Shahzad Ismaily live scoring “Meshes of the Afternoon” on 30 December 2011. Photo by Alberto Tomas Halpern.

We had an exciting double-whammy New Year’s weekend, starting Friday night with our third annual New Year’s Silent Film Program. We were honored to have Shahzad Ismaily in town, who — despite terrible troubles getting to Marfa — performed amazing (original) live scores for Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921) and Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid’s experimental film, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Ismaily’s sheet music was lost in transit, so he performed both scores from memory. Really incredible job, and both films were excellent (The Kid = total heart melter).

On Saturday afternoon, as part of Marfa New Year’s Eve: The Progressive Party Adventure, we hosted a cocktail hour with prosecco, LPs, and 3-minute blind contour drawings by local artists Joe Cashiola, Erin Kimmel, and Hilary duPont. We were the second stop on the tour: visitors first attended a postcard workshop at Marfa Book Company, made their way over to Ballroom, then ended the night at El Cosmico. Was a great time — can’t really go wrong with blind contour drawings. Special thanks to artists Joe, Erin, and Hilary for their enthusiasm and RAW TALENT — see all the amazing portraits here.