We will be presenting New Work, a group exhibition March 13 - April 24. Among the artists presented in this exhibition are: Dianne Bennett, Luis Bermudez, Christina Carroll, Magie Smith-Fleisher, Richard Flores, Pam Guhrs-Carr, Lucy Madeline, Terry Martin, Dena Palser, Robert Rheem, Xavier Montes, Marilyn Richeda, Joan Rosenberg-Dent, Francis Scorzelli, Carroll Simpson, and Nina de Creeft Ward.

On Saturday, March 27th at 7 pm, we will be presenting a solo performance by Laura Meyer, a NYC-based folk-rock artist who has performed at hundreds of venues ranging from a tiny spirit store nestled amid medieval ruins north of Dublin to the main stage at the renowned Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Her new CD, Miles From Nowhere, is a collection of twenty songs inspired by 40,000 miles of touring that explores a driving, electric sound in addition to the standout finger-style playing for which she has become known.

- David Byrne, Pop Making Sense
 
"Elegant singing and playing... a brilliant guitarist... a poetic lyricism that not many new people have."
- Steve Traina, WSCB Cleveland, OH 
 
"...Tough-minded vocals, insightful lyrics and gritty guitar."- Michael Swanger, Des Moines Cityview
 
"These songs are country roads, rich with story and movement."
- Dan D'Ippolito, Jezebel Music
  
 
The amalgam of Gwyneth Moreland's "tangible gentleness" and Michael Monko's old-timey grunge creates a captivating performance that is sure to rouse the weary. Gwyneth Moreland's passionate vocals and lyrics are soulful and steadfast. Michael Monko, having mastered the nuances of "edgy" in his previous career as heavy rock bassist, has seamlessly woven the fervency of grunge-rock into the more folk-based tunes of Gwyneth Moreland. Michael accompanies Gwyneth's voice and rhythm guitar with a variety of instruments including mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar and fiddle. 

Watch video of Gwyneth Moreland and Michael Monko performing "Hole in My Sky"

Tabla Ecstasy & Won Joung Jin

Friday, April 2, 2010
Zalk Theater
7:30 pm

Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door
To purchase advance tickets, call the Center at 805-646-3381
or e-mail artcenter@beatricewood.com

On April 2, we are pleased to present Tabla Ecstasy & Won Joung Jin at the Zalk Theater. A soulful and mature ensemble, Tabla Ecstasy is an enthralling display of Indian drumming, created by Tabla Guru Pandit Divyang Vakil.  This unique tabla anekbandhi (group) showcases the power of classical tabla in a form that can be appreciated by all listeners.  Pleasing to the ear and technically rich, Tabla Ecstasy is highly intricate composition performed by four artists of Pandit Divyang Vakil - Rushi Vakil, Nishant Mehta, Kaumil Shah and Sahil Pael, with accompaniment on harmonium by Loren Oppenheimer. The artists have performed as soloists and members of Pandit Divyang Vakil's tabla ensembles all over India, as well as in Belgium, France, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong.

A native of South Korea, Won Joung Jin has spent over 10 years in India undertaking training in not one, but two of India's classical art forms - Kathak as a student of Shreemati Shubha Desai, and tabla as a disciple of Tabla Guru Pandit Divyang Vakil.   Working with leading Kathak choreographers, including Shreemati Kumudini Lakhia, Shreemati Saswati Sen and Maulik Shah, Jin has performed all over India in festivals such as the Delhi Shrinagar Dance Festival, the Jaipur Udayshankar Festival and the Kolkata Dance Festival amongst others.  As a soloist, she has performed in major cities of Canada, Europe and Korea.   

Infusing her own creativity into her performance, Jin is a strong, yet graceful dancer.  With her deep understanding of dance and rhythm, she presents the various shades of Kathak and effectively communicates the beauty of the dance form even to those who are new to the art. 

"I have always had 'a certain affinity' to nature and to animals.  Over the last few years I have been lucky to work with the Channel Islands Docent groups and with local wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organizations.  This has allowed me to not only rehabilitate and release, but to work with and train animals for educational outreach programs into the community.  These animals who will now spend their lives as education ambassadors for their species are the subject of my current work.  For various reasons, they cannot be released into the wild and graciously, sometimes stoically, and occasionally with humor spend their days tolerating our attention while they bring the "idea" of wildlife to a population who has forgotten them. I hope that my images of these animals that I have come to know very intimately will portray some of their majesty as images captured of truly wild animals are able to do.  I hope to also give them the sense of timelessness they so richly deserve through my approach and traditional technique." 

Please join us for the Opening Reception
on Saturday, April 3, 2010
2 - 5 pm

"Have you ever stood on a cliff above the ocean, or floated in a boat in the middle of a lake and felt that you were undeniably part of the vital breath of the water?  This is what painting does for me.  I begin a piece by choosing intense colors and mixing them to abstract attraction.  Then images appear and I bring them into focus, often animals.  My recent work is an exploration of vibrant turquoises, blues, ochres, and birds flying and floating through these."