From now until near the end of June we will post at least once a day with details on what you can experience at home during this pandemic year for Charleston’s annual festival of all arts. For 2020, FestivALL is when The Internet Becomes A Work Of Art. Every day we will bring you up to date on this year’s VirtuALL FestivALL, plus we will flash back to some of our video coverage from previous years, and I will dig into the archives for one post in the Monday Morning Art Exhibit, collecting some of my favorite pieces from the nearly fifteen years that I’ve been posting my original work here in PopCult.

Today’s big events include:

Beginning at Noon, The Art Fair Experience–Enjoy this two-hour experience of the FestivALL Art Fair from anywhere! Take a virtual stroll through the re-imagined art fair – featuring new and returning artisans and their handmade items, performances from local and regional musicians and performers, as well as some surprise guests sprinkled in for good measure!

Virtual Wine & Jazz Music Festival–Starting at 6 PM, Fund for the Arts presents Indian-born guitarist and composer Shubh Saran, whose compositions fuse modern jazz, neo-soul, and rock with classical and contemporary Indian music. “You can feel warmth and camaraderie in the soothing, dulcet tones of his work.” More performances TBA on the Fund for the Arts Facebook event, you can find more Info Here. Visit www.fundfortheartswv.org to learn more and follow along with the GoFundMe Charity Campaign

A Wrinkle in Time–The Alban plans to stream this live theatre version of A Wrinkle in Time. A play about one of literature’s most enduring young heroines, Meg Murry. Once again, she’s joining forces with Mrs. Whatsit, Charles Wallace, Calvin O’Keefe and more to battle the forces of evil so she can rescue her father, save humanity and find herself. Tickets are available at albanartscenter.com and on their Facebook page. When you buy a “ticket” you will get a digital link the day of the show that will allow you to watch the final product that day only. So make sure you buy a ticket for a day that you will be able to watch the performance as the link for each day will expire at midnight.

Other FestivALL events for today include being able to vote on The Artbus, check out the Art-for-ALL Kids’ Juried Art Exhibition look into the “Faces of First Responders” Tribute Mural and teens can participate in Life: Unedited. FestivALL is off to a strong VirtuALL start.  You can also participate in the CAMC “Run For Your Life” virtual run/walk. The Virtual Art Fair will open on June 14th on the FestivALL website – check it regularly for the gallery and links to shop your favorite WV artisans this summer. Also, still going on is Poems While You Wait–Poet Laureate, Marc Harshman, was joined by one or two other colleagues in poetry and then, on old-fashioned, that is, real typewriters, produced on demand a poem for festival goers.  This year for virtual simplicity poems will be produced for our poetry-hungry, virtual readers will be on offer in real time.  And for free — really! Simply follow the rules at the website they’ll see that an original poem by either Marc Harshman or Ron Houchin finds its way to you within forty-eight hours of your request.

The FestivALL Flashback

This is an RFC MINI SHOW devoted to the 2014 FestivALL Art Parade, with many of Charleston’s most creative persons marching in front of the city’s coolest bookstore/coffeehouse/art gallery, Taylor Books, the Art Parade signalled the beginning of FestivALL. You will hear Bill Kimmons introduce Peter Marshall, The Charleston Light Opera Guild, Camp Curtain Call, Jude Binder, Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School, The Chemical Valley Roller Girls, Kanawha Players, QiET and more.

Enjoy…

The Monday Morning Art Exhibit

This time we go back to October, 2011, for a digital painting based on a photograph taken at Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-art show‘s special Halloween edition.  In “Ghoul’s Night Out,” Elle Xombeah, Lavender Menace and Penny Maple, terrorize Sarkany, in a classically horrific manner. A year later I had this printed up and entered into the ArtMares show at HallowEast.

Click the image to see it bigger.