Art made from lost items of Undocumented Immigrants

Valarie James, an artist and art teacher in Amado, Arizona makes art from lost and discarded items she finds on walks in the desert. In doing so reminds of us of the tragedy that is on going along the US / Mexican Border; 3,000 plus deaths since the 1980's. Check out her slide show and article in this Wall Street Journal article.

Contemporary Kenyan Artist Speaking at UNC

Wangechi Mutu, a critically acclaimed Contemporary Kenyan-born artist, is speaking at UNC's Global Education Center on Tuesday, March 4th at 6PM. Mutu's works are collage based and use fashion magazines, National Geographics, and books about Africa to express the tension of modern Africa as it struggles to emerge from preconceptions, ancient tradition, and modern forces. Mutu's work is a evolutionary jump from the equally powerful collages of North Carolina's own Romare Bearden. This is must catch lecture brought to us by the Hanes Lecture Series and UNC's Art Department.

Finding a Land Called Paradise Starts Here

Film maker Lena Khan has made an outstanding short video set the music of Kareem Salama's song "A Land Called Paradise." This video shows Muslims in America in a new light that stands above the stereotypes becoming so fixed in our mind's eye. I must admit that something like a tight coil unwound inside of me as I watched this video. I sat smiling and crying afterwards. As an artist working on the very same subject, I was inspired by the quality, honesty, and humanity on display in this piece. Watch, think, and share.

Building Community Through Art

Thought bubbles made for The Talking Mobile

What's the best way to address fear and share hope? Artists Todd Drake and Wade Billeisen believe it is to talk about it. Their project, The Talking Mobile, attempts to get the fears and hopes of students coming together at a new high school out in the open. Why? They believe that by sharing these thoughts students will find common ground between seeming differences. "We believe that everyone coming to Northern Guilford High School has hopes for a better education and worry whether they will be safe, successful, and accepted." Principal Joe Yeager approved the project and provided funding because he believed it would build community, a central goal of his leadership role at the new school.

After asking every student coming to Northern High School to share their hopes and fears about coming to the new school, Wade and Todd read through the responses and selected 40 questions asked by the students. Their selection seeks to represented the mind set of the students. "A lot of students, on both campus's wrote about concerns over getting along and blending the two communities, others expressed concerns over being accepted whether because of race, looks, or income." says Drake. By putting these concerns out in the open Todd and Wade believe the concerns and hopes of the students will be honored and considered. "Some of their questions, like "Will they hate me?" break your heart, others like "Will I be 'that dude' at the new school?" were humorous, but all were insightful." said Drake. Every single student question will be included in a note book for review by anyone. "This note book of student questions should be read through by every teacher and administrator at Northern." said Drake.

After displaying the "thought bubbles" on both campuses of the soon to be merged school, Todd and Wade will hang all the questions at the new high school to greet students on their arrival. After a month of living and learning together, all the students will be asked to respond to the questions posed in the mobile and the most provocative and insightful answers will be displayed beneath the questions as "speaking bubbles." Some class time will be devoted to discussing these questions and responses.

By giving voice to the students in this unique way Todd and Wade hope this project will make the new Northern High School a stronger, more accepting community. Though all of Drake's art is community based, this project is very personal; "My school did nothing like this when we intergrated back in the 70's. The only fight I got into my life occured as a result. I hope this project helps these students learn to respect each other and see past stereotypes that, along with fear, often blind us to making friends of strangers."

Lucy Talks about Art and Death :)

Paul Klee, Ancient Sound

Lucy Daniels and her foundation have worked for years to give a unique voice to mental health and the arts in our community and beyond. On February 9th , 2008, (2:30 PM, NC Museum of Art) her foundation is sponsoring a workshop on creativity and self-repair as it relates to cancer. Their release states " The healing power of art is a complementary, active approach to illness.. (that can create)...a unique dialect between illness and health, between despair and new hope." Rock on Lucy! The foundation is also sponsoring a lecture on the art of Paul Klee called "In the Shadow of Death." Apparently 1/4 of Klee's best work was created in the last years of his life as he struggled with a terminal illness. (Why do they not teach this in school!) Fill in what you probably didn't know about Paul Klee by attending this lecture on Sunday, Feb.9th at 2:30 at the NCMA. Thanks Lucy! RSVP at Info@ldf.org or call 919-677-9888 x 123

Community Artist Dizney Comes to Duke

Brett Cook Dizney is coming to Duke University next semester as a visiting artist. While at Duke he will create works of art shaped by the community. Brett's current work are colorful portraits that are initially colored by the community he is working with; like open coloring book images, Brett outlines the portrait on a large canvas and then lets the community have at it. Their coloring inside and outside the lines are respected by Brett who then takes the works back to the studio. There Brett finishes the works using his artistic training. The collaborations are inventive and striking. Brett also places a lot of importance on building community by adding food and music to his efforts. Artist and Duke art instructor Bill Fick turned me onto Brett by saying that he was full of energy and did a great job exciting Bill's drawing students. Brett will add a lot to the Duke and Durham community and will hopefully help build bridges between strained segments of that community post- and pre- Lacrosse mess. Welcome to NC Brett - I hope our community remembers how to show its classic Southern hospitality. More on Brett will be posted here after he arrives and gets to work. Visit Brett's website here.

Woodie Guthrie - The Artist

I have been enjoying Woodie Guthrie's music for some time now. Like most history, I received the cleaned up version of his life in school- singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" with my classmates and thinking nothing of it. Then as an adult I stumbled upon other, more activist songs like "Deportees" and my interest-antenna went up. The more I have read and listened to his music the more I have come to appreciate how far ahead of his time Woodie was, how much he placed his life in the hands of his art, and how much he tried to use his art to help others. Then I discovered this book written my his daughter that showcases the visual art he made. All in all, Woodie has risen to be one of my favorite artists in both mediums. I hope you can catch a glimpse of his art via this book either at your local bookstore or public library- like me you will hear different meanings in the lyrics of "This Land is Your Land."

Nora Guthrie summed up her dad, and I believe many of the artists featured in this blog when he said:

"Ever since the beginning of time there's always been the guys designated to carry the coal. Remember? See, when the tribe's fire went out, when they moved on, someone had to carry the last hot coal to start up the next fire with at the next campsite. They needed this fire to cook with, sleep near, and even for some good ol' talks and songs. Now, many of these coal holders, over time, became folk singers...... Like my dad, they do the work of carrying around the embers we still need to keep our present day tribes well fed, warm, still carin', still talkin' and still singin'. Sometimes it gets real cold out there (have you noticed) and it seems like the chilly wind is just going to blow us all off the map. A lot of people are feelin' the effects of the chill; no food, no shelter, no singin', no rights. And other people are chillin' inside; no warmth, no joy, no song, no tribe.

So these coal-holders are real important right now."

Puppets and Drums Make Impression

PaperHand Puppet Intervention, out of Chapel Hill, NC

Have you ever been to a public protest? If so, what was most memorable? I would bet that it was not the speakers, but the creativity on display in the form of banners, puppets, costumes, and music. The humor of David Solnit's Clown Army members, dressed in self-deprecating fashion help defuse the often ramped up emotions and mob mindset that can take hold even at Peace rallies. Groups like North Carolina's Cakalak Thunder create energy and unite the crowd in one common heart beat. Puppet makers like Bread and Puppet out of Vermont enlarge the human body to create focus, visual variety and humor. (Did you see their puppets in Across the Universe? Also check out their new book, Rehearsing with Gods.) North Carolina's own puppet makers , Paperhand Puppet Intervention, create unique performances that speak deeply and profoundly on the human experience. Be sure to check out these links if you have not experienced these groups first hand.

Challenging the Conventional Memorial

Jim Gallucci, a friend and artist working out of Greensboro, NC has been developing a memorial for years now called “The Gates” that honors those who died in the September 11th attacks. Jim acquired several pieces of mangled steel from the World Trade Center site. He then asked people to send letters expressing their feelings, prayers, and condolences. He incorporated quotes from those letters into the sculpture, creating a gate of sorts- a repeating theme in his work. The sculpture also references the architecture of the building and hints at the tumbling debris. Conceptually, Jim captures many feelings in this work, the overall sense of mourning, the act itself, the sense of national (world-wide?) sadness and heartache.

So why has he not found a sponsor, someone to finish paying for its construction and a place for it to rest? It is not because of the lack of publicity- it has been featured in Life Magazine, Southern Living, and National Geographic. Not for the want of a good place to put it, it was on display for a time at the 82nd Airborne Museum in Fayetteville, NC. Not for it’s artistic merit. Many an aesthetically dead memorial exists around the country- most are poorly designed stone monoliths with little more attention paid to design than the font of the lettering. I think the reason why Jim has not found a home for his work lies in why we make memorials the way we do-even the bad ones- and how Jim’s does not fit into that mold.

Most memorials, even the great ones, are designed to exclude any visual representation of the event. Let’s consider the Lincoln Memorial, the grand-daddy of them all. Walking up the steps and peering up at the seated Lincoln and then turning to look out over the mall is a mountain top experience. But nowhere do you see a visual reminder of the tragedies of that war; the trenches filled with the sibling-dead of Confederate and Union soldiers is never referenced. Only the over arching nobility of the brooding, wise, Lincoln sitting as Zeus sat in his temple eons ago. That brings us to the Greek Temple surrounding Lincoln, it was not solely chosen to match to architectural decor of the mall. An alternate design considered would have made it a Pyramid to match the Washington Monument’s Egyptian roots. I think the Greek Temple was chosen because it visually spoke of the Greek’s passion for order, balance, and universal proportion. It works. I never feel better about my country, democracy, and the world than when I stand on those steps, reminded of our highest ideals, with the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr. thrown in for good measure.

The Greek temple works because it makes our own the Greeks’ desire to find order in a world filled with chaos. In comparison, Jim’s memorial freezes the act of destruction, of chaos. This is not a criticism. I am only pointing out a difference in his work vs. the many other memorials we create. Look at the other memorials in Washington; the Vietnam Memorial (Maya Lin’s), the WWII memorial, the Koran Memorial, even JFK’s eternal flame. All of them erase the chaos and add in its place order. Maybe we need this in our memorials. Maybe we need to feel a sense of nobility, peace, and order in these holy places. But there is the rub; war and conflict are not noble, peaceful, or ordered. Just ask any veteran. Beneath my sense of awe when in these places sits a critic with an ironic smile. It asks “Why do we build memorials filled with our highest ideals to events that represent the worst in human nature?” Does creating such moments insure that the horror of the act will be forgotten and more easily repeated?

Jim Gallucci’s memorial challenges these conventions. It puts the chaos in our face. It quotes the broken hearts of all of us who lost so much on that fateful day. It includes a relic from the battle field. It captures the moment of collapse. This makes Jim’s sculpture good, even profound, art in my book- but maybe not the best memorial.

Maybe we all need to follow Jim’s lead and leap over the concept of the standard memorial to human conflict, making them artistic reminders of the chaos they really are- would we then work harder to make our highest ideals real and lasting?

What? Be Happy?

Vincent Fichard and Matthew Jones remind us all with this video that joy and happiness reside in being creative. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfPTGTGLA3E

Sheila Pree Questions What is Female Beauty

Atlanta based artist Sheila Pree is coming to Winston-Salem State University to share her art on Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 7 PM @ Diggs Gallery. "The Plastic Bodies series ... examines the authenticity of female beauty projected by media and advertisers, who create illusions of the body by way of technology. Pree's work presents an explorative portraiture of women transforming into dolls and evaluates projected images using the Barbie to create a mysterious visual of metaphors. " - from flier.

This event is billed as "Ladies Only!" My wife says my idea of going dressed as a women is not funny. In all seriousness, this is an important issue that Sheila and other artists are addressing. For a touching, tragic, documentary short on the subject check out this film made by high school student Kiri Davies.

This one is a heart breaker, too.

Iraqi children at play, photo by Hadi Mizban

As I look over the entries in this blog I see some pretty sad pictures, Hadi's included. I guess Michelangelo said it best when criticised about some tough imagery of his in the Sistine Chapel. He said "Make the world appropriate and art will soon follow."

This video is a real whopper too. One judge I use to decide to share something on this blog is whether it breaks my heart or lifts it up. Kris Kristofferson's song "In the News" does both. The images and words are a heart breaker. The song is mostly about the war. But there is something in his voice that lifts my heart. Maybe it is the age in it, maybe it is the restrained power and conviction or the wise lyrics. If God is a man, he sounds like this right now- old as the hills, and tired, so tired at our deadly games.

I write this just after having walked outside on a beautiful fall afternoon. God is out there too, smiling in the sunlight, giving us all a second chance. Watch the video, then take a walk outdoors- I hope that helps strike a balance.

Place a Candle in Protest

La Vela - The Candle Project launches nationwide protest against Immigrant abuse.

Weary and sickened by the growing anti-immigrant hysteria and the multiplying of cases of violance and abuses levied against undocumented immigrants, a grass-roots protest has been launched to spread the word that many American Citizens are against the current unfocused, mean-spirited, attempt to address our broken national immigration policy. By placing one electric candle in their window (or a digital one on their website or blogs) this holiday season, participants will signal to others that they are taking a stand against the hate and xenophobia growing in the nation.

A blog site http://thecandleproject.blogspot.com has been set up to gather evidense of participation (photos and statements of participants) , to share evidence of abuse against undocumented immigrants, and spotlight other ways to take action.

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

10 Years of Art for the Masses!

I've known Clark Whittington for years. Since 1997, he has been the constant energy and spirit behind the Art-o-mat phenomenon; converted cigarette machines that dispense small, one of a kind, art objects for reasonable prices. Always the encouraging couch, Clark has helped save the reputation of contemporary art- at least in my book. If you have ever entered a high scale gallery and been greeted like you trailed in sh** on your feet, then you will recognize the value of this user friendly approach to selling contemporary art. Clark has made the art world a kinder, gentler place by setting his machines up worldwide and selling art for at affordable prices. When I sold work through him, I would get a monthly check with my share of the sales, enough to buy myself lunch usually. Clark has a large community of artists he works with now and he splits the sales price between the artist, himself, and a donation to non-profits and children's art programs. All good. Clark has also been an inspiration to me over the years to never stop sharing what you love with others. Visit his website and consider joining his force of good artists, doing good worldwide! Congrats on your tenth birthday! May you never grow old!