Sunday, May 4, 2008

Spring is the Best time to come out!

A bunch of things to share...
Milestones:
Cassie Tarr, our (now former) intern, dear friend and source of inspiration at the gallery has graduated PCAD and I have to admit I had a lump in my throat seeing it in person. Check out her work in the senior show at PCAD and her handmade bags at the gallery. She will not only be doing Project Funway wearable arts camp with me this summer but some gallery hours are in the works for her too so come meet her in person.

Art and Healing:
Jacques Abreau has returned with an exhibition of his art journey into spirit and healing. We are planning a special event 11 am Friday May 23 to introduce him, the director of the Chabot School for arts, to as large a group we can assemble of anyone who should know about their efforts to move forward the concept of making art and performance for the glory of God.

Alicia, massage therapist and healer, and sacred dancer, of Alicia's wellness has made sponsoring Jacques a part of her plan for mitzvah to bring herself and Jacques to the Tier One level of the gallery. See more of this in August and September with performance, more art and things yet undreamed of. She will also be doing some massage in the gallery in coming weeks and you can arrange to get one of those by calling 717-606-6659. It is as easy as that to turn the corner on a medical issue you may have or to just treat yourself to healing touch. She has worked wonders with a dear friend of mine, so I recommend her whole heartedly. Her new space is coming together in Millersville, so she is branching OUT like our Mulberry tree! On that note, thanks to Solly for helping me plant the new red birch in the courtyard!

PRINTS, Prints and more prints:
Kyle has only one piece in the gallery this month (his work is in the new tattoo shop just below the south east corner of King and Prince) but the exciting news is he is planning to have it taken to a print master who will scan in the original work to create a pure pigment print of it as soon as possible. A number of visitors expressed an interest in this piece. I will try to post the photo so graciously volunteered when I asked, by new gallery friend Russell G. Frost (check out his website Frost Imaging to see his gorgeous shots of all sorts of stuff you may have had no idea was going on in and around town).

It may take a tutorial or Kristie saving the day for that to happen as I have been blogging in my brain for months but couldn't get it to actually happen without a tutorial from Russell...who I can't seem to thank enough, but after this mammoth post Kristie (especially) may say, "it was better when you couldn't do it!

More on prints---also captured by Russell are the carousel prints which are now hanging in the Arts Hotel. P. Buckley Moss and I are (funny to see that in a sentence) donating $100.00 for each one sold to the Rocky Springs Carousel Association of which I am a member and I assure you we are really trying to get through the many hurdles to installing that work of art (Lancaster's re-acquired antique Dentzel Carousel) to the downtown in flux.


Shawn Younger, Featured Artist May 2008
-Newer ,Younger, Older and Better

Quite a few things to say about Shawn Younger's exhibition and reception first Friday. It was his birthday and the gift was for all of us! He presented his work beautifully and it was a real treat to have his family on hand to share the event. I especially loved seeing his son, Taj sketching in the gallery intently, in spite of all the hubbub around him. I was glad Shawn didn't take my advice to not necessarily bring them that night. I was wrong! And I should have known better because they are always great in the gallery. WHAT was I thinking! For goodness sake's I was an artist's kid and the best experiences of my childhood were being at art shows and doing stuff like that with my parents.

Look for an article on Shawn, in the paper very soon. The perfect time for him to get out from behind the presses making the papers for us to be in the paper showing the world the talents this young, but worldly, wise, and deep soul has to offer. You may not know that Shawn was a Marine and lived in San Diego for a long stretch... AND a huge shout out to his big sister who came all the way from Montana to see his show. Shawn's works are priced to sell and are a great example of why one should still buy art even when the economy is supposedly bad.

Miracles in small packages:
Arlene Wartenberg is back with her incredible knitted, beaded amulet bags and we now know she actually does make them and not magic fairies as it may appear. She demonstrated making them with needles that British Airlines deemed a terrorist threat! Mom would love those and the jewelry by Kirsten and Heidi too for that matter.

Blast from the PAST:
Big surprise and I nearly fell over when my high school chum Jenny's beautiful, bright eyed and poised daughter Carrie (now nearly the same age as Jen and I were when we hung out) showed up with her posse...all I can say is I can't wait to see all of them again and the apple paintings they made were off the charts for the paint y0ur own toy or bead box artbar activity. I LOVE it that High Schoolers are claiming First Friday for their own. Wish we had FF when I was at McCaskey!

Connections and Coming Soons:
Some great musical connections were made at First Friday and we made plans to bring you Jordan Rast's band, (we have copies of his CD for sale now) Jason and our faithful Fables, and some new talent Wendy and her hubby and Jazz from an angel with the wings to prove it...more on that and others later. Thanks everyone for supporting FF and local artists and remember us when Mother's Day gifts are on your mind!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Alana! i got your message and rushed on to see this blog! I was so exited to see you again! i do FF a lot, and your gallery was definatly the most fun! I cant wait to visit again and bring more friends! hope your having a wonderful day! :)