Hartford
Connecticut
Real Art Ways E-News - September 20, 2023
Arts and Entertainment
September 22, 2023
From: Real Art WaysGet on Board and support Real Art Ways at this important moment.
Tuesday, September 26 6-9pm
Our event will feature fun people, food from Grano Arso, music with the Matt Dwonszyk Trio featuring Shenel Johns, and the unexpected!
We will present Realie Awards to special people who have made significant contributions to our community:
Bronze Sponsors:
Barbara Sokoloff and Associates
DBVW Architects
M&T Charitable Foundation
Underwriters:
Essex Steam Train and Riverboat
MacDermid, Reynolds, and Glissman PC
Marketing Solutions
Smith Brothers Insurance
Creative Cocktail Hour
Thursday, 9/21 6-10pm
Free for Real Art Ways Members, $15 General Admission
Live Performances By:
Colmena
Jim Hunt - trumpet
Nelson Bello - congas
Jeffry McQuillan - percussion, cajón Kris Jensen - saxophone, flute
Edwin Rios - guitar
Carlos Hernandez Chavez - bass.
A mix of Latin Jazz, jazz standards, rock and R&B.
DJ Mr. Realistic
Gallery Exhibitions
Ayiti, I Saw It In A Dream
Steven Baboun
Exhibition Opening
Reception 6-8pm
2022 Real Art Award Recipient
El Disco Es Cultura
Adrian Martinez Chavez
Exhibition Opening
Reception 6-8pm
DJ Set 8:30pm
2022 Real Art Award Recipient
Burn the Midnight Oil
Ying Ye
2022 Real Art Award Recipient
Food Truck: Auntie's Pasta and Jamaican Food from Muncher's International
As part of being at CCH, you're invited to create art yourselves! We give you an opportunity to participate in hands-on art making activities based on current exhibitions within our space. Led by Real Art Ways staff!
Cinema
Opens Friday, 9/22!
Scrapper
This vibrant and inventive father-daughter comedy follows Georgie, a resourceful 12-year-old girl who secretly lives alone in her flat in a working class suburb of London following the death of her mother. Out of nowhere, her estranged father Jason arrives and forces her to confront reality.
“Watching these two mutually suspicious strangers stumble toward forming a family makes Scrapper an invigorating treat, like finding wild flowers bursting out of broken pavement.” – Wall Street Journal
“Scrapper, which seeks to parse through the fears felt in grief, change, and maturation, is full of rare heart, a spunky embrace of ambitious empathy.” – RogerEbert.com
“A smart, sensitive debut and a promising arrival for its talented director [Charlotte Rega].” – indieWire
93% on Rotten Tomatoes
Last Days Wednesday (9/20) and Thursday (9/21)
Shortcomings
Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he's not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.
"Shortcomings brings raw ‘90s indie romcom vibes to a contemporary story about race and sexuality" - AWFJ.org
“A wickedly funny, absorbing character study.” – RoberEbert.com
"“The movie is funny and touching, with star-making performances and a script full of lovely, self-aware little touches.” – The New York Times
Held Over
Jules
Jules follows Milton who lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls "Jules." Things become complicated when two neighbors discover Jules.
“…reminds us that the tribulations of getting old are more natural than sad, and best done in the company of loved ones.” – Washington Post
“Featuring sterling performances from an uncharacteristically underplaying Ben Kingsley alongside Harriet Sansom Harris and Jane Curtin, Jules emerges as a low-key delight.” – Hollywood Reporter
Exhibition on Screen: Hopper: An American Love Story
Combined with expert interviews, diaries and a startling visual reflection of American life, Hopper – An American Love Story brings to life one of America’s most influential artists, Edward Hopper. Countless painters, photographers, filmmakers and musicians have been influenced by his art – but who was he, and how did a struggling illustrator create such a bounty of notable work?
This new film takes a deep look into Hopper’s art, his life, and his relationships. From his early career as an illustrator; his wife giving up her own promising art career to be his manager; his critical and commercial acclaim; and in his own words – this film explores the enigmatic personality behind the brush.
The Miracle Club
Set in 1967's Dublin, The Miracle Club follows the story of three generations of close friends. Lily, Eileen, and Dolly have a dream to win a trip to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year. When the chance to win presents itself, the women seize it. However, just before their trip, their old friend Chrissie arrives in town for her mother’s funeral, dampening their good mood and well-laid plans.
Starring Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, & Laura Linney.
Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan.
“The Miracle Club is a sincere and meritorious effort, enhanced by John Conroy’s beatific cinematography that vividly captures the quiet stoicism of rural Ireland.” – Observer
“…it does a fine job of dramatizing the healing power of forgiveness.” – The Wall Street Journal
Hartford Brass Band Bonanza
Saturday, 9/23 12-6pm
Free Admission
Featuring:
Fiesta Del Norte
Rara Bel Poze
Hartford Proud's Drill Drum and Dance Corp.
Extra Syrup
The Hartford Hot Several
This performance is free to the public.
Food from Samba's Cuisine Food Truck.
Support for this event comes from the Evelyn W. Preston Memorial Fund.
Improvisations Now
Sunday, 9/24 2:30pm
Experience music imagined and created in real time.
An improvised performance that is all about being present and in the moment.
Curated by Joe Morris.
Featuring:
Joe Morris - Bass
Charles Downs - Drums
Darius Jones - Alto Saxophone
Aquiles Navarro – Trumpet
Save the Date!
Friday, 10/6 6pm
Mark Your Calendars!
CT Lit Fest
Saturday, 10/14
10am-6pm
A free literary festival that includes readings, panels, open mic, a book fair, food trucks, music, and a type writer gallery!
Featuring more than 30 writers including:
Wally Lamb, Victoria Buitron, Sean Frederick Forbes, Catina Bacote,
Steve Ostrowski, Frederick-Douglas Knowles II, Lara Ehrlich,
Margaret Gibson, Julien Strong, José B. Gonzalez, Hirsh Sawhney,
Janae Marks, Susan Campbell, Sarah Darer Littman, Natasha Grambell, Bessy Reyna, Ryan Parker, and Connecticut Poet Laureate
Antoinette Brim-Bell, plus readers from the 2023 CT Literary Anthology and a live recording of Writer Mother Monster Podcast.
Interested in Volunteering?
Morning and afternoon shifts are available, which will be four hours each. Email [email protected] with questions and to get involved!
In Our Galleries:
Ayiti, I Saw It In A Dream
Steven Baboun
Opening Reception Thurs. 9/21 6-8pm during CCH
This photographic exhibition spotlights the diversity and complexities of Haitian identity and communities. Originally from Port-au-Prince, Steven Baboun cherishes his homeland of Haiti as a playground for self-exploration, an arena for political analysis and dissection, and a space for world-building outside of the Western gaze. This installation allows the viewer to enter Baboun's Haiti, a state between dreaming and consciousness, between Haiti today and the dream of a utopian Haiti for all Haitians.
Steven Baboun is a recipient of a 2022 Real Art Award.
El Disco Es Cultura
Adrian Martinez Chavez
Opening Reception Thurs. 9/21 6-8pm, with a DJ Set at 8:30pm
Adrian Martinez Chavez's exhibition focuses on labor, love, celebration, and migration, and what it looks, sounds, and feels like to experience Mexican culture in the Northeast of the United States, using images of his father in his family's restaurant, Monte Alban Restaurant, in Hartford.
Adrian Martinez Chavez is a recipient of a 2022 Real Art Award.
Burn the Midnight Oil
This installation from Chinese-American artist Ying Ye incorporates ingredients from her family's restaurant, China Eagle in Ellington, including soy sauce, soy bean paper, tofu skin, soy beans, along with a bicycle sculpture. As an immigrant to the United States, Ye explores her Chinese-American identity through painting, sculpture, and performance.
Ying Ye will be delving deeper into this work and her artistic practice during an artist talk with Billie Lee from the Hartford Art School on Thursday, October 5th at 5:30pm.
Ying Ye is the recipient of a 2022 Real Art Award.
We're Hiring!
Real Art Ways is looking for an Administrative Assistant and Front of House Staff Members to join our team!
More Information and Application
We Love Our Members!
When you become a member of Real Art Ways, you become part of an ever-growing arts community right here in Hartford.