Arts Bar toasts to the Irish

The Churchill Arts Council will present its popular Art Bar and Open House — St. Patrick’s Day Edition — tonight at the Oats Park Art Center from 5-9 p.m. and it’s free and open to the public.

In addition to the no-host bar, it’s a great chance to visit with family and friends and check out the two current exhibitions on view at the center. The exhibitions feature the work of two Montana artists, Gordon McConnell and Jane Waggoner Deschner.

McConnell’s paintings and works on paper draw upon classic black-and-white western movies but take the film images in new directions. Deschner’s work involves using found photographs as the literal basis for embroidering quotes from various authors that open up new windows for the meanings of the snapshots of our past.

Paul Thorn and his band will roll into Fallon for a show on March 22. The acclaimed singer-songwriter has released seven albums — most recently “What the Hell Is Going On” — and has toured with several artists from Sting to Carol King. Kris Kristofferson has called Thorn “the best kept secret in the music business.”

On his latest CD, and in a break from his original laden previous albums, Thorn puts his own rockin’ stamp on covers of songs by Buddy Miller, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Fleetwood Mac.

Thorn’s own rootsy and rocking songs convey tales of folks living on the edges of normal and has been described as both music from the margins and like going to church with a sixpack.

He’s been featured on NPR’s “World Café” and “All Things Considered.” Visit www.paulthorn.com for more information.

There’s been a lot of interest in this show from out of town — folks are coming from Winnemucca, Sacramento and the Bay Area— so for best availability you should get your tickets sooner rather than later. They’re $17 for CAC members, $20 for non-members and are available at Jeff’s Copy Express, Postage Plus or by calling Churchill Arts at 775-423-1440.

Coming up on March 29 will be a prose reading by novelist Tupelo Hassman from her award-winning novel “girlchild.” We’ll have more information on Tupelo and this free event in next week’s column.

Kirk Robertson writes about the local arts.