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(Photo courtesy Dan Vreach)

April, in addition to being tax season and schizophrenic with the weather, is National Poetry Month. Callanwolde Fine Arts Center is celebrating the art of spoken words Wed., APRIL 9, with a POETRY READING in the conservatory from award-winning poet Turner Cassity, and local poet and editor of Atlanta Review Dan Veach (right). Don’t expect elitist, inaccessible poetry, though. Some of Veach’s humorous, insightful poems are titled “In Honor of Roaches” and “Wear and Tear, the Poet to his Underwear.” $3-$5. Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road. 404-872-5338. www.callanwolde.org.

Calling all starving artists: Idea Capital wants to help you. Due to the lack of funding from government and private organizations, Idea Capital (a work-in-progress movement started by several local art patrons) will grant an Atlanta artist a $500 grant to “encourage an experimental and investigative art project.” All genres are invited to apply: literary, visual, dance, performance, music, critical writing, film, video and new media.

This isn’t the only such grass-roots grant for artists. A similar organization, Cadre Art, was started by photographer Carla Williams in California. Artists all over the country can donate to and apply for various grants at Cadre to help foster art projects.

But back to Idea Capital. Its purpose is simple, according to its press release:

We seek to foster a new tone of experimentation and support in the Atlanta art world, as well as encourage a larger framework of support … The grant is to encourage experimentation and investigation with funds designed to give artists permission to pursue new ideas. We want to foster our community and support innovative work…We are interested in new ideas, new artists and supporting emerging and established artists.

Any artists 18 and older in the metropolitan Atlanta area are encouraged to apply. Submissions must be postmarked Fri., May 9, 2008 and the winner will be notified June 2.

Continue to the next page for submission guidelines.

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(Courtesy Emory University Photography)

Alice Walker, author, poet and Pulitzer Prize winner of The Color Purple, comes to Emory University on Tuesday, March 25, to read from her large collection of works.

In December 2007, Walker placed her archive — journals, letters to and from editors, and early drafts of her work — at Emory University. Here’s what Rudolph Byrd, professor of American studies at Emory and founding member of the Alice Walker Literary Society, has to say about the collection:

A national treasure, the Walker archive contains more than 50 years of thinking and writing by Alice Walker, who is a canonical figure in American and African American letters…the papers give you a sense of the process for creating fiction, creating poetry.

The public reading takes place at 6 p.m. at Emory University’s Glenn Memorial Auditorium, 1652 N. Decatur Road. But don’t bring your Alice Walker favorites, hoping for a John Hancock. There will not be a book signing following the event.

Tickets went on sale Monday, and cost $10 for the public and $5 for Emory faculty, students and staff. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Arts at Emory box office, by phone at 404-727-5050, or online at www.arts.emory.edu. An extra $3.50 will be charged for phone and Internet purchases.

(Courtesy Macy’s & Pepsi)

Saturday afternoon, some of Atlanta’s top African-American designers will showcase their new spring styles in a fashion show held at the Mall at Stonecrest. But this fashion show is more than just pretty faces sporting glamorous new threads—it celebrates the recently launched catchthedesigners.com, an online community embracing diversity in designing. The website features a behind-the-scenes look at black, Asian and Latino designers’ influences, and the influence that these diverse designers have in today’s fashion scene.

The website was created by Macy’s, who is also sponsoring Saturday’s event. Jean Brooks Murphy, the corporate special events manager at Macy’s, says:

“These talented designers have impacted, and continue to impact, our styles and the industry. From conservative office wear to statement setting wedding dresses and every casual occasion you can imagine, these designers have an outfit created to match. It’s a unique event when we can gather this type of talent together, and enable our customers to get to know the people behind the talent.”

Some of the designers featured include Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records and the new men’s line Russell Simmons Argyle Culture, Gentleman Jim McFarland, master tailor, and Therez Fleetwood, bridal designer.

The show starts at 4:30 p.m. and includes a discussion from the designers. It will be followed by a postshow live blog (hosted by Russell Simmons) at 6 p.m. The Mall at Stonecrest is located at 2929 Turner Hill Road, Lithonia. 770-482-4634.

(Courtesy Sideways Contemporary Dance)

Douglas Scott has been planning this weekend for almost a year. The founder and curator of the 14th annual Modern Dance Festival, Scott began plans for this year’s festival almost immediately after last year’s performance ended. But he isn’t the only one who’s been looking ahead. Dancers around the city have been practicing and polishing their pieces for months in preparation for the festival.

The Modern Atlanta Dance Festival is sponsored by the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and Full Radius Dance, a dance company comprised of dancers with and without disabilities, where Scott is the artistic/executive director. The shows on Saturday and Sunday (March 1-2) feature performances from some of the literal movers and shakers in the Atlanta modern dance scene — both individual artists and companies.

“It is a great introduction to modern dance and the local dance scene. You get to see seven different dance works by seven different choreographers. I guarantee that you’ll find something in the program that inspires you, makes you think, or creates wonder for you on a personal level,” Scott says.

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I’ve been a part of some minor filmmaking projects in my day — mostly documentaries of road trips that we only remembered to film when we were in the car and there was nothing to see but miles of endless highway in front of us. Or there was the time some friends and I made a music video to “The Circle of Life,” complete with a choreographed dance and re-creation of Simba on Pride Rock, but that’s just downright embarrassing.

But there really are people who are good at this stuff, and I’m not talking about people who went to film school or work in the industry. Filmmaking as a hobby is fascinating to me because, while any home movie I’ve starred in has been a joke, others can create amazing works of art with a little bit of time and a camcorder.

All that said, I will not be competing in Rapid i Movement, a film festival competition in which contestants are given 50 hours to write, direct, shoot and edit a six-minute film. I do, however, strongly encourage those übercreative, MacBook-wielding types to go for it! Because in addition to bragging rights, the winners receive a spot in (and passes to) the Atlanta Film Festival.

Teams and individuals can sign up to participate until 10 p.m. Wed., Feb. 27, and the actual filming takes place between Fri., Feb. 29, and Sun., March 2.

If sitting back and watching is more your kind of thing, the date you want to remember is Tues., March 4, because that’s when the films will be screened. You’ll even get a chance to win door prizes and vote on favorites. Click here to buy tickets.

Films will be shown March 4 at 7:30 p.m. at IMAGE, located at 535 Means St., Suite C (inside Atlanta Contemporary Art Center).

This weekend only, character masks from the stage production of Disney’s The Lion King are on exhibit at the High Museum. Take your kids (or just yourselves, if you happen to be a die-hard Lion King fan) to see masks for Simba, Nala, Scar and Mufasa. The exhibit (starting today and running through Sunday) is a sneak-peak preview of The Lion King’s return to Atlanta April 3-May 4 at the Atlanta Civic Center.

If that isn’t enough to be excited about, the High is having a Target Free Family Fun Day Sunday (Feb. 24) from noon-5 p.m. It’s “an educational and adventurous day of myths, music and masquerade,” which means there will be crafts, scavenger hunts, music, dancing, African stories and live characters. Click here for a schedule of events.

This post is dedicated to observant readers who saw this week’s Speakeasy with Chandler Burr and wondered how he was going to appear at the Decatur Library on Friday, February 21, seeing as how February 21 is actually today. And today is Thursday. So kudos to anyone who picked up on our mistake. And just to clear things up, yes, Chandler Burr, New York Times scent critic and author of several books, is coming to the Decatur Library TONIGHT (Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008) at 7:15 p.m. He’ll be discussing his latest book The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York.

The Perfect Scent is a really incredible book. I don’t wear perfume, nor have I ever particularly cared about it before now, but Burr makes the creation of fragrances come alive with his rich language of scents and down-to-earth descriptions of complex processes. It’s definitely worth reading, especially because it makes you appreciate the artistic value of not only perfume, but also a well-crafted story. Click here to hear a podcast interview with Burr, including a reading from The Perfect Scent.

In a world where a large majority of school funding goes to sports (I’m speaking particularly about my old high school, where a brand new stadium complete with artificial turf is currently under construction), it’s refreshing to hear about a program that gives back to the arts. Woodruff Salutes Georgia Arts in Education Leaders honors teachers, schools, community leaders, volunteers and arts administrators who influence and aid the arts experience for students in Pre-K to 12th grade. More than 60 arts educators from all over Georgia were nominated, and four were chosen as the 2007 honorees. They were given $1,000 to be donated to the arts organization of their choice.

Today, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Woodruff Arts Center, the honorees will attend a special Making the Arts Work in Education Symposium for a panel discussion and awards presentation. Other art educators or supporters are invited to learn about the honorees’ programs and achievements.

The Woodruff Arts Center is located at 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. (404) 815-6674.

McSweeney’s (the publishing house founded by Dave Eggers responsible for multiple literary publications and books) is on tour this winter.

Here’s why this tour is like other book tours:

• McSweeney’s is promoting a new book.
  A few months ago, John Brandon was delivering windshields and working at a Frito-Lay factory while writing his first novel, Arkansas. Now he’s on tour, promoting his dark, witty story about two down-on-their-luck guys who trade in their pasts for a ticket to wealth and excitement as a part of the Southern drug trade.
• Other literary big-wigs will be at the events, too.
  McSweeney’s publisher, Eli Horowitz, is spreading the word about the new book, and Found magazine creator Davy Rothbart is along for the ride. Local editor Jamie Allen of the Duck & Herring Co. will also make an appearance.

Here’s why this tour is like a circus:

• The will be a fire/sword eater. Seriously. An 18-year-old will swallow fire and/or swords. Enough said.

Everything is going down at Aurora Coffee at Criminal Records (466 Moreland Ave.) on Friday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m.