The Steel Yard has prepared a spring course scheduled filled with engaging and informative hands-on classes. Explore all the possibilities waiting for you in our studio; you could weld a robot, slip cast a thousand rubber duckies, or throw a sufficient amount of ceramic plates to feed an army.

This spring the Steel Yard is offering classes in blacksmithing, ceramics, iron casting, jewelry, and welding. Courses offered are a mix of entry-level opportunities for the inexperienced maker as well as classes that focus on advanced techniques for the seasoned artisan. Courses are taught by knowledgeable and talented instructors, and class sizes are kept small to provide the best possible experience for those enrolled.

Students will be able to forge their own tools in Tool Making 101, cast molten iron to produce unique objects in Iron Cast Sculpture, or make family heirlooms in Introduction to Jewelry Making. Ceramics classes include: Slip Casting, Wheel Generate Form, Handbuilding or Ceramics II. For metalworking: Introduction to Welding, Weekend Welding Workshop and Welding II. If making jewelry is what appeals to you, then try our Ring Workshop, Wire and Chains, Wax Casting, or our Guided Open Studio.

Spring courses start mid-March. More info about registration and enrollment here.

2013 Spring Courses, Steel Yard, 27 Sims Avenue, 401.273.7101

The Wilbury Theatre Group has added extra performances of “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” to its schedule. This well-received satire of American pop-culture, racism, and professional wrestling impressed The New York Times who wrote that the play “has the delicious crackle and pop of a galloping, honest-to-God, all-American satire, a genre that seldom shows up these days.” About the play,

In wrestling, as in life, behind every winner lies a really excellent loser. This smart, hilarious powerslam of a play from Pulitzer Prize nominee Kristoffer Diaz features Macedonio “The Mace” Guerra, a middle rank Puerto Rican pro-wrestler who’s made a career of being that loser. He thinks he’s found his ticket to the big time in a charismatic Indian kid from Brooklyn whom he recruits as the perfect foil to wrestling star Chad Deity. But when their wrestling rivalry is used to exploit racial stereotypes to raise ratings, Mace wonders: is swallowing his integrity too high a price for the rewards of the media spotlight?

Additional performances start at 7:30pm/Thursday, Friday, Saturday/February 14th through the 16th.

Wilbury Theatre Group, 25 Eagle Street (at the Butcher Block Mill), 401.400.7100

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(2.12) Here’s a novel concept: Forty-five Providence area musicians drew names out of a hat and had three weeks to come up with an original 10-15 minute set.

Participants include members of Dropdead, Soul Control, Ravi Shavi, Gertrude Atherton, Verse, bloodpheasant, Invisible Hours, Thrillhouse, and many more.

Rescheduled from Friday (go to Facebook).

8pm, Tuesday, February 12, Dusk, 301 Harris Avenue (directions)

Something different from the Steel Yard,

Steel Yard Gift Certificates are each hand made by lovingly branding our logo onto a sheet of birch wood. Recipients can use their gift certificate to take Steel Yard classes, rent studio access, and/or to outfit themselves with some Steel Yard gear! Not sure how much to give to cover class costs? Contact us at the office, and we’ll help you out. Course listing for our spring 2013 season will be posted early next year.

This is just cool looking. Each handmade certificate is branded with a Steel Yard logo using an iron heated up in a coal forge.

The Steel Yard, 27 Sims Avenue, 401.273.7101

Yellow Peril Gallery is pleased to present “Larvae” a sculpture installation by Jamey Morrill, consisting of mundane, seemingly benign materials that collectively become imposing and uncanny.

“In our culture, mass production of products appears similar to the reproductive strategy of insects – where risk and cost are spread thin as gossamer over many to assure the advancement of a few,” notes Morrill.

“Larvae” is comprised of sculptural forms made from plastic bottles, monofilament, and drywall screws. These odd, yet beautifully translucent and luminous forms resemble tightly wound chrysalides seemingly in a dormant state. At Yellow Peril, the “Larvae” sculptures will inhabit the exhibition space in unexpected ways — with forms alternately touching the floor and walls or suspended tensely just inches from them.

Jamey Morrill is a Providence-based sculptor and adjunct professor of art at Rhode Island College. In recent years Morrill’s sculpture has become increasingly sprawling and site-specific, with emphasis on mass-produced materials and organic forms. Often using commonplace materials, such as plastic bottles, chicken wire, and duct tape, Morrill constructs sculptures that are outwardly cerebral and systematic but that are fundamentally random and irrational. (More after jump.)

Gallery Hours: Thursday and Friday, 3pm to 8pm/Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5pm/or by appointment

Through Sunday, December 9, Yellow Peril Gallery, 60 Valley Street, #5

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Local guys Joshua Livingston Kemp I and Brian Shawn Oakley start spinning at 10pm. On tap:

Crunk Rock, “Rap people” music, Cheddar, 1890’s, Earth, China, Funko, Cowbop, Notown, RnR (rest & relaxation) music, Cricket chirp (jk!), Boner, Dark brown, Ah so, Twang, Royal Oui, Beast Box, hWammy, Unlimited RPM, & more!!!

Cricket chirp is no joke if you do it right. On tap at the Scürvy Dög . . .  literally: Guinness, Smithwicks, Harpoon Octoberfest, Magic Hat #9, Strongbow Cider, and much more. Dancing optional. Cemetery Man at 11pm.

DJ Dance Party, 10pm to close, Tuesday, October 9, Scürvy Dög, 1718 Westminster Street (fb)

Yellow Peril Gallery is pleased to present Fabric Flesh, a series of large scale figurative works by Flynn Grinnan. Humans have an intimate connection to fabric. In fact, without it we would be naked. Outerwear, underwear, drapes and sheets all cover our bodies and our lives, keeping the private in and the body clothed, warm, and invisible. It is also a metaphor for the ‘stuff’ of the universe — the substrate in which existence takes place.

Flynn Grinnan’s new work covers the body in fabric. Comprised of a series of life-size, large scale figure sculptures, the forms in Fabric Flesh seem to emerge right from the ground they’re placed on. The abstracted surface of the form is enlivened by an intricate network of folds and lines of movement, yet the stillness of the posed body retains the feeling of a moment frozen in time. Active and delicate, Grinnan’s pieces are an eloquent expression of the human form – in fact they’re derived directly from it. They are not a representation. Show runs through November 4. (More after the jump)

Opening Reception: Friday, October 5, 6pm to 9pm, Yellow Peril Gallery, The Plant, Valley Street (map)

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(9.29) Not just the Iron Chef, this is The Ultimate Chef.

This year, teams are made of winners from previous years who will battle for the title of Ultimate Chef in this fifth annual live sculpture making competition! Each team is made up of four members; a Team Leader, a Sous Chef (a seasoned metalworking pro), an Apprentice (a student from one of the Steel Yard’s youth programs), and a Yardie (one of our instructors or teaching assistants).

At the start of each round, the Master of Ceremonies will unveil a surprise ingredient that each team must incorporate into their work. Once the secret is reveled, teams will have a limited amount of time to cut, weld, and bend steel into a unique work of art that they must present to a panel of judges and the audience for voting.

Join us at noon for the unveiling and dedication of the sculpture from the first Iron Chef. There will also a ceramic sale by the Ceramics Cooperative, food vendors, and a half-time show featuring the Extraordinary Rendition Band.

Suggested donation $10. Children free.

Ultimate Chef, Noon to 5pm, Saturday, September 29, Steel Yard, 27 Sims Avenue, 401.273.7101

Local guys Joshua Livingston Kemp I and Brian Shawn Oakley start spinning at 10pm. On tap:

Crunk Rock, “Rap people” music, Cheddar, 1890’s, Earth, China, Funko, Cowbop, Notown, RnR (rest & relaxation) music, Cricket chirp (jk!), Boner, Dark brown, Ah so, Twang, Royal Oui, Beast Box, hWammy, Unlimited RPM, & more!!!

Cricket chirp is no joke if you do it right. On tap at the Scürvy Dög . . .  literally: Guinness, Smithwicks, Harpoon Octoberfest, Magic Hat #9, Strongbow Cider, and much more. Dancing optional.

DJ Dance Party, 10pm to close, Tuesday, September 11, Scürvy Dög, 1718 Westminster Street (fb)

(9.6) Jeez, those eyebrows. I have got to think that this is going to be $10 worth of entertainment. Boston’s Venetia Fair now call their van home after several years on the road including stops at SXSW and Warped Tour. It sounds like the practice is paying off. The band claims no formal training (something occurred in middle school) but the seemingly chaotic arrangements are played with skill and precision — at breakneck speed — and somebody is crafting some nifty songs. They frequently get compared to three bands in particular. From the NewReview on their debut cd ‘The Circus,’

Their sound is electric and fierce – a cross between Panic! At The Disco and The Used. At times, vocalist Benny Santoro even seems to carry a hint of Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) in his melodies. . . The lyrics are catchy and edgy, and the guitar work is brazen yet beautiful and captivating at the same time. A mixture of complex rhythms and simple melodies that make for what would best be described as a musical spectacle.

I happen to think they are way more interesting and evolved than any of those guys. Mr. Santoro would add,

We definitely wanted an aggressive, somewhat abrasive sound so that would be where some of the screaming comes from but we’ve always tried to write with a pop sensibility. The same song might contain elements of post hardcore bands like The Blood Brothers and At The Drive In, composers like Danny Elfman and Julius Fucik, and classic pop artists like Billy Joel and The Beatles. We’re also pretty influenced by Motley Crue but that’s a lifestyle thing, not musical.

Add one more name to that list; fans of the Viennagram might be into this music. With openers Spies Like Us, Sayings, Galloway, From The Makers Of/$10 advance/$12 at the door.

Doors 5:30pm, show 6pm, Thursday, September 6, Fête Lounge, 103 Dike Street, all ages

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Yellow Peril Gallery and Rhode Island State Council for the Arts (RISCA) are pleased to announce the return of Table Fights 2012 to its birthplace in Providence. The furniture performance art event will take place at the Plant Courtyard this Sunday.

TABLE FIGHTS is a furniture performance art event. Artists from around the country build fully automated, remote controlled, fighting tables that compete for ultimate supremacy in a splinter thirsty showdown of furniture mayhem. In 2007, Shaun Bullens and Annie Evelyn, at the time both graduate students in RISD’s Furniture Design program, conceived of Table Fights. Their first event was during New York Design Week in 2008 at Magnan Projects Gallery. The following January, Bullens and Evelyn ran a RISD Wintersession Table Fights class through the Furniture Design department that culminated in a successful on-campus event that saw over 300 student attendees. Since then, Table Fights has grown to be a much-anticipated annual event, both for the artists involved and for the audience in attendance. More info at Table Fights.

The Providence Phoenix writes “The tables do battle in a 12-foot ring; ‘witty announcers,’ ring boys and girls, and a DJ add to the fun. Cheer on your favorite piece of pugilistic performance art at Yellow Peril Gallery.”

Free and open to the public, 4pm to 7pm, Sunday, August 19, The Plant Courtyard, 60 Valley Street #5, 401.861.1535

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(8.14) It’s another Tuesday again. Head over to the Scürvy Dög and for an evening of music curated by DJs Brian Shawn Oakley and Joshua Livingston Kemp I. It’s like a pahty. So what’s in the stack?

Crunk Rock, “Rap people” music, Cheddar, 1890’s, Earth, China, Funko, Cowbop, Notown, RnR (rest & relaxation) music, Cricket chirp (jk!), Boner, Dark brown, Ah so, Twang, Royal Oui,, Beast Box, hWammy, Unlimited RPM & more!!!

C’mon guys, drop some chirp in there.

10pm to 1am, Tuesday, August 14, Tue for 2Uesday, Scürvy Dög, 1718 Westminster Street

(8.7) The Olneyville Housing Corporation is throwing a neighborhood party — an evening full of activities and entertainment for the whole family — starting at 5:30pm at Donigian Park on Valley Street.

The Extraordinary Rendition Band, Big Nazo, and Case Closed! Bring your own blanket or chairs. Parade prop-making station . . . make a hat, baton or mask for a parade around the park. Food trucks.

Part of the “Celebrate Providence” neighborhood performing arts initiative of the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture and Tourism. Free and open to the public.

Free, 5:30pm to 8:30pm, Tuesday, August 7, Donigian Park, Valley Street, (rain date . . . not a problem)

(8.6) Lolita Black headlines a Monday night show at Dusk. Chris Conti profiles the band this week in The Phoenix (Too Loud to Ignore) and gives a track-by-track thumbnail review of the new album “Flesh, Blood and Bone.” He likes it . . . a lot . . . singling out the song “Two Lane Black Top” for special praise.

I’ve already carved out a spot for Song of the Year in the 2013 Best Music Poll. Pin the accelerator, kill the headlights, and hit another line off the dashboard.

(Scarlett Delgado of Lolita Black. Credit: Curt Allan)

$3, 10pm, Monday, August 6, Dusk, 301 Harris Avenue

(7.20) Resources for Human Development Rhode Island (RHD-RI) is an arts-based day program for adults with developmental disabilities. It is also the employer of many fine artists and musicians in Rhode Island. Check out the music, videos, and art at Resources for Human Development, and be sure to click through to the Youtube page.

Friday, July 20th is your chance to get a taste of the bands from the RHD-RI staff and clients, as well as support an incredible organization.

Half Man Half Human, The Memory Lanes, Mrs. Six Eyes, King Sickabilly and his Full Moon Boys, and California Smile will be playing.

$5, doors 6pm, show 7pm, Friday, July 20, Fête, 103 Dike street

DJ’s Joshua Livingston Kemp I and Brian Shawn Oakley spinning from 10pm to close at the Scürvy Dög,

Crunk Rock, “Rap people” music, Cheddar, 1890’s, Earth, China, Funko, Cowbop, Notown, RnR (rest & relaxation) music, Cricket chirp (jk!), Boner, Dark brown, Ah so, Twang, Royal Oui, Beast Box, hWammy, Unlimited RPM, & more!!!

10pm to close, Tuesday, July 17, Scürvy Dög, 1718 Westminster Street (fb)