The Arts Blog

 
Joe Dan Boyd presents Maryann Miller with the
Trails Country Treasure Award for 2011.

This report was written be Joe Dan Boyd. . .

Maryann Miller, Winnsboro artist of multiple talents, is the 2011 winner of the Trails Country Treasure Award, presented by Winnsboro Center for the Arts (WCA) to individuals who have made profound contributions to the overall arts scene: local, regional, national or worldwide.

Miller is the sixth recipient of this coveted honor which was created originally to honor 96-year-old poet Odena Brannam who was still an active poet and writer at that age.

The idea was to honor artists with roots in the Trails Country, but whose influence had extended well beyond any geographic area.

At that time, WCA was known as Trails Country Center for the Arts (TCCA), and the board has voted to preserve the original Trails Country designation for its premier honor.

Previous winners include Grahame Hopkins, Helen Burlingham, Ray & LaVonna Hitz, Bill Jones and Odena Brannam.

Miller received the award Sunday, September 25, at a ceremony hosted by Winnsboro Center for the Arts (200 Market St., Winnsboro), where she was introduced by Becky Pickett and presented two tangible awards of recognition (a mounted certificate and a sculpture cast) from Helen Burlingham and Joe Dan Boyd.

All three, Boyd, Burlingham and Pickett, are members of WCA's Treasure Award Committee.

For more on Maryann, go to this link:
https://profiles.google.com/maryannwrites#maryannwrites/about

 

Bonnie Sir Kergian's Grand Prize entry
on display at the MAYFAIR event May 20-21.

The Franklin County Arts Alliance held their annual April show in May this year in order to coincide with the PineyWoods Wine Trails exposition up in the courthouse square.

All members and non-members were invited to the event which was held in the Arts Alliance building.

Bonnie  Sir Kegian of Winnsboro was awarded Best in Show at the Franklin County Arts Alliance their Mayfair show in Mt.Vernon, Texas Friday and Saturday, May 20-21.  The award also included a check from the Alliance for $500.

She carved the sculpture called "Portal:Two Sides of Life" out of translucent Honey Calcite and the base from Banded Calcite, both found only in the state of Utah.

Bonnie has been working in her chosen art forms as a sculptor and fine art photographer for over 20 years.  Her Hunter's Moon Studio and Gallery is in Winnsboro, Texas.  To contact her:  Phone:903/365-2801 or huntersmoonfarm@gmail.com.


 
Bonnie Sir Kergian's booth featuring her entries for the
Mayfair event in Mount Vernon May 20-21, 2011.

Mount Vernon Music is pleased to welcome back international star of the French Horn Geoffrey Winter for a concert:

Sunday, April 17, 2011, 3 P.M.
Mount Vernon Music Hall
402 Leftwich at Yates, Mt. Vernon, TX



He will be joined by MVM Players and guest violist April Kondrat, performing Mozart’s Quintet for Horn and Strings, a one-movement Piano Quartet by Gustav Mahler and the famous Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano by Johannes Brahms.

This will be Geoffrey Winter’s second time performing for MVM audiences, having wowed listeners two years ago playing with the American Horn Quartet.

Geoffrey Winter is a member of the American Horn Quartet and serves as Principal Horn of the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn, Germany. He grew up on Mercer Island near Seattle, Washington and started playing horn at the age of six. He attended the University of Washington and the University of Southern California, studying with hornists Vince Derosa, Jim Decker and Christopher Leuba. During his college years he performed with the Summer Wagner Festival Orchestra as well as the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle.

His first professional appointment was for the position of Associate Principal Horn in the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Caracas, Venezuela in 1982. Shortly thereafter he was awarded the 3rd Horn/Associate Principal Horn position with the Philharmonia Hungarica in Marl, in Germany. In 1988 he became Principal Horn of what was then called the Orchestra of the Beethovenhalle in Bonn.
 
Mr. Winter has won many solo and ensemble competitions in Germany and in countries around the world, with solo prizes in Markneukirchen (1988) and Munich (1989), and prizes as a member of the American Horn Quartet in Japan (1995), Belgium (1985) and Hungary (1984). His solo appearances have taken him throughout North and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Far East and Australia. In his chamber music activities he has toured the world, performing and teaching in Europe, North and South America, Japan, China, Australia and South Africa.



April Kondrat is Principal Violist with the Plano and Irving Symphony Orchestras and performs with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Opera Orchestra. She also performs chamber music with various ensembles including ProMusica, an organization dedicated to raising scholarship money for young musicians.

An avid music educator, Ms. Kondrat has a viola studio of twenty aspiring young musicians, and often provides master classes for local schools. For five years she was the Director of Education for the Plano Symphony, and developed programs designed for the youth of Collin County.

Ms. Kondrat created a musical experience for preschoolers that she has performed throughout the region at numerous bookstores, preschool programs and libraries. She attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY for her Bachelor of Music degree and earned her Master of Music degree at the University of Northern Colorado. Ms. Kondrat resides in Plano with her husband, Jeremy, Director of Bands at Plano Senior High School, and their three children.

Tickets are $10 for MVM members, $15 for non-members. Students are admitted free. (Children 8th grade and younger must be accompanied by an adult ticket holder.)

For more information call Mount Vernon Music at 903-563-3780, or visit www.mountvernonmusic.org.  

"The Act of Being, a Workshop for the Actor" was led by C. Michael Jaynes on February 11 - 12, 2011, at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts.



There were 11 local residents who participated in such activities as exercises related to the actor’s fear, stimuli, behavior and vulnerability.

It was a great kick-off to a fabulous program that will be continued.

For further information and dates, contact the Winnsboro Center for the Arts at 903-342-0686.

Walls That Speak is Olive Jensen Theisen's second book on the works of John Thomas Biggers (1924-2001), published by the University of North Texas Press.

A book signing will be held at the Whatley Center for Performing Arts, Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant on Monday, February 21, at 2:30 pm.

The book signing coincides with the art exhibition, Dr. John Biggers Revisited, February 14 - March 4, 2011. The pieces are from the NTCC John Theisen Permanent Collection.

Dr. Theisen, better known by her East Texas friends as Ollie, was head of the Art Department at the college from its inception in 1985 until June, 1996 when she retired.

Dr. Biggers is considered one of the most significant African American artists of the 20th century.

While best known for his murals, his drawings, paintings and lithographs also capture the rich heritage of African Americans. He influenced many young artists through his art and teaching.

Ollie's journey to preserve Dr. Biggers' legacy began in the mid-80s when she found one of his murals in a school storeroom. She gathered his stories and in the process became a friend to the legendary artist.
 
The current book includes new murals that were completed between the publication of the first book and his death in 2001. Readers will also find a chapter on Dr. Biggers' own collection of African art.

A previous book by Dr. Theisen, A Life on Paper: The Drawings and Lithographs of John Thomas Biggers, was released in 2006 by the University of North Texas Press.

A great big THANK YOU to the Lake Country Orchestra for providing a wonderful FREE concert to residents of Winnsboro on Saturday evening, December 4 at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts.

This all-volunteer orchestra makes its home at the Historic Select Theater and holds 10 performances per year. The musicians practice together every week under the direction of Lex Grantham.

The orchestra shares the venue with the Lake Country Playhouse and the movie theater.

Here are some shots from the event which featured a variety of lively holiday favorites. It was obvious that the audience and the musicians were all having a great time.











Lake Country Orchestra
114 North Johnson Street, Mineola, Texas
903-569-2300
Lex Grantham
lakecountryplayhouse@yahoo.com

On Sunday evening, December 5, Winnsboro Center for the Arts had a full house for True Blue Christmas. Shannon Monk and George Gagliardi of True Blue co-produced the show and were among the performers as well.



The True Blue regulars - Shannon, George Gagliardi, Rick Murray and Ben Scarborough - were joined by Kurt Bittner, Richard Shanks, Harold and Judy Shelton, Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne, the Ramsey family including Carey, James, Emma, Johanna, Grace Sarah Anne and Mathew Ramsey, plus Brennan Murray and James Monk.

The advance information about the show promised an evening that was reminiscent of the Christmas TV specials of the 60s and 70s. It was all that, and more. The high-energy program sparkled with enchanting and touching favorites with a touch of True Blue jazz and blues in the arrangements. The Ramsey Sisters sang back-up to several of Shannon's songs.

Kurt Bittner, a jazz musician from Sulphur Springs well known to Winnsboro music lovers, played a special arrangement of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with George Gagliardi. "Jingle Bells Meets Tequila" featured Bittner and Richard Shanks.



Youngsters played an important part in the evening's performance. Sarah Anne and Matthew Ramsey sang "That's What I want for Christmas." Brennan Murray joined his dad, Rick, for a sketch called "A Lesson for Daddy." James Monk sang, "All I want for Christmas."

Two original songs by George Gagliardi were included in the evening.He performed "The Christmas Child" and Shannon performed "I Believe in Miracles at Christmastime". Another orginial song, "If I Had Been In Bethlehem," written by Lindy Hearne and H. Greenwood, was tenderly sung by Lynn Adler and Lindy.

Harold Shelton sang 'The Christmas Song", Rick Murray performed "Merry Christmas Baby" and Carey Ramsey sang a touching rendition of "Count Your Blessings".

The audience joined in for several carols before the finale. The holiday spirits ran high throughout the evening and the group was buzzing after the performance concluded.

Below are a number of shots taken by Lindy Hearne during the performance.

 





 

Lynn's voice is haunting as she sings
the Americana/roots/folk music she and           
Lindy write and perform.

Sunday at 5 pm this past weekend (Sept. 26), cars were jockeying for parking places at the home of Michael and Shannon Monk a few miles out of town in the woods. People arrived with their covered dishes or desserts for the potluck. Because we hadn't had a house concert at The Monastery for some time, there was a buzz of anticipation.

Many of those present had been at the award presentation for Grahame Hopkins in the afternoon, so the wellspring of appreciation for our local artists spilled into the second story, "tree house" living area of the Monk's home.

The living/dining room was filled to capacity with chairs for the Homecoming Concert of Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne. The duo is back in Winnsboro after a summer-long tour that introduced their own special style and memorable songs to an entirely new group of fans.

The evening was filled with laughter and a few tears as they played well-known favorites (such as My East Texas, Piney Woods Home you can hear when you watch the video on the home page). They also introduced some new songs that, judging by the reaction of the audience, are destined to become favorites as well.

    
Lindy brings both the guitar and mandolin     
to life as he and Lynn sing.             

          
Gus Gustafson joined Lynn and Lindy for
a few songs, bringing enthusiastic clapping
and whoops of appreciation for the hot
harmonica riffs.          
                                                                                        

Joe Dan Boyd presents the Trails Country
Treasure award to Grahame Hopkins at the
WCA, Sept. 25, 2010.

Graham Hopkins, accompanied by his wife Tracy Hopkins, was honored at a presentation and reception at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts Sunday, September 26, 2010. A sizable crowd of friends and fellow WCA volunteers and supporters filled the center for the two hour afternoon event.

Jon Dan Boyd and Helen Burlingham, two of the three Trails Country Treasure committee members, made presentations. After receiving the plaque that commemorates the award from Joe Dan, Grahame accepted a petroglyph of the hand symbol. The original logo of Trails Country Center for the Arts, now known as Winnsboro Center for the Arts.

Originals and photos of many of his beautiful paintings are currently on display at the WCA.

Both Grahame and Tracy have both devoted themselves to serving Winnsboro, largely through the arts community. They have been great advocates for a thriving arts community and have supported the arts in many ways, from teaching to serving as board members.

The group rose to their feet in a standing ovation in honor of his service, and the award.

    
Helen Burlingham presents the stylized
hand petroglyph that was the original logo
of the Trails Country Center for the Arts,
now the Winnsboro Center for the Arts.
Georgia Lange Moore originated the logo
and creates the commemorative ceramic
plaques for the recipient each year.


Tracy and Grahame Hopkins are both
staunch supporters of the arts in Winnsboro.

AIR - Arts Incubator of Richardson Art Walk hosted a second artist reception featuring Collaborage on Monday, September 20, 5:30 - 7:00. The first reception was held at the opening of the exhibition on September 9 at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.

As participants in the Collaborage project, Alder (accompanied by his wife, artist Georgia Lange Moore) and Suzann Cromer were at the event. The third artist in the Collaborage team, Bonnie SirKegian-White, was unable to attend the event.

The guests and artists continued the informal discussions about the Collaborage project and art at  the Hyatt Regency across the street.


Guests linger in the Green Gallery at the Eisemann Center during
the AIR - Arts Incubator of Richardson Art Walk where the
Collaborage sculptures are displayed until the end of October.


Suzann Cromer (left) paused while chatting with two guests at the
reception. The three pieces of sculpture created by the Suzann,
Alder Moore and Bonnie SirKergian-White are seen on pedestals
behind the three women.


Marlys Damman, President of AIR


 
Kitty Goodard, Marketing & PR Director of AIR


Lois Russell, Secrectary-Treasurer of AIR

AIR’s mission is to provide the Richardson community with a facility and resources for nurturing artists and innovative thinkers; and igniting a spirit of creativity that permeates the entire community. This is parallel to the vision of the Winnsboro Cultural Arts District, headed by Sandy Page, Director.