The Culture Bucket for May: UR Here Theater offers two readings of ‘The Secretary,’ ArtHop includes Gabler and Raines
Here is the latest edition of The Culture Bucket, a monthly mishmash of observations, news nuggets, feedback from readers and perhaps some snark – all about the local arts scene. I envision adding to each edition as the month progresses. I’m hoping in particular that readers can share their experiences at arts events. If you liked something – or if you didn’t – let me know (and tell me why). I and my arts elves can’t get to everything in the area, so if you’re feeling inspired about something you attend, please pass it along. — Donald
UR Here Theater offers ‘The Secretary’
(Posted May 7)
Heather Parish writes:
Fresno’s UR Here Theater specializes in staged readings of up-to-the-minute plays featuring social themes and diverse voices. Their final reading of their spring 2026 series is “The Secretary” by Kyle John Schmidt, which has two performances this month, both with talk-backs.
Ruby runs a small-town gun company that aims to protect women by helping them protect themselves. With products like The Bridesmaid, The Babysitter and The Mallwalker, each of the company’s guns is named after a woman who used a gun and saved a life—more often than not, her own. When an elderly secretary at the local high school confronts a threat in her office with six bullets, Ruby responds by naming her latest gun after the reluctant hero: “The Secretary.”
But as production begins on The Secretary, guns start going off all around town—and no one’s pulling the trigger. “The Secretary” is an off-beat comedy about safety, survival, and guns for a world that’s up in arms.
Catch the upcoming performances on Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m. at the 2nd Space Theater (928 E Olive Ave, Fresno), and the second on Thursday, May 14 at 5:30 p.m. at CMAC (1555 Van Ness Ave #201, Fresno). Tickets are $15 online or available at the door 30 minutes before showtime.
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Franka Gabler brings ‘Echoes of Nature’ to Spectrum Gallery
(Posted May 7)
Heather Parish writes:
Franka Gabler Spectrum Gallery, The Tower District’s iconic photography space, will feature the work of Coarsegold fine art photographer Franka Gabler from May 7 to May 31, 2026. In the latest issue of the gallery’s “Focus/zine,” curator Steve Dzerigian calls the “Echoes of Nature” exhibition a “subtle meditative vision” and says that “her choices resonate from regular communion with the cycles of nature closest to her heart.” Gabler’s photographs capture and color familiar scenes of Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra, and other iconic California locations with a stark resonance that is both stimulating and calm. The exhibition opens as part of May’s ArtHop events on Thursday, May 7.
More ArtHop: Corridor 2122 returns with curator William Raines
(Posted May 7)
Donald Munro writes:
A William Raines invitational is always a cause for celebration. Corridor 2122, one of Fresno’s edgiest and most interesting cooperative galleries, reopens after a hiatus with Raines’ “Hard Ground.” It features 17 artists from Washington, Colorado and California, brought together for their artistic interpretations of what it means to live on our planet during our current time of extreme stress.
Raines says of the show: “There is rawness, honesty, beauty, politics, and calls to action.”
The lineup includes Steve Dzerigian, Kelli Fanning, Diran Lyons, Nanete Maki-Dearsan, Piet Ogata, Carol Tikijian and Carolyn Zutler.
Conversations with the artists will be available at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 9, offering 9 an opportunity to hear artists’ interpretations of their work and ask questions as you take in the exhibit.
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