Issue 8 • October 2018 • Facebook.com/TalkArts
IT’S ALL ABOUT
ARTS
Supporting Local Arts and Culture
Myron Mouse Belfast
From the Editor: The Writing Life
in my head. Affirmation comes in the form of a full resume of many job positions and opportunities that eagerly used my writing skills. Lesson: Never Give Up!
My husband tells a great story about my writing career. He loves to tell people about my big fat REJECTION binder. In my early writing days, I struggled to become a “published” writer. I continually sent stories out to publications in hopes of getting that much heralded letter of acceptance and subsequent check. For years I continued down this path and while filling said binder with rejection letters, I simultaneously honed my skill and had some successes. I will always remember that moment when I saw my name and story title on the cover of a magazine in the stack at the Star Market register in West Roxbury. My story, “Crazy Quilts Make Me Sane”, was published in a national quilting magazine. It was pure Nirvana! That binder (that I still have) acts as a reminder that sometimes our career paths are not always clear and well defined. I am a writer but not in the way I assumed it would be. The skills that I honed while filling that binder, have taken me on other paths that have sustained me and my family in many ways.
IT’S ALL ABOUT ARTS watch on www.bnntv.org www.itsallaboutarts.com facebook.com/TalkArts Twitter - @itsallaboutarts Instagram #itsallaboutarts BEYOND THE PALETTE RADIO SHOW AND PODCAST www.wbcaradio.org facebook.com/glennspalette Podcast can be heard on www.podbean.com or ITunes ROSLINDALE ARTS ALLIANCE www.roslindalearts.org facebook.com/Roslindale-Arts-Alliance-129685993761701 ART STUDIO 99 www.artstudio99.com facebook.com/Art-Studio-99-145566388819141 Twitter @artstudio99 Instagram - janice_art_studio_99 Published by It’s All About Arts Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved
tions director, an editor, columnist, poet and hopefully
Glenn Williams - 617-543-7443 glennsmusic.williams@gmail.com Janice Williams - 617-710-3811 janice@artfulgift.com
some day I will complete that novel I have written
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It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
Myron Mouse Belfast - Everything Art by Janice Williams
Belfast works ambitiously in shades of grey. His intricate and dense charcoal creations are rich in colorful allegories. Nude figures, faces and buildings evolve into endless twirling paths and erupting universes of lines and shades. Each piece begs contemplation and reflection. His work has a 3D metal look that has been described as Art Deco. Asked how his style came about, Belfast said, “I started my style of drawing the Fall of 1999 when I got a job in the first skyscraper in Boston which was an Art Deco building, I guess I got my style from there”. A Boston, MA resident, Belfast was born in Trinidad and grew up in Cambridge. He admires the work of Alexander Calder and John Singer Sargent. Belfast is a prolific, self taught artist. He does all his amazing, intricate work out of his small 13 x 13 bedroom. He says that the fill for a particular piece can take up to 1 month to complete. He labors tirelessly to complete each project and is always contemplating the next one. Belfast also does wire sculpture, other paint mediums and photography but always prefers his charcoal work. Belfast has shown his work in many places. He has done solo shows and has participated in multiple group shows throughout the region. His awards are notable: 1989 Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards gold key winner; 2017 Emerging Art exhibition and awards (The Fay Chandler best in show award) Mayor Martin Walsh Department of Arts & Culture Group Show; It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
five of Future Classic shows (Cyclorama) with artists like Shepard Fairey, graffiti artist SEEN, street photographer Ricky Powell, and the many other local and out of state artists. His drawings have also shown at Art Basel in Florida, Scope and two other large art fairs in New York. Belfast’s goal is to have more time to work on the art and to have his work in multiple shows at the same time all over the world. Belfast’s art work is dynamically brought to life on his YouTube channel. Here he has shared his process via video matched with lively music that captures attention to detail and his skillful hands. The videos are fascinating to watch. Belfast’s image on the cover is called Fata Morgana, it’s an illusion that happens in the horizon usually over water where it looks like a land mass or something floating in the air. In 2015 in China they saw a city in the clouds with trees and street lights. Belfast says, “That’s where the idea came from. They still don’t know if it was fake or real. I blame chemtrails (the trail of clouds that billow from an airplane streaking across the sky can) in this piece”. (continued)
Myron Mouse Belfast - Everything Art by Janice Williams (continued)
More Info and Contact Mouseizm@gmail.com - Instagram: mouseizm_art - Twitter: Mouseizm - Facebook: Grayscales
It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
URBAN ARTS FESTIVAL - 2018
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by Curt Naihersey
Was it five years ago when the initial Urban Arts Festival made its appearance in Hyde Park? Through the years, its impact has slowly grown to encompass more events and audience accessibility. Currently sponsored by the Hyde Park Art Association, the Hyde Park 150th Anniversary Arts Committee, Save Our Streets Boston, and Artists-at-Large, the event was staged at the lovely Martini Memorial Shell Park. There were tents, booths with art & kids activities, vendors, a folding dance floor set up on the field, and a stage full of equipment to host both musical and spoken-word acts. Off to the side was the annual “Battle of the Arts”, wherein creative talents engage in a three-hour competition on-the-spot, and are judged for cash prizes. I would like to think that “automatic-painting” requires both discipline and intuition. Then there is that blank canvas awaiting technique and inspiration and focus…..go to it!!
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This five-hour event was attended by hundreds of local residents, as well as folks from other parts of the city. People cruised throughout the exhibits and picnicked on the lawn. Another fabulous day for multi-cultural camaraderie. But, far and away, the most fascinating event was the most special and unique: Steamroller Mega-Prints linoleum & woodcuts, inked and printed using a steamroller. Just what it says!
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This year’s winners were: * First Prize – Amari Gunn * Second Prize (tie) - Brandi Lazard and Falid Milord * Third Prize – Kat Milkowski
Co-ordinated by Sasja Lucas, artists and their teams prepared precarved relief blocks and then rolled over them with an industrial steamroller to create the oversize prints. Master inker, Antonio Cardoso, carefully rolled each cut with maximum-density black ink, and, one-by-one, they jumped into relief and belief to the amazement of both artists and the gathering crowd. Some of the artists took weeks to create these visions in different sizes - others finished within a few days. As the assembled volunteers
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unveiled each print, the approving gasps were heart-warming and sincere. Bravos all around!! It is difficult to convey the awe of these huge prints. Hopefully, the Menino Arts Center in Hyde Park might stage an exhibit of the work, which would be spectacular in its spectrum of thematic designs. Here is the list of printmakers: Another Course to College 9th Grade Class, Blake Estates, Myrna Balk, Gail Bos, Pete Chamberlain, Kim Ecevido, Courtney Fino, Mary Harman, Matt Harman, Antionette Harrell and Wanda Davies, Liz Hardy-Jackson, Harikleia Kuliopulos, Alla Lazebnik, Sasja Lucas, Alice Madoney, Andrew Madoney, Steve Nilson and Beatrice Agosto, Mary McCusker, Mardi Reed, and Tommey Seggers
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(Thanks to Mary Ellen Gambon for assistance with this story.)
Alla Lazebnik
Sasja Lucas
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Kim Ecevido
Wanda Davies & Antoinette Harrell
all photos by Ms. Donna
Liz Hardy-Jackson
Pete Chamberlain
Harikleia Kuliopulos Sasja
Geneva Kingswood (Blake Estates)
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Must Read
Stand up and cheer if you are… A teacher or coach looking for ways to inspire your students or players to do the right thing. A parent who wonders how to improve your child’s chances at successful adulthood, measured not by salary or professional accomplishments but by integrity and courage. A student who loves watching your favorite players on the field and imagines that there is a lot you can learn from them. You believe… Professional athletes have much to teach today’s youth about persistence, humility, fortitude, and integrity — if they can just find the right platform. Finding the right role models is crucial to enabling our youth to flourish and succeed at whatever they choose to do. Sometimes all it takes for our youth to stay on the right path is having a caring adult show them the way. If you dream of seeing today’s youth seize the qualities of fortitude, honesty and courage that will make them productive members of society and successful adults, then join our bold movement of hope to help make it a reality. That’s what it means to be on the Insightful Player® team. Insightful Player chronicles the path active and former players took to reach the NFL, not only using their football talents, but often taking genuinely heroic steps to overcome life’s obstacles. One player’s father was murdered when he was eight; he had to duck for cover in his home when bullets were flying on his street. Another player, as early as five years old, saw people shot. A Hall of Fame player never had a winter coat or boots, and didn’t always have food to eat. A former player was put in classes for the mentally disabled, his father “beat the tar” out of him, and his coaches wouldn’t help him get into college because they said he had no talent. It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
All of these players overcame these hardships to achieve a place in the NFL. Each story shows the immense power of the human spirit. We all need to be reminded of this – especially kids, and especially now. Providing lessons in perseverance, integrity, courage and values, Insightful Player is a playbook for inspiring us all – especially our children. Use it to teach, learn and inspire! Purchase on Amazon Visit website: theinsightfulplayer.com
About the Author
Chrissy Carew is a passionate master board certified life and business coach with the International Coach Federation who wants all children to be successful and have inspiring role models available. More at coachcarew.com
! The Knock
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Ah! That innocuous knock at the door. Damn! I’ve got to get the bell fixed. If I just hadn’t deep-sixed My tool box six months before. Yeah, that’s a knock. Maybe it’s a drummer selling a roof. But, as much as I need one, I’ll just stay aloof. A knock’s force is quite revealing. Jehovah’s Witnesses strike with power. They come in a group: There’s strength in numbers. But little do they know - I have my Watchtower. Now it’s a knock and a voice. Perhaps it’s my neighbor, wants to borrow A rake or a shovel, with the empty promise, He’ll bring it back tomorrow. Let me see who’s knocking. Looks like a bedraggled stranger. Weak, despairing, but still caring Like Joseph searching for a manger. The knocker’s got an agitated look. Maybe he needs a phone or directions. What if he’s sick and needs a doctor? If I open the door, will I get an infection? “Knocker”, I muse, what is done to the least, is done to Me. But what if he’s crazy or a crook? And the more I see him... What an odd look. Besides. There’s a rerun of Gunsmoke I’ve just got to see.
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Paul Osborne
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[in memoriam: Bonnie Owen Gordon was a member of the Lowbudget Records family, wherein she released two gifted albums. A friend of mine since the mid-70s, she was a musician, poet, jewelry maker, and astral voyager. She was special and will be deeply missed. - C.N.]
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home.
sketches
she said / she was too close / for comfort too close / to the cord too close / to the city and the high school blackboard.
popular sanctuary oceans of blue fireflies and ferry boats they take me from me to you…
so she split the cord umbilical cause it was all too real and burned all her memories cause she just couldn’t feel. and it took time for the wound to heal for it was so deep for it was so steep until at last she was free and at last she was whole finally a woman without console. and for once in her life she could feel for real and she was all alone. and she was all grown up.
sunsets of parish a halo of gold brilliant a lamplight a treasure to hold …your hand. when i am lonely i look to the sky and cloudbursts wrap ‘round me (with secrets) bigger than you and i. tears of my heart connect me to you and in between the butterflies and lullabies lilac sprays of yesterday… your sparkling eyes shine through. Bonnie Owen Gordon
Bonnie Owen Gordon
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Vibrant palette of art flourishes in Somerville Article and photos © By Stan Eichner
There continues to be a rich and flourishing visual art scene in Somerville, despite economic forces that have made it harder for some artists to live in Somerville. This article highlights two examples, which will whet your appetite to explore these and many more displays of art throughout the city. One of the most recent and exciting examples is the late summer mini-mural festival in Somerville produced by the Somerville Arts Council. Mayor Curtatone sparked the effort which resulted in three street art-style murals being painted in Somerville – two in East Somerville and one in Union Square. The first mural was painted by Victor “Marka27” Quinonez who lives in Cambridge. He is an international street artist who works at the intersection of graffiti, vinyl toys, contemporary art, fashion and design. His robust palette blends elements of street and pop culture with Mexican and indigenous aesthetic, a term for which he has coined the phrase, “Neo Indigenous.” His mural is on a prominent wall in Union Square, right across from the plaza. (See image 1). The next two murals are in East Somerville. The first of these two pieces is at the intersection of George Street and Broadway. (See image 2). The artist for this mural is David Zayas who lives in Puerto Rico. He has participated in mural projects throughout the world, including North, Central and South America, Europe, and Israel. He has begun offering the first course on Street Art at the Metropolitan University in Puerto Rico. The third mural, painted by Angurria, an illustrator and art director from the Dominican Republic, is on the wall of Ola Café at 112 Broadway. Angurria has excelled nationally and internationally in the areas of design, typography and lettering. As explained by the artist during a panel discussion, the image of the woman wearing rollers represents the beauty of woman in the home, which he wants to show to the outside world. [Image 3] Each of these vibrant and exciting murals reflect the artist’s visions and really need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. This is hopefully just the beginning of what the It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
Somerville Arts Council calls the Somerville Street Art Project. Another significant visual arts effort in Somerville is Somerville Open Studios (SOS), which presents a weekend of visual art throughout the city each year on the first weekend in May. This year’s event, with over 350 participating artists, was SOS’ 20th anniversary. In addition to artists showing their work in their studios and community space, SOS held a Fashion Show, exhibiting wearable textile art, and a Kids Art Show. Each year there is also a “First Look” show at the Somerville Museum, where visitors can enjoy a distilled overview of the wide range of exciting visual art before setting off to visit studios, [image below] and a “Volunteers Show” at the Diesel café, where each of the many volunteers gets to show one of their pieces. Free trolley service is available throughout Somerville so visitors can visit studios across the city. SOS is distinguished by being one of the largest Open Studios organized by artists. This year SOS is working to make the organization even more connected to and run by artists, organizing itself into functional work committees to de-centralize but re-energize artists’ input and commitment.
SOMERVILLE ART It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
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Boston’s Best Open Studios Visit Glenn and Janice Williams at their home studio Art Studio 99 for the annual Roslindale Open Studios See all locations and all the amazing art and artists roslindaleopenstudios.org
Oct. 20 and 21, 2018
Ceramics, Paintings, Prints, Collage, Photography, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Textiles, Pottery, Wood, Glass, Sculpture, Assemblage and more....
WIN at Home Studio Bingo Visit six Home Studios, collect stickers, fill out the bingo card (available at all group sites and home studios) and be entered to win prizes. Completed cards can be dropped off at info tables at any group site or mailed to: ROS, P.O.Box 241, Roslindale, MA 02131 It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
99 Belgrade Avenue Roslindale, MA 02131 artstudio99.com
OUR 14th YEAR!
BEYOND THE PALETTE
with Glenn Williams ARTS EDUCATION ROCK & ROLL
Arts educator, arts promoter and singer, songwriter, Williams can be heard weekly spinning tunes and talking about arts and education. Listen on BNN Radio: WBCA 102.9 FM (Mondays 7-8 pm) or streamed live on wbcaradio.org and at Beyond The Palette podcast at Podbean or ITunes.com.
facebook.com/glennspalette
A LITTLE HELP
www.janicebiz.com • 617-710-3811 • janice@artfulgift.com
Help with a wide variety of business or personal writing: • • • • • • • • • • •
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It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
105 Performers 66 Locations Such a well-planned, honestly-lovely, communityspirited, event! Music and all kinds of great vibes, about town. The porch I performed at, the people that hosted that porch, and the families that came out for the fun and to listen, were all fantastic! Big Smiles all around!
Fabulous event! We’ve been continually impressed by the enthusiastic support of Porchfest by the people of Roslindale whether their hosting artists or watching with smiles. @PlayingWithFireBand have loved being part of this unique experience for the past three years...the people and organizers rock!
#Iheartroslindale
Visit website to see list of sponsors, performers and locations. roslindalearts.org/porchfest/index.html A Roslindale Arts Alliance Event SEE YOU NEXT YEAR It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
Roslindale Porch Fest 2018 - 4th Annual Thank You • Committee Members • Generous Sponsors • Talented Performers • Accommodating Hosts • Wonderful Audiences • Roslindale
Renée DeKona - PHOTOGRAPHY - 603 South St. Roslindale, MA radekona@comcast.net - reneedekona.com It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018
Ceramics and Photos by Lisa WB Walker www.lisawbwalker.com Lettering by Chris Roberts chrisrdh@yahoo.com It’s All About Arts Magazine October 2018