Interested in taking an African dance class? Always wanted to try your hand at woodcarving? Want to check out what local actors and artists are up to, or just enjoy art in general? Free events on these topics and more will be held as Evanston celebrates its annual Arts Week this week.
As a part of a statewide festival, Arts Week has been a tradition in Evanston since the 1980’s, said Jeff Cory, Evanston’s cultural arts director. After experiencing a period of dormancy in the 1990’s, it has been resurrected in recent years by the Evanston Arts Council.
This year boasts the biggest schedule yet, with more than 50 events celebrating the city’s thriving art community.
“We have more events than every other city (besides) Chicago,” Cory said.
Earlier this year, Evanston was awarded the 2007 Arts Friendly Community Award by the Illinois Arts Alliance and Illinois Municipal League.
“(This award) underscores Evanston’s passion for the arts,” Cory said.
Evanston kicked off this year’s Arts Week with a performance by Northwestern’s Dolphin Show, which features songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel” and includes pieces from some of the songwriters’ other productions. A shortened version of the show was performed by Communication junior Eugenio Vargas, Music senior Rebecca Davis and Communication senior Katherine Palardy.
“This is the second year we have been involved in Arts Week,” said company manager Katie Martin. “We are looking forward to a long-standing tradition from here on out.”
Though only a few NU students attended Friday’s opening night festivities, Martin, a Weinberg junior, said that’s what she expected.
“It’s supposed to be more for the community, not just the students,” Martin said. “I would love to see more students get off campus to see this, but it’s still 10 times better than it was last year.”
The opening celebration was held on the corner of Sherman Avenue and Davis Street, and about 40 people attended. A new online guide to cultural arts events in Evanston, evanstonartsbuzz.com, also was launched at the opening. The Web site features a monthly calendar of events, guides to venues in the area and other information.
One popular Arts Week event is Dance Showcase, which features performances by local dance companies, including Evanston Dance Ensemble, Urban Beat Dance, Equilibrium Dance Company and Elements Contemporary Ballet. Various classes and exhibits are also available at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., and the Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave.
“It’s such a treat,” said Olga Haigh, who lived in Evanston for 35 years before moving to Westchester, N.Y. She returned this past weekend to oversee her college-bound granddaughter’s visit to the NU campus.
“I was so surprised,” Haigh said. “But knowing that Evanston is capable of such diversity and enthusiasm, I’m not that surprised that it came up with something so wonderful as this.”
Reach Tiffany Wong at [email protected].
