BOLD NEW HORIZONS: RENEE BAKER AND THE CHICAGO MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT

 Reposted article written by Samuel Thompson

TRAILBLAZER:  one word to describe Renée Baker.   The words “polyproductive” and “prolific” can also be used to describe Ms. Baker, founder and music director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project.  During the final months of the 2012/2013 season, Ms. Baker conducted the premieres of three original compositions inspired by the life and work of Mark Rothko and recently received the Charles E. Walton Black Music Month Award from Chicago’s Vivian G. Harsh Society.   Renee Baker is a very active figure in the cultural life of Chicago, having been a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta since 1987 and having appeared as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician throughout Chicago, including a Ravinia debut as viola soloist in Strauss’ Don Quixote, partnering with John Sharp, cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.     In tandem with her career performing “traditional classical music”, Ms. Baker has been making great strides both as a conductor and as a composer of modern music.    Ms. Baker maintains a deep reverence for those who were influential in her development as an artist.   “I am incredibly grateful to Paul Freeman for serving as a stalwart mentor to me as a conductor, composer, and musician,” she said.   “I was groomed over 25 years in the Chicago Sinfonietta – Paul first hired me as a violist in the orchestra in 1987 when it was founded, and was the first conductor both to ask for and premiere two symphonies that I had written.”   Those premieres include the October 2010 world premiere of Ms. Baker’s “Sundown’s Promise” - a thirteen-section work inspired by the Japanese rice harvest and spotlighted by Japanese Taiko drums – and the May 2011 premiere of “Divertimento Notte blu” for Orchestra and six jazz soloists.   Commissioned by the Chicago Sinfonietta, both works received great critical acclaim, and the May 2011 premiere of “Divertimento Notte blu” marked another high point in Ms. Baker’s steadily growing career, as it was in that performance that she made her Symphony Center debut as a conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta. To have been the recipient of such a tremendous opportunity from a mentor was indescribable for Ms. Baker, as both premieres took place during Maestro Freeman’s final season as music director of the orchestra that he founded.    Symbolically, one could refer to that season as Mr. Freeman’s “passing the baton” to an emerging visionary.    It was also during the 2010/2011 season that Ms. Baker was hailed as     “The latest AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) visionary” by  Downbeat Magazine.  Renee Baker is definitely riding a wave, becoming one of the most influential proponents of modern music in the twenty-first century.  In recent years, new music ensembles including Washington DC’s Great Noise Ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and three-time Grammy Award-winning Eighth Blackbird (also based in Chicago) have captured the attention of concertgoers and musicians worldwide.   Renee Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project are soon to join the ranks of the aforementioned ensembles, as CMOP is now positioned to establish a true international presence and reputation as the go-to orchestra both for new music and for composers of color. The reverence that Ms. Baker holds for her mentors is in tandem with her insatiable curiosity.   “About seven years ago, I started looking at both the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the American Composers Orchestra, as I wondered if both those groups and orchestras that were programming ‘traditional classical music’ were attracting audiences for modern music.”   Continuing, she shared that in the formative years of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, she purposefully sought out people who were at the top of their game and who had an authentic interest in what she was trying to learn.  “These people, some of the most foremost jazz and creative musicians - including composer and MacArthur Foundation Fellowship recipient Anthony Braxton and flutist/composer and Doris Duke artist Nicole Mitchell - were able to answer the questions that I had.” The Chicago Modern Orchestra Project is a special ensemble in many ways.   “I believe in inclusion,” Renee said, “and many of these people are people that I have been grooming since 1991.   We have managed to marry the best of traditional classical musicians and the best of avant-garde jazz players in Chicago, and we’re rapidly expanding our reach beyond the United States.   CMOP’s roster includes musicians who are also members of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and freelance with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony, Chicago Opera Theatre, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, and many other fine ensembles.   This is why we can do absolutely authentic presentations of classical music, jazz, and modern concert music.   I am able to get a flavor that most ensembles are not able to.”   With CMOP, Ms. Baker has shown herself to be a leader in developing true orchestral diversity, as no other orchestra in the United States can boast the authentic inclusiveness of the ensemble in both musical expertise and demographic:   in addition to being an awesome mix of classical and jazz musicians, CMOP membership is a true reflection of our nation’s ethnic diversity.  “During our first season, we presented a total of fifteen concerts, including both large ensemble concerts and smaller community concerts.     The ensemble has performed at both Dominican University and the South Shore Cultural Center, and our first ‘laboratory’ was held at Velvet Lounge.”   Ms. Baker’s belief in inclusion pervades the work of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, as CMOP has, since its inception, premiered an average of ten works each season, including compositions by Ms. Baker and others received through the ensemble’s open score project.    “It is truly wonderful not only to have created an opportunity to continuously hone my skills as a composer, but also to constantly introduce fresh music to our audience.”  Ms. Baker’s reach as a composer has grown steadily over many years.    Her works have been performed by groups including the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Southeast Symphony (Los Angeles), DanceWright Project (San Francisco), Great Black Music Ensemble /AACM(premiered in Umbria, Italy, 2009), and presented both by the Joffrey Ballet Chamber Series and the Museum of Contemporary Art/Chicago.   Ms. Baker continues to secure performances of her works both nationally and internationally, including the upcoming 2014 premiere of “blu Samsara” in Zolle (Netherlands) and the anticipated premiere of “Sunyata” in 2015. In recent years, CMOP has garnered attention from many people and organizations dedicated to the composition and performance of modern music, and the 2013-14 season will mark the beginning of a three-year period of great expansion.    Between 2013 and 2016, the ensemble is slated to present an exciting assortment of new works by some of the most interesting and innovative composers working today.   “Our 2013/2014 season begins with the premiere of my Simple Consciousness:  Painted Scores Exploratorium at Chicago’s Out of Line Gallery,” Ms. Baker said, “and during that season we shall also give the Chicago premiere of Nicole Mitchell’s When Life's Door Opens for Chamber Orchestra and 3 Vocalists.   This piece was commissioned and premiered in New York by the Tri-Centric Orchestra, and Nicole, having very deep roots in Chicago, offered us the chance to give the Chicago Premiere.”   The organization New Music USA has also paired CMOP with 2008 Rome Prize finalist Gregg Wramage for a series of premieres to take place between January 2014 and May 2015.    The three-year period 2013-2016 also includes works by UK-based composers Mark Yeats (who has recently become Composer-In-Association with Atlanta’s Chamber Cartel) and Alistair Zaldua. When asked how she manages such an involved, diverse, and innovative career, Renee answered in a very simple yet profound manner: “You find time to eat, right?  For the things that are vital to our existence – that we identify as vital – we find time.   This is all about quality of life – a life filled with art and creativity.   If you are a cultural creative, everything is open to you.”    As they stand on the precipice of tremendous growth, everything is definitely open both for Renee Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project – a woman and an organization that stands for growth, discovery, inclusion, and true openness. -Samuel Thompson

Archives: Interrogating Monuments: Jeremiah Hulsebos- Sofford's Hall of Khan

    Repost from Sixty Inches From the Center Posted by ArtSlant on Apr 28, 2013 |

Interrogating Monuments: Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford’s Hall of Khan

 

Image on top: Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, background: Hall, foreground: Maid; Courtesy of Hyde Park Art Center

This article was originally published on April 20, 2013, on ArtSlant by writer W. Keith Brown. This article is part of a series of article exchange partnerships between Sixty Inches From Center and other online blogs and journals that have missions similar to ours–to document and support the visual arts happening in Chicago. The goal of these partnerships is to build bridges within our writing community, help promote one another to new audiences, and give more exposure to the art that keeps our Chicago experience compelling.

The critical pedagogue Henry Giroux tells us that objects placed before us in the public sphere function as forms of public pedagogy—that is, they communicate and reinforce certain cultural narratives, hierarchies, and social mythologies. These images | objects seek to teach us about our collective past and present, regardless of accuracy or consensus. As cultural reflections and representative images or objects, monuments serve as cultural mirrors, and the sites where they are situated are part of a broader cultural commons.

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford’s Hall of Khan is an attempt to question monuments and frame them through artistic sculptural representations of the artist’s own research and interests. In the works arranged, the artist has examined power, truth, knowledge, pedagogy, and cultural semiotics. Each form takes on different iconic treatments, including ancient tablature, architecture, the equestrian figure, and pedestal-based sculpture. Inside the exhibition space, viewers encounter brightly colored cast foam molds, wooden fixtures, and abstracted found objects. Two large built structures flank both entrances of the space. The first is a horse stable entitled Stall, and the second is a larger suspended form entitled Hall (i.e., Hall of Khan). The Hall form is based on 19th-century European palatial structures like the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, and the Grand Palais in Paris. The stable is a minimalist form designed for interactive exhibition programs in which live horses will be brought in for specific activities and learning.

On the day of the opening, two horses were used, one for Elijah Burgher’s performance (a kind of living monument that mocks the Ralph Lauren Empire) and the other to carry a three-foot lime green saddle (Green Screen Googie for Italo Calvino). Both structures are like homes. 

The stall serves as a house for horses, and the hall serves as a reminder of the great halls that housed and still house special objects of cultural significance. Architectural monuments and museums function as caretakers and shelters for objects as well as spaces of human memory. Hulsebos-Spofford has taken care to sharply craft, represent, and replicate the feeling of great halls, only his are empty. “Hall” serves two meanings: Hall of Khan, the exhibition title is full of many objects, yet Hall, the actual form itself, creates a void that visitors can approach, enter, and exit. The artist has created two spaces in one. The first consumes us (the hollow Hall structure) and the second allows us to consume it.

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, foreground: White Men Can’t Jump, background: Stall, right: Tablets; Courtesy of the gallery.

The exhibition title, Hall of Khan, is derived from the artist’s research into the 2008 Genghis Khan monument in Mongolia. Khan, as we know, was a tyrannical emperor, but over time, his conquests have become less severe, and he can now serve as a source of tourism revenue for capitalist Mongolia. This research led Hulsebos-Spofford to a specific investigation of equestrian monuments, a historically popular genre of monument-making in which particular figures of interest are both symbolically and physically mounted on horseback (literally seated in positions of power). There is a connection between thrones and saddles that is worth considering, as the role of the saddle recurs throughout the exhibition. Here, the artist asks us to consider who is powerful enough to be positioned this way and who is powerful enough to make such grandiose gestures. 

In a recent talk at the Art Institute of Chicago, Kara Walker mentioned her work as “saddling up to power,” which invokes an image of the artist as a powerful communicator of ideas. This notion that artists ask meaningful questions in their work as a form of cultural power is nothing new, but it is worth considering as we think about how art can teach us new things and communicate an artist’s ideas to a wider public. Hulsebos-Spofford openly admits that it is a tall order to deconstruct such monumental objects and that this investigation is an exercise in claiming and demystifying power. The artist as a powerful image- and object-maker should resonate with all of us, as we, too, possess the agency to question power.

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, Buoy, 2013; Courtesy of the gallery.

The works on display range in sculptural form and conceptual meaning, moving from the grand and abstract to the personal as the artist seeks to place his own memories in positions of power and ask others to consider how truth and power commingle with memory and historical fact (or non-fact). The exhibition reads visually as sculptural forms arranged in a small galaxy of abstract 3D collage and assemblage—works strewn about in a carefully curated yet haphazard arrangement. In White Men Can’t Jump, the artist references the Billy Ho character played by Woody Harrelson from the 1992 basketball hustler film “White Men Can’t Jump.” The same black Nike shoes, shirt, and hat pattern worn by Harrelson is invoked to signal how the popular film marked one of the first moments when the artist became aware of racial stereotypes in popular culture. The film resonated with the artist as the plot (a pick-up basketball game) became an unlikely setting for an interracial friendship between the characters. A similar expression appears in Maid, a bright orange-red saddle monument with charred, amber-like stakes that surge upward from the top of the piece. 

Here, the film “The Passion of Joan of Arc” from 1928 starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti is invoked as another memory of the artist and his cinematic encounter with the famous heroine being burned alive at the stake. In the silent film, striking images of the body being burned alive alongside the compassionate reaction of the town’s people communicate the horrific death and the public remorse for capital punishment. The monument serves as a reminder of what power can do. It also reinterprets the many Joan of Arc monuments found around the world.

Abstraction, in the contemporary sense of the word, hangs in the air over this exhibition, as Hulsebos-Spofford seeks to demystify the real and representative issues surrounding monuments through abstraction. It is all very meta in that we have an artist making abstract sculpture and spatial collage about the monument, with abstracted historical and cultural meaning that complicates the monument's sculptural genre. For me, this is an exhibition about gaps as much as it is about the formal aspects of contemporary visual art, sculpture, installation, and collage. Conceptually, the artist is dealing with representation and abstract meaning as it is situated in our collective imaginary. As people who interact with public spaces, we learn from the artist to think, question, and intervene. Monuments ask that we acknowledge and remember things that we do not know—they are stopgaps in time.
__
Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford: Hall of Khan is on view at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615, through July 28, 2013.

Archives: Opening Ceremony and Cleansing of the Site

 Celebration to honor the "Life of Michelle Walker." The gathering will begin at 4pm and end at 8pm. We are calling artists, musicians, drummers, dancers, singers, storytellers, and visual artists throughout California to join us as we come together to honor our friend.

JosephineTalamantez-

May 14, 2013, 4 PM - 8pm Opening Ceremony, Cleansing & Blessing Ceremony of "the land". Josephine Talamantez, in concert with Stan Padilla, will conduct this ceremony to honor the memory of Michelle Walker and her mother, Aurolie Beatrice Walker. Friends of Michelle Walker are invited to attend.

Stan Padilla

Symbolic offerings such as water, teas, wine, sugar, incense, gold and silver threads, flower petals, sunflowers, lavender, grains, seeds, shells, candies, and more can be donated to the International Society of Altar Makers, and delivered to the pottery studio of Anita L. Lowe, 1855 Christian Valley Rd, in Auburn, the week of May 14th - 25th.


Space Cleansing & Blessing Ceremony, in Spanish, the word despacho literally means "dispatch or shipment".

Everything around us is made of energy - from our own physical bodies to our cars, homes, land, trees, etc. Just as we need to keep our own energy bodies cleansed and operating at a high frequency or vibration for Optimal Health & Happiness, it is also important to cleanse the spaces around us where we spend most of our time. Energy accumulates from all historical owners and visitors to that space.

If you want to propose a workshop for your art group, or organization during the retreat contact Visual Arts Development Project, Alpha Bruton, at 773-681-6570, you can register or bring your circle of 12 as participants, send proposals to alphabruton@gmail.com.

All cash donations can be made to the Placer County Arts Council, 808 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA 95602, for Ondrea Walker's Art Education Enrichment Fund, "Dreams of Colour" a charity that will assist children of diverse backgrounds to attend annual retreats of the International Society of Altar Makers, scholarships for travel and supplies, and to pursue innovative artistic programming.

Michelle Walker, a co-founder and executive director of MAP, passed away on January 29, 2013. She left behind a clear vision for supporting the arts and a vibrant organization to carry it out. Michelle integrated the arts into the giving campaigns of public and private employees. MAP channels those donations to an array of arts organizations, large and small, for education and new audiences.

Most recently, Michelle envisioned sponsoring a fusion between the arts, inventors, and innovators, which MAP is now developing. For her, creativity has no boundaries. For Michelle’s many friends, family, and colleagues, her passing is deeply felt. For MAP, her vision provides an inspiration for producing programs that will bring ever-growing support and recognition to the arts in the years to come.

Renee Baker interview with W.IN.E TV

"Art is Business"

Published on Apr 1, 2013
          

Ms. Renee Baker, composer, conductor, violinist, violist, founder and artist director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project. International and US audiences have enjoyed Ms. Baker's conducting and original compositions, while experiencing her fascinating concert experiences. In this straightforward W.IN.E TV interview, Ms. Baker states she started her own orchestra so she could hear her own original compositions, while exploring other's repertories. She encourages women to see no limits, set no limits, and to enjoy the journey while following their bliss in life. Also, Ms. Baker encourages women to take their rightful place in the arts to help smooth out the rough edges in society.

Sojourner Truth Sculpture Destroyed in Sacramento CA

Repost City of Sacramento Past Perfect Online

Update 1/15/13: I am dismayed to report that the Sojourner Truth sculpture was recently vandalized. The sculpture was pushed off of the pedestal and broke in pieces on the ground. It is still unclear whether the sculpture can be repaired. I’ve included a photo of the broken sculpture at the bottom of this post.
Nearly 7′ tall standing with dignity and a flare of her skirt, this unembellished but powerful sculpture is a testament to the woman who inspired her (1).
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was a former slave who escaped to freedom and became an activist contributing passionately in the fight for abolition and women’s rights (2). Among many other remarkable events of her life she was the first black person to win a court case against a white man (3), and she once bared her breasts in a meeting room to silence accusations that she was a man (accusations likely stemming from her nearly 6′ stature and non-demure manner) (4).


The Artist:
Through her artwork, Elizabeth Catlett (1919-2012) also spent her life fighting injustices against African Americans and women (5). Targeted during the McCarthy era for her politics, she moved to Mexico and for a period of time was denied re-entry into the U.S. (despite being a citizen) (6).
In a clip of the video called, Sculpting the Truth, she says, “I admire things I think are true. I admire things I think are just.” The social implications of her work was always the primary focus of her art:

“I learned how you use your art for the service of people, struggling people, to whom only realism is meaningful.” (7)
“I have always wanted my art to service my people — to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential.” (8)

Some of her most popular works include: Malcolm Speaks For Us, The Sharecropper, Negro Es Bello, Survivor, Dancing, Two Generations, Black is Beautiful, Latch Key Child, Madonna, The Singing Head, Recycling Nude, and The Seated Woman (9).
At age 95, she completed one of her last sculptures, a life-size bronze sculpture of gospel legend, Mahalia Jackson (10) [Side note: Sacramento is hosting its first production of the highly acclaimed show, Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, through 9/23].
I think Sojourner would be proud to have been sculpted by Catlett, her sister in truth and justice.





Below is the photo of the recently vandalized sculpture (1/15/13).

Title: Sojourner
Artist: Elizabeth Catlett
Date: 1999
Media: Mexican Limestone
Location: 13th & K

View Pedestrian Art, Sacramento in a larger map
(1) http://cityofsacramento.pastperfect-online.com/36991cgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=E07395A9-92EE-4E3F-8575-108427269244;type=101
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth#cite_note-Sojourner_TruthInstitute-3
(3) http://ehistory.osu.edu/uscw/features/people/bio.cfm?PID=79
(4) http://www.sojournertruth.org/History/Biography/BC.htm
(5) http://my.saic.edu/news/89312/In-Memory-In-Memory-Elizabeth-Catlett.htm
(6) http://elizabethcatlett.net
(7) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/arts/design/elizabeth-catlett-sculptor-with-eye-on-social-issues-dies-at-96.html
(8) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/arts/design/elizabeth-catlett-sculptor-with-eye-on-social-issues-dies-at-96.html
(9) http://jassed.com/visual-artists/contemporary-art/140-elizabeth-catlett-celebrates-95the-birthday
(10) http://jassed.com/visual-artists/contemporary-art/140-elizabeth-catlett-celebrates-95the-birthday

Artist of the Month Caryl Henry Alexander

Caryl Henry Alexander

http://arts.pgparks.com/Assets/Arts/Arts+Opportunities+Newsletter/Arts+Opportunities+Newsletter.pdf

Caryl Henry Alexander is Creative Director at Big Bang Banners.com. She conceives and directs visual arts projects with a focus on creative literacy, community collaboration and arts integrated academic curriculum. Her projects have been successful with multi-generational, multicultural and interfaith communities in diverse settings. Her paintings and installations are exhibited internationally. Ms Henry Alexander is a certified Urban Farmer and she grows organic veggies for her family. Bigbangbanners.com

Artist With a Purpose

Caryl@BigBangBanners.com

"Now is the time to ante up your Creative Currency"

We ask people to write their dreams on a chalkboard and then be photographed holding them. These photos capture each individual’s current reality and future aspirations.

Visitors were invited to create a digital postcard by using their cell phones to take pictures of themselves with their faces in the mural cutouts and share their fun at the event.

We will through this creative engagement support participants in developing a greater understanding of the role that a healthy lifestyle is a key to achieving their dreams.

Coming to Chicago in August 22nd 2013 during the Glenwood Arts Festival- hosted by Marianna Buchwald of the International Art Group. If you are reading this and want to offer up a project, during this seasons Farmers Markets, contact Marianna at, marbuchwald@gmail.com, subject line: Rainbow Plate

Silent Auction- Axis 2013 International Art Festival

Silent Auction! at the Arts Club of Chicago- Saturday April 20, 2013, 7pm - 9:30pm- tickets ($75.00) can be pre-purchased at praksis-artclub-auction.eventbrite.com. This event is a fundraiser to support free tickets for neighborhood schools and students in CPS art programs. Some funds will be earmarked to support the Axis International Art Festival.

The Arts Club of Chicago is located at 201 E. Ontario St., Chicago, IL 60611

If you would like to participate by donating artwork, please contact the gallery at axis.praksis@gmail.com. 50% of the sale will be given to the artist; 50% to Praksis Gallery.

Booth participation: $100.00 per artist for the Festival if exhibiting with the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network; all donations are tax-deductible. All sales are split 65% to the seller and 35% to the PGCN. The booth fee is $1,200 per gallery; we are trying to fill our booth to represent 12 artists/curators. Call 

Alpha Bruton at 773-681-6570 to make arrangements for participation, or send an email of interest to phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com

The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network is registered under both the Charitable Trust and the Solicitation of Charity Act and is assigned registration number CO-01063500. Building Better Charities, October 5, 2012, approval letter sent by the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

Black Woman Forum- Sacramento California

Brown Sugar Gallery, Life Expressions, and Sojourner Truth Museum present..... 

Black Woman Forum

                (A Celebration of Sisterhood for Women's History Month)

Forum Panel: Crystal Taylor and Roshumba Clarke



 



Forum Moderator: Alpha Bruton

Forum Moderator:  Toni Colley Perry

Are black women loud and ghetto? Is this a stereotype? By what standard should we define ourselves?



          

"I believe that, in dialog and sharing of our experiences, we can begin to tap into our feelings and find new ways to deliver our painful, yet triumphant victory over a terror so great that right now all we can do is scream our truth.
Sisters come and vocalize yourself!!!!!!" ..Shonna McDaniels

Date: March 24, 2013

Time: 3:00 to 6:30-Panel Discussion will begin at 3:30

Location: 1001 Del Paso Blvd, Sacramento, CA

          

Special Details: The event is a potluck; please be encouraged to bring a healthy dish.

          

Note: To confirm your attendance, please RSVP to sojomuseum@gmail.com

            

_______________________________________________________

 

What solutions can we provide to each other to help sustain the future of our people?           

Our Goal is :

• to be an important Historical and Educational resource
• to nurture life and future leadership skills for area youth
• to provide positive family experiences, information, and nostalgia
• to enhance accessibility to the facility, programs, and art.
• To be visible and valued in the community

How can you support the Museum?

The Sojourner Truth Museum is seeking tax-deductible contributions from foundations, corporations, individuals, and anyone interested in promoting and supporting art and quality art education.
 
Your Support will make a meaningful contribution to the arts and education, enabling donors to experience the impact of their efforts and celebrate the success of our outreach to keep art alive in our schools and the community.

Donations should be made payable to Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, mailing address 2251 Florin Rd #126, Sacramento, CA. 95822

 

Art Exhibit “Which Way Our Children?

An African American Perspective
Closing March 31, 2013
Daily 10AM-4PM

 

Chicago Temple Gallery
77 W. Washington Street, 2nd Fl.
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312-236-4548

Co-Curators: Patricia Devine-Reed invited each artist to respond to, through our art, "What is the future for our children?"

In the 21^st century, the world is open to our children and the future, along with seemingly unlimited possibilities. Communications technologies allow instant contact, face-to-face conferencing, and networking anywhere in the world.  Other technologies enable us to utilize the sun, wind, and all the powers of nature, science, and history to create and build nearly anything and sustain a healthy, prosperous life for both people's environments. A vast array of arts and religions stimulates greater creative genius and healthy souls.  Yet, over half the world's children cannot access these rich resources because of poverty, poor education, inadequate food, prejudice, wars, and other violence.  What is the future for our children?  Can we… how do we enable our children, the world's children, to obtain and use global resources for a just world? 

This collage responded to a group traveling exhibition where 36 artists (12 Vancouver Canada, 12 Sacramento California, and 12 Mexico City, Mexico) responded to the theme "ENCOUNTER."



Artist:    Alpha Bruton
Title:      The Encounter: Single Parenting
Dimensions- 36” x 36”
Mixed Media Collage on Wood, 1993


I reflected on current affairs, news of the famine in Ethiopia associated with and believed to be warfare. Looking at the images that photojournalists are documenting in LIFE Magazine and other periodicals, the starving resemblances of babies and the American public ask why they are still procreating in a wartime climate?  Where is the father of these starving children? Again, turning a blind eye and a death ear to the genocide of a group of people, not only in Ethiopia but in the other wartime countries that are being systematically and psychologically humiliated by the enemy.

These acts of forcible genocides are on the unborn child; committed by soldiers, other combatants, or civilians during armed conflict or war or during military occupation, military leaders may actually encourage their soldiers to rape civilians. Moreover, war rape may occur in various situations, including institutionalized sexual slavery forced upon young girls and boys.

 

 

Detail

 

 The focal point in my collage is of a young girl being seduced by a glass of wine, a song, a dance, a whisper of seduction, lured into a one-night stand, pre-marital creation, and another generation reproducing itself.

An embrace from a white stranger on Thanksgiving Day as a young African-American mother and child watch their home being burned. In times like these, it is not black or white. Still, a time to show compassion, homelessness will imprint so many children in the 21st century amongst all the technology and social growth as a nation.

 

Then there stands the image of Lazarus, and what comes to mind is the most powerful scripture, "Jesus Wept."

 

Artist: Alpha Bruton

Title: "LIKE" Young Brides-Children 1937 – 1939

Dimensions-24” x 24”

Mixed Media Collage on Wood, 2013 (a work in progress)

 

Finding these images for my collage was purely random. I was looking through a box of vintage LIFE Magazines dated 1936 to 1941; I selected these images because they were used in articles with the caption that read: "The age of parenthood declines as young girls marry." The content disturbed me as I turned the pages of history and saw how off-centered the moral needle was in the United States during the '30s; Incest being the biggest taboo in our "civilized" society.

  "DIONNE QUINTUPLETS 05/17/1937." I selected these images because the girls were taken from their families by the doctor who delivered them, put on display as lab rats for nine years, exploited to the tune of millions of dollars. Even a tourist trade was set up around the town where they were born. But, the tragedy was that the family that fought to get them back failed to protect them. Instead, they became prey to the father and were oppressed by the mother that had no time to bond with them. To control the money, the government paid them to use their babies as a social experiment.  It is 2013, and I'm listening to a news flash where a government system has failed children yet again, as a Judge in Florida is being charged with sentencing youth to years of detention to support his lavish lifestyle at the expense of systematic abuse to hundreds of children.

 "Trends in Premarital Childbearing: 1930 -

1994, a study was done on the percentage of first births conceived out of wedlock have almost tripled since the 1930s, according to the U.S. Census. Growth in the proportion of first births born premaritally grew five-fold to women ages 15 to 29. The comparable figure for African American women doubled, from 43 percent to 86 percent of first births to women 15-19 years.

"STREET SHOWER 07/19/1937", a little black girl playing in the streets, having the time of her life, while others watch on. Faceless, nameless, but as I turned the pages of the LIFE Magazine, no other images of black girls, black women. So I read on and see the face of Wartime children and the caption "Wartime Childhood," emotionless faces, blank stares. I wonder what has happened behind the blankness. I wonder why it takes the torture and unimaginable beating of a child to change laws in the United States to protect them from their own families, which is not black or white, and why even in the 21^st century, the moral compose is still not centered.

 

AFRO Awards Ceremony 2013 Honors- Alpha Bruton



The African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley awarded artist Alpha Bruton, as an honoree for the 2013 AFRO Awards, honoring women that give back to their communities. Bruton was noted for how she has worked with the Executive Director, providing professional development training, and connecting him to resources with the California Association of Museums. In 2012 she curated the new installation of the State Community College District Wall of Fame for the museum.

  

Gregory Melancon Executive Director of the Museum began the Afro Awards in 2011, to acknowledge and honor the accomplishments and contributions of African American Women from Fresno California who have aspired, and contributed to careers in the arts, education, health, humanities, law, nursing, science, social work, and political fields.

Alpha Bruton, pictured with lifelong friend Babette Stevenson of Fresno, CA

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.

African American History and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley

1857 Fulton St Fresno, CA 93721

 Alpha Bruton- at the AAHCM- 

 Bruton is the founder, of the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, 2005,
 and currently  services as the Director of the (PGCN) Board of Directors, since its incorporation in 2012.

Installation in Berlin, at the 1st International Exhibition Berlin Art Club 

Painting in the studio of Susanne in Berlin, Germany, 2012

Bruton completed her Masters of Art in Administration Program at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago, in May 2001. Formal training in studio art, art education, dance production, theater arts, and art gallery management gives Bruton the foundation to manage art education programs. Currently, she is an artist and art consultant, not a teaching artist listed in the Illinois Arts Council Arts Education Program Roster, and a vendor for Chicago Public School. In addition, she is a member of the OpenWall Committee of the 47th Ward. This committee promotes artists and art organizations by hanging art on the walls of Alderman Ameya Pawar's office.

Bruton has served as a board member of Borderbend Arts Collective, a producer of the Chicago Calling Arts Festival, where local Chicagoans call out to artists in other cities, states, nationally, and internationally to engage them in collaborative projects highlighted during Chicago Artists Month in a two- a week-long festival during Chicago.

Bruton's current inspiration comes from her work in arts in wellness and environmental art projects. After completing a six-month residency at Oak Forest Hospital, in 2002, she started reflecting on how her piece affects lives. As a result, she started her series of vibration sound narratives that teach our bodies at all levels how to have a new experience. 

Bringing us into focus with the opportunities to choose new ways to live out our lives in each unique moment, they seem to mirror to us things that we have forgotten about ourselves, reminding us just how powerful we are in changing our reality. 

Experimental Art Installations and Performance Art

Borderbend Arts Collective, Inter-Faith Peace Concert, Living Sculptures.

These explorations affect her personally because she is examining what transpires between the audience and the canvas. As an installation artist, she stages experiences; in her performance art, she creates an observational view for others as spectators. As in this performance art piece performed using living sculptures, created site specific at the Chicago Temple in April of 2008, each model, and music was improvised, and choreographed on location for the Interfaith Peace Concert. 

Performance Art at the Chicago Temple, 2008

Scope of the Wiki Installation 2009

 "Snow Cones" to "Snow Peas"

Is an Installation produced for the Synesthetic Plan of Chicago 2009 at the Department of Cultural Affairs Tourism Information Center? This blog is a continuation of one module's journey to various artist- spaces and neighborhoods in Chicago. "Snow Cones" documents the mapping of street vendors and candy stores that provide treats for areas during the summers in Chicago. "Snow Peas" documents the movement of the module through green spaces.

Environmental Art Installations 

She will continue her exploration this summer with the MAP Gallery of Myths, Stories, and Living Tradition in Auburn, CA, by installing a "land trust," a building. The project is co-sponsored by the Visual Arts Development Project of Northern California, Rituals and traditions, a two-week artist in residency May 13th - May 25th, in Placer County. 

The project has proposed to create a living land trust for outdoor Altar Installations, a Continuum: MAP Gallery of Myth, Stories, and Living Tradition Breathing Life into the Gallery 2013.

Archives: Postponed Life Celebration Gathering for Michelle Walker

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Michelle Walker, Executive Director of Metropolitan Arts Partnership

Postponed Life Celebration Gathering for Michelle Walker. The Metropolitan Arts Partnership (MAP) has informed us that the gathering originally scheduled for Monday, February 25, at noon at the Crocker Art Museum has been postponed due to the Walker family's immediate needs. Since SMAC is not the organizer of the life celebration, please contact Oliver Wong at the Metropolitan Arts Partnership at (916) 442-4016 ext. 202 or Oliver@mapgives.com if you have any questions.

I worked with Michelle from 1992 to 1999 as an artist and art consultant, and as the first Arts Education and Outreach Coordinator for the City of Sacramento, a position she advocated for because of her dedication to arts education. She supported the African American Art Summit in 1993 as a speaker while serving as manager of the Art and Public Places Program. She encouraged African American artists in Sacramento to position themselves for public art projects by following guidelines, perfecting their resumes, submitting work samples, and partnering with other organizations to strengthen the community.

I resigned from that position in 1999 to move to Chicago to attend the School of the Art Institute. She was one of the women administrators I interviewed in 2000 as a case study for my master's thesis in arts administration,"Problems and Considerations for Women Administering Public Art Programs.”

Over the years, Michelle and I have had lunch together when I was visiting Sacramento, and met for coffee during a layover at O'Hare Airport as she was flying back to Sacramento from one of her many trips to a national conference or another. 

Over the years, time and distance have made our touching base less and less. It has saddened me that a sistah-friend and colleague has passed from this world, before I got a chance to visit, catch up on our life stories, talk about our daughters, and share our commonalities one last time, between our ever-so-busy schedules.

Metropolitan Arts Partnership from 2006 to 2013

Michelle Walker served as the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Arts Partnership from 2006 to 2013. (MAP) is designed to increase access for underserved audiences by strengthening arts education and outreach programs in schools, performance venues, and neighborhood centers, which are provided by our affiliated members throughout Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado, Sutter, and Yuba Counties.

The Sacramento Bee: By Robert D. Dávila – Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - 7:52 am

Born in 1959 in Los Angeles, Michelle Angela Walker grew up with two brothers, painting, singing, drawing, and playing music. Her mother painted, and her father played drums in a band.

She studied guitar and was a competitive ice skater. She was an accomplished ceramic artist who sold her works to make money and earned a dance degree from California State University, Long Beach.

She formed a dance company and performed on TV on “Soul Train.” She earned a master’s degree in public administration from California Lutheran University and was assistant education director at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art before settling in Sacramento.

Ms. Walker, who raised a daughter, attributed her work as an arts activist to an “awareness of changing, perfecting, and flexibility” that she learned as a young dancer.

“I began to realize that the exposure I had taken for granted, others didn't have,” she said. “And I became committed to arts education; what it can do for you as a person and how it can make you explore who you are.”

Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission from 1992 to 2006

Shelly Willis Interim Director & Art in Public Places Director It is with great sadness that I inform you that last week Michelle Walker, Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission from 1992 to 2006.

Through interviews with former staff and Arts Commissioners, I heard repeatedly that throughout her career, Michelle supported, advocated for, and worked tirelessly for arts education and equity of access to the arts. She began her professional career as an artist and was an accomplished ceramicist and dancer, receiving a BFA in Dance.

In fact, colleague, friend, and Director of Placer Arts, Angela Tahti, told me Michelle financed her college education through the sales of her ceramic work. Perhaps it was this experience that made her so committed to fighting for artists when she later became an arts administrator. “She respected the work of individual artists and fought to pay them well,” said Josie Talamantez, former Chief of Programs at the California Arts Council. Later in life, Michelle received a Master's in Public Administration and flourished in the 14 years she served as SMAC’s Director.

She was instrumental in founding the Sacramento Philharmonic and helped steward the commissioning of major public artworks at the Sacramento International Airport Terminal A. In 2004, she founded World Arts, a 2-year-long, free arts education program which provided students with in-depth arts experiences, 5 days a week, all summer, in Oak Park. Michelle helped champion Surreal Estates, a unique artist live/work community in Sacramento that includes 11 single-family units. The idea for the development came from a series of 1992 meetings dedicated to cleaning up Del Paso Boulevard and turning it into a cultural magnet.

The project was partially subsidized by SMUD and monitored by the company as a pilot project. She also reached beyond City and County government funding for the arts to the private sector for support. “Michelle identified alternative resources for the arts, establishing the Arts Commission’s nonprofit arm, Friends of the Arts Commission, while growing workplace giving,” said Barbara Bonebrake, the City of Sacramento, Convention, Culture and Leisure Department Director.

“The Sacramento art community has suffered a great loss with Michelle's passing.” Michelle was an advocate for all the arts, but had a soft spot for traditional folk art forms, according to Rhyena Halpern, former Executive Director of the Arts Commission, “She had exceptional gifts of insight and understanding, and a sweetness to her that I will always hold dear. Her good fight made life better for many artists, arts organizations, social service organizations, and all the people they served.”

“Michelle was a true champion for underserved communities, developing programs to provide arts access to all neighborhoods and ethnicities. Her leadership of the regional Metropolitan Arts Partnership leveraged support through workplace giving to many arts providers region-wide,” said Tahti, “She will be missed.”

On behalf of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, we offer our deepest condolences to Michelle's daughter, Ondrea, her brother Pierre, and Mother Aurolie Walker.