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18 jayplay.
thursday, august 28, 2003
PERFORMANCE ART
OUT ON THE
Olive Art
Kelly's bar at the corner of Pennsylvania and Westport streets is deemed by most as the hub as the hub of the bar district. John Nowak/Kansan
John Nowak/Kansan
Instead of the regular weekend routine, why not try something fresh and free? Performance Art Week at Olive Gallery and Art Supply, 15 E. 8th St., is Aug. 29 to Sept.4. It promises four shows that will be sure to entertain.
Tomorrow, "Sacred and Profane," is at 8:30 p.m. It will feature digitally-composed music accompanied by a video.
accompanied by a voice.
"[The performance] is somewhere between listening to a concert and watching a movie," says Haaheim. "The audience is completely immersed."
On Saturday, there will be "Blindmaids," a performance about bridesmaids, eggs and thieves at 9:45 p.m. And at 10 p.m., an installation called "Worm Tunnel."
On Sunday at 9 p.m. brings the presentation of Julee K. Thomsen's her first music, poetry and sound effects CD, "Exposure by JKT, A Spoken Word Compilation."
Admission for all events is free. For more information call 331-4114. Kim Elsham
Thursday, Sept. 4, is a collection of short films by KU students and graduates at 8 p.m. Check out "I Can See Crystal," a six-minute black and white digital video about a blind girl, and "Mirrors," a three-minute color video that experiments with mirror illusion. Admission for all events is free. For more information call 331-4114.
Irish Festivities
Irish Reservoirs Get your green on and head for the river this weekend for the Kansas City Irish Fest.
Two concert stages featuring regional, national and international entertainers means twenty-four bands will be playing Saturday and Sunday. Solas and The Elders, Cherish the Ladies and Gaelic Storm are some of the headliners. But that's not all. Look for heritage displays, a children's area, ethnic food and merchandise in the city's 17-acre Berkley Park, just north of Downtown.
The Fest will run from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday Tickets are $5, free for children under 12.
For more information, go to www.kcirishfest.com.
Ashley Arnold
By Julie Jantzer
jjantzer@kansan.com
Jayplay writer
All it takes is a one-dollar bill to gain freedom from the underage drinking world. Yes, there is somewhere you can go that is exclusively for a 21+ crowd without the experience of a cramped, smoky building and sticky tables, booths and floors.
The new Saturday night Westport is this place. As of July 12, anyone over the age 21 can pass through barricades with a valid ID and $1 to gain access to the streets of Westport on Saturday nights starting at 10 p.m. Once inside, you can buy beer, pizza, soda, water, gyros, hot dogs, polish sausage and chewing tobacco. You can travel to and from the bars in the Westport area while being entertained with tunes from the E105.1 FM radio van.
This change for Westport may be a great new way to spend a Saturday night. James Westphal, president of Promote Westport Inc., says Westport has a variety of options for entertainmentseekers in one location. "You can drive your car to Kansas City, park your car, eat dinner at McCoy's, see a movie at the Tivoli and dance at one of the night clubs," he says. And, if you are looking for a specific venue, you can have coffee or see a variety of live music ranging from country to rock.
For those worried about the drive, make it a weekend group activity.
"Westport is a good weekend getaway," says Westphal. He says you could drive up to Westport on Saturday, do some daytime shopping, check out the evening festivities and then go to a Royals or Chiefs game on Sunday. Three
hotels are within a block of West- port, so you don't even have to worry about driving somewhere to sleep. It's safe and practical.
Westphal says the Saturday night transformation was intended to bring more people to Westport in the later evening within a safer environment. He says so far the goal is being met.
Alyson Curtis, operations manager at the Westport Merchants Association, agrees. "There's a myth that it's a money-making event," she says, "but that couldn't be farther from the truth. It's about promoting safety and creating a safe environment."
Although the crowds have been showing up, the event is
expensive to run. Westphal says the event is actually losing money. This is because all profits are donated to Ozaman and City Lights charities and extra costs are in place because of the set up and take down of the area. He says the next thing that needs to be done is to figure out how the event can pay for itself. It is still up in the air about what will happen when the temperatures drop in the winter seasons. Luckily the warm Kansas temperatures should keep the Saturday night event going well into the fall.
As far as the legality of the whole -- it's just that: perfectly legal. The business owners of Promote Wesport Inc. simply had to go apply for the proper
licensing through the city. This involved applying for licenses, including ones for closing the streets, noise and catering to serve alcohol. The street vendors must apply individually for a health license. With all the licenses in place, the venue is legal.
Along with the licenses needed to take care of the legality, a security company also was hired to cover the doors or barricaded entrances into the Westport Square area. The Central Jackson County Patrol takes care of this task. Manual Rodenburg, security officer through the patrol service, says safety has improved since the switch happened. "Ever since they started