The Pearl Company

Wednesday Night Showcase: April 21, 8:00pm, $15 at the door. The Wednesday Night Showcase is a venue for talented singer songwriters in Hamilton and surrounding areas. Hamilton is a hotbed of talent that has a hard time highlighting their works; The Pearl Company is happy to provide the opportunity to turn up the volume and let these artists show what they can do. We are hoping to help develop new talent and to have more established musicians work with them while displaying their own talents. Some of the showcased artists will be headlined at the Pearl Company in a future date. Whether you are jazz, rock, folk, blues or whatever, contact John Crawford or Mike Dufour through the Pearl Company and they will see about getting you on a show.   The showcase will start as a once-a-month feature.  Our first Wednesday Night Showcase will feature: Pip Kummel, Michel Leon, Shawn Brush (aka The Krooked Cowboy), John Crawford & Troy Harmer. Support local talent!

Tia McGraff: Saturday, April 24 at 8:00. $20 at the door. With a special guest appearance from Six Nations Musicians, Sakoieta Wildrick and Tewentahawiht Dawn Antone.
Writing and recording since the age of 19, Tia McGraff’s uplifting, heart-warming songs have been garnering her strong fan acclaim from the start. The Port Dover native headed to Nashville, where she and Tommy Parham quickly became a musical force to be reckoned with. Writing, performing and producing, they have captured the attention and respect of artists, producers and industry insiders.
“Tia McGraff is a fantastic singer with her own vocal personality which reminds me of an early Linda Ronstadt. She is a very intuitive songwriter who knows what a song needs to make it tick. A joy to work with.” – Randy Bachman
” I have seldom run into someone with a gift that needs to be heard as much as Tia. She colors outside the lines, and stands outside of the circle of tuned perfection. Tia McGraff is real and is really needed in today’s marketplace of music.” – Devon O’Day   www.TiaMcGraff.com

Jazz Connection Big Band: Friday, April 23.  Doors at 8:30, jazz at 9:00 $15 at the door: Made up of talented musicians from all over southwestern Ontario, The Jazz Connection Big Band is a 20-piece band dedicated to playing great, straight-ahead jazz.  The JCBB are gaining a bigger audience every time they play here and have put together a spectacular new program.  Carrying us once again into the cool space of surround sound big band music! http://www.jazzconnection.ca

The Budos Band: Friday, April 2nd, Doors open 9pm. Showtime: 10pm.  Advance Tickets: $25 available at Dr. Disc in Hamilton. http://www.drdisc.ca With it’s twenty-two legs, three horns, and hallucinogenic venom, The Budos Band, the un-heralded emperors of Instrumental Staten Island Afro-Soul, continue to rule. The band commands their listeners to follow them on their second journey into the depths of their vision. While their debut album was itself heralded as a groundbreaking exploration of funk, afro-beat and soul music, few could predict that their second effort would not only match but surpass the realm of mind-expansion embodied on their first sessions. Through ten exciting new instrumentals recorded live at Daptone’s House of Soul in Bushwick, Brookyln, The Budos Band pours themes at once resonant and ethereal over Herculean rhythms. www.thebudos.com

Fields of Gold:  Callie Archer: The Pearl Gallery at the Lincoln Alexander Centre.  Opening Thursday, March 18. 5:30 to 9:00pm. No charge.  Callie travels the world for adventure and inspiration. Painting with watercolour and acrylic, Archer says she is attracted to landscape because it is magic. A colourist with a loosely representational style, she is particularly sensitive to the shapes and textures of mountains and bodies of water, capturing the light, the calm and the ambiance.

The Lincoln Alexander Centre at 150 King St E., between Catherine and Mary Streets,  is the former Odeon Hyland, beautifully renovated and attached to the Crowne Plaza.  While visiting the gallery, you are also offered a tour of the Centre.

Held Together by a Thread: Opening Saturday, March 13 through April 29, 7pm – 11:00pm.  A group show featuring the works of Kareem Abbas, Amanda McCavour, Laura Sorbara, Stephanie Hansen. Curated by Stephanie Hansen. This show has everything!  Amanda’s displays are installation works made entirely of thread, Kareem impresses us with brilliant Canadian landscapes painted with the fresh eyes of an Iraqui immigrant, Laura presents us with strong visual imagery work using wool from a sheep she sheared herself (!), and Stephanie Hansen offers up several dress forms worked in mixed media.  The variety and display promises a dazzling evening you should not miss!

Gallery hours: 1 to 4, Wednesday through Sunday; 6 to 8 Thursday and Friday evenings. (Also by chance or appointment.)

Opening January 22: The Streets of Hamilton: 7:00 pm start time. Featuring Sylvia Simpson, Gord Leverton, Rod Paget, Rob Laffier, John Stirling and Eric Ranveau…. Hamilton as you have never seen it before! The gritty made beautiful.  The beautiful made riveting (and sometimes gritty…).  Our Hamilton.

Banned From Heaven: Starting at 9:00: In conjunction with “The Streets of Hamilton”.  Playing together since the Sixties (in various incarnations), their style of music is somewhere between Blues, Punk Zydeco, or Jug Rock. It’s lots of fun and a wild ride. $5 donation at the door

In The Pearl Company Gallery from Dec 13 to Jan 10:
The ArtCracker Gallery: A multimedia presentation of world-renowned Prima Ballerina Alicia Alonso’s accomplishments which includes a collection of original art, photographs, and video projections. The show will be at Hamilton Place through the staging of the Nutcracker Ballet from December 11 to 13. It will arrive at The Pearl Company from December 13 through January 10.
In the meantime, our store will be set up and we’re showing part of The Pearl’s “stable” of artists….Gallery hours: 1 to 4, Wednesday through Sunday; 6 to 8 Thursday and Friday evenings. (Also by chance or appointment.)

Patricia Cano, “This is the New World”: Sunday, November 8: Doors open 6:00, Concert at 8:00. $15 at the door. $10 Students / Seniors. As part of the closing of our ‘Vanishing Beauty’ Amazonian Art Exhibition, Patricia Cano will launch her first album entitled “This Is the New World”. Patricia will be joined onstage by her musical partner and composer, Carlos Bernardo, Luis Orbegoso, her producer and arranger on drums, bongos and cajón, bass player Roberto Occhipinti, of The Sicilian Jazz Project, Maninho Costa on brazilian percussion, Marcus Ali tenor sax, and Peter Kim on trumpet.  (more…)

Previewing September; Opening October 2: The Pearl Company is especially pleased to present “Vanishing Beauty”, an exhibition of Amazonian art. Gallery hours: 1 to 4, Wednesday through Sunday; 6 to 8 Thursday and Friday evenings. (Also by chance or appointment.) Call 905-524-0606.
Also featuring the multi-talented Brazilian fabric artist, Grace Kawall. (more…)

Arts of August (7th Annual Youth Initiative) Grand Finale Showcase organized by Living Rock. Art by youth between 13-25 years of age on the themes of Peace, Love, Culture or Diversity. At The Pearl Company (16 Steven St. Hamilton) 7:00-9:00pm. There is no fee for attending.

Gary Santucci is participating in his first visual arts presentation at youme gallery, 330 James Street North, in August. It’s part of the James North Arts Crawl on Friday August 14.
Titled “The Hood, the Bad, and the Ugly: Contemplating the Gritty Core of our City”, (another subtitle is “Not a Pretty Site”), Gary’s portion of  the show includes surveillance video, still photography, and digital photo loops of the area around The Pearl Company. Also in the exhibition are works by four photographers, including Jim Chambers and Cees van Gemerden.

A Little Out There, an exhibition of the paintings of Ellen Irving. Opening: June 12 & 13. 8:00 -11:00 pm, in The Pearl Company Gallery, 16 Steven Street. (more…)

In The Pearl Company Gallery. Opening Saturday, May 16, 7 to 10pm.
Emerging Layers, a show put together by well-known local art teacher and ball-of-energy-about-town, Gaiyle Connolly. Gaiyle and fellow teacher Julie Donec, are showing their work and the work of two of their highly talented students, Sonia Paolini and Anna Robichaud in a show featuring the layers that emerge as skills are passed on from instructor to apprentice.

Opening Saturday, February 7: “Whimsical Women”: Hamilton has some enchanting, creative and utterly whimsical women artists and I have long wanted to put together a show focusing on their captivating, quirky artistry. Cora Brittan, Sandee Ewasiuk, Doreen Wilson, Monika Sheddon, and Vera Dernovsek

Gallery hours: 1 to 4, Wednesday through Sunday; 6 to 8 Thursday and Friday evenings. (Also by chance or appointment