David Williams' short video of DICTATION

Ay yi yi. October is finally over - in seven minutes. Maybe NOW, during November there will be time to breath freely and take in the season? (please?) The Harryman and I have a number of events on our calendar but nothing could compare to the frenetic pace of October. If "True Richmond Stories" were published in 2008 instead of 2007 how would it describe the past month? An ode to my bronchial crud? A few notes dedicated to the Folk Festival?... but that is all for naught. November is here. The David Williams video above documents our performance of DICTATION @ Plant Zero this past Friday.

Most everyone you see in the video braved awful pouring rain and wretched traffic to be there - I suppose there could be a few people who were already at Plant Zero when it started raining cats and dogs... but most of the rest of us would have been home otherwise! Of course... THE SHOW MUST GO ON (!) and it did. David Williams was especially wonderful to get out in the weather and shoot and edit the DICTATION video for us. David is most known for his films "Thirteen" and "Lillian." I was fortunate to work with him for several years during the making of "Long Art." Guest artists include two of the Richmond Art cheerleaders: Kendra Wadsworth and Rebecca Goldberg Oliver.



The DVD monitor at Plant Zero will also feature the Praxis Trailer (the other video depicted here) which I put together earlier this year. I hope I'll be able to go in and re edit the credits since they are practically unreadable in the smaller format. I can understand why so many artists and painters go into film and videography... if your media/technology works it is kinda fun.

DICTATION: Oct 26 @ Plant Zero 7:30pm

What: a short performance piece with guest Harry Kollatz, Jr that is part of WALK THE WALK: new work by Amie Oliver which closes on December 23

When: 7:30pm October 26, part of the FOURTH FRIDAY artwalk which runs from 7 - 10pm

Where: Project Space of Plant Zero Art Center, 0 E. 4th St in the Manchester District of Richmond, VA

for more info:
listen to WRIR's (97.3 FM) ZERO HOUR at NOON on Friday, October 26, Tim Bowring's weekly interview program. Tim has weekly conversations with local artists about art, culture and society in Richmond. Friday, Oct 26 will feature Amie and Harry talking about DICTATION, Walk the Walk and Harry's new book TRUE RICHMOND
STORIES.

TRUE RICHMOND STORIES will be for sale after the performance for anyone interested in purchasing a signed copy

True Richmond Stories

WRIR 97.3 FM

Pollak Prize Quote of the Day!

"You were soooooooo good!"
- Mandy Moore, pop singer and star of HBO's Entourage
talking to Harry Kollatz, Jr, Master of Ceremonies

Last night I collected myself and the arsenal of remedies I am taking for whatever strain of crud that's been draining into my bronchial system. I knew it would be a well worth the effort since it was the tenth anniversary of the awards ceremony for the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts.

Several friends and colleagues were award recipients and then of course my better half, the Harryman, was the M.C.

I sat in the back row to avoid interrupting the show with my coughing and it proved to be the best place to take in the spectacle of artists being moved by the rare opportunity to watch other Richmond artists receive accolades.

My two favorite responses to Harry's "suave"* introductions were Jerry Donato's and Johnny Hott's. When Jerry was asked if he had anything to say he simply said "no." After the standing ovation he and Joan Gaustad received for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts he was probably speechless. Joan nearly swallowed her words with emotion.

When Johnny Hott accepted his award for Excellence as a Vocalist/Instrumentalist he walked on stage with with his lovely, if tearful, six year old daughter Odessa and said he didn't know if he would be the musician he is today or be part of the Richmond music scene if it weren't for his friend Bryan. These two acceptances both brought tears to my eyes which quickly evolved to laughter with Mr. K's laser wit. He was "on" last night and it added another level of joy to a beautiful evening at the Singleton Performing Arts Center.

The complete list of the award recipients for the
Theresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Arts:

Photography: Georgianne Stinnett
Vocalist/Instrumentalist: Johnny Hott
Fine Art: Jack Wax
Dance: Pam Turner
Enemble: Modern Groove Syndicate **
Film: Sonali Gulati
Lifetime Achievement: Gerald Donato and Joan Gaustad
Emerging Artist: Colleen Curran
Applied Arts: Karl Green
Theatre: Richmond Shakespeare Theatre
Words: Laura Browder


The artful graphic above and the description of the Pollak Prize below are from the Richmond Magazine website:

This is Theresa Pollak posing for her bat mitzvah portrait at Temple Beth Ahabah on Franklin Street in 1913. A born and raised Richmonder, she had a full life ahead of her.

Pollak established in 1928 what evolved into Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, where she taught for 41 years. During the 1930s she founded the art program at the University of Richmond, her alma mater (she graduated from Westhampton College, now part of the University of Richmond, in 1921). Pollak’s work was often shown in exhibits and collections, and she was a lifelong student. In 1958, she enrolled in the Art Students’ League of New York and learned from abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann. Pollak died in September 2002 at the age of 103. In 1998, Richmond magazine introduced the honors named for her. Several past recipients are no longer among us: jazz violinist and educator Joe Kennedy Jr.; artist, mentor and professor Richard Carlyon; theater director Ernie McClintock and actor Mary Sue Carroll. Three Pollaks were posthumous, those for artist Esther Elizabeth Motts, editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly and musical enthusiast and broadcaster Eric E. Stanley. Perhaps no one honoree was more influential than Carlyon, himself a student of Pollak. He recalled in 2001, “One valuable lesson I learned from Ms. Pollak was that you can’t feign seriousness in the pursuit of art.” Or, in the words of Roger Carroll, the 2006 Vocalist honoree, “There ain’t nobody lyin’ up in here.”

*Harry's comments as described by award recipient Laura Browder
** The pianist for Modern Groove Syndicate is Mandy Moore's beau

Harry and Liz on Wordy Birds

width="145" height="60" type="application/x-shockwave-flash">

Stephen Westfall opens at Solvent Space on Oct 12

from right to left: Liz Clark, Jessica Langley and Erik Gonzalez install Stephen Westfall's mural designs at Solvent Space.

Stephen Westfall will premiere new murals at Solvent Space this Friday, October 12. “Stephen Westfall’s Grand Opening: Mural Project.” The New York Times describes his murals as abstract twists on the classic grid and “delicately calibrated destabilizations.”

Opening reception 6pm - 8pm On display through December 1. in the Plant Zero parking lot, 0 East 4th St. 869.6051. Hours: 12 - 4 on most Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

bottom left and right: installation shots of Westfall's murals in progress













Also on view @ Plant Zero on FRIDAY evening, October 12-
Walk the Walk, my show of "portraits, sunflowers and stormy weather" and Michael Pierce at Artspace from 6 to 8pm.

I also received an invitation from Lab 307. They are having an Open House that night from 6-10pm at 307 N.26th Street.

Lab 307 houses studios for a number of recent VCU Alumni: Danielle Riede, Thomas Condon, Sarah Mizer, Jeff Vick, Sayaka Suzuki, Erica, Dyen, Kiara Pelissier, and Debbie Quick. It looks like it will be a wonderful way to start the evening before we head over to the Folk Fest. Another cool thing about attending openings at the Plant Zero complex is that many of the artists with studios on site open their spaces for guests and interested parties. Just look for the open studio invitation on their doors.

Countdown to Peace

And now... a momentary respite from your sponsor... to write about something other than the artwork I've been making and publishing, exhibiting, etc...

I received an email from a friend about the exhibition linked to the title of this post. I've heard about this calendar which records all the days since the beginning of the war in Iraq - but this is the first call for entries I've seen. It sounds worthwhile and I will try to send them something though I wish the war would end and I wouldn't have to.

The Harshest Critic?

Zero, the resident feline at Plant Zero Art Center, shared his observations of "Walk the Walk" with me this afternoon."Purrrrfection?" Well, I doubt it, but if I knew a pet interpreter I'd love to know exactly what Zero is thinking! He's been dwelling on this particular series of paintings for more than a while...!