Tonight. Budding artists and critics now have another place to gather besides the coffee
shop. Local students worked closely with the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art to
develop The Studio Project, a forum for high school students to discuss contemporary art
and issues like technology, film and music. Tonight’s the Project’s first “BMoCA Happening,” where visitors can screen-print a T-shirt, make edible art or just listen to local musicians
and poets. 7-10 p.m., Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St.; 303-443-2122.
For more information, visit . Free.
Saturday. It’s almost a cliché to imagine a painter in his studio, skillfully adding a stroke to canvas as Pachelbel’s Canon plays softly in the background. In reality, it’s probably a rare occurrence, says Boulder- based painter Nyla Witmore.
“A lot of artists have to have complete silence,” says Witmore, “but not me.” Witmore often paints with music playing, a longtime habit that will become part of a performance with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday.
“Visual Fusion,” the first concert of the Philharmonic’s 50th-anniversary season, features Witmore painting while the orchestra plays Strauss’s “Tod und Verklärung” – “a duet,” as Witmore puts it.
“(The orchestra’s) not background music,” she says. “I’m actually trying to interpret how I feel and what the orchestra is doing.”
Though she’s been rehearsing with the Philharmonic since February, Witmore says the piece she creates Saturday will be its own unique piece. “I didn’t want to do overkill,” says Witmore of practicing. “It’s not going to be a canned thing. It’ll be a spontaneous response, more intuitive.”
Audience members will be able to watch Witmore paint on a large screen, making every seat a good seat, she says. “I’m hoping it’ll be a participative experience for the audience, that they’ll be drawn into that moment of creation.”
The concert also features the world premiere of a new arrangement of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Boulder local Michael Allen.
Plus: Before the concert, music scholar and author Don Campbell and Philharmonic music director Michael Butterman will present a free lecture, titled “The Conscious Listener.”
Get your brain warmed up for the performance at 6:30 p.m. in Macky Auditorium. Free lecture at 6:30 p.m.; concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Macky Auditorium, Pleasant Street and Macky Drive. For tickets and more information, call the Boulder Philharmonic at 303-449-1343 or visit . Tickets $10-$65, with discounts for seniors, students and kids.
Sunday. Cowboys probably didn’t care much about their clothes, but now the West’s distinctive style is the subject of a new exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Museum, “Western Style: A Convergence of Cultures.” Hats, boots and spurs sit beside housewares and guns in the display, demonstrating the way the West’s diverse cultures blended to create a new, unique style.
The exhibit’s opening coincides with the museum’s “Living Canvas of the West” event, which features historical vignettes, artillery demonstrations, craft projects and even a concert at noon. Events begin at noon and 4 p.m. Sunday. Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, 987 1/2 Lookout Mountain Road, Golden; 303-526-0744. For more information, visit . Free.
Thursday. Anyone who has ever considered a visit to the Emerald Isle may find himself frantically booking plane tickets after viewing “Ireland: Celtic Myths and Splendors” at the Lakewood
Cultural Center.
Filmmaker Sandy Mortimer
will narrate her travelogue of the country, touching on favorite sites like the Hill of Tara and Blarney Castle, as well as hidden gems. Mortimer sprinkles ancient tales and historical facts throughout – though they’re often one and the same in Ireland.
7:30 p.m. Thursday. Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison
Parkway; 303-987-7876. Adult
tickets are $8, students and seniors $7, kids $6. Call 303-987-7845 for tickets.
