Art Camp for Grownups
While the Museum School at CAM can’t offer you the PB & J lunches, canoe races, or romance at a summer mixer with the neighboring camp, it can offer you a grown-up version of art camp that pairs as perfectly with summer as any of those. Beginners are encouraged to take “Painting 101: Creative Camp for Adults” with Kirah Van Sickle (June 12 – 16, 2 – 5 p.m.), but more experienced painting students should try “Coffee, Tea or Turp: Exploring the Still life in Oil” with Sharon Wozniak-Spencer (June 26 – 30, 2 – 5 p.m.). Cost: $160 (members), $195 (non-members).
Still, doodlers, dabblers and but-I-can’t-draw-ers should check out “Super Beginners Drawing” with Kevin Dunn for a monthlong, weekly class for newbies (June 8–29, Thursdays, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.). Let this summer make you fearless! If you’ve ever had an inkling of doing something artistic, but don’t know where to start, sign up for one of these crash courses with local artists. Cost: $90 (members), $120 (non-members). To register, call (910) 395-5999 or visit www.cameronartmuseum.com/museumschool.
Funny Girl
Wilmington’s own laugh-riot Celia Rivenbark is not new to stage adaptation. TheaterNOW has produced plays from her New York Times best-selling works (Rude Bitches Make Me Tired, You Don’t Sweat Much For a Fat Girl, etc.) before and they are back again with “The Best of Celia.” She can do no wrong in our eyes, it’s all funny. And finally, after bouncing from the typecast ingenue to various vapid “mother” roles, our local actresses can get into something with some teeth. Celia’s biting humor and raucous social commentary on everything from air travel (read her latest on page 56) to fashion (Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old like a Skank). Starting June 2, the show runs through July 22, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets: $40 (including three-course dinner, you’ll have to sip between jokes!) or $18-22 (show only). TheatreNOW, 19 South Tenth St., Wilmington. Info: (910) 399-3now or www.theatrewilmington.com.
Blues Note
Count Basie once said, “There are a lot of ways you can treat the blues, but it will still be the blues.” We prefer to treat the blues with the blues. There just ain’t nothing like the blues to make you feel some kind of way or articulate that particular ache. We all get it, and we can’t all make magic with it, but this summer we can hear some of the greats translate that most human of ailments to sounds for the soul at the annual Cape Fear Blues Festival. A weekend of shows features James Armstrong on Saturday night (June 24) at the Rusty Nail and a Friday night sunset blues cruise on the river with Randy McQuay (June 23). Join in during a blues workshop or an all-day jam. Tickets and info: (910) 350-8822 or www.capefearblues.org/festival.
Ultimate Book Launch
No stranger to odd sports, local New York Times best-selling author David Gessner, a New Englander sometimes seen skiing the beach, has a new book out, Ultimate Glory. What sport could hold such promise, such acclaim, so much tie-dye? Ultimate frisbee. Hold your laughter, Ultimate has become a real sport since Gessner’s early days on the field as a sweatband-clad youth amid equally devoted friends and rivals. His only goal: “to win Nationals and go down in Ultimate history as one of the greatest athletes no one has ever heard of.” Whether you are part of Wilmington’s fervent Ultimate scene (or want to be), or simply enjoy the thrilling ride of good sports writing or want to know the true identity of that man who skis the beach, you can. Meet the author and hear him spin a tale or two at the Ultimate Glory launch party on June 6 at 7 p.m., Wrightsville Beach Brewery, 6201 Oleander Drive. Feeling inspired? There’s a pickup game of Ultimate frisbee on Mondays at 6 p.m. at Wrightsville Beach Access 36 near the water tower.
Cookout for a Crisis
This community cares. A group of locals joined together to form a nonprofit “Humanity Now” to aid the refugee crisis in Greece. Salt columnist Dana Sachs has written about the volunteers aiding the crisis and how we can provide essentials for the thousands of people left stranded. The group travels to Greece every few months and spends all funds raised on relief aid. Pop by their inaugural event, “Boats, Tents, Nowhere to go: A Benefit for Refugees in Greece” on Sunday, June 4, between 4 – 6 p.m. at Queensboro Shirt Factory, 1207 South 13th St. Info: Visit www.humanity-now.org or contact their organizers directly at info@humanity-now.org.
We’re So Excited
And we just can’t hide it. The Pointer Sisters, hitmakers of early 1980s songs “Fire,” “He’s So Shy,” “Automatic” and, of course, “So Excited” are coming to town. While the original trio of sisters is not intact, daughters and granddaughters Issa and Sadako have stepped into the spotlight to join Ruth and Anita in recent years, maintaining the Pointer family legacy of song and dance stardom. Don’t miss this lively show with those unmistakable vocals. This group has earned their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and now they take a walk on the Wilson Center stage on June 25. Tickets: $36–105. 703 North Third St., Wilmington. Info: (910) 362-7999 or www.capefearstage.com.
Birds & Bees
And butterflies and snakes and turtles, Oh my! What do all these creatures have in common? Native to North Carolina, one may see all of these on a casual walk in the woods, but how much do we really know about them? Staff at Halyburton Park features a series of programs on each of these creatures to engage more fully with our natural world. Take an early bird hike June 6 at 9 a.m. or watch a snake and turtle feeding June 7 at 4 p.m. Parents, take your babies (ages 2–5) to a “little explorers” program about butterflies June 15 or 16 at 10 a.m. Kick back with an evening program all about bees on June 21 at 6:30 p.m. Admission ranges from free to $5. Call (910) 341-0075 or visit www.halyburtonpark.com to pre-register. Halyburton Park, 4099 South 17th St., Wilmington.
In the Key of Yippee
We maintain our strong position that barbershop harmony is impossible not to enjoy. There’s probably some science, some musical theory, to explain the pleasure of voices in thirds and fifths undulating up and down the scales, but we prefer just to sit back and enjoy it. Plus, those porkpie hats are too cute. Have you seen a large group of men around here all dressed alike and singing good ole tunes? No? Well, then buy yourself a ticket for “Silhouettes,” the 29th annual show of the Cape Fear Chordsmen. UNCW Kenyan Auditorium, 601 South College Road. Tickets: $15 (Adults), $10 (K–12). Call (910) 541-1256 or visit CapeFearChordsmen.com.
Cook Your (Pork) Butt Off
You’ve seen Top Chef, you’ve seen Iron Chef, but have you seen a local BBQ pork butt competition? We think the competition will be fierce and the results delicious. Seeing as North Carolina has more pigs than people, pork butt is something Carolinians know a thing or two about. Held in the backyard of antebellum house museum Poplar Grove, the cook-off will feature more than just B, B, and Q; arts and crafts vendors, live music, and truck and tractors will raise ’em up at this hoedown. No coolers or pets, please! Cape Fear BBQ Festival hosted by the Cape Fear Wildlife Foundation. Admission: $5. Poplar Grove Plantation, 10200 U.S. Highway 17 N, Saturday, June 3, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Info: capefearbbqfestival.com.
