All events (except 430 N. Cleveland events) at Crosstown Arts in Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 280
MUSIC
Kelvin Walters presents HOPE: The Fruit of Experience in The Green Room
Feb. 6, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us for a performance by the Kelvin Walters Quintet, featuring a mixture of covers, originals, and poems.
Tickets: $10
Music and poetry by Kelvin Walters, Jeremy Wright, and Keith McGee. Featuring Kelvin Walters, saxophone; Jeremy Wright, guitar; Nygel Yancey, drums; Kem Gray, bass; Keith McGee, poet; Kennan Shotwell, piano.
The Dopolarians in The Green Room
Feb. 7, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a special performance by jazz group The Dopolarians.
Tickets: $15
Doors at 7pm | Performance at 7:30pm
The Dopolarians is a collective of veteran avant-garde jazz musicians, including some of the legends of the genre. With the exception of bassist William Parker, the entire group hails from various points across the southern United States. The group formed in 2018 primarily around the friendship of pianist Chris
Parker and influential percussionist Alvin Fielder to record their debut record, Garden Party. Tragically, following the initial session that gave birth to the group, Alvin Fielder fell ill and passed away. Filling the drum chair now is one of Alvin’s beloved students, Chad Anderson of Mississippi. The Dopolarians performance will serve as both an album release celebration and a tribute to Alvin — friend, mentor, and giant among jazz percussionists.
The Dopoloarians are William Parker (bass), Kidd Jordan (tenor saxophone), Chris Parker (piano, Kelley Hurt (voice), Chad Fowler (alto saxophone and saxello), Chad Anderson (percussion), and special guest Marc Franklin (trumpet).
Folk All Y’all: An Evening with Snaps for Sinners
Feb. 8, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
This show is sponsored by Folk All Y’all patrons and presented in collaboration with Crosstown Arts.
Tickets: $20
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Snaps for Sinners is a sassy swing ensemble hellbent on making people dance and have a good time, while also delivering a powerful progressive message that inspires empathy and altruism. With influences ranging from traditional Jazz to Folk-Punk to Country, Snaps for Sinners is dedicated to creating an all-
inclusive experience through the blending of multicultural arts.
Modern Masters Jazz Series feat. Tim Lerch
Feb. 11, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Crosstown Arts presents The Modern Masters Jazz Series, a monthly series featuring jazz soloists from around the country. February’s performance will feature guitarist Tim Lerch in an unforgettable performance with the series
house band, The Ted Ludwig Trio.
Tickets: $20
Doors 7 pm | Performance at 7:30 pm
Jubu Smith in The Green Room
Feb. 12, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by Jubu Smith.
Jubu is the architect of modern R&B guitar. Beginning with his pioneering work in the 1990s with Tony! Toni! Tone!, Jubu’s limitless vocabulary of jazz distilled through the feel of blues, soul, and gospel music has set the standard for guitarists around the world. Jubu has also shared the stage and studio with
Whitney Houston, Raphael Saddiq, Brandy, Maze, Toni Braxton Luther Vandross, and Mary J Blige.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7pm | Show at 7:30pm
Will Kimbrough in The Green Room
Feb. 12, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by singer-songwriter Will Kimbrough.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7pm | Performance 7:30pm
These days, former Memphian Will Kimbrough zig-zags the world singing songs and playing guitars, often solo, but also in many other collaborations. Will Kimbrough’s guitar and multi-instrumental prowess makes him an in-demand producer and session musician. Some of his latest productions include Doug Seegers, Shemekia Copeland, Radney Foster, and Jimmy Buffett. During his years as a touring guitarist, Will toured with Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell,
Emmylou Harris, Mavis Staples, and Allen Toussaint, among other notable artists.
Will’s songs have been recorded by the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Todd Snider, Little Feat, Hard Working Americans, Jack Ingram, and many others throughout the years.
Unforgettable: An Evening with Kortland Whalum
Feb. 14, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a special Valentine’s Day performance by Kortland Whalum.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7 pm | Performance at 7:30 pm
Unforgettable: An Evening with Kortland Whalum gives music lovers a front row seat to singer Kortland Whalum’s “tribute to the love song.” Unforgettable showcases some of the most endearing romance songs of the last century, including songs from Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, and Ed Shereen, as well as Kortland’s original material. Expect to hear the languages of love translated through jazz, pop, and soul.
The Cutaway Acoustic Guitar Series: Calum Graham
Feb. 21, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Crosstown Arts presents The Cutaway Acoustic Guitar Series, a monthly concert series showcasing internationally acclaimed guitarists. This series is in partnership with the Little Rock-based Argenta Acoustic Music Series. February’s performance features Canadian fingerstyle guitarist Calum Graham in an intimate, solo performance.
Tickets: $20
Doors at 7pm | Performance 7:30pm
At only 26 years old, Calum Graham has already enjoyed a career that would be the envy of most artists twice his age. He was recently named one of the World’s Top 30 Guitarists under 30 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine. His signature playing style has enthralled millions of listeners on YouTube and Spotify, which has led to tours across America, Europe, and China.
Coalescent Saxophone Quartet in The Green Room
Feb. 22, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Crosstown Arts presents the Coalescent Quartet in a special performance in The Green Room. The program will feature varied works from composers Edvard Grieg, Fernande DeCruck, Zack Browning, and Memphis-based Dr. Evan Williams from the faculty of Rhodes College.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7 pm | Performance at 7:30 pm
Formed in 2016, the Coalescent Quartet explores the diverse saxophone quartet repertoire from traditional to contemporary works.
Streeter & The Tribe in The Green Room
Feb. 26, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by Streeter & The Tribe. Charles Streeter is a drummer, producer, composer, bassist, and keyboard player who has worked with such artists as Chaka Khan, The Jacksons, Jennifer Lopez, Stephanie Mills, and DW3. He’s currently on tour with Tori Kelly.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Gurf Morlix at The Green Room
Feb. 28, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Join us in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts for a performance by singer-songwriter Gurf Morlix.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7pm | Performance at 7:30pm
There was a time, and not that long ago in the grand scheme of things, when Gurf Morlix didn’t really think of himself as a songwriter. A guitar player, sure — armed from the get-go with the dead-aim chops and cool-handed confidence of a natural-born gunslinger. Later on, he took on the mantle of producer too,
parlaying his myriad strengths as an ace sideman into an equally lauded career helping a veritable who’s who of the most formidable poets in Americana find their “growl” and cut their deepest grooves on record. But songwriter? That handle took him a bit longer to fully embrace.
FILM
Shoot & Splice: More Sound Advice
Feb. 4, 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Crosstown Theater
Whether you are capturing audio on set, using foley, integrating sound effects and ADR, or getting that perfect score, every filmmaker knows audio is a key component for their craft.
Please welcome back to Shoot & Splice SCOTT BOMAR (Musician, Audio Engineer and Composer), KEVIN HOUSTON (Audio Engineer), DANIEL LYNN (Audio Engineer), and NATHAN REISMAN (Audio Production Sound Engineer) to walk through, from start to finish, every aspect of getting great sound on film.
Doors at 6:30 pm | Presentation at 7 pm
Shoot & Splice is a monthly filmmaking forum presented collaboratively by Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts.
Film Screening — Suppressed: The Fight to Vote
Feb. 6, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
430 N. Cleveland
A new film by Robert Greenwald Suppressed: The Fight to Vote is a new documentary by Robert Greenwald (director of Outfoxed, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price, and Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, & the NRA), weaves together personal stories from voters across the state of Georgia to paint an undeniable picture of voter suppression in the 2018 midterm election where Stacey Abrams fought to become the first Black female governor in the U.S. The issues Georgians faced included polling place closures, voter purges, missing
absentee ballots, extreme wait times and a host of voter ID issues – all of which disproportionately prevented many students and people of color from casting their ballots.
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote features experts, poll watchers and everyday Georgians speaking to the reality of voter suppression and the threat it poses in 2020. In a race that was ultimately decided by 54,723 votes, the film exposes how the basic constitutional right to vote to continues to be under siege in
America. If your vote wasn’t important, they wouldn’t try to suppress it.
Presented by Team Upstream, a social justice group from Church of the River, Memphis, TN. Team Upstream concentrates on voter registration, apathy, and suppression.
Refreshments at 6 pm | Film at 6:30 pm
Crosstown Arthouse presents Polyester
Feb. 6, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Crosstown Theater
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
In John Waters’ POLYESTER (JOHN WATERS/1981/86 minutes), Divine is a suburban housewife who turns to the bottle when life gets too hard. She has a husband who runs a porno theater and two lousy children with serious problems of their own. Teen pregnancy, murder, cocaine, booze, Edith Massey the egg lady as Cuddles Kovinsky!, Stiv Bators (RIP!). From the Dead Boys as Bo-Bo Belsinger, dogs dead by apparent suicide, macrame (the craft!), and TAB HUNTER AS TODD TOMORROW (!!), THIS MOVIE IS TOO GOOD TO MISS!! We are still unsure as to whether or not we will be able to present this film in its original format complete with Odorama, but we can assure viewers that there will be smells.
Crosstown Arthouse presents The Harder They Come
Feb. 12, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Crosstown Theater
WITH A PIECE IN HIS HAND, HE TAKES ON THE MAN! The epochal cultural moment that first brought reggae to the international stage, made Jimmy Cliff a star, and demonstrated how music can change the world. Fifty years on, THE HARDER THEY COME is still electric with the feeling of discovery. This SCARFACE-y blend of crime drama and musical tracks Cliff’s country-boy-in-search-of-fame through Jamaica under the guises of laborer, recording artist, convict, ganja dealer, and outlaw folk hero. Before THE HARDER THEY COME, the collective perception of a “foreign film” was limited to the Bergmans and
the Kurosawas of the world. This game-changer forever blew those doors off — and it still hasn’t lost drop of its cool, its edge, or its way of making you dance. — American Genre Film Archive — Perry Henzell/1972/109 minutes
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp at Crosstown Theater
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
Crosstown Arthouse presents Blue Collar
Feb. 20, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Crosstown Theater
BLUE COLLAR was Paul Schrader’s debut as a director, and making the movie reportedly literally drove him insane. BLUE COLLAR is a caper about three auto workers (Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto) who rob their union and unexpectedly uncover an illegal loan operation and ties to organized crime. BLUE COLLAR is about corruption, the impossible grind of the working class, powerlessness, and most definitely, the use of racial difference as a weapon by the oppressors against the oppressed.
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp at Crosstown Theater
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
Crosstown Arthouse presents Carmen Jones
Feb. 27, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Crosstown Theater
Directed by Otto Preminger and based on an Oscar Hammerstein musical, in turn based on the opera Carmen, CARMEN JONES tells the story of Carmen Jones , who works in a parachute factory in North Carolina during WWII. Carmen is arrested for fighting with a co-worker who reported her for arriving late for work. Foreman Sgt. Brown assigns young soldier Joe to deliver her to the authorities, much to the dismay of Joe’s fiancée Cindy Lou, who had agreed to marry him during his leave. Carmen Jones features a Saul Bass title sequence and Diahann Carroll (Dominique Deveraux in the hit television show Dynasty)!
The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.
Films begin at 7:30 pm sharp at Crosstown Theater
Tickets are $5 (at the door only)
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
Here Is Where We Meet: Dennis Congden & Susan Lichtman
Opening Feb. 28, 6-8 pm
On view: Feb. 29-April 19
Crosstown Arts West Gallery
New work by Dennis Congden and Susan Lichtman in the Crosstown Arts West Gallery.
About Dennis Congden:
Dennis Congdon holds a BFA in Painting from RISD and an MFA from Yale. In 1983, he won the Prix de Rome and became a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. He has taught painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Tyler School of Art and has been on the faculty at RISD
since 1984. In 2003, he received a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, and in 2010, he received RISD’s John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching. Congdon’s work has been exhibited widely. Since 2013, he has had three solo shows in New York City: CUE Foundation in 2013 (curated by Stanley Whitney,); Horton Gallery in 2014 ; and “Congeries” at Zieher Smith and Horton Gallery in 2015. In 2015, his large work “Hummocks” was included in the James and Audrey Foster Prize Exhibition at the ICA Boston (curated by kijidome).
About Susan Lichtman:
Susan Lichtman is a figurative painter of domestic spaces, working out of her home studio in southeastern Massachusetts. She is the Charles Bloom Professor of the Arts of Design at Brandeis University, where she has taught painting and drawing since 1980. Lichtman received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and an MFA in Painting from Yale University School of Art. A recipient of a 2018 fellowship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, she also has awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. She was the Frances Niederer Artist-in-Residence at Hollins University in 2017 and has been a visiting critic and lecturer at studio art programs throughout the U.S. and Europe. Lichtman has recently exhibited paintings at Steven Harvey Fine Arts Projects in New York, at Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, and the Wilson Museum of Hollins University in Roanoke, VA.
STUDIOS: Keiko Gonzalez
On view: Feb. 29-April 19
Crosstown Arts East Gallery
Painting, drawings, and digital drawings by Keiko Gonzalez in Crosstown Arts East Gallery.
About Keiko Gonzalez:
Keiko Gonzalez was born in Texas and raised in the U.S. and Bolivia. Keiko studied art in Texas and received an advanced degree and the Ralph Bunche Fellowship from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of Art. He has also traveled and studied in Europe. His intuitive practice has been honed for over
25 years on three continents. Although Keiko’s primary medium is paint, he is also at ease sculpting, drawing, and producing multimedia installations. He frequently collaborates with other artists and has taught out of his studio for
Keiko shows in Bolivia in La Paz, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Sucre and in cities all over South America.
He has represented Bolivia in biennials in La Paz, Venice, Sao Paulo, and Cairo, taking several First Place and Grand Prize awards. Keiko shows in Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Spain, and extensively in North America, including Panama City, Mexico City, Miami, Houston, Atlanta, New York, Memphis, and Toronto. Keiko’s work is exhibited regularly at art fairs and is included in several major museum collections in North and South America.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
Ezra Johnson: What Visions Burn
On view through Feb. 9, 2020
Crosstown Arts, Screening Room
New work by Tampa, Florida-based artist Ezra Johnson in the Screening Room.
Ezra Johnson was born in 1975 in Wenatchee Washington. His work moves between painting, sculpture and animation. Johnson has exhibited his work at The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas, The Hammer museum in Los Angeles, Site Santa Fe in New Mexico as well as having regular exhibitions
at prestigious galleries in the US and abroad. Mr. Johnson currently lives and works in Tampa, Fl.
Color Schemes: The Value of Intensity
On view through Feb. 9, 2020
Crosstown Arts, West Gallery
Group exhibition featuring artists whose use of color is a primary consideration in their work. Our senses are affected by the vibrations of color immediately and intrinsically. This exhibition will focus on the meaning, sensitivity, and passion that the intensity of color creates.
Featuring work by: Haelim Allen, Hannah Bevens, Justin Bowles, Amelia Briggs, Maysey Craddock, Hamlett Dobbins, Melissa Dunn, Wayne Edge, Beth Edwards, Dana Finimore, Lauren Fogg, Vanessa Gonzalez, Erin Harmon, Jamie Harmon, Sharon Havelka, Suzy Hendrix, Anthony Lee, Susan Maakestadt, Lester Merriweather, Lake Newton, Meredith Olinger, Valia Oliver, Eric Painter, Joel
Parsons, Alex Paulus, Juan Rojo, Kayla Selby, Joey Slaughter, Valerie Sparks, Roy Tamboli, Kirsten Williams, and Jon Woodhams.
Olaniyi R. Akindiya Akirash: Asiko — Moments
On view through Feb. 9, 2020
Crosstown Arts, East Gallery
Mixed media and sculpture by Crosstown Arts resident artist Olaniyi R. Akindiya Akirash. This exhibition looks deep into the immigration issues that plague our society.
ART EXHIBITION WORKSHOPS & DISCUSSIONS
Family Workshop: What’s Your Favorite Color?
Feb. 1, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Crosstown Arts East Atrium
Patrons will engage with work from Color Schemes: The Value of Intensity, on view in the West Gallery, before choosing a color to represent their current mood. Using colorful painted objects, participants will create their own still-life sculpture using their chosen color as the focal point of their arrangement. They will then use oil chalk and black paper to create a colorful still-life picture of their arrangement.
All supplies/materials provided. Free and open to the public (children under 12 must be with an adult) RSVP encouraged at joy@crosstownarts.org.
The Color Wheel Pop-Up Gallery
Feb. 6, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Crosstown Arts East Atrium
Students, ages 12-18, spent four weeks in the Color Wheel after-school workshop creating artwork inspired by Color Schemes: The Value of Intensity, on view in the Crosstown Arts West Gallery.
Come see their work on view in a pop-up gallery in the Crosstown Arts East Atrium. Free and open to the public.
CULINARY ARTS
No Meat Meetup Vegan Potluck
Sunday, Feb. 16, 3 pm
Cafe at Crosstown Arts
Join us at the cafe at Crosstown Arts for a vegan potluck. Bring a vegan dish to share, and mingle with like-minded folks.
This event is open to everyone — vegans, vegetarians, and the veg-curious, but please bring a dish prepared without meat, dairy, and eggs. There’s no set standard for how many people your dish should serve, but a dish that serves 8-10 people is a good bet.
The cafe is located in Suite 280 of Crosstown Concourse. Come up the red spiral staircase.
