African rising star performs in Fallon

Tomorrow night is the City’s free in-the-park concert with Fatoumata Diawara, one of the rising young stars in African and World music.

The show here is part of her extensive first North American tour which will take her from Bonaroo to Fallon, Grass Valley, the Napa Valley Opera House, Yoshi’s in Oakland, Chicago, New York’s Central Park Summer Stage and many other venues.

Diawara’s group features her arresting melodies soaring over intricate guitar and drum arrangements and she’s created a unique contemporary folk sound that draws upon Jazz and Blues as well as the Wassoulou traditions of her native Mali.

The show will be on the Centennial Stage in Oats park, between East and West Park Streets in front of the Art Center. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. and promises to be a rousing good time.

So plan on getting together with your family and friends for a great night of music under the stars. Bring your own picnic supper of sample a variety of culinary goodies that will be available for purchase from the Slanted Porch.

For information on the concert, call the Arts Council at 775-423-1440.

Also, the Art Center’s galleries and Art Bar will be open following the performance and you can take a look at the two exhibitions on view at the Center. Lee Saloutos’ exhibition “Nevada Mines Small Spaces” presents large-format photographs of Nevada mine interiors. Santa Fe artist, Nina Elder, is showing “Marred Landscapes,” paintings and drawings of Western American landscapes.

Speaking of which, Nina Elder will be in town a week from tomorrow to give a talk about here paintings at the Art Center. Elder’s images examine the visual evidence of land use in the American West and document the often overlooked remnants of industrial expansion.

In doing so she explores the delineation between land and landscape, between beauty and banality.

Her talk will be at 4 p.m. on June 22 in the galleries at the Art Center followed by a reception for the artist from 5-7 p.m. It is free and open to the public. For information, call the Art Council.