Open Jam Sessions return to Austin’s ArtWorks Center

Published 8:01 am Thursday, January 25, 2018

Open Jam Sessions will be returning to the Austin ArtWorks Center this Friday. Participants can bring their instruments and/or songs and play along with the house band.

“This is a program that has really found its audience,” said Austin Area Commission for the Arts Director Laura Helle. “It’s good crowds consistently.”

Helle said that the sessions will run once a month from January through May.

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“We don’t run them in the summer because we know you’d rather be out barbecuing or at the lake or on vacation,” she said with a laugh.

The jam sessions feature all kinds of music as well as any instrument the participants wish to use.  Helle said people are also welcome to come and listen.

“We like to say that listening is an art,” she said.

The ArtWorks Open Jam Session begins at 7 p.m. on Friday and is free to the public.

Helle said the bar will be open for members and their guests.

“We’re pretty excited about it and hope to continue keeping them up,” she said.

For more information, call 507-434-0934 or go to www.austinareaarts.org.

RavensFire at the LeRoy Center for the Creative Arts

The LeRoy Center for the Creative Arts will be celebrating its grand reopening with a performance by RavensFire on Saturday.

David Perkins, who has owned and operated the LeRoy Center for the Creative Arts since 2009, said RavensFire has performed there in the past.

“They are the remaining part of the group that was there for the first opening and have been the featured artists at other celebration events,” he said. “I like their music and they like the set-up.”

Perkins first met the group when they performed at the LeRoy Farmers Market, which is held next to the LeRoy Center for the Creative Arts.

The building has undergone remodeling over the years, including the most recent in which a new lift was installed for access to the auditorium on the second floor. Perkins funded the remodel with grant money and out of his own pocket.

“I put in a lift because some people said they could not come back because of the stairs,” he said. “Now we are mobility accessible.”

RavensFire will be performing at the LeRoy Center for the Creative Arts at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The price of admission is a freewill donation.

For more information, call 507-273-5815 or visit the LeRoy Center for the Creative Arts Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LeRoy-Center-for-the-Creative-Arts-111287385555874/.

Schedule of Events

Friday, Jan. 26

• Austin Community Playgroup – Super Hero Day, 10-11:30 a.m. at Austin Congregational UCC. Come make a super hero cape and get a photo taken of your super hero against a backdrop. Cost is $2. Registration required. Please bring your own snacks. For more information, call Sheila at 507-399-1924.

• Second Floor Art Galley Show – Julie Fakler and Ian Hanson, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Austin ArtWorks Center. Gallery show featuring the work of painter Julie Fakler and photographer Ian Hanson. Free admission. For more information, call 507-434-0934.

• Defensive Driving Class, noon to 4 p.m. at the Mower County Senior Center. This is the refresher course for the 10 percent discount on insurance premium. Cost for members is $16, for non-members $19. For more information or to sign up, call 507-433-2370 or stop by the Senior Center front desk.

• Austin Bruins vs. Bismarck Bobcats, 7-9:30 p.m. at Riverside Arena. Go, Bruins! For more information, call 507-434-4978.

Saturday, Jan. 27

• Second Floor Art Galley Show – Julie Fakler and Ian Hanson, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Austin ArtWorks Center. Gallery show featuring the work of painter Julie Fakler and photographer Ian Hanson. Free admission. For more information, call 507-434-0934.

• Origami Club, 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Austin Public Library. For more information, call 507-433-2391.

• Kids’ Studio – Watercolor Painting, 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Austin ArtWorks Center. With Katie Hunerdosse. Cost $5; for kids ages 4 to 14. For more information or to register, call 507-434-0934.

• Author Visit – Tristan Armstrong, 1-2 p.m. at Sweet Reads. Meet author Tristan Armstrong, with his historical fiction book “Boudica’s War” set in the first century. For more information, call 507-396-8660.

• Tech Tutor Time, 1-2 p.m. at the Austin Public Library. Basic one-on-one computer tutoring

• Plunge for Pink, 1:30-4:30 p.m. at East Side Lake. Part of Paint the Town Pink. For more information, go to www.hi.umn.edu/pttp or email gopttp@gmail.com or call 507-460-0259.

• Public Skate, 2:45-5 p.m. at Packer Arena. $4 to skate and $1 to rent skates.