BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Crosstown Arts - ECPv6.15.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://crosstownarts.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Crosstown Arts
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Chicago
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20250309T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20251102T070000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20260308T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20261101T070000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20270314T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20271107T070000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260313T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260607T200000
DTSTAMP:20260423T053545
CREATED:20260316T141123Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T141540Z
UID:10004891-1773399600-1780862400@crosstownarts.org
SUMMARY:Spring Exhibitions
DESCRIPTION:Crosstown Arts presents three exhibitions: Shades of Heritage by Wiley Henry\, A Rabbit With a Gun by Lawrence Matthews\, and Club Walrus\, Fluvial Effluvia\, and Know No Now by Karl Erickson. The exhibitions bring together three distinct artistic practices that explore themes of heritage\, perception\, identity\, and humanity’s relationship with the wider world. \nOn view through June 7\, 2026\, the exhibitions highlight artists working across painting\, drawing\, animation\, installation\, and multimedia forms\, each approaching the act of representation from a unique perspective. \n\nShades of Heritage — Wiley Henry\nIn Shades of Heritage\, Wiley Henry presents a selection of paintings and drawings centered on the human figure and the formative influence of personal history. Through traditional realist techniques\, Henry explores how heritage shapes identity and artistic expression. \nThe exhibition reflects Henry’s belief that his work emerges directly from the experiences that shaped him. As the artist explains\, the works collectively “reflect my identity\, artistic perspective\, and creative approach\,” emphasizing the role heritage plays in both subject and meaning. \nHenry’s fascination with the human form allows him to depict figures with ease and emotional immediacy. He describes this connection as inseparable from his upbringing and the environment that formed him: “I am who I am because of my heritage.” \nAlthough the exhibition is not explicitly religious\, Henry notes that spiritual themes often surface within his work. In several pieces he depicts gatherings of Black angels and children in celestial settings\, continuing a long tradition of artists who have portrayed angelic figures throughout history. \nHenry is a Memphis-born artist whose work has been widely reproduced and commissioned for portraits of prominent individuals\, including judges\, actors\, politicians\, and community leaders. A graduate of the Memphis College of Art\, he has built a career rooted in traditional realism and a distinctive ability to capture what he describes as the “essence of the human spirit.” \n\nA Rabbit With a Gun — Lawrence Matthews\nLawrence Matthews’ A Rabbit With a Gun explores the unsettling feeling that reality itself may be unstable. The exhibition grew out of the artist’s immersion in media and ideas about altered perception and the uncanny nature of everyday life. \nMatthews describes his recent years as a period spent grappling with the feeling that something about existence feels “off”—that space\, time\, and social interactions sometimes behave in strange or unpredictable ways. “People are confusing\,” he writes. “Time moves in ways which it shouldn’t. Months zoom past in hours.” \nIn this body of work\, Matthews imagines what might happen if one actively pushes against those familiar routines and expectations. He describes venturing “further and further into spaces off the path—in the world\, in my past and in my own head.” The works become attempts to share those moments when perception shifts and the boundaries of reality feel fluid. \nBorn and raised in a neighborhood between the Mississippi border\, Memphis city limits\, and the surrounding suburbs\, Matthews’ life experience informs a sensibility closely aligned with Southern Gothic traditions. His work draws from the emotional tension of those environments—places both overlooked and deeply personal. \nMatthews holds a BFA from the University of Memphis and has spent more than a decade exhibiting\, performing\, and collaborating with arts organizations. His multidisciplinary practice blends visual art\, performance\, and narrative into works that reflect the intertwined experiences of memory\, place\, and identity. \n\nClub Walrus\, Fluvial Effluvia\, and Know No Now — Karl Erickson\nKarl Erickson’s exhibition combines digital animation\, installation\, and audio-visual experimentation to explore a world in which humans are only one of many active participants. His work asks viewers to consider the agency of the “other-than-human” entities that share the planet with us. \nFor Erickson\, this includes plants\, animals\, machines\, trash\, electricity\, and the microscopic systems that underpin life itself. The complex tools he uses—such as photogrammetry\, modular synthesizers\, and 3D animation—mirror the complexity of ecological systems. \nWithin these animated environments\, meaning becomes unstable and identities shift. Erickson intentionally disrupts conventional structures of logic and interpretation\, allowing nonsense\, humor\, and absurdity to proliferate. This approach challenges what he describes as the “authoritative\, single-minded way of understanding the world” that privileges strict rational order above all else. \nMany of Erickson’s digital puppets are built from discarded materials\, emphasizing the interconnected assemblage of things that make up the world. By animating these objects and giving them uncanny life\, he invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with the physical environment. \nErickson’s work has been presented widely in galleries\, museums\, film festivals\, and performance spaces. His animation Know No Now has screened internationally and received the Best Animation award at the Chroma Art Film Festival in Miami. \n\nOn View at Crosstown Arts\nTogether\, these three exhibitions offer distinct but complementary perspectives on the human experience—from the shaping power of heritage\, to the instability of perception\, to the broader networks of life and matter that surround us. \nThe exhibitions remain on view at Crosstown Arts in Memphis through June 7\, 2026.
URL:https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/spring-exhibitions/
LOCATION:Crosstown Arts Galleries\, 1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280\, Memphis\, TN\, 38104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Gallery
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://crosstownarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/OpeningReception_03_13_26_Galleries_SocialMedia-Art7.jpg
GEO:35.1522897;-90.0132964
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Crosstown Arts Galleries 1350 Concourse Ave. Suite 280 Memphis TN 38104 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280:geo:-90.0132964,35.1522897
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260423T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260423T210000
DTSTAMP:20260423T053545
CREATED:20260327T183240Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T183240Z
UID:10004897-1776970800-1776978000@crosstownarts.org
SUMMARY:Crosstown Arts Film Series Presents: Dr. Strangelove
DESCRIPTION:Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is one of cinema’s sharpest and most enduring satires\, a Cold War nightmare spun into pitch-black comedy. Released at the height of nuclear anxiety\, the film follows a chain reaction of military blunders and political absurdities that threaten to end the world\, not with heroism\, but with bureaucratic confusion and human folly. \nAnchored by Peter Sellers in multiple unforgettable roles\, Dr. Strangelove walks a razor’s edge between the ridiculous and the terrifying\, exposing how fragile the systems of power can be when placed in the hands of flawed individuals. Kubrick’s stark visual style and relentless sense of irony turn global annihilation into something both hilarious and deeply unsettling. \nJoin us at Crosstown Arts Theater on Thursday\, April 23 at 7pm for this landmark film that remains as biting\, relevant\, and uncomfortably funny as ever.
URL:https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/crosstown-arts-film-series-presents-dr-strangelove/
LOCATION:Crosstown Theater\, 1350 Concourse Ave.\, Memphis\, TN\, 38104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Crosstown Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://crosstownarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/strangelove-poster.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260424T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260424T213000
DTSTAMP:20260423T053545
CREATED:20260201T160013Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T160605Z
UID:10004801-1777059000-1777066200@crosstownarts.org
SUMMARY:Steve Lee
DESCRIPTION:Steve Lee\nThe Green Room at Crosstown Arts  \nFriday\, April 24th\, 2026 \nDoors open at 7:00 PM | Show at 7:30 PM \n$20 in advance | $25 at the door \nPURCHASE TICKETS HERE \nStephen Lee returns to the Green Room—one of his favorite stages and a familiar home base—to deliver another night of soulful\, world-class jazz. \nA Memphis native\, Lee studied with legendary Jazz pianist Donald Brown at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville before heading to New York City to finish his studies and further hone his skills in some of the most well-known jazz venues in the world. He rounded out his studies with a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from City College in New York City and a Master’s degree in Education from Freed Hardeman University. While living in New York\, Stephen has shared the stage with some of Jazz music’s best and brightest including Gregory Porter\, Esperanza Spaulding\, Billy Kaye and Saul Rubin. In 2012\, he released his first album\, “Songs in the Key of My Life” for which he won the Rhythm of Gospel Award and was nominated in the first round of the Stellar Awards. In 2018 Stephen was voted Steinway and Sons 2018 Top Music Teacher of the Year by Amro Music Store. And In 2019\, he was nominated as a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow.
URL:https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/steve-lee/
LOCATION:Crosstown Arts\, The Green Room\, 1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280\, Memphis\, TN\, 38104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://crosstownarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2662.jpeg
GEO:35.1521433;-90.0155942
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Crosstown Arts The Green Room 1350 Concourse Ave. Suite 280 Memphis TN 38104 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280:geo:-90.0155942,35.1521433
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260425T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260425T213000
DTSTAMP:20260423T053545
CREATED:20260201T160002Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260130T192935Z
UID:10004803-1777145400-1777152600@crosstownarts.org
SUMMARY:Memphis Jazz Orchestra featuring Michael Dease
DESCRIPTION:Memphis Jazz Orchestra featuring Michael Dease\nThe Green Room at Crosstown Arts \nSaturday\, April 25th\, 2026\nDoors open at 7:00 PM | Show starts at 7:30 PM\n$25 in advance | $30 at the door \nPURCHASE TICKETS HERE\nJoin the Memphis Jazz Orchestra for a special one-night only performance at the Green Room at Crosstown Arts featuring one of the preeminent trombonists of the current era\, Michael Dease! \nMichael Dease is one of the world’s eminent trombonists\, lending his versatile sound and signature improvisations to over 200 recordings and groups as diverse as Grammy-winning artists David Sanborn\, Christian McBride\, Kanye West\, Michel Camilo\, and Alicia Keys. Born in Augusta\, Georgia\, he played the saxophone and trumpet before choosing the trombone at age 17. In 2001\, Dease moved to New York City to become part of the historic first class of jazz students at The Juilliard School\, earning both Bachelors and Masters degrees\, and quickly established a reputation as a brilliant soloist\, side-person\, and bandleader. \nGive It All You Got (Posi-Tone\, 2021) received positive acclaim from JazzTimes Magazine and a coveted 4-star review from Downbeat Magazine. The music centers on themes of devotion to the past and future of the jazz lineage\, realized at the Jazz Institute at Brevard where he serves as director. As a bandleader\, this is Dease’s eighth album for Posi-Tone\, fourteenth of his career\, and features Gregory Tardy\, Ulysses Owens\, as well as his wife Gwen Dease and eldest daughter Brooklyn Dease on percussion. Since then\, he has released Best Next Thing (Posi-Tone\, 2022)\, his baritone saxophone recording debut on Swing Low (Posi-Tone\, 2023)\, two albums featuring music from composer Gregg Hill\, The Other Shoe (Origin\, 2023) and Found in Space (Origin\, 2024)\, plus Groves Groove (Le Coq Records\, 2024)\, and City Life (Origin\, 2025). \nDownbeat Magazine named Dease the 2016 Rising Star Jazz Trombonist. He then won the magazine’s Critics Poll for 2021 Trombonist of the Year\, an award granted in subsequent years as well. He is a three-time Grammy award winner with Christian McBride and Alicia Keys and a sought-after lead\, section\, and bass trombonist with today’s leading jazz orchestras. His experiences include bands led by Christian McBride\, Roy Hargrove\, Nicholas Payton\, Charles Tolliver\, Rufus Reid\, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra\, and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. However\, it is on the frontline of small groups led by master musicians like The Heath Brothers\, Winard Harper\, Renee Rosnes\, Bill Charlap\, Claudio Roditi\, and Lewis Nash\, where Dease has revitalized the trombone’s image. Not content to simply improvise\, Dease arranges and composes for many different bands\, constantly adjusting his tone and timbre to add just the right flavor to the music. \nMichael Dease is an enthusiastic endorser and Performing Artist for Yamaha Trombones\, Trumpets and Saxophones\, Pickett-Blackburn brass mouthpieces\, and the custom repair services of expert craftsman Scott Sweeney of Sweeney Brass in Raleigh\, North Carolina. Most importantly\, he enjoys spending time with his extraordinary wife and Professor of Percussion at MSU\, Gwendolyn Dease\, and their daughters Brooklyn and Charly.
URL:https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/memphis-jazz-orchestra-featuring-michael-dease/
LOCATION:Crosstown Arts\, The Green Room\, 1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280\, Memphis\, TN\, 38104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://crosstownarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/M-Dease-110-1.jpg
GEO:35.1521433;-90.0155942
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Crosstown Arts The Green Room 1350 Concourse Ave. Suite 280 Memphis TN 38104 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280:geo:-90.0155942,35.1521433
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260428T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260428T213000
DTSTAMP:20260423T053545
CREATED:20260201T160019Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260422T202811Z
UID:10004792-1777404600-1777411800@crosstownarts.org
SUMMARY:University of Memphis Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Singers
DESCRIPTION:University of Memphis Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Singers  \nThe Green Room at Crosstown Arts  \nTuesday\, April 28\, 2026  \nDoors open at 7:00 PM | Show starts at 7:30 PM  \n$10 tickets | Free for students and faculty with ID \nPURCHASE TICKETS HERE \nExperience an electrifying evening of jazz excellence that bridges generations and celebrates Memphis’s rich musical legacy. The highly acclaimed Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra of the University of Memphis Scheidt School of Music takes the stage\, featuring the 2025 DownBeat Magazine Outstanding Performance–winning U of M Jazz Singers. With roots dating back to the early 1960s\, these ensembles represent decades of artistry\, innovation\, and national recognition at the highest level. \nTogether\, these celebrated ensembles deliver a powerful\, multigenerational jazz experience—honoring tradition\, showcasing world-class talent\, and affirming Memphis as a vital force in the jazz world.
URL:https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/university-of-memphis-southern-comfort-jazz-orchestra-and-jazz-singers-opener-the-central-high-school-jazz-band/
LOCATION:Crosstown Arts\, The Green Room\, 1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280\, Memphis\, TN\, 38104\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Green Room
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://crosstownarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/55ca2208-d385-4cdf-9579-bf8e8c615a45.jpg
GEO:35.1521433;-90.0155942
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Crosstown Arts The Green Room 1350 Concourse Ave. Suite 280 Memphis TN 38104 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280:geo:-90.0155942,35.1521433
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260430T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260430T213000
DTSTAMP:20260423T053545
CREATED:20260201T160017Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260401T192302Z
UID:10004778-1777577400-1777584600@crosstownarts.org
SUMMARY:ECHO Party
DESCRIPTION:ECHO Party \nThe Green Room at Crosstown Arts  \nThursday\, April 30th\, 2026 \nDoors open at 7 PM | Show begins at 7:30 PM \n$18 in advance | $22 at the door  \nPURCHASE TICKETS HERE \nBased in Memphis\, ECHO Party is a free jazz collective that bridges the gap between commercial polish and avant-garde extremes\, featuring a lineup of musicians with decades of interlocking history. This is not only a show\, but an album release party! \nThe group is anchored by the dual horns of saxophonist Art Edmaiston—a legendary session player for artists like Justin Timberlake and Gregg Allman—and Chad Fowler\, a multi-instrumentalist and founder of Mahakala Music known for his work with icons like William Parker. The two share a background in Memphis horn sections\, a chemistry that complements the group’s rhythm section: keyboardist Alex Greene (Reigning Sound)\, who has collaborated with Fowler since the 1990s indie rock scene; guitarist Khari Wynn\, known for his tenure as Music Director for Public Enemy and his work with Fowler in the ESP-Disk unit Deepstaria Enigmatica; and drummer Steve Hirsh\, a texture-oriented improviser who has recorded extensively with legends such as William Parker\, Daniel Carter and Matthew Shipp\, as well as Fowler\, and released a duo album with Edmaiston in 2023. Together\, they dismantle genre boundaries\, using their mastery of soul\, rock\, and experimental forms to fuel spontaneous\, high-energy composition.
URL:https://crosstownarts.org/calendar/steve-hirsh-echo-party/
LOCATION:Crosstown Arts\, The Green Room\, 1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280\, Memphis\, TN\, 38104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://crosstownarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IMG_4665-1.jpg
GEO:35.1521433;-90.0155942
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Crosstown Arts The Green Room 1350 Concourse Ave. Suite 280 Memphis TN 38104 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1350 Concourse Ave.\, Suite 280:geo:-90.0155942,35.1521433
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR