Go Memphis

Having exhibitions by two very different sorts of artists "helps educate patrons," said David Lusk, owner of David Lusk Gallery in Laurelwood. "They generally like it. The space is big, and they can always turn a corner and see something else." There will be a reception tonight, from 6 to 8, for the exhibitions "From Peace Mountain," by local artist Don Estes, and "Connected," by Anne Siems from Seattle. Full story »

Regional artists flaunt their colorful wares in a big way on Thursday. A reception from 6 to 8 p.m. for an Artists Group show at Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry, will feature professional and student dancers in excerpts from the Children's Ballet Nutcracker, said Mary Roudnev, artistic director of the Children's Ballet & Dance School. Full story »

Art is the perfect fit for coffee and conversation at two Midtown establishments. At the P& H Café, 1532 Madison, "Automatic Detour" features automatic drawings made by University of Memphis art graduate student Sarah Boyce, while at Otherlands, 614 S. Cooper, "River Panels" explores geometric abstraction through contact sheet-inspired multiples of the Mississippi River by Ed. Porter. Full story »

If there are three words that will draw local fun-lovers and culture-seekers, they are “river” and “arts” and “festival”: Voila, the free — as in no admission charge — RiverArtsFest, which runs Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on South Main Street. A combination of two old events, Arts in the Park and the South Main Arts Festival, RiverArtsFest attracted about 40,000 people in 2007, its first year, and more than 70,000 people last year. Full story »

SUNDAY: Ed. Porter, local musician and owner of the maverick record label Loverly (which currently "sits in a closet on the third floor," he says), shows off his artistic side in "River Panels," a group of photographic meditations on the Mississippi River, at Otherlands, 614 S. Cooper, that runs through Nov. 30. An opening reception is slated from 3-5 p.m. Sunday, and will feature ambient music by Dave Shouse. Call 278-4994 or go to otherlandscoffeebar.com. Full story »

In the "Haunted Attraction" industry, web sites are nothing new: Just about every haunted house, hayride and Halloween trail in the country is draped with artificial cobwebs inhabited by prop or mechanical spiders. But Web sites -- the computer kind -- are an increasingly important part of Halloween, which has become a $7 billion-a-year industry. Robert Thomson is a haunt hobbyist who this year introduced a Web site that reviews the major haunted attractions in the Memphis area. Full story »

The faculty at Memphis College of Art is like some great exotic flower. Every three years it blossoms in a colorful display of creative and varied finery. The "Triennial Faculty Exhibition" opened last weekend in the college's Rust Hall Gallery in Overton Park. "It's a good thing that we do this," said sculptor and installation artist Tom Lee, who has been on the MCA faculty for 20 years. "We are colleagues, and we see each other a lot, but we don't actually talk about our work very much." Full story »

As the title, “Everything but Cats, Cars, and Broken Hearts,” indicates, "Repair Days" at the National Ornamental Metal Museum is prepared to fix just about anything you care to bring in, from weeping chalices to weather vanes to motorcycles. Celebrating its 30th anniversary Friday through Sunday, the annual event and primary fundraiser for the museum will gather from around the country nearly a hundred metalsmiths, several hundreds of volunteers and a thousand or so visitors. Full story »

Five art-related businesses took part in the first Broad Avenue Art Walk, a number that has more than doubled in what is now an annual celebration of the burgeoning arts district. At tonight's 4th annual Broad Avenue Art Walk, 12 businesses will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. flaunting their artistic wares with exhibits, demonstrations and live music. A lot of people reflect on this area as the South Main of five years ago," says Pat Brown, business manager at Broad gallery T Clifton Art. Full story »

Yan Karpovich always knew he would be an artist. As he explains in his uniquely Russian way: "As a child, I was forced to draw!" The results of this discipline can be seen in his first American solo exhibit, "Dark Days/White Nights," which runs through Oct. 31 at T Clifton Art, 2571 Broad. The show is also the central event in tonight's Broad Avenue Art Walk and coincides with his first visit to Memphis, where his sister Anna Karpovich has lived for a decade. Full story »

The 37th Annual Pink Palace Crafts Fair opens Thursday and runs through Sunday in Audubon Park, near Southern and Perkins. More than 300 artists and artisans from around the country will offer their wares for sale, with some providing demonstrations of soap-making, rug-hooking, blacksmithing, broom-making, tatting and spinning, turning wood, blowing glass and making decoys and beeswax candles. Full story »

Most people aren't flattered being equated with junk. Not so for Donna Blackard, the local artist who makes assemblage pieces from what others discard. "I find the oddest of things that turn into a new way of looking at them," she says. Blackard, who is represented by T Clifton Art Gallery, shares a show, "Little Mysteries," with painter Lisa Williamson that runs through Oct. 30 at Buckman Arts Center. Full story »

As if the hint of fall in Memphis weren’t reason enough to step outdoors, a new festival in Overton Park should offer even more incentive. Still not convinced? Try “free.” “Nuts! Over Art” promises a full day of art, music and assorted family activities, and it is all free to the public. Designed to spotlight Overton Park as a local arts destination, the Saturday event marks the first time that the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis College of Art and the Levitt Shell — all park attractions — have partnered on such a scale. Full story »

More than 45 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his epochal "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington, his words continue to resonate, inform and inspire. They can also be appreciated anew in an art exhibit that pays tribute to his message and vision at the National Civil Rights Museum. Full story »

Local art lovers have a passport waiting to be stamped at Joysmith Gallery, which has quietly made a name for itself as a Memphis art space with true global reach. The title of this month’s show, “Cultural Affirmations,” could in fact serve to describe most days of the week at the Downtown Memphis gallery, known for its vibrant array of African and African-American art and artful objects. “I have no reason to take that off the wall,” says director Robert Bain of the exhibit name (Bain co-owns the gallery with his wife, artist Brenda Joysmith). Full story »