A Blast from the Present - Art-Music-Verse Bring Together the West & the North Woods

IRONWOOD, MI - Sunday, September 12, 2010 - West Meets the North Woods The theme is plainly evident in a concert coming up at the historic Ironwood Theatre and also in an exhibition combining the work of three artists: a photographer, a sculptor and a cinematographer sharing interest in and celebrating a single theme, the ancient culture of the Southwest. The exhibition In Place Out of Time opens with a free public reception from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, September 15 and runs through October 9.

A day earlier, Tuesday, September 14, starting at 7:30 pm, Don Edwards, a Texas based singer/songwriter, will appear in concert with cowboy poet Paul Zarzyski who was raised in Hurley,Wisconsin and now lives in Montana. Both are former rodeo men, both have been recognized with national awards for their work, have spent decades honing their skills and are highly respected by the Western crowd and an Eastern community that generally looks down on the music and poetry coming out of the West. Both have performed on main stages across America and abroad.

Don Edwards is an incredible vocalist who paints wonderful pictures of the great West. He sings the early ballads, the haunting songs of Marty Robbins, and a lot more in between. His guitar playing alone could fill a concert evening.

Home town boy Paul Zarzyski has carried his words of the West from Australia to England and has over 20 years under his belt as a featured performer at the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering for the past 20 years. To the uninformed, that event is the western equivalent to running in the Indy 500, and it’s just about as raucous. You’ll also hear words from the Woods from Paul Tuesday night. You will not forget an evening spent with these two great artists.

In Place Out of Time, is the title of a movie by an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Erin Hudson of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film is a poetic portrait of a fourth generation New Mexican who sold his backhoe and picked up a camera in pursuit of a photographic quest. At the age of 65, Embree “Sonny” Hale had a spark of inspiration and started a quixotic journey to take a picture of every petroglyph and pictograph in New Mexico. Erin’s award-winning film illustrates Hale’s day-to-day triumphs, challenges and survival strategies as he pursues his passion to capture and preserve the memory of ancient inscriptions on rock.

Embree Hale, now in his 70s, will exhibit over two dozen of his photographs. They contain stark landscapes of boulders and cliff faces displaying images of human figures, both mythological and real creatures of the high desert, and strange symbols – many unexplained to this day. Hale’s mission to photograph all of New Mexico’s rock art began when he saw that images in many areas were being vandalized or stolen.

While the rock art of the Southwest is well known to most Americans, rock art, few know that similar types of images exist in the Lake Superior basin. Decades ago Martye Allen learned of their existence and began incorporating them into her pottery. Moose, turtles and bears began to appear on her pots. Today, the Lake Nabagamon, Wisconsin artist also sculpts full-figured animals. And since purchasing a second home in New Mexico, and discovering the abundance of rock art in that region, those influences have subtly entered her work.

TWO FABULOUS PROGRAMS. DON’T MISS EITHER!

Advanced ticket prices for the concert are $16 for reserved seating on the main floor and balcony, $13 for general seating on the main floor and $10 for general seating in the balcony. Prices are $2 higher at the door. The student rate is $5. Tickets are available at the theatre ticket office, 109 East Aurora Street in downtown Ironwood, or by calling 906/932-0618.