MAVUNO Festival

Sweetwater is proud to present its 16th Annual MAVUNO Festival of African American Art & Culture.
MAVUNO, translated as "first fruit" in Swahili, will begin at the start of the Fall/Harvest season. From mid-September through early-November, the MAVUNO Festival features a wide range of performances, workshops, a visual art exhibition, and much more in celebration of the African American voice and vision of the region.

Life's Bounty by Leslie Ansley

First Fruit XVI: Tending Our Mothers' Gardens
September 21 - November 2, 2012
Reception: Friday, September 28, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
*Featuring live music by Joy Ike from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
*The reception coincides with the Sewickley Fall Gallery Walk and includes complimentary wine, refreshments and light hors d'oeuvres.
*Village Garden Club will have interpretive arrangements on display in conjunction with the reception.

"Our Mothers' Gardens" is the title essay of a 1983 book by Alice Walker that also contains 35 other pieces that introduce her "Womanist" aesthetic. Now, nearly 30 years later, black women in the arts continue in that vein. "Our Mothers' Gardens" may be understood as a metaphor for the community of creativity that nourishes African American culture. In the longstanding African tradition of "taking a village to raise a child," generations of African American women artists have remained sensitive to their responsibility to tend the garden that will ensure their cultural survival.

This exhibition will present works by several African American women artists that demonstrate their awareness that they are the inheritors of a distinctive heritage and who are motivated to "pay it forward" in their artistic handiwork and ongoing engagement with their constituent communities. Much of the work will be of the installation genre, intended to make Sweetwater's Balcony Gallery a transformational experience for visitors. Featured artists include: Ann Tanksley, LaVerne Kemp, Charlotte Ka, Christine Bethea, Tina Brewer and Leslie Ansley.

The exhibition is curated by Elizabeth Asche Douglas, B.F.A., Painting & Design, Carnegie Mellon University; M.A., Art History & Criticism, University of Pittsburgh; additional study, University of Pennsylvania.

Sweetwater Center for the Arts
Free!

FREE MAVUNO Children's Two-Day Workshop
Monday, October 1 & Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Sweetwater will host a free two-day art workshop for kids during MAVUNO. The children, under LaVerne Kemp, will be instructed to select work from the current exhibition, First Fruit XVI: Tending Our Mothers' Gardens, as a source of inspiration for their own artistic exploration. Learn to make your own felted flowers and vines from wool and decorate them with brightly colored beads. First Fruit XVI: Tending Our Mothers' Gardens is available for viewing from September 21 - November 2, 2012. Pre-registration Required.

Instructor: LaVerne Kemp
Time: 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Date: Monday, October 1 & Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Free!

Lecture: Tending Our Mothers' Gardens
Friday, October 5, 2012, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Exhibition Curator Elizabeth Asche Douglas, retired Professor of Fine Arts & Humanities, will give a lecture surveying work of the pioneering African American women who inspired the work of the exhibiting artists. The lecture will focus on shared and universal cultural and humanitarian interests and issues. Refreshments, wine and light hors d'oeuvres will be served.

Sweetwater Center for the Arts
Free!

One World Tribe Performance

One World Tribe

One World Tribe Family Workshop
Thursday, October 4, 2012, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Join us for One World Tribe's Family Workshop at Sweetwater Center for the Arts. These talented regional performers will showcase an "Edutainment" performance that will combine music and lecture-fun for all ages! Participants are encouraged to bring their own hand drums, if they have them.

At Sweetwater Center for the Arts- Community Room
Free!

One World Tribe Performance
Saturday, October 6, 2012, 3:30 p.m. (following the African American Heritage Day Parade in Downtown Pittsburgh)
Considered by many critics to be North Americas' premier world music group, Little Fish recording artist One World Tribe is a musical feast whose flavors delight even the most exotic tastes. The band's musicianship often draws comparisons to such artists as Santana and Soullive. This Afro-pop, Funk, Latin, Reggae, and Hip-Hop extravaganza is a true multicultural ensemble, but not just in the music. The group's conscious lyrics and messages are backed by the racial and cultural diversity of the individual members, as well. There's no division in their camp; they embrace both what makes them different as well as what makes them alike. Then there's the icing on the cake- these guys can flat out play. Known in pockets of the U.S. as the hippest band in the land, One World Tribe is a solid bet to bring down the house.
More information about the August Wilson Center is available at AugustWilsonCenter.org or by calling 412.258.2700.

August Wilson Center for African American Culture, 980 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh
Free!

*In addition to One World Tribe's public performance, they will also perform for children and youth attending Ambridge Area High School, Cornell School District and Sto-Rox Elementary School as part of MAVUNO's outreach goals.

Sewickley Sings
Friday, October 12, 2012, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Sweetwater is honored to host this event where choir members from regional churches come together to perform their favorite songs in this joyous performance. Sewickley Sings is an event to gather Christian singers regardless of race, age, gender, or denomination to express love for contemporary gospel and Christian music in a public concert setting. Through music, we will walk through the history of spirituals, gospel and contemporary Christian works. Participating churches will host a reception following the performance.

Sweetwater Center for the Arts
$3 Suggested Donation

The MAVUNO Festival is supported by Eden Hall Foundation, and a grant from Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, a program developed and funded by The Heinz Endowments; the William Penn Foundation; the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; The Pew Charitable Trusts; and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

Sweetwater would like to thank the Official MAVUNO Sponsors: Heritage Valley Health System, The Sewickley Eye Group, Littell Steel Company/ Thaw Family, and Esmark Inc.; MAVUNO Supporters: Ambridge and Quaker Valley Rotary Clubs, Anonymous, Dr. Edward and Mrs. Joan B. James, Mr. Otis E. McAliley and Family; and MAVUNO Community Partners: the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Ambridge Area High School, Cornell School District and Sto-Rox Elementary School.

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MAVUNO Festival