San Diego weekend arts events: Chicano Park Day, Anne Mudge and the Bard's 459th birthday

S1: Welcome back to Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman for our weekend art preview. We have all the details on Chicano Park Day , Shakespeare's 459th birthday. And we'll also take a closer look at a few concerts going on this weekend. Joining me to walk us through it all is KPBS arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , welcome. Hi , Jade.

S2: Thanks for having me.

S1: Chicano Park's been around 53 years. There's an upcoming celebration.

S2: But this is actually their first in-person event since since before the pandemic. So it's been years since everybody's gotten together at Chicano Park to celebrate this. And it kind of centers around at noon , there's a flag raising ceremony. Everything all stops at the festival because this is a symbol of of kind of the passing on of the park and the activism to those younger generations , because the raising of a flag was one of the very first thing those activists did in the 1970s. They had occupied this land to stop construction equipment. And after 12 days of this , the city agreed to buy the area , buy the land and designated as a park. And then , of course , all of those murals began on the freeway pillars. And so this Chicano Park Day is really a celebration of that history and this ongoing activism that's ongoing community. The theme this year is kindling the new fire for their 53rd year. There's going to be three stages dozens of musicians and DJs , poetry readings , traditional dancers and speakers as well. You'll find Aztec , indigenous dance , cumbia , Latin jazz , rock , hip hop , Folklorico and Bill Caballero. DJ Betty Bangs , Latin alternative R&B duo Ruby Clouds is also playing. This is Their Eyes of Love song we're playing right now. Everything.

UU: Everything. Know my.

S2: And along with the music and all of the performances , there's going to be hundreds of lowriders and classic cars and a car show , and it'll also be the first time they've had a Chicano Park Day event. While the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center has been open. So you have to get tickets to go in the museum. Adults are $10 and youth 18 and under are free , but otherwise the main event is is totally free. And it all starts at 950 in the morning with an opening blessing at the kiosk , which is that red and green painted stage and gazebo and the whole thing runs until 5 p.m..

S1: And I know a lot of work went into to putting that museum together. Sounds like a great event and something everyone can look forward to. It's also Shakespeare's birthday , and the Old Globe always has a big party.

S2: It's a free event. It's one of their access community arts engagement programs. They have cupcakes for everyone and a birthday sing along. There'll be tons of fun stuff you can join in on , like a Renaissance dance workshop. You can watch a fight choreography , demonstration. In the past , they've done sword fighting and there'll be a little workshop with some of their fight experts. And that's all outside of the the the Old Globe.

S1:

S2: They're doing a puppet show with a telenovela version of a of a 12th night scene. Last year , the puppeteers did a kind of wrestling match version of a of a War of the Roses scene. So I'm looking forward to seeing this. And the cast of the 19th. We'll do some sonnets. The 19th is currently on stage and it is closing soon. And they'll also have other monologues and scenes from Shakespeare's plays.

S1: All right. Sounds like a lot to enjoy. Also , here's something that combines visual art and plants. Britton New backers , new exhibit at the Cal State University San Marcos Library.

S2: She often works with preserved moss and plants , a lot of ferns , and she sometimes even uses this powder moss that she glues in place. And she did the rotunda design that was at Art Alive at San Diego Museum of Art a year ago. So in 2022. And the way she works is she makes these sculptures , they're huge and they're kind of coated with moss , almost like paintings , and they have these geometrical patterns in them. It's really incredible to look at. One of the sculptures in this show is is like a toppling stack of of spheres , these circles that are covered in mosses of all different colors of greens and with with these patterns around them. And it's huge. This is this will be taller than you are. And this is all in the CSU San Marcos Kellogg Library. It's on the third floor and it's open whenever the library is open. So that's kind of cool On a college campus. That means it's open really late weekdays and Sunday it's open until midnight. But the hours will change after after the semester ends in May , but it's on view through July.

S1: It sounds like it's definitely something to see. Another exhibition that's opening this weekend is an Mudge at Quint Gallery.

S2: She's been around a long time and this is an exhibition of work that's really representative of the stuff she does so well. This is called Wire and Beads. It's a hint to what you'll see. Wire and lots of beads. These are these really delicate hanging , almost like a mobile. They seem really weightless and they're made of made of fine wire , twisted and bent into shapes with with bead accents. And they almost kind of they're like bouncy and floaty. You can you can walk around them and underneath them and they've completely filled the space at Quint Gallery.

S1:

S2: She works with Wire and she'll kind of fold and twist this wire into these shapes , sometimes adding those beads. And she works a lot with tension and gravity and symmetry and like how something will hang. So that's she doesn't necessarily follow any intentional pattern as she twists the wire. She works intuitively. But what you can see in this show , there's like a sense that these are kind of like plant systems or fungal networks. So there's something very botanical about it.

S1: That sounds very interesting. And when you say she works with tension and gravity and symmetry , it really sounds like she also works kind of as an architect as well as an artist.

S2: And I love the idea of thinking about these sculptures as architecture. That's a really a really great insight into into these pieces because it , it also really does fill the space. I love that. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. So much talent goes into it.

S2: It's open and free for their gallery hours from 11 to 5 , Wednesday through Saturday. And then they're doing a reception this weekend with artists on Saturday from 6 to 8.

S1: And the San Diego made factory is hosting a spring market at the Julep event space near downtown in Little Italy. You know , I always love a good market.

S2: And this is always just a nice way of checking in on makers and creative people in San Diego. There's 85 total vendors , artists , florists , makers , and they have an admission fee. It's $6 if you get tickets in advance or $7 the day of. But kids are free. They're also having live music throughout the day. As stand up for me is indie folk singer songwriter Allie Rowell. She's performing at 230 and has a new EP coming out this year. And I actually she's on my radar because NPR sent us sent KPBS , a list of all of the local submissions to the recent Tiny Desk contest , and she was one of them. And I clicked on the link and listen to it like five times. It is so beautiful. This is her song , Projector Screen.

UU: Work and Show Brand.

S3: Then Turkey says that. If we.

S1: And that leads me to my next question.

S2: We'll start at the Casbah on Saturday night. We the Karma's is an R&B group based in North County , and they get millions of views on their YouTube videos. They have kind of this surfy R&B vibe. This is their latest single. It's called Keep Going. And it's definitely on the beachy end of their range.

UU: No , I'm going slow. Eliza Very nice and solid clothes. And they don't even care about me. And it shows , but I pick myself up.

S1: Very nice.

S2: LA based indie pop act Gloom is playing. She calls herself a reformed child star and also a Walmart. Marilyn Monroe and her latest album , Main Character , is such a great listen. There's appearances from Sean Lennon and Rufus Wainwright on that. But also playing that night is twin ritual. They're a local band with Laura Levin , Hagen of Le Chateau on vocals , and Anthony Ramirez from Glass Spells. This band formed in 2016. But this show is their album release , and it's going to be exciting to hear new work from them. They've been putting out work steadily , but it has been a while , and this is their latest single , Wicked Little Town.

UU: I've been trying to make it in a world you don't even see how. Don't you know how much that hurts ? We've missed you. Stop saying. It's no big deal. Is my life. Need you to know that it's real.

S1: And if you're looking for something more classical , the San Diego Symphony is performing at the Shell this weekend.

S2: He's joining as a soloist on piano. And Debussy is like , when I think of Debussy , I think of piano partly because of Clair de Lune , but he is a magician with the piano. And the orchestra will also be doing Mahler's Fourth Symphony. And of course , Raphael will be conducting. These are both shows at the Shell , 730 on Friday and Saturday nights.

S1: And finally some Britpop San Diego gay men's course style. Tell us about that. Great.

S2: Great. So they're doing two shows at the theater Saturday at 8:00 , which will be ASL interpreted and Sunday at three. So this is going to be such a fun show. I've listened to a few clips on their Instagram of some of these pieces. They're going to be doing some modern Britpop as well as some of the classics. So things like Adele , Sam Smith , Coldplay , but of course , Bowie and Queen and Elton John and the Beatles. It's going to be a lot of fun.

S1: And you can find details on all these and more or sign up for Julia's weekly arts newsletter at pbs.org. Slash Arts. I've been speaking with KPBS arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , thanks.

S2: Thank you , Jade. Have a good weekend.

S4: You too.