Ehren Tool
May 6th – 28th

In May, Red Star Studios will feature over 200 cups by Ehren Tool created during a trip to Vietnam on the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program. The exhibition opens May 6th with a reception from 6-9pm. The exhibition runs through May 28th.

Ehren Tool seeks to create an awareness of war by embellishing his cups with combat imagery and political quotes. Tool, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Gulf War, received his BFA from the University of Southern California in 2000, and an MFA from the University of California at Berkley in 2005. Featured in this solo exhibition are 200 cups Tool made using local clay while in Vietnam. His work commemorates his father and other veterans who served for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Tool's trip to Vietnam was made possible by contributions from the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program and the Kansas City Artists Coalition. A portion of Tool's proceeds from the sale of his work will go to an organization that supports veterans suffering from the effects of Agent Orange.
 
Red Star Studios, a mainstay in Kansas City's ceramics scene for more than a decade, recently partnered with the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City's Crossroads Arts District, and is currently operating out of the Belger Building at 2100 Walnut Street. The Red Star gallery is open 10 am - 4 pm, Wednesday through Friday, and noon - 4 pm on Saturdays. The gallery remains open until 9 pm on the First Friday of every month. Red Star Studios also features spaces for resident artists and offers classes and workshops for all skill levels to the public. For more information please contact Calder Kamin, gallery coordinator, at ckamin@redstarstudios.org or 816-474-7316.

“AMERICA: NOW AND HERE,” A CROSS-COUNTRY TRAVELING DIALOGUE ABOUT AMERICA THROUGH THE ARTS, TO LAUNCH IN KANSAS CITY

Three Week Art Experience to Feature Paintings, Sculptures, Poetry, Plays, Films and Music from  Local and National Artists??Participating Local Artists Include David Ford, Glenn North, Jose Faus, Mark Southerland,  Ashley Miller, Benjamin Meade, Cynthia Levin, Heidi Van

A collection of the best known and most celebrated artists in America – both Kansas City-based and nationally recognized – are joining together to showcase their visual arts, poetry, theater, film and music for the national launch of America: Now and Here, a landmark cross-country journey to open up a dialogue about America through the arts.
  
America: Now and Here, which will consist of exhibitions, live performances, youth engagement programs and public workshops, will be held in the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City from Friday, May 6 to Saturday, May 28, 2011. Most of the events are free and open to the public.??

The initiative, which launches the First Friday of May, will offer a diverse set of community conversations and programming in partnership with Kansas City cultural institutions, including workshops related to art and commerce, technology, fashion, city, and community health, among others; screenings of locally-produced films; local performances of theater; and visual art that explores American through three themes: America as Place, America as People and America as Icon.

The installation, which will inhabit multiple gallery locations in the Crossroads Arts District but centered at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, boasts an impressive array of work from eminent visual artists including Chuck Close, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Cindy Sherman, Eric Fischl, Barbara Kruger, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Bradford, Julian Schnabel; playwrights Edward Albee, Marsha Norman, Jon Robin Baitz, and Nathan Louis Jackson; poets Robert Pinsky, Suheir Hammad, Rita Dove and Marc Doty; filmmakers Kyle Bell and Lauren Greenfield; and musicians and composers Roseanne Cash, Joan Baez, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Steve Martin, Fischerspooner, Paul Simon, DJ Spooky and Philip Glass. These individuals have contributed paintings, sculptures, poems, plays, songs and to America: Now and Here, most of which were created specifically for the project.

More than 100 of the Kansas City area’s finest artists will also contribute works to America: Now and Here. These artists include poets curated by Glenn North and Jose Faus, visual artists curated by David Ford, playwrights curated by Cynthia Levin and Heidi Van, musicians curated by Mark Southerland and Ashley Miller, and filmmakers curated by Benjamin Meade. Participating Kansas City based artists include visual artists Roger Shimomura, Peregrine Honig, Jim Leedy, Mike Sinclair, Anne Lindberg, playwrights Lisa Cordes and Philip Blue Owl Hooser, poets Linda Rodriguez, Michelle Boisseau, John Mark Eberhart and Natasha Ria El-Scari,  musicians People’s Liberation Big Band, Ssion, Rex Hobart, Alaturka and Ghosty, and filmmakers MK12, Mike B. Rollen and Todd Norris.

The idea for the project was conceived by renowned artist Eric Fischl, who serves as Founder and Lead Curator of America: Now and Here.  Spurred to action by the level of animosity that has gridlocked America’s civic discourse, Fischl decided to use art as a method of engaging people to see and talk about the American experience in a new way.

“The arts represent an ideal lens through which we can view and understand the unique American narrative, in all its social, moral and cultural complexity,” said Fischl.  “This is a perspective that generations of Kansas Citians have adopted and the resulting dialogue has been crucial to defining the city’s distinctive character.”??

In this midst of what he saw as the fractured culture of post 9/11 America, Fischl began reaching out to peers in the art world, inviting them to contribute to the project pieces that reflected their views on America, which would be brought to communities throughout the country.  The response was immediate and enthusiastic.

America: Now and Here was also conceived as a way to foster a new civic relationship with the arts, and engage audiences who might otherwise see the arts as irrelevant to their daily lives or be disinclined to visit a museum, gallery, theater, or concert hall.

“Where art sometimes divides individuals, America: Now and Here is finding a way for art to unite us, to strengthen our nation’s communities through the shared cultural experiences that define us,” said Abby Sims Beckloff, External Affairs Director of the Mid-America Arts Alliance. “We are so pleased to be a part of this inaugural experience in Kansas City, and we can’t wait to see what great things will happen across the country as the America: Now and Here conversation grows.”

Dorothy Dunn, Director of America: Now and Here, said, “The need to engage with each other is at the very heart of our being as Americans. Art is often the shared experience that brings us together to discuss and debate, and this journey seeks to use the power of art to expand the conversation.”??

A number of Kansas City’s preeminent poets wrote a renga – a collaborative form of poetry – that brings to life the city’s unique character. The work complements the renga written by 54 nationally recognized poets for the project – which began with Robert Pinsky on the east coast and ends with a poem by Robert Hass on the west coast.  The poems by these nationally known poets will be collected in a book, Crossing State Lines: An American Renga, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in April.  The poems are also being adapted into a film directed by Drew Harty and produced by Plan B Entertainment that will be shown in the installation and on the web site.

??In 2012, the traveling programs, experiences, and events will arrive in custom designed mobile truck galleries that will open up  to become a 3,300 square-foot, state of the art space and 4,400 square-foot plaza, pavilion and event space.

America: Now and Here has also created Artist Corps, an initiative that invites young and emerging artists to submit work to the project based on their experiences and new discoveries across America, which will be featured on the Web site and in publications, and will provide opportunities for them to participate in education and community service programs.??America: Now and Here is honored to partner with the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City Arts Institute, Arts Incubator, the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, Kemper in the Crossroads, Charlotte Street Foundation, Mattie Rhodes Center, American Jazz Museum, Chameleon Arts & Youth Development and many more.

America: Now and Here in Kansas City is made possible through lead support by The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation with additional support from the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, The Collectors Fund, NIC, Sosland Foundation, Kansas City Life Insurance Company, Grassmere Foundation, Pioneer Services/Military Division of MidCountry Bank, KPMG LLC, Pollenware, and MHC; and through the contributions of Frank Feigenbaum, Gary and Ann Fish, Bill and Christy Gautreaux, Bush and Jamie Helzberg, Alexander and Christine Kemper, Mike and Linda Lyon, Brad and Linda Nicholson, John and Marny Sherman, and the Bill and Peggy Lyons Family Foundation Fund.

For more information, please visit kansascity.americanowandhere.org. A Kansas City-focused Twitter feed for America: Now and Here is accessible at www.twitter.com/anhkc.

English Tea With Friends
A Splendid Sunday of Tea, Diana & Dresses

Sunday May 1, 2011 • 1-3:30 p.m.  •  Union Station Kansas City

Join us for a lovely spring event - An English Tea With Friends. Presented by Friends of Kansas City Museum, this delightful afternoon will have you swept up in the romance of the Royal Wedding!  Two days after William and Katherine's ceremony, you can share the magic with a private tour of Diana: A Celebration and an elegant English Tea at Union Station.

The guided tour will include Kansas City Museum’s collection of bridal gowns and portraits from prominent Kansas Citians, then continue through the acclaimed Diana: A Celebration exhibit at Union Station.
 
An English Tea With Friends will be held after the tour in an elegant private room at Union Station. Tea, coffee and scones will be served. Seating is limited so please register early.
 
Reserve your spot on this special tour >>

May-Hem, the 2^nd annual fashion show fundraiser featuring 10 local designers and boutiques, will benefit two community arts-based non profits -- the KC Fringe Festival and KKFI 90.1 FM on May 14.  The event’s fashion, music, and art theme reflects the collaboration both indicative of the Kansas City art scene and a practical necessity for non profits as arts funding is cut from state budgets.

“In these times that are so threatening to arts funding, it is especially urgent that we all take part in supporting our local artists,” says Cheryl Kimmi, Director of the KC Fringe Festival.  “One way to do that is to support arts non profits that are dedicated to showcasing the art of the whole community where all voices and images are uncensored and inclusive.  The KC Fringe Festival shares these values with KKFI and we decided to join forces on a joint fundraiser. ”

Proceeds from the fundraiser will be split between KKFI and the KC Fringe Festival.  The Fringe Festival will use the money for general operating expenses including printing, advertising and technical needs.

In between the fashion show runway collections, there will be performances by Voler, DJ Leo Knight Us and Madison DeCamp.  The fundraiser will end with music by Billy Ebeling and The Late for Dinner Band.

Event Schedule:
7 - 8 p.m. | Private VIP reception includes hors d’oeuvres, photography booth, and gift bags.
8 - 11p.m. | Fashion Show and performances

The Living Room is located at 1818 McGee Kansas City, MO 64108.  Advance tickets cost VIP $25 | $10 GA or at the door VIP $30 | $15 GA.  Advanced tickets can be purchased at www.kcfringe.org.  Ages 21 and older.

Designers/Boutiques:
Monkey Wrench Clothing
WM Couture - Wendy McMillian
House of Cochon
Jenna Huffman
Anastasia Rendina
Natalie Kelley
Amanda Her
Frankly Basic
Envolve Boutique
Wonderland by Andrew Chambers
Hair by the Mitsu Sato Hair Academy

About KC Fringe Festival
The KC Fringe Festival — now in its seventh year (July 21 - 31st, 2011) — is jam-packed with live theater, dance, performance art, visual art, spoken word, puppetry, storytelling, film and fashion.  At venues throughout Kansas City, the 10-day festival presents live performances and exhibitions of local, regional and national artists.  The festival develops audiences, stimulates economic growth and supports the creative community at large.  By making the arts readily visible, available and affordable, the festival supports and inspires local organizations year-round. The KC Fringe Festival is a service to the community, building bridges between audiences, artists, businesses and civic organizations.

About KKFI
KKFI is an independent, non-commercial, non-profit, 501(c)3, volunteer-based, community radio station. Our vision is to provide a broadcast voice to the voiceless...to those in our community who are otherwise un-represented or under-represented by mainstream media. Our eclectic music programming includes blues, jazz, reggae, rock, hip hop, alternative, Hispanic and world music. Our local and national public affairs programming includes shows dealing with working class, peace, justice, GLBT, and alternative health issues

English Tea With Friends
A Splendid Sunday of Tea, Diana & Dresses

Sunday May 1, 2011 • 1-3:30 p.m.  •  Union Station Kansas City

Join us for a lovely spring event - An English Tea With Friends. Presented by Friends of Kansas City Museum, this delightful afternoon will have you swept up in the romance of the Royal Wedding!  Two days after William and Katherine's ceremony, you can share the magic with a private tour of Diana: A Celebration and an elegant English Tea at Union Station.

The guided tour will include Kansas City Museum’s collection of bridal gowns and portraits from prominent Kansas Citians, then continue through the acclaimed Diana: A Celebration exhibit at Union Station.
 
An English Tea With Friends will be held after the tour in an elegant private room at Union Station. Tea, coffee and scones will be served. Seating is limited so please register early.
 
Reserve your spot on this special tour >>

"A Private Evening with Mickey & Donald"
Bret Iwan & Tony Anselmo
Kansas City to host Fundraiser featuring the voices behind Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

Don't miss out on an intimate evening with the voice talents behind two of Disney's most famous stars. The night will include live music by Jazz for Good, appetizers, refreshments, silent and live auctions featuring rare artwork and signed memorabilia. The highlight of the evening will be when Bret Iwan (voice of Mickey Mouse) and Tony Anselmo (voice of Donald Duck) take the stage to talk about their adventures as Mickey and Donald. You will be delighted with stories and have a chance to ask one-on-one questions with these Disney celebrities. Free autographs will also be available during the evening (limit two items per person).

Saturday, May 7, 2011
Beer/Wine/Appetizers: 6:00 pm
Conversation & Auction: 7:00-8:30 pm
Meet & Greet: 8:30 pm

Screenland Armour • 408 Armour Road. North Kansas City, MO 64116

Standard Ticket - $35 / Laugh-O-gram Club Member
Ticket - $30

(All Ticket prices will increase to $50 each after April 15, 2011.)
All current Laugh-O-gram Club members will get a "FAST-TYWD-Pass" to the front of the autograph line. Be sure and renew your membership on our website, so you can get a "FAST-TYWD-Pass" too!

About Thank You Walt Disney Foundation:
Thank You Walt Disney, Inc. is committed to being a leader in art animation study, while encouraging confidence and entrepreneurial individualism. The efforts to restore the Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City represent more than just a fascination with Walt Disney and his incredible life. They represent our opportunity to preserve a part of our history that would have otherwise disappeared, and will ultimately serve as a catalyst to link education and hope with our youth, enabling them to become true leaders in our community.

To order tickets and learn more, visit www.ThankYouWaltDisney.org

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Brian Price at (816) 674-4793 or by email at Brian.Price@ThankYouWaltDisney.org

Blue Gallery Online Spotlight… serves as an art alert of special works from inventory as well as an introduction of new works to Blue Gallery.

Laura Schiff Bean
The empty coats and dresses of my recent work reflect on identity as both journey and construct, accumulated and fabricated from the critical moments and turning points that indelibly mark our lives. Clothing simultaneously transforms and disguises, exposes and hides; my paintings represent the subconscious in the act of transporting the past into present and future imagination.

My work is figurative, yet abstract in the sense that I see the surface as a skin, its drips, blotches, scratches and slashes suggesting the gradual accumulation of events and their corresponding traces. For me, the sense of accumulation and construction in the surface of the work creates an intriguing tension with the sense of a single captured moment - frozen, blurred, and imbued with emotional force.

Painting the garments that we use to cover ourselves, allows me to lay bare thoughts and feelings rarely exposed. I paint that which we use to shroud the soul but instead of obscuring what there is to hide, the dresses themselves reveal an interior world of unspoken secrets, leaving the artist, and at times the viewer, feeling just a little bit naked.
 
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James Leonard
My paintings are the attempt to integrate my profound respect for individuality with the process of making art. I work with in an introspective, intuitive fashion and strive to bring a personal sensibility to the work.

The process in which I work relies on developing a dialogue with the work. This dialogue allows the work to unfold in a non-judgmental way. Imposing my will upon the work does not allow the work to tell me how and where it wants to go. Standing back and entering into a relationship with the work based on respect and trust, allows for this inner dialogue to take place. I work at not trying to determine a specific outcome or predetermined idea, but through dialogue allowing for the emergence of the individuality of each painting. This is the only way I can create art. The personal aspect of the work are the many influences that affect the relationship with the work. The aspect of layers is one that surfaces time and time again. Layering creates both a sense of personal emotional, physical and spiritual history in the work. Each layer reflects its own statement, compounded by the subsequent layer that adds to the visual story. Together a collective passage of time and place emerge to represent a collective idea that can only emerge from the viewer.

Years ago I came across a statement that has become a keystone for the meditation of my work. It is by Mathama Gandhi who said : “All true art must help the soul to realize its inner self. True art must be evident of the happiness, contentment, and purity of its author.”

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Ann Piper
In my work, I use portraiture as a vehicle for creating a series of personal vignettes. Always formal, and often theatrical, each portrait serves as an assertion of a state of being. They are artificial moments, certainly, but are invented in support of very real sentiments. I am constantly examining human relationships through these devised images; assigning roles, removing context, arranging objects,and offering it all up for reinterpretation. By employing metaphor and my own sense of visual symbolism, I develop a “poetic description” of the kind of presence I wish to convey. Rather than set out to reveal a complete narrative, which demands a literal translation, I suggest a mood--something that can be understood on different levels by different people. Thus my concept is distilled and the work speaks not only to my own, but to the human experience.

Ann Piper received her BFA in 1993, from Maryland Institute, College of Art. And her MFA in 1998, from New Mexico State University.
 
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