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"Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer told through Movement, Music and Voice." Photo taken prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Free arts events, both in-person and virtual, will be presented by arts organizations at the University of Alabama at Birmingham this fall, with something for everyone.
UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, ArtPlay and the UAB Institute for Arts in Medicine, in collaboration with UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, will present the community events, which are free and open to the public.
Choose from lunch-and-learn activities like bluegrass and street art, Outside the Lines coloring nights with guest artists, and free family events at ArtPlay for Halloween and the holidays, as well as chamber music in the AEIVA galleries, Virtual Mental Health Mondays from AIM and much more.
AIM, community cast members and the critically acclaimed Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater, a Minneapolis-based performing arts company, will present their National Endowment for the Arts project, “Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer told through Movement, Music and Voice.” This original dance work was shaped by stories from Alabamians impacted by cancer. The work was created to honor individuals impacted by cancer and their willingness to share their journeys of healing, hope, longing and loss.
For the most up-to-date information on these events, or to register, visit AlysStephens.org.
Safety is UAB’s priority. The pandemic is a fluid situation that UAB is monitoring, in consultation with infectious disease and public health experts; performances will be subject to change based on the latest COVID-19 safety guidelines. Event staff and attendees are required to wear masks indoors on campus regardless of vaccination status, as well as maintain proper distancing while on UAB’s campus, including at events.
Kevin Spencer, IllusionistThursday, Oct. 7
Outside the Lines: AEIVA coloring night, 7 p.m. Live night of coloring and discussion with nationally renowned artists. AEIVA and Zoom hybrid event. Free.
Sunday, Oct. 10
UAB Arts in Medicine presents Kevin Spencer, Illusionist
Kevin Spencer is a leader in the educational and therapeutic benefits of magic tricks in education and rehabilitation. This educator, teaching artist, researcher, consultant, speaker, curriculum designer and award-winning film producer believes in creating inclusive communities where everyone experiences an authentic sense of belonging and no one is relegated to the margins. This free show is also a sensory-friendly performance. Performance at 2 p.m., UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Call 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org.
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Lunch and Learn: Bluegrass in the South, noon, virtual event via Zoom. Presented by ArtPlay and the Alys Stephens Center. Join ArtPlay on your lunch break to learn more about bluegrass in the South and the fascinating history of this musical genre. Register online.
Chamber Music @ AEIVAMonday, Oct. 18
Virtual Mental Health Monday: Raising Our Voices, noon, virtual event via Zoom. “Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer Told through Movement, Music and Voice” returns. The project with Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater and 25 members of the Birmingham community ended abruptly March 14, 2020, due to the pandemic. Hear from Suzanne Costello, co-artistic director of SPDT, and cast members about the experience, including creating the project, what it is like to reunite after almost two years, the healing power of a creative community and the process of sharing one’s cancer story through performance. Register online.
Thursday, Oct. 21
AEIVA Movie and Tour, 6 p.m. at AEIVA. Join AEIVA staff for a tour of current exhibitions, followed by a film screening and discussion.
Thursday, Oct. 28
Chamber Music @ AEIVA, 5:30 p.m. Free chamber music, performed by some of Alabama’s top musicians, and thoughtfully curated in response to artworks currently on display in AEIVA’s current exhibition, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” Presented by AEIVA and the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music. Register online.
Friday, Oct. 29, and Saturday, Oct. 30
UAB Arts in Medicine presents “Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer Told through Movement, Music and Voices” with Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater and community cast members, 6:30 p.m. each night, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Center, Sirote Theatre. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Women’s Breast Health Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham in partnership with Forge. Register online.
Saturday, Oct. 30
ArtPlay Family Day: Halloween, 1-3 p.m. at the ArtPlay House, 1006 19th St. South. Are you ready for Halloween fun for the whole family? Get spooky at the ArtPlay house for music, story time and visual arts activities. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by The Hugh Kaul Foundation. Register online.
Thursday, Nov. 4
Outside the Lines: AEIVA Coloring Night, with guest artist Natalie Harrison, 7 p.m., virtual event via Zoom. Live night of coloring and discussion with nationally renowned artists. Free. Register online.
Wednesday, Nov. 10
Lunch and Learn: Street Art, noon, virtual event via Zoom. Presented by ArtPlay. Learn about the rise of street art from talented local muralists as we explore the Birmingham mural scene and the difference between graffiti and street art. Register online.
Thursday, Nov. 11
Spoken Word @ AEIVA, 6 p.m., virtual event via Zoom. Readings created and read by students in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English, with select readings from the Jefferson County Memorial Project blog by alumni of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s Youth Legacy program. A Q-and-A will follow. Free. Register online.
Anthony Trionfo, flutist, and Albert Cano Smit, pianistThursday, Nov. 18
Young Concert Artists series: Anthony Trionfo, flutist, and Albert Cano Smit, pianist
Free performance at 7 p.m., in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Limited capacity. Flutist Anthony Trionfo was praised by the New York Times in May 2019 after his New York concerto debut. Spanish/Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit won First Prize at the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Performing together, these talented Young Concert Artists represent the bright future of classical music. Call 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org.
*A free Meet the Artist performance for area schoolchildren will be at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 19.
Monday, Nov 29
“Men’s Training, A Special Reading,” a free virtual and in-person event, at 6:30 p.m. in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, presented in conjunction with the UAB Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts and the exhibition “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” Theatre’s Call to Action, a Birmingham Southern College course, will present a special reading of “Men’s Training” by Daoud Boone, a playwright who is incarcerated at Limestone Correctional Facility. Register online.
Wednesday, Dec. 1
Lunch and Learn, Outside the Lines: AEIVA Coloring Hour, noon, with Alex McClurg. UAB’s Hill Student Center. Presented by ArtPlay, AEIVA and AIM.
Monday, Dec. 6
Virtual Mental Health Monday: Mindful Self-Compassion, noon, virtual event via Zoom. Mindful self-compassion is the act of embracing ourselves with care and concern in the middle of our life challenges. This session will offer mindfulness-based art therapy resources for the cultivation of self-care and self-empowerment with speakers Patricia D. Isis, Ph.D., and Christianne Strang, Ph.D. Register online.
ArtPlay Family Day: HalloweenFriday, Dec. 10
ArtPlay Holiday Open House, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the ArtPlay House, 1006 19th St. South. Enjoy holiday fun for the whole family at the ArtPlay house, with music, story time and visual arts activities. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, Dec. 16
Third annual StoryPower, noon, virtual event via Zoom. Members of the UAB Medicine community share uplifting, humorous and heartbreaking stories from their careers in patient care. Free and open to the public; register online. Sponsored by UAB Medicine.