Learn photo skills, listen to jazz at the MAC

Sep 30, 2022

MARION – The Marion Art Center is hosting a full schedule of events this fall. From photography to theater to jazz, there’s something that can be of interest for all art lovers. 

Photographer John Wiliszowski will give an educational lecture, Photography’s Path to Digital Expression, on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10:30 a.m. in the MAC’s Anne Braitmayer Webb Theater. Registration costs $15 for MAC members and $20 for nonmembers. The presentation is an introduction to a series created for artists interested in digital art. Wiliszowski details the creation of digital images as the canvas. He will decode the tools and techniques of digital artistry used to enhance and share the emotion, the spectacle, and the dynamics of the moment, as digital art. Learn how digital images can be rendered as giclées on canvas, watercolor paper, metal, or glass. There will be time for a Q&A during the event. Space is limited, and advance registration is strongly recommended. Purchase tickets at marionartcenter.org/events.

The production Church & State, written by Jason Odell Williams and directed by Donn Tyler, will be performed on stage at the Anne Braitmayer Webb (MAC) Theater. The cast includes Garrett Olson, Jennie Williamson, Susan Sullivan, Oliver Asker and Pippa Asker, with Maura Van Voris as assistant director and Steven McManus as sound and lighting technician.

In the play, three days before his bid for reelection and in the wake of a school shooting in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, a Republican U.S. senator makes an off-the-cuff comment to a blogger that gets leaked on “the Twitter,” calling into question the senator’s stance on guns and God. As his devoutly Christian wife and his liberal campaign manager try to contain the damage, this look at how religion influences politics and how politics has become a religion is simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and uplifting.

Performances are scheduled November 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13. Friday and Saturday shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees will begin at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now to MAC members ($18) and go on sale to nonmembers ($20) on Oct. 7 at marionartcenter.org/events. Contact the MAC with questions at info@marionartcenter.org or 508-748-1266.

The Jim Robitaille Three will perform on the MAC stage on Friday, Nov 18 at 7:30 p.m. The trio includes Jim Robitaille on guitar, Erik van Dam on saxophone and John Dalton on drums. Tickets are $20 for MAC members and $25 for nonmembers, and can be purchased online at marionartcenter.org/events. This event is sponsored by a grant from the Mass Cultural Council.

Guitarist and award winning composer Jim Robitaille has performed and or recorded and shared the bill with Dave Liebman, Karl Berger, Bob Moses, Joe Beck, Gerry Gibbs, Santi Debriano, Julian Lage, Esperanza Spalding, Oscar Stagnaro, Kate McGarry, pop singer Billy Gilman and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars, and many more. John Dalton is a Boston-based musician, composer, and educator. He has performed various venues and performed or shared the bill with artists such as Dino Govoni, Amanda Monaco, John Sullivan, Barry Altschul, Dennis Montgomery, Jerome Harris, Stefano Battaglia, Kaya Meller, Kamil Piotrowicz, Anastassiya Petrova and Royal Hartigan. Erik van Dam plays flute, bari, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones. Having studied with the highly acclaimed Joe Lovano and later Hal Crook, Erik has gone on to draw inspiration from many influences including Lovano, Sam Rivers, and Eric Dolphy, crafting a sound of his own. He has worked and performed with Bob Moses, Bill Lowe, Stan Strickland, and Fred Ho’s Monkey Orchestra, to name a few.

The MAC Dance Academy is a classically taught dance studio that fosters individuality and fun for all dancers. This program provides extraordinary dance instruction in ballet, tap and jazz, and also touches on contemporary, hip-hop, and gymnastics. MAC Dance is for girls and boys ages 3-10, with half hour sessions on Monday afternoons between 4:00 and 5:30 p.m. The cost for 8 classes is $140 for MAC members and $155 for nonmembers. The MAC offers a free trial on the first day of classes. The fall session starting date has been postponed and will now begin on Monday, Oct. 17. See the full schedule and register online at marionartcenter.org/mac-dance-academy.