• Jay Etkin Gallery in Cooper-Young will host an opening reception for its new exhibit of painting by Jane Keltner on Friday March 6.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Keltner immersed herself in the arts from a very young age. her background in musical theater led her to Rollins College in Florida and then to Rome to study opera. Her love of music continues to inspire her today. She is a self-taught artist who uses the interaction of color to create a distinctive look.
The reception will run 6-9 p.m. The exhibit will remain up through April 14.
The gallery’s current exhibit, paintings by Sammy Peters, runs through March 2. Jay Etkin Gallery is located at 942 S. Cooper. Call 901-550-0064 or visit jayetkingallery.com and on Facebook for more information.
• Cooper-Young book store Burke’s Books hosts three literary events this month.
On Monday, March 5, the store 936 S. Cooper hosts a reading and book signing with Jon Sweeney, author of Phyllis Tickle: A Life (CPI Publishing, $26.95 hardcover).
In this comprehensive new volume, Sweeney, official biographer of Tickle’s literary estate, explores every aspect of the late Memphis-area author, a more than 50-year legacy of poetry, plays, literary, spiritual, and historical/theological work, and advocacy. The free event starts at 5:30 p.m. with a reading beginning at 6 p.m.
On Saturday, March 10, Burke’s will host an offsite event with local music historian Robert Gordon at Earnestine & Hazel’s, 531 S Main. Gordon’s new book, Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music’s Hometown (Bloomsbury, $28.00 hardcover), is a collection of interconnected essay and profiles, recounting the author’s encounters with such music characters as Jim Dickinson, , Jeff Buckley, Cat Power, and more.
The doors open at 8 p.m. with a reading at 8:30. A live band performance, featuring sometimes Mud Boy and the Neutrons member Jim Lancaster, swamp-boogie pianist Hal Newman, with Jimmy Segerson, Joe Gaston, and Hank Hooker follows at 9:30 p.m. Books and soundtrack LP’s will be available at the event.
Finally, on Thursday, March 29, at the store on Cooper, Burke’s hosts a reading and book signing with poet Ann Fisher-Wirth and photographer Maude Schuyler Clay. The pair’s collaboration, Mississippi (Wings Press, $34.95 hardcover), is a large-format hardback that features 47 poems and 47 color photographs that explore the history, culture, and ecology of the Magnolia State. The free event starts at 5:30 p.m. with a reading beginning at 6 p.m.
