Arts & Entertainment
Thomas Bena, founder of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, stood in front of a mostly full house at the Chilmark community center last Wednesday night, and shared an anecdote.
“I can remember one night a few years ago when a man approached me on his way out the door. He told me that he appreciated what we were doing here, but that the film we had just shown was repetitive and just generally not very good. I thanked him for his thoughts and was watching him leave when someone else came up to me and said ‘Do you know who that guy was?’”
Time does not heal all wounds, at least for the Gulf Coast, which is why, three years after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, Finding Our Folk, the New Orleans Hot 8 Brass Band, and the KatrinaRitaVille Express Trailer are coming to the Vineyard this weekend, under the leadership of Derrick Evans.
Alison Shaw Gallery Fine are photography of Alison Shaw. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m., or by appointment at 88 Dukes County avenue, Oak Bluffs, tel. 508-696-7429 or online alisonshaw.com.
Current exhibit: Yellow, continues through July 25.
Abode Gallery and Shop Paintings, photography and sculpture. Open by appointment at 224 Oak Lane, West Tisbury, tel. 914-830-9288 or online at vineyardabode.com.
Girls Guns and Glory
Boston-based band Girls Guns and Glory plays Friday at the Offshore Ale in Oak Bluffs on Friday night from about 10 p.m.
The band won a Boston Music Award last year and in 2008, the WBCN Rumble — the first roots, rock and country act to ever win the Rumble. One of just four unsigned acts in the Top 40, their latest disc, Inverted Valentine, is currently number 16 on the National Americana Music Association Chart.
Paul Taylor’s gravity-defying masterwork Esplanade, danced to Bach by the Taylor 2 company, tops a packed lineup for this year’s Diversity in Dance, the annual showcase of dance sponsored by The Yard.
The performance begins Sunday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, with a dessert and champagne reception with the cast following.
The Powder, the Glory
See it before it comes to PBS in early 2009: The Powder and the Glory, produced and directed by seasonal Menemsha resident Arnie Reisman and Ann Carol Grossman, will screen at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven on Sunday evening, July 20, at 7:30 p.m.

