WCR announces capital campaign; Spin Doctors booked for block party [Spotlight]

Sep. 4—The WCR Center for the Arts, 140 N. Fifth St., has kicked off a $350,000 capital campaign to improve building accessibility ahead of its 20th anniversary in 2024.

"We are ready to embark on our WCR Accessibility Campaign, which will open our doors further and allow the WCR Center for the Arts to play a larger role in the downtown Reading arts community," said Jayme Rhoads, president of the board of directors. "You may not know that behind the charming front entrance on North Fifth Street lies a grand 250-seat auditorium with exceptional acoustics and elegant historical architecture. Our planned accessibility project will give our audience members with limited mobility the means by which to enjoy the variety of performances housed in our building."

The project will maintain the historical integrity of the building and the front facade will remain undisturbed. Funds will be used to construct a two-stop lift that will be inside a stair tower attached to the exterior of the rear of the building, incorporating the new lift into the existing structure. This addition will give improved access to the main audience floor and restrooms, while complementing the historical beauty found on the front façade and internal design.

To date, the WCR has received project-related gifts from the Presser Foundation, the Holleran DonorAdvised Fund of Berks County Community Foundation, Customers Bank, Reading Elevator and the International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 5, "Lift for a Vet" program.

Donations can be mailed to William G. Koch & Associates, 2650 Westview Drive, Wyomissing, PA 19610. Checks can be made out to WCR Center for the Arts.

The Woman's Club of Reading was formed in 1896 and acquired the property in the Callowhill Historic District in 1919. The leaders of the Woman's Club then had a large auditorium constructed. The building has been home to the Friends of Chamber Music for over 50 years.

Over several decades, membership declined and there was gradual deterioration of the building. In 2004, a group of community leaders came together to save the structure, which resulted in the creation of the WCR Center for the Arts, which aims to preserve, revitalize, honor and transform the facility as a center for cultural, social and business events, with special focus on the performing arts. For more information, visit www.wcrcenter.org.

Music

The Reading Royals hockey team announced Monday that the Spin Doctors will be performing at the Opening Night Block Party before the team's ECHL home opener against the Indy Fuel on Oct. 29 at Santander Arena.

The Spin Doctors are an alternative American rock band originating from New York City. The band began in the late 1980s and consists of singer Chris Barron, guitarist Eric Shankman and bass player and percussionist Aaron Corness.

The band is best known for its early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which charted on the Billboard Top 100 at No. 7 and No. 17, respectively. Additionally, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Two Princes."

The concert is a free show at the team's pregame block party event. Tickets to the game, which begins at 7 p.m., can be purchased by visiting the Royals' box office at Santander Arena or by calling 610-898-7825.

Art

An unveiling reception will be held Sept. 15 in the Reading Public Museum's European Gallery for two stained and painted glass panels depicting the Crucifixion and the Virgin and Child that have been in the museum's collection since they were purchased in 1933.

The panels will be displayed in custom-built light boxes, and accompanied by text detailing their newly discovered history and attribution.

The windows were last displayed in 2012 in the museum's Arms and Armor Gallery, before being removed for gallery renovations. At that time, they were described as "16th century Baumgartner panels from Nuremberg" with the artist unknown and the patron only identified by his last name.

In early 2022, in preparation for reintroducing the windows in the galleries, research was undertaken to determine if more information could be learned using the panels' inscriptions and known provenance as clues.

Catharine Ingersoll, Ph.D., associate professor of art history at Virginia Military Institute and a scholar whose research focuses on southern German visual and material culture in the late medieval and Renaissance periods, was contacted to contribute her professional opinion.

Ingersoll confirmed the museum's Hans Wertinger attribution and was able to offer identities for the patrons. According to Ingersoll, the panels were likely made by Hans Wertinger alone or with his workshop, in Landshut, Germany. They were commissioned by Peter Baumgartner and his wife Anna von Trenbach for their family burial chapel in the parish church in Mining, Austria, and completed in 1524.

At the unveiling, Ingersoll will speak on the rediscovery and attribution of the windows, the Baumgartner family and the making of stained glass in 16th century Europe. The reception and lecture will be open to all and costs $10 for museum members and $20 for nonmembers. It will include tastings of German-style beer. Contact Lindsay Crist at Lindsay.Crist@readingpublicmuseum.org to register.

----Art Plus Gallery, West Reading, is hosting the exhibition "Memories of Distant Lands," Mary Burke's watercolors and oils, inspired by the coasts of Maine and Ireland, through Sept. 30, with a reception Sept. 9 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Abstract yet deeply evocative of their subjects, Burke's paintings have an extraordinary way of taking one to the heart and soul of her native Ireland and beloved coast of Maine. Her unique style has been hailed for its "vibrant energy" and "ethereal air" and called "hauntingly beautiful."

Film

ReadingFilm, in conjunction with local mental health organizaitons, has announced two free film screenings in support of Suicide Awareness Month: The documentary "Hell or High Seas" will be shown Thursday, Sept. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Boscov Theatre in the Goggleworks Center for the Arts, and "Wake Up: Stories From the Front Lines of Suicide Prevention" will be shown Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 6 p.m. in Perkins Auditorium at Penn State Berks.

"Hell or High Seas" follows U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Grieger and writer Stephen O'Shea as they sail around Cape Horn, the world's most treacherous ocean waters. A discussion will follow. Register at eventbrite.com.

"Wake Up" sheds light on four different groups with varied stories to tell about suicide: American veterans, members of the LGBT community, university students and gun owners. Through their testimony, the film weaves a diverse tapestry of experiences into a multifaceted narrative of the heroes on the frontlines.

Theater

The Reading Theater Project has announced auditions for its fall production, "Present, Future, Past," three one-act plays about Reading's past, present and future, written by regional playwrights.

Auditions will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m., with call backs (if needed) on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 6:30 p.m., at Holy Cross United Methodist Church, 529 N. Fifth St., Reading. Free parking and the entrance are accessible at the back of the building, off of Church Street.

More information about the roles, plays, directors and overall production, and the audition sign-up form, are posted at readingtheaterproject.org. Email info@readingtheaterproject.org or call 484-706-9719 with questions.