|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The 23rd ArtWalk Livermore, promoted as the Tri-Valley’s premiere arts festival, and a new “After Dark” element will take over downtown this Saturday.
During the day, visitors will be able to stroll through the heart of Livermore for a free look at handmade art and the chance to purchase their favorite pieces. As the evening progresses, they can also attend a ticketed event to listen to jazzy, roots and blues by Dustbowl Revival to a light show by Mad Alchemy on the Bankhead Plaza.
ArtWalk and ArtWalk After Dark are part of Livermore Valley Arts’ global celebrations throughout the month.
“These free community and cultural events are part of LVA’s core value and belief that everyone in the Tri-Valley should have the opportunity to experience the arts at whatever age and whatever level they are,” according to a statement by LVA.
On Saturday (Oct. 12) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., attendees can view art and buy original works from over 200 artists, all while roaming downtown at the ArtWalk.
The event expands from the Bankhead Plaza, down First Street and through Livermorium Park. Visitors can expect to see the path lined with booths for local businesses, restaurants and (of course) art.
Styles will include contemporary, classical, abstract and realism, and mediums will include pottery, jewelry and mixed media. The subjects will vary just as much.
Along the way, visitors can also chat with artists, catch live music, watch cultural arts demonstrations or stop at locations with crafts for children.
Later in the evening, the Bankhead Plaza will be filled with live music by the genre-blending Dustbowl Revival and visual artistry by Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Projections.
Beginning at 8 p.m., Dustbowl Revival will play their unique combination of roots music, jazz and blues where they combine voice with string and brass instruments.
Their songs, ranging from joyful, dance-along soul to folk-rock ballads, have attracted a fan base from across the country.
Dustbowl Revival features a revolving group of string and brass players and is led by founding members Z. Lupetin, Josh Heffernan and Ulf Bjorlin. And the band has worked with producer Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive and Josh Ritter), engineer Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens) and Grammy-winner Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Dropkick Murphy’s).
Since lead songwriter and singer Lupetin doubles as a playwright, some of the band’s “songs feeling like small theater pieces coming to life verse by verse,” according to a statement by LVA.
“Music elevates us, lifts us up, makes us change our minds, takes us out of our comfort zones,” Lupetin said in a statement. “If just one person can be moved by just one song, that’s Enough.”
To the sound of Dustbowl Revival, attendees can watch Mad Alchemy perform an analog liquid light show in the San Francisco tradition of Bill Ham, Brotherhood of Light and Glen McKay.
Mad Alchemy uses custom video presenters, video cameras and mixers to create its colored light performances.
Lead Lance Gordon, having worked light shows since 1971, has performed Mad Alchemy shows at places like Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado as well as venues and festivals across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Mexico.
Mad Alchemy has also performed alongside musicians and bands like King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard, Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead, Temples, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Roky Erickson, Brian Jonestown Massacre and more.
This Saturday’s artistic showcase follows LVA’s “Weekend of Culture” community celebrations, which included the Taste of Africa Festival and Filipino Barrio Fiesta on the Bankhead Plaza on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6, respectively. Then on Oct. 19., Livermore Pride Fest will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community on the plaza.
Strolling the ArtWalk is free to all. Tickets are required to attend ArtWalk After Dark. For more information, visit LivermoreArts.org.
