The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids has received a $40,000 ArtWorks grant from The National Endowment for the Arts to support programming for its upcoming “A Beautiful Struggle” exhibition.
Running from Feb. 21 through June 14, “A Beautiful Struggle: Black Feminist Futurism” is an interdisciplinary contemporary art exhibition that explores the integration of Black feminist and Afrofuturist ideas.
Afrofuturism is a creative and cultural genre that examines perspectives of the African diaspora based in a communal reimagining of the past – as well as envisioned futures – while considering themes of identity, escapism, magical realism, and technology. Yet, Black feminism specifically focuses on the perspectives of those who are both Black and female. The relevancy of exploring visual representations of Afrofuturism from a Black feminist perspective rests in the understanding of the necessity to lay aside the historically exclusive nature of both Black nationalism and feminism; instead, promoting the intersectionality of Black womanhood.
Rather than focusing on an imagined existence as a form of escapism from oppression, marginalization, and invisibility, this exhibition dares to expound upon unique characteristics of Black womanhood and ways in which these characteristics can be emphasized. By highlighting Black women’s experiences, without blatant representations of oppression, Black women’s self-defined identities are centered, rather than explored in a responsive way.
Afrofuturism also allows for the constant dialogue of past, present, and future, and the dynamic nature of constantly changing creations. Therefore, this exhibition offers examinations of Black feminist empowerment without constraints of particular time periods. All aspects of time are considered simultaneously, reimagined through Black feminist lenses, and used as tools of empowerment.
Through this exhibition, artists negotiate re-imagined pasts, contemporary realities, and envisioned futures by corresponding to the necessity of elevating voices of the African diaspora community, with particular focus solely on the voices which have been most suppressed, those of Black women.
The Art Works funding category supports projects that focus on public engagement with, and access to, various forms of excellent art across the nation. An opening reception for “A Beautiful Struggle” is set for Feb. 21 from 5:30 – 9 p.m. at UICA, 61 Sheldon Blvd. SE. The event is free to UICA members and free with admission to non-members.
For more information about the exhibit or other UICA events and activities, visit UICA.org.
The deadline for the 34th Annual LowellArts West Michigan Art Competition is set for Feb. 1.
The annual competition highlights outstanding artwork by Lower West Michigan artists who live within a 25-county region. Artwork in any visual art media can be submitted by artists 18-years-old or older. Five cash awards totaling $2,500 are awarded.
Only original works completed in the last threee years and not previously exhibited at LowellArts are eligible. Commercial reproductions, including giclée prints, will not be accepted. Traditional print media, photography, and digital art should be from a limited edition. Two-dimensional entries may be no larger than 62 inches in any one direction, including the width of the frame. Three-dimensional entries must fit through a standard door frame and be no larger than 62 inches in any one direction. Only artwork easily handled by two people will be accepted.
Artists may submit one piece in any medium for consideration by the juror. Submit one image for two-dimensional pieces. For three-dimensional pieces, two images with different views of the same piece may be submitted. All entries must be submitted digitally through the www.callforentry.org (CaFÉ) website. There is no cost to register on CaFE, but it is required. Video entries may not be submitted. All submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. Feb. 1.
This year’s juror is Jim Nawara, who is a professor emeritus of painting and drawing in the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History at Wayne State University.
The exhibition will run from Feb. 29 – April 8 at the LowellArts, 223 W. Main St., Lowell.
Bach and Handel, two of the biggest composers who ever put quill to parchment, wrote music that, nearly 300 years later, still is well known and much loved.
Skeptical? Highlights of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 can be heard in the 1988 film Die Hard starring Bruce Willis and the 1997 film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion with Mia Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, not to mention in Boxing Helena (1993) and Hannibal (2001) among other films. Here’s the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 on YouTube.
Excerpts from Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks is featured in the soundtracks of the 2003 film Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson and the 2001 movie The Affair of the Necklace with Hilary Swank, along with A Smile Like Yours (1997) and, not surprisingly, The Madness of King George (1994). Here’s Music for the Royal Fireworks on YouTube.
Tickets start at $26 for the Great Eras series and $16 for Coffee Classics, available by calling the GRS ticket office at(616) 454-9451 ext. 4. Phone orders will be charged a $3 per ticket handling fee ($18 maximum per order). There are no fees for tickets purchased in person at the GRS ticket office at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across the street from Calder Plaza). Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
With destinations and events for novices and experienced artists alike, you can let your creative side explore West Michigan art galleries, museums, art centers, performing arts centers, and more.
Visit the events calendar for more art exhibitions and events.
There are more than 30 colorful paintings to see in Battle Creek that are part of the annual Color the Creek Festival in August. (Color the Creek)
Explore the Arts in South West Michigan
Whether you’re a theater buff, art connoisseur, or modern enthusiast, Greater Lansing has a gallery, festival, or museum to suit your taste. Find award-winning Broadway performances and thought-provoking works on display at area art museums and galleries. Greater Lansing also has multiple festivals throughout the year that celebrate the arts.
Go on a mural tour in Battle Creek. There are more than 30 colorful paintings to see, thanks to the annual Color the Creek Festival in August. From traditional graffiti to photo-realistic portraits, there’s something for everyone. Half of it is walkable in downtown Battle Creek, then you’ll need to hop in the car to get to others. They’re very popular as backdrops for portraits and Instagram. And while you are in the area, stop by the Art Center of Battle Creek, withexhibitions that highlight diverse subjects from traditional arts to contemporary visual art. Included in the annual schedule is the Michigan Artist Competition exhibition to showcase talented artists from around the state.
From performing arts to gallery art, concerts, and festivals, come experience Arts Alive in south central Michigan’s Coldwater Country. An area known for the vast outdoor recreation opportunities, trails, and more than 100 lakes also offers a variety of cultural experiences.
It is home to Tibbits Opera House: so much more than a theatre since 1882. Catch a performance during Tibbits Summer Theatre, a concert during the entertainment series, or spend an afternoon viewing the permanent Henry Clay Lewis art collection prominently displayed throughout the theatre. In addition, Tibbits also features a rotating themed art gallery with artwork submitted by local and regional artists. For a schedule of upcoming events, exhibits, and concerts in Coldwater Country follow Arts Alive-Coldwater on Facebook.
You’ll find fine art galleries, performing arts, and more in the Ludington area. From painting and pottery to sculpture and jewelry, Ludington hosts a variety of local, regional, and national talent throughout the year. Find exhibit and performance dates, as well as art classes, on the Pure Ludington events calendar.
Founded on a tradition of aesthetic excellence, the Muskegon Museum of Artis committed to fostering the life-long study and appreciation of the visual arts by strengthening, preserving, and exhibiting its collections; offering a wide range of traditional and contemporary exhibitions.
February 2020 marks the first year Tulip Time Festival’s annual First Bloem event opens its doors to the greater Holland Community. A celebration of the Visual Arts Series at Tulip Time, the reception serves as both a preview of the Quilt Show and new Dutch Dance Costume Exhibit, as well as the formal announcement of the 10th Annual Festival Artwork Competition Winner and Klompen Garden Public Art winner. Music, live art, cash bar, and yummy local bites will give locals a mid-winter opportunity to socialize and partake in this Tulip Time tradition. Tickets: $70 per person/$130 per couple and includes one drink ticket per person.
A vibrant arts center located in the heart of downtown Holland, the Holland Area Arts Councilplays a leadership role in enriching the cultural life of the lakeshore. The Holland Area Arts Council also offers a variety of art classes and workshops for children and adults throughout the year. Visit now through January 20th to see works created by Art for All (a program for adults with cognitive and physical disabilities) on display.
The Holland area is home to historic performance spaces, art galleries, and art events. Be sure to visit Holland’snewest free attraction, the Wizard of Oz Outdoor Exhibit featuring life-sized bronze statues of the Wizard of Oz characters. Located at the corner of 12th St & River Ave, on the north side of Herrick District Library, the permanent statues pay homage to L. Frank Baum, who is said to have written parts of the classic tale while staying at his family’s cottage just minutes from downtown. Holland holds an annual fine arts and crafts fair, Art in the Park, the first Saturday of August with up to 300 artists and artisans from surrounding states displaying and offering their work for sale.
The arts come to life in the Mecosta County area. With art centers, museums, and a sculpture tour of Big Rapids, art enthusiasts will find plenty to explore!
Experience artistry in every form in Mt. Pleasant. From canvas and sculptures at local galleries to learning more about American Indian culture and enjoying music or theatre performances at Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant thrives on art and culture.
The Ramsdell Center for the Arts is located in Mainstee and offers all kinds of exhibits, performances, and lectures.
Explore the Arts in North West Michigan
Michigan Legacy Art Park is located on the grounds of Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, in densely wooded 30-acre preserve on 1.6 miles of hiking trails. The Art Park features over 50 sculptures, poetry stones, and an outdoor amphitheater. Each of the sculptures interprets, in its own way, a piece of Michigan’s history. The Art Park is open year-round from dawn to dusk, and is accessible by foot, cross-country skis or even snowshoes. Admission is $5 per adult. Kids ages 17 and under are free.
For all of its small-town charm, Traverse City possesses plenty of big-city sophistication, thanks in large part to its established and thriving arts community. The area is home to world-class performance stages that attract internationally acclaimed artists as well as special events like the National Writers Series, who hosts award-winning and New York Times Best Selling authors. The ever-changing exhibits at the Dennos Museum Center feature historical and contemporary work, and its permanent display of artwork by the Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic is one of the largest and most complete in the world. In addition to performing arts, the area is overflowing with fine artists–many of whom display their work at local shops, museums, and art fairs throughout the region.
Great Lakes Center for the Arts. located in Bay Harbor, offers year-round events across all genres—music, dance, theater, movies and film, intellectual dialogue, education—making it a regional and national performing arts destination. Enjoy a one-of-a-kind performance and extend your visit with a stay at Hotel Walloon, a four diamond luxury boutique hotel just 15 minutes away.
The Ramsdell Regional Arts Center is a vibrant regional center for cultural arts, education and community engagement in Manistee, where you’ll find performances, art exhibitions, lectures, and more. Their upcoming exhibition “100 Years of Polish Independence: Zakopane 1918” features over 30 photographs broken into three periods during the 400 hours of the Republic of Zakopane’s independence between October 31st and November 16th, 1918. The exhibit opens February 10th and runs through March 27th.
The annual Little Black Dress party and fashion show is returning to JW Marriott Grand Rapids on Saturday, Jan. 25. Hosted in the recently renovated International Ballroom, guests can mingle and dance the night away for a worthy cause, with proceeds benefitting Susan G. Komen Michigan.
Attend JW Marriott Grand Rapids’ annual Little Black Dress Party for an elegant evening of music, dancing and a fashion show with women’s clothing and accessories retailer Lee & Birch to benefit breast cancer awareness. Cocktail attire recommended.
WOODTV8’s Heather Walker will be the evening’s emcee and will be accompanied by DJ Composition.
Must be 21 or older to attend the event. General admission is complimentary and VIP sections are available for $500, with a portion of proceeds to be donated to Susan G. Komen Michigan. RSVP via Eventbrite.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) opens its exhibition, A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass Saturday, Jan. 25. The exhibition is on view until April 26 and features the work of 19 artists working in glass including Grand Rapids artist Norwood Viviano. Go here for the story.
Fruition is Jay Cobb Anderson, Kellen Asebroek, Jeff Leonard, Mimi Naja and Tyler Thompson (drums). (Supplied by the band)
Coming to Fruition
Portland, Oregon’s roots/rock band Fruition will be in town Sunday, Jan. 26, as the band, with opener The Mighty Pines, visit Grand Rapids’ Pyramid Scheme, with doors open at 6 p.m. show. Tickets are still available. Go here for the story.
British installation artist Rebecca Louise Law working on a previous work. (Supplied by the artist)
But time is running short
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s amazing exhibit, “Rebecca Louise Law: The Womb” — a site-specific exhibition that includes about 10,000 flowers and plants gathered from the Gardens’ massive gardens and strung together in delicate wire strings by local volunteers and staff, and then added to Law’s existing collection of approximately 1 million flowers and plant material — will close March 1. Go here for the story.
Fun fact:
1,000 … and on and on
The biggest named number that we know is googolplex, ten to the googol power, or (10)^(10^100). That’s written as a one followed by googol zeroes.Source.
Not many people would say they heard music as they read Supreme Court cases, but Derrick Wang easily admits he did.
“So, I am in law school, studying constitutional law,” said Wang during a 2016 TedX program. “I am also a composer. I have to read Supreme Court opinions, as one does, and I am reading case after case after Supreme Court case when suddenly I come upon the three magic words: Scalia J. dissenting.
“I realized that every time I read one of these deserting opinions, I would start to hear music: specially a rage aria about the constitution…Then I heard the counterpoint. The words of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
Through these readings, Wang hit upon something else. “They disagreed on a number of issues, yet they were also very close friends.”
There friendship formed, according to OperaGR Executive Director Emilee Syrewicze, over their love of opera. So it makes sense that Wang would write a one-hour comedic opera about the two and their friendship titled “Scalia/Gingburg.”
Released this year for performance, OperaGR is one of just a handful of U.S. opera houses that will present “Scalia/Ginsburg.” The OperaGR performances are set for March 14 and 15.
Left, sitting, former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and left, standing, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Photo by Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)
“We had a couple of reasons of why we wanted to present this opera,” Syrewicze said during a recent phone interview. “The first is it is a one-hour comedic opera so for an audience that has had little or no exposure to opera, it is a nice introduction.
“The other reason is because Derrick wrote poplar themes into the show so if you are not an opera lover, you will enjoy it because of the familiarity of the music and themes. Infact, in one scene, he has the characters singing to the ‘Star Spangle Banner.’”
Based on and inspired by the writings of former Chief Justice Antonin Scalia and current Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the opera follows the the two as they discuss various constitutional law issues while trying to get Scalia out of jail for dissenting too much.
The opera will be perform 7:30 p.m March 14 and 2 p.m. March 15 at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center, 1320 E. Fulton St. Tickets are $50. Student tickets are $5 with a valid student I.D. For more information, visit operagr.org or call 616-451-2741.
Tulip Time Festival celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2019, but 2020 Is filled with more anniversary celebrations!
In 2019, Tulip Time painted the town orange for its 90th anniversary. In 2020, the celebrations continue for many of our events and collaborating organizations — anniversaries of 10, 20, 50, 60 and 100 years!
Festival Artwork 10th Anniversary – This year marks the 10th year of the Festival Artwork competition for the selection of the official Tulip Time poster. The annual poster started as a commissioned work before becoming a competition that invites area artists to create and submit their works. The 2020 winning artwork will be announced Feb. 6 at the First Bloem event (https://tuliptime.com/events/first-bloem).
The Texas Tenors 10th Anniversary Tour – The Texas Tenors, the most successful music group in the history of America’s Got Talent, celebrate 10 years of performing together this year. They have quickly become a festival favorite and are back again for their third appearance at the festival. They’ll perform May 6 (https://tuliptime.com/events/texas-tenors). Tickets are selling fast.
Tulip Time Quilt Show celebrates 20 years – The Tulip Time Quilt Show has long been a favorite of quilters and art lovers alike. Each year, the submittals are more fantastic as the art of quilting continues to evolve. The Quilt Show is now part of the new Visual Arts Series presented by Alpenrose Restaurant & Catering that debuts this year at the Holland Area Arts Council https://tuliptime.com/events/quilt-show.
This year’s Tulip Time Festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alumni Dutch Dance. (Supplied)
Join the dance for the 50th Anniversary of Alumni Dutch Dance – One of Tulip Time’s most entertaining and colorful spectacles continues to be Dutch Dance — and in 2020, we celebrate a special anniversary of the Alumni Dutch Dance members. We would love to see faces of past and present dancers this year. Grab your friends and previous Dutch Dance group members to be a part of this fun year. A new Dutch Dance Exhibit is premiering this year as part of the Visual Arts Series. Be sure to check it out https://tuliptime.com/visual-arts-series.
The Grammy Award-winning Chanticleer performs with the Holland Chorale for the chorale’s 60th anniversary on May 1 at Tulip Time. (Chanticleer)
Holland Chorale 60th Anniversary – Celebrating this very special milestone, the Holland Chorale will share the stage with internationally renowned, Grammy award-winning, vocal ensemble Chanticleer. This is sure to be a spectacular night as the performance not only celebrates the Holland Chorale’s anniversary, but also Chanticleer’s 40th anniversary May 1 (https://tuliptime.com/events/holland-chorale).
Holland American Legion Band Centennial Celebration – The Holland American Legion Band celebrates 100 years with a special Tulip Time concert. The Band is the pride of the Holland Community and has entertained audiences both locally and around the world. This celebratory musical event is May 9 (https://tuliptime.com/events/alb-concert).
Experience Tulip Time at the 91st Festival, May 2 – 10. Detailed program and event information is available at www.tuliptime.com. Tickets for these and all other events can be purchased online at www.tuliptime.com, in person at the Tulip Time Festival Box Office located at 42 West 8th Street, Holland, Michigan, or by phone at 800-822-2770.
Fruition photographed in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2019. Fruition is Jay Cobb Anderson, Kellen Asebroek, Jeff Leonard, Mimi Naja and Tyler Thompson (drums). (Supplied/Jay Blakesberg)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
Fruition, the seemingly always busy Portland, Oregon band traversing the country and making a local stop this weekend, is clearly also busy recording new material — including songs which showcase why they are selling out so many of their shows.
After releasing Wild As The Night in late 2019, the band this last week announced is new 7-song EP titled Broken at the Break of Day, recorded in between tour dates in Fruition drummer Tyler Thompson’s newly constructed home studio.
Songs from both releases will undoubtedly be on the set list Sunday, Jan. 26, as the band, with opener The Mighty Pines, visit Grand Rapids’ Pyramid Scheme, with doors open at 6 p.m. show. Tickets are still available, visit here for more information.
About the new release, the band says that, as with its other music, “this collection of songs won’t fit into one box.”
Broken At The Break Of Day’s lead single, “Dawn” is already climbing on the Billboard Americana Tracks chart as is the collection on the Americana Album chart. For a video of “Dawn” visit here.
Broken at the Break of Day shines a light on all five members of the band — Jay Cobb Anderson (electric guitar, vocals), Kellen Asebroek (piano, acoustic guitar vocals), Jeff Leonard (bass), Mimi Naja (mandolin, electric guitar, vocals) and Thompson (drums). But “the songwriting and the harmonies tie their diverse influences together,” the band says in promotional material.
“This process was the quickest the band had ever written and recorded the songs,” Thompson said in supplied material. “All the songs obviously fit either a ‘day’ or ‘night’ theme, but the whole rehearsing and recording process had to be done in about half the amount of time we were used to. That time limitation leant to us not overthinking things, playing instinctually — and all live — in the studio with very minimal overdubs. All the songs are very different, but I think the speedy process naturally created some sonic congruency.”
“From a visibility standpoint, being able to release more music more often — even if it is in smaller doses — is ideal in the new frontier of digital music that we have found ourselves smack dab in the middle of,” Asebroek said, also in supplied material. “It’s nice to be able to stay on people’s radar, in an age where people have instant access to the whole of music history at their fingertips. It’s also nice to put these out together on vinyl as a nod to the way things once were.”
The band’s history, so the supplied story goes, starts in 2008 when Anderson tagged along with Asebroek and Naja for an afternoon of busking in Portland. Drawing on their string-band influences early on, they released their debut album Hawthorne Hoedown that same year. Thompson joined the band in 2011, shortly after hearing the band members singing together in a friend’s attic. Leonard came on board in 2015.
Broken at the Break of Day is the band’s tenth release, including EPs and LPs.
Fruition has opened shows for the Wood Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, and Jack Johnson, and appeared at festivals like Telluride Bluegrass, Bonnaroo, and DelFest.
Charlotte Potter (American, b. 1981), Pending (detail, 2014. Cameo engraved glass and metal, 156 x 360 x 96 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Heller Gallery, New York.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced today its upcoming exhibition, A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass which opens at the Museum on Jan. 25. The exhibition is on view until April 26 and features the work of 19 artists working in glass including Grand Rapids artist Norwood Viviano.
Each of the artists included in the exhibition use glass in innovative ways while presenting its metaphorical possibilities—connecting to broader cultural, environmental, political, and spiritual themes.
“We’re thrilled to present A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass this season at GRAM,” said GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “As part of the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s ongoing commitment to providing a diverse array of fresh, stimulating exhibitions for our region, A New State of Matter is the first major exhibition of glass art in the Museum’s history, and reveals the beauty, mystery, and expressive power of this dynamic medium.”
The works in A New State of Matter examine the material and symbolic potential of glass in unique and revealing ways. For example, artists Charlotte Potter and April Surgent use the ancient process of cameo glass engraving to consider relationships in the age of social media and climate change, respectively. Jeffrey Stenbom utilizes cast glass to unveil the struggles facing the nation’s veterans. David Chatt, in a repetitive, labor-intensive process, covers found objects with thousands of miniscule glass beads to explore family and nostalgia. Amber Cowan repurposes American pressed glass to create her intricate installations that reference a bygone era.
“The talented artists in this exhibition are creating incredible artworks using a spectrum of glassmaking techniques, from ancient to present-day processes,” stated Chief Curator Ron Platt. “As the first exhibition at GRAM devoted to artists working with glass, I think our visitors will be amazed by the beautiful and fascinating forms that glass can take. As a material, glass is loaded with a variety of rich associations, making it a perfect vehicle for addressing a range of urgent personal and social issues.”
The exhibition features work by Grand Rapids artist Norwood Viviano, who fuses fine arts practice with data and research findings in geography, economics, and the social sciences to create environments in which sensuous beauty and topical information merge. Viviano, an associate professor at Grand Valley State University, was the subject of a solo GRAM exhibition in 2015, and his work has been shown and collected internationally. GRAM is excited to debut a brand-new sculpture by Viviano, Recasting Grand Rapids, as part of the exhibition. For this work, he combined elements of our city’s manufacturing past and present, fusing a wooden end table made in Grand Rapids in the 1940s with a current scale model of the city’s architectural landscape—all recast in clear glass. Viviano explains, “the fragility of glass serves as a metaphor for balance between time, efficiency, and the inability of manufacturing to change and meet future needs.”
Featured artists include: Dean Allison, David Chatt, Amber Cowan, Steffen Dam, Morgan Gilbreath, Tali Grinshpan, Etsuko Ichikawa, Patrick Martin, Rachel Moore, Whitney Nye, Charlotte Potter, Michael Rogers, Erica Rosenfeld, Mary Shaffer, Jeffrey Stenbom, April Surgent, Judy Tuwaletstiwa, Norwood Viviano, and Jeff Zimmer.
Charles P. Limbert (American, 1854–1923). Advertising Lamp, c. 1910. Slag glass on oak base, 19 x 24 x 16 inches. Grand Rapids Art Museum. Cummings, Frank and Ann Battistella Fund, Porter Foundation, 2004.18.
On view concurrently with A New State of Matter is Looking (at •into•through) Glass, an exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture, prints, photography and design objects from GRAM’s permanent collection. The exhibition has been assembled to explore glass as a material one can look at, into, and through. Works in the exhibition range from colorful still-life paintings to glass-shaded lamps and provide visitors with the opportunity to explore the variety and depth of objects in the collection.
In addition to the exhibitions, visitors can explore a range of related interactive and educational activities and materials, including artists’ video profiles, hands-on activities, and detailed information on many of the participating artists’ glassmaking techniques, including blowing, kiln-forming, casting, and flame-working.
A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass has been organized by the Boise Art Museum. The exhibition is sponsored by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation with additional grant support from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. Lead support for GRAM’s exhibition is provided by the Wege Foundation. Lead Exhibition Society Support is provided by the Daniel & Pamella DeVos Foundation.
About the Grand Rapids Art Museum Connecting people through art, creativity, and design. Established in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, the art museum is internationally known for its distinguished design and LEED® Gold certified status. Established in 1910 as the Grand Rapids Art Association, GRAM has grown to include more than 5,000 works of art, including American and European 19th and 20th-century painting and sculpture and more than 3,000 works on paper. Embracing the city’s legacy as a leading center of design and manufacturing, GRAM has a growing collection in the area of design and modern craft.
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center artists visiting for the concert will be pianist and co-artistic director Wu Han, violinist Paul Huang, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Clive Greensmith. (Supplied)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
The classic French music of Saint-Saëns, Fauré and Ravel. The masterful musicians of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The exquisite acoustics of the Royce Auditorium Performance Hall.
Sounds like a perfect night of “French Enchantment”.
St. Cecilia Music Center’s second chamber music series concert if the season, set for Thursday, Jan. 23, will begin and end with early works by Saint-Saëns and Fauré that “recreate the elegant atmosphere of 19-century Parisian salons,” according to supplied material. In between will be Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, “written soon after World War I, where he used just two string instruments to produce a composition of unique, austere beauty.”
Lipman Matthew (Supplied/Jiyang Chen)
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center artists visiting for the concert will be pianist and co-artistic director Wu Han, violinist Paul Huang, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Clive Greensmith.
“We are truly excited about this unique concert, ‘French Enchantment’, with the Chamber Music Society, as they communicate, through music, the beauty of French history and culture,” St Cecilia executive director Cathy Holbrook said in supplied material. “The audience will experience four amazing artists performing French music within our intimate world-class Royce Auditorium Performance Hall.”
“French Enchantment” selections will include: Trio No. 1 in F major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 18 (written 1863-1864) and composed by Camille Saint-Saëns; Sonata for Violin and Cello (written 1920-1922) and composed by Maurice Ravel; and Quartet No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 15 (written 1876-1879; Revised in 1883) and composed by Gabriel Fauré.
Ravel’s work, The Sonata for Violin and Cello, remains one of the most challenging, enigmatic, least-known, and fascinating of Ravel’s compositions.
“I believe that the sonata marks a turning point in my career,” Ravel said of the work. “Bareness is here driven to the extreme: restraint from harmonic charm; more and more emphatic reversion to the spirit of melody.”
The final Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concert of the season will take place on April 30, with Wu Han and cellist David Finckel both returning to Grand Rapids to perform with violinist Arnaud Sussman and violist Paul Neubauer on a program titled “From Prague to Vienna” and featuring three composers who mentored and inspired each other: Brahms, Dvořák and Suk.
Tickets for the Jan. 23 chamber music concert are $45 and $40 and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at scmc-online.org. Ticket-holders are invited to a pre-concert artist talk at 7 p.m. prior to the 7:30 p.m. concert.
A post-concert “Meet-the-artist” party, with complimentary wine will also be offered to all ticket-holders giving the audience the opportunity to meet the artists in person and to obtain signed CDs of their releases.
Some of the runners at a previous Kentwood Valentine’s Dash 5K. (WKTV)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
The City of Kentwood will host its third annual Valentine’s Dash 5K on Saturday, Feb. 8, to benefit Kentwood’s Little Free Pantry, which provides food and personal care items to community members in need, no questions asked.
The city announced today that the 5K run/walk will start and end at the Kent District Library’s Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch, located at 4950 Breton Ave. SE. Check-in, on-site registration and packet pick-up will all take place at 9:30 a.m. The race will begin at 11 a.m.
The 5K route will include a combination of trails and roads with mile markers and Valentine’s Day candy stations. Valentine’s-themed costumes are encouraged for the occasion. Fellow participants will vote to determine who is the “best dressed” and awards will also be presented to the fastest runners. While the 5K is intended to be a fun run, it will be chip-timed.
Following the race, participates will be invited into the library’s community room for a party that will include music, snacks, a photo booth, the award ceremony and more.
“We’ve found this race route to be enjoyable for everyone from avid race participants to casual walkers,” Spencer McKellar, race organizer, said in supplied material. “Whether this is your first race or one of many you’ve completed, we think you’ll find our Valentine’s Dash 5K offers enough of a challenge and a lot of fun for a brisk Saturday morning.
“Invite your sweetie, family and friends to dress up and take on the course with you, then stick around for more activities at the after-party.”
Online registration costs $30 until Feb. 7, after which the price will increase to $35 for day-of registration. Participant packets include a long-sleeve shirt “and other goodies.” Runners who sign up as a couple will save $5 each.
If participants bring a non-perishable item or additional monetary donation for the pantry, they will be entered to win a special door prize.
The Kentwood Parks and Recreation Department is seeking volunteers to assist with the event. Those interested can sign up online.
“Signs, Signs, Everywhere there’s signs. Blocking out the scenery. Breaking my mind. Do this! Don’t do that! Can’t you read the signs?”
Five Man Electrical Band
Can you see this scene from “Rocky” and not hear the music in your head? Didn’t think so. (Promotional)
Fun music on a cold night
Stop and think about one of your favorite movies – it won’t be long before you start humming a few bars from the musical score. That’s the power of music in movies. Grand Rapids Pops says a big “Hooray for Hollywood” with Hollywood Hits with music from blockbuster films as Gone with the Wind, Ben Hur, Dr. Zhivago, The Way We Were and Rocky on Friday Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17-19, in DeVos Performance Hall. Go here for the story.
No longer a death sentence
Currently, thanks to better screening and treatment, more than 17 million Americans who had cancer remain alive, the American Cancer Society says in a report. While this is good news, more good news may be coming. Go here for the story.
WKTV Journal In Focus’s audio only podcast of a Community Conversation on Homelessness featured Kentwood City Commissioner and community advocate Emily Bridson moderating along with Marshall Kilgore and, from left, panelists Hillary Scholten and Bo Torres. (WKTV)
Local immigration discussion
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal’s In Focus series of podcasts, immigration is the topic of speakers including City of Kentwood Commissioner Emily Bridson; Marshall Kilgore, Western Michigan Director for United Precinct Delegates; Hillary Scholten, candidate for the U.S. 3rd Congressional District; and Bo Torres, a Hispanic community leader. Go here for the story.
Fun fact:
7 percent and 1-in-12
Nearly 7 percent of Michigan residents are immigrants, while almost 1 in 12 residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent. Source.
Did you get a telescope over the holidays, or do you have one sitting around collecting dust because you find it difficult to use? Do you want to learn more about what to look for in the sky and resources that can lead to better enjoyment from backyard stargazing?
Learn more about astronomy and the night sky from the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) and Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association (GRAAA) as they team up again this year to offer three introductory Saturday afternoon classes at Schuler Books and Music, 2660 28th St., Grand Rapids. Each of the one-hour “Astronomy as a Hobby” sessions begins at 10:30 a.m., and is followed by a Telescope Tune-up Clinic from approximately 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. During the Telescope Clinic, experienced amateur astronomers will adjust personal telescopes and provide advice about proper use. Those wishing to come to only a Telescope Clinic session may do so.
The schedule for 2020 Astronomy as a Hobby classes and Telescope Tune-up clinics:
January 25 – The Ever Changing Sky Attendees will learn what to look for and when; sky motions and seasonal attractions during 2020 for naked eye, binoculars and telescope. Effective viewing of sky objects is highlighted.
February 8 – Telescopes, Accessories and How to Use Them Attendees will learn how to select the right telescope for their background and level of interest, and equipment challenges often encountered by novice amateur astronomers.
February 22 – What’s Next from My New Hobby Attendees will learn about the most recommended guides, star maps and online resources, along with stargazing tips. What options are available to learn more?
All activities are geared to a family audience, and are free and open to the public.
Stop and think about one of favorite movies – the story, characters, the settings. It won’t be long before you start humming a few bars from the musical score.
In fact, you may have thought of the main theme before anything. That’s the power of music in movies.
Grand Rapids Pops says a big “Hooray for Hollywood” with Hollywood Hits with music from blockbuster films as Gone with the Wind, Ben Hur, Dr. Zhivago, The Way We Were and Rocky on Friday Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17-19, in DeVos Performance Hall.
Grand Rapids Symphony Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt (Supplied)
Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt leads the concerts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Please note that 7:30 p.m. is a new start time this season for concerts on Fridays and Saturdays in the Fox Motors Pops series.
Visual images including movie stills and brief film clips will be part of the show.
Tickets for Hollywood Hits start at $18 adults, $5 children, available by calling the GRS ticket office at (616) 454-9451 ext. 4. Phone orders will be charged a $3 per ticket handling fee ($18 maximum per order). There are no fees for tickets purchased in person at the GRS ticket office at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across the street from Calder Plaza). Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Full-time students of any age can purchase tickets for $5 on day of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Tickets program.
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
In 1995, the Grand Rapids Symphony stepped on stage beneath a new outdoor band shell at Cannonsburg Ski Area, and a new West Michigan summer tradition of great music in the great outdoors was born. The sizzling sounds of the 1990s returns to the 2020D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops in July with the pop sensation, Hanson.
The Grand Rapids Pops’ 26th annual summer season features the extraordinary fiddle, mandolin and hammer dulcimer virtuosity of Kittel & Co.; the suave and sophisticated, close-harmony vocals of The Doo Wop Project; and the joyously uplifting world music sounds of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Sponsored by SpartanNash, the 2020 Picnic Pops, led by Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt and Associate Conductor John Varineau, opens with Grammy nominees Kittel & Co., fronted by Michigan’s own Jeremy Kittel from Ann Arbor, on July 22. Brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson, whose smash hit “MMMBop” was the summer anthem of 1997, join the Grand Rapids Pops at Cannonsburg Ski Area on July 24.
“Symphony Under the Sky” continues with stars of Broadway’s “Jersey Boys” and “Motown: The Musical” singing songs made famous by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and more in The Doo Wop Project on July 29. The 2020 Picnic Pops wraps up on July 30 with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, featured prominently on Paul Simon’s 1986 album “Graceland,” which won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
Season ticket sales for renewing subscribers are now underway. Season tickets for new subscribers, offering substantial discounts as well as access to the special event presale for Hanson, will go on sale on Feb. 3.
Single tickets to see Hanson for subscribers go on sale Feb. 24. All remaining single tickets for Hanson go on sale March 2. Single tickets for the rest of the 2020 D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops go on sale March 9. Call the Grand Rapids Symphony at 616-454-9451 ext. 4 or go online to PicnicPops.org.
Kittel & Co. – July 22
Switching from Bach to Bluegrass at the drop of a hat, Grammy-nominated violinist and fiddler Jeremy Kittel’s goal is “just to make honest music.” The Michigan-born musician has shared stages with artists including Bela Flack, Yo-Yo Ma, Paquito D’Rivera and My Morning Jacket, performed at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and at Berklee College of Music, and on TV’s “Late Night with Stephen Colbert” and radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”
Growing up near Ann Arbor, Kittel recalled “Playing different styles was kind of a dream of mine.” Today, the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, graduate of the University of Michigan and former member of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet, plays music drawing from traditional roots, jazz, Celtic, Classical, electronic and more with his all-string band, Kittel & Co., which recently appeared at Interlochen Center for the Arts, at The Ark in Ann Arbor and at Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey.
Hanson – July 24
In 2017, the trio of brothers who make up pop-rock trio Hanson celebrated 25 years of playing music together, selling millions of albums and reaching fans from Tulsa to Tokyo. After five years and two independent albums, Hanson released their major label debut in 1997 and saw a meteoric rise with the international smash single “Mmmbop” from the album Middle Of Nowhere, which garnered multiple Grammy nominations and five consecutive top 40 singles, including “Where’s The Love,” “I Will Come To You” “Weird.”
HANSON | String Theory brings together an exciting collaboration of song craftsmanship and symphonic spectacle framing the established Grammy nominated multiplatinum pop-rock trio’s music with symphonic arrangements.
The Doo Wop Project – July 29
Stars of “Jersey Boys,” “Motown: The Musical” come to town with the classic doo wop sounds of The Drifters, The Del-Vikings and The Temptations. On Broadway, they sang as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. With the Grand Rapids Symphony, The Doo Wop Project spans the gamut of tight-harmony vocals from The Crests (“16 Candles”), The Belmonts (“A Teenager in Love”) and The Flamingos (“I Only Have Eyes for You”) and the early days of all-male vocal groups to doowopified arrangements of later songs by Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz and Maroon 5.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo – July 30
In the mines of South Africa, impoverished black miners, living far from their homes and families, created their own genre of vocal music to entertain themselves. In the town of Ladysmith in the African province of kwaZulu Natal, singers honed their craft where Ladysmith Black Mambazo were discovered by Paul Simon who featured them on his 1986 recording “Graceland,” which went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Proclaimed “South Africa’s Cultural Ambassadors to the World” by Nelson Mandela, the multiple Grammy Award winners have shared stages with Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Josh Groban, and the group has been heard on the soundtrack for such films as Disney’s “The Lion King, Part II,” “Eddie Murphy’s “Coming To America,” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus.” Benefactor sponsor for the concert is Inclusive Performance Strategies.
Tickets
Series tickets will be available to new subscribers beginning Feb. 3. There is a 3-Concert Series subscription for the Kittel & Co., The Dot Top Project, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Subscriptions for lawn seats are $45 for adults or $15 for children ages 2 – 18. Children under age 2 are free. Subscriptions for general admission chair seating are $81 and tickets for individual reserved table seat are $156 or $1,200 to reserve an entire table for eight.
The Flexpass 6-pack offers lawn tickets that can be used in any combination, on any concert night, for Kittel & Co., The DooWop Project, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Flexpasses are $114 for adults. Flexpasses cannot be used for the special event Hanson.
Single tickets will be available for Hanson first for Picnic Pops series and Flexpass subscribers beginning Feb. 24 and then for the general public March 2. All remain gin single tickets for the D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops go on sale on March 9. Lawn tickets for Kittle & Co, The DooWop Project, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo are $22 for adults or $5 for ages 2 -18. Other tickets are $33 for reserved chairs, $55 for individual table seats, and $440 for a full table of eight.
Lawn tickets for the special event Hanson are $45. Other tickets are $67 for reserved chairs, $112 for individual table seats, and $896 for a full table of eight.
The Grand Rapids Symphony performs Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10 and 11, at DeVos Performance Hall. (Supplied)
Let’s face it, it is the first full week of January that most people are not dealing with the holidays — unless you are still working on taking those decorations down. While the sounds of the season are officially passed, there are lots of music, and theater, to be seen and heard.
Pianist Jeffrey Kahane performs with the Grand Rapids Symphony. (Supplied)
Going Classical
The Grand Rapids Symphony kicks off 2020 with award winning pianist Jeffrey Kahane in a concert featuring the music of Mozart and Shostakovich, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10 and 11, at DeVos Performance Hall, 301 Monroe Ave. NW.
The evening’s program will feature Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103, “The Year 1905” lead by guest conductor Peter Qundjian and Kahane will be featured on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22. Richard Stauss’ Serenade for Winds, Op. 7, will round out the concert.
The concerts start at 8 p.m each evening. Inside the Music, a free, pre-concert, multi-media presentation, will be held before each performance at 7 p.m. in the DeVos Place Recital Hall.
Tickets start at $18 and are available by calling GRS ticket office, 616-454-9451, ext. 4 or at the GRS ticket office, 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100. Office hours are 9 a.m – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets may be purchased online at GRSymhony.org. Full-time students of any age can purchase tickets for $5 on day of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Tickets program.
Paws With A Cause dogs-in-training visit the cast of Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s “A Street Car Named Desire.” (Supplied)
Stella!
The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre kicks off 2020 by opening its production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” which runs through Jan. 26.
The famous Tennessee Williams play follows the story of Blanche du Bois who goes to live with her sister and brother-in-law Stella and Stanley Kowalski in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Blanche arrives under the pretense that she needed a break from her teaching position. Blanche finds happiness with one of Stanley’s friends but her present is difficult for Stanley to handle. He discovers Blanche’s secret for leaving her hometown, which in the end could unravel Blanche’s imaginary happiness.
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $18 -$29 for adults and $16 for students. Ticket are available from the Civic box office, 30 N. Division Ave. or online at grct.org. The show is recommended for adults due to sensitive material and strong language.
Making a Change
The LowellArt Gallery opened its “The Art of Change” exhibition this week. The exhibition is of art that raises awareness of current global issues of our time in an effort to provoke positive change. Artists from Michigan were eligible to submit artwork in any media that address themes such as human rights, social justice, gender equality, an environmental stewardship.
The exhibit will be up through Feb. 15 at the LowellArts Gallery, 223 Main St., Lowell. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday – Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
If you are into binge watching the latest “hot” television show — say the award season darling “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, or the much anticipated “Picard” — but still want to dig little deeper into the show, Fountain Street Church as an monthly series for you.
Fountain Street Church’s “FSC Screen Club” will continue its 2019/2020 Season, a series hosted at the Micro Cinema at Wealthy Theatre and in partnership with Grand Rapids Community Media Center, with a discussion of Ms. Maisel and her adventures on Monday, Jan. 13.
The FSC Screen Club meets one Monday each month, with the free to the public event starting at 6 p.m. Registration is encouraged, but not required, and can be done here.
Fountain Street Church’s Virginia Anzengruber hosts a panel discussion led by Wealthy Theatre director Sarah Nawrocki and, according to supplied information, features “regional influencers and film & television experts to dissect, analyze, and discuss some of today’s most thought-provoking TV shows.”
“Participants watch the shows at their own pace, on their own schedules. It’s like a book club that you can binge watch.”
The January event will focus on the Emmy Award-winning Amazon Prime series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (“Gilmore Girls”), starring Rachel Brosnahan (“House of Cards”), Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”), and Alex Borstein (“Family Guy”).
“In 1958 New York, Midge Maisel’s life is on track — husband, kids, and elegant Yom Kippur dinners in their Upper West Side apartment,” as it is described in a media release. “But when her life takes a surprise turn, she has to quickly decide what else she’s good at — and going from housewife to stand-up comic is a wild choice to everyone but her.”
Star Trek Picard (promotional poster)
The remainder of the FCS Screen Club 2019/2020 season includes discussions as follows: Feb. 10, “The Good Place” (NBC); March 9, “Kidding” (Showtime); April 27, “Picard” (CBS All Access); and May 11, “What We Do In The Shadows” (FX).
All of which give you plenty of time to binge watch and catch up.
Fountain Street Church, located in downtown Grand Rapids, is an independent, pluralist church with a 150-year history of progressive action. for more information visit here.
Bello Spark a tight, often stripped down band that focus on vocals — as their bandstand often reveals. (Supplied by the band)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
Scouring the web for info on Grand Rapids’ own Bello Spark, you run across a bit on their Facebook page that states the band “uses a blend of male and female vocals, acoustic guitars and atmospheric electric guitars creating a light rock/Americana sound. Think Death Cab for Cutie meets The Civil Wars.”
They had me at Death Cab.
The band will lead off the City of Kentwood’s 2020 Winter Concert Series of three free concerts on select Thursday nights once a month from January to March at the Kent District Library’s Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch. WKTV Community Media will also record the concerts and will make them available on-demand.
Belo Spark (Supplied by the band)
Bello Spark’s band members include Rob Jordan on vocals and guitar, Tory Peterson on lead guitar and vocals, singer/songwriter Cole Hansen and drummer Jay Kolk.
According to their official bio, the group came together in 2011 with founders Jordan and Peterson, who toured as a two person group “across the Midwest, and out to the Great Plains, all the while honing their craft.” Together they released the band’s debut album, 2013’s self-titled recording.
After returning to their home state of Michigan, the two joined forces with Hansen and Kolk, and “the resulting sound has been a visceral mix of atmospheric guitar, three-part vocal harmonies, and lyrics that are both uplifting and poignant. Listeners will find the light rock, urban sound laced with the honesty of folk, and the grit and emotion of the blues.”
The band released their sophomore album, Among the Lights in July of 2016, and they are reportedly working on new music for a new release.
The band’s local awards include being an ArtPrize 2016 Song Competition Finalist and a WYCE radio’s 2014 Jammie Award Winner for Listener’s Choice: Best Album by a New Artist.
The series will feature Serita’s Black Rose and Nicholas James Thomasma in upcoming concerts. Food trucks will also be on-site during each concert. Bello Spark will be paired with Patty Matters Food Truck; Serita’s Black Rose, with food truck Grilled Greek, will be Feb. 20; Nicholas James Thomasma, with food from Bobby’s Fusion Grill, March 19.
All concerts will begin at 6:30 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Concertgoers are welcome to bring their own beer or wine to enjoy.
Historic postcard of Idlewild Lake dock and boat (Supplied)
Rare Idlewild photos collected by Rose Hammond. (Supplied)
Idlewild’s Michigan State Historic Site sign. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
To say “In Between the Trees”, Rose Hammond’s 2019 documentary film about the historic African-American resort towns of Idlewild and Woodland Park, was a labor of love is only the first part of the story.
“I was attracted to the story when coming home and our family went up north to visit our grandpa’s old house,” Hammond said to WKTV. “While in Woodland Park all I heard were the stories of how it used to be. I then decided that someone needed to put a collection of interviews together to maintain the historical value of the community, but Idlewild came first.”
Idlewild was started in 1912 by white investors created a resort for black vacationers during the Jim Crow era — when most resorts would not allow blacks to book stays. Woodland Park came a little later.
Rose Hammond at WKTV Community Media for the premiere of her film “In Between the Trees”. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
The film about the history of the towns — produced, substantially filmed, and edited at WKTV Community Media by long-time WKTV volunteer Hammond — is based on her 1994 book “Idlewild & Woodland Park, Michigan (An African American Remembers)”.
Hammond is from West Michigan and is retired as an Executive Administrative Assistant in the mental health field.
“In Between the Trees” had its initial screening at WKTV in December 2019 with Hammond discussing the film with an audience of special guests, friends and interested persons in attendance. She previously entered the trailer for the film, and three creative designs on canvas, in 2018 ArtPrize event.
“I began working on the book after completing the interviews for the documentary,” Hammond said to WKTV. “The documentary was (initially) put on the back burner.
“Some of the key interviews were Rita Collins, Steve Jones, Lillian Jones, Ann Hawkins, Sonny Roxborough. But, there were so many. We interviewed at least 12 people over a course of two summers, every weekend.”
The interviews with Steve Jones and Ann Hawkins were the key interviews, she said. “But all of them had historical stories of value.”
Rose Hammond at WKTV Community Media for the premiere of her film “In Between the Trees”. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
“This probably is not a surprise, but all of the interviews that weren’t used … still told history. Locating the actual ownership to the utility company in Idlewild that brought the first lights to Idlewild. The second interview with Lillian Jones, Merrill Township first African American Township Clerk. Ole Man Tyson touring one of the first buildings right off the lake, telling us who all spent the night.”
And how much work does it take to nearly single-handedly produce at documentary film?
“Hard to count the hours and hours of editing, changing to work with two editors, just about everyday over the course of one and a half years. But the project began in the (19)90’s,” she said.
But she doesn’t regret a minute of her work.
“History has no percentage of value,” she said. “No matter what becomes of the two communities they will always be known as an outlet for thousands of African Americans to entertain and vacation like their counterparts. It will always be Idlewild and Woodland Park.”
Future screenings of the film are planned. The trailer for the documentary can be viewed here and another here. For a WKTV interview with Rose Hammond while the film was in process, visit here.
Kick off the New Year with Concerts Under the Starsat the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) featuring the sounds of synth-pop music with How to Live Together on Thursday, Jan.16.
“We’re thrilled to kick off the Concerts Under the Stars series with How to Live Together,” said Kate Kocienski, Vice President of Marketing & PR for the Public Museum. “Each concert, held in our Chaffee Planetarium, will generate a highly immersive experience for attendees, showcasing an immense amount of diverse musical and visual artistry.”
How to Live Together is composed of Grand Rapids residents Jesse Kaczmarczyk and Steffanie Rosalez. The pair utilize digital and analog synthesis to compose their synth-pop songs. The duo sample lighthearted Nintendo blips while creating dark analog sounds, which became an ongoing parallel for their own relationship and their relationship to the world around them. Using the limitless world of synthesizers, they examine the joy and dysfunction of being an interracial couple in the current cultural landscape of race, politics and social norms.
In a June 2019 Local Spins article, Jesse Kaczmarczyk said “We play it all live with many synths on stage including modular synths and Nintendos. We also bridge groups of songs together with improvised mini-tracks for a more seamless performance. Our music can be fun and upbeat with heavy and meaningful lyrics.”
Concerts Under the Stars will begin at 7:30 p.m., with Museum doors opening at 6:30 p.m. At each concert, performers will play two sets with a short intermission in between.
The video component of the show will be provided by Grand Rapids native Nate Eizenga. Eizenga, a video artist who has been participating in the Concerts Under theStars series since 2017, focuses on accompanying his intricate visuals with live musical performances. By using controllers intended for digital music production to create, mix and manipulate video in real time, he crafts a visual experience that connects the line between artistic spontaneity and musical synchronicity.
Refreshments, beer and other beverages will be available for purchase. Tickets are $12 for GRPM members and $17 for the public. Tickets are currently on sale and available at grpm.org, by calling 616-929-1700 or at the Museum’s front desk.
The 2020 Concerts Under the Stars series will continue on Feb. 6 with rock and roll sets performed by Coffin Problem, Feb. 27 with the smooth sounds of Indie rock from Seth Beck and will conclude on March 19 with a unique mix of surf, pop rock by Hollywood Makeout.
Not into college football bowl games on New Years Eve? Want to catch some great music concerts? WKTV will replay its entire 2019 Kentwood Summer Concert Series to ring in the New Year.
Starting at 5 p.m. and running until after midnight, WKTV Community Media’s Community cable channel will rebroadcast six concerts leading off with That Beatle’s Thing and ending with Hannah & The Gravetones.
WKTV broadcasts on Wyoming and Kentwood cable channels. Comcast cable, Channel 25 is the Community Channel, where sports events and other community events are shown. WKTV can also be found on AT&T U-verse 99.
For complete schedules of programs on WKTV channels, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. The concerts are also available on-demand at WKTVLive.org.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum will waive admission fees for visitors age 17 and under from Dec. 21 through Jan. 5.
Families can explore GRAM’s current exhibitions including “David Wiesner & The Art of Wordless Storytelling”; Michigan Artist Series “Billy Mayer: The Shape of Things”, and the permanent collection galleries on Level III.
Additionally, the Museum will be offering an extended Drop-in Studio schedule from Thursday, Dec. 26, through Saturday, Dec. 28, from 1 – 4 p.m. Visitors of all ages can participate in these free hands-on workshops, crafting festive graham cracker houses to take home.
For more information on programming over break, contact Visitor Services at 616-831-1000 or info@artmuseumgr.org.
According to recent statistics, the share of men reading for pleasure on any given day fell from 25 percent in 2004 to 15 percent in 2017, a drop of nearly 40 percent.
It was this decrease that caught the attention of resident Randy Otterbridge, the chief writing officer for Randy Austin Publishing and Media and the person behind this weekend’s “Men Who Write and Win.” The free event is Saturday from a 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Salvation Army Kroc Center, 2500 Division Ave. SE.
“I started thinking there has to be a reason for this,” Otterbridge said of the drop of readership during a recent Locally Entertaining podcast. Otterbridge admitted that people today are busy people with work, children’s activities, and other events, adding that men tend to be more “doers,” wanting to be outside and simply doing something.
“When you hear about reading and you hear about wealth, and readers are leaders and leaders are readers….[well] when I look at a book there is gold in it and we just need to shovel it out.”
Otterbridge decided to have an event focused on male authors and to celebrate what they are doing while at the same time encouraging others to write and share their story, he said. That event became the “Men Who Write — and Win!,” an author showcase and wrting-tainment event. Because men have a competitive nature, Otterbridge said he incorporated a competition element with the audience deciding who wins by clapping for the stories they like to who does well in sales at the event.
Otterbridge has more than a dozen authors signed up for Saturday’s showcase covering a variety of genres from financial to children’s books. Along with readings, there will be presentations on how to get started writing, marketing and other topics.
Otterbridge said the event is not only open to men, if it was “I might only end up with two,” he joked. The event is open to anyone interested in writing, because the ultimate goal, Otterbridge emphasized, is to encourage people to write, not to worry about editing or anything else, but to get their story on paper.
What if? … The great premise of many a great horror and historical fiction novel. So why not write a mashup?
That is sort-of what Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi have written with “Stoker’s Wilde”, a ‘what if …” that finds Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, contemporaries who lived from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, thrown together to “face a vampire cult determined to open the Gates of Hell.”
Hopstaken and Prusi, who now live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, both have long ties to West Michigan and to WKTV Community Media.
“We worked on the novel for almost a decade before finding a publisher,” Hopstaken recently said to WKTV. “It came out in May 2019 from Flame Tree Press and is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book and audiobook. The sequel, ‘Stoker’s Wilde West’, was also sold … It picks up the story of Bram and Oscar in the American west.”
Hopstaken is from Wyoming originally and graduated from Wyoming Park High School in 1981. Prusi is from Negaunee, in the Upper Peninsula, and she worked at WKTV from 1987 to 1991 — one of her highlights from that time, she said, was “directing a 36-hour live TV show to land (the station) in the Guinness Book of World Records.” She is also a three-time champion on the quiz show Jeopardy!
“Stoker’s Wilde” is described in promotional material this way:
“Years before either becomes a literary legend, Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde must overcome their disdain for one another to battle the Black Bishop, a mysterious madman wielding supernatural forces to bend the British Empire to his will. With the help of a European vampire expert, a spirited actress and an American businessman, our heroes fight werewolves, vampires and the chains of Victorian morality. The fight will take them through dark forests in Ireland, the upper-class London theater world and Stonehenge, where Bram and Oscar must stop a vampire cult from opening the gates of Hell.”
Sounds like quite a ride, for the reader and the writers.
“The research was definitely a lot of fun,” Hopstaken said. “We kept finding new characters and weird historical quirks to put into the book, such as Oscar Wilde’s roommate, Frank Miles, who was a noted portrait painter. He went a little crazy and was actually suspected of being Jack the Ripper, so of course we had to write him in. Bram stole Oscar’s fiancée from him and whisked her off to London, we had to put that in the book.
“We did take a trip to Dublin and London. It was amazing walking the same streets as the characters. We also visited Stonehenge and decided that is where the final scene of the novel would take place.”
Additionally, their research turned up a few surprises, and great plot twists.
Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde. (Historic photos)
“Bram was very ill as a child and nearly died,” Hopstaken said. “He made a miraculous recovery and became a star athlete at school. His illness and recovery became a plot point in the novel.
“Oscar Wilde’s mother collected and wrote about Irish folklore and was an expert in the supernatural, so we featured her as a character in the novel. Also, despite having a reputation for being a writer, Oscar Wilde only published one novel throughout his life. “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” so like Bram Stoker, he is most famous for writing a supernatural story. “Stoker’s Wilde” has them both getting their ideas for their novels from coming in contact with vampires.”
The writing style of the novel, while very unique, does borrow elements from the past as well. The writers use various narrative points-of-view — characters, but also letters, journal entries, news clippings.
“It’s the same way ‘Dracula’ is written, so we thought it would be fun to copy Bram Stoker’s style,” Hopstaken said. “It’s not the easiest way to write a book, but it did give us the chance to hear first-hand from both our main characters, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, as well as may of the supporting characters.”
For more information on “Stoker’s Wilde” and “Stoker’s Wilde West”, and to find various ways to read, visit flametreepress.com.
WKTV offers on-demand viewing of the Wyoming and Kentwood high school sports, community events, and government meetings. (WKTV)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
WKTV has your weekly high school sports schedule, and our coverage crew will be out twice the week. The tentative Featured Game coverage schedule for December includes the following:
Tuesday, Dec. 17 — Boys and Girls Basketball, Kelloggsville at West Michigan Aviation
Friday, Dec. 20 — Boys basketball, Sparta at West Michigan Aviation
Our featured gam crew will be on break until after the New Years Day week. Check back the first week of January for the complete featured game and weekly schedules.
Want to be a television sports announcer?
If anyone has ever thought about trying to announce a sporting event, WKTV has a great chance for you to do exactly that! We are always looking for additional announcers, especially for the spring games. If you would like to try it or have any questions, please email Mike at sportswktv@gmail.com
Where and when to see the game
Featured games are broadcast the night of the contest and then at least once later in the week.
WKTV broadcasts on Wyoming and Kentwood cable channels. On Comcast cable, Channel 25 is the Community Channel, where sports events and other community events are shown; Channel 26 is the Government Channel, where local government meetings and events are shown. The games can also be seen on AT&T U-verse 99.
All Featured Games, as well as other high school sports and community events covered by WKTV, are available on-demand within a week of play at wktvlive.org.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and feature stories on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/.
Following is this week’s schedule:
Monday, Dec. 16 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ NorthPointe Christian Wyoming Lee @ Hopkins Christian @ Wyoming South Christian @ East Grand Rapids Tri-Unity Christian @ Orchard View – Boys Girls Basketball Godwin Heights @ Muskegon Heights West Michigan Lutheran @ WMAES Boys Basketball Tri-Unity Christian @ Western Michigan Christian West Michigan Lutheran @ WMAES
Tuesday, Dec.17 Girls Basketball West Michigan Aviation @ Kelloggsville — WKTV Featured Event Wellsprings Prep @ Wyoming Lee Northview @ Wyoming East Kentwood @ East Grand Rapids Zion Christian @ Orchard View West Michigan Lutheran @ Creative Tech Academy Boys Basketball Kelloggsville @ West Michigan Aviation — WKTV Featured Game Godwin Heights @ Grand Haven Sacred Heart of Jesus @ Wyoming Lee Wyoming @ Northview Ravenna @ Zion Christian Grand River Prep @ Holland Black River Boys Swimming / Diving South Christian @ East Kentwood – Christmas Quad
Wednesday, Dec. 18 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ Wyoming Lee Calvin Christian @ Godwin Heights Middleville T-K @ Wyoming South Christian @ Byron Center Wellsprings Prep @ Tri-Unity Christian – Boys Boys Wrestling @ Kelloggsville – Quad Godwin Heights @ Wyoming Lee Wyoming @ Unity Christian East Kentwood @ Lowell Girls Cheer Godwin Heights @ Muskegon Mona Shores Wyoming @ Jenison
Thursday, Dec. 19 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ East Kentwood Wyoming @ Allendale Girls Basketball Wyoming Lee @ Ottawa Hills Wellsprings Prep @ Grand River Prep Boys Basketball Sparta @ West Michigan Aviation — WKTV Featured Game Wellsprings Prep @ Grand River Prep
Friday, Dec. 20 Boys Basketball Grand River Prep @ Kelloggsville Godwin Heights @ Northview Calvin Christian @ Tri-Unity Christian Grandville @ Wyoming East Kentwood @ FH Central Caledonia @ South Christian Zion Christian @ Galesburg-Augusta Potter’s House @ Saranac West Michigan Lutheran @ Battle Creek Calhoun Christian Girls Basketball Calvin Christian @ Tri-Unity Christian Wyoming @ Grandville East Kentwood @ FH Central Caledonia @ South Christian Zion Christian @ Galesburg-Augusta Potter’s House @ Saranac West Michigan Lutheran @ Battle Creek Calhoun Christian Boys Hockey East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation @ Jenison South Christian @ FH Eastern/FH Northern
Saturday, Dec. 21 Boys Wrestling Kelloggsville @ FH Central – Kent County Championships Godwin Heights @ FH Central – Kent County Championships Wyoming Lee @ FH Central – Kent County Championships Wyoming @ FH Central – Kent County Championships East Kentwood @ FH Central – Kent County Championships Boys Basketball Wyoming Lee vs West Michigan Aviation @ GRCC Boys Swimming / Diving East Kentwood @ Holland South Christian @ Holland Boys Hockey East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation @ Hudsonville South Christian @ Christian
Monday, Dec. 23 No Games Scheduled
Tuesday, Dec. 24 No Games Scheduled
Wednesday, Dec. 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS No Games Scheduled
Thursday, Dec. 26 Boys Basketball Godwin Heights vs Wayland @ Cornerstone University TBA @ Wyoming Lee – Lee Basketball Tournament
Friday, Dec. 27 Boys / Girls Bowling Godwin Heights @ Catholic Central Wyoming Lee @ Catholic Central Wyoming @ Catholic Central East Kentwood @ Catholic Central Boys Basketball TBA @ Wyoming Lee – Lee Basketball Tournament East Kentwood @ Muskegon Reeths Puffer Girls Basketball NorthPointe Christian @ Tri-Unity Christian Union @ Wyoming Boys Hockey South Christian vs Caledonia @ East Kentwood
Saturday, Dec. 28 Boys Basketball Godwin Heights vs TBD @ Cornerstone University Boys Wrestling Godwin Heights @ Montague East Kentwood @ Grandville Boys Hockey South Christian @ Grandville
Monday, Dec. 30 Boys Swimming South Christian @ Jenison – Curt Pals Invite
Bello Spark in concert. (Joel Hirschmugl Nenonen Photo)
By City of Kentwood
The City of Kentwood’s Winter Concert Series is returning in 2020 with free concerts on select Thursday nights from January to March at the Kent District Library – Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch.
The series features three West Michigan bands: Bello Spark, Serita’s Black Rose and Nicholas James Thomasma. Food trucks will also be on-site during each concert.
“Our winter concert series is a great opportunity for residents to come together during the colder months,” said Val Romeo, Kentwood Parks and Recreation director. “With a variety of local, talented musicians and food truck favorites, winter concerts offer residents an enjoyable night out.”
The lineup, which includes a mix of acoustic folk-rock, funk and blues music, is as follows:
Thursday, Jan 16 – Bello Spark with Patty Matters Food Truck
“And what better way to celebrate a religious holiday than with a month of frenzied consumerism!”
Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes
Admire the (cat) art
David Wiesner (American, b. 1956), Art & Max, 2010. (Supplied)
The Grand Rapids Art Museum has a survey of award-winning author and illustrator, David Wiesner, The Art of Wordless Storytelling, which features over 70 original watercolors from Wiesner’s most beloved books, including Caldecott Medal winners Tuesday (1991), The Three Pigs (2001), and Flotsam (2006). The story is here.
Dance with motivation
An earlier, slightly smaller version of May Erlewine and The Motivations. (Supplied)
Holiday escape? West Michigan singer/songwriter May Erlwine will take a break from her national tour promoting her recent alt-Americana release, Second Sight, to offer up some local holiday dance party gigs fronting The Motivations. This weekend it’s she’s in Grand Rapids. The story is here.
Visit your ‘inner” self
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) continues its Bodies Revealed exhibition, which features real, whole and partial body specimens that have been preserved through an innovative process, giving visitors the opportunity to view the complexity of their own organs and systems like never before. The story is here.
Fun fact:
Dec. 18
The last day to place orders on Amazon that will be delivered by Christmas is Dec. 18. … Maybe you can pay for a drone delivery?
In the mid-1990s, Byron Center school officials and community leaders came together looking for a new idea that would “really put ourselves on the map,” according to Van Singel Managing Director Sara Bower during a recent Locally Entertaining podcast. “That it would make us a destination district.”
“We had this wacky idea of not just having an auditorium but to have a state-of-the-art auditorium that could be utilized by the community and host professional shows,” she said. “It could host classes, things like that. Whatever the shell of the building needed to be, we could adapt it.”
VanSingel Fine Arts Center Managing Director Sara Bower. (Photo by WKTV)
The idea of a full state-of-the-art facility, such as the Van Singel Fine Arts Center, was revolutionary. Most school districts at that time had an auditorium but nothing that would allow touring shows to come into the community. In fact, when studying the possibility of the Van Singel Fine Arts Center, it was determined that the facility’s closet competitors would be the Red Barn Theatre in Saugatuck, DeVos Performance Center in Grand Rapids, Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo, and the Wharton Center in Lansing.
So Byron Center built the Van Singel, which in turn helped make the school district that “destination district.”
Today, several districts, such as Forest Hills and Jenison followed Byron Center’s lead and are now are homes to state-of-the-art facilities. Similar to the Van Singel, these facilities also offer touring shows, community theater and other arts and entertainment events. The Van Singel also is the home of the Gainey Gallery, which hosts exhibits of work by area artists.
With the changing landscape, Bower said during the Locally Entertaining podcast that the Van Singel and Byron Center community leaders came together again to talk about how to raise the bar in what a facility like the Van Singel can offer.
Referring to it as Van Singel 2.0, Bower said the group looked around its community and the West Michigan area to see what gaps in arts and entertainment education and programming were needing to be filled.
The Van Singel now hosts the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival, where student filmmakers from around the state enter public service announcements on positive life choices to Michigan’s K-12 youth. The 2020 competition is accepting entries through Feb. 7. For more information, visit meijergreatchoices.com.
Last year, Van Singel started its own Youth Theatre program which will present “Disney’s Frozen Jr.” in June.
The Van Singel also continues to offer touring shows. Upcoming productions are “The Closet You Can Get to Elvis” featuring Scot Bruce as Elvis on April 18 and Cool Jazz featuring Aaron Diehl and Chad Eby on May 1. For more information about these shows or other events at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center, visit vsfac.com.
An earlier, slightly smaller version of May Erlewine and The Motivations. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
West Michigan singer/songwriter May Erlwine will take a break from her national tour promoting her recent and splendid alt-Americana release, Second Sight, to offer up some local holiday dance party gigs fronting The Motivations.
Part of a hectic two weeks of Michigan concerts includes a stop at Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, on Friday, Dec. 13.
The Motivations is a now-9-piece band that offers up boogie jams and classic soul cuts. According to supplied material, The Motivations holiday party project was born in the winter of 2016 when Erlewine set out to make music and create a positive space “meant to get people moving, to feel connected, and to help everyone celebrate the moment — and each other” amid the holiday season rush/crush.
“It’s not an easy time for everyone,” Erlewine said in supplied material. “We invite you to shake out your holiday stressors and come on out to dance with us!”
The Motivations feature Phil Barry on guitar and vocals; Joe Hettinga on synth, keys and vocals; Eric Kuhn on guitar and vocals; Max Lockwood on bass and vocals; Mike Lynch on organ and keys; Terrence Massey on trumpet and vocals; Brandon Proch on saxophone, vocals and percussion; and Michael Shimmin on drums, percussion and vocals.
Despite the changes in band and musical genre, Elrewine will likely play a few songs from her latest alt-Americana release. (We can only hope!)
May Erlewine (Supplied/Michael Poehlman)
On her latest full-length studio album release, Second Sight, which hit the streets Nov. 1, she delivers her constantly beautiful-voiced singer/songwriter vocals with a powerful push into the realm of socio-political commentary — the first single released from Second Sight, she states, was “Written as a testimony for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. And for all of the women who have been ‘unheard’ in their truth.”
“We are living in a time where we are inundated with media, consumerism and distractions from being connected to our deeper visions,” she told WKTV in a previous interview. “The songs are a journey to reconnecting with our home, ourselves and each other while grieving the incredible trauma of our history.”
In addition to this week’s gig at Pyramid Scheme, the band will play Thursday, Dec. 12, at Beards Brewery in Petoskey; Saturday, Dec. 14, at The Old Art Building in Leland; Thursday, Dec. 19, at Otus Supply in Ferndale; Friday, Dec. 20, at The Livery in Benton Harbor; Saturday, Dec. 21, at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake; and Sunday, Dec. 22, at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo.
For more information on May Erlewine, her music and tickets to announced local dates, visit mayerlewine.com.
Action from a 2018-19 season playoff game between Godwin Heights and South Christian. (WKTV)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
Both the South Christian Sailors and the Godwin Heights Wolverines will open their 2019-20 season this week following successful 2018-19 campaigns, but with 0-0 records and a lot of new faces on the court.
And, by a quirk of scheduling, the two coaches may well remember the last time the two met: an opening round state playoff game last season when the Sailors sent the Wolverines home after a fine season and South Christian began a deep playoff ride.
The rematch between two defending OK Conference champions will be Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m., in a WKTV Sports Featured Game, which will be recorded and available on cable television and on-demand. The game is also a special Salute to Soldiers game with two veterans honored in pre-game ceremonies.
Godwin Athletic Director told WKTV that the two special guests to be honored will be Ken McKenney, a 72-year-old U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, and Pete Zimmer, a 92-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II.
Host Godwin Heights, out of the OK Silver, was 15-6 overall in 2018-19, 12-0 in conference and Silver champion. Coach Tyler Whittemore’s team lost 47-45 in opening round playoff game at South Christian.
South Christian, out of OK Gold, was 22-4 in 2018-19, 11-1 in conference and Gold champion. The Sailors won five playoff games before falling to Hudsonville Unity Christian in the state quarterfinals. Coach Jeff Meengs is 56-37 in four seasons at the school.
But the Sailors lost eight seniors, five who started, and only have two players back from that team: senior guard Tyler Buwalda and junior big man (6-foot-7) Connor Dykema. Both were a part of the team’s 8-man playing rotation last season, and both averaged about 4.5 points per game last year. Juniors Sam Meengs, Elliott Grashuis and Tyler Rynbrandt “will also play a lot,” Meengs told WKTV, while other seniors on roster will “contribute and have significant playing time.”
“While we do not have much experience, we do have good players that have had success at the freshman and JV levels the past few years,” Meengs said. (For a WKTV video interview with Coach Meengs, visit here.)
Godwin coach Whittemore, whose team also lost much through graduation, has averaged 20-plus wins in each of the last five seasons with the usual changing of players. So the Wolverines may just be reloaded again. Coach Whittemore told WKTV that his expected starters will be seniors Cleveland (CJ) Baskin, Terrance (TJ) Moore and Savi Morris-Miller, as well as junior Jamontae Burrell and sophomore Jordan Norman.
Other players expected to contribute include junior RuQuan Buckley, freshman Jakhary Towns, and seniors Shadon Ewing and Milton Brown.
WKTV broadcasts on Wyoming and Kentwood cable channels. On Comcast cable, Channel 25 is the Community Channel, where sports events and other community events are shown; On AT&T cable throughout the Grand Rapids area, viewers go to Channel 99, and then are given the choice to watch Wyoming (or Kentwood) Community (Channel 25) or Government (Channel 26) channels.
All Featured Games, as well as other high school sports and community events covered by WKTV, are available on-demand within a week of play at wktvlive.org.
South Christian High School boys basketball, from a 2019 game. (WKTV)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
WKTV has your weekly high school sports schedule, and our coverage crew will be out twice the week. The tentative Featured Game coverage schedule for December includes the following:
Tuesday, Dec. 10 — Boys Basketball, South Christian at Godwin Heights
Friday, Dec. 13 — Boys Hockey, FH Central at East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation
Tuesday, Dec. 17 — Boys and Girls Basketball, Kelloggsville at West Michigan Aviation
Friday, Dec. 20 — Boys basketball, Sparta at West Michigan Aviation
Want to be a television sports announcer?
If anyone has ever thought about trying to announce a sporting event, WKTV has a great chance for you to do exactly that! The tentative schedule for May follows and we are always looking for additional announcers, especially for the spring games. If you would like to try it or have any questions, please email Mike at sportswktv@gmail.com.
Where and when to see the game
Featured games are broadcast the night of the contest and then at least once later in the week.
WKTV offers on-demand viewing of the Wyoming and Kentwood high school sports, community events, and government meetings. (WKTV)
WKTV broadcasts on Wyoming and Kentwood cable channels. On Comcast cable, Channel 25 is the Community Channel, where sports events and other community events are shown; Channel 26 is the Government Channel, where local government meetings and events are shown. The games can also be seen on AT&T U-verse 99.
All Featured Games, as well as other high school sports and community events covered by WKTV, are available on-demand within a week of play at wktvlive.org.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and feature stories on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/.
Following is this week’s schedule:
Monday, Dec. 9 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ Grandville Wellsprings Prep @ Godwin Heights Wayland @ Wyoming South Christian @ Middleville T-K Girls Basketball Holland @ Godwin Heights Boys Basketball Fruitport Calvary Christian @ West Michigan Aviation
Tuesday, Dec. 10 Girls Basketball Grand River Prep @ Kelloggsville Hopkins @ Tri-Unity Christian South Christian @ Hamilton Zion Christian @ Saugatuck Hackett Catholic Prep @ Potter’s House Barry County Christian @ West Michigan Lutheran Boys Basketball Kelloggsville @ Wellsprings Prep South Christian @ Godwin Heights – WKTV Featured Event East Kentwood @ FH Northern Zion Christian @ Saugatuck Potter’s House @ Kalamazoo Hackett Barry County Christian @ West Michigan Lutheran Grand River Prep @ Saranac Boys Hockey Christian @ East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation Boys Swimming / Diving @ East Kentwood
Wednesday, Dec. 11 Boys Wrestling Kelloggsville @ Holland Godwin Heights @ Unity Christian Wyoming @ Unity Christian Wyoming Lee @ Christian East Kentwood @ Hudsonville Girls Cheer Kelloggsville @ NorthPointe Christian Boys / Girls Bowling Wyoming Lee @ East Kentwood Wyoming @ FH Eastern South Christian @ Christian
Thursday, Dec. 12 Girls Basketball Ottawa Hills @ Godwin Heights Algoma Christian @ Zion Christian Sparta @ West Michigan Aviation Boys Bowling West Catholic @ Tri-Unity Christian Boys / Girls Bowling East Kentwood @ Jenison Orchard View @ Potter’s House Boys Swimming / Diving FH Central @ East Kentwood Boys Basketball Heritage Christian Academy @ Zion Christian
Friday, Dec. 13 Girls Cheer Kelloggsville @ Wyoming Lee – Elayna Durso Memorial Cheer Invitational Godwin Heights @ Wyoming Lee – Elayna Durso Memorial Cheer Invitational Wyoming @ Jenison Girls Basketball Potter’s House @ Kelloggsville Wellsprings Prep @ Tri-Unity Christian Holland Christian @ South Christian Lake Odessa Lakewood @ Grand River Prep Boys Basketball Hudsonville @ Godwin Heights Wellsprings Prep @ Tri-Unity Christian Wyoming @ Jenison East Grand Rapids @ East Kentwood Holland Christian @South Christian Potter’s House @ Laingsburg Sacred Heart @ West Michigan Aviation Lake Odessa Lakewood @ Grand River Prep Boys Wrestling Wyoming Lee @ Tri-County Boys Hockey FH Central @ East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation – WKTV Featured Event West Ottawa @ South Christian
Saturday, Dec. 14 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ Cedar Springs Godwin Heights @ Cedar Springs Boys Wrestling @ Kelloggsville – Dave Fleming Memorial Tournament Godwin Heights @ Kent City East Kentwood @ Big Rapids – Cardinal Invitational Girls Cheer East Kentwood @ Jenison Boys Hockey FH Northern @ East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation Rockford @ South Christian Boys Basketball East Kentwood @ Ottawa Hills West Michigan Aviation @ Detroit Southeastern
Monday, Dec. 16 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ NorthPointe Christian Wyoming Lee @ Hopkins Christian @ Wyoming South Christian @ East Grand Rapids Tri-Unity Christian @ Orchard View – Boys Girls Basketball Godwin Heights @ Muskegon Heights West Michigan Lutheran @ WMAES Boys Basketball Tri-Unity Christian @ Western Michigan Christian West Michigan Lutheran @ WMAES
WKTV’s coverage of girls high school basketball continues this month. (WKTV)
By Mike Moll, WKTV Volunteer Sports Director ken@wktv.org
Football teams were crowned champions Thanksgiving weekend inside Detroit’s Ford Field and the calendars were then rolled over to December. That means the winter sports open their schedules with tip-offs in girls basketball during the first week followed by the boys openers the second week.
Boys hockey, wrestling, boys and girls bowling, and boys swimming and diving began earlier, and to round out the winter sports teams, girls cheer and dance begin their seasons.
WKTV will bring one or two events each week to viewers, mostly basketball but some hockey.
The tentative Featured Game coverage schedule for December includes the following:
Friday, Dec. 6 — Girls Basketball, Zion Christian at Wyoming Lee
Tuesday, Dec. 10 — Boys Basketball, South Christian at Godwin Heights
Friday, Dec. 13 — Boys Hockey, FH Central at East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation
If anyone has ever thought about trying to announce a sporting event, WKTV has a great chance for you to do exactly that! The tentative schedule for May follows and we are always looking for additional announcers, especially for the spring games. If you would like to try it or have any questions, please email Mike at sportswktv@gmail.com.
Featured games are broadcast the night of the contest and then at least once later in the week.
WKTV broadcasts on Wyoming and Kentwood cable channels. On Comcast cable, Channel 25 is the Community Channel, where sports events and other community events are shown; Channel 26 is the Government Channel, where local government meetings and events are shown. On AT&T cable throughout the Grand Rapids area, viewers go to Channel 99, and then are given the choice to watch Wyoming (or Kentwood) Community (Channel 25) or Government (Channel 26) channels.
WKTV offers on-demand viewing of the Wyoming and Kentwood high school sports, community events, and government meetings. (WKTV)
All Featured Games, as well as other high school sports and community events covered by WKTV, are available on-demand within a week of play at wktvlive.org.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and feature stories on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/.
Following is this week’s schedule:
Monday, Dec. 2 Girls Basketball Grand River Prep @ Wyoming Lee
Tuesday, Dec. 3 Girls Basketball Tri-Unity Christian @ Kelloggsville Orchard View @ Godwin Heights FH Central @ Wyoming East Kentwood @ Byron Center South Christian @ FH Northern Ravenna @ Zion Christian Potter’s House @ Kenowa Hills WMAES @ West Michigan Aviation Saranac @ Grand River Prep
Wednesday, Dec. 4 Boys Hockey South Christian @ Muskegon Reeths Puffer
Thursday, Dec. 5 Girls Basketball West Michigan Lutheran @ Athens Factoryville Christian
Friday, Dec. 6 Girls Basketball Kelloggsville @ Zeeland West Godwin Heights @ Union Zion Christian @ Wyoming Lee – WKTV Featured Event Tri-Unity Christian @ Belding Wyoming @ Comstock Park East Kentwood @ Muskegon Byron Center @ South Christian Hopkins @ Potter’s House Boys Hockey East Kentwood/West Michigan Aviation @ Kenowa Hills
Saturday, Dec. 7 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville – OK Silver Pre-Season Meet at Fairlanes Godwin Heights – OK Silver Pre-Season Meet at Fairlanes Wyoming – Tournament @ Eastbrook Lanes East Kentwood – East Kentwood Kickoff Invite Girls Dance East Kentwood @ Hudsonville Girls Basketball East Kentwood @ Kalamazoo Central
Monday, Dec. 9 Boys / Girls Bowling Kelloggsville @ Grandville Wellsprings Prep @ Godwin Heights Wayland @ Wyoming South Christian @ Middleville T-K Girls Basketball Holland @ Godwin Heights Boys Basketball Fruitport Calvary Christian @ West Michigan Aviation
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Monday, Dec. 2 at 10am. Tickets will be available at the DeVos Place® and Van Andel Arena® box offices and online via Ticketmaster.com. See Ticketmaster for all current pricing and availability.
The Price Is Right Live™ is the hit interactive stage show that gives eligible individuals the chance to “Come On Down!” and play classic games from television’s most popular game show. Contestants can win cash, appliances, vacations and possibly even a new car by playing favorites like Plinko™, Cliffhangers™, The Big Wheel™, and the fabulous Showcase!
Showing to near sold-out audiences for more than ten years, The Price Is Right Live™ has given away over $12 million in cash and prizes to lucky audience members all across North America.
The Price is Right™ is the longest-running game show in television history and loved by generations of viewers. This on-stage traveling version gives fans the chance to experience the same thrilling excitement of winning big, up close and in-person.
The Price Is Right is produced by Fremantle and licensed by Fremantle.
Event: The Price is Right Live!
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at 7:30pm
Venue: DeVos Performance Hall
Tickets on sale: Monday, Dec. 2 at 10am
*No Purchase Necessary to register for chance to be a contestant. Open to legal US residents, 18 years or older. Ticket purchase will not increase your chances of being selected to play. For complete rules & regulations, including eligibility requirements, visit or call the venue box office. To enter theater to watch show, a ticket purchase is required.
A festive performance of songs of the holiday season concludes the 2019 Grand Valley State University Fall Arts Celebration.
The holiday celebration, “Beloved Songs of the Season,” is Monday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain St. NE. Performers from local school districts will join those from the university for the event.
The concert includes yuletide selections from British composers David Willcocks and John Rutter. Audiences will hear Willcocks’ brass choir settings of beloved carols as well as Rutter’s classical holiday masterpiece, “Gloria.”
The celebration is the perfect way to start the holiday season, said Danny Phipps, chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. The evening will also include a sing-along.
“Fountain Street Church, decorated for the holidays and coupled with both the visual and aural effect of massed choirs and instrumentalists, will be a feast for the eyes and ears to everyone who attends,” Phipps said. “This year the University Arts Chorale and Cantate will be joined in performance by the Hudsonville High School Varsity Voices, West Ottawa High School Vocalaires, and our special guests, the Jenison Elementary Honors Choir.”
All Fall Arts Celebration events are free and open to the public. For more information visit gvsu.edu/fallarts.
