Arts Council: The hub of cultural activity

The Oats Park Arts Center is the cultural hub of activity for the next two months, beginning with a concert next week and the annual Spring Film Series in February..

Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles perform at the Oats Park Arts Center’s Barkley Theatre on Jan. 25, the first show of the new year. The box office, Art Bar and galleries open at 7 p.m., with the performance beginning at 8 p.m. A post-performance question and answer with the artists is also planned.

Tickets are $17 for members, $20 for nonmembers. Tickets are available at Jeff’s Copy Express, ITT at Naval Air Station Fallon or call the Churchill Arts Center at 775-423-1440 or email info@churchillarts.org.

A free Conversation with the artist begins at 3 p.m., also at the Oats Park Arts Center.

Borges’s unbridled joy at making music two decades into a storied career comes through loud and clear in her latest long player, aptly titled Love’s Middle Name. Her third studio record with the Broken Singles is a muscular 10-song cycle that pulses with gritty, unfettered emotion.

Spring Film Series

American Beauty (1997), Friday, Feb. 7 – Written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, this film stars Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend, played by Mena Suvari.

Crash (2004), Friday, Feb. 14 – Produced, directed, and co-written by Paul Haggis, this film deals with racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. A self-described “passion piece” for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real-life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked in 1991 outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard.

Revolutionary Road (2008), Friday, Feb. 21 – This British-American film was written by Justin Haythe and based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. Set in 1955, it focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April Wheeler, self-assured Connecticut suburbanites who see themselves as very different from their neighbors in the Revolutionary Hill Estates.

Exhibits

The Arts Center opened two new exhibits in December, and a panel discussion and reception for both artists is slated for Feb. 1 from 5-7 p.m.

Austin Prtatt’s “A Gate, Wild Breathing: Painting Object and Image is currently showing at the E.L Wiegand Gallery. His website is www.austinjpratt.com.

Ahren Hertel’s “Match” connects to landscape through mimicry and abstraction. This exhibit in the Kirk Robertson Gallery. The artist’s website is www.ahrenhertelart.com.

Annual dinner and silent auction

And don’t forget, The Churchill Arts Council’s 34th annual fundraising dinner and silent auction on March 7 features a variety of artworks, vacation getaways and other eclectic items donated by local and regional artists and businesses.

The Oats Park Arts Center is located at 151 E. Park St. For information on the programs of the annual dinner and silent auction, call 775-423-1440 or email info@churchillarts.org.