Students from Antioch Unified School District will showcase their art at the Lynn House Gallery beginning during March, April and May. The Art4Schools Exhibits began March 1st and end on May 27th.

The exhibit schedule opens with students who attend the Afterschool Program, March 1st – 11th, followed by Mission and Sutter Elementary Schools March 22nd – April 1st, Kimball and Turner Elementary Schools April 26th – May 5th and concludes with Black Diamond and Dallas Ranch Middle Schools May 17th – May 27th. There is a cookie and punch artist reception on opening day of each exhibit from 4-6 PM.  Please join us and support AUSD’s students and artists.

The program is sponsored by the Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch, the City of Antioch, Calpine and Keller Canyon Mitigation Fund Grant from Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover. In addition to sponsoring the gallery exhibit, each school receives $500 to be used for art and cultural supplies and educational endeavors. Due to the generosity of Supervisor Glover, the number of participating schools has doubled from prior years.

Exhibits are open to the public at no cost. The Lynn House Gallery is located in the Rivertown District at 809 W. 1st Street, Antioch (across from the AMTRAK Train Station) and is open from 1 – 4 PM on Wednesdays and Saturdays during exhibits and admission is free.

For more information about each exhibit call Diane Gibson-Gray at (925) 779-7018 or email Diane@Art4Antioch.org.

Kiara Chatman advances to state finals in competition that emphasizes language skill and public speaking

Kiara Chapman, photo courtesy of Robin Moore.

In a remarkable achievement, Kiara Chatman, a senior at Deer Valley High in Antioch, took first place in the Contra Costa County “Poetry Out Loud” competition for the second year in a row. The event was held in the lovely Las Lomas High School Theatre in Walnut Creek on February 11th.  The Runner-up position went to senior Camila Morales-Jimenez from El Cerrito High in El Cerrito, and Third Place to sophomore Wesley Little from Monte Vista High in Danville.

The three were among thousands of students across the state to participate in the national recitation contest, a program started by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and run by the California Arts Council and locally by the Arts & Culture Commission of Contra Costa County (AC5) to engage high-school students in the presentation of poetry through memorization and performance.  Chatman advances to the California state finals in Sacramento on March 12 & 13. At stake are hundreds of dollars on the state competition level and thousands at the national finals of Poetry Out Loud.

This is Contra Costa’s tenth year of Poetry Out Loud competition, and many attendees commented that the recitations just keep getting better and better.  Among the many fine recitations, Ms. Chatman’s “The Gaffe” by C.K. Williams, Ms. Morales-Jimenez’s “One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” by Pablo Neruda and Mr. Little’s “Cartoon Physics, part 1” by Nick Flynn helped secure the final outcome.

The very competitive pool of finalists included students from eleven county high schools: College Park High in Pleasant Hill, Deer Valley High in Antioch, El Cerrito High in El Cerrito, Independence High in Brentwood, Las Lomas High in Walnut Creek, Monte Vista High in Danville, Northgate High in Walnut Creek, Pinole Valley High in Pinole, Truthtrackers Co-Op in Walnut Creek and Making Waves Academy and Salesian College Preparatory, both in Richmond.  Countywide, over 2500 students memorized a poem for the program this year.

“To learn a great poem by heart is to make a friend for life,” said John Barr, president of the Poetry Foundation. “The national recitation program brings fresh energy to an ancient art form by returning it to the classrooms of America.”

The Poetry Out Loud program seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry: recitation and performance. Poetry Out Loud competitions start in the classroom, then at the school, region, state, and national finals, similar to the structure of the spelling bee. The national initiative is part of an attempt to bring literary arts to students, a critical need in U.S. schools, according to a 2004 NEA report Reading at Risk that found a dramatic decline in literary reading, especially among younger readers.

More information can be found at www.cac.ca.gov/initiatives/pol.php and www.poetryoutloud.org.

Delta Blues Festival Benefit Concert
Saturday March 4, 2017   7:00 pm
Gold Circle (1st 3 rows): $40
Adults: $30
Seniors (62 & Over): $28
Child (Ages 10 – 17): $15
Reserved Seating

 The Vagabond Players – Born Yesterday
Play by Garson Kanin

Sunday March 5, 2017  2:00 pm 
General Seating

Tickets:  Adults: $15   Seniors (62& Over): $13  Youth (17 & Under): $10

​United States Air Force Concert Band
Saturday March 11, 2017  3:00 pm
Tickets Available January 1, 2017
Reserved Seating. Tickets are free.
You may order up to four (4) online.  If you need more please call the ticket office.  (925) 757-9500

El Campanil Children’s Theatre  – Princess Who ?
Play by Brian Taylor

Friday March 17, 2017  7:30 pm
Sunday March 19, 2017  2:00 pm
General Seating

Tickets:  Adults: $12   Seniors (62& Over): $10  Youth (17 & Under): $ 8

Chicago…The Tribute
Saturday March 25, 2017  8:00 pm
Reserved Seating

Tickets: Adults: $27  Seniors (62 & Over): $25   Youth (Under 18): $10

Buy tickets online at www.elcampaniltheatre.com, by phone at (925) 757-9500 or at the Box Office next door to the theater, which is located at 602 W. 2nd Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown.

If you’re looking for a clean, family-friendly film with a positive story, to take the kids to see, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone is the one.

Former child star Gavin Stone (Brett Dalton) must perform 200 hours of community service after trashing a hotel in his Illinois hometown. Temptation strikes when Stone learns that the church he’s assigned to clean is staging a lavish religious production. After landing the lead role of Jesus Christ, Gavin finds himself drawn to the show’s director (Anjelah Johnson-Reyes), a young woman who also happens to be the daughter of the affable pastor (D.B. Sweeney).

Directed by Dallas Jenkins, who produced the independent feature Hometown Legend at the age of 25 and shepherded it to distribution by Warner Brothers. He made his directing debut with the short film Cliché, and his next short film, Midnight Clear, starring Stephen Baldwin, won a Crystal Heart Award from the Heartland Film Festival and was the opening night selection of the San Diego Film Festival. He is the co-executive producer of Though None Go With Me, a Hallmark Channel feature that aired in April 2006.

In 2007 Jenkins directed and produced Midnight Clear, based on the short, which won awards in festivals all over the country, including the San Jose Cinequest Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize for “Best First Feature,” and the “Audience Favorite” award at the Kansas International Film Festival. It’s currently available on DVD from Lionsgate. His latest feature What If…, starring Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, Debby Ryan, and John Ratzenberger released in theaters in 2010 and is currently available on DVD.

The film is distributed by Walden Media who brought you the Chronicles of Narnia movies. It’s currently showing at Maya Cinemas in Pittsburg and AMC Theaters in Brentwood. Check movie times and buy tickets on Fandango.

View the official trailer by clicking here.

Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe of the American Pickers TV show.

Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, and their team are excited to return to CALIFORNIA! They plan to film episodes of the hit series AMERICAN PICKERS throughout the region in Spring 2017. AMERICAN PICKERS is a documentary series that explores the fascinating world of antique ‘picking’ on the History channel. The hit show follows Mike and Frank, two of the most skilled pickers in the business, as they hunt for America’s most valuable antiques.

They are always excited to find sizeable, unique collections and learn the interesting stories behind them.

As they hit the back roads from coast to coast, Mike and Frank are on a mission to recycle and rescue forgotten relics. Along the way, the Pickers want to meet characters with remarkable and exceptional items.

The pair hopes to give historically significant objects a new lease on life, while learning a thing or two about America’s past along the way.

Mike and Frank have seen a lot of rusty gold over the years and are always looking to discover something they’ve never seen before. They are ready to find extraordinary items and hear fascinating tales about them.

AMERICAN PICKERS is looking for leads and would love to explore your hidden treasure. If you or someone you know has a large, private collection or accumulation of antiques that the Pickers can spend the better part of the day looking through, send us your name, phone number, location and description of the collection with photos to: americanpickers@cineflix.com or call 855-OLD-RUST (653-7878).