Featured Artist Renee Baker-- Wanderlust: Chicago-Berlin 2012

Violinist/Violist, Composer, Conductor, Artist joins the International Art Adventures at Atelier Artefact with Rolf Schuetzek curator ATelier Artefact, open air painting, photography, music collaborations, sculpture making, filmmaking, opportunities for self- directed residencies, and to create work for our exhibition in Berlin and in Chicago for Chicago Artists Month.

Renee Baker

Ms. Baker has been a member of Chicago Artist Coalition and maintains a private art studio.

 A prolific composer of her generation, Ms. Baker has composed hundreds of creative compositions for her own groups, as well as the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Great Black Music Ensemble /AACM(premiered in Umbria, Italy, 2009) and Suoni Per Il Popolo (Montreal), Shedd Aquarium (Chicago), Adler Planetarium, and the Joffrey Ballet Chamber Series. Ms. Baker has premiered over 20  compositions for the Chicago State University Student Afternoon recital Series, from 2002-2007. She has premiered over 10 works on the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Series 2008-2010.

Ms Baker was accepted into the cutting-edge Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at Columbia University in July 2010. She recently completed music score for a film sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation and also composed scores for the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), a program entitled Brass Epiphany, part of the 45th Anniversary celebration of the AACM.

Ms. Baker is founder and music director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, formed primarily to perform cutting edge new music for large orchestral ensemble. She is also a member of the new London-based experimental string group Burning Wood.

2010  and 2011 brought two world premieres of Ms. Baker’s symphonic work to the Chicago Sinfonietta: Sundown’s Promise for Orchestra and Taiko Drums and Divertimento Notte blu for Orchestra and 6 jazz soloists. In Feb 2012, Subtle Hues of Blackbirds was commissioned, written and performed by the Southeast Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles, with Ms. Baker conducting. Ms Baker has premiered her multi-tiered work A Different Alone at the Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia 2009) February 2012 brought a new premeire , entitled Subtle Hues of Blackbirds to critical acclaim with the Southeast Symphony (LA), both penned and conducted by Ms. Baker.

Current works have been commissioned by the Gaudete Brass Quintet, a chamber opera for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago for 2013, 3 independent film scores, numerous solo artists, Jamie Wright Ballet Company (San Francisco), and two recording project involving new works of Ms. Baker, to be completed in London and Glasgow in 2012. Ms. Baker has just been appointed  Composer in Residence 2013-16for the Women’s Jazz Orchestra (LA)and has been awarded July 2012 composer residency in Vietnam  (Pho- Gold Music Collaborations).

Renée Baker is principal violist of the Chicago Sinfonietta and violinist/violist of Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Strings. As a  member of the  AACM and the creative music community, her musical affiliations have include Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Orchestra, David Boykin Expanse, Orbert Davis w/Strings Attached, Doug Carn, Karl Siegfried’s Galaxy String Quartet, Great Black Music Ensemble (AACM), Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Chicago Jazz Orchestra, and the Mwata Bowden Trio, Tatsu Aoki (Miyumi Project), Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, plus collaborations with many others .

Ms Baker has guest conducted the Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Southeast Symphony (LA), the Too Hot To Handel Orchestra, CHICAGO MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT, Mantra Blue Free Orchestra..She has been appointed music director/conductor of the Resurrection Singers and Orchestra (Aurora, Il) upcoming production of  JUBILATE!! With this August collaboration through International Art Adventures, Ms. Baker plans to found an experimental music group in Berlin, based on her new group bluePoem in LA.

"Art is Business"

Art Reception for Esmeraldas Artists

Chicago Ecuadorian dancers gave the mayor a traditional welcome.

Art Patrons attend the IAG- Phantom Gallery for the first time.

Mayor and the Afro-Latino Historical Society propose to do an exchange program with artist and art organizations from Chicago, to exchange exhibitons with artist from Esmeraldas. Artist doing residency projects, and being invited by its mayor, can be a point of connecting cultures and building tourism, for the International Art Group.

All featured artist, art can still be purchased through the International Art Group- Phantom Gallery, all art is are prints from original, customed framed by DigiWorld, cash and carry. The space is open daily 5pm - 8pm, weekends 1-5pm. Call for private viewings, 773-681-6570.

Ruben dario gutierrez:

Alberto Santoro Williams:

"Art is Business"

The International Art Group to Host Reception for Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero

"Art is Business"

Afro-Latino Mayor of Esmeraldas, Ecuador at the

International Art Group Phantom Gallery

Saturday May 26th, 7-9pm,

4161 N. Damen Ave, Chicago IL.

Chicago, Illinois, USA – May 19, 2012 - The Afro-Latino Historical Society, in partnership with DCGI Ltd., is pleased to announce that Mr. Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero, Mayor of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, will visit Chicago from May 22 through May 27, 2012.

Mr. Estupiñan Quintero was elected Mayor of Esmeraldas in north-western Ecuador since 2000.  He is the first self-identifying black person to reach this position. He was re-elected in 2005 and in 2010. In addition to being the Mayor of one of the largest cities in Ecuador, Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero is the spokesperson for the Board of the “Association of Ecuadorian Municipalities” (AME). He was also elected Member of Parliament for the Popular Democratic Movement (MDP) and provincial director of the party as well.

During the last few years, he participated in numerous political delegations to the United States, The Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and Asia not only as the Representative of Mayors of Ecuador but also as a Member of Parliament representing his party, the MPD.

Guest artist: Alberto Santoro Williams



Guest Artist: Ruben Dario Gutierrez

 Since taking office, Mr. Estupiñan Quintero has been working tirelessly to improve the conditions of the people in his city.  Esmeraldas is the capital of the only province in Ecuador where Afro-Ecuadorians are the largest racial and cultural group. Unfortunately, the city is also one of the poorest in Ecuador. In fact, the entire province (also known as Esmeraldas) has been somewhat neglected by the central government for years.

As Mayor, Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero has strongly committed to providing much-needed city services while implementing various social services for his constituents.  He has shown a special interest in the arts throughout the years by ensuring that his city fully supports the “Festival Internacional de Música y Danza Afro” (Afro Music and Dance International Festival). Immediately upon his election, Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero began commissioning murals and statues that helped uplift the image of the Afro-Ecuadorians.

Ruben Dario Gutierrez, guest artist

Mayor Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero is very interested in developing cultural and business connections with the rest of the World. One of the highlights of his Chicago visit will be at DePaul University’s Center for Black Diaspora, where he will be a guest speaker on May 24. Mr. Estupiñan Quintero will speak about the implications of being an Afro-Latino in today’ South America. As a case study, he will specifically focus on the situation of his own city and give his perspective as Esmeralda’s first Afro-Latino mayor.

Ernesto Estupiñan Quintero is 55 years old. He is married to Maritza Cañizares Cañote and they have three children (Denisse, Manuel Ernesto and Emily Marissa).

IAG host a monthly salon held on the second Monday of each month. We feature different artists monthly; openings are held on the third Saturday of each month, 7pm – 11pm.

We invite artists from many different communities and countries to exhibit at our gallery to keep the gallery scene fresh and exciting.  Also contributing to this wonderful experience are performance artists who we invite to enliven these events. The Gallery is open nightly at 5pm, on weekends 1-5pm, or by appointment.   

# # #

FEATURED ARTIST: MRS. JULIA BROWN- at 82

The African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley features Mrs. Julia Brown

 Women's History Month

Mrs. Julia Brown Featured Artist Women History Month 2012

The primary exhibit in the African American Historical and Cultural Museum is from the artist Julia Brown. She is an artist, gardener, and jewelry designer. She was also an awardee of the AAHCM - AFRO awards 2012.

The LINKS of Fresno National Initiative: is to support the "Cultural Arts" this year they sponsored one of their own members, by hosting a reception for both artists on Saturday, March 3 from 1-4pm. It was well attended by all of Mrs. Browns friends, family, and community that was surprised and delighted to see all her watercolor work created over the decades. She shared the space with her son Glenn Brown, an abstract expressionist artist, who has studied under his mother as his mentor and strongest support.

History of the LINKS, INC

This program was launched in 1964 around the theme, “Freedom of Fine Arts”. Historically the Arts facet has encouraged appreciation of and support for cultural enrichment and the arts. As an organization, the Links are particularly interested in assisting youth to develop and display their artistic talents.

When The Links, Incorporated adopted a national structure in 1949, a vital geographical link was missing — chapters from the West. In September 1950, three chapters were chartered in California (Los Angeles, Oakland Bay Area and San Francisco), connecting the chain of friendship from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. From there, the Western Area spread Linkdom from the southern tip of Texas northward to Alaska and westward across the Pacific to Hawaii.

Drawing on the synergy generated by women who are committed to friendship and service, the Western Area now has 55 chapters, located in ten states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington.

In 1984, the African American Historical and Cultural Museum was established to provide a vehicle for African Americans that had made significant contributions to the richness of the San Joaquin Valley. Jack Kelly Gallery features 3 cultural exhibits per year, that stay up for two months before rotating out. This gives the community an opportunity to visit the museum during Art Hop which is held the first Thursday of each month, 5-8pm, the museum is open to the public on Thursday, Fridays and Saturday  Noon - 5pm. Located at 1857 Fulton Street, Fresno CA.

Alpha Bruton, guest curator for Julia Brown and Glenn Brown, standing in front of the State Center Community College District, "Wall of Honor" which I installed on February 28th, 2012. I was so honored to be apart of Mrs. Browns celebration, she is truly an artist that I aspire to be like when I reach my golden years.

RIP "ELIZABETH CATLETT-- APRIL 15, 1919 - APRIL 2, 2012 "

Her timeline can be found at ELIZABETH CATLETT MORA

Elizebeth Catlett Mora

....Maria Antonieta Alvarez, Catlett's daughter-in-law, said the artist died Monday in the house in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she had lived for the past 30 years, she was 96. Catlett is survived by three sons, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, her family said. The family said her remains would be cremated in a private ceremony and would remain in Mexico.

Elizabeth Catlett Mora; Invisible Man (Monument to Ralph Ellison); 2003; bronze

Ms. Catlett created large-scale sculptures of musicians Louis Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson, including Sojourner Truth.

Catlett, Elizabeth, Sojourner Maquette 1999 17" High

Sojourner, Mexican limestone sculpture. 1999



Born in Washington D.C., studying ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago, she met her first husband, painter Charles White in the early 1940s.Catlett moved to Mexico in 1946, became friends with great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and others in his circle, and married Mexican artist Francisco Mora.

She became known for her commitment to winning greater rights for blacks, women and workers in the United States and her adopted country. Catlett witnessed almost every important artistic and social movement of the 20th century and traveled in some of the same illustrious circles as the great American artist Jacob Lawrence and poet Langston Hughes.

She was arrested during a railroad workers' protest in Mexico City in 1958 and in 1962 the U.S. State Department banned her from returning to the United States for nearly a decade.
Working in wood, stone and other natural materials, she produced simple, flowing sculptures of women, children and laborers, and prints of Mexicans and black Americans that she used to promote social justice.

For years, Ms. Catlett was denied entry to the United States because of suspected Communist sympathies, and her art was seldom seen in the land of her birth. Yet, in the past 25 years, her prints and sculptures have been exhibited worldwide and have entered the collections of major museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

“She’s really one of the foremost African American artists of the 20th century,” Melanie Anne Herzog, an art history professor at Edgewood College in Madison, Wis., and author of “Elizabeth Catlett: An American Artist in Mexico,” said in an interview. “She was a tremendous inspiration to other artists in the African American tradition and in Mexico.”

She took his advice to heart and began making images of strong and beautiful black women, making signature issues of racial identity, family dynamics and social and political struggle.
The Mexican National Council f or Culture and Arts said that throughout her career Catlett demonstrated "her interest in social justice and the rights of black and Mexican women."
With its formal beauty and universal themes, Catlett's artwork drew much of its form and emotional energy from her investigation of racial and ethnic identity.

Francisco Mora

Catlett said that Harriet Tubman and singer and actor Paul Robeson - two icons of black freedom - inspired her, and that she wanted to express herself in art as Robeson had done in music and drama.
The smooth, stylized faces she sculpted were less about individual people and more about the dignity and nobility of universal man, woman and child - sculpture that's meant to comfort, uplift and inspire.
Her prints expressed her lifelong commitment to use art as a tool for social change, often incorporating the slogans ("Black Is Beautiful") and revolutionary heroes (Angela Davis and Malcolm X) of the civil rights and black power movements.


 SAIC to recognized her achievements and commitment to the arts she was a past commencement speakers and honorary degree recipient.

"I was honored to meet Elizabeth and Francisco Mora in 1997, they both were flow to Sacramento, by invitation of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Linda Bloom was the Arts in Public Places Manager, under the direction of Michelle Walker, the Executive Director. The APP Committee interviewed dozens of artist, gave them all wonderful receptions, and evening dinners to get to know them on a personal level. I gladly embraced the idea of being a driver, to pick them up from the Sacramento International Airport, transport them to a from meetings, and take her to the Health Food Store so she could pick up herbs and spices. I had dinner with them both one on one, we both could talk for hours, but Franscio was tiring of us both. This is a cherished memory.

These memories I will always cherish. Kevin Hellon the owner of Zawadi Gallery also honored her in 1995, when she was at the University of Davis, by bringing her to the Sam Pannell Meadowview Community Center in a limousine where she was given a large soul filled reception."

FOOTNOTES/RESOURCES:
http://blackartinamerica.com/
www.saic.edu/life/graduation/commencement/
http://www.freep.com/article/20120404/ENT05/120404048/Sculptor-Elizabeth-Catlett-dies-in-Mexico?odyssey=nav%7Chead
http://elizabethcatlett.net/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/registration/register&destination=login&nextstep=gather&application=reg30-entertainment&applicationURL=http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/elizabeth-catlett-pioneering-dc-born-artist-dies-at-96/2012/04/03/gIQATNLIuS_story.html

“What We Do Today is History Tomorrow” Networking

"Art is Business"

The African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley,

March in the San Joaquin Valley has been an awesome experience, and the women artists I have visited in their studios, galleries, and/or museums have been a soul experience. V. Gregory Melancon, Executive Director of the African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley, paid homage to Women in Fresno, California, by featuring the artworks of Julia Brown and the AFRO Awards this March.

I curated the State Community College District “Wall of Honor” – dedication 2012 Inductee Ceroasetta Simba- nearly 50 attendees applauded the work of the Fresno City College English Professor as her photo was added to the Wall of Honor for her outstanding achievements. The Wall of Honor is sponsored by the State Center Community College District. Inductees have either attended or worked for the State Center Community College District, including Reedley College, Madera, Oakhurst, and Willow International Centers.

Featured Artist: Mrs. Julia Brown, of Fresno, California, Links CA opening reception-Eighty-Two (82), her first exhibition I was honored to curate, this week Mrs. Brown and I will be meeting for lunch, where I will be able to record a more in-depth interview of her commentary as an artist, and collector. Mrs. Julia Brown was also honored during the A.F.R.O. Awards “Aspiring Females Reaching Others was held on March 15^th, 2012. Honoring women who give back to their communities, this was the second award ceremony, and plans for it to be an annual event are in the making.

On the road- this past weekend, touring Sacramento’s African-American Art and Culture-

As the Director of Research and Development, I made the recommendation for V. Gregory and Shonna McDaniel’s (Executive Director of Sojourner Truth Multicultural Art Museum) to attend the Creating and Funding Preservation Projects to Enhance Collection Care on March 23^rdin, in Sacramento. This project is funded by the IMLS- (Institute of Museums and Library Services), both museums operate in the San Joaquin Valley and are relatively new to museum practice; neither museum has a preservation or disaster preparedness and response plan for their museums. It is important also to position each organization to join other organizations through partnerships, collaborations, and sharing of exhibitions. To also join and participate in the discussion on a state and national level. The California Association of Museums and the American Association offer workshops and professional development opportunities for museum stewards.

The first stop on our tour was Friday night; we visited SojournerTruth MulticulturalArt Museum, and took a mural tour of the collection at the Florin Road Business Incubator, where SOJO is housed. Shonna has outgrown her space and is seeking a building; she is working on partnering with the Sacramento Unified School District and Regional Occupation Training to open a space for arts education in South Sacramento that would offer: Theater, Dance, Music, Mural Studio, gallery exhibition space, and home to her museum archives. Which is ambitious, but she is being supported by many people who respect and honor her contribution to the arts in Sacramento. She is one of the few art organizations that outreach to the schools and has partnered with Libraries to bring programming in City, State, and Government budget cuts.

African Royalty & Mudcloth Madness

Presented by The Kuumba Collective at The Kuumba Collective

March 5-April 17, 2011

African Royalty is an exhibition of original watercolors by featured artist Mary Marshall (1934-2007).
Mudcloth Madness is a contemporary art exhibit using ancient African fabric as an inspiration tool to create.

On Saturday, we visited the KUUMBA COLLECTIVE Art Gallery & Gift Shop on Del Paso Blvd. “Mud Cloth Madness,” organized by the Kuumba Collective and presented by the Crocker Art Museum, explores how mud cloth, a hand-woven and hand-dyed textile developed by the Bande people of Mali, West Africa, has inspired local artists in an array of mediums. From wearable art to quilts to decorative arts, Mud Cloth Madness offers a contemporary twist on a traditional symbol of African culture.

The exhibition will open at the African American Museum and Library of Oakland. The Sacramento African American Art Collective would like to extend an invitation for you to attend the second "Family And Those we Love" event to be held on Sunday, March 25, 2012, from 3:00PM-6:00PM hosted by: Kuumba Art Collective Art Gallery, located at 1001 Del Paso Blvd. Ste. 1., Sacramento, CA 95815. So come out and meet and greet the artists who participated in the First "Family and Those We Love" Art Event at the State Capital from February 20 - March 1, 2012. It is SAAAC's sincere hope that you will be able to attend this exciting event. The African American Museum and Library at Oakland is dedicated to discovering, preserving, interpreting, and sharing African Americans' historical and cultural experiences in California and the West for present and future generations.

Iris Tea Garden Gifts, Fine Teas and Tea Accessories, Iris J. Dimond, was our host. She has a wonderful collection of teapots, and tea accessories, amongst hand-crafted ceramics. She is also an adjunct professor of ceramics at Consumers River College.

The Brickhouse Gallery & Arts Complex has new management with an off-the-grid
approach to the arts. The streamlined and uncluttered venue has a rustic charm that will
focus on the work of established and promising new artists in Northern California.

The Brick House Art Studio, In the 1930s, Charles D. Soracco acquired property at the corner of 36^th street, 4^th Avenue, and Broadway. It had a number of existing commercial structures on it, which were incorporated into Soracco Sheet Metal. There Mr. Soracco fabricated gutters, downspouts, sinks, and HVAC ductwork. He built the brick house and shop building and lived with his family adjacent to this work. His family continued the business until 2002.  Upcoming events, Open MIC, presented by Blacktasitic.net, is the kick-off for National Poetry Month in April. The promoters hope to cross the pollinate in Fresno with the AAHCM.

The Evolve Gallery is new to the landscape of Oak Park, owned by Brady Charles Blakeley and his wife, A. Michelle Blakeley. Evolve The Gallery- presented The Charles Bibbs Experience in March, and in January, presented Ali: The Greatest A fine Art Tribute to Muhammad Ali. In our conversation, the AAHCM will submit a proposal to host the traveling exhibition this Fall of 2012.

Evolve the Gallery is a private fine art gallery redefining the role a gallery plays in broadening the art experience for patrons and the community.

“It only takes a moment to understand how pivotally art is linked to culture, learning, community, or conflict. As the art world continues to evolve, art increases its capacity to educate, open dialogue, be therapeutic and enhance environments. Art transcends political, ethnic, gender, and religious boundaries and penetrates cultures in a non-intrusive or aggressive way, which gives it the power to break down boundaries and strengthen intercultural understanding. Our exhibitions are smart, creative, poignant and meant to give way to valuable dialogues, collaborations and cultural development that might not otherwise take place.”     A. Michelle Blakeley

 

Historic Oak Park, Central Oak Park Walking Tour

Women Civic’s Improvement Club

OakPark Community Center

McClatchy Park

McGeorge Law School

OakPark Soul Food Restaurant– Obama Campaign Headquarters

The African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley was founded in 1986 by retired Fresno City police officer sergeant Jack Kelley. It is the only non-profit educational facility of its kind. The museum houses hundreds of historical photographs, artifacts, am memorabilia dating back to the 1880s, which documents the numerous contributions of local African Americans to the San Joaquin Valley, America, and Internationally. Pictorial exhibits profiling African-Americans who have excelled in government, politics, art, education, religion, health, business, law, medicine, sports, agriculture, and the work of local African American artists are prominently displayed for educational tours.

The museum is located at 1857 Fulton Street, Fresno, for more information: 559-268-7102.

Phantom Gallery Chicago Opening Space in Ravenswood

ROOM FOR EXISTENCE CHANGE AND VISION

Location: 4161 N. Damen, Chicago

Opening: February 10, 2012

Reception: February 25, 2012

 8pm - 11pm

Curators:  Piotr Wolodkowicz, Lewis Rice, Alan Emerson, Kathryn Gauthiers

Friends of the International Art Group

Our new co-op gallery is having our grand opening Saturday the 25th of Feb.,7:00 pm to whenever. Hope you can make it! Bring a friend. I'm anxious to show you my latest stuff! We are located at 4161 N. Damen Av. Chicago, three blocks north of Irving Park Road, on the corner of Damen and Berteau. 

Lewis G. Rice, Artist call for private viewings 847-217-7423

 Piotr Wolodkowicz

Lewis Rice

The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network matches artists, who seek places to exhibit their work, with entities that have empty business storefronts. The goal of the Phantom is to bring art patrons out to visit these Galleries on a regular rotation. Each artist, as a curator, stages an art opening in alternative locations and facilitates art events, open houses, and art tours to various venues. Artists are encouraged to create relationships with business owners that host the Phantom to promote interest in showing art throughout the year.

The International Art Group meets in Rogers Park monthly for a salon series, Please join us at our upcoming Art Salon, Mon, March, 12, 6pm at new Coop Space,  located at 4161 N. Damen, Join us to discuss works in progress, plan next years excursions, exhibits, performances. Looking forward to meeting you then!

Bring a snack and artwork to share,

Marianna http://www.internationionalartadventures.com/

The Colorboration Project - Loop

Curators Royce Deans and Tali Farchi are opening a gallery space in the  Chicago Loop

For Immediate Release

The Colorboration Project - Loop
208 S. Wabash Avenue

Exhibit: March 17 - April 24
Artist Reception: March 22, 5pm to 10pm

In association with the Pop-Up Loop, an initiative of the Chicago Loop Alliance.

This project is made possible by the generous support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Office of the Dutch Consulate-General in Chicago.

The Colorboration Project is a collaborative art studio and exhibition where the international artistic duo Royce Deans and Tali Farchi will create and display their art which consists of painting live music. The painters have been conducting similar sessions since 2007, where musicians of all sorts join the visual artists in their studio. The music created serves as the subject for what often ends up as expressionistic paintings. What outwardly occurs could most easily be defined as an artistic jam session where the two disciplines come together to surprise and inspire each other. What might otherwise become a private studio session is now open for the public to observe and enjoy?

Wherever Farchi and Deans work together worldwide, they enjoy drawing on the flavors of local musicians, and The Colorboration Project - Loop is no different. In March 2011, the artists completed a successful 11-day residency in Logan Square, where they met and worked with many fine Chicago musicians. Several of those musicians and composers will join them again in the Loop.

March 17, 2012 - 7:30 pm - $8

Scott Richardson, aka miter - guitar
Scott Richardson has been recording and performing improvised guitar-based ambient music as miter for over a decade. He creates aural landscapes often conducive to reading, painting, meditating, and sleeping. He first collaborated with Royce and Tali in 2011 and is honored to work with them again. As the music of miter is improvised and experimental, it is highly location- and situation-dependent. Results may vary.

Rick Neuhaus and near hemisphere - West African influenced percussion ensemble
near hemisphere is a musically shifty collaboration of less than likely suspects, each with a lively story to tell, each falling forward around a common rhythmic impulse to express.  Factors being what they are, talents of mysterious origins tend to rise to the surface.  No time should be wasted with polite apologies; some things just need to be said...some loudly, some softly...some within rhythm, some without, and some over and over again.

March 18, 2012 - 6:30pm

Wet Paint Event - The Art of the Nude
20 artists will draw and paint daily from live models in all different mediums. At 6:30pm, the doors will open for a reception to meet the artists and models and see all the art that was created that day. It will be the wettest and freshest art in the city. All of it will be for sale, so come and get some.

Michael Tischauser - guitar
Solo jazz guitar is a style where the performer plays a whole song by himself on the guitar.  Melodies are done with chords and single notes, while the song's frame is held together with rhythmic figures and walking bass lines.  Jazz music is American-made and relates to the idea that different ethnicities can come together to play a sophisticated style of music.

After graduating from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Jazz Performance, he has played professionally throughout the Chicagoland area.

March 22, 2012 - 2pm
Eliezer Kaplan - percussion
Eliezer Kaplan has given it all up to be a full-time musician. He has spent the last few years organizing bands that range from his take on growing up Jewish to rock and roll to free jazz percussion.

March 22, 2012 - 5pm
The Colorboration Project - Artist Reception
The Colorboration Project is a constant work in progress with many activities happening, some of them simultaneously. This night will be an opportunity to stop by and meet the artists Royce Deans, a painter from Michigan, and Tali Farchi, a painter from The Netherlands and Israel. The artwork they have completed thus far will be on display.

March 23, 2012 - Noon to Midnight
The Colorboration Folk Fest
A 12-hour mini folk music festival featuring musicians from the Old Town School of Folk Music. This is a free event, and everyone is welcome to come and enjoy it. Visit www.paintinaction.com/loop/folkfest for details and the lineup.

March 24, 2012 - 9:30 pm - $8
the gHOST project plus
gHOST project is an in-the-moment improvising rock band. you can never tell what's going to happen- it depends on the mood of the space and the evening. A year ago they were more of a 'rock band'- but lately, there has been much more of an 'anything goes' attitude about the project. With the gHOSTie, nobody knows until they show up.

March 25, 2012 - 6:30pm -$8
Mike Felton - His original Chicago Folk
"Mike Felton is the real deal."  -Illinois Entertainer.

Mike has been playing since the 1960s. That's right. A veteran of rock, country, and blues bands. Mike sat in Muddy Waters's bedroom and had Buddy Guy show him around the blues clubs where Willie Dixon, Junior Wells, and Mighty Joe Young, among others, were hanging out. The 1970s found Mike playing folk gigs at places like the Fifth Peg and Orphans in Chicago.

March 26, 2012 - 8pm -$8
Renée Baker Ensemble
Renée Baker has been at the extreme forefront of creative/ avant-garde music while developing this unique ensemble since 1991. Utilizing some of the finest musicians that cross the classical world and jazz greats, she has crafted a group of the best traditionalists and married them to dedicated improvisers. A true genre-bending experience. Her skills as a conductor and musician coordinator have been used by some of the finest musical organizations in Chicago. Ms. Baker is also the Artistic Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble and Mantra Blue Free Orchestra.

March 27, 2012 - 8pm
O•VAD•YA
Ovadya has been around for 10 years. It’s played before diverse audiences, from opening for Eric Burdon & the Animals to Piamenta (The “Chassidische Jimi Hendrix”) & synagogues, to live radio, from festivals to intimate coffee houses. Their music—has been featured on radio nationally. The main writer of Ovadya music has been featured in Guitar World magazine and had label interest (with a current indie label interested in licensing instrumental as of this writing). The Sax player has recorded with major label artists. The drummer and bass player have also been featured in many Chicago area bands.

March 29, 2012 - 8pm - $8
Renée Baker Ensemble
Renée Baker has been at the extreme forefront of creative/ avant-garde music while developing this unique ensemble since 1991. Utilizing some of the finest musicians that cross the classical world and jazz greats, she has crafted a group of the best traditionalists and married them to dedicated improvisers. A true genre-bending experience. Her skills as a conductor and musician coordinator have been used by some of the finest musical organizations in Chicago. Ms. Baker is also the Artistic Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble and Mantra Blue Free Orchestra.

April 3, 2012 - 2:00pm
Mike Felton - His original Chicago Folk
"Mike Felton is the real deal."  -Illinois Entertainer.

April 4, 2012 - 8pm - $8
Michael Miles - banjo
Michael J. Miles is a composer and producer of 'musical documentaries for the stage' with a specialty in clawhammer banjo, fingerstyle guitar, and vocals. He is one of America’s most inventive clawhammer banjo players. The Chicago Tribune’s critic Howard Reich said, "Everything Miles plays is worth savoring.”

April 5, 2012 - 8pm - $8
Marbin
Marbin first started in 2007 as an improvised music duo consisting of Israeli-American guitarist Dani Rabin and Israeli saxophonist Danny Markovitch. The two musicians met shortly after Markovitch had completed his military service as an infantry sergeant and Rabin had graduated from Berklee College of Music. Since 2008, Marbin has been living in Chicago and performing all over the United States, playing over 250 shows a year with the accompaniment of drummer Justyn Lawrence and bassist Ian Stewart.

April 6, 2012 - 8pm - $8
Rick Neuhaus and near hemisphere - West African influenced percussion ensemble
near hemisphere is a musically shifty collaboration of less than likely suspects, each with a lively story to tell, each falling forward around a common rhythmic impulse to express.  Factors being what they are, talents of mysterious origins tend to rise to the surface.  No time should be wasted with polite apologies. Some things just need to be said...some loudly, some softly...some within rhythm, some without, and some over and over again.

April 9, 2012 - 8pm - $8
Sid Yiddish and His Candystore HenchmenSid Yiddish And His Candy Store Henchmen catatonically captivate audiences with experimental conductible washes of perspiring unconventional atonal resonance harmonic improvisation. Sid Yiddish And His Candy Store Henchmen don't always understand what they are creating; they know you will.

For more information and details, visit www.paintinaction.com/loop.

Royce Deans Biography:
Royce Deans paint his way through just about everything that gets in his way. His paintings capture the essence of the moment. They are abstracted sights and sounds portrayed in layers of color and texture and always a celebration of the mark. A graduate of Chicago's American Academy of Art in illustration and design, his work shows up in collections private and corporate, such as McDonald's. Dean was a founder of the record label 54º40' or Fight! and publisher of the now temporarily defunct magazine Copper Press. His current work of music paintings and his surroundings, which are both on display and in progress, is part of a collaborative project with the painter Tali Farchi. Deans currently live in Traverse City, Michigan. http://www.roycedeans.com/

Tali Farchi Biography:
Tali Farchi vd. Wouden, born and raised in Haifa, Israel, attended art school at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She paints daily and has taken her work and way of working worldwide. Trained as an animator, her talents have been seen on Sesame Street in Israel and on gallery walls of the Amsterdam Jewish History Museum. The co-founder of the multi-media, multi-disciplined performance Mo(ve)ment in Holland, she is fearless in her approach to bending every possible rule of thumb. She is a tireless collaborator and thrives on inspiration from every climb, which has driven The Colorboration Project with the artist Royce Deans to many new places. Art is her passion and her profession. When Farchi is not in the US or back home in Israel, she sleeps, rides her bicycle, and works in Zwolle, The Netherlands. 

http://www.talifarchi.com/

Media Contact:

Royce Deans

Phone: 231.883.1681

Email: royced@gmail.com

Website: www.paintinaction.com/loop

Facebook: www.facebook.com/colorboration.project
Twitter: twitter.com/colorboration