Screen dream

panda constructs his bed in a jungle and eats bamboo” and did indeed bring out her inner child as she crafted her intricate assemblages from found materials such as cut paper from many printed sources, old clothes and food packaging.

“Upcycled” ticketed events happening throughout the month will benefit the MCA.

“Family-Friendly

Fabric Fun” cuts things up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, and “Trashy Tuesday: Turning Trash Into Treasure” teaches art lovers 10 and older how to creatively repurpose items from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11. Tickets are free to Trashy Tuesday but reservations via EventBrite are requested.

On April 29, local designers invite fashionistas and fashion lovers to the “Get WAISTED, not WASTED!” fashion Show from 5:30-7:30 p.m. At the event, models will be decked out in ensembles composed of recycled materials. DJ Matt Maio will spin tunes and Darian Mosley will emcee. Also, cheers to the cocktails and hors d’oeuvres included with the ticket price of $40 for MCA members and $50 for nonmembers. Proceeds will go to the organization’s ongoing efforts to provide art and art education to the community.

For more information, visit mcaocala.org.

By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com

While working on a Christian rap music video around seven years ago, Tekulve Jackson wondered if he could be working on a project that was more meaningful to him.

The 43-year-old former state employee and mental health professional said he felt inspired by his Citra hometown and wanted to tell stories about the struggles of everyday people in North Marion County and Ocala, where he lives today, so he created the storyline for “Backstreet.”

The series’ first two episodes premiered at the Marion Theatre in downtown Ocala last week, but if you missed it, the series can be streamed online.

The project started out as a film but evolved into a TV series because Jackson wanted to see his characters’ stories continue.

“I wrote the characters based off the personalities of the people that I already knew,” Jackson said. “Even though it’s all fiction and made up, we’re kind of trying to put the characters in situations that normal people would go through.”

The name “Backstreet,” he explained, comes from a “road” out of Citra and represents many small country roads. Themes include struggling to accept the past and reconcile emotions, the inner conflict between loyalties and the consequences of life-