(SCENE) Announces The "3D / 4D" Exhibit, Opening Friday, May 2

East Lansing's alternative art space, (SCENE) Metrospace announces an upcoming exhibit of artwork which engages time and physical space.

The exhibit, which will be displayed May 2 - June 15, 2008, is titled “3-D/4-D,” and will focus on three-dimensional and four-dimensional works of art: shapes in time. The gallery’s interior space will be occupied by sculpture, kinetic artworks, and hybrid artworks that explore notions of time, change, and physical space. Sculptors and multi-media artists included in the exhibit include Steve Baibak, Mark Chatterley, Zabby Cox, Deon Foster, John Lindenmayer, Dan Marsh, Robert Park, Janel Schulz, Tom Sheerin, Craig Mitchell Smith, and Lisa Truax.

An Opening Reception will be held the evening of Friday, May 2, from 6-9 PM featuring food and refreshments by Mama Bear's Cafe and audio/visuals by djtor2.

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Limited Edition (SCENE) T-shirts Are Here!

[above, Ande models (SCENE)'s new limited edition fundraising T in front of Ryosuke Cohen and Michael Mosher's "Brain Cell #693"]

(SCENE)'s community-based T-shirt design contest is still ON! Our idea to have online voting buttons is taking some time to implement. We sincerely thank all the T-shirt artists who've turned in designs and who've been patiently waiting to see the voting bgin. And while we wait for technology to catch up with our bold ideas, we've released a limited edition of 100 T-shirts featuring the "Return To Sender" exhibit on the back and a sharply inclined (SCENE) logo on the front. [actually there are only 99 available, I've reserved one for myself -- Peter] We hope to periodically release limited-edition commemorative shirts, and "Return To Sender" featured some world class postal artists so we've selected it to be the first of a series. [you can click on the image above for a closer look!]

The Return To Sender T is available on white 100% cotton in all sizes at (SCENE) Metrospace for $15, with all the proceeds benefitting (SCENE)'s mission to display cutting edge and emerging artforms. You can stop in to the gallery to get yours (cash or check only), or drop an e-mail to scenemetrospace [at] gmail [dot] com for further details!

Call-for-Proposals for "Epicenter:" An Exhibit Entirely Drawn From The Lansing Area

(SCENE) Metrospace announces a call-for-proposals for an upcoming exhibit of artwork entirely drawn from the Greater Lansing area. All artists over the age of 18 are invited to submit proposals. Proposals will be accepted through Friday, May 30, 2008.The exhibit, on display at (SCENE) Metrospace from June 27 - August 17, 2008, is slated to travel to Indianapolis after the exhibit to be shown at Big Car Gallery (www.bigcar.org). Artists are invited to submit any number of pieces for consideration.

Artists may submit works in any media including but not limited to: sculpture, performance, video, sound, graphic design, photography, collage, painting, installation, and drawing. Artwork in any media or any combination of media will be reviewed. (SCENE)’s focus will be on selecting an exhibit that represents the best in alternative and cutting-edge art the Lansing area has to offer.

Entry materials must include a current artist's biography and/or artist resume, as well as an artistic statement for the proposed artwork(s). Proposals should include photographs of actual or representative works, or digital images on a CD mailed to the address below. No slides please. There is a $10.00 entrance fee per proposal for this exhibit. Checks payable to “The City of East Lansing,” with “(SCENE) Metrospace” in the memo line are due with submission. Entry materials are due Friday, May 30, 2008 in order to be considered for the exhibit (submissions with missing information cannot be considered). Artists must also include a SASE for the return of their materials. Early submissions are encouraged.

For more information, contact Peter Richards at (517) 319-6832.

(SCENE) Metrospace
c/o Peter Richards, director
410 Abbot Road
East Lansing, MI 48823

Transparent Exhibit opens Friday, March 7

EAST LANSING, Mich. - East Lansing's alternative art space, (SCENE) Metrospace announces an upcoming exhibit of artwork themed around the word “transparent.” Fifteen artists from the Lansing area and all over the United States responded to this word with over 40 works of art exploring all aspects of transparency, from the physical to the emotional.

The exhibit will take place from March 7, 2008 through April 20, 2008. There will be a public artists’ reception Friday, March 7 from 6-9 PM, featuring live musical performances from Dixon’s Violin and DJ FRESH:BACE.

Artists featured in the exhibit include Okemos-based photographer Juanita Baldwin, Pullman WA-based painter Brad Dinsmore, Nacogdoches TX- based printmaker Chad Erpelding, Chicago-based mixed media-artist Jennifer Hines, Big Rapids-based mixed media artist Jill Jepsen, Grand Rapids-based printmaker Kimberly Lavon, New York NY-based photographer William Linn, Pullman WA-based multimedia artist Heather McGeachy, East Lansing-based graphic designer Kelly Salchow, East Lansing-based photographer and printmaker Jules Schmuker, East Lansing-based painter and sculptor Cedric Tai, Lansing-based painter Krys Tourtois, Lansing-based painter Anthony Vasquez, Pullman WA-based photographer Tobias Walther, and Ann Arbor-based sculptor Adam Winnie.

(SCENE) Metrospace is located at 110 Charles Street, in the lower level of the colorful Division Street parking structure. (SCENE) is open Thursdays from 2-5 PM, Fridays and Saturdays from 2-9 PM, and Sundays from 12-4 PM during scheduled exhibits. For more information, please contact Peter Richards at (517) 319-6832.

ROBERT COLLAZO GRADUATE RECITAL, Sunday April 20

(SCENE) is launching a Sunday Evening series: This time each week has been set aside for students of all levels from Michigan State University's Music College to perform recitals and conduct workshops. We are pleased to announce our first installment of this series:

Robert Collazo
in Graduate Recital, Saxophone

[2 part program that will explore the relationship between Jazz music and Motown. It will feature new arrangments and compositions by Robert Collazo, Stevie Wonder, and many others.]

Featuring:

Ben Williams on upright and electric basses
Mike Jellick on keyboards
Michael Zurmehly on drums
Andy Wilson on harmonica
Ashton Moore on vocals
John Cassidy on drums
...and others!

7:30-9:30 PM

Please join us in supporting the endeavors of MSU's music scholars.

An Evening of Music featuring HEY BURNER! Records, Saturday APRIL 19

SATURDAY, APRIL 19
8:00 PM
ALL AGES, $5
[doors at 7:00]

SAM CORBIN / COLD MOUNTAIN CHILD / HEZEKIAH JONES / SPINNING LEAVES Saturday April 12

SAM CORBIN
HEZEKIAH JONES
COLD MOUNTAIN CHILD
SPINNING LEAVES

SATURDAY, APRIL 12
8:00 PM
ALL AGES, $5
[doors at 7:00]

A Lansing favorite from his days recording hushed acoustic music in a Holt basement all the way up through a current Monday night residence at Old Town's Unicorn Bar, Sam Corbin's emotionally rich branch on the indie-folk tree might recall Elliott Smith or even Nick Drake. A frequent collaborator with the more traditionally folk-oriented local favorite Jen Sygit (who appears throughout Sam's debut CD "Goodnight Candlelight"), Sam's songs are spare without being sparse, emotionally open without being raw.

Joining Corbin will be two Philadelphia-based indie-folk ensembles, Hezekiah Jones and Spinning Leaves. Hezekiah Jones' music is of a cloth with artists like M. Ward, Iron and Wine, or Will Oldham, with live performances deemed "intimate and slightly unsettling" by the writers of PopMatters. Spinning Leaves occupy a slightly more psychedelic space while still remaining in the folk embrace. Featuring girl-boy call-and-response harmonies, songs lurch from humor-laced country and western to Dylanesque gypsy ballads -- a veritable mix-tape of styles -- without relying on decibels or cliches.

(SCENE) is also pleased to welcome back Cold Mountain Child, an acoustic guitar- and keyboard duo featuring the songwriting of Tyler Bradley. Cold Mountain Child's clear, unpretentious intricacy is firmly entrenched in indie-folk as well, yet conjures the word "timeless" without so much as a whiff of nostalgia.

NARC OUT THE REDS / A.M. SYNDICATE / IN CIVILIAN CLOTHING Friday, April 11

FRIDAY, APRIL 11
ALL AGES, $5
8:00 PM [doors at 7:00]

NARC OUT THE REDS
A.M. SYNDICATE
IN CIVILIAN CLOTHING

Narc Out The Reds is a project of Lansing songwriter and guitarist Chris Baratono. Baratono, formerly of the bands Caustic Pop and Things Without Wings, writes literate rock that veers between the cathartic rush of 90s indie stalwarts like Archers Of Loaf and more melodic fare such as The Twilight Singers or Shudder To Think. Using the guitar as much for texture as for sonic crunch, Baratono says Narc Out The Reds has been years in the making. “It’s the band I always knew was in me” says Baratono, whose day job is music manager at Schuler books. April 11’s show will be the band’s live debut, and (SCENE) is honored to provide the stage.

Austin, Texas trio A.M. Syndicate’s dream-laced rock has no shortage of memorable songs, as evidenced by positive reviews of last year’s full-length CD “Liberation.” Featuring former Rhythm Of Black Lines guitarist Omar Chavez and the uniquely named multi-instrumentalist Golfball (her real name!), A.M. Syndicate began as a multi-member outfit a la Animal Collective with an original line-up boasting members of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Since paring down to a 3-piece, they have honed their sound into some of our favorite independent music of the last year.

Rounding out the evening will be envelope pushing Detroit-based band In Civilian Clothing, a band who’s been on our radar for some time now and who will be appearing at (SCENE) for the first time. The evening of music promises to reward indie-rock leaning listeners of all types – this is the sort of bill we daydream of!

A BENEFIT SHOW for OH MY GOD

SATURDAY, APRIL 5
ALL AGES, $5
7:00 PM [doors at 6:00]

Last September, we got the bad news that Chicago-based organ-bass-drums trio OH MY GOD had been involved in a serious van accident while on tour, just days after playing two packed Lansing shows, including one at (SCENE). Ig, Bish, Billy and Matt have made Lansing a stop on their tours for years, cultivating friendships and fans from all over mid-Michigan through musicianship and good-naturedness. Now, in the wake of a near-fatal accident, they are faced with medical bills and lots of physical therapy. There were lots of broken bones.

April 5, (SCENE) will host a special benefit show featuring MY FEARLESS LEADER, THE CONCEPT, FREEL, THE PLURALS, and the CARTRIDGE FAMILY. The evening will feature these bands performing their favorite Oh My God songs, as well as a few surprises! All proceeds will go toward Oh My God's medical bills.

Fellow Chicago band Detholz has put up a site where you can contribute further to Oh My God, www.saveohmygod.com.

We wish Oh My God fast healing, and can't wait to see them again.