• Hey kids! Free comics! The ever-popular Free Comic Book Day makes its fifth annual bow this Saturday, May 6. Before the X-Men make their last stand and Superman returns to the multiplex, reacquaint yourself with their four-color incarnations – or any of dozens of other characters, both caped crusaders and just plain joes (Archie! Conan! The Simpsons! Scott Pilgrim! Owly! Dead@17!), through specially published editions of their series available, at no cost, at your friendly neighborhood comic shop. To find which of the dozen or so area shops is nearest you, visit www.freecomicbookday.com.
• The second First Night Austin is just eight months away, so a Call to Artists has gone out for proposals for visual- and performing-arts projects that might be included in the New Year’s Eve event. Projects in all disciplines are wanted for large-scale public art, street surprises, the grand procession, performance, youth performance, mobile art, and more. You can learn more about the proposal process at artist information meetings, Tuesday, May 9, 5:30-7pm, at the Carver Museum & Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina; and Wednesday, May 10, 5:30-7pm, in the Boards & Commissions Room at Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second. To attend, RSVP to anngraham@firstnightaustin.org, or call 476-5577. For submission forms, visit www.firstnightaustin.org. Proposals must be hand-delivered or postmarked to First Night Austin, 515 Congress #2050, Austin, 78701 by 5pm, June 12.
• The ever-eloquent Sharon Bridgforth will offer a banquet of words in Transformations: Then & Now, a spoken-word/a cappella concert Thursday May 11, 7pm, at Ventana del Soul, 1834 E. Oltorf. This poet/playwright will share her journey/her work/her roads traveled from sonnata blue to love conjure/blues, from root wy’mn theatre company to the bull-jean stories and beyond. Bridgforth will read from performance pieces, published works, and new things. For more info, visit www.sharonbridgforth.com.
This article appears in May 5 • 2006.