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For two years, Southern Exposure, enabled by the Graue Family Foundation, is going to offer a 15K award for Public Art Projects in the Bay Area.  Artists nationally and internationally are encouraged to apply.  It is really wonderful to see some significant awards coming out of the Bay Area.

The Graue Award is an initiative of SoEx Off-Site, a program of Southern Exposure’s founded in 2006 that seeks to commission and present new public work by emerging artists that intervenes and interacts in the social and political spheres beyond the space of gallery. SoEx supports and encourages these practices as few venues support emerging artists working in the public. The artists selected through the program will make a proposal and develop their work in relation the San Francisco Bay Area.

It is an Open Call!  Applications for the 2011 project are due May 26th, 2010.
Details Here.

We’re honored to be included in this roundup by Emilie Raguso of Oakland Local of Art Subscriptions in the Bay Area.  There’s starting to be quite a number of us! It is really wonderful how this idea is spreading, and people are making it their own.  Thanks to Emilie and Oakland Local, and Welcome to any new visitors!

Congratulations to all!

“We know that grants to individual artists are an important means to help them advance their work, and this is particularly true during an economic recession when financial resources are so scarce,” said CCI President and CEO Cora Mirikitani.

Round V of the Center for Cultural Innovation‘s  Investing in Artists grants program specifically provided support to working artists in the Visual Arts, Craft and Literary Arts in two categories: 1) for the acquisition of Artistic Equipment & Tools; and 2) for Artistic Innovation.

In the Artistic Equipment & Tools category, fourteen (14) artists received Investing in Artists grants:

· Susan Avila (Craft, Oakland)
· Amy Balkin (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)
· Chris Bell (Multidisciplinary, San Mateo)
· Cindy Bernard (Visual Arts, Los Angeles)
· James Buckhouse (Multidisciplinary, Palo Alto)
· Heather Bursch (Visual Arts, Los Angeles)
· Joshua Churchill (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)
· Binh Danh (Photography, San Jose)
· David Gurman (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)
· Taro Hattori (Visual Arts, Oakland)
· Packard Jennings (Multidisciplinary, Oakland)
· Larry Kline (Visual Arts, Escondido)
· Blaine Merker (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)
· Kim Stringfellow (Multidisciplinary, Joshua Tree)

In the Artistic Innovation category, twelve (12) artists received Investing in Artists grants:

· Jeff Chang (Literary Arts, Berkeley)
· Sara Daleiden (Multidisciplinary, Los Angeles)
· Sergio de la Torre (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)
· Amy Franceschini (Visual Arts, San Francisco)
· Guillermo Gomez-Pena (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)
· Desiree Holman (Multidisciplinary, Oakland)
· Ali Liebegott (Literary Arts, San Francisco)
· Kelly Nipper (Multidisciplinary, Los Angeles)
· Scott Oliver (Visual Arts, Oakland)
· Alison Pebworth (Visual Arts, San Francisco)
· Jessica Rath (Visual Arts, Los Angeles)
· Philip Ross (Multidisciplinary, San Francisco)

We are on a mission to find more ways to get money into artists hands.  Following the funding models that seem to work, models that seem to use what people are paying for anyway, we have decided to start hosing websites.  A website has almost become a business card these days.  So we wanted to create a platform that would not only help people create their own websites in an affordable way, but give them the opportunity to do something good with the money they would be spending anyway to host their sites.

So host with us! At $84/year, it is comparable to most quality hosting sites out there.  Over a quarter of that payment goes directly into The Present Group granting fund.  Each granting period, we will choose a theme, accept nominations from within that theme, and allow all the hostees to vote on the winner.

For the first grant, we are teaming up with the Collective Foundation to fund a travel grant for a Bay Area artist.  As Renny Pritikin has noted on the SFMOMA blog, the Bay Area sometimes has a hard time holding on to its notable artists.  Inspired by the way many other governments work, Joseph del Pesco‘s idea is that part of keeping artists here is to help them with the funds to travel away for opportunities and come back.

Matthew Cella, “Map 1024,”  48″ x 72″  UV print on brushed aluminum

Matt Cella fabricates multi-media works that are the product of digitally collaged .;::’til;ps and //??>s. Born in 1981, he received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and currently lives and works in San Francisco.

TPG #11 artist Helena Keeffe has teamed up with Amber Cady to start Alula Editions, a new art subscription whose focus is to work with artists to create repeat patterns for textiles. They collaborate with individual artists and also organize participatory group drawing activities in order to create textiles that defy expectations and move beyond purely aesthetic considerations.

They have an Open Call for Submissions with a deadline of April 28th, and artists receive a $500 stipend.

Starting off with a bang, Alula Editions was a recipient of this year’s Southern Exposure Alternative Exposure Grant, will be collaborating with artists in Portland, Oregon to create the official tote bag for the Open Engagement Conference at Portland State University, and will be printing their first edition as part of a residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts.

They haven’t figured out their pricing structure yet, so subscriptions are not yet on sale.  But you can get on a mailing list so you will be the first to know when they are.  The first work is projected to go out this summer.

Welcome Alula!

NOMA GALLERY is proud to present its first solo show by TPG #3 artist Christine Kesler. “in a world where you are possible” features an installation where the artist intersects and collides paintings, drawings and sculptures as well as a new video piece.  TONIGHT there is a closing reception (though the show has been extended a week so you can still see it!) and it should be a good time.

An evening of Sounds and Words:

Drawing on the influence of poetry in Christine’s work the gallery put together an evening of readings and music. Kevin Killian will read from his new book ‘Impossible Princess’ (City Lights), Christine Choi will be reading portions from her work ‘Swollen Animals Dream: Fifteen Love Letters’ accompanied by projections and a hacked “lyre”, Christine Kesler will be reading some recent poetry and there will be a music performance by James Devane.

Sight School is a new project space run by Michelle Blade and (TPG #11 critic)  Matthew Rana. The space began from a desire to create dialogue around new modes of living and being in the world in order to reveal connections between art and life.  Thier first event is being held on this Friday, December 18th.

Sight School is pleased to host this one-night exhibition and public reading of Chicago-based collective Temporary Services’ newspaper titled, “Art Work: A National Conversation on Art, Labor and Economics.”

A handful of local artists, writers and curators including Sean Fletcher & Isabel Reichert, Lynne McCabe, Julian Meyers, Ted Purves, and Natasha Wheat will deliver public readings of texts directly from or related to the newspaper, while providing analysis and commentary in an informal reading-room environment. Readings will feature works by Chris Burden, Carolina Caycedo, Cooley Windsor & Futurefarmers, and the Guerilla Art Action Group (GAAG), among others. In addition, this event will serve as a distribution point for free printed copies of the newspaper. Participants will be encouraged contribute to the event and participate in discussion on how to build an economically viable arts community in the Bay Area.

This event will take place from 7-9pm on Wednesday December 16th.
Sight School, 5651 San Pablo Ave, Oakland CA

Congratulations to all the awardees!  I hope all the projects conceived or energized by applying to this grant continue to follow through.  It always irks me that Southern Exposure doesn’t link to the projects right away so I did a bit of googling.  If anyone has any insight on unlinked projects, let me know!

The 2009 Alternative Exposure grant recipients are:

Adobe Books Backroom Gallery
Alula Editions (a project by TPG#11 artist Helena Keeffe and Amber Cady)
Art Practical
ArtXX Magazine
Average
Chris Fitzpatrick & Post Brothers
Critter
Destructibles.org
Happenstand
iiiahh
Pueblo Nuevo Gallery
Ribbons
SMITHS
Stop & Go Rides Again
THE THING Quarterly
The Upper Left Ethnography Project
VOLUMESou

In the spirit of the Holidays, we’ve decided to take part in Plaid Friday, an independent business alternative to the big box store “Black Friday.”   For this celebration of all things independent – we are offering a $15 dollar discount on this ONE DAY. So get your Holiday shopping done early or resubscribe for another year – but the time to buy is November 27th.  You can access this discount through our special page:

www.thepresentgroup.com/plaid

Organized by Blankspace Gallery and The Compound Gallery, Plaid Friday is designed to help raise awareness about shopping local and supporting the local economy. While Black Friday encourages monoculture, Plaid Friday celebrates the diversity and creativity of Bay Area independent businesses.  There are many East Bay Businesses taking part in this celebration, so to explore all the discounts and festivities, go here:

www.plaidfriday.com

Happy Shopping!  Support Independent Businesses this Holiday Season.

It started with Pear Ginger Muffins and Julia Child’s Omeletts (we ate them too fast to take a picture)

Yes. That is a pad of butter on my steaming muffin.  Layer your pleasures people.

Here’s the recipe, adapted from Nigella’s Pear Ginger Muffin recipe:

-Preheat oven to 400.
-In a large bowl, mix 1 cup white flour, 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp of salt.
-In another bowl, mix 2/3 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 tbs honey (warm), and 2 large eggs. Fold into the dry ingredients.
-Fold in 1.5 cups peeled pears cut into 1/4 inch dice, 1/2 cup ground walnuts, 3 T minced crystallized ginger.
-Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle 2 tbs total brown sugar over tops of muffins and bake for 20 minutes.

*only comments would be that they still weren’t gingery enough for me – but that may be because my ground ginger was a little old, and I might try replacing the oil with something else – I don’t like the smell of oil in baked goods.

Then we used one of our Extended Freedom Days from City Car Share and drove to Point Reyes.

It always amazes us how rejuvenating hiking can be.  We get so stressed and cooped up right around the release of a piece and we could just feel that *junk* releasing as we walked and breathed actual fresh air.

This picture captures the calm.

Continue Reading »

Opens Wednesday at the Worth Ryder Gallery at Berkeley* and curated by TPG 3 Critic Anuradha Vikram!  “Domestic Disturbance” brings together an intergenerational group of artists from across the United States whose work addresses the difficulties of balancing public and private life.

DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE

The parameters of work are changing rapidly in our time. The boundary between professional and personal time is no longer clear. Increasingly connected by ubiquitous technology, we are on the clock 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.  For artists, these distinctions have long been blurred. Lived experience has been among the chief concerns of art in the late 20th century. This maxim of art-as-life takes on new dimensions when considered in light of the new telecommuter economy.

Each of the artists in Domestic Disturbance employs these strategies in a unique way, applying psychology, performance and humor to work that comments succinctly on the way we live today.

DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE – October 7 – 31, 2009

Reception: Wednesday, October 7, 5-8 pm

Artists: Abigail Feldman, Emily McLeod, Kara Hearn, Sonya Rapoport, Desirée Holman, Stephanie Syjuco, Jennifer & Kevin McCoy

Worth Ryder Gallery
University of California, Berkeley
116 Kroeber Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720

Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 12-5 pm

Photo credit: Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, I’ll Replace You, 2008. Video. 16:40. Courtesy of Postmasters Gallery, New York.

*the gallery is also accepting curatorial proposals: Spring exhibit deadline is October 15th!

We’re proud to announce that the artist for TPG12 is Whitney Lynn!

Fort da 005, 2007

Whitney Lynn is a multi-media artist who explores the messy intersections between political, military, and civilian cultures. Her work has been exhibited at venues such as Exit Art, New York; Southern Exposure, San Francisco; the Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA; and the 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA. She is the recipient of travel grants from the College Art Association and the Southeastern College Art Conference and her work has received critical attention from a number of publications including The New York Times, Daily Serving and Style Weekly. Born on an Air Force Base in Williams, AZ, she received her BFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University and her MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Whitney will be exihibiting as part of Southern Exposure’s “Bellwether” exhibition, their inaugural exhibition in their new space on 20th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District.  From the website:

The artists in Bellwether engage in multi-layered speculative projections on our ever shifting and uncertain future. Whether by indulging in their hopeful fantasies or examining their trepidation, the artists provide unique and perhaps unconventional tools and methodologies for envisioning and navigating the unknown. Through anticipation and fear, excitement and anxiety, prediction and instruction, the projects in this exhibition begin to give form to the haziness that lies ahead.

Whitney’s project, Bug Out Location, is a sculptural installation that draws inspiration equally from survivalist subcultures and more left leaning do-it-yourself (DIY) movements.  She will also be hosting a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Survivalist Training Workshop, which will cover survivalist preparation strategies and sustainability techniques in anticipation of economic, environmental, social, and/or governmental collapse.

Details:

Bellwether
October 17, 2009 – December 12, 2009

Member’s Opening: Friday, October 16, 2009, 8:00 – 10:00 pm
Public Opening: Saturday, October 17, 2009, 4:00 – 10:00 pm

SoEx’s New Location:
3030 20th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

DIY Survivalist Training Workshop: November 21, 2009 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Sometimes the newest and the most experimental art gets created or exposed through the newest and most experimental organizations, galleries, or alternative arts programs.    Yet, lots of times these really experimental projects and spaces only last a short time because people are doing it out of love, they are pouring their own money and time into it, and are taking a chance to try something new.  Southern Exposure recognizes this.  That’s why they have developed a new funding program for these spaces, organizations, and projects that foster great work.  Their Alternative Exposure Grant has funded and helped out some of the Bay Area’s most prominent alternative spaces and projects (including yours truly).  Though certainly not enough money to create a strong foothold financially, it is enough to allow these spaces to breath a little easier for a short time.  And that, sometimes, is enough to keep them going.  It’s also a vote of confidence that we all sometimes need when we’re feeling down.

So as our year as Southern Exposure Grantees comes to a close, I would like to encourage all those with spaces, projects and programs that are new and exciting (or old and exciting) – that show, foster, and encourage the creation of art in the Bay Area – to apply, and to apply again if you don’t (or didn’t) get it the first go round.

Here are the details.

There is also an information session that is useful at Receiver Gallery:

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Receiver Gallery
1415 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
www.receivergallery.com

Our friend and critic for TPG5, Scott Oliver is leading a collaborative artist and community project here in Oakland.  In these times when funding models for the arts are changing, he is reaching far and wide for small donations that will be matched by a larger organization. Here’s another example of a community funded project and the power of collective contributions.

I thought I would post his letter here not only to show how funding models are expanding and changing, but also because I think that this is an interesting project that I would help spread the word about.  Help support great projects!

I am writing to tell you about an exciting project I am currently working on that will debut in January of 2010. Briefly, it is a self-guided audio walking tour for the loop around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Entitled Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After, the tour will use a mixture of ambient field recordings, interviews, music and narration to weave an idiosyncratic but approachable narrative guiding listeners through the various natural and artificial elements that surround Lake Merritt. With an emphasis on local history, cultural diversity, urban ecology, and the power of imagination, Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After will explore the invisible that surrounds the visible—the stories and forces that shape the lake and our perceptions of it. The audio tour will be free to the public and widely accessible to Lake Merritt visitors through both on-site and remote locations. Please see the attached project narrative for more details.

I have been seeking funding for this project over the past several months and recently received a generous matching grant from the East Bay Community Foundation in the amount of  $4,000. The funds are contingent upon my ability to raise an equal amount from individual donors. The intention of EBCF’s Fund for Artists matching grants is to create a broad constituency of support for the creation of new works sited in the East Bay. With this in mind I humbly ask for your support of my project with a donation of any size. In order to receive the full grant amount from the East Bay Community Foundation I have to raise the matching funds by June 29th, 2009. Whether you can give $5 or $500, every donation will be doubled up to the $4,000, all of which will go toward the research, development, and production of this project.

Though I am the lead artist, the making of Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After will be a collaborative and cross-disciplinary process. I will be working closely with recording engineer and musician Michael Blodgett; musical ethnographer, composer, and musician Mark Gergis; and visual artist, writer, and educator Maria Porges. A number of other local musicians will provide the soundtrack for the tour and the Rotary Nature Center located in Lakeside Park has agreed to present the project and provide research support. Additionally The Oakland History Room at the main public library, the Natural Sciences Department at the Oakland Museum of California, the African American Museum and Library, the Nature Sound Society, local historical societies such as the Oakland Heritage Alliance, and cultural organizations such as the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Eastside Arts Alliance, Oaklandish, and Junior Center of Art and Science will serve as valuable resources for the project.

I recognize that these are difficult economic times but believe deeply in the potential of this project to be a genuinely public artwork—seeking connection with the lives of the individuals who experience it. For me art is first and foremost a form of active looking, a way of seeing and making sense of the world around us. It can readjust or expand the frame through which we peer, focusing our attention on something we have never noticed before or synthesizing ideas and experiences we previously thought were unrelated. Guided by these principles Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After will offer an immersive audio experience to listeners in a unique urban public space. I hope you’ll join me in bringing this dynamic project to fruition.

If you would like to support this project in the form of a donation that will be doubled by EBCF’s Fund for Artists matching grant, you may do so by mail. All donations must be received by June 22nd to be eligible for the matching grant. And all donations are tax deductible through my fiscal sponsor the Oakland Museum of California who have generously agreed to offer this service non gratis. Please send checks or money orders made out to “Oakland Museum of California Foundation” with “Once Upon A Time Audio Tour” written in the memo area to:

Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After
c/o Scott Oliver
321 Henry Street
Oakland, CA 94607

Donors to the project will be invited to preview Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After prior to its public debut. Additionally the names of donors will appear on printed materials associated with the project as well as on the project web site unless they request otherwise.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I very much appreciate your interest and support of my work over the years. I would not be able to continue my practice without a supportive community, but more importantly the Bay Area arts culture thrives because of individuals like you.

Sincerely,
Scott Oliver

Download and read the full “Once upon a time” project description here

The Human Experiment, 2008

Our very own TPG #3 artist is graduating with a brilliant MFA show from CCA and it will be open for all to see starting this Thursday, May 7th.

Here are the details:

May 7-16
San Francisco campus: 1111 Eighth Street
10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Opening reception: May 7, 6-9 p.m.
415.551.9214

Check out the website to preview works from all the graduates this year.

Oliver and I spent this morning as part of the Oakland Partnership Economic Summit.  We were part of the Showcase Oakland! Expo, “Exhibits of dynamic, innovative local companies that are putting Oakland on the map!” (you know it)  It was actually pretty exciting to see some of the diverse businesses that are here.  Some of the neat people we met were: Revolutionary Foods: organic food in schools, Lohnes & Wright: mapping, and Red Cake Gallery: an online art and design gallery.

(sorry for the crappy photos- we only had a cell phone camera)

There was a lot of coffee, hand shaking, and business card exchanging.  I always feel bad recycling the big stack of business cards that I amass at these things.  People just love to give them away though.  There is also always the problem of the big stack of pamphlets.  Some have really great info or I think I will get to them later.  But what do you do with them?  Ahh.  Such a problem.  I always wonder about the people who quickly stop at every table and pick up whatever is there to pick up.  Do they go through it all at the end of the day?

We got to listen to the various presentations throughout the day.  The mayor started the day off touting the programs they’ve already put in place (Oakland Summer Jobs program, Oakland Green Jobs Corps, the creation of a one stop Business Center), re-affirming the goal to generate 10,000 new jobs in a 5 year period, and adding a lot of hopeful, encouraging talk about Barry, the stimulus, and the future (sans a lot of specifics).

There was also some very sobering facts that City Council president Jane Brunner brought up in the Armchair discussion about the impact of stimulus in Oakland.  She gave some context to the discussion by bringing up the budget problem they are currently facing: If one excludes voter mandated programs and the police and fire departments, they have to cut $83 million from $95 million in programs (that includes libraries, services for seniors, etc).  They therefore have to cut police and fire.  That still seems like quite a task.

And to wrap up a day filled with economic ideas and business partnerships, I though I would point out some neat things that are happening on this rainy and dreary evening.  Some ways to cheer up:

Art Murmer!

Swarm film night with works by Mills College students
“the first in a series of monthly screenings of experimental, documentary, short, feature-lenth and animated film, video and all formats in between, curated by filmmakers and film enthusiasts from the Bay Area and beyond.”
560 2nd St (at Clay), 7:30p

Snuggle up in a beautiful theater: Notorious at the Paramount
2025 Broadway, doors at 7p, movie at 8p

And for tomorrow morning:
(an early) Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Brunch at Borinquena Mex-icatessen
10 am – 3 pm
drink specials: mimosas, cervezas, sangria!
food specials: chorizo and eggs, breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros
582 7th St.

Reuse, Recycle and promote creativity in the world?  Create positive change in the lives of some disadvantaged kids?  Yes please.

Trash Mash-Up is a collaborative community art project. TMU enriches our community by developing creative connections through workshops and performances.
Using disposable materials, participants construct original pageant costumes inspired by mask traditions from around the world. This project reduces waste and inspires people to see each other and our environment in a new way.

We met Jesse and Bridget at last year’s Independent Arts and Media Expo, and they are two of the most fun, warm, and energetic people.  It is clear that they have a real passion for what they are doing and for the kids they work with.  They, like us, do this project in their free time outside of their jobs that make money.  But they are fiscally sponsored, so anyone can make a tax-deductable donation.

And they need your junk! See here for a list of items that you can donate.

They have parades to show off the creationss and costumes and there are three that are upcoming in San Francisco:

In a study funded by the makers of Nalgene products, the habits of 3,750 individuals living in the top 25 largest U.S. cities were surveyed, finding that San Francisco is America’s least wasteful city.  (Hooray!–Oakland wasn’t surveyed)

The study gauged behavior on waste, sustainability, shopping, transportation and more. The results were weighted to give more credit to behaviors that had immediate and significant impact on the planet (e.g., driving less, recycling or reducing trash) to small habits that are more indicative of a mindset and non-wasteful approach to life (e.g., reusing containers, limiting shower time or saving wrapping paper and ribbons).

The study shows that more and more people are readily embracing small, everyday habits to cut waste, but convenience is still trumping prudence when it comes to significant wasteful behavior including transportation and personal conservation efforts.  (public transportation, composting, using a rain barrel and a clothesline, and avoiding using a car for trips under 2 miles)

I found this sortof amazing:

*60 percent of urban Americans that live in a city with public transportation and own a car, said they never use public transportation

*65 percent of urban Americans are planning to drive for trips that less than two miles from home rather than taking public transportation, biking and/or walking

*We’re still a car culture. 69 percent of those urban Americans surveyed do not plan on taking public transportation

And so you know:#2=NYC, #3=Portland, #25(last place)=Atlanta

A followup article to the Town Hall Meeting by Angela Woodall appears today in the Oakland Tribune.

“Just mention Germany or Sweden and most U.S. artists break into a reverie (or tirade) over the kind of support their European counterparts receive from their governments. Here, surviving as an artist takes talent, a do-it-yourself attitude and the patience to hunt down funding.”

read more….