Playing for Change!

President Obama is not the only agent of change. Artists worldwide like these good people from Playing for Change - Peace Through Music are binding together to become an upstoppable force for a better world. While you listen to this wonderful song, think about the possibility for good that our world village can now accomplish. Then, find a way to add your voice! Stop watching the news and worrying! Stand up and make something for PEACE, JUSTICE, and a BETTER FUTURE. The momentum is there- join it!

Heres is a Bill Moyer's interview with PFC founder Mark Johnson on this Project.

Almost as Good as Obama's Speech

My son just shared this video with me. It's by Brett Dennen. The song is called "Ain't No Reason" off of his album So Much More. It's powerful. Listen to the lyrics carefully and watch the video all the way through.

Went fishing.... caught database!

Being totally exhausted today from the last three days of physical work, I went "fishing" online for new art and activism resources ( Yes, I am total bore.) and man did I catch a big one. It is a database of resources for groups and individuals working all around the world on art that has a goal of social change. Put together by the International Centre of Art for Social Change, this database is worth reviewing.

Project Orange: New Twist on Graffiti

My students love the graffiti art aesthetic. Here are some Detroit artists making a very different statement with orange paint.

Attend Talk on "The Social Responsibility of the Artist"

Drawing by Malaquias Montoya, titled: Cristobal Colon, Charcoal, 1992

Time for a field trip to Chapel Hill! Malaquias Montoya, artist and activist, is coming from the University of California Davis to speak on "The Social Responsibility of the Artist" Sponsored by the Latina/o Studies program at UNC and held at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History on Tuesday, November 13th, at 6PM.

Malaquias is a silk screen artist. Check out his work at his Web site. I have posted a few of his drawings here. Montoya will most likely give a lively presentation- his work looks passionate and wide ranging in content. Come and network with other artists / activists. I will be there.

Contact Maria DeGuzman, Director of Latina/o Studies at UNC, email: deguzman at email.unc.edu for more information.

Untitled, Charcoal, 1996

Voices from the Dissappeared

Santa Fe is an artist's haven. I would move there in a minute. It's a dangerous place; the landscape is so wonderful it can be overpowering to an artist's own vision. Rain storms walk slowly across the high desert, looking like great Chinese watercolor washes, and are themselves "happenings." SFAI, Santa Fe Art Institute is doing its part to make content filled art part of the cultural landscape. Their current multi-event focus is on the theme of "The Disappeared." Their focus seems to be mostly on Latin America's long history of oppression. I do not see mention of the undocumented immigrant amongst us that is also suffering, and slowly being pushed to the margins. Maybe it is too close and too soon an issue. But check them out at www.thedisappearedsantafe.org. If you can visit some of their exhibitions, lectures, films, workshops, and panel discussions you will not be disappointed. And take time to go up on Museum Hill, if to do nothing but watch nature's ever present exhibition.