Creative Alliance at The Patterson Presents Urban/Appalachia, Kicks Off 5/8
By: Gabrielle Sierra Apr. 13, 2010
Urban/Appalachia explores the dynamic relationship between Baltimore and Appalachia using music, film, and art to unearth stories and songs of decades of migration. From rural people searching for work in cities to urban offenders being sent to new Appalachian prisons, as coal miners become prison guards and coal energy shifts to wind power, the complicated and evolving relationship between Baltimore and the mountains offers a unique prism through which to consider race, culture, power and history.
Sat May 8, 9pm
Hip-hop performers cross boundaries and look to the Mountains. Beatbox king Shodekeh with the Shape Note Sisters. Cloggers from Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble with break dancers the Funk Rhythm Junk Crew. Plus hip hop mainstays 5th L, Brown F.I.S.H. and DJ Booman. Proceeds benefit Wombworks. $15, $12 mbrs & stus.Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass w/ Smooth Kentucky
Sat May 15, 8pm
Danny Paisley grew up listening to Bill Monroe play in his kitchen and now fronts the band his dad started. His unadorned, intense, traditional sound contrasts with genre-bending up and comers Smooth Kentucky. $16, $13 mbrs.Hazel Dickens' Tribute to Ola Belle Reed
Fri Jun 4, 8pm
When Hazel Dickens moved from West Virginia to Baltimore in 1954 she became the first female Bluegrass star. With an all star band featuring Dudley Connell of the Seldom Scene, Hazel pays tribute to musician/promoter Ola Belle Reed. Ola Belle's son Dave Reed and nephews Hugh and Zane Campbell open. $25, $23 mbrs & stus. Adv. Tixs Sug.
Sat May 8, 5:30pm
An Appalachian family's migration to Highlandtown and back to the mountains is documented in excerpts from Appalshop's Long Journey Home with a talk by Dr. Clifford Murphy PhD, co-director of Maryland Traditions and a scholar of Appalachian history.Appalshop's Up the Ridge: The 1000 Kites Project
Wed May 12, 7pm
Appalshop's Up the Ridge looks at the effects of an emerging Appalachian prison industry. Their 1000 Kites project creates new works from stories of those affected, from guards to prisoners' families. Poetry by prisoners at Hagerstown and Jessup are shared onstage by Bashi Rose. Baltimore families will create an original radio piece developed in an Appalshop residency at CA, to be aired on WEAA-FM in June.Coal Country and Coal River Wind w/ Arty Hill
Fri June 18, 8pm
The Bmore premiere of Coal Country, looks at mountain top removal mining in WV, and Catharine Pancake's in-progress cut of Coal River Wind considers alternatives to the coal economy. Plus a short set by honky tonker Arty Hill, who's song is featured on the Coal Country soundtrack.
Main Gallery
Opens Sat May 8, 7-9pm. On view May 8-29.
Built from found materials by Leon Reid IV, a statue of John Henry towers over this installation amidst Hoovertown shacks made of wooden pallets and railroad ties made of cardboard. Giant stenciled murals by Chris Stain form a backdrop melding WPA-era social realism and urban graffiti, expanding on the themes of struggle and pride, race and dislocation in the face of technological and economic change.The Leon Kagarise Archives 1961-1971
Amalie Rothschild Gallery
Closing reception Fri Jun 4, 5:30-7:30pm. On view May 20-Jun 5
Stars like June Carter, George Jones, Dolly Parton, Bill Monroe and more earned their audiences playing small stages like Ola Belle Reed's New River Ranch and Sunset Park near Baltimore. Leon Kagarise documented the scene with rare, intimate color photographs, presented along with memorabilia from the Kagarise archives and never-released live recordings by Johnny Cash, the Stoneman Family and more. BOOKSFinding Sara: A Daughter's Journey
Thu May 13, 6pm reception, 7pm reading. FREE
CA Trustee Rachel Edds and her sister Margaret discovered 300+ letters from their mother, who died when they were toddlers in Harlan County. Margaret has crafted them into a deeply affecting memoir.
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