? So as I look through all of these things , I have to get rid of things. And as I started to get rid of things , I began to look at the apparel that we built over the years , I built historical events where Congressman John Lewis , when he was alive , I was the lead producer and director for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King event on the Mall in Washington , D.C.. So if you can imagine , it had a lot of content. So I just kind of weed it through things. And I lined up this clothing and I said , I think you have something here. And as I looked at these women in this clothing , um , one thing led to the next and we ended up with closed story. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2: Women have been in the shadows for a long time. I’ve worked at Spelman College as a professor for many years. So as you can imagine , I’m around a lot of content that focuses on women. So but as I’ve done my personal research and research that had to do with events , corporate events , academic events , there was just a liking of stories that I felt some were told that were very familiar with and many , many , many stories that were not familiar with. So I was really focused on the stories , and I really wanted to tell some stories of these amazing women , of just women you probably are not as familiar with.
S1: Well , yeah. Well , so the exhibit highlights clothes and stories from 1889 all the way up to 1963. And that’s nearly 80 years of history there.
S2: We do have a we do tell the story of Clara Howard. She was the first valedictorian of Spelman College. Um , so we have a beautiful dress that she wore on her graduation day. All of the clothing and closed door are All replicas , everything were pulled from various archives from out the southeast , largely in Atlanta , at the African American Library in Atlanta and Spelman College libraries , the AUC libraries , Clark Atlanta University Libraries. And we looked at great pictures of great fashion. And we followed up where what were the stories behind these pictures ? And we just kind of put them in categories. We put them in categories by topic , by time periods , and then we just begin to chose choose an assortment of clothing that just kind of have the gamut and that some that were very ornate , some that were very , very plain. So there was a one story that I was particularly found fascinating , and that was the story of Dorothy Bolden. And Dorothy Bolden was a domestic in Atlanta , and she worked for a woman in the Atlanta , and the woman wanted her to stay another four hours when she had already put in a 12 hour day. And she said , ma’am , I can’t stay. So if she had her arrested , she was put under psychiatric evaluation because she talked back to a white woman. And so those stories you don’t hear about later she started the domestic workers union. She started out with five women in that union , and she ended up with 30,000 women in that union by the time it was all said and done. Her story you don’t hear about. So I think those are great stories that I wanted to highlight in the exhibition. Some of her clothing was just kind of regular. Um , but we do have some clothing that’s regular and some clothing that seems to be a little bit more fashionable and a little bit more ornate. Wow.
S1: Wow. That’s great. Well , could you describe , uh , to our listeners , some of the garments they can expect to see.
S2: Yes , we have a Leontyne Price in the exhibition , which is one of my favorites. Um , Lillian really was , um , very popular. Um , and her performance of Aida. So we have we went through a lot of the costumes that she wore for Aida , and there was one in particular that she seemed to wear more often than than not. So that dress we replicated , and that’s in the piece , there’s a great Billie Holiday piece , which is in our glamour collection. Um , we did take a little license because she wore the gardenias in her hair , so we added gardenias down her back and her dress , which is beautiful. We do have Diahann Carroll , and we replicated her dress when she was on the cover of Ebony magazine in 1964. We have Betty Shabazz in the collection. We have , um , Mahalia Jackson in the collection , and we have the first black female doctors , two of them , a doctor , Eliza Greer and doctor Rebecca Crumpler , in 1885. So there’s a vast array of of dresses. Um , some are more ornate than others. Um , but but beautiful dresses and beautiful stories. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And clothes are really an interesting way to tell those stories. You worked with tailors and seamstresses to bring these clothes to life , and you can really see how you know just how each piece is made with a lot of love and care. Talk to me about that.
S2: Well , I was very fortunate. I was able to work with three great designers in Atlanta , and I had one designer who really was an expert during historical dresses. So we have dresses from the Victorian area for blacks who really lived during the Victorian area under the reign of Queen Victoria , and these were doctors and scientists and lawyers and musicians , and their dresses were quite ornate. They have the bustles and the petticoats and the the bumps that are added to the to the rear and the back. Um , those designers did a wonderful job. We don’t have a lot of designers. I didn’t want to cross the line. A lot of designers who could fabricate those dresses. We did , um , fabricate , uh , Coretta Scott’s dress. Coretta Scott King , before she married Doctor King , she was an opera singer in Boston. And she has a beautiful dress that you can see online in lots of places. And you can see in the exhibition that we have in Mesa College , um , it’s a beautiful pink satin dress , and probably it has a lot of ruching to it. So , um , if you can imagine that probably the closest dress that you’ll find that’s familiar is the Belle dress from beauty and the beast. The bell dress is very similar to what Coretta Scott King wore when she concert in Boston. But it’s a beautiful dress. Um , and that’s just , you know , just kind of a sampling of the things that we have in the collection. There are about 30 pieces in the collection right now on display at Mesa College , in the collection. I have about 65 pieces that all range from 1889 to 65. And I kind of stuck with that time period because for me , I am not a historian or a designer. I’m really more of a fashion enthusiast , and I find those time periods to be the most interesting for me when it came to my creative work in women’s fashion , indeed.
S1: I mean , and , you know , the thing is , is so many people would not have even known that Coretta Scott King was an opera singer. If not for , you know , telling this story through fashion , I mean , every outfit we wear really does tell a story. What do you think is this ? This exhibit says about how we use fashion to communicate who we are.
S2: Well , that’s a that’s a that’s a great question. But we do use fashion as a way of self-expression. Our clothing choices allow allow us to express our personality , moods , values , um , cultural belonging. Fashion reflects cultural heritage , traditions , community ties. Wearing certain garments or styles can honor our ancestry. Um , affirm our individual identity , shared identity. Um. Social signals. Fashion often conveys status. Profession. Lifestyle. So there are all kinds of ways that , um , fashion kind of plays into our , our , our , our relationship to identity , for sure. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , clothes story first showed in Atlanta but has since traveled all across the country.
S2: Um , one thing that really has strikes me the most when I , when I look at kind of similar responses from city to city , and we largely have been throughout the southeast coming to the this is our first trip to the West Coast. So this has been very exciting. This has been a big opportunity for us. But what I get from a lot of folks that see it , they have an opportunity to reminisce and they often say , my mom or that my my auntie or that my grandmother had a dress like that. I did a corporate event and we had to set up at maybe like midnight one night. So the only ones that were in the building were the cleaning crew were the men , and the men were taking pictures , and I stopped and talked with them. And some of the men were just so emotionally involved in what we were doing because they said , my grandmother , my great grandmother wore dress like this. So people have a great connection in terms of of remembrance and we and we and remembering their family members who actually have worn some of the clothing that they saw throughout the collection. Wow.
S1: Wow.
S2: The clothing seems to get people in the door and I’m loving that. But there’s so many amazing stories of these amazing women who have done An amazing things that I will just love people to kind of come and read about. And the clothing is just , uh , as , uh , it’s just kind of an added bonus. Um , we’ve worked very hard to , to build the clothing , so they’re historically accurate so that they live and they breathe on the mannequins. But there’s just great stories of these great women that I think their experiences and , um , should be shared and remembered as well. So I hope everyone will come out to Mesa College , um , and visit closed door. Closed door will be in place until October the 15th.
S1: Sounds like an excellent exhibit. Uh , well , I’ve been speaking with curator and cultural event director Kenneth Green. Closed Story Again will be on display at the Mesa College Art Gallery from now through October 16th. Kenneth , thank you so much for your creativity and for joining us today.
S2: Pleasure was all mine. And thank you.
S1: Still to come. A convention to celebrate and empower San Diego’s Filipino-American creative community. Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to Midday Edition. I’m Jade Hindman , Phil am creator. Con had its inaugural convention last year in National City. Its goal was to celebrate , support and empower San Diego’s Filipino-American creative community. KPBS Arts reporter Beth Accomando gets a preview of year two with founder Aaron Nablus and artist Zard Apulia , and author of win. Take a listen.
S3: We are out here in front of the Chula Vista Library , which is going to be the location for this year’s film creator , Khan and Erin. This is your second year.
S4: That was a common thing that people were saying that you guys , you guys need a bigger spot next year. So we heard you and we are at the Chula Vista Library this time around at F Street Civic Center Branch. This year , we are going to be able to have twice as many exhibitors. So from 18 last year to 40 this year. And we’ll also have six community tables and food will be here to our programming is going to increase by double as well. Last year we had about eight panels. This year we’re going to have about 17 or 18. We have a lot of things lined up and we were trying to finalize possibly a musical performance element. So we’ll see how that’s going to go.
S3: And art. You were involved last year You’re helping get this off the ground.
S5: Actually , I met Aaron on a podcast to talk about my comic , and then it kind of came up and that just fascinated me that he was trying to find a way to bring light to Filipino-American creators. And I don’t think we have much of that kind of representation outside of maybe small bits of us that are in conventions. But having a convention dedicated to Filipinos and Filipino American creators specifically , just creative folks , not just comics , but radio music , acting , all of it , anything in the creative space of visual and performing was really. I had a big smile and I was like , Aaron , if there’s anything I could do to help , let me know. And he invited me to be part of the committee for the first inaugural year. And it was a lot of work , and we all pulled it off and it was so fun. It was very gratifying. As Aaron mentioned , we didn’t know how much space we needed. We didn’t know how many exhibitors we could have , and the first thing we said was within minutes was we need a bigger space next year. And that’s a good thing. It’s a great thing.
S3: And for people who may not be aware , explain why San Diego is a good space to start something like this.
S4: Well , we have a long history of military being here and are a lot of our fathers were in the Navy coming from the Philippines. So the community sprouted up around San Diego , both down the south east and now up north. There’s just a huge population boom of Filipino Americans in San Diego. So , you know , with that said , we kind of thought we were at a good opportunity to create a space for Filipino American creators to showcase their work and for us to promote and celebrate them.
S3: And Zard , they have a year under their belt already. You are coming to this brand new.
S6: You know , FOMO. You’re like , oh , I wish I was part of it. And so I made a point to make sure I’m like , on the email list I follow on Instagram , just so I’m aware when they start saying applications. And these kind of events are exactly what I try to look for , especially coming a long way emerging from Guam. And it’s like 25 to 30% Filipinos. So like it’s we’re predominantly all over the place. But moving to the mainland , especially California , it’s like you always try to gravitate towards like the Filipino communities because these are people , you know , you you understand , you like you have a lot in common. So with the creative community specifically , like this is where you get to see other Filipinos and how they kind of like portray our culture in all different means , like whether they’re visuals , performers. And so I feel like this specific convention with film creators is the perfect space , because I’m all about building a community and meeting new artists , creators , and every kind of like , you know , discipline out there. So , you know , I’m excited to be part of it for the first time this year.
S3: And you do put the word creator in the name of your event is part of the goal for you.
S4: You know , we do appreciate our nurses and our engineers , but , you know , there is the A in steam. So that’s also important too. So it’s , uh , I’m glad that we have this opportunity to create a space for a lot of knowledge sharing between , you know , peers and also generations. I think that’s important.
S3: And you talked about next generation and also sharing information art. You are going to be on a panel this year.
S5: We’ll be sharing some interactive drawing with the audience and exactly what Aaron was saying. It’s it’s purely to empower the younger generation in our culture , usually anything with the arts , especially in the beginning , is very celebrated. And as you get older , it’s a great hobby and I want to take the word hobby out of there. And it’s a passion and the passion can become a profession. My whole career has been surrounded in the arts. I was an animator for The Simpsons in Futurama. I was in advertising creative for about 16 years and now I’m doing video production. I’m doing comics. My house was paid for by my creative career , so it’s not a pipe dream , it’s totally within reach. And if we could not just empower the young generation , but also show their respective parents that it’s totally practical , it’s completely practical , and it’s attainable , and it’s not a pipe dream , then it could only open up their their horizons a little more. And if we could do that through showing two successful artists on stage , having fun with younger folk , and then even people on some of those questions with parents later , we’ll be glad to do that for sure.
S3: And Aaron , some of this sounds a little bit like what Keith and Jones has been doing with Black Comics Day , which is , I think , in its sixth or seventh year.
S4: As I say in other past interviews that I’ve done , Keith and Jones’s Black Comics Day was definitely an inspiration. It showed me that it was possible to have something like this come to fruition. I’ve always had something like this in the back of my head , ever since I learned that the hero in Starship Troopers in the book was actually Filipino. When I finally learned that was the case , my mind was blown. Just imagine if I would have learned that at a younger age. And just imagine how much an impact that could be on someone else at a younger age. So ever since I learned that , and ever since , you know , all the times I’ve gone to Comic-Con , I see the wealth of Filipino-American talent that’s there. I kind of thought , what if I pull those those people together ? I’ve done a podcast for the last few years. I’ve gotten to know the community. There’s a lot of community organizers here in San Diego , so we kind of just pulled our resources together and we we made it happen. This is our second year. It’s incredible. I’m so excited.
S3: And zade , you are an artist and you will be vending this year. So talk a little bit about what your art is.
S6: Yeah , absolutely. So I am it’s kind of like almost like a new kind of medium. I’m a toy artist , but also like a sculptor , but specifically what I do as an artist. I customize figurines because of my toys , but I also sculpt hand paint everything myself. It’s very active in the pop culture community , but I specifically found what my niche is and it’s on the food side. So I do sculptures , food , art , sex , food , figurines. So it’s inspired by food , the food culture in general. So popular brands , restaurants. But I kind of found a way to apply my culture into it. So like if you see all the art I’ve done , you see Filipino food represented many times in all forms , a lot of popular things , things I grew up eating as a kid. I like the nostalgic part about it too. Whether you grew up eating like all the traditional Filipino food or some I’ve met like they’ve never tried it before. But like later in life , they learn to , you know , learn about it or they learn to appreciate it. This is where I come in as a food artist. Like , wouldn’t you love to see , like , a double as a figurine ? Right. And , you know , the cool thing is , like , it doesn’t go bad. You can actually display it. So that’s that’s a fun part. Every time I do my events , I try to put all kinds of foods out there and then kind of like , see people start to like , build a connection. It’s like , oh , I remember eating that as a kid. I love that one. So I think for this specific event , for the Filipino , the film creator con , I’m gonna have tons of Filipino food , and I want people to have that reaction when they visit my booth , like , oh , I remember eating that as a kid , or I love that , or like it reminds me of the Philippines from me of home reminds of what my mom and grandma used to make. So I always like that emotional aspect of it. And that’s why I like creating these kind of , you know , food , art. So.
S3: And art. You talked about being an animator on The Simpsons. You are vending also.
S5: The quick logline is in the near future , California becomes a corporate country with factions fighting to shape the new nation. So if you’re fans of shows like Showtime’s Homeland , HBO , succession , you get some military tactics and some boardroom backstabbing. It’s a four issue mini series. I wrote it back in 2017. I didn’t illustrate it. Although I’m an illustrator by trade , I focused on writing. I met my illustrator friend Dave back in 2021 , and we got the first issue out in 2023 , and we just finished a final issue , the fourth issue a few months ago , so it’s nice to have the full set complete. Since those two years , I’ve been working on meeting more creators , and I’m now collaborating with a lot more on some other projects that I’m working on at this moment. So we have a Kickstarter called for an anthology called systemic right now that’s actually live , and it’s doing really well. Got some great folks in there that I’m excited to be collaborating with. But here specifically for this event , I’ll be focusing on pushing out California Ink. I do have some artwork with me , um , some old drawings that I have from when I work on The Simpsons , and then some prints from the Pac-Man event that Patrick and I worked on.
S3: And what are the challenges these days for , like , self-publishing a comic ? I mean , there’s a lot of things that have changed that have made it easier in some respects.
S5: Now that you know I’ve been around for the last two years , I’ve been through a few events. It’s gotten easier. Easier , right ? But even then , it’s still still a challenge. I’m not going to say it’s easy. It’s a lot of work. It’s a job in itself. Making the book itself and then promoting the book before before it gets put through Kickstarter , then , then the campaign itself is always work. And then there’s a fulfillment afterwards , making sure you print it , making sure you make it , make sure you ship it and fulfill everybody who pre-ordered it. I think the hardest part for us who are indie is distribution , especially now that diamond , who did make it easier for us later on to get in , is now defunct to a certain degree. If not , I think it’s completely gone. We have lunar and all these other ones , but they’re still still iffy and how to connect with it. But the self-publishing world has expanded significantly. A lot of bigger names have moved on to do their own self-publishing , only because there’s more control on their end , more money in their pockets. They’re being supported directly by their audience. And then there’s also ways to thank the audience by giving them more back to go along with their rewards. So it’s a whole new world with self-publishing. And when back , you know , just as far back as ten years ago , especially in the world of prose , when you couldn’t get published and you get self-published , the stigma was why couldn’t get published ? Or now I’m choosing self-publish to keep as many rights as I can for myself , to keep the IP and control how it’s being distributed and how it’s being put out , and not having to have a gatekeeper in the the editor of the publishing company to maybe change your story. I do recommend having an editor in general for your for your books , but maybe not have someone change your story if you have a specific vision.
S3:
S4: We’re going to have an opportunity to actually screen a couple of short films this year. So , uh , the first one is something called Revolt in Kismet. It’s a music video. Bye bye. The real biryani. And , uh , Mark Teodosio , he’s coming in from New York , I believe. And the second one that we want to highlight is one by Megan Reyes. She’s the host of the San Diego Wave. And her video , her movie is about. It’s called Between Two Worlds. And it’s her experience going to the Philippines and learning about how soccer is over there and how it relates to , you know , back and forth between here and the states. So we’re looking forward to that as well. Yeah , a couple of the other , uh , significant panels that can have an auditorium is one called The Larry. The musical is by Brian Pangilinan , and it’s basically the story of Larry Lion and how you know his his side of the story during The Grape Strikes back in the day. Um , so , uh , that’s going to be important and really an awesome opportunity to have that down here. Um , yeah. So taking advantage of the auditorium , we got the the movie screenings and keynote speeches. Yeah , it’s going to be a fun packed day. Can’t can’t wait.
S3:
S6: You know , like new fans or maybe existing collectors who who have supported me over the years. But what I get out of doing conventions , art shows , pop up markets here and there. I like building my network of others who are like whether they’re a fellow toy artist , their fellow foodie or another creator. I mean , just like I feel like an important part of it’s just growth. It’s just like having the community because you never know in the future where they could they could share an opportunity where like they said , hey , I heard about this thing. You’d be interested. Uh , has happened over to me many times. That’s why I believe in that. You know , never burn bridges. Just kind of like , just. It’s just , like , very important. And so I also use that in the other way where if I know of any other opportunities I could always reach out to , like , oh , I remember meeting this artist in this one event , they might be good for this fit because , you know , people like to refer each other’s. I think that’s very important too. Um , so yeah , I mean , like , this is gonna be my first year. I definitely hope to be part of it every year. I look forward for it to see it growing , you know.
S3:
S4: Last year was just the different kinds of , you know , cultures represented , generations represented. I think , by our estimations. Last year , about 500 people showed up. Hopefully , you know , we get that same amount of crowd this year , if not more , and it’s a free event open to the public. Family friendly. And it’s a unique opportunity for , you know , the general public to connect with a lot of our professionals , Filipino-American professionals. So we’re looking forward to it. September 20th here at the Chula Vista Library Civic Center branch on F Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. look look forward to a bunch of exhibitors , about 40 of them and 17 panels , and we’ll see about that , that musical element. We’ll see if we can work that one out.
S3: All right. Well , I want to thank you all very much.
S4: Thank you for the opportunity.
S5: Thanks for having us very much.
S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with Aaron Nimbus , founder of film creator Khan and artist Zada , and author EV1. The event is free , but attendees are encouraged to register and film creator content. Coming up next , a look at your weekend preview. More when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. You’re listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I’m Jade Hindman for our weekend preview. There’s Art inspired by psychology , a play about San Diego in the 1800s , and plenty more. Joining me with all the details is KPBS arts reporter and host of our culture podcast , The Finest , Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , welcome. Always great to have you on.
S7: Hey , Jade. Thanks for having me. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Okay , well , first , let’s talk about a new art exhibit that connects psychology and the way our eyes move when we look at art. That sounds interesting. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. So this is a best practice gallery. It’s artist Ava Swap , and the exhibit is called lines , planes , bodies. So swap is an artist and a sculptor based in LA. And she was inspired by , like , the 1950s and 60s era psychologist Alfred Arbus , who he studied eye movements and the way that humans actually , like , biologically perceive things. So we see things through like a series of fragmented , jumpy shifts across like a series of scattered points. It’s not a linear scan. And Yarbrough studied how these shifts are really individual , and they’re based on the beholder , like what questions they’re bringing to the scene , what biases they have. And he also studied the way that this eye movement process happens when people are looking at art or at a painting , one painting , specifically the artist Ilya , weapon’s unexpected visitor. And what Swop has done with this research is that she’s transcribed it kind of into steel , into these steel sculptures. Um , they’re like lines protruding from the floor. And she’s also created work using machine modeling that silk screened a map overlay of the eye movements on that painting. I really love the way that she’s combined history and science with art. Like this. It’s going to be a really interesting show. It’s the best practice that’s inside bread and salt and Logan Heights. It’s going to open on Saturday and stay on view through October 18th. They’ll have an opening reception from 5 to 8 on Saturday , and all of the galleries will be open late.
S1: And that’s not the only thing going on , because this is happening during the barrio art crawl during that night. So there’s plenty going on. Correct ? Yeah.
S7: So starting at Bread and Salt , you also have artist and filmmaker Jason Sherry. He’s giving a talk and a screening of his film Prometheus two , which was actually filmed entirely inside Bread and Salt. Um , Helena Westra , we’ve talked about her a little while ago. She has installed this meadow of native grasses that’s at the Athenaeum Art center , and that’s totally worth a peek. You can kind of even , like , meander through the meadow and then just a short walk away. In the main area of Barrio Logan , there is an exhibit at Reyes Community Space. It’s by tattooist and artist Jesus and there is always so much going on. The restaurants and the shops are always open with live music and all sorts of stuff. It’s a great night.
S1: Ah very nice. Well , also in visual art. The Studio Door Gallery in Hillcrest has a new special exhibit. Tell us about this one. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. So it’s called the Studio Door. Studio artist , past and present. And it’s meant to celebrate an entire decade of art at the gallery and also kind of serve as a reunion and a time capsule of art in the area. They have pieces by 30 something artists. There’s Laura Green , Linda Littoral , Andrew Torres and Patrick Stillman , the gallerist. It’s all on view through September 26th. So just a couple of weeks left and there will be a reception from 6 to 9 this Saturday.
S1: Well , and for the photography lovers , you have an option in Escondido. What can we expect with sleight of hand ? Yeah.
S7: So the photographer’s eye. This is a collective and a gallery space in Escondido. And they put together this juried exhibit every year. And it’s a photography using alternative or historic processes. So things like tintype or cyanotype or salt prints. And this year they got 500 entries. They selected the best , the top 50 photographers , um , and the jurors also gave out jurors choice awards. One of them went to a San Diego photographer , Robert Treat , who has some really creative cyanotype in the show. One of my favorite local artists is also in the show. And Alice Neal , she has some nature inspired , extremely detailed cyanotype. Those are really incredible to look at. There’s photographs that are kind of like wrapped around a series of branches that are then stitched together. It looks almost like a raft. There’s cami lumen prints. These look really surreal. And they apparently took over three days to expose in a dark room. I love stuff like this where it’s also , you know , you have this incredible art to look at , but then thinking about the process as a whole other layer to it. The exhibit opens at 11 on Saturday , and they’re having an artist reception that evening at 5 p.m. , and it’ll be on view through October 4th. The gallery is always free , and it’s open Fridays and Saturdays from 11 to 5.
S1: Sounds like a lot of fun. And you’re right. I mean , looking at the process always builds so much appreciation for the art. Well , so next up , Trinity Theatre and Mission Valley is opening a unique new play. Let’s hear about Thorn and Petal.
S7: So this is a new play by Daniel Redmond. It’s about San Diego in the mid 1800s with one of the early developers and pioneers , Louis Rose , and he was believed to be San Diego’s first Jewish settler , and it follows his life. Some of the things named after Rose where Rose Canyon , the Roseville neighborhood in Point Loma , so they were not named after Rose’s. I did not know that. The story follows Rose as he arrives in San Diego and begins to , you know , leave his mark and shape the town , but it also asks the audience to reflect on their own stories. There is some interactive audience participation elements in the play , so be prepared. I love stuff like that to you. It opens Friday and it runs through September 21st. And this is the theater that is literally inside Mission Valley Mall. Nice.
S1: Nice. Okay , so well , let’s stay with theater for one more. You just saw the heart at La Jolla Playhouse.
S7: I mean , I knew I was going to love it , but it was surprising to me in all these other ways. It’s a musical , but it has an electronic music backdrop and the singing is like your quintessential musical theater style. But then to have that like texture , that layer of electronic music was really , really interesting and vibrant. The choreography is also another really great element. Um , one thing I didn’t realize is that the play is set in San Diego. It’s centered on the life and the actual heart of a 19 year old surfer , and the journey of an organ donation. It’s just this beautiful story. It’s funny , I laughed out loud quite a lot , but it’s also really sad. And yeah , I’m a big fan of medical procedural dramas. So I checked all the boxes for me and it got it got extended again , but it has to close October 5th so it won’t be extended anymore. Um , this is your last chance for tickets , and one thing the theater recommends is to check their Instagram stories for ticket releases. So if you’re interested in getting tickets for this weekend shows , that’s probably your best bet. Another option is their Rush Tickets feature that’s for students , seniors , and active military. They will release like a block of tickets an hour before the show for half price , and you can call the box office the day of the show to find out if that’s going to happen for that particular show. Wow.
S1: Wow. All right. Well , here’s an option that combines comedy and visual art with comedian Demetri Martin. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. So Demetri Martin , he is known for this , like , unique deadpan type of comedy. He was a contributor on The Daily Show. He wrote for Conan O’Brien , had his own Comedy Central special , a couple of albums , books , films , you name it , and he’s on tour right now. His tour is called the Quick Draw Tour , and he brings out one of those big pads of paper and draws during the set , like live drawing , but also like , not that great. I think that’s part of the humor. He’s doing these , like , very basic drawings and to sort of go with that deadpan style. And this is Friday night at the Balboa Theater downtown.
S1: All right. Well , City Ballet of San Diego has performances this weekend. What can you tell us about those ? Yes.
S7: So this is their Sinatra production. It takes its name from Jeffrey Gonzalez’s ballet Summer wind , and Gonzalez is City Ballet’s resident choreographer. And this piece is set to orchestral arrangements of Sinatra tunes. So you can expect some really recognizable music for the dancers. And they’re also doing a ballet created earlier this year by Elizabeth Stritch , also a resident choreographer with City Ballet. This one’s called The Seasons , and it’s set to music by a Russian composer , Alexander Glazunov. There’s two evening shows at the Epstein Family Amphitheater at UC San Diego Friday and Saturday night. And that’s it. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Okay. So let’s talk about live music now as we wrap up. Because , you know , I like to hear about it. What’s on your radar this weekend ? Okay.
S7: So tonight indie rock band Grandaddy , they’re going to celebrate the 25th anniversary of an amazing album , The Software Slump. This was a really formative album for me. This is a track from that called the Crystal Lake.
S8: The Everglades , the Crystal Lake , the parties for the folks. It’s like Italian leather , Winter games , guitar by the Door of Flames , the Crystal Lake.
S7: And also on the bill is Pedro the Lion , who actually also lived in Modesto , which is where Grandaddy is from. This is his new track from his brand new album , and the track is called Modesto.
S8: Modesto Is a boring work. I thought it would be the best story. It’s not baloney like I thought it would be.
S7: The show is tonight at Observatory North Park. And then one more Friday night. Mestizo beat is playing a free show at Lulu’s at the Lafayette Hotel. Two free shows , actually. They’re doing an 8:00 and a 10 p.m. , and they’re an LA based Latin funk group. They’re instrumentalists , and they draw on a whole bunch of genres like hip hop , rock , Afrobeat , retro soul. This is the track she’s a Rose. And Lulu’s is a really fun place to see a show , especially if it’s free like that.
S9: I’m forced.
S1: All right. Good stuff. You can find details on these and more arts events on our website at pbs.org. I’ve been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of our culture podcast , The Finest , a Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thanks.
S7: Thank you. Jade.
S9: Jade.
S1: That’s our show for today. I’m your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
