Regardless of skill or experience, it’s time to hit the slopes—and Nancy VanReece of Carpe Diem Management in Nashville, Tenn., will be your guide. She’ll be in Kingsport for three workshops May 31-June 1, and welcomes participation from anyone in the arts seeking to grow their influence, brand and conversations through social media.  The workshops are sponsored by the Holston Business Development Center and the City of Kingsport’s Cultural Arts Department and their non-profit partner Engage Kingsport.

“We will have green, blue and black diamond workshops so that any artist or arts organization can find relevant information and have some fun,” VanReece said.  “The first two, which take their ‘colors’ from introductory-level slopes in skiing, will be for individuals and organizations. The black diamond course is more advanced, aimed at organizations already using social media that are ready for a challenge.”

Thursday, May 31  4:30 pm – 7:30 pm     The Green Slope: Why It’s Time For a Strategy

Friday, June 1  9:00 am – 12:00 pm       The Blue Slope: Shaping Conversation for ROI (Return on Influence)

Friday, June 1  2:00 pm – 5:00 pm         The Black Diamond Slope: Part 1-Open Leadership and Part 2- Strategy Revisits and Social Policy (or how to slalom through the changes).

Registration for each workshop is $10 per person and can be made on-line at www.EngageKingsport.com or by calling 423-392-8417.  Space at each workshop is limited.  The workshops will be held at the new Kingsport Chamber of Commerce Community Room on Clinchfield Street in Downtown Kingsport.

VanReece’s mission is to help communities achieve their full potential through the advocacy of creative opportunities. This has been the driving force throughout her successful career, and VanReece is an engaging and regular speaker on issues such as online marketing, social media communications, branding, copyright administration and clearance. VanReece brings a wealth of experience and understanding particularly helpful to arts organizations and individual artists; she worked for more than 25 years in the music business, as well as served as the executive director of  The Nashville Shakespeare
Festival from 2007-2009; as senior director of partnership development at Cool People Care, Inc.; and strategist for GivingMatters. com, and the Nashville Library Foundation. She is the new media consultant on record for the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee. Her work at Carpe Diem Management allows
her to help small businesses and nonprofits understand and use social media to reach, build and lead core audiences. With a keen eye to the latest trends in
social media and online communications , she has provided detailed social media and social communications strategies for many businesses around the United States.

VanReece currently serves as the full-time social media strategist and website manager for the Nashville Symphony. She recently has returned from a trip to Carnegie Hall with the organization. The six-month build up on social platforms for the event was well received and garnered praise from The New Yorker magazine: “The orchestra has been offering extensive coverage of its preparations on its Road to Carnegie website
(blog), not to mention Twitter and other media. Whoever has been running this online operation deserves a raise — it’s an informative delight….” – Alex Ross, music critic, The New Yorker

Cultural Arts Division and Engage Kingsport present ’18 South’ in concert at the Kingsport Renaissance Center on Thursday, April 26, 2012.  The concert is at 7:00 PM and reserved seats are $12 each.  Call 423-392-8417

18 South’s music is created by a wide array of influences. The organic and earthy quality of their sound rings with overtones of Blues, Bluegrass, Jazz and Gospel that lends itself perfectly to their stripped down acoustic approach that is truly “Americana”. The Band members resume’s read like a Encyclopedia of Musical History and once you see them live you’ll know why they are individually some the most well respected musicians on the scene today. Larry Atamanuik [Drums] and Mike Bub [Doghouse Bass] hold down a deep and unmovable groove behind Jimmi Wallace’s rich vocals and slamming New Orleans Style Piano that in turn gives Guthrie Trapp the opportunity to freely express his fluid and versatile guitar soloing style.  Along with Jon Randall’s mournful high tenor vocals and solid rhythm guitar playing the band provides a perfect venue for Jessi Alexander to nail the audience to the wall with her Smokey and heart wrenching vocals.

18 South was born on the front porch and dining room of a house on the quiet Nashville Street, 18 Ave. South. The band is a coming together of six musicians whose one common desire is to create a band defined by nothing other than it’s music. 18 South’s music reflects the divergent musicianship and experiences of its individual members. Meet 18 South.,,,, Texas native Jon Randall Stewart got his start playing bluegrass around the Dallas area. Having moved to Nashville over 20 years ago, he has become one Music City’s top session players, singers and producers. A Grammy and CMA award winner, Jon’s career has run the gamut of touring the world with Emmylou Harris and Sam Bush, to releasing several major label albums, to writing the smash hit ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ with country legend and Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson. In 18 South, Jon brings all of his talents to the front, his pure tenor lead and harmony voice, distinctive acoustic guitar and mandolin and his songwriting.

Half way between Memphis and Nashville, Jessi Alexander was raised in Jackson, Tennessee. The argument could be made that Jackson lies at the crossroads of American Roots music and her style represents the best of both towns. Jessi made the country charts with the critically acclaimed Sony/BMG album, ‘Honeysuckle Sweet’. Additionally, she has become an in demand session vocalist and songwriter. Her song ‘The Climb’, co-written with John Mabe and recorded by Miley Cyrus, had a run of 15 weeks at 1 on the Billboard Pop Chart. Jessi brings to 18 South not only great songs but, she delivers them with a voice, as one might imagine, country and bluesy drenched in southern soul. Keyboardist Jimmi Wallace is a road veteran as well as an ace studio player. He is equally at home on Piano and B-3 Organ. Additionally, Jimmi is a soulful vocalist and songwriter. He spent years touring with Kenny Wayne Shepard as well as Cole Deggs and The Lonesome. Jimmi’s playing is a definite refection of his Louisiana roots.18 South performs several of Jimmi’s compositions including one from a series of songs he is currently writing based on the characters of the Peanuts comic strip and animations. Guthrie Trapp came to Nashville from the north Gulf Coast in and around Pensacola, Florida. Guthrie is one of the most in demand guitarists in Nashville with the ability not only play many different acoustic and electric styles but is at ease in any genre of music from Bluegrass to the Blues, Rock, Jazz and Country. Having toured with a virtual who’s who of Nashville artists, the last few years have seen Guthrie continuing to perform with Patty Loveless on her Mountain Soul II tour as well as the challenging dynamics and genre bending sounds of the Jerry Douglas Band. Larry Atamanuik is the official groove master of 18 South. Cutting his teeth in the Toronto club scene as a teen, Larry first reached the national spotlight as a member of the seminal rock band Seatrain. A drummer sensitive to the dynamics of acoustic instruments, Larry has been the first-call for many Nashville artists including Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush, Alison Krauss and Union Station and the Alison Brown Quintet. Bassist Mike Bub is a 20-year veteran of the music scene in Nashville Moving to Music City in 1989, Mike has had the rare opportunity to work and record with many of bluegrass music’s first generation artists in addition to spending 13 years with the renowned Del McCoury Band. The past few years have seen Mike stretching his boundaries on the upright bass having toured with the likes of Vince Gill, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Tim O’Brien, Shawn Camp and Danny Barnes.

18 South  ‘Run On’

“A Perfect Balance” is a one-man play written and directed by Mary Hall Surface,designed and performed by KevinReese.  A Performance for all ages
Inspired by the work of American artist Alexander Calder (the inventor of the mobile), this one-man play follows a young artist, Sandy, on his quest to
capture his vision of life. Challenged by his father to create a “masterpiece,” Sandy playfully experiments with drawing, painting and sculpting,  ccompanied
by his puppet-like circus creations – his muse Fioni-of-the-flying-trapeze, his friend Ringmaster Loyal and his foe, Monsieur Critique. Only when Sandy risks taking his shapes “off the page” does he find his way to the show’s spectacular conclusion — a mobile, 17 feet across, that suspends into the audience.

Mobile Making Workshops for Students K thru 6^th
on Wednesday May 9 at 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM and Thursday at 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM.  No Fee but reservation is required.

In these one hourKevin Reese introduces students to the art of moving sculptures (mobiles) and their key design element — balance. Working in groups
of 4, students each make 1 -2 pieces for a mobile from classroom art supplies and materials provided by Kevin. Students work cooperatively to solve how to
balance the pieces as they assemble their mobiles. The mobiles are then installed in the classroom for all to enjoy.  Maximum of 30 students.  Mobiles
are approximately 3 feet across when complete.

“A Perfect Balance” opened in 1991.  Here are a few fun facts:

• Has been presented over 1200 times during 16 seasons of national and international touring.

• Featured at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2005.

• Featured at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003.

• Presented at the Taiwan International Children’s Festival, 2004.

• Performed at the 1993 RITEJ Festival in Lyon, France – one of the most prestigious festivals of theatre for young audiences in the world. The first
American company to be invited since 1981.

• Featured at the Seattle International Children’s Festival, 1993.

• Presented at art museums throughout the country including the San Jose Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Jacksonville Museum of Art and the
Baltimore Museum of Art
• Performing-Artist-in-residence at Philadelphia’s Institute for Arts in Education, and New York’s Southern Tier Institutes for Arts in Education in
Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.

• Presented in theaters and schools in twenty-five states including California, Florida, Kentucky Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Utah.
The Kingsport Renaissance Center is located at 1200 East Center Street in Kingsport, TN.  The multipurpose center is home to the areas arts organizations and boasts 2 galleries, and a 345-seat theatre.  The Renaissance Center is also home to the community’s vibrant Senior Center on the first floor.  For more information call 423-392-8416.

www.schoolsculptures.org

The Cultural Arts Division of the City of Kingsport, Downtown Kingsport Association, Engage Kingsport and Downtown Businesses would like to
announce a new event that’s gearing up involving the Arts!  pARTy on mARkeT will be a two day event starting Thursday, May 3rd from 5:00pm-8:00pm and Saturday May 5th, from 10:00am-4:00pm, This is not only an arts awareness event where local artists will be doing demonstrations but also an event where the artists’ work will be for sale.

The event will kick off Thursday night, May 3^rd with a reception for the Sculpture Walk artists held at Cindy Saadeh’s Fine Art Gallery on Market
Street from 5 – 8 PM.  The public is invited to meet the 10 sculptors selected for the 6^th annual Sculpture Walk exhibit in Downtown Kingsport.
‘Everbetter’, a rock cover band, will be performing on Market Street and local artists will be showcased in live demonstrations throughout the block.
Many downtown merchants and restaurants will join in the celebration with special operating hours for the first Thursday of May.

Saturday, May 5th will begin with the Sculpture Walk ‘talk and tour’ at 10am led by curator Peggy Townsend. This ‘walk and talk’ lecture is free and open to
the public.  It will begin at Glenn Bruce Park on Broad Street near the Library. Peggy Townsend, public art director from Chattanooga will lead the group and introduce the 10 selected artists and their art.  Then from 11am-4pm, the ART MARKET will be open with booths set up on Market Street.  Enjoy face painting, food vendors, a ballet performance, theater performance, musicians in the street, street performers, and MORE! Carousel animals with their carvers and painters from the Kingsport Carousel Project will be on display for people to get a sneak peak and check out all the progress being made on this special project.

Cambia was formed in 2009, and has established itself as a premier performing ensemble, presenting virtuosic performances combined with multi-media experiences that stretch beyond traditional chamber music. Cambia is fast-gaining the reputation for combining a top-caliber performance of challenging and engaging music, combined with an evident camaraderie and sense of humor between its members and the audience. Not just your typical flute ensemble, Cambia promises to deliver a concert that is fun and entertaining for all ages.
For more information about Cambia, visit their website, www.cambiafluteensemble.com, or call Eileen Butler at (423) 288-8360.

Artists, artisans and craftsmen will be displaying and selling their products. There is a special emphasis on wood working and many vendors will incorporate the carousel theme. Vendors include bench and chairmakers, wood turners, doll clothes, floral arrangments jewelry, pottery and much more. All animals for the Kingsport Carousel Project will be displayed in their various stages of progress. Artists will be on hand to describe the painting process for animals and rounding boards. Parts of the 1956 era Herschell carousel will also be on display. Volunteers for the project are working to establish a working carousel in downtown Kingsport by June 2013. This is the first opportunity to see all the progress and to learn how to be involved.

Following in the path of classic harmony groups like Boyz II Men, The Temptations, and Take 6, with a mix of the classic and the contemporary, the five-member vocal band Ball in the House brilliantly blends a wide range of influences, from classic R&B to pop, hip-hop & gospel. With their extensive tour schedule (averaging 250 dates a year), Ball in the House reaches millions and is arguably one of the hardest working, most successful indie bands today. They have performed with such artists as The Beach Boys, Gladys Knight, The Jonas Brothers, Jessica Simpson, Fantasia, Blondie, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, KC & The Sunshine Band, Kool & the Gang, and numerous others. All a cappella, but a sound that will astound and amaze you. 5 Guys, 5 Voices, THATS IT… A review from the Boston Globe put it very succinctly – “Ball in the House has everything you would expect to find in a successful pop/rock band….the one thing it doesn’t have is instruments.”

ABOUT “BALL IN THE HOUSE”:

Ryan Chappelle

I come to Ball in the House from Lincoln, Nebraska, where I have been singing and performing for a number of years. After discovering my love for singing at an early age, music was always a big part of my education. I auditioned and was accepted into select choirs throughout my middle and high school years. It was in high school that I started my first a cappella group with three friends. This group was put together for a school talent show and went on to release a CD before graduation. It was this involvement that led to a music scholarship to Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska where I participated in many specialized performing choirs and had a lead in the college musical. During these years, I was also taking classes in music theory and history, as well as performing with various semi-pro acts around the Lincoln area. I graduated in 2003 with a degree in business marketing from Peru State College.
After college, I joined Lincoln’s premier a cappella group, No Better Cause, and toured venues, including schools and performing arts centers, throughout the Midwest.
After I saw an audition notice for Ball in the House on an a cappella web site. I flew to Boston, met with the guys, and got the callback a few weeks later. I made the move to Boston where I have since been touring and performing all over the nation with Ball in the House.

Jon J Ryan

I grew up in Boston, but was never much into music as a kid. It all changed for me back in 5th grade, when I met Dave at the Boston Boys Choir School. We studied music pretty intensely, learning to sight read, singing every day in church and other venues, and also learning to play the recorder, piano, and hand bells. Later in high school, I discovered the magic of keyboards and drum machines and took up bass as well.
At Skidmore College, the small school setting allowed me tons of musical experience outside the classroom as I majored in music inside the classroom. This is where I got the a cappella bug in a group there (Bandersnatchers), in addition to playing in a band, piano accompanying, singing in chorus, and instrumental and vocal arranging. After graduating with music honors, I sang in various a cappella groups, including the Vineyard Sound, while teaching elementary music and piano lessons. I continued to arrange vocal music, both for my own groups, as well as others.
I had always loved rhythm, even more than singing, but never really knew much about beatboxing until I saw Andrew Chaikin perform with the House Jacks. With his amazing performance as inspiration and wanting to perform full time myself, I started Ball in the House and worked on beatboxing until I could go for an entire show. Now here we areand I’m blessed with being able to do this for a living.

Dave Guisti

I was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and my love for music started in the first grade. I was in the play Pinocchio, where I sang my first solo, “I Got No Strings.” I was hooked.
I attended the Boston Boys Choir from 5th to 8th grade where we sang in church everyday. We also took piano lessons and learned music theory. That is when I first met Jon J. We both grew up in Dorchester and often traveled to and from the choir school together on the M.B.T.A.
After performing in many musicals during my junior and senior years of High School, I attended Berklee College of Music. I was a vocal performance major.
I went on to be the musical director at St. Ambrose Parrish in Dorchester, MA. There, I was cantor, director of a children’s choir, and performed with the Spanish choir. My time there was one of the best times of my life. I met up with Jon shortly after being at St. Ambrose, and the rest is history. I have been with Ball in the House for many years now. I am still very passionate about what we do. Through our outreach with students, we are able to share all that we have learned throughout our lives with them. Hopefully inspiring them to perform. To see that music is cool. You don’t have to choose between sports and the arts. You can get involved in both. I try to tell students that music is such a positive way to express yourself. No matter where you are from, how you look, and what your personal beliefs are, music is a beautiful universal language. I am so honored to be part of Ball in the House . My bandmates and I are very lucky guys.

Craig Range

I come from a very tight knit family from Long Island, NY. My mother was the driving force behind my music at a young age. I was singing harmonies by age 4. My first solo was the lead in “Ain’t No Woman Like the One I’ve Got” when I was in kindergarten. I sang in my grade and high school choirs and jumped between choir and band in high school, playing the trumpet in band. I was very focused on athletics in high school playing soccer, basketball, baseball and tennis. My #12 from basketball was retired and my banner hangs on the gym wall today! It wasn’t until college that I realized my musical talent.
I got a full scholarship to Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, where I received my B.A. in music with an emphasis on voice. I performed in many ensembles such as the Full Chorus, Chamber Choir and Jazz Vocal ensembles and was taught by such teachers as John Sinclair, Chuck Archard and Michelle Amato.
After college, I taught myself how to play guitar and started writing my own songs. It was then that I decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a solo music career. I played many solo shows and others with a few different bands that I put together. I continued to write as many songs as I could, perfecting my craft. In 2007, GoDigital Media Group signed me to a distribution deal and I created my first full length album called VISUALIZE. They put my album on iTunes as well as 8 other online sites. As L.A. became more and more saturated with artists, I decided to take my chances back East as I headed to Boston to start some new musical endeavors as a larger fish in a smaller pond. I started teaching for a company called Jammin’ With You based out of Newton, MA, and I sang lead with the B Street Bombers, a band that has rocked Boston for over 30 years. After 8 months in my new city, I found the members of Ball in the House! The rest is history…((((POSITIVE ENERGY))))

Patrick McCarthy

I come to Ball in the House from the “front lines” of the classroom. I taught chorus and music classes for 10 years in the Maine public school system. During that time I also served two churches as organist/pianist/choir director/band leader and directed two semi-professional choirs, the Boy Singers of Maine’s senior group, the “Lower Octave,” and the “Gorham Community Chorus.” In addition, I maintained a private voice/piano studio as well.
I’ve always been captivated by sound and began singing and playing the piano in church at an early age. Though my musical path has led me many places – the human voice has always been the one medium I constantly returned to. My first a cappella experience was singing with the Maine Steiners in Orono, Maine. After my college years were over, I went on to found three separate semi-pro a cappella groups. I am excited to continue along this path with the boys of Ball in the House.

Artists, Artisans, Craftsmen and Entertainers

The Cultural Arts Division in association with Holston Business Development invites you to join us on Thursday March 8 for a networking dinner and business essential workshop.  

Does your strategic plan need straightening?

Does your business card invite business?

How social is your network?

How can you be more effective?

We will cover these topics and then ask for your help and guidance in crafting future sessions to strengthen the business skills and marketing efforts for our Creative Economy.

March 8  6:00 PM 

Stir Fry Café  Upper meeting rooms

Cost is $10

 Ellen Elmes and Cindy Saadeh will share duties as lead artists for the rounding boards.  Ellen Elmes is the artist for the Kingsport history mural and Pal’s mural and has completed many community projects throughout the region.  Cindy Saadeh is owner of the Cindy Saadeh Fine Art Gallery in downtown Kingsport, well recognized for her own art and art classes.  

Ellen and Cindy will host an orientation and workshop on Saturday, March 3 12:30 PM at the Lynn View Community Center Cafeteria. The first hour of the meeting will be an orientation session for getting acquainted with one another and with the rounding boards volunteer painting project. For those who are interested and able to stay longer, a workshop session will begin, following orientation, that will include a hands-on exercise of painting foliage and, time permitting, participant involvement in the preparation of the rounding board canvases. This workshop session will conclude no later than 4:00 PM.

The Lynn View Community Center is located at 257 Walker Street just off Lynn Garden Drive in Kingsport, TN.  Participants will be asked to pay $50 (tuition) per student to offset the costs of paints and other materials.  Volunteers will need to furnish their own brushes.  Volunteer painters will be eligible for a refund of their $50 tuition when their rounding board has been sponsored.  Volunteer painters along with the sponsors will be recognized prominently in the finished carousel building.   

For more information call 423-392-8416 or www.EngageKingsport.com

There is no pre-determined theme for artwork but PAK suggests that the content reflect the vibrancy of downtown, the beauty of the region, or landmarks of the community.

Individual artist, consortia of artists, and organizations who work and/or live within 100 miles of Kingsport are encouraged to apply. There is NO entry fee.

Drawings will be used to produce custom laser cut steel panels for benches. Benches will be professionally fabricated and finished with black powder-coat paint. Artists will have the opportunity to design the laser cut steel panels that will fit into the backrest area of the benches. The dimensions for each panel will be 69” x 13”. Please see guidelines and design template attached.

All proposals must be received by Friday, March 2, 2012 at 5 PM. “Conceptual Drawings” is being defined as a well-thought-out concept and does not, as yet, need to be in its completed form. Selected artists will need to work with the fabricator for finished product.

Selection committee will include Public Art Kingsport members as well as Downtown Kingsport Association design members.