The Artistic Repertoire Theater Collaboration — colloquially known as the ART.CO-LAB — with make its debut performance on May 5 at 6 p.m. at Lightly Used Books, 141 N. Center St., with a performance of “The Voice Within.”
Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
“The goal of the collaborative is to have performers create thematic shows together,” said director Christina Rhoads. “It’s storytelling from beginning to end, with dance, spoken word poets, singers, actors … marrying all that with visual artists — painting, graphic arts, sculpture — for another tangible piece of the whole artistic element.”
Rhoads, a Merced native who was raised in Turlock, earned a degree in liberal studies from San Francisco State University. She taught adult school and preschool before leaving the classroom to home-school her children. She’s now devoting herself to teaching dance and to her personal training business — Rhoads to Wellness. She envisions the collaborative conducting pop-up performances in small, intimate spaces, such as Lightly Used Books and small cafes.
Eventually, she hopes ART.CO-LAB will be able to put on larger productions in a theater setting.
Rhoads, who used to be associated with Turlock Youth Performing Arts, was fearful that the TYPA would not come back after the pandemic.
“A friend and I were chatting about that, and it turned out that TYPA did comeback,” said Rhoads. “But what we wondered was, ‘What if we brought something else to the community that wasn’t just for children, and more for teens and adults?”
“The Voice Within” is not a thematic show, but Rhoads’ goal for future pop-up performances and, eventually, bigger performances, will be to have all the various art forms tie into a common theme.
For the debut performance, six singers — all former or current Pitman High students — will curate their own songs and own sets. They are Tabitha Smith (senior), Kaiya Olsen and Riley Cronk (juniors), Mia Santoya (sophomore), Allison Pannell (freshman) and graduate Haley Kowtko.
Along with singers, graphic and tattoo artist Hope Weiss will be displaying her work to show and to sell.
“There has been a lack of arts, not just in this community, but in society in general, for a long time,” said Rhoads. “The arts are connected to who we are as humans, and we all need some form of expression — especially coming out of the pandemic when we all were silenced in one form or another.
“The majority of the people I talk to, they’ve got something to say and they want to get it out, and it all doesn’t look the same. I get it out of me through music and dance, but I have a friend that does it through poetry and another who does it with singing. Neither one is better or worse than the other. They’re all valid and important. I want to bring all that together and unify people — especially after a time that people were so separated and shut down.”
