The Wawa Welcome America festival celebrates Day 2 with dance, art and much more with the focus on refugees.
Wawa Welcome America June 20: World Refugee Day, get artistic
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Photographer aiming to bring back ‘the magic’ of film photography
LONGVIEW, Texas — The rise of digital photography seemed to signal the end of analog for a Longview resident, but he’s aiming to change that by bringing film back to the community in a familiar way.
Jamie Maldonado is a local photographer with a master’s degree in studio art from Texas A&M Commerce. He previously served as an assistant at Kilgore College, where he said he fostered his love of photography. Now, Maldonado wants to give back to the community by opening a nonprofit community darkroom he’s calling the Piney Woods Darkroom.
Over the last several years, he’s been thinking of ideas related to film photography and the one he kept returning to was of a film lab, he said. After speaking with a fellow photographer friend who runs a community darkroom in California, Maldonado was struck by the similarity to what he used to do at Kilgore College.
TELO is a Tiny Electric Truck With Big Load Capacity and 350-Miles Range
Trucks are hugely popular across the United States, with pickups (and SUVs) ranked as the most popular segment of vehicles over the past four years. Unsurprisingly, electric trucks like the Rivian R1T and Ford Lightning are also doing well, with growing demand for vehicles with load capacity, EV efficiency and performance, technological amenities, and the option to get off the beaten path to seek adventure tempting car buyers into PHEV trucks in droves. But trucks today are increasingly oversized for everyday tasks, especially for those living in urban zip codes where parking a mid or full-size truck can prove challenging. TELO, a new electric truck arrives as the antithesis of the modern pickup, a small but capable EV pickup designed for urbanites who want all of the perks of a truck with a fraction of the parking space footprint.
In Japan, small alleyway width Kei trucks are designed to navigate the tightest spaces, aiding city dwellers and farmers alike with a myriad of tasks. But in the United States, even the smallest truck – currently the Hyundai Santa Cruz – still measures close to 200 inches in length and 75 inches in width. Compare those numbers to the 152-inch long TELO, an electric truck comparable in size to a MINI Cooper. Yet this wee work and play vehicle also is outfitted with the same as most Toyota Tacoma trucks (a 5-foot bed; though still smaller than this truck owner’s daily driver, a Tacoma with the 6-foot bed option), and a four-door five-passenger spacious interior.
With a pugnacious front somewhat reminiscent of the Canoo pickup truck, but smaller, the TELO’s modest proportions offer something beyond a parking space-friendly demeanor. This little EV can keep on trucking for 350 miles between charges.
The TELO’s 106kWh battery pack charges to capacity in just 20-minutes (20-80%), powering a 380 kW dual motor AWD for a total of 500 HP and good for 0-60 in 4 seconds, while delivering 350 miles of range (just enough to get you from Los Angels to San Francisco in one go).
The truck’s unique design is the work of fuseproject and Yves Béhar (far right), TELO’s Head of Design and Advisor, here with TELO’s co-founder, CEO Jason Marks and co-founder, CTO Forrest North.
“For us, the opportunity to design with the latest EV technology meant that we could create a category defining and environmentally mighty ultra-compact pickup truck,” says TELO’s Head of Design, Yves Béhar. “It is designed for city adventurers who want a vehicle nimble enough for city streets and robust enough for outdoor exploring, with plenty of space for their people and gear. It has been an honor to bring to life an unparalleled EV truck which offers best-in-class utility, safety and all around drivability.”
The TELO’s bed capacity is expandable thanks to a specially designed mid-partition between the back-seat and the truck bed. Folded down, longer items can intrude from the truck bed into the interior of the truck, enabling transport of items as large as 4-feet by 8-feet sheets of plywood, long ladders, or as shown here, an armada of 9-foot surfboards.
TELO is being aimed at “urban adventurers” seeking the practicality of a small footprint vehicle for the daily tasks with the load capacity and power of a traditional truck, and noting our own positive response to this design, TELO has a good possibility of establishing an entirely new segment sorely lacking in the United States market: the mini electric truck.
TELO will retail for $49,999 (not including State and Federal Electric Vehicle Tax Credits) and is currently available for pre-order with a deposit of $152 at www.telotrucks.com.
Menswear in Milan and Rembrandt tattoos: Monday’s best photographs
Moscow, Russia
The opposition politician Alexei Navalny, his lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev and other participants appear via videolink during an external hearing of the Moscow city court in a new criminal case against Navalny on numerous charges, including the creation of an extremist organisation, at the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir region
Photograph: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
The Landcraft Garden Foundation’s Sculpture In The Garden Featuring Artist Virginia Overton • James Lane Post • Hamptons Culture & Lifestyle Magazine
• The Landcraft Garden Foundation’s Sculpture In The Garden Featuring Artist Virginia Overton • Hamptons News Magazine • An East End Experience – a magazine covering Hamptons Art & Entertainment, Hamptons Real Estate, Hamptons Dining, Wellness, Philanthropy and much more.
All 40 Parade of Hearts sculptures to be displayed at Kauffman Stadium
Next month, all 40 Parade of Hearts sculptures will be displayed at Kauffman Stadium for one week only.
An Olmec ‘Earth Monster’ Returns to Mexico
The repatriation of an ancient sculpture highlights the influential early Mesoamerican culture.
As Alaska tourism rebounds, state and federal officials crack down on fake Alaska Native art
A Ketchikan man agreed to plead guilty this month to federal charges in conjunction with a long-running scheme to sell fake Alaska Native souvenirs manufactured in the Philippines.
Travis Lee Macaset’s plea deal follows several other guilty pleas this summer that stem from a scheme to sell mislabeled products from two businesses in Ketchikan.
“It occurs more often than we would like,” said Jack Schmidt, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the cases.
With tourism rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, so is the market for souvenirs. In the shops along the Southeast Alaska waterfront, authentic Alaska-made items sell for many times the cost of mass-manufactured ones created overseas, and the threat of fake products appears to be growing.
“The temptation is always there,” Schmidt said.
In the United States, souvenirs sold as authentic products of tribes or tribal members and identified as coming from American Indians and Alaska Natives are specifically protected under the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
That law makes it illegal to market and sell artwork falsely labeled as created by an Alaska Native or a Native tribe. The act is enforced by the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board, which collects complaints and investigates violations.
Breaking that law might seem like a minor crime, said attorney Jacob Adams, but the long-term consequences are large.
“Allowing non-genuine products like that to be out there in the market, and essentially take over a lot of areas, it makes the environment that much more difficult for Indigenous craftspeople to live off of their culture, and that causes many follow-on effects,” Adams said.
“If people are unable to make use of their culture, to live off their culture … then it disincentivizes upcoming generations to pick up those crafts,” he said.
Three years ago, Adams represented Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Southeast Alaska Native cultural group, and several other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Neiman Marcus, the luxury retailer. At the time, Neiman Marcus was selling a “Ravenstail” coat that the plaintiffs said was the copyrighted work of a Native weaver.
The parties later settled the suit with an undisclosed agreement.
Statistics for the scale of the problem are hard to come by, Adams and others said.
In 2011, the federal Government Accountability Office concluded that it was impossible to gauge the size of the illegal market with available data but noted that of 649 complaints filed with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board between 2006 and 2010, almost a quarter involved apparent violations of federal law.
Anecdotally, officials and artists pointed to the number of prosecutions and actions against the sellers of fake products as a demonstration of both the problem and actions being taken to combat it via the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
“To a great extent, for the most part, we’re seeing more of its use both in the private and the criminal side in recent years, in the past decade or so,” Adams said, referring to the law.
This spring, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle prosecuted a man who sold fake American Indian and Alaska Native artwork at Pike’s Place Market.
Two years ago, the attorney’s office in Alaska prosecuted the former owner of the Arctic Treasures gift shop in Anchorage. Seven years ago, four shops were charged by federal prosecutors.
Fines for violations of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act are common, but jail time remains rare, Tribal Business News reported in 2021.
The arts board operates a special investigations unit, Schmidt said, with one investigator based out of Juneau and another out of Anchorage.
“There’s a lot of potential for fraud out there,” Schmidt said.
The state of Alaska also investigates complaints via its consumer protection unit and in 2022 filed a civil lawsuit against the owners of an Anchorage business, accusing them of shipping Alaska-bought bones and antlers to the Philippines before turning them into knives and other products there.
At the start of this year’s tourist season, the Department of Law sent a warning letter to 44 tourism businesses, warning them not to remove foreign country markings from souvenirs.
“In the past, CPU has received information indicating that some businesses serving the tourist market may be removing foreign country of origin markings from products, which confuses or misleads consumers into believing that the products were made in Alaska,” the letter said in part.
Patty Sullivan, an attorney and spokesperson for the department, said that the letters weren’t intended to target particular businesses and aren’t a sign that the state believes those businesses are doing something wrong.
“These are stores that we believe serve the tourist market. There have been allegations that this conduct is happening in stores that serve the tourist market. We may send a second round of letters to additional shops in the future,” she said.
Adams said the issue is worth continued attention.
“Many people would think this discussion is trivial, but it’s actually essential to the identity of Indigenous groups,” Adams said.
“If we are going to support not only the Indigenous people but also celebrate the idea of diversity, we have to protect and secure these types of valuable pieces of identity,” he said.
HOW TO BUY SMART
Here are some tips recommended by the state of Alaska and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board if you’re looking to make sure that you’re buying something authentic:
- Shop at stores with good reputations, those linked to tribes or tribal groups, and ask for a written guarantee or written verification that what you’re buying has been made by an Alaska Native.
- If possible, get a receipt that includes all the information about the maker, the maker’s village or tribe, and where they’re from.
- Look for a certification tag. The board and the Alaska State Council on the Arts’ “Silver Hand” program each offer a certification process that includes a label.
- Go beyond “Made in Alaska.” Something can carry a “Made in Alaska” logo but be made by a non-Native. Instead, look for labels and explanations that something was made by a member of a particular tribe.
- Price, materials and appearance are all clues. Authentic items will cost much more than mass-produced ones. If something is advertised as hand-carved but is right next to identical pieces, be skeptical. Something advertised as soapstone might actually be made of resin — real stone is cool to the touch, plastic is warm, and stone is heavier.
- If you need to file a complaint, visit the Indian Arts and Crafts Board online or call 888-278-3253.
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Congratulations to the 2023 Best of NeoCon Award Winners
One of the highlights of each year’s NeoCon show is the Best of NeoCon Awards. Now in its 33rd year, the 2023 program continues to recognize products from industry leaders – as well as smaller brands – that demonstrate innovation and design-forward thinking. A jury of architects, designers, specifiers, enterprise clients, facility managers, and top business media have given out 114 awards in more than 50 categories for Gold, Silver, Sustainability, Innovation, Business Impact, and Best of Competition. This year, the Flote Lounge Collection from Hightower was awarded the coveted of Best of Competition award. Keep reading for a few of our favorite Best of NeoCon winners and see the entire list here.
Seen above, Hightower’s Flote Lounge Collection was inspired by the support, comfort, and relaxation of a pool float. With an inviting, curve-hugging seat and modern-yet-timeless aesthetic, Flote brings a sense of buoyancy and comfort to the user.
With no obvious back or front, Lumber can be placed in most spaces – you can even hang it on a wall to take up minimal space. A small side table is the perfect size for a laptop or coffee meeting.
OMNIRoom by Mute Gold Award in INTERIOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS > Demountable Walls
OmniRoom is a modular room-in-room system for creating plug and play flexible workspaces – create tailor-made or choose from preconfigured options. Rooms can be placed separately or combined into multifunctional hubs that act as central points of the office.
Net Lounge by Nardi S.p.A Gold Award in OUTDOOR > Furniture: Seating
The Net Lounge outdoor armchair is made entirely from recyclable polypropylene fiberglass. It’s deep seat and enveloping shape create a wave-like profile that sums up its strong design character with one movement.
Mike Ford + Shaw Contract by Shaw Contract Gold Award + INNOVATION Award in FLOORING > Carpet: Area Rugs
Shaw Contract partnered with Hip Hop Architect Mike Ford to create a rug collection celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. The collaboration highlights Hip Hop’s textures, patterns, and rhythms, showcasing its energy, optimism, and rich history.
Beam by Nienkamper Sustainability Award in FURNITURE > Lounge Furniture Collections
Beam is an innovative seating collection that’s compact and curvaceous, with a playful silhouette. As the name suggests, Beam’s fully upholstered seating elements rest on an exposed wood beam through the center, adding warmth through materials and finishes.
CoLab by Senator Silver Award in FURNITURE > Collections for Collaboration, Gold Award in FURNITURE > Education Solutions
How do you foster connectivity and community when the new normal is geared towards being off-site? CoLab offers workspaces and institutions a versatile modular furniture system that empowers shared learning and collaboration while inspiring socializing and collaborative work.
Elevate by SIXINCH USA INNOVATION Award in FURNITURE > Seating: Modular
Elevate doesn’t make you choose between a dining set and an outdoor lounge grouping. Most dining furniture isn’t comfortable enough for extended work, and lounge furniture is typically too low to support a working posture or digital or analog tools and materials. But with elevate, you can have it all.
Cayman by Enwork Gold Award in FURNITURE > Furniture Systems
Cayman is a private office solution that’s also a great fit for video conference and collaborative spaces. Modern aesthetics, height-adjustable surfaces, and integrated technology are just a few ways Cayman brings innovation to the private office with its custom capabilities.
Rowen by OFS Gold Award in FURNITURE > Seating: Benches
The Rowen bench seamlessly blends elegance and warmth. Inspired by architecture and landscapes, it evokes a sense of beauty and tranquility while inviting people to sit awhile with its harmonious balance.
Congratulations to all winners of the 2023 Best of NeoCon Awards! See all of the winning designs at neocon.com.
Summer Is Social with Free Artist-Designed Events at the Walker Art Center
DJ sets, poetry readings, art-making opportunities, and more:Summer Social is an event series that invites you to partake in artist-designed programs at the Walker Art Center.
Co-created with over a dozen local artists and community partners, these weekly Free Thursday Night activities at the Walker extend beyond the museum walls and onto the hillside for summer evenings that are sure to delight and inspire, reminding us all how great it is to be together.
Summer Social features experiences such as James Beard Award–-winning chef Justin Sutherland cooking custom bites after an artist talk, a reading curated by All My Relations Arts’ Native Author Program (one of three poetry readings this summer), and inspired activities developed by numerous Filipinx community organizations. The series concludes with the annual Sounds for Silents program that combines live music and silent films for a one-of-a-kind concert from this year’s musician, Papa Mbye.
Between the fresh air, free gallery admission, and refreshments available to order fromCardamom’s menu, there’s something for everyone at the Walker this summer!
Explore the full lineup below or atwalkerart.org/summersocial.
Green Roof Poetry: Curated by All My Relations Arts’ Native Author Program
June 22, 6 pm
Green Roof Poetry invites several of the Twin Cities’ most dynamic writers for an evening of readings on the Walker’s hillside. All My Relations Arts’ Native Authors Program will curate a lively lineup of writers and mentors.
Community Opening: Kahlil Robert Irving
June 29, 6 pm
Celebrate Kahlil Robert Irving’s Archaeology of the Present exhibition with a dynamic conversation between the artist,creative consultant Jerald Cooper (@hoodmidcenturymodern), and writer and curator Antwaun Sargent. Following the talk, enjoy conversation and small bites by James Beard Award–winning Chef Justin Sutherland (Handsome Hog, Iron Chef winner, Top Chef alum).
What’s in Your Crate: Curated by Yasmeenah
July 6, 6 pm
Multidisciplinary artist and DJ Yasmeenah invites local DJs to get to know each other through their respective music collections. She shares: “I’m looking forward to people getting to know some of the Twin Cities most exciting DJs in a more intimate way.” The artists will spin songs in response to questions and conversation. What song would they play if they were stuck on an island? What song is their favorite but doesn’t translate well on the dance floor? As the evening gives way to dusk, we’ll get to know these DJs and their relationship to music.
To Green Roof Poetry: Homage to Hip Hop curated by Tish Jones
July 13, 6 pm
Poet, narrative strategist, educator, and cultural producer Tish Jones has a deep and resounding love for Black people, arts and culture, youth development, and civic engagement. Join us for an evening celebrating 50 years of hip hop, from its signature beats to the community it fosters.
July 20, 6 pm
Mutual care, history, interconnectedness, and resilience are but a few of the many things we can learn from plants and the places we are rooted within. Participate in plant tours throughout the evening and get creative with the artist-led artmaking station.
Buhay Na Buhay: Curated by the MN Filipinx Community
July 27, 5 pm
The hillside will be so alive – “Buhay Na Buhay” – as Filipinx community organizations come together to curate a night of inspiring activities. The event celebratesPacita Abad’s work and the rich community in Minnesota through performance, art, and togetherness. The Cultural Society of Filipino Americans, Filipinx for Immigrant Rights & Racial Justice Minnesota, and the Philippine Study Group of Minnesota are just a few of the organizations curating the evening.
Green Roof Poetry: Curated by Danez Smith
August 3, 6 pm
Award-winning poet, writer, and performer Danez Smith is the author of three poetry collections, including Homie and Don’t Call Us Dead. Bring your blanket and relax for an evening of fresh-air readings by writers Farah, Isha Camara, Arleta Little, and Tish Jones, as curated for what Smith is proclaiming “an Official Unofficial Birthday Reading” in celebration of their 34th birthday.
August 10, 6 pm
Find inspiration in the natural world while exploring the native plants found around the Walker campus and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Participate in plant tours throughout the evening and get creative with the artist-led artmaking station.
Sound for Silents 2023: Film + Music on the Walker Hillside
August 17, 7 pm
Annual favorite Sound for Silents pairs electrifying live music with films from the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection. The event features a newly commissioned score from musician and visual artist Papa Mbye and his collaborators, including Symbioscia and Zak Khan.
Arrive early for a DJ set by Diane Miller from The Current’s Local Show.
To learn more: Visit walkerart.org/summersocial. See all summer programming atwalkerart.org/summer.
MORE SPONSORED CONTENT BY WALKER ART CENTER
Pacita Abad, an Artist of the World
Pacita Abad is now on view at the Walker Art Center, featuring more than 100 joyful and colorful artworks from the Philippine-born artist Pacita Abad. The exhibition showcases her experiments in mediums including paintings, textiles, works on paper, costumes, and ceramics, with many artworks that have never been on view in the United States. Over…
“Abundant Cities” Series Brings Together Community Changemakers
This is an exciting moment of change for Minneapolis, with years of uncertainty giving way to opportunities for reinvention. The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Foundation are joining forces to elevate the ongoing community dialogue about what’s next, and to ensure new and inspired voices have a stake in the revitalization of downtown and…
