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Teen and adult artists are invited to participate in the Parkersburg Art Center’s “Chalk The Block” event on Saturday, Oct. 14. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Art Center is asking teen and adult artists to participate in “Chalk The Block” on Saturday, Oct. 14, as part of the annual ArtOberfest.

To participate in “Chalk The Block,” you need to reserve your space and set of chalk pastels by completing the online registration https://www.parkersburgartcenter.org/upcomingcurrent-events. The first 24 artists to register will receive a 48-color set of chalk pastels to use. Registration will remain open through Oct. 12.

Your “canvas” will be a square of sidewalk roughly 4’x4′ or 6’x6′ on the sidewalk along Market Street between Eighth and Ninth streets. The size of the work is the artist’s choice. The Art Center and the Chalk the Block event sponsor, Artsbridge, will provide the chalk, and you provide your other supplies (stool, water, rags, brushes, tape measures, etc).

This year the festivities will also include pizza, water, soda and music by DJ Casey Powell. ArtBeat Studio will be set up on the street offering a community project for all to enjoy and there will be an open area for artists of all ages and abilities to draw without being registered participants.

Artists can start work as early as 1 p.m. on Oct. 14, but all work should be finished by 5 p.m. that evening. Chalk the Block and ArtOberfest attendees will be encouraged to walk the Chalked Block and vote for the chalk art pieces that speak to them.

Teen and adult artists are invited to participate in the Parkersburg Art Center’s “Chalk The Block” event on Saturday, Oct. 14. (Photo Provided)

People’s Choice Awards will be cash prizes offered in adult and teen categories. There will be first and second place in each. Prize packages will be awarded on Oct. 17.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate, Chalk the Block will be rescheduled to another date.

Directly following Chalk The Block, ArtOberfest will open from 5-9 p.m. on the 700 block of Market Street. Artists will fill the street with unique and hand-crafted items for your shopping pleasure. Entertainment for the evening will include performances by Evie Schaffer, Evan Cunningham, Moonking and Division Street. Attendees will be able to enjoy great food and drink from WineDown on Market, Royally Baked WV, DJs Sweet Creations, Sips Coffee and Parkersburg Brewing Company.

The Art Center and the PAC713 Market will also be open all evening.

Both Chalk the Block and ArtOberfest are free, but donations will be accepted and all proceeds support the Art Center’s free community outreach activities, scholarships for youth art classes and the establishment of a senior art studio.

If it rains, ArtOberfest will move indoors at the Art Center at Eighth and Market streets.

The Parkersburg Art Center thanks its title sponsor Bill Bailey Insurance, and its other generous sponsors West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Artsbridge, United Bank, Joe Munoz, Discount Pool Supply and Downtown PKB. The festivities are also made possible with the help of Parkersburg Brewing Company, WineDown on Market and the crew at ArtBeat Studio.

For more information about this event or other artful activities at the Parkersburg Art Center visit the website www.parkersburgartcenter.org, email info@parkersburgartcenter.org or stop into the gallery at 725 Market St. in downtown Parkersburg. The Art Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Liza Saunders has been named the new director of marketing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the university announced today. 

Saunders joins UNCW after serving the past five years at George Mason University in Virginia as the social media marketing and communications manager for the School of Art. There she developed and implemented communications strategies, including social media presence on all major platforms. Additionally, Saunders coordinated marketing campaigns and community outreach events that contributed to fundraising success, and higher student enrollment and retention, particularly for students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), first generation or low-income. Previously, Saunders served as marketing and outreach coordinator at Virginia International University.  

“Liza exudes energy and enthusiasm for the exciting work of marketing UNCW, one of the nation’s best public universities. Her professional skills as a communicator will help the Office of University Relations explore new opportunities to promote the university, expanding the ways we share our Seahawks’ stories with our campus and community,” said Andrea Weaver, UNCW chief marketing and communications officer. 

As UNCW’s first marketing director, Saunders will work with Weaver and the Office of University Relations team to develop comprehensive communications, marketing and branding strategies to further elevate UNCW and support the new 10-year Strategic Plan: Soar High, Soar Far, Soar Together. 

“I want to first thank Andrea Weaver and the entire OUR team for the opportunity to join their team,” Saunders said. “There is an unmistakable energy and excitement amongst the team to implement new strategies and explore new opportunities to promote UNCW, our alumni and our entire Seahawks community. As we look to the future, I feel honored to step into this new role and bring with me past experiences that will elevate our marketing initiatives.”

Saunders holds a B.A. in Communications and Certificate in Marketing Communications from Mary Baldwin University. She also holds a Certificate in Graphic Design and is a recipient of the Emerging Leaders Supervisor Series Certificate, both from GMU.  

For centuries, a lone tree grew in a gully known as Sycamore Gap along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, one of England’s most beloved landmarks. Last week, an act of vandalism reduced the stalwart icon to a stump, generating shock and sadness for its loss. While the National Trust works to protect the remains to see if it can regrow, the story sheds a light on trees’ vulnerability while at the same time standing as emblems of strength and resiliency.

It is timely, then, that Looking At Trees, a forthcoming book compiled with an introduction by artist Sophie Howarth, encourages us to reconnect with our natural surroundings. Images by more than two dozen contemporary photographers, including Beth Moon, Marc Alcock, and Myoung Ho Lee, explore a range of different species, ecosystems, and landscapes. From enigmatic plantations to lofty dwellings, the volume explores the diverse ways in which the woody plants are an important part of our daily lives, even if sometimes we have to remember to notice them.

Pre-order your copy on Hoxton Mini Press’s website, and if you’re in the mood for even more trees, you might also enjoy Neil Burnell’s photographs of moss-draped forests.

Photo by Paul Hart

Photo by Robert Voit

Photo by Nicholas J R White

Photo by Marc Wendelski

Photo by M’hammed Kilito

Photo by David Spero

Photo by Daniel Ballesteros

Photo by Alexandre Miguel Maia

Photo by Anna Beeke

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Forthcoming Book Turns a New Leaf On Remarkable Photographs of Trees From Around the World appeared first on Colossal.

 WCU Stories   
 
October 2, 2023

By Julia Duvall

For Western Carolina University second-year Master of Fine Art student Jeannie Regan,
being chosen as the creative director for the Center for Craft’s newest art installation
is an opportunity made possible by faculty and peer support from the MFA program. 

“Krafthouse 2023: Forest of the New Trees” is an immersive art installation made for
and by the Asheville community that will evolve and change each year in its historic
building at 67 Broadway in downtown Asheville. This year’s installation will be open
to the public from Sept. 28 to Oct. 13, on Thursdays and Fridays from 5-8 p.m. and
on Saturdays from 2-4 p.m. and again from 6-9 p.m. 

“The Center for Craft is Asheville’s leading force in craft advocacy and education,”
Regan said. “Krafthouse is an event that they’ve imagined running every year and wanted
to consider it as the flip side of what they do during the day in the light and airy
upstairs gallery. The installation downstairs will be edgy, contemporary and a little
risky.”  

Regan, originally from Australia, said   the art installation will be an interactive
experience that is full of different art installations and guests can explore the
space in any way they choose. 

“In the spirit of immersive performances and installations like ‘Meow Wolf’ and ‘Burning
Man,’ guests and artists will make up their own story and adventure as they go through
the installation,” Regan said. “The theme for this year’s Krafthouse will be this
imaginary post-major event in Appalachia where craft is how we thrive and interact
with each other through a night market setting.” 

Regan and selected local artists will interpret the theme in their own way. The end
result will be the creation of a small, self-sustaining community that has made itself
anew. A night market atmosphere will welcome visitors, who will be able to make, gift
and trade goods with the artists and each other. 

Regan was introduced to Marilyn Zapf, the head curator at the Center for Craft by
a graduate of the MFA program, Lex Turnbull, which led to Regan to be selected as
the creative director for the project. 

“Lex was incredibly generous in making that connection, which I think speaks to the
strength of the MFA program at Western,” Regan said. “We are looking out for each
other and I am super grateful for the support throughout this process.” 

Tom Ashcraft, WCU’s MFA program director and Distinguished Professor of Visual Art,
shared that the generous community within the MFA program, which is housed in WCU’s
David Orr Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts, is vital for its students and
alumni to be successful. 

“It is really great seeing current MFA students and also graduates out in the field
doing the work and then reaching back to help other students within the program,”
Ashcraft said.  “This speaks to the strength of the program and the quality and expertise
they bring to projects like these.” 

One of the benefits of the program’s small cohorts is it allows visiting artists to
work with the MFA students on a more personal level. 

“Tom and the rest of the faculty committee have been amazing about bringing local
and international visiting artists to campus,” Regan said. “With our cohorts being
smaller than other university programs, these visiting artists get to spend a ton
of time with us and that is an incredible luxury we don’t take for granted. We get
to know these artists on a personal level and gain additional professional development
experience.” 

Ashcraft said another highlight of the program is the diversity of the artists admitted. 

“We admit a variety of students with backgrounds in areas such as traditional contemporary
painting to community-oriented social practice,” Ashcraft said. “We really try to
build a cohort that gives students different perspectives and ideas to draw their
inspiration from. My job is essentially being a ‘baseball manager;’ you just feel
out the talent and think about who would complement the others in the cohort and be
a good fit for the program.” 

Regan’s journey to the MFA program was a non-traditional one, but turned out better
than she could have imagined.  

“I did my undergrad a long time ago in Australia and I have been in the states for
the past 13 years,” Regan said. “I have an 11-year-old daughter which explains the
big gap in education, but Harriet got to a point where I felt like I could take time
to work on my MFA and I began researching programs. 

Regan first looked at distance programs but felt that was not a good fit and longed
for the in-person, collaborative atmosphere she had at her art school in Australia. 

“I looked at the program here in Cullowhee and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh the studios
are gorgeous, it’s not that far from my house and it is a great program,’” Regan said.
“I loved that it was a comparatively small university with smaller classes and more
one-on-one faculty interactions. I went for a visit and knew it was the right fit
for me. Everybody has a ton of space to work, a lot of access to faculty and the fact
that faculty have studios on campus that students can stop by anytime; that’s not
everywhere you go and that’s a special thing because you can see them doing their
work.” 

For more information about the Krafthouse installation and to purchase tickets, visit
centerforcraft.org. 

A Washington state man who falsely claimed Native American heritage to sell his artwork at downtown Seattle galleries was sentenced Wednesday to federal probation and community service.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Lewis Rath, of Maple Falls, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to two years probation and 200 hours of community service. He was charged in 2021 with multiple crimes including violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which prohibits misrepresentation in marketing American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts.

An investigation started in 2018, when the Indian Arts and Crafts Board received a complaint about Rath, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Rath falsely claimed to be a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona and sold carved wooden totem poles, transformation masks and pendants to Seattle retail stores, the attorney’s office said.

Agents searching Rath’s residence also recovered feathers from birds protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, according to results from the National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Lab.

“Counterfeit Indian art, like Lewis Anthony Rath’s carvings and jewelry that he misrepresented and sold as San Carlos Apache-made, tears at the very fabric of Indian culture, livelihoods, and communities,” U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board Director Meridith Stanton said in a Justice Department statement. “Rath’s actions demean and rob authentic Indian artists who rely on the creation and sale of their artwork to put food on the table, make ends meet, and pass along these important cultural traditions and skills from one generation to the next.

Stanton also said his actions undermine consumers’ confidence in the Indian art market in the Northwest and nationwide.

Jerry Chris Van Dyke, also known as Jerry Witten, 68, of Seattle, also pleaded guilty to violations of the IACA in March. He was sentenced on May 17 to 18 months of federal probation.

In a celebration of global cultural fusion, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA upends Western art historical portrayals of African customs in vibrant mixed-media collages and sculptures (previously). Merging textiles with fiberglass, brass, raffia, wooden masks, and more, the artist highlights our associations with specific materials, pairing them with elusive narratives.

In his series of Decolonised Structures, for example, Shonibare reinterprets memorial statues of figures like Queen Victoria by painting them head-to-toe in vivid patterns based on Dutch wax fabrics. The artist incorporates the colorful designs into backgrounds, like in the Modern Spiritual series of woodcuts, or clothes dancing figures in a variety of of styles, like in “Sun Dance Kids (Boy and Girl).” His use of the distinctive cotton textiles, common in West and Central Africa, reference complex colonial histories, alluding to “the legacy of African aesthetics and the history of modernism while conceptualising his sculptures as ritual objects with power in their own right,” says a statement for his exhibition Ritual Ecstasy of the Modern at Cristea Roberts Gallery.

“Modern Spiritual II” (2023), woodcut with batik fabric collage on Somerset Satin 410gsm tub-sized paper, 124.6 x 100.6 centimeters, edition of 25 plus 5 APs. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Cristea Roberts Gallery, London

In another solo exhibition in London, Free The Wind, The Spirit, and The Sun at Stephen Friedman Gallery, Shonibare taps into modern art history, especially the spirit of Dada, an early 20th-century avant-garde movement centered in Zürich that formed in response to World War I, rejecting the bourgeois and capitalist sensibilities of European society.

Dadaists protested traditional values of Western art by expressing nonsense and irrationality through a variety of media, including performance, music, and sculpture. Shonibare’s whimsical pieces parallel this history, which often evoked “African and Oceanic cultures to express animalism, originality, and freedom,” says a gallery statement.

“Decolonised Structures (Queen Victoria)” (2022), fiberglass sculpture hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern, on wooden plinth, 139 x 75 x 57 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

Both exhibitions continue the artist’s recent interest in the collections of prominent modernists and their portrayals of African artifacts, especially Pablo Picasso and André Derain. Ceremonial masks play a prevalent role in Shonibare’s pieces, affixed to the heads of statues like “Hybrid Sculpture (Pan)” or painted and draped with raffia in the Hybrid Mask series. He draws attention to the ways in which the ritual objects have also been collected and depicted by Western artists. Shonibare says:

I discovered that Picasso had a collection of African art. I know by my art education that many modern artists were inspired by African art, and that Black culture was also very popular and very fashionable in the late ’20s, in Paris. We are going through a kind of African renaissance moment now, too, so I wanted to understand the origins of how Black culture became fashionable in Western modernism. I am kind of revisiting how the power of African aesthetics managed to inspire a whole movement in the west.

Ritual Ecstasy of the Modern continues through November 4 at Cristea Roberts Gallery, and Free The Wind, The Spirit, and The Sun opens on October 6 and runs through November 11 at Stephen Friedman Gallery’s new Mayfair location. Explore more of Shonibare’s work on his website and Instagram.

“Hybrid Mask (Tsogho)” (2022), wood, acrylic paint, raffia, and brass, 74 x 45 x 15 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

“Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) X” (2021), patchwork, appliqué, embroidery, and Dutch wax printed cotton textile, 158.3 x 117.5 x 5.5 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of the artist

“Hybrid Sculpture (Pan)” (2021), fiberglass sculpture hand painted with Dutch wax pattern, with hand-carved wooden mask, 152 x 68 x 72 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

“Hybrid Mask (Ndeemba)” (2023), wood, acrylic paint, raffia, and brass, 78 x 50 x 50 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

“Decolonised Structures (Frere)” (2022), fiberglass sculpture hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern and wooden plinth, 143 x 49 x 60 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

“Modern Spiritual I” (2023), woodcut with batik fabric collage on Somerset Satin 410gsm tub-sized paper, 124.6 x 100.6 centimeters, edition of 25 plus 5 APs. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Cristea Roberts Gallery, London

“African Bird Magic (Crested Lark) I” (2023), patchwork, appliqué, embroidery, and Dutch wax printed cotton textile, 179 x 250 centimeters. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery

“African Roots of Modernism (Gba gba)” (2023), resin, acrylic paint, patinated brass, and carbon fiber, 25.8 x 9.7 x 7.9 centimeters, edition of 15 plus 2 APs. Photo by Stephen White & Co., courtesy of Cristea Roberts Gallery, London

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article In Two Major Exhibitions, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA Celebrates African Aesthetics and Cultural Hybridity appeared first on Colossal.

In Transcending the Garden, Sipho Mabona continues to push the boundaries of origami through large-scale folds inspired by beastly and geological shapes. On view now at Glacier Garden Lucerne, this body of work evokes both animal physiques and the rigid, monumental nature of glaciers portrayed through monochromatic geometries.

Mabona became known for his animal sculptures ranging from small schools of koi to a life-sized interpretation of an elephant. In recent years, he’s shifted to more abstract, hand-dyed works on cotton that, rather than focusing on a three-dimensional figure, highlight the creasing process itself. The pieces appear unfolded and allow the viewer to envision what the final form could be if the sheet were re-constructed.

This emphasis reaches new heights in Transcending the Garden, which comprises wall-based works and a pointed sculpture that rests on the gallery floor. Mabona tells Colossal that he opted for a larger scale “to provoke a more visceral response from the viewers… I always loved to get lost in large pieces of work and discover lots of minute details that only reveal themselves after thorough inspection.”

In the context of the glacial space, Mabona’s pieces point toward change, transformation, and regeneration: are the works remnants of animals past or current aerial depictions of mountainous landscapes?

The garden released a filmed visit to Mabona’s studio to coincide with the exhibition—the video is in German, so be sure to turn on English captions for translation. Find more from the artist on Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Unfolded Origami Works by Sipho Mabona Reflect on Inevitable Transformations appeared first on Colossal.

Published on October 02, 2023

Coral Springs, FL– The City of Coral Springs has selected Coral Springs Center for the Arts Interim General Manager and Marketing Director, Meera Hammad, to lead the facility as its General Manager.

As General Manager, Hammad is responsible for overseeing The Center’s day-to-day operations including staffing, ticketing, marketing, and more. She is also responsible for management of The Center’s upcoming programming, including shows. Hammad has served as the Interim General Manager since June 2023. Prior to that, she was the Marketing Director for the facility, a position she started in May 2014. As Marketing Director, Hammad was responsible for entertainment marketing, media buying, content creation, and graphic design for the center’s 50+ show season.

Effective October 1, 2023, The Center’s operations are under the City of Coral Springs umbrella, and in her new role as a city employee, Hammad looks forward to combining her passion for theater with a focus on the city’s vision — to be the premier community in which to live, work, and raise a family — to help direct programming.

“Coral Springs is where I grew up and now where I am raising my own family,” Hammad said. “I witnessed how far the facility has progressed over the years, and I’m equally as excited – joined by my dedicated team – to bring forward a new slate of unforgettable experiences to the community.”

Under its new structure, the City of Coral Springs is applying a hybrid management model to conduct facility operations. This includes utilizing both a theater consultant (Art Center Management) and in-house staff to run The Center, while increasing the potential for other rental requests, ultimately aiming to grow the types of entertainment activities offered and possible uses for the facility. The city anticipates the new model to be cost-neutral andwilladopt acost recovery model toguide decisions related to operating the facility.

Hammad will report to City of Coral Springs Deputy City Manager, Dale Pazdra who will oversee the transition to the new model and support The Center’s staff during the transition.

“City management has a desire to utilize The Center for additional public uses, when available, and grow the types of entertainment activities offered at the facility,” Pazdra said. “With Meera’s passion, dedication, and open-mindedness, she is the perfect person to lead during this transition, and I look forward to working with her as we strengthen our commitment to the arts and show more pride in ownership.”

Hammad holds a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Florida Atlantic University. Upon graduation, and prior to joining the Center for the Arts, Hammad spent six years in Los Angeles where she worked as a Talent Agent for a top 20 agency. She returned to Coral Springs to raise her family and apply her expertise on a local level.

“It’s incredibly fulfilling to utilize my talents and experience in a way that benefits the city I have always called home,” Hammad said.” I look forward to growing, both personally and professionally, in the city with everything under the sun.”

Information about the Coral Springs Center for the Arts can be found atTheCenterCS.com.