The Black Box of Asbury Park will present its second annual Women’s Arts Festival Sept. 9-19.
"Outside the Box — Woman’s Arts Festival" will build on the success of the 2003 festival to present new and established women artists of diverse backgrounds working in all artistic genres.
Free and ticketed events include visual arts, music, stage productions, film, poetry and workshops held throughout downtown Asbury Park.
Central to the festival activity is a lineup of four "One-Woman Shows" on the main stage at the Black Box, 605 Mattison Ave., Asbury Park.
Fear Junkie, written and performed by Pandora Scooter, and Great White American Teeth, written and performed by Fiona Walsh, have both recently received high praise at the Midtown International Festival in New York. Fear & Love, written and performed by Maureen Langan, and Email: 9/12, by Midge Guerrera, complete the festival’s theater offerings.
Music — classical to rock — is also a vibrant element of the festival. Asbury’s historic Wonder Bar hosts "Eve II — Original Women in Rock" as a benefit event for 180 Turning Lives Around Rape Crisis Center and the Core Of Hope Trinity Church, with its beautiful stained glass windows, becomes the sublime setting for the voices of "Classical Women," recently performed to critical acclaim at Westminster Conservatory in Princeton.
The concert highlights the music of classical women composers Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann and Pauline Viardot with pieces for organ, piano, voice and flute. El Lobo Negro hosts the ever popular "Diva’s of Jazz."
The Black Box stage hails Sarah Bernhardt, one of the world’s most famous actresses, with a reading of a new Broadway musical, "Divine Recollections of Sarah Bernhardt." with soprano Linda Heimall in the lead role.
Two visual arts exhibitions are featured in this years festival. Apart Contemporary fine art and framing gallery will host a "Two-Woman Show" with works by local artist Claire Boren and Santa Fe photographer Judith Vejvoda, Sept. 5 through Oct. 15.
The Black Box will present "A Woman’s View — A View of Women" a multimedia exhibition by male and female artists in collaboration with Sulli Studios. The exhibit will open with a gala reception Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Black Box.
The festival will present "Visionary Woman Award 2003," a documentary written, produced and directed by Lisa Moss of Euro-Pacific Film & Video Productions. Moss won the 2004 Videographer Award of Distinction for the film about the award, which honors women whose work and leadership have had a powerful impact and influence on the visual arts. The film features profiles of the first three awardees: fashion designer Adrienne Vittadini; Denise Scott Brown, internationally acclaimed architect and urban planner; and Jane Golden, director of the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia and a muralist.
Rounding out the performance aspect of the festival are a plethora of smaller poetry and workshop events.
Take part in "The Art of Written Storytelling," a workshop that demystifies the writing process by offering simple tips focusing on the basics of fiction writing. Facilitated by Ike Evans, author of several original screenplays and a writing instructor at Brookdale Community College, the workshop explores plot structure, genre and point of view to help you begin your masterpiece.
"Printmaking and Monotyping," will be presented by Asbury Park artist and gallery owner Joyce Stolaroff who will discuss and demonstrate a brief history of printmaking and the process of monotyping .
"Let Your Bowl Feed The Hungry," 1-4 p.m., Sept. 12, at Just Kil’n Time, 623 Cookman Ave. Owner Kimberly Moore invites you to create your own art and feed the hungry by painting or purchasing a bowl. Proceeds benefit The Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties Food banks.
"The Enchanted Self" author, psychologist and happiness coach Dr Barbara Becker-Holstein will lead inspirational workshops in using techniques that helps each of us celebrate life to the fullest.
At Antic Hay Books, Don Stine will exhibit a collection of rare books by prominent women authors from the 19th century to present day. Browse through this wonderful bookstore of rare, collectable and secondhand books at 721 Cookman Ave.
When Pigs Fly Gallery, 530 Cookman Ave., owned by Marge Burney, takes part in the women’s arts festival with an eclectic collection of visual arts by local women artists, including works by Kelly Sullivan.
At Maxine’s on Mattison, 620 Mattison Ave., watch an art film as you sip your espresso.
Festival guides and information are available at libraries and stores and at (732) 897-1472 or www.asburyparkblackbox.org.