Paul Kozlowkski opened the Ake Gallery two years ago. He’s celebrating the anniversary with events that embody what the gallery was created for: music, art and comedy.
The anniversary celebration begins Saturday with Absolute Originals, a collaborative performance by Kat Walters, Colleen Kattau, Nancy Mead and Patty Francis. Kozlowski said it’ll sort of be like a round robin, where an artist will talk about a song, perform it, pass the microphone and maybe join in with another artist’s song.
“I just happened to get four women,” Kozlowski said. “I feel like there’s more female songwriters around here. Most of the guys are cover band guys.”
Kattau, of Cortland, has been writing and performing music for decades, often inspired by current events and social issues. While the number of female singer/songwriters has been increasing since the early 2000s, the field is still dominated by men, she said.
“I think it’s just wonderful to highlight women, because we need to be doing that and highlighting the feminine creativity in all of us, no matter what gender,” Kattau said. “It kind of shows a solidarity among us.”
Kat Walters, who hosts The Working Stiff Show on WIII, I-100, writes blues and rock music.
“The chance to perform with these extremely talented female songwriters adds to the experience for me, personally, because it gives me the opportunity to learn from each of them live on stage,” Walters said. “I am very excited about this opportunity, and happy to be able to donate my time and help out the Ake Gallery.”
“Mainly, it’s a fundraiser for the gallery, because we want to keep that place afloat,” Kattau said. “There’s nothing like it in the world.”
Every month, the Ake Gallery hosts comedy nights, improv, open mics and movies night. In September, it hosted the sold-out Duck and Red Octopus Film Festival, where celebrity judges awarded short, funny films from around the world.
“We’re doing all of these shows this month to try and keep the gallery going,” Kozlowski said. “It’d be great to keep going with stuff like the film festival if I could just break even. I kind of have with my art, but it’d be great to do it with shows.”
On Thursday, the anniversary celebration continues with Soapboxing, which originated at the Ake Gallery’s predecessor, the Fake Gallery in Los Angeles. It started as a cocktail party for opinionated people, and evolved into a commentary free-for-all of venting and chaos, Kozlowksi said.
Panelists include former mayor Bruce Tytler, former mayoral candidate Luke Stevenson, Ty Marshal of the Center for the Arts of Homer and Harrsion Cona from WXHC.
The celebration continues Oct. 18 with Features Creatures, a gallery opening of work by Kozlowski and Cortland-based artist Michelle LoGerfo, who creates vintage-looking paintings of woodland creatures, dioramas of hot dogs and fake hunting wall mounts.
“To have 10 or 12 people come in and be hilarious with all of this energy, it’s like, we’re in Cortland!” Kozlowski said. “There’s just so much that this town has to offer.”
