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Welcome to Zombicon 2012: The Galactic Infection!

The southwest city of Fort Myers invites you to Zombicon, the city’s annual tribute to George Romero’s 1985 cult classic, Day of the Dead.  Originating in 2007, Zombicon began with a gathering of artists and performers in historic downtown Fort Myers celebrating the melting of art and zombie culture.  These local artists have since incorporated as Pushing Daizies, Inc., a non-profit organization that supports the arts, art education and culture.  …more…

Must-see exhibit at the Frameworks Gallery

The current show at the Frameworks Gallery, “Polly Norman – Summer Blast,” offers an unexpected treat—while Norman’s photography alone is worth seeing, it is sharing space with some very fine paintings and sculptures by a diverse group of artists.    

"Clarin y Caja"

Hugo Mercado, a painter who recently moved here from Cajamarca, Peru, is showing works that capture the colors and popular culture of his native land. His oils on …more…

Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939

Through August 19, 2012 the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri will be displaying a treasure trove of objects from around the world that all debuted at a World’s Fair ($8 adult/$5 students/free for members and children under 12). Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939 showcases the talent of artists and manufacturers who reinvented old styles and techniques or invented new ones …more…

My Experience at 2012 ArtWalk, Simsbury!

Last ­­Saturday May 19th Simsbury, Connecticut welcomed local artists onto their main street and into their shops for the Simsbury ArtWalk.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day, perfect for the artists that hope to make the event an annual celebration of the arts.  The diversity of the event made it enjoyable for all ages, and allowed many to experience local fine art, music, dance, and craft.  A wide array of styles and …more…

Beat the Heat: A Summer Art Walking Tour of Austin

Now that school’s out, there are some fantastic new art shows on view in Austin. If you can stand to walk outside in those soon to be 100 degree temps, there are some very cool stops along this short tour of museums and galleries.

New and noteworthy at the Jones Center are the three finalists in the illustrious Texas Prize, a juried exhibition in which one finalists receives the coveted $30,000 …more…

Expose Yourself to (Public) Art

Michael Ryerson_expose-yourself-to-art

Visitors to Portland, Oregon are sometimes astounded by the number of public art installations in the downtown area.  Strolling through the central city, a person encounters a diversity of artworks on nearly every block.

Since 1980, the City of Portland and Multnomah County have required a percentage of the cost of new construction or major building renovation projects within their jurisdictions to be earmarked for purchase of permanent artworks. …more…

Ceci N’est Pas Une Map: George Deem exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum

On the right when you enter the exhibit George Deem: The Art of Art History at the Boston Athenaeum, there is a very large map of the coast of a foreign land. Looking closer, you see that this is not an ordinary hand-drawn or printed map done in ink, and it is not on paper or parchment as it appears to be at first glance. Instead, it’s mixed media – …more…

Five Monets in Portland

Now on display at the Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon) through August 5, 2012 are five works by Monet. The Museum has supplemented two of Monet’s paintings from its permanent collection, Waterlilies and River at Lavacourt, with three works from a private collection to stage this special showing entitled “Five Monets / 100 Days.”

The five paintings cover a 25-year period of Monet’s career and show his development as an artist …more…

ArtWalk Simsbury! on May 19, 2012

This weekend the Simsbury ArtWalk will take place from 11am-5pm in the center of the town on Hopmeadow Street (Route 10).  This will be the first ever ArtWalk, and will not only display the talent of local artists but also will benefit the Simsbury ABC House, a nonprofit that provides education and aid to young men in disadvantaged school districts.  Not only can you experience the wonderful work of local …more…

Last Chance! Take Your Dad “Golfing” this Weekend at Laguna Gloria

If you haven’t yet ventured over to Laguna Gloria during this breezy Spring in Austin to check out the Art on the Green installation, take advantage before it closes this Sunday. The nine hole course is unlike any you’ve ever seen, featuring elegant, minimalist metal constructions, post-apocalyptic scenes of destruction, and a grotesque rodent-like creature the size of ice cream truck that is sure to amuse both the high and …more…

Environmental art has a story to tell

Shelly Leitheiser’s latest exhibit, “Kinetic Connections,” is currently showing at the WARM Gallery in the Minnesota Women’s Center. Aside from being powerful commentaries about the environment, Leitheiser’s paintings in this exhibit raise questions about art and politics.

"Erosion" by Shelly Leitheiser

For starters, Leitheiser’s paintings tell a story. That fact in itself draws the artist into a minefield. While narrative painting was once a popular and accepted style, 20th-century modernists refused …more…

Grand Center Art Walk 2012

grandcenter.org

The Grand Center, St. Louis’ cultural arts center, is hosting its 2012 Annual Spring Art Walk on Friday, May 11, from 5 to 9 pm. Every year, the Grand Center hosts this celebration of art in its four blocks of galleries, museums, theaters, and restaurants. The Art Walk brings together art lovers all over the city for a joyous spring evening. Visitors can follow the 1.5 mile …more…

Simsbury Open Studio Tour: Catherine Elliott & Mandy Adendorff

On April 14 and 15 this year the Third Annual Simsbury Open Studios weekend was held.  Artists opened up their homes and personal studios to the public, a rare and wonderful opportunity that I was very happy to be able to attend.  There were a huge number of artists and this will be the second post in the series about the Open Studio Tour.   The focus this week is …more…

‘Colorful Realms’ in D.C.

Living in Washington D.C, it’s easy to forget just how close I am to some of the world’s greatest art. I am literally a 30-minute drive from the fabled, but oft-publicized monuments and statehouses that comprise our nation’s capital. These neo-classical structures are themselves works of art. Seeing them on TV (and on currency) has somehow elevated them to a near-mythical status in my eyes. But, as I recently discovered, …more…

Slow Art Day

It started with food, and has finally reached the world of art.  Yes, the global movement of all things slow is happening today, ala Slow Art Day.  Of the 101 venues around the world, Axle Contemporary and SITE Santa Fe play host to this celebration where the creative boundaries and lines are blurred between “the people who make art and the people who look at it.”  For the Slow Art …more…

Antiwar Art: An Idea Whose Time Has Come—Again

"The Volunteer" by Shelly Leitheiser

Social and political contradictions — a daily reality of life in America — are often tough to acknowledge, and most of us spend our days ignoring or denying the most egregious of them.

Take war. The hard truth is that war kills people, harms the environment, bankrupts nations, destroys international relations, endangers democracy and rarely solves political disagreements. Americans have lived with uninterrupted war for over …more…

Top 10 Picks for the St. Paul Art Crawl

"Mears Park" by Richard Abraham

It’s Spring—and that means art crawls! From Friday, April 27th, through Sunday, April 29th, hundreds of artists and art dealers will open their studios and galleries throughout St. Paul. Deciding which to visit can be daunting, especially if your time is limited. Here are my top ten artist picks (in no particular order)!

1. Jesikah Orman (Lowertown Lofts Coop 5th Atrium): works in mixed media on …more…

A View of America’s Past: Timothy O’Sullivan’s King Survey Photographs

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri is known for showing works that have had significant impact on the American mindset. Its current exhibit of “The King Survey Photographs” by Timothy H. O’Sullivan is one such body of work. Taken between 1867 and 1872 as well as 1868 and 1869, the King Survey photographs were part of an exploration of land in Wyoming, California, Nevada, and parts of …more…

Top 10 Picks for the St. Paul Art Crawl

Mears Park by Richard Abraham

It’s Spring—and that means art crawls! From Friday, April 27th, through Sunday, April 29th,  hundreds of artists and art dealers will open their studios and galleries throughout St. Paul. Deciding which to visit can be daunting, especially if your time is limited. Here are my top ten artist picks (arranged according to gallery)!

1. Jesikah Orman (Lowertown Lofts Coop 5th Atrium): works in mixed media on …more…

Simsbury Open Studio Tour: Julie Parker-Post & Jacie Jakubowski

On April 14 and 15 this year the Third Annual Simsbury Open Studios weekend was held.  Artists opened up their homes and personal studios to the public, a rare and wonderful opportunity that I was very happy to be able to attend.  There were a huge number of artists and so I will be devoting a couple of blog posts to their work, this week to Julie Parker-Post and Jacie …more…

Portland Photo Month

April is Portland Photo Month, an event which is not a product of any one organization, but rather a collaboration of art galleries, nonprofits and individual artists. Portland, Oregon is a city of artists and art enthusiasts and accordingly is home to a multitude of artists who express themselves through the medium of photography.

Numerous Portland art galleries specialize in photography. Among these are Black Box Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, Camerawork …more…

Changing the Game: Nancy Jurs’s World Peace at Buffalo’s Burchfield Penney Art Center

Photo credit: Tullis Johnson/Burchfield Penney Art Center

Upon first glance, Nancy Jurs’s installation World Peace at the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College is a life-size game of chess. But is it really? There are the familiar components: the checkered board, the 32 game pieces. Beyond that, World Peace—in which the artist re-contextualizes ceramic works from earlier in her career—suggests new rules of engagement that break down the …more…

“Lucifer Rising” – Surreal, Symbolic Paintings by David Goodrich

Image Credit: David Goodrich

When I walked into the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center(Kansas City, Missouri) recently, I felt a sense of surreal recognition, though I knew I’d never seen the paintings on exhibit before. Something about the style seemed so familiar to me, but I could not understand why. Setting aside my confusion, I set to enjoying the incredible work before me in “Lucifer Rising.”

“Lucifer Rising” is a collection of about …more…

In Our Element

Passengers traveling through Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon this summer should allow extra time to enjoy the series of rotating art exhibits that grace its concourses. From April 1 through October 15, 2012, PDX is featuring an exhibit entitled “In Our Element.”

The display includes sculpture by eight Pacific Northwest artists—most are from Portland—that represent the elements of fire, water, earth, metal and wood. The contributing artists are: Richard Cawley, …more…

St. Louis 7th Annual City-Wide Open Studios, Call for Artists

camstl.org

City-Wide Open Studios is a week-long event, organized by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, that takes place each summer in order to support local artists. This summer, CWOS will be in its seventh year, and will take place from July 24 through July 29, 2012. Artists all across the city will open their studios to the public to show off their work, interact with audiences, and discuss St. …more…