1) The B-52’s play Mable House Barnes Amphitheater.
2) Eyedrum drums up support with its Benefit Art Auction.
3) Jonathan Kane plays 529.
4) In the Loop opens at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.
5) Mos Def performs at the Tabernacle.
(Photo by Joseph Cultice)
Like many organizations — make that non-profit organizations … er, make that, non-profit, avant-garde, experimental, alterna-wacky organizations, Eyedrum is hurting through the current economic downturn. For the first time in 10 years of continous operation on the proverbial shoestring, the fabled multi-media arts venue has begun missing rent payments.
What to do? Well, the all-volunteer Eydrum board and supporters have put together a benefit art auction this Friday. More than 100 local artists — including Kojo Griffin, Lilian Blades, Angus Galloway, Eric Mack, Marcia Cohen, Mario Schambon and Nancy Floyd — have donated works to be sold to shore up Eyedrum’s bottom line. The event is free for members and $10 for others.
Still want to help? Next month, SoPo Bikes‘ Rachael Spiewak is helping put together a 24-hour dance-a-thon(!) to benefit Eyedrum. The dancing begins Sat., Sept. 26, at Eyedrum and lasts, well, about 24 hours, give or take. Music will be provided by the Atlanta Sedition Orchestra, Pleasure Cruise and Strezo, as well as DJ Gnosis and a whole passel of fellow disc-spinners.
As the late, great Billy Mays once said, But wait — that’s not all! The entertainment and activities will also include aerialists, burlesque dancers, a kissing booth, a silent auction, a bicycle scavenger hunt and a midnight booty shake contest. Admission ranges from $5-$10, depending on when you arrive (the later you arrive, the less you pay), or FREE with the purchase of an Eyedrum membership. See you there.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
1) Reel Big Fish plays the Masquerade.
2) Eyedrum hosts Steamboat Bill Jr.
3) Cultural Pilgrimage opens at Art House Gallery.
4) Comedian Jim Norton performs at the Punchline.
5) Mama’s Mustache plays Lenny’s Bar.
(Photo by Kevin Knight)
Eyedrum, the city’s longest-running alternative art and music space, is facing possible closure and asking for help.
From Eyedrum:
Facing a heavy rent burden and ever-increasing operating expenses, Eyedrum’s board of directors held an emergency meeting Sunday, July 11, to consider the survival of the longtime art and music organization.
The options are few. They include a significant decrease in rent, bringing on other Atlanta-based arts organizations to sublet part of the 6,0000-square-foot space, a move to a smaller space, or an end to the award-winning venue altogether.
…
The board plans to attempt a negotiation with its landlord, Braden Fellman, later this week, and will reconvene no later than July 26 to discuss any developments on rent reduction, and to consider proposals from other arts organizations. Arts organizations and investors who are interested in partnering with Eyedrum should contact Vice Chairman Allen Welty Green at agmedia(at)mindspring(dot)com.
Any donations received through Eyedrum’s website (www.eyedrum.org) will be directed toward operating expenses. And while such donations are greatly appreciated, the urgency and severity of Eyedrum’s financial burden cannot be overstated. Without a hefty reduction in overhead costs, a major move – physically or in terms of the organization’s identity – is unavoidable.
Full release here (PDF). We’ve got a call in with Robert Cheatham, Eyedrum’s executive director. We’ll update when we hear word.
1) Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson perform at Chastain Park Amphitheatre.
2) Murray Browne discusses The Book Shopper at Opal Gallery.
3) Vegan Coke and Scarab play Eyedrum.
4) G2: Transformations continues at Swan Coach House.
5) The Earl Smith Strand Theatre hosts Triple Feature Indie Night.
Spurred by a Wonderroot initiative, on June 28 Atlanta artists gathered at Eyedrum to create more than a hundred art signs to be placed at 108 Beltline locations.
Check out more photos of the sign-making process and the requisite posting of the art signs all around Atlanta.
(Photo by Naomi Prindiville)
All day Sunday, a small cadre of local artists and arts lovers gathered at Eyedrum to kick off the first phase of a grassroots project to add a touch of art to the Beltline — and to make more people aware of where it is.
The project, which has been months in the making, involves creating more than 100 artful signs to designate where the 22-mile smart-growth project crosses public streets.
Angel Poventud, one of the project’s co-organizers, says WonderRoot staff spent $400 on wood on Saturday night. The next day, artists brought whatever materials they had — oils, pastels, even house paint — and got to work.
“It’s hard to believe you can pull off a project like this for less than a grand,” Poventud says. “But it’s all about the passion. And it’s here.”
The group plans to install the signs along the project sometime this week. After the jump, more photos from the event.
1) Atlanta Opera’s The Flying Dutchman continues at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
2) Fleetwood Mac performs at Philips Arena.
3) Decatur Library hosts Georgia Debut Author Night Part 2.
4) Tera Melos play Eyedrum.
5) Desert Jewels continues at Atlanta College of Art Gallery.
(Photo by Carol Rosegg)
LoneWood Theatre Unit stages the caustic two-man drama Chinese Coffee through Sep. 3 at the back room of Eyedrum Art Gallery, which seems like the play’s ideal habitat. Playwright Ira Lewis presents the lives of two desperate, money-grubbing artists in Greenwich Village, so it it practically begs for a Bohemian locale. Eyedrum’s gravel driveway and folding chairs seem far more appropriate for the play’s seedy setting than, say, such plush venues as the Alliance Theatre or Theatrical Outfit’s Balzer Theatre.
For that matter, a steel cage would be appropriate, too, because Chinese Coffee presents a kind of mano-a-mano grudge match with rules along the lines of “Two men, enter, one man leaves.” The play unfolds as an after-midnight confrontation between Jake (Patrick Wood), a theatrical photographer and would-be writer, and Harry (Steven Westdahl), a published but struggling novelist. The equivalent of the opening bell rings when Harry pounds on Jake’s door, demanding to know if the older man has the money he owes Harry, and whether he’s read the manuscript for Harry’s latest novel.
1) Dr. Cornel West and Wynton Marsalis discuss art and the Civil Rights Era at Creatively Speaking, part of the National Black Arts Festival.
2) Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery hosts Irama Dance and Music Show.
3) Unplugged in the Park continues with Sonia Leigh at Park Tavern.
4) Foreigner and Bryan Adams perform at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.
5) Jazz Around Town features Kathleen Bertrand at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
(Photo courtesy National Black Arts Festival)
