Month: September 2005

There’s a cliché in the art world: the reluctant teacher. Many artists take teaching jobs for the steady paycheck and to stay connected to art—not because teaching itself is their calling. And often these teachers are just a little resentful: students, grade books and faculty meetings come to seem like burdens that eat into studio time.

   Then there’s Chica Tenney. Since she came to Charlottesville in 1964, Tenney has been building a reputation as a serious artist, a community leader and a beloved teacher, and her holistic approach to all three roles blends and reinforces each of them. Perhaps it’s for this reason that her retirement from Piedmont Virginia Community College last December has not severed her ties to Charlottesville’s visual art community. “It’s an unusual thing to discover somebody can move so seamlessly between their life and their art,” says Rosamond Casey, president of McGuffey Art Center and a longtime friend of Tenney’s. “I think that more than anybody I know, her art is her life.”

   During the month of October, no fewer than five venues around town will be showing portions of a Tenney retrospective [see sidebar]. The show, curated by Daniel Mason, is collectively and portentously titled “Chica Tenney: Advent.” If the past is any indicator, good things are on the horizon, both for Tenney and the community that surrounds her.

 

Tenney has always been an artist. “I just grew up with that designation, because I was drawing all the time,” she says. A native of Michigan, Tenney took summer art classes as a child and went on to study art at Michigan State University before leaving college when she married her husband, Harry. The pair moved to the New York area and then to Washington, D.C., and all the while Tenney continued making art on her own. Eventually, in 1964, they landed in Charlottesville because of Harry’s business. It was here that Tenney would become a respected artist and teacher.

   As “Advent” makes clear, Tenney’s artistic output reflects a series of shifts in genre and medium. As a young artist, she made abstract prints that coolly vibrate with large areas of color. She also painted onto photographs in serial images meant to echo film. Eventually, though, she returned to the practice of drawing and painting from life that had captivated her as a child.

   These days, much of her work depicts the view from her Buckingham County studio. The vast landscape of work is usually tempered with images of domesticity: a porch railing, a table with a potted orchid, or a shadow subtly revealing a house’s hidden presence. Another series of sepia drawings, called “Messengers,” shows people with the possessions that catalog their lives: Albemarle County artist Beatrix Ost sits with a fan-patterned teapot, her drooping shawl and a carved ebony hand; Harry Tenney holds chopsticks over several pieces of sushi and piles of fruit.

   “Advent” coincides with McGuffey’s 30th anniversary—fitting, in that Tenney was one of the art center’s original founders. In some ways, Tenney, McGuffey and Charlottesville have all grown together. When Tenney came to Charlottesville, she saw it as a good place to raise her son and daughter, but not as an artistic hotbed. “There wasn’t a lot going on,” she recalls, with characteristically gentle humor. “There were three other women artists that I could find.” Tenney continued to make art, though, studying at UVA and Virginia Commonwealth University. And in 1975, when Charlottesville’s potential as an art community began to unfold in the form of McGuffey, Tenney was there.

   “Who would have imagined that it would last 30 years?” she laughs, remembering how McGuffey began as the brainchild of a contingent of artists and UVA architects who saw the City-owned school building on Second Street as a possible art center. Tenney was one of several artists who put in long hours during the center’s first years, hanging shows, designing brochures and silkscreening posters. The effort helped Charlottesville turn a corner.

   “Suddenly people saw Charlottesville as a good place to live for an artist,” Tenney says, calling the current art scene “on a par with anywhere outside of New York.”

   Casey believes McGuffey was a golden egg for the city. “Having this great big building so close to the Down-town Mall was a real invitation to expand the arts in the Downtown area,” she says. “I think Chica is one of a number of people who can be credited for that.”

   Throughout the transformation, Tenney’s role in the community deepened. When Casey moved to Charlottesville in 1981, she re-members, “The name Chica kept coming up everywhere among the people that I met. She was incredibly open, incredibly kind and sensible, and she seemed to know her way around the whole art scene in Charlottesville.”

   Former student Cri Kars-Marshall relates Tenney’s tendency to use her network for the greater good to a conviction that art is part of—not separate from—the world at large. “You have to look at the world around you and bring that into your art,” Kars-Marshall recalls Tenney teaching her and other PVCC students. “As an artist you’re not only an artist; there are other things you’re concerned with.”

 

That sense of responsibility—so different from the model of artist-as-solitary-genius—made Tenney an unusually well-loved figure at PVCC. “You would like to clone her,” Cliff Haury says of Tenney. He’s known her since they both arrived at Piedmont in 1976, and he’s been reading Tenney’s student evaluations since he became dean of humanities, fine arts and social sciences 20 years ago. “[They] simply repeated time and time again what a gifted classroom instructor she was,” he says, going on to praise her other talents in areas from running PVCC’s gallery to choosing bathroom tile for the V. Earl Dickinson Building on campus during its construction.

   Tenney says community college teaching suits her outlook. “I just seem to be drawn to the group effort as well as requiring an enormous amount of solitude and privacy. I like to see what people can do in their own brief time to be effective, what can be changed, what can be growthful for the community.”

   That community supplies a wildly varying range of students, from the fresh-out-of-high-school to the fresh-into-retirement. “The diversity of ages I really find interesting. I’ve seen them be very helpful to each other,” Tenney says.

   Anyone who knows Tenney well would add that Tenney herself made those interactions possible. Haury says that instead of letting beginners be intimidated by older, more accomplished artists, “Chica could take superior students in her class and allow them to be role models for the younger students.” Casey calls Tenney a “great encourager,” saying, “There’s something in her whole spirit that makes the arts seem delicious and accessible and exciting.”

   And serious. Virginia Thompson, who began studying with Tenney in 2002, says Tenney was committed to “the integrity of the subject. It would be so easy to turn it into a hobby course, but she never did that.” Thompson adds that Tenney often urged her students to combine art and activism—“to get involved in a larger way, not just to keep art for ourselves.”

   Tenney herself says she has an interest in “working on the fabric of the community.” To that end, in 1994, she recruited Kars-Marshall and other local artists to teach in a new program called ArtReach, which brought various art media to local at-risk youth. ArtReach was a program of Second Street Gallery, where Tenney served on the board, and operated through the Charlottesville Schools Alternative Education Program, Venable Elementary School and Teensight at FOCUS: A Women’s Resource Center.

   “I think that was a critically important thing for the individuals who took part in it,” says Casey. “It was very relaxed. It directed them into areas they were really getting pleasure from.” Tenney says art making, for these kids, was both healing and stimulating. “My feeling is that the creative process offers hope,” she says. “Externalizing your emotions is healthy, but also learning to deal with questions and come up with ideas.” Though Tenney left and the program was downsized in 2002, it continues to operate at Teensight.

   Tenney’s retirement from PVCC, she says, was mostly for the sake of painting full-time. “I wanted to be able to paint in the spring,” she says simply. Haury says Tenney’s legacy at PVCC will endure on several fronts, including donations to the college from grateful alumni of her classes. Kars-Marshall, who took several courses with Tenney and has since become a ceramic artist, is currently involved with the establishment of the Chica Tenney Fund for the Visual Arts, which will provide scholarships and prizes for PVCC art students. She says, “There is this groundswell of gratitude from students towards her.”

 

In 1982 Tenney was about to begin working on a MFA at VCU, and needed to pull back from the responsibilities of studio membership at McGuffey. At the same time, the Buckingham County farmhouse she and her husband had slowly restored was finally ready to use as a studio. She moved her art practice there, and the farm has been a crucial escape for her ever since. “Buckingham County is really flat and reminds me of Michigan,” she says. “It has the horizon line that I’m interested in in terms of immersion. It’s a place I can really think about light.”

   Much of her work began, at this time, to occur on a large scale: mural-sized paintings, four-foot-wide drawings. Tenney says her interest in immersion, nurtured during her Great Lakes childhood, drives this oversized work. “You can feel that with a horizon line of water, mountains, you can feel it in a city among throngs of people, and I needed that size to convey that feeling.”

   Now, Tenney’s looking forward to being immersed in not only the expansive space of her farm, but also uncluttered stretches of time. “I probably will just revel in being able to read and paint and think about what I’m interested in painting next,” she says. So far, though, her retirement’s been full of preparations for the retrospective, a process she likens to “a combination of being in graduate school and planning a wedding.”

   In readying the 70-plus pieces that make up the five-venue show, Tenney has enjoyed taking a long view of her career. “That was a great benefit of it, to be able to curate and locate the work and think about it and the evolution of the ideas in it.” The show started as a simple retrospective in the PVCC Gallery but quickly expanded when Daniel Mason, the gallery’s interim director, became its curator. “Her retrospective offers an opportunity to pose the question of an artist’s role in the community,” says Mason. “For Chica Tenney that meant starting an art center, serving on boards, doing art education for everyone.” The multivenue approach, he says, is a way of physically and graphically connecting the many art institutions around town on which Tenney’s put her stamp. “Perhaps an exhibition itself can unite a community,” he hopes.

   Mason says the title “Advent” is meant to counter traditional notions of a retrospective show as a swan song. “Chica is on the verge of something in her painting,” he says. Whatever that thing is, Tenney says, it will emerge intuitively. “I’ve always looked at art as a research, as a way of staying connected with what is happening right now and expressing a feeling about that,” she says. “Through making art you’re paying attention—honoring something that may seem ordinary but is extraordinary. That same ability was useful to me in teaching.”

   Like many of Tenney’s former students, Virginia Thompson has gone on to develop a serious art practice of her own. If she’s any indicator, the voice of Chica Tenney will be echoing around Charlottesville for a long time to come, retirement or no. Says Thompson, “I just trust what she said to me so much that it’s like all the time she’s talking over my shoulder. She’s someone I’ll always be able to turn to.”

Dear Ace: What is this Jefferson Bible? And why are the Unitarian-Universalists so into it?—Newt Estament

Dear Newt: Jefferson had a Bible? It might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but that TJ sure was a shameless self-promoter!

   To find out about the Jefferson Bible, Ace called David Takahashi-Morris, co-minister of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church-Unitarian Universalists. As it turns out, the Jefferson Bible is not actually called the “Jefferson Bible.” In a blaze of uncharacteristic modesty, Jefferson actually named the text The Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth by Thomas Jefferson.

   According to Takahashi-Morris, Jefferson became convinced that a great deal of the Bible had been added over the centuries, so that the actual religion of Jesus had been lost. As an educated (and self-important) person, Jefferson went back to the original Greek, and translated the text himself.

   Methodologically speaking, Jefferson took out all of the sections that he thought didn’t belong. Thus, the text is a distillation of what Jefferson presumed to be the actual teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Like Ace’s foolproof super-sleuth intuition, Jefferson used his instinctive sense of what was right and true in Christianity. In a letter to John Adams, he described the project as “abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried…[to separate] the diamond from the dung hill.” Oh,
ho, snap!

   As to why the UUs are so fond of “Jefferson Bible,” Newt, it’s quite simple. Even though Jefferson wasn’t a member himself, he extensively spoke of his admiration for the Unitarian Church. In 1822, TJ forecasted, albeit falsely, that “there is not a young man now living in the United States that will not die an Unitarian.” With that kind of endorsement, it is only natural for UU church to claim Jefferson and his gospel as a spiritual ancestor, especially here in little old Charlottesville.

   Takahashi-Morris insists that it is just as common for the UUs to study the Hebrew Tanakh as the Jefferson Bible. So don’t worry, Newt, the Unitarian Univer-salists are not all about Jefferson worship—for that, Ace recommends visiting Monticello.

Dear Ace: I recently heard that someone new has come on the scene to “vindicate” Thomas Jefferson from charges that he was pappy to at least one of Sally Hemings’ kids? Is this true, and who’s rushing to TJ’s rescue?—Peter Familias

Well Peter, as you know, the whole little mountain was in a kerfluffle a few years back when the science journal Nature published an article saying DNA evidence pointed to one of the Jefferson men as the father of one of the children of TJ house slave Sally Hemings. Given that during his lifetime, Tommy-Boy had been rumored to be, how to put this, intimately acquainted with Hemings, lots of people put 1 and
1 together.

   Ace says “lots of people,” but not “everybody,” and among the bodies who just ain’t buying it is Keswick resident and self-trained genealogist Cynthia H. Burton. Ace hopped into the Acemobile on a lovely late summer day to visit with Burton, who says she was motivated to probe the Jefferson affair out of concern that history would judge him a hypocrite. TJ had denied the liaison in his day, and if he had knowingly lied about relations with that woman, Miss Hemings, then “all the principles of this country’s foundation” would be a sham, Burton said. After six years of research, she released her self-published monograph, Jefferson Vindicated, last month.

   Two main ideas inform Burton’s argument: 1) TJ wasn’t home at Monticello during the likely conception period of Eston Hemings, Sally’s youngest child whose DNA was traced in that Nature article; and 2) TJ probably couldn’t get it up. Being sensitive to his fellow man, Ace blushes to put it this way. But Burton points out that Jefferson was an old man by the time Eston was conceived, and he had a lot of health complaints: “Certain doctors speculate that Jefferson suffered from chronic prostatitis,…‘an inflammation of the prostate gland that develops gradually’ with subtle symptoms such as low back pain, painful urination, and painful ejaculation.” Ex-cu-use Ace!

   Burton doesn’t want to offend anybody, she says—“I’m sure discussing Jefferson’s potency is sensitive to the family.” (Uh, yeah!) Her sole purpose is to encourage more historical research on a matter that she says is not firmly settled (you might ask yourself, What was TJ’s bro Randolph was doing at the time…). Ace refrains from taking a stand on this matter, but if you want to judge for yourself whether Jefferson has been vindicated, contact Burton at Chburton7@aol.com or pick up her book at New Dominion Bookshop.

On July 26, NASA launched the shuttle Discovery, the first manned space mission since the Columbia disaster in January 2003. The Discovery’s mission was to deliver supplies to the orbiting International Space Station as well as test new equipment and procedures. But during the 15 days in space a problem was discovered with the shuttle. “Gap filler”—a kind of foam insulation—had come loose on the bottom of the craft and had to be removed and replaced before re-entry. So in addition to the planned spacewalks, astronaut Steve Robinson was selected to go out on a robotic arm and complete the repair, all by his lonesome.

   The fix went off without a hitch. And after successfully landing with the rest of the crew on August 9, Robinson sat down with reporter Melinda Welsh to discuss what it feels like to go solo in space, the future of the space program and whether or not there’s intelligent life out there. An edited transcript of the interview follows.

Melinda Welsh: So, what’ve you been doing since you got back to Earth?

Steve Robinson: It’s been very busy. When you go and fly a mission into space, you go with the purpose of learning things. So, when you get back, it’s your job to sort of transmit all the stuff that you’ve learned to the people on the ground getting the next missions prepared. It involves writing reports, debriefing with many groups…

 

I was sort of surprised—from launch to landing—to have felt really nervous about it all, I mean for your safety. Were you nervous for yourself or the crew of the Discovery?

No, I was honestly more concerned with my family feeling nervous. I think the Columbia accident was on people’s minds. But it really wasn’t on ours. When you set out to do something like this, you sort of have to come to peace with the level of risk. Especially if you’ve been in aviation your whole life, you sort of come to grips with the fact that what you’re doing is important…. You feel that the risk is worth it.

So, you put the danger out of your mind?

Yeah, you put it out of your mind. But it’s not just avoidance—it’s confidence. I went out to the pad with a lot of confidence. I think we all did. We were anxious to fly. We were happy to be there. We believed in the mission. We felt very privileged to be there.

 

What was it like out there on that robotic arm?

I wish I could describe it fully to you. It’s so unlike any other experience I’ve ever had…. Analogies don’t work very well. I kept feeling like I was trying to put a wide-angle lens on my whole brain to try to take it in. You’re just a dot in the universe. And the universe is vast. And it’s dynamic, and everything is moving. And the shadows…the sun goes up or down every 45 minutes. So, the shadows were going by rapidly underneath. There were lots of spectacular views and surprising sensations. It was a really huge experience for me.

 

I’ve read the words of other astronauts who come back and try to articulate this really profound sense of what it feels like to look back at the Earth.

Well, we’re not a very articulate bunch to begin with! We’re not immune to the feelings, but we’re not so good at expressing them; that’s for sure. That’s why I was glad to have a camera.

 

Mission Commander Eileen Collins came back and said she could see erosion and deforestation on Earth from outer space. I thought it was nice to have her talking a bit about that and the responsibility we all have to take care of the planet.

On my first mission, one of my crewmates, astronaut Robert Kirby, came back and said something that I think speaks for us all. He said, “No matter what you thought before you flew in space, after you’ve flown in space you become a conservationist.” I think especially people who have flown airplanes all their lives have always thought of the atmosphere as being virtually endless, much bigger than we are. But, from the vantage point of orbit, it’s anything but endless. It’s very limited. It’s almost minimal. And you can see just this thin, blue haze wrapped around this huge planet. It’s almost shocking how thin it is. It was the opposite of what I’d always sensed—that there was this limitless sky. That’s not what it is at all.

 

What do you say to people who say we should solve problems on the Earth before we go into space?

Going into space makes a significant contribution to solving the problems here on Earth. There’s no doubt. Some of them are explicit contributions that help the human race develop technology that we use to make not only our lives better and more efficient, but also help so that our existence doesn’t make such an impact on the Earth. Technology is wonderful for that. And the other way we do it…well, this is a rather inspirational business for a lot of people. It sets a high watermark for human achievement. Children growing up today, they know that it’s possible to go to the moon, to live in space. Just knowing that, I think, can motivate people to greater heights than they would have gone before. Just knowing what human beings really can accomplish.

   It’s all a very ambitious and almost audacious thing to do. You realize this when you are sitting on the launch pad, and the rocket engines light, and you’re riding this barely controlled explosion and blasting up into the sky, and you’re thinking, Whatever gave us the confidence to try this? But here we’ve done it over and over. And I think that I’m one of the people who believe that doing it gives us a healthier confidence that we can solve difficult problems back here on Earth.

 

I’ve heard you say that exploration is written into our genetic code.

I don’t think we can help it! That is the nature of human intelligence. We want to know what we don’t yet know.

A news station in Sacramento once did a program on you. I think it was after your trip up with John Glenn, and they had you interviewed by a bunch of kids. One of the kids asked if you thought there was life on other planets. And you didn’t say no. You said, “Probably.”

If you just think of the statistics of the universe, I think it’s perfectly possible that there might be some form of life somewhere out there. But it’s also very likely that we’ll never know it because of the distances involved. If it takes light an entire year to get halfway to the nearest star, the sun, why then it’s very unlikely that there’ll be communication between any two forms of life. So, it’s sort of a good-news, bad-news sort of thing.

 

Do you get tired of having to be the “Right Stuff” all the time? People have an expectation of astronauts that they’re sort of perfect, brilliant, good sense of humor, kind to animals… That must be hard to live up to.

Not for me, ‘cause I’m not that way! Because all I know for sure is who I am. I’ve never changed at all. The only thing I’ve ever done in life is be Steve Robinson. I’m still trying to be better at that. Let me tell you why. I have the best job in the world—I’m pretty convinced of that. But it is my job; it’s not who I am. It’s important not to tangle up my own personal identity with this wonderful job.

 

I know you’ve gotten very close to the crew of Discovery. How much are you gonna miss that family?

Oh, it’s terrible. We’re looking down the road at breaking up the family and flying off down the road, and it’s awful. We were absolutely welded together. We could finish each other’s sentences. We knew each other’s jokes. A couple of us could just look at each other and communicate.

 

I read that once you got back to Earth, you said you actually wished you’d been able to stay up in space. And I knew for years you’ve been saying that you hope to go up and live on the space station…

Well I’m one of those people who really enjoys being in space. I have to admit I was not ready to come home after just two weeks up there. It’s such a fascinating environment. You don’t even want to sleep while you’re up there. So, yes, I want to go into space again, if somebody lets me do it. But that’s really not up to me. There are lots of people waiting for that very first flight. And I want them to get that first flight. So, we’ll see what happens.

 

What’s the future for NASA and the space station and the shuttle program?

Well it’s an exciting time to be here. We are seriously getting ready to go back to the moon and to have a moon base there. That’s truly exciting. That’s a big step. If we learn how to do that, that’ll generate a bunch of new technology that’ll help things here on the Earth. It happens every time. But right now, the real question is: Can we make the shuttle safe enough to finish its job and then safely retire it to museums? That’s the question we’re dealing with right now. The space station definitely needs more parts for it to be useful. So, we feel like it’s really important to solve these problems with the shuttle. We have to get to the point where we feel safe enough to go fly again.

 

After the moon base, it’s on to Mars, right? Will you be involved at that point?

Well, I’m not thinking about Mars personally. That’s well into the future. But I think the moon base is kinda right around the corner. I probably won’t be one that goes to the moon, but I wish I were.

 

This article was originally published in the Sacramento News & Review. It is republished here with permission.

 

An idiot’s guide to the galaxy

Mercury

With a surface that’s similar to the moon and nearly as old, this planet is the closest to the sun. It’s also the fastest moving, and (go figure) the hottest!

 

Venus

Sometimes called the “evening star” because it’s the brightest of the bunch, it’s probably better known to most astrology mongers as the “lady planet” and Earth’s solar sister. While it may be named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love, don’t be fooled: Its atmosphere is clouded with several layers of sulfuric acid.

 

Earth

While we all know that we occupy the third planet from the sun—the only one with shopping malls and worthless wars—did you know it’s also the densest major body in the solar system and the only known planet where water can exist in liquid form? Note: The other eight planets aren’t as hospitable as ours; let’s try to take care of it.

 

Mars

If the brightest and most lovely planet is feminine, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that masculinity is represented by this red, warlike planet. According to scientists it has the most intriguing and cratered terrain; and as you’re reading this, folks at NASA are still trying to find ways to colonize it. Any guesses on who should go back?

 

Jupiter

Known as one of the first Jovian planets, which means it’s made of mostly gases like helium and hydrogen, it’s also the largest known planet—more than twice as massive as all the rest. Its size probably explains why it has 67 moons, including four large Galilean moons.

 

Saturn

The-second largest planet in the solar system may not “twinkle” as bright as the other planets, but it’s best known for its prominent rings, which are actually visible to the unaided eye… on a clear night, of course. But at the end of the day, we’re still trying to figure out why they named a car after it…

 

Uranus

Another Jovian planet (not pronounced “your-anus” or “urine-us,” but “yoor-a-nus”), there’s something cool about this oft-forgotten planet: All of its 21 moons have names that are inspired by Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

 

Neptune

Many folks don’t know that because of Pluto’s eccentric orbit, every few years or so, Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun. Along with Pluto it’s also considered a modern planet, since they were both discovered in the past 200 years.

 

Pluto

This poor paltry planet barely made the cut. Not only is it the smallest planet—it’s smaller than seven of the solar system’s moons… including Earth’s.

 

—Compiled by Marcie Dickson

 

Aliens we love

We here at C-VILLE certainly believe in intelligent life on other planets (we’re pretty sure some of our interns come from them). In fact, we have proof—extraterrestrials have been on our TVs and movie screens for years. Some of them suck, like those face-huggers from Alien (nightmares!) or those bastards from Independence Day. But we’ve had some nice visitors over the years, too. Here’s a list of some out-of-towners who can probe us anytime.—Eric Rezsnyak

 

Superman

Krypton’s loss was our gain. It’s easy to forget that Kal-El comes from a distant, doomed planet. But then you remember that whole faster-than-a-speeding-bullet/ able-to-leap-tall-buildings-in-a-single-bound thing, so he clearly ain’t human. Plus, he threw Lois Lane off his trail by only wearing glasses. (Lois: least observant journalist ever.) Is there no end to this man’s powers?

 

My Favorite Martian

For the record, we’re talking about the campy 1960s TV show, not the odious 1999 film version starring Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels. Ray Walston played Exigus Twelve and Half, a Martian who crash-landed on Earth only to be rescued by Timothy O’Hara (a pre-Eddie, pre-Hulk Bill Bixby), who passed him off as his Uncle Martin (clever, Tim!). Uncle Martin had retractable antennae that made him invisible and had other powers, and was something of a wiseass.

 

Marvin the Martian

True, he tried to blow up the Earth—repeatedly—to get a better view of Venus. But because he never succeeded, he’s a loser you can’t help but love. Old Bowling-Ball Head is sure nicer than those bastard Martians from War of the Worlds, I can tell you that.

 

Spock

Vulcan death grip. Mind meld. Pixie cut. Spock is totally badass. He’s also undoubtedly the coolest alien to ever crew the Enterprise (but much love to Warf). That whole cold and analytical thing prevented him from getting as much alien tail as Kirk, but Trekkies forever hold him in their hearts for making pointy ears cool—giving them an affordable way to express their colossal geekiness.

 

Mork

Extraterrestrial origin surely explains star Robin Williams’ insane, manic episodes. Well, that and copious amounts of drugs. When the quirky “Mork & Mindy” premiered in 1978, America fell in love with Ork’s nuttiest furball. The show’s odd couple premise pretty much fizzled once the titular duo married. And then we were forced to endure Jonathan Winters wearing a diaper, and pretty much nobody loved that.

 

Chewbacca

Yoda gets all the hot CGI lightsaber action. But my man Chewie remains Wookie of the Year. Tall, strong, musky—he’s everything you want in a sidekick, as Han Solo would attest. In his downtime he’s also a heck of a comedian, as demonstrated by this joke: “Reeeeeoow wonk wonk grrrr cackacackaka tack oooooorrr!” Oh, Chewie. You’ll slay us all.

 

E.T.

He warmed our hearts, he taught us how to believe in ourselves and he introduced us to Drew Barrymore and the term “penisbreath.” There are many reasons to love li’l E.T.—even though he traumatized young viewers (like this writer) with that part where he’s all pale and dying and the government spooks crawl through the house in HazMat suits. And then the weeping at the ending. Come to think of it, I hate E.T. Thanks, Spielberg. You jerk.

 

Alf

TV’s coolest puppet since Topo Gigio. “Alf” actually stands for “alien life form,” which sounds better than his actual name, Gordon. Alf was a refugee from the planet Melmac whose ship landed in the Tanner family’s garage. His Earth-bound adventures were chronicled in the 1986-1990 NBC sitcom and pretty much every backpack, Trapper Keeper or lunchbox of every grade-school kid in the ‘80s.

 

Kang and Kodos

It’s not Halloween with “The Simpsons” unless these tentacled, slobbering sibs from Rigel 4 stop by. Their most memorable visit occurred during the 1992 presidential election, when they kidnapped candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole and impersonated them on the campaign trail. Even after Homer exposed the two as bloodthirsty frauds, the American populace still voted for Kang because, hey, it’s a two-party system.

 

Frank the Pug

Of all the disguised aliens in Men In Black, Frank is undoubtedly the cutest. Some strange visitor decided to inhabit the body of a pensive-looking pug. The choice didn’t score him many chicks, but it gave him license to 1) dish out foul-mouthed lines while still looking cute and 2) lick his privates. Everybody wins!

 

Cher

If we could turn back time, we’d watch her get younger through the years just like Mork. Hmmm…..

Bill Cosby. Blackalicious. The Rolling Stones. A year ago, it would have been almost unthinkable that artists this big, this cool, would be coming to little ol’ Charlottesville. And yet here we are on the eve of the 2005-2006 cultural season, and here they are, gracing our stages, playing our clubs, generally rocking our worlds. Little ol’ Charlottesville isn’t so little anymore.

   So behold, the lineup for the 2005-06 arts season.
In the calendar that follows you’ll be hard-pressed to find a night when something amazing isn’t going on that involves dancers, singers, actors, painters—or all of them combined! But don’t take our word for it. We reached out to local experts—artists and performers like Terri Allard, Damani Harrison and Russell Richards—to get their thoughts on some of the biggest names visiting this season, the shows they might cancel their own gigs to see.

   Heed their words. Don’t be left out when everyone else asks, “Did you see….?”—Edited by Eric Rezsnyak

 

MUSIC

Tuesday, September 20

Widespread Panic; 7:30pm, $35. Charlottesville Pavilion

Peter Mayer; 8pm, $12-15. Gravity Lounge

Max Collins; 10:30pm, free. Cocktail Lounge, Starr Hill Music Hall

Wednesday, September 21

Moot Davis and the Cool Deal; 8pm, $5. Gravity Lounge

Thursday, September 22

The Heavenly States; 8pm, $6. Gravity Lounge

Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival featuring Boccherini’s Cello Quintet in F Minor, G. 348; Lieberson’s Piano Quartet; Hemphill’s One Atmosphere; J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; 8pm, $6-22. Jefferson Theater

Calf Mountain Jam and Tea Leaf Green; 8pm, $8-10. Starr Hill Music Hall

Friday, September 23

Skip Castro; 5pm, no cover. Charlottesville Pavilion

Cephas and Wiggins; 8pm, $18-22. The Prism

Saturday, September 24

Jan Smith; 7pm, $8. Starr Hill Music Hall

Opening Night 2005 Benefit Showcase; 8pm, pay what you can. The Prism

Tracy Grammer; 8pm, $10. Gravity Lounge

Sunday, September 25

Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival featuring Penderecki’s Cadenza for Viola; Scarlatti’s Sonata in A Major, L. 391; Schnittke’s Piano Quartet; Part’s Mozart- Adagio; J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations; 3pm, $6-22. Jefferson Theater

The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra &
The Pied Pipers; 4pm, sold out.
The Paramount Theater

Monday, September 26

Army of Me’s Brad Tursi; 9pm, free. Cocktail Lounge, Starr Hill Music Hall

Wednesday, September 28

Allman Brothers Band; 7:30pm,
$22-44.50. Charlottesville Pavilion

Thursday, September 29

The Pixies; 7:30pm, $35. Charlottesville Pavilion

Devon Sproule and Found Magazine; 8pm, tickets TBA. Gravity Lounge

Friday, September 30

Jimmy O; 5pm, no cover. Charlottesville Pavilion

Malcolm Holcombe and David Childers and the Modern Don Juans; 7pm, $8. Gravity Lounge

Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant 40th Anniversary Massacree Tour; 8pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Devil Music scoring Nosferatu; 8pm, $8-10. Satellite Ballroom

Matt Haimovitz; 8pm, $18-22. The Prism

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen; 9pm, $15-18. Starr Hill Music Hall

Saturday, October 1

Carbon Leaf; 7:30pm, $15-17. Charlottesville Pavilion

Jake Armerding Trio; 8pm, $12-15.
The Prism

The Lascivious Biddies; 8pm, $8-10. Gravity Lounge

Saturday, October 1-Sunday, October 2

Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra presents Wagner’s Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin; Ewazen’s Concerto for Trombone; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; 8pm (10/1) & 3:30pm (10/2),
$11-22. Old Cabell Hall

Sunday, October 2

David Ross Macdonald; 7pm, $5. Gravity Lounge

Keller Williams; 7:30pm, $22. Charlottesville Pavilion

Monday, October 3

Chanticleer; 8pm, $33-39.
The Paramount Theater

Tuesday, October 4

Free Country; 7pm, $5-10.
Gravity Lounge

Tuesday Evening Concert Series presents Marc-Andre Hamelin; 8pm, $5-25. Old Cabell Hall

Dar Williams; 8pm, $20. Starr Hill Music Hall

Wednesday, October 5

Kate Campbell; 7pm, $10-15. Gravity Lounge

Starr Hill Presents Nanci Griffith and the Blue Moon Orchestra; 7pm, $22.50-$29.50. The Paramount Theater

O.A.R.; 7:30pm, $25. Charlottesville Pavilion

Thursday, October 6

The Rolling Stones and Trey Anastasio; 7pm, sold out. Scott Stadium

Seamus Kennedy; 7pm, tickets TBA. Gravity Lounge

Friday, October 7

Grrrrls Night Out with SONiA of disappear fear; 8pm, $10-15. Gravity Lounge

Bill Cole and William Parker; 8pm, $12-15. The Prism

Starr Hill presents The Pietasters, Big D and the Kids Table; 9pm, $10-12. Satellite Ballroom

William Walter & Co.; 10pm, free.
Starr Hill Music Hall

Saturday, October 8

Nickel Creek; 7:30pm, $22-29.50. Charlottesville Pavilion

Foster’s Branch; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Frankie Gavin; 8pm, $15-18. The Prism

Brazilian Girls; 9pm, $10-12. Starr Hill Music Hall

Sunday, October 9

Greg Howard’s Stick Night; 7pm, $5. Gravity Lounge

Dean Musser and Friends; 7pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Michael Feinstein and Linda Eder; 8pm, regular-priced tickets sold out; only patron tickets left, $250-500.
The Paramount Theater

Slightly Stoopid; 8pm, $12-15. Starr Hill Music Hall

Monday, October 10

Grrrls Night Out with Denice Franke
and Mary Ann Rossoni; 7pm, free. Gravity Lounge

Tuesday, October 11

Geoff Muldaur; 7pm, tickets TBA. Gravity Lounge

Matt Nathanson; 8pm, $10-12.
Starr Hill Music Hall

Lyrics Born and Pigeon John; 9pm, $12-15. Satellite Ballroom

Wednesday, October 12

The Strawbs; 7pm, tickets TBA.
Gravity Lounge

Thursday, October 13

Dave’s True Story; 7pm, $5. Gravity Lounge

Dierks Bentley; 7:30pm, $17-29.50. Charlottesville Pavilion

Railroad Earth; 8pm, $8-10. Starr Hill Music Hall

Friday, October 14

UVA’S University Programs Council
presents Jason Mraz; 8pm, $15-35. Charlottesville Pavilion

Cat Power and Spokane; 8pm, $12-15. Satellite Ballroom

The Biscuit Burners; 8pm, $10-12.
The Prism

Robert Jospe’s Inner Rhythm; 8pm, $10. Gravity Lounge

Lockjaw; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Saturday, October 15

Soul Sledge; 8pm, $5. Gravity Lounge

Raymond McLain and Mike Stevens; 8pm, $12-15. The Prism

Jay Pun and Morwenna Lasko; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, October 16

Adrienne Young and Little Sadie; 3pm, $7. Gravity Lounge

Nerissa and Katryna Nields; 7pm,
$10-15. Gravity Lounge

Sonya Lorelle; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Tuesday, October 18

Tuesday Evening Concert Series presents Sharon Isbin and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra; 8pm, $5-25.
Old Cabell Hall

Thursday, October 20

Jimmie Dale Gilmore; 7pm, $20-25. Gravity Lounge

Ensemble Galilei with Jean Redpath; 7:30pm, $10-17. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill; 8pm, $20-25. The Prism

Steve Kimock Band; 8pm, $15-18. Starr Hill Music Hall

Friday, October 21

Eddie From Ohio; 8pm, $16-18.
Starr Hill Music Hall

Dromedary; 8pm, $12-15. The Prism

Metanoia; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Monticello Road and Sparky’s Flaw; 9pm, $8-10. Satellite Ballroom

Saturday, October 22

David Grisman Quintet; 7pm, $25-35. The Paramount Theater

Scott Fore and David Doucet; 8pm, $12-15. The Prism

Pantops Trio; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, October 23

Jan Smith and Caroline Herring; 7pm, $8. Gravity Lounge

Lori Derr with the George Turner Trio; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Thursday, October 27

Chris Smither; 7pm, $15-20. Gravity Lounge

Yonder Mountain String Band; 7pm, $20-25. The Paramount Theater

Young Artists Night featuring The Wave; 7pm, $3. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Friday, October 28

Richelle Claiborne, Andy Waldeck and the C-villians; 8pm, $5. Gravity Lounge

Trashé Blues; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Atomic Halloween Party with Hillbilly Werewolf and Jimmy & the Teasers; 10pm, free. Atomic Burrito

Saturday, October 29

Rahim AlHaj; 8pm, $12-15. The Prism

Sweet Trouble; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, October 30

Nature Boys; 7pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Tuesday, November 1

Freakwater; 7pm, $10. Gravity Lounge

Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon; 8pm, $30. Starr Hill Music Hall

Wednesday, November 2

James McMurty and the Heartless Bastards; 7pm, $12. Gravity Lounge

Gogol Bordello; 8pm, $12-14. Starr Hill Music Hall

Friday, November 4

Clumsy Lovers; 8pm, tickets TBA. Gravity Lounge

Paddy Keenan; 8pm, tickets TBA.
The Prism

Johnnie and the Lowdowns; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Dougie MacLean; 7pm, $20-25.
Starr Hill Music Hall

Sunday, November 6

Brokedown Palace; 8pm, $3. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Doc Severinsen with the Richmond Symphony; 8pm, $46-52. The Paramount Theater

Monday, November 7

The Perceptionists featuring Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, and DJ Fakts One; 9pm, $12-15. Satellite Ballroom

Tuesday, November 8

Rockin’ Blues Revue with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers; 8pm, $33-39. The Paramount Theater

Tuesday Evening Concert Series
presents Rebel Baroque Ensemble & Deutsche Naturhorn Solisten; 8pm,
$5-25. Old Cabell Hall

Thursday, November 10

David LaMotte; 7pm, tickets TBA. Gravity Lounge

Pat Metheny Trio with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez; 8pm, $43-75. The Paramount Theater

Mofro; 8pm, $10-12. Starr Hill Music Hall

Friday, November 11

Acoustic Muse presents Billy Jonas; 7pm, $5-15. Gravity Lounge

Jawbone (Tony Trischka and Bruce Molsky); 8pm, tickets TBA. The Prism

The Orderlies; 8pm, $3. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Friday, November 11 &
Sunday, November 13

Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra presents Bernstein’s Candide Overture; Bartok’s Viola Concerto; Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem; 8pm (11/11) & 3:30pm (11/13), $11-22. Old Cabell Hall

Saturday, November 12

Laurie Lewis Band; 8pm, tickets TBA. The Prism

Foster’s Branch; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, November 13

The Kinsey Sicks’ “I Wanna Be a Republican”; 3pm, $20-35. Gravity Lounge

The Kinsey Sicks’ “Sickest of the Sicks”; 7pm, $20-35. Gravity Lounge

Crooked Road; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Monday, November 14

Galactic; 8pm, $20. Starr Hill Music Hall

Tuesday, November 15

Richard Shindell; 7pm, $15-20. Gravity Lounge

Wednesday, November 16

The Pink Floyd Experience; 8pm, $23-29. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, November 17

Vince Gill; 6:30 & 9:30pm, regular-priced tickets sold out; only patron
tickets available, $125. The Paramount Theater

Acoustic Muse presents Slaid Cleaves; 8pm, $12-15. Gravity Lounge

Friday, November 18

Sierra; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Saturday, November 19

Devon Sproule; 8pm, tickets TBA. Gravity Lounge

John Jorgenson Quintet; 8pm, tickets TBA. The Prism

2 Red Shoes; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, November 20

Lori Derr with the George Turner Trio; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Friday, November 25

The Moscow Boys Choir; 7:30pm,
$21-30. The Paramount Theater

Friday, December 2

Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra Family Holiday Concert (with the University Singers); 8pm, $11-22. Old Cabell Hall

Bluzonia; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver; 8pm, $23-29. The Paramount Theater

Acoustic Muse presents Catie Curtis; 8pm, $15-18. Gravity Lounge

Saturday, December 3

Virginia Consort’s “Christmas with the Consort”; 4 & 7pm, $15-20. First Presbyterian Church

The Wastrels; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, December 4

PVCC Chorus Holiday Concert; 3pm, free. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Christine Lavin; 7pm, $22-27. Gravity Lounge

Las Gitanas; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Friday, December 9

Sun Dried Opossum; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Saturday, December 10

Windham Hill’s Winter Solstice; 8pm, $27-33. The Paramount Theater

Long Slide; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, December 11

Charlottesville Municipal Band Holiday Concert; 3:30 & 7:30pm, free (tickets required). PVCC Dickinson Theater

High Ground Bluegrass; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Friday, December 16

Jerry Harmon; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Saturday, December 17

Sweet Trouble; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Sunday, December 18

Beleza Brasil; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Friday, December 30

Wayne Parham; 8pm, $5. Kokopelli’s Cafe

Saturday, December 31

Jesse Winchester, Paul Curreri, Devon Sproule and the Jay Pun and Morwenna Lasko Band; time and price TBA. Gravity Lounge

Monday, January 16

Gospel Choir of Harlem; 7:30pm,
$10-17. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Tuesday, January 24

Tuesday Evening Concert Series presents Renaud Capuçon and Gautier Capuçon; 8pm, $5-25. Old Cabell Hall

Monday, January 30

Riders in the Sky; 7:30pm, tickets TBA. Blackfriars Playhouse

Saturday, February 4-Sunday, February 5

Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra presents Tower’s Made in America; Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits; C.P.E. Bach’s Concerto in D minor; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7; 8pm (2/4) & 3:30pm (2/5), $11-22. Old Cabell Hall

Sunday, February 5

The Temptations; 8pm, sold out.
The Paramount Theater

Friday, February 10

Liz Story and Lisa Lynne; 8pm, $23-29. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, February 12

Sing! Sing! Sing!; 7pm, $27-33.
The Paramount Theater

Tuesday, February 14

CeCe Winans; 8pm, $36-42. The Paramount Theater

Tuesday, February 21

Tuesday Evening Concert Series presents Magdalena Kozená & Les Violons du Roy Chamber Orchestra; 8pm,
$5-25. Old Cabell Hall

Friday, February 24

Yo-Yo Ma with the Silk Road Ensemble; 8pm, regular tickets sold out, patron tickets still available, $250-500. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, March 2

Chick Corea & Touchstone; 8pm, $43-49. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, March 5

Virginia Consort‘s “Midwinter Masterworks” featuring Ravel’s Trois Chansons and Haydn’s Mass in Time of War; 3:30pm, $15-20; Cabell Hall Auditorium

Wednesday, March 8

The Fab Four; 8pm, $23-29. The Paramount Theater

Friday, March 17

The Polish Chamber Orchestra with Sir James Galway & Lady Jeanne Galway; 8pm, regular-priced tickets sold out; patron tickets available $150. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, March 18-Sunday, March 19

Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra presents John D’earth’s Blues for Orchestra; Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5; 8pm (3/18) & 3:30pm (3/19), $11-22. Old Cabell Hall

Tuesday, March 21

Tuesday Evening Concert Series presents St. Petersburg String Quartet; 8pm, $5-25. Old Cabell Hall

Saturday, March 25

Terri Allard; 8pm, $10-$15. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Tuesday, March 28

Soweto Gospel Choir; 8pm, $34-40. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, April 6-Sunday, April 9

Pierre Bensusan 2006 Residential Guitar Seminar, times and prices TBA. The Prism

Saturday, April 8

Jane Monheit; 8pm, $24-30. The Paramount Theater

Tuesday, April 12

Tuesday Evening Concert Series presents Sergey Schepkin; 8pm, $5-25. Old Cabell Hall

Saturday, April 22-Sunday, April 23

Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty; 8pm (4/22) & 3:30pm (4/23), $11-22. Old Cabell Hall

Tuesday, April 25

Charlottesville Municipal Band Spring Concert; 8pm, free. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Sunday, April 30

PVCC Chorus Spring Concert; 3pm, free, PVCC Dickinson Theater

Saturday, May 13

Virginia Consort’s “Spring Concert” featuring Mozart’s Sancta Maria and John Rutter’s Requiem; 7pm, $15-20. First Presbyterian Church

 

STAGE

Through Friday, November 25

Hamlet; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

Through Saturday, November 26

The Three Musketeers; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

All’s Well That Ends Well; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

Through Sunday, November 27

The Comedy of Errors; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

Tuesday, September 13

Second City Comedy National Touring Company; 7:30pm, $10-17. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Friday, September 16-Saturday, October 15

Noises Off; Live Arts DownStage

Sunday, September 18

Theatreworks USA Aesop’s Fables; 1 & 3pm, $5. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Wednesday, September 21-Thursday, September 29

DAH Theatre Research Centre’s Jadranka Andjelic Project of Serbia
residency; Live Arts

Saturday, September 24-Saturday, October 22

Rumpelstiltskin (puppet show); Old Michie Theatre

Friday, October 7-Saturday, October 15

Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe; New Lyric Theater. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Friday, October 7-Sunday, October 23

Lightly Seasoned; Four County Players. Barboursville Playhouse

Wednesday, October 12

The Bomb-itty of Errors; 8pm, $18-27. The Paramount Theater

Friday, October 14

The Berenstain Bears On Stage; 7:30pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Tuesday, October 18

Broadway—The Star-Spangled Celebration; 8pm, $40-49. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, November 3-Thursday, November 17

Cloud 9; UVA Drama Department. Helms Theatre

Friday, November 4

The Smothers Brothers; 8pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Friday, November 4-Wednesday, November 16

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf; UVA Drama Department. Culbreth Theatre

Friday, November 4-Sunday, December 4

Pinocchio; Old Michie Theatre

Saturday, November 5

Live Arts GALA; 6pm, $200 (reservations required; call 977-4177, x102). Live Arts DownStage

Saturday, November 5-Thursday, November 17

Call of the Wild; UVA Drama Department. Culbreth Theatre

Saturday, November 5-Saturday, December 10

The Country Mouse and the City Mouse (puppet show); Old Michie Theatre

Thursday, November 10-Sunday, November 20

Ayn Rand’s Night of January 16th; PVCC Drama. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Friday, November 11-Saturday, December 17

Having Our Say; Live Arts UpStage

Thursday, November 17

Paula Poundstone; 7:30pm, tickets TBA. Blackfriars Playhouse

Wednesday, November 30-Saturday, December 31

The Santaland Diaries; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

Friday, December 2-Sunday, December 18

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Four County Players. Barboursville Playhouse

Friday, December 9

Laughter Arts Festival; 8pm, $26-32. The Paramount Theater

Friday, December 9-Friday, December 30

A Christmas Carol; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

Tuesday, December 13

Troupe America, Inc. and Mainstage present A Christmas Carol; 7:30pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, December 17-Saturday,
December 24

The Elves and the Shoemaker (puppet show); Old Michie Theatre

Friday, January 13-Saturday, February 4

Macbeth; Live Arts DownStage

Friday, January 13-Sunday, January 29

The Greater Tuna; American Shakespeare Center. Blackfriars Playhouse

Saturday, January 14-Saturday, February 18

Rapunzel (puppet show); Old Michie Theatre

Saturday, January 21

The Flying Karamazov Brothers; 7:30pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Friday, January 27-Sunday, February 19

The Prince and the Pauper; Old Michie Theatre

Saturday, January 28

Helikon Opera presents Strauss’
Die Fledermaus; 8pm, $41-47.
The Paramount Theater

Saturday, February 4

Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co.; 7:30pm, $18-27. The Paramount Theater

Friday, February 10-Saturday, February 25

Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Live Arts UpStage

Wednesday, February 15-Sunday, February 19

PVCC Drama winter play; Maxwell Theatre

Thursday, February 16-Saturday, February 25

Truth and Beauty; UVA Drama Department. Culbreth Theatre

Saturday, February 18

Mame; 8pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Tuesday, February 28

The Prisoner of Second Avenue (featuring Hector Elizondo and JoBeth Williams); 8pm, $30-36. The Paramount Theater

Friday, March 3

Aquilla Theatre presents Hamlet; 7:30pm, $10-17. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Jekyll & Hyde—The Concert; 8pm, $43-49. The Paramount Theater

Friday, March 3-Saturday, March 25

Metamorphoses; Live Arts DownStage

Saturday, March 4-Saturday, April 1

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (puppet show); Old Michie Theatre

Friday, March 10-Sunday, April 2

Babes in Arms; Four County Players. Barboursville Playhouse

Saturday, March 18

The Trip to Bountiful; 8pm, $26-32. The Paramount Theater

Wednesday, March 22

Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka; 7:30pm, $15-24. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, March 23-Saturday, April 1

Luminosity; UVA Drama Department. Helms Theatre

Friday, March 24

Nobodies of Comedy; 8pm, $19-25. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, April 6

Opera Roanoke and the Roanoke Symphony present The Marriage of Figaro; 8pm, $39-45. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, April 8-Saturday, May 13

Puss In Boots (puppet show); Old Michie Theatre

Thursday, April 13-Sunday, April 23

Rupert Holmes’ Accomplice; PVCC Drama. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Thursday, April 20-Saturday, May 6

Our Lady of 121st Street; Live Arts DownStage

Friday, April 21-Saturday, April 29

The Spring Festival of One-Acts; UVA Drama Department. Culbreth Theatre

Saturday, April 21-Sunday, May 14

A Little Princess; Old Michie Theatre

Saturday, April 22

The World-Class Juggling of Mark Nizer; 7:30pm, $13-22. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, April 29

Bill Cosby; 5 & 8pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, May 4

Broadway Center Stage: Broadway Love Stories; 8pm, $23-29. The Paramount Theater

Friday, May 5-Sunday, May 21

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean; Four County Players. Barboursville Playhouse

Thursday, June 1-Saturday, June 17

All My Sons; Live Arts DownStage

Thursday, July 13-Saturday, August 5

Urinetown; Live Arts DownStage

Friday, July 21-Sunday, August 13

All’s Well That Ends Well; Four County Players. Barboursville Ruins

 

DANCE

Thursday, September 22

Dance Master Class: Flamenco Vivo with Carlota Santana; 6:30-8pm, $10. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Friday, September 23

Flamenco Vivo with Carlota Santana; 7:30pm, $10-17. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Wednesday, November 2

The Parsons Dance Company; 8pm, $32-41. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, December 1-Friday, December 2

PVCC Dance presents “Choice: Movement in the Moment”; 7:30pm, $5. PVCC Maxwell Theatre   

Saturday, January 28

Dance Master Class: Hawaiian Dance with Audrey “Aukele” Jung; 1:30-3:30pm, $10. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Wednesday, March 8

Richmond Ballet Youth Performance; 7:30pm, $5. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Thursday, March 9

Dance Master Class: Malcolm Burn, Ballet Master, Richmond Ballet; 3-4:30pm, $10. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Richmond Ballet; 7:30pm, $10-17. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Saturday, March 11

Russian National Ballet presents Swan Lake; 8pm, sold out. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, April 1

Dance Master Class: Modern dance with Doug Hamby; 1:30-3:30 pm, $10. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Tuesday, April 25

Miami City Ballet; 8pm, $36-250. The Paramount Theater

Friday, May 5-Saturday, May 6

PVCC Dance presents “A Celebration of Movement”; 7:30pm, $8-10. PVCC Dickinson Theater

Saturday, May 20

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange; 8pm, $21-30. The Paramount Theater

 

ART

Through September

“Graham Caldwell: Thin Lines and Solid Air”; Second Street Gallery Main Gallery

“Short Films by Kevin Everson”; Second Street Gallery Dové Gallery

“Truth be Told,” paintings by Lisa Beane; Les Yeux du Monde

Through October 2

Tim O’Kane (Main Gallery), Central Virginia Watercolor Guild (Lower Halls 1 & 2); McGuffey Art Center

Through October 17

“Insistent Absence: The Unacknowledged Influence of Ukiyo-e on Modern Japanese Prints”; UVA Art Museum Entrance Gallery

“The Power of the North: German, Dutch, and Flemish Old Master Prints”; UVA Art Museum Graphics Gallery

Through November 5

“Above and Beyond: Perspective in Aboriginal Art”; Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

Through November 23

“A Jeffersonian Ideal: Selections from the Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon, III Collection of American Fine and Decorative Arts”; UVA Art Museum Main Gallery

September 28-September 29

“Sankofa: African-American Museum on Wheels” with Angela Jennings; 7pm (9/28), 12:30pm (9/29), Free. PVCC

September 28-October 26

Works by Chica Tenney. PVCC Dickinson Building

October

“Casting a New Light”; Second Street Gallery

“Russ Warren: Forgive Us Not”; Les Yeux du Monde

Watercolors by Barbara Wachter; BozArt Gallery

Quilts by Rose Rushbrooke and paintings by Judith Towns; Sage Moon Gallery

October 1-October 30

“Advent: Work by Chica Tenney”; UVA Art Museum Foyer Gallery

October 4-October 30

Chica Tenney (Main Gallery), Jim Henry (Lower Hall 1), Lee Alter (Lower Hall 2), Children Youth and Family Services Fundraiser/Auction (Upper Halls 1 & 2); McGuffey Art Center

October 26-December 23

“Mi Cuerpo, Mi Pais: Cuban Art Today”; UVA Art Museum Entrance Gallery, Graphics Gallery

November

“Ju-Yeon Kim: Recent Paintings”; Second Street Gallery Main Gallery

“True Defenders of the Craft: Drawings by Warren Craghead”; Second Street Gallery Dové Gallery

“Katherine Porter & David Summers: An Uncommon Alliance”; Les Yeux du Monde

Tribute oil paintings by Vido Palta; BozArt Gallery

Oil paintings by Jennifer Young; Sage Moon Gallery

November 1-November 20

Ann Cheeks (Main Gallery), Julie Godine (Lower Hall 1), Steve Taylor (Lower Hall 2), Murray Whitehill (Upper Hall 1), Terese Verkerke (Upper Hall 2); McGuffey Art Center

November 2-November 30

PVCC Art Faculty Show; PVCC Dickinson Building

November 15-February 18

“Yilpinji: Love Magic and Ceremony”; Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

November 22-January 4

Holiday Group Show; McGuffey Art Center

December

“Gary Baseman: The God of Love and Other Works”; Second Street Gallery Main Gallery

“Lincoln Perry: Faeries and Rabbits”; also showing works by Cary Brown, She Fisher, William Mead and Christophe Vorlet; Les Yeux du Monde

Group Show; BozArt Gallery

Oil paintings by Andre Lucero; Sage Moon Gallery

December-January

“Interactions 2”; Second Street Gallery Dové Gallery

December 5-December 23

“Portraiture: Identity”; UVA Art Museum Main Gallery

Monday, December 12

C-VILLE Talks presents renowned photographer William Albert Allard, who shows photos from Bollywood, the Indian film industry; audience discussion to follow. 7pm, free. Live Arts DownStage

January

Oil paintings by Elliott Twery; Sage Moon Gallery

January-February

Donna Mintz and Celia Reisman; Les Yeux du Monde

January 3-January 29

Kathy Craig (Main Gallery), New Members Show (Lower Hall 1 & 2); McGuffey Art Center

January 14-February 26

“The Social Lens: Photography from the Graham Collection”; UVA Art Museum Entrance Gallery, Graphics Gallery

January 21-March 19

“Guardian of the Flame, Art of Sri Lanka”; UVA Art Museum Main Gallery

January 31-February 26

Rose Hill (Main Gallery), Figure Drawing Group (Lower Hall 1 & 2), Bob Anderson (Upper Hall 1), Ron Langman (Upper Hall 2); McGuffey Art Center

February

“Still: Paintings by Chris Scarborough and Stanley Taft”; Second Street Gallery Main Gallery

“Nora Sturges: Adventures with Marco Polo”; Second Street Gallery Dové Gallery

Oil paintings by Wantue Major; Sage Moon Gallery

February 28-April 2

McGuffey Alumni Show (Main Gallery), Chris McAndrew (Lower Hall 1), Grex Sykes (Lower Hall 2), “Charlottesville 2-D” (Upper Hall 1 & 2); McGuffey
Art Center

February 28-April 29

“Proof: Portraits from the Movement, 1978-2003”; Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

“Ancestor Spirits in Aboriginal Art”; Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

March-April

“Terra Incognita: Forty Years of Anne Slaughter, 1966-2006”; Second Street Gallery, Les Yeux du Monde

Trisha Orr; Les Yeux du Monde

March 8-April 22

“The Mutant Image: Photographs, Prints, and Drawings from the Collection”; UVA Art Museum Graphics Gallery

March 12-May 21

“A Soldier’s Life: Selections from the Charles J. Brown Soldier Trust”; UVA Art Museum Entrance Gallery

April 1-May 12

“Humanism and Enigma: The Art of Honore Sharrer”; UVA Art Museum Main Gallery

April 4-April 30

Robin Campo (Main Gallery), Kris Onuf (Lower Hall 1), Kelly Lonergan (Lower Hall 2), Sea Aviar (Upper Hall 1), Diane Siebels (Upper Hall 2); McGuffey Art Center

May

“Will May: Interrupt”; Second Street Gallery Main Gallery

“Manual: Video by Matthias Müller and Christoph Girardet”; Second Street Gallery Dové Gallery

John Borden Evans; Les Yeux du Monde

May 2-May 28

Robin Braun (Main Gallery), Blake Hurt (Lower Hall 1), Nancy Bass (Lower Hall 2), Fleming Lunsford and Susan Leschke (Upper Hall 1); McGuffey Art Center

May 9-August 19

“Mysterious Beauty: Edward L. Ruhe’s Vision of Aboriginal Art”; Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

June

Jan Aronson; Les Yeux du Monde

June-August

“Love Letter Invitational”; Second Street Gallery

 

FILM

Tuesday, September 20

Virginia Film Society presents the Manhattan Short Film Festival, featuring shorts from around the world; 7pm, $8, free to Film Society members. Vinegar Hill Theatre

Saturday, September 24

National Velvet; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

My Fair Lady; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, September 25

3-Iron; 7 & 9:30pm, $3. OFFScreen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater.

Wednesday, October 5

Virginia Film Society presents Darwin’s Nightmare; 7pm, $8, free to Film Society members. Vinegar Hill Theatre

Sunday, October 9

Mysterious Skin; 7 & 9:30pm, $3. OFF-Screen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater.

Saturday, October 15

Dial M For Murder; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, October 16

North By Northwest; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Young Rebels; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFF-Screen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Sunday, October 23

Brothers; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFFScreen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Thursday, October 27-Sunday, October 30

“IN/JUSTICE”: The 18th Annual Virginia Film Festival. Confirmed premieres include Nine Lives (featuring Glenn Close, Sissy Spacek and Holly Hunter) and Manderlay (featuring Danny Glover), plus screenings of Dirty Harry, To Kill a Mockingbird, Anatomy of a Murder and Inherit the Wind, and many more. Various venues including Culbreth Theatre, Regal Downtown Cinema 6 and more

Saturday, October 29

Virginia Film Society presents The Kid Brother, a silent film with live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton; 1pm, $8, free to Film Society members. Culbreth Theatre

Sunday, October 30

Nobody Knows; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFF-Scren Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Sunday, November 6

Kings and Queen; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFF- Screen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Tuesday, November 8

Virginia Film Society presents Unseen Cinema: Experimental Treasures from the World’s Leading Archives; 7pm, $8, free to Film Society members. Vinegar Hill Theatre

Saturday, November 12 & Sunday, November 13

Gone With The Wind; 7pm (Saturday), 2pm (Sunday), $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, November 13

Nights of Cabiria; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFF-Screen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Tuesday, November 15

Virginia Film Society presents The Talent Given Us; 7pm, $8, free to Film Society members. Vinegar Hill Theatre

Sunday, November 27

Juilette of the Spirits; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFFScreen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Sunday, December 4

I Am Cuba; 7 & 9:30pm, $3; OFFScreen Cinema, Newcomb Hall Theater

Tuesday, December 6

Virginia Film Society presents I Am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth; 7pm, $8, free to Film Society members. Vinegar Hill Theatre

Saturday, December 17

It’s a Wonderful Life; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, December 18

White Christmas; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, January 7

Woman of the Year; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, January 8

Top Hat; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, March 4

Rocky; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, March 5

The Magnificent Seven; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, April 1

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, April 2

Kiss Me Kate; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Thursday, April 13

The Ten Commandments; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Saturday, May 13

It Happened One Night; 7pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

Sunday, May 14

Sleepless in Seattle; 2pm, $4-6. The Paramount Theater

 

PAUL WALKER ON REBEL BAROQUE ENSEMBLE AND DEUTSCHE NATURHORN SOLISTEN

The emphasis in this concert is on the natural horn, which is not something you hear very often. What that means is that there are no valves: The players can only play certain notes, and they do that by lip. The sound is often associated with horn calls, like for hunting. It wasn’t until the late 18th century that valves were put on and people could play the entire chromatic scale.

   The most famous piece here is the first Brandenburg Concerto by Bach. Bach’s music is well known and often performed today. It’s head and shoulders above his contemporaries. His music is just at the limits of what a human being can do. Anybody who’s played or sung it can tell you that. But he himself could do it, so he wasn’t asking people to do something that he wasn’t prepared to do himself.

   A lot of the audience is also likely to know the first Brandenburg. The melody in the Handel Concerto in F Major also appears in the Water Music, and so people will recognize that as well. It may sound slightly different, but they’ll recognize it. And recognition often increases enjoyment for people.

Paul Walker is an associate professor of music at UVA, director of Zephyrus and director of the Early Music Ensemble. Rebel Baroque Orchestra performs Tuesday, November 8, as part of the Tuesday Evening Concert Series.

 

TERRI ALLARD ON VINCE GILL

When I think of Vince Gill I think about his gorgeous voice. His range is incredible. He can sing low and also these absolutely beautiful, pure high notes. He just has one of the most beautiful voices. He can kill a ballad. I’m always drawn to voices, but he’s also a great guitar player. I don’t think that the general public knows that. I think that he’s one of those guys who can play just about anything he puts his hands on.

   I like some of his earliest ballads. He had that hit, I think it was in ’89, “When I Call Your Name,” and the other ballad that he sang, “Never Knew Lonely.” I love both of those. I get goose bumps just talking about them. Beautiful, simple country ballads that he absolutely conquers.

   I think that he has written or co-written most of his hits. The other one that I like is “Liza Jane.” It kicks. It’s a song that grabs you, then takes you away. It’s fun. It’s up. It’s so catchy you’ll sing it all day after you hear it.

 

Terri Allard is an Albemarle County-based folk singer-songwriter. Gill performs Thursday, November 17, at The Paramount Theater.

 

MATTEUS FRANKOVICH ON GOGOL BORDELLO

If you asked me two years ago I would have said Gogol Bordello was turning people on to a lot of cultural freshness and turning them around from their 64-ounce American servicing. It’s cool that they’re not just Romanian guys playing punk music; they’re actually hearkening back to some tradition of the music. Like the 60-year-old violin player with some traditional nontraining training. They’re from New York, so that has the whole melting pot thing going on—a lot of different worlds colliding violently but gracefully together.

   Last time they came through town they added that whole reggae dub dancehall moment to it. Then there is the more classic driving yelling punk side to the songs. A little singy-songy traveling gypsy ballad side to them, too.

   The joie de vivre of Gogol Bordello? They’re lunatics. They’re driven. Eugene Hutz has that insuppressible thing. He can do it every night—drinking wildly and tearing his heart open and pouring it on people. They’ve got the drinking down to a well-paced science through the evening.

   In the midst of it I get off on the music in a shamanic trance-inducing way. You’re going crazy, your stomach muscles are cramped for two hours in a pit of sweaty bodies somehow unified and writhing like baby serpents.

   If you’re going to see them in Charlottesville, there’s such an enthusiastic response by everyone who is there you can tap into that. Looking around at the last show and seeing all these people I cross paths with on a regular basis and everybody was going on this kooky gypsy train. It was a great unifying moment for Charlottesville.

 

Matteus Frankovich is a proprietor of the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar and a science impressario. Gogol Bordello performs Wednesday, November 2, at Starr Hill Music Hall.

 

RUSSELL RICHARDS ON GARY BASEMAN

I had seen these very distinctive illustrations and art in magazines like Art Juxtapoz, but it wasn’t until recently that I placed a name to them. Some of my art appeared in Super-7 magazine, and in the same issue (No. 5) there was a big article about Gary Baseman, which was what really acquainted me with his work. This article described a variety of his creations, from the animated TV series “Teacher’s Pet” to vinyl toy designs like the Dunces and the Dumb Luck rabbit. Incidentally, I gave a copy of that magazine to Leah [Stoddard] at Second Street Gallery, which resulted in her contacting him, so I feel somewhat responsible for the show.

   Baseman’s artwork manages to be edgy and charming at the same time, and he successfully applies his recognizable style across a diversity of media—an ability that I certainly respect. As far as influence, I do feel akin to Baseman and other artists who have forged a unique personal iconography, but by definition that kind of imagery comes from within.

   His style is like a surrealist tableau of childlike devils, scary cats, autumn trees, ghosts, skeletons, naked women, dumb rabbits and menacing snowmen, rendered with a deceptively simple-looking technique. They’d be best appreciated by an art fan with a sense of humor.

 

Russell Richards is an artist and member of the McGuffey Art Center. “Gary Baseman: The God of Love and Other Works” shows at Second Street Gallery during the month of December.

 

 

JON-PHILLIP SHERIDAN ON WILL MAY

May has shown his photography at the McGuffey in the past, so many people are probably familiar with his old mode of working. He used to shoot with a large-format camera, and used film that would distort the tonality of the image to make the composition harsh or grey, which created a kind of Gothic aesthetic.

   Though rooted in his traditional themes, this show is a big departure from what May has done before. He has moved to a cleaner color photography, in which objects are focused and articulated. A maximalist by nature, May is drawn to the Baroque. But ultimately, May attempts to balance his dramatic maximalism by infusing his photography with contemporary elements of minimalism.

   Skeptical of the way that people interpret photography as reality, May tries to make his photos more like paintings and less like traditional photographs. Inter-rupting the image with digitally layered noise, May attempts to make his viewers active. By creating photographs that are also sculptural objects, May creates visual narratives that require an act of interpretation on the part of viewer. He believes that you can either make stuff to put in a living room or make stuff that challenges. May chooses to do the latter.

 

Jon-Phillip Sheridan is a local photographer. “Will May: Interrupt” shows at Second Street Gallery during the month of May.

 

RONDA HEWITT ON
WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Woman of the Year is a fantastic film for many reasons. Its film-history value comes from being the first time Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy teamed together on the big screen. Their chemistry was very palpable and they would later do, like, seven or eight films together. It also marked the beginning of their 25-year, real-life love affair.

   But the film as a piece of art is also extremely valuable. It was made during World War II and during that time movies tried to be a little less serious and a little more entertaining. But this film was unique because it dealt with domestic issues and dealt with them in a very progressive way.

   It’s about two journalists—played by Katharine and Spencer—who fight and feud as Katharine’s character tries to juggle a career and marriage. Every time she thinks she masters it, something happens and the audience ultimately realizes that she can’t in fact juggle both. One of the last scenes in the movie is of her trying to cook a very simple breakfast, and if I recall correctly, she can’t even work the toaster or the coffee machine or something like that. She just couldn’t do it.

   The film’s message may come across today as very sexist, but it was monumental for its time. And the bottom line is that there is this struggle for women even today. I think there’s still, for better or worse, this angst to try to match family with career. Women feel pressured to not let one area of their life be less fulfilled than another. So this struggle is almost instinctual.

 

Ronda Hewitt is a playwright and actress, and marketing director at Live Arts. Woman of the Year screens Saturday, January 7, at The Paramount Theater.

 

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
New site examines art censorship

Art inspires. It enlivens. And as the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression ably demonstrates on its newly unveiled Internet art tour, art can also enflame. This week the venerable First Amendment center, which is located in town, opens its virtual guided tour to art works that have ended up in court largely because of free expression disputes. With dozens of works vividly reproduced on the site, www.tjcenter.org/ArtOnTrial, backed up by legal summaries that, thankfully, are written in plain English, “Art on Trial” is a layman’s study guide to complicated terrain.

   “There is a lot of misperception about the legal limit of artistic expression and the First Amendment right of free speech,” says Josh Wheeler, the center’s associate director. Besides presenting information objectively and without jargon, the project has another goal: “to encourage people to examine their own views as to what should be [Constitutionally] protected,” as Wheeler says. “A picture truly is worth a thousand words when discussing censorship of the arts.”

   A tour through the site makes clear that sometimes art is censored as a byproduct of other laws that seem to have nothing to do with expression. In one case, restrictions on who can give tattoos, enacted in the name of public health, resulted in a censorship court case. Or how about the one where Mattel invoked trademark privileges to try to restrain a photographer who made a series that situated Barbie with a variety of household appliances? In that one, the court figured that the public didn’t need to be protected from any potential offense that Barbie, in a compromised position with a blender, might generate.

   Though there is no central theme to arts cases that land in front of a judge, Wheeler says that the works depicted in “Art on Trial” have something in common with the many other censorship cases that the TJ Center considers. “There’s often this paternalistic attitude involved in censoring the arts. People usually are advocating censoring the work in order to ‘protect’ somebody else. How often do you hear someone say that a work should be banned because ‘it’s harmful to me’?

   “That’s a disturbing trend when somebody else is making decisions for me about what I can or cannot see.”—Cathy Harding