VIVA LE ARTE!

Friends:

We stand here today at a time when the quality of art on our walls is at its lowest.

We have been convinced our walls cannot be adorned with good art by original artists. We have been led to believe original art is only the hobby of the rich and powerful. We have been forced to settle for the likes of Thomas Kinkade and the ubiquitous liquor bottle prints of Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Do we really want THIS hanging on our walls?

NO!

Do we want our walls to be homages to our love of wine?

NO!

IT'S TIME FOR A REVOLUTION!

I refuse to accept these ideals anymore, and I ask you today to join me and my co-conspirator Karen Niemeier, as we take back our walls from the oppression of the Declasse!

Join us Wednesday, June 22 at DiverseWorks, the ground zero of great art appreciation in Houston for Luck of the Draw X: REVOLUTION! #LOTDX

Art will be made available to dedicated rebels who join the cause for the low cost of $125. As your dedicated leaders, Karen and I will carefully choose each of you to choose a new piece of art for your walls. Of course, you will need to throw (down) a couple of Molotov Cocktails before you can be chosen for this great honor.

Our walls have languished long enough. The time is NOW to adorn them with REAL art by REAL artists!

The Art REVOLUTION will be Diversified!

VIVA LE ARTE!

Michael Coppens
Co-Chair, Luck of the Draw X! Revolution!

Add Art To Your Life

Original artworks are the products of brilliant and focused minds and are powerful markers of time and space.

So… if you haven't started already, you're going to want to begin adding art to your life.

A good way to start collecting art is by spending about the same amount you would on a nice dinner. That way, you can always fall back on the fact that while the meal would be gone, the artwork is yours to keep and enjoy.

Once you've done this a few times, you'll discover your own reasons for continuing to acquire and collect art. Your motives will evolve and your tastes will be refined through experience and education while a personal story emerges based on the decisions you make.

You'll also see how the artwork you own becomes a part of your daily routine and adds to your life in unexpected ways. As you make your coffee in the morning, you will spend a minute or so with that painting, it's active brushwork complementing the caffeine. While you get dressed, that carefully constructed drawing will mimic the care with which you pair a shirt with your pants. As you check the time and grab your keys, that lovingly crafted work on paper will see you out the door to face the day's challenges.

Truth is that most commercial galleries don't offer too many original works of art for the price of a dinner, but wait… wait for it...

Come to the DiverseWorks' Luck of the Draw Auction! For around $100, you'll not only go home with an original artwork, but you'll be supporting Houston's vibrant art scene and also enjoy a great party. See you there!

Bryan Miller, Bryan Miller Gallery

Luck of the Draw X! Revolution! Host Committee

p.s. Art chance tickets are $100 until June 6. After that date, the price goes up to $125.


Above image is artwork by Tierney Malone. This piece will be part of the Luck of the Draw X! Revolution! Blind Auction.

It is Luck of the Draw

OUR LUCK OF THE DRAW ART COLLECTION

I’m a somewhat lucky girl married to a very lucky guy. So lucky is my guy, that over the years we have developed a stellar collection of art straight from the Luck of the Draw summer auction at DiverseWorks. I’m lucky to be the public relations consultant for DiverseWorks, so husband Tommy is the art scout and stalker. I work the event. He scores the art.

Here are the artful results:

Early on, somehow this beautiful Christopher French piece was left on the gallery wall when the auctioneer randomly called our number. It lives in our family room and is appreciated daily.

Tommy got crazy lucky one year and scored two works by our good friend David McGee.

Both of these elegant pencil drawings, acquired in different years, balance each other on separate walls in the same room. I love them both.

Last year I went BIG. I saw this Ryan Geiger work in the Blind Auction and had to bid on it. This time I got lucky. I look at this beautiful painting every morning as I sip my coffee.

So when I look around my house I remember the crazy parties, the tense atmosphere and the joy of securing a piece of art that you were desperately hoping no one else got before you.

It is the Luck of the Draw – random, frustrating and fun.

See you at DiverseWorks on June 22, 6:30 p.m. But please leave Tommy alone – he’s got work to do – for us.

-Susan Schmaeling

Art works from top to bottom:

Top-Christopher French

Middle-David McGee

Bottom-Ryan Geiger

A trip down memory lane

To say DiverseWorks is busy would be an understatement. We are gearing up an action-packed weekend with This Is Displacement, Thank-You Bar, Blackfish and Low Lives. But before all that happens, DiverseWorks would like to take you down memory lane with some highlights from our Gala!

The 2011 Gala was themed Retail Therapy and took place in the food court of the Shops at Houston Center (That’s right a party in a mall!) on Saturday, April 2. Everyone had a great time as the bid on awesome packages, ate wonderful food, drank quenching libations and was entertained by Jane Weiner and Hope Stone’s performance of The Cooking Show and the band Thunderpants.

Just how much fun was it…check out these videos!

DW would like to say thanks to all our underwriters, supporters, vendors, patrons and volunteers who helps us have a successful and fun Gala!

And we hope to see you at our next fundraiser: Luck of the Draw X: Revolution!

--Tracey

This is Displacement: Where it began...

Emily and I met as co-workers at a very quaint and charming Native-owned, independent bookstore in Minneapolis called Birchbark Books. We quickly became friends and took an interest in each other's work. Back in 2009, she told me about her dance performance, The Thank-you Bar and her idea to put together an art exhibit as a companion piece to her performance's premiere at Out North Contemporary Art House of Anchorage in October 2009. We did fundraising that spring, but since we had such a limited amount of time to develop the exhibit and to look for funds, the original THIS IS DISPLACEMENT reflected that. It was quite small, but it had a big impact. The audience appreciated the experience of getting to view an art exhibit before being led into a theater to watch the performance. Most people seemed genuinely interested, some people said that they've never seen anything like it, and one person even said that it was the greatest art exhibit he had ever seen. At some point, other venues that were presenting The Thank-you Bar also became interested in the exhibit. All the encouragement and enthusiasm seemed to be prompting us to put the show on the road. Of course, that is what we decided to do, but first we thought is was important to expand the exhibit. We did another call for artists, and we also added a film program. At those venues that have the capacity, we are able to show THIS IS DISPLACEMENT as originally intended: in conjunction with The Thank-you Bar. In addition, we found places to show the exhibit independently.

At some point throughout this process, we became enthralled with the idea of a THIS IS DISPLACEMENT exhibit catalog. We really felt that it was important to have some sort of lasting memento of this amazing exhibit, not only for our own satisfaction, but for the benefit of those who never got to see the exhibit or for those people who love the exhibit so much that they'd like to be able to see it any time they want. Aside from the catalog's role to document and reflect upon the exhibit, the catalog has an additional element: it will also have a multi-lingual text as next to most artists' statements, there will be a translation into their Native languages. By doing so, we are encouraging the use of these languages and their revitalization. We are also redressing the effects of colonization, which displaced many Native American peoples from their cultures and languages. We are currently in the process of creating a color catalog that will include images of the artwork, film stills, a statement from each artist, and additional writing, which will be released in June 2011. Please visit us at our websites to learn more www.catalystdance.com and www.carolynleeanderson.com.

Carolyn Lee Anderson

Co-curator of THIS IS DISPLACEMENT

(above pic is Carolyn Lee

RETAIL THERAPY: Silent Auction

On Tuesday, I met up with our fabulous Gala Silent Auction chairs Ana Abud and Stephen Hill to get the scoop on this year's silent auction. We have some fantastic items that could be yours if you place the highest bid...

Go local with Chef Monica Pope Gift Certificate. Four guests come to the Saturday morning Midtown Farmers Market at T'Afia, have breakfast with Chef Monica Pope, attend Monica's Green Plum Cooking School class and receive some of the Green Plum Kitchen prepared goods.

A chance to be a star in 002 Houston Magazine

Gift Certificates to Abejas Boutique, Bar Annie, Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar, Dolce Vita Day Spa, Michael Kemper Hair Salon and Day Spa and many more...

Pee Wee Herman Doll

Trip on a fabulous vacation

Guitar autographed by Madonna

and maybe or maybe not this...



Don't want to miss the silent auction? You still have time to get your table and/or tickets to the 2011 DiverseWorks Gala: RETAIL THERAPY on Saturday, April 2! For information and tickets, click HERE.

-Shawna

Shop 'Til You Drop for Art!

Calling all artists! We want YOU to create an artwork to be exhibited on one of the Underwriter/Sponsor tables expressing the theme for this year’s gala Retail Therapy. You can do so much with a theme like this one with all the variety of shops and stores in the mall (think shop ‘til you drop). Even if sculpture isn’t your usual medium, this is your chance to really let yourself go creatively to create a fun, whimsical or zany piece of art!

The only constraint is that your piece be no wider than 10 inches. There is no constraint on height. Artists who create and donate a table piece will receive two discounted tickets to the event.

If you are interested in donating a piece, please contact Lan Norwood at lannorwood@yahoo.com or (832) 867-1726.

Exclusive Pop-Out Pendant coming to DW

Hello, my name is Tracey and I'm addicted to jewelry.

Ask anyone here at the DiverseWorks office and they'll tell you I love jewelry. Now maybe not on the same level as Imelda Marcos loves shoes, but it's pretty close. I have tons of necklaces, rings, earrings, etc. And I'm always browsing the Web for more. So when the opportunity arose to work with Texas jewelry designer Melissa Borrell, I jumped at the chance to work with her on creating something awesome for DiverseWorks Artspace. Behold the Pop-Out Jewelry Collection exclusive DiverseWorks pendant! (See above.)

The pendant was inspired by the DW logo and is available in black, red and stainless steel; and will retail for $30, with all the proceeds benefiting DiverseWorks.

This is an exclusive item created by Borrell in collaboration with DW and there will be a limited supply of pendants available at DiverseWorks and www.diverseworks.org very soon.

In fact, you are looking at the first buyer of the pendant. (Now just which color do I want? Or should I just buy one of each!) For more information just contact me (tracey@diverseworks.org).

Join us as we honor 2011 TIF Grantees

It's finally here! The Idea Fund reception honoring the latest recipients will be held this Wednesday at The Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin St., 77004) from 6:30-8:30p.m. There will be complimentary food and drinks provided by Cabo and Real Ale Brewing Co.

So come by Wednesday night to meet the newest grantees and enjoy free appetizers and beer!

--Tracey

Industry Night

Tomorrow night kicks off the first ever Industry Night at DiverseWorks!

Dear Art Community and for those people who love all things arty. This night is just for you. We are inviting artists from all disciplines and those who work in the arts to stop by and enjoy a tasty drink at our happy hour from 6-8pm. Bring your business card and receive exclusive drink specials for one night only (or at least until our next Happy Hour on May 17). Plus, if you are a DiverseWorks member you can enjoy those perks too!

The idea behind Industry Night...
The idea came about as a way to show our appreciation for the arts community in Houston. We live in a spectacular city full of arts and culture and what better way to give back then to host a happy hour just for you! Our hope is that it will be a chance for artists/ art groups to meet one another, an opportunity to plant the seeds for potential collaborations, and a chance to catch up with old friends.

The Extras...
Plus, our good friend Graham Gaskill will be DJing, Oh My! Pocket Pies! Food Truck will be here and Saint Arnold Brewing Company & Whole Foods are supplying the drinks!

Thanks to CultureMap and KUHF (88.7FM) for their support.

-Shawna

Thomas Kinkade: A Primer

It is estimated that one in twenty American homes contains a product adorned with an image by Thomas Kinkade. If that’s true then Kinkade, the self-professed Painter of Light, is onto something. No matter what you think about the work, there are LOTS and LOTS of people who gravitate towards Kinkade’s highly romanticized, gauzy depictions of serene landscapes, country churches, quaint cottages, and NASCAR tracks and they've collectively spent more than 4 billion dollars scooping up Kinkade merchandise over the past two decades. It’s often said that taste in art is subjective. But this isn’t really about art. It’s about commerce. Kinkade operates completely outside of the arts ecology--eschewing galleries for franchised storefronts in malls, replacing retrospective exhibitions with programs on QVC and the Home Shopping Network. Such is the nature of Kinkade’s thoroughly modern marriage of creation and consumption.

DiverseWorks takes a look at this phenomenon with the help of Houston-based artist Patricia Hernandez. Parody of Light, which runs from January 14-February 26^th in the main gallery, dissects Kinkade’s corporate empire using humor and wit with a heaping helping of irreverence thrown in. Mimicking the display techniques used in Kinkade's "Signature Galleries" and recreating the suburban home environment of an imagined Kinkade collector, Hernandez sheds light on the strategies, methods and savvy use of marketing and mechanization that have propelled Kinkade to billionaire status and earned him the mantle of "America's most collected living artist."

-Diane Barber