Special Section/ProgH

2011ALSOINSIDE

Adam WhittingtonMakes inroads in entertainment industry

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Movie-ingalong...“ U.P.” work continuing

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John SmolensLocal fiction writer wins2010 Michigan AuthorAward

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The Garden BouquetEco-friendly shopping

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Artist Co-op Still going strong

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Marquette Symphony OrchestraContinues to evolve

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Vista TheaterClimbing to new heights

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Farmers MarketEvolution of a movement

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ARTS & CULTURE — SECTION HMONDAY, MARCH 28

PROGRESSA SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL

By RENEE PRUSIJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Renowned film criticRoger Ebert named “Catfish” one of the bestart films of 2010.

The documentary film, which createdsomething of a sensation last year, is nowavailable on Blu-Ray and DVD, allowingmore people than ever to check out the storyof three New York filmmakers and how theybecome connected to a family in Ishpemingthrough the social networking site Facebook.

But all was not what it seemed, as thosewho watched the movie discovered. “Catfish”premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festi-val in Park City, Utah.

Artist Angela Pierce, whose family is theone featured in the documentary, has de-signed posters for the film that were sold viaher online website. The online display ofposters ended Feb. 28.

Pierce, who by an agreement with themovie studio cannot speak with the mediaunless specifically authorized, did do an ex-tensive interview with the national ABC newsmagazine show “20/20” and that piece canstill be found on the ABC News website.

“Catfish” features brothers Nev and ArielSchulman and their friend, Henry Joost. Nevstarted a friendship with an 8-year-old girlfrom Ishpeming named Abby, and his brotherand friend decide to film the evolution of that

friendship.The documentary follows the twists and

turns of that friendship as it expands to in-clude Abby’s family.

While the film was released in parts of thecountry in September, it took a number ofweeks before it was shown in theaters in Mar-quette and Ishpeming. Many local residentsdid buy tickets to see how the area was fea-tured in the movie.

To learn more about “Catfish,” visitwww.facebook.com/catfishmovie

Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her e-mail address [email protected].

Critic Ebert cites as one of 2010 best

Top, from left, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joostand Nev Schulman drive through Ishpeming ina scene from film. The three traveled to the Up-per Peninsula from New York City to meetMegan, the woman Nev fell in love with online.Left, Nev Schulman looks out of the car window.(Photos courtesy of Rogue Pictures).


MARQUETTE —Adam Whittington ismaking the most of histime in California.

The Ishpemingsinger-songwriter hasbeen on the WestCoast for most the pastsix months, writing andrecording songs, per-forming and taking act-ing classes.

“I traveled out to Cali-fornia in the beginningof October. I was ableto return home for theholidays in Decemberand flew back out in thebeginning of January,”Whittington said in ane-mail interview. “I wasreally glad I got to comehome and see my fami-ly. I wish I could havestayed longer and puton a performance dur-ing my time there.”

Whittington, 19, trav-eled to California towork on his career.

“I’ve been working onsome new songs withproducers,” he said. “Ihave a new one I amreally excited for every-one to hear. I’ve alsobeen preparing for con-certs. I’ve had a fewphoto shoots and weare also going to beworking on a musicvideo soon for one ofmy newer songs.

“I’ve had a couple ra-dio interviews andthose were fun,” Whit-tington said. “I’m cur-rently on the roster for‘School Zone Tour’ andam excited to start myshows with them.”

Earlier this month,Whittington did a showin Palm Springs, Calif.

“I performed in PalmSprings for the PalmSprings Spring 2011Fair. It was a lot of fun.I sang the National An-them and then per-formed about 45 min-utes of music,” he said.“It was also awesometo be in 78-degreeweather in March. I wasable to include two ofmy newest single re-leases.

“It was also cool tomeet Chan Romeroand ‘Pit Boss’ ShortyRossi from The AnimalPlanet. They were alsopart of the festivities forthe fair.”

Getting in touch withfolks in the entertain-ment field has been a

big part of what Whit-tington has been doingsince he got to Califor-nia.

“I have been meetingdifferent people in theindustry and trying tofind the best directionfor my career,” he said.“I was also invited to(walk) the red carpet bya good friend who wasperforming for the pre-miere of ‘Camp Rock:The Musical.’ It was alot of fun and was coolbeing around Disneystars as well as DisneyRadio.

While he’s had anamazing time, Whitting-ton said two experi-ences stand out... sofar.

“Getting discoveredand signed to the WallisAgency for acting andworking with two top-notch producers, DrewRyan Scott (VarsityFanclub) and SeanAlexander out of L.A.,”Whittington said.

“Drew recently wroteWillow Smith’s newestsingle, ‘21st CenturyGirl’ and has written forMiley Cyrus, JonasBrothers, Iyaz and oth-ers. Sean co-wrote/co-produced ‘Love LikeThis’ which for twoweeks was the No. 1song in Korea and fourweeks in Taiwan andhas written for manyothers.

“To be given the op-

portunity to write musicwith them has been anamazing experience. Ithas helped bring mymusic to a newer level.I’m excited to releasemy next single that weworked on.”

The acting part of hiscareer is moving along.

“I finished up my firstset of acting classes

and will be taking moresoon when my sched-ule settles down. I willtake a variety of differ-ent ones to better myskills and prepare mefor what’s ahead,” hesaid.

And acting works intohis immediate futureplans as well.

“I will continue to workon songs and developmy talent toward my ca-reer as an artist by pro-ducing new music, per-forming at concerts andtouring,” he said. “Myacting agent, BlakeClark, is working on anew seminar which willbegin in the East Coast

area, called ‘So YouWant to be an Actor.’His plan is to have meas the opening and in-termission entertain-ment. More details willbe announced soon,but dates are gettingconfirmed around thenation.

“I was very honoredas he will be including

speakers Caleb Pear-son, Kristine Wallis(owner of the WallisAgency) and specialguest star JackieBriskey.”

Briskey was the cast-ing director for televi-sion shows like “WKRPin Cincinnati,” “GrowingPains” and the soapopera “Passions.”

Local fans can keep intouch with Whittingtonthrough many socialmedia sites andthrough his work.

“My new single re-lease ‘Never KnowWhat to Say’ can beheard on local radiostations and is avail-

able on iTunes and oth-er digital sites,” he said.“Be listening for mynewest song ‘Make theWorld Love Again’which will be releasedin April and a musicvideo will follow shortlyafter.”

Whittington hopes tocome back to Ishpem-ing for a few weeks inJune to spend time withfamily and friends.

No matter where theentertainment fieldtakes him, Whittingtonsaid he won’t forget hisUpper Peninsula roots.

“My Mom, aka ‘mo-mager’, Teresa is stillworking as my managerand my Uncle RyanGleason as my promo-tional manager. I appre-ciate that my momagerand agent work togeth-er to see that my musicand acting career flour-ish in the year 2011,”Whittington said. “I amvery fortunate to havethis team of people.

This is not an easy thingto accomplish and takesa lot of work and sacri-fice by not just me, butby all those who arehelping me.

“So far things arelooking really good andI am very excited to seewhat this year holds. If itwasn’t for my support-ive parents, brother,family and friends;which includes JeffSpencer (my securitywhen available) andStaci Spencer (my mo-mager’s assistant), Idon’t think I would havemade it to the point I’mat.

“Thank you everyonewho has been there forme, I appreciate you allso much and hope I canmake the Upper Penin-sula of Michigan proud.”

Renee Prusi can becontacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her e-mailaddress is [email protected].

2H -— The Mining Journal Monday, March 28 PROGRESS2011

Whittington makes inroads inentertainment industry

Above left, Adam Whittington of Ishpeming poses in front of the famous Hollywood sign. The Ishpeming singer-songwriter has been in California for the past few months,making progress in his career in the entertainment industry. (Whittington family photo) Above right, Whittington is working with music producers and taking acting classesin California. (Photo by Jeff Cote, Santa Monica, CA)

To be given the opportu-nity to write music withthem has been an amaz-ing experience.

“- ADAM WHITTINGTON

Singer-songwriter

”

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 3HPROGRESS2011

Above, the cover of Smolens’ book “The Schoolmaster’s Daughter.” (Photo pro-vided by John Smolens)

By CLAIRE ABENTJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE— A lo-cal fiction writer and pro-fessor of English atNorthern Michigan Uni-versity won the 2010Michigan Author Award.

John Smolens was se-lected for the MichiganCenter for the Book’sannual award, honoringa Michigan writer forcontributions to litera-ture, based on an out-standing body of pub-lished work.

“Its a great honor, be-cause it’s coming fromlibrarians, people whoare so devoted to booksand literature—to re-ceive an award fromthem is quite an honor,”Smolens said.

His new book, ‘‘TheAnarchist,’’ is a histori-cal novel that follows thelife of Leon Czolgosz,the man responsible forthe assassination ofPresident WIlliamMcKinley in 1901.Smolens’ other booksinclude ‘‘Cold,’’ ‘‘The In-visible World,’’ ‘‘FirePoint,’’ ‘‘Angel’s Head’’and ‘‘Winter by De-grees.’’ His upcomingbook, “The Schoolmas-ter’s Daughter,” is an-other piece of historicalfiction and will be pub-

lished in September byPegasus Books.

Originally from theEast Coast, Smolenshas lived in Michigan for25 years, teaching at anumber of universities.He said the environment

in Michigan especially inthe Upper Peninsula—has influenced his work.He ‘moved from lowerMichigan to the U.P. in1996 to teach at NMU.

“I really do think I amgreatly influenced by asense of place,” he said.“When I came to Mar-

quette I was justknocked by Lake Supe-rior. I came from theNew England coast, so Imissed the water des-perately.”

The people of the U.P.have also helped himdevelop characters andstory ideas.

“There is somethingabout the people, partic-ularly here in northernMichigan. There’s asense of perseveranceand endurance that Ifind very admirable,” hesaid. “And my hope isthat some of my charac-ters in my fiction reflectthat.”

Smolens received theaward in November atthe Michigan Library As-sociation’s ‘‘Yes WeCan!’’ conference in Tra-verse City. The award issponsored by the Michi-gan Center for the Book,Sleeping Bear Pressand the Michigan Li-brary Association.

Michigan Center forthe Book:http://www.michigan.gov/mcfb

Michigan Library Asso-ciation: http://www.mla.lib.mi.us

John Smolens:http://www.johnsmolens.com

Movie-ing along...“U.P.” work continuing

John SmolensLocal fiction writer wins 2010Michigan Author Award

Steven Wiig, left, and Ron Riekki autograph copies of the novel “U.P.” during anevent at the Vista Theater in Negaunee. Standing behind them is Jeremy “Syms”Symons, who created T-shirts in support of the book and the planned movie to bebased on the novel. Wiig and Riekki were on a tour in support of the project. (Jour-nal photo by Renee Prusi)

It’s a great hon-or, because it’scoming from li-brarians, peo-ple who are sodevoted tobooks and liter-ature — receivean award fromthem is quite anhonor

“

- JOHN SMOLEN

Local fiction writer

”


MARQUETTE — Workis continuing in the effortto bring Ron Riekki’sbook “U.P.” to the moviescreen.

Negaunee native Riek-ki wrote the book, usingthe Negaunee-Ishpem-ing-Marquette area asthe setting. The story offour teens struggling withtheir futures is set in theearly 1990s.

In 2010, Steven Wiig,another Negaunee na-tive, met with Riekki todiscuss making the bookinto a film. Wiig has act-ed in several films, in-cluding “Into the Wild”and “Milk” in addition toworking in the music in-dustry.

Wiig, who now lives inthe San Francisco area,said progress is beingmade in these efforts.

“Currently a selecthandful of film industryfolks have been given acopy of the screenplaythat Ron and I have beenworking on for the lastyear or so,” Wiig said.“We've done a few read-ings of the script alongthe way with variousgroups of actors in LosAngeles.”

Riekki currently lives inSouthern California.

“Ron and I are planningto get together in thenext month to update thescreenplay,” Wiig said.“Once we've completedand processed the initialrounds of industry feed-back, we're both very ex-cited to get together toincorporate some of theideas that came as a re-sult of our visit.

“When we're happywith the script, we'll con-tinue seeking a comfort-able home in the mostsuitable, enthusiastichands to help get thismovie made.”

Wiig has forged friend-ships with many well-known folks in the enter-tainment industry, but heisn’t name-droppingwhen it comes to thisproject.

“It's too early to saythat anyone is officially

'attached' to the projectbut so far the responsehas been very, very pos-itive,” he said. “Peoplereally seem to relate tothe friendship aspect andfamily dynamic of thestory.”

The book has becomea favorite of many whoalso love music.

“A lot of people love themusic references,” Wiigsaid. “I've shared thebook/story with numer-ous bands referenced inthe book and have seena lot of musicians’ eyeslight up at the thought ofcontributing to not onlythe soundtrack, but the

film score.”When plans for the

movie version of “U.P”were announced in2010, residents of theUpper Peninsula re-sponded well, especiallythrough social network-ing sites.

“The Facebook com-munity has been ex-tremely supportive andhas brought a greatgrassroots group of peo-ple together to helpspread the word online,”Wiig said. “The U.P. THEMOVIE website, T-shirtsand podcasts are alldone by different Mar-quette County residentswho've come togetherthrough the Internet andFacebook as a result ofThe Mining Journal arti-cles.”

The storyline of thebook contains someadult themes and somestrong content.

“We've gotten some

concern from people ofthe U.P., but it's mostlycome from people whohave not read the book,”Wiig said. “It's under-standable because of thesubject matter, but wefeel that this story isabout shining a light onsomething that could beperceived as negativevs. shining a negativelight on the U.P. itself.”

While Wiig had hopedto get the movie rollingASAP, he doesn’t want torush the production.

“It's more importantthat we find the 'right'people for this project vs.the first people who sayyes,” he said. “It's criticalthat we work with peoplewho understand and re-spect the U.P. Movie-making can be a longprocess and it's still ear-ly in that process for us,but we're in it for the longhaul.”

Wiig and Riekki areeach working on their ca-reers along with themovie’s future.

“In the meantime, bothRon and I have beenkeeping ourselves busywith assets to apply tothe project once we'reready to launch. We'veboth signed with agen-cies — Ron with DavidShapira and me with J.E.Talent,” Wiig said.

“I've recently picked updirecting (and producing)the feature-length docu-mentary film ‘Guitar Man’in San Francisco, whichwe're currently editing atThe Plant RecordingStudio in Sausalito,” hesaid. “And Ron has beenbusy writing and gettinghimself set up in Los An-geles.

“We also both havemultiple other ideas forU.P. based projects andanticipate bringing them'home' as well!”

For more information,visit www.u-p-movie.comand www.facebook.com/u.p.movie.

Renee Prusi can becontacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her e-mail address [email protected]

It's critical thatwe work withpeople who un-derstand andrespect the U.P.

“

- STEVEN WIIG

Negaunee native

”

4H — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 PROGRESS2011

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Sinceopening more than a yearago, a small flower shopand boutique has becomean integral part of the Mar-quette community.

Owner Kim Smith de-scribes Garden Bouquetand Design—whichopened in October 2009—as a “plant and flowershop, gift and home decorboutique and gallery offer-ing local, regional, nationaland global art.” She saidcustomer response is verypositive and she is thrilledwith the reviews.

“Once customers find us,they are generally over-whelmingly excited andthey always come back,”she said. “We try to offerexperiences for customersthat go beyond purchasesand we have really beenbuilding our clientele daily.”

The store offers floral de-sign classes and classesabout individual plants, in-cluding orchids and bonsai.

To achieve her goal ofbeing eco-friendly, Smithtries to purchase as manyflowers as possible from lo-cal growers. In the floral in-dustry, Smith said there area handful of green certifica-

tions that growers can at-tach to their products.

“On a global level, wehave been asking for andcreating a demand for flow-ers that have some sort ofcertifications,” she said.

Smith said that althoughGarden Bouquet and De-sign focuses on manythings, they are still mostknown for—and mostproud of—their floral ar-rangements. For the newMarquette Regional Histo-ry Center’s Light the NightGala in February, Smith’sstore supplied the flowerarrangements.

“That was the epitome of

what we do,” she said.“We were able to createlarge pieces and highlightthe floral art and the beau-tiful architecture of thatbuilding.”

Garden Bouquet andDesign is open from 9a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday and from10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Satur-day. The store is closed onSundays. It is located at130 W. Baraga Ave.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 250. His e-mail ad-dress is [email protected].

The Garden Bouquet

Kim Smith-Potts, owner of Garden Bouquet and De-sign, straightens a shelf displaying recycled glass vas-es. (Journal file photo)

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 5HPROGRESS2011

By Journal Staff MARQUETTE — A

short-term art cooperativestarted in Marquette lastfall is still going strong.

Zero Degrees Artist Co-operative, located alongNorth Third Street, ismade up of a rotatingmembership and is con-stantly gaining new mem-bers, according to JustinSavu, the gallery chairand one of the early co-opmembers.

Currently, it has approx-imately 40 artists partici-pating. The gallery itself isnon-profit, which allowsthe artists to charge lowerprices for their work. Andthe artists run the gallerythemselves.

“I can’t say anybody had

an expectation for whatthe response was goingto be,” Savu said. “It was,‘We’re going to open thisup as an art cooperativeand see where it goes.’”

Community interest hassince allowed the galleryto thrive. The gallery hasdoubled in size andquadrupled in member-ship since opening lastfall and Savu said that ifthere was more spaceavailable for display, therewould likely be moreartists participating.

The cooperative has arange of talents andmediums, from wood-work to jewelry, to oilpainting, watercolor andfiberwork.

The group initially

planned for the co-op tobe open only during Julyand August. They laterdecided to keep it openthrough December. Andwith the continuing suc-cesses, Zero Degreesmay be open for sometime.

“We definitely haven’tset a timeline for whenwe are going to be done,”Savu said. “As long asthere’s interest and wehave a place for ourwork, it will continue tofunction as a co-op.”

The Zero DegreesArtist Co-op is open from11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fri-day and from 11 a.m. to 5p.m. every other day ofthe week. The gallery islocated at 525 Third St.


Artist Co-op in Marquette

There are many different types and styles of art available at the Zero Degrees ArtistCo-op, including jewelry, paintings, photography, mixed media and fiber arts. (Pho-to courtesy of Wendy Hill-Manson)


MARQUETTE —Robert Glenn takes greatpride in the MarquetteSymphony.

Glenn, who serves asthe symphony’s secre-tary, said the organiza-tion has contributed agreat deal to the commu-nity and is an evolvingproject.

Take this current sea-son.

“The orchestra present-ed its annual Pops con-cert during the Decemberholiday season insteadof September,” Glennsaid. “(Northern MichiganUniversity) President LesWong was the narratorfor “Twas the Night Be-fore Christmas” and theMarquette Senior HighSchool Chamber singerscontributed a touch ofclass to the singalongs.The concert was literallysold out.”

Also in the last severalyears, the symphony hasdeveloped a specialcompetition.

“We are planning thethird year of our YoungArtist Concerto Competi-tion, which will allow thewinner to display his/hertalent as a soloist withthe orchestra,” Glennsaid. “To date, we havehad Anna Skalova play-ing the Brahms’ ‘ViolinConcerto’ (2010) andHanna Linz playing theTchaikovsky ‘Violin Con-certo’ (2011) and bothhave given us a memo-rable music experience.

“The board is investi-gating the possibility ofadding a children’s con-cert as a fifth concert ofeach season as well.”

Conductor Jacob Chi,who has led the orches-tra for a number of years,brings much to the orga-nization, Glenn said.

“Dr. Chi has a very well-honed aesthetic perspec-tive, which he shareswith both the orchestraand the audience,” Glennsaid. “He has that rarecapacity to taking themusic very seriouslywithout taking himself tooseriously.

“Dr. Chi chooses musicthat the audience appre-ciates and that the musi-cians like to play,” Glennadded. “At the same

time, the music keepspushing the orchestra’syoung musicians to thelimits of their capabili-ties.”

Glenn said: “I think it isessential to recognizethat the Marquette Sym-phony is presently play-ing music that it simplycould not have playedfour or five years ago.This speaks to the or-chestra’s steady im-provement over theyears.”

It was nearly 15 yearsago that the symphonybegan.

“The idea of a regionalsymphony orchestra tookshape in the fall of 1996with a group of musi-cians, music lovers, andinterested citizens,” hesaid via e-mail. “TheMarquette Symphony Or-chestra began playing in1997, and has since per-formed increasingly diffi-cult pieces with undeni-able grace. Musiciansfrom around the regiondedicate their time andtalent to achieving thehighest quality, and asevery musician knows, itall begins with practice.

“While practice is es-sential, the work doesn’tend there. Along with set-ting up the stage andtransporting equipment,each concert requires sixrehearsals, with separatestring rehearsals leadingto Friday and Saturdayfull orchestra gatherings.Of the orchestra’s 72players, about 60 arefrom Marquette County,including some publicschool students. TheMarquette Symphony Or-chestra provides theironly opportunity to playclassical music at thislevel of difficulty. Otherkey players travel fromthe Lower Peninsula andnortheast Wisconsin.”

The symphony pursuesa busy schedule.

“The orchestra playsfour concerts in a season— usually September,November, February,and May,” Glenn said.“The audience can ex-pect bona fide classicalmusic — not watereddown or simplified ar-rangements, but ratherthe same music majorsymphony orchestrasmight play. Over the

years, the music hasproved to be of the high-est caliber and the musi-cians continue to provethey can meet the chal-lenge.”

One very special eventtook place during the2008-09 season and in-volved a Marquette na-tive who was a teachingfellow at Harvard Univer-sity at the time.

“The orchestra com-missioned Ashley Fure towrite a piece for the or-chestra, and the piecewas played on April 4,2009 — this was literallya world premiere of herpiece,” Glenn said. “Thepiece was called ‘Cyan’and Ms. Fure's fee waspaid by Phyllis Reynolds.Ashley Fure was presentfor the world premiere.

“She was also presentfor a concert of herchamber music inReynolds Auditorium (atNMU) the next week, atwhich time she provideda commentary on threeor four of her pieces. Iprobably should point outthat she came to Mar-quette from Paris, whereshe was doing some pro-fessional study and

work.”Some Marquette Sym-

phony alumni have goneon to play in highly re-spected college orches-tras, sometimes return-ing home to play in anMSO concert.

Like any organization,

PROGRESS2011 The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 7H

Carrie Biolo, left, and Jim Strain practice for the percussion concerto they performed for the Marquette Symphony Orchestra at Kaufman Auditorium in Marquette. (Jour-nal photo by Christopher Diem)

Marquette Symphony Orchestra continues to evolve

See SymphonyContinued on 9H



the Marquette SymphonyOrchestra must come upwith funding. It has twoendowments at present— the Marquette Sym-phony Endowment andthe Minde Char Glenn

Browning Symphony En-dowment. It would like toaugment those endow-ments with others, butlooks to the public forcontinued support aswell.

“The Marquette Sym-phony Orchestra is fund-ed through ticket sales,

program advertisingsales, and private dona-tions,” Glenn said. “Audi-ence size ranges from400-500 per concert. Tocover costs such as mu-sician stipends and trav-el expenses, the orches-tra requires at least$6,000 from advertising,

$20,000 from ticketsales, and $30,000 fromprivate donations of mu-sic lovers and public-spirited citizens.”

More support, ofcourse, is always wel-come.

“For more informationon how you can con-

tribute to the MarquetteSymphony Orchestra,please e-mail them [email protected]

Watch for upcomingconcerts and join us for amemorable experience,”Glenn said.

“The Marquette Sym-phony Orchestra has un-

questionably proven to beone of the major culturalassets of MarquetteCounty,” he said.

Renee Prusi can becontacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her e-mailaddress is [email protected].

See SymphonyContinued from 7H

Left, Carrie Biolo dangles chains on a cymbal while practicing Ashley Rose Fure’s “Cyan,” a piece commissioned by the Marquette Symphony Orchestra. Members of thetrumpet section of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra rehearse “Cyan.” (Journal photos by Julia Woehrer)

PROGRESS201110H — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28


By JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Ishpeming Bureau

MARQUETTE — In2001, the Marquette Artsand Culture Center beganallowing area kids andteenagers experience be-ing on stage through itsyouth theater program.But it’s not just about act-ing anymore.

“I think it broadens theexperience for the kids,”said Marquette Arts andCulture Director Nikke Na-son. “The more experi-enced they are, the morethey can find their place inthe future.”

Although acting andsinging remain a big partof the program, for every55-75 kids who participatein a typical production, 20-30 are involved behind thescenes, learning the tech-nical aspects of putting ashow together.

Recently the MACC puton a production of the mu-sical “Alice in Wonder-land,” with two high schoolstudents handling themakeup design and appli-cation for the 70-membercast.

The kids who participatein the program also get achance to try their hand atchoreography, stage man-aging, set building andother aspects that audi-ence members sitting inthe theater might not di-rectly see.

“It shows how the youththeater is progressing intostudent-designed work,”Nason said. “I think thebiggest thing is we haveso many kids involved be-hind the scenes. I think it’sevolved into a full-fledgedprogram.”

“Alice in Wonderland” al-so presented kids with theopportunity to try entirelynew skills, such as climb-ing aerial silks suspendedfrom the ceiling and flyingin harnesses, thanks to anew cooperation with thetheater department atNorthern Michigan Uni-versity.

“’Alice in Wonderland’was a very different showfor us, very experimental,”Nason said. “The flyingwould never have hap-pened without us workingwith Northern.”

Although the MACCrented the equipmentfrom NMU, those involvedin the university depart-ment volunteered to workwith the kids to teachthem skills they mighthave only seen i--n showslike Cirque du Soleil be-fore.

The youth theater pro-gram has also providedexperiences for NMU stu-dents to serve as interns,giving them opportunitiesas well.

Nason said one of thekeys to the success of theprogram was enlisting thehelp of community mem-bers to help the kids learnand develop new skills.

“Every show they getmore out of it on the tech-nical end,” she said.

That experience in all ar-eas of theater helps kidsin the future, even if theydon’t end up continuing inthe arts.

“Kids are doing thingsbefore other kids are ableto,” Nason said, addingthat as the kids move onin their lives to college andcareers, the success ofthe program will be able tobe judged on how well itsalumni do.

This year the programalso began taking advan-tage of social media, likeFacebook, to post videosof the production process,letting community mem-bers get a behind thescenes look at how theparticipants worked tobring a production togeth-er.

In existence for nearly10 years, Nason said shesaw the program continueto grow as more and moreyounger students beganto take part, replacingthose who have graduat-

ed high school.“The program’s here to

stay,” she said. Sometime in the future,

Nason said she hoped tosee the program get itsown space, to be able tohave a scene or costumeshop and rehearsalspace. Currently it oper-ates out of the Arts andCulture Center in the low-er level of the Peter WhitePublic Library.

For now, she’s concen-trating on selecting theshows for the upcomingseason so that the 80-120kids who show up at audi-tions can have their ownshot at being part of thefun.

Johanna Boyle can bereached at 906-486-4401.Her e-mail address [email protected].

Climbing to new heights

Farmers MarketEvolution of a movement

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Overthe last few years, thoseinvolved with the Down-town Marquette Farmersand Artists Market haveseen the evolution of amovement.

Mona Lang is the exec-utive director of the Mar-quette Downtown Devel-opment Authority, whichsponsors the market. Shesaid she has seen an ob-vious increase, in bothcustomers and vendors,in the last few years. Shethinks there are numerousreasons for this.

“One is that people arereally interested in buyinglocal and knowing wheretheir food is coming from,”she said. “We also have agreat facility and peoplelike the sense of commu-nity the market provides.”

Market master SarahMonte is entering her thirdyear overseeing the mar-ket and said there was anobvious difference in justthe last two years. In herfirst year, she said, the be-ginning and end of theseason were slow.

“Last year, it was insanefrom the very first day.From the day we openedto the day we closed, wewere busy,” she said.

Monte tries to do headcounts while the market isgoing. She said that onsome days last year, shegot to 500, but knew thattotal was too low.

On average, Monte saidthere are about 45 ven-dors at the market, whichtakes place at the Mar-quette Commons on ThirdStreet every Saturdayfrom May to October. Lastyear marked the first sea-

son Monte had to turnprospective vendorsaway.

She expects the samesuccess in the upcomingseason, which opens onMay 21.

“There is a nationalmovement helping us, butit’s also a fun place to go.It feels festive,” Montesaid. “It feels like a littlecelebration of food everysingle week.”

If you are interested inbeing a vendor at theDowntown MarquetteFarmers and Artists Mar-ket, you can e-mail [email protected] or call theDDA at 906-228-9475.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 250. His e-mail ad-dress is [email protected].

Cast members in the Peninsula Arts Appreciation production of “The Rocky Hor-ror Show” at the Vista Theater do The Time Warp.” (Journal photo by JohannaBoyle)

Lois Brazier shops at the Green Goods booth run by Dan and Sherry Goodreauduring the Jackson Mine Farmers Market in downtown Negaunee last fall. (Journalphoto by Renee Prusi)

PROGRESS201112H — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28

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