Friday, August 26th at 8 p.m.
Pre-Service Reception: 7 – 8 p.m.
RSVP required for reception: 323-658-9100

Capers Funnye, a cousin of Michelle Obama, is the chief rabbi of the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago, one of the largest African-American synagogues in America.

Rabbi Funnye earned a Bachelor of Arts in Hebrew Literature and rabbinic ordination from the Israelite Board of Rabbis, Inc., Queens, NY. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish Studies and Master of Science in Human Service Administration from Spertus Institute of Judaica, Chicago, IL.

Rabbi Funnye is married and he and his wife Mary have four children and are the proud grandparents of seven grandsons and two granddaughters.

Also appearing with Rabbi Funnye are the Mendes Brothers.

Date: Sunday 8/28/11

This festive day features 24 free mini-classes and panel discussions in creative writing and screenwriting, hosted by fall Writers’ Program instructors. Students get free writing instruction, chat with instructors, register for most fall courses at a 10 percent discount, learn more about the Writers’ Program, discuss goals with advisors, and visit with graduate writing programs, community and professional organizations, and writing-allied businesses. The event will be held in the Young Hall Courtyard on the UCLA campus.

Lisa Doctor will be on the panel, “Creating Compelling Fictional Characters.” 11am – 11:40am. Boulter, 3400.

Beginning Monday, October 3rd (7 PM – 10 PM) for 10 weeks

Course # X466.16 Registration # W6917
Before You Begin the Novel: An Exploration of Character and Story
Facing the blank page can be an intimidating experience. What is the universal theme you’re trying to communicate? What does the protagonist really want? In this workshop, you create a personalized “encyclopedia” of material to use as a reference when writing the novel. Through individualized exercises tailored to each writer in the room, you explore the protagonist’s history, fears, and desires, as well as his or her relationship to the antagonist. You identify the larger theme that draws you to this particular story, a basic outline of the beginning, middle, and end, and the emotional arc of the protagonist. By the end of the workshop, you have in your arsenal many important elements to get you started so that the blank page remains blank no more. This course is open to writers of all levels who are eager to begin writing their novel.

To enroll online: www.uclaextension.edu

By phone:
(310)825-9971
(818) 784-7006

By mail:
UCLA Extension
P.O. Box 24901
Department K
Los Angeles, CA 90024-0901

Week of September 25-30, 2011

Lisa Doctor

The characters we create can and will evolve from caricatures into real people if we allow them to speak in their own voices without interference. But how do our characters turn into dynamic beings? How do they find their own truths?

Through a series of writing exercises and discussion, we will create the profile of a character and then allow him or her to answer challenging questions designed to reveal hidden truths. Each prompt will be chosen specifically for the character; no two characters will receive the same questions. As the week progresses, these emerging people will open up about that which haunts and thrills them. They will explore their personal histories, their concerns about aging, their longings, disappointments, and uncertainties. We will ask them to speak freely about old wounds and their compassion for others. They will tell us what used to be important to them but no longer is. By the end of the week the character each writer has created will have begun to emerge into a separate being with an authentic voice and a distinct identity.

This workshop is designed for writers of every level, including beginners, who are seeking a group writing experience in a safe and nurturing environment. The method used is particularly effective for those wishing to begin or are in the midst of writing a novel, memoir, short story, screenplay, or stage play, where a richly drawn character takes center stage.

Reservations Information (Accommodations & Pricing)

www.Esalen.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
YVETTE GELLIS: EPHEMERA GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY
July 23 – August 27, 2011 Opening Reception: July 23, 2011, 6 – 8 pm

(Beverly Hills—July 2011) Ephemera is a series of large paintings by artist Yvette Gellis that appears abstract at first viewing but, upon closer examination, reveals discernible fragments of representation. Perhaps Gellis explains it best herself: ―the work teeters back and forth between the ambiguity of abstraction and the restraints of representation.‖ GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY now represents Yvette Gellis. Ephemera will be on view at the gallery’s Beverly Hills space, July 23 – August 27, 2011.

Entropy, 2011, oil on canvas, 102" x 541⁄2"

Gellis’ painting process begins as a gestural dialogue with particular homes and buildings near her 18th Street Arts Center studio, which she will often document in various states of destruction or decay. As Gellis liberally and deftly applies paint in a series of wide, muscular swaths offset by delicate calligraphic swipes, an impending sense of abstraction emerges. Vantage points are obscured, compositional liberty is taken, angles are askew, and ultimately, what began as a quasi- representational rendering is transformed into a phenomenological, psychological, or even a spiritual response.

There is an emotional charge to Gellis’ work. Her first major exhibition (a 2008 solo exhibition at LA’s impactful Kim Light Gallery) garnered critical praise in Art in America for its, ―lively repartee between the illusion of deep, infinite space and the immediate surface pleasure of energetic abstract painting.‖1 She was chosen in 2009 by artist Lita Albuquerque to participate in the group exhibition In Bed Together at ROYAL/T, with Albuquerque writing that in viewing Gellis’ work she finds herself, ―engaged in Theatre, where perception directs movement, an exchange of energy between the viewer and the performance of paint.‖2 She will also have a solo exhibition at Brunnhofer Galerie, Austria, in September 2011.

Gellis’ work invokes elements of the schools that came before her—Light and Space artists James Turrell and Robert Irwin in their push to explore perceptual phenomena; AbEx’s unremitting return to the ―mark‖; and the Hudson River School’s romanticism—yet there is no single word or movement that can encompass the work.

Sylmar, 2010-2011, mixed media, 108"x168"

The artist likens her work to an event, a situational explication of the sublime, or as she prefers to quote philosopher Edmund Burke, ―tranquility tinged with terror.‖3 In recent projects—including her 2009 Violet Jolt sculptural installation at Stuyvesant and 9th outside of New York University—the event aspect is indeed clearly present in Gellis’ work, compelling the passerby to experience and engage the artist’s ―mark‖ in three dimensions. Yet the paintings in Ephemera are a return, and more importantly, an expansion of something much more essential to the artist—paint.

Breaking Point; Interior, 2011, oil, acrylic, pencil on canvas, 66" x 102"

Holding a Master of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University, Gellis has both an exceptional vision and imagination, and the breadth of technical skill necessary to bring it to life. For all her creative capacity however, Gellis’ work is ultimately about the act of painting itself—about forgetting everything and allowing the work to take on a life of its own.

END NOTES
1. Constance Mallinson, Art in America (November 2008), pp 201-202
2. Lita Albuquerque on the occasion of the exhibition In Bed Together at ROYAL/T in Culver City, CA (2009-2010)
3. Edmund Burke, from ―A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful” (1757)
Breaking Point; Interior, 2011, oil, acrylic, pencil on canvas, 66″ x 102″

WHAT
Ephemera – Large Paintings by Yvette Gellis

WHEN
Opening Reception: July 23, 2011, 6 – 8 pm
Exhibition: July 23 – August 27, 2011
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10 am – 5 pm, or by appointment

WHERE
GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY
427 North Camden Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 274-5205
www.garboushian.com

PRESS CONTACT
Brent Turner
the Campbells [ideas + communications for contemporary culture]
(323) 300-6132
brent@thecampbellspr.com

Winter Quarter: Wednesday, January 12 – Wednesday, March 16 (10 Wednesday evenings, 7 – 10pm)

Course # X466.16 Registration # W1261
Before You Begin the Novel: An Exploration of Character and Story
Facing the blank page can be an intimidating experience. What is the universal theme you’re trying to communicate? What does the protagonist really want? In this workshop, you create a personalized “encyclopedia” of material to use as a reference when writing the novel. Through individualized exercises tailored to each writer in the room, you explore the protagonist’s history, fears, and desires, as well as his or her relationship to the antagonist. You identify the larger theme that draws you to this particular story, a basic outline of the beginning, middle, and end, and the emotional arc of the protagonist. By the end of the workshop, you have in your arsenal many important elements to get you started so that the blank page remains blank no more. This course is open to writers of all levels who are eager to begin writing their novel.

Spring Quarter: Wednesday, March 30 – Wednesday, May 4 (6 Wednesday evenings, 7 – 10pm)

Course # X447.16 Registration # W3652
Writing with a Full Palette of Color: A Writing Workshop
The stories within us come in a wide range of colors, from the bright hues of pure joy to the darker tones of despair and loneliness. It often takes a combination of emotional colors to show the depth and complexity of a scene: the fear of falling in love; the gifts that stem from loss; the embracing of uncertainty. In this workshop, you dip into your own palette of truth, allowing your writing to crackle with vibrancy. Each session consists of two components: fun yet challenging in-class “quick writes,” and take-home exercises that are individually chosen for each writer, to be shared aloud in the group. In-class exercises focus on the colors of the outer world, including activating the senses and noticing details. Take take-home exercises weave dark and light shades into a scene, and cover topics across the emotional color spectrum from childhood wounds that have not healed to the joy of knowing true compassion. This workshop is designed for writers of every level, including those new to the craft who want to enhance their writing through vivid and dynamic detail.

To enroll online: www.uclaextension.edu

By phone:
(310)825-9971
(818) 784-7006

By mail:
UCLA Extension
P.O. Box 24901
Department K
Los Angeles, CA 90024-0901

Sample Sale and Spring 2011 Preview

Please Join us on Saturday, Dec 11th 12PM-5PM, Sunday Dec 12th 11AM-3PM

Hosted By Adrienne Fayne, 600 Moreno Avenue, Brentwood, CA 90049 310-393-3330

Through December 19th

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2:30pm and 7:30pm

“[Jane] Kaczmarek is uncommonly adept at both ends of the comedy-drama pool, and uses the full range.” Theater Times // “memorable performance…Kitty Swink…” Tolucan Times / / “I was particularly fascinated by how differently [Anne Gee] Byrd and [Dawn] Didawick play the same role and how strikingly good each one is…” Stage and Cinema // “… [Zoe] Perry is excellent…” LA Weekly // “...pitch-perfect Jeanne Syquia…” Stage Happenings // “a charming Josh Zuckerman” Stage Happenings // “Kurtwood Smith was both delightfully gruff and desolate…” SoCal // “…notable is Josh Clark…” Tolucan TImes // “James Sutorius, Stoney Westmoreland, Joe Delafield …are exraordinary” Stage and Cinema // “The multi-layered and heart shattering Shannon Holt …” StageHappenings // “[Lily] Knight is superb as Constance…” LAist // “[Eve] Gordon and [Jeanie] Hackett both shine as co-dependent mothers…” EyeSpyLA // “Stephen Caffrey‘s is brilliant as the ego-tastic Nick…” LAist //…Jeffrey Nordling offered a very different take on Nick Denery-the virility and machismo…was wonderful to watch.” SoCal // “…equally fine, yet quite distinct performances of [Rhonda] Aldrich and [Faye] Grant…” StageSceneLA // Leona… [is] played by Saundra McClain with dignity and a dash of asperity.” CurtainUp //The two excellent ensembles bring out different nuances while remaining true to the playwright’s intentions. Backstage // “It’s a treat to see so many accomplished Los Angeles actors in this intimate setting…” LA Times

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW

Opening night performance of CINDERELLA, a Modern Musical Extravaganza, ticket sales will benefit LA’s BEST After School Enrichment Program. CINDERELLA features a star-studded cast, including Harry Potter’s Freddie Stroma as Prince Charming and Leave it to Beaver’s Jerry Mathers as Baron Hardup. Read more about this red-carpet, VIP experience, which promises to be unique among 2010 holiday productions in Los Angeles for your family to enjoy and experience. Purchase tickets at www.lasbest.org.

Please join us for this VIP opening night performance of CINDERELLA, performed in the style of traditional London pantomime and benefiting LA’s BEST.

A panto is a musical-comedy production derived from an English theatre tradition, typically based on children’s fairytales. Scripts are rewritten every year and include music sourced from current Billboard charts, live magic, tongue in cheek humor and family fun.

The show is produced by Bonnie Lythgoe of So You Think You Can Dance Australia and Lythgoe Family Productions and stars Harry Potter’s Freddie Stroma as Prince Charming and Jerry Mathers, also know as The Beaver, as Baron Hardup.

This red-carpet, VIP experience promises to be unique among 2010 holiday productions in Los Angeles. Please join us by ordering tickets to the show and by telling friends and family about the evening!

Click here for more information and to see additional members of the star-studded CINDERELLA cast.

Tickets: $100 per seat.

Each ticket includes the performance and reception following the show including a meet-and-greet with cast members and a fantasy holiday dessert buffet. Seats will be assigned on a first come, first served basis; tickets will be available for pick up at will call the night of the show.

November 27, 2010 7:00 PM

El Portal Theatre
5269 Lankershim Boulevard
North Hollywood, CA