When Italian architect Renzo Piano’s three-building expansion for the High Museum of Art opened in 2005, the project came with a handsome outdoor plaza better connecting the museum with the rest of the Woodruff Arts Center.
Woodruff and High leaders have always seen great potential in Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza as a Midtown civic gathering space, performance place and a front door to the arts center’s varied offerings. The possibilities have been suggested in scattered performances by groups including gloATL and Sonic Generator. The piazza was even turned into a pseudo French park, complete with cafe tables and large planters, the better to appreciate outdoor sculpture from the Louvre.
This summer, the High takes the largest step yet to try to tap the piazza's potential. In a public grand opening the evening of July 18, it unveils "Mi Casa, Your Casa," an interactive installation that will serve as the setting for a profusion of free activities and performances this summer and fall.
Created by Mexican designers Hector Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena, “Mi Casa” will feature a grid of 36 mobile, three-dimensional, open, 8-foot-by-8-foot-by-10.5-foot steel frames in the shape of houses, with four additional ones scattered around the Woodruff campus.
“We want to create a space that makes visitors proud of who they are and where they live, that allows them to feel a sense of belonging,” Esrawe said. “We want people to say, ‘This is my city, my home.’”
Hammocks, swings, easels, bins of chalk and buckets of bubble water, among other items, will offer daytime leisure and recreation options throughout the summer. The High and other Woodruff denizens (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Arts for Learning) also will utilize the installation for youth education, diversions during performance intermissions and more.
But the installation especially will be in the spotlight on Friday nights at 7 p.m. (and through events on Nov. 2) as part of the High’s new “Friday Night Lates” series. Then, the museum will present an array of performers and artists from Woodruff and Atlanta groups, including contemporary dance troupes CORE Performance Company and Wabi Sabi; French-language theater company Théâtre du Rêve; and WonderRoot, which will mount an art installation.
For a full schedule of the free events, go to artsculture.blog.ajc.com.
The opening weekend should set the tone. Here’s the schedule:
- July 18: 6 p.m., performances of traditional Mexican folk music and dancing orchestrated by the Instituto de México. From 8:30 to 10 p.m., gloATL will present the migrating performance piece "Choir B: A Physical Installation." Mexican food and drinks will be available for purchase throughout the evening.
- July 19: 9 a.m., morning yoga for adults and children; 10 a.m.-4 p.m., family art-making activities, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Instrument Petting Zoo and performances by Havana Son; 4-8:30 p.m., various performances, with Mexican drinks and food for purchase; 8:30-10 p.m., gloATL's "Choir B."
- July 20: noon-4 p.m., family art-making activities, ASO Instrument Petting Zoo and Havana Son performance.
The High will offer free admission for guests 17 and under on July 19 and 20 and parking discounts throughout the weekend. 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-4444, high.org.
MUSIC
Georgia Boy Choir England-bound
Thirty choristers from the Atlanta-based Georgia Boy Choir are heading to England on July 18 for a 16-day trip during which a highlight will be serving as the choir in residence for a week at London's St. Paul's Cathedral.
The first week of the trip, the choir will be based in the picturesque town of Ludlow in Shropshire, near the Welsh border. From this base, the singers will make day trips to give concerts or perform Evensong in Chester Cathedral, Dore Abbey, Shrewsbury Abbey, Hereford Cathedral and St. Laurence’s Church.
The following week, the choir performs duties at St. Paul’s that will include singing the daily service of Choral Evensong.
Along with the hard work will be fun diversions, too. The group will visit castles, play cricket, participate in an acting workshop at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and go punting on the river in Oxford.
Peachtree Road United Methodist Choir will be choir in residence at St. Paul’s the week immediately after Georgia Boy Choir’s residency. The adult choir departs Atlanta on Aug. 1.
Monaco choir making two free appearances
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Monaco Boys Choir (Les Petits Chanteurs de Monaco) will make a free stop at the Cathedral of Christ the King, 2699 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, at 7:30 p.m. July 17.
The choir will also participate in the celebration of the Mass at 5:30 p.m. July 19 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 353 Peachtree Center Ave. NE, Atlanta.
Founded in 1974 by Prince Rainier III, the touring group is part of the Monaco Cathedral Choir and is composed of singers from 8 to 18.
Its repertoire includes sacred musical works by Charpentier, Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Fauré and Franck; French and Monégasque folk songs; English language songs; and patriotic American songs. www.lespetitschanteurs.mc/en.
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