More art for Ukraine, more theaters reveal seasons, more arts news

A successful artistic campaign last month to help the people of Ukraine has blossomed into a multi-artist Provincetown project to try to help even more.

The collaboration, called “Exquisite Core,” began with the work of Belarus-born Eugene Zhukau, who raised $4,850 for the International Rescue Committee through an Instagram auction of cyanotype images of 1908 Provincetown and related donations.

“Exquisite Core,” he said, brought a dozen other local artists in to create their own interpretation of that image of their current hometown. The project is named for the “exquisite corpse” term for a sequential composition by multiple people but with, Zhukau says, “a more upbeat sound” for a title.

Other artists — including Paul Rizzo, Maura Cunningham, Caroline Carney, Tessera Knowles-Thompson, Eric Kosse, Donna Pomponio and Bob Keary — received a cyanotype print, created through photographic printing, of Zhukau’s “Town and Harbor from Hill, Provincetown, Massachusetts” art. That piece was based on a century-old photo of the town, and the other artists, sometimes working with Zhukau, created individual overlays of their own interpretations of the image.

“In these times of division and violence, this project stresses art as a collaborative endeavor and meaning as a shared creation,” Zhukau says.

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Some pieces have already sold, for between $500 and $2,000, according to Zhukau, with money donated to each artist’s chosen Ukrainian-aid cause, including World Central Kitchen and the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ human rights organization Gender Zed.

In addition, all photo editing to promote the artists and their work was done by Ukrainian photo editor Olga Shlyapina, who has remained in Ukraine with her family. To find out about the individual efforts and see the artwork and reach the artists: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcCMEmZOTTC/.

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Seasons announced for CLOC, White Heron

Two more summer theaters have unveiled their plans for the 2022 season, with subscriptions and tickets available or on sale soon:

College Light Opera Company

College Light Opera Company’s 54th season of all musicals at Highfield Theatre in Falmouth will range from its beloved staple of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas to a tribute to Elvis Presley and a dark Stephen Sondheim show.

The nine-show season opens June 21-25 with the “The Gondoliers” then continues June 28-July 2 with “Kiss Me Kate”; July 5-9, “No, No Nanette”; July 12-16, “All Shook Up”; July 19-23, “Die Fledermaus”; July 26-30, “Cinderella”; Aug.2-6, “Assassins”; Aug. 9-13, “The Scarlet Pimpernel”; and Aug. 16-20, “She Loves Me.”

Reservations and information: http://www.collegelightoperacompany.com/.

White Heron Theatre Company

White Heron Theatre Company on Nantucket will celebrate its 10th year with a season ancho
red by a show starring Tony Award-winner Celia Keenan-Bolger and two premieres that were delayed by the pandemic.

Keenan-Bolger, who won a 2019 Tony as Scout in “Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird” and has also been lauded for stage roles in “Peter and the Starcatchers” and “The Glass Menagerie,” will star July 26-Aug. 11 in “Dial M for Murder.” The “killer comedy” about a man seeking revenge for his wife’s affair preceded the classic Hitchcock film, according to the White Heron announcement. (The actress previously appeared at White Heron in “Private Lives” in 2018.)

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What artistic director Lynne Bolton describes as “a blockbuster season” will also include the timely “Thurgood,” about Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court (Aug. 22-Sept. 1) and the first partnership with Nantucket Comedy Festival with “The White Heron Comedy Club” on Friday and Saturday nights. The year will conclude with the holiday Dickens adaptation “A Nantucket Christmas Carol” (Nov. 25-Dec. 3).

The world premiere of new work is Mark Shanahan’s “See Monsters of the Deep,” a fantasy about a man who ventures in a small boat to confront a mysterious monster in Nantucket Harbor and soon becomes part of an infamous prank. That will be performed June 29-July 20 in repertory with the North American premiere of “The Half,” about an actor recalling his life in the theater, written by “Game of Thrones” actor Richard Dormer (he was Beric Dondarrion), which will run June 26-July 17.

Tickets are available for members and go on sale April 27 for the general public. Reservations and information: www.whiteherontheatre.org or 508-825-5268.

White Heron also recently announced a new PreProfessional Training Intensive for students 18 and older that will take place June 10-12 on Nantucket. The curriculum will include audition scenarios, on-camera work, casting, artist representation, website creation, social media and other facets of the business.

Classes will be taught by actors from Broadway, the West End, streaming services and other parts of the entertainment industry, including Kelley Curran (Turner in HBO’s “The Gilded Age” and on Broadway in “Present Laughter”); and Andrew Burnap (Tony Award for “The Inheritance”). Information and registration: www.whiteherontheatre.org/education.

Nantucket Book Foundation welcomes new leader

The Nantucket Book Foundation has a new executive director in time for the 10th anniversary in June of the Nantucket Book Festival: Kaley Kokomoor, who since 2020 has been the organization’s special projects coordinator.

Kokomoor has been working closely with Maddie Hjulstrom, who is leaving after six years of leading the organization “to pursue other interests and opportunities,” according to an announcement.

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Kokomoor coordinated the launch of the “At Home With Authors” series during the pandemic and has worked on fundraising efforts as the organization has grown and adapted.

Before joining the foundation and festival, Kokomoor worked as an elementary school teacher in Connecticut and Maine and, most recently, as the outreach and communication manager at the Nantucket Atheneum.

During Hjulstrom’s time, according to foundation information, the organization’s revenue has more than quadrupled, with a “deepening relationship within the Nantucket community and the critical support of foundation grants,” the foundation has brought nearly 200 authors to the festival; and island young people have gotten more access to books and authors through the Nantucket Bookmobile and the foundation’s Visiting Author Program.

Osterville gardeners show work at MFA

The floral talents of the Osterville Garden Club will be on display April 29-May 1
as the “Art in Bloom” show returns to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The celebration of spring, in its 46th year, pairs works of art from its collection with 50 floral designs created by local garden clubs.

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The visual offerings will be available to view virtually at https://www.mfa.org/. The in-person event will include (advance registration required) demonstrations, master classes and recorded guided tours, plus live music and an MFA Art in Bloom Market and Garden Cart.

Butterfly volunteers wanted

Interested in butterflies? The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster has set two Tuesday sessions – 1 to 2:30 p.m. May 10 and 17 – for docent training for the 2022 Butterfly House and Pollinator Path.

The museum is seeking volunteers to connect with visitors June through August who enjoy the outdoors, have interest in pollinators and native plants, and some knowledge about butterflies.

To enroll: 508-896-3867, ext. 133; questions or more information: Alexa Nickandros at anickandros@ccmnh,org.

Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Ukraine aid through art, 2 theaters reveal seasons, Nantucket leader