The Long Island Arts Alliance unveiled plans last week for Arts Alive LI, a month-long arts festival of 40 events across Long Island during October.
The events include the Gold Coast International Film Festival, which is being presented by the Great Neck Arts Center, and Broadway stars Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin performing at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 13. Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit will be featured with her band at the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in Dix Hills on Oct. 14.
The Long Island Arts Alliance is sponsoring partner for the events with the Bethpage Credit Union and the Long Island Community Foundation as major sponsors.
Theresa Statz-Smith, executive director of the Long Island Arts Alliance said all of the festival’s exclusive “signature series” events, listed on the ArtsAliveLI.org Web site, are based on collaborations between non-profits and for-profit organizations. Signature events offer post-performance receptions with artists or master classes at local institutions tied to the events, she said.
“We’re trying to encourage collaboration,” Statz-Smith said. “Arts Alive LI has something for everyone.”
Next weekend, the Amateur Observers’ Society will celebrate World Astronomy Day with the official “kids” opening of the Sky Theater Planetarium at The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City on Oct. 6-8. On Oct. 5 and each succeding weekend through Oct. 28, The Rise of the Jack O’Lanterns at Old Westbury Gardens will feature a display of 5,000 individually crafted jack o’lanterns rendered by sculptors and artists from all over Long Island.
The Long Island Opera will perform Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in the Madison Theater at Molloy College in Rockville Centre on Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. Also on Oct. 6, a Gold Coast Latin & Ballroom Dance Party at the Guggenheim Estate on the Sands Point Preserve will feature the music of Michael Arenella & his Dreamland Orchestra from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
At a press conference at The Cradle of Aviation to trumpet the advent of Arts Alive last Thursday, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano hailed the festival as way to spotlight the arts.
“It is important that we promote our arts and this is a great way to highlight the talent we have here,” he said. “ In Nassau County we are trying to build on what we have here in the arts.”
Mangano noted there are now two movie production studios and nine sound stages in Nassau County and said the arts help fuel the local economy.
Kevin Law, chairman of the Long Island Association, echoed that idea, saying, “The arts are a critical part of our economy. It’s an economic engine for our communities.”
Long Island public television station WLIW will be running public service announcements to promote the Arts Alive events.
“We feel we have a lot to so with getting the arts out,” said WLIW general manager John Servidio.
Statz-Smith said Bethpage Credit Union has committed to supporting the Arts Alive festival as an annual event for three years. She said the Arts Alive Web site will be maintained after the October festival ends to continue providing information about arts events throughout the year.
