Fresno Famous

This Thursday is one busy day for Fresno's growing arts community. March ArtHop also marks the opening of the 5th annual Rogue Performance Festival, a non-juried fringe-style festival that brings music, theatre, and art to Downtown and the Tower over two jam-packed weeks. Get a taste of what the Rogue has to offer as you hop around.

Start your night at Ashtree Studios, which is a Rogue main performance venue and a big supporter of the festival. This month Ashtree is showing the work of Tim Channell, James East, Stephanie J. Golden, Devon Jones and Aileen R. Imperatrice. As a bonus, Ashtree is hosting 15-minute previews of many of the live performances of the Rogue Festival. Music, comedy, theatre, and "wacky stuff you won't believe" are scheduled. Pick up a copy of the Rogue Map so you can plan your entertainment schedule for the next two weeks.

While you're in the Tower, don't miss "Art(Escape)," work by Sam Taylor. The digital photography collection explores the advancement in digital photography and the photographer's personal belief that all things are interconnected.

After your taste of the Rogue, head down to Broadway Studios for the most bang for your ArtHop hour. This month the collective of 25 different artists will be showcasing everything from photography to graffiti. "Timothy Esau: art te" is a retrospective of the artist's career in painting, from the age of 7 on. See how he's progressed (hopefully). Also on exhibit at Broadway is the photography of Shannon Hunter, whose collection of portraits casts a group of Fresno creative types as homesteaders (yours truly was a subject).

One testament to ArtHop's growth is the proliferation of unconventional exhibit spaces, like the new Community Regional Imaging Center. To celebrate its grand opening, six local artists will be showing in the new building's lobby. Diane Brener, Grant Aaron Rogers, Marcos Dorado, Terry Galen Phillips, Dixie Salazar, and Jason Thomas have all contributed pieces for the reception. If you are in the market for quality refreshments, this is your best bet. And if you see Ms. Salazar, congratulate her on winning the omnipresence award- she's also showing at Arte Americas and her own Silva/Salazar Studio this month.

Mono Street is always the place to see a quality gallery show, and this month is no exception. Fig Tree Gallery will exhibit Bob Barnes, Juliana Harris, Iris Duarte and David Hallaway, while Gallery 25 shows "Nest," new work by Kris Kess and Steve Norton's digital prints from the "New Histories" series.

Round out this year's Rogue ArtHop at Tokyo Garden, where the artists go to drink. Local act Rademacher continues its stranglehold on the venue, with San Francisco's Golden Birds and Leyna Noel. The new Fresno rock group Mahreideran will also play.