A Walk Connecting the Visual and Performing Arts
Spring is here and that was evident this weekend with terrific weather starting with Friday pushing the 70 Degree mark, making for a perfect First Friday Art Walk evening. Portland was out and about enjoying the beautiful gallery shows and lively street performers along the art walk streets. Portland Ovations and Ovations Offstage were also out and about this past Friday contributing to the experience by providing “art happenings” at two crowd favorites along the art walk path. Our “art happenings” were in connection with the upcoming performance of Phil Kline’s John the Revelator at Merrill Auditorium on May 15th, featuring Portland’s own Municipal organist Ray Cornils and the perfection that is the Portland String Quartet. We provided the latter at two distinctly different venues where environment framed the works played by Portland String Quartet and altered the performances accordingly.
We kicked off the art walk by bringing the Portland String Quartet to the June Fitzpatrick Gallery on High Street, a sleek, clean, quiet and intimate gallery where Ms. Fitzpatrick provided champagne, strawberries and other delicious hors d’oeuvres to the guests filling her space to see the latest art and artist featured, whom we learned finds inspiration in music. This seemed the perfect setting for the Portland String Quartet, everything lined up as one would imagine an art gallery hosting two violins, a viola and a cello would, a white walled, bright, intimate space with champagne, strawberries and a quiet crowd consisting of some top Portland personalities from the world of classical music. The quartet brought us through four pieces from American composers and Mozart giving us a description of what we were about to experience and why they chose the pieces. The works played were not from the upcoming performance of John the Revelator, as they did not want to give any of it away but instead made the connection to John the Revelator with the theme of Americana, while providing a sampling of their masterful techniques and performance prowess. After every work the crowd applauded and the gallery mood was set. It was a beautiful and fun start to a Portland’s First Friday Art Walk evening.
In contrast to the start of the evening and the first “art happening” Portland Ovations and Ovations Offstage moved Portland String Quartet over to SPACE Gallery, a much different venue in both size, feel and atmosphere. The crowds were buzzing through Space Gallery, talking and laughing with one another, enjoying the art shown on its walls and buying beer at the bar (Your beer selection even included PBR). As I arrived the string quartet was already on the SPACE Gallery stage with a contemporary colorful blue and reddish backdrop behind them. You heard the familiar buzz as you walked through the doors but venturing deeper into the large open space you slowly became aware of the delicate music being played. This time the quartet did not provide background on the pieces but played each one with a minor pause in between, creating a continuous performance enjoyed by a diverse crowd that erupted with applause and appreciation after each work was gracefully played in a space decidedly different than the initial setting. However, it worked and was clearly enjoyed as much if not more by an un-expecting crowd that was pleased to have that familiar contrast found so often during the First Friday Art Walk and the visual art displayed at each gallery along its route.
This evening highlighted Portland Ovations core values of believing that cultural enrichment should be accessible to all, to provide quality live performances and educational experiences, to engage our community with integrity and compassion, to collaborate with other arts organizations, nonprofits, education systems and the business sector to promote cultural enrichment and lifelong learning, and celebrate the power and virtuosity of the performing arts.
Were you at this past First Friday Art Walk? Did you see or experience our “art happenings” with Portland String Quartet? Have you attended a Portland Ovations Offstage lecture, “happening” or performance? Let us know your thoughts and what your experience was like.
If you missed the “art happenings” you can watch some clips on our YouTube Channel.
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