Free Art Fridays at Starlight
As Starlight Theatre works to encourage creativity and appreciation for the performing arts, talented local visual artists have come forward to share their work with Starlight guests. If you attend a Friday night Broadway performance or concert at Starlight this season, you might be the lucky one taking home a piece of original artwork!
Free Art Friday Kansas City was founded in 2013 by Ruthie Becker, who was inspired by the global “Flood the Streets with Art” movement. This group of artists provides free pieces to art enthusiasts at random public locations across Kansas City, including Starlight.
The first drop-off at Starlight came during The Wizard of Oz in 2014. Then, a second drop last September resulted in a cast member of Blue Man Grouppicking up a personalized Free Art Friday piece on the Friday night of the show’s run at Starlight. The painting traveled on the tour’s bus cross-country, visiting 60 cities before it was given to a Milwaukee, Wis. family during a meet-and-greet as the tour ended.
When Free Art Friday expressed interest in sharing its works at Starlight again this season, we were thrilled! So, be on the lookout for a new creation – and take it home – at the following performances:
• Friday, June 12 – Camelot
• Friday, June 19 – Annie
• Friday, July 3 – Pippin
• Friday, July 10 – Cinderella
• Friday, July 17 – Train with The Fray and Matt Nathanson
• Friday, July 24 – Mary Poppins
• Friday, July 31 – Mary Poppins
• Friday, Aug. 21 – Chicago with Earth, Wind & Fire
• Friday, Sept. 11 – Cirque Eloize iD
More information about Free Art Friday can be found on the group’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreeArtFridayKC/
About the Free Art Friday Artists
Ruthie Becker
The founder of Free Art Friday Kansas City, Becker is a mixed media artist and sculptor who specializes in paintings, sculptures, mannequins, assemblage and customized artwork. Her work attempts to bring out the beauty in the mundane through color. Becker also owns and hosts First Friday art gallery shows at Gallery 504 in the Crossroads Art District.
Craig Mildrexler
A self-taught artist who strives to create new work that inspires the viewer to study its color and depth, Mildrexler creates art that changes with different lighting, thus changing the viewer’s interpretation of the piece. His neon acrylic paintings are best viewed under a black light.
Esther Boyd
A still-life painter, Boyd enjoys using simple, strong brushwork to build compositions of overlapping colors. Her work also depicts inanimate objects with the use of pastel colors and transparent effects. Boyd’s influences include classic painters such as John Singer Sargent and Monet, Asian culture, surface design and textiles.