News @ the Peck School of the Arts

MONTHLY PREVIEW - November@The Peck School of the Arts

Winter in Late Fall at UWM

By Russ Bickerstaff
Shepherd Express
October 28, 2010

There’s just so much white on UWM’s main stage. Sandra J. Strawn’s set is a big, gauzy winter affair with long, tattered white sheets. It may have been a bit cold last night, but the set made it feel substantially colder. I was there for UWM’s production of Marina Carr’s By The Bog of Cats. A loose, modern, Irish re-telling of the story of Medea, the show stars an electrifyingly earthy Ashley Sevedge as Hester—a discarded woman not ready to let go of the bog that she has grown-up in. Megan Watson (who evidently showed-up as Want in Milwaukee Rep’s Christmas Carol last year) puts in a charming and heartbreaking performance as Hester’s daughter Josie. There’s a very authentic mother/daughter dynamic between Watson and Sevedge that’s fun to watch for the most part. As expected from the ancient Greek bones the contemporary story rests upon, it’s a pretty dark ending.

UWM’s production of By The Bog of Cats runs through October 31st at the Peck School of the Arts’ Mainstage Theatre. A comprehensive review of the show runs in this week’s Shepherd-Express.

Art & Design students and faculty participate in Art of the Table at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Peck School Art & Design students enrolled in advanced Jewelry & Metalsmithing courses taught by Yevgeniya Kaganovich and Frankie Flood will participate in the Art of the Table exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Each student will exhibit one object from a two-piece set of corresponding objects/utensils/tools that will be completed during the semester. The work is an exploration of utensils, hybrids and tools that address the concepts of function, utility and usability.

Art of the Table is designed as an extension of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s current feature exhibition European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century.

LGBT’s film festival celebrates growth

The 23rd annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Film/Video Festival tended to large, diverse crowds at the Landmark Oriental Theatre and the UW-Milwaukee Union Theatre over the weekend.

“It seemed great, the audience seemed really responsive,” said Carl Bogner, director of the festival.

During its first year the LGBT Film/Video Festival was held in one small multi-purpose room on the UWM campus. Since then, the festival has proceeded to reach outwards to the community with screenings at multiple locations over the course of several days.

This year, the festival has established a new condensed format that will continue over the course of the year with screenings of LGBT films each month.

Visit the UWM Post to read the full article.

Review: Chamber music weekend, with pianos

By Michael Barndt
Third Coast Digest
October 26, 2010

When are two pianos better than one? There are few professional piano duos on the concert circuit, so the case is not often made.

Fred and Marina Beretta Hammond

Given the coordination required, married couples and sister acts may have an edge. Fred Hammond and Marina Berretta-Hammond (known professionally as The Hammond Piano Duo) teach and raise a family together in the Young Pianists Program at Indiana University. On Friday, they honored their Latin heritage with a concert at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Recital Hall, featuring 20th Century Latin American and United States repertory.

WEEKLY PREVIEW - Oct 22-28@The Peck School of the Arts

Milwaukee LGBT Film Festival: Florent

By Arthur Ircink
Wisconsin Foodie
October 22, 2010

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is bringing its 23rd set of free-thinking LGBT films to the always-impressive Oriental Theatre and UWM’s Union Theatre Oct. 21-24. Florent: Queen of the Meat Market (2010), a documentary that brings to life the flurry of civil rights activism and flamboyant antics surrounding Florent, New York’s famous diner/community center.

Wisconsin Foodie host Kyle Cherek shares his perspective on the legendary New York diner, Florent...

Go to Wisconsin Foodie to read the full article.

LGBT festival opens with party of a film

By Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
October 21, 2010

If you haven't heard of the Topp Twins, it's not too late to join the party.

It is a party - make no mistake - and they are the life of it. The singers, satirists, cowgirls, activists and lesbians are not one of us, they are all of us.

And the only reason you may not have heard of them is that they are from New Zealand, where they and the characters they play are iconic.

"Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls," the joyous and life-affirming documentary about them, is the opening-night film at the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell Ave. Tickets are $15, $10 for students and seniors, and are available at the box office.

University Artists Get Their Due

Spotlight on Tom Loeser at Villa Terrace, scholarship/fellowship students at UWM

Shepherd Express
October 21, 2010

Wisconsin´s art community greatly benefits from the excellent programs and fellowship opportunities at state university campuses. In the coming weeks, two significant exhibitions provide a chance to admire a nationally recognized faculty member from UW- Madison and scholarship and fellowship students from UW-Milwaukee...

...On UW-Milwaukee’s campus, scholarship and fellowship recipients from the past year will participate in the annual “Crossing Over” exhibition at the UWM Union Art Gallery. Students from UWM’s Peck School of the Arts will present a variety of styles and subject materials in this collection of up-and-coming artists. An opening reception on Friday, Oct. 22, from 5-7 p.m., along with a special showing for the UWM Open House on Oct. 29-30, applauds artists and scholarship philanthropists...

Go to the Shepherd Express to read the full article.

New Direction for LGBT Film/Video Festival

Yearly celebration turns to monthly offerings

By Jamie Lee Rake
Shepherd Express
October 21, 2010

Lovers of noncommercial cinema dealing with LGBT themes can rejoice. This week's 23rd annual Milwaukee LGBTFilm/Video Festival marks a new start, as the yearly fete becomes a monthly event.

The festival's turn intoless intensive, more frequent monthlyscreenings doesn't meanthe usual, longer visual feasthas been scrapped.What has become one of the nation's longest-running LGBT celebrations continues Thursday, Oct. 21, through Sunday, Oct.24, with all but one screening atthe UWM Union Theatre (2200 E.Kenwood Blvd.).

The festival kicks off elsewhere on the East Sideas theOriental Theatre (2230 N. Farwell Ave.) hosts the fest's opening salvo. And a cheery opening it is, as thedocumentary Topp Twins: Untouchable Girlschronicles theriseof two New Zealand sisters who have become major TV comedy stars in their country while simultaneously involving themselves in sociopolitical causes such asthe fight for LGBT rights, the struggles of the nation's indigenous Maori people and the effort to keep New Zealand a nukes-free zone.

Go to the Shepherd Express to read the full article.