Described as “refreshingly edgy” and a “fresh interdisciplinary concept” when it debuted last year at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, the Momentum Festival will return this month to light up Kitsap County with an immersive program designed to stimulate the senses and ignite imaginations.
Spotlighting the talents of artists, poets, musicians, composers, filmmakers, thespians, historians, social activists, and more, Momentum breaks the winter hibernation with this curated selection of more than two dozen events, including concerts, workshops, lectures, and film and immersive arts experiences.
“We wanted to produce a festival of the unexpected, a lively program that mentally shakes off the winter and breathes in spring – with its inherent sense of discovery and emergence,” said Sheila Hughes, BIMA executive director.
“This year’s Momentum features a wide array of formats, disciplines, perspectives, media and message, but they all share the ability to get audiences thinking – that’s our common thread.”
Tickets for Momentum events are available individually. For more information, including pricing and availability, visit www.biartmuseum.org/momentum.
Momentum is a Community Impact Fund Project, BIMA officials explained, a new program that brings a wide variety of arts, cultural and humanities presentations to Kitsap County throughout the year, and strengthens the museum’s working relationships with other area nonprofits and cultural partners.
Momentum Festival 2019 schedule
Jon Green & Friends in concert
(live music)
Sunday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
$25 member, $30 non-member
Bassist Jonathan Green presents a program featuring diverse settings for the upright, string, double and doghouse bass. Compositions include a set of tangos by Astor Piazzola, Shinji Eshima’s “August 6” for viola and double bass, music for string quartet featuring Steve and Sue Jane Bryant.
Rounding out the selections are bass and jazz guitar duets featuring the extraordinary guitarist Tim Lerch (Pearl Django) and original compositions for bass, guitar and vocal harmonies with guests Ben Doerr and Lydia Ramsay of St. Paul de Vence.
smARTfilms: Best of Port Townsend Film Festival
(film screening)
In collaboration with the Port Townsend Film Festival Tuesdays, March 19 and March 26; April 2, April 9 and April 16 at 7:30 p.m. $10 member, $12 non-member
Curator Janette Force has put together a tastemaker cinematic sampler, each a crowd-pleasing feature in recent years at the annual Port Townsend Film Festival.
Come early and enjoy a special dinner offering from chef Stephanie Knutson.
Reservations are recommended.
“Art After Dark”
(teen event)
In collaboration with Kitsap Regional Library
Friday, March 22, 7 to 10 p.m.
Free admission (teens only)
Experience the museum after hours at this for-teens, by-teens annual event. Make art with local artists, explore the galleries, and much more.
“Music to the Masses”
(music panel discussions)
In collaboration with Spacecraft Saturday, March 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
$20 admission
Spacecraft and the BIMA team up to present a lively day-long symposium focusing on connecting music makers to audiences. Topics ranging from booking gigs, distribution and copyright, DIY strategies for promotion and marketing are explored in panel discussions and presentations with experts.
“Spring Into Words: The Poetry of Keetje Kuipers, Erika Meither, and Geffrey Davis”
(poetry reading)
Sunday, March 24 at 7 p.m.
$7 member, $10 non-member
On the eve of National Poetry Month, come celebrate the joy of words with three award-winning poets who are launching new books onto the national literary scene. Geffrey Davis, Keetje Kuipers, and Erika Meitner will read poems from their newest collections, touching on topics as diverse as parenthood, fly fishing, and the complicated love for one’s home place. Expressing gratitude with grace, and mixing sorrow with fierce joy, these three fearless voices are a powerful reminder of what words can still do.
Plastic plate engraving workshop with Fred Hagstrom at BARN
(workshop)
In partnership with BARN
Friday, March 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
$170 for BARN members, $220 for non-BARN members
Join Fred Hagstrom for this one-of-a-kind workshop exploring plastic plate engraving. High-density polystyrene is an expensive, but highly flexible support for printmaking. It is an opaque, fairly soft material that carves easily using engraving tools such as burins and half tone rakes. Using burins, it is possible to achieve fine detail even at relatively small scale; woodcut tools may also be used for results comparable to wood engraving, and Dremel tools may be used to grind away areas of the surface. The plates generated through these processes will be printed in black and white during this one-day workshop, though they may be easily used at a later time for color printing.
“Within the Silence by Ken Mochizuki: A Living Voices Performance on the Japanese Exclusion”
(presentation)
With support from Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community, and funded by the Robert Chinn Foundation
Saturday, March 30 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Free
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 imprisoned thousands of loyal American families. These innocent citizens struggled to maintain their families, their pride, and their sense of identity while incarcerated by their own country’s government. Witness this silent chapter of our history through Living Voices, a unique presentation that combines dynamic solo performances with archival film and sound, turning history into a moving and personal journey. Share this intimate story of one Japanese American family’s fight to sustain faith in the country they love.
“Sparks and Catalysts: Social Justice and the Role of Book Arts”
(panel discussion)
Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m.
$5 member, $7 non-member
A social justice panel featuring Fred Hagstrom, Carletta Carrington Wilson, Ellen Knudson and Jeffrey Morin, moderated by Jane Carlin. The graphic format and immersive, tactile quality of artists books makes them a prime vehicle for sharing powerful information. This panel will explore the potential for this intimate art form to wrangle with critical and often poignant human issues. Panelists will share their perspectives and approaches to this important work
Art Talks: Fred Hagstrom
(lecture)
Sunday, March 31 at 3 p.m.
$5 member, $7 non-member
Fred Hagstrom’s artist books draw on print media’s rich history as a tool for promoting social issues.
During this talk, Hagstrom will discuss the context of his body of work and focus on two specific books that speak of the Seattle area and Japanese American history. Hagstrom is the Rae Schupack Nathan Professor of Art at Carleton College, where he has taught since 1984. His work is represented in more than 50 collections including the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Libraries, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Walker Art Center, and he is a recipient of The Excellence in Teaching Printmaking Award from Southern Graphics International.
“An Evening with Edward S. Curtis” by Clay Jenkinson
(performance)
Presented by the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum
Wednesday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.
$100 BIHM members, $125 non-members
The Bainbridge Island Historical Museum’s spring fundraiser. Humanities scholar and author Clay Jenkinson, will lecture on Curtis, the American photographer and ethnologist from Washington state whose work focused on the American West and Native American peoples.
He will discuss Curtis’ life and work, slipping into character of Curtis now and then, including his work with JP Morgan, his many visits to the heart of Indian America, his relationship with Theodore Roosevelt, and the compilation of Curtis’ 20 volumes of his book, “North American Indian.”
Jenkinson will also talk about some of the more controversial issues around Curtis’ work (cultural appropriation, his treatment of his wife and family, the ways in which he cajoled Native Americans into showing him sacred objects or dressing in a sacred way, and divulging cultural secrets).
“Let’s Talk About Race” with Clyde Ford
(lecture)
Presented by Humanities WA
Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m.
Free with RSVP
Racism thrives in silence. It’s when we stop talking to one another about our beliefs that prejudices go unchallenged, and the gap between us widens. Yet race is one of the most difficult topics to discuss in American society. If we are to heal many of our country’s social, economic, and political divides, we can’t afford to avoid the conversation. With warmth and openness, renowned author and professor Clyde Ford leads a discussion on race in modern-day America with a heavy emphasis on audience participation.
Meant for people of all races, participants will come away with tools for engaging in conversations about race in an honest, transparent, and meaningful way. Though ambitious, this talk aims to make a difference in bridging and healing the racial divide.
“Earthbound: Exposing Environmental Issues through Artists Books”
(panel discussion)
Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m.
$5 member, $7 non-member
Environmental panel with Lucia Harrison, Lou Cabeen, and Shu Ju Wang. Concepts, narrative and materials shape the work of these book artists who explore our environment, its vulnerabilities and strengths. Through an exploration of their diverse working styles and common themes our panelists will talk about the particular responsibilities they bring to their practice.
“A Dialogue with Nature: Artist Talk with ZZ Wei”
(lecture)
In association with Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency Program
Saturday, April 20, at 7 p.m.
$5 BIMA or Bloedel members,
$7 non-member
“I love landscapes with human traces. The shift of light, change of color; they are peaceful and pure, rich and powerful. Humans and nature are conducting a story full of love, joy and sorrow.” — ZZ Wei
The interaction and conversation between humans and nature has always been the center of ZZ Wei’s art. They provide him with inspiration and motivation. In his presentation, the artist will share his art through video and slides, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Wei was born in 1957 in Beijing, China. He was invited to the United States in 1989 for the Washington State Centennial Culture Connection Project. Moving to this country has since transformed him as a person and an artist, marking the beginning of a new life and art style.
Wei is fascinated by the seemingly overlooked life and landscape of rural America, and is inspired to paint what moves him deeply.
He unites his Chinese upbringing with new perspectives, inspired by traveling through American back roads, to create a rich and poetic oeuvre, familiar yet unexpected to the viewer. His unique style captures the character and spirit of this new land.
“Superhero America: The Comic-Book Character as Historical Lens” with T. Andrew Wahl
(lecture)
Presented by Humanities WA
Saturday, April 27, at 7 p.m.
Free with RSVP
Since the revolutionary debut of Superman in 1938, the American superhero has been a regular part of our pop culture landscape. Here, Wahl explores comic book heroes through the lens of a scholar, providing a fascinating view of our nation’s recent history.
In this interactive multimedia presentation, the journalist and comic book historian explores how historical events and shifting social mores can be seen in the evolution of characters from Wonder Woman to Spider-Man. Using audience members’ memories as a springboard, this conversation connects comic book superheroes (and the occasional villain) to historical topics including war, the advancement of civil rights, and the societal impacts of technology.
A lifelong comic book aficionado, Wahl has read more than 20,000 comic books, and owns more than 200,000 pages of primary source documents related to the comic book industry. He is a longtime journalist in the Pacific Northwest, and heads the journalism program at Everett Community College.
“A Walk in the Woods” by Lee Blessing
(performances)
Presented by inD Theatre
April 18, April 19, and April 21 at 7 p.m.; April 20 at 2 p.m.; April 25, April 26 and April 28 at 7 p.m., April 27 at 2 p.m.
By donation, seats are available at indtheatre.org/reservations
Two negotiators — one American and the other Russian — walk in the woods outside Geneva during the SALT talks of the late 1980s. Delicately balancing the line between adversary and colleague, the two use every weapon in their arsenals to move the other toward an agreement: an agreement that both want only on favorable terms for their sides.
Directed by Ken Michels and featuring John Ellis and Joel Underwood, “A Walk in the Woods” is at times funny and always thought provoking, exploring the nature of negotiation and sacrifice.
