It all started when Jon Baliles was visiting Venice. Shepard Fairey, the famous street artist, was working on a series of commissioned murals at St. Marks Place. People could stand around, watch the artist work and ask him questions.
His friend wanted to go see the artist who created the iconic Obama poster. But Baliles didnt.
I thought, lsquo;Im in Venice. I dont want to do that, Baliles says.
But eventually, he did. And he was hooked.
It was so enthralling, Baliles says. I couldnt leave.
He says it was fascinating to watch the artist work. To see him take off in new directions that you didnt expect. And get to ask questions about his process as he worked.
I thought, What a cool idea, and filed it away.
Now, that idea is coming to life in Richmond this weekend with the first ever RVA Street Art Festival.
Baliles is assistant to Richmonds director of planning and development. He also runs the Richmond website River City Rapids.
He teamed up with Richmond artist Ed Trask to plan the ambitious four-day festival. Trasks work can be seen all over town from the beauty queen at Sidewalk Cafe to the mural at Ellwood Thompsons Local Market amp; Cafe.
It sounded like a great idea, Trask says. Richmond just seems ready for a serious mural project.
They found the perfect location at the Richmond Floodwall and the adjoining James River Power Plant.
Trask calls the Floodwall the holy grail. Its over 250 feet of giant concrete. He says that every time he passes it, he thinks to himself: Man, Id like to paint something there.
The Floodwall is owned by the US Army and run by the citys public utilities department. Trask and Baliles got the go-ahead to paint 16 by 47 foot canvas banners on the Floodwall.
The old James River Power Plant is owned by the Cordish Company who are giving the organizers the right to paint directly on the wall.
The city is about to get a big infusion of art, Baliles said.
Trask put out the call to street artists across the country. And now 14 street artists and muralists from Richmond and beyond will be coming to town for the RVA Street Art Festival.
From graffiti artists whove done jail time to street artists who now score major commissions, the roster of talent includes big-name locals like Trask himself, Chris Milk Hulbert and Heidi Trepanier to Richard Colman from San Francisco, Californias Jeff Soto and Dalek from Raleigh, NC
The draw?
They get to paint an 18 by 38 foot mural without anybody hassling them, Baliles says.
Plus, most of the artists have been here before or have some sort of tie to Richmond. Theyve all seen the potential in Richmond, he says.
Part of the excitement of the RVA Street Art Festival is that Richmond will be exposed to new artists and styles that weve never seen before.
For instance, Trask says that participating DC artist Marc Jenkins does street installations like giant dartboards where he uses people as the darts.
Its going to make Richmond redefine what is acceptible as art, he says.
Not all the artists will be physically at the Floodwall this weekend. For instance, Ryan McGinnes whos best known in Richmond for his commissioned mural in the lobby at the VMFA, will be sending a screenprint thats a preview of his solo show coming to the VMFA this fall.
But the vast majority of the artists will be on hand, painting at the Floodwall and on the walls of the Power Plant.
And Baliles says thats a big part of the RVA Street Art Festival.
That you can come down to the festival, watch the artists while they work, leave for a while, go grab a bite to eat or a drink in the Bottom, come back and see the artists progress.
You might think the artist is going one way. But if you go grab a slice at Bottoms Up and come back, theyve gone in a completely different direction, he says.
Trask says hes most excited to see watch Pose, a young graffiti artist from Chicago, at the festival.
Hes one of the most incredible talents youve ever seen. This is going to sound weird, but its like ballet, watching him work, Trask says. So graceful. Hes a real talent and everybody sees it.
The RVA Street Festival kicks off with a Qamp;A session on Thursday, April 12 at the VMFA. On Friday, April 13, artists will head to the wall to map out their sections and get to work.
The festival will be in full effect on Saturday, April 14 with food trucks like Christophers Runaway Gourmay, the Boka Truck and beer from Brown Distributing. The artists will be working all day and the public is encouraged to interact and ask questions.
The Bizarre Market will also bring 30 vendors to the Floodwall for a true festival atmosphere where theyll be selling everything from jewelry and ceramics to animal-friendly antlers and zombie bunnies.
The festival continues Sunday, April 15 with a family day, free arts activities for kids, and the chance to interact with the artists and watch them finish up their pieces.
Best of all, the festival doesnt really end this Sunday. The artwork will be up and on view for the rest of the yearhellip;or even longer, depending on how the art holds up.
Bringing art to the people, year-round.
And the discussion of public art front and center.
I wouldnt have believed a year ago that public art would be the biggest discussion in the city, Baliles says. Which is a great thing.
Public art has been a hot topic lately with the proposed arts district on Broad Street still under consideration by the City. Just last week, Art180s mural exhibit on Monument Avenue generated lots of buzz when it seemed like the project would have to be moved for the Easter Parade. Eventually, an agreement was reached and the exhibit was allowed to stay.
Baliles says that they were able to pull off the RVA Street Art Festival because theyre hosting it at the Floodwall, which isnt a historic district. We didnt have to jump through as many hoops as Art180, Baliles said.
But both Trask and Baliles say they hope the RVA Street Art Festival brings even more attention to the issue of public art.
What kind of city do we want to be known for? Baliles says. Do we want to be known for history? Or do we want to be known for our art galleries and artists? Theres an amazing scene here. A lot of people know about it, but many others dont.
That is changing fast.
Richmond is becoming this great hub of innovation and creativity, Trask says. And were hoping this brings even more attention to public art.
The time is now, Trask says. And the city is seeing it.
Heres the RVA Street Festival Schedule:
Thursday, April 12: 6:30 pm – Artist discussion and Qamp;A at the VMFA discussing their work and the art of collaboration.
Friday, April 13: 11 am – 6 pm – Artists work sessions and public interaction.
Saturday, April 14: 11 am – 5 pm – FESTIVAL DAY – All day festival atmosphere with food and drink, the Bizarre Market, and artists work sessions and public interaction.
Sunday, April 15: 11 am – 6 pm – FAMILY DAY – free arts activities for children (weather permitting); Artists work sessions and public interaction.
Tags: Art
Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day is crammed with enough melodramatic incident for three movies, all of them seemingly scripted by Tyler Perry in a very foul mood. This hysterically overwrought soul sister to Woman Thou Art Loosed slaps that 2004 pics title on the lurid tale of an abducted child, a mother with a shameful secret and a fire-and-brimstone-spewing serial killer, all in service of a dubiously therapeutic tribute to ravaged-but-resilient black femininity. Target audiences may see it, but they probably will not see that it is good.
Louisiana gal Kari Ames (Sharon Leal) is happily married to handsome professor David (Blair Underwood), with whom she has a young daughter, Mikayla (Zoe Carter). Yet there are portents of looming disaster, and when tragedy strikes, it does not strike subtly. Theres a kidnapper on the loose, and soon Mikayla is taken, an incident dramatized with ominous music, a flurry of jump cuts and the sudden leaching of color from dp Keith Smiths Red-camera lensing. Its as if the movie had been momentarily possessed by The Exorcist.
Tags: Art
Booker Prize winning novelist Arvin Adiga wrote Ignoring the cultural significance of
our smaller towns will reduce the nations diversity. I would like to elaborate on this
statement. It is not the historical importance of these provincial towns alone which
make them invaluable but their contribution to the nurturing of art and culture of the
society. Very often artists, especially writers, lack an identity in a city
where they are an outsider and write in a vacuum. Such writings do not have much
depth, as a piece of good writing is not created in a vacuum. Most cities
have a metropolitan culture where many people from different parts of the world reside and
adapt a new way of life, sometimes forgetting their own indigenous culture. They live
in their own cocoons in a city and are alienated from the society; whereas in
provincial towns, there is a feeling of brotherhood among the people and a sense of
belonging. This feeling of unity helps to nurture the local culture and tradition — in
USA, it exists among the Amish community. In India we have many
tribes in different states and mostly they live in the villages and in smaller
towns. Such tribes believe in the age-old native intelligence of protecting their
environment by worshipping the nature — the mountains, the ecosystem, the rivers.
In spite of the 21st century scientific progress, the tribes retain their culture. It is
interesting to see them talking on the cell phones but maintaining their cultural roots.
This diversity is the premise of good literature, music, folk dance, folk art.
Most of literature has references of childhood memories of the writers or the
provincial towns they grew up in. VS Naipauls work has reference to Trinidad.
Tolstoys Anna is a girl from the province and Levins character dreamt of managing
his own estate and hospital in the countryside. Gabriel Garcia Marquezs most
famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, is again set in a small town and its
atmosphere creates magic realism.
In the 19th and 20th century most of the great authors have written about their own
experiences of their provincial culture or about the horrors of the war. Annihilation of
war or repression of a regime sometimes triggers one’s creativity but the alienation of a city does not. In developing countries, most migrants from the countryside feel
a sense of alienation in the big cities. And so their literature has
beautiful words but the characters are hollow and forgettable.
Now that the world has become smaller with easy transport and instant
communication, every city in the world looks the same. For this reason the
government should retain the unique culture of its smaller towns and patronize its
art and culture and help to create great artistes like Tolstoy, Marquez, Salvador Dali
and Federico Garcia Lorca. Buñuel was born in Calanda, a small town in the
province of Teruel. He would later describe his birthplace by saying that in Calanda,
the Middle Ages lasted until World War I. And perhaps that was a blessing in
disguise.
Bijaya Jena
www.bijayajena.com
Tags: Art
The naked body in Arab art is the theme of a new Paris exhibit meant to broaden views of Arab culture, spotlighting the many artists willing to break taboos and depict nudity in all its forms.
The Body Uncovered at Paris Arab World Institute aims to challenge the stereotypes usually
Tags: Art
In an effort to reach beyond the Western art world the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is embarking on a five-year program to work with artists, curators and educators from South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. In addition to bringing curators from those parts of the world to the Guggenheim Museum in New York and organizing exhibitions that highlight art from their regions, the program will acquire art for the Guggenheim’s permanent collection.
Enlarge This Image
Alfredo Aldai/European Pressphoto Agency
Richard Armstrong
Moving to Brentwood from Columbus, Ohio, Josie OMalley was happy to see so many programs dedicated to the arts in her new town. Right away she decided to get involved and see where her skills as a professional instructional graphic artist could come in handy.
I moved here to be closer to my son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren, she said.
One of the first organizations she decided to join is the Discover Art League. It wasnt long before she was helping the group by putting together its monthly newsletter.
In Ohio OMalley owned her own graphics design company for years and later worked for Bradford College for 13 years teaching computer graphic arts. I like the idea that I can use my skills to work on the newsletter for everyone in the group, she said.
Since she was 14, OMalley has been working with some art form or another. Watercolor is her art of choice, but she also works with pastels and oils. She has also been working with pencil art in recent months.
Last weekend she participated in the Discovery Art Leagues Going to the Dogs and Cats Art Show and Sale, a benefit show for the Homeless Animals Lifeline Organization. HALO offers shelter and placement for pets in East Contra Costa County.
The pencil art she has been working on is a drawing of a dog that can be sold at the show. Half of the proceeds from art like that provided by OMalley will go to HALO and its efforts.
Since 2008, OMalley
Tags: Art
In addition to that eloquent explanation, Camryn and her classmates at the Roman Catholic elementary school in River Heights are dancing, singing, chanting and even rapping their feelings and thoughts about compassion.
With the help of their teachers, the dozen grade 5 and 6 girls created a five-minute mini-musical about compassion, based on a poem by Winnipeg artist Manju Lodha.
It reaches the soul of the listener, Lodha says of the mini-musical, which includes a rap about human rights.
I only put the words to it, and the students invoked the life in my words through their talents and the directions of their teachers.
Lodha and fellow Winnipeg artists Isam Aboud and Ray Dirks spent the last two months leading workshops on compassion in eight Winnipeg public and independent schools for a project sponsored by the Manitoba Multifaith Council.
Called the Art of Compassion, the project culminates with a week-long student art exhibit, which opens 7 pm, Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Canadian Mennonite University, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd., and features the St. John Brebeuf students and Hindu dancers.
Since 2007, the three artists, representing three different faith traditions — Hinduism, Islam and Christianity — have led workshops for schoolchildren and adults on topics such as multiculturalism, respect and more recently, compassion.
Those efforts resulted in two exhibits at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery, where Dirks is curator, and a new book called In the Spirit of Humanity, which will be launched on Feb. 1. The 110-page, full-colour book features painting by the three artists and artwork by hundreds of students, as well as a companion DVD.
I couldnt do it by myself, but with a group, we are stronger, we are learning about each other, and our diversity is working for us, says the Indian-born Lodha, who practises Jainism and Hinduism, of the joint projects with Dirks, a British Columbia native who is Mennonite, and Aboud, a Muslim originally from the Sudan.
For all three of us, we are teachers, but we are also students, adds Dirks of what hes received from the years of workshops.
The Art of Compassion exhibit is timed to coincide with the second annual Interfaith Harmony Week, initiated by the United Nations to promote harmony, co-operation and understanding among people, explains project co-ordinator Lynda Trono, chairwoman of the Manitoba Multifaith Councils education committee.
She also has a very personal motivation for initiating the project, which received $6,250 in combined grants from the federal government and St. Marys Road United Church, where she is a minister.
Several years ago, her teenage son converted to Islam, and one morning while walking to mosque wearing traditional Muslim garb, he suffered taunts and shouts from neighbours.
I think part of my energy comes from his experience, says Trono, 52, who lives in Wildwood Park.
I realized my neighbours who are people of faith and who dress to express their faith experience violence that I dont experience, so I need to do something about it.
For Lodha, who dresses in a traditional Indian sari, just looking different can be a starting point for discussions around compassion and acceptance. For years, she was afraid to enter Christian churches because she feared attempts at converting her, but now she feels comfortable in many religious settings.
Its unbelievable being a non-Christian, explains Lodha. Im very comfortable in a Christian church.
In addition to the Art of Compassion project, Lodha and Dirks are currently filming a documentary on expressions of faith in Winnipeg, recording religious ceremonies and interviewing the faithful at temples, synagogues, churches and aboriginal settings.
We are doing major world religions and showing a little of others, explains Lodha.
Were trying to be as inclusive as we can.
The documentary, called Leap of Faith, is intended to be shown in schools and may also result in a book.
(Its about being) willing in faith to leap out and get to know other faiths and know theres nothing to fear if we do, says Dirks of the video project.
One way to alleviate fears is to foster understanding and compassion among children so theyll come to see that differences are a part of life, says Trono, who travelled to Australia in 2009 for the Parliament of Religions.
I think compassion is built into us, she says.
If we nurture that when were children and learn to respect and accept differences, well make a difference.
The free Art of Compassion exhibit of watercolour and acrylic paintings runs 10 am to 4 pm Thursday, Feb. 2 through Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Canadian Mennonite University, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd. The exhibit is closed Sunday, Feb. 5.
brenda@suderman.com
Tags: Art
At a time when everyone seems to have an opinion and a venue for expressing it, the art of criticism may seem hard to grasp and even harder to do. Times Book Critic David L. Ulin obviously does this kind of thing for a living. He reads and thinks, thinks and reads … and when he gets tired of reading and thinking, he does it some more. In our lead piece on Sunday’s Arts amp; Books cover, Ulin looks at the critical range of two writers perhaps better known for their novels: John Updike and William H. Gass. Working with Updike’s “Higher Gossip” and Gass’ “Life Sentences: Literary Judgments and Accounts,” Ulin draws some interesting conclusions about the relative merits of each man’s critical philosophy and offers a window into what he believes matters most in assessing and writing.
Gil Scott-Heron was considered by many to be “The Godfather of Rap,” but he was more than that to a generation who gravitated to his “Speak-song” recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. (Scott-Heron would laugh off the “godfather” notion by saying “Don’t blame me for that.”) Lynell George reports on his posthumous memoir “The Last Holiday” and writes that the book “is as much about his life as it is about context, the theater of late 20th century America.” For the man whose most famous song was “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” this book offers a narrative that doesn’t really connect all the dots. But the dots it does connect help give us a clearer image of a complex and brilliant prose poet.
The revolution in Egypt last year was not only televised, it was largely a product of the burgeoning world of social media. Scott Martelle reviews “Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power,” a memoir by Wael Ghonim, Google’s top marketing executive in the Middle East, an unlikely revolutionary who became a leading figure in the drive for change in Egypt. Martelle writes that “one of the book’s more remarkable elements is Ghonim’s depiction of how quickly timidity and resignation morphed into a mass movement.” Ghonim will be in Los Angeles on Feb. 6 discussing his book as part of the ALOUD series presented by the Los Angeles Public Library.
More after the jump
Tags: Art
The art of gevald
As long as Barak and Netanyahu threatened that they were about to attack and that the world should hold us back – I was reassured. I knew it was all spin and bluff. Since I heard this reassurance, my poor pupik has been shaking nonstop.
By
Doron Rosenblum
Tags:
Iran nuclear
Ehud Barak
Tags: Art
Steelers president Art Rooney conducted numerous interviews with various media groups last week, many of which you might have read. This is one where you can actually hear what Rooney had to say and some of it is interesting and informative.
Bob Labriola, the editor of Steelers Digest, interviewed Rooney on Steelers.com and it provides a new twist to the firing/retirement/dismissal of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
It was first announced, amid some suspicion, that Arians retired. In a story in the York Daily Record, Arians suggested he had no choice but to retire when a new contract was not offered.
Rooneys explanation in this interview sheds new light on Arians departure, but hardly clears the air. This is part of what Rooney had to say:
“Bruce talked about retiring for a number of years now. We are looking to improve on offense and to have somebody in place for a number of years. I think it was time for a change. We are looking forward to moving on.”
This makes it clear that the decision was Rooneys. Whether it had to do with dissatisfaction with Arians or the fact Arians could not give the team a long-term commitment is hard to tell. It could be a combination of both.
Part one of the Rooney interview with Bob Labriola.
Part two of the Rooney interview with Labriola.
Tags: Art
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