his holiday season, avoid crowded parking lots and malls. Direct Sellers of Lakewood will offer a variety of unique and quality products for sale and entertaining demonstrations on Saturday, December 6, 2008, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Beck Center for the Arts. Admission is free, and on-site parking is available. Vendors will donate 50% of their profits from the sale to the Beck Center.

The Dance Alliance of the Beck Center hosts a Holiday High Tea Party on Sunday, December 7 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., with a preview on Saturday, December 6 at 7 p.m. in the Beck Center Music-Armory Building. Under the direction of Melanie Szucs, company members from the Beck Center Dance Workshop and selected dancers will perform excerpts from Act II of The Nutcracker, with original choreography by Melanie Szucs.

I was really looking forward to experiencing a show in Beck Center's Studio Theater for the first time. The studio theater, or black box theater, is very small and as the name suggests it is painted entirely black. There are few if any props and lighting is minimal. Black box theaters were created in the 1960’s and 1970’s when experimental amateur theater groups were looking for low cost spaces to present their avant-garde pursuits. The audience sits so close to the actors it feels as if you can speak directly to them and that they can speak to you, and that actually happened when I went to see Talking Heads 2...

Early in his new memoir, Still Alive! A Temporary Condition, Lakewood native Herbert Gold asks the intriguing question: “Where are the flower folks now?” At age eighty-four, Gold is uniquely positioned to address that question, since he has long been a chronicler of the Beat Generation. In fact, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac were his classmates at Columbia University in the 1940s.

Gold has enjoyed a lengthy and distinguished writing career, having published a large variety of novels, short stories, essays, and journalism. Although he was raised in Lakewood, he lived in New York City, Paris, and Haiti (among other places) before settling in California. Over the past five decades he has become synonymous with the San Francisco literary scene...

Lakewood’s growing profile as an art destination has received yet another shot in the arm with the opening of the Galleria D’Arte, a new gallery located in the heart of Lakewood and featuring the works of several local artists.

The owner of this new gallery is Theresa Busser, a longtime Lakewood entrepreneur and former owner and proprietor of the Merry Arts Pub and Grille which is across the street from the gallery...

This November, Lakewood citizens will get a little taste of Hungarian village life as the Hungarian Scout Folk Ensemble celebrates their 35th anniversary at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium. On November 15th, the ensemble will present an evening of song, dance, and music showcasing the seasonal customs of Hungary. The performance will feature local musicians Walt Malhovich and other members of Harmonia as well as Kalman Magyar from Toronto...

Friday, October 17th from 6-9 p.m, the artists of the Lake Erie Building are hosting a fall open studio. This building houses art studios on the 2nd and 3rd floors as well as local businesses. The Screw Factory artists participating include Gina DeSantis, Ann Onusko, Marc Konys, Marcy Herman, Achala Wali and M.C. Nagel...

Thousands of years before there were push-up bras, red lipstick and high heels, there was belly dancing. But belly dancing is about more than just sensual movement and flirtatious expression. In fact, it originally was a dance performed in the Middle East for women by women; a distinctly female mode of self-expression and celebration..

Artists and art lovers will fill the sidewalks and businesses of Madison Avenue on Saturday, October 11th for the third Madison Avenue Lakewood ArtWalk. This is an extraordinary event. The the City of Lakewood has marked October as Arts and Humanities Month as part of the National initiative. ARTober is here to stay in Lakewood!

Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood has reunited the original cast and creative team from the very memorable production three years ago of Urinetown…The Musical. This encore presentation is running from now until October 12...

As Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” These words might have been the motto for the individuals who helped build today’s Beck Center. Thanks to the indomitable spirits of those who refused to accept the status quo, a once struggling little theater evolved into the thriving cultural arts center that now inhabits 17801 Detroit Avenue. “We didn’t see ourselves as pioneers back then,” says actress, Helen Corns. “It was a labor of love. When you believe in something as much as we believed in the theater, you go above and beyond what’s expected of you.”

On Thursday, September 18, 2008, the West Shore School Districts - Lakewood, Bay Village, Rocky River, and Westlake - and the Beck Center for the Arts will come together to celebrate arts and communication education and unveil the Arts & Communication Technology Program, a new program of the West Shore Career and Technical School District. The evening will include all four West Shore school districts and an impressive list of partnering organizations, colleges, universities, and media sharing the many arts opportunities that will comprise the program. At a time when many school districts across this state and nation are reducing or eliminating arts and communications programs, the school districts on the West Shore continue their strong tradition in both program areas...

This coming December, the Beck Center celebrates 60 years of Saturday mornings filled with the sound of children’s laughter. The tradition dates back to 1948, when the Lakewood Little Theatre School began. As the Beck Youth Theater Education Program prepares for its 60th Anniversary Homecoming Celebration, staff and alumni reflect on six decades of challenges and laughter. “It’s an incredible place,” says former student, Maggie Fishell. “The people who have passed through the program created an absolutely magical experience for those of us who followed them...”

Carabel Beauty Salon & Store will join the rest of Madison Ave on Oct 11 2008 for the Lakewood ArtWalk. Saturday between the hours of 4:00 pm and ending at 9:00 pm we are giving to every ponytailed gal a free ponytail holder. Our manikins will be styled in a variety of ponytails ...

Beck Center for the Arts Children's Choirs announce placement auditions for their Performing and Chamber Choirs. Singers, ages nine and up, with unchanged voices are welcome. Auditions are scheduled for August 16, 20, 23, 27, and 30 and in September by appointment. Choirs rehearse on Tuesday evenings beginning in September. For more information or to schedule a placement audition, call the Beck Center Music Department directly at 216-521-2540 ext. 37...

Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham, otherwise known as The Altar Boyz are performing now through August 17th on the Mackey Main Stage at The Beck Center in Lakewood. The fictional group has brought along their Sony Soul Sensor DX12 in an attempt to deliver your soul, but no worries; there are plenty of giggles and even a few belly laughs along the road to salvation in this musical lampoon of a Christian boy band...

The Beck Center for the Arts presents a dynamic art exhibition featuring the works of two talented young artists, Jenna Fournier and Lauren Voiers. Their vibrant paintings will be on display in the Jean Bulicek Galleria now through August 24...

Lakewood, Ohio -- Many changes, from those easily recognized to those less apparent, are occurring around the Beck Center for the Arts campus.

You may have noticed while traveling down Detroit Avenue that the landscape has changed. Beautiful trees, shrubs and rose bushes now line the Beck Center’s entrance drive. This was the big project early last month as Matthew Carlson, a “Life” scout with Troop 435 of the Lakewood LDS Church chose the Beck Center for his Eagle Scout project. Matt worked tirelessly with 30 other members from his troop, along with additional volunteers and Beck staff as the rainy morning turned into blue skies and sunshine. They worked for hours digging out the old and planting the new...

The Pop Shop Gallery in Lakewood (on Madison and Cordova) is currently hosting “The Bad Apple” art show through August 10th which features 15 Cleveland-based artists.

 

“It’s a catch all show,” said Jeff Hulligan, an art director and manager at the Pop Shop, as well as a contributing artist. “It’s the idea that every artist has something kind of twisted to them.

Take a “creative break” this summer! You can learn how to make a simple, yet unique crystal bracelet that also helps local mission teams return to Haiti in the fall. Team members and jewelry artists Lynn Scheerhorn and Shelley Gross will lead a two-hour workshop—open to all—on Wednesday, July 16, from 7-9 pm at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Lakewood, 14560 Madison Avenue...

Beck Center for the Arts presents the rockin’, rafter-raising, soul-saving spoof, Altar Boyz on the Mackey Main Stage, July 18 through August 17. Winner of the 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical, Altar Boyz is a fast-paced, booty-swinging musical comedy about a fictitious Christian boy-band performing the last concert of their “Raise the Praise” tour. Join heavenly heartthrobs – Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham as they dance and sing their hearts out to save the souls of the sinful...

Whether you’ve been inspired by an art class or dazzled by a play, it would be nearly impossible to imagine life without the Beck. In celebration and recognition of the individuals whose passion and dedication started it all, the Beck Center invites you to take a journey back in Lakewood’s cultural history. President and CEO, Lucinda Einhouse, says she’s proud to share the inspiring history of Beck’s earliest years… “This is the story of people who not only created a thriving community theater from nothing, they used their passion for the theater to entertain and raise spirits during the most difficult times of depression and war...”

Pleasant and inviting The Local Girl Gallery in Lakewood held the opening for “Architectural Renderings” featuring artwork from Paul G. Jira and John Musarra Jr. Both artists covered the subject of local and regional landmarks thoroughly; some you might expect, others might surprise you...

As Carl Sandburg once said, “Nothing happens unless first we dream.” Did you ever dream about the day you would leave for college, where would you go, what would you study? Or maybe you had a vision of what your wedding would be like? Would you get married in a park, or perhaps a church? How would you fund such an event? Well, that would take a lot of planning. There are so many things to consider, and think about...