DIY City Blog

Are you heading to Sheboygan, WI, Sunday? If so, you will want to check out the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. There you find “Celebration of Summer and Our Civil Liberties“. This free opening event will be from 10 to 4, June 22, 2008.

There will be two other exhibits this summer, each exploring artists’ views on exercising their civil rights. Artist Stephanie Liner will be displaying her sculptural dresses.

And if bring $5 and a bag of used clothing to swap, you can participate in the “Swap-O-Rama-Rama“. This sounds like a fun do-it-yourself (DIY) workshop. Not only will you be promoting a sustainable lifestyle, but you will learn to transform your old clothing into some new wearable fashions.

Other Events:
Artmaking Workshop 10 –4 - Free
Fashion Show 2 - Free
Iron Pour 10 – 2
Watch UW-Milwaukee and UW-Whitewater artists create the “sizzle.” Free
Then you design an iron tile. $7 ($5 member) per tile

And what’s great, if you can’t make it Sunday, you still have time to see another great DIY exhibit at the Arts Center. The DIY: Do it Yourself Series features eight DIYs in residence. The exhibition will go through September 23, 2008. And it includes a short preview of Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft, and Design. If you aren’t familiar with the soon-to-be-released film, check out artist and documentary filmmaker Faythe Levine’s blog.

Other artists’ work on display: Heather Cameron (CA), John Murphy (NC), Jonathon and Valerie Nicklow (CO), Betz White (MD), Jeff Davis (PA), Rodney Allen Trice’s (NY), and Sarah Kate Burgess (MI).

So head on out to Wisconsin for a great DIY summer travel trip.

More Info: 920-458-6144

DIY Travel with Deb of DIYthing

This is the last weekend to catch Rodrigue’s Louisiana: Cajuns, Blue Dogs, and Beyond Katrina at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The exhibit is a look back at the work of George Rodrigue. Rodrigue is considered Louisiana’s most famous contemporary artist. The exhibit ends Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 5 pm. It will feature “nearly two hundred paintings, sculptures and prints which survey the full range of Rodrigue’s career.” If you haven’t seen it yet, you can come out any time Saturday night. NOMA will be open 24 hours - so there’s no excuse. I know I will be there. There will be discounted admission for Louisiana residents, plus a host of guests and special activities.

24 hours of Special Events, including…

* Cajun dance lessons (Saturday, 4 p.m.)
* Live Cajun Music with Lafourche (Saturday, 5 p.m.)
* Live music with Big Sam’s Funky Nation (Saturday, June 7, 9 p.m.)
* DJ Beverly Skillz (Midnight)
* Tour the Museum (All Night Long)
* Free coffee and donuts (Sunday morning)
* Blue Dog Daiquiris (Sunday afternoon)
* Free Blue Dog Snowballs (Sunday afternoon)
* George Rodrigue book signing (Sunday, 1 & 3 p.m.)
* Meet New Orleans mascots (Sunday, 1 p.m.)
Boudreaux, Gumbo, Mojo and Bones
* Meet The Saintsations (Sunday, 1 p.m.)
* New Orleans Ragtime and Dixieland Jazz Band (Sunday, 2 p.m.)
* Paul Prudhomme cooking demonstration (Sunday, 2 p.m.)

Are you traveling to Brooklyn, New York next weekend? If so you will want to head out to the Open Studio Weekend on June 7-8, 2008. Our friend, Katrina Balling ballandchain.etsy.com just told us about the event. She will be one of the artists featured. We had featured Katrina’s work in our first issue of DIY City Mag. The Coffey Park Artists’ Collective (CPAC) will celebrate its 6th Annual Open Studios Weekend on Saturday, June 7th and Sunday, June 8th in the Monarch Luggage Factory building in Red Hook, Brooklyn. There will be over 18 artists participating.

According to the press release - it sounds like a great weekend is in store.

CPAC is an association of emerging and mid-career artists who live and work in the Monarch Luggage Factory building. During the Open Studios Weekend, visitors see the work where it’s created and in a more intimate setting than a museum or gallery. In the Factory studios, guests will find an exciting mix of high-caliber art ranging from traditional oil paintings and watercolors to handmade paper, photography, ceramic sculpture, mixed media, glass art, film and video installations, and experimental works.

Each year, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’Coalition (BWAC) sponsors the Open Studios Weekend tour of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, highlighting some of the most talented artists and emerging forces in the New York City art world. BWAC is the largest artist run, not for profit art organization in Brooklyn.

When:
Monarch Luggage Factory studios will be open to the public on the weekend of Saturday, June 6th and Sunday, June 8th from noon-6pm.
Where:
The Factory studios are located at 14 Verona Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Take the F line to Smith and 9th or the B61 bus to Verona.

DIY Travel with Deb of DIYthing

Do you have plans to be in Philly this Memorial Day weekend? If so, you should visit Lisa Shepard at the African American Museum in Philadelphia on Saturday, May 23, 2008. She will join a panel of distinguished quilt artists for a roundtable discussion from 1 to 3 pm. You can also view the current exhibit, “Warm Spirits: Contemporary African American Quilters”. Lisa has two of her pieces in the exhibit: AFRIKALEIDOSCOPE and KORHOGO CONTRAST.The exhibit is on view through June 1.

On Sunday, May 24, hop on over to Brooklyn where Lisa will join the Yara Imports booth at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) weekend long DanceAfrica Bazaar. The open-air market will give you a chance Shop Yara’s African fabrics and see other vendors too. The Bazaar runs Saturday - Monday.

Lisa Shepard Stewart is owner of Cultured Expressions. We featured Lisa in our first issue of DIY City Mag.

DIY Travel with Deb of DIYthing

If you are traveling to the Big Apple on May 31st you may want to sign up for the one day letterpress workshop at The Arm Letterpress. The workshop, for beginners, will teach you the basic principles of letterpress printing on the Vandercook cylinder proof presses in The Arm’s public access studio. You will also learn the parts of the press and how it operates, and how to print from metal type, wood type, photopolymer plates and hand cut linoleum and wood. Earlier this year DJ took part in one of The Arm’s workshops. Read DJ’s article in our first issue of DIY City Mag. He gives you a good sense of what you will experience.

After taking this class you will have the skills to use the presses in the studio needing only occasional (and free) guidance from the studio attendant. The cost of this workshop is $110 per person. For more info check out their web site at thearmnyc.com. But hurry, Daniel’s classes fill up quickly.

Daniel Morris, the owner, also teaches a letterpress class at Cooper Union. Cooper also offers classes in book arts, printing and art continuing education classes.  Daniel’s letterpress class there is already full, but there are some other great offerings and they have reasonable prices.  Daniel highly recommends the calligraphy class being taught by Cara DiEdwardo and the digital type design class by Hannes Famira. For more info see cooperunion.augusoft.net/

The Arm Letterpress is located at 281 N. 7th St. in the growing artist community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

DIY Travel with Deb of DIYthing

Have you thought about what you might want to do if you could plan your own Mother’s Day? If you were to have a DIY Mother’s Day - how would it look? A friend of mine is not going to be with her kids this weekend (they are going to be with their dad) and she is planning a day of spa treatments and shopping. That could be fun - but what would be more fun for me would be a day of arts and crafts. I would start with some early morning garage sales - they are the perfect places to find treasures for my reconstruction projects. Then I would have a leisurely brunch before heading off for some sort of art adventure. Ideally the adventure would involve some interactive class where I could learn a new skill. With that in mind, I thought I would bring you a few suggestions for your DIY Mother’s Day in case you are still planning. There aren’t very many places offering arts and crafts workshops on Mother’s Day weekend, but you can find some fun art exhibits to visit.

Women Uncovered Art Show
An All Women’s show featuring new artists will be held Saturday May 10, 2008 @ 6:00 PM at the Side Show Studios Tattoo & Gallery in Sacramento.

14th Annual Route 66 Rendezvous on May 10 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the American Legion Post 111- Edmond, OK. You are encouraged to bring your spinning wheels for a festive day of demonstrations and sharing.
Art Saves Lives Workshop on Fri. May 9 - Sat. May 10, 2008 at Mystic Journeys in Asheville, NC. This all day workshop will make use of multi-media techniques for you to create Art, from nature, meditation and ceremony.

Comic Art Indigène Exhibition Opening on Sunday, May 11, 2008 in Santa Fe. The exhibit will  examine how American Indian artists articulate identity, reclaim stereotypes, worldview, politics, and culture through the kinetic expression of sequential art.

I spent the day down in the Quarter for the 25th Annual French Quarter Festival. You really couldn’t ask for better weather for a day in New Orleans. I had a great time listening to good music, eating the best food in the world and meeting more incredible artists. I had a chance to chat with Bryant Beverly as he painted on the perimeter of Jackson Square. Bryant really captures the rhythm of the city and its unique blend of music and culture. Stay tuned for an in-depth interview with him in our upcoming New Orleans issue of DIY City Mag.

I had a chance to be at part of the V-Day celebration in New Orleans today. And I finally got a close up look at Emily Duffy’s BraBall. Emily’s sculpture, The BraBall, was on display at the 10th Anniversary celebration of Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues”. The American Visionary Art Museum AVAM loaned the BraBall for the weekend celebration. It was very moving to see the art and think about the 18,085 donated bras sent from women all around the globe. You can read the complete story of the BraBall here.

V-Day is held to support anti-violence organizations throughout the world by drawing public attention to the larger fight to stop worldwide violence (including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexual slavery) against women and girls. It works to promote both art and activism as well as fund-raising by holding large-scale benefits. New Orleans was chosen as the city to hold the 10th anniversary to honor “Katrina Warriors for their strength and resilience in the face of devastating loss”.

There are additional activities in the city tomorrow as part of the Katrina Warriors Network. There are also great festivities happening in the Quarter as part of the 25th Annual French Quarter Festival.

Photo Credit: Lost Woods Prints at Roulette Vintage

Flickr is one of our fav sites for finding new indie artists. We recently found the work of Thomas Dean, of lost woods prints on the Roulette Vintage Flickr stream. Roulette Vintage is located in downtown Carrboro, NC and sells mostly vintage clothing. But they also sell the work of some local indies, including Thomas Dean. Thomas makes cool t-shirts, don’t you think?

Before you knew it, we were wanting to visit the lovely Carrboro, which is located near Chapel Hill. If you go, you should shop at the PTA local Thrift Shop, it seems to be a great place to find DIY materials. You will also find the Carrboro Farmers’ Market which boasts being “one of the top ten Markets in the nation”. And there’s a local crafts market two Sundays a month. And for you folks who are hard core DIY, you will want to visit the Really, Really Free Market which happens the first Saturday of every month at the Town Commons. There’s also the Weaver Street Market which has become known as “Carrboro’s front yard”. This community co-op grocery market has been going strong for over 20 years. The town is known for its arts, hosting the 2nd Friday Art Walk.

So, if you are traveling in Carrboro, stop by and visit Kara and Rebecca at Roulette Vintage and pick up some fresh designs. And while you are there, experience a real DIY experience in a small Southern town.