Art

New Art Exhibition: “Into Africa”

SOUTH FLORIDA TIMES — Developed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and the Smithsonian Institution, and organized and traveled by the National Geographic Society, “Into Africa” is an exhibition that features the work of one of National Geographic’s most prolific and visionary nature photographers, Frans Lanting.

Published

6 years ago

May 23, 2019

Staff Report

By The South Florida Times

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Developed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and the Smithsonian Institution, and organized and traveled by the National Geographic Society, “Into Africa” is an exhibition that features the work of one of National Geographic’s most prolific and visionary nature photographers, Frans Lanting.

“Into Africa” opens at The Frank art gallery in Pembroke Pines with a reception at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 24. Free and open to the public, the reception also features a special performance by students of the flagship “Rhythms of Africa” program at West Broward High School, led by musician and director Willie Stewart.

“Into Africa” is on display at The Frank through Aug. 10. Admission is $5 per person Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. The admission cost is waived for special events, lectures and workshops.

“Into Africa” takes visitors on a grand tour through the wonders of African landscapes as seen through Lanting’s lens. His images and stories create an enduring vision of the continent and demonstrate what is at stake for its wildlife and wild places.

Stunning videos shot and produced by Lanting’s wife, videographer and partner Chris Eckstrom, accompany the 70 images that were selected . The videos provide in-depth local stories about chimpanzees in Senegal and the parade of animals that come to a water hole in Namibia. The exhibition shares untold stories of exploration from Lanting and Eckstrom’s fieldwork.

Upon entering the exhibition, visitors will be introduced to Lanting through a large scale National Geographic map detailing his many assignment locations across Africa’s diverse habitats. Large photographic prints, video installations and personal accounts will guide visitors through five thematic sections: “The Infinite Tapestry” (tropical forests), “The Gift of Water” (wetlands and rivers), “Primeval Plains” (grasslands), “Gondwana’s Ark” (Madagascar) and “Sands of Time” (deserts).

Visitors will leave the exhibition with a sense of what it is like to be on assignment with a National Geographic photographer. “It’s a powerful exhibition that we are very excited to share with our community,” said Joshua Carden, chief curator of The Frank.

In The Frank’s Third Space Gallery, which specifically focuses on supporting non-profit organizations, educational partners, underrepresented populations and community advocacy groups, artwork by the art of URGENT Inc., a Miami-based non-profit youth and community development organization dedicated toempowering young minds to transform their communities through visual arts, poetry, and performance, will be on display beginning May 24 through June 29.

The opening reception for this exhibition is Friday, May 24 from 6 – 9 p.m. and is free open to the public. Also on display in the Third Space gallery from July 6 through August 10 will be photographs of Africa by international nature photographer and researcher, Kirsten Hines.

As part of “Into Africa,” The Frank also will offer free, fun, engaging and educational workshops, lectures and events for children and adults.

For more information, visit thefrankgallery.org/events.

The Frank is located in the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines at 601 City Center Way. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. For other information call 954-392-2120, or visit thefrankgallery.org. Follow The Frank on Facebook and Instagram at The Frank Pembroke Pines.

This article originally appeared in the South Florida Times.

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Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

3 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

4 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

4 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.