If you want to shop for original painting, drawings, jewelry and everything art and would love to support future artists in Houston, then you need to come out the Annual Student Art Sale at Glassell Studio School. This is a two day event only, so make sure you don’t miss out!

The sale will be taking place May 27, 2011 (5pm to 8pm) and May 28, 2011 (10am to 5pm). The Glassell Studio School is located at 5101 Montrose Boulevard. Shop for original paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, jewelry, ceramics, and sculptures—all created by student artists at the Glassell Studio School. Come early for the best selection. Proceeds benefit the Glassell School of Art scholarship fund.

The Glassell Studio School offers courses in art history and studio art for adults, ages 18 and older. Studio courses and workshops are available in a variety of media, including painting, watercolor, printmaking, photography, ceramics, sculpture, and jewelry.

For more information on Glassell click here.

The Houston Art Car Parade is fantastic, fun and FREE…It is also the Largest Art Car Parade around!

The Art Car Weekend is the Orange Show’s biggest outreach program, a vehicle for the message that art is an integral part of everyone’s everyday life. The weekend’s events are part folk art, part fine art, part wholly artistic expression of every kind. Entirely monumental and thoroughly spectacular!

This year’s Art Car Parade will be taking place May 22, 2011 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The Art Car Parade runs along Allen Parkway, from Waugh to Bagby!

For your reference, the 2011 Art Car Weekend will be as follows:
Friday, May 20 – Art Car Ball
Saturday, May 21 – Sneak Peek
Sunday, May 22 – Art Car Parade

For information from the history of the event to all the details visit: www.orangeshow.org/art-car/

The Free Press Summer Fest is Montrose Houston’s outdoor weekend music festival and is being held Saturday June 4th – Sunday June 5th, 2001 at Eleanor Tinsley Park (500 Allen Parkway, Houston, TX).

We have been very lucky to have some amazing artists play the last two years, but this year’s festival lineup takes the cake. They are featuring a handful of notable acts such as the Grammy-nominated Weezer, Yeasayer, Cut Copy, Ween, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, MF Doom, Black Dahlia Murder and, of course, boat loads more. If you would like to see the entire festivals line-up visit their website at: www.freepresssummerfest.com.

On the right we have the 2010 Summer Fest Recap video taken from the Free Press Summer Fest’s website for you to enjoy.

For all the wine enthusiasts in Montrose Houston, there is a special set of people who share the same passion and excitement toward wine as you do – It’s the Houston Wine Geeks! Join their monthly “Wine Meetups” starting at 7pm. The meet-ups usually take place on the fourth Thursday of each month. Visit their website to find out exact days and locations at: www.meetup.com/HoustonWineGeeks/.

Here is a message from their website: “We are lovers of wine. We like to look at it. We like to smell it. We like to taste it. We like to talk about it. We like to read about it. We believe that the more we know about it, the more pleasure and fun we get from our wine experiences. We are WINE GEEKS! Join us for our theme-oriented meetups as we explore the world of wine from the new and unfamiliar ones to the old standbys (do we really know them as well as we think we do?).”

If you are looking for a fun and social way to meet people who share the same interest as you, this could be the right group for you.

If you enjoy reading great books and discussing it in a group setting than you will enjoy the “Houston Montrose Great Books” book club. The group meets on the first Thursday of every month at 6pm. They are now meeting at a new location. Join them at the “Havens Center” at 1827 W. Alabama, Houston, TX next to the Chocolate Bar. The center is affiliated with St. Stephens Episcopal Church and close by but is not in the same building as the church. Parking for attendees is available on the street where you can find it and is also available next to the church in a location that is a couple lots down towards the east from The Havens Center.

The “Great Books” book club loves to have new members. They ask that you read the book if you want to participate in the discussion but everyone is welcome to attend and listen whether they have read the selection or not. Call or email me if you would like more info.

For more information contact Alice Aman by email: amanhaus@gmail.com or by phone: 713-523-3652. You can also get more information from their website at: www.houstonbookclubs.org.

The Montrose Art Society presents “Fun & Games”. This new exhibition features 12 diverse artists exploring their ideas of “Fun & Games” through painting, sculpture, photography, installations and performance art. Throughout the exhibit, you will be able to sit and play a game of Checkers, Connect Four and more…as well a join in a game of Hopscotch and “Tag” with the participating artists and your friends from 6 – 9:30 p.m. on May 21st, 2011.

Artists included in “Fun & Games” are Andre Amaral, Eduardo Portillo, Felipe Esparza, Nico Whittaker, Tony Parana, Thaiss Verissimo, Daryl Gannon, Kenneth Pierson and Bobby Kalloor. This art exhibit will be taking place at the Winter Street Studios located at 2101 Winter Street, Houston, TX.

Renowned Italian concertist Maestro Roberto Porroni will appear in concert in honor of the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Flutist Luigi Arciuli will join Maestro Porroni performing Italian music from the 1800’s and 1900’s.

Maestro Roberto will be performing May 23, 2011 at 7pm at the University of St. Thomas, Cullen Hall. (4001 Mt. Vernon St.) Admission is free and all are welcome!

Click here to download the poster.

T Spring-cleaning is almost near and the Refugee Donation Drive needs your help. Springtime has come and and many residents of the Montrose Houston area will be doing some spring cleaning on their homes and attics. In line with this seasonal tradition, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, or better known as IM, needs your kind help and support with the first ever Second Hand for a Second Chance Donation Drive to give help, aid, support and benefit to Refugee Services. There are many newly settled refugees who are in need of your help in the form of gently used furniture, kitchenware, house ware, or even clothing.

Interfaith Ministries’ Refugee Services offers relocation services to the numerous newly arrived refugees. This happens with the help of private contracts and grants. However, their funding is restricted and they are in great need of furniture, kitchenware, house ware, and clothing items. You can help them alleviate the burdens that these newcomers face as they adapt to the American community by supporting this donation drive. You may get in touch with Interfaith Ministries by visiting their event page at www.imgh.org

So if you’re willing to help, you can. These newcomers are in need and helping them will a great work of charity. They will certainly appreciate your help and they may be able to start a new life with what you can offer to them. The drop-off will be scheduled on the 29^th of April 2011 from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon and on the 30^th of April 2011 at 9 in the morning until 12 noon. Second Hand for a Second Chance Donation Drive will happen at 3217 Montrose, Houston, Tx 77006. You can do something to help. Be there at the Refugee Donation Drive and give them a second chance with all your second hand items.

The Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston hosts its third annual Tapestry Gala on May 3rd 2011 at the Hilton Americas-Houston. The event will celebrate Houston’s great diversity in cultures, ethnicities and faith traditions. Guests will enjoy a fabulous dinner and program along with the evening’s musical entertainment provided by Kenneth Gayle productions. Philamena and Arthur Baird chair the event with Peggy and Bill Barnett and Jan Duncan as honorary chairs. The Honorable Arthur L. Schechter and The Honorable Fred S. Zeidman will both receive the 2011 Tapestry Award. The award recognizes a community leader who has shown remarkable dignity through tangible work for the betterment of Houston and the world. Additionally, a tribute will be given to lifetime board member Rabbi Roy Walter.

Proceeds from the gala benefit Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, a local non-profit organization that brings people of diverse faith traditions together for dialogue, collaboration and service. The organization provides four main services to the Houston area including Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston, Refugee Resettlement Services, Disaster Preparedness and Interfaith Dialogue. More information can be found at www.imgh.org.

Mark your calendars as CTC takes great pride in announcing that William Shakespeare’s King Lear will be coming to town soon. CTC will be having a collaborative effort with the Prague Shakespeare Festival to produce William Shakespeare’s epic piece. This will certainly be an amazing show that all enthusiasts of Shakespeare should never dare miss. See the show and you will absolutely be entertained. The show is adapted and directed by the Prague Shakespeare Festival’s Artistic Director Guy Roberts, and this production will star actors hailing from both the Czech Republic and Montrose Houston. The show will be running at both Monstrose Houston and then at Prague after a few weeks.

The show is tailored from Shakespeare’s work of the same name. It has been widely known as Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy. It is also declared as the world’s greatest English play ever written. Truly an epic adventure, King Lear is the ravaging tale of an aging ruler whose choice to divide his kingdom between his three daughters to help avoid a “future strife” only succeeds in starting an avalanche of greed, betrayal and ruthlessness. Join his journey and discover the truth behind the tale. Come and see Shakespeare’s most classic tragedy in motion. Don’t miss this amazing production by Guy Roberts.

The production will have several show dates from the 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd, 24^th, 25^th of April and on the 1^st of May. See the show at the Main Street Theater – Chelsea Market (4617 Montrose Blvd., Houston, TX). Tickets will be available online and may be bought by visiting www.classicaltheatre.org. Get your tickets now and see the one of the world’s greatest English-language play ever written. Join the king on his heroic journey divide his kingdom to stop what the future strife. See it all only at King Lear.