Diverseworks Art Space » Spring 2009

Idea Fund Reception

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:36:23 +0000

TUESDAY, MAY 12, DiverseWorks

6:30 – 8:00

It’s mi-year and some of the Idea Fund projects are well on their way.

Join us for a chance to meet all the recpipients and catch a look at the works as they’re progressing!

Systems of Sustainability: Art, Innovation, Action

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 05:13:50 +0000

March 27 – 29, 2009

Systems of Sustainability: Art, Innovation, Action (“S.O.S”), is a three-day event organized by the University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. Part arts festival, part academic symposium, S.O.S. explores how creative enterprise can be an integral tool for cultural growth and social change. The program will present a range of innovative practices demonstrated by a roster of local, national, and international participants including prominent artists, scientists, business leaders, activists, and scholars. Events will include site-specific projects, participatory activities, lectures, scholarly panels, and many opportunities for dialogue.

All events are open to the university community and the general public. A series of related presentations will be held throughout the spring season.

Why S.O.S.?

Media outlets, political figures, and retailers alike have proclaimed that today’s most complex global challenges can be addressed with a single word: sustainability. This optimistic term attempts to combat some of the biggest and most fearsome problems worldwide—global warming, natural, economic and political disruptions, and social discord—and as a result permeates our everyday life.

The performing, visual, and literary arts can be tremendously effective in posing solutions to our biggest global challenges. S.O.S. invites you join a list of world-renowned speakers and participants in the ever-more pressing conversation about what it means to sustain our planet, our culture, and our creative enterprise.

Participants include:

Amy Balkin: Environmental Visual Artist
Brian Collier: Artist/ Researcher
Lindsay Utz: Video Curator, GOOD magazine
Lisa D’Amour: Acclaimed Playwright and Theater Artist
Katie Pearl: Theater Artist
Kurt Mueller: Sculptor / Art Critic
Fritz Haeg: Architect / Designer
Robert Harriss: CEO, Houston Advanced Research Center
Alexandra Broches: Photographer, Hera Gallery
Barbara Pagh: Printmaker, Hera Gallery
Marc Bamuthi Joseph: Choreographer / Writer / Performer
Richard Lerman: Sound Artist
Liz Lerman: Choreographer, MacArthur “Genius”
Michael Mercil: Conceptual Artist / Educator
Steve Nalepa: Electronic Musician / Software Developer
Dario Robleto: Artist
Stephanie Smith: Curator, Smart Museum of Art, Univ. of Chicago
Liz Ward: Painter
Caroline Collective: Technology and “creatives” co-working space
Matthew Wettergreen: Bioengineer / Co-founder, Caroline Collective
WochenKlausur: Artist Collective
Karen Stokes & Teresa Chapman: Choreographers / Performers, UH School of Theatre & Dance
SIMPARCH: Design/Build Collective
The Center for Land Use Interpretation: Research Organization
Natalie Jeremijenko: Artist
Sasha Dela: Artist
Claudia Schmuckli: Curator
Helen Lessick: Artist
Philip Galanter: Artist

For more information on S.O.S, got to… www.soshouston.org

The Real (Art) World: 2009

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:53:30 +0000

Visual Arts Residency June 21 – Aug. 15, 2010
Applications Due April 1, 2010
DiverseWorks Main Gallery

For the fourth year, DiverseWorks will turn the gallery keys over to four artists picked to share studio space in our 3000 square-foot main gallery for a period of six weeks. The Real (Art) World summer residency program provides selected artists with a stipend, institutional support and the unique opportunity to create work free from restrictions in a collaborative environment.

Pat Graney – House of Mind

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:37:03 +0000

January 30 – February 21, 2009

Performances: Jan. 30 & 31, Feb. 5 – 7, 2009 – 7:30 pm

Commissioned by DiverseWorks with Dance Theater Workshop and NPN

DiverseWorks Main Gallery, Project Space, and Theater

Internationally renowned choreographer, Pat Graney, makes a grand return to Houston as she takes over DiverseWorks’ entire building with her latest exhibition and performance House of Mind. In an amalgamation of female memory, collective unconscious, and family and cultural histories, Graney creates an expansive kinesthetic sense of her work that takes the audience on an intense and thought-provoking journey through her past, her mother’s battles with Alzheimer’s and the quirky imagination that Houstonians saw in The Vivian Girls (2005) and Sleep (1998). The public is invited to tour the installation, a multi-sensory experience that physically manifests aspects her mind, and then experience a choreographed performance, in which each viewer’s experience will be as unique as memory itself.

The installation for House of Mind will be on view during gallery hours. Admission is free and open to the public.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for DiverseWorks members and $8.00 for students and seniors. Seating is EXTREMELY LIMITED, so please reserve your tickets NOW!

Special Thanks to DaCapo’s, Houston Chronicle, Monica Pope & PlumEasy Catering, Star Pizza, Treebeard’s, and Rentintheheights.com for their donations!

Listen to Pat Graney’s interview with Bob Stephenson on KUHF’s (88.7FM) The Front Row, Click HERE!
Click HERE to read Douglas Britt’s article on House of Mind in The Houston Chronicle.
Melanie Pang from The Daily Cougar talks to Pat Graney. Click HERE to read the article!
Click HERE to read Molly Glentzner’s review of House of Mind in The Houston Chronicle.
Nichelle of The Dance Advantage reviews House of Mind! Click HERE to read her review!
Karen Stokes from Dance Source Houston gives a Flash Response on House of Mind! Click HERE to read her response!
Pat Graney was interviewed by Michael Woodsen and Marcela on Living Art on KPFT (90.1FM). Click HERE to listen to the interview.
Read the latest review on House of Mind by Kate Watson from Might Be Good…! Click HERE to read it!
Click HERE to read Laura Lark’s review of House of Mind on Glasstire!

CRAFT ATTACK

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:34:11 +0000

Saturday, January 17, 2009 – 12-6pm

Want to get your hands dirty? Join us Saturday, January 17th from 12 to 6pm for CRAFT ATTACK, an exciting afternoon of crafty fun with Pat Graney! Not only will it be crazy fun to build Houston’s biggest button waterfall, book room, and high heel tower, but you will be able to be a part of DiverseWorks history as your work will be part of DW’s largest production/installation to date!

Make sure to wear something you don’t mind getting dirty! We are busting out the spray paint and hot glue gun!

Donate books, buttons and high heels for CRAFT ATTACK! Click HERE for details on our book drive!

To learn more about Pat Graney’s House of Mind, click HERE!

Aurora Picture Show: Not So Final Frontier

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:44:50 +0000

Saturday, July 25, 7PM
Members of the Starship Exeter Team in Attendance
Location: DiverseWorks, 1117 East Freeway
$7 non-members, Aurora Picture Show and DiverseWorks members free with RSVP

PURCHASE TICKETS

You’ve seen the big screen version, now try it Aurora-style!

Escape the summer heat at warp speed with an intergalactic night of sci-fi and Star Trek fan films. We will take you aboard the Aurora Starship with CGI animation, appropriated hyperspace scenes, talking action figures, a boy waiting to be taken by aliens and a Star Trek fan film produced in 1969. The program concludes with a modern day original fan-produced pilot from Starship Exeter titled Savage Empire.

Would you give your spare time and money to write and film a pilot episode for a new series that would come close to the look and spirit of the original 1960′s Star Trek television show? The team behind Starship Exeter did. They conducted research, wrote a number of possible story lines and chose “The Savage Empire” as their debut. The action sequences were all storyboarded, and they created all the costumes and most of the props from scratch. A warehouse studio space in Minneapolis, Minnesota was rented for two years where Jimm and Josh Johnson built sets and shot much of the production. They carefully picked friends and acquaintances to work on a voluntary basis both as actors and crew. Once the live action was completed came the long and tedious task of editing and creating visual effects true to the look of the “Original Series.” It took seven years, but on December 19, 2002, STARSHIP EXETER made its internet debut.

The U.S.S. Exeter, freshly recrewed and commanded by Captain John Garrovick, is on a mission to save a ship infected with the deadly Canopus Plague. The Exeter must travel to the homeworld of Andorian Lieutenant B’fuselek to find the cure. But Andorian rebels have other plans . . . and so do the Klingons!

In attendance:

Scott Cummins, Director “Tressaurian Intersection”
Joel Sarchet, Producer “Savage Empire, Tressaurian”
Joe Azzato, actor, “Dr. Azato, Tressaurian”

To purchase tickets or information on Aurora Picture Show, call 713.868.2101 or click HERE .

flickerlounge buffet

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:27:22 +0000

In Partnership with Aurora Picture Show

July 17 – August 15, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, July 17, 2009 - 6-8pm

DiverseWorks and Aurora Picture Show are pleased to partner onflickerlounge, a season-long cinematic experience in the newly refurbished Project Gallery at Diverseworks. In coordination with the visual arts exhibitions, Aurora will present an eclectic lineup of rotating full-length films, shorts and video presentations to accompany the Main Gallery.

The flickerlounge presents the World Premiere of the Buffet DVD!

Buffet is a video project in the form of a bi-annual DVD periodical. Based on the belief that there is an enormous amount of great video out there these days, Buffet gathers the gems for you. Harder working than any French truffle pig, the Buffet Chefs have hunted far and wide to gather crucial ingredients for the creation of this video feast.

Video gourmands and novices alike are invited to view hot and tasty morsels from the inaugural Buffet DVD, as well as some recipe notes from the chefs.

For more information on Aurora Picture Show, click HERE .

$TIMULUS

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:20:54 +0000

About Artadia

July 17 – August 15, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, July 17, 2008 – 6-8pm

Artadia makes it its business to support the best artists it can find. At DiverseWorks, we make it our business to show the best art we can find. Is it any wonder that we’d come together? DiverseWorks is thrilled to collaborate with Artadia for the third time to showcase the tremendous work of Houston’s vibrant contemporary art community. $TIMULUS will feature new work by the 2008 awardees. Featured artists include: Mequitta Ahuja, Dawolu Jabari Anderson, Katy Heinlein, Lauren Kelley, El Franco Lee II, Lynne McCabe, Delilah Montoya, Katrina Moorhead, Floyd Newsum and Stephanie Toppin. $TIMULUS will be on view at DiverseWorks from July 17 through August 15, 2009 with an opening reception Friday, July 17, 2009, 6-8pm

About Artadia

Artadia’s mission is to encourage innovative artistic practice and meaningful dialogue across the United States by providing artists in specific communities with unrestricted awards and a national network of support. Once an artist receives an Artadia Award, he or she becomes a lifetime member of the national Artadia network. Artadia was founded as The ArtCouncil in 1997, by investment banker and art collector Christopher E. Vroom, in response to the demise of the National Endowment for the Arts’ artist fellowships.

Since Artadia’s first San Francisco grants in 1999, four targeted cities have been added, and more than $2 million has been distributed to 200 awardees in San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Boston, and most recently Atlanta. In eight years, more than 6,000 artists have applied for the Artadia Awards. In 2002, Artadia moved its headquarters to the gallery district in Chelsea, New York City to maximize proximity and access for its network and program. Guided by entrepreneurial principles, a full-spectrum board of arts patrons and philanthropists from across the country provides governance. Artadia is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

For more information on Artadia, go to http://www.artadia.org/home.html

The Armadillo

admin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:37:59 +0000

In Partnership with Discovery Green

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Side Street Projects will embark on a 6,500 mile cross-country road trip from Pasadena, CA to Boston, MA and back to retrieve The Armadillo — an actual FEMA trailer deployed after Hurricane Katrina that students and faculty from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) transformed into a mobile, sustainable community garden and composting station as part of the MIT FEMA Trailer Project, founded and directed by MIT Visual Arts Program instructor and artist Jae Rhim Lee.

“This is truly a honor to be recognized by MIT,” says artist Jon Lapointe,Side Street Projects’Executive Director. “The Armadillo is a model for how art and science can intersect to benefit communities. The Armadillo blurs the line between public art and public service, and we arethrilled to collaborate with MIT on this project.”

The Armadillo will join Side Street Projects’ existing fleet of mobile classrooms and workspaces which includes: 2 school buses that serve as mobile woodworking classrooms for kids, 2 restored vintage trailer offices, and a mobile solar energy array that powers the whole operation.

In fall 2005, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) purchased approximately 145,000 travel trailers and mobile homes to house Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. However, since their deployment, the FEMA trailers have been tied to a host of issues. Four years after the tragedy, there are over 90,000 idle FEMA trailers wasting away in rented parking lots across the country, costing taxpayers millions of dollars annually.

“The FEMA trailers symbolize many of the environmental, social, economic, and administrative challenges associated with temporary disaster housing,” says Jae Rhim Lee. “The MIT FEMA Trailer Project combines both research, sculpture, and public intervention as part of a critical artistic practice. The Project’s goal was to explore the history and issues surrounding the trailers and transform a surplus trailer into a positive symbol of environmental good that would make a difference in a community.”

FEMA trailers have raised health concerns due to formaldehyde off-gassing. There have been documented increases in mental health problems among trailer park residents. Issues of homelessness and displacement still persist.

Over 18 months, The Armadillo was born, complete with a composting system and elaborate vertical planting walls. The final challenge was to donate The Armadillo to a community organization, prompting the nationwide search and ultimate award to Side Street Projects.

The official transfer ceremony from MIT’s hands into Side Street Projects’will take place at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy in Boston on June 18th. The Armadillo will also visit Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, and Houston, providing public presentations and community workshops at cultural institutions and parks in each city. While in New Orleans, the Armadillo will visit areas that have yet to fully recover from Katrina, including a trailer park where people are still living in FEMA Trailers.

“The Armadillo will allow us to deliver a program that explores issues of art and science, horticulture, food production, environmental justice, and sustainability. The possibilities are limitless,” says Lapointe. “We are so excited to share this 21st century mobile community garden with the people of Pasadena and folks across the U.S.A., especially those whose lives were adversely affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

Lapointe, along with his artist wife Emily Hopkins (Side Street Projects’ Program Director) will fetch the trailer and blog the entire trip in real-time until The Armadillo is happily delivered to its new home in Pasadena. Beginning in July 2009, on-site Armadillo field-trips and community workshops will be offered where kids can create their own vertical planter out of two-liter bottles and recycled materials. The community will be encouraged to actively participate in the ”gardening,” as well.

The MIT FEMA Trailer Project was funded in part by grants and assistance from the Dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, the Council for the Arts at MIT, the MIT Public Service Center, and the MIT Visual Arts Program.

Travel Itinerary:

June 18: Boston, MA at The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy (hand-off)
June 20: Baltimore, MD at Herring Run Berry Festival
June 22: Baltimore, MD at Patterson Park Community Gardens
June 23: Washington, D.C. at The National Mall
June 26: Atlanta, GA at Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center (tentative)
June 28-30: New Orleans, LA (several locations, TBA)
July 2: Houston, TX at Discovery Green (in partnership with DiverseWorks)
July 7: Pasadena, CA at Side Street Projects (homecoming)

Founded in 1992, Side Street Projects is a completely-mobile, artist-run nonprofit organizationbased in Pasadena, CA. They teach artists of all ages how to roll up their sleeves and do things themselves with education programs that encourage self-reliance and creative problem solving. They are the only sustainable and mobile community art center in the USA. For more information, visit http://www.sidestreet.org andhttp://www.sidestreet.org/armadillo.

The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, andother areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. For more information about the MIT FEMA Trailer Project, please visit http://fematrailer.mit.edu.

Luck of the Draw 8: Blind Auction Items

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:39:09 +0000

And there’s more! Your art chance or admission ticket allows you to bid on a special silent auction of ten mid-size artworks — including pieces byLucinda Cobley ; Grayson Coffee ; Ryan Geiger;Carol Gerhardt ; Ben Johnston & Roberto Cervantes ; Tierney Malone ; Lori Nix ; Jon Read ; Gabriela Trzebinski and Wendy Wagner— which will be on display outside the main gallery. Art for the people – the DiverseWorks way.

One of these works could be yours if you bid high enough in the blind auction…

Buy your Art Chance online!
check out the other
artists donating

click on the image for a closer view.

	Grayson Coffee The recipient of Grayson’s piece will have their own portrait zombiefied!
	Lucinda Cobley courtesy of Wade Wilson Art
	Carol Gerhardt
	Ben Johnston & Roberto Cervantes
	Tierney Malone
	Ryan Geiger
	Lori Nix
	Jon Read
	Gabriela Trzebinski
	Wendy Wagner