John Coltrane’s son celebrates his father’s centennial, the Cornell Museum presents Everglades-themed fiber art, and a Florida conservationist updates FAU on his research. Plus, an immersive Night of Poe and more in your week ahead.
THURSDAY
What: Opening day of “Anina Major: The Sacred Mangrove”
When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Perez Art Museum, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
Cost: $14-$18 museum admission
Contact: 305/375-3000, pamm.org
As anyone who has stopped at a Bahamian cruise port can attest, tourism is the primary driver of that country’s economy, accounting for up to 70 percent of its GDP. Many of the island chain’s locals survive, in part, on the artwork, ceramics, and tchotchkes offered by street vendors. Bahamas native Anina Major’s grandmother toiled in such an environment, designing souvenirs from straw. The young Major learned her craft, creating change purses for $3 to cover her lunch. Nowadays, as an award-winning professional artist with an M.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design, a profile in the New York Times, and representation in the collections of myriad American art museums, Major is turning this early experience on its head. The ceramics, sculptures, and installations of her solo exhibition “The Sacred Mangrove” reference the palm-leaf plaiting of her family tradition but are made from clay, a harder material that critiques the softness and impermanence of her homeland’s tourist economy. The results confound our notions of art and craft, form and function.
What: Opening night of “River of Grass”
When: 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: Cornell Art Museum, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
Cost: $5
Contact: 561/654-2220, delrayoldschoolsquare.com
The Cornell’s latest exhibition takes inspiration from environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s description of the Everglades as a river of grass, capturing the essence of our perpetually threatened wetland through the medium of fiber. Site-specific six-foot square looms, designed to accommodate the Cornell’s lower-level galleries, act as both canvases and art objects in and of themselves, and the fiber art they contain offers abstract visions that suggest the flowing water, mangrove roots, and other vegetation that breathe life into their singular destination. Pointedly, many of the stitches are fraying—a comment, perhaps, on the wetland’s deterioration, and a plea for its restoration. A collaboration with Fiber Artist Miami Association and Hollywood’s Art and Culture Center, “River of Grass” runs through Jan. 27.
THURSDAY TO SATURDAY
What: A Night of Poe
When: 6 and 8 p.m.
Where: Boca Black Box, 8221 Glades Road, Suite 10, Boca Raton
Cost: $51
Contact: 561/483-9036, bocablackbox.com
It’s long been my belief that, like the plays of Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre tales are best appreciated when performed, not read. To that end, this theatrical production will feature dramatically reimagined takes on four of his most iconic stories performed by professional actors and musicians, who will interact with a bespoke soundtrack by Danny Elfman, the Nightmare Before Christmas composer who is certainly familiar with spooky ambience. A Night of Poe is designed as a multisensory immersive show, with the actors utilizing audience spaces as well as the stage. Furthermore, A Night of Poe is billed as a cocktail experience; a colorful and themed libation will be paired with each of the gothic tales.
FRIDAY
What: Ravi Coltrane Quartet
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Glazer Hall, 70 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach
Cost: $172.50-$201.25
Contact: 561/576-7860, glazerhall.org
It seems like Ravi Coltrane, the 60-year-old son of the late John and Alice Coltrane, has been everywhere lately, from national NPR interviews and podcasts and to print pieces on his family legacy. And for good reason: This year would have been the 100th birthday of John Coltrane, a genius and innovator whom Ravi barely knew: He was not yet 2 years old when the world lost John to liver cancer, in 1967. But in his own career as a questing saxophonist, Ravi has come to “find’ his father through his music, and in this centennial year of the jazz titan, he’s been playing a great deal of it—at festivals at home and abroad, and at intimate theater performances like this one. We don’t know which compositions from John’s enormously outsized body of work Ravi will perform, but aching classics such as “Alabama,” standards like “Naima” and “Impressions,” and material from John’s formative tenure with Miles Davis, have all appeared on recent set lists. His exceptional band includes Orrin Evans on piano, Dezron Douglas on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums.
MONDAY, OCT. 5
What: “Path of the Panther: A Visual Journey into Wild Florida”
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Kaye Auditorium at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
Cost: Free (registration required)
Contact: 561/297-6124, fau.edu/wildflorida
Conservationist and photographer Carlton Ward Jr. first came to my attention through the 2022 documentary Path of the Panther, in which Ward is featured prominently as part of a multipronged movement to preserve the Florida Wildlife Corridor of the endangered Florida panther. But the movie is but one avenue of exposure for this restless nature advocate. A National Geographic Explorer with a passion for the Sunshine State, Ward has personally trekked more than 2,000 miles through said Corridor, laying camera traps to document the expansion or contraction of panthers’ range, providing indispensable data on this keystone species. His breathtaking photographs, meanwhile, provide a stirring visual accompaniment to the facts on the ground—a reminder of what we’re at risk of losing. He will share his latest images and research in this appearance, which will include a book sale and signing.
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