Keeping Green Space Downtown

Design changes proposed in February 2012 for hotel/apartment building at the southeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets in Downtown Lawrence. (from  http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/feb/07/town-talk-childrens-fun-center-coming-downtown-cha/ )

The Percolator Gallery is located in an alley at 9th and New Hampshire. What currently occupies the area in front of this building is undeveloped and open.  A proposal for a hotel on this land has many from the gallery concerned about the dininishing green space Downtown.

This month, the Percolator tackles this issue. On March 3, a new show opens: "This Green Space: Reimagining 9th and New Hampshire".  The show will contain Lawrence residents' ideas for what this space should be used for.  Here is what the proposal for this show called for:

"All – dreamers  architects  kids poets  elders  artists  dancers planners  and passersby – are invited to share your visions, poems, drawings, paintings, models, and musings for what this green space at the corner of 9^th & New Hampshire in Lawrence, Kansas could become, and/or the place where you live in Any city, Anywhere. Share the story of how your green space has been, or could be re-imagined."

The issue is discussed further by keynote speaker Bob Berebile, "Healthy Communities and the Dialogue that Builds Them" on March 18. For more information on these events, check out the Percolator website: http://www.lcava.org/

Jenn Erwin: A Space to Breathe

Jenn Erwin's much anticipated thesis exhibition is the current show at the Art and Design Gallery. The title is "A Space to Breathe" and the reception is this Wednesday, February 29, from 5:30-8:00. 


Many of us know Jenn from The Invisible Hand.  She will be finishing her graduate degree in printmaking this May. 


More of Jenn's work can be seen on her website: 
http://www.jennerwin.net/

Gallery hours:
Sunday: 1:00-4:30pm
Mon, Tues, Thur: 8:30-4:30pm
Wednesday: 8:30am-9:00pm

KU Art and Design Building, Art & Design Gallery, 1467 Jayhawk Blvd.

Field Trip: The Art and Design Building

We took a field trip to the Art and Design building earlier this week.  We wandered around, looked at art, and talked to people working in the building.  Here are some photos from our day there.

These works were in display windows near concessions.  We don't know which class did them, or what the assignment was, but we liked them.

Chairs made of a cardboard box that can hold the weight of a person was an assignment from a design foundations class.
To start with, students had to design a chair using a box that could be cut into, but nothing added or taken out.

Joel Mann, a graphics freshman, made the above chair, and encouraged us to sit in it.  He said the strongest shape for the structure is a triangle.

 This is a space chair.

The following are in the architecture building, but we think they are cool.  They are like mini sculptures.

A Smashing Success: February Final Friday

February's Final Friday was a smashing success.  We saw tea pots being destroyed, clouds, and silk screening.  Here are party pics from last night:

Final Friday Excitement and Closing Reception Last Night

We are excited for Final Friday tonight.  My top five Final Friday picks for February can be read here: http://larryvilleartists.blogspot.com/2012/02/karens-lawrence-final-friday-pics.html I will document the night with photos and post on Saturday.

To keep us occupied until tonight, I have pics of scenesters attending last night's closing reception for Henry Schneiderman's thesis show "I Have Big Feelings." Included in the pics is Eli Gold, the artist who, with a hammer, will be destroying his tea pot (which reportedly took him four months to complete) in a performance piece tonight at the Arts Center.

Henry Schneiderman

Eli Gold

                                                                      
                                                                    Detail of a hand

                                                                  Danielle Moccia

I Have Big Feelings

"I have Big Feelings" is the current show by Henry Schneiderman at the Art and Design Gallery on Campus.  As well as drawings, the show includes big mesh-like sculptures that we think look like Death Eaters out of Harry Potter.  I went to the show today, and took some photos.

Closing reception is today, 5-7 pm.

Students in Andrew Huffman's drawing class drew these sculptures.  Here are these drawings:

The closing reception is today, February 23, 5-7p,m.
Art and Design Gallery
1467 Jayhawk Blvd.

To view more of his works, go to: http://henryschneiderman.net/home.html

Karen's Final Friday Picks: February

This Friday, February 24, is another Final Friday in Lawrence.  Here are my top five Final Friday picks for this month:

1. Lawrence Arts Center: 940 New Hampshire
Directed Visions
Works from 1st and 2nd year Graduate Students

Fresh works from Graduate students at the University of Kansas are exhibited on the first floor of the Arts Center. High on my list is a performance "Out of  My Hands" given by Eli Gold.  Gold will pour tea from a tea pot he has created, then destroy the tea pot. The performance and tea pouring starts at 7:00.   I will post more on Gold and his work in my blog later this week, but here is a picture of one of his works from his website: http://www.elikgold.com/

2.  Invisible Hand: 801 1/2 Massachusetts (Upstairs) 6-9 pm
Nicholas Ward
River and Cloud: Rehearsing the Amorphous Forms

 Nicholas' Graphite drawings look subtle and intriguing. Here is a sample from The Invisible Hand's Facebook page:

3. Wonderfair: 803 1/2 Massachusetts ( upststairs) 
Chop Chop with Lee Piechocki and Matt Jacobs: from 6-10 p.m. 

KU's printmaking department will also be selling t-shirts.  Here is the information listed by Wonderfair on their page: 

Hello Wonder Fairs! Please join us this Final Friday, when Wonder Fair hosts the KU Printmaking Club for a very special evening of screenprinting! Yessir, we will have young, live printmakers sweating away in the shoppe to print you your very own t-shirt, poster, tote bag, or (insert flat, smooth, inanimate object here). Here's what you need to know:

Ten original designs!
Print up to three designs on one item for one money (mix n' match)!
Bring your own item, printing is $10!
Buy an American Apparel shirt from us for just $10 more! (NICE!)
Choose from a limited selection of prints-on-demand for just $10
Marvel at our complex production system FOR FREE!
Marvel at the industriousness of today's youth for $1 donations!!?!

All proceeds benefit the KU print club, supporting their travel to and accommodation at the annual SGC conference in New Orleans, LA. Help yourself to a t-shirt, help a printmaker! See you Friday!!


For more of Lee Piechocki's work, go to   http://www.flickr.com/photos/piechocki






4. Lawrence Arts Center 940 New Hampshire
Dannon Art Project: The Living Studio: 
Located upstairs by the ceramics studio: 


Rex Hausmann created a painting on the second floor at the Lawrence Arts Center January 23 – 27. This temporary studio will be handed over to a series of artists who will create new works, each leaving their works on display. Hausmann invited artists to work in this space in different mediums to create a community response to his painting. 

I have a piece in this show, so be sure to check it out!

5. 1109 Massachusette
1109 Gallery with featured artist Marty Olsen


Marty has been a long time Lawrence printmaker.  I can't wait to see his new work. 

Here is the description from the 1109 Gallery of Marty's work: 
“Contemporaries” with more than 50 pieces of artwork from area artists. Our featured artist in the large gallery is Marty Olson whose pieces range from inspirations of the Southwest, personal symbolic lexicons and the spirit of the Flint Hills. Each painting and piece represent the dance of creative process as he experiences it.




Of course, we always stop by the Lost Art Space (The former Penny Annie's) as well as starting out at the Pig. 

More Mardi Gras Photos: Plus: Who Is Public Art For? Let's Discuss

To start our day: More Vintage Mardi Gras: 

Tonight: Who is public art for?
How does art enhance the public realm, and who is the art for?  An interesting lecture ( he posted on twitter that it is more of a "conversation") will be at the Public library on Monday, February 20, at 7:00.  Max Grinnel will talk about the role public art has in American Cities.
*BTW: More twitter talk says he had a good time in Larryville this past weekend!

Here is the description of his presentation tonight from the Lawrence Public Library;
The question "what is art" can be quite simple or complex. When we think about art in cities, things get even murkier. Who is art for? Is it statues of long-gone military heroes? How does art enhance the public realm? Author and urbanologist Max Grinnell will talk about the role of public art in American cities, via illustrative materials from his travels at the Lawrence Public Library. Through this talk, guests will learn a bit more about how public art shapes our understanding of urban spaces and how different public art projects can truly be exercises in community building.

Max Grinnell is a writer, traveler, and explorer who has published extensively on urban environments, most often those in Chicago and Boston.

Dr. Sketchy's tonight and Weekend Wrap Up

Dr. Sketchy's
If you are looking for a great place to draw, Dr. Sketchy's has a session tonight. We are drawing the Kansas City Larkspurs dance group. The drawing of multiple figures will be fun.

Here are some pics from the last Dr. Sketchy earlier this month:

Dr. Sketchy is an event started in NYC and is now held in almost every major city around the world.  The premise is burlesque models pose for artists to sketch them.  What makes KC’s Dr. Sketchy’s unique is that it is the only one held in a residence.  The drawing sessions are held every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month.

Tonight's Dr. Sketchy:
Sunday, February 19
Place: 1331 Union Avenue
Time: 6 pm-10 pm
Cost $6.00

Weekend Wrap Up: 
This weekend, I participated in the Dannon Art Project at the Arts Center.  The Arts Center is providing a community space for artists to work in.  There will be a group show at a closing reception on Friday. I will post more information on the closing reception on my blog for Lawrence Final Friday picks later this week.

Here is a pic of this space.

Be sure to like our Larryville Artists page on FaceBook, or follow us on Google