neighborhood festival

Dondi the elephant will paint and play the harmonica at New York's ``Art Under the Bridge Festival,'' described by its executive producer as ``the largest urban forum for experimental art'' in the U.S.

This weekend's festival in Brooklyn will also feature artists who turn used juice cartons into handbags and a massive corseted dress that morphs into a tent for a chamber-music ensemble.

More than 150,000 people are expected to stroll the cobblestone streets of Dumbo, which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, to view live performances, videos and art installations. The venues include galleries, office lobbies, loading docks, rooftops and street corners. At least 1,500 artists are participating and 160 will open their studios to the public.

Two of this year's themes are eco-consciousness and sexual identity, according to Breda Kennedy, executive director of the Dumbo Arts Center, which runs the festival.

Artist Jackson Martin has transformed a pickup truck into a mobile greenhouse. ``Third Sex-y,'' scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. on a loading dock at 45 Main St., is advertised as an evening of ``queer uproar'' in the form of performance, video and poetry.

``It's a sign of the times,'' Kennedy said in an interview. ``The discussions are out there, and artists pick up on these things.''

Painting Elephant

Dondi will demonstrate her artistry at the intersection of Main and Water streets on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The elephant will work with artist Nadia Fadeeva, who has designed costumes that Dondi will paint while models wear them.

Sisters Dana and Karla Karwas will present ``Party Dress'' -- five women mixing architecture, music and fashion by ``wearing'' 300 yards of an acetate fabric that doubles as a tent big enough to hold 30 people.

Three of the women stand on ladders while two remain on the ground, Karla Karwas said in a phone interview. Audiences can step under the ``skirt'' to listen to the experimental music of Ensemble Pamplemousse on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Dumbo, which spans 27 blocks between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, has been transformed in recent years from an enclave of artists working in lofts to a gentrified neighborhood filled with expensive condominiums.

Fight Night

Many of the buildings have been converted by developer David Walentas, who lives in the neighborhood. To maintain the area's character, Walentas offers free or reduced rent to galleries and artists in several buildings he owns. His company, Two Trees Management, is a sponsor of the festival.

Last week, more than 500 people turned out for a new fund- raiser called Dumbo Fight Night to help preserve the Belgian- block roadbeds in the neighborhood and to publicize the area's cultural offerings. A boxing ring set up at St. Ann's Warehouse theater allowed musicians, dancers and performers to ``face off'' against each other.

Modern dancers from the White Wave Dance performed and were followed by a trio of female break dancers known as NBK Bgirls. Later, amateur boxers from Gleason's Gym in Dumbo fought in the ring.

This weekend, the gym will be used as a gallery and performance space for artists who produced work with a boxing theme, Gleason's owner Bruce Silverglade said.
She's not the flying elephant with whom the DUMBO neighborhood shares a name. But she is a painting pachyderm.

Dondi, 33, will exhibit her artwork at a neighborhood festival tomorrow and Sunday.

"It's a natural movement of the trunk," explained Zannah Mass, cultural affairs director for developer Two Trees.

The real estate company is expected to bring the 8,000-pound artist, originally from Thailand, for an appearance at the 11th annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival this weekend.

Dondi's handler, Phil Schacht, said Dondi has been painting for a dozen years.

"We put a stick in her hand - I mean, her trunk," he said. "She made a brushing motion."

In a few days, with positive reinforcement from her favorite treats - like apples and bananas - she was able to paint when handed a brush dipped in paint.

The pachyderm's paintings tend toward the abstract - which Schacht has had to explain when he gets requests for paintings of sailboats and elephants.

The elephant artist has a close relationship with her human family.

"It's definitely a love relationship. We have three sons. We consider her our daughter," said Schacht.

Elephants, when trained in holding brushes in the ends of their trunks, can collaborate with one another and are even known to respect the space of fellow artists - human or elephant. They won't paint across others' lines on a canvas.

DUMBO-based artist Vitaly Komar founded an art academy in Thailand - for elephants. He started the unusual Thai school to provide elephants with a livelihood after logging was banned in the country.

The hulking animals had long been used as draft animals in Thai timber camps. The elephant's place of honor was likewise threatened by the ban.

Dondi never attended the Thai art academy, but she comes from a line of elephants who worked in the country's logging trade. She came to the U.S. in 1975 and lives in Florida.

Dondi's work won't be for sale at the festival, though some of it may be auctioned off and given to elephant causes in the future.
Hospice of the Valley is hosting a free senior forum on health care Oct. 31.





Attendees can learn more about the programs offered by Hospice of the Valley, which provides end-of-life care and emotional support for patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

The forum will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at PebbleCreek, 16222 Clubhouse Drive, Goodyear. Space is limited. Reservations are required.

Reservations: (602) 636-5394.


Golf tourney to benefit Luke AFB
The PebbleCreek Singles Club is hosting its inaugural golf tournament to benefit Luke Air Force Base.

The tournament will be held Oct. 19 at Luke's Falcon Dunes Golf Course, 15100 W. Northern Ave., Waddell.

Info: www.pebblecreeksingles.com.

Students can bowl with officers
The Goodyear Police Department and westvalleycop.com present Bowl with a Cop, from 9 to 11 a.m. Oct. 7 at Brunswick Tri-City Bowling Center.

Goodyear police officers will be bowling with selected students from Elíseo C. Félix School. Additional lanes are open to the public for $10 per person (shoes included). Money raised will be donated to the school for supplies.


Neighborhood safety night
Goodyear residents are invited to celebrate Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods night, known as G.A.I.N., on Oct. 20.

The family night focuses on neighborhood safety, crime and fire prevention.

Festivities include displays of police and fire equipment and vehicles, free food, music and entertainment, and children's activities.

G.A.I.N. will run from 5 to 8 p.m. at Goodyear's Community Park, 3151 N. Litchfield Road On Saturday, Eugene-Patrice N'Komba and his three children will head to the National Book Festival on the Mall for what he calls "a rewarding low-tech pleasure."

N'Komba, of Reston, wants daughter Rhode, 17; and sons Yoan, 14, and Nathan, 8, to see "how many people share our love of reading." This is the seventh year for the festival, which draws thousands of people downtown for the chance to hear from -- and get books signed by -- more than 70 authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, J.A. Jance, Gail Carson Levine and Michael Beschloss.



A shared love of reading will draw Eugene-Patrice N'Komba, center, of Reston and his children -- Yoan, left, Nathan and Rhode -- to the National Book Festival. (By Mark Finkenstaedt For The Washington Post)

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Although pavilions will be devoted to many genres, including mystery and thrillers, and home and history, the N'Komba family will probably spend a fair amount of time in the poetry tent. Nathan has started writing poetry, and his dad wants him to meet poets. "I want him to know there are a lot of people doing what he wants to do," N'Komba says.





-- Tracy Grant


How do you spend your weekend? I f you have a great idea like the N'Komba family did, Weekend wants to know about it. Tell us in 75 fun-filled words what events you wouldn't miss and we may feature your pick on our "Weekend's Best" page. Remember, because of deadlines, it doesn't help to tell us what you're doing this weekend, but next weekend or further out would be great.