Welcome to the Santa Monica Art Palette for the weekend of Jan. 19. The goal of the Art Palette, created by City Hall’s cultural affairs division, is to showcase the many eclectic arts and cultural opportunities available in Santa Monica every week, highlighting one or more of the many happenings within our borders.
Did you forget to take your sweetie on a romantic evening on Tuesday? Well, here’s your chance to make up for it. Santa Monica is at the center of the cultural universe this weekend with everything from the most cutting edge performance art in California, exquisite classical music from Santa Monica’s newest musical ensemble, enchanting theatre for the elementary school set, visual art designed to challenge the viewer’s concept of Latino art, and spontaneous theatrical performance written, staged and presented in less than 11 hours. This is the weekend that offers each and every one of us a chance to prolong our Valentine adventures for two more days.
Start your weekend off with a bang and a sizzle on Friday night at Pop Tarts. This avant-garde performance laboratory presents Southern California’s best performance artists performing experimental works in the intimate environment of Highways Performance Space. Curated by Marcus Kuiland-Nazario and hosted on Friday night by Sid and Nancy’s Chloe Web and on Saturday by the notorious John Fleck, both evenings promise to be full of surprise and adventure.
And if the hottest performances in town aren’t enough for you, get there at 7 p.m. for the opening night gallery reception for Santa Monica’s favorite assemblage artist Cindy de Santis — the hit of the 2005 Santa Monica Festival — and open studio of the famed cardboard cobbler and Jewish lesbian folk singing Tupperware lady PHRANC who will not only be displaying her latest cardboard creations but also will be crooning new tunes on stage. Both artists will be selling their wares at prices even you and I can afford so who knows, you might even find a special Valentine’s Day gift for the object of your affections.
Marnie Castor Highways Performance Space and Gallery 18th Street Arts Center 1651 18th St. 24-Hour Reservations Line (310) 315-1459http://www.highwaysperformance.org/ Pampas Tangos Dreams & Prayers Alberto Ginastera Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2 for piano Dos Canciones, Op. 3 for soprano & piano Pampeana No. 2, Op. 21 for cello & piano Sonata No.1 Op. 22 for piano Eduardo Delgado, piano John Walz, cello Maria Lazarova, soprano Astor Piazzolla Adios Nonino Eduardo Delgado Tango-Etude No. 3 Joel Pargman, violin Little Urchin of the Greasy Spoon (Chiquilin de Bachin) Denali Quartet with Eduardo Delgado, speaker Osvaldo Golijov Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind Denali Quartet with Donald Foster, clarinets Denali Quartet: Sarah Thornblade, violin Joel Pargman, violin Alma Fernandez, viola Timothy Loo, cello If you’re looking for a more peaceful, yet enchanting evening with a high probability for romance, then Jacaranda, our newest classical music company, is your best bet for Saturday night. Jacaranda designs their evenings for those who are looking for a way into classical music and those who simply want to experience this rich music genre in a more intimate venue. Saturday night’s concert will celebrate the 90th birthday of composer Alberto Ginastera and offer a musical lineup that will lure you from the peaceful shores of Santa Monica into the arms of an Argentine caballero.
Jacaranda Saturday, Feb. 18, 8 p.m. First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica 1220 2nd St. Parking is available across SECOND Street in parking structure No. 2 www.jacarandamusic.org Tickets: $20 general/$10 students If your valentine has to be in bed by 8 p.m, perhaps you’d like to take in a morning show at the Morgan Wixson Theatre where they’re presenting Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business, based on the must-read series of children’s books by Barbara Park.
Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. (310) 828-7519 www.morgan-wixson.org If it’s visual art that arouses your paramour, head over to the Santa Monica Airport’s Arena 1 Gallery for a look at Latino art that goes beyond the stereotype. Leaving Aztlán presents the work of contemporary artists who, while embracing the Latino/Chicano artistic legacy, break out of those confines to create what can only be described as a new, Post- Ethnic, sensibility. Join other art lovers at the opening reception on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
ARENA 1 A project of Santa Monica Art Studios (310) 397-7456 http://www.santamonicaartstudios.com And though the relationships between actors, writers and directors are always passionate — if not amorous — the Ruskin Theatre will throw together 10 actors, five writers and five directors for 10 hours or ‘til death do them part on Sunday. Starting at 9 a.m., these 20 artists will pull together to write, stage and perform five one-act-plays with the theme “Til Death Do Us Part” at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. This has got to be the fastest theatre in town. For only $10, you and you paramour can watch the end results. (310) 397-3244 If you would like to subscribe to the Santa Monica Arts Palette via e-mail, please send a blank e-mail with the word “Subscribe” in the subject line to
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 17, 2006. Read the original PDF.