The art gallery-turned-performance space at 222 Healdsburg Ave. has announced its coming season of music, film, lecture and performance arts, to be kicked off with the high-flying dance acrobatics of Bandaloop, at the Aug. 5 Gala for the Arts.
Bandaloop, a “vertical dance company,” combines dance, climbing and aerial techniques to execute performances on the sides of buildings, cliffs and other vertical surfaces. Trained in various dance disciplines including ballet, modern dance and acrobatics, the troupe will perform on the west wall and open space of the gallery.
Bandaloop will highlight the first Gala for the Arts, a celebration to honor the contributions of all of Healdsburg’s non-profit arts organizations. These include AVFilm, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, the Healdsburg Chorus, Healdsburg Community Band, Healdsburg Jazz, Heartizens, the Raven Performing Arts Theater and, of course, The 222 itself.
The 222 Executive Director Paul Mahder called the gala “an evening of empowerment for the arts,” with fundraising opportunities for the city’s eight arts nonprofits. “Each of the organizations has one item for the live auction. A bunch of them are doing silent auctions,” he said. “There will also be fund-a-need bidding that all goes to the organizations.”
Among the auction items: a private outdoor movie screening for 50 (AVFilm), a framed painting by artist Gary Nesbit (Healdsburg Center for the Arts), two nights lodging and golf at the Little River Inn (Healdsburg Community Band), a VIP festival bundle for the 2024 Healdsburg Jazz Festival, and others.
“It’s never happened before, it’s always been everybody in their silos doing their own thing,” Mahder said. “Some of the organizations are small and can’t manage a big gala to raise money.”
The gala begins at 7pm on Saturday, Aug. 5, with bubbly and hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are $50, available at the222.org/gala-for-the-arts.
That event is followed by the first of many performances at the venue for the new season, a varied lineup that explores many artistic talents. First up is a live jazz concert with the Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos, on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27.
In a career spanning more than three decades, Sosa has released over 30 albums and collaborated with musicians from around the world, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in contemporary music.
Subsequent offerings from The 222 include the first entry in the Indigenous Voices Series, with Georgina Marie Guardado and Linda Noel on Sept. 10; a literary program with author Eileen R. Tabios on Sept. 15; a concert celebrating the legacy of Latin American women on Sept. 23; and classical music, cinema, opera and theater programs almost weekly into spring 2024.
The complete schedule can be found online at the222.org/events-list.
