(bright upbeat music)

- [Narrator] This is a
production of WEDU PBS

Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

Major funding for WEDU
Arts Plus is provided

through The Greater
Cincinnati Foundation

by an arts loving donor
who encourages others

to support your
PBS station WEDU.

And by the Pinellas
Community Foundation,

Giving Humanity a
Hand Since 1969.

{\an1}- [Dalia] In this edition
of WEDU Arts Plus,

{\an1}a local artists completes
hundreds of sketches

{\an1}to help herself and our
community process COVID-19.

- [Lisa] Sketching
came organically

because it's a way
to process and share

{\an1}with the online community,

the experience of
living on earth now.

- [Dalia] The roots of
a repertory theater.

{\an1}- Coming out to Colorado,
to the Rocky Mountains,

starting a theater, in
an honest to goodness,

all West mining town,

this is an adventure.

- [Dalia] Historical
photographs of an epic journey.

- [Alasdair] So
where are we now?

{\an1}We're in a situation
where we're all imperiled,

but we're still gonna
keep recording documents

and what we do,

because that story
is gonna be even

perhaps more important than the
story of crossing Antarctic.

- [Dalia] And the
palette of emotion

experienced through
16 string quartets.

- You would like
to play Beethoven

because he expresses all aspects

of the human the experience.

- It's all coming up
next on WEDU Arts Plus.

(bright upbeat music)

Hello, I'm Dalia Colon

{\an1}and this is WEDU Arts Plus.

When Lisa DiFranza got laid off

from her job due to COVID-19

the very next day she broke open

{\an1}in a set of gouache paints

she'd had sitting
around the house.

Now more than 200
sketches later,

the Bradenton resident is
using her daily art practice

{\an1}to help heal our community.

(bright upbeat music)

{\an2}- My name is Lisa DiFranza,

and I'm here today
to talk with you

about the Sketch-a-Day project

that kind of emerged organically

out of this COVID-19
world health crisis.

(gentle music)

So when I got laid
off from my job,

I started sketching
and I didn't know it,

but it was going
to be the beginning

of sketching every day

and posting it online.

(gentle music)

I come from a family
of visual artists,

even though my sort of
career and work life

has always been in the
performing arts as a director

or as an educator.

But I think sketching
came organically

because it's a way to process
and share with the community,

the online community,

the experience of
living on earth now.

(gentle music)

I started posting on
Facebook and Instagram,

I added Twitter.

The response has been
really interesting

and people were writing saying,

{\an2}"This is part of the way I'm
processing through COVID,"

or, "Could I get
a copy of this?"

So I began to work with
Artsource Studio in Sarasota

to make fine art limited
edition prints of the sketches.

So when that started to happen,

{\an2}I launched a website where
you can see the sketches

and the odyssey of COVID
through my eyes anyway.

(gentle music)

- So at this point I have
purchased two of Lisa sketches,

Splashy Sunset
Over Route 41 Motel

and Hopeful Moon Over Bradenton.

And what I found
with her sketches,

{\an2}I was watching her posts these
everyday on social media,

and they were so timely.

We are all
experiencing this array

of emotions every single day

{\an2}and Lisa was capturing those
emotions every single day.

And so there were some of those
that she captured an emotion

{\an2}that I really related to.

And so those were
the two I selected.

One of them, is a moon
and it's beautiful,

but it's hopeful.

And she has that piece of it

{\an2}and, it's over the water.

{\an2}And the other one though
is an old motel on Route 41

{\an2}and there was something really
poetic about that as well.

And that, that wasn't that
stereotypical beautiful scenery,

but she made it feel
really beautiful.

And so I truly
appreciate her ability

to capture all of these emotions

that we've been feeling
during this time.

And I think even though she
was doing it daily in the end,

when you look back on
it and as a collective,

it truly encapsulates
all of the things

that we've been feeling.

- As far as
processing COVID goes,

I think tempest-tost is an
image of the Statue of Liberty

that really to me,
sort of emerged

from my confusion about
the American experiment.

I've done a couple
of theater images.

I miss theater.

{\an2}I recently did a remembering
curtain call image

that just came out of
missing that feeling

{\an2}of being in a live theater

for a live performance

and the energy and
excitement of that.

And of course, I
worked in theater

so much that it's so close to me

and I feel for all
the workers in theater

who really have no work.

Also there's some of
the sunrises and sunsets

that are close to me

because they're right
from our neighborhood,

our doors and our
dock and the river

and the river has
just been so much

{\an2}a part of this time for me.

And I have never had the time
to see and think in this way.

(gentle music)

I think sketching marks the day,

whereas everything
else is blurry,

but sketching every day
I wake up and I do this

and it marks a new
day (chuckles).

(gentle music)

The other thing I think
that's therapeutic

is being able
through social media,

which is weird because I'm
not a big social media person,

but being able to
share with other people

and get a response.

{\an2}So I feel like that helps
to process communally

even when we can't.

(gentle music)

- Well, I think what Lisa has
been able to remind us all of

is that art has the ability
to speak when our words don't.

And so whether it is relating
to something that she created

or creating something
on your own,

it really is therapeutic
in so many ways.

{\an2}And when we're alone, as we
have been so much recently,

that connection through
art is even more vital

than it ever was before.

(bright upbeat music)

- I think there is
nothing more gratifying

than making something
from nothing.

And my advice
would be just do it

{\an2}don't judge what comes out.

One thing that
I've really gotten

out of the sketch of day thing

is sometimes I don't
love the sketch

and it's really been
very, very wonderful

to not get too hung up about it

because I know next
day's a new day.

{\an2}I know I can start again.

{\an2}Another blank piece of paper,
just produce it, share it,

produce it, share it.

(gentle music)

- Lisa DiFranza
sketches are on display

at Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota

through January 18th.

The exhibition is
called "Timelapse 2020".

To see more visit
lisadifranza.com.

In the 1960s, the people
of Creede, Colorado

{\an2}founded a theater company
as a way to revive

and sustain a
struggling mining town.

Now more than 50 years later,

{\an2}the company is a nationally

recognized theatrical
enterprise.

(upbeat music)

- [Carrie] Christy Brandt
commute to work is two blocks.

{\an2}Still, most days it takes
nearly an hour to navigate.

Traffic can't be
blamed for the delay.

Nope, Creed is
not prone to that.

What holds Brandt up? Her fans.

- Hi babe, how are you?
- I'm good. (kisses)

- I think some people that
come here aren't necessarily

{\an2}that attracted to everybody
knowing who you are,

everybody knowing what you do

and where you are every day.

I truly feel like I'm a
part of this community.

- [Carrie] That sense
of community has had

a more practical purpose too.

It has helped the Creed
Repertory Theater to thrive.

♪ I got it all ♪

♪ Right ♪

♪ Here ♪

(crowd cheering)

Understanding that though,
means looking back 50 years.

{\an2}- Well, and you see them,
the mine had shut down

{\an2}and we was afraid that the town
would dry up and blow away.

So we created this to
keep the town a gone.

- [Carrie] I feel like
it was 23 years old

when Creed Repertory Theater

put on its first
productions in 1966.

{\an2}- This is the mining town

{\an2}and it was rough and tough.

And we had never seen
anything like actual theater.

{\an2}So it was just mind
boggling how those people

could remember all
of those lines.

- [Carrie] But before a
single line was spoken

{\an2}Liken and Jim Livingston had
to pitch the theater idea

to its junior
Chamber of Commerce

a foreign concept in
the small community,

250 miles Southwest of Denver.

- Everyone fished and
not everyone went around

and partied from ranch to ranch.

So there might be
something in town

and it might be
good for the economy

{\an2}and it might also be
good for the local people

who didn't get to do
a whole lot of things.

{\an2}- [Carrie] Creeds Chamber
of Commerce agreed.

Still a key component
was missing, the talent.

- I knew that if we
were gonna do it,

{\an2}there was no frame of
reference here for theater.

I knew a drama department at
one of the major universities

would be able to supply that.

{\an2}And if someone were crazy
enough to come here,

because we didn't
have any money,

just a raw material

and an old opera house
and few other things,

well then maybe we
could pull it off.

- [Carrie] It doesn't
theater students

{\an2}from the University of Kansas
caught wind of the idea.

Crazy or not, Steve Reed was
among those who embraced it.

- I was thinking, okay,

coming out to Colorado,
to the Rocky Mountains,

starting a theater, in
an honest to goodness,

old West mining town,
this is an adventure.

{\an2}- We opened our homes in our
community with those kids

to put those plays on.

{\an2}We gave them a chance
and they gave us a chance

to learn what theater
was all about.

{\an2}So it was a two way deal.

- I've never been to
a place like this,

where you feel like people,
once you're in their family.

- [Carrie] CRT garnered
national attention

during Maurice LaMee,
12 years of leadership.

As former Executive
and Artistic Director,

LaMee also helped
expand its footprint,

{\an2}both in and out of Creed,

{\an2}adding a second theater
and staging work in Denver.

- I think you have
to be more cautious

when you're the Denver
Center Theater Company

{\an2}or you're, a major
theater company in a way.

There's more at risk

here you can kind
of take chances

{\an2}no one's gonna know that
you messed up (laughing).

- [Carrie] Jessica
Jackson is Creed's

{\an2}current Artistic Director.

- I found an audition
advertisement for
the 2015 season

and it said, quote,

"We're hiring a
family of artists."

Does that stem from the
fact that the community

and the theater are
so tightly knit?

{\an2}- When we bring in our
summer company of about 90,

we're increasing the
population of Creed

by 20 something percent.

And so we feel like we
have a responsibility

to bring in people who are going

to not only be good
company members,

but be good community
members too,

because whether
you like it or not,

{\an2}you are not anonymous here.

You are a member
of this community.

- [Carrie] As a
founding company member,

Gary Mitchell was among
the first to experience

the close relationship
between the theater

and the community.

{\an2}- Well, it was Mr. Roberts.

It was June 26, 1966

we'd been working on
this play for 10 days,

but we'd also been working on
building a theater for 10 days

and surviving as a
company for 10 days.

{\an2}We were having so much
fun finally doing a show,

even though the paint was wet.

{\an2}And there was this incredible
feeling and energy.

- [Carrie] The theater has had

less than incredible
moments too.

- But then in 1970,
when the theater burned,

that could have been yet for me

I mean, the managing
directors that year,

now they could have just said,

{\an2}"We can't do this anymore."

But they came out here

they met with some
of the townspeople

and they all got
together and say,

"We can do this,
let's just do it."

- [Carrie] And
they did restoring

the theater scorched
interior in one month's time.

Audiences then, and now
are eager to fill seats.

Jessica Jackson pointed
out part of the reason

for strong ticket sales
is CRT is longstanding

{\an2}and exceedingly rare choice

to run performances
in Repertory.

{\an2}- There is the opportunity
for audience members

to see six different
performances in
one weekend here.

And that is a monumental
task for an actor.

That means being able to
run four different shows

in one week.

(audience applauding)

- [Carrie] And for the
production and technical crew,

it means this.

(bright upbeat music)

There's something else
that sets Creede apart

from other theater companies,

instead of its actors
slipping out the stage door,

after a show, they
do the opposite.

{\an2}- This is a very valuable
experience for Creed.

It makes everybody that
comes to the theater,

feel more a part of the theater,

{\an2}and it makes us understand what
this art can do for people.

{\an2}- [Steve] There've
always been ups and downs

there always are,

but this community
is just so amazing.

{\an2}- [Phil] I'm mighty proud
of what they're doing.

And we had no idea that
it would last this long.

- [Gary] It's grown
beyond anything

that I ever could have imagined.

This is something great.

- [Carrie] But
for Christy Brandt

{\an2}and everyone else at
Creede Repertory Theater,

it's just another day at work.

- Find out more about
this theater company

{\an2}by visiting creederep.org.

Legendary explorer,
Sir Ernest Shackleton

{\an2}undertakes a transient Arctic
expedition with his crew.

Those treacherous
times are brought

to life in historic
photographs by Frank Hurley.

(dramatic music)

- He hired Frank Hurley
to be as photographer,

who is the best of
the best at the time.

They put together
an amazing team,

but then they get stuck in
the ice for almost two years.

{\an2}To me is an amazing story

and then to have them
all make it back alive.

It's just an
extraordinary story.

(dramatic music)

- The whole point I
think, Hurley there

{\an2}was to then create the film
and the stills photography,

{\an2}which would then be sold
on their return to Britain

and the money from those sales

would effectively
underwrite the cost

of the expedition
for Shackleton.

(dramatic music)

{\an2}I think Shackleton's a
very modern communicator.

He and Hurley have a real
skill in communicating ideas

about what they're trying to do

and modulating
what they are doing

'cause they failed in
the idea of reaching

to cross the continent.

So where are we now?

{\an2}We're in a situation
where we're all in peril,

but we're still
gonna keep recording

{\an2}and documenting what we do

because that story is gonna
be even perhaps more important

than the story of
crossing the Antarctic.

{\an2}- Well, my grandfather was
aware of the importance

of photographs and media

because like all expeditions,

they had Chubb, they
had to pay their debts

so they could do
that by lecturing

and writing and
having exhibitions.

Also of course, above all,
to get the story out of that,

because it was such a novelty.

{\an2}They're not quite vague about
where the Antarctic was.

It was probably for
polar bears with that.

- We think there were about 400

glass plate negatives that
had been processed by Hurley

and we have 98 in the
society's collections.

So there is, I think
another 30 to 40

that have never been discovered.

{\an2}The reason why Hurley
destroyed the glass plates

on the edge of the
ship, has it saying

was that he didn't want
the other men to take

from the souvenirs.

So he had done the pre
edit on the photographs

{\an2}and the ones that he chose,
I think are the best.

I think he did an edit

that was just perfect in terms

of the very best
quality pictures.

{\an2}If you look at the Pantheon
of great photographers,

Hurley is there.

And I know speaking
to many documentary

filmmakers and photographers,

{\an2}they absolutely recognize
his contribution.

Many of them have
been inspired by him.

{\an2}And I think going forward
over the next generations,

that won't diminish.

{\an2}The story of the leadership
is such an exceptional one.

I think, we can
all learn something

{\an2}from what Shackleton does.

And I do think it's a
really modern approach.

I think, it could have
happened yesterday

with the right people in charge

with the right set of skills

{\an2}and this idea of
communicating with his man

and saying, "This is
what we're gonna do

"We are gonna get to safety."

{\an2}It's a very modern concept.

(gentle music)

{\an2}There's a very famous picture
called The Nightwatchman.

And if you look
in the photograph,

there is this very
ghostly fifth face now

that appears in the background.

The one thing we
haven't been able

to use to identify who it is,

but that wasn't seen before.

And then in many
of the photographs

{\an2}you see the kind of mid ground
detail has just opened up.

The other ones that
I love are the ones

where you have depth of field.

So the pictures of the
interior of the ship,

the Reps, as they described it,

you can now see each
of the different rooms,

each of the little cubicles and
the names they gave to them.

And maybe the best
one is a photograph

of the interior of
Shackleton's cabin,

{\an2}which has all of the books
from their library there.

Before you couldn't
read the spines

now you know exactly
what they were reading.

So you can see they
how the whole set

{\an2}of Encyclopedia Britannica.

(gentle music)

- The sheer beauty of the images

gets most people are interested.

- These photographs are
given an opportunity

to see what was like
a hundred years ago.

But there's the whole
art side of this,

the whole concept of
these platinum prints

and how these glass
plates survived

and how beautiful
they really are.

{\an2}There is as fine as any
black and white photography

I know of.

(dramatic music)

{\an2}- Learn about
current exhibitions

{\an2}at the Bowers Museum
at bowers.org.

Listen and watch as
the Amenda Quartet

of Rochester, New York
attempts to play all 16

of Beethoven String Quartets.

{\an2}We'll also see what they're
learning along the way.

{\an2}(energetic quartet music)

- [David] Project
Lord VIG is a project

of the Amendment String Quartet.

In fact, we formed
for this project,

{\an2}which is to play all the
Beethoven string quartets.

There are 16 of them.

{\an2}(energetic quartet music)

It's a gigantic project

and our excitement
about it was such

{\an2}that we have been at it
for almost six years now.

- [Mimi] Beethoven
wrote 16 string quartets

and it's something that
a lot of string quartet

want to do is to be able to play

all of the Beethoven
instruments quartets.

- [David] I think most,
maybe all the quartets

{\an2}I've ever heard of that
have dared to take it on,

have been full-time
string quartets.

Of course, we're all
professional musicians,

but we all make our livings
through many means orchestra

and teaching other
projects, businesses,

even outside of the quartet.

These are extremely
difficult works,

{\an2}and most full-time quartets
will play almost every day

{\an2}rehearsal almost every day.

{\an2}We don't have that luxury.

{\an2}And so we have to be extremely
efficient as we work.

{\an2}(energetic quartet music)

- We were playing the 16 pieces

over nine months between
September of this year

to June of next spring

{\an2}and playing about one
quartet every three weeks

and playing all the
quartets in different venues

{\an2}around the Rochester area.

Music of Beethoven from
all different periods

at the same time like
we're doing today,

{\an2}you're learning so much
about him and his development

{\an2}and the way that his music moves

{\an2}and it's different from
the beginning to the end.

(gentle quartet music)

- We would like
to play Beethoven

because at least for me,

because he expresses all
aspects of the human experience

from exuberant joy and
hopefulness to tragedy, despair,

and even anger, frustration,

it's all there in the
music and all presented

with the most
brilliant technique,

compositional technique as well.

He had it all, mind and heart.

(gentle quartet music)

- [Mimi] And a few
of us have played

in full-time string
quartets before.

{\an2}And we just decided we
wanted to do this project

about five years ago.

- They told me it is
incredibly relevant to us now

it's timeless music,
it's beautiful music

and it touches people
of all different ages

{\an2}and of all different times.

{\an2}Beethoven moves people in ways

{\an2}that everything in music

{\an2}and music is just universal.

{\an2}(energetic quartet music)

{\an2}- To rehearse with
colleagues whose artistry

and opinions you respect
so highly as I do,

my colleagues is
a great pleasure.

It brings you to a
better level of yourself

and as for me, there's
nothing more satisfying

after all these
decades of playing

and to get better

and to play more beautifully.

And so they told me
and Patty and Mimi

all inspire drive that process.

{\an2}(energetic quartet music)

- [Mimi] Feel so
fortunate to be able

to play this wonderful music

it's so delightful
and so life affirming.

{\an2}(energetic quartet music)

- To hear more visit
amendaquartet.org.

And that wraps it
up for this edition

of WEDU Arts Plus.

{\an2}For more arts and culture
visit wedu.org/artsplus.

Until next time,
I'm Dalia Colon.

Thanks for watching.

(drum beat music)

{\an2}- [Narrator] Major
funding for WEDU Arts Plus

is provided through The
Greater Cincinnati Foundation

by an arts loving donor
who encourages others

to support your PBS station WEDU

and by the Pinellas
Community Foundation,

Giving Humanity a
Hand Since 1969.

(bright upbeat music)