Arts Week Returns April 18

ORLEANS – Art comes in many shapes and forms, and the Orleans Cultural District wants to expose residents and visitors to as much of it as it can.
 
The district will once again host Arts Week, where from April 18 through April 26 a variety of programming across numerous genres and disciplines will be staged at different venues throughout town. Whether you’re into music, painting, poetry, eco art or something in between, you’ll find something for people of all ages.
 
Jo Del Negro is in her first year co-chairing the event, which is in its second year. She said planning for this year’s Arts Week celebration has been in the works since January.
 
“It’s been really exciting,” said Del Negro, who is chairing the event alongside fellow cultural district member Bonnie Runyon. “It’s been really a hands-on experience.”
 
The event has been expanded vastly in its second year, Del Negro said. The week-long art celebration will be bookended by two events at the Town Cove Tap House next to Snow’s Home and Garden on Main Street. On April 18, Bongogensis, the Cape’s lone Afro Cuban jazz band, will perform. The event will close at the tap house on April 26 with the Mosquito Story Slam, which makes its debut in Orleans after a decade of being held regularly in Provincetown.
 
The story slam will feature storytellers who will each share personal stories around the theme of “Fresh starts, new beginnings.”
 
“It’s a live event,” Del Negro said. “There’s no notes.”
 
In between those two events there will be free workshops, tours, live musical performances, eco art demonstrations and much more. On April 18, a retrospective exhibit will be held honoring the work of the late Joyce Aaron, a prolific local painter who passed away last year. The exhibit will be held at 44 Main St. from noon to 6 p.m. on the 18th, with an opening reception scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The exhibit also will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 19 and from 10 a.m. to noon on April 20.

Del Negro said the event is designed as a “celebration” of Aaron’s work, which included some of the earliest examples of eco art.
 
“She’s sort of an original upcycler,” she said.
 
Among the many free workshops scheduled as part of Art Week are Little Art, BIG heART. On April 22 from 10:30 a.m. to noon, children are invited to create small art projects that will be on display at 44 Main St. The art will be displayed as part of a free little art gallery that will be celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony that same day.
 
The gallery will function similar to the popular free little libraries, Del Negro said.
 
“The thing that’s cool about it is it’s registered nationally,” she said. “So people can go and take a piece of art and they leave one of their own.”
 
Other free workshops include drawing nature (April 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at 44 Main St.), hip hop dance (April  23 from 2 to 3 p.m. at 44 Main St.) and an African drumming workshop courtesy of the Drumma Queens (April 25 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Snow Library).
 
This year’s Arts Week festivities also include a guided tour showcasing the art of the late pioneering artist Vernon Smith. The tour, which runs April 24 from 1 to 3 p.m., will start at the Church of the Holy Spirit on Monument Road and include visits to the Kimball Guild Metalwork Studio and Galley West Gallery.
 
A full schedule of events can be found online at orleansmaculturaldistrict.org
 
“The point is it’s the Orleans Cultural District, and that encompasses culture and art,” Del Negro said. “We want it to [represent] our name, what we stand for and what we bring to the community. We’re trying to build on it every year.”

 Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com