By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
It will be Michaels next May for the 2006 Dogwood Fine Arts Festival.
Michael Cunningham, who leads off Friday, May 12, at the new Dowagiac Middle School, won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel "The Hours," which became an Academy Award-nominated movie starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep.
His critically-acclaimed "A Home at the End of the World" became a film featuring Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn and Sissy Spacek.
Cunningham is also the author of the 2005 bestseller "Specimen Days" and of "Flesh and Blood."
Cunningham's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review and The Atlantic Monthly. He received the PEN/Faulkner Award, also for "The Hours," a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Michener Fellowship from the University of Iowa.
Tickets cost $60 for the private reception, $25 for the main floor for his lecture and $20 for the balcony.
Tuesday, May 16, at Southwestern Michigan College Irish-American author Michael Collins makes his fifth appearance in Dowagiac, his adopted hometown.
His close connection with this community includes his cultivation of aspiring authors. He will personally present his third annual Collins Awards for short story, poetry and photography after his lecture, which is free and open to the public.
Collins grew up in Limerick, Ireland, attended the University of Notre Dame on a running scholarship, then tramped across the United States gathering experiences.
Literary success found him with the publication of his short story collection, "The Man Who Dreamt of Lobsters," followed by another collection, "The Feminists Go Swimming."
His six novels include "The Life and Times of a Tea Boy," "The Emerald Underground," "Keepers of Truth," which mentions Cass County by name, "The Resurrectionists," and "Lost Souls."
Just published in the United Kingdom is "The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton."
Collins was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Great Britain's Pulitzer, for "Keepers of Truth." He is currently working on a screenplay.
Committees announced 2006 artists Wednesday night at Dogwood's annual membership meeting at Wood Fire.
If you can't wait until next spring for a literature fix, Jeffrey Eugenides, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Middlesex" and "Virgin Suicides," visits Dowagiac on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
President Rich Frantz praised the 2005 festival as Dogwood's "most consistent. There wasn't a bad event during the whole week … with very high standards.
Katherine Johnson nominated the slate of new board members: Nancy Pallas, Shirley Laylin, Barb Ickes, Brad Yazel, Dan Neese, Chuck Ringland and Eileen Crouse.
Pallas presented Frantz with a framed autographed photo of sculptor Nina Akamu and her Mount'n View, kidding the Union High School English teacher that now he'll have something to hang on his walls that transcends literature.
Of his friend Collins, Frantz added, "Michael's very excited to come back. He loves Dowagiac and has adopted this town."
Frantz said Youth Fine Arts Night showcasing the talents of Dowagiac students moves forward a week to Thursday, May 11, to become the official start of the festival.
On behalf of Thelda Mathews' Visual Arts Committee, Karen Judd said Dale Threlkeld's vivid paintings will be featured Monday, May 15.
He recently retired from Southern Illinois University, from which he graduated with a master's degree in fine arts in 1975. Threlkeld taught painting at Belleville Area College from 1971 to 1999.
His paintings are known for abstract backgrounds, or "worlds," along with figures. Threlkeld says he wants to create really abstract paintings, yet doesn't want to shut out the viewer.
Threlkeld consciously paints a figure, but he doesn't decide its gender or what it represents. That he leaves up to the viewer.
He lays his paintings flat on the ground while pouring mixtures of oil paint, linseed oil, turpentine and synthetic varnishes from jars, plastic ketchup containers and droppers. He doesn't use brushes, but moves paint around with sticks and safety pins or allows it to fuse together of its own accord: "I tend to like the paint to flow." He maintains studios in St. Louis and in New York City.
Dogwood Executive Director Bobbie Jo Hartline reported the dance attraction on Saturday, May 13, will be the Kalamazoo Ballet Company.
Dan Neese introduced Joe Krueger as the new music committee chair.
Krueger, who teaches at SMC in addition to singing professionally with his wife and another couple in 4th Avenue, said, "I try to emphasize as much as possible to 'try it - don't get stuck in it.' Make (the arts) a lifelong thing."
Bering Straight (Saturday, May 20, the same date as the tea), originally from Russia, in 1998 relocated to Nashville to develop its bluegrass sound.
Their songs played at Wood Fire during the party. They trained in classical music since 4 years old, then picked up pop rock and classical country.
Securit Metal Products will for the ninth year sponsor the storyteller, Brazilian Antonio Rocha on Wednesday, May 17.
Shirley Laylin remains on the board, so Dowagiac District Library Director Evelyn Holzwarth chairs the storyteller. Laylin said she found 2005's Dan Keding a more dynamic performer after the eight-year interlude between his prior visit. Survey feedback scored him 4.9 out of a possible five.
Holzwarth said Rocha has been telling tales since 1985, featured from Europe to the Smithsonian, and is "poetry in motion," portraying three characters at once.
With Nancy Pallas staying on the board, Janet Feick will be chairing the tea.
Mike Petersen said Toast 'n Jam, an exposure to classical music for younger listeners on Saturday, May 13, will again feature artists from the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
Beckwith Theatre's contribution to Dogwood will be announced later.