2010 SINGER SONGWRITER SERIES
Attend all 4 of the following concerts for $45 (with advance reservations).
3/20 Erin Mckeown
4/10 Graham Parker
4/24 Lynn Miles
5/15 Mark Erelli

"THE IRAQ PROJECT". Baby clothes hang from a clothesline, each little shirt, dress or cap covered with beautifully lettered names and quotations. These are part of a work in progress by Roxbury resident Jeanne Ellsworth, that will be on exhibit at the Old Bank Gallery of the Roxbury Arts Group.

The names on the infant clothes are the names of coalition war dead and quotes from their loved ones and those of Iraqi non-combatant war dead. The accumulative power of a careful viewing of this exhibit is at once meditative and profoundly sad.

BASQUIAT
Miramax Films, 1996, 108 mins, rated R for drug use and strong language.

Perhaps the first commercial feature film made by an artist about an artist, the film tells the story of Brooklyn-born Jean Michel Basquiat’s rise to fame and eventual destruction in the fast-paced New York City art world of the 80s. Beginning his career with grafitti art signed “Samo”, Basquiat was discovered and mentored by Andy Warhol, but success came at a price. Directed by Julian Schnabel, starring Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Gary Oldman, Parker Posey, Courtney Love, Benicio del Toro. The Roxbury Arts Center. $5.

Actor Jeffrey Wright, who portrays Basquit in this film, will be on hand for a Q&A session facilitated by Jonathan Starch.

IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL
The Mystery of Henry Derger
Wellspring Media, 2004, 81 mins, unrated

Henry Darger was a reclusive custodian in Chicago until shortly before his death in 1973 at the age of 81. His landlord found in his apartment what would prove to be a trove of some 15,000 drawings and paintings, many done in meticulous detail on both sides of long rolls of paper. This work, done in secret over 40 years, illustrated a fantastic epic whose heroines were the figures of half-naked girls traced from mail-order catalogs. This award-winning documentary tells the story of Darger’s sad life on the edge of insanity, and attempts to show how he produced a remarkable and unsettlingly beautiful body of work, much of it now housed at New York’s American Folk Art Museum. Directed by Jessica Yu. The Roxbury Arts Center. $5

Saturday, March 20, 7:30 pm
ERIN MCKEOWN

A multi-instrumentalist, Erin's music brims with bright piano, cathedral spire atmosphere and traces of carnival-noir pop. $15/$12 srs. The Roxbury Arts Center, Vega Mt. Rd., Roxbury.

Sunday, March 21, 2 PM
COMMUNITY ARTS FUNDING AWARDS
Showcasing the organizations and artists that have received grants through the NYS Council on the Arts Decentralization program for 2010. Great food & drink. Free
The Roxbury Arts Center.

HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY
Artisan Entertainment/Palm Pictures, 2004, 80 mins, unrated

Born in Michigan in the 40s, Ray Johnson went to school at the Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he met many of the artists and thinkers who would make up the “downtown art” scene in New York in the sixties. This artful documentary circles slowly backward from the winter day Johnson was found dead on a Hamptons beach and gradually reveals how his entire life became a kind of performance artwork: his beautiful and idiosyncratic collages, pieces of art and letters he mailed to strangers, phone calls he had with friends and patrons. What is revealed is a portrait of a ferociously eccentric mind. Director: John Walter, with Christo, Chuck Close, Judith Malina, and others. The Roxbury Arts Center. $5.

One of the most successful singer songwriters to emerge from England's pub rock scene of the early '70s. Known as a prickly character, Parker couldn’t be more engaging and humorous in a live context. $15/$12 srs. The Roxbury Arts Center.