Catching a movie at the drive-in theater seems as obsolete as taking a photo with a disposable camera, but Moreland Avenue’s Starlight Drive-In has outlasted Blockbuster and seems unfazed by Netflix. Primarily a night-time attraction, the outdoor theater’s acres of asphalt double as the site for a swap meet every Saturday from 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
Everything from shoes to vegetables are sold at the swap meet, but over the next several weeks Atlanta Contemporary Art Center will be stationed there, not to sell anything, but to exhibit a piece of artwork selected by Atlanta Contemporary curator Daniel Fuller in a special project called “Once You’ve Seen One Shopping Center You’ve Seen A Mall.”
“There is a real range in the art that we will be showing — painting, sculpture, drawing and photography,” Fuller said. “The criteria for the work that I asked for from the artists is that it stokes the fire of conversation — work that engages people and interests them enough to chat with us.”
Participating artists include Dena Yago, Jane Fox Hipple, Stephen Collier, Elizabeth Atterbury and Anthony Campuzano. The project began Nov. 14 and continues Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, 12 and 19. In addition to talking about the art each week, Fuller will buy one small object at the swap meet to sell at the art center’s shop.
“Our hope is to expose more people to contemporary art, whether this happens within Atlanta Contemporary, at a swap meet or the aquarium,” Fuller said. “Taking the work beyond our doors gives us a chance to demystify art.”
Starlight Drive-In Theatre, 2000 Moreland Avenue SE, Atlanta, 30316. Admission 25 cents. atlantacontemporary.org.
Ballethnic sets Tchaikovsky on Auburn Avenue
Atlanta’s Ballethnic Dance Company presents the first Nutcracker of the season with its annual production of “Urban Nutcracker,” an adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet created by company co-founder Waverly T. Lucas II. Lucas and his wife, Nena Gilreath.
Set on Atlanta’s historic Sweet Auburn Avenue in the 1940’s, “Urban Nutcracker” casts whimsical characters such as Reggae Ragdolls, the bubbly Coca Cola Pas de Six and the elegant Brown Sugar and her Chocolatier in Tchaikovsky’s score. Lucas’ choreography showcases Ballethnic’s signature style, blending classical ballet with jazz, modern, African and other ethnic dance. This year, the company presents the production for the first time at Riverside EpiCenter, in Austell, Nov. 19-22.
To close out Ballethnic’s 25th anniversary, the company will present “Urban Nutcracker Wonderland Act II,” an abridged production at Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center Dec. 19-20.
Riverside EpiCenter, 135 Riverside Parkway, Austell. Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center, 3181 Rainbow Drive, Decatur. $30-$52. ballethnic.org
Gathering Wild presents ‘Yard Work / House Work’
Gathering Wild contemporary dance company turns the grounds of Callanwolde Fine Arts Center into a living stage with “Yard Work / House Work,” a production that will have audiences traversing the mansion and grounds animated by dancers, musicians and visual artists for two performances, 6:30 and 8 p.m., Nov. 20.
Under the direction of company founder Jerylann Warner, the company will perform with Corian Ellisor and Alexandre Proia of Proia Dance Project..
“I have strewn together several of my realities regarding work — one is the way I have the greatest ideas while I am doing things like house cleaning or walking my dogs,” Warner said about the piece. “Another is my life-long orientation toward awakening the self, that ordinary life is our shot at knowing ourselves. Life is the teacher.”
Music will be provided by percussionist Colin Agnew and cellist Nicolette Emanuel. The evening also includes “Yard Sale,” a retail gallery featuring photography, paintings and jewelry created by local artists, including Larry Holland, who is behind the “Tiny Doors” initiative.
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road NE, Atlanta. $15. www.gatheringwild.org
HISTORY
9 black women subject of Emory exhibit
Nine African-American women intellectuals are the subjects of two exhibitions of archive materials at Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library through Feb. 28, 2016.
“Pearl Cleage: A Time for Reflection” features play advertisements, early drafts of written materials and a novel cover, among other items, from the Atlanta playwright and novelist.
“Revealing Her Story: Documenting African American Women Intellectuals” contains photographs, flyers, newspaper clippings and programs that chronicle the lives and careers of Delilah Jackson, Samella S. Lewis, Almena Lomax, May Miller, Undine Smith Moore, Geneva Southall, Mildred Thompson and Sarah E. Wright.
Amber L. Moore, a project archivist at Emory’s Rose Library, along with four graduate students, processed more than 270 boxes of materials over the course of two years with funding from a National Historical Publication and Records Commission grant.
“This project has been such a transformative and empowering experience for me,” Moore said. “I’ve seen the ups and downs, struggles, triumphs, growth and accomplishments of other women of color through their own eyes. They are just like me. I have the remarkable job and responsibility to make sure that others have the same chance to be inspired.”
Robert W. Woodruff Library, 540 Asbury Circle, Atlanta. Free. web.library.emory.edu
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