Series 6 / September 28 – November 10

Williams – Eli Zielke Collaborative (Collaborative Art of Glass)

Whitlow – Box Palette Group – Joan Judd, Barbara Pries, Jean Postelli & Diana Seely (Bloomin’ at the Box)

Riverwalk – Jennifer Tomshack (Spirit of Place)

Opening / September 28

Stay Tuned for more information!

We are welcoming you to tour our current exhibitions after hours! Please mark your calendar for Tuesday, October 23 to come in to the Box Factory for a Gallery Tour of our Series 6 Art Exhibition. Your hosts for the evening will include Eli Zilke of Water Street Glassworks and the Eli Zilke Collaborative, photographer Jennifer Tomshack, and the ladies of the Box Palette Group (“Friends with Artitude”) – Barbara Pries, Joan Judd, Diana Seely, Jean Postelli and Ann Brainard. The artists will be on hand to talk about their work and to answer your questions. There will be time to explore on your own as well. A number of Box Factory Artists will hold open studio hours during the evening as well.

This event is FREE and open to the public (donations gratefully accepted).

The Box Factory welcomes The Blue Water Ramblers to our Unwrapped Concert series on Saturday, October 27th. The Blue Water Ramblers write and sing traditional music with modern themes – the songs of Michigan, America and YOUR life. They perform wherever people want to celebrate: festivals and concerts, paddle wheelers and lake ships, in cities and out in the woods, on stages and around campfires, at church gatherings and traditional dances.

The Blue Water Ramblers’ repertoire comes right out of our Michigan life experiences and the history of the Great Lakes region. It includes lake shanties, lumberman ballads, union rallying cries, farmers’ paeans, Michigan humor, love songs, gospel music and children’s ditties. Everyone agrees that these combine into a versatile repertoire to the delight and entertainment of their audiences. “I think my hero, Woody Guthrie, would approve,” opined Banjo-Jim. “We’re singing the people’s songs about the people’s lives and they can join right in and sing along.”

Admission: $10
Visit our Facebook Event page for all the details!

Join us on Sunday, October 28th at 4:00 when The Box Factory for the Arts partners with Coastline Children’s Film Festival to present “FLICK OR TREAT,” a Halloween-themed film screening with live music by Dr. Larry Schanker. These films are presented free, with your donations gratefully accepted.

Silent Film Shorts with live piano music by Dr. Larry Schanker:

The Haunted House with Buster Keaton, 1921 (24 min)

Buster is a bank clerk. Overturned glue gets everything, mostly the money, stuck to everything else. When robbers show up he can’t “stick em up” because his hands are stuck in his pockets. The robbers hide out is a haunted house designed to scare off police.

Habeas Corpus with Laurel and Hardy, 1928 (20 min)

Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as a couple of drifters short of cash who agree to do a bit of grave robbing to earn themselves $500, courtesy of the mad professor Padilla. Grim and ghostly mayhem ensues when the pair try to snatch the occupant of a new grave.

Mercy, The Mummy Mumbled, 1918 (11 min)

A young man wooing the daughter of a scientist hatches a scheme when he spots a classified ad searching for “a mummy for experimental purposes.” While he wraps up a phony for the scientist, two Egyptian agents tracking stolen relics get tangles in the confusion.

These films will be followed by a screening of the feature film classic

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (75 min)

Bride of Frankenstein manages to do almost everything right, mixing classic horror elements like murder, mayhem, mad scientists, love, storms, and grave robbing. Karloff is even better in this sequel, portraying the natural progression of his monster character through speaking simple phrases. Unlike in the first film, the monster is sympathetic as he searches for friendship through the unknown mountainside, and the audience wants him to come out on top. This is a 180 from the original, and really helps push this film to the classic status it has rightfully earned. The impressive musical score was composed by Franz Waxman.

The macabre, satirical film is generally considered one of the greatest horror films of all time – a spectacular, bizarre, high-camp, humorous, farcical and surrealistic film. Both Frankenstein films were produced by Carl Laemmle, Jr. (the head of Universal) and directed by horror master James Whale, at a time when monster films were diminishing. The film reunited Colin Clive (as Dr. Frankenstein) with Boris Karloff as the Monster, but brought two new characters to the forefront: Ernest Thesiger as a necromancer who has miniaturized and imprisoned various human beings in glass jars, and Elsa Lanchester as the Monster’s Bride. Since its release in 1935 the film’s reputation has grown, and it has been hailed as Whale’s masterpiece. In 1998, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

All silent films recommended for ages 6 and up and Bride of Frankenstein is recommended for ages 9 and up.

Series 6 / September 28 – November 10

Williams – Eli Zielke Collaborative (Collaborative Art of Glass)

Whitlow – Box Palette Group – Joan Judd, Barbara Pries, Jean Postelli & Diana Seely (Bloomin’ at the Box)

Riverwalk – Jennifer Tomshack (Spirit of Place)

Opening / September 28

Stay Tuned for more information!

The Box Factory for the Arts has partnered with Water Street Glassworks for the current exhibition, “Collaborative Nature,” featuring the works of thirteen different glass artists. Over fifty works are included in this exhibit, which was curated by Eli Zilke. The exhibit is currently on display through November 10th at the Box Factory in the Robert Williams Gallery. Mark your calendar for Friday, November 2nd, 5:30 – 7:00 for a special joint event at Water Street Glassworks that you will not want to miss!

In describing the inspiration behind the exhibit, Eli says, “A painter may spend months or even years on a single painting in solitude. Glassblowing on the other hand is an immediate process, pieces rarely take more than an hour in the studio and are seldom created alone. You will sometimes hear glassblowers compare the art form to dance or even a team sport, this doesn’t mean that all the work created is team designed but rather a team was necessary to achieve the finished piece. This exhibition focuses on several artists at different points in their glass-working journey, some hobbyists and some professional glass artists. All of the artists have one thing in common and that is their love for the medium and the relationships built in the process.”

While “Collaborative Nature” in on exhibit at the Box Factory, visitors may get involved in the collaboration by experimenting with placing glass murrini which will be blown into a one-of-a-kind piece. Building upon the collaborative nature of glassblowing, Water Street Glassworks and the Box Factory for the Arts invite all to witness a demonstration where Eli and a team of artists will take the design created by patrons and blow it into a fabulous piece. If you attend the exhibit by November 1st, you can contribute to the design that will be used during the special demo at Water Street Glassworks on November 2nd.

After the demo, all are invited to join us at the Box Factory for a special Unwrapped at the Box concert featuring the trio The Backups. The Backups is made up of Morgan Ingle of Slim Gypsy Baggage, Leslie Sypian of The Sypian Family Band and Meredith George.

The Backups have performed at The Livery in Benton Harbor and were featured at Krasl Art Center’s Art Fair Block Party. Their performances feature skilled work on guitar and lovely three part harmonies. The concert on November 2nd marks the first appearance of The Backups on the Box Factory stage.

General admission $10, children 12 and under $5.

The Box Factory for the Arts is pleased to welcome Peter Bergin to our stage on Friday, November 9th! Tell us you’re “Going” at the Facebook Event page!

Michigan-based ragtime artist Peter Bergin has entertained audiences for over two decades. Peter’s mission is to celebrate life through music and stories, and he especially loves sharing the rhythms of ragtime piano. Classically trained, Peter ventured forth in 2014 as a full-time, independent musician after a 24 year career in software engineering, and hasn’t looked back since! In 2017, Peter debuted his first solo CD, Ragtime Live!, a collection of live concert recordings. Peter is also thrilled about his new crossover project, Gottschalk to Gershwin, which explores the intersection of ragtime and American classical, featuring the music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, and Eubie Blake, among others.

General admission is $10. Tickets available in advance and at the door.

For more information about Peter, visit Peter Bergin Music or berginmusic.com.

Series 7 / November 16 – January 5

Williams – Box Artists

Whitlow – Box Artists

Riverwalk – Members

Opening / November 16

Stay Tuned for more information!

Reception

~Artist Talk begins at 6:30pm~

Exhibits open daily Mon-Sat 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Exhibition runs November 16 – January 5

Series 7 / November 16 – January 5

Williams – Box Artists

Whitlow – Box Artists

Riverwalk – Members

Opening / November 16

Stay Tuned for more information!

Series 7 / November 16 – January 5

Williams – Box Artists

Whitlow – Box Artists

Riverwalk – Members

Opening / November 16

Stay Tuned for more information!