Wright State grad takes audiences behind-the-scenes at “Moonlight”

Just a week before her film captured the Academy Award for Best Picture, Centerville High School grad Hannah Beachler was in town chatting with The Neon audience after a special screening of “Moonlight.”

Beachler has become one of Hollywood’s most in-demand production designers. She won a major award for her work on the conceptual music video, “Lemonade,” a day before Beyoncé won a Grammy for the project.

In her talk-back after the Dayton screening, Beachler had nothing but praise for Wright State University and the film education she gained there. The praise was reciprocated by W. Stuart McDowell, professor and artistic director of the Wright State Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures, who joined Beachler for the Q&A and said she has always been gracious about spending time with current students.

Beachler was asked about the role of a production designer. “A lot about it is choosing the location,” she explained. In the case of “Moonlight,” she said she looked at several beaches before choosing the one that would be used when young Chiron is taught to swim by drug dealer Juan. “This movie is a lot about men touching in a way that’s not violent,” she said, adding that the swimming scene illustrates that point.

Beachler said one of the most important lessons she’s learned is that “no” is as powerful as “yes.” “Never take a job if you don’t connect with the script,” she told students. She is currently working on Marvel’s “Black Panther.”

After the exciting Academy Award announcement, Beachler wrote this on her Facebook page: “So proud to have been apart of such an important, moving and timeless, story of love and acceptance, so poignant for the tenor of our current world.”

Bradshaw wins art education award

Dayton Art Institute members gathered at the museum on Feb. 23 for the 2017 annual meeting. The good news is that the DAI ended 2016 with a balanced operating budget. We learned that more than 114,600 people visited the museum last year and that it was a record-breaking year for Art Ball and Oktoberfest, the museum’s two largest fundraisers.

A highlight of the meeting is always the presentation of the Pamela P. Houk Award for Excellence in Art Education. This year’s recipient was R. Darden Bradshaw, Assistant Professor and Area Coordinator in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Dayton and a practicing fiber artist. Darden advanced the opportunities for UD students with her creation and leadership of the “Living Glass: Sustaining Memory Through Glass” project.

Bradshaw was also the winner of the 2017 Western Region Higher Education Art Educator Award at the National Art Education Association national convention in New York City March 2-4.

The museum’s complete Community Report is available online at www.daytonartinstitute.org/communityreport.

DPAA to present “A Taste of the Arts”

A free concert showcasing the Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet and Dayton Philharmonic is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday, March 12, in the Centerville High School Central Theater, 500 E. Franklin St., Centerville.

“A Taste of the Arts” is presented by the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance and funded by the City of Centerville and the Centerville Arts Commission.

The program will begin with a selection of chamber music, continue with dance and conclude with young artists from Dayton Opera’s 2017 Artists-in-Residence program.

After the performance, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance will hold a “Community Conversation” to hear feedback from residents about Dayton’s cultural scene.

Creative aging classes planned

Older adults seeking a creative outlet have new options at the West Carrollton and Burkhardt Branches of the Dayton Metro Library. The Ohio Arts Council recently awarded a grant to the Dayton Metro Library and 14 other Ohio-based organizations to create hands-on arts experiences tailored to the needs and interests of older adults.

Local teaching artist Teresa Olivarria will lead free classes at the Libraries specifically for those age 55 and over. While the classes are free, advance registration is required.

They include “Daydreaming on Paper,” a six-week collage-journaling class which begins Tuesday, March 7 from 6-8 p.m. and an eight-week drawing workshop which will be held from 10 a.m. until noon on Thursdays beginning March 9. All necessary supplies are provided at no cost.

Class size is limited to 15 participants. For more information or to register, call (937) 463-BOOK or register on the Events Calendar at DaytonMetroLibrary.org.

Family Concert incorporates masks, puppets

The Platypus Theatre Company and the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra will be visiting the Lands of Latin America with Max and His Dog at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 12 at the Schuster Center.

It’s the third and final concert in the Family Concert series and is entitled “Presto, Mambo!”

The mission of Platypus is to create the next generation of classical music lovers by partnering with orchestras to give young audiences the opportunity to explore music on a deeper level. Music and storylines are woven together with colorful masks, puppets and costumes.

In “Presto, Mambo!,” the audience and the orchestra embark on a tour of the music of the Americas. The journey takes an unexpected turn when Max makes his way onto the stage to “help” the orchestra. Soon he is on a whirlwind adventure that takes him from the concert hall to the vibrant lands of Latin American culture where Max learns the magic of Latin rhythms and how to dance with the music.

Concert-goers are invited to come early at 2 p.m. for pre-concert fun activities in the Wintergarden of the Schuster Center, including an instrument petting zoo, a craft table, and a scavenger hunt.

Tickets for “Presto, Mambo!” are $22 for adults and $12 for students and children and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. Senior, teacher and military discounts are available at the box office.

Bluegrass series planned in Hamilton

Lovers of bluegrass — as well as those who’d like to learn more about the musical genre — will be interested in the upcoming Southwestern Ohio Bluegrass Music Heritage Project.

The five-event lecture and concert series begins March 7 at Miami University Hamilton and will be accompanied by a traveling exhibit and a website: http://cindaybluegrass.wikidot.com/.

The Cincinnati-Dayton region has played an important role in fostering bluegrass from its inception in the late 1940s. Communities of Appalachian migrants provided local audiences for bluegrass performers, while radio stations and independent record labels and studios disseminated their sounds throughout the region and around the country.

The series kicks off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7 at the Wilks Conference Center, Miami University Hamilton. The speakers will be Phillip Obermiller — who will explore one of the largest internal migrations the United States experienced in the 20th century — and Daniel Mullins, who will explore bluegrass media in the Miami Valley. He’ll highlight Middletown’s WPFB tent shows which introduced bluegrass pioneers to southern Ohio, the legendary radio career of Paul “Moon” Mullins and Classic Country Radio, Xenia.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (513) 785-3277.

Print show at St. Anne gallery

The 12th Annual Print Show hosted by the Dayton Society of Artists and the Dayton Printmakers Cooperative opened Friday and will run through April 7 at the Dayton Society of Artists’ gallery in the historic St. Anne’s Hill neighborhood, 48 High St.

The Print Show is a Dayton tradition, celebrating the art of printmaking and the community of printmakers who live and work in the region.

Exhibiting Artists include Erin Holscher Almazan, Elaine Cloern, Jasmine Davis, Doug Fiely, Gretchen Jacobs, Walt Murch, Jaime Pacheco, Penny Park, Heather Lea Reid, Sherraid Scott, Emily Sullivan Smith, Andrea Starkey, Doug Taylor, Rosa Tweed, Kim Vito, Barb Weinert-McBee, Micah Zavacky and Annie Lee-Zimerle. The exhibition is juried by Erin Shapiro, Assistant Curator of the Springfield Art Museum.

Gallery hours are 5-8 p.m. Friday; noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and 2-4 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit is free.


Arts writer Meredith Moss writes about the people and events making arts news in our region.

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