From yoga classes, art and culture events to beer dinners and brunch, there’s plenty of fun things to do in Raleigh this week!
Through 2/13 ART
Celebrate Black History Month via thisBurning Coal Theatre Company’s upcoming production of the Tony Award-winning classic comedy by Yasmina Reza featuring an all-Black cast. burningcoal.org
Through 2/27 Dix Park Pop-Up Museum
Immerse yourself in the layered history of Dix Park and profiles of NC Black architects and builders via two inspiring history exhibits, Plantation to Parkand We Built This, respectively, at Dix Park’s first-ever Pop-up Museum. dixpark.org
Through 1/30 Astronomy Days
The Raleigh Astronomy Club is here to help you see the big picture—of the universe! The club’s virtual Astronomy Days at the science museum explores everything from rockets, exoplanets and telescopes to crafts and activities. naturalsciences.org
Through 3/1 Breathe, Back to Life
Get a behind-the-scenes look at artist JP Jermaine Powell’s influences, global travel experiences and relationship with his local community through this 28-piece exhibit featuring JP’s artwork and photography at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. dukeenergycenterraleigh.com
1/27 American Spiritual Ensemble
In the Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, let the soul-stirring voices of American Spiritual Ensemble move you as they evoke the power, faith and beauty of the American Negro spiritual via NC State LIVE’s popular spring program, open to the public. live.arts.ncsu.edu
1/27 Lonerider at Five Points Beer Dinner
You know what they say, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder! Head to Lonerider at Five Points to enjoy a four-course dinner curated by Lonerider’s executive chef Ron West Jr. loneriderbeer.com
1/28–29
Gianmarco Sorsei
Be prepared to laugh out loud when NY-based comedian and actor Gianmarco Soresi (his first comedy special, Shelf Life, was nominated for three NY Emmy Awards) takes the stage at Goodnights Comedy Club. goodnightscomedy.com
1/28, 30 La Bohème
Have yet to live out your bohemian life fantasies? Lucky for you, it’s not too late to follow your dreams vicariously through Giacomo Puccini’s story of young love and loss in Paris presented by NC Opera. ncopera.org
1/29 Black People, Green Planet: Environmental Justice.
Virtually immerse yourself in African American culture through the NC Museum of History and NC African American Heritage’s 21st annual cultural celebration. nc-aacc.com
Namaste in the flow through Soul Yoga—whose mission is to “introduce a fresh experience to the yoga scene through vibrant, energetic classes that are hip yet soulful”—at CAM. camraleigh.org
1/30 Brunch at Killjoy
Beat the Sunday scaries with $3 mimosas at Killjoy! The popular DTR bar is launching brunch on Jan. 30, which—in addition to the $3 mimosas—will include $13 Champagne bottles, a live DJ and small plates. killjoycocktail.com
2/2 NC State vs. Syracuse
Time to beat the cute out of those ’cuties… gopack.com
2/2 Tequila Tasting
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor? Hey, what doesn’t tequila makes you stronger, so muscle up to Midtown Grille’s tasting. themidtowngrille.com
WEB EXCLUSIVE Mummies have arrived at the North Carolina Museum of Art! March 6 through July 11, eight gilded mummies will be on display as part of the NCMA’s Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibit. Brought over from the Manchester Museum in England, this is the first time the exhibit has been hosted by an American art museum—before the exhibit was only displayed at science museums.
Each of the eight mummies were excavated from Hawara, Egypt, just south of Cairo. Patrons will be able to wander freely throughout the exhibit (masked up, of course!) and learn about seven key themes: life in a multicultural society, ideas about the afterlife, becoming a god, the art of identity, meeting the gods, preserving the body and the mummies’ modern discovery.
“Golden Mummies of Egypt represents a crossroads of cultures, where elaborate, deliberate preparations for the afterlife were informed by multiple time periods and geographies,” said Museum Director Valerie Hillings. “Using art and science together, we’re able to explore concepts around humanity, divinity, and ideals of eternal beauty.”
Besides mummies, the exhibition features over 100 artifacts, including jewelry, figurines, ceramics, papyri, hieroglyphs and more, all from multicultural Roman Egypt, where Egyptian, Roman, and Greek communities and cultural influences were blended.
Additionally, interactive stations allow visitors to write their own names in hieroglyphics and “unwrap” three of the mummies to see what lies inside their elaborate cases, thanks to data gathered through digital radiography paired with multidirectional CT scanning.
WEB EXCLUSIVE The Downtown Raleigh Alliance has partnered with VAE, a cultural arts community center, to commission 19 local artists to transform storefronts and plazas all across downtown into light-based art installations (14 of the installations are temporary pieces and 5 are existing). Illuminate Art Walk will run nightly from December 11, 2020 through January 8, 2021.
The eye-catching glowing art installatoins revolve around themes of movement, hope, love and life after the pandemic. The DRA and VAE chose artists with a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, including three female artists, four Black and/or Latinx artists, and four artists who identify as queer, to create pieces for the project.
Artwork by Katie Stewart
Illuminate Art Walk offers a safe, festive way to enjoy downtown during the holiday season while supporting local artists and businesses. Dine at your favorite restaurant or grab a hot beverage along the way before enjoying the beautiful art instillations on a crisp December night downtown. Remember to adhere to public health guidelines, wear a mask and social distance yourself from others.
This tour is self-guided with a map online and sidewalk markers at each installation to help you navigate. Additionally, complimentary parking is available through Secure Parking; use code “ILLUMINATE” at checkout on the Secure Your Spot app available on Apple and Google Play. For more information on the artists and their installations, visit downtownraleigh.org/illuminate.
WEB EXCLUSIVE From August 10 through September 18, Raleigh Arts will showcase work from four Black artists—Clarence Heyward, JP Jermaine Powell, William Paul Thomas and Telvin Wallace—in a new exhibition titled Breathe: Life After Death in the Block Gallery located inside the Raleigh Municipal Building. The exhibition is an exploration of American life during and after the pandemic, the recent worldwide protests for justice and racial equality and how social distancing has affected each of the artists’ personal lives.
City of Raleigh curator Stacy Bloom-Rexrode says that after another artist cancelled a show at the Block Gallery, she reached out to Mike Williams of the Black on Black Project, who told her about the Breathe: Life After Death concept the four artists already had in the works. Bloom-Rexrode says that it was important for her to be able to offer the artists a place to showcase their work, as Black artists are often underrepresented in museums, galleries and other cultural institutions all over the country.
“I can’t claim to share their experiences but I can definitely help get their voices out there,” Bloom-Rexrode says. “Hopefully, the exhibition will start some much needed conversations.”
Artist Powell says that Breathe: Life After Death “exists as a source for creative, individualized problem solving during times of unrest and instability.” He says he hopes the collection will encourage authentic conversations, both during and after the COVID-19 crisis, and around the fight for social justice and racial equality. “The artworks featured in [the exhibition] serve as visual examples for the continued enrichment of the quality of relations of both Triangle individuals and local communities,” he adds.
“Same Old, Samo” by Clarence Heyward depicts a young Black girl holding artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting “Defacement” which details the 1983 murder of Michael Stewart, a twenty-five-year-old art student who was killed by police.
JP Jermaine Powell’s portrait of Telvin Wallace
William Paul Thomas’ “Cyanosis” project is a metaphor for the disenfranchisement that people of color have experienced by way of white supremacist ideologies.
“Who Will Survive in America” by Telvin Wallace represents the struggles of a black man trying to have equal footing in an America that’s supposed to be equal for all.
Each of the four artists featured created three pieces for the show. Two of the works are personal reactions to, and interpretations of, the COVID-19 pandemic and the theme of racial inequality.
Wallace’s paintings are unfinished works in progress, tying back to the feelings of isolation he experienced while living alone during the pandemic and his creative struggles during such a tough time.
Meanwhile, Clarence’s work addresses the outcry over racial inequality following Geroge Floyd’s murder and how, even after so many decades, Black people and other people of color are still facing injustices such as police brutality.
Additionally, Heyward, Powell, Thomas and Wallace each painted a portrait of one of their fellow artists to reflect the ways they personally see one another and to speak to the topic of being seen, another important message of the exhibtion. “One of the themes that’s really prominent throughout this body of work is about Black men not being seen as a threat or vicious, but to be seen and recognized as fellow human beings,” Bloom-Rexrode says.
Bloom-Rexrode and the contributing artists say they hope that Breathe: Life After Death will encourage people to listen to the stories of injustice Black people are sharing and documenting, both within the exhibiton and across the globe, and spark conversations around change.
The Breathe: Life After Death exhibition will also be available to view online through Raleigh Arts’ website; keep an eye on the Instagram, Twitter and Facebook acounts for information about related virtual events.
