Triad Arts Weekend: March 29, 2013

Today it's an arts sandwich with two thick slices of visual art and one of the world's most renowned creative pioneers right there in the middle. 

Sawtooth School for Visual Arts - Dane Snodgrass

The Sawtooth School has been leading the way in the Piedmont Triad for nearly 70 years, providing art education for all ages from beginner to advanced skill levels. Sawtooth also often showcases the wonderful work of their award-winning teachers and participating artists. One of those teacher/artists is Master bowyer (that's bow as in bow and arrow by the way—no fiddling) Dane Snodgrass. Some of the oldest primitive weapons discovered have been Neolithic wooden bows. A selfbow is made from a single piece of wood without lamination, and during his 8-week course at Sawtooth that begins April 8, Dane will introduce the hand tools and techniques needed to craft just such a historic weapon. In the meantime, you can see Dane's work at Sawtooth's new exhibit “Out of the Woods”. It features the school's wood program as well as Dane's colleagues utilizing two-dimensional media with woods as inspiration. It opens Friday April 5 from 5-7. After years away, Dane has returned full circle on his journey as a bowyer that began making bows from sticks as a youngster.

Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson has chosen the roads less traveled for more than four decades. Her groundbreaking original works seamlessly blend the worlds of art, theatre, storytelling and experimental music. On Thursday, April 4 at 7:30pm she'll share a soulful and funny collection of songs and stories at Hanes Auditorium in the Elberson Fine Arts Center at Salem College. During the performance Laurie will draw from her typically wide ranging palette with reflections on politics, theories of evolution, family, the animal kingdom and more. The third and last of her series of solo story works is titled“Dirtday” with stories and music combining to create an otherworldly experience. It's free and open to the public, as are the Galleries at the Elberson which will show Collected Stories: Books by Laurie Anderson from April 1 to the 28th. It's a mix of her early works like the comic book Baloney and Moccasins all the way through 2012's Pillowbook, and they highlight her amazing career. Laurie spoke with David Ford by phone from her home in New York.

Kairoff at the Keyboard

Today on Understanding Classical Music with Kairoff at the Keyboard, Peter Kairoff discusses composer and pianist Edward MacDowell. 

Potters of the Piedmont

Join 10 extremely accomplished local commercial pottery artists as the Potters of the Piedmont are holding their first annual pottery festival  in April at Earthworks Pottery Studios. It's happening Saturday, April 6th from 10-4 at Earthworks Pottery Studios—coming up on its one-year anniversary next month—636 south Cedar Street in downtown Greensboro. You can meet and greet the artists and enjoy a huge variety of styles, glazes and pottery techniques and leave your car parked for the duration. The rain date is Sunday, April 7th.  Earthworks and the one-stop pottery festival is the brainchild of Jim Rientjes and his wife, potter Molly Lithgo. Jim makes beautiful hand built earthenware pottery for everyday use. Jim was joined by two potters: Lorrie Anderson of Moose Hollow Studios creates unique stoneware pieces inspired by her home in the hollow, and Tim Moran of Celtic Pottery Studios specializes in Celtic inspired wheel thrown porcelain with crystalline glazes.