S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Today , we're talking about the life and legacy of a local icon in the theater community , then the largest Shakespeare production the globe has ever presented. Plus your weekend happenings. Here's the conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. Remembering San Diego theatre icon Dia Houston.
S2: I'm pretty positive you couldn't meet a person who was working in the theater community in San Diego who hasn't had some kind of contact with Dia.
S1: Then the Old Globe welcomed San Diegans to participate in their Shakespeare production. Plus , we'll talk about border blasters and weekend events for your weekend preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Playwright and philanthropist Dia Hurston passed away Sunday at age 73. Those around her knew her as Miss Dia. She was beloved by the San Diego theatre community and a champion for the arts in all its forms. Today , we want to pay tribute to Dia and her long legacy. I'm here now with Delicia Turner Sonnenburg. She's a long time director in San Diego. She also founded Moxie Theater. Delicia. Welcome.
S3: Thank you. Glad to be here.
S1: Glad to have you. Also with me is Christiane Koerner. She's the founder and executive artistic director of New Village Arts in Carlsbad. Christiane , welcome to you.
S2: Thank you very much.
S1: Glad to have you both here.
S2: Um , I think I'm pretty positive you couldn't meet a person who was working in the theater community in San Diego who hasn't had some kind of contact with Dia. She loved theater and the arts so much that she would be at every event , at every theater. And , and so and she was such a believer in supporting artists that she was there , you know. And so I think every single person who works in San Diego theater has had some kind of impact with Dia.
S1: Yeah , well , new Village Arts actually named a building after her a couple of years ago. I feel like that really speaks to her legacy. Yeah.
S2: For sure. You know , when we were undergoing our major renovation of our home in Carlsbad Village , we did a lot of talking about what does it mean to have someone's name on your building and who is most deserving in San Diego of having their name on a building. And the first and only answer was Dia Hurston. And it's because , you know , she spent her life making theater and the arts accessible to all members of our community. And she , like I said , has had kind of her hand in everything and every small theater. Starting in San Diego , you'll get a call from Dia. How can I help you ? What do you need ? All of the artists working in San Diego. I believe in you. I see something in you. How can I help you ? And then she'd tell you a joke. Not always appropriate and make you laugh. Um , but make you feel like you were a part of this community from the moment you stepped in to San Diego. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , Delicia Dia was a mentor to you. Tell us about that. And your relationship with her over the years , like.
S3: Christiane said so beautifully. Uh , Dia is was such a giant in the community , and I met her when I was working at San Diego Rep as an artistic associate , and she sort me out. She heard that I was about to start a theater , and she immediately was like , how can I be ? How can I help you ? So as we were starting Moxy , like the person we met with first , one of the first people we met with was Dia. She gave us advice on who to talk to , how to throw parties , how to like anything we needed.
S1: Oh my goodness , that's great. Well , but Delicia , you actually directed DIA's first play. 1222 oceanfront A Black Family Christmas when it was first brought to New Village Arts. I want to play a clip from one of the songs this is Cowboy Christmas.
S4: This cowboy has a heart that is true. Like an old , faithful dog. I love you. I love you more than I love my horse. And that's saying a lot for me. I never thought I'd need another that would bring me to my knees. I don't need any presents under my tree. I just want you to stand.
UU: Up next to me. Hey.
S5: There's that humor , right ? Yes.
S1:
S3: Really ? I can't think of another one like they're not many. There might be some. And so the ambition of it , the collaboration with the theatre maker that I admire. And because Dia supported me my entire career when she became a playwright , I was her biggest fan. And so I directed a couple of readings of of one of her other plays , How to Marry Little Stevie Wonder. I was impressed with her comedy writing and my favorite thing about the Christmas show is that the main love story is about the older couple , not the young 20 somethings , but the six year olds. And I really love that. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , Christine , how did you India first workshop the idea for 1222 oceanfront.
S2: Yeah , really came from that desire to kind of broaden the canon of shows that are available at the holiday season. And so I reached out first to Dia and said , what do you think about this idea ? I'm thinking , let's put four artists together. Let's spend some time and let's create an original piece. And at the very beginning , we were just going to use Christmas carols and things like that that were already in the public domain. But as we progressed , we really found that we had the talent within our group to be able to create original music like that. Cowboy Christmas , sung by Victor Morris , who is currently on stage at the Old Globe. And so we started to meet and interestingly , our very first meeting was in February of 2020 , and something big happened the following month , which was the pandemic. Um , and so the show was actually created in weekly zoom meetings over the next like nine months. We all would meet every single week in that zoom meeting. And it started with the creators kind of telling stories of their own holiday experiences. And then Dia took all of those stories from those four very different people and created it into this one really beautiful play that then we added all the music into and it became a full holiday experience.
S1: Yeah , well , India actually became a playwright later in life. How did she really get her start ? Yeah.
S2: You know , she she spent so much of her life , so many years on the Arts Commission as a board member , as a patron , as a volunteer. And I believe that she was invited to a playwriting class by Deb Sulzer , who runs Playwrights Project. And that was kind of that awakening moment of I have a voice that is very important. And it is. And that's the thing , what Dia brought , I mean , to be a woman in her 60s and 70s and a black woman in her 60s and 70s telling her stories and her vision of things was so important. And Dia doesn't shy away , you know , she's very she was very upfront about things that some people are have trouble talking about. And she does it with this incredible wit , this incredible sense of humor and fun. And so as soon as I heard that first play , I was like , yes , let's keep going. We need this voice. We want this voice in the American theater. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Delicia you've been working in San Diego Theater for for so long.
S3: Me and Christiane turned to do that. That's a part of DIA's legacy , is that that is not enough about what you're accomplishing , but also how you encouraging the next generation of artists. That's the example she led by and in lots of organizations , not just New Village Arts or Moxy or the globe or the Playhouse or the all of Us.
S1: Speaking of DIA's support for the arts , Christiane , New Village Arts also runs the Dia Hurston Fellowship. It's something Danner has been launched , as mentioned. Tell us about that.
S2: Yeah for sure. This is just a beautiful part of Diaz legacy , and it's that she recognized , you know , as a young girl growing up in Ohio , Aldea wanted to do was take a dance class , and her mom took her out and got her all of the things she would need. And they went to the dance studio , and she was turned away because of the color of her skin. And since that time , she she doesn't want anyone else to ever have to feel that way. Right ? And so about ten years ago , she created this Dear Hurston Fellowship. Originally , it was Moxie Theater , working with San Diego State and the San Diego Opera , working with Lincoln High School. And it was a way to bring experience and mentorship and accessibility to the arts for people who have previously been excluded from the arts. And so when we renamed our building in DIA's honour , part of that was to take on the administration of the Dia Hurston Fellowship. And so we take that very seriously that we are able to continue this legacy of hers. This year , we had three professional fellows and three college fellows. Many of them were working on our production of The Color Purple. That's running right now. And it's , as Delicia mentioned early , we we see it as part of our mission of helping to build and support the next generation of theater artists , and that that next generation of theater artists needs to be much more diverse than what we have seen. Yes. So far. Right.
S1: Right. And to that point , Dia really championed black artists throughout her life. And I want to play a clip from an interview we did with her last December. We asked her about The promise theatres made in 2020 to be more diverse and tell more diverse stories. Here's what she had to say.
S3: Just just because I have a play , one play , it's it's still not enough. Two people still aren't enough. Ten people still aren't enough. As long as we can count them on our hands or on our fingers , it's enough is not being done. Well.
S1: Well.
S3: And she was committed and and wasn't shy about demanding diversity even when she was just a supporter. I mean , she asked the hard questions because it was essential to her. Before she became a playwright , she would sponsor plays she believed in financially. That told diverse stories. And so those of us lucky enough to be mentored by her demanding diversity and true diversity is a part of our mission.
S1: Well , I'm curious , you know , as we end on that note.
S2: I think of someone who cared so much and sometimes was real hard that way. Like we didn't always. Like Alicia mentioned , you don't always agree with Miss Dia , but you know that she is there for you and she is going to make you laugh and it's going to be slightly inappropriate the way that you laugh.
S3: Like , I don't know if you're going to be able to use this or not , but the only time in my life like my that , the only time in my life that I've seen my husband blush is because Dia whispered something in his ear. And so we're at the theater. We're at the theater. And he hugs. He says , hey , Miss Dia. And he gives her a hug and she whispers in his ear , you feel that , Jeri ? You feel that ? That's my breast.
S5: It's bright red. and I go , hey , babe.
S3:
S5:
S3: Or whenever , like , we would talk on the phone all the time and I and she's like , how how's Jerry ? I wasn't , I was like , I'm so mad at him right now. He was like , leave him alone. That's a perfectly good white boy you have. They're delicious. They're not. You gonna treat the good ones , right ? I mean , you know , every now and then , I still. I still call him a perfectly good white boy.
S5: I mean , I mean.
S3: I can't be mad at you because. Mr..
S5: Mr..
S3: I thought you were a perfectly good white boy.
S5: Oh , yeah.
S1: Oh my gosh. Well , she certainly had a unique way of breaking the ice.
S5: And you know for sure.
S1:
S2: You know , having her name at the top of our building , it's the first art center in the United States outside of New York to be named in honor of a black woman. And I think that just that part of the legacy is incredibly important. We've got a big picture of Dia up in the lobby now with her name. So everybody who walks into the building is first greeted by Dia. And then as long as we keep this Dia Hurston fellowship going and keep our commitment to telling a diversity of stories from as many different backgrounds as possible , I think for us , that's the way that we're going to promise to keep DIA's legacy alive , along with supporting and encouraging and mentoring the next generation of leaders.
S3: And I think , um , it was just talking to somebody else who was mentored by Dia and and reminding that we , Christiane and I , and everybody's been touched by her. We are Diaz legacy. We carry her everywhere we go. And the other thing is , Dia and Osborne really believed that , not just like on stage and the stories being told , but diversity , even at the board level was important. Like , right now I'm on the board. I'm an artistic trustee on the board of La Jolla Playhouse. A part of that is because of Dia and Osborne's real advocacy for diverse voices at all levels of arts. Mhm.
S6: Mhm.
S1: Well , I tell you , it's been such a pleasure hearing about the person. Uh , Dia Hurston was from the both of you. I've been speaking with director Delicia Turner. Sonnenberg. Delicia. Thank you.
S3: Thank you.
S1: Also , Christiane Koerner , founder and executive artistic director of New Village Arts. Christiane , thank you so much.
S2: Thank you. And thank you for honoring Dia in this way.
S1: Indeed , to learn more about ways to honor Dia. You can check out New Village Arts , Dawg. Still ahead , the Old Globe welcomes the community to participate in their production of Henry six.
S3: So it really was bringing people in , making the show together with our design team.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Old globe artistic director Barry Edelstein has adapted Shakespeare's historical trilogy of Henry the Sixth into a two part epic called Henry Six. The plays chronicle the civil war between the ruling families of England , the Yorks and the Lancasters. The Globe's productions have implemented an ambitious community involvement component. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando speaks with Adena Varner , the Globe's director of arts engagement , about the Henry Six project.
S7: Adina the Henry Six project here at the globe goes beyond just a mere production of Shakespeare. And before we get into some of the details about the community involvement there , I want you to tell people what your job is , because many people may not know what a director of arts engagement actually does.
S3: I am really honored to be able to serve.
S8: This institution in this capacity. And and what I've learned over the past several years of my career is to kind of juxtapose my job with Berry's job. He oversees all of the artistic programming that happens on our main stage , and I oversee all of the programming that happens off the mainstage. And what was unusual about H6 is that I was able to support him in bringing much of that community work into a main stage production , but in general it is. He's doing the main stage. I'm doing off the main stage.
S7: Now with Henry six. Barry had some ideas about community engagement.
S8: I've gotta say , he's been working on this adaptation of the script for truly , like nine and a half , ten years. And his idea was to really kind of radically and in this transformative way , I think , include audience members and subscribers and patrons and just your everyday San Diegan in the making of this process. And this was years ago when he first started talking about it , maybe about five years ago , right before the pandemic started having conversations and artistic conversations with the staff. At that time , the department was led by a different person. It was freedom Bradley Valentine. When I got here , we were just at the beginning of making that happen. And so some of his vision , I've really kind of been able to adapt and make my own in some way and then give back to the institution and into his vision. So it's been many years in the making. This is not your everyday season planning that that happened. This has been years of love , years of of dreams , years of trying to acquire the support and the goodwill and being able to finally make it come to pass.
S7: So there are a lot of components to this. So let's break it down a little bit and start with. He said he engaged people like with the creative people involved in the production. So there was some sort of community involvement with set design or production design.
S8: And so most of them had somewhere between 2 and 3 opportunities to come talk to partners and other organizations and patrons and subscribers and donors , neighbors , even to get them excited about their specific lens. So their set design moment to just engage and be in conversation. And we did that with every other element of the show. And then once they got the audience members excited and the patrons excited , um , or participants , I should say , because some people are patrons , but some people were not. Some of our partners are not patrons , but once they got them excited and really looking forward to the show , they were then able to come back and actually do a craft with them or some type of workshop that really helped them engage with the work that's happening in the show , for example , set design. Our set designers name is Lawrence Moten , and he came and he had just conversation shared with folks what he does as a set designer conceptually , and then also how he fabricate. Then he came back and he did two workshops up north and in Oceanside , and actually right here on campus and in Balboa. And what he was able to lead folks through was this workshop in which they were building one of the sons that actually shows up in the play , because the play has three sons that actually show up. And so that kind of process was what every single designer went through , for example , one that was very different , that wasn't so like tactile was sound. And so our sound team , really it was our composer as well as our sound designer , worked together to create , obviously , the sonic aspect of the world. And so we had two workshops in which community members were able to come and learn different choral sounds. They were able to make different melodic sounds that they then took and edited , and are now a part of the soundscape of the show. So it really was bringing people in , making the show together with our design team.
S7: Um , so that was some of the choral work that people will hear in the show. And there are also videos of people that are going to be employed in this.
S8: One , we had not done projection work in the festival before. We've done it now. So we've got screens up these beautiful screens , and on those screens you will see community members faces reflected.
S7:
S8: We're excited to be able to have that type of access where people are maybe wanting to be on the globe stage , and then there are other people who have never even thought about acting , never thought about a career in theatre , but are really passionate about arts engagement , or passionate about the old globe , or passionate about Shakespeare. And they have an opportunity to to really come close , not just to the cast and the creative team , but to also be able to share in the storytelling.
S7:
S8: One of the things that Barry talks about a lot is especially for H6 , is the the choices that the leaders are making really have some , some intense implications for the everyday person. And we're watching the everyday person navigate all the changes and , and figure out a way to find some , some sense of stasis in all of this evolution that's happening around them. And what's interesting about it is , is that we really are. One of the things that I am able to glean from it is that these stories are for everyone. They still matter and they still resonate. And I think that one of the things that we've been able to do , even in our workshops and our , um , opportunities in which we've been out talking to the community about it , we see how much the themes of of these plays still really resonate with folks and how true they are to the times. And , and so I think part of it is just letting folks know that this is an avenue of creative expression , but the work still matters. The themes , they're still with us because the human condition hasn't changed. And so it really is a it's yes , making Shakespeare accessible , Making the old globe accessible to a diverse group of people and making people feel like the art is theirs , that there's some ownership , that we can indeed create something together. It doesn't just have to be passive and we watch from a distance , but we can come up close. We can like , buttress right up against it and even integrate ourselves in it and feel like it's more comprehensive and representative of our region.
S7: All the things we've talked about so far have been prior to the actual production of the play.
S8: We have one more workshop. Um , it's actually called Fight Call on the Plaza , and it is just that it is a moment to have fight call on the plaza. So some of the actors , some of the cast members are actually going to join us on the Plaza , go through a fight called before their show , which is really exciting. So we'll demo that , and then participants will have a moment to try it out. And then when they actually see it on stage again , they'll feel closer to it. And then during the run of the show , we have what we think is is this beautiful exhibit. We encourage everybody to come this installation on our plaza that actually chronicles all of our work with Shakespeare over the past 90 years. So you'll see all of the work we've done on our main stage , the work we've done in our touring show Glow for all. And then you'll also see specifically the community engagement work that we've done for H6. And then the thing that people can actively engage with because that is pretty passive. You're reading and you're kind of walking through this exhibit. But at the center of the plaza , we have a crown , and the crown is the obviously , it's the Henry the Sixth Crown , inspired by our set designers and our prop designers. And what's really interesting about it is around that crown , you'll see these metallic sweeps , and we're going to have a craft right beside it every single night so that folks can actually come in and build either a red or a white flower.
S7: For people who may not be familiar with the play , the flowers do represent something that's very important.
S8: Yes , the War of the roses. So there's a family that specifically wears white and that is the House of York. And then the red family. The family that kind of wears this red flower logo is the House of Lancaster. And so you see these two families at war. Essentially , for both plays , what we've done with the craft is we're giving people the opportunity to bring the families together.
S1: That was Beth Accomando , speaking with the Globe's director of arts engagement , Dina Varner. The Henry's six plays are running through September at the Lough Davies Festival Theatre. The fight call on the plaza will take place on July 18th at 6 p.m. , before the preview performance of Henry six.
S9:
S1: Find out more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. If you've listened to music radio in the region , there's a good chance you've listened to a channel broadcasting from Tijuana. These radio stations , also known as border blasters , transmit strong radio signals to reach listeners across the border. They're the inspiration for a new art and sound exhibit at the Bonita museum and Cultural Center. The exhibit studies the way art and music flows across the border , and the history of sound , music , and creativity that is intrinsically linked with these cross-border transmissions. The curators are Bill Perrin , Isa Villa , and Diana Benavidez. They all recently sat down with KPBS arts producer Julia Dickson Evans to discuss the exhibit.
S10:
S9: Basically , this was something that was done to kind of get around various radio regulations during the heyday of radio. So they would stick the transmitter in , say , Tijuana or somewhere just south of Texas , for instance , and they would blast at a wattage that was generally prohibited in the US. They would blast American radio across to the US. And so they were basically free of a lot of the restrictions that accompanied being an American radio station. And the border blasters is a more kind of metaphorical thing , is really goes back like , you know , there's a famous song called I Heard It on the X by by XYZ top. Uh , the X refers to the acts that usually shows up in a border blaster station. Mexican stations usually have an acronym. So 91 X is a border blaster. That's how you identify them. So you know , a border blaster is not just a radio station. It's kind of a it stands in for something bigger kind of going across national lines and going across , uh , maybe even notions of propriety.
S10: I also want to talk a little bit about why each of your experience was growing up with these radio stations. Is this something that you grew up listening to ? Um , so let's start with you.
S5: I remember the really.
S11: Specific moment when I was like , it's like between 9 and 10 , when we still had a lot of oldies stations on the radio. So I was definitely listening to my parents , like like the girl groups. Um , a lot of Elvis , a lot of rock n roll. And then at some point I started listening to 91 very directly. And and then crossing into TJ to go to iguanas and and listening to music that it was just it was a real dramatic shift. It went from girl groups to , to just really experimental stuff. And then a lot of this music was also transmitted through concurrent Cinco , which was a really great local alternative to MTV because I was not allowed to watch cable television , and they single came in to supplement with a lot of my national music , like a lot of American acts and acts coming out of Mexico City and all over the Americas. So it was a really interesting juxtaposition.
S10: I want to talk about this exhibit. Deana , let's start with you. What made you want to capture this history of the border blasters in a museum and using multiple art disciplines ? Yeah.
S12: I mean , you know , I was I felt really grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Bill , Isa and Wendy from the Bonita museum. And , um , you know , I just like gathering friends and people I admire a lot. So I work with five local artists. Um , actually , not all of them are local. We have an artist from Encinitas who's actually joining the show , and they wanted to , like , bring up a prompt. So we would create a piece that would basically , you know , capture narratives , personal narratives of having an opportunity to grow up with both media , you know , from the US and Mexico. And so , um , five of the artists that will be , um , you know , presenting work that I work closely with include Griselda marquez , Razan , Armando de la Torres , Elijah Rubio , Tom Astor , Gamez Rubio , who is from Ensenada , and India. Thompson and each of them are presenting a piece that works closely to their personal narratives of being exposed to media on both sides of the border.
S10: I want to talk about a couple of these installations , Bill.
S9: We're going to have a little exhibit about in the early 2000 , there were a couple music collectives that's that kind of spanned the border. There was the trauma Flora collective , which was in based in San Diego , which was kind of an experimental music collective. And then there was the Tech Collective , which was based out of Tijuana , which was largely electronic music. And they they managed to both have these interesting kind of DIY structures in cities that didn't necessarily that weren't necessarily all that conducive to doing the kind of music they were doing. And the Nordic collective , of course , became a really huge phenomenon. So we're covering a lot of ground. This could be good stuff.
S10: After this exhibit closes at the Bonita museum later in August , it's going to head to Tijuana.
S11: I think it's it's really great that the show is going to appear on both sides. And I know that that's it's a it's a challenging thing to do. And I'm incredibly grateful for all persons that are involved in making that happen. Um , because it's a way of sharing different perspectives over like a similar or a gathering of objects or persons or bodies or ideas. And , um , I just , I just think it's a really unique event , and I'm , I'm , I look forward to seeing more , um , exhibitions that take place on. I know that they've started to gain in momentum , um , especially in the last year , um , including one with the minga. But , um , I think it's really important that , that these exhibitions happen on both sides of the border. So it's not it's not exclusive to one over the other.
S1: That was Bill Perini. It's a Villa boy. And Diana Benavidez , curators of Border Blasters. It opened Saturday at the Bonita museum and Cultural Center. And I'm here now with Julia Dickson Evans. So Julia Lot mentioned in that segment we just heard there. But I'm curious about how strong these signals actually are.
S10: Well , they range from like 100,000W to 150,000W. Um , for comparison , KPBS , if you're listening to KPBS radio right now , we are transmitting at 26,000W from San Diego , from Mount Soledad. So they're hugely powerful.
S1: And one of those high powered stations is one that the late Willie Lee Morrow actually started , along with the monitor , which catered to black audiences.
S10: Um , that one ? Hmm. 92.5 that was established in 1979 , is still broadcasting from Mexico as Magic 92.5. Yeah.
S5: Yeah.
S1: They also mentioned how important music is to the cross-border scene and how big of a role it plays in this exhibit.
S10: There's a lot of sound art installations , things you can actually listen to as your browsing this exhibit. And they also have installations about specific scenes and eras of times. One artist , for example , Mary Cruz Alvarado , is recreating her teenage bedroom with posters and music from this band , La Cruz. And and it's like a visual and sound installation , kind of a shrine to that band , like teenage bedrooms often are. And then the curators have also made a Spotify playlist of of the bands that were crucial to this time , like Tijuana know a punk band , The Zeros , and then also the tech Collective. So there's there's a lot of music involved.
S1: All right. In that time frame being what , like 80s 90s.
S10: That's when a lot of this was happening. But of course , this is still happening. Music is still being transmitted. But the the big rise of this was , you know , the 70s , 80s and 90s , it all started back in the 1930s though. Oh , wow.
S1: So long history there.
S10: It opens on Saturday and it runs through August 17th. And the opening reception is 5 to 8 on Saturday. But there's also this family friendly art making activity be painting a car that's earlier in the day from noon to four , and the Bonita museum is always free.
S1: All right , well , let's move on to other arts happenings. There's a festival of new contemporary dance kicking off this weekend. Tell us about that. Yeah.
S10: Yeah. So this is Live Arts Fest. It's an annual production from San Diego Dance Theater. This is designed by their founder , Jean Isaacs , to give their dancers and their artists more opportunities to perform and grow. And it's a week long series of performances. So if you can't make this Sunday's performances , there's also great options next weekend. But this Sunday , they're launching with Ana Medina , who she won last year's Emerging Choreographers Showcase. This performance is at six on Sunday , and then H2O company is going to perform three new works by Rebecca Brown , a choreographer , and that's at eight on Sunday. This is a Lightbox theater in Liberty Station.
S5: All right.
S1: Well , okay , let's go back to visual art for a little bit. There's a lot going on this weekend. Yep.
S10: I am completely overwhelmed. I don't have the word count for this.
S1: Okay , so let's just do a rapid fire then of what shows are opening this weekend starting in the North County.
S10: Okay , so in Oceanside at the Hill Street Country Club , there is an open house for their artists in practice. Cole Douglas , who's doing these incredible large scale abstract works there. This is Saturday from 2 to 6 and it's free and And Encinitas , the north campus of the Institute of Contemporary Art , San Diego , is opening their next gen Emerging Artists exhibit. And these are emerging artists selected by a jury , and it's coinciding with their monthly party. See you Saturday. This is from 4 to 8 on Saturday , and this one is donation based or free. So yeah , that's happening in the North County okay.
S1: So that's two in North County. What else.
S10: This is a lot of options in one bread and salt. They're part of the barrio art call. And they're always open late from 5 to 8. On the second Saturday , Tyger Crow Collective is opening their first ever exhibit. As a collective , this is at best practice in Bread and salt. The exhibits called and elsewhere. It has themes of home , of displacement and memory , and also the Asian diaspora that opens from 5 to 8. But while you're there , you can check out a whole bunch more at all the other gallery spaces. Their bread and salt and everything is free. And then one more in Sherman Heights. Calvin Lopez's solo exhibition opens at J. Walter Communications. This is curated by Art Power Equity. They've been putting on these exhibits and this kind of non-traditional office space this summer. It's totally worth keeping an eye on what they're doing with this space. And Kelvin Lopez is such this interesting artist. He's trained in printmaking , but also pairs these relief prints and monotypes with botanicals and fiber art details , all inspired by Mexican textiles. So this opens with a reception on Saturday from 6 to 9. And there's also an artist talk at seven there , and that's also free.
S1: All right. And you have one more recommendation if you or your kids want to get artsy. Right.
S10: Right. So at Liberty Station , the artist Panca is inviting the community to come and actually participate in her public art mural. She's currently installing it and this is free. This is all ages , and I think kids who are regulars at the new children's museum will probably recognize punk's work her like really vivid characters and styles. So this is a cool way for kids to be part of a long lasting mural. It's from 1 to 4 on Saturday at Liberty Station.
S5: All right.
S1: Well , let's close it out with some live music. What's on your radar this weekend ? Yeah.
S10: So on Friday at Soda Bar , there's this really fun band infinity song. They're coming to town. This is their song Haters Anthem , which I can always get behind.
UU: Just to wake up every morning late and somehow never ever rise to the occasion or even hold up under pressure. But we all know that it doesn't even matter if I waste away and no one thinks I'm clever. Just as long I've got my goal.
S10: And Infinity Song is playing with local singer songwriter Juliana Zacharia. Also , Friday night at Corazon del barrio , Colombian band Torres de Son Centro are having their album release party and this album will be the first title from a brand new label in town called Bad Vibes. Good Friends. And this is cool that it's from such this super influential Latin band. And this track is from the new album. It's called El Canto de la caricature. And they'll be supported by electronic artists and DJ The Gaslamp Killer and La Diablo.
S1: All right. You can find details on these and more arts events , or sign up for Julia's weekly newsletter at KPBS , Mortgage Arts. I've been speaking with KPBS Arts producer Julia Dixon Evans. Julia.
S5: Thank you.
S10: Thank you. Jade.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
