Submitted by Kay Renz
This month’s Old Town Untapped Summer Sizzle features the no-holds-barred sound of Uproot Hootenanny, with influences from the Celtic, folk, rock, blues, jam, and jazz worlds. Join the fun on Friday, September 1, 2023, at 6 p.m. and enjoy great food, drinks, and the stunning stained-glass exhibition entitled (in) visible: pair-a-dice by Kandy G Lopez, at Bailey Contemporary Arts. Old Town Untapped will continue the First Friday of the month from 6 -10 p.m. and is FREE for all ages to attend. Visit www.pompanobeacharts.org for all the latest updates.
“We have been so gratified by the overwhelmingly positive reception to our Summer Sizzle events. These last few months in South Florida have certainly been hot ones, and we say, if you can’t beat them, join them!” said Ty Tabing, Director, Cultural Affairs Department. “We continue our streak with the scorching music of Uproot Hootenanny, South Florida’s premier band of string pickers, and the white-hot, blazing talent of artist Kandy G Lopez.”
September’s musical sizzle is provided by Uproot Hootenanny. A pickers’ paradise, this four-piece band features some of South Florida’s top string instrument players, who play everything from bluegrass classics to Irish-folksy tunes, including some pretty awesome covers that range from The Rolling Stones to Johnny Cash. Just a downright good time! As banjo player and vocalist David Welch puts it, “It’s a group of friends intent on providing a place, and an atmosphere for people to have the time of their life… music to move and groove to… friends making music!” Welch is joined by Nico Kiriazis (stand-up bass, mandolin, and vocals), Brian Bolen (guitar, stand-up bass, and vocals), and Brian Trew (fiddle, vocals).
The body of work in Lopez’s current exhibition features stained glass portraits of people of color and introduces a contemporary view of an ancient technique. Lopez is a figurative artist who works with multiple mediums to explore and experiment with issues such as race, gentrification, immigration, and defense mechanisms. As an Afro-Dominican American artist, she acknowledges that these topics are a part of her heritage and are important to share with others. Lopez has previously worked with photography, ceramics, painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, and sculpture, but has started to focus on glass as a medium.
About the City of Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department
The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department is to provide cultural programming that includes visual arts, digital media, music, film, theater, dance and public art for the enjoyment and enrichment of residents and visitors to Pompano Beach, Broward County, and the greater South Florida area. The department programs and manages the City’s premiere cultural arts venues including the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Ali Cultural Arts Center, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, and the Blanche Ely House Museum. The department also oversees the City’s Public Art Program and the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town grant awarded to the Pompano Beach Crossroads place-making arts initiative.
