What’s new in the arts

Art of Élan integrates art and music as it explores transformation

Art of Élan — having embraced the idea of transformation — is opening its 14th season in partnership with the San Diego Museum of Art. That would seem fitting, as arts organizations everywhere have been compelled to transform themselves during this challenging time. ■ Yet Kate Hatmaker, executive and artistic director of Art of Élan, says the thought of transformation emerged back in February, before the major impact of the pandemic hit. ■ “I was drawn to the idea,” said Hatmaker, who is also a violinist with the San Diego Symphony. “I’ve seen the city and the arts culture shift in small ways. It’s been exciting to watch that shift.”

Hatmaker’s Art of Élan has been part of that excitement. Its collaborations with SDMA, integrating art and music with subtlety and uncommon imagination, have consistently enlightened as well as entertained audiences.

A socially distanced in-person schedule of live performances is set for this 14th Art of Élan season, beginning with a “walkabout” event today in the East Village.

Officially kicking off the new season is the virtual screening of “Reflections,” filmed by documentarian Mary Ellen Mark inside the San Diego Museum of Art.

There’s no other way to say it: This is a lovely, contemplative experience that brings together in one hour precise musicianship and the serenity of the Balboa Park museum galleries. (The film premieres Tuesday at 7 p.m. Tickets are free for SDMA members, $10 for nonmembers and $5 for students.)

With its theme of twins and multiples, the film “explores how we are all mirrors of each other,” Hatmaker said.

“What was important to us was that this be an experiential film. We thought it would be cool to offer the experience of walking through the entire museum, experiencing various galleries and hearing music in each of these locations. We were able to turn the museum into our creative playground.”

So during the course of “Ref lections,” you’ll see and hear musicians (Fiona Digney and Andy Watkins) playing marimbas in the rotunda, and English horn player and vocalist Theodosia Roussos enhancing the contemplative sensation of one of the galleries. Among the most stirring interludes in the preview of the film I screened was Hatmaker herself on violin, playing amid the ethereal movements of dancers from San Diego’s Disco Riot Jessie Montgomery’s “Rhapsody No. 1.” The multidisciplinary performance defines the ethos of Art of Élan. artofelan.org