Jozart announces slate of summer events & programs

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The phrase “lazy days of summer” doesn’t certainly apply at Jozart Center for the Arts, where volunteers are hard at work planning and prepping for a full slate of classes, workshops and events.

Beginning on Saturday, May 19 at 4 p.m., a special grant discovery/application workshop will be held under the direction of board president Carla Anderton. The workshop is free and open to the public. Anderton, along with other board members, will present on how to find and apply for grants and other types of funding for the arts. Anyone with an interest in learning how to secure funding for an individual or group project is welcome to attend. Please RSVP to carla@jozart.com.

Searching for great entertainment close to home at an affordable price? A special concert series featuring both local and well known musical acts will take place over the summer months. For acts, dates and tickets, please check the Jozart site at www.jozart.com for more details as they become available.

Another fine artist has taken up residence in the loft style space atop the Dollar General. Jozart’s newest volunteer, artist Marlana Adele Vassar, joins Teryl Binkney in helping keep the place open during daylight hours. When not at her easel near the windows facing the PNC bank building, Marlana can be found in the Center’s café, preparing and serving coffee, tea and light refreshments during Jozart’s long-running Open Mic Night, held each Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.

Speaking of new additions to the Jozart roster, the board of directors welcomed a new member at their April meeting. Sandy Fordian was unanimously voted in as both a member and as a replacement for founding Secretary Nicole Robison, who will continue to serve on the board of directors but who’s now focusing on her own new addition, Benjamin James Casey, born in late November 2011 to Nicole and Chris Casey of Brownsville. Jozart offers belated congratulations on Ben’s birth and welcomes him to their family!

Love to write? Join host Jonathan Romano on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month for Jozart’s writers group. This event begins at 8 p.m. in the Center’s conference room. Bring your work in progress for critique and discussion or simply enjoy discovering the voice of a new author. Afterward, stick around for an evening of live music and poetry at the weekly Open Mic.

Fitness guru/goddess Lynne Hayes Langley will now offer Zumba at Jozart twice a week beginning in late April. Classes meet on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. These classes are affordably priced at only $5/class so swing in and “woo-hoo” with Lynne. Other classes offered at Jozart: guitar and mandolin instruction with Duane Galensky, drum instruction with Rob Berletich and hip hop dance with Brianna Delmastro. For more information on classes, please email carla@jozart.com.

Summer fine art workshops are in the works. If you’re interested in more information on art workshops for children, please contact Cheryl Lewis at cher@zoominternet.net. Finally, the Center is always available for rental for your special event! Call or email today for details: (724) 938-9730.

Authors Take Stage for Interactive Evening at Jozart CFTA

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By Justin Johnson

Many writers agree that fear is a very difficult emotion to pull off with words. Without shocking sounds or gruesome sights, how can horror truly be horrific? Lawrence Connolly is an author who has no trouble answering that question. Jozart Center for the Arts will be welcoming Lawrence C. Connolly on Saturday, April 7, beginning at 6 p.m. Connolly will be joined by fellow horror writer Sheldon Higdon and dark poetess Stephanie Wytovich.

Bram Stoker Award Nominated Horror Author Lawrence C. Connolly will appear April 7.

Lawrence C. Connolly’s books include the novels Veins (2008) and Vipers (2010), which together form the first two books of the Veins Cycle. Vortex, the third book in the series, is due in 2012. His collections, which include Visions (2009), This Way to Egress (2010), and Voices (2011), collect all of his stories from Amazing Stories, Cemetery Dance, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Twilight Zone, and Year’s Best Horror. His new collection Voices, featuring an all-new novella “Shrines” and artwork by World Fantasy Nominee Jason Zerillo, was released in 2011.

Horror Writer Sheldon Higdon

Sheldon Higdon has had over thirty publications appear in numerous magazines and books ranging from fiction to non-fiction to poetry. He is also an award-winning screenwriter. His work has appeared in Rue Morgue Magazine, Shroud Magazine, The Portland Magazine, Necrotic Tissue Magazine, Horrorwired, Death, Be Not Proud, Northern Haunts, as well as in the upcoming Horror Stories, Vol. One, and Relics & Remains anthologies, to name a few.

Dark Poetess Stephanie Wytovich

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an alumna of Seton Hill University where she was a double major in English Literature and Art History.  In addition to her numerous publication credits, the most recent being her poem “The Craving,” she is also a nominee for the Rhysling Award for her poem “The Cheater.” Stephanie is currently attending graduate school, also at Seton Hill, to pursue her M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction, and is working on her thesis novel, titled Inside of Me. She plans to continue on in academia to pursue her Ph.D. in Gothic Literature and land a teaching job while still scaring people full time on the side.

About the planned event, Jozart board president Carla Anderton said: “This is the first event of its kind we’ve attempted, and I’m really looking forward to it. As a student at Seton Hill, I had the privilege of having Lawrence Connolly as an instructor on several occasions, and it’s no exaggeration to say he’s one of the finest, most dynamic speakers I’ve ever heard. Combined with the talents of Sheldon Higdon and Stephanie Wytovich, this is certain to be a fantastic evening. I urge anyone with an interest in reading, writing or simply in things that go bump in the night to mark your calendars for this unprecedented event.”

After the readings and presentations, a Q & A session will be held with all speakers followed by a closing reception during which guests will be invited to enjoy light fare and refreshments.

There is no charge for this event, although donations to the Center are always welcomed. Jozart Center for the Arts is a 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and all donations are fully tax deductible. The authors presenting will have copies of their books, publications and other merchandise available for purchase and signing. For more information about Lawrence Connolly, Sheldon Higdon, Stephanie Wytovich or Jozart Center for the Arts, please contact Carla Anderton at carla@jozart.com.

Jozart announces busy slate of events for late Winter & early Spring

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Pittsburgh Blues/Soul Legend Billy Price & the Lost Minds will appear March 16.

The bears may have been hibernating, but the volunteers and board members at Jozart Center for the Arts have been busier than bees prepping a full slate of events for late Winter and early Spring of this year.

On Saturday, March 10, area youth and college students are invited to dance the evening away from 6-10 p.m. during “The Bass is Upstairs”, an alcohol free, all ages event sponsored by the Center’s Youth Committee and featuring area DJs. Tickets are $5.

Kick off your St. Patrick’s Day holiday early on Friday, March 16 with Pittsburgh blues/soul legend Billy Price and the Lost Minds.  According to his web site, “Billy Price, east coast blue-eyed soul man, has been entertaining audiences for the past three decades. In his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa., he is an institution. Price’s popularity isn’t hard to explain. As Geoffrey Himes of the Washington Post has written, ‘Unlike so many blues revivalists, Price is not an imitation of older, better singers–he’s the real thing.’” In addition to a fantastic evening of music, the audience will be treated to complimentary green beer and other Irish themed goodies. Tickets goes on sale March 1st at $10 per person. This is a BYOB (or just enjoy ours) event for over 21 only. To reserve your seats, call (724) 938-9730 or email carla@jozart.com. Many more details on the Center’s web site at www.jozart.com.

Bram Stoker Award Nominated Horror Author Lawrence C. Connolly will appear April 7.

On Saturday, April 7, Bram Stoker Award nominated horror novelist/author Lawrence C. Connolly will headline an interactive evening featuring dark prose and poetry readings. He’ll be joined by horror writer Sheldon Higdon and dark poet Stephanie Wytovich. Lawrence C. Connolly’s books include the novels Veins (2008) and Vipers (2010), which together form the first two books of the Veins Cycle. Vortex, the third book in the series, is due in 2012. His collections, which include Visions (2009), This Way to Egress (2010), and Voices (2011), collect all of his stories from Amazing Stories, Cemetery Dance, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Twilight Zone, and Year’s Best Horror. His new collection Voices, featuring an all-new novella “Shrines” and artwork by World Fantasy Nominee Jason Zerillo, was released in 2011. The schedule for the evening is as follows: At 5:30, doors open for audience/guests; at 6 Stephanie Wytovich will read, from 6:30-7, Sheldon Higdon will read, at 7, Lawrence Connolly will take the stage for a dramatic reading/presentation, at 8 there will be a Q & A sessions with all speakers, and finally, at 8:30, a closing reception will be held. This event is FREE to the public.

In mid April, on Saturday, April 14, the second Annual Youth Talent Revue will be held featuring the pre-professional talents of singers Cat Zisk and Sully Dunn as well as dancer Allen Free, not to mention more youth acts to be announced. Slots are still being filled for this evening featuring area youth talent. If you are someone you know is interested in performing music or dance, reading poetry or exhibiting original artwork at this event, please contact Carla at carla@jozart.com or via phone at (724) 330-5141. Doors open at 6:30 with the show starting at 7 pm. This is an all ages event. Coffee, soda, water and light refreshments will be available for purchase. Tickets are $5.

Finally, don’t forget to check out the Center during one of our regularly scheduled events like our weekly Open Mic nights every Wednesday night at 8 pm or our bi-monthly Writers’ Group held at 7 pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. For more information on any of the Center’s events or programs, please visit their web site (www.jozart.com), email them at carla@jozart.com or call (724) 938-9730.