Free Festival to Celebrate Mesa Arts Center's 16-17 Season

Mesa Arts Center will celebrate the start of its 2016-17 season with a free, family-friendly kickoff festival titled Between the Lines on Friday, September 9, 2016, 6-10 p.m. The event is inspired by the theme of exhibitions opening in Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum that same evening, which is contemporary art inspired by literature. Festival goers will see live performances, hear nonstop live music, watch live street artists and see artist demonstrations on the campus Shadow Walk, tour Mesa Arts Center's art studios and enjoy delicious foods from local vendors such as Paleta's Betty, Waffle Love food truck, and Firehouse Kettle Corn.

Features of the festival include:

· Atmospheric performances by Vessel Project, embodying well-known literary characters.

· Book sale and signings by local authors.

· Experimental Art Night performances presented by [nueBOX].

· Hands-on activity and book giveaway by Page Coach.

· Hands-on community art project by artist Kyllan Maney.

· Live painting demonstrations by Mesa Arts Center art studios.

· Opening of five contemporary art exhibitions inspired by literature in Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum.

· Performance by Mesa-based band Vintage Wednesday.

· Performances by Humor Writes, Phonetic Spit and AZ Beat Lab on the Project Lit Stage.

· Pop-up performances by Cazo Dance.

· Singer/songwriter showcase on Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Stage.

Following a hiatus for the later weeks of August, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum will reopen on September 9 with five new exhibitions. Worldwide Wanderings by Beatrice Coron, an internationally recognized papercutting artist, will feature Coron's literature inspired works and book forms. Paradise Lost by Daniel Martin Diaz will feature a new series comprised of ten drawings that allegorically illustrate the "Fall of Man" and "War in Heaven" in contemporary times. Off the Page will feature works that look at the influences literature continues to have on contemporary art and interconnected nature of visual, oral and written storytelling. Disillusioned by Dina Goldstein will feature select pieces from Goldstein's two most prominent series:Fallen Princesses and Gods of Suburbia. And The Footnote Chronicles by Corinne Geertsen features digitally manipulated photographs by the artist, who uses humor to convey the psychological state of the depicted characters, playfully placing many of them in fanciful, and often times, precarious predicaments. For this exhibition, Geertsen collaborated with writers to create poetic storylines to accompany many of the renderings.

Mesa Arts Center is located at One East Main Street in downtown Mesa. There is no charge to attend the Season Kickoff Festival or the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum's opening, and parking is free. More information can be found at MesaArtsCenter.com or by calling 480-644-6500.

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