Monthly Archives: October 2016

New

Kirby Fredendall, Painter & Alex DamevskiKirby FredendallEvening Falling, oil on canvas, 36″ X 48″, 2016

Kirby Fredendall, Painter & Alex Damevski, Photographer present:

“New Work”, an Open Studio event, November 5th   & 6th , 2016

The studios will be open from 11:00am – 5:00pm daily at 1448 Street Road, New Hope, Pa.

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 5th, 6 – 9:30pm

Kirby Fredendall is a formally trained artist who attended Duke University. Her new body of work depicts recent landscapes inspired by Friend’s Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. These images represent a dramatic departure for Fredendall who has been successfully showing her abstractions for many years.

For Kirby Fredendall,  “The visual drama of the lake is never the same. Multiple conditions of light created by the time of day and the weather create textures in the water, patterns in the clouds, and juxtapositions of color that vibrate with one another to form a compelling visual and highly personal experience.  Fredendall additionally “enjoys the manipulation of paint and how that process in itself contributes to the life and form of the final image.” These images represent her interest in the beautiful and ever changing landscape of upstate New York.

Raised in Carversville, PA, Kirby Fredendall has taught painting, drawing, and design for 23 years at Solebury School, and now also teaches from her home, Glendale Art Studio.

Alex Damevski is a Yugoslavian photographer who immigrated to the United States. He attended Syracuse University and later attended Temple University for his graduate work.

Memories around photography as a child in a new country inspired Alex Damevski deeply and the affinity for photography has never left him  – from pressing the shutter, to developing the film, to his current use of digital photography.

On his work Alex Damevski states: “When I look at a subject or a scene that I am going to photograph I frame it in my mind and think about things that have influenced me. A painting, a song ,a memory , or a person. The image I capture makes me revisit these thoughts and hopefully causes the same reaction in the viewer.”

More information can be found on the artists’ websites: www.kirbyfredendall.com and www.alexdamevski.com

Kirby Fredendall, Painter & Alex Damevski

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Thunderbird

Thunderbird Lodge

Thunderbird Lodge in Rose Valley Pa., Life Drawing Workshop

Written and photographed by Robert Bohne

Every now and then, you find an overlooked gem in your own back yard. And so it was with the Thunderbird Lodge in Rose Valley Pa. I’ve lived in this area my entire life, and I’ve driven by this location at least a thousand times, and yet I’ve never really noticed the Thunderbird Lodge. Hidden from view by decades of overgrown trees and wild vegetation, the Thunderbird Lodge on Rose Valley Road is now in the process of being renovated. The trees and vegetation have been trimmed and removed, and the building now takes it’s rightful place among the historic architecture of Rose Valley.

Thunderbird Lodge

Originally a circa-1790 stone barn, the building was converted into a home and studio for artists Alice Barber Stephens and Charles Stephens by architect William L. Price in 1904.  Charles was an authority on American Indians, and he named the Lodge after a legendary North American indigenous creature. Charles was a teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Alice was a successful illustrator. They raised their son, D. Owen Stephens (1894–1937) in Rose Valley, and painted there until their deaths.

Thunderbird Lodge

The Thunderbird Lodge then became the home of Allen Seymour and Mildred Olmstead. He was a lawyer, member of the Men’s Commission for Women’s Suffrage, and helped in the founding of the ACLU. Mildred worked with the American Birth Control League and was a director of the U.S. section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Together they worked with the American Friends Service Committee, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The house was used as a safe meeting place for other activists, including Jane AddamsJames FarmerGeorge Washington Carver, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 2015, the house was given to the community of Rose Valley and is now in the process of being converted into a museum that will feature the arts and crafts of the region, and on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, the Lodge held it’s first drawing workshop in the studios that were originally built for the Stephens. Studios that haven’t seen artists put pencil to paper in well over a hundred years.

Thunderbird Lodge, Robert BohneRobert Bohne, Carol, charcoal and white pastel on tan paper. 12 x 9 from the first Thunderbird Lodge drawing session.

So here’s a tip of the hat to the volunteers at the Thunderbird Lodge for their hard work and for their vision of preserving the past and presenting the artists of the future.

Written and photographed by Robert Bohne

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Love

Alien Architect, Cohen AsherDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd Kelley

Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher

Equidistance: All Love All Praises Kunst Art Arte Exhibition

Love Joyous Celebration Inner Inter Connectivity Gentle Kindness Exhibition

at The Kugel Collaborative Art Gallery

Alien Architect, Cohen AsherDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd Kelley

Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher recalls, “it was or i was, capital I or lowercase i, posting and acting upon magical uninhibited kindness and inspiration peace love vibrations without feeling a need to read all the pages before getting to that point in the story, skipping a head, and skipping, bouncing bubbly as if solution or… na not exactly, just as if state of being, and not as to dominate or subordinate other states of being fore there is more to it and a plethora of realities, though this too is part of it, he thought to him self maybe…. which was when Doniel and I connected and the seeds that would later be this, my exhibition of making peace and harmony with rootedness revisited were planted and began to grow, though the seed that led to those seeds had already been seedlings fore shore.”

asher4Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd Kelly

asher3

“Before returning to Philly, Alien had been speaking intimately with Nereo Zamitiz of Colectivo la Pesera and Arturo Lopez on their radio show entitled El Vortice on SaberSinFin radio in Puebla Mexico  (http://www.sabersinfin.com/audios/119-el-vortice/14205-el-proyecto-de-alien-architect). Alien said to them, “soon, October 2nd, I come to Philly for a collective exhibition named Correspondencia or Corresponence in english, a touring exhibition that will travel through many countries… the participating artists met in hungary… one artist from Germany… one from Hungary, another from Chile living in Czech Republic … others from Mexico …” (check this DoN Brewer article for more info about Correspondencia ::http://www.donartnews.com/correspondencia/ )  …. At the same spot that is currently housing and showcasing this traveling Correspondence exhibition, Community Futures Lab on October 12th, Alien Architect / Cohen Asher / Devin A. Cohen performed a musical poetry words set at an incredible concert which also featured Curta, Wino Willy, John Morrison, Has-Lo, JPEG Mafia; it was a musical experimental progressive meta Rhythm and Poetry (RAP) show. Alien Architect performed with Lem Pidlaoan on drum set, Ras Aleph Judah on bass, and his bro on percussion. Alien/Cohen recalls moments after the fact, in a retrospect of mere moments, that the feeling of this performing experience on this night was a bit like a revisiting or a do over of an aspect of reality but then on second thought or from a different angle was simply simply a beautiful experience all its own in totality anew in which many of the congestions within Alien were expelled and evaporated into useful fueling energy sources as well as energies them selves and others.”

Alien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd Kelley

“The next day Alien awoke. Instead of the ‘normal’ Art opening way of presenting his solo exhibition at Kugel gallery, an exhibition which had actually been up for some time, maybe a month-ish, though it had more so been seen in extremely festive vibrant joyous celebratory magical inspirational mystical stellar private events and not through the channelings of some other folks and cats as well, whom Alien exuberantly enthralled ecstatically and excitedly wanted to also share it with;  he wanted to simply arrange visitations and kind meetings. Yes, prior to this exhibition had been huge festive vibrant gatherings, one of which Alien/Cohen had the pleasure and blessing to attend, and the many others Alien has only imagined with such smiling glee and fulfillment at the though of such a connectivity inner inter spirit joy…

And so on this Day, Thursday October 13th at Noon, Alien Architect at his exhibition met with Ruthie Schanbacher, an incredible experimental avant gard left field fabrics happening fashion artist whom also has a fantastic arts website with news and interviews, which we recommend you check out.  A few years ago, Alien was interviewed in Ruthie’s arts website:: this is the link to that interview

https://mandismag.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/cohen-asher-alien-architect-artist-musician-vocalist-writer-an-interview/ . The site, as you can see when you click on the link, is called Manufactured Dissent (like a play on the Noam Chomsky film Manufactured Consent, a film dealing with analysis on power structure, print and projection screen media like tv, language systems, and News and the channels it goes through before reaching an audience and the ways in which that effects its accuracy and what it perpetuates and who that perpetuation benefits and why and since when and so forth… ).  Anyways these are the stellar photos that Rutherford took of Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher and his vibration magnetism art works whilst at his peace love kindness exhibition of transcendence ::

Alien Arcitect, Cohen AsherDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd Kelley Alien Arcitect, Cohen AsherDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd KelleyAlien Arcitect, Cohen AsherDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher recalls “sometimes in the transcend of other-ness, what would have otherwise been associated with self-ness per haps, becomes alien or otherly, this experience and exhibition is very much about transcending that as well.”

Day 2: FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  October 14th ::

Alien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Ruthie Schanbacher

Before Alien and friends arrived, there had already been a gathering of children’s activities from 10-10:30 on site at the gallery exhibition, which made Alien smile at the thought that his paintings could be an aspect of the environment of such positive kind happenings.

Alien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Ruthie SchanbacherAlien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Floyd Kelley

Alien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Ruthie SchanbacherAlien Architect, Cohen AsherDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Ruthie Schanbacher

“Alien entered the space with that feeling pulsating through his being as he met some magical kin folks at 11am, which was a blessing. They experienced the exhibition and felt its vibration as well as the inner self and each other from their inner mostest to their outer aspects, as well as the non localized experiencial. Many of the pieces in this exhibition are retrospect and a recontexualizing of Alien’s Philadelphia collection of his works which he created in Philadelphia while time traveling and astral projecting, though a few of the pieces were newer and created in Hungary as well. (Alien also has a Mexican collection of his work as well, which exists n Mexico right now and bulk of it was created there, much of it at Liliput, he and Rebeca’s Gallery in Puebla). Alien’s work also exists in private collections in Paris (where Alien last year performed as featured poet at three incredible stellar poetry event happenings, He also created art works, paintings while there), in Hungary, California, New York, Philadelphia, London. He has exhibited his art which he exudes and cries sweats and bleeds out form his ARTeries lots in many different spaces in Mexico, across realities in Philadelphia, and at the beginning of this year in Spain and Japan now too. In fact, Alien Architect’s latest droney dramatic poetico musical poetry record is titled Arteria, which means Artery in Spanish. This is a link to Arteria on SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/cohen-asher/sets/alien-architect-arteria

Feel free to Purchase Arteria or any other Alien Architect Album on his band camp at:

https://alienarchitect.bandcamp.com/

Ok, Flashback a little, when Alien had first set up this exhibition, was when he had returned with his love and artistic cohort companion, contemporary artist gothic metal head and photographer of culture and music and art for magazines and the avant gard, Rebeca Martell. Well, she had to head to Mexico to work on billions trillions of projects; Alien. still in Philly for a little, wrote to Doniel-Reuvana Leah Grodnitzky, and in a magic moment Doniel came by serendipitously, as they had been speaking of this for some time now though in different countries and physically at distances (equidistance)::: now this was the moment of fruition. Doniel came by. Alien felt the divine mystical intuition and began feeling and percieving and loaded Doniel’s car with his art works and brought the pieces over and hung them by means of flow and acceptance of the divine moment and existence that seems to be part of Alien’s process (including the transcendence of the pedestaling of such an idea too, but also the acceptance of all, including that and all all). Once they arrived at Kugel Gallery with Devin Alien’s art, Doniel stepped out for a moment to take care of some other things; when he returned Alien was just about finished placing his pieces upon the walls, Doniel began to shoot a few photos and each shot had such an precision and beauty to it, anecdotal and in that moment joyously.”

These are the photos that Doniel shot on that day of the beginning of this experiential inner inter connectivity shed layers exhibition:

Alien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Doniel Reuvena Leah GrodnitzkyAlien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Doniel Reuvena Leah GrodnitzkyAlien Architect, Cohen Asher, The Kugle CollaborativeDevin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher at Kugel Collecive Gallery FOTO by Doniel Reuvena Leah Grodnitzky

Ok, back to the present story, DoN Brewer arrived at 3PM, they were thrilled to see each other, Alien felt encouraged and accepted to be excited and kind and thrilled and friendly, Don is great spirit soul. They knew each other prior to this return from Mexico, however they had been sparking and energizing especially now;  At the Plastic Club’s Photographic Society Exhibition of which Don was a part of, and then moments later at Correspondencia, both October 2nd (which is still on display now). This is Don’s Article about Corespondencia:   http://www.donartnews.com/correspondencia/

And so, In moments, just after DoN and Cohen quite cathartically candidly and openly conversed “on the level,”  DoN shot a SUPER COOL  live VIDEO OF COHEN ASHER / ALIEN ARCHITECT PERFORMING A mINI EXCERPT FROM “ALL PRAISES” as well, this version a bit more calmly spoken on the low key, and as if calm descriptor of the wandering experience in relation to the inner inter of the exhibition, as well as the umbrella concept overarching generality specificity it alludes and tributes and attributes to.

This is that video:

https://www.facebook.com/DoNArTNeWs/videos/1274031232672272/?pnref=story

——We’ve also found this, which has surfaced, it is WHAT appears to be A REHEARSAL  ACOUSTIC PRIVATE PERFORMANCE TESTING ENERGY LEVELS FOR ALIEN ARCHITECT SONG “ALL PRAISES” and super awesome ! Seems it is live from Alien Architect’s / Cohen Asher‘s Philadelphia artist studio.

https://www.facebook.com/asher.cohen.908/videos/10208234199626810/?pnref=story

—– SOON COHEN‘S BOOK IS COMING PRINTY PRINTY, WHICH INCLUDES ‘ALL PRAISES’ AS WELL  AS COHEN‘S other WRITINGS from 2001 till 2016 from all his records as well as his recent poems of the past few years in this next period (etc). RUMOURS OF This book’s TITLE HAVE BEEN CIRCULATING, WITH THE MOST PREVALANT CONJECTURE BEING THAT IT SHALL BE TITLED “REMNANTS.”  RUMOURS OF A POSSIBLE COMPANION MUSICAL RECORD TO ACCOMPANY THE BOOK HAVE BEEN SURFACING AS WELL, AFTER IT SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN ALLUDED to OR IMPLIED IN ALIEN ARCHITECT’S RECENT RADIO INTERVIEW ON EL VORTICE RADIO ON SABERSINFIN (This was Alien’s second appearance on the show, the same one spoken of at the beginning of this article).

Alien Architect 2016 Saber SinFin Interview: http://www.sabersinfin.com/audios/119-el-vortice/14205-el-proyecto-de-alien-architect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prdvvlD0Wno

Soon Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher shall venture off into the distance to Mexico with his love. As for Alien, always more to say and details to articulate, but he shall return’th from the abyss one day. Feel free to follow the rabbit whole that is his Art and his website and that of links leading to links leading to interviews to articles to videos to subtext to intertextuality in his art works (poetry, art, music, theater) and the stories both linear and nonlinear and more info, adventures, wanderings, constructs, deconstructs, journeys, quests, and so forth. We will end off with three brief quotes from Alien Architect / Cohen Asher / Devin Asher Cohen, himself; excerpts from his upcoming book, these are also to a degree statements of art from perspective that of internal feeling as consciousness as lens from which as art and thoughts that go beyond language but also poetry as an internal experience which speaks to the tunneling and path and way and process of Cohen‘s Peace Love Joyous Celebration Inner Inter Connectivity solo Exhibition at Kugel Gallery:

triviality

trivia

clever

wit

ends

silence

starts

direct connection

unmediated

most immediate experiential

an infinity of self contained unity         peripheral expanse

tabula rasa

baggage and weight up lifted gravitational pulled

microscopic vibrations live

as we fall

in

love

immediate rooted extension overarching omni is

an infinity of self contained unity         peripheral expanse

tabula rasa

filled full emptiness

empty fullness

fulfilled

triviality

trivia

clever

wit

ends

silence

starts

direct connection

unmediated

immediate experiential

gazing outward

—— Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher, March 15, 2016 ——

————————————————————————

”     sounds massing multi layered over under over under; micro, macro, bio, geo, textural cement: rocky, blue, red, yellow, maze – path – all at once –

overlap detail, fields surrounded by lines, lines filled in with patterns; stacked: developed multi mixed media rates of growth; textural all at once, soundly massing pictorially.

minimalism, maximalism, gestalt, mere, open ended indefinite into fixed though non specific to beholder’s eyes witnessing; inner inter-active, is.

process; result as residual of experiential   

—— Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher, 2016 ——


one cannot

act real

one cannot

behave real

but one

can feel real

one can

imply real

one can

imply

feeling real

through acting and behaving

——Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher, 2006 ——


Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher websites (follow the rabbit whole, portaling):

http://alienarch.wixsite.com/arteria

https://www.facebook.com/alienarchitect/?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/alienarchitect

https://soundcloud.com/cohen-asher/sets/alien-architect-arteria

http://alienarchitectcohenasher.tumblr.com/

Liliput websites:

http://liliputxperimental.wixsite.com/liliput

https://www.facebook.com/liliput.gallery/

https://twitter.com/LiliputGallery

Rebeca Martell: http://rebecamartell.wixsite.com/doom

Ruthie Schanbacher’s Manufacured Dissenthttps://mandismag.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/cohen-asher-alien-architect-artist-musician-vocalist-writer-an-interview/

https://www.facebook.com/Manufactured-Dissent-52989847157/?fref=ts

Community Futures Lab: https://www.facebook.com/communityfutureslab/?fref=ts

DoNArTNeWs:

http://www.donartnews.com/correspondencia/

Thank you to Devin Asher Cohen = Alien Architect = Cohen Asher for the content of this post.

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Innovation

Keith & Kathy Sachs, Howard HodgkinHoward Hogkin, Portrait of Keith and Kathy Sachs, 1988 – 1991, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Penn Announces Sachs Program for Arts Innovation

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price have announced the creation of the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation.

Founded with a commitment of $15 million from alumni Keith L. Sachs and Katherine Sachs, this transformative gift – the largest gift ever made across the arts at Penn – will establish the Sachs Arts Innovation Hub and closely link arts education to the Penn Compact 2020’s goal of advancing innovation across the University.

“Creativity is the very soul of innovation, and what is art but creativity made manifest?” Gutmann said. “Keith and Kathy are among the undisputed patron saints of the arts at Penn, and their latest extraordinary generosity will transform how we understand, teach and break new ground in the arts. The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation promises to empower a new wave of artistic and ingenious creation at Penn.”

The new Sachs Arts Innovation Hub, to be located in the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, will aim to visibly energize the arts and arts innovation at Penn. It will integrate research, teaching and practice, working collaboratively with faculty, students, arts and culture leaders and the Provost’s Arts Advisory Council, while building on the highly successful initiatives of the three-year Art and Culture Initiative sponsored by the provost and the School of Arts & Sciences.

“This tremendous gift comes at an especially exciting time for the arts at Penn,” Price said. “It allows us to integrate and amplify the wide range of activity already underway in our world-leading arts institutions and academic departments – and in a city bursting with unrivaled arts opportunities – creating a whole decidedly greater than the sum of its parts. The longtime leadership of Keith and Kathy Sachs across the ICA, Penn Design and the School of Arts & Sciences has set the stage for this new era, and we are all indebted to their generosity and vision.”

Led by an executive director, to be appointed through a national search, the Sachs Program will expand sustainable curricular innovation in the arts across the University, including grants to develop courses, workshops, master classes and other learning opportunities; encourage hands-on artistic production and public art spaces; foster cross-campus collaborations, especially between arts centers and academic programs; appoint artists in residence and other new faculty members; and build community and new audiences for the arts at Penn.

The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation culminates more than a decade of support for the arts at Penn from Keith and Katherine Sachs. These major gifts, which have transformed the landscape of arts education on campus, include the Sachs Guest Curator Program at the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Sachs Professorship in Contemporary Art in the Department of History of Art in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Fine Arts Program Fund and Visiting Professorship in the Department of Fine Arts in the School of Design. The Sachs’ vision has been to expand arts programs across the University by integrating the ICA, the Department of Fine Arts and the Department of History of Art and bringing outstanding artists to teach on campus.

“We believe strongly that the arts are essential to the core mission of education,” Keith Sachs said. “The very best students seek out a university with a vital arts program. At the same time, the arts are central to advancing key Penn values, such as diversity, innovation and integrating knowledge.”

“We are especially pleased,” Katherine Sachs said, “that our gifts to the arts create synergies and new ideas across campus. These connections foster the creativity and imagination that our students need to become the leaders of an ever-changing world.”

Keith Sachs is former CEO of Saxco International, member and former chair of the School of Design Board of Overseers and a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is a longtime leader of the Class of 1967 Gift Committee, which he is chairing during its 50th-reunion year. Katherine Sachs, an adjunct curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for many years, is an emeritus member of the University Board of Trustees, a member of the University’s Design Review Committee and a member of the ICA Board of Overseers, which she formerly chaired.

Thank you to Penn News Service for the content of this post.

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How

How Not To Be A Starving Artist, Amy VoloshinAmy Voloshin 

Art center presents “How Not to be a Starving Artist”

a panel discussion featuring Kathy Davis, Amy Voloshin, Sarah Van Aken, and Lisa and Rob Papp

1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Horsham Township Library

HORSHAM, Pa. — She may be a successful artist now, having built a multi-million- dollar business around her expressive watercolor painting and inspirational messages. But like many who dream of a creatively fulfilling career, Kathy Davis was once deterred by the myth of the “starving artist.”

“The whole starving artist thing is something we’ve all heard. It kind of puts the fear in people,” says Davis, CEO and chief visionary officer of Kathy Davis Studios, one of the top social expression and lifestyle brands in the country.

The former art teacher wants to help dispel that fear in others considering or struggling with a career in the arts. On Oct. 29, she’ll be part of the panel discussion “How Not to be a Starving Artist,” held at the Horsham Township Library.

The special event, sponsored by the Scatter Joy Center for the Arts, which Davis founded in 2015, will explore the pros and cons of starting your own business versus freelancing or working in-house, as well as offer insights and suggestions for licensing your work and building a brand.

How Not To Be A Starving Artist, Kathy DavisKathy Davis

Davis has invited a diverse gathering of colleagues to join her: fine artist and illustrator Robert Papp; Amy Voloshin, founder and creative director of textile design studio Printfresh; Sarah Van Aken, president of Kathy Davis Studios and founder of fashion brand SA VA; and author and illustrator Lisa Papp.

“We’ve covered a wide variety of industries and combined different perspectives so that anybody could get something out of this, whether they want to be a musician, a writer, a photographer…

“There are so many new fields in the arts, with technology-based companies and social media and computerized design in addition to some of the more traditional mediums. People should really explore and expose themselves to as wide a variety as possible out there before they try to zero in and make a decision.”

Davis herself was 35 before she even considered striking out on her own as an artist. Although she always loved art, she lacked the confidence to pursue it and spent her early adult years teaching sixth grade and then high school art in her native Horsham after she received her master’s degree in art education.

“It was a common conception at the time that being an artist was not a safe career,” she says.

How Not To Be A Starving Artist, Sarah Van AkenSarah Van Aken

Following a divorce, Davis began designing the greeting cards that would launch her career as an artist from a drawing table in the corner of her bedroom, while her children napped. Those cards, with their expressive florals, whimsical designs and heartfelt messaging, have since touched millions.

How Not To Be A Starving Artist, Lisa PappLisa Papp

But the path to success didn’t come easily — and hasn’t for most on the panel. Quakertown’s Lisa Papp, whose illustrated children’s books include “One for All: A Pennsylvania Number Book (America by the Numbers)” and, most recently, “Madeline Finn and the Library Dog,” says no matter her level of achievement, her artistic life remains fueled by faith.

“Faith that the next job will come, that I’ll feel creative when I have to create the next sketch. Faith that I’ll find some part of me to share with the world. Faith that this little job will lead to a big job,” she says. “An artist’s life is a circle of faith, trust, action. You can makea very nice living from art if you are dedicated and professional.”

Even in moments of failure, there are lessons to be learned. Van Aken, a Reading native and Philadelphia resident, became one of the city’s hottest young entrepreneurs when she launched her made-in- Philadelphia fashion brand SA VA in 2009. Its clothing was all produced with varying levels of sustainability, whether it was organic, locally made, fair trade or recycled. Then, in 2013, after becoming a celebrated model for contemporary sustainable enterprise, she shuttered her business amid struggles to raise capital for its wholesale division and unpalatable investor demands.

Today, she considers her uncommonly transparent exit among her greatest accomplishments. “It could have been a disastrous — financially, professionally, personally — situation but each step of the way, I honored the people and process and the ending was even better than the beginning,” she says. “When I started my fashion business, I wanted to be great. I used to identify my greatness by achieving the ultimate in success — positive reviews in the best fashion magazines, a high valuation for my business… As I grew with my business, I saw that greatness is reached by always acting with integrity. Failure helps you find your greatness.”

Such insights are what Davis hopes aspiring artists especially will find valuable at this month’s event.

“You have to believe in yourself and your talent. But you also have to be flexible and adapt to what the market needs,” she says. “I was a starving artist until I found the right way to go about it.”

How Not To Be A Starving Artist, Robert PappRobert Papp

Scatter Joy Center for the Arts presents “How Not to be a Starving Artist

FEATURING: Kathy Davis of Kathy Davis Studios; Sarah Van Aken of Kathy Davis Studios and SA VA fashions; Amy Voloshin of Printfresh; author and illustrator Lisa Papp; and fine artist and illustrator Robert Papp

WHEN:   Saturday, October 29, from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Horsham Township Library, 435 Babylon Road, Horsham, Pa. 19044

ADMISSION: $25; high school and college students, $10 (proceeds will go to donate art supplies to children in need)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 215-672- 3140; www.scatterjoyarts.org

Thank you to Naila Francis for the content of this post.

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