'Stark Arthology'

The Canton Museum of Art is featuring a new exhibit entitled 'Stark Arthology' that will be running from November 19, 2010 through November 28, 2010.  Stark Arthology is  an anthology of 69 local area artists, whose works have been photographed and analogued in the printed book.  The exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art launches with a debut of the publication as well as a display or the original works of art featured in the anthology.  The project was funded by a $6,000 grant from Arts in Stark.  The idea for the project arose from Jessica Bennett, the executive director of Indigo Ink Press, and her interest in the local arts community.  After releasing an invite to local artists for submissions, Bennett received a total of 162 different submissions and whittled the group down to 69 unique exhibits that are featured in the book.  This is a great success for local artists and promotes exposure of their works to members of outlying communities.

The book is being sold for $29.95 at local area bookstores, as detailed in the photograph below.  The Canton Museum of Art is featuring free admission to the exhibit on Saturday, November 20th and Sunday, November 28th.

Artists Protest Cuts by Playing Dead

During the last week of October, in Buffalo, NY, many passersby saw an interesting new type of protest aimed at local legislators.  Multiple artists lay on the sidewalks and streets playing dead, in an attempt to show those in financial control of local funding the type of impact that cuts to the arts scene would have on the community.  The cuts to the arts that the county has proposed would leave many local arists without a job or ability to continue sharing their visions with the public.

This type of protest can be much more effective than standing on streetcorners with signage.  This is a more visible display of how county funding choices actually do affect small community art organizations.  Responses from local councilpersons state that they are allocating 4.5 million dollars to the local cultural community and that not every small business can expect to receive funding.  However, it is still important for local artists to remind community leaders of the importance of individual artistic galleries and displays on the community around them.

Video footage of the protest and a written article on the event can be found here: Protest Has People Playing Dead

Portland Promotes Art Exposure

Portland, Oregon is leading the way in exposing its residents to art as opposed to empty storefronts.  With the continued economic struggles, many businesses and storefronts are empty these days.  In heavily populated urban areas, specifically the downtown business sector, there is a lot of foot traffic and wandering eyes as commuters pass by.  In collaboration with The Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Development Commission, several local artists have been given the opportunity to display their artwork in the windows of Portland Storefronts that are currently vacant.  As a public artwork display, there are no limitations on when the artwork can be viewed as it is available around the clock.  Currently there are five different artists with open exhibits, and the artists works travel across multiple different mediums.  This type of open public exposure to the arts is beneficial in the arts continuing to make an imprint on our society.

Link to article: RACC unveils temporary art installations in vacant downtown storefronts

New Study finds Lesbian Parents Safest

An article published in the Huffington Post on November 10, 2010 finds the "child abuse rate at zero percent in lesbian households." The Williams Institute, a research center on sexual orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Law, studied and published these findings. The study is the longest-running type of its kind ever conducted on lesbian families, and has been ongoing for the past twenty four years. The data for the study was compiled from interviews of the 17 year old sons and daughters that were raised by lesbian mothers. The article was very interesting and found a rate of 0% of any child abuse, either physical or sexual. The results are staggering, when compared with that of 26% of children raised by heterosexual parents becoming victims of some type of abuse.

Studies and reports of this nature make me hopeful for more acceptance and tolerance in my future. My partner and I hope to begin our own family in the near future, and studies of this nature will hopefully increase the acceptance that our own children will need by that of their peers. Positive support of lesbian parenting, over time, should also assist in making it easier for homosexual couples to achieve second-parent adoptions more easily. I look forward to continuing to see these advances in my future.

Link to article: Huffington Post - Child Abuse Rate at Zero Percent in Lesbian Households

Road Trip from Oregon to Ohio

     The road trip from Portland, Oregon to Massillon, Ohio lasted approximately 5 days on the open highway involving a uhaul, two lesbians and a dog.  Traveling through the mountains of Cascade Mountain Range in Idaho and Utah, we crossed the continental divide as the snow fell softly through the air.   

      The road trip involved going through Oregon, Idaho,  Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio consisting of 2600 miles.  Amazingly, we only had to travel two interstate freeways, I-84 and I-80 for the majority of the trip.  We stopped for two random events in Nebraska: a wildlife safari and the grave of Teena Brandon.  The wildlife safari was a first for me and was certainly an event to remember.

The purpose of the road trip was to relocate my partner from Oregon to Ohio.  I was pleasantly surprised with myself being so patient on the trip, considering the fact that we both had gotten really sick with colds day two.  By day three, the dog was put in her cage due to misbehaving and thinking she could squeeze between a cooler and random bags.  I would definitely recommend caging the animal at day one so there is no confusion.

Overall, I enjoyed spending time looking out the window at various random things along the way and the company of my partner.  It was a long ,but fun trip.



Design Week

The First Annual Design Week at the Myers School of Art was held from October 29, 2010 through November 5, 2010.  Throughout the week, multiple different art events were held and students could attend the different workshops.  Multiple different forms of design in artwork were featured in full-length films, design-specific workshops, lectures and discussions.

The most interesting event that I attended over the week was the paper structure workshop held by Shawn Kathleen Simmons.  It was referred to as "Spell-Bound, the workshop where design and book arts collide."  The workshop went through fifteen different "folds" of paper, demonstrating different common folds used in print and design.  The first folding series demonstrated the accordian derivatives.  Accordion folds are the most basic, common and easiest of folds, requiring that you simply fold your paper back and forth.  The second fold series demonstrated the zine format.  The third folding series focused on the Concertina.  Concertinas are little versions of accordions that can allow for a lot of flexibility; you can attach/insert paper or objects on the front side of each mountain fold, on the back side, in between each fold, or you can attach to the fold itself with thread.  The concertina form can have covers built into the original form or they can be added to the spine after folding.  The fourth folding series demonstrated the victorian puzzle purse.  The fifth focused on flexagons and the sixth on slides.  The materials used to create these folds were papers of different weights and a bonefolder.  A bonefolder helps to strengthen the folds that are made in the paper and are used for scoring, making folds, and burnishing down areas of paper that need pressure, such as glued portions.  Bonefolders are made of actual bone and can be sanded down to be thinner, sharper, or fit an individual hand better.  I found the workshop to be useful for print design.  I thought that the speaker was energetic and was thorough with her demonstrations. 

Overall, I thought design week offered a variety of different events but I felt that some of the more specific events and workshops had more open spaces for students to attend.  The registration was too limited on some of the more interesting events that would have been nice to attend.