Macomb Arts Center

02/13/2025

Call for artists. The town of Mount Sterling, IL is embarking on a project to add art to their crosswalks. They are seeking out "artists with the skill and capacity to deliver this type of project." For more information, contact:

Michele Hedden
Programs Associate
Tracy Family Foundation
217.773.4411 (office)

In 1997, the 2nd generation of the Tracy family created the Tracy Family Foundation (TFF) as a tribute to their mom and dad, Robert (RT) and Dorothy Tracy. They were inspired by their parents’ dedication to faith, family, and community and believed these values formed the people they had become. T...

02/10/2025

In celebration of Black History Month, consider soprano Leontyne Price (whose 98th birthday is today!), born Feb. 10, 1927.
"Metropolitan Opera audiences began an extraordinary love affair with American soprano Leontyne Price immediately upon her debut on January 27, 1961. She was by then an internationally heralded singer and an experienced, refined musician and artist. But more than anything, it was the sheer beauty of her voice that excited her listeners. What they heard was a vibrant, glowing, yet never metallic tone that called forth adjectives like velvety, soft-grained, and elegant. Her vocal production seemed effortless, free, and soaring, with plentiful volume and an amazing dynamic control. And the timbre of her voice was unique, personal, and immediately identifiable—she sounded like no one else. At the age of 90, in a charming interview for the documentary film The Opera House, she commented on her own voice, remembering when she heard the reverberations for the first time in the new Met auditorium, saying, it was “so beautiful you just wanted to kiss yourself!” This was not a prima donna’s vanity, but a mere statement of fact. And the audiences wanted to kiss her too, for hearing Leontyne Price live was an experience not to be forgotten.
Price was a known entity by the time of her Met debut. She had been brought to the attention of General Manager Rudolf Bing as early as 1952 when the young Juilliard graduate starred in a touring company of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess that also played on Broadway. Her vocal qualities had drawn critical admiration, and in 1953 she was invited to sing “Summertime” for a radio broadcast Met fundraising event, held at the Ritz Theater. Her growing career in Europe included debuts at the Vienna State Opera, London’s Royal Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and the Verona Arena. It was at the last of these that Bing heard her as Leonora in Il Trovatore and offered her a contract backstage afterwards, together with her co-star, tenor Franco Corelli. (Price and Corelli are pictured above with Bing.)
But Leontyne Price was first and foremost a Verdi singer. More than half her 204 Met performances were as Verdi’s leading ladies. She added Leonora in La Forza del Destino (pictured above)—another of her finest roles—in 1967, and often repeated the Trovatore character of the same name. But it was as Aida that she was most famous and for which she set the standard still in force today. Her ability to shape Verdi’s melodies with a smooth legato and to approach the role’s high climatic notes without strain made her the unrivalled interpreter of the Ethiopian princess. She sang Aida for the opening night in 1969, again for a 1976 new production premiere, and finally for her own farewell performance in 1985.
It is impossible to speak of Price’s Met career without noting that she was the first African American superstar singer—one who was indispensable and around whom the company planned its season repertory. The legendary black contralto Marian Anderson had broken the Met’s color barrier in 1955, but she was at the end of her distinguished career and only sang one role in a handful of performances. As one of the company’s leading prima donnas, Price accompanied the Met on tour, including to several Southern cities where theaters were segregated. Her presence there was an important factor in changing the discriminatory policies. In fact, the rise of her Met career coincided with the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, and she was proud to be a part of it. Along with her exceptional artistic achievements, it remains part of her remarkable legacy."
(source: www.metopera.org, by Peter Clark)

02/07/2025

In celebration of Black History Month, consider the artist Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) / Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1958-now). Alvin Ailey was born on January 5, 1931 in Rogers, Texas. His experiences of life in the rural South would later inspire some of his most memorable works. At age 12, he moved with his mother to Los Angeles, where he was introduced to dance by performances of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. His formal dance training began with an introduction to Lester Horton’s classes by his friend, Carmen de Lavallade. Horton, the founder of one of the first racially-integrated dance companies in the United States, became a mentor for Mr. Ailey as he embarked on his professional career. After Horton’s death in 1953, Mr. Ailey became director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and began to choreograph his own works. In the 1950s and 60s, Mr. Ailey performed in four Broadway shows including House of Flowers and Jamaica. Mr. Ailey studied dance with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm, and Karel Shook and also took acting classes with Stella Adler.

In 1958, he founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to carry out his vision of a company dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience. He established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (now The Ailey School) in 1969 and formed the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (now Ailey II) in 1974. Mr. Ailey was a pioneer of programs promoting arts in education, particularly those benefiting underserved communities. Throughout his lifetime, he was awarded numerous honorary doctoral degrees, NAACP’s Spingarn Award, the United Nations Peace Medal, the Dance Magazine Award, the Capezio Award, and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. In 1988, he received the Kennedy Center Honor in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to American culture. When Mr. Ailey died on December 1, 1989, The New York Times said of him, “you didn’t need to have known [him] personally to have been touched by his humanity, enthusiasm and exuberance and his courageous stand for multi-racial brotherhood.” (source: pressroom.alvinailey.org)

02/05/2025

WIU Theatre & Dance presents ~
THE MAD ONES
By Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk
Directed by Amie Root*
Musical Direction by Aaron Ames
Choreographed by Donald Laney
WHEN:
Feb. 13 -15 at 7:30pm
WHERE:
Simpkins Hall Theatre (second floor)
TICKETS:
$5 General Admission, WIU Students free with ID
To purchase tickets, call 209.298.2900, online at westernpresents.com, or visit us at the WIU Box Office in Hainline Lobby.
ABOUT THE PLAY: 18-year-old Samantha Brown sits in a hand-me-down car with the keys clutched in her hand. Caught between a yearning for the unknown and feeling bound by expectation, she telescopes back to a time before her world had fallen apart. As she relives her senior year, we meet Sam’s well-intentioned helicopter mother Bev and her high school sweetheart of a boyfriend Adam, but it’s her painfully alive best friend Kelly that haunts her. Kelly was everything Sam is not – impetuous and daring. She pushed Sam to break rules and do the unexpected. When Kelly is killed in a car wreck, Sam loses not only her best friend but also the part of herself that was learning to be brave. Now, Sam has to make a decision: Will she follow her mother’s dreams for her, or will she summon the courage to drive away from her friends and family into a future she can’t imagine?

02/05/2025

In celebration of Black History Month, consider the prolific artist Faith Ringgold (b. 1930 NY, d. 2024 NJ). Ringgold was an American artist and author who became famous for innovative quilted narrations that communicate her political beliefs. Jones grew up in Harlem , and attended City College of New York, where she received a degree in fine arts and education (1955) and an M.A. in fine arts (1959). Jones taught in New York public schools for over 20 years.

In the 1980s Ringgold began working on “story quilts,” which became some of her most renowned works. She painted these quilts with narrative images and original stories set in the context of African American history. Her mother frequently collaborated with her on them. These works included Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima? (1984), Sonny’s Quilt (1986), and Tar Beach (1988), the latter of which Ringgold adapted into a children’s book (1991) that was named a Caldecott Honor Book in 1992. It tells the story of a young Black girl in New York City who dreams about flying. Ringgold’s later books for children included Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky (1992), My Dream of Martin Luther King (1995), Harlem Renaissance Party (2015), and We Came to America (2016). Her memoirs, We Flew over the Bridge, were published in 1995.

(from www.britannica.com; image: The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles, 1991)

02/03/2025

In celebration of Black History Month, consider the artist Hale Aspacio Woodruff. (B.1900, Cairo, Illinois. D. 1980, New York.)
“A titan of the Harlem Renaissance, figurative painter and printmaker Hale Aspacio Woodruff blended fables to narrate real issues affecting Black people in the early to mid-20th century. Although Woodruff adapted a Cubist style while he lived in France between 1927 and 1931, he opted for a Social Realist aesthetic across his practice to better reflect and critique racial injustices. In the 1930s, Woodruff honed into this style while training with Diego Rivera and other prominent Mexican muralists in New York. Woodruff’s work sought to humanize Black life during a time of segregation and mass lynchings. He was invaluable in helping educate a generation of Black youth, both through his role as an educator at New York University as well as a muralist who painted Black history on a large scale for a public audience.”
“Hale Aspacio Woodruff is known for murals, paintings, and prints depicting the struggle and perseverance of Black Americans. Woodruff studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before traveling to Paris in the 1920s, where he lived among fellow Black American expat artists; from there he studied fresco painting under Diego Rivera in Mexico. Upon his return to the United States in the 1930s, he discovered American Regionalism and set out to produce works of art that spoke to the Black experience. He created a series of woodblock prints that depicted scenes of Black American life in the South—ranging from everyday chores to ruthless lynchings—and went on to paint several powerful works of public art, such as his murals of the Amistad mutiny of 1839 for the Talladega College campus in Alabama. In 1942, Woodruff founded the Atlanta University Art Annual at Clark Atlanta University—a forum for Black artists to exhibit their work—and throughout his life continued to advocate for Black American art.”
(Source: www.artsy.net; image: Marissa in Vogue, 1973)

02/02/2025

February's First Wed. is canceled due to the weather.

01/29/2025

Hooray! FINALLY this show is happening. Get on over to WIU and enjoy some theater, folks!

12/30/2024

Thank you to all of our members for helping us reach this incredible Sweet 16 milestone! 🎂 🎂 🎂

12/16/2024

Many thanks to everyone who came to shop with us at the 2024 Art and Gift Market!

12/12/2024

Art & Gift Market starts Friday at 5pm and runs through Sunday. Become a MAC member during the event and get $5 off your market purchase!

12/04/2024

There are still 4 hours left to give this !

Don't miss your chance to double your donation to the MAC and help support the arts in Macomb!

12/03/2024

Happy !

Thanks to a generous donor, all donations to the MAC today are doubled!

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