ARTifacts

Bollinger Mill hosts storytelling event

Get into the spirit of Halloween by attending the annual Halloween storytelling event Oct. 19 at the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site near Burfordville. Sponsored by Missouri State Parks, this free event will begin at 7 p.m. Marilyn Kinsella, a full-time freelance professional storyteller since 2002, will weave her stories from personal experience as well as perform folk and historical tales and literary stories. The storytelling will be held around a bonfire, and visitors are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket for seating. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact the site at 243-4591. For information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com.

Arts Council launches new website

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri has a new website: www.capearts.org/. The website is more user-friendly and has more up-to-date content to keep art lovers in the region informed about the local art scene. The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is at 32 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau. Its galleries are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

RCP to present ‘The Christmas cactus'

The River City Players, Cape Girardeau's community theater group, will stage the mystery comedy "The Christmas cactus" at Port Cape Girardeau. The dinner show dates are Nov. 9 to 10, and Nov. 16 to 17, while the show-only performance will be Nov. 15. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the dinner show, with the meal served at 7 and the show starting at 8. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. on the show-only night, with the show starting at 7. For reservations, call Port Cape at 334-0954.

Black artists explore influences in portraits

A panel discussion on "Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection" will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Crisp Museum at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. The panel discussion will consist of black artists and educators focusing on the influence of identity and cultural experience as reflected in the portraits of blacks in the current exhibition, "Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection." Panelists include Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, associate professor of fine art at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; DeSande R, artist and educator; and Malcolm McCrae, artist and entrepreneur. A light reception will follow the panel discussion. The exhibition be on display through Oct. 21. For more information, call 651-2260 or email museum@semo.edu.

Faulkner Center shows art by Cordonnier

"Faulkner Goes Digital: Computer Art by Max Cordonnier" is being exhibited in the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. Nine pieces of computer-generated art based on William Faulkner's novels and stories are on display. Represented in the exhibit are three of Faulkner's greatest novels, "Absalom, Absalom!," "The Sound and the Fury," and "As I Lay Dying." Cordonnier, who died in 2006, was a professor of English at Southeast Missouri State University for 31 years, retiring in 1992. A published poet as well as a painter, Cordonnier turned his attention to computer-enhanced art during his retirement years. The Cordonnier exhibit is mounted in the display case outside room 309 in Kent Library.

Three Rivers group to stage ‘Our Town'

Center Stage, Three Rivers College's student/staff/community theater, will open its 2012-2013 season with the Pulitzer Prize winning "Our Town." The show will be performed at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center on the college's Poplar Bluff campus at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 to 20 and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 21. "Our Town" is an American classic written by Thornton Wilder. It portrays life in small town America in the early 1900s. The cast includes students and faculty at Three Rivers College, as well as members of the community. Tickets are on sale at the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce and on campus at the Three Rivers Financial Services Office. Tickets also will be sold at the door. For more information on auditions or the college theater program, call Robert Cook at 573-840-9648.

Marine Corps Ball set for Nov. 10

The 2012 Marine Corps Ball, celebrating the 237th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, will be Nov. 10 at the Bavarian Halle in Fruitland. The event is sponsored by the Cpl. Mason O. Yarbrough Detachment of the Marine Corps League. The evening's activities, which begin at 5 p.m., will include hors d'oeuvres, dinner, a Champagne toast, birthday ceremonies, cake, and music and dancing. For tickets and information call 573-979-5450.

-- From staff reports