The San Diego Art Institute is hosting an evening of poetic and artistic expression on Wednesday, June 20 to celebrate and inspire local artists. This performance art and open-mic event, the third of the year for the museum’s Art and Poetry series, will feature musical and visual collaborations by installation artist Zuri Waters, composer Nathan Hubbard and poets J. Godley and Charlene Baldridge.
“We choose our performers based on what they’ve done and how they’ve developed as artists,” said Michael Klam, poets programs coordinator for the museum. Klam referenced Baldridge, an acclaimed San Diego theater critic, as an example of the kind of progressive and multi-disciplinary, but already well established, performer that the museum tries to feature.
“When I discovered her poetry and saw that she is as accomplished and good a poet as she is a theater critic, I thought she would be a good choice,” Klam said. Baldridge will be reading from her book of poems, “Winter Roses,” while composer Nathan Hubbard presents a “futuristic” combination of music and spoken word. In addition, Zuri Waters, a painter and jazz saxophone player for the museum, will collaborate with the poet J. Godley to create a unique gallery installation mixing spoken word and the visual arts.
In the second half of the show, audience members will be invited to approach an open-mic and share their poetry, show and discuss a piece of artwork or present any combination of the artistic disciplines.
In the past, several of the developing artists who present during the open-mic portion of the show have been asked to return as featured performers.
“Someone who is developing and dedicated “¦ who will get a reaction from our audience,” Klam said.
The Poetry and Art show will take place in the main gallery of the San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado in Balboa Park, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Admission is $5 per person. For more information visit www.sandiego-art.org.