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Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
~ Thomas Merton
Our First Adventure to Cabots
The first Wrightwood Arts Center “Arts Adventure” took place on Sunday, March 3rd. A dozen Wrightwoodians carpooled to Desert Hot Springs for a private tour of Cabot’s Pueblo Museum and lunch at the historic Two Bunch Palms afterwards.
Cabot’s Pueblo Museum is a historic house museum located in Desert Hot Springs, California. A large, Hopi-style pueblo, built in the Pueblo Revival Style, it contains artworks, artifacts of American Indian and Alaska Native cultures, and memorabilia of early desert homesteader life.
After the museum tour and a friendly lunch, an unplanned stop at a Desert X art installation (Ghost Palm, pictured left) topped off a fascinating and fun day.
“It was really nice to share the day with some of Wrightwood’s fellow art lovers,” said Lynn Crawford, the WAC Arts Adventure Chairperson.
“It was interesting to learn the history of Desert Hot Springs and the man, Y. Cabot, who built the pueblo,” said Rose Burcher. “His life and business exploits were fun and quite amazing. It should be noted this is not a Native American pueblo, but it was fun and worthwhile to explore.”
Adventure tours are a regular feature of the Wrightwood Arts Center, which plans on organizing several trips to art-related destinations around Southern California each year. The next trip will be to the Maloof House in Alta Loma, California, June 8th. For more information, visit our adventures page.
Annual Membership Meeting & Mixer
The first WAC Annual Membership Meeting is coming up at 4 p.m. Monday, April 8th, and will be immediately followed by a social mixer. All members are welcome to attend, and don’t hesitate to bring a friend interested in getting to know other members of the Wrightwood community who are interested in art!
We’re excited to have two guest speakers join us for the meeting: Nancy DeDiemar and Steve Thomas of Ontario Arts & Culture. In the Fall of 2014, volunteers and downtown arts and culture stakeholders partnered with the Ontario City Council to launch a strategic planning initiative which highlighted existing arts and culture programs and brought new programs to the Downtown Euclid Avenue District. Today, the City of Ontario oversees the city’s cultural planning, advocates for the arts, promotes arts learning and supports the development of cultural activities and creative collaboration with the community, including a successful festival every September.
Nancy and Steve will discuss their experience in developing the arts organization, whose goals align so well with ours at the WAC. Come meet them with us!
This Month’s Events
Wine & Watercolors with Gayle Dowling
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
(WW Arts Center, 6020 Park Drive #5)
Every 1st Saturday, including April 6th, Gayle Dowling hosts a Wine and Watercolors class at the Wrightwood Arts Center. The $35 fee at the door includes all materials, wine, and fun!
Wrightwood Arts Center Membership Meeting
4:00 p.m. (Start)
(WW Arts Center, 6020 Park Drive #5)
All members are welcome to attend our quarterly meeting. The guest speakers will be Nancy DeDiemar and Steve Thomas of the Ontario Arts Festival. They’ll talk about their experience in forging a public-private partnership between CCMA and the City of Ontario to provide access to arts and cultural activities within the city, with emphasis on the inaugural 2018 Ontario Festival of the Arts. A reception and mixer with light food and drink will follow at 5:30 p.m.
Creative Writing for Teens and Adults Begins
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
(Wrightwood Arts Center, 6020 Park Drive #5)
In this eight-week course, students will read craft essays and look at and explore the various shapes and forms of personal narrative. The class will teach different techniques from hybrid experimental work, braided narrative, to the fashionable lyric essay. We will discuss overarching issues such as memory and truth as well as techniques such as perspective, transitions, and the use of sensory detail. For more information, and to register, visit KeyboardArt.com.
Auditions for Mamma Mia!
10:00 a.m. (start)
(Studio K Dance Center, 11327 Oasis Rd, Pinon Hills)
Auditions for the Snowline Player’s performance of Mamma Mia! will be held at Studio K Dance Center. Call backs at director’s request on Sunday the 14th. All roles are open! Please prepare 32 bars of a song from a contemporary musical. Bring a backing track of your music on either a CD, phone, tablet, etc. There will not be a piano and accompanist available for this audition. Dress comfortably in case you are asked to stay and dance! Show dates are August 9 – 11 and 16 – 18 at Serrano High School in Phelan. Rehearsal schedule and character breakdowns can be found at snowlineplayers.org.
Rattle’s Poetry Minifest
10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
(WW Arts Center & WW Community Center, 1275 Highway 2)
As a preview for the annual Wrightwood Literary Festival (September 28th & 29th), the monthly Rattle Reading Series at the Flintridge Bookstore is moving up to mountains for a special event featuring two poets from the spring issue of Rattle magazine. Award-winning poets Jim Gustafson of Florida and Jennifer Perrine of Oregon are traveling to Wrightwood for this event. Each of them will teach a poetry workshop in the morning (free, but RSVP required), and give a poetry reading in the afternoon. For more information visit rattle.com.
Wrightwood’s Got Talent Show
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
(WW Community Center, 1275 Highway 2)
The first annual Wrightwood’s Got Talent Show will hold its preliminary round following the poetry minifest. Open to all local K-12 grade students, contestants will perform and become pared with coaches to prepare them for the final September 8th event. The coaches will be local musicians and artists. Catagories: Music/Art/Dance/ Other. To apply (free), visit wrightwoodblues.org. Tickets: $20 for adults, $8 for children (under 16). Pay cash/credit at the door, or prior at ticketleap.com.
Easter Egg Hunt
Time TBA
(Holis M. Stewart Park on Pine St.)
On Easter Sunday, community children are invited to bring their baskets to the Holis M. Stewart Park to join the search for colorful eggs containing sweet treats and other prizes. Search areas are separated so all ages up to 12 can enjoy the fun! A pancake breakfast will be served by The Lions Club. The start time has not yet been announced, but visit wrightwoodchamber.org for more information!
Snowline Player’s Children’s Theater Presents: Annie, Jr.
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
(WW Community Center, 1275 Highway 2)
Local children perform the musical Annie Jr. in the first of five performances at the Wrightwood Community Center. Other dates: April 28, May 2, May 4, and May 5. For more information, visit snowlineplayers.org.
Wrightwood Classical Concert Series Spring Concert
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
(United Methodist Church, 1543 Barbara Street)
Featuring pianists Jason Stoll and Jeremiah Gonzales. $20 pre-order, $25 at the door, $5 discount 65+ and students. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit www.keyboardart.com.
Looking Ahead
A Taste of Wrightwood
11:00 a.m. (start)
(Wrightwood Village, Park Drive)
The month of May is clear, but June kicks off with this popular annual event. A map guided tour of the village gives attendees a taste “of the hidden treasures” that are participating merchants offer, paired with interactive art demonstrations and tasty treats to try along the way. The warmer weather guarantees clear skies an an enjoyable day among the pines.
Adventure to the Maloof House
10:00 a.m. (start)
(5131 Carnelian St, Alta Loma, CA)
Join WAC for another adventure tour to the Maloof House in Alta Loma, CA. Sam Maloof is acknowledged as one of the finest woodworkers of our time. As a leader of the California modern arts movement, he designed and produced furniture infused with profound artistic vision for more than half a century until his death in 2009. The WAC has arranged for a private Legacy Tour at 10:00 am on June 8 that includes the house tour, a step inside the woodworking shop, and visits to the woodworkers’ finish showroom and the wood storage (1-1/2 hours). We have also allowed time to visit the gardens and the Jacobs Education Center. For more information and to register, visit our adventures page.
Poem of the Month
ABUNDANCE
by Amy Schmidt
in memory of Mary Oliver
It’s impossible to be lonely
when you’re zesting an orange.
Scrape the soft rind once
and the whole room
fills with fruit.
Look around: you have
more than enough.
Always have.
You just didn’t notice
until now.
—from Rattle.com
It’s good to have you in town promoting culture, Wrigtwood Arts Center. Your newsletter is attractive and contains a variety of upcoming art-related events. I’m cheered by your efforts.
Thank you Fran!
I really like the poem- “loneliness recovery!”
I love this, I knew when I moved to the city it was the right move.