Even since Dana Friis-Hansen, the new director and CEO of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, took over this downtown jewel, the energy being produced in our community is almost infectious as people clamor for innovative ways to intersect with the space and their collection. And on Thursday, Friis-Hansen and staff welcome their membership to attend a stylish and fresh new event debuting alongside one of the most exciting new exhibitions by one of America’s greatest and most socially conscious painters, Robert Rauschenberg.  

The new shows, Rauschenberg in Context and Rauschenberg at Gemini, open to the public on Friday, Feb. 3. But GRAM members are invited to attend an exclusive, art-star studded opening program/reception that begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb 2 -- a day before the public opening.

On deck will be a chance to see the first two of the three exhibitions opening this year at the GRAM.

Members are also encouraged to enjoy the Member's Preview Lecture, Robert Rauschenberg: Curators in Conversation presented by Richard H. Axsom, GRAM Senior Curator, Prints and Photographs, and the former Director of Gallery Programs at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA, Jay Belloli, whose show Rauschenberg at Gemini opens on Thursday night.

After the lecture at 9:30 p.m., the public are invited to attend the special Rauschenberg: The After Party, which is sure to conjure up visions of the famous parties of the time period during which this work was created. This event is open to everyone with a $5 admission for non-members and free for GRAM Members.
 
The three unique shows at the GRAM celebrate the work of American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) whose work flowed from the abstract expressionism to pop, employing culturally rich topics literally ripped from the headlines of his time as he liberally used photography, printmaking, papermaking, silk screening and performance to render his works of art.


The first two shows, Rauschenberg in Context and Rauschenberg at Gemini, will run Feb. 3 - May 20 with the Robert Rauschenberg: Synapsis Shuffle on view March 3 - May 20.
 
The Robert Rauschenberg: Synapsis Shuffle exhibit at the GRAM will only be the third time in history this collection has been on display with New York and Paris hosting it before arriving in Grand Rapids.

Throughout the course of the exhibition run in Grand Rapids, the museum staff has programmed a rich and diverse schedule of events to honor Rauschenberg’s legacy and his role in art history including lectures, films, drop-in Docent-led tours, gallery talks and a special Merce Cunningham-inspired dance performance.


Admission: Thursday Night Opening Reception: Members Free / Non-Members admitted after 9:30 p.m. for $5.

Fans of local singer/songwriter Drew Nelson have waited nearly three years for a new studio recording. But in a move that can only be described as incredibly cool on the part of his new national label management, Red House Records, Nelson will release his new 11-track record, Tilt-A-Whirl to his hometown of Grand Rapids 11 months prior to his world-wide debut Friday night at the beautiful downtown venue, the Ladies Literary Club.

Joining Nelson on stage will be his band HWY 2, made up of some of Michigan’s finest musicians including Drew Howard, Michael Crittenden, Brian Morrill, Jen Sygit and Mark Schrock. 

What makes this release very special is that after this concert, Nelson will once again begin heading out on tour with the hopes of including a trip overseas to showcase his work for his international fan base.

“Oddly enough,” Nelson says, “American singer/songwriter music has a great reputation and a huge following [abroad]. It is not uncommon for someone to come up and begin to rattle off stats about American roots music much like we have guys rattle off a long list of sports stats.”

From the very start of this new release, which has a very loose and live feel, the listener is treated to more of Nelson’s familiar storyteller cadence, but with a twist. As with his earlier works that can become weighed down with serious, heady material, on Tilt-A-Whirl, even when he is pouring out his heart, it never comes across heavy-handed, but honest and real.

On more than one occasion as the CD played continuously this past week in my car, I found myself humming along to the many songs.  

"As you encounter the characters on this record, it becomes clear that Drew Nelson has dedicated and re-dedicated himself to getting at real human stories," says acclaimed songwriter Peter Mulvey. "Some of these characters are him, and some are people he knows, and all their stories let us know that Drew is standing in the Midwestern cold, seeing and telling as clearly as he can."

This concert also allows Nelson a chance to showcase one of his favorite charities. He is requesting that attendees please bring 100% juice boxes to be collected for Kids Food Basket, a food justice nonprofit serving the needs of thousands of kids each and every day in Kent County.


Admission: $15 advance / $17 door

Grand Rapids hip-hop scene has evolved and morphed many times as players in the promotion, creation and showcasing of this musical format have moved all over the decades.

But one thing is certain: this from-the-street musical format would be hard-pressed to find a more fitting example of the power contained within to address tougher topics than in the act dead prez.

Ever since their individual members' evolution beginning in the mid-90s, the dead prez clearly took a path uncharted by others before them. dead prez is known for genre-busting subjects and topics as seen on tracks like "Animal in Man," featuring a retelling of George Orwell's Animal Farm, and their involvement with Red Hot + Riot, a compilation album dedicated to Nigerian musician Fela Kuti that also raised money for charities working for AIDS awareness and fighting the disease in at-risk populations.

In 2000, their release Let’s Get Free became an instant classic with a mix of street and common sense that caught the industry off guard.

Speaking of industry, dead prez also have learned over time that the best management of your creative career is your own. And while this act intersects with labels from time to time, they always make it clear that their project-by-project approach is how they keep their music from being reduced to a stereotype of cliché.

Currently, they are embarking on a new creative journey as they craft new material for their next studio release, which means that the concert is probably going to be one for the record books as artists in transition often provide surprises along the tour route.

Surprising the audience Friday night will be when locals Dante Cope and emcee Suport open for dead prez. Cope’s latest release with Suport, The 923 Sessions, is available for download on iTunes.

Each fall, the ever-growing genre festival Thriller! Chiller! ups the ante by providing much needed surprises to keep their audience members on the edge of their seats.

This Saturday, people are encouraged to wander over to Wealthy Theatre to celebrate the birthday of a filmmaker who knows a thing or two about keeping his audience on the edge of its seats. Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival salutes the Godfather of all zombie movies, George Romero, with a birthday screening of Night of the Living Dead.

This special event presented by T!C! is unlike any other fundraiser in that they are hosting this one-time showing with all money collected from the $5 admission going directly to their hosts of the annual festival and this screening: Wealthy Theatre’s Centennial Sustainability Campaign.

With less than 100,000 left to go, Wealthy Theatre is very close to becoming one of the country's only sustainable cinema in the United States. 

Also, by being a part of the George Romero’s birthday and viewing the zombie movie that made him famous, you will be joining the “1,000,000 People Watching Night of the Living Dead for George’s Birthday” viral event happening, well, wherever cool people will be on this day.

“Thriller! Chiller! will be back at the theatre this fall,” says director Erin Wilson of Wealthy Theatre. “But this weekend, we have a chance to drum up some excitement as Wealthy Theatre hooks up with parties all over the planet as film fans of George Romero's flick come together to celebrate. The event also gives Thriller! Chiller! a chance to sell some advance festival tickets at a great price. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate George’s birthday than on this platform of community supported cinema!” 

Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival is currently accepting submissions for its annual film festival in October. Now in its seventh year, the festival screens movies from around the world in the genres of action, sci-fi, suspense and horror and takes place this year on Oct. 18 - 20 at the Wealthy Theatre. A festival pass is available on the festival website or at the Wealthy Theatre box office for $40 and is good for all events and films throughout the weekend.


Admission: $5

Cinema is powerful. In fact, I would even goes as far as to say what books were to the last century, the moving image will only grow in importance in our culture as we address a changing landscape.

But since most of us are experiencing media more and more on a singular level, the West Michigan Environmental Action Council is inviting people to leave the sofa and join them in the plush screening room of the Wealthy Theatre for a community-enriching showing of the film Blue Gold: World Water Wars.

And while oil was also a popular topic of many wars in our most recent history, almost every scientist believes that the control and deliver of water is a coming global threat to stability as water sources dry up and we see further commodification of the substance we all need to survive (and that was freely available from the beginning of time).

The documentary is based on the groundbreaking book of the same name by Maude Barlow and is narrated by Malcolm McDowell.

The film is presented in this intimate space to spur conversation between attendees. Leading the audience will be Lynna Kaucheck, senior organizer working in Michigan. Kaucheck works on water privatization fights, Great Lakes water issues and food issues including factory farms and genetic engineering. Before joining Food & Water Watch, Kaucheck worked for Clean Water Action where she organized local, state and federal environmental and electoral campaigns. 


Admission: Free (but suggested donation is $5).

Sometimes the weight of an early success can weigh you down. J*** artist Nicholas Payton knows a thing or two about the past becoming more of an anchor than a set of wings to set us free.

This young virtuoso's incredible credentials in the j*** world even before he left high school made their mark on this young man. Now, as he seeks to navigate his 30s as a living and breathing artist, he has discovered the very field of music he thought would liberate him actually is keeping him and other artists down.

Payton has recently completed his ninth recording as a j*** leader -- a bold and autobiographical solo masterwork where he plays all the instruments and is joined by fellow black artists Cassandra Wilson, Esperanza Spalding, N’Dambi, Chinah Blac and Saunders Sermons.

The album title has thrown the j*** world for a bit of a loop, but one cannot help but feel that it is a bit hypocritical since Payton’s release, simply titled Bitches, comes almost 30 years after Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew.  

For many, this title has been a real problem, but to none more than Payton, who found himself embroiled with his label to the point that he not only pulled it back from them, but has self-released this limited edition recording as he forgoes the word jazz. For 90 days of protest, he will call it "the J*** Word."

“I found that the j*** word is not good for artists because it is too broad in what it means,” says Payton from his New Orleans home. “This is a category that includes everything from Miles Davis to Kenny G -- and yet, what does it mean?”

To Payton, the j*** word is also rooted in venues with no money and the pain that still is evoked all the time when people don’t have a best-selling release or concert. 

“You know how it is,” says Payton. “Well, it wasn’t very crowed, but it was a jazz show. Man, we have lost the power this music once had to change the world and top the charts.”

He makes a compelling case as well for why, as he moves forward, he has created a new class of music unhinged from his painful and repetitive past where experimentation is not nearly rewarded as much as sentimentality is in j***. Payton has created a new classification of music: Black American Music, or, BAM.

So no matter where you fall on this musical spectrum from the sentimental to the avant-garde, this is one concert you will not want to miss.

If you would like to read more about this artist, please be sure to follow his blog. It is a very eye-opening perspective from an artist we are sure to hear more from in the future.


Admission: $30/35. $10 for students.