Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news
Porchfest featuring 50 bands at Sept. 24 music festival releases schedule
ROCHESTER — Rochester Performance & Arts Center (RPAC) just released the schedule for their 6th annual PorchFest music festival on Sept. 24, and the lineup of over 50 solos, duos, and bands promises an afternoon of incredible and varied music.
PorchFest is a free outdoor music festival, placing bands on outdoor stages and in unconventional performance spaces throughout downtown Rochester. Attendees can walk around and hear a little bit of everything — from rock and folk to outlaw country, and from French Jazz to African Marimba. Various food trucks and beer gardens are scattered through at Main Stage Hubs, and a Kid’s Zone offers family friendly music, activities, and a celebrity dunk tank. This year, RPAC is adding a Vendor Marketplace, featuring local artists, vendors, and makers.
PorchFest is a free event, and open to the public. RPAC will be raising scholarship funds through the sale of ’All-Access Bracelets’ during the event. The bracelets are $10, and can be purchased online, at any Main Stage Hub, or from volunteers the day of the concert. All-Access bracelets will allow the wearer to receive discounts from business sponsors throughout the day, as well as access to the after party held at The Garage at the Governor’s Inn.
Following PorchFest, an after party for bands and attendees with an All Access Wristband will take place staying at 5 p.m. at The Garage at the Governor’s Inn. The party will feature entertainment by The World Famous Toes. In case of inclement weather on Sept. 24, a rain date has been scheduled for Oct. 1.
There are still sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Towle at rpac@rochesteroperahouse.org. A schedule of bands and musical acts are available available on RPAC’s website: www.rochesteroperahouse.com/porchfest.
The Art Center welcomes the Women's Caucus for Art exhibition 'Seen and Heard'
DOVER — The Art Center welcomes the Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) Northeast Regional Juried Exhibition: Seen and Heard. Organized by the New Hampshire Chapter of WCA, this exhibition celebrates the creative accomplishments of self-identified women artists in the Northeastern United States.
Participating artists include Lisa Almeida, Cynthia Arieta, Liz Auffant, Sheila Nee Booth, Shari Boraz, Michelle Bowers, Betty Flournoy Brown, Judith Cassell, Donna Catanzaro, Pamela Chiasson, Hannah Jane Cole Dahar, Delaney Conner, Danielle Festa, Nicki French, Rebecca Hastings, Kate Higley, Sue Ann Hum, C.M. Judge, Jane Keddy, Valerie Long, Pep Manalang, Maundy Mitchell, Barbara Morse, Lucy Mueller, Amy Nolan, Ira Panc, Melanie Platt, Marcy Pope, Allyson Poulin, Kay Read, Colleen Rudolf, Maryellen Sakura, Marcia Santore, Ann Saunderson, Patricia Schappler, Sarah Schneiderman, Helen Obermeyer Simmons, Sophia Singer, Jill Snyder Wallace, Diane St. Jean, Jeanette Staley, Erin Starr, Joanne Stowell, Carol Van Loon, Elsa Voelcker, Julie Waltz-Stalker, and Marcia Wood Mertinooke.
Seen and Heard is running now to Oct. 31. The Artists' Reception will be held on Oct. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. This event promises to celebrate creativity, community, and the profound impact of women in the arts. Gallery Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit our online gallery, www.theartcenteronlinegallery.com.
For more information about the Women's Caucus for Art and its initiatives, please visit https://nationalwca.org/. To learn more about the New Hampshire Chapter of WCA and its activities, please explore their website: https://www.wcanh.org/.
September events fill the stage at Rochester Opera House
ROCHESTER — Rochester Opera House is featuring five nights of entertainment on their historic stage, featuring mediums, award winning Skerryvore hailing from Scotland, to tributes of some iconic bands.
WailOn recreates a full 70's era Waylon Jennings and the Waylors stage show and performs the music of Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., and the Outlaws of Country, old and new on Sept. 23. This electrifying stage show features top-notch musicians who have played with members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Government Mule, Levon Helm and The Band, The Spirit of Johnny Cash and Billy Eli; appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion; and shared the stage with Tim O'Brien, voodoo blues king John Mooney, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Vince Gill, Chet Atkins, dobro master Jerry Douglas, the Everly Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Sonny Rollins, and Jerry Jeff Walker.
Stayin’ Alive offers to their Sept. 29 audience the songs and sights of a full Bee Gees play list, singing blockbusters such as Night Fever, Jive Talkin', How Deep Is Your Love, You Should Be Dancing, Nights on Broadway, and Stayin' Alive. In addition, they perform softer poetic ballads such as I Started a Joke, Massachusetts, Fanny Be Tender, Words, and To Love Somebody among other great hits.
Closing out our September stage lineup is Dirty Deeds, The AC/DC Experience out of Boston, Mass. Bringing their high energy and wildly entertaining tribute to one of the world's best rock bands - AC/DC - Dirty Deeds' performance revisits all of the timeless AC/DC hits along with a theatrical ride through rock n' roll history bringing you back to the early music that was at the roots of AC/DC's rise to stardom.
Tickets can be purchased at Stage Door Tickets & More, located at 1 Wakefield St., in Rochester, over the phone at 603-335-1992, or on our website www.rochesteroperahouse.com.
‘Side by Side’ a fall exhibition of Russell & Merrill Aharonian’s Artwork
KITTERY, Maine — The Morgan Gallery, located in Kittery’s Community Center at 120 Rogers Road, announce a joint exhibition of paintings and poetry by Seacoast artists Russell and Merrill Aharonian. The four-month exhibit features Merrill’s collages, paintings and poetry and Russell’s rarely-seen early work, dramatic large canvases as well as paintings, and assemblages spanning his career.
The exhibit runs now through Dec. 31, during the community center’s hours of operation with a reception open to the public Thursday, Sept. 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. All work exhibited is for sale and can be purchased directly from the artists by calling Merrill at 603-205-6167 or emailing Russell at russaha75@comcast.net. You may also learn more about Russell’s artwork from his website https://www.russaha-art.com.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news
