FUNdraising Starts May 29th!

The parProjects Poster Drive and Phase 1 Fundraiser kicks off May 29th @ The Comet (4579 Hamilton Ave. Cincinnati, OH). This is an all day event featuring drink specials, LIVE music and good times!

Help build this Art & Education Center out of recycled shipping containers! Details about this project can be found at: http://TheRoadToRefresh.com

Brunch served: 11AM - 2PM
Dinner served: 4PM - 1AM

Scheduled to perform:
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Elise Hoffman ~> 1:30p - 2:30p
http://elisehofmann.bandcamp.com/

Kelly Fine ~> 3:00p -4:00p
http://www.myspace.com/kellyfinemusic

DJ/Act To Be Announced ~> 4:30p - 7:00p

The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars ~> 7:30p - 10:00p
http://www.myspace.com/cometbluegrass

DJ To Be Announced ~> 10:30p - 2:00a
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More information on purchasing posters will be available soon.

Welcome Fabricate

...also featured on http://TheRoadToRefresh.com

Most Second-Saturday's, I visit Fabricate (Northside) to see their latest art-wall offerings, grab a Pabst Blue Ribbon or two, and chat it up. Plus, they always have THE BEST crafty odds & ends (from bags & bracelets, to handmade soaps). But, rarely do I feel the need to take pictures or jot down notes about their shows. "An Evening With Richard" -- their current art-wall-exhibition -- is/was a delightful surprise and a reason that norm has changed!

Heading into the show, featuring works by James Judd, I had no idea what to expect. So, when confronted with a rather aggressive installation, I couldn't help to think to myself "this really works ...especially in this setting."

In his own words, James Judd is peddling "Cheap Sh*t For Cheap F*cks," but the show really is much more than that. From what I've gathered, the artist creates a lot of small crafty pieces that transform into magnets, book ends, and really a host of "crafty" applications. Still his work shouldn't be dismissed. If nothing else it has flavor. He mixes "cutish" bulbous figures, with elements of grime and descent. Plus, he's not afraid to curse up a storm ...which, as risk-taking artist, I can definitely appreciate...

Within the show, Judd presents a mixture of elements. On display are stand-alone figures, figures adorned with elements (like umbrellas), figures that are part of their own micro-installations; plus he features a painting on canvas that ain't too shabby. So, when considering all of these elements work so nicely within a full-wall (spanning over 20 feet), one must be impressed.

Also, everything really is affordable ....even for the entry-level art collector. And while I can't quite comment on the archival qualities of the work (because I'm not exactly sure what materials he uses), I can say adorning your walls or refrigerator with his characters would provide many days of enjoyment. So, don't be shy to visit. The show is up through April 3rd, meaning you still have about a week to check things out.

More info can be found on Fabricates website at: http://fabricatestore.wordpress.com/

In closing, don't be offended by the following images...

Cheers!
parProjects

FUNKe FIRED ARTS

A trip of sheer curiosity landed me at FUNKe FIRED ARTS -- a gallery, studio, and education space located in the Hyde Park/Oakley area of Cincinnati. Along the way (at art openings, etc.), I'd met a couple of people that work or worked in the space, so I decided to check it out for myself.

What a great decision that was [patting myself on the back].

At FUNKe, the atmosphere is quite pleasant and maybe even a bit jovial. Artisans are working privately. Open classes are being held around clay wheels. Preparations for upcoming exhibitions are taking place behind mystical curtains. Still, folks like Kirk Mayhew are willing to stop everything they're doing to show you around and introduce you to their education schedule and gallery offerings (currently showing the 3rd Annual Member's Show) ...the reason for this post.

The current exhibition at FUNKe FIRED ARTS was a bit of a treat. A slew of skill levels are represented, but the standouts do just that ...stand out.

Amongst the standouts was Lindsay Garrett, an artist who created a life size (37' long) whale sculpture from (what appears to be) a wooden armature, foreign canned-whale-product-labels and an exterior covering of clay and paint. Her piece, entitled The Value Beneath, comments on the overseas consumption of whale meat ...something I assume Garret has strong feelings against. Still, the dazzling part of the sculpture was its interaction with time. From what I gather, on opening day the piece was an intact whale, but as time has passed, it's slowly decomposed and begun flaking off to expose its "whale-industry-product" labels ...or the value beneath. So when visiting the show, viewers are now presented with an almost-rotting corpse of a whale ...which is a rather powerful visual to say the least. (Which reminds me of the Margaret Boozer show mentioned HERE.)

Beyond Garret's work, also on a larger scale was a dramatic piece by Clark and Kramer titled Conceptual Drainage. For me, this was a great, simple statement and testament to material. The subject matter is something that everyone can relate to and the scale, approximately four feet tall, was pleasant and eye catching. Unglazed stoneware pours from the mouth of a glazed, pipe-like vessel to create a bit of movement that could easily find comfort wherever it may land next. This is simply a well made work that contains a great deal of suggested motion and association with running water ...therefor maybe it comments loosely on the generalities of sustaining life.

On the smaller end, there was much more work (of a mixed bag nature), but I'd still like to single out the work of Julia Feld ...and another one of my favorite pieces, Despondency (a teapot). I point this piece out because it, unlike most others, demonstrates a high level of skill in both sculpture and painting. It's rare to see an artist who can combine such different skill sets, so hopefully more people other than myself appreciate her work. Her "teapot" was a true demonstration of craft. The overall form was pleasing. The images were well planned. And most importantly, both elements worked well together. Also, if usable as a teapot, this is even more of a gem.

So with that, I conclude. Visit FUNKe FINE ARTS when you have a little time to spare. You won't be dissapointed. The current show is up through February 27th.

Relevant links include:

http://www.funkefiredarts.com/

http://www.juliafeld.com/

21C at The Cincinnati Art Museum

In accordance with the parProjects / www.TheRoadToRefresh.com newly adopted schedule (found HERE), today marks the day to post an "Independent Feature" that highlights a local artist or creative experience ...that, of course, can be related to our current Community Art Center drive.

With this in mind, I did a bit of Googling, and eventually landed on an exhibition that -- even if not relatable -- seemed like a good fit for today's exploration. That show was "Way We Are Now: Selections From The 21C Collection" (a collection from a rather "swanky" hotel I gather) down at The Art Museum of Cincinnati. It's on display until May, 15th, 2011 if you find yourself in Cinci before then. At any rate, it's a fun spirited show, that has many more highs than lows ...& is easily relatable (as long as you're not growing cobwebs that it is).

The show features some great photography (especially in the balcony area), a fun but somewhat disturbing sculpture ("Surrogate") by Patricia Piccini and a typically-consistant Kehinde Wiley larger-than-life painting.

But, the reason for this post was an amazing work, and the lucky find of the day by Shih Chieh Huang of Taiwan. Titled EX-C-FW, this kinetic work was quirky, electrically powered and simply fun to watch. It rotated slowly via fan power, had lights that blinked when triggered by a video (being retina-scanned) and featured inflating/deflating plastic cones.

Here's a video to give you a better idea of what I'm writing about.

Regardless of your artistic taste (if you have any sort of fun spirit left in you), this is a grat show to see. Its simply a good time ...plus being housed in a great museum, a worthy artful experience is a safe bet.

More info on The Cincinnati Art Museum can be found at the link below:

http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/absolutenm/templates/exhibitionscurrent.aspx

Cheers,

parProjects

Continuing on...

So, I've decided to continue blogging a bit here like I used to. I figure, I'm always writing about something, why not start relating it to my ways of old. But in the same breath, I've decided to have more fun with this blog than I used to. So please expect some of the old (artistic writings and such); but please also expect to see much more random postings such as sound bytes, random images and whatever else I come up with that's somewhat creative ....like maybe a haiku or two??

At any rate, and more importantly, I hope you've been following along over at: http://TheRoadToRefresh.com. We have a major project happening (pictured) over there that you should really get involved with!

Till next time,
Jonathan

Help parProjects build a new art center out of shipping containers!

parProjects is aiming to build a contemporary art space using recycled shipping containers and you can help make this happen. Here's how:

Step 1) Visit: http://TheRoadToRefresh.com

Step 2) Enjoy perusing: http://TheRoadToRefresh.com

Step 3) Subsribe to: http://TheRoadToRefresh.com via an RSS feed, google follow or any other way you can think of ...and enjoy our daily updates. (and chime in from time to time).

Step 4) Tell a friend about: http://TheRoadToRefresh.com

Step 5) Tell that friend about Steps 1, 2, and 3.

Step 6) Repeat the first 5 steps as often as possible and join us for Pepsi Refresh Grant voting in December.

Cheers!

Jonathan

http://TheRoadToRefresh.com

Open Studios tomorrow 12p - 3p! (Saturday 10/30)

Today we met with the two artists who will be holding open studios in conjunction with The State of Matter glass exhibition tomorrow. And as always, Jim Hazel of HazelGlas and Margot Gotoff of Gotoff Studios were great fun …plus, both were excited to be opening their studios up to the public.

So tomorrow, in our last day of programming, please stop by HazelGlas (4150 Hamilton Ave) and Gotoff Studios (1546 Knowlton Ave) from 12p - 3p to get a rare glimpse into two established artists' studios. Margot will be showing her unique techniques of transforming clay sculptures into glass, while Jim Hazel will be demonstrating his extremely specialized capabilities in glass blowing and lathe-working.

All three of our other venues will be open from 10a - 4p as well …and following, will be our final flame-working demonstration by Michael Goodman at Prairie (4035 Hamilton Ave -- above Take the Cake).

Addresses and our schedule can be found here.

And a short cam-phone-video-clip of some of what Jim Hazel does is below.

Thanks and enjoy!

The State of Matter press release

parProjects presents: The State of Matter

October 23rd – October 30th (the three-venue exhibition and week of events)

October 23rd – November 23rd (the month-long showcase at Prairie)

On Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, parProjects will kick off a week of events revolving around the medium of glass. The three-venue exhibition will be presented in Cincinnati's Northside community and will feature live glass blowing, flame working demos, artist talks and open studios. All of the programming is intended to highlight glass-media as a true art form.

The initial exhibition will be explored in three venues — Prairie (gallery), our BEI Container Gallery Space and Hoffner Lodge — which are all located in the Northside Business District surrounding Hoffner Park.

The sculptures of Cincinnati and regional artists will examine and explore the variety of ways glass is used in contemporary art. Their work ranges from traditional to unconventional use of media and their level of experience ranges from emerging to established. Several artists involved are featured from Neusole Glassworks (Cincinnati), while the others operate out of a number of other Midwestern glass facilities.

Internationally recognized artist and Cincinnati native Margot Gotoff leads the exhibition with her unique techniques in glass casting. In addition, the other featured artists — John Capps (Louisville, KY), Zach Compton (Cincinnati, OH), Mike Davis (Cincinnati, OH), Brian Engle (Pittsburgh, PA), Jason Forck (Pittsburgh, PA), Michael Goodman (Cincinnati, OH), Doni Hatz (Cincinnati, OH), Zachary Herrmann (Cincinnati, OH), Jamie Payne (Cincinnati, OH), Scott Percival (Chicago, IL), and Jared Rosenacker (Cincinnati, OH) — help to represent glass art as a whole. The twelve artists will show a cross-section of various ways glass can be manipulated, including traditional glass blowing, sculptural glass blowing, flame working, mixed media and casting.

Our title, The State of Matter, is derived from the literal description of glass itself as a substance. In scientific terms, glass is suspended between a liquid and solid state. And from this standpoint, the week strives to illustrate both the beauty of the making-process as well as the magic of the substance …which is actually frozen in space.

Essentially, we are pulling a community and city together for an array of good times which will officially start with four hours of glass blowing in Hoffner Park on Saturday, October 23rd. During the week, we will take viewers on an artistic journey into the seductive media of glass and processes that have gone unchanged for several thousand years.

This is the new beginning for parProjects. We are a professional group of artists & educators operating at a curatorial capacity in conjunction with galleries, local businesses and organizations in order to bridge communities together through creative projects.

Schedule of events for parProjects upcoming exhibition in Northside!

Below is the current schedule of events for our upcoming exhibition The State of Matter.

We're excited about this opportunity and look forward to seeing all of you who can make it out to Northside!

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Participating Venues
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Prairie - 4035 Hamilton Ave (2nd Floor)
The BEI Container Gallery - 4046 Hamilton Ave (in back)
Hoffner Lodge - 4122 Hamilton Ave (2nd Flr. above Post Office)
Happen Inc. - 4201 Hamilton Ave

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Schedule of events
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Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
+ 12p - 4p: Live Glass Blowing @ Hoffner Park
+ 12p - 6p: Family oriented viewing @ Prairie
+ 6p - 10p: Grand Opening Gallery Walk @ All Venues

Sunday, October 24th, 2010
+ 1p - 5p: All Venues Open
+ 2p - 4p: Flame-working demo @ Prairie

Prairie open Tuesday, October 26th: 10a - 6p.

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
+ 10a - 6p: Prairie Open
+ 4p - 7:30p: The Northside Farmers Market (open)
+ 4p - 7:30p: All Venues Open

Thursday, October 28th, 2010
+ 10a - 6p: Prairie Open
+ 5p - 7:45p: All Venues open
+ 8p - 10p: parProjects model unveiling & film screening
@Happen Inc. or @Hoffner Lodge (TBD and launched next week)

Prairie open Friday, October 29th, 2010: 10a - 6p.

Saturday, October 30th, 2010:
+ 10a - 4p: All Venues Open
+ 12p - 3p: Open Studio w/Margot Gotoff @ 1546 Knowlton Avenue
+ 4p - 6p: Flame-working demo @Prairie
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Additional programming will be taking place at and Hoffner park (10/23), HazelGlas (TBD), and Thunder-Sky Inc. (10/29) ...all located along Hamilton Ave.

More details can be found at http://www.parProjects.com