Like many others, I feared this day would come soon and now it is here and we must rise up and act before it's too late. Please watch this, it may go down in history as one of the most important youtube videos in the history of youtube, but only if we do something, because history is always written by the winners.
Since I got back from my summer tour, I have found no matter how little money we have there are lots of ways to be generous to others. I have had the pleasure to meet some great people who are transforming the lives of children by tackling the schools of New Orleans (which have a history of being awful places) and making spaces where learning is actually a viable and fun activity. I got to volunteer with some wonderful folks from California who have started an organization called 'For the Kids of Katrina'and have come to NOLA 3 times to build playgrounds in devastated neighborhood schools and are currently working on raising money to build the 4th. I was brought onboard by them to paint a mural in a barren school lunchroom as a collaboration with a very talented muralist from L.A. named Nicole Blackburn. Nicole and I had such a great time painting together with the help of all the wonderful volunteers from Cali. Here is a shot of our 60 foot mural which we completed in 5 days. Every day we were there the kids told us how cool it was we were painting that for them and they had so much fun watching it come to life:
But that's not all folks. There is a local non-profit who is helping rebuild some of the most deprived schools in the city. They are 'Hands On New Orleans' and I got hooked up with them because they needed an artist to paint some big posters to go in one of the school's libraries that required a face lift. So many kids come out of NOLA schools and are still illiterate. Here are 2 of my images to encourage kids to learn to read:
I guess my point here is that each and everyone of us has a litlle something we can contribute to make things better, but only if we weren't sitting around in front of our computers bitching and whining about how awful things are. This goes out to all the bloggers who waste electronic space with their pointless self-indulgent rants about how much their lives suck. I mean that from the bottom of my heart, with sugar on top.
My painting break didn't last too long. This is a rough version of the poster-to-be for this awesome New Orleans Halloween event... Tickets for the event are on sale NOW at http://www.neworleanshealingcenter.org (There will be a limited-edition series of posters and t-shirts on sale soon! Pre-orders welcome!)
For those of you who are going to be in the Washington D.C. area this coming week. Come hang out with me this Thursday the 26th of June at Artful Gallery 1349 Maryland Avenue NE. Just a few minutes from Union Station. All three artist will be there and it should be alot of fun! If you are also interested in buying some cool New Orleans art, the pieces are affordable- starting at $100.
From left to right : Me, Kimberly Allen (producer), Dilip Sheth (Artful Gallery owner), Eric Buchanan (artist), and Bedonna Wakeman (artist). Photo taken by Kimberly Powell.
The Atmosphere in Capitol Hill...
Current mood: adventurous
Speaking at the Library of Congress about New Orleans, art, and life was exciting. The painting I brought with me was from 2003 and was done to commemorate the Louisiana Bicentennial. It was a pretty edgy painting to bring to such a place. There is a nude female figure superimposed onto a landscape in which the river looks like it's going to swallow the city. I spoke about the Louisisana Purchase and how important that moment in history was to the future of our nation, impressing on the audience the importance of New Orleans and why our country should not cast us away like step-children. It was very satisfying to bring such a powerful image into such an official place. The nude figure straddling the skyscrappers with a sullen look on her face as she fears she cannot hold back the waters... Some people in the audience gathered that I painted this 2 years before the flood and were impressed by my prophetic imagery, others were simply taken by the energy embodied in the painting... All in all it was a great experience to speak to a little group of people who understand what it's like to live in a place that is swampy, run down, and filled with danger, angry citizens and politicians who ignore the cries of their people. I found Washinton D.C. and New Orleans to have a lot of things in common and it made me realize that the problems we face in new orleans are not just in new orleans, but the general atmosphere in our country as a whole. A country which is not politically aligned with the needs of its people. A country run by those who have forgotten what it's like to be a community. A place that thrives on pinning brother against brother, and colleages against colleages,. A nation that is run by fear of the "other" and that fear keeps the powers at be in place while we confuse our neighbor for an enemy...
From left to right: Eric Buchanan, Bedonna Wakeman, Kimberly Allen, Dillip Seth, and myself.
TUNE IN: WWOZ WED. 4/2/08 at 1pm
Current mood: busy
Category: Podcast
I will be live on WWOZ the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Station to talk about the debut of New Orleans: SPIRIT a’ RISEN.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 2nd at 1pm. Tune in and chat with me!
http://www.wwoz.org/ontheair/streaminfo
I am working on a couple of paintings still, oh how I love deadlines. So if you happen to be going to Rebirth at the Maple Leaf the night before, you may run into me finishing a painting of their performance and shakin’ my booty to the beat.
Over 200 artists put in proposals and 50 "fleur de lis" were chosen to be displayed all over town and I was lucky enough to get to paint one thanx to metal sculptor Luis Colmenares who picked me to be his collaborator on his design. Here's us tying it to the bed of his truck on the way to deliver it to the Art's Council...
As soon as I know where it will be displayed I will let everyone know for those of you who live here and would like to see it in person. I love Luis's design with the boganvillas and moonflower vines wrapping around. He also constructed the iron fence going through the whole thing. So one side is New Orleans by day and the other side is New Orleans at night. If you walk all the way around it you get the feeling for how one full 24 hour visit to the city might be, including the blur of intoxication and the hangover brunch which ties the nite side with the day side again...
Art Review in the Gambit
Current mood: grateful
Category: Art and Photography
I feel so honored to be reviewed in the Gambit in the same article mentioning such amazing painters like Sallie Ann Glassman and Myrtle Von Damitz. I hope some of you can make the closing party on Saturday April 7th for a special art performance by myself and a couple of my colleagues, Raven Creature and Michelle O'Reagan....
restless
pugnacious
busy
electric
adventurous
nervous
relieved
grateful
