Friday, January 13, 2012, Settling In….

I’m here in Basel Switzerland and what a transition for me. The timing was just perfect for me to come here. Things are becoming clearer now. I understand much more, especially the language,so I’m able to get from point A to point B with no problems anymore. I started working in the studio two weeks ago. This part of the excursion is the high-light for me; me here in the studio in Basel.

I’ve met some interesting people here and look forward to meeting more. I’m in a middle class area of the city and was told that there is no homelessness here, in this country, for the most part. I’m currently working on a concept for a possible project here and will reveal more information on this project next post!

P.S.
To my fans, Auf Wiedersehen!
Danke,
Tyree

Monday, January 23, 2012, Eye opening Perspectives….

This week was just wonderful, in terms of me making connections and meeting people here in Basel. I came here to draw my own conclusions about what is art today for me. I’ve been going to openings and visiting museums. There is a opening today that I plan to attend. I’ve seen art here that has made me say, “wait a minute now”, but the point for me is to understand the depth of what art is for some people other then myself.

This is the home of some of your great masters. One artist that has caught my attention here is Joseph Beuys. Beuys was a German artist and I personally love his installation work, and the reason why is because I see myself in the works of Bueys. What do I mean by this comment, I see myself in the works. There is nothing new here under the sun and spirit law is the reason why we do what we do. At the same time, I’ve concluded that everything is connected to a greater source of power that makes us create. Was I see in Joseph Beuys’ work is that same energy that makes me
create my own art every day. It’s the energy to create and it’s in all of us.

Friday, January 27, 2012Jenenne’s visit and….I got a new housemate!
Morgen,

This week was exciting! There were openings and parties and Jenenne was here… to enjoy it all!
We had a chance to talk about the project I have ideas about and I showed some of Grandpa Mackey’s drawings to my new friends.
On Friday we attended an opening at the Kunstmuseum Basel. This show was delightful and pleasant
to look at. This body of work was created by K.S.O, an after school program out of New York.

Saturday we went to The Bird’s Eye jazz club to hear some music. Myself, Jenenne, Maggie, an artist who lives here in Basel. The music was just great! On Sunday, there was another dinner party here at the Laurenz House. We had people here from New York and from the Kunstmuseum Basel. I’m now sharing the house with another artist, who is originally from Vietnam. This guy is truly a party animal and my life will never be the same again after this experience!
A little fun fact I found out: I was told that there are 42 museums here in the city. Art is everywhere. People here live and breathe art. It’s the norm and a way of life for most. I’m surrounded by it and people come from all over the world to be a part of this great energy that’s here in Basel, especially when it comes to the arts and music.

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mosaic youth theatre especially for families in the galleries lecture Drop-in Workshops mosaic youth theatre Back to Top Now That I Can Dance – Motown 1962 Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. / Sunday at 4 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit will wrap up its 20th Celebration Season with a revival of the hit musical production, Now That I Can Dance – Motown 1962. Now That I Can Dance recounts the early days of Motown, before Diana Ross reigned supreme, Little Stevie became a legend, and five young girls from Inkster, Michigan were destined to make musical history. DIA Auditorium $. read more especially for families Back to Top Storytelling Performance: Ming Louie Sunday at 2 p.m. Come hear traditional Asian folk tales as storyteller Ming Louie takes us to the exotic world of China, recounting tales of monumental journeys, legendary philosophers, notable explorers, mystery, and magic. Rivera Court, 2nd level. read more MUSIC Back to Top Sunday Music Bar: Ashley/Story Sunday at 1 & 3 p.m. Dwight Ashley and Tim Story have been making atmospheric, haunting electronic music together and individually since the early nineties. Their music is beautifully melodic, bringing to mind the textures in the music of Erik Satie and Claude Debussy. Kresge Court, 1st level. read more in the galleries Back to Top 75th Annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition Through June 3, 2012 The annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition features hundreds of imaginative works ranging from paintings, prints, drawings, photography, ceramics, videos, and jewelry created by Detroit Public Schools students in grades K-12, Walter Gibbs Learning Center, 1st level. read more lecture Back to Top Motivated by the Challenge to Live and Create Authentically Sunday at 2 p.m. For more than three decades, visual and performing artist Joyce Scott has created objects of exceptional skill and beauty. Much of her work is politically or socially oriented, as in beaded figurative sculptures that focus on issues of racism, domestic violence, and cultural imperialism. In other work, she pursues aesthetic satisfaction, the joy of experimentation, and growth in creativity. Lecture Hall. read more drop-in workshops Back to Top Scrolls Friday from 6-9 p.m. Scrolls were used in ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Egyptian civilizations. Use paper, wooden dowels, and markers to create a version of your own. Webber Education Wing, 1st level. read more Drawing in the Galleries Artist/instructors help participants create drawings to take home. read more Youth and Adults Friday, 6-9 p.m., Modern and Contemporary, 2nd level Adults Friday, 6-9 p.m., European: Inspired by Italy, 2nd level Youth and Adults Sunday, Noon-4 p.m., Ancient Middle East, 1st level Papel Picado Saturday from Noon-4 p.m. Have fun as you try the Mexican art of cutting designs into paper. Webber Education Wing, 1st level. read more Shibori Sunday from Noon-4 p.m. Shibori is the Japanese word for patterning fabric by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. Learn more about this ancient craft as you fold, tie, and twist your fabric before adding color to your cloth. Webber Education Wing, 1st level. read more CONNECT WITH US wednesday Guided Tour 1 p.m. thursday Guided Tour 1 p.m. Friday Guided Tour 1, 6 & 7:30 p.m. Drawing in the Galleries 6-9 p.m. Drop-in Workshop: Scrolls 6-9 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre 8 p.m. Saturday Drop-in-Workshop: Papel Picado Noon-4 p.m. Guided Tour 1 & 3 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre 8 p.m. Sunday Drawing in the Galleries Noon-4 p.m. Drop-in-Workshop: Shibori Noon-4 p.m. Guided Tour 1 & 3 p.m. Sunday Music Bar: Ashley/Story 1 & 3 p.m. Lecture: Joyce Scott 2 p.m. Storytelling Performance: Ming Louie 2 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre 4 p.m. Support the DIA Your membership and donations are critical to the museum’s success. Detroit Institute of Arts 5200 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48202 www.dia.org 313.833.7900 Admission $8 adults, $6 seniors, $4 children The museum is free for members. Contact the Membership Helpline at 313.833.7971 or membership@dia.org Museum Hours Wed-Thur: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fri: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat-Sun: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Box Office 313.833.4005 CaféDIA 313.833.7966 Museum Shop 313.833.7944 Detroit Film Theatre Admission: $7.50 adults, $6.50 seniors, students and DIA members. “DFT 101″ series films: free for DIA members or with paid museum admission. DFT discount pass cards, valid for five admissions are $30. DFT info line: 313.833.3237

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Your online guide to great contemporary art in Detroit. May 10, 2012 – News, exhibitions, openings and events. Long-Sharp I Curis Modern & Contemporary Fine Art Misdemeanors to Masterpieces John (CRASH) Matos, the grandfather of urban/graffiti art, comes to Long-Sharp/Curis bringing an exhibit titled “Misdemeanors to Masterpieces.” CRASH, whose works are in museums and galleries worldwide, will be in attendance at a reception given in his honor. Opening Friday, May 11, 8-10pm. Show runs through July 3. MOCAD Post Industrial Complex / Vertical Urban Factory Post-Industrial Complex is a survey, group exhibition, and source book that explores the ingenuity and adaptivity of human-scale production at the heart of Detroit. The exhibition disrupts the notion that there is a story of the city. A true metropolis is comprised of multiple stories and multiple voices. From a prolific inventor to a collective working to keep an aboriginal language alive, the artists included in this exhibition-all of whom responded to an open call for “makers, inventors, problem solvers, fabricators, modifiers, etc…”-are a small, yet representative, sample of the diverse range of brainpower that exists in a city often oversimplified by metanarratives. Vertical Urban Factory features the innovative design of factory buildings that are both urban-located in cities or shaping cities-and vertical-multistoried and dense. Included are significant examples from around the world, spanning the Modern era to the present. By examining the significance of these spaces, this project points to the impact of global economies on local industries and aims to stimulate ideas for the sustainable reintegration of the factory into the urban fabric. Music by Omar S, Melvin Davis & United Sounds and Passalacqua Opening Friday, May 11, 7-9pm. Performances at 9pm, $6 Show runs through July 29. College for Creative Studies CCS Student Art Showcase in New Center This annual spring event showcases student artwork and transforms the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education into a gallery of more than 3,500 student works of art. The Student Exhibition is one of Detroit’s largest celebrations of creativity featuring creations by up-and-coming artists who craft furniture, sculpture, ceramics, hand-blown glass, jewelry, paintings, photography and other extraordinary works of art. All proceeds from the sale of art go directly to the students to help jump start their careers in art and design.  Collectors’ Ticket Includes preview from 5:30-7pm and private reception from 5:30-10pm, $350 CCS Alumni Ticket 7 -10pm (Includes private alumni reception) Two tickets for $60 General Exhibition Opening 7 – 10pm, $50 Opening Friday, May 11, 7-10pm. Show runs through May 25. Belian Art Center Canvas & Clay The Contemporary Paintings and Ceramics of  James Homer Brown and Jeremy Forman. James Homer Brown brings his own inner vision of vitality and animation to his mechanical parts paintings. Forms take on lifelike gestures as they push and pull through space. His highly developed sense of design, form, texture and color bring us into his iconographic world. Jeremy Forman’s thought provoking ceramic and mixed media works represent visual puns on reality. His work examines how we question and view objects. Opening Friday, May 11, 7-9pm. Show runs through June 30. Hatch:  Hamtramack Art Collective Stand “Stand” is an advertisement-free quarterly photographic journal showcasing the work and thoughts of various contemporary photographers from all areas of the world. Our goal is to spread knowledge of contemporary photography around the Detroit area and wherever else it may reach. Come join us for our first exhibition! We’ll be displaying the work of several Stand contributors at the Hatch in Hamtramck, and refreshments will be provided.  Opening Friday, May 11, 5-9pm. Show runs through June 2. Artist Talk Our new gallery will be open every Saturday in May with artist talks and live performances throughout the month for our 6th annual juried show. Artist talks: Mara Magyarosi, Carl Wilson, Mariuca Rofick, Heather Kelly, Michael Thompson, Tim Householder, Rita Dickerson. Saturday, May 12, 6-7pm. Live Performance by Team Marshall 7-8pm. GLASS ACADEMY Glass Gardens During Mother’s Day weekend, the Glass Academy will open the hot shop floor to welcome in visitors so they may watch live demonstrations of their garden accessories called “Percolla Reeds”. The studio will be open all month with glass garden accessories produced on site in the studio. Smaller glass items start at $10 and Percolla Reeds start at $35, with 10% discount when you buy 3 or more during the show. Opportunity to commission custom orders will take place on Saturday. Opening Saturday, May 12, 10-4pm. START GALLERY Footwork A group show highlighting skatedeck art, custom sneakers, stencil art, photography, painting and more, all based on the theme of what you do with your feet, and where they take you.  Lots of fun pieces from 35+ artists from coast to coast will be featured Opening Saturday, May 12, 7-11pm. Show runs through June 2. PAINT CREEK CENTER FOR THE ARTS Artist Talk Main Gallery: Works on Paper – drawings, collages and other works by Corrie Baldauf, Yoriko Cronin, Christina Galasso and Kyle Miller. Join us for a gallery talk with the artists. First Floor Gallery: Robert Tucker: Torn and Painted in the Desert – a selection of collages and paintings by this Michigan native who now lives in the Sonoran Desert. Saturday, May 12, 2pm. SCARAB CLUB Beam Signer Kiosk Signing Unveiling Ceremony The Scarab Club will unveil an interactive educational kiosk which not only maps all signatures on the exposed wood beams located within the organization’s historic building but also provides a brief biography and photograph of each signer. As of today, there are 266 signers. Among the really famous signatures are Diego Rivera, Norman Rockwell, Marcel Duchamp, Eliel Saarinen, Tyree Guyton, John Sinclair, Charles McGee, Balthazar Korab and Elmore Leonard. The Scarab Club expects this kiosk to provide a better interactive and informative experience for visitors. The ceremony is free and open to the public with light refreshments. Unveiling Thursday, May 10, 6-9pm.

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Like me, I think Orr would be quite pleased to see how poetry is winding its way into the center of healing conversations and efforts in Detroit. Yes, this city, long thought too tough, is suddenly looking for solace and solutions in the art of arranging language through image, metaphor and music to capture the heart’s inner song.

I’m proud to say InsideOut Literary Arts Project is a major driver but the art is also creating its own believers.  Friday morning, May 4th, along with InsideOut writers Aricka Foreman and Peter Markus, I spoke on a panel for the annual conference of the Society for Arts in Health Care in downtown Detroit.  The conference, hosted by Children’s Hospital, brings together as caring and generous a group of professionals as one could ever hope to meet.  It was deeply moving to look out at a room of over 30 artists, art and music therapists, social workers, academicians and others from around the country and see their rapt expressions as they listened to Aricka and Pete read the poems of our young people.  Our panel titled “A Song that Struggles to Survive — the Healing Power of Poetry in the Lives of Urban Children and Youth” shared our students’ stories of loss and abandonment to show how giving voice to some of the darkest experiences can build resilience and help young people to heal. 

We live in a sobering world.  Last month at the Virgil H. Carr Center, Joseph Verge, featured in my last post for The Huffington Post, performed an amazing, show-stopping poem based on the realization that he or any of his friends could easily have walked in Trayvon Martin’s shoes.  Last week, on Detroit’s east side, each and every one of the 150 third graders, writing poems inspired by Emily Dickinson’s “This Is My Letter to the World” with InsideOut’s Dr. Suzanne Scarfone, asked for the killing to stop in their neighborhoods and city.   When will we adults take seriously and heed this call straight from the hearts of our children?   Stop the violence, they say. Like Stephen Henderson, I too ask, where is the outrage?  

Personally, I would like to see a suffragette-style Mothers’ Crusade fill the streets next weekend  with a “peace spring,” or a Peace Uprising.  Our state spends more on incarceration than education, a disgrace that should move us to address the underlying causes of violence, blight and abandonment.  In the meantime, there are the voices of our children to listen to.  InsideOut tries to strengthen each child, one child, at a time.  We must give them imagination and compassion, the joy of creativity and invention, the optimism to take a wider view of the world, to transcend deprivation like Detroit’s U.S. Congressman Hansen Clarke, to have a voice and turn around and make a difference. 

Which brings me to the second conference of this column, coming Thursday, May 10th to WSU’s McGregor Memorial Center — InsideOut Literary Arts Project’s second all-day citywide teen writing conference, “Who Understand Me but Me? II.”

This conference will expose 140 Detroit students, who are self-identified writers selected from 10 InsideOut high schools, to the wisdom and experience of Ms. Madgett and then engage them in workshops with some of our area’s most exciting “rock star” writers.   Students selected their top six picks from 13 enticing-sounding sessions such as Samiya Bashir’s “Poetry Is Not a Game (Except When It Is),” “Emergence Travel Agency,” with Invincible or Nichole Christian’s “Tell Me One True Thing!” 

Detroit’s honored Poet Laureate Naomi Long Madgett will keynote as she presents the 12th annual Lotus Press High School Poetry Prize to one of our students.

All of us have been buzzing as the application forms have come in, the workshop assignments have been made, publicity has gone out, the donations of notebooks, folders, and pens from Barnes & Noble have been secured. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to honor our students this way.   It is a dream to help them know that they are not alone as writers but that they have peers across Detroit who also love the pleasure and power of writing.  “Who Understands Me But Me? II” is going to give them the same experience as adult writers, to let them know that what they have to say matters.  We need their voices, and I can’t wait to hear them!

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especially for families mosaic youth theatre music in the galleries lecture Drop-in Workshops especially for families Back to Top Puppet Performance: A Kite’s Tale Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Join us for this spectacular performance by Blair Thomas and Company featuring bunraku-style puppets, 6′ tall little girls and waltzing rabbits,  all set to the music of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky.  Appropriate for ages four and up. Great Hall, 2nd level. read more mosaic youth theatre Back to Top Now That I Can Dance – Motown 1962 Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. / Sunday at 4 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit will wrap up its 20th Celebration Season with a revival of the hit musical production, Now That I Can Dance – Motown 1962. Now That I Can Dance recounts the early days of Motown, before Diana Ross reigned supreme, Little Stevie became a legend, and five young girls from Inkster, Michigan were destined to make musical history. DIA Auditorium $. read more MUSIC Back to Top Friday Night Live!: The Tony Scherr Trio Friday at 7 & 8:30 p.m. The Tony Scherr Trio bring their particular brand of American folk-rock to Detroit from their regular gigs at New York City’s The Living Room and Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theatre. Best known for his bass work with Bill Frisell and Sex Mob, Tony Scherr is also an inspired guitarist and singer. His Trio was formed in 2006 with legendary drummer/producer Anton Fier (Feelies, Golden Palominos) and bassist Rob Jost (Ursa Minor). Rivera Court, 2nd level. read more Brunch with Bach: The Mack Sisters Sunday at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. Detroit piano duo Yuki and Tomoko Mack have been delighting audiences since they combined their talents as soloists into an award-winning piano duo/2-piano team. For this performance they will perform William Bolcom’s Serpent’s Kiss (Fantasy in Rag), music by Franz Liszt and Samuel Barber. $ read more in the galleries Back to Top Once Upon a Time: Prints and Drawings that Tell Stories Ends this Sunday Telling stories through prints and drawings is the subject of this exhibition consisting of works from the DIA’s collection. It includes selections from familiar series, portfolios, and books, as well as several examples that have rarely or never been on view at the museum. Schwartz Galleries of Prints and Drawings, 1st level. read more 75th Annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition Through June 3, 2012 The annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition features hundreds of imaginative works ranging from paintings, prints, drawings, photography, ceramics, videos, and jewelry created by Detroit Public Schools students in grades K-12, Walter Gibbs Learning Center, 1st level. read more lecture Back to Top Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939 Saturday at 2 p.m. Jason T. Busch – Curatorial Chair for Collections and The Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh – will investigate the objects shown at World’s Fairs from London’s Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851 to the New York World’s Fair in 1939. These fairs and exhibitions demonstrated how innovative design could positively affect modern living. Lecture Hall, 1st level. read more drop-in workshops Back to Top Scrolls Friday from 6-9 p.m. Scrolls were used in ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Egyptian civilizations. Use paper, wooden dowels, and markers to create a version of your own. Webber Education Wing, 1st level. read more Drawing in the Galleries Artist/instructors help participants create drawings to take home. read more Youth and Adults Friday, 6-9 p.m.,Native American, 1st level Adults Friday, 6-9 p.m., American, 2nd level Youth and Adults Sunday, Noon-4 p.m., Native American, 1st level Papel Picado Saturday from Noon-4 p.m. Have fun as you try the Mexican art of cutting designs into paper. Webber Education Wing, 1st level. read more Shibori Sunday from Noon-4 p.m. Shibori is the Japanese word for patterning fabric by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. Learn more about this ancient craft as you fold, tie, and twist your fabric before adding color to your cloth. Webber Education Wing, 1st level. read more CONNECT WITH US wednesday Guided Tour 1 p.m. thursday Guided Tour 1 p.m. Friday Guided Tour 1, 6 & 7:30 p.m. Drawing in the Galleries 6-9 p.m. Drop-in Workshop 6-9 p.m. Music: Tony Scherr Trio 7 & 8:30 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre 8 p.m. Saturday Drop-in-Workshop Noon-4 p.m. Guided Tour 1 & 3 p.m. Lecture: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 2 p.m. Puppet Performance: A Kite’s Tale 2 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre 8 p.m. Sunday Music: The Mack Sisters 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. Drawing in the Galleries Noon-4 p.m. Drop-in-Workshop Noon-4 p.m. Guided Tour 1 & 3 p.m. Puppet Performance: A Kite’s Tale 2 p.m. Mosaic Youth Theatre 4 p.m. Support the DIA Your membership and donations are critical to the museum’s success. Detroit Institute of Arts 5200 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48202 www.dia.org 313.833.7900 Admission $8 adults, $6 seniors, $4 children The museum is free for members. Contact the Membership Helpline at 313.833.7971 or membership@dia.org Museum Hours Wed-Thur: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fri: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat-Sun: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Box Office 313.833.4005 CaféDIA 313.833.7966 Museum Shop 313.833.7944 Detroit Film Theatre Admission: $7.50 adults, $6.50 seniors, students and DIA members. “DFT 101″ series films: $5, free for DIA members or with paid museum admission. DFT discount pass cards, valid for five admissions are $30. DFT info line: 313.833.3237

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Your online guide to great contemporary art in Detroit. May 3, 2012 – News, exhibitions, openings and events. UMMA Peter Krampus: Kiva Peter Campus is a pioneer of video art who experimented with the medium in the 1970s alongside other notable artists Bill Viola, Bruce Nauman, and Joan Jonas. Video represented a new frontier, one that allowed artists to expand upon common artistic concerns of the era, including minimalism, performance, and conceptual art Campus pursued many directions, and created both large-scale projections and a series of little-seen installation works that employ live video feeds, of which Kiva (1971) is one. Campus experimented with closed circuit cameras not with an interest in surveillance and control, but rather because they were the ideal tools for producing situations of interactive engagement between viewer and image. Opening Saturday, May 5. Show runs through August 12. Flint Institute of Arts Abstract Expressionism:  Then and Now Drawing on works in the FIA permanent collection, along with important loans from regional collections, this exhibition surveys the American art movement Abstract Expressionism from its origins in the postwar period to the latest developments in the 21st century. The Abstract Expressionists, a group of artist who emerged in New York City in the 1940s, broke with the European painting tradition by creating canvases that did not represent recognizable subjects or familiar themes of religion or history. Artists as diverse as Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner created works in the mid-20th century that were characterized by powerfully expressive techniques, emphasizing the individual’s experience of the world. Opening Saturday, May 5. Show runs through August 19. Lawrence Street Gallery My Life Through My Painting Sweeping retrospective of 60 years of art by Chicana artist Nora Mendoza, former recipient of the “Michigan Governer’s Arts Award” and Artist of the Year in 1999.  Her work is featured in many important collections around the world including Blue Cross Blue Shield offices, the General Motors corporate offices and the Ford offices in Rockefeller Plaza in New York.  The reception will feature music including classical guitar, cello and violin. Opening Friday, May 4, 6-9pm. Show runs through May 26. Anton Art Center Cut & Paste An open-call exhibition exploring the art of collage. Opening Friday, May 4, 6-9pm. Show runs through June 3. River Gallery Michelle Tock York & Jenny Pope: Entourage & Habitats Opening Friday, May 5, 5-8pm. Show runs through June 16. FUNHOUSE GALLERY Friends This group exhibit features the work of artists who became friends after attending oil painting classes offered at Earth Studio inside the Russell Industrial Center. Friends showcases not just the work of a group of friends, but also how such friendships – through the sharing of ideas and opinions – can inform each artist’s work. Along with the group’s oil paintings, the show also features Streenholdt’s geometric mobile sculptures and, in the Sideshow Gallery, the lowbrow paintings of Jeff “Opie” Michael. Opening Saturday, May 5, 6-10pm. EPIPHANY GLASS Spring Open Studio Our annual spring show with glassblowing demos, nibbles and sips, and new hand blown glass artworks on display and for sale. Saturday & Sunday, May 5 & 6, 12-6pm. Pewabic Pottery 1st – Annual Student Sale & Education Studio Open House Join us this Saturday for a showcase of the Pewabic Pottery Education Studio. Education students will be selling their wares and giving live demonstrations. Pewabic staff will be here to help you find out all about the classes and workshops we offer. 20% of sales from the event will go to help support the education program. Come support a century of excellence in ceramic education and design! Saturday, May 5, 11-4pm. Cranbrook Art Academy Girl Walk Film Screening Girl Walk // All Day is a feature-length dance music video and tale of urban exploration that follows three dancers across New York City. They turn the city’s sidewalks, parks, and architecture into an evolving stage as they spread their joy and movement. Thursday, May 4, 7pm. Art21: Season 6 of “Art in the Twenty-First Century” The Peabody-award winning series Art21 has introduced millions of people of all ages to contemporary art and artists and has created a new paradigm for teaching and learning about the creative process. Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum is partnering with the creators of Art21 to present advance screenings of two episodes from the Spring 2012 season, “Art in the Twenty-First Century.” Friday, May 4, 7pm. Student-led discussions following the screening. DC3 Accelerator Gallery Small Stories After a short break and some exciting changes in the DC3 Accelerator Studio, the gallery re-opens with: Small Stories, an exhibition of works by four local Detroit area artists. Show runs through June 21.

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As Martha Tedeschi observed, ”Whistler’s Mother, Wood’s American Gothic, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch’s The Scream have all achieved something that most paintings—regardless of their art historical importance, beauty, or monetary value—have not: they communicate a specific meaning almost immediately to almost every viewer. These few works have successfully made the transition from the elite realm of the museum visitor to the enormous venue of popular culture.”   In describing the painting, Edvard Munch explained that “for several years I was almost mad… You know my picture, ‘The Scream?’ I was stretched to the limit—nature was screaming in my blood… After that I gave up hope ever of being able to love again.”

Today, May 2, Sotheby’s auctioned The Scream in Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York.  It was one of four versions of the compositions, and the only one in private hands.   This version is brighter than other versions, and it is the only one where one of the background figures looks towards the cityscape.  It sold for a record $119,922,500.

Does this hefty price tag cheapen the work?  Is it only a commodity? Is it a sign that we value the work — beyond mere funds?

No matter what, the price tag ensures that it will be protected for years to come (hopefully in a public collection).

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Can creativity calm an anxious mind? – Professionals offer advice on how to control anxiety

UCSB Artist Paints Her Autobiography – Samantha McMullen, a third-year art and psychology double major, will be hosting an exhibit of her autobiographical artwork in Building 479 from April 30 to May 4.

LOST and FOUND: Belief and Doubt in Contemporary Pictures caused my train of thought outlined above. Brian Barr curated the show, which takes place at three locations and ends April 28th. The show highlights critical thinking about the arts: Brian chose a unique set of talented artists whose only similarity is that they are critical thinkers. That, of course, is an important unifying trait. The show results in great juxtapositions of artists that explore de-skilling/re-skilling, the role of the artist’s hand, text, form, texture, color, etc.

My favorite juxtaposition was Lauren Rice’s sculptural collage opposite to Njideka Akunyili’s figurative painting. Lauren Rice’s work is difficult to readily appreciate – it is not familiar. She cuts and colors large sheets of rectangular paper, which echoes a child exploring color and imagery. These pieces also have delicate collage elements. The result is a captivating wall that immediately captures the viewer’s attention and forces a deeper investigation. Njideka Akunyili’s work is almost directly across from Lauren’s piece. Njideka’s work is figurative, and it hits the familiar/unfamiliar dichotomy in an exhilaration fashion. Her work is a female figure in lying on the floor in the lap of a male figure. The male figure touches the female’s stomach. Njideka creates a sense of movement in her painting by leaving out details and adding texture through collage imagery. The male figure is reduced to basic form, and she created the shadows on the man through dense collage imagery. The female figure has the most detail, most of which is in the face. This is a very emotionally moving piece, and I look forward to following this artist.

Lauren Rice

Njideka Akunyili

The other artists exhibited are Hartmut Austen (Detroit, MI), Jordan Buschur (Lincoln, NE), Tim Campbell (Washington, D.C.), Jesse Harrod (Chicago, IL), Yui Kugimiya (Brooklyn, NY), Doron Langberg (New Haven, CT), Nick Martin Carbondale, IL), Ryan Parker (Philadelphia, PA), Amy Sacksteder (Ypsilanti, MI), Naomi Safran-Hon (Brooklyn, NY), and Sharon Servillio (Queens, NY).

The most exciting part of this show is that it is only an introduction. Namely, the show is Brian Barr’s vehicle to introduce Passenger to the art world. Passenger will be an important art center that will cultivate the familiar and unfamiliar in the arts to make a real and permanent contribution to the arts.
The show ends on 4/28, and is showing at the following venues:

Temporary gallery
1261 Woodward, Detroit, MI
Starkweather Arts Center
219 N. Main Street, Romeo, MI

The Museum of New Art – Detroit
1600 Clay Street, The Russell Industrial Center, Building 2, 3rd floor

Passenger will continue to introduce itself to Detroit and the art world in the coming months. For more information, please email brian@passengerdetroit.org and visit www.passengerdetroit.org

I reached out to Brian to learn more about Passenger and LOST and FOUND, and our conversation is below.

TheDetroiter.com : What is Passenger?
Brian : PASSENGER is a world-class creative center for cultural innovation. PASSENGER will include an exhibition/project space and a residency program for emerging to mid-career artists, designers, engineers and creative social activists, as well as studios and affordable live/work spaces for local artists.

TheDetroiter.com : Are there similar projects in Michigan (any where else)?
Brian : Currently there are not similar projects in Michigan. The closest models are the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha and the McColl Center in Charlotte.

TheDetroiter.com : What is your mission?
Brian : PASSENGER is a forum for community engagement in critical ideas and cultural production. Artists will present workshops, lectures and participate in discussions open to the public in order to foster a dialog and a community based spirit of collaboration that proves that the most inventive and challenging contemporary art is accessible to the broadest possible audience. PASSENGER’s programming exists to raise awareness within the broader community that everyone has permission to access contemporary art, not by showcasing art that is more easily accessible, but through educational outreach and community engagement that invites participation.

Beyond the educational programming goals and community outreach, PASSENGER seeks to address the brain drain of innovative, creative talent. Individuals that are educated at our colleges and universities that then flee for more thriving and challenging urban centers such as New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. In this regard PASSENGER’s mission is to create a center of excellence that supports the talent fostered here and attracting top talent globally. No significant opportunities exist in Detroit for local artists to showcase ambitious projects that exceed the ability of the market to support. PASSENGER would provide top local artists a venue to showcase their ideas.

PASSENGER’s goals are as follows:

-Attract top talent to Detroit for sustained periods of time (3-6 months) to work and interact with our community

-Support and in turn retain top local talent through affordable studio space, exhibition opportunities and community involvement as well as contributing to the place identity of Detroit as a center of innovation and excellence in the creative fields driven by opportunity and institutional support.

-Create a forum for the best and brightest minds and talent to gather, collaborate and generate innovative ideas in art, culture, politics and the significant social issues facing our city, region, nation and world. This will position the city of Detroit as a center for critical, cultural production and social innovation

-To provide free community educational outreach programming that will make the most challenging contemporary art accessible through lectures, workshops, discussions and video screenings specifically designed to attract a broader audience for participation and engagement with contemporary ideas and cultural production

TheDetroiter.com : Why are you behind this project?
Brian : I am behind this project because I believe in the arts community in Detroit, as well as Detroit’s potential to create a truly new model for artistic production, education and support.

TheDetroiter.com : How will this project change the Detroit art community?
Brian : This project will first and foremost provide key infrastructure and institutional support necessary in thriving art communities. PASSENGER will also attract artists from across the world to share their ideas with the Detroit area, expanding our already vibrant creative community. We will also provide a world class venue for local artists to showcase and share their ideas.

TheDetroiter.com : What inspired you to create Passenger?
Brian : My commitment and belief in the future of Detroit is what lead me to create PASSENGER. Looking at other major American cities and noticing what is missing from our artistic community is a world class alternative space to show work and a residency program to attract artists from all over the world
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TheDetroiter.com : Where do you want Passenger to be in five years?
Brian : In 5 years my vision is for PASSENGER to be one of the most respected artist spaces in the country that attracts the very best emerging artists to Detroit while showcasing and launching the career of the best Detroit artists. My goal is also for PASSENGER to contribute to Detroit’s place identity as a center of creative, cultural innovation. A space that attracts visitors from around the region and around the country to visit artists studios, see exciting exhibitions hear lectures, watch film screenings, take classes in contemporary art and culture etc.

TheDetroiter.com : What inspired you to curate Lost and Found?
Brian : LOST and FOUND looks at artists engaging with the concept of pictures and the language of painting in the era after the death and resurrection of painting. These artists are aware of the historical critique of painting, and the space between belief and doubt structures their conceptual framework.
TheDetroiter.com : How does Lost and Found relate to the Passenger Center’s overall mission?
Brian : It relates in that for this show we brought together three Detroit area artists with 11 artists from around the country. So we are showcasing top local talent and bringing the work of exciting emerging artists nationally.

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