CricketToes

Gallery Night Goes Internationally Local

Many, many moons ago I was fortunate to work for a small company that coordinates language and culture programs for folks who want to learn more about other folks who populate our tiny blue planet. My employment there lasted six and a half years--an unprecedented length up to that point in my life, so you know it was worth it. This company was and still is called the National Registration Center for Study Abroad (NRCSA), located right here in our fair Miltown.

At the time of my congenial departure, NRCSA had a limited number of programs combining language with serious art study, which were available only in a few countries. Now, though, they've got a sizable number of these programs located in eight different countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Mexico, Italy, and Spain. Wouldn't ya know it, I turn my back for just a second--well, eight years really--and they decide to build-up a ginormous array of awesome language + artsy programs. Good for them!

In celebration of this, the super intelligent people of NRCSA will be hosting their very first art exhibit tonight--a.k.a. Gallery Night--at their digs in the Marshall Building, 207 East Buffalo Street, Suite 610, in the Third Ward. Hooray!

On view will be the work of Dr. Lucy Yu--a painter originally from Shanghai, China--Nick Bowers--who studied glassblowing in Canada--ten Milwaukee area students--veterans of a lithography study trip across Mexico this past August--and a variety of Peruvian art, including textiles, wood, ceramics and instruments.

As Program Coordinator and my old comrade Sarah Damonte Vegas informed me in a recent email,

"When we first discussed hosting an event one thing was clear--it had to be 'international'. Now, defining that took a while! In the end we decided that it meant inviting artists currently living in the Milwaukee area who:
1) are from another country and whose art is highly influenced by their birth country
2) specialize in an international art form (typical art from a certain country, region or culture, not common in US)
or
3) studied/lived abroad and now create/focus on art form learned abroad.

We cast the net far and wide and selected the above four because they represented foreign born artists, local folk influenced by travel and art and artists that studied their art form abroad."

Now that's what we call internationally local!

NRCSA plans on hosting many more of these exhibitions in the future, but I know you're the type who wants to be in on the action right from the get-go. How do I know that? You read this here blog, that's how! So stop on by Suite 610 at 207 East Buffalo Street tonight from 5-9PM and enjoy your in-the-exclusive-loop status.

(Thanks, Sarah!)

The Art Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros Left Behind

Very few of us in the industrialized western world know or understand what it's actually like to live day to day in a war zone, and even fewer of us can truly comprehend the courage it takes to leave our loved ones and creature comforts to head straight into the deadly conflicts of foreign, often poverty stricken lands. Sadly, those who do gain that knowledge sometimes pay for it with their lives.

Such was the case for photographer/filmmaker Tim Hetherington and photographer Chris Hondros, who were killed on April 20, 2011, while covering the upheaval in Libya. In the wake of their tragic deaths, both men have left stirring and evocative images that reach beyond journalism and come to rest within the realm of art.

In 2010 Hetherington made an experimental short film entitled Diary, an extraordinary examination of the physiological turmoil he experienced as he moved from peace to war to peace and back again to war:

 

For Hondros' part, his photography speaks powerfully of the human condition that we all share and we all suffer.

While we should never hold the value of the lives of some over others, for the people who die everyday around the globe without recognition deserve our full and deepest respect, the art Hetherington and Hondros left behind serves as much as a legacy for those they encountered as it does for them.

A Grand Folk Art Tour

How many people do ya know who are both smart and cool enough to buck the commercially driven, pukedelically saccharine idea of what a wedding/commitment celebration should be and just do exactly what they wanna do, hmm? Well, we're fortunate enough to know a bunch, but current kudos go to our pals Dan and Jennifer Schierl, who spent two whole days last month touring a plethora of stunning folk art sites in Wisconsin and Iowa in honor of their 5th Anniversary--Whoot and Right On!

For our collective benefit, Jen--superstar teacher, knitter and photog--has uploaded a whopping pictorial collection documenting their road trip and it is truly astounding, and I mean as-tound-ing.

Now, to be honest, folk art can be something of an acquired taste and plenty of folks--hehe, get it?--have trouble with the sometimes far-out and/or hyper-spiritual messages, not to mention the often wacky execution. But all of these sites represent intense artistic expression that simply could not be hidden, silenced or quashed, which means they are deserving of respect and serious contemplation. Also, astonished chuckles of "Wow, what in the hell was he/she on?" is not an unusual response, so just go ahead and let it all out, 'kay?

Click on over for the full tour!

(Thanks, Jen!)

Our Man in China

For those of you blissfully unaware of this news, Mike Brenner--Miltown's answer to the question, "Who's the local screwball that elicits both uproarious laughter and seething rage in a single tweet?"--has got himself a full dance card at the moment as he subjects the innocent people of China to his rarefied yet hyperrealistic portrayal of An American Artist/Nutcase in Beijing. Lordy, it's just too good to be true! And yet it is.

What makes this ginormous shift in geography all the more astounding is that, even while seeking out artwork to view in a foreign land without the advantage of knowing the language and between bouts of complete drunkenness with a rabid pack of MIAD students--and live tweeting it, of course--Brenner's still keeping track of what's going on here and is continuing to hand out The More You Know™ tidbits he's infamous for through both Twitter and the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) listserv. Talk about commitment to a bit. Kudos to you, Brenner!

Anyhoo, dude is giving the play-by-play here. Also, he's uploaded some video on Vimeo and photos on Flickr. Tomorrow he heads for Shanghai--the MIAD kids are apparently already there, no doubt anxiously awaiting his intoxicated arrival--so we've got plenty of sure-to-please high and lowbrow entertainment to fill the next five days or so.

Buy Art to Send Art on the Road

Luckystar Studio, owned by Gene Evans and Bridget Griffith Evans, has proclaimed itself temporary unofficial Art Ambassador for Milwaukee--which is cool 'cause that position has been sans occupant for many moons--and is taking a whole slew of works created by Miltown artists on a road trip this summer with an exhibit called It Came From Milwaukee. But before they can cruise down the road in their carefully packed coche del arte, they need to raise some greenbacks for petrol and other necessary items. Hence, tomorrow night's Gas Money Silent Auction.

Hosted by Grava Gallery in the Historic Third Ward, the auction includes work donated by artists featured in the exhibition and all proceeds will go to ensure that none of the traveling delegates end up stranded in the middle of the grain belt during a thunderstorm, forcing them to seek shelter in a nearby barn that just happens to be owned by a shotgun-wielding, trigger happy, not-too-keen-on-city-folk farmer who'll make them do hard labor in return for a cozy spot near the swine stalls. People, we've seen that kind of tragedy happen way too often on TV, and TV never lies, so let's step-up for the cause.

Artwork up for bid has been painstakingly crafted by Amy O'Neill, Andrea Picard, Bridget Griffith Evans, Eduardo J. Villanuvea, Jeff Sadowski, John Scotello, Luckystar Studio, John and Dave Jenson of Soar Studio, Jeremy Wolf, Von Munz, and our pal Dwellephant--Whoot!

Once the precious funds have been secured, It Came From Milwaukee will open June 5 at Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis, where it will continue to inspire and amaze Missourians of all backgrounds through June 29. Then it's off to the Windhover Center for the Arts in Fond du Lac, opening on July 10 and running to August 7. Finally but not leastly--I submitted that word years ago to Merriam-Webster but they still refuse to admit its correctitued--it's back home for a show at the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) in the fall.

The Gas Money gavel will start swinging in complete silence tomorrow, Friday May 22, at Grava Gallery, 207 E. Buffalo Street, at 5PM and won't stop until 9PM. To lighten their load, please bring cash in lieu of gas.

Link (Thanks Gene, Bridget & Dwellephant!)

UPDATE: For some unknown and unfathomable reason, the blog describing the It Came From Milwaukee traveling show no longer exists. Sheesh, folks, what's up with that? Due to this frustration, Cricky has been forced to remove those links. Sorry, peeps.

Rishi Tea Tweeting Chinese Style

Joshua Kaiser and Sean O'Leary of Milwaukee's own Rishi Tea Company are linking ancient organic tea growing technology with modern-day communications by tweeting their fair trade trip to China. Followers of O'Leary can get updates and track their movements through the beloved homeland of the steeped leaf.

Company founder Kaiser and art director/tea buyer O'Leary are already eight days into their travels, trekking through China's Yunnan province in the southwest and some of the oldest tea growing areas on the planet. With 1,500 years of tea planting and cultivation under their belts, the people of the Mannong Manmai Ancient Tree Forest know what they're doin'.

O'Leary's tweets aren't exactly play-by-play material, but that may be due to limited cell phone coverage caused by geological obstructions--like, say, mountain peaks reaching for the sky for as much as 3,000 meters (approximately 9,843 feet). That's a whole lotta rock, folks, so we'll go ahead and forgive him any tweeting lapses that may occur.

Link (via BizTimes Bubbler Weekly)

Guerrilla Girls Take Ireland

For years Kev and I have regularly received email newsletters from Millennium Court Arts Centre (MCAC) in Portadown, Northern Ireland, not because we've ever been there but as a reminder to ourselves that someday we will blissfully go to the land of fiddles and Guinness to take in whatever art is showing at the time. MCAC's latest email informed us that a group of artists we'd not thought about in many moons was going to be performing at the Centre next week as a part of an all-Ireland tour. Their name? The Guerrilla Girls.

For those of you unfamiliar with the troupe--and by all that is revolutionary, ya shouldn't be!--The Guerrilla Girls started just around the same time I began my obsessive journey into the color black, otherwise known as 1985. Their formation was spurred in response to the New York Museum of Modern Art's exhibition An International Survey of Painting and Sculpture. Touted as the definitive summary of all the "important" contemporary art in the world up to that point, it was predominately male and painfully white.

Frustrated with the usual protest tactics that no longer garnered attention from an apathetic, seen-it-all population, members of The Guerrilla Girls--all artists themselves--decided to take on the discriminatory status quo existent at all levels of the art world by plastering stickers and posters wherever they could to expose these injustices. They perpetrated this and other actions anonymously by taking the names of dead female artists and wearing guerrilla masks, which they still do whenever they perform in order to avoid any one of their personalities from getting in the way of their work.

Anyhoo, over the past 24 years The Guerrilla Girls have expanded their conscience raising efforts by targeting other notoriously sexist and racist industries, including film, politics and the public policy system. And they're funny!

The Guerrilla Girls will be touring Ireland from March 31 through April 3, then it's back to the States for some Midwest gigs. According to their datebook, the closest they'll get to Milwaukee this spring is at the University of Chicago on April 17. They'll also be performing in Normal, Illinois--haha, they won't know what hit 'em! Their schedule, however, is nowhere near complete, so keep your eyes peeled just in case they decide to drop in. Guerrilla fingers crossed!

It's Too Damn Cold--Let's Go to Iran!

Back in October I let you kids know that intrepid world trekker and travel show host Rick Steves had produced a new one-hour television special called Rick Steves' Iran, Yesterday and Today, to be aired sometime in January. Well that sometime is tonight.

Tune in to Milwaukee Public Television (MPTV) Channel 36 at 8PM to learn all about this culturally and historically rich country. It's a balmy and enviable 39º F in Tehran right now, so just knowing that should warm your toes a bit.

If ya don't live in the MPTV viewing area, go to PBS.org to find out when you can see this remarkable program.

Related:
Travel Iran the Rick Steves Way!

Travel Iran the Rick Steves Way!

PBS travel host darling and lovable international trekker Rick Steves recently posted a preview on his website of his new one-hour television special, Rick Steves' Iran, Yesterday and Today. In an email to newsletter subscribers--of which we are, thank you very much--he wrote, "Earlier this year, my TV crew and I traveled to Iran to film a public television special. Our mission: to help America better understand and humanize this culturally-rich, controversial nation. The project has turned out to be an eye-opener for me personally, as well."

As one of the most misunderstood cultures in the world, Iran definitely deserves to be featured on a show that practices the kind of respect, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skill that Americans would be wise to exhibit a bit more often.

The show is set to debut January 2009 nationwide on PBS.

Link

Aw, Look--The Gray Lady Likes Us

Maura J. Casey of The New York Times penned a glowing article full of high praise for our old Miltown in the Travel section this past Sunday. Her piece gives a bit of a tour of the city and, I must say, she got herself and photographer Darren Hauck around quite well.

An all-time favorite eatery of mine that she wisely highlights is Three Brothers Bar and Restaurant at 2414 South St. Clair Street. Mmm... Serbian comfort food. I was surprised to see a website link in the article for Three Brothers, but a quick click revealed that it's still under construction.

Casey includes a much deserved shout-out to Renaissance Book Shop on North Plankinton downtown, and also covers Brady Street, giving nods to the Up and Under as well as Rochambo. Hazzah to all three of ya!

Frankly, I could've done without the Laverne and Shirley quip in the opening sentence of Casey's article, but for those who don't live here and, subsequently, haven't heard it ad nauseam, it's an obligatory reference that appears to have the shelf life of a petrified Squiggy.

Link (Thanks, Tamiko!)