by Sandy | Jun 13, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits, Museums
Examples of Romare Bearden’s graphic art will be highlighted at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, CA . 
“From Process to Print: Graphic Works by Romare Bearden” will be just one of many presentations planned around the country to acknowledge the artist’s centennial. “It’s an exhibition honoring Romare Bearden’s remarkable versatility as an artist and his mastery of the print medium. The works in this exhibition show Bearden’s extra-ordinary facility for weaving into every art form a rich tapestry of literary, biblical, mythological, popular culture and western and non-western themes that were informed by his African American cultural experiences. Bearden incorporated into his art work a rich montage of influences from American, African, Asian and European art and culture and took inspiration from memories and experiences of the rural South, the urban North and the Caribbean.”
From Process to Print: Graphic Works by Romare Bearden – 7/3/11
MoAD – The Museum of the African Diaspora
685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA
by Sandy | Jun 9, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Culture, Museums
The Cleveland Museum of Art currently has an exhibit of canes, bowls, snuff boxes, etc. representing private, useful, personal objects that are also art: 
The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southeast Africa “celebrates the stunning formal diversity and deep cultural meanings of Southeast Africa’s artistic heritage. Despite some growing interest and appreciation over the past three decades, the art of traditional southern African societies have long been neglected. Portable in nature and generally small in size, works created by peoples such as the Zulu, Nguni, Tsonga, Ndebele, Sotho, and Swazi in the 19th and 20th centuries were typically related to the privacy of the home or the intimacy of the person. The makers and users of many of these works were cattle-herders with a complex history of migrations. This nomadic existence has contributed to the emergence of fluid regional artistic styles that often defy specific ethnic attributions.”
The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southeast Africa
The Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio
(Images- items from 1800s—1900s: Snuff Container (South Africa, Zulu people or Northern Nguni people, Gourd, copper and brass wire) and Staff (the Baboon Master ,South Africa, Tsonga people, Wood)
by Bob Martin | Jun 6, 2011 | Art, Artist, Creativity, Film
Independence Day by Cybel Martin
Cybel Martin is painting again and exposing us to her joyous visual commentary on what goes on around her.
by Bob Martin | Jun 2, 2011 | Art, Culture
One of the most fascinating and generous people I’ve ever met in Phoenix is Fatimah Halim, who will be performing at the “Playhouse on the Park” (part of the Phoenix Museum Complex) June 11th. Purchase Ticket Here –
Be there if you can!
Storyteller and writer Fatimah Halim sees women as complex and fascinating beings; juggling personal beliefs of what is expected of them with who they truly want to be in the world. This juggling sometimes pushes them over the edge, forcing them to create personas that help them cope with what life throws their way. This conflict is at the crux of this one woman show about a woman who lives in her own archetypal world.
by Sandy | Jun 2, 2011 | Art, Artist, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Books, Drawing, music
His birthday slipped up on me this year. The artist known as Bob Dylan was 70 years old on May 24. I salute and congratulate him!
Of course he is a Gemini. We all know that he writes, he sings, he’s a poet, he’s a musician – truly the classic example of the Air sign’s communication gifts. A few years ago, he received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” Nice, but, did you know that Bob Dylan also paints?! 
His book of his art work, “Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series” (March 2008) has 170 of his drawings rendered in water color and gouache. Drawings done in restaurants, hotel rooms are presented here along with little notes or poems.
by Sandy | May 25, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Books, Culture, Exhibits, Learning
Over 200 exhibit booths will be featured at the 2011 edition of this annual free event including music stages, panel discussions and children’s activities. 
“The vision of the Harlem Book Fair is to partner with local
and national leadership organizations under the banner of literacy
awareness, affirming HBF as the nation’s largest African American
literary event celebrating family literacy, community empowerment,
and community cooperation. “
Annual Harlem Book Fair * Saturday July 23, 2011
11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on West 135th Street, NYC
(Betw. Malcolm X Blvd. /Lenox Ave and Fredrick Douglas Blvd. 8th Ave)
by Sandy | May 21, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Exhibits, Museums
AIC, the Art Institute of Chicago, presents: “Real and Imaginary: Three Latin American Artists”
“Three Latin American artists share the beauty and richness of their cultural heritage in this exhibition of art from picture books. In a book of Latin American folktales, Raúl Colón layers washes of paint and etched 
lines, finishing with colored pencils. David Diaz’s brightly colored illustrations portray true stories of Mexican heroes and artists. And with a flair for humor, Yuyi Morales paints hauntingly beautiful, mystical pictures that resonate with the importance of family.”
“Real and Imaginary: Three Latin American Artists” * Until May 29, 2011
AIC/ Art Institute of Chicago
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by Bob Martin | May 19, 2011 | Film
All of us are so impressionable when we are young or until the age of sixty. Our lives seem simple, boring and without direction. We believe that is a shortcut to living the extraordinary life and find out eventually that life is to short for there to a easy way to live it.
Two films that give us a look at our desire to have our lives be
“storybook” are An Education and Revolutionary Road. Both films deal with the same subject with very different endings. One is a downer and the other offers hope and neither suggest that there is ever shortcut.
by Sandy | May 17, 2011 | Art, Blogroll, Museums
First saw a sample of Marc Chagall’s stained glass windows in a magazine when I was a kid. I was captured by all the color and whimsy and searched out and admired his paintings too. Chagall, 1887-1985, is still one of my favorite artists. 
The Art Institute of Chicago has announced that “Marc Chagall’s America Windows “ has been restored and returned to their rightful place. “The six-panel work celebrates the country as a place of cultural and religious freedom, detailing the arts of music, painting, literature, theater, and dance…debuting at the Art Institute in 1977 and made forever famous less than ten years later by an appearance in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the “Chagall Windows,” as they are more popularly known, hold a special place in the hearts of Chicagoans. “
“Marc Chagall’s America Windows “
AIC, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
by Bob Martin | May 10, 2011 | Art Travel, Creativity, Exhibits, Galleries, Museums
I have this sense that 2011 will be a year filled with great and inspiring art exhibits that I will travel to see. Exhibitions that move away from traditional and/or shock, but rather whose intent is to honestly educate and invites the viewer to participate in a conversation about the art and the artist.
What My Mother Told Me: The Art of Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons at the Harvey B. Gantt Center – until June 19, 2011
