For 17 years, Out North’s “Under 30” series has showcased new stage work by Alaskans. The author has been expected to perform in his or her piece, each of which runs less than 30 minutes, hence the title. In different years the formats of the presentations have ranged from dance work to one-act plays with multiple characters — anything that would fall under the umbrella of theatrical self-expression.
Olga Livshin and parents: before they moved to 'Mars.'

A press release from the Anchorage Museum, received on Jan. 12, 2011:

The Anchorage Museum has hired Julie Decker as its chief curator. As head of the Exhibitions Department, she will oversee museum exhibitions and gallery upkeep.

Decker is the former director of the International Gallery of Contemporary Art and the Trailer Arts Center, both in Anchorage. She’s an artist and an instructor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She has written several books about art and architecture in Alaska.

By MIKE DUNHAM
Treasure Hunter: Sven Haakanson, director of the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, shares a hug with the late Helen Simeonoff. Photo: Daily News archive.

Gustavo Dudamel: shown conducting the New York Philharmonic on Nov. 29, 2007.(AP Photo/New York Philharmonic, Chris Lee)Today's inaugural live LA Philharmonic big screen HD telecast at Regal Theatres wasn't quite as live as planned. Regal management explained that due to satellite issues, they couldn't pick it up at 1 p.m. Alaska time, but had to postpone it for an hour. They also said it won't happen again when the LA Phil features all-Tchaikovsky and all-Brahms concerts in coming months.

It will be cold this evening, so put on an extra layer for the First Friday art openings.
Musk Ox, Portage, Alaska: Maggie Skiba's winning photo in "Alaska Positive" at the Anchorage Museum.

A very happy Russian Christmas for opera lovers: Rene Pape in the title role of the Met's "Boris." Photo Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
Anchorage opera fans have been able to enjoy the Wednesday night "encores" of HD broadcasts on the big screen at Century 16 for the past couple of years. But some have chafed at not getting the first same-day "live" screening (actually delayed for the west coast, otherwise we'd be getting Wagner's valkyries at 9 a.m.), if only because it provides an option in viewing times.

You could be here: Photo: AP
VISUAL ARTS

Rod Lamb: Rod Lamb in P. Shane Mitchell's "Naughty Friedrich Goes to Heaven," an Alaska Overnighter from 2006. Photo by Gen Hasagawa / PWSCC.
This weekend on Saturday and Sunday at 8:00, the 23rd installment of the "Alaska Overnighters" is going up at Grant Hall on the APU campus. Each night features five new short plays written, rehearsed and then presented off-book within a span of 24 hours. Admission is usually $10 or so.

Among today's more curious wire stories:

New edition removes Mark Twain's 'offensive' words

By PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Mark Twain wrote that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." A new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" will try to find out if that holds true by replacing the N-word with "slave" in an effort not to offend readers.

Gustavo Dudamel: shown conducting the New York Philharmonic on Nov. 29, 2007.(AP Photo/New York Philharmonic, Chris Lee)

By MIKE DUNHAM
From "Orphan Paintings"
The article regarding these photos, "Will the real Kasimir Malevich please stand up? was published in the Anchorage Daily News on Jan. 2, 2011.

A press release from Perseverance Theatre in Juneau received today announces $600,000 in grants from the Mellon and Rasmuson foundations. Here's the press release in full:

Perseverance Theatre has been awarded two multi-year grants to support existing and new initiatives. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City and the Rasmuson Foundation of Anchorage have awarded $350,000 and $250,000 respectively, which will be allocated over the next few years to support the theatre’s new Fourth-Decade Plan.

KLEF radio announced this morning that it is sponsoring a visit to Alaska by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, now under the direction of Duke's grandson, Paul Mercer Ellington. The performance will take place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19, in Atwood Concert Hall. Tickets, $25-$98.10, are available at centertix.net.

The Dallas-Denali connection: The Denali Arts Council is looking for submissions in tribute to Joseph Cornell, famed for his boxes, like the one in this 1978 photo. The wife of then-Vice President Walter Mondale and the Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts are shown with Cornell's "Grand Hotel de la Boule d'Or." The piece was loaned by the museum for display in the Mondale residence. (AP Photo/Jeff Taylor)
THEATRE

Cirque No. 3: (aka Vol. 2, No. 1); it comes out twice a year on solstices.
Mike Burwell, editor of the local literary journal Cirque, tells us that issue No. 3 can now be read online at http://www.cirquejournal.com/. Contributors to this issue (Vol. 2, No. 1) include Marjorie Cole, Sara Loewen, Peter Porco, Mark Muro, Miriam Beck, Buffy and John McKay and John Morgan.

Pistol packin' model: Bryce O'Tierney knocked 'em dead at the last Operation Runway. Photo: Marc LesterVISUAL ARTS

Call for designers and artists: Object Runway will be held at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub Thursday, Jan. 27, and features hundreds of works by local artists and designers, guest judge Leanne Marshall, winner of Project Runway season five. Register at igcaalaska.org to participate, $10 per design.

'Shock Waves': By Rebecca Lyon. Photo courtesy the artist and Doug Lyon.
In the October 31 issue of Life & Arts, we commented on “Tweet Tweet,” a mixed-media sculpture by Rebecca Lyon at the MTS Gallery in Mountain View and noted that when it was originally displayed, at the Pratt Museum in Homer, there was a companion piece.

Snowboarder
Anchorage othodontist Michael Koropp recently sponsored a contest inviting people to make pieces of art using toothbrushes. We're not sure what the prize was or even whether these gems are available for public viewing, but the pictures of submitted pieces below suggest that it oughta be an annual event. Whip out your dental floss and polish away while you enjoy some amusing constructions; photos courtesy of Michael Koropp, DMD.

Exterior of Arena Stage: Photo: Nic Lehoux, courtesy of Bing Thom Architects
Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage recently completed a major facelift under the eye of its artistic director, Molly Smith, whom Alaskans will remember as the founding director of Perseverance Theatre in Juneau.
Bank of America Totem Lobby at Arena Stage: Photo: Nic Lehoux courtesy of Bing Thom Architects.

The just-completed Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) has been awarded a $6,000 grant from the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That's the Acadmey Awards outfit, the one that hands out Oscars every year. The money will go to help filmmakers travel from other parts of the state, country and world to Anchorage for the 2011 festival.