Sub Rosa: The Creative Courtyard (formerly the Gypsie Courtyard) has found a new home at Bearno's in the Highlands every fourth Friday of the month. It is one of Louisville's most popular creative networking events.
Founder and producer Divinity Rose created the event to be an arts and entertainment networking event and
showcase in 2008. Many of Louisville's visual artists, musicians and other performers have graced the stages of Sub Rosa's venues as have a fair amount of out of town visitors.
The gathering offers a variety of entertainment in the form of a variety show. Music, comedy, magic, fashion, poetry, and other performance arts such as fire spinning and contortion are showcased alongside visual art and films primarily by local artists.
"There is a wealth of talent here in Louisville," said Divinity. "There wasn't really a regular gathering that allowed people from different creative corners in Louisville to network before Sub Rosa nor was there a "showcase" that paid its featured performers anything. I knew so many talented people in different creative genres that would benefit from knowing each other, I wanted to create a place for them to get together and collaborate in addition to supporting each other."
There are paid feature spots in addition to open mic slots, and the show could go on easily for six hours at times. In the past, all of the acts have been on one stage.The format worked for several years, but Rose wanted to tweak it a bit to better encompass the desires of performers and variety of things going on. Now that the event is at Bearno's, the event has been split into two different performance areas. Music occurs in the dining room, while the rest of the event occurs on the back deck. This allows the performers to rotate at a quicker speed as the music happens simultaneously with the other performers.
"It's nice to actually have a courtyard," says Rose.
The back deck performance encompass things like poetry, comedy, and other performances such as bellydancing, fire acts, and magic. Visual art is projected on rotation behind the performers and physical visual art is on display as well. Sometimes a local filmmaker shows a film or trailer. The new home also allows for all ages to come and participate, although it is recommended for an audience of 17 plus as there is not generally any censorship on content.
The next Sub Rosa gathering is June 22 at 9 p.m., although the sign up lists go out at about 8:30 p.m. The featured musical act is the Twosmiths (Daniel and Brice from the Tunesmiths); featured comedian is Danny Maupin; and featured performance art is fire spinning by Ms. Gypsy Love. There is never a cover charge, although donations for the cause of the night are appreciated. It's a great way to enjoy a Friday night of live entertainment and connect with others in the community. Artists or local businesses interested in showcasing or supporting the event and/or advertising may contact the production company at jessica@doggeddreamcreations.com.
