Shut Up and Write! is Thursdays at Alice’s
“Shut up and write!” takes the writing experience from solitary to social. Sponsored by 49 Writers, writers are invited to work on writing projects in a social setting with other writers from 7-9 p.m. Thursdays upstairs at Alice’s Champagne Palace.
“No critiquing, exercises, lectures, ego, competition or feeling guilty,” writer and organizer Christina Whiting said. “Just a place to show up, shut up and work on your writing projects in the company of other writers.”
The weekly event is free and open to writers of all experience, with no registration required. For more information, contact Whiting at 435-7969.
Cabin Fever Pop-Up Film Screening is Friday
The Anchorage Museum and Bunnell Street Arts Center present a rare cinematic opportunity with “A Spell,” a 90-minute film by Ben Russell and Ben Rivers, shown at 8 p.m. Friday at Bunnell. “A Spell” follows an unnamed character through three seemingly disparate moments in his life. With little explanation, we join him in the midst of a 15-person collective on a small Estonian island, in isolation in the majestic wilderness of Northern Finland, and during a concert as the singer and guitarist of a black metal band in Norway. Marked by loneliness, ecstatic beauty and an optimism of the darkest sort, “A Spell” proposes the existence of utopia in the present.
Starring artist/musician Robert AA Lowe (best known for his live performances under the name Lichens) in the lead role, “A Spell” is decribed as being “somewhere between fiction and nonfiction, at once a document of experience and an experience itself, an inquiry into transcendence that sees the cinema as a site for transformation.” Admission is $5 for Bunnell members, $7 general admission. For a preview, visit vimeo.com/32750656.
Backcountry Film Fest is Feb. 11
The 11th annual Backcountry Film Festival returns to the Homer Theatre at 7 p.m. Feb. 11. The festival includes nine short film celebrating the human-powered outdoor experience. Sponsored by the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club and the Alaska Quiet Rights Coalition, admission is $10 at the door. Door prizes include a chance to win a Black Diamond ski package.
Ernestine Hayes does book talk on Feb. 19
As part of Alaska Reads, Ernestine Hayes, author of “Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir,” does an author’s talk and reading at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Homer Public Library. She also does a writer’s craft workshop from 11 a.m-2 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Kachemak Bay Campus.
“Blonde Indian” is presented by Alaska Reads as a statewide sharing of Hayes’ book in 16 Alaska communities. Copies are available at the Homer Public Library. “Blonde Indian,” starts with Hayes’ childhood in Juneau and follows her through a variety of difficult experiences that invite consideration of emotional, psychological and moral questions. Blended into the factual narrative are fictional elements as well, making for a complex structure.
For more information on Alaska Reads, visit alaskacenterforthebook.org/alaska-reads-2016.
Salmonfest announces initial lineup
Salmonfest, the annual celebration of salmon and music, has announced its initial lineup of headline acts for the festival held Aug. 5-7 at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik. Performing are Trampled by Turtles, The Brothers Comatose, Michal Menert, the Young Dubliners and Dead Winter Carpenters. More acts will be announced over the next months. Early discount “Salmonfest or Bust!” are on sale now through Feb. 29. The special offers group discounts of $104.95 each to people buying four, 3-day passes at a time. To purchase tickets online, visit salmonfestalaska.org.
Artists invited to submit exhibit proposals
for the Anchorage Museum
The Anchorage Museum is accepting submissions until March 10 for project proposals for solo and group exhibitions. The Anchorage Museum’s Patricia B. Wolf Solo Exhibition Series supports the work and development of Alaska artists, highlighting new bodies of work by individual artists. Alaska artists are invited to submit applications to a selection committee comprised of museum staff and art professionals. These solo art exhibitions will be scheduled starting in 2017. The Anchorage Museum is currently accepting proposals from Alaska residents and all tribally enrolled Alaska Natives. Works in all media will be considered.
The Anchorage Museum also is accepting curatorial and group proposals featuring more than one artist. These proposals will be brought before the museum’s Exhibition Review Committee for consideration. Applicants for group and curatorial proposals do not need to be from Alaska, but successful proposals will support the museum’s mission to connect people, expand perspectives and encourage global dialogue about the North and its distinct environment.
The Anchorage Museum encourages artists to develop new works for these opportunities. Interested artists can learn more and apply for both opportunities at callforentry.org and www.anchoragemuseum.org/about-us/artist-opportunities. For more information, please contact, Angela Demma, von der Heydt Curator, ademma@anchoragemuseum.org.
