TO TAKE ACTION VISIT

http://advocate.artsforla.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1700

The arts in Los Angeles are in crisis and they need your voice.

The City of Los Angeles Budget and Finance Committee has put forward a motion to eliminate the Department of Cultural Affairs dedicated source of revenue.

Voice your support to maintain the only dedicated revenue source for neighborhood art and culture in the City of Los Angeles.

Take action by sending your Councilmember a letter voicing your opposition to this motion.

Take action by joining Arts for LA in providing public testimony at the council meeting on Wednesday, February 3rd.

Take action by blasting this alert to your networks.

Take two minutes and send your city council member an email. Remind your Council Member that the arts:

Make money

Attract tourists

Attract businesses

Arts, like parks are for everyone

This motion will go before to Council for a vote this Wednesday, February 3rd. Show the City Council the power of the arts community. Attend the Council meeting and provide public comment. We need to remind Council of just how important the arts are to Los Angeles.

The California Community Foundation will award $260,000 in Fellowships for Visual Artists to 14 Los Angeles individual artists. Ten fellowships at $20,000 each will be awarded to mid-career artists and four fellowships at $15,000 each will be awarded to emerging artists.

For more than 90 years, CCF has recognized, encouraged and supported the Southern California arts community by funding and nurturing a full range of artistic expressions. The Fellowships for Visual Artists is designed to support local artists in advancing to the next level of professional development. The fellowships draw together the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, the Brody Arts Fund, the Joan Palevsky Endowment for the Future of Los Angeles and other CCF funds.

See the Fellowships Guidelines for Eligibility and Application Information and register for a “How to Apply” Workshop.

The application deadline is Friday, March 5, 2010. Applications will only be accepted online. All applicants must submit both images and a completed application via www.callforentry.org.

For more information, please contact Program Assistant Michelle Moreno at mmoreno@ccf-la.org or (213) 413 – 4130.

We encourage you to forward this e-mail to others who may want to apply for the fellowships.

“Works by the 2009 Fellowships for Visual Artists Recipients”

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California Community Foundation
Building the Future of Los Angeles

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California Community Foundation | 445 S. Figueroa Street | Suite 3400 | Los Angeles | CA | 90071

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts solicits applications from professional visual artists and arts writers for its new Art & Law Residency Program, the first program of its kind.

Program dates: March 8 through August 30, 2010 (6 months)

Application deadline: Monday, February 22, 2010 (in-office receipt)

Notification: March 1, 2010

Program Goal

As legal and judicial issues now permeate every aspect of social, political and cultural life, artistic production is no longer immune. The Art & Law Residency provides an intellectual and artistic setting for participants to engage in ongoing discussions and debates that examine the overlap and disconnect between artistic production and the law from historical, social, ethical and intellectual standpoints. Using law as both a discourse and medium, new visual artwork and critical writing will come into being through the Program. All the participants will also gain experience and knowledge they can carry into the future beyond the Program.

Overview

The core of the Program will be semi-monthly Seminars directed at the theoretical and critical examination of current art and law issues. Seminars will take place at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP. Faculty as well as leading legal scholars and visiting artists will lead these Seminars. During the course of the Program, artists and writers will develop new projects and papers and receive support from Faculty on a regular basis to discuss and address the aesthetic, practical, philosophical, legal and judicial aspects of their work. The Residency will culminate in a public Exhibition and Symposium held at the Maccarone Gallery in New York City where the participants will exhibit their projects and present papers.

Read more…

You spend your valuable time making your work, sometimes hours, days, weeks, even years, completing a piece, and when it’s done, it’s done. But wait! There is one last addition you should think seriously about making to any finished piece. Have you given it an inventory number? Have you archived it into your database of completed works? Have you printed its certificate of authenticity? You might think, “Eh, what’s the point? I know my work and I can say what’s by me, and what’s not.” Well, here is a lesson every artist should take to heart.

According to The Independent, the UK Artist Tracy Emin, whose drawings sell for thousands of dollars, has been the victim of a forgery ring. Two young men were arrested on charges of forging Ms. Emin’s work and trying to sell it as an original by the artist.

This raises some interesting questions. First, who is buying this forged work? If you buy an expensive work of art by a renowned artist, wouldn’t you want some sort of proof that it is the real thing? Secondly, does Ms. Emin have a system for tracking her work? Does she, or her staff, inventory her work, have notices of authenticity? Or does she leave this up to her many galleries? Either way, it seems a no brainer that catching forgeries, no matter how good they are, would be an easy thing these days, especially when the forged work in question is meant to be by living artists. All you have to do is contact the artist, list the inventory number, send the cert of authenticity and say, “is this by you?”

So no matter where you are in your art career, it’s a great idea to think about how you archive and authenticate your work now, so that when your career takes off you wont be left angering buyers who have bought what they thought was work by you which is, instead, sadly, by some 21 year old schemer.

Take care and good luck.

GYST has been working our fingers to the bone trying to get our latest GYST 3.0 software ready for it’s release soon, and in the process we’ve been writing new chapters on professional practices, and rewriting old texts, updating them to make them ore relevant for today’s artists. Check out one of the revised texts on critiques below and keep an eye out for the NEW GYST 3.0.

Starting a Critique Group

A good critique group can be one of the best tools an artist can have to help build a conceptually solid practice. Critiques can help an artist better understand how their work is communicating to a larger audience. Regular critiques also help to develop critical thinking and public speaking skills. Perhaps the most beneficial thing about a critique group is that it builds a community of artists familiar with each others’ work. Critique groups often end up exhibiting work together and sharing resources.

Most critique groups start in art schools as part of a required class. These critique groups usually function because the artists involved are in classes together and are in constant dialogue with one another. After school sometimes these groups stay in touch, usually with less participants.

Consider how many people you want in your crit group. Having many participants, 10 or more, means you will have many viewpoints, multiple voices, and a greater support system in the future. But with ten or more people you will have less time for each other’s work. Since you shouldn’t all try to show work during the same crit, each participant will have to wait long periods in between crits.

A smaller grit group of less than ten people ensures that each person gets a regular critique of their work, and a smaller group can provide for more intimacy and bonding in the group.

Decide how long you want critiques to be and how many artists will get their work critiqued during each session. One of the biggest mistakes critique groups make is trying to review every person’s art during one session. Generally it takes a minimum of one hour to adequately critique an artist’s work. Most grad school programs hold critiques that last 3 hours or more for each artist’s work. While each critique group has its own needs, try starting out your critique group at three hours total, with each artist’s work receiving a one-hour critique. If this seems too long, consider shortening the critiques, if it seems too short, try critiquing only two artists’ work for an hour-and-a-half each.

Next think about the people who will take part in the critiques. A crit group can consist solely of Fine Artists, but it can also include curators, critics, and other art world people. Having a diversity of opinions present will help to ensure that no one viewpoint will dominate the group. Getting multiple points of view will also help you better understand how your work speaks to a variety of people.

Also consider the kind of work the critique croup makes. Having a group made entirely of painters can inspire great conversations about paintings, but it can also limit the scope of the discussion. Try and mix up the critique group with artists dealing with a range of subjects in a variety of media. This way each artist will be well-versed in the language of each kind of art.

If you are having trouble finding other artists to join the critique group, try going to your local arts non-profit. Inform them of your endeavors and ask if they have any recommendations. They may send out an email to their members, post something on their website, or even offer to host the critiques at their facility.

Consider inviting guest critique moderators to lead the group. Reach out to local critics, curators, or arts professionals and ask them to moderate the group. Pool resources and try to compensate guest moderators for their time by paying them a small fee.

Holding a Critique Session

The first thing to decide is where you are going to have the critique. If the artists in your critique group have large studio spaces, you’re in luck! But if the people in your group are like most artists, their studios are small and can’t comfortably accommodate more than four or five people. Try finding a space that can fit everyone in the group, like a school or non-profit. The most important part is that there is comfortable seating, adequate wall space and lighting. If one or two artists in your group have large studios, ask them if they wouldn’t mind sharing their space for critiques.

A good rule of thumb is to have the critique group arrive a little ahead of time. People are usually late for critiques, as it takes time to bring and set up work. So ask that people arrive 30 min. ahead of time to help with installation and to socialize. Remember, critiques should be fun and provide time for socialization. Ask people to bring snacks and drinks. If everyone in your critique group is comfortable drinking alcohol, consider bringing wine or beer. A few drinks may just loosen the group up. But always remember that too much booze can lead to arguments and a very jumbled critique.

Consider establishing regulations for the crit group so that everyone knows the rules and responsibilities of each member. Crit rules can include dues each member must pay for refreshments, crit moderators, space rental, etc. They can also include an understanding of civility and how crit members must behave when discussing work. Members can be required to attend a certain number of critiques each year, and to contribute to discussions. Having these details worked out ahead of time can help your crit group avoid conflict later.

Decide ahead of time who will moderate the critique. Having a moderator will insure that everyone gets a chance to share their opinions about the work. The moderator should be in charge of keeping time and sticking to a rigid schedule. A good moderator will know when the conversation is dwindling, when to start a new line of communication, and when to politely ask that an overzealous commenter wrap up their points. The moderator should try to be as objective as possible, steering away from any and all value judgments. A good moderator will respond to any type of criticism about the work with the question, “Did anyone feel differently?” This ensures that all opinions get addressed. Once you have decided who the moderator will be you will want to start critiquing work.

Critiquing Work

There are many different ways to address discussion of works during a critique and each critique decides on different ways they want to discuss work. Here are a few ways to think about structuring your critique group. Try a few out and see what works for you:

1.Consider having each artist whose work is being critiqued write a list of questions they want the critique group to answer. These questions can be about anything and everything pertaining to the work. The benefit of using this kind of critique format is that it ensures that the artist’s specific concerns are addressed and there is a wealth of topics for conversation.

2. Another approach is a more free-form critique. This critique starts when anyone has something to say about the work. On the plus side, this format can lead to discussions about topics peripheral to the work. On the downside, this kind of critique can distract from discussions about the actual work in the room. Additionally, this kind of critique is most likely to lead to one or two people dominating the critique with their own point of view.

3. One more approach involves creating a round robin discussion where each person in the critique group takes turns explaining their reactions to the work, addressing the following questions:

What is the work presented?

What does the work do when presented in this way?

What aspects of the work are beneficial and why?

What aspects of the work can be improved upon and how?

You might consider asking each critique member to write down their answers to these questions and give them to the person whose work is being critiqued. This will allow the artist to receive written feedback about their work and ask questions based on these responses. This format works well for groups with members with writing abilities, and with groups where members can take time to write down their responses.

4. Some artists find it helpful to use a critique session to discuss a project in process. This can mean talking about ideas and articles that are influencing their work. Artists taking this approach can send an article or topic of conversation to their critique group before the critique, and then use the actual critique time to discuss the article. Another approach is to ask the critique group to discuss a particular exhibition at a museum or gallery. This kind of critique doesn’t have to occur in a studio but can occur on-site or at a local coffee shop, bar, or restaurant.

No matter how you decide to structure your critique group, always try to keep in mind that the primary purpose of any critique is to help the artist and provide constructive criticism, so they can make their work better and more conceptually sound. So it’s always a good idea to check in with the artist being critiqued to make sure they are getting what they want out of the critique. A good rule of thumb when critiquing anyone’s work is to sandwich bad news in-between praise, so begin with praise, what works, then talk about what seems to not be working, and end with praise. This is particularly important when discussing a new work of art or a work of art among strangers.

If you find your crit group floundering, it there are far too many long awkward silences, or you just want to broaden the topics you address, consider the following sources of content as a jumping off point. This list is from an excellent article called “On The Manner of Addressing Clouds,” written by Thomas McEvilley for Artforum in 1984.

Try addressing the following sources of content:

1.    Content that arises from the aspect of the artwork that is understood as representational.

2.    Content arising from verbal supplements supplied by the artist

3.    Content arising from genre or medium of the artwork.

4.    Content arising from the material of which the artwork is made.

5.    Content arising from the scale of the work.

6.    Content arising from the duration of the work.

7.    Content arising from the context of the work.

8.    Content arising from the work’s relationship with art history.

9.    Content that accrues to the work as it progressively reveals its destiny through persisting in time.

10.  Content arising from participation in a specific iconographic tradition.

11.  Content arising directly from the formal properties of the work.

12.  Content arising from attitudinal gestures (wit, irony, parody, and so on) that may appear as qualifiers of any of the categories already mentioned. ‘

13.  Content arising in biological or physical responses, or in cognitive awareness of them.

Keeping a Critique Group Together

It can be very hard to keep a crit group together. People leave for many reasons, like job or family obligations, sickness, fatigue, or conceptual or artistic differences with the group. The best way to keep the group together is to maintain constant open conversation, honesty, and, most importantly, trust and respect for one another. No one wants to spend every critique having their work berated or picked apart, and no work or artist deserves such unconstructive criticism. So first and foremost, try and keep things civil and comfortable.

One way to maintain cohesion in the critique group is to stay in touch outside of the critique group. Make sure to attend each other’s openings and events. After all, many artists join crit groups to develop their networking group and obtain support from fellow artists. So show up and support your fellow critmates.

Consider setting up an online resource so your crit group can stay in touch outside of the crit sessions. This can be in the form of a chat room, a facebook group, or a simple email list.  This can also let group members share opportunities and news in an effective way.

Show together. The people in a crit group are often the greatest experts on each others’ work. So consider organizing an exhibition of each other’s work and curating work so that it proposes a conceptual argument. Showing together can be a great cooperative endeavor and can bring publicity to the work of the entire group.

GLOW

September 25, 2010

Request for Proposals

Artwork for one-night biannual arts festival.

Commissions for new artwork range from $1,500 to $2,500.

Project Overview

The City of Santa Monica is seeking proposals from artists and/or artist teams for temporary art installations for the city’s biannual all-night event, GLOW.  First produced on July 19^th, 2008, GLOW was wildly successful, with twenty seven art installation (and over 100 artists) dispersed on the Santa Monica Beach and adjacent areas.  Over 200,000 people came to savor art that was always engaging and in many cases interactive.

On September 25, 2010, Santa Monica Beach, Palisades Park and surrounding areas will host unique and diverse temporary artworks.  Inspired by Paris’ all-night festival Nuit Blanche, the Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division is pleased to invite artists to partake in this unprecedented nighttime event by submitting proposals for artwork.

Eligibility
GLOW is open to all professional artists and/or artist teams who live or work in Los Angeles County.

For more detailed information, including application requirements, please view the full RFP at: http://www.glowsantamonica.org

Deadline
Submittals must be RECEIVED no later than Monday, April 12, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS – Multiple Public Art Projects

DEADLINE: Thursday, January 28, 2010 – 10:59 p.m. Pacific Time

The City of San Jose Public Art Program seeks to commission site-specific artworks in several locations throughout San Jose. Some of the projects are community-focused and others will be integrated into Capital Improvement Projects. Artists can be considered for more than one project, but will not be commissioned for simultaneous projects with the City of San Jose.

This call is open to artists who live and/or work in the following California counties: Alameda, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, Marin and Solano, and Monterey. Proof of residency or work relationship will be required if short listed for a project.

Budgets range from $25,000 to $100,000.

View the complete RFQ and learn how to apply at http://www.sanjoseculture.org/?pid=4500.

Calling all Artists and Art-Academics with an interest in the Cosmos, Planets and Stars

The Seventh International Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena

(INSAP VII)

25 – 29 October 2010

Call for Papers

Bath, England

http://www.insapvii.org

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Conference Administrator

Alice Ekrek admin@sophia-project.org.uk

Sponsored by the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture,

University of Wales, Lampeter

http://www.lamp.ac.uk/sophia

We are pleased to announce that the Seventh International Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAP VII), sponsored by the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales, Lampeter, will be held at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute in Bath, England, from Monday 25 to Friday 29 October 2010.

This interdisciplinary conference will explore humanity’s fascination with the sky, a strong and sometimes dominant element in human life and culture. Scholars from a variety of disciplines, from the humanities and sciences, as well as artists, are invited to present and discuss their work on the cultural impact and inspiration of astronomical phenomena. The list of topics discussed at previous INSAP conferences is available at the INSAP website, http://www.insap.org/insap/.

Attendance is limited to 100 participants.

Submission of abstracts and proposals is open until 28 February 2010 at http://www.insapvii.org/registration.php

We are also delighted that the pre-conference reception on Sunday 24 October will be held in Herschel House, William Herschel’s former home in Bath and the conference dinner in the Assembly Rooms, the home of eighteenth century Bath’s elegant social elite.

Keynote speakers will include Professor Sir Arnold Wolfendale, former Astronomer Royal

The Conference will be held in the elegant surroundings of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute, one of the most beautiful public buildings in Georgian Bath (http://www.brlsi.org/). Bath itself is a world heritage city, famous for its grand 18th century terraces, its historic centre and its Roman Baths.

TIMETABLE

28 February 2010: deadline for submission of abstracts.

1 April 2010: the provisional programme will be announced.

1 April 2010: conference payment open

30 April 2010: deadline for revision of abstracts

We anticipate that the conference fee will be 260 GBP (payment before 1 July) 310 GBP (payment after 1 July), and will include at least two lunches and a conference dinner, as well as the pre-conference reception.

Full information on the programme, venue, and transport, is posted on the Conference website http://www.insapvii.org

The previous INSAP conferences took place at a retreat at Rocca di Papa in Italy, near the Vatican Observatory (1994), at the International Office of the University of Malta (1999), the Palermo Observatory (2001), Oxford University (2003), the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago (2005) and at Palazzo Franchetti in Venice, Italy, part of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (2009). Details about these conferences are available at http://www.insap.org

INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Francesco Bertola (ISVLA, Venezia, Italy),

Marvin Bolt (Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, USA),

Nicholas Campion (University of Wales, Lampeter, UK),

Enrico Corsini, (Universita` di Padova, Italy),

George Coyne, S. J. (Specola Vaticana, Vatican City),

Chris Impey (University of Arizona, Tucson, USA),

Ron Olowin, Chair, (St. Mary’s College, Moraga, USA),

David Pankenier (Lehigh University, Bethlehem, USA),

Richard Poss (University of Arizona, Tucson, USA),

Valerie Shrimplin (Independent Art Historian, London, UK),

Rolf M. Sinclair, (Centro de Estudios Cientificos, Valdivia, Chile),

Gary Wells, Vice-Chair (Ithaca College, USA)

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

Nicholas Campion, Chair (University of Wales, Lampeter, UK) ncampion@caol.demon.co.uk

Frances Clynes (University of Wales, Lampeter, UK),

Giles Davison (Independent Scholar, UK)

Peter Hingley (Librarian, Royal Astronomical Society, London)

Valerie Shrimplin (Independent Art Historian, London, UK),

Conference Administrator

Alice Ekrek

admin@sophia-project.org.uk

Dr Nicholas Campion

ncampion@caol.demon.co.uk

On behalf of the Local Organising Committee and the International Executive Committee

Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture,

Department of Archaeology, History and Anthropology

University of Wales, Lampeter

http://www.lamp.ac.uk

GYST is pleased to announce this special offer. Anyone who wants to take this excellent course below need only mention GYST when enrolling and all you will pay is $65!

Sign up today by visiting http://www.zdscommunications.com/prclass/

Want to increase revenue by marketing your business or yourself?

PR Plugged In: A Hands-On, Real-World Course

Thursdays, 7-9 p.m. Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25 |   Ballona Institute Research Library, Playa del Rey

Offered by a Public Relations expert who will:

Work with you to get your name in news without the cost of advertising

Teach you the skills so you can do it yourself

Every student will write & distribute a press release crafted for maximum results*

Learn How To:

Identify what makes news and what media gatekeepers ignore

Identify your best media targets in print, online, TV and radio outlets

Craft messages about your cause, business or creative endeavor to grab media attention

Produce effective press releases for traditional and social media

Identify newsworthy people, places and things in your organization

Interact effectively with reporters and bloggers

Who should take this course?

Anyone who wants to achieve media exposure to change behavior, inspire action or boost revenue for a cause, nonprofit organization, business, government agency or themselves. Students should be familiar with press release writing.

*If you are not ready to distribute a press release, this will be a good starting point.

Course taught by Zan Dubin Scott, who spent 15 years writing for the Los Angeles Times before starting ZDS Communications, a national PR & marketing agency.

This is from our friends at Fractured Atlas:

The Aaron Copland Fund for Music is now accepting applications for its Recording Program.

Who they fund:
Funds are available for non-profit professional performance ensembles, presenting institutions and non-profit or commercial recording companies.  Funds must be used to document and provide wider exposure for the music of contemporary American composers, to develop audiences for contemporary American music through distribution of recorded performances in physical and online media, and to support the production of new recordings of contemporary American music and the reissuance of recordings that are no longer available.

Geographic Focus:
National

What is required:
Applicants must be a non-profit tax-exempt organization, a fiscally sponsored project, or a commercial record company.  Applicants must have a performance history of at least three years at the time of application.  Performance ensembles and presenting institutions must include a letter of intent from a recording company, or other established physical copy and/or on-line distribution entity such as iTunes, Amazon.com or similar retail website.   Anapplication form is required along with a budget, proposal, supporting materials, and musical materials.

Deadline:
The postmark deadline for applications is January 15th.