Autumn Art Night

Warning: The following sentence contains the loathsome word eclectic. The Urban Culture Project brings its arts-endowing street cred to what must be something like its 520th Third Friday Exhibition Series with the usual proliferation of eclectic art displays and performances. Quixotic Performance Fusion comes to La Esquina (1000 West 25th Street, 816-221-5115). Assistant Director Kate Hackman says, “They’re a cross-disciplinary group of artists with a focus on contemporary dance — dancers from the Kansas City Ballet, but there are also other performers from the area. It incorporates music, fashion, choreography, this collective of different disciplines. They had a huge performance this past June at the Madrid Theatre. It was a major, sold-out event. This will be more intimate, a bit looser.” Shows are at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. today and Saturday. Admission costs $10. Deanna Dikeman and Nate Fors offer an unusual collaboration at the Paragraph (23 East 12th Street). “She’s a photographer, and he’s a painter,” Hackman says. “They have created a series of hybrid photo-paintings. Her photos serve as Nate’s canvases. He paints and does collage over them. Through this process, they’ve circled around, and Nate’s paintings kind of inform the photos she takes.” Be sure to check out the Jenkins Display Windows at 1217 Walnut. “It’s a surprise opening,” Hackman says. “We’ve teamed up with the Art Institute’s interdisciplinary program — and it will be an interesting surprise. And they’re really going to be activating those windows in an ongoing way.” Urban Culture Project
Fri., Sept. 21, 2007