Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011 – DoNArTNeWs @ Philadelphia Museum of Art
Leave a reply
Category Archives: Philadelphia Photographers
Social Media and the Art of Being an Artist
DoN has been bustling around the studio getting ready for POST, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011. While painting walls, rearranging furniture and making new works, DoN has been absorbed in implementing suggestions made by Todd Hestand @ The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy. DoN is improving his social networking by having DoNArTNeWs art blog synergize with the various communications options available like FaceBook (DoNArTNeWs – DoN Brewer Art Review), YouTube (DoNArTNeWs – DoNBrewerMultimedia) and Twitter (@DoNNieBeat58). By simply consolidating the information on DoN‘s homepage, DoNBrewerMultimedia, visitors now see all the options to connect with DoNArTNeWs and DoN‘s art work. writing, information, promotions and videos in one place.
The DoNArTNeWs FaceBook fan page has been a particular challenge with interesting rewards. When DoN posts a blog on DoNArTNeWs or Philly.SideArts, part of the process is “advertising” the story on Facebook, promoting the story on as many relevant art “fan pages” and “group pages” as possible. The DoNArTNeWs fan page automatically posts a tweet on Twitter and already DoN is trending with new followers. DoN has a major photography show at the Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art, the FaceBook events feature is an easy way to contact all your “friends” and estimate how many people will actually show up at the event. Here’s the rub, you may have to contact each page and person individually to “like” your page, or reciprocate your link, or comment on a post. DoN asked Todd Hestand how much time he spends per day promoting Philly.SideArts on social networks, “About two hours.”
Video will be a big part of future DoNArTNeWs reports making YouTube integral to the whole. With HD quality video built into most digital cameras and smart phones, it makes sense to take a little time to make a movie, especially now that iMovie is so easy. DoN has a cache of unseen footage that has been languishing since last Summer when he had to disassemble his video suite due to unforeseen forces. But with POST forcing a studio clean-up, soon some major stories will include video clips as well as photographs and reviews.
August turned out to be a busy, creative time for DoN, making new work, participating in art shows, published in two art books, Da Vinci Art Alliance Then and Now: 1931 – 2011 (available on Amazon.com) and 175 Years of Reflection, Laurel Hill Cemetery 1836 – 2011 (available in the Laurel Hill Cemetery gift shop, really, there’s a gift shop), well received articles at the Philly.SideArts blog and a record number of page views on DoNArTNeWs. It is such an honor to be included in two books documenting art history in Philly and to be recognized as “the press” by so many galleries and artists. Thank you so much to all the fans of DoNArTNeWs, the support and feedback inspires DoN to keep it up. Look for new and improved DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts stories and if you’re on FaceBook please “like” the fan pages of the organizations you support, these pages are good resources for what’s happening on the art scene in Philly and opportunities for you to participate in our burgeoning creative economy.
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011 – the Trailer
Members’ Choice @ The Plastic Club
Bonnie MacAllister, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club. Bonnie MacAllister‘s tiny mixed media, Revery, is subtle yet slyly glamorous with gold dust illuminating the feminine figure, the piece softy glowing in it’s own light. Bonnie’s blog is very cool describing all the wonderful projects she’s working on; she’s a world traveler, grant winner and educator with a fine eye, thoughtful manner and socially conscious personality – a DoN must read! Coming soon – Bonnie MacAllister, The Dressing Room, Green Light Arts, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe @ The Plastic Club, 247 S. Camac Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Show runs Sept. 3*, 4, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 17, 7 p.m. *followed by artist reception
Here is the link to tickets:
http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2011/07/play-dressing-room_31.html
This is the link to the press release:http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2011/07/play-dressing-room.html
BONNIE MacALLISTER: Play: The Dressing Room
Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club. Patricia Wilson-Schmid, Celebration, acrylic, Laura Pritchard, The Donors, batik on silk, Karen Frank, Strongman and Ballerina, mixed media, Theodore Amick, Jibber Jabber, watercolor and Bob Jackson, Mrs. Wildfowl and Tea, junk and stuff.
Sy Hakim, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club. Sy Hakim’s large landscape painting, Formations – Daylight, describes a beautiful yet challenging world, the small figure seems huddled against the power of the landscape, the outcroppings hang high above his head, a daunting climb but a great view from the top.
Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club: Lois Schlachter, Guarding the Kingdom, giclee and Sixty, giclee, DoN Brewer, Iris of the Storm and Amy, Amy, Amy, digital photographs, archival ink prints and Mervyn Klein, Karate, collage. Lois and DoN have been friends for years and Mervyn & DoN had a show together in the Downstairs Gallery earlier this year; the tones of this grouping are balanced and vibrant, there are tableau’s throughout the gallery where works speak to each other through color, technique and theme. DoN priced his work at $4.3 trillion and $3.2 trillion respectively hoping to save the economy but the guide says NFS, oh well.
Bill Myers @ The Plastic Club.
Bill Myers photography is confounding yet simple; his Photoshop collages fool the eye when the artist mashes his own photography with found images, morphing the pictures into something different yet familiar. Scary Scenario, photo collage, looks authentic with deep blacks and dark shadows but look closer and the foreground figure becomes impossible, the girl in the phone booth has two umbrellas, huh? – Bill Myers is good at that, that “huh?” moment.
Sy Hakim, The Cave-Night, oil, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.
An art patroness becomes part of the art in the Shiekman Studio upstairs at the Plastic Club, her Summer dress extending the scene magically onto her person. The art flanking Hakim’s painting is by Gail Zelikovsky, Rock Garden, painted silk and Rock Garden with Waterfall, painted silk.
Sy Hakim, The Cave-Night, oil, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.
Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler @ The Plastic Club‘s Member’s Choice Art Show. Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler‘s action paintings are not just fast in painting style like an abstract expressionist but the quickly painted figures are always moving, dancing, prancing – Ringa-Ringa-Reia, gouache & charcoal, is a joyful work of art.
Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club.
Ted Gutswa, Members’ Choice Art Show @ The Plastic Club. Ted Gutswa‘s charcoal drawings, Spring Mist & Sweeping Dream, explains all about what it means to be a member of the Plastic Club, simple materials, uninhibited application and beautiful presentation, raising the combined whole to a level higher than it’s minimalist components. The Member’s Choice show at the Plastic Club represents each artist’s best work, the sum of it’s parts is elevated even more by the quality, style and variety of the work in proximity. Downstairs Gallery at the Plastic Club is a lovely space featuring Kim Martin. Karl Olsen, Marion Loippo and Jane Wilkie; DoN will post some images and comments soon.
Photos by DoN.
DoN ArT NeWs: The Plastic Club, Hopkins House Gallery & Art Ability
Amy, Amy, Amy, DoN Brewer @ The Plastic Club
Hello my Little DoNsters, DoN is always surprised and amazed when he is invited to participate in an art event, the excitement and preparation is engrossing and involving attempting to produce objects worthy of being called art. The Plastic Club always strikes a creative chord for DoN, with the upcoming Member’s Choice show for August creating an opportunity to show new work in a welcoming, inclusive group show of like-minded artists. DoN submitted two new pieces, Iris of the Storm, a shot of the remnants of the tragic Mid-West tornadoes passing over Philadelphia that gave us green sunlight and scarey scudding clouds and Amy, Amy Amy, an abstract landscape photograph of a dim light glowing against a stuccoed wall layered with attempts to cover up graffiti tags. DoN listened to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black back to back on his iPod for months, the music incorporating all his favorite genres mashed together into fabulous pop, her passing a sad reminder to live for today.
Heliotrope, DoN Brewer @ Hopkins House Gallery.
DoN received an awesome invitation to exhibit at the prestigious Hopkins House Gallery on the beautiful Cooper River in Camden NJ. DoN got the message from director Bruce Garrity through a Facebook instant message, he will be showing Abstract Landscape Photographs in an upstairs room in the historic space. One of DoN‘s first art shows (many moons ago) was at Hopkins House; to be able to curate his own space in a gallery is DoN‘s dream come true. The show opens Saturday, August 13th, DoN will post reception info soon.
The same day DoN received the Hopkins House confirmation he received this email, “Dear artist, If you are receiving this email, congratulations you have had one, or more, pieces of artwork accepted into Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospitals 2011 Art Ability exhibition. The decisions were extremely difficult this year as the show has grown immensely from year to year. We had more than 300 artists send over 1,330 submissions! We have narrowed that down to the best of the best, and only accepted approx. 350 submissions from nearly 200 artists.
A formal acceptance package (noting which pieces were chosen) will arriving at your home via the U.S Post Office in the next week. The package will include all required forms, dates, information that you will need in preparation for the exhibit opening Nov. 5th. Thank you for sharing your work with us and for participating in our exhibit. Your participation makes this exhibit the largest of its kind in the nation.
Sincerely,
Heather
——————————
Heather Zoumas-Lubeski
Director, Community Outreach & Special Events
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital – Main Line Health
414 Paoli Pike
Malvern, PA 19355
(484) 596-5607 NEW
www.brynmawrrehab.org/
Cool, huh? Although, this year’s acceptance into the final cut of the prestigious international art event is bitter sweet since best friend Arnie Segal has recently transmogrified into a light being. Arnie’s magical sculptures and his endearing personality will be sorely missed at this year’s party. Arnie Segal introduced DoN into the world of art opportunities for disabled people including the fabulous Art Ability show, Very Special Artists @ Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and ArtFirst @ Princeton University Medical Center. DoN urges you to support the tremendous effort the team at Bryn Mawr Rehab puts into this expansive exhibit of art created by people facing personal challenges finding happiness, solace and a voice through the making of art.
light being (Lorraine & Charles), DoN Brewer @ Art Ability this Fall, 2011. This image is an update to my original post, DoN received the info today and this is the image the jury choose; DoN is very happy from an artistic standpoint and emotionally because Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Charles loved DoN unconditionally (8/11/11).
Art by DoN.