“It was just another winter Saturday morning at the Reading Terminal Market” in Philadelphia, writes Carol Kino in Sunday’s (2/6) New York Times. “Suddenly a man standing in line at a cheese steak stand raised his arm with a flourish and turned to the crowd. ‘Votre toast, je peux vous le render,’ he sang in a thrilling baritone…. Soon more than 30 members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia chorus were singing, dancing, and toasting one another with coffee and soda cups.… As the music ended four people in the crowd held up signs reading, ‘You have just experienced a Random Act of Culture.’ Since October more than 160 such pop-up events have taken place in eight cities around the country” including Philadelphia: Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Macon, Ga.; Miami; St. Paul; and San Jose, Calif. The performances range from “arias and string quartets to tangos and poetry readings. The project is the first major initiative undertaken by the Knight Arts Program, begun last March by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. ‘Everything we do revolves around the idea of weaving the arts into the fabric of the community,’ said Dennis Scholl, the arts program’s director.”
Posted February 7, 2011
