By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
In this roundup of the latest in arts news, Canadian is all taped up, AQHA members show off their photo skills and more.
Tape Art
A pair of Rhode Island artists have transformed Canadian into town filled with murals: Not with paint, but with painters tape.
Fifteen life-sized murals are temporarily adorning The Citadelle and several other buildings throughout the northeast Panhandle town, put into place by artists Michael Townsend and Leah Smith, as well as community volunteers and students. Additional murals will be made at schools in nearby Spearman, Perryton and Stratford.
Each mural depicts "happy drones" and is meant to "start a dialogue about the role technology plays in our daily lives and how we blend it with the beauty of the cultural assets that surround us," according to a news release.
Drones are seen blowing out candles on a birthday cake, painting a graffiti elephant onto the walls of Canadian Middle School and lifting a mother cow and being trailed by her calves, said Wendie Cook, executive director of The Citadelle, which brought the artists to town.
"It's just super," Cook said. "I think the most fun part is having people who have never paid much attention to artistic things talk about it so much. People are driving around to look at the murals, jumping out of their cars and getting into them. It's the talk of the town."
Townsend started his Tape Art collective in the 1980s in Providence, R.I., with nightly drawings on sidewalks and other public spaces. Their popularity grew, and Townsend and his crew have traveled the globe making new installations.
Art will remain on view around town through Oct. 31. Click here for a map of locations.
The Citadelle is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturdays, though the murals can be seen throughout the day.
Call 806-323-8899.
American Quarter Horse Photography Show
More than 100 photos by American Quarter Horse Association members will be shown in a new exhibition.
The AQHA Photography Show opens Oct. 27 and will be on view through Nov. 25 at the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum, 2601 E. Interstate 40.
More than 1,000 entries from around the world were received for the competition, according to a news release, depicting everything from barn scenes to riding to racing.
A selection of the photos will be used in the 2018 AQHA calendar.
The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Admission is free for members, $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for children ages 6 to 18.
Call 806-376-5181.
Autumn Reflection
Amarillo photographer Jim Livingston will display large-format versions of some of his favorite pieces in a new exhibition opening Nov. 2.
Autumn Reflection will be on view through Nov. 30 at ArtGecko Studio and Gallery at The Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd., Studio 35.
An opening reception runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 2 at the gallery, featuring music by The DryLand Dreamers.
Livingston also will sell a 2018 calendar and signed matted prints at the opening.
Call 806-433-9648.
Creative Mind Lecture Series
War's impact on art will be explored in the 2017 Creative Mind Lecture Series at Amarillo College.
Six Thursday lectures, two per day, will be presented Oct. 26, Nov. 2 and Nov. 9. All are free.
Here's the schedule:
- Michael Grauer, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum associate director for curatorial affairs and curator of art and Western heritage, will give a two-part presentation on The Great War and the Panhandle-Plains Region at 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 26. The first part will be given at Amarillo Museum of Art, 2200 S. Van Buren St.; the second part will be given in the Bud Joyner Auditorium in the AC Downtown Campus, 1314 S. Polk St.
- Amy Von Lintel, art history professor at West Texas A&M University, will give a two-part presentation on The Horrors of War and Great Art: A Productive Connection at 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 2. The first part will be given in the AC Concert Hall Theatre on the Washington Street campus; the second part will be given in the Bud Joyner Auditorium.
- and AC jazz and choral professors Nathaniel Fryml and Jim Laughlin will discuss Battle Cries of Freedom: An Exploration of American War Tunes at 12:30 Nov. 9 in the Concert Hall Theatre. That's followed by Radio Days USO Presents: Battle Cries of Freedom with the Radio Days Orchestra and Amarillo Master Chorale, a concert at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, also in the Concert Hall Theatre.
The lectures continue the spring's focus on the centennial anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I and coincide with several Vietnam War-related initiatives at AC, inspired by The Vietnam War on Panhandle PBS.
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
