art X change with 516 Arts May 14, 2009

Gallery Talk & ArtMaking
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Three sculptors in the West Southwest: ABQ-LA Exchange show at 516 Arts will discuss their creative process at 516 Arts, followed by a reception/art making session at OFFCenter Community Arts Project.

Please call 505-247-1172 to express your interest. Open and free to the community!

Meet and discuss with Lea Denise Anderson, John Garrett, and George Kalmar.

4-5pm Artist Talk @ 516 Arts, 516 Central Ave NW

5-6:30pm Reception / Art Making at OFFCenter, just down the street.

"Vital Slices" by Lea Denise Anderson

Opening -- SHELTER: Space, Place & Belonging May 1, 2009

Friday, May 1, 2009 5-8 pm

An Artscrawl Event

First Friday Art Opening

5:00 p.m. Video screening of "Garbage Warrior," a timely portrait of visionary Taos architect Michael Reynolds

6:00 p.m. Music with singer/songwriter Cole Mitchell AND also The Two Roses, Folk Harp & Flute Duo.

The show is an inquiry about where we live -- how it defines us and our relationship to our environment and each other.

A grand warmup to the 4th Annual Albuquirky House Tour on Saturday, May 2, 1-4 pm (Call OFFCenter for tickets!)

Art, Ritual and the Sacred, a workshop with Judith Shaw

Discover the power of art to connect us with our sacred source. Join visionary artist Judith Shaw, for a fun and inspiring 2 session workshop, incorporating guided visualization, group ritual and hands-on art making.

SIX HOURS TOTAL workshop time.

Saturday, April 25 - 9am – 12pm

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 1 - 4pm

• In the first session we create paintings and small sculptures of our personal sacred images.
• In the second session, gaining inspiration from the first day, we use a small box as our canvas and create a centerpiece for our home altars.

Each participant is asked to bring their own box.

NOTE: Please call Judith directly at 505-977-3792 to reserve your space.

Cost: $75 includes both 3-hour sessions and all required art materials.

Pastel Landscape Workshop with Jane Schoenfeld

Wow! We will work with Jane Schoenfeld both outdoors in Robinson Park and also in the OFFCenter Studio. All levels of experience are welcome. MAY 9, 2009 10:00 am TO 5:00 pm

...

Tuition of $75.00 covers materials, including a set of 32 pastel half sticks to keep.

...

Making art includes both predictable elements that can be learned by anyone and the magic that happens when we loosen up and allow our creativity to flow. Master Pastelist and Art Therapist Jane Shoenfeld will demonstrate and guide participants in both these area.

...

Techniques of application and instruction on how to convey the illusion of depth in a landscape will be covered indoors. Then we will go to the park where Jane will demonstrate how to imaginatively simplify the landscape elements of bottom, middle and top. The emphasis will be on vivid color and freshness within the pastel medium. Layering and development from start to finish will be covered and exercises to stimulate the imagination and connections to nature will be offered.

...

Jane Shoenfeld's landscapes have been represented in numerous museum exhibitions, including the Las Cruces Museum, the Millicent Rogers Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. She has been teaching pastel landscape and creativity development for over twenty years.

Art by Jesse Reno for Sale

Did you know that Jesse Reno submitted three paintings to OFFCenter's Gift Shop before he returned to Portland? One of them has sold. Another, a small painting of a lovely green creature can be glimpsed in this video (about 53 seconds in...) at YouTube:



Thank you Jesse! To inquire about the paintings, feel free to call, or drop by the studio/gift shop to have a look.

. . .

Rolling Houses to City Councillors

OFFCenter community artists young and old have spent the last several weeks building, painting, and decorating little wooden houses to raise funds, as part of our cluster of activities around the 4th Annual Albuquirky House Tour May 2nd. FYI, you can come in and make a house too! Houses sell for about $20 to $30 each, and you can get yours in our gift shop.

So Sybil (left) and Molly (right and pulling the cart) decided to pack up some of these little gems and wheel them down to the offices of our city councillors and county commissioners, as a way of promoting OFFCenter and the House Tour event. Go girls!

Beautiful Pysanky

Workshop with Jo lanta Konopelska-Feliciano

Soft Sculpture Mermaid Workshop April 18, 2009

with Kathleen Schweizer!
.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
.
Please Call OFFCenter to register.
.
Cost: $40.
All materials will be provided.
Scholarships are available.

This is not a workshop but a “playshop!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Working with colors found in the ocean (teals, aquas, greens, blues) you will create a sweet soft sculpture mermaid. First you will learn to create a 2-D wire armature, then shape the armature so that it becomes a 3-D framework. Next you will cover the basic framework with fabric and then the real fun begins -- embellishment!! .

If you’ve previously taken one of Kathleen’s classes, you know that she will provide you with an abundance of materials from which to choose -- you will work with fabric, sequins, beads, shells, yarns, ribbons, feathers and more. Feel free to bring any items you would like to incorporate into your mermaid figure. If you have a pair of needle-nose, round-nose, long-nose or conical-nose pliers, please bring them with you to class.

Click Kathleen's picture to visit her Etsy shop!

. . . . .

Albuquirky House Tour VIDEO

Check out this video about the upcoming Albuquirky House Tour, a very important fundraiser for OFFCenter. Thank you Holly for creating it!

Find more videos like this on OFFCenter Arts

Traditional Pysanky, Russian Egg Workshop Sat. 4/11

Hurry! A few seats are still available! This Saturday!

Call OFFCenter to register.

~~~~~

Cost: $40 All materials will be provided. Scholarships are available.

~~~~~

PYSANKY (PEE-SAN-KEY) - traditional Eastern European folk art of decorating eggs. Learn the batik technique of this unique traditional art in our 4 hour workshop taught by Jo lanta Konopelska-Feliciano. Jo lanta was born in Poland and learned this captivating art form in early childhood. She mastered this craft, adding her own unique styling to thousands of hand crafted, precisely designed, and beautifully finished Easter eggs.

~~~~~

You will explore the batik technique by using beeswax applied with "kistka", dyeing eggs in vibrant colors, and designing them by following traditional Ukrainian and Polish symbolism or modern geometric forms. The final step will include empting an egg and preserving the delicate shell, so it can be used as an ornament or a unique gift for many years to come.

First Friday Coffeehouse with WAGOGO

OUR SECOND First Friday. Get it? Friday, April 3, 2009, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Live music performance @6:15 p.m. with Wagogo, a musical blend of Chicano influences, Northern Mexico folk songs, warm calypso island grooves, & the captivating spirit music of Zimbabwe AND

our ongoing art exhibit -- Exquisite Corpse: A Surrealist Game, exploring the mystique of accident, a collective collage of images and words.

And...see our unusual, one-of-a-kind handcrafted art for sale in The Shop! And, Henry's cookin' some down home Louisiana style.

FREE EVENT -- A "Pass the Hat Production"

One More Artist Reflects on the 516 Art X Change

This Art X Change post is from Mary Lambert, OFFCenter studio artist:

Many thanks to Bryan and Suzanne at 516 ARTS for connecting OFFCenter with Delilah Montoya, curator and artist of the current exhibit, Chicana Badgirls at 516. It was fascinating to learn a little about some of her process in curating the show and the thinking and mythology that went into her large digital print of La Llorona and Lilith.

Here are a couple of things I remember Delilah mentioning about entry into the public art arena as an artist:

• Do the body of work. You have to do the work. You can then decide on and promote your best pieces.


• Enter National Call for Entries. This is how you get your work known on a large scale. Plus, why not? It takes just as much effort to enter on a regional scale as on a national one.


• Participate in as many local Art Fairs as you can. This is how you can gain experience showing your work.
  ~and~


• Don't burn your bridges. Even tho the art world many times seems unfair and unjust, hold your tongue. It is a small town and people love to tell stories.

Words of wisdom from the mouth of a "Badgirl".

Another artist's reflections on the first ArtXChange

Here's what OFFCenter studio artist Jude Pacheco shared with us about the first OFFCenter ArtXChange event with 516 Arts, just down the street:

My experience at the 516 Arts / OFFCenter Art X Change on Thursday, March 12, 2009 was an exceptionally wonderful time. Our 516 Arts gallery tour guide walked us through the exhibition space describing in good detail the works as well as answering and asking through provoking questions. 516 artist Delilah Montoya is an absolutely delightful personality. Her warm and comforting approach to the audience worked well as some guests felt it easy to describe their own heart-breaking personal stories in relation to the art. Then, back at the OFFCenter I was personally honored and humbled to treat my one-minute performance art piece titled "Stare Into the Mirror." Delilah commented that she "like the piece" and I was overwhelmed with joy. The 516 Arts / OFFCenter Art X Change was an experience I'll not soon forget. We laughed, cried, and hopefully looked again at ourselves. I could never have expected the Art X Change to have been such a surprise -- thank you to Delilah Montoya and Mary Lambert -- the OFFCenter Community Arts Studio & the 516 Arts.

FYI: Emerging Artist Meetings Every Thursday

Each Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., community artists gather together in an open meeting to present and discuss ideas for gallery shows, workshops, classes, and community art events. This meeting is the place to go if you are interested in getting more involved in developing OFFCenter's studio programs.

Call for Entries: SHELTER

An inquiry about where we live -- how it defines us and our relationship to our environment & each other.

All media welcome, BUT space is limited -- please call for more info.

Entry Deadline: Monday April 20, 2009

Artwork by Kathleen Schweizer