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SUMMARY:Hand Building Halloween: Youth Ceramic Workshop
DESCRIPTION:CANCELED\n\nIt’s time to get in the spooky spirit this Halloween! Join The Studio School for a special youth ceramic workshop\, available for one day only on Friday\, October 28th from 4-6pm. In this workshop we will use air dry modeling foam clay to create different\, collectible Halloween characters. Students will learn ceramic fundamentals and manipulate the material into different object\, shapes\, and slabs. Students will have creative freedom to make multiple fun and spooky characters with this soft and malleable foam clay. Working with clay helps build language development\, problem solving\, fine and motor development\, social skills\, and building skills. Students will leave this workshop with finished pieces to take home and let air dry for a day.\n\nMeet our guest instructor\, Mayra Zaragoza! Mayra Zaragoza is a UCLA Fine Arts graduate and has been practicing ceramics for more than a decade. She was born and raised in the Los Angeles Harbor area. Her passion is ceramics and creating through hand building and wheel throwing.\n\nSiblings\, school friends\, and teammates are welcomed and encouraged to register as well. Enroll today for this limited time only experience that children of all ages will love and remember!\n\n*PVAC members will receive discount on tuition at checkout!*
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/hand-building-halloween-youth-ceramic-workshop/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221026T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221026T113000
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SUMMARY:BOHANNON LECTURE SERIES: Bruce Dalrymple discusses GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School\, 1919-1956
DESCRIPTION:10/26\, 10:30-11:30 Peninsula Seniors BOHANNON LECTURE SERIES\, Bruce Dalrymple\, GHS Class of Summer 1961\, followed by a gallery tour. \nBruce Dalrymple is the president of  GHS Art Collection Board of Directors. \nHe will discuss the history of Gardena High School\, how the art collection began and evolved\, and the role that GHS Art Collection\, Inc. and its supporters played in making the art collection available for the public.  A slide presentation is included. \nBruce Dalrymple was born and raised in Southern California and he graduated from Gardena High School in 1961. He received double Bachelor of Science degrees in Recreation Administration and in History\, both from California State University at Long Beach. Bruce worked for 36 years as a 5th and 6th grade elementary school teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District\, and retired in 2004. He has had a side career in music\, having performed in groups and as a soloist\, and was a substitute music teacher with the Palos Verdes Unified School District. He serves on the Music Board for the Neighborhood Church in Palos Verdes Estates\, organizes and hires entertainers for summer concerts at the church\, for the Palos Verdes Breakfast Club\, and for the Wednesday Summer Concert Series at the Palos Verdes Estates Library. \n“I first became aware of the art at Gardena High School as a student when many paintings were on display in the halls and in the school library. I developed a love for art while traveling in Europe and the United States visiting numerous well-known museums. I joined the Board of Directors of the GHS Art Collection in 2012 with the hope of restoring the paintings\, making them available for public viewing\, and developing educational opportunities for the students of Gardena High School as well as all schools in the Gardena community and the Los Angeles Unified School District.” – Bruce Dalrymple
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/bohannon-lecture-series-bruce-dalrymple-discuses-gifted-collecting-the-art-of-california-at-gardena-high-school-1919-1956/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221015T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221016T170000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
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SUMMARY:Tour d’Art 2022\, hosted by The Artists’ Studio
DESCRIPTION:Tour d’Art 2022\nOctober 15th and 16th\n11 am – 5 pm\n  \nEnjoy an artistic tour of the spectacular Palos Verdes Peninsula viewing art\, meeting local artists and nibbling scrumptious treats! What a wonderful way to spend the day! \nThe Tour D’Art 2022 features 30 artists located in 4 private studios and at the Palos Verdes Art Center. Choose where you want to start and go at your own pace. Tickets are good for the two-day event. You can visit all studios in one day or split them up. Enjoy conversations with the artists\, see where and how they create their artwork. Artwork for sale at each studio location. \nTicket Information: Buy tickets soon at www.taspv.com or at PVAC/The Artists’ Studio Gallery. Tickets are $20 for adults. Children under 18 are free when accompanied by an adult. Proceeds benefit Palos Verdes Art Center/Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education  and The Artists’ Studio of Palos Verdes.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/tour-dart-2022-hosted-by-the-artists-studio/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220924T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220924T210000
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CREATED:20220921T195556Z
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SUMMARY:Opening Reception: GIFTED - Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School\, 1919-1956
DESCRIPTION:GIFTED:\nCollecting the Art of California\nat Gardena High School\, 1919-1956\n\nSeptember 17 – November 12\, 2022\nOpening Reception: September 24\, 6 – 9pm\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPalos Verdes Art Center / Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education is pleased to announce GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School\, 1919-1956\, organized by the GHS Art Collection\, Inc. in association with the Gardena High School Student Body and curated by Susan M. Anderson. The exhibition featuring 50 paintings will open at Palos Verdes Art Center September 17\, followed by a public reception\, September 24 from 6 to 9pm. Docent tours will be available Tuesdays and Saturdays during the run of the show\, from 10am to noon and by appointment. Contact Gail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\, at gphinney@pvartcenter.org to schedule an appointment. \n\nThe exhibition and accompanying catalogue chronicle the history of the school’s ambitious endeavor within the context of the wider cultural scene in Los Angeles\, revealing that a broader public than was previously known—one driven by educational rather than economic values—participated in the development of Southern California art. \n\nFrom 1919 to 1956\, students in the senior class selected\, purchased\, and donated some seventy-two works of art to the high school as class gifts. Over the years\, artists\, the federal art projects\, and other individuals and organizations also made many gifts of art to the collection. In 1923 Gardena High School designed a new auditorium to house the permanent collection\, establishing the first public art gallery in Southern California with a collection of regional art. Since the mid-1950s\, the collection has been in storage and unavailable for viewing by the public. The exhibition GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School\, 1919- 1956 was originally exhibited at the Hilbert Museum of California Art in 2019. This presentation of GIFTED is the first for Los Angeles County\, where Gardena High School is located. PVAC is thankful to the organizers for sharing this important exhibition with our community.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/opening-reception-gifted-collecting-the-art-of-california-at-gardena-high-school-1919-1956/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220901
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220902
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CREATED:20211208T015019Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221213T220317Z
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SUMMARY:Artful Daze: Art History Web Series
DESCRIPTION:POST 41\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Robert Indiana\, born Robert Clark in New Castle\, Indiana\, described himself as an American sign painter. A major figure in the New York art scene\, he became a leader in the Pop Art Movement with his use of text. He is best known for his iconic work “LOVE.” While it became emblematic of the 1960s Love Generation\, Indiana maintained that all his work related to his own life. \n“LOVE” was first commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art for a 1965 Christmas card\, and was replicated by Indiana in paintings\, prints\, and sculptures. He chose the colors in homage to his father who worked at a Phillips 66 gas station and his childhood recollection of the red and green gas station sign set against the blue Hoosier sky. The image became so popular that in 1973 it was chosen by the US Postal Service as the first in a series of “LOVE” stamps. Over the years\, Robert Indiana’s “LOVE” has been embraced as a universal symbol for the most basic human emotion. \nOn Valentine’s Day we express our love for each other. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we are collectively in need of the healing power of love. Remember the people you love and show them that you care\, but don’t forget to be kind to yourself; true healing comes from within. Take the time to practice self-love\, to celebrate all that makes you a unique and beautiful being\, to shine. We all deserve to be loved. Only when we truly love ourselves do we have the capacity to accept love and give love freely. Happy Valentine’s Day  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 40\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. The son of a Dutch Protestant pastor\, Vincent van Gogh followed his calling to be a missionary until his battle with depression resulted in repeated professional and personal failures. With support from his successful art dealer brother Theo\, van Gogh turned to painting. Drawn to the light and landscape of Southern France\, he moved to Arles where he developed his unique style. Although it was a prolific period in his brief career\, mental illness continued to plague him. Van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 37\, having already created a new language for art. \nOne of the most iconic artworks in the Western canon\, “The Starry Night” is part of a series of nocturnes by Vincent van Gogh. Inspired by the night view from his room at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum\, it is a constructed composition painted over several daytime sessions in June of 1889. The swirling motion of the celestial sky articulated in vivid blues and yellows\, is juxtaposed against the serenity of the village scene below – a recollected view from another place and time – the impossibly soaring cypress tree completes the illusion. “The Starry Night” is a glimpse into the artist’s inner life and a study in memory; revealing both what is observed and what is remembered. \nNow\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as we look out on this starry night\, our hearts are filled with nostalgia. Anticipation takes hold of our imagination\, and\, once again\, we are transported to that place of magic in our minds. Cherish every moment of memories in the making with family and friends. These are the times that sustain us. I wish you all the joys of the season. May your holidaze be artful  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n  \n \n\nPOST 39\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Spanish artist Salvador Dalí is one of the great figures in Modern Art. A larger-than-life personality with an ego to match\, his eccentricities are as legendary as his artistic genius. A brilliant technician\, Dali was a child prodigy\, but tragedy shaped his early life. He was haunted by the death of an older brother he never knew. But it was the experience of losing his mother at age 16 that devastated him. He later wrote\, “I could not resign myself to the loss of a being on whom I counted to make invisible the unavoidable blemishes of my soul.” \n  \nAfter traveling to Paris and experimenting with several styles throughout the 1920s\, Dali became a key figure in the Surrealist Movement. But his early art focused on the familiar landscapes of Catalonia\, in particular the coastal village of Cadaqués where his family owned a summer home. There his younger sister Anna Maria became the model for many of his works. Completed in 1925\, “Figura en una finestra (Figure at the Window)” presents an enigmatic portrait of Anna Maria shown from behind\, looking out a window with a view onto the sea. The delicately rendered young figure framed by the softly flowing drapery and the seascape beyond\, all unified in harmonious blues\, are juxtaposed against the empty space that surrounds them. It is a serene study in solitude. \n  \nWe are all searchers. Each of us gazes out onto the world in search of that which connects us. We long for the belonging. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we find ourselves feeling oddly disconnected from our lives. We grieve the loss of the familiar. We turn inward and find comfort in our isolation. Yet life teaches us that change is the only constant; love and loss and love again are inevitable. So we boldly venture forth\, like sailors on uncharted seas\, ever hopeful\, ever searching\, ever trusting we will find our way back home again. \n\n\n\n\n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 38\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Russian-born Modernist Marc Chagall famously wrote\, “In our life there is a single colour\, as on an artist’s palette\, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.” A true visual poet\, no other artist captured the reverie of love and joy of life with such exuberance. \n“The Birthday” was painted in 1915\, weeks before Chagall’s marriage to the love of his life\, Bella. The artist is depicted floating effortlessly above the ground\, as his head is stretched impossibly back towards his beloved. She is shown holding a bouquet of flowers\, her eyes locked on his gaze as she rises up to meet his kiss. The room is filled with color and pattern executed in the Fauvist style\, a nod to the great French colorist\, Henri Matisse. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as the days and months float by\, birthdays become important markers in our lives. We stop to appreciate the gift of every moment we’ve been given and consider the legacy we leave behind. Chagall’s painting reminds us the most precious gift we have to give is ourselves; that we should give freely\, love boundlessly and receive love reverently. What goes around comes around. As the song goes\, “And in the end\, the love you take\, is equal to the love you make.” \n\n\n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\nPOST 37\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. The concepts of agon (struggle\, contest\, competition) and nike (victory) were essential components of ancient Greek life. Competitive sports were exalted and depictions of victorious athletes representing archetypal youth were artfully cast in bronze. “Statue of a Victorious Youth\,” dating 300–100 B.C\, is one such example of youth memorialized. \nThe bronze sculpture with inlaid copper depicts a standing youth reaching towards an olive wreath placed on his head as the prize for victory in the Olympic Games. It is believed that this was one of a group of portraits of victorious athletes on display at Olympia\, site of the ancient games. Found by a fishing vessel off the coast of Italy in 1964\, it was likely carried by a Roman ship sunk in the Adriatic Sea. It was purchased from a German art dealer by the Getty Museum in 1977\, and although controversy surrounds the acquisition of this and other such antiquities\, there can be no doubt as to its beauty. \nOn this Memorial Day\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we remember all the lightfoot youth lost to war. Our hearts are heavy as we take stock of our losses\, even as friends and family continue to battle illness and death; collateral damage of a sort that makes us face our own mortality. Those left behind have an obligation to fully live our lives\, for we are the keepers of their memory. Let’s tap into that place where we are eternally young\, and dwell in that sacred space as living reminders of a time when our unlimited potential stretched before us like a blanket of stars\, happiness was forever in our grasp\, and we were victorious. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \nPOST 36\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Pierre Bonnard was one of a group of Post-Impressionist painters known as Les Nabis. As students together at the Academie Julian in Paris\, they saw themselves as prophets of Modern Art. Bonnard exhibited early on with the Fauves; his use of intense color and modern perspective was greatly admired by lifelong friend Henri Matisse and influenced generations of Modernist painters that followed. \nBonnard rarely painted from life\, preferring to paint from memory\, using color to infuse his work with emotion. His intimate domestic scenes and vibrant landscapes are combined to reach a high point in “The Studio at Le Canne with Mimosas\,” 1939-46\, completed near the end of his life. In the lower left hand corner is the partial figure of Marthe de Méligny\, his wife and favorite subject for over 50 years. Awash in color\, she is barely discernible amidst the glowing neon oranges and pinks of the interior space that serves as a frame for the explosion of cascading yellow flowers outside the window. With its flattened perspective and pools of high-intensity hue\, the canvas melts into a Technicolor abstraction of a reimagined memory. \nToday\, on this Mother’s Day in the Time of Coronavirus\, every mother’s child holds dear precious memories colored by love. While Bonnard’s canvas captures that love of everyday life\, it also expresses a bittersweet ache for something passing in front of our eyes. Take the time to appreciate the joy of family and the sheer exuberance of being alive. Although these moments may be fleeting\, the pictures of love we paint in our hearts live on forever. Happy Mother’s Day  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \nPOST 35\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Frederic Leighton was one of the most renowned artists of the Victorian era and longtime president of the Royal Academy. He is associated with the Pre-Raphaelites\, but was never a member of the group. Although Leighton rejected their approach to realism\, he shared their regard for nature and poetic idealism. He wrote\, “I am hand-in-glove with all my enemies the Pre-Raphaelites.” \nLeighton’s stunning 1895 oil on canvas\, “Flaming June\,” was one of his last paintings and considered his masterwork. It was loosely inspired by Michelangelo’s sculpture “Night” adorning the Medici Tombs in Florence. The recumbent figure of the woman – her luxurious hair\, flaming gown and loosely gathered shawl – combine into one swirling wave of warm earth tones\, juxtaposed against the shimmering cool blue Mediterranean Sea behind her. The work illustrates Leighton’s affinity for classicism and his mastery of depicting texture from the sheer soft folds of the fabric to the shiny\, hard surfaces of the marble. The poisonous oleander plant in the top right hints at the Victorian fascination with sleep and death\, often referenced in the art and poetry of the time. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us suffer from COVID fatigue. We feel as though we have been in a state of suspended animation\, and\, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet\, we ponder\, “in that sleep of death what dreams may come.” But as spring fast approaches\, and the vaccine brings new hope\, the world is starting to awaken. Each of us has the opportunity to manifest our dreams for the future. The world to which we emerge can be entirely of our own making. What will you dream it to be? \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 34\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Today we revisit Jacques-Louis David\, leading French painter of the Neoclassical style. “The Intervention of the Sabine Women” is a monumental history painting conceived while the artist was imprisoned for his sympathies to Robespierre\, following the Reign of Terror. It was inspired by a visit from his estranged wife\, who was largely responsible for his release. They later remarried. Painted in the waning years of the French Revolution\, the piece is\, first and foremost\, about reconciliation. \nCompleted in 1799\, “The Intervention of the Sabine Women” tells the ancient Roman story of the abduction of the Sabine women. Executed in grand cinematic style\, David chose to illustrate the moment when the Sabines are on the brink of battle with the Romans for their return. Stylistically\, it is a departure from the artist’s previous work in the way it foregrounds the female figures. At the center of the composition the heroic Hersilia\, in her white Grecian gown\, stands with outstretched arms in an effort to intervene between Tatius\, her father and king of the Sabines\, on the left\, and her husband Romulus\, the king of Rome\, on the right; her children – their sons and grandsons – lay at her feet. It is a plea for peace. \nAmericans have witnessed the devastating damage wrought by our deep political divide. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we are on the brink of doing battle with ourselves. Let us learn from the lessons of history. Lincoln said\, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” It is time for intervention. It is time for reconciliation. It is time “to bind up the nation’s wounds.” It is time for peace. \n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\nPOST 33\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. John Frederick Kensett is one of a group of American artists identified with the movement known as Luminism. Considered a second generation of the Hudson River school\, Luminist painters are celebrated for their radiant landscapes and seascapes characterized by the exquisite rendering of light and atmosphere. Although they share a fascination with the fleeting effects of light\, American Luminists predate the French Impressionists and differ dramatically in their use of finely modeled details and hidden brushstroke. \nKensett was trained as an engraver\, but left the family business to study landscape painting in Europe. When the artist returned to America\, he built a studio in Long Island Sound at a location he called Contentment Island. There he produced a series of coastal views known as “Last Summer’s Work\,” including this painting\, “Passing off of the Storm\,” completed in 1872. Small in scale\, the work is a meditative study in tonality. Illuminated clouds hover above a gray blue sky\, evidence of a storm receding in the background\, while the glassy surface of the pale blue sea remains still\, punctuated by only a few white sails\, a small island and a single rowboat. It is a poetic moment. \nNow\, in this moment\, at the end of this year in the Time of Coronavirus\, we anxiously anticipate the passing off of the storm. It has been a long and arduous voyage\, but we will ride it out. There will be much work to be done to repair the damages. Whether there will be smooth sailing ahead remains to be seen. But before we move forward into the New Year\, let’s pause for a moment of reflection\, look back at all the challenges we met and appreciate how far we’ve come. \nMy very best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy New Year. \nGail Phinney\, Community Outreach Director \n \n\nPOST 32\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Norman Rockwell is regarded as one of the most beloved artists of the 20th century. His charming depictions of everyday small town life are a mirror reflecting back an idealized image of America. An illustrator for the most popular publications of the era\, Rockwell painted 323 covers over a 50-year period for The Saturday Evening Post. Those nostalgic images of a perceived kinder\, gentler time are embedded in our culture and collective consciousness. \nNorman Rockwell’s depictions of Christmas are some of his most iconic. This oil on canvas\, “Is He Coming?\,” first appeared in the December 1919 issue of Red Cross Magazine. The story that it tells is heartwarming\, communicating all the youthful wonder of Christmas. A single stocking hangs from a mantel covered in evergreen boughs\, while a boy and his dog peer expectantly into the fireplace\, waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus coming down the chimney. The composition\, with its illuminated white figures juxtaposed against a dark background aglow in warm hues\, is a nod to the Baroque paintings of Rembrandt\, Rockwell’s artistic hero. But the sentiment is distinctly of its time and place. In the aftermath of World War I and the height of the Spanish Flu pandemic\, Rockwell gives a ravaged nation an image of hope and optimism – Christmas through the eyes of a child. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as the virus rages on\, it is easy to lose hope. Like a child trying to spy Santa on Christmas Eve\, the waiting seems interminable. We ask ourselves\, “Is the end coming?” But a New Year and a new vaccine bring new promise for a better tomorrow. It is so close we can almost see it. Americans are at our best when we pull together for a common cause. This holiday season stay home\, stay masked\, and stay safe. We will get through this\, if we keep the faith.  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n  \n  \nPOST 31\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Thomas Gainsborough is well known for his grand manner portraits of the English nobility. However\, his great love was nature\, and his sumptuous landscapes set the standard for the 18th century British landscape school. A leader in his field\, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. \nGainsborough’s relationship with the Royal Academy was a difficult one\, and he withdrew from exhibiting his work altogether in 1784\, the same year he painted “Charity Relieving Distress.” What remains of the original work is this fragment\, cut down in the 19th century. Rendered in luminous glazes and imbued with symbolism\, it depicts a young woman distributing food to a poor family on the threshold of a wealthy townhouse while a male figure looks on with admiration. “Charity Relieving Distress” is an allegory of benevolence\, in which those with means share their abundance with those in need. \nAs we begin the Season of Giving\, we are reminded that we\, as a Great Nation\, are defined by our commitment to the social virtues of generosity\, kindness and compassion. Today\, many American families stand on the threshold of hunger\, suffering the distress of food insecurity; collateral damage of the pandemic. 18th century English novelist Henry Fielding claimed charity to be “the very characteristic of this Nation at this Time.” Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, let it be the very characteristic of ours. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 30\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. American painter Andrew Wyeth was the youngest child of famed illustrator\, N.C. Wyeth. So it is no wonder that he should paint in such a narrative style\, capturing the people and landscapes of his beloved homes in Chadds Ford\, Pennsylvania and Cushing\, Maine. A master of American Scene painting\, Wyeth combined an understated realism with everyday subject matter\, creating a body of work that is both intensely personal and universal in its appeal. The artist himself said\, “I paint my life.” \n“The Witching Hour\,” painted in 1977\, is rendered in tempera\, Wyeth’s preferred medium. Unlike oil paint\, it is matte and applied in thin layers\, allowing for greater detail\, but with less color saturation. The subdued color palette\, along with the artist’s deeply felt affinity for solitary spaces\, results in poetic works like this; a commonplace image of empty chairs around a simple dining table\, imbued with memory\, nostalgia\, and an aching to be present in the absence of the moment. \nOn this Thanksgiving\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us will be gazing at a scene like this\, longing to fill empty chairs with family and friends. It feels like such a loss. But this year\, we must be especially thankful for the gifts that we’ve been given\, and show kindness whenever we can. Reach out and let others know how grateful you are for their presence in your life. While we will feel their absence at the table\, this year we show our love by distancing to keep each other safe. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n  \n \n  \nPOST 29\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. In 1848\, a group of English painters\, poets and critics formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Expressing their distaste for modern industrialized society\, they chose\, instead\, to hearken back to the spirituality and artisanship of the Early Renaissance\, depicting fictional and historical subjects. One of the founders of the group was John Everett Millais\, whose keen observation of the natural world and faithful rendering of the English landscape is evident in his 1852 painting\, “Ophelia.” \nMillais\, in keeping with the aesthetic of his brethren\, approaches the subject of Ophelia’s drowning in “Hamlet” with luminous color and stunning detail\, incorporating the Victorian fascination with the language of flowers. This decorative and highly representational work pays homage to William Shakespeare’s poetic description of the event:\n“Her clothes spread wide;\nAnd\, mermaid-like\, awhile they bore her up:\nWhich time she chanted snatches of old tunes;\nAs one incapable of her own distress\,\nOr like a creature native and indued\nUnto that element: but long it could not be\nTill that her garments\, heavy with their drink\,\nPull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay\nTo muddy death.” \nIn the Time of Coronavirus\, as the days float by\, it is easy to be pulled down by the weight of our own distress. Although we face a rising tide of uncertainty\, it is important to remain buoyant. The journey may be long and arduous\, but if we navigate the waters with courage and conviction\, we can emerge even stronger than before.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 28\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. In the opening line of the Social Contract (1762)\, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau exclaims\, “Man is born free\, but is everywhere in chains!” Rousseau believed freedom was the right and property of all\, and just cause for Revolution. Eugène Delacroix\, the great colorist and emotive painter of the Romantic period\, brilliantly illustrates this point in his monumental oil on canvas\, “Liberty Leading the People\,” 1830. \nA witness to the events of the day\, Delacroix created both a history and allegory painting of the Revolution of 1830. For three days\, known as les Trois Glorieuses (July 27–29)\, a group of working and middle-class Parisians battled in the streets against the royal army of King Charles X\, resulting in his abdication and the creation of a constitutional monarchy led by Louis-Philippe\, the Citizen King. The uprising of 1830 was the historical prelude to the June Rebellion of 1832\, an event featured in Victor Hugo’s novel\, Les Misérables. In this work\, Delacroix depicts the personification of Liberty as Marianne\, a bare-breasted figure of a woman and champion of freedom\, musket in one hand\, the French Republic’s Tricolore flag in the other\, urging on the masses from all walks of life to fight on. \nAs we battle against the virus in the Time of Coronavirus\, we remember that freedom is both an individual right and a collective responsibility. Our personal choices affect not only ourselves\, but everyone around us. It will take a Revolution of Kindness to be free of this oppressor. Wave your Flag of Compassion – wear a mask. Together we win!     Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 27\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Kara Walker explores complex issues of black identity that persist in America today by looking back at the historical Black experience. Using silhouettes that have become her trademark\, Walker’s panoramic installations both illuminate and dispel cultural myths about the antebellum South. Slavery is the subject of much of Walker’s work and she burst upon the art scene in 1994 with her groundbreaking installation\, “Gone\, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart.” \nThis installation (seen in a detail) is Walker’s response to romanticized depictions of antebellum life in literature such as Margaret Mitchell’s 1939 novel “Gone With the Wind.” The medium of cut-paper silhouette lends the work a nostalgic quality that speaks of a more genteel time\, but closer examination reveals the legs of a slave projecting from beneath a Southern belle’s hoop skirt while her beau’s saber points towards the backside of a slave child holding a strangled duck. Walker’s art shocks us out of our complacency and forces us to look at that which we would disavow – a history of slavery and the lingering racial prejudices in our society. \nOn July 4\, 1776\, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence that begins with the statement\, “We hold these truths to be self-evident\, that all men are created equal.” The majority of the document’s signers were slave owners. Since then\, the history of this nation has been marked by unspeakable acts of violence against those considered separate and unequal. Frederick Douglass said\, “No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.” On this Independence Day\, in the Time of Coronavirus and the Time of Black Lives Matter\, let us pledge “our Lives\, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” to break the chains of injustice that enslave us\, once and for all.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 26\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Sculptor Mary Edmonia Lewis was a pioneering advocate for social justice. Her subject matter was inspired by her African American and Native American heritage. Orphaned at an early age\, she was guided in her education and mentored by leading abolitionists who later became her subjects and patrons. While studying art in Boston\, she sculpted a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw\, commander of the first all-Black Civil War regiment. The sales of plaster casts enabled her to travel to Rome to study classical art and hone her skills sculpting in marble. There she created “Forever Free.” \n\nSculpted in 1867 to commemorate the ratification of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States\, “Forever Free” is distinctive for its time. It is crafted in the neoclassical and romantic tradition\, but imbued with Lewis’ sensibilities as a Black female artist and activist for women’s suffrage. The sculpture depicts two figures\, a standing male and kneeling female\, both in broken chains. The male figure is standing on a discarded ball and chain\, symbolic of his emancipation. The kneeling female figure is more enigmatic\, and it has been suggested by scholars that she embodies the plea for freedom through women’s suffrage. Universal suffrage remained a divisive issue amongst post Civil War Black activists until the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. \nArt history is a dynamic field of study\, seen through an ever-changing cultural perspective. While Edmonia Lewis defied the limitations of a 19th century Black woman artist in her choice of subject matter\, today her stylistic choices\, largely Eurocentric\, have fallen out of favor. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus and the Time of Black Lives Matter\, it continues to be the role of the Black artist to disrupt the accepted conventions of the time to boldly produce art that is reflective of the time. As museums and galleries reopen with new and dynamic expressions of Black voices\, we must all engage in the conversation\, to listen and to learn. With open hearts and open minds we break down barriers and build community through art.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 25\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Glenn Ligon is best known for his text-based paintings. Drawing from diverse voices in literature and culture\, Ligon examines identity politics by interrogating traditional constructs of race\, gender and sexuality. More recently\, Ligon turned to neon sculpture to comment on the complexities of the Black American Experience.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Double America\, 2012\,” neon and paint\, is the second “America” piece by Ligon\, created in response to the dual climate of optimism and conflict following the election of the first African American president. The top row of letters is painted black and turned toward the wall so the viewer looks at the back of the illuminated letters. The bottom row depicts the word upside down with the outward-facing sides painted black. A white neon light is reflected off the wall. Ligon was inspired by “A Tale of Two Cities;” a novel about the French Revolution by Charles Dickens. It opens with the words\, “It was the best of times\, it was the worst of times . . . it was the season of light\, it was the season of darkness\, it was the spring of hope\, it was the winter of despair.” \nLigon’s “Double America” is the perfect metaphor for A Tale of Two Americas in The Time of Coronavirus. It is a Time of Pandemic and a Time of Protest; it is a Time of Isolation and a Time of Revolution. It is a time to shed light on a Double America that turned its back on many\, while privileging the few. It is a Time for Radical Change. Dickens wrote\, “we had everything before us\, we had nothing before us.”  This is the moment we can choose\, and history will judge us for our choices.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\nPOST 24\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Photographer\, writer\, film director\, and composer\, Gordon Parks (1912 – 2006) rose from childhood poverty to become a Renaissance man. While gaining recognition as a fashion photographer for Vogue\, he began to do freelance work chronicling the Black experience in America. In 1948\, he became the first Black photojournalist at Life magazine where his poetic photo essays on segregation and the struggle for social justice put a face on race relations and captured pivotal moments of the Civil Rights movement and the Black Power movement that followed. \n\n“Untitled\, Washington\, D.C.” (1963)\, is one of a series of images Parks captured on assignment during the historic March on Washington where over 250\,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to hear the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the introduction to his 1968 story about racism and poverty for Life\, Parks said\, “What I want. What I am. What you force me to be is what you are. For I am you\, staring back from a mirror of poverty and despair\, of revolt and freedom.” \nNow\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, this image is being replicated and documented by photographers around the globe. In this Time of Protest\, a new generation is on the march against bigotry and injustice. Let this be the defining moment when we gather together as one people\, united in our commitment to lasting social change. Maybe then we can get to Dr. King’s Promised Land and be free at last to realize the dream of liberty and justice for all.     Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 23\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. American Ed Ruscha is one of the Ferus Gallery group of artists who brought their own distinctive style of Pop Art to the contemporary Los Angeles art scene in the 1960s. With graphic design training from Chouinard\, Ruscha took his inspiration from Southern California car culture and the cinema. He is best known for his series of word paintings\, as well as paintings\, prints and photography inspired by Los Angeles and its architecture. One of his most ambitious works about the city is “The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire\,” 1965-68. \nLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)\, designed by architect William Pereira\, opened to the public in 1965. That same year Ruscha began a highly representational painting of the three-building complex in flames. In this work Ruscha speaks truth to power in his message to mainstream cultural institutions\, represented by LACMA\, that were denying a voice to the artists of his generation. When it was exhibited\, he sent a telegram to the gallery stating that the fire marshal would be on hand to see\, “the most controversial painting to be shown in Los Angeles in our time.” It was installed behind a velvet rope as if to keep angry protesters at a distance. \nWhile Ruscha’s painting was a statement on the Los Angeles of his time\, now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, it seems prophetic. Today\, as the Pereira-designed campus is being demolished\, Los Angeles is burning\, sparked by racial violence. What seemed like a surrealistic vision of the city fifty years ago is now our reality. Abraham Lincoln said\, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Once again\, we are called upon to extinguish hate\, find common ground\, and do the hard work necessary to effect real and lasting change. How and when this ends is up to us.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 22\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Influenced by Sigmund Freud’s “Interpretations of Dreams\,” the Symbolists were a group of artists that wanted to express a reality far deeper than what could be observed on the surface. No one did so with greater flair than Viennese painter Gustav Klimt. Inspired by Byzantine mosaics\, Klimt’s work is recognizable for its highly decorative style\, including the use of gold leaf. The sensual subject matter and opulent execution epitomized the fin-de-siècle sensibilities of European culture at the end of the 19th century. \n\nCompleted in 1908\, “The Kiss” is considered to be Klimt’s masterpiece. It depicts two intertwined figures\, the man’s face turned away from the viewer as he caresses his lover’s head in anticipation of a kiss. Kneeling on a flowerbed\, they are wrapped in shimmering gold garments\, the patterns of which are symbolic of their genders\, his geometric and hers organic. Vines and flowers encircle their heads\, like classical lovers in mythology. They are timeless. \nAs we begin to emerge from isolation and search for meaning in the Time of Coronavirus\, we reflect on the lessons we have learned about what is truly important in life. “The Kiss” reminds us that our lives are defined by the golden moments we connect with others. If we are lucky\, we have a great love or an abiding friendship that makes us feel the totality of our existence in a single embrace. It is then that we remember what it is to be human . . . and we cleave to one another so we won’t forget.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\nPOST 21\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. John Singer Sargent was a highly sought-after society portrait painter of the Edwardian period. Born to American parents in Italy\, Sargent was educated in Paris and lived most of his life as an expatriate in Europe. By the turn of the 20th century\, Sargent was one of the most celebrated painters of his time\, recognized in the United States and Europe for his portraits as well as his murals at the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts\, Boston. In 1918\, the artist was commissioned by the British Ministry of Information to create a large-scale painting commemorating joint efforts between American and British forces during World War I. The result is the 1919 oil on canvas\, “Gassed\,” an epic work that vividly illustrates the horror of war on a massive scale. \nFor this commission\, Sargent traveled to the Western Front where he spent four months in France and Belgium observing the devastating effects of chemical warfare. Moved by the vision\, Sargent abandoned the theme of his commission\, and\, instead\, used sketches he drew en plein air to create a monumental painting illustrating the aftermath of a mustard gas attack. In “Gassed\,” the artist portrays a group of young soldiers being led to medical treatment\, each man holding on to the shoulder of the man in front\, their eyes bandaged as a result of exposure to the gas. A similar scene is repeated off in the background\, and all around lay the bodies of more men. The sheer number of wounded is staggering. \nWhile the magnitude of suffering and loss in the Great War was unprecedented\, the death toll on the battlefield was eclipsed by the worldwide loss of life due to the 1918 Spanish Flu. 100 years later\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we once again wage battle against a pandemic.  Brave first responders and medical workers are called to fight on the front lines every day.  Many have fallen as the virus continues to take its toll.  On this Memorial Day\, we remember all the valiant soldiers\, in all the wars\, that put themselves in harm’s way for our safety. To honor their sacrifice\, let us join forces in this global fight\, and bring all our collective resources and knowledge to the cause of healing humanity\, making this truly the war to end all wars.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \nPOST 20\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. “Girl with Balloon” is the most recognizable work by the graffiti artist who may be the most enigmatic figure of our time\, Banksy. Replicated in several locations and in many iterations\, the 2002 spray painted stencil mural located at Waterloo Bridge\, South Bank\, London is the original. The image is accompanied by the words\, “There is always hope.” There has been much speculation as to the artist’s intentions behind this simple image of the girl with the heart-shaped balloon. Is it a message about loss or is it about hope? It is up to the viewer to decide. \nThe work shows a young girl standing with her dress and hair blowing in the wind. It is unclear whether the red heart-shaped balloon has slipped from her hands and is flying out of reach\, or is descending to her from above. The image has been replicated in both graffiti and print versions and repurposed by the artist for political messaging over the years. In 2018\, a 2006 framed print of “Girl with Balloon” was auctioned at Sotheby’s London for a record high price of £1\,043\,0004. After the closing bid\, the artwork began to shred itself\, and it was later discovered that Banksy had hidden a shredder in the frame\, thereby turning the event into a performance piece where everyone “got Banksy-ed.” \nLike “Girl with Balloon\,” Life in the Time of Coronavirus can be about both loss and hope. For many of us\, life as we knew it is floating away like a lost balloon\, and it leaves us feeling helpless and small. While it may be difficult\, Banksy reminds us\, “There is always hope.” We have the option to lean into the winds of change\, reach up and grab onto the hope that a better tomorrow is coming our way. The choice is ours. 🎈  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\nPOST 19\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. A native of Pennsylvania who lived as an expatriate in Paris\, Mary Cassatt distinguished herself as one of the three great women of Impressionism. Educated at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts\, Cassatt went to Europe to study the great masters\, eventually settling in Paris. There she was befriended by Edgar Degas and invited to exhibit with the French Impressionists. As a woman artist Cassatt was not as free to engage in society as her male counterparts. As a result\, she derived her subject matter from what she knew best\, the private lives of women\, whom she portrayed with dignity and genuine sentiment. Perhaps no other artist is more identified with capturing intimate moments between women and their children than Mary Cassatt. \nIn her 1880 pastel on paper\, “Mother and Child (The Goodnight Hug)\,” Cassatt demonstrates her mastery of pastel on paper. Introduced to the medium by Degas\, the artist achieves all the spontaneity and luminosity that is the hallmark of the Impressionists\, yet the bold\, loose approach to mark-making is inventive and fresh. Filled with pattern and movement\, the drawing is vibrant and alive. It is as if the child has just been swept up in its mother’s arms. The tenderness with which they embrace\, their faces pressed against each other\, we feel their bond. They are one. \nOn this Mother’s Day during the Time of Coronavirus\, the bond between mother and child seems all the more cherished. Many of us are nostalgic for the comfort we felt in our mother’s arms\, or the simple pleasure of a goodnight hug with children who may be grown and far away. As people\, we are different in countless ways\, but we are bound together by one essential truth – each of us is some mother’s son or daughter. There is no greater love.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 18\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. If there was ever an artist for this time\, it would be American Edward Hopper. No one depicts isolation better than the “artist of empty spaces.” Hopper’s most iconic works\, including “Nighthawks\,” painted in 1942\, speak to the alienation of urban life\, where people are together\, but feel alone. After years of struggle as an artist and illustrator\, Hopper had his breakthrough during the Great Depression\, when his straightforward style of realism brilliantly coalesced with his un-sentimentalized subject matter to capture the essence of Depression-era life. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in his 1930 oil on canvas\, “Early Sunday Morning.” \n“Early Sunday Morning” depicts just that\, a row of closed shops on Seventh Avenue in New York shortly after sunrise on a Sunday morning. Completely devoid of people\, the sharp geometry of the buildings\, coupled with the long shadows\, make the street look stark and desolate. There is a voyeuristic quality to Hopper’s work that invites the viewer to construct the narrative. And while some interpret this painting as a commentary on the Great Depression\, Hopper himself preferred not to ascribe meaning to his images\, instead saying\, “I was more interested in the sunlight on the buildings and on the figures than any symbolism.” \nDuring The Great Isolation\, this scene of shuttered shops on an abandoned street has become a common sight in communities everywhere. Experts are likening the economic impact on small businesses to The Great Depression. Now is the time to support the businesses and institutions run by our friends and neighbors that strengthen the social fabric of our community. As shelter-at-home restrictions lift and businesses begin to reopen\, whenever you have the choice\, choose local. When we invest in our communities\, together we thrive.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n \n\n\nPOST 17\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The Age of Impressionism that corresponds with the last quarter of the nineteenth century marked the coming of age for the city of Paris. The old medieval city had recently undergone a massive renovation by Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann and Paris was suddenly a vibrant and modern city. A new class of Bourgeoisie\, nouveaux riches who benefited from the economic boom\, emerged\, and with them an interest in bourgeois leisure pursuits of art\, culture and café society. French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s masterful oil on canvas\, “Bal du Moulin de la Galette\, 1876\,” captures the joie de vivre of the period using a painting technique invented to reflect the rapidly changing nature of modern life. \nImpressionist painters were interested in spontaneity. They were attempting to capture a moment in time\, a candid snapshot of life not unlike those popularized by the recently invented camera. In order to achieve this their paintings were produced quickly on site\, en plein air\, using short\, unblended strokes of color. For the Impressionists\, rapid painting was both their subject and their style\, whether they were painting scenes of Paris life or the French countryside. “Bal du Moulin de la Galette” depicts a popular Parisian dance hall. Some people crowd the tables and chatter\, while others dance. The atmosphere is so lively you can almost hear the sounds of music\, laughter\, and tinkling glasses. The painter bathed the scene in dappled sunlight and shade to produce the effect of fleeting light the Impressionists so artfully cultivated. \nRenoir reflected on this work by saying\, “The world knew how to laugh in those days!” Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, when we are isolated from each other\, it feels as if those days are gone forever. We find ourselves longing for conviviality and camaraderie. But we must believe that when the time is right\, it will return\, and the world will open up to us slowly but surely\, shimmering like the sunlight through the trees. And when it does\, it will be that much sweeter knowing we will never take these fleeting moments for granted again.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\nPOST 16\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes rose to prominence as official court painter to Charles IV of Spain. Dissatisfaction with the aristocracy increased during Goya’s tenure\, and what was believed to be an alliance with France to overthrow the Spanish King resulted in a bloody battle for Spanish independence. Later\, Goya would document the atrocities in his most famous painting\, “Third of May\, 1808.” Increasingly disillusioned with humanity\, Goya produced a satirical series of dark prints from 1797-1798 called\, “Los Caprichos” (meaning caprices or follies). The artist used these 80 aquatints and etchings to critique contemporary Spanish society. The most iconic of these prints is No. 43\, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” \n\nIn the image\, a figure\, believed to be the artist\, is asleep at his drawing table. In his dream he is haunted by owls and bats\, symbols of folly and ignorance. The title of the print\, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” is inscribed on the front of the desk. Goya’s epigraph for the print reads\, “Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her\, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders.”\nIn the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us are plagued by monsters. The uncertainties and anxieties of the day run rampant in our imaginations\, making restful sleep a rare commodity. It is difficult to make sense of the conflicting information available to us. We don’t know who or what to believe. It feels like a bad dream. But as Goya suggests\, we need both rational thought and our creative imaginations to weather these times\, because reason combined with imagination is the mother of the arts\, and art is the source of wonder that helps us confront and battle our demons.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 15\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Earth Day was established on April 22\, 1970 to bring awareness to world-wide environmental concerns. American artist Robert Rauschenberg was commissioned to design the first Earth Day poster to benefit the American Environment Foundation in Washington\, D.C. Rauschenberg was a well-established artist in the Post-War New York School of Abstract Expressionists\, known for his paintings\, sculptures and Combines that merged the two mediums. An outspoken social\, political and environmental advocate\, Rauschenberg had a prolific output of prints and posters that enabled him to reach a wider audience and raise support for his various causes. \nFor the design of his first Earth Day poster\, the artist placed the Bald Eagle\, the national symbol of the United States\, at the center of the composition\, in effect\, positioning our country in the middle of the global crisis. Imagery of pollution\, contamination\, deforestation and endangered species surround the eagle. An edition of 10\,000 off-set lithographs were published by Caselli Graphics in New York. A larger format lithograph\, based on the original design\, was produced in a limited edition of 50 by Gemini G.E.L.\, Los Angeles. \nThis Earth Day\, 50 years later\, we have the unique opportunity to reflect on our individual roles as environmental stewards. We’ve seen how quickly nature has renewed itself in the period since we began shelter-in-place. It’s up to us to determine how measures to control pollution\, slow climate change\, minimize our carbon footprint and support a healthy planet continue after The Great Isolation is over. Let us come together as good global citizens. Our collective future on the planet depends on it.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 14\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Derived from the Portuguese “barroco\,” meaning irregularly shaped pearl\, the term Baroque is attributed to the dynamic and theatrical art that emerged in Europe during the 1600s. A major contributor to the period was the influential artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio whose use of tenebrism\, a style of painting incorporating dramatic contrasts of light and dark\, was emulated by future generations of artists known as “Caravaggisti.” A controversial character in his own right\, Caravaggio’s outspoken disdain for the classical masters drew criticism from those who regarded him as the “anti-Christ” of painting. In “Saint Jerome Writing\, 1605–06\,” Caravaggio uses a combination of tenebrism and symbolism to cast the figure of Saint Jerome in a spiritual light. \n\nFluent in Greek and Hebrew\, Saint Jerome is credited with his translation of the bible into Latin. As a result\, he is always portrayed in his study with the attributes of a scholar. Breaking with tradition\, Caravaggio presents us with a naturalistic\, unidealized depiction of the aged saint\, immersed in his work\, draped in the simple cloth of an ascetic removed from the outside world. The room is dark and spartan\, but he is bathed in divine light. The painting includes a skull\, the seat of knowledge\, and symbol of the death of the physical body now reborn at a higher\, spiritual level. \nDuring this period of isolation\, removed from the distractions of the outside world\, we finally have time for self-reflection. Each of us has the unique opportunity to look inside and find our light. Let us emerge with a renewed sense of purpose\, resolved to be the best version of ourselves for our family\, our friends\, and our community. When our spirits shine bright\, we light the way for others. \n\n\n\nPOST 13\n\n\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The cinematic arts deserve equal time\, so today I give you a 3-minute excerpt from Christian Marclay’s\, 2010 masterpiece\, “The Clock.” Described as a moving collage\, “The Clock” is a 24-hour long montage of thousands of film clips that depict clocks or reference time. It took three years for the work to be compiled. “The Clock” is screened in real time\, so it is\, itself\, a timepiece\, each clip synchronized with the actual time it is being viewed. \n\n“The Clock” is a meditation on time. A temporal art form\, “The Clock” examines how the elements of time\, plot and duration are depicted in film. It includes clips from many of the great cinematic masterworks of the last century\, paying homage to the medium. At the same time\, it plays with the conventions that construct meaning in narrative\, thereby undermining any sense of chronological coherence for the viewer. The artist has described “The Clock” as a memento mori\, an artwork about the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death. While viewing “The Clock\,” we are continuously reminded about the passage of time; how much time we’ve spent and how much time we have left. \nLife in the Time of Coronavirus has disrupted all sense of time. Without our regular daily routines\, it is easy to lose track of the hours and the days. We seem to be in an endless holding pattern\, waiting for the clock to restart and our lives to go back to normal. But the future is uncertain\, and we can’t relive the past\, so we need to focus on the here and now\, because there is no time like the present to start living.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\nClick image to view The Clock \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 12\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The Barbizon School were a group of French landscape artists painting in the Forest of Fountainebleau surrounding the village of Barbizon. Their work is regarded as the strongest movement of purely landscape painting in 19th century France. They were also pioneers in painting en plein air\, directly from nature\, paving the way for the Impressionists. A founder of this group\, Jean-François Millet took on the plight of the rural poor as his subject matter. Now considered a masterpiece of the genre\, Millet’s 1857 oil on canvas\, “The Gleaners\,” was poorly received in its day by the upper class who took exception to its commentary on social inequity. \nIn “The Gleaners\,” Millet presents three peasant women performing the tedious task of gleaning; collecting the wheat scraps left in the field after the harvest. The job was backbreaking\, but made an important contribution to the rural workers’ diet. Millet understood this. In an attempt to dignify the subjects and draw attention to their harsh labor\, Millet placed his figures in the foreground\, against a broad sky\, their monumental forms dominating the canvas. The symbolic contrast between abundance and scarcity\, and between light and shadow\, further serves to emphasize the class divide. This sensibility established the artist as a champion of social justice for the poorest of the peasant class. \nFor some of us\, shelter-at-home is an opportunity to slow the pace and leisurely engage in domestic activities that give us pleasure. But for others\, this period of isolation represents a real and present economic hardship and a commitment to long hours of strenuous labor. Illness\, loss of work\, even the inability to purchase necessities has put a strain on our friends and neighbors. Essential workers in the fields of healthcare and food distribution toil tirelessly for our benefit. Now is the time to summon the better angels of our nature and embrace our common humanity. However and whenever possible\, share your bounty. Engage in random acts of kindness. We rise by lifting others.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 11\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Following independence from Spain in the 17th century\, the Dutch Republic quickly gained economic prominence owing to their lucrative trade routes\, centralized banking system\, and robust flower market driven by the tulip. A new class of wealthy merchants and art patrons rose to power\, and thus began the Dutch Golden Age. Whereas the Catholic Church favored religious subject matter\, Calvinist teachings rejected religious iconography\, so still life painting\, previously considered a lowly art form\, blossomed in popularity with the Dutch Reformed merchant class. One of the most accomplished practitioners of the genre was a woman\, Rachel Ruysch. The daughter of a botany professor\, Ruysch developed an international reputation for her highly accurate\, yet naturalistic compositions\, all the while raising 10 children. “Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop\, 1716” is an excellent example of an ornamental still life imbued with complex religious symbolism. \nStill lifes are idealized compositions of perfect specimens that bloom at different times of the year. For the Baroque era viewer\, the symbolism of each flower would be easily understood. In “Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop” Ruysch organizes her flowers into a specific hierarchy relating to the life of Christ\, topped by the iris with its groupings of three petals\, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. At the center of the arrangement\, side by side\, are the white poppy\, symbol of death and the crucifixion\, and the blue morning glory that opens to the light\, symbolizing the resurrection. Closer inspection reveals insects feeding on the flowers\, signifying the transient nature of life. \nLike the Story of Easter reflected in this work by Rachel Ruysch\, Life in the Time of Coronavirus is a complex narrative composed of human suffering and transcendence. It reminds us that life is like a delicate blossom\, fragile and fleeting. But with the arrival of spring\, we remain confident in the knowledge that the cycle of life will move us out of the darkness and into the light\, and life will triumph over death\, because hope springs eternal.🌷Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 10\n\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Today I give you “The Signs on the Door\,” a watercolor by French artist James (Jacques) Joseph Tissot\, c. 1896-1902. This painting is one in a large series depicting the life of Moses and the story of Exodus executed by the artist from 1896-1900. A successful society portraitist of the period\, Tissot is best known for his paintings of well-dressed women and their fashionable lifestyles. Like his contemporary Édouard Manet\, Tissot was a self-proclaimed Realist and painter of modern life. He declined to participate in the 1874 exhibition that gave the French Impressionists their name. In the last years of his life\, Tissot turned his attention to biblical subject matter\, in particular the Old Testament. \n“The Signs on the Door\,” depicts a moment in the Book of Exodus when God rains ten plagues down upon the Pharaoh and commands Moses to free the enslaved Israelites and take them out of Egypt. Before the final plague\, the killing of the first born\, the Israelites mark their doors with lamb’s blood as a sign that the Angel of Death will pass over them. The image is rendered in Tissot’s characteristic illustrative style. \nJews around the world have begun the observance of Passover\, an eight-day commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt that takes its name from this event. It is a story of liberation from slavery\, followed by an arduous journey of revelation\, that ends in a celebration of homecoming. As we collectively search for meaning in the Time of Coronavirus\, it is a testament to the unwavering belief that despite our travails\, sooner or later we will all find our way home. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n– Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n  \n \n\nPOST 9\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The late 18th century Age of Revolution marked an end to absolute monarchy throughout Continental Europe and the Americas. The desire for freedom\, not only political freedom\, but also freedom of thought\, feeling\, and the expression of these ideas\, is the hallmark of the period known as Romanticism. Nature\, in all her awe-inspiring vastness\, emerged as a favorite subject matter\, exemplifying the aesthetic concept of the sublime. Among the artists best known for their transcendental landscape paintings is Germany’s Caspar David Friedrich with his masterpiece\, “Wanderer above a Sea of Mist\,” 1817-1818. \nIn “Wanderer above a Sea of Mist\,” a solitary climber stands on a rocky promontory and leans on his cane. The figure surveys a vast panorama of clouds and mountains through a thick mist. The archetypal man\, depicted from behind\, is at once master of all he sees\, and at the same time\, dwarfed by the enormity of the vision and the uncertainty of the journey that lays ahead. Nature as both transcendent and fearsome is the perfect expression of the sublime. \nAs human beings\, we tend to go about our daily lives with a false sense of superiority\, believing we’re impervious to the forces of nature. But the Coronavirus pandemic has left us devastated in its wake. The escalating number of cases has us feeling helpless\, and the mounting death toll reminds us of our human frailty. It is a fearful time. While we are learning every day how to battle the virus and move towards treatment and a cure\, humility in the presence of nature’s greatness may well be the most lasting lesson. \n\nGail Phinney\, Education Director\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 8\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Women engaged in the daily routine of bathing and grooming has been a ubiquitous subject throughout the history of Western Art. Georges Seurat’s “Young Woman Powdering Herself\,” 1888-90\, a portrait of his model and mistress Madeleine Knobloch\, presents a late 19th-century depiction of a woman at her toilette\, similar to those popularized by other French artists of the period\, including Edgar Degas\, Édouard Manet\, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. What sets this work apart is the distinctive pointillist style in which it is rendered. \nBest known for his monumental work\, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte\,” 1884\, George Seurat was a leader in the Neo-Impressionist movement and influential in the development of divisionism. Based on optical theory\, divisionism is a calculated system of colored dots arranged on the surface of the canvas in a manner that allows the viewer’s eye to blend the colors from a distance. Unlike the French Impressionists who used rapid painting techniques to capture the fleeting effects of light with such spontaneity\, there is nothing spontaneous about the work of Seurat. \nAs we shelter at home and work remotely\, our daily routine can fall by the wayside. Our motivation to carry on with regular grooming habits so tied to our self-esteem starts to wane. It’s easy to lose pride in our appearance\, and every glimpse in the mirror adds to our depression. Sometimes the simple act of getting out of bed in the morning is a struggle. But it’s important to try. Today I rallied. Today I showered. Today I dressed and fixed my hair. Today I’m winning. I hope you are\, too.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nPOST 7\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. And now for something completely different – I give you Sandy Skoglund’s 1980 Cibachrome print\, “Radioactive Cats.” Creating at the nexus of sculpture\, installation art\, and photography\, American Sandy Skoglund turns everyday domestic scenes into surreal\, dreamlike environments. Rather than relying on digital methods\, the artist hand-crafts elaborate installations using her own sculptures along with sourced objects\, while incorporating friends and family members as subjects\, all in an effort to comment on the human condition. \n“Radioactive Cats” features two elderly figures in a stark interior invaded by an over-abundance of neon-green felines. While the evocative image is open for interpretation\, Skoglund communicates a heightened psychological experience by contrasting the monochromatic interior with brightly painted animals who appear to have been irradiated\, while the drably dressed inhabitants are seemingly non-plussed. \nThe threat of contracting and spreading the Coronavirus has us living in an altered reality\, one where we don veritable hazmat suits to leave our homes and engage in elaborate sanitizing rituals when we return. For those of us Boomers\, It’s a new Atomic Age where everything we touch outside our door feels threatening. This is the new\, almost\, but not quite\, for the moment\, normal. As surreal as it may seem\, we have to learn to live with it. Like Skoglund’s clowder of radioactive cats\, the virus has invaded all our lives. We can’t be in denial any more.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 6\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. One of the most iconic artworks in the Western canon\, “The Scream\,” is an 1893 tempera and pastel on cardboard by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. The image has become synonymous with the angst of modern psychic life\, and the general malaise often associated with the end of the century. The original title of the work was “Despair.” \nMunch described his inspiration for the piece in this way\, “I was walking along the road with two friends. The sun was setting. I felt a breath of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned blood-red. I stopped\, and leaned against the railing\, deathly tired – looking out across the flaming clouds that hung like blood and a sword over the blue-black fjord and town. My friends walked on – I stood there trembling with fear. And I sensed a great\, infinite scream pass through nature.” The artist conveys his sensibilities\, and the central figure’s inner life\, through the exaggerated use of line\, garish color and distorted shape. It haunts us. \n\nLife in the Time of Coronavirus is filled with uncertainty. How long will the pandemic last? What changes are coming? Will things ever be the same? Sometimes the fear and anxiety washes over us like a great tsunami. Sometimes we feel so frustrated we want to scream. Sometimes we just break down and cry. But this I know\, every morning the sun will rise again\, and with each new day comes a new start\, and some way\, somehow\, we will find the strength to walk on.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 5\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. “Waiting\,” a pastel on paper completed by Edgar Degas over the period 1879-1882 is one of 200 works depicting classical ballet dancers at the Paris Opéra. Although Degas exhibited with the French Impressionists\, he did not share their interest in painting en plein air\, or outdoors\, instead considering himself a Realist. \nA member of the Bourgeoisie\, Degas turned his attentions to depicting the demi-monde\, a group that existed outside the accepted social structure and included his favorite subject matter – ballerinas\, cafe singers and jockeys. Degas’ fascination with Japanese prints called ukiyo-e is evident in both the voyeuristic depiction of this world and in the flattened\, diagonal composition. In “Waiting” he uses a raked composition with sparse detail to heighten the emotion in this behind the scenes glimpse of the life of a ballerina\, bent over holding her ankle\, next to her a figure dressed in street clothes\, perhaps her chaperone\, both exhibiting a similar sense of exhaustion and anxiety in their posture and demeanor. \nI can’t think of a more appropriate work to convey the struggle many of us feel as we wait. . . wait for stranded loved ones to return from far away locations\, wait for signs and symptoms of the virus to appear\, wait for news of a treatment or a vaccine\, wait for the panic to subside\, wait to be out of isolation and back in society. The waiting seems interminable\, but we have no choice but to be patient\, find our inner peace and believe in our hearts that this too shall pass.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 4\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Thomas Eakins was one of the foremost American Realist painters of the late nineteenth century. Academically trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris\, his subject matter was largely drawn from the people and places of his beloved Philadelphia. “The Champion Single Sculls (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull)\, 1871\,” one of the first in a series depicting the sport of sculling\, was painted after his return from Europe. \nThe painting commemorates the victory of amateur rower\, Max Schmitt\, in a race on the Schuylkill River in October 1870. A sports enthusiast and avid rower\, Eakins added himself to the composition behind the oars of the scull in the near distance. Eakins is best known for his fascination with the human figure and was a longtime life drawing instructor at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. His early photographic experiments with capturing the human body in motion pioneered the development of motion pictures. \nWhile many of us find enjoyment in outdoor activities\, we must continue to practice responsible social distancing. Be respectful of the earth and one another. As we collectively heal\, so will nature if we tread lightly on her. You need go no further than your own backyard or open your windows to enjoy a gentle breeze\, listen to the birds sing and marvel at the beauty of the world around us. Like us\, nature is both fragile and resilient. Let’s nurture her as she has nurtured us. Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \nPOST 3\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Along with philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau\, some French Enlightenment era artists rejected the frivolity and corruption of society under the monarchy\, and\, instead\, exalted the simplicity and honesty of peasant life. Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and his 1740 oil on canvas\, “Saying Grace\,” exemplifies this in a quiet scene of domestic interaction between a mother and her two young daughters saying grace before a modest meal. It is so heartfelt and charming\, you can feel the love between the family members\, as well as the affection held for them by the artist. \nIn genre paintings like this\, as well as his masterful still lifes\, Chardin celebrated everyday life a world away from the aristocracy at play depicted in the popular Rococo art of the time. His work had wide appeal\, even with the nobility\, in fact\, “Saying Grace” was once owned by King Louis XV. \nAs we shelter-in-place we have the opportunity for many such moments to quietly connect with our families\, whether homeschooling or informally instructing our children as we go through the rituals of the day. And though some of us are separated from the ones we love right now\, we have the technology to reach out and touch them remotely. Take a minute to look around you\, find grace in the simple gift of life\, and if you haven’t already done so\, tell someone you love them. ❤️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 2\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Today I give you “Oath of the Horatii\,” a monumental oil on canvas painted in 1784 by Jacques-Louis David. David\, a favorite of the French Salon and the aristocracy\, became the leading French Neoclassical painter of the age. At the time of the French Revolution\, he swung both ways\, also serving as Minister of Propaganda for the radical Jacobin Party during the Reign of Terror. He believed paintings representing noble deeds in the past could inspire virtue in the present\, and used his heroic work to influence public sentiment.\n\nThe most famous of these works\, “Oath of the Horatii\,” illustrates a story in Roman history. The leaders of the warring cities of Rome and Alba decided to resolve their conflicts in a series of encounters waged by three representatives from each side. The Romans chose as their champions the three Horatii brothers\, who had to face the three sons of the Curiatii family from Alba. In cinematic style\, David’s painting depicts an intimate moment in the story\, as the Horatii sons swear on their swords\, held high by their father\, to win or die for Rome. The painting is encoded with symbolism of patriotism\, self-sacrifice and civic duty\, along with the obligatory weepy women. \nTimes of crisis require sacrificing the interests of the individual “me” for the benefit of the collective “we.” Until the virus passes\, everyone must do their part for their community\, even if it means isolating from it for a time. Be a warrior\, be brave\, do whatever it takes\, we’re all in this fight together. ⚔️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \nPOST 1\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson to keep yours truly actively engaged in the work I love. We begin with William Adolphe Bouguereau’s\, “L’Amour et Psyché\, enfants” an oil on canvas painted in 1890. Cupid and Psyche\, young lovers in Greek and Roman mythology\, are depicted as innocents in their first embrace\, he with angel wings and she with butterfly wings that both represent her name in Greek\, and are a symbol of metamorphosis\, as in the story she transforms from mortal to immortal in pursuit of her lover. \nBouguereau was a regular contributor to the French Salon and painted in the highly representational Academic Style\, depicting mostly classical themes\, as was the accepted practice of the time. After the rise of the French Impressionists his work fell out of favor\, but has since been rediscovered and appreciated for its beauty and skillful rendering of the face and figure. \nI chose this work because\, being the hopeless romantic that I am\, I cannot help but think about Love in the Time of Coronavirus\, and fast forward nine months from the end of isolation to our collective embrace and the resulting birth of all the beautiful babies in the world. Because despite what befalls us\, love finds a way\, and like Cupid and Psyche\, we will find our way back to each other in the end. ❤️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/artful-daze-art-history-web-series/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220828T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220828T190000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220512T223014Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220826T180311Z
UID:10000178-1661702400-1661713200@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:CELEBRATE CHEFS & CELLARS 2022
DESCRIPTION:Celebrate Chefs & Cellars – AN AFTERNOON IN THE VINEYARD\nSunday\, August 28\, 2022\, 4 – 7 pm\nVENUE: Catalina View Gardens \n6001 Palos Verdes Drive South\, Rancho Palos Verdes\, CA 90275 \nFundraiser Presented by The Associates to Benefit Palos Verdes Art Center\n21+ Only Event at Catalina View Garden\nREAD MORE HERE \nBreathtaking Sunset and Ocean Views                Restaurant & Winery Tastings … and Art  \n  \nDELECTABLE TASTING FROM TOP SOUTHBAY RESTAURANTS AND SPECIALTY The Albright\, Butterfly Brittles\, Critic’s Choice Catering\,  Dream Dinners\,  Entertaining Friends Catering\, La Lune Sur La Mer\, La Venta Inn\, L.O.V.E Premiere Catering & Event Planning\, Made by Meg\,  Marsatta Chocolate\, Pavilions Catering\,  Sophisticated Spreads\, The Vegan Pig\, Til the Last Bite\, Urban Plates \n  \nSIP\, SAVOR AND EXPERIENCE TOP WINES\, SPIRITS\, AND BEER  \nAve Winery\,  Boisset Collection\, Boochcraft Kombucha\, Burnin Daylight Brewery\, Catalina View Wines\, Cline Family Cellars\,  Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits\, Faire La Fete Wines\, Girl and The Grape\, Hahn Wines\, Heitz Cellars\, Napa\, Justin Vineyards & Winery\, La Cave Famille Perrin\, La Crema Estate\, Lloyd Cellars\, Meyer Family Cellars\, Polar Beverages\, Real Soda\, Roots Run Deep Winery\, Roederer Estate\, Smog City Brewing\, Terlato Wine Group\, Til the Last Sip\, The Long Drink Company\,  Tito’s Handmade Vodka\, Trader Joe’s\, Golden Cove\, RPV\, Vive Organic
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/celebrate-chefs-cellars-2022/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220814T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220814T160000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220706T005027Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220802T181008Z
UID:10000183-1660482000-1660492800@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Royal Jubilee Tea Party
DESCRIPTION:Royal Jubilee Tea Party Honoring Queen Elizabeth\nSunday\, August 14\, 2022\n1:00 – 4:00pm\nAdmission: $95 \nPurchase Tickets through Eventbrite HERE. \n\nPlease join us on August 14th for a delicious tea and delightful discussion of royal worthy jewels by Bonhams Director of Jewelry Emily Waterfall. She will discuss provenance\, sourcing\, determining value\, the global jewelry market and storytelling in fine jewelry. It’s sure to be a treat. \nThis event benefits the Palos Verdes Historical Society and Palos Verdes Art Center. \nFor more information\, please contact Lianne La Reine at (310) 490-5335 or PalosVerdesPulse@gmail.com. You may reach Palos Verdes Art Center at (310) 541-2479 or visit PVArtCenter.org. \n \nEMILY WATERFALL\n\nBased in Los Angeles\, Emily Waterfall is the Director of the Jewelry Department for Bonhams Auction House. With over 16 years of experience\, Emily is responsible for business-getting\, client development\, appraisals and sourcing property for jewelry sales in Los Angeles and in New York.\n\nA native of San Diego\, CA\, Emily graduated with an undergraduate degree in Art History from Brigham Young University and has completed courses at the Gemological Institute of America and published articles in the American Society of Jewelry Historians newsletters.\n\n\n  \nRoyal Tea Menu \nBlack Currant Scones \nBerry Preserves and Devonshire Cream \nFinger Sandwiches \nCoronation Chicken \nEnglish Cucumber \nEgg and Watercress \nJam Pennies \nTea Sweets \nChocolate Tea Cakelet \nApricot Jewels \nRaspberry Pavlovas \nRoyal Crown Shortbread \nVictoria Sponge Cake Bites \nServed with Her Majesty’s Favorite Hot Teas \n Twinnings Earl Grey \nTaylors of Harrogate Assam English Breakfast \nPeach Raspberry Infusion \nSugar Cubes & Milk \n \n  \nMORE INFORMATION: LIANNE LA REINE: (310) 490-5335\nPALOSVERDESPULSE@GMAIL.COM\nPVAC: (310) 541-2479 | PVARTCENTER.ORG\n\nAll visitors must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination. Wearing face masks is strongly encouraged. \n  \nPRESENTED BY \n \nBENEFITING THE PALOS VERDES HISTORICAL SOCIETY\nAND PALOS VERDES ART CENTER\n\n\n  \nTHIS EVENT MADE POSSIBLE\, IN PART\, BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM \n \n 
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/royal-jubilee-tea-party/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220805
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220806
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220616T172601Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220731T003613Z
UID:10000180-1659657600-1659743999@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:SUMMER ART ACADEMY at The Youth Studio
DESCRIPTION:SUMMER ART ACADEMY at The Youth Studio\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWe’re back for our Summer Art Academy 2022! Young artists ages 5-7 and 8-12 can spend the summer on campus at PVAC exploring their fun\, creative side while also learning about master artists\, various art mediums\, and gain skill technique development. Summer Art Academy offers weekly themes such as California Adventures\, Under The Sea\, Dogs In Art\, Exploring The Cosmos\, Meeting The Masters\, Introduction To Sculpture and more! Half day and full day options are available\, but don’t forget to pack your lunch if you stay for the day! Materials will be provided as well. All you have to do is choose the week from our schedule\, enroll\, and drop your little artists off to us! Registration is live now\, sign up early to reserve your spot today. Limited spots are available. Current PVAC members will also receive a discount on tuition at checkout. Looking forward to seeing all of our young artists grow and thrive creatively this summer. For questions or more information e-mail mm@pvartcenter.org or register online HERE.\n\n\n\n\nAll visitors age five and older must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.\nWearing face masks is strongly encouraged.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n____________________\n\nThe Studio School at Palos Verdes Art Center is an art education facility that is based on a quarterly schedule system. We offer youth\, beginning\, intermediate\, and advanced level courses for all ages.  Courses in various media mediums such as painting\, printmaking\, ceramics\, drawing and illustration\, art theory\, digital design and more can be found in our academic course catalog. We are deeply committed to providing an equitable student-oriented environment that is culturally responsive and free of discrimination of any kind. We believe in the power to educate\, create\, and inspire change in the future of art. The Studio School celebrates diversity\, promotes progressive skill development\, and provides resources geared towards nurturing the creative cohesiveness of the Los Angeles community.\n\n\nPLEASE NOTE: Proof of vaccination is required for entrance to PVAC and wearing masks is strongly encouraged. READ the complete COVID-19 Vaccination Policy and download Attestation & Certification forms HERE. \nFor details\, please contact Milli Moto\, The Studio School Administrator at mm@pvartcenter.org. \n__________________________\nAt The Studio School at Palos Verdes Art Center we believe in the power of art to ignite the imagination and be an agent for change. We stand united with our artists\, educators and students in support of a democracy that celebrates diversity\, promotes understanding\, exhibits compassion and nurtures the creative spirit of our community. We are deeply committed to providing a welcoming environment free from discrimination on the basis of race\, color\, creed\, national origin\, sexual orientation\, gender\, age\, or ability. Our mission is to provide equal access to arts for all. 
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/16817/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220611T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220611T210000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220610T020944Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220610T021000Z
UID:10000179-1654970400-1654981200@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Now Trending: 6th Annual Alpay Scholarship Exhibition Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:Now Trending: 6th Annual Alpay\nScholarship Exhibition\nJune 11 – July 9\nOpening Reception: Saturday\, June 11\, 6 – 9pm\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCurrent art and media students from Southern California colleges and universities were invited to submit engaging new work to be showcased in Palos Verdes Art Center’s Alpay Scholarship Exhibition\, Now Trending. One $5000 cash prize will be awarded. This call was open only to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students in Southern California.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJuror: Ben Jackel\n\n\nBen Jackel was born in Aurora\, Colorado in 1977. He attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and studied fine art with a focus in ceramics and photography\, receiving his BFA in 2000. In 2002 Jackel moved to Los Angeles to attend graduate school at the University of California\, Los Angeles. While at UCLA he worked with Adriane Saxe and Charles Ray\, receiving his MFA in 2005.  He is represented by L.A. Louver in Venice\, CA. His highly mimetic work has been written about by the Los Angeles Times\, Artforum\, ARTnews\, among others. He currently teaches at PVAC.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/now-trending-6th-annual-alpay-scholarship-exhibition-opening-reception/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220603T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220604T160000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20210507T180907Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220428T225352Z
UID:10000091-1654250400-1654358400@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Collected Treasures Estate Sale and Silent Auction
DESCRIPTION:Collected Treasures Estate Sale\nAnd Silent Auction\n“Treasures Collected Just for You”\nPalos Verdes Art Center\nJune 3 and June 4\, 2022\n  \n\nBeautiful linens\, china\, silver\, fine and costume jewelry….you will find all these and other unique estate treasures at Collected Treasures\, a curated collection of special items at special prices.  This year’s collection includes artwork and artifacts from all over the world. \nWe are especially pleased to have received a very generous donation from Judith Solomon’s estate which includes art\, artifacts and textiles from her family’s international travels. \nThe Silent Auction will provide opportunities to purchase wonderful experiences and outings as well as specially-selected consumables.  Have a fun time bidding on items to enjoy yourself or to share with a lucky friend! \nThe popular Collected Treasures Estate Sale and Silent Auction has become its own special event to provide more space to display its extraordinary curated selection of china\, silver\, glass\, clothing\, art and collectibles.  \nThe Circle\, a Palos Verdes Art Center support group\, presents Collected Treasures and the Silent Auction to benefit the Palos Verdes Art Center/Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education which is celebrating over 90 years dedicated to educating\, enriching\, and building community through equal and inclusive access to the visual arts.  \n  \nJoin us at the Palos Verdes Art Center\, 5504 Crestridge Rd.\, Rancho Palos Verdes\, CA 90275 and shop Collected Treasures and Silent Auction during these times:  \nFriday June 3 from 10 am – 4 pm \nSaturday June 4 from 10 am – 4 pm\nThere is no charge for admission. \n  \nAll visitors must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Wearing face masks is strongly encouraged. \n\n  \nThank you for being a valued part of our Circle of Support. \nFor more information\, visit www.pvhomestour.org
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/collected-treasures-estate-sale/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Collected.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220505
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220506
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220406T191859Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220406T191859Z
UID:10000175-1651708800-1651795199@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:POSTER CONTEST - Portuguese Bend National Horse Show
DESCRIPTION:CALL FOR ENTRIES\nPortuguese Bend National Horse Show\nPoster Contest\nSubmission Deadline May 5\, 2022\n\nDESCRIPTION: Peninsula Committee Children’s Hospital (PCCH)\, together with Palos Verdes Art Center (PVAC)\, announce their “Call for Entries” for the annual Portuguese Bend National Horse Show Poster Contest. This year’s theme is “Embracing the Past\, Showing up for Their Future.” The winning entry will be featured as the show’s official publicity poster displayed in various locations throughout the South Bay. This 65 year-old charity horse show\, benefiting Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)\, showcases hunter\, jumper\, and other equestrian special events drawing spectators from the community and beyond. The show dates are September 9\, 10\, and 11\, at Ernie Howlett Equestrian Facility in Rolling Hills Estates. PCCH shares CHLA’s mission of creating hope and building healthier futures for children.\n\nREQUIREMENTS: Open to PVAC members only • Must be a new 2D piece (3D excluded) • All mediums accepted\, including photography • Vertical orientation preferred • No entry fee • Two entries max • Please review PCCH website\, Facebook and Instagram for inspiration – clickable links below.\n\nSUBMISSIONS: Artwork must be dropped off at the Palos Verdes Art Center on May 5\, 2022 between 2-4PM and picked up at 7PM. Judging will take place by PCCH members at a private event at the PVAC that evening.\n\nPRIZES: Cash prizes to be awarded (1st-5th place- $500 to $100). Winners will be announced on the evening of May 5\, 2022.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/poster-contest-portuguese-bend-national-horse-show/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/horse-show.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220501T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220501T160000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220325T185738Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220418T231448Z
UID:10000173-1651410000-1651420800@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Meet Author Debra Lee Baldwin\, "The Queen of Succulents"
DESCRIPTION:Meet Author Debra Lee Baldwin\,\n“The Queen of Succulents”\nSunday\, May 1st\, 1 – 4pm\nTickets $30 at EVENTBRITE\n\nThe Peninsula Garden Club and Palos Verdes Art Center will host author and horticulturist\, Debra Lee Baldwin\, in the presentation\, “Transforming Your Garden Into a Gallery of Gorgeous Succulents.”\n\nDiscover how to create a personal paradise that delights you and your guests. In this all-new presentation\, Debra shows simple and effective ways to showcase intriguing\, fleshy-leaved plants. Succulents are easy-care\, too. Did you know our area has an ideal climate for growing them? Debra launched worldwide interest in succulents with her first book\, Designing with Succulents\, and has written several other books on these plants. Debra will sign books before and after her presentation. Tickets are $30. Seating is limited and tickets must be purchased in advance. This event will start at 1pm at Palos Verdes Art Center at 5504 Crestridge Road in Rancho Palos Verdes.\n\nFor more information call Jackie Johnson at 310-850-2821.\n\nAbout Debra Lee Baldwin\n\nAs a scout and writer for Sunset\, Better Homes & Gardens and other major media\, Debra Lee Baldwin specializes in “plants that drink responsibly.” She launched worldwide interest in succulents with her book\, Designing with Succulents\, and wrote the Timber Press bestsellers Succulents Simplified and Succulent Container Gardens. Her comprehensive “Success with Succulents” website receives 2\,500 visits a day; her “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter has 8\,500 subscribers; and her YouTube channel\, now at over seven million views\, offers hundreds of videos on choosing and using succulents. Debra joins us from North County San Diego. Tour her half-acre garden on YouTube.\n\nAll visitors must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Wearing face masks is strongly encouraged.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/meet-author-debra-lee-baldwin-the-queen-of-succulents/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/thumbnail_holt_1181_126-SQ.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220409T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220409T153000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220408T001756Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220408T010514Z
UID:10000177-1649509200-1649518200@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Meet Water\, Earth & Fire Guest Curator Jo Lauria
DESCRIPTION:Meet Guest Curator\, Jo Lauria\, this Saturday from 1 to 3:30 pm\, when she will be will be “in situ” at Palos Verdes Art Center to greet visitors to our ceramics group exhibition\, Water\, Earth & Fire. \nJo Lauria continues PVAC’s 90-year tradition of presenting significant contemporary art by assembling innovative works by leading Southern California artists in the Main and Walker Galleries that address the theme of WATER in its many manifestations and mythologies. In the Norris Gallery\, we honor the legacy of the ceramics studio established in the late 1960s by showcasing the talented artists associated with the program\, former and current instructors\, and workshop leaders\, many achieving international acclaim. \nJo Lauria is a Los Angeles-based curator\, author\, and educator who received her curatorial training at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a specialist in the fields of craft\, design\, and decorative arts. She has organized many museum-based surveys and national touring exhibitions and has authored several major publications in her field. \nThe exhibition is on view at PVAC through April 16. \nAll visitors must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Wearing face masks is strongly encouraged.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/meet-curator-jo-lauria/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/JoLauria.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220330T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220330T120000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220321T214633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220321T231219Z
UID:10000172-1648636200-1648641600@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Water\, Earth & Fire Curator Talk with Jo Lauria
DESCRIPTION:WATER\, EARTH & FIRE\nCurator Jo Lauria Talk and Gallery Tour\nMarch 30\, 10:30 am – noon\nFREE\nPalos Verdes Art Center/Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education \n5504 Crestridge Road\, Rancho Palos Verdes\, CA 90275 \npvartcenter.org | 310.541.2479 \nPlease join us at Palos Verdes Art Center on Wednesday\, March 30\, for a talk and gallery tour of “Water\, Earth & Fire” by Curator Jo Lauria presented in partnership with Peninsula Seniors’ Bohannon Lecture Series. The talk will be held on the Atrium at PVAC from 10:30am to 11:30am immediately followed by a gallery tour of the exhibition. \nThe event is free to the public. For those unable to attend in person\, the curator talk portion of the event will be simultaneously held on Zoom\, followed by Q & A. \nRegister for Zoom at Eventbrite HERE.  \n  \n \nWater\, Earth & Fire installation view\, Norris Gallery \n  \nThe theme of the exhibition “Water\, Earth & Fire” is how ceramic artists combine the elements of water\, earth and fire to create beautiful\, impactful\, and often provocative ceramics that prompt engagement and contemplation.  \nWater symbolism can be found in almost all cultures\, spanning time and geographies. Curator Jo Lauria will discuss works on view in the exhibition that relate to the mythical and spiritual qualities of water\, and spotlight the works that provoke discussion about the global climate crisis\, ocean pollution\, and destruction of marine ecosystems. Looking closely at the ceramics in the galleries\, she will review the myriad pathways artist embrace to communicate their stories and connect with viewers of their work.  \nAlso included in the exhibition are works by current and past ceramics instructors and workshop artists. PVAC has maintained a well-equipped\, functioning ceramics studio since the late 1960s and many affiliated with the studio have achieved international acclaim\, including Philip Cornelius\, Rosaline Delisle\, Vivika and Otto Heino\, Yoshiro Ikeda\, Harrison McIntosh\, Adrian Saxe\, Peter Shire\, and Anna Silver. In this survey of over seventy pieces\, a wide range of forming methods\, surface designs\, and ideations are highlighted. The curator will identify the different techniques of wheel throwing and hand sculpting\, and approaches to glazing and firing that can be observed in the works on display.  \n  \n_________________________________________ \n  \nJo Lauria is a Los Angeles-based curator\, author\, and educator who received her curatorial training at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a specialist in the fields of craft\, design\, and decorative arts. She has organized many museum-based surveys and national touring exhibitions and has authored several major publications in her field. \nPLEASE NOTE: All visitors must show proof of vaccination. Wearing masks is strongly encouraged.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/water-earth-fire-curator-talk-with-jo-lauria/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20220223_145738-w.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220226T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220226T210000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20220128T204429Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220203T054929Z
UID:10000169-1645898400-1645909200@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:WATER\, EARTH & FIRE Opening Reception
DESCRIPTION:Water\, Earth & Fire\nFEBRUARY 12 – APRIL 16\, 2022 \nOPENING RECEPTION: Feb 26\, 6-9 pm \nSee the exhibition online HERE. \nIn accordance with PVAC policy\, masks and proof of vaccination are required for attendance. \nPalos Verdes Art Center / Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education is pleased to announce Water\, Earth & Fire\, an exhibition celebrating ceramics as a powerful creative force and expressive mode of communication. \nGuest curator Jo Lauria continues PVAC’s 90-year tradition of presenting significant contemporary art by assembling innovative works by leading Southern California artists that address the theme of WATER in its many manifestations and mythologies. In an additional gallery\, the legacy of the ceramics studio established in the late 1960s is honored by showcasing the talented artists associated with the program\, former and current instructors and workshop leaders\, many achieving international acclaim. \nJo Lauria is a Los Angeles-based curator\, author\, and educator who received her curatorial training at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a specialist in the fields of craft\, design\, and decorative arts. She has organized many museum-based surveys and national touring exhibitions\, and has authored more than sixteen major publications in her field.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/water-earth-fire-opening-reception/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/WEF-SQ.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220101
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220104
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20211213T175554Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211231T200528Z
UID:10000171-1640995200-1641254399@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:2021 - 2022 WINTER HOLIDAYS
DESCRIPTION:Palos Verdes Art Center will be closed for the Winter Holidays:\n DEC. 24\, 25 & 27; JAN. 1 & 3\nDEC. 31\, closed at 2pm\nIMAGE: Kathie Reis\, Winter Shadows (Detail)\, 2020\, Oil on canvas. On view in The Winter Show HERE \n_________________________________________________ \n  \nPLEASE NOTE: To safeguard the health of our employees\, students\, visitors\, affiliated groups and the community at large from infectious diseases\, such as COVID-19\, PVAC has adopted a mandatory vaccination policy. Effective October 31\, 2021\, all visitors must wear face masks and show proof of vaccination. \nREAD the complete COVID-19 Vaccination Policy and download Attestation & Certification forms HERE.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/2022-winter-holidays/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WINTER-HOLIDAYS.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211211T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211212T140000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20211206T204324Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211210T191626Z
UID:10000168-1639220400-1639317600@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Two-Day Felting Workshop
DESCRIPTION:It’s holiday workshop time again and this year we’re here to help you put special\, handcrafted touches on your gifts! Learn to needle felt decoration and designs on your favorite wearable art pieces such as cardigans and shawls. With the help and expertise of fashion designer and instructor Solmaz Shams\, students will use the art of needle felting to design one-of-a-kind creations. Join us virtually\, from the comfort of your own home on Friday\, December 10th and Saturday\, Dec 11th from 11 AM to 2 PM. Get your holiday preparations and gifting done early and sign up here to join us. Members will receive a discount at checkout!
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/two-day-felting-workshop/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/image0.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20211201
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20211202
DTSTAMP:20260430T100130
CREATED:20200423T221257Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211213T193837Z
UID:10000087-1638316800-1638403199@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:ARTFUL DAZE: Art History Web Series
DESCRIPTION:POST 39\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Spanish artist Salvador Dalí is one of the great figures in Modern Art. A larger-than-life personality with an ego to match\, his eccentricities are as legendary as his artistic genius. A brilliant technician\, Dali was a child prodigy\, but tragedy shaped his early life. He was haunted by the death of an older brother he never knew. But it was the experience of losing his mother at age 16 that devastated him. He later wrote\, “I could not resign myself to the loss of a being on whom I counted to make invisible the unavoidable blemishes of my soul.” \n  \nAfter traveling to Paris and experimenting with several styles throughout the 1920s\, Dali became a key figure in the Surrealist Movement. But his early art focused on the familiar landscapes of Catalonia\, in particular the coastal village of Cadaqués where his family owned a summer home. There his younger sister Anna Maria became the model for many of his works. Completed in 1925\, “Figura en una finestra (Figure at the Window)” presents an enigmatic portrait of Anna Maria shown from behind\, looking out a window with a view onto the sea. The delicately rendered young figure framed by the softly flowing drapery and the seascape beyond\, all unified in harmonious blues\, are juxtaposed against the empty space that surrounds them. It is a serene study in solitude. \n  \nWe are all searchers. Each of us gazes out onto the world in search of that which connects us. We long for the belonging. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we find ourselves feeling oddly disconnected from our lives. We grieve the loss of the familiar. We turn inward and find comfort in our isolation. Yet life teaches us that change is the only constant; love and loss and love again are inevitable. So we boldly venture forth\, like sailors on uncharted seas\, ever hopeful\, ever searching\, ever trusting we will find our way back home again. \n\n\n\n\n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 38\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Russian-born Modernist Marc Chagall famously wrote\, “In our life there is a single colour\, as on an artist’s palette\, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.” A true visual poet\, no other artist captured the reverie of love and joy of life with such exuberance. \n“The Birthday” was painted in 1915\, weeks before Chagall’s marriage to the love of his life\, Bella. The artist is depicted floating effortlessly above the ground\, as his head is stretched impossibly back towards his beloved. She is shown holding a bouquet of flowers\, her eyes locked on his gaze as she rises up to meet his kiss. The room is filled with color and pattern executed in the Fauvist style\, a nod to the great French colorist\, Henri Matisse. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as the days and months float by\, birthdays become important markers in our lives. We stop to appreciate the gift of every moment we’ve been given and consider the legacy we leave behind. Chagall’s painting reminds us the most precious gift we have to give is ourselves; that we should give freely\, love boundlessly and receive love reverently. What goes around comes around. As the song goes\, “And in the end\, the love you take\, is equal to the love you make.” \n\n\n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\nPOST 37\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. The concepts of agon (struggle\, contest\, competition) and nike (victory) were essential components of ancient Greek life. Competitive sports were exalted and depictions of victorious athletes representing archetypal youth were artfully cast in bronze. “Statue of a Victorious Youth\,” dating 300–100 B.C\, is one such example of youth memorialized. \nThe bronze sculpture with inlaid copper depicts a standing youth reaching towards an olive wreath placed on his head as the prize for victory in the Olympic Games. It is believed that this was one of a group of portraits of victorious athletes on display at Olympia\, site of the ancient games. Found by a fishing vessel off the coast of Italy in 1964\, it was likely carried by a Roman ship sunk in the Adriatic Sea. It was purchased from a German art dealer by the Getty Museum in 1977\, and although controversy surrounds the acquisition of this and other such antiquities\, there can be no doubt as to its beauty. \nOn this Memorial Day\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we remember all the lightfoot youth lost to war. Our hearts are heavy as we take stock of our losses\, even as friends and family continue to battle illness and death; collateral damage of a sort that makes us face our own mortality. Those left behind have an obligation to fully live our lives\, for we are the keepers of their memory. Let’s tap into that place where we are eternally young\, and dwell in that sacred space as living reminders of a time when our unlimited potential stretched before us like a blanket of stars\, happiness was forever in our grasp\, and we were victorious. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \nPOST 36\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Pierre Bonnard was one of a group of Post-Impressionist painters known as Les Nabis. As students together at the Academie Julian in Paris\, they saw themselves as prophets of Modern Art. Bonnard exhibited early on with the Fauves; his use of intense color and modern perspective was greatly admired by lifelong friend Henri Matisse and influenced generations of Modernist painters that followed. \nBonnard rarely painted from life\, preferring to paint from memory\, using color to infuse his work with emotion. His intimate domestic scenes and vibrant landscapes are combined to reach a high point in “The Studio at Le Canne with Mimosas\,” 1939-46\, completed near the end of his life. In the lower left hand corner is the partial figure of Marthe de Méligny\, his wife and favorite subject for over 50 years. Awash in color\, she is barely discernible amidst the glowing neon oranges and pinks of the interior space that serves as a frame for the explosion of cascading yellow flowers outside the window. With its flattened perspective and pools of high-intensity hue\, the canvas melts into a Technicolor abstraction of a reimagined memory. \nToday\, on this Mother’s Day in the Time of Coronavirus\, every mother’s child holds dear precious memories colored by love. While Bonnard’s canvas captures that love of everyday life\, it also expresses a bittersweet ache for something passing in front of our eyes. Take the time to appreciate the joy of family and the sheer exuberance of being alive. Although these moments may be fleeting\, the pictures of love we paint in our hearts live on forever. Happy Mother’s Day  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \nPOST 35\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Frederic Leighton was one of the most renowned artists of the Victorian era and longtime president of the Royal Academy. He is associated with the Pre-Raphaelites\, but was never a member of the group. Although Leighton rejected their approach to realism\, he shared their regard for nature and poetic idealism. He wrote\, “I am hand-in-glove with all my enemies the Pre-Raphaelites.” \nLeighton’s stunning 1895 oil on canvas\, “Flaming June\,” was one of his last paintings and considered his masterwork. It was loosely inspired by Michelangelo’s sculpture “Night” adorning the Medici Tombs in Florence. The recumbent figure of the woman – her luxurious hair\, flaming gown and loosely gathered shawl – combine into one swirling wave of warm earth tones\, juxtaposed against the shimmering cool blue Mediterranean Sea behind her. The work illustrates Leighton’s affinity for classicism and his mastery of depicting texture from the sheer soft folds of the fabric to the shiny\, hard surfaces of the marble. The poisonous oleander plant in the top right hints at the Victorian fascination with sleep and death\, often referenced in the art and poetry of the time. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us suffer from COVID fatigue. We feel as though we have been in a state of suspended animation\, and\, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet\, we ponder\, “in that sleep of death what dreams may come.” But as spring fast approaches\, and the vaccine brings new hope\, the world is starting to awaken. Each of us has the opportunity to manifest our dreams for the future. The world to which we emerge can be entirely of our own making. What will you dream it to be? \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 34\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Today we revisit Jacques-Louis David\, leading French painter of the Neoclassical style. “The Intervention of the Sabine Women” is a monumental history painting conceived while the artist was imprisoned for his sympathies to Robespierre\, following the Reign of Terror. It was inspired by a visit from his estranged wife\, who was largely responsible for his release. They later remarried. Painted in the waning years of the French Revolution\, the piece is\, first and foremost\, about reconciliation. \nCompleted in 1799\, “The Intervention of the Sabine Women” tells the ancient Roman story of the abduction of the Sabine women. Executed in grand cinematic style\, David chose to illustrate the moment when the Sabines are on the brink of battle with the Romans for their return. Stylistically\, it is a departure from the artist’s previous work in the way it foregrounds the female figures. At the center of the composition the heroic Hersilia\, in her white Grecian gown\, stands with outstretched arms in an effort to intervene between Tatius\, her father and king of the Sabines\, on the left\, and her husband Romulus\, the king of Rome\, on the right; her children – their sons and grandsons – lay at her feet. It is a plea for peace. \nAmericans have witnessed the devastating damage wrought by our deep political divide. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we are on the brink of doing battle with ourselves. Let us learn from the lessons of history. Lincoln said\, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” It is time for intervention. It is time for reconciliation. It is time “to bind up the nation’s wounds.” It is time for peace. \n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\nPOST 33\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. John Frederick Kensett is one of a group of American artists identified with the movement known as Luminism. Considered a second generation of the Hudson River school\, Luminist painters are celebrated for their radiant landscapes and seascapes characterized by the exquisite rendering of light and atmosphere. Although they share a fascination with the fleeting effects of light\, American Luminists predate the French Impressionists and differ dramatically in their use of finely modeled details and hidden brushstroke. \nKensett was trained as an engraver\, but left the family business to study landscape painting in Europe. When the artist returned to America\, he built a studio in Long Island Sound at a location he called Contentment Island. There he produced a series of coastal views known as “Last Summer’s Work\,” including this painting\, “Passing off of the Storm\,” completed in 1872. Small in scale\, the work is a meditative study in tonality. Illuminated clouds hover above a gray blue sky\, evidence of a storm receding in the background\, while the glassy surface of the pale blue sea remains still\, punctuated by only a few white sails\, a small island and a single rowboat. It is a poetic moment. \nNow\, in this moment\, at the end of this year in the Time of Coronavirus\, we anxiously anticipate the passing off of the storm. It has been a long and arduous voyage\, but we will ride it out. There will be much work to be done to repair the damages. Whether there will be smooth sailing ahead remains to be seen. But before we move forward into the New Year\, let’s pause for a moment of reflection\, look back at all the challenges we met and appreciate how far we’ve come. \nMy very best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy New Year. \nGail Phinney\, Community Outreach Director \n \n\nPOST 32\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Norman Rockwell is regarded as one of the most beloved artists of the 20th century. His charming depictions of everyday small town life are a mirror reflecting back an idealized image of America. An illustrator for the most popular publications of the era\, Rockwell painted 323 covers over a 50-year period for The Saturday Evening Post. Those nostalgic images of a perceived kinder\, gentler time are embedded in our culture and collective consciousness. \nNorman Rockwell’s depictions of Christmas are some of his most iconic. This oil on canvas\, “Is He Coming?\,” first appeared in the December 1919 issue of Red Cross Magazine. The story that it tells is heartwarming\, communicating all the youthful wonder of Christmas. A single stocking hangs from a mantel covered in evergreen boughs\, while a boy and his dog peer expectantly into the fireplace\, waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus coming down the chimney. The composition\, with its illuminated white figures juxtaposed against a dark background aglow in warm hues\, is a nod to the Baroque paintings of Rembrandt\, Rockwell’s artistic hero. But the sentiment is distinctly of its time and place. In the aftermath of World War I and the height of the Spanish Flu pandemic\, Rockwell gives a ravaged nation an image of hope and optimism – Christmas through the eyes of a child. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as the virus rages on\, it is easy to lose hope. Like a child trying to spy Santa on Christmas Eve\, the waiting seems interminable. We ask ourselves\, “Is the end coming?” But a New Year and a new vaccine bring new promise for a better tomorrow. It is so close we can almost see it. Americans are at our best when we pull together for a common cause. This holiday season stay home\, stay masked\, and stay safe. We will get through this\, if we keep the faith.  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n  \n  \nPOST 31\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Thomas Gainsborough is well known for his grand manner portraits of the English nobility. However\, his great love was nature\, and his sumptuous landscapes set the standard for the 18th century British landscape school. A leader in his field\, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. \nGainsborough’s relationship with the Royal Academy was a difficult one\, and he withdrew from exhibiting his work altogether in 1784\, the same year he painted “Charity Relieving Distress.” What remains of the original work is this fragment\, cut down in the 19th century. Rendered in luminous glazes and imbued with symbolism\, it depicts a young woman distributing food to a poor family on the threshold of a wealthy townhouse while a male figure looks on with admiration. “Charity Relieving Distress” is an allegory of benevolence\, in which those with means share their abundance with those in need. \nAs we begin the Season of Giving\, we are reminded that we\, as a Great Nation\, are defined by our commitment to the social virtues of generosity\, kindness and compassion. Today\, many American families stand on the threshold of hunger\, suffering the distress of food insecurity; collateral damage of the pandemic. 18th century English novelist Henry Fielding claimed charity to be “the very characteristic of this Nation at this Time.” Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, let it be the very characteristic of ours. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 30\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. American painter Andrew Wyeth was the youngest child of famed illustrator\, N.C. Wyeth. So it is no wonder that he should paint in such a narrative style\, capturing the people and landscapes of his beloved homes in Chadds Ford\, Pennsylvania and Cushing\, Maine. A master of American Scene painting\, Wyeth combined an understated realism with everyday subject matter\, creating a body of work that is both intensely personal and universal in its appeal. The artist himself said\, “I paint my life.” \n“The Witching Hour\,” painted in 1977\, is rendered in tempera\, Wyeth’s preferred medium. Unlike oil paint\, it is matte and applied in thin layers\, allowing for greater detail\, but with less color saturation. The subdued color palette\, along with the artist’s deeply felt affinity for solitary spaces\, results in poetic works like this; a commonplace image of empty chairs around a simple dining table\, imbued with memory\, nostalgia\, and an aching to be present in the absence of the moment. \nOn this Thanksgiving\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us will be gazing at a scene like this\, longing to fill empty chairs with family and friends. It feels like such a loss. But this year\, we must be especially thankful for the gifts that we’ve been given\, and show kindness whenever we can. Reach out and let others know how grateful you are for their presence in your life. While we will feel their absence at the table\, this year we show our love by distancing to keep each other safe. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n  \n \n  \nPOST 29\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. In 1848\, a group of English painters\, poets and critics formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Expressing their distaste for modern industrialized society\, they chose\, instead\, to hearken back to the spirituality and artisanship of the Early Renaissance\, depicting fictional and historical subjects. One of the founders of the group was John Everett Millais\, whose keen observation of the natural world and faithful rendering of the English landscape is evident in his 1852 painting\, “Ophelia.” \nMillais\, in keeping with the aesthetic of his brethren\, approaches the subject of Ophelia’s drowning in “Hamlet” with luminous color and stunning detail\, incorporating the Victorian fascination with the language of flowers. This decorative and highly representational work pays homage to William Shakespeare’s poetic description of the event:\n“Her clothes spread wide;\nAnd\, mermaid-like\, awhile they bore her up:\nWhich time she chanted snatches of old tunes;\nAs one incapable of her own distress\,\nOr like a creature native and indued\nUnto that element: but long it could not be\nTill that her garments\, heavy with their drink\,\nPull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay\nTo muddy death.” \nIn the Time of Coronavirus\, as the days float by\, it is easy to be pulled down by the weight of our own distress. Although we face a rising tide of uncertainty\, it is important to remain buoyant. The journey may be long and arduous\, but if we navigate the waters with courage and conviction\, we can emerge even stronger than before.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 28\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. In the opening line of the Social Contract (1762)\, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau exclaims\, “Man is born free\, but is everywhere in chains!” Rousseau believed freedom was the right and property of all\, and just cause for Revolution. Eugène Delacroix\, the great colorist and emotive painter of the Romantic period\, brilliantly illustrates this point in his monumental oil on canvas\, “Liberty Leading the People\,” 1830. \nA witness to the events of the day\, Delacroix created both a history and allegory painting of the Revolution of 1830. For three days\, known as les Trois Glorieuses (July 27–29)\, a group of working and middle-class Parisians battled in the streets against the royal army of King Charles X\, resulting in his abdication and the creation of a constitutional monarchy led by Louis-Philippe\, the Citizen King. The uprising of 1830 was the historical prelude to the June Rebellion of 1832\, an event featured in Victor Hugo’s novel\, Les Misérables. In this work\, Delacroix depicts the personification of Liberty as Marianne\, a bare-breasted figure of a woman and champion of freedom\, musket in one hand\, the French Republic’s Tricolore flag in the other\, urging on the masses from all walks of life to fight on. \nAs we battle against the virus in the Time of Coronavirus\, we remember that freedom is both an individual right and a collective responsibility. Our personal choices affect not only ourselves\, but everyone around us. It will take a Revolution of Kindness to be free of this oppressor. Wave your Flag of Compassion – wear a mask. Together we win!     Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 27\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Kara Walker explores complex issues of black identity that persist in America today by looking back at the historical Black experience. Using silhouettes that have become her trademark\, Walker’s panoramic installations both illuminate and dispel cultural myths about the antebellum South. Slavery is the subject of much of Walker’s work and she burst upon the art scene in 1994 with her groundbreaking installation\, “Gone\, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart.” \nThis installation (seen in a detail) is Walker’s response to romanticized depictions of antebellum life in literature such as Margaret Mitchell’s 1939 novel “Gone With the Wind.” The medium of cut-paper silhouette lends the work a nostalgic quality that speaks of a more genteel time\, but closer examination reveals the legs of a slave projecting from beneath a Southern belle’s hoop skirt while her beau’s saber points towards the backside of a slave child holding a strangled duck. Walker’s art shocks us out of our complacency and forces us to look at that which we would disavow – a history of slavery and the lingering racial prejudices in our society. \nOn July 4\, 1776\, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence that begins with the statement\, “We hold these truths to be self-evident\, that all men are created equal.” The majority of the document’s signers were slave owners. Since then\, the history of this nation has been marked by unspeakable acts of violence against those considered separate and unequal. Frederick Douglass said\, “No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.” On this Independence Day\, in the Time of Coronavirus and the Time of Black Lives Matter\, let us pledge “our Lives\, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” to break the chains of injustice that enslave us\, once and for all.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 26\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Sculptor Mary Edmonia Lewis was a pioneering advocate for social justice. Her subject matter was inspired by her African American and Native American heritage. Orphaned at an early age\, she was guided in her education and mentored by leading abolitionists who later became her subjects and patrons. While studying art in Boston\, she sculpted a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw\, commander of the first all-Black Civil War regiment. The sales of plaster casts enabled her to travel to Rome to study classical art and hone her skills sculpting in marble. There she created “Forever Free.” \n\nSculpted in 1867 to commemorate the ratification of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States\, “Forever Free” is distinctive for its time. It is crafted in the neoclassical and romantic tradition\, but imbued with Lewis’ sensibilities as a Black female artist and activist for women’s suffrage. The sculpture depicts two figures\, a standing male and kneeling female\, both in broken chains. The male figure is standing on a discarded ball and chain\, symbolic of his emancipation. The kneeling female figure is more enigmatic\, and it has been suggested by scholars that she embodies the plea for freedom through women’s suffrage. Universal suffrage remained a divisive issue amongst post Civil War Black activists until the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. \nArt history is a dynamic field of study\, seen through an ever-changing cultural perspective. While Edmonia Lewis defied the limitations of a 19th century Black woman artist in her choice of subject matter\, today her stylistic choices\, largely Eurocentric\, have fallen out of favor. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus and the Time of Black Lives Matter\, it continues to be the role of the Black artist to disrupt the accepted conventions of the time to boldly produce art that is reflective of the time. As museums and galleries reopen with new and dynamic expressions of Black voices\, we must all engage in the conversation\, to listen and to learn. With open hearts and open minds we break down barriers and build community through art.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 25\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Glenn Ligon is best known for his text-based paintings. Drawing from diverse voices in literature and culture\, Ligon examines identity politics by interrogating traditional constructs of race\, gender and sexuality. More recently\, Ligon turned to neon sculpture to comment on the complexities of the Black American Experience.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Double America\, 2012\,” neon and paint\, is the second “America” piece by Ligon\, created in response to the dual climate of optimism and conflict following the election of the first African American president. The top row of letters is painted black and turned toward the wall so the viewer looks at the back of the illuminated letters. The bottom row depicts the word upside down with the outward-facing sides painted black. A white neon light is reflected off the wall. Ligon was inspired by “A Tale of Two Cities;” a novel about the French Revolution by Charles Dickens. It opens with the words\, “It was the best of times\, it was the worst of times . . . it was the season of light\, it was the season of darkness\, it was the spring of hope\, it was the winter of despair.” \nLigon’s “Double America” is the perfect metaphor for A Tale of Two Americas in The Time of Coronavirus. It is a Time of Pandemic and a Time of Protest; it is a Time of Isolation and a Time of Revolution. It is a time to shed light on a Double America that turned its back on many\, while privileging the few. It is a Time for Radical Change. Dickens wrote\, “we had everything before us\, we had nothing before us.”  This is the moment we can choose\, and history will judge us for our choices.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\nPOST 24\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Photographer\, writer\, film director\, and composer\, Gordon Parks (1912 – 2006) rose from childhood poverty to become a Renaissance man. While gaining recognition as a fashion photographer for Vogue\, he began to do freelance work chronicling the Black experience in America. In 1948\, he became the first Black photojournalist at Life magazine where his poetic photo essays on segregation and the struggle for social justice put a face on race relations and captured pivotal moments of the Civil Rights movement and the Black Power movement that followed. \n\n“Untitled\, Washington\, D.C.” (1963)\, is one of a series of images Parks captured on assignment during the historic March on Washington where over 250\,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to hear the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the introduction to his 1968 story about racism and poverty for Life\, Parks said\, “What I want. What I am. What you force me to be is what you are. For I am you\, staring back from a mirror of poverty and despair\, of revolt and freedom.” \nNow\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, this image is being replicated and documented by photographers around the globe. In this Time of Protest\, a new generation is on the march against bigotry and injustice. Let this be the defining moment when we gather together as one people\, united in our commitment to lasting social change. Maybe then we can get to Dr. King’s Promised Land and be free at last to realize the dream of liberty and justice for all.     Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 23\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. American Ed Ruscha is one of the Ferus Gallery group of artists who brought their own distinctive style of Pop Art to the contemporary Los Angeles art scene in the 1960s. With graphic design training from Chouinard\, Ruscha took his inspiration from Southern California car culture and the cinema. He is best known for his series of word paintings\, as well as paintings\, prints and photography inspired by Los Angeles and its architecture. One of his most ambitious works about the city is “The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire\,” 1965-68. \nLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)\, designed by architect William Pereira\, opened to the public in 1965. That same year Ruscha began a highly representational painting of the three-building complex in flames. In this work Ruscha speaks truth to power in his message to mainstream cultural institutions\, represented by LACMA\, that were denying a voice to the artists of his generation. When it was exhibited\, he sent a telegram to the gallery stating that the fire marshal would be on hand to see\, “the most controversial painting to be shown in Los Angeles in our time.” It was installed behind a velvet rope as if to keep angry protesters at a distance. \nWhile Ruscha’s painting was a statement on the Los Angeles of his time\, now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, it seems prophetic. Today\, as the Pereira-designed campus is being demolished\, Los Angeles is burning\, sparked by racial violence. What seemed like a surrealistic vision of the city fifty years ago is now our reality. Abraham Lincoln said\, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Once again\, we are called upon to extinguish hate\, find common ground\, and do the hard work necessary to effect real and lasting change. How and when this ends is up to us.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 22\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Influenced by Sigmund Freud’s “Interpretations of Dreams\,” the Symbolists were a group of artists that wanted to express a reality far deeper than what could be observed on the surface. No one did so with greater flair than Viennese painter Gustav Klimt. Inspired by Byzantine mosaics\, Klimt’s work is recognizable for its highly decorative style\, including the use of gold leaf. The sensual subject matter and opulent execution epitomized the fin-de-siècle sensibilities of European culture at the end of the 19th century. \n\nCompleted in 1908\, “The Kiss” is considered to be Klimt’s masterpiece. It depicts two intertwined figures\, the man’s face turned away from the viewer as he caresses his lover’s head in anticipation of a kiss. Kneeling on a flowerbed\, they are wrapped in shimmering gold garments\, the patterns of which are symbolic of their genders\, his geometric and hers organic. Vines and flowers encircle their heads\, like classical lovers in mythology. They are timeless. \nAs we begin to emerge from isolation and search for meaning in the Time of Coronavirus\, we reflect on the lessons we have learned about what is truly important in life. “The Kiss” reminds us that our lives are defined by the golden moments we connect with others. If we are lucky\, we have a great love or an abiding friendship that makes us feel the totality of our existence in a single embrace. It is then that we remember what it is to be human . . . and we cleave to one another so we won’t forget.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\nPOST 21\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. John Singer Sargent was a highly sought-after society portrait painter of the Edwardian period. Born to American parents in Italy\, Sargent was educated in Paris and lived most of his life as an expatriate in Europe. By the turn of the 20th century\, Sargent was one of the most celebrated painters of his time\, recognized in the United States and Europe for his portraits as well as his murals at the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts\, Boston. In 1918\, the artist was commissioned by the British Ministry of Information to create a large-scale painting commemorating joint efforts between American and British forces during World War I. The result is the 1919 oil on canvas\, “Gassed\,” an epic work that vividly illustrates the horror of war on a massive scale. \nFor this commission\, Sargent traveled to the Western Front where he spent four months in France and Belgium observing the devastating effects of chemical warfare. Moved by the vision\, Sargent abandoned the theme of his commission\, and\, instead\, used sketches he drew en plein air to create a monumental painting illustrating the aftermath of a mustard gas attack. In “Gassed\,” the artist portrays a group of young soldiers being led to medical treatment\, each man holding on to the shoulder of the man in front\, their eyes bandaged as a result of exposure to the gas. A similar scene is repeated off in the background\, and all around lay the bodies of more men. The sheer number of wounded is staggering. \nWhile the magnitude of suffering and loss in the Great War was unprecedented\, the death toll on the battlefield was eclipsed by the worldwide loss of life due to the 1918 Spanish Flu. 100 years later\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we once again wage battle against a pandemic.  Brave first responders and medical workers are called to fight on the front lines every day.  Many have fallen as the virus continues to take its toll.  On this Memorial Day\, we remember all the valiant soldiers\, in all the wars\, that put themselves in harm’s way for our safety. To honor their sacrifice\, let us join forces in this global fight\, and bring all our collective resources and knowledge to the cause of healing humanity\, making this truly the war to end all wars.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \nPOST 20\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. “Girl with Balloon” is the most recognizable work by the graffiti artist who may be the most enigmatic figure of our time\, Banksy. Replicated in several locations and in many iterations\, the 2002 spray painted stencil mural located at Waterloo Bridge\, South Bank\, London is the original. The image is accompanied by the words\, “There is always hope.” There has been much speculation as to the artist’s intentions behind this simple image of the girl with the heart-shaped balloon. Is it a message about loss or is it about hope? It is up to the viewer to decide. \nThe work shows a young girl standing with her dress and hair blowing in the wind. It is unclear whether the red heart-shaped balloon has slipped from her hands and is flying out of reach\, or is descending to her from above. The image has been replicated in both graffiti and print versions and repurposed by the artist for political messaging over the years. In 2018\, a 2006 framed print of “Girl with Balloon” was auctioned at Sotheby’s London for a record high price of £1\,043\,0004. After the closing bid\, the artwork began to shred itself\, and it was later discovered that Banksy had hidden a shredder in the frame\, thereby turning the event into a performance piece where everyone “got Banksy-ed.” \nLike “Girl with Balloon\,” Life in the Time of Coronavirus can be about both loss and hope. For many of us\, life as we knew it is floating away like a lost balloon\, and it leaves us feeling helpless and small. While it may be difficult\, Banksy reminds us\, “There is always hope.” We have the option to lean into the winds of change\, reach up and grab onto the hope that a better tomorrow is coming our way. The choice is ours. 🎈  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\nPOST 19\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. A native of Pennsylvania who lived as an expatriate in Paris\, Mary Cassatt distinguished herself as one of the three great women of Impressionism. Educated at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts\, Cassatt went to Europe to study the great masters\, eventually settling in Paris. There she was befriended by Edgar Degas and invited to exhibit with the French Impressionists. As a woman artist Cassatt was not as free to engage in society as her male counterparts. As a result\, she derived her subject matter from what she knew best\, the private lives of women\, whom she portrayed with dignity and genuine sentiment. Perhaps no other artist is more identified with capturing intimate moments between women and their children than Mary Cassatt. \nIn her 1880 pastel on paper\, “Mother and Child (The Goodnight Hug)\,” Cassatt demonstrates her mastery of pastel on paper. Introduced to the medium by Degas\, the artist achieves all the spontaneity and luminosity that is the hallmark of the Impressionists\, yet the bold\, loose approach to mark-making is inventive and fresh. Filled with pattern and movement\, the drawing is vibrant and alive. It is as if the child has just been swept up in its mother’s arms. The tenderness with which they embrace\, their faces pressed against each other\, we feel their bond. They are one. \nOn this Mother’s Day during the Time of Coronavirus\, the bond between mother and child seems all the more cherished. Many of us are nostalgic for the comfort we felt in our mother’s arms\, or the simple pleasure of a goodnight hug with children who may be grown and far away. As people\, we are different in countless ways\, but we are bound together by one essential truth – each of us is some mother’s son or daughter. There is no greater love.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 18\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. If there was ever an artist for this time\, it would be American Edward Hopper. No one depicts isolation better than the “artist of empty spaces.” Hopper’s most iconic works\, including “Nighthawks\,” painted in 1942\, speak to the alienation of urban life\, where people are together\, but feel alone. After years of struggle as an artist and illustrator\, Hopper had his breakthrough during the Great Depression\, when his straightforward style of realism brilliantly coalesced with his un-sentimentalized subject matter to capture the essence of Depression-era life. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in his 1930 oil on canvas\, “Early Sunday Morning.” \n“Early Sunday Morning” depicts just that\, a row of closed shops on Seventh Avenue in New York shortly after sunrise on a Sunday morning. Completely devoid of people\, the sharp geometry of the buildings\, coupled with the long shadows\, make the street look stark and desolate. There is a voyeuristic quality to Hopper’s work that invites the viewer to construct the narrative. And while some interpret this painting as a commentary on the Great Depression\, Hopper himself preferred not to ascribe meaning to his images\, instead saying\, “I was more interested in the sunlight on the buildings and on the figures than any symbolism.” \nDuring The Great Isolation\, this scene of shuttered shops on an abandoned street has become a common sight in communities everywhere. Experts are likening the economic impact on small businesses to The Great Depression. Now is the time to support the businesses and institutions run by our friends and neighbors that strengthen the social fabric of our community. As shelter-at-home restrictions lift and businesses begin to reopen\, whenever you have the choice\, choose local. When we invest in our communities\, together we thrive.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n \n\n\nPOST 17\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The Age of Impressionism that corresponds with the last quarter of the nineteenth century marked the coming of age for the city of Paris. The old medieval city had recently undergone a massive renovation by Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann and Paris was suddenly a vibrant and modern city. A new class of Bourgeoisie\, nouveaux riches who benefited from the economic boom\, emerged\, and with them an interest in bourgeois leisure pursuits of art\, culture and café society. French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s masterful oil on canvas\, “Bal du Moulin de la Galette\, 1876\,” captures the joie de vivre of the period using a painting technique invented to reflect the rapidly changing nature of modern life. \nImpressionist painters were interested in spontaneity. They were attempting to capture a moment in time\, a candid snapshot of life not unlike those popularized by the recently invented camera. In order to achieve this their paintings were produced quickly on site\, en plein air\, using short\, unblended strokes of color. For the Impressionists\, rapid painting was both their subject and their style\, whether they were painting scenes of Paris life or the French countryside. “Bal du Moulin de la Galette” depicts a popular Parisian dance hall. Some people crowd the tables and chatter\, while others dance. The atmosphere is so lively you can almost hear the sounds of music\, laughter\, and tinkling glasses. The painter bathed the scene in dappled sunlight and shade to produce the effect of fleeting light the Impressionists so artfully cultivated. \nRenoir reflected on this work by saying\, “The world knew how to laugh in those days!” Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, when we are isolated from each other\, it feels as if those days are gone forever. We find ourselves longing for conviviality and camaraderie. But we must believe that when the time is right\, it will return\, and the world will open up to us slowly but surely\, shimmering like the sunlight through the trees. And when it does\, it will be that much sweeter knowing we will never take these fleeting moments for granted again.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\nPOST 16\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes rose to prominence as official court painter to Charles IV of Spain. Dissatisfaction with the aristocracy increased during Goya’s tenure\, and what was believed to be an alliance with France to overthrow the Spanish King resulted in a bloody battle for Spanish independence. Later\, Goya would document the atrocities in his most famous painting\, “Third of May\, 1808.” Increasingly disillusioned with humanity\, Goya produced a satirical series of dark prints from 1797-1798 called\, “Los Caprichos” (meaning caprices or follies). The artist used these 80 aquatints and etchings to critique contemporary Spanish society. The most iconic of these prints is No. 43\, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” \n\nIn the image\, a figure\, believed to be the artist\, is asleep at his drawing table. In his dream he is haunted by owls and bats\, symbols of folly and ignorance. The title of the print\, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” is inscribed on the front of the desk. Goya’s epigraph for the print reads\, “Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her\, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders.”\nIn the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us are plagued by monsters. The uncertainties and anxieties of the day run rampant in our imaginations\, making restful sleep a rare commodity. It is difficult to make sense of the conflicting information available to us. We don’t know who or what to believe. It feels like a bad dream. But as Goya suggests\, we need both rational thought and our creative imaginations to weather these times\, because reason combined with imagination is the mother of the arts\, and art is the source of wonder that helps us confront and battle our demons.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 15\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Earth Day was established on April 22\, 1970 to bring awareness to world-wide environmental concerns. American artist Robert Rauschenberg was commissioned to design the first Earth Day poster to benefit the American Environment Foundation in Washington\, D.C. Rauschenberg was a well-established artist in the Post-War New York School of Abstract Expressionists\, known for his paintings\, sculptures and Combines that merged the two mediums. An outspoken social\, political and environmental advocate\, Rauschenberg had a prolific output of prints and posters that enabled him to reach a wider audience and raise support for his various causes. \nFor the design of his first Earth Day poster\, the artist placed the Bald Eagle\, the national symbol of the United States\, at the center of the composition\, in effect\, positioning our country in the middle of the global crisis. Imagery of pollution\, contamination\, deforestation and endangered species surround the eagle. An edition of 10\,000 off-set lithographs were published by Caselli Graphics in New York. A larger format lithograph\, based on the original design\, was produced in a limited edition of 50 by Gemini G.E.L.\, Los Angeles. \nThis Earth Day\, 50 years later\, we have the unique opportunity to reflect on our individual roles as environmental stewards. We’ve seen how quickly nature has renewed itself in the period since we began shelter-in-place. It’s up to us to determine how measures to control pollution\, slow climate change\, minimize our carbon footprint and support a healthy planet continue after The Great Isolation is over. Let us come together as good global citizens. Our collective future on the planet depends on it.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 14\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Derived from the Portuguese “barroco\,” meaning irregularly shaped pearl\, the term Baroque is attributed to the dynamic and theatrical art that emerged in Europe during the 1600s. A major contributor to the period was the influential artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio whose use of tenebrism\, a style of painting incorporating dramatic contrasts of light and dark\, was emulated by future generations of artists known as “Caravaggisti.” A controversial character in his own right\, Caravaggio’s outspoken disdain for the classical masters drew criticism from those who regarded him as the “anti-Christ” of painting. In “Saint Jerome Writing\, 1605–06\,” Caravaggio uses a combination of tenebrism and symbolism to cast the figure of Saint Jerome in a spiritual light. \n\nFluent in Greek and Hebrew\, Saint Jerome is credited with his translation of the bible into Latin. As a result\, he is always portrayed in his study with the attributes of a scholar. Breaking with tradition\, Caravaggio presents us with a naturalistic\, unidealized depiction of the aged saint\, immersed in his work\, draped in the simple cloth of an ascetic removed from the outside world. The room is dark and spartan\, but he is bathed in divine light. The painting includes a skull\, the seat of knowledge\, and symbol of the death of the physical body now reborn at a higher\, spiritual level. \nDuring this period of isolation\, removed from the distractions of the outside world\, we finally have time for self-reflection. Each of us has the unique opportunity to look inside and find our light. Let us emerge with a renewed sense of purpose\, resolved to be the best version of ourselves for our family\, our friends\, and our community. When our spirits shine bright\, we light the way for others. \n\n\n\nPOST 13\n\n\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The cinematic arts deserve equal time\, so today I give you a 3-minute excerpt from Christian Marclay’s\, 2010 masterpiece\, “The Clock.” Described as a moving collage\, “The Clock” is a 24-hour long montage of thousands of film clips that depict clocks or reference time. It took three years for the work to be compiled. “The Clock” is screened in real time\, so it is\, itself\, a timepiece\, each clip synchronized with the actual time it is being viewed. \n\n“The Clock” is a meditation on time. A temporal art form\, “The Clock” examines how the elements of time\, plot and duration are depicted in film. It includes clips from many of the great cinematic masterworks of the last century\, paying homage to the medium. At the same time\, it plays with the conventions that construct meaning in narrative\, thereby undermining any sense of chronological coherence for the viewer. The artist has described “The Clock” as a memento mori\, an artwork about the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death. While viewing “The Clock\,” we are continuously reminded about the passage of time; how much time we’ve spent and how much time we have left. \nLife in the Time of Coronavirus has disrupted all sense of time. Without our regular daily routines\, it is easy to lose track of the hours and the days. We seem to be in an endless holding pattern\, waiting for the clock to restart and our lives to go back to normal. But the future is uncertain\, and we can’t relive the past\, so we need to focus on the here and now\, because there is no time like the present to start living.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\nClick image to view The Clock \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 12\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The Barbizon School were a group of French landscape artists painting in the Forest of Fountainebleau surrounding the village of Barbizon. Their work is regarded as the strongest movement of purely landscape painting in 19th century France. They were also pioneers in painting en plein air\, directly from nature\, paving the way for the Impressionists. A founder of this group\, Jean-François Millet took on the plight of the rural poor as his subject matter. Now considered a masterpiece of the genre\, Millet’s 1857 oil on canvas\, “The Gleaners\,” was poorly received in its day by the upper class who took exception to its commentary on social inequity. \nIn “The Gleaners\,” Millet presents three peasant women performing the tedious task of gleaning; collecting the wheat scraps left in the field after the harvest. The job was backbreaking\, but made an important contribution to the rural workers’ diet. Millet understood this. In an attempt to dignify the subjects and draw attention to their harsh labor\, Millet placed his figures in the foreground\, against a broad sky\, their monumental forms dominating the canvas. The symbolic contrast between abundance and scarcity\, and between light and shadow\, further serves to emphasize the class divide. This sensibility established the artist as a champion of social justice for the poorest of the peasant class. \nFor some of us\, shelter-at-home is an opportunity to slow the pace and leisurely engage in domestic activities that give us pleasure. But for others\, this period of isolation represents a real and present economic hardship and a commitment to long hours of strenuous labor. Illness\, loss of work\, even the inability to purchase necessities has put a strain on our friends and neighbors. Essential workers in the fields of healthcare and food distribution toil tirelessly for our benefit. Now is the time to summon the better angels of our nature and embrace our common humanity. However and whenever possible\, share your bounty. Engage in random acts of kindness. We rise by lifting others.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 11\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Following independence from Spain in the 17th century\, the Dutch Republic quickly gained economic prominence owing to their lucrative trade routes\, centralized banking system\, and robust flower market driven by the tulip. A new class of wealthy merchants and art patrons rose to power\, and thus began the Dutch Golden Age. Whereas the Catholic Church favored religious subject matter\, Calvinist teachings rejected religious iconography\, so still life painting\, previously considered a lowly art form\, blossomed in popularity with the Dutch Reformed merchant class. One of the most accomplished practitioners of the genre was a woman\, Rachel Ruysch. The daughter of a botany professor\, Ruysch developed an international reputation for her highly accurate\, yet naturalistic compositions\, all the while raising 10 children. “Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop\, 1716” is an excellent example of an ornamental still life imbued with complex religious symbolism. \nStill lifes are idealized compositions of perfect specimens that bloom at different times of the year. For the Baroque era viewer\, the symbolism of each flower would be easily understood. In “Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop” Ruysch organizes her flowers into a specific hierarchy relating to the life of Christ\, topped by the iris with its groupings of three petals\, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. At the center of the arrangement\, side by side\, are the white poppy\, symbol of death and the crucifixion\, and the blue morning glory that opens to the light\, symbolizing the resurrection. Closer inspection reveals insects feeding on the flowers\, signifying the transient nature of life. \nLike the Story of Easter reflected in this work by Rachel Ruysch\, Life in the Time of Coronavirus is a complex narrative composed of human suffering and transcendence. It reminds us that life is like a delicate blossom\, fragile and fleeting. But with the arrival of spring\, we remain confident in the knowledge that the cycle of life will move us out of the darkness and into the light\, and life will triumph over death\, because hope springs eternal.🌷Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 10\n\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Today I give you “The Signs on the Door\,” a watercolor by French artist James (Jacques) Joseph Tissot\, c. 1896-1902. This painting is one in a large series depicting the life of Moses and the story of Exodus executed by the artist from 1896-1900. A successful society portraitist of the period\, Tissot is best known for his paintings of well-dressed women and their fashionable lifestyles. Like his contemporary Édouard Manet\, Tissot was a self-proclaimed Realist and painter of modern life. He declined to participate in the 1874 exhibition that gave the French Impressionists their name. In the last years of his life\, Tissot turned his attention to biblical subject matter\, in particular the Old Testament. \n“The Signs on the Door\,” depicts a moment in the Book of Exodus when God rains ten plagues down upon the Pharaoh and commands Moses to free the enslaved Israelites and take them out of Egypt. Before the final plague\, the killing of the first born\, the Israelites mark their doors with lamb’s blood as a sign that the Angel of Death will pass over them. The image is rendered in Tissot’s characteristic illustrative style. \nJews around the world have begun the observance of Passover\, an eight-day commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt that takes its name from this event. It is a story of liberation from slavery\, followed by an arduous journey of revelation\, that ends in a celebration of homecoming. As we collectively search for meaning in the Time of Coronavirus\, it is a testament to the unwavering belief that despite our travails\, sooner or later we will all find our way home. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n– Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n  \n \n\nPOST 9\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The late 18th century Age of Revolution marked an end to absolute monarchy throughout Continental Europe and the Americas. The desire for freedom\, not only political freedom\, but also freedom of thought\, feeling\, and the expression of these ideas\, is the hallmark of the period known as Romanticism. Nature\, in all her awe-inspiring vastness\, emerged as a favorite subject matter\, exemplifying the aesthetic concept of the sublime. Among the artists best known for their transcendental landscape paintings is Germany’s Caspar David Friedrich with his masterpiece\, “Wanderer above a Sea of Mist\,” 1817-1818. \nIn “Wanderer above a Sea of Mist\,” a solitary climber stands on a rocky promontory and leans on his cane. The figure surveys a vast panorama of clouds and mountains through a thick mist. The archetypal man\, depicted from behind\, is at once master of all he sees\, and at the same time\, dwarfed by the enormity of the vision and the uncertainty of the journey that lays ahead. Nature as both transcendent and fearsome is the perfect expression of the sublime. \nAs human beings\, we tend to go about our daily lives with a false sense of superiority\, believing we’re impervious to the forces of nature. But the Coronavirus pandemic has left us devastated in its wake. The escalating number of cases has us feeling helpless\, and the mounting death toll reminds us of our human frailty. It is a fearful time. While we are learning every day how to battle the virus and move towards treatment and a cure\, humility in the presence of nature’s greatness may well be the most lasting lesson. \n\nGail Phinney\, Education Director\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 8\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Women engaged in the daily routine of bathing and grooming has been a ubiquitous subject throughout the history of Western Art. Georges Seurat’s “Young Woman Powdering Herself\,” 1888-90\, a portrait of his model and mistress Madeleine Knobloch\, presents a late 19th-century depiction of a woman at her toilette\, similar to those popularized by other French artists of the period\, including Edgar Degas\, Édouard Manet\, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. What sets this work apart is the distinctive pointillist style in which it is rendered. \nBest known for his monumental work\, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte\,” 1884\, George Seurat was a leader in the Neo-Impressionist movement and influential in the development of divisionism. Based on optical theory\, divisionism is a calculated system of colored dots arranged on the surface of the canvas in a manner that allows the viewer’s eye to blend the colors from a distance. Unlike the French Impressionists who used rapid painting techniques to capture the fleeting effects of light with such spontaneity\, there is nothing spontaneous about the work of Seurat. \nAs we shelter at home and work remotely\, our daily routine can fall by the wayside. Our motivation to carry on with regular grooming habits so tied to our self-esteem starts to wane. It’s easy to lose pride in our appearance\, and every glimpse in the mirror adds to our depression. Sometimes the simple act of getting out of bed in the morning is a struggle. But it’s important to try. Today I rallied. Today I showered. Today I dressed and fixed my hair. Today I’m winning. I hope you are\, too.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nPOST 7\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. And now for something completely different – I give you Sandy Skoglund’s 1980 Cibachrome print\, “Radioactive Cats.” Creating at the nexus of sculpture\, installation art\, and photography\, American Sandy Skoglund turns everyday domestic scenes into surreal\, dreamlike environments. Rather than relying on digital methods\, the artist hand-crafts elaborate installations using her own sculptures along with sourced objects\, while incorporating friends and family members as subjects\, all in an effort to comment on the human condition. \n“Radioactive Cats” features two elderly figures in a stark interior invaded by an over-abundance of neon-green felines. While the evocative image is open for interpretation\, Skoglund communicates a heightened psychological experience by contrasting the monochromatic interior with brightly painted animals who appear to have been irradiated\, while the drably dressed inhabitants are seemingly non-plussed. \nThe threat of contracting and spreading the Coronavirus has us living in an altered reality\, one where we don veritable hazmat suits to leave our homes and engage in elaborate sanitizing rituals when we return. For those of us Boomers\, It’s a new Atomic Age where everything we touch outside our door feels threatening. This is the new\, almost\, but not quite\, for the moment\, normal. As surreal as it may seem\, we have to learn to live with it. Like Skoglund’s clowder of radioactive cats\, the virus has invaded all our lives. We can’t be in denial any more.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 6\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. One of the most iconic artworks in the Western canon\, “The Scream\,” is an 1893 tempera and pastel on cardboard by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. The image has become synonymous with the angst of modern psychic life\, and the general malaise often associated with the end of the century. The original title of the work was “Despair.” \nMunch described his inspiration for the piece in this way\, “I was walking along the road with two friends. The sun was setting. I felt a breath of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned blood-red. I stopped\, and leaned against the railing\, deathly tired – looking out across the flaming clouds that hung like blood and a sword over the blue-black fjord and town. My friends walked on – I stood there trembling with fear. And I sensed a great\, infinite scream pass through nature.” The artist conveys his sensibilities\, and the central figure’s inner life\, through the exaggerated use of line\, garish color and distorted shape. It haunts us. \n\nLife in the Time of Coronavirus is filled with uncertainty. How long will the pandemic last? What changes are coming? Will things ever be the same? Sometimes the fear and anxiety washes over us like a great tsunami. Sometimes we feel so frustrated we want to scream. Sometimes we just break down and cry. But this I know\, every morning the sun will rise again\, and with each new day comes a new start\, and some way\, somehow\, we will find the strength to walk on.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 5\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. “Waiting\,” a pastel on paper completed by Edgar Degas over the period 1879-1882 is one of 200 works depicting classical ballet dancers at the Paris Opéra. Although Degas exhibited with the French Impressionists\, he did not share their interest in painting en plein air\, or outdoors\, instead considering himself a Realist. \nA member of the Bourgeoisie\, Degas turned his attentions to depicting the demi-monde\, a group that existed outside the accepted social structure and included his favorite subject matter – ballerinas\, cafe singers and jockeys. Degas’ fascination with Japanese prints called ukiyo-e is evident in both the voyeuristic depiction of this world and in the flattened\, diagonal composition. In “Waiting” he uses a raked composition with sparse detail to heighten the emotion in this behind the scenes glimpse of the life of a ballerina\, bent over holding her ankle\, next to her a figure dressed in street clothes\, perhaps her chaperone\, both exhibiting a similar sense of exhaustion and anxiety in their posture and demeanor. \nI can’t think of a more appropriate work to convey the struggle many of us feel as we wait. . . wait for stranded loved ones to return from far away locations\, wait for signs and symptoms of the virus to appear\, wait for news of a treatment or a vaccine\, wait for the panic to subside\, wait to be out of isolation and back in society. The waiting seems interminable\, but we have no choice but to be patient\, find our inner peace and believe in our hearts that this too shall pass.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 4\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Thomas Eakins was one of the foremost American Realist painters of the late nineteenth century. Academically trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris\, his subject matter was largely drawn from the people and places of his beloved Philadelphia. “The Champion Single Sculls (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull)\, 1871\,” one of the first in a series depicting the sport of sculling\, was painted after his return from Europe. \nThe painting commemorates the victory of amateur rower\, Max Schmitt\, in a race on the Schuylkill River in October 1870. A sports enthusiast and avid rower\, Eakins added himself to the composition behind the oars of the scull in the near distance. Eakins is best known for his fascination with the human figure and was a longtime life drawing instructor at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. His early photographic experiments with capturing the human body in motion pioneered the development of motion pictures. \nWhile many of us find enjoyment in outdoor activities\, we must continue to practice responsible social distancing. Be respectful of the earth and one another. As we collectively heal\, so will nature if we tread lightly on her. You need go no further than your own backyard or open your windows to enjoy a gentle breeze\, listen to the birds sing and marvel at the beauty of the world around us. Like us\, nature is both fragile and resilient. Let’s nurture her as she has nurtured us. Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \nPOST 3\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Along with philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau\, some French Enlightenment era artists rejected the frivolity and corruption of society under the monarchy\, and\, instead\, exalted the simplicity and honesty of peasant life. Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and his 1740 oil on canvas\, “Saying Grace\,” exemplifies this in a quiet scene of domestic interaction between a mother and her two young daughters saying grace before a modest meal. It is so heartfelt and charming\, you can feel the love between the family members\, as well as the affection held for them by the artist. \nIn genre paintings like this\, as well as his masterful still lifes\, Chardin celebrated everyday life a world away from the aristocracy at play depicted in the popular Rococo art of the time. His work had wide appeal\, even with the nobility\, in fact\, “Saying Grace” was once owned by King Louis XV. \nAs we shelter-in-place we have the opportunity for many such moments to quietly connect with our families\, whether homeschooling or informally instructing our children as we go through the rituals of the day. And though some of us are separated from the ones we love right now\, we have the technology to reach out and touch them remotely. Take a minute to look around you\, find grace in the simple gift of life\, and if you haven’t already done so\, tell someone you love them. ❤️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 2\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Today I give you “Oath of the Horatii\,” a monumental oil on canvas painted in 1784 by Jacques-Louis David. David\, a favorite of the French Salon and the aristocracy\, became the leading French Neoclassical painter of the age. At the time of the French Revolution\, he swung both ways\, also serving as Minister of Propaganda for the radical Jacobin Party during the Reign of Terror. He believed paintings representing noble deeds in the past could inspire virtue in the present\, and used his heroic work to influence public sentiment.\n\nThe most famous of these works\, “Oath of the Horatii\,” illustrates a story in Roman history. The leaders of the warring cities of Rome and Alba decided to resolve their conflicts in a series of encounters waged by three representatives from each side. The Romans chose as their champions the three Horatii brothers\, who had to face the three sons of the Curiatii family from Alba. In cinematic style\, David’s painting depicts an intimate moment in the story\, as the Horatii sons swear on their swords\, held high by their father\, to win or die for Rome. The painting is encoded with symbolism of patriotism\, self-sacrifice and civic duty\, along with the obligatory weepy women. \nTimes of crisis require sacrificing the interests of the individual “me” for the benefit of the collective “we.” Until the virus passes\, everyone must do their part for their community\, even if it means isolating from it for a time. Be a warrior\, be brave\, do whatever it takes\, we’re all in this fight together. ⚔️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \nPOST 1\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson to keep yours truly actively engaged in the work I love. We begin with William Adolphe Bouguereau’s\, “L’Amour et Psyché\, enfants” an oil on canvas painted in 1890. Cupid and Psyche\, young lovers in Greek and Roman mythology\, are depicted as innocents in their first embrace\, he with angel wings and she with butterfly wings that both represent her name in Greek\, and are a symbol of metamorphosis\, as in the story she transforms from mortal to immortal in pursuit of her lover. \nBouguereau was a regular contributor to the French Salon and painted in the highly representational Academic Style\, depicting mostly classical themes\, as was the accepted practice of the time. After the rise of the French Impressionists his work fell out of favor\, but has since been rediscovered and appreciated for its beauty and skillful rendering of the face and figure. \nI chose this work because\, being the hopeless romantic that I am\, I cannot help but think about Love in the Time of Coronavirus\, and fast forward nine months from the end of isolation to our collective embrace and the resulting birth of all the beautiful babies in the world. Because despite what befalls us\, love finds a way\, and like Cupid and Psyche\, we will find our way back to each other in the end. ❤️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/artful-daze/2021-12-01/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20211125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20211129
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20211119T024349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211119T024349Z
UID:10000165-1637798400-1638143999@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:CLOSED THANKSGIVING WEEKEND
DESCRIPTION:PVAC will be closed Thanksgiving\, November 25\, and the following days: \nFriday\, November 26\, Saturday\, November 27\, as well as Sunday\, November 28. \n 
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/closed-thanksgiving-weekend/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211106T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211106T160000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20211019T200401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211020T164608Z
UID:10000163-1636207200-1636214400@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:"Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? Revelations!”
DESCRIPTION:“Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? Revelations!”\nWith Bernard Fallon\, Bondo Wyszpolski\,\nand live music by Brad Webster\n\nNovember 6\, 2021\n2pm – 4pm\nFREE\nRegister at Eventbrite HERE\n\nPlease join us at Palos Verdes Art Center Saturday\, November 6th\, for a discussion about the beginnings and development of our current group exhibition\, “Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?” The talk features participating artist Bernard Fallon and curator Bondo Wyszpolski\, with music performed by Brad Webster.\n\nIn order to curate a group show that would prompt the participants to make artworks outside their usual practice\, Bondo Wyszpolski invited 35 local artists to take part in an unusual Wheel of Fortune game at La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes Estates. The wheel was decked with fortune cookies; the standard fortune on a slip of paper was replaced with the title of the new art piece to be made by the spinner. For extra measure\, the artwork titles became song titles\, with new music composed and performed by Wyspolski’s long-time friend\, Brad Webster. Lyrics were written by Wyszpolski to expand on his titles. You can see the imaginative results in the Norris Gallery at PVAC and online HERE.\n\n\nPLEASE NOTE: To safeguard the health of our employees\, students\, visitors\, affiliated groups and the community at large from infectious diseases\, such as COVID-19\, PVAC has adopted a mandatory vaccination policy. Effective October 31\, 2021\, all visitors must wear face masks and show proof of vaccination.\n\n\nWine courtesy of Peninsula magazine.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/are-you-thinking-what-im-thinking-revelations/
CATEGORIES:Calendar,Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211103T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211103T130000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20211025T233120Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211025T233850Z
UID:10000164-1635935400-1635944400@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Eugene Daub: Monumental\, Artist Talk and Exhibition Tour
DESCRIPTION:Eugene Daub: Monumental\nArtist Talk and Exhibition Tour\n\nNovember 3\, 2021\nTalk: 10:30am – 11:30am\nExhibition Tour: Noon\nFREE\n\n\n\n  \nPlease join us at Palos Verdes Art Center on Wednesday\, November 3rd\, for an artist talk by sculptor Eugene Daub presented in partnership with Peninsula Seniors’ Bohannon Lecture Series. The talk will be held in the Atrium at PVAC from 10:30am to 11:30am followed at noon by an artist tour by Eugene Daub of his retrospective exhibition\, Monumental. \nThe event is free to the public. For those unable to attend in person\, the artist talk portion of the event will be simultaneously held on Zoom\, followed by Q & A. \nRegister for Zoom at Eventbrite HERE. \n“Every work has two stories\, the story of the artwork itself\, and the story of what happened along the way to its being realized. This talk will cover not only the exhibition\, Monumental\, but also my journey to find a place in the world of sculpture\, leading to a lifelong career creating statuary that pays homage to people that have done great things\, many of whom have indeed changed history.”   – Eugene Daub \nAmong the twelve of Daub’s monumental works chronicled by this exhibition are Lewis & Clark\, Kansas City\, Missouri; Rosa Parks\, US Capitol\, Washington\, D.C.; Harry Bridges\, ILWU Union Hall\, Wilmington\, CA; Thomas Jefferson\, University of Virginia\, and Phineas Banning\, Banning’s Landing\, Wilmington\, CA. \nEugene Daub is based in San Pedro\, CA. His first job in sculpture was for The Franklin Mint where he developed skills in relief sculpture. He is the designer of the first Philadelphia Liberty Medal\, which that city awards every year to a champion of world peace. \nDaub has exhibited extensively and has works in numerous public collections including the Helsinki Art Museum\, the British Museum; the Smithsonian Institution; The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol\, and the United States National Park Service. Daub has created over 40 major monuments in the U.S. in the last 30 years and is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society. \n\nPLEASE NOTE: To safeguard the health of our employees\, students\, visitors\, affiliated groups and the community at large from infectious diseases\, such as COVID-19\, PVAC has adopted a mandatory vaccination policy. Effective October 31\, 2021\, all visitors must wear face masks and show proof of vaccination.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/eugene-daub-monumental-artist-talk-and-exhibition-tour/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211030T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211030T230000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20211026T222052Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211026T222418Z
UID:10000167-1635580800-1635634800@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:The Winter Show Entry Deadline
DESCRIPTION:December 4\, 2021 – January 8\, 2022 \nThe Winter Show is a juried all-media online exhibition hosted by Palos Verdes Art Center open only to all Palos Verdes Art Center (PVAC) members. Not a member yet? You can join Palos Verdes Art Center at pvartcenter.org. \nCALENDAR: \nOnline Submission Dates via CaFE: October 7 – 30. There will be NO EXTENSION OF SUBMISSION DEADLINE!\nJuror’s Selections Announced via CaFÉ: Monday\, November 8.\nTake-In of Selected Works: Friday\, November 19 – 9:00 to 11:00 am.\nOpening Reception: Saturday\, December 4 – 6:00 to 9:00 pm.\nClose of Show: Saturday\, January 8.\nArt Pick-Up: Monday\, January 10 – 9:00 to 11:00 am. \nON-LINE SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: \n\nGo to www.callforentry.org\nCreate a CaFÉ profile.\nFollow step-by-step instructions in CaFÉ for creating a profile.\nApply to call\, The Winter Show 2021. You may submit up to 3 pieces of art once your profile in CaFÉ is complete.\n\n\nRequirement for Entry: Current PVAC member in good standing. If you are not a current member\, you may join at pvartcenter.org before submitting your entry.\nEntry Fee: $35
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/the-winter-show-entry-deadline/
CATEGORIES:Calendar
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211029T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211029T180000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20211026T182802Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211026T183406Z
UID:10000166-1635523200-1635530400@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Kid's Calavera Painting Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Kid’s Calavera Painting Workshop\nFor Ages 5-13\nwith Daniel Gonzalez\nOctober 29\n4pm – 6pm\n\n\n\nIt’s a costume painting party! After school\, this Friday\, October 29th from 4pm – 6pm\, our Youth Studio will host a virtual Calavera Painting Workshop for ages 5-13. Learn the painting techniques artist Daniel Gonzalez uses to create his unique\, illuminated calavera (skulls). Students will learn techniques in sketching figures and body anatomy. No prior painting or drawing experience is required. Sign up here to participate in this step-by-step workshop and create a calavera skeleton painting of your very own. Get those sketchbooks and painting materials ready for a fun-filled night to kick off the Halloween weekend festivities! Also\, don’t forget to wear your costumes! 👻🎃
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/kids-calavera-painting-workshop/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211023T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211023T150000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20211013T215152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211013T220336Z
UID:10000162-1634986800-1635001200@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Calavera Painting Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Calavera Painting Workshop\nwith Daniel Gonzalez\nOctober 23\, 11am – 3pm\n16 and up\n\n\nHalloween is right around the corner\, so let’s get in the spooky spirit together . In this one-day virtual workshop\, learn the painting techniques artist Daniel Gonzalez uses to create his unique\, illuminated calaveras (skulls) . This workshop is for all levels\, beginning to advanced. No prior painting or sketching experience is required. Adults and children ages 16 and up are welcome to join. Daniel will also share the stories and bit of the philosophy behind his work. Sign up to participate in this step-by-step online workshop and create a Calavera skeleton painting of your very own. So get your sketchbook and painting materials ready for a fun day in preparation for the scary season!\n\n\nMembers receive a $30 discount on this workshop and more! Enrollment is limited for this exclusive one-time workshop.\n\nRegister now HERE.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/calavera-painting-workshop/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://pvartcenter.org/2024/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Calavera-Painting-Workshop-SQ.jpg
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20211001
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20211002
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20210930T013356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211026T182935Z
UID:10000161-1633046400-1633132799@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Artful Daze
DESCRIPTION:POST 39\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Spanish artist Salvador Dalí is one of the great figures in Modern Art. A larger-than-life personality with an ego to match\, his eccentricities are as legendary as his artistic genius. A brilliant technician\, Dali was a child prodigy\, but tragedy shaped his early life. He was haunted by the death of an older brother he never knew. But it was the experience of losing his mother at age 16 that devastated him. He later wrote\, “I could not resign myself to the loss of a being on whom I counted to make invisible the unavoidable blemishes of my soul.” \n  \nAfter traveling to Paris and experimenting with several styles throughout the 1920s\, Dali became a key figure in the Surrealist Movement. But his early art focused on the familiar landscapes of Catalonia\, in particular the coastal village of Cadaqués where his family owned a summer home. There his younger sister Anna Maria became the model for many of his works. Completed in 1925\, “Figura en una finestra (Figure at the Window)” presents an enigmatic portrait of Anna Maria shown from behind\, looking out a window with a view onto the sea. The delicately rendered young figure framed by the softly flowing drapery and the seascape beyond\, all unified in harmonious blues\, are juxtaposed against the empty space that surrounds them. It is a serene study in solitude. \n  \nWe are all searchers. Each of us gazes out onto the world in search of that which connects us. We long for the belonging. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we find ourselves feeling oddly disconnected from our lives. We grieve the loss of the familiar. We turn inward and find comfort in our isolation. Yet life teaches us that change is the only constant; love and loss and love again are inevitable. So we boldly venture forth\, like sailors on uncharted seas\, ever hopeful\, ever searching\, ever trusting we will find our way back home again. \n\n\n\n\n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 38\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Russian-born Modernist Marc Chagall famously wrote\, “In our life there is a single colour\, as on an artist’s palette\, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.” A true visual poet\, no other artist captured the reverie of love and joy of life with such exuberance. \n“The Birthday” was painted in 1915\, weeks before Chagall’s marriage to the love of his life\, Bella. The artist is depicted floating effortlessly above the ground\, as his head is stretched impossibly back towards his beloved. She is shown holding a bouquet of flowers\, her eyes locked on his gaze as she rises up to meet his kiss. The room is filled with color and pattern executed in the Fauvist style\, a nod to the great French colorist\, Henri Matisse. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as the days and months float by\, birthdays become important markers in our lives. We stop to appreciate the gift of every moment we’ve been given and consider the legacy we leave behind. Chagall’s painting reminds us the most precious gift we have to give is ourselves; that we should give freely\, love boundlessly and receive love reverently. What goes around comes around. As the song goes\, “And in the end\, the love you take\, is equal to the love you make.” \n\n\n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\nPOST 37\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. The concepts of agon (struggle\, contest\, competition) and nike (victory) were essential components of ancient Greek life. Competitive sports were exalted and depictions of victorious athletes representing archetypal youth were artfully cast in bronze. “Statue of a Victorious Youth\,” dating 300–100 B.C\, is one such example of youth memorialized. \nThe bronze sculpture with inlaid copper depicts a standing youth reaching towards an olive wreath placed on his head as the prize for victory in the Olympic Games. It is believed that this was one of a group of portraits of victorious athletes on display at Olympia\, site of the ancient games. Found by a fishing vessel off the coast of Italy in 1964\, it was likely carried by a Roman ship sunk in the Adriatic Sea. It was purchased from a German art dealer by the Getty Museum in 1977\, and although controversy surrounds the acquisition of this and other such antiquities\, there can be no doubt as to its beauty. \nOn this Memorial Day\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we remember all the lightfoot youth lost to war. Our hearts are heavy as we take stock of our losses\, even as friends and family continue to battle illness and death; collateral damage of a sort that makes us face our own mortality. Those left behind have an obligation to fully live our lives\, for we are the keepers of their memory. Let’s tap into that place where we are eternally young\, and dwell in that sacred space as living reminders of a time when our unlimited potential stretched before us like a blanket of stars\, happiness was forever in our grasp\, and we were victorious. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \nPOST 36\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Pierre Bonnard was one of a group of Post-Impressionist painters known as Les Nabis. As students together at the Academie Julian in Paris\, they saw themselves as prophets of Modern Art. Bonnard exhibited early on with the Fauves; his use of intense color and modern perspective was greatly admired by lifelong friend Henri Matisse and influenced generations of Modernist painters that followed. \nBonnard rarely painted from life\, preferring to paint from memory\, using color to infuse his work with emotion. His intimate domestic scenes and vibrant landscapes are combined to reach a high point in “The Studio at Le Canne with Mimosas\,” 1939-46\, completed near the end of his life. In the lower left hand corner is the partial figure of Marthe de Méligny\, his wife and favorite subject for over 50 years. Awash in color\, she is barely discernible amidst the glowing neon oranges and pinks of the interior space that serves as a frame for the explosion of cascading yellow flowers outside the window. With its flattened perspective and pools of high-intensity hue\, the canvas melts into a Technicolor abstraction of a reimagined memory. \nToday\, on this Mother’s Day in the Time of Coronavirus\, every mother’s child holds dear precious memories colored by love. While Bonnard’s canvas captures that love of everyday life\, it also expresses a bittersweet ache for something passing in front of our eyes. Take the time to appreciate the joy of family and the sheer exuberance of being alive. Although these moments may be fleeting\, the pictures of love we paint in our hearts live on forever. Happy Mother’s Day  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \nPOST 35\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Frederic Leighton was one of the most renowned artists of the Victorian era and longtime president of the Royal Academy. He is associated with the Pre-Raphaelites\, but was never a member of the group. Although Leighton rejected their approach to realism\, he shared their regard for nature and poetic idealism. He wrote\, “I am hand-in-glove with all my enemies the Pre-Raphaelites.” \nLeighton’s stunning 1895 oil on canvas\, “Flaming June\,” was one of his last paintings and considered his masterwork. It was loosely inspired by Michelangelo’s sculpture “Night” adorning the Medici Tombs in Florence. The recumbent figure of the woman – her luxurious hair\, flaming gown and loosely gathered shawl – combine into one swirling wave of warm earth tones\, juxtaposed against the shimmering cool blue Mediterranean Sea behind her. The work illustrates Leighton’s affinity for classicism and his mastery of depicting texture from the sheer soft folds of the fabric to the shiny\, hard surfaces of the marble. The poisonous oleander plant in the top right hints at the Victorian fascination with sleep and death\, often referenced in the art and poetry of the time. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us suffer from COVID fatigue. We feel as though we have been in a state of suspended animation\, and\, like Shakespeare’s Hamlet\, we ponder\, “in that sleep of death what dreams may come.” But as spring fast approaches\, and the vaccine brings new hope\, the world is starting to awaken. Each of us has the opportunity to manifest our dreams for the future. The world to which we emerge can be entirely of our own making. What will you dream it to be? \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 34\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Today we revisit Jacques-Louis David\, leading French painter of the Neoclassical style. “The Intervention of the Sabine Women” is a monumental history painting conceived while the artist was imprisoned for his sympathies to Robespierre\, following the Reign of Terror. It was inspired by a visit from his estranged wife\, who was largely responsible for his release. They later remarried. Painted in the waning years of the French Revolution\, the piece is\, first and foremost\, about reconciliation. \nCompleted in 1799\, “The Intervention of the Sabine Women” tells the ancient Roman story of the abduction of the Sabine women. Executed in grand cinematic style\, David chose to illustrate the moment when the Sabines are on the brink of battle with the Romans for their return. Stylistically\, it is a departure from the artist’s previous work in the way it foregrounds the female figures. At the center of the composition the heroic Hersilia\, in her white Grecian gown\, stands with outstretched arms in an effort to intervene between Tatius\, her father and king of the Sabines\, on the left\, and her husband Romulus\, the king of Rome\, on the right; her children – their sons and grandsons – lay at her feet. It is a plea for peace. \nAmericans have witnessed the devastating damage wrought by our deep political divide. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we are on the brink of doing battle with ourselves. Let us learn from the lessons of history. Lincoln said\, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” It is time for intervention. It is time for reconciliation. It is time “to bind up the nation’s wounds.” It is time for peace. \n\nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director\n\n\n\nPOST 33\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. John Frederick Kensett is one of a group of American artists identified with the movement known as Luminism. Considered a second generation of the Hudson River school\, Luminist painters are celebrated for their radiant landscapes and seascapes characterized by the exquisite rendering of light and atmosphere. Although they share a fascination with the fleeting effects of light\, American Luminists predate the French Impressionists and differ dramatically in their use of finely modeled details and hidden brushstroke. \nKensett was trained as an engraver\, but left the family business to study landscape painting in Europe. When the artist returned to America\, he built a studio in Long Island Sound at a location he called Contentment Island. There he produced a series of coastal views known as “Last Summer’s Work\,” including this painting\, “Passing off of the Storm\,” completed in 1872. Small in scale\, the work is a meditative study in tonality. Illuminated clouds hover above a gray blue sky\, evidence of a storm receding in the background\, while the glassy surface of the pale blue sea remains still\, punctuated by only a few white sails\, a small island and a single rowboat. It is a poetic moment. \nNow\, in this moment\, at the end of this year in the Time of Coronavirus\, we anxiously anticipate the passing off of the storm. It has been a long and arduous voyage\, but we will ride it out. There will be much work to be done to repair the damages. Whether there will be smooth sailing ahead remains to be seen. But before we move forward into the New Year\, let’s pause for a moment of reflection\, look back at all the challenges we met and appreciate how far we’ve come. \nMy very best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy New Year. \nGail Phinney\, Community Outreach Director \n \n\nPOST 32\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Norman Rockwell is regarded as one of the most beloved artists of the 20th century. His charming depictions of everyday small town life are a mirror reflecting back an idealized image of America. An illustrator for the most popular publications of the era\, Rockwell painted 323 covers over a 50-year period for The Saturday Evening Post. Those nostalgic images of a perceived kinder\, gentler time are embedded in our culture and collective consciousness. \nNorman Rockwell’s depictions of Christmas are some of his most iconic. This oil on canvas\, “Is He Coming?\,” first appeared in the December 1919 issue of Red Cross Magazine. The story that it tells is heartwarming\, communicating all the youthful wonder of Christmas. A single stocking hangs from a mantel covered in evergreen boughs\, while a boy and his dog peer expectantly into the fireplace\, waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus coming down the chimney. The composition\, with its illuminated white figures juxtaposed against a dark background aglow in warm hues\, is a nod to the Baroque paintings of Rembrandt\, Rockwell’s artistic hero. But the sentiment is distinctly of its time and place. In the aftermath of World War I and the height of the Spanish Flu pandemic\, Rockwell gives a ravaged nation an image of hope and optimism – Christmas through the eyes of a child. \nToday\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, as the virus rages on\, it is easy to lose hope. Like a child trying to spy Santa on Christmas Eve\, the waiting seems interminable. We ask ourselves\, “Is the end coming?” But a New Year and a new vaccine bring new promise for a better tomorrow. It is so close we can almost see it. Americans are at our best when we pull together for a common cause. This holiday season stay home\, stay masked\, and stay safe. We will get through this\, if we keep the faith.  \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n  \n  \nPOST 31\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Thomas Gainsborough is well known for his grand manner portraits of the English nobility. However\, his great love was nature\, and his sumptuous landscapes set the standard for the 18th century British landscape school. A leader in his field\, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. \nGainsborough’s relationship with the Royal Academy was a difficult one\, and he withdrew from exhibiting his work altogether in 1784\, the same year he painted “Charity Relieving Distress.” What remains of the original work is this fragment\, cut down in the 19th century. Rendered in luminous glazes and imbued with symbolism\, it depicts a young woman distributing food to a poor family on the threshold of a wealthy townhouse while a male figure looks on with admiration. “Charity Relieving Distress” is an allegory of benevolence\, in which those with means share their abundance with those in need. \nAs we begin the Season of Giving\, we are reminded that we\, as a Great Nation\, are defined by our commitment to the social virtues of generosity\, kindness and compassion. Today\, many American families stand on the threshold of hunger\, suffering the distress of food insecurity; collateral damage of the pandemic. 18th century English novelist Henry Fielding claimed charity to be “the very characteristic of this Nation at this Time.” Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, let it be the very characteristic of ours. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n \n\nPOST 30\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. American painter Andrew Wyeth was the youngest child of famed illustrator\, N.C. Wyeth. So it is no wonder that he should paint in such a narrative style\, capturing the people and landscapes of his beloved homes in Chadds Ford\, Pennsylvania and Cushing\, Maine. A master of American Scene painting\, Wyeth combined an understated realism with everyday subject matter\, creating a body of work that is both intensely personal and universal in its appeal. The artist himself said\, “I paint my life.” \n“The Witching Hour\,” painted in 1977\, is rendered in tempera\, Wyeth’s preferred medium. Unlike oil paint\, it is matte and applied in thin layers\, allowing for greater detail\, but with less color saturation. The subdued color palette\, along with the artist’s deeply felt affinity for solitary spaces\, results in poetic works like this; a commonplace image of empty chairs around a simple dining table\, imbued with memory\, nostalgia\, and an aching to be present in the absence of the moment. \nOn this Thanksgiving\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us will be gazing at a scene like this\, longing to fill empty chairs with family and friends. It feels like such a loss. But this year\, we must be especially thankful for the gifts that we’ve been given\, and show kindness whenever we can. Reach out and let others know how grateful you are for their presence in your life. While we will feel their absence at the table\, this year we show our love by distancing to keep each other safe. \nGail Phinney\, Community Engagement Director \n  \n \n  \nPOST 29\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. In 1848\, a group of English painters\, poets and critics formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Expressing their distaste for modern industrialized society\, they chose\, instead\, to hearken back to the spirituality and artisanship of the Early Renaissance\, depicting fictional and historical subjects. One of the founders of the group was John Everett Millais\, whose keen observation of the natural world and faithful rendering of the English landscape is evident in his 1852 painting\, “Ophelia.” \nMillais\, in keeping with the aesthetic of his brethren\, approaches the subject of Ophelia’s drowning in “Hamlet” with luminous color and stunning detail\, incorporating the Victorian fascination with the language of flowers. This decorative and highly representational work pays homage to William Shakespeare’s poetic description of the event:\n“Her clothes spread wide;\nAnd\, mermaid-like\, awhile they bore her up:\nWhich time she chanted snatches of old tunes;\nAs one incapable of her own distress\,\nOr like a creature native and indued\nUnto that element: but long it could not be\nTill that her garments\, heavy with their drink\,\nPull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay\nTo muddy death.” \nIn the Time of Coronavirus\, as the days float by\, it is easy to be pulled down by the weight of our own distress. Although we face a rising tide of uncertainty\, it is important to remain buoyant. The journey may be long and arduous\, but if we navigate the waters with courage and conviction\, we can emerge even stronger than before.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 28\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. In the opening line of the Social Contract (1762)\, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau exclaims\, “Man is born free\, but is everywhere in chains!” Rousseau believed freedom was the right and property of all\, and just cause for Revolution. Eugène Delacroix\, the great colorist and emotive painter of the Romantic period\, brilliantly illustrates this point in his monumental oil on canvas\, “Liberty Leading the People\,” 1830. \nA witness to the events of the day\, Delacroix created both a history and allegory painting of the Revolution of 1830. For three days\, known as les Trois Glorieuses (July 27–29)\, a group of working and middle-class Parisians battled in the streets against the royal army of King Charles X\, resulting in his abdication and the creation of a constitutional monarchy led by Louis-Philippe\, the Citizen King. The uprising of 1830 was the historical prelude to the June Rebellion of 1832\, an event featured in Victor Hugo’s novel\, Les Misérables. In this work\, Delacroix depicts the personification of Liberty as Marianne\, a bare-breasted figure of a woman and champion of freedom\, musket in one hand\, the French Republic’s Tricolore flag in the other\, urging on the masses from all walks of life to fight on. \nAs we battle against the virus in the Time of Coronavirus\, we remember that freedom is both an individual right and a collective responsibility. Our personal choices affect not only ourselves\, but everyone around us. It will take a Revolution of Kindness to be free of this oppressor. Wave your Flag of Compassion – wear a mask. Together we win!     Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 27\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Kara Walker explores complex issues of black identity that persist in America today by looking back at the historical Black experience. Using silhouettes that have become her trademark\, Walker’s panoramic installations both illuminate and dispel cultural myths about the antebellum South. Slavery is the subject of much of Walker’s work and she burst upon the art scene in 1994 with her groundbreaking installation\, “Gone\, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart.” \nThis installation (seen in a detail) is Walker’s response to romanticized depictions of antebellum life in literature such as Margaret Mitchell’s 1939 novel “Gone With the Wind.” The medium of cut-paper silhouette lends the work a nostalgic quality that speaks of a more genteel time\, but closer examination reveals the legs of a slave projecting from beneath a Southern belle’s hoop skirt while her beau’s saber points towards the backside of a slave child holding a strangled duck. Walker’s art shocks us out of our complacency and forces us to look at that which we would disavow – a history of slavery and the lingering racial prejudices in our society. \nOn July 4\, 1776\, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence that begins with the statement\, “We hold these truths to be self-evident\, that all men are created equal.” The majority of the document’s signers were slave owners. Since then\, the history of this nation has been marked by unspeakable acts of violence against those considered separate and unequal. Frederick Douglass said\, “No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.” On this Independence Day\, in the Time of Coronavirus and the Time of Black Lives Matter\, let us pledge “our Lives\, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” to break the chains of injustice that enslave us\, once and for all.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 26\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Sculptor Mary Edmonia Lewis was a pioneering advocate for social justice. Her subject matter was inspired by her African American and Native American heritage. Orphaned at an early age\, she was guided in her education and mentored by leading abolitionists who later became her subjects and patrons. While studying art in Boston\, she sculpted a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw\, commander of the first all-Black Civil War regiment. The sales of plaster casts enabled her to travel to Rome to study classical art and hone her skills sculpting in marble. There she created “Forever Free.” \n\nSculpted in 1867 to commemorate the ratification of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States\, “Forever Free” is distinctive for its time. It is crafted in the neoclassical and romantic tradition\, but imbued with Lewis’ sensibilities as a Black female artist and activist for women’s suffrage. The sculpture depicts two figures\, a standing male and kneeling female\, both in broken chains. The male figure is standing on a discarded ball and chain\, symbolic of his emancipation. The kneeling female figure is more enigmatic\, and it has been suggested by scholars that she embodies the plea for freedom through women’s suffrage. Universal suffrage remained a divisive issue amongst post Civil War Black activists until the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. \nArt history is a dynamic field of study\, seen through an ever-changing cultural perspective. While Edmonia Lewis defied the limitations of a 19th century Black woman artist in her choice of subject matter\, today her stylistic choices\, largely Eurocentric\, have fallen out of favor. Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus and the Time of Black Lives Matter\, it continues to be the role of the Black artist to disrupt the accepted conventions of the time to boldly produce art that is reflective of the time. As museums and galleries reopen with new and dynamic expressions of Black voices\, we must all engage in the conversation\, to listen and to learn. With open hearts and open minds we break down barriers and build community through art.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 25\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Glenn Ligon is best known for his text-based paintings. Drawing from diverse voices in literature and culture\, Ligon examines identity politics by interrogating traditional constructs of race\, gender and sexuality. More recently\, Ligon turned to neon sculpture to comment on the complexities of the Black American Experience.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Double America\, 2012\,” neon and paint\, is the second “America” piece by Ligon\, created in response to the dual climate of optimism and conflict following the election of the first African American president. The top row of letters is painted black and turned toward the wall so the viewer looks at the back of the illuminated letters. The bottom row depicts the word upside down with the outward-facing sides painted black. A white neon light is reflected off the wall. Ligon was inspired by “A Tale of Two Cities;” a novel about the French Revolution by Charles Dickens. It opens with the words\, “It was the best of times\, it was the worst of times . . . it was the season of light\, it was the season of darkness\, it was the spring of hope\, it was the winter of despair.” \nLigon’s “Double America” is the perfect metaphor for A Tale of Two Americas in The Time of Coronavirus. It is a Time of Pandemic and a Time of Protest; it is a Time of Isolation and a Time of Revolution. It is a time to shed light on a Double America that turned its back on many\, while privileging the few. It is a Time for Radical Change. Dickens wrote\, “we had everything before us\, we had nothing before us.”  This is the moment we can choose\, and history will judge us for our choices.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\nPOST 24\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Photographer\, writer\, film director\, and composer\, Gordon Parks (1912 – 2006) rose from childhood poverty to become a Renaissance man. While gaining recognition as a fashion photographer for Vogue\, he began to do freelance work chronicling the Black experience in America. In 1948\, he became the first Black photojournalist at Life magazine where his poetic photo essays on segregation and the struggle for social justice put a face on race relations and captured pivotal moments of the Civil Rights movement and the Black Power movement that followed. \n\n“Untitled\, Washington\, D.C.” (1963)\, is one of a series of images Parks captured on assignment during the historic March on Washington where over 250\,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to hear the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the introduction to his 1968 story about racism and poverty for Life\, Parks said\, “What I want. What I am. What you force me to be is what you are. For I am you\, staring back from a mirror of poverty and despair\, of revolt and freedom.” \nNow\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, this image is being replicated and documented by photographers around the globe. In this Time of Protest\, a new generation is on the march against bigotry and injustice. Let this be the defining moment when we gather together as one people\, united in our commitment to lasting social change. Maybe then we can get to Dr. King’s Promised Land and be free at last to realize the dream of liberty and justice for all.     Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 23\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. American Ed Ruscha is one of the Ferus Gallery group of artists who brought their own distinctive style of Pop Art to the contemporary Los Angeles art scene in the 1960s. With graphic design training from Chouinard\, Ruscha took his inspiration from Southern California car culture and the cinema. He is best known for his series of word paintings\, as well as paintings\, prints and photography inspired by Los Angeles and its architecture. One of his most ambitious works about the city is “The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire\,” 1965-68. \nLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)\, designed by architect William Pereira\, opened to the public in 1965. That same year Ruscha began a highly representational painting of the three-building complex in flames. In this work Ruscha speaks truth to power in his message to mainstream cultural institutions\, represented by LACMA\, that were denying a voice to the artists of his generation. When it was exhibited\, he sent a telegram to the gallery stating that the fire marshal would be on hand to see\, “the most controversial painting to be shown in Los Angeles in our time.” It was installed behind a velvet rope as if to keep angry protesters at a distance. \nWhile Ruscha’s painting was a statement on the Los Angeles of his time\, now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, it seems prophetic. Today\, as the Pereira-designed campus is being demolished\, Los Angeles is burning\, sparked by racial violence. What seemed like a surrealistic vision of the city fifty years ago is now our reality. Abraham Lincoln said\, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Once again\, we are called upon to extinguish hate\, find common ground\, and do the hard work necessary to effect real and lasting change. How and when this ends is up to us.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 22\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate with a little art history lesson. Influenced by Sigmund Freud’s “Interpretations of Dreams\,” the Symbolists were a group of artists that wanted to express a reality far deeper than what could be observed on the surface. No one did so with greater flair than Viennese painter Gustav Klimt. Inspired by Byzantine mosaics\, Klimt’s work is recognizable for its highly decorative style\, including the use of gold leaf. The sensual subject matter and opulent execution epitomized the fin-de-siècle sensibilities of European culture at the end of the 19th century. \n\nCompleted in 1908\, “The Kiss” is considered to be Klimt’s masterpiece. It depicts two intertwined figures\, the man’s face turned away from the viewer as he caresses his lover’s head in anticipation of a kiss. Kneeling on a flowerbed\, they are wrapped in shimmering gold garments\, the patterns of which are symbolic of their genders\, his geometric and hers organic. Vines and flowers encircle their heads\, like classical lovers in mythology. They are timeless. \nAs we begin to emerge from isolation and search for meaning in the Time of Coronavirus\, we reflect on the lessons we have learned about what is truly important in life. “The Kiss” reminds us that our lives are defined by the golden moments we connect with others. If we are lucky\, we have a great love or an abiding friendship that makes us feel the totality of our existence in a single embrace. It is then that we remember what it is to be human . . . and we cleave to one another so we won’t forget.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\nPOST 21\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. John Singer Sargent was a highly sought-after society portrait painter of the Edwardian period. Born to American parents in Italy\, Sargent was educated in Paris and lived most of his life as an expatriate in Europe. By the turn of the 20th century\, Sargent was one of the most celebrated painters of his time\, recognized in the United States and Europe for his portraits as well as his murals at the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts\, Boston. In 1918\, the artist was commissioned by the British Ministry of Information to create a large-scale painting commemorating joint efforts between American and British forces during World War I. The result is the 1919 oil on canvas\, “Gassed\,” an epic work that vividly illustrates the horror of war on a massive scale. \nFor this commission\, Sargent traveled to the Western Front where he spent four months in France and Belgium observing the devastating effects of chemical warfare. Moved by the vision\, Sargent abandoned the theme of his commission\, and\, instead\, used sketches he drew en plein air to create a monumental painting illustrating the aftermath of a mustard gas attack. In “Gassed\,” the artist portrays a group of young soldiers being led to medical treatment\, each man holding on to the shoulder of the man in front\, their eyes bandaged as a result of exposure to the gas. A similar scene is repeated off in the background\, and all around lay the bodies of more men. The sheer number of wounded is staggering. \nWhile the magnitude of suffering and loss in the Great War was unprecedented\, the death toll on the battlefield was eclipsed by the worldwide loss of life due to the 1918 Spanish Flu. 100 years later\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, we once again wage battle against a pandemic.  Brave first responders and medical workers are called to fight on the front lines every day.  Many have fallen as the virus continues to take its toll.  On this Memorial Day\, we remember all the valiant soldiers\, in all the wars\, that put themselves in harm’s way for our safety. To honor their sacrifice\, let us join forces in this global fight\, and bring all our collective resources and knowledge to the cause of healing humanity\, making this truly the war to end all wars.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \nPOST 20\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. “Girl with Balloon” is the most recognizable work by the graffiti artist who may be the most enigmatic figure of our time\, Banksy. Replicated in several locations and in many iterations\, the 2002 spray painted stencil mural located at Waterloo Bridge\, South Bank\, London is the original. The image is accompanied by the words\, “There is always hope.” There has been much speculation as to the artist’s intentions behind this simple image of the girl with the heart-shaped balloon. Is it a message about loss or is it about hope? It is up to the viewer to decide. \nThe work shows a young girl standing with her dress and hair blowing in the wind. It is unclear whether the red heart-shaped balloon has slipped from her hands and is flying out of reach\, or is descending to her from above. The image has been replicated in both graffiti and print versions and repurposed by the artist for political messaging over the years. In 2018\, a 2006 framed print of “Girl with Balloon” was auctioned at Sotheby’s London for a record high price of £1\,043\,0004. After the closing bid\, the artwork began to shred itself\, and it was later discovered that Banksy had hidden a shredder in the frame\, thereby turning the event into a performance piece where everyone “got Banksy-ed.” \nLike “Girl with Balloon\,” Life in the Time of Coronavirus can be about both loss and hope. For many of us\, life as we knew it is floating away like a lost balloon\, and it leaves us feeling helpless and small. While it may be difficult\, Banksy reminds us\, “There is always hope.” We have the option to lean into the winds of change\, reach up and grab onto the hope that a better tomorrow is coming our way. The choice is ours. 🎈  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\nPOST 19\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. A native of Pennsylvania who lived as an expatriate in Paris\, Mary Cassatt distinguished herself as one of the three great women of Impressionism. Educated at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts\, Cassatt went to Europe to study the great masters\, eventually settling in Paris. There she was befriended by Edgar Degas and invited to exhibit with the French Impressionists. As a woman artist Cassatt was not as free to engage in society as her male counterparts. As a result\, she derived her subject matter from what she knew best\, the private lives of women\, whom she portrayed with dignity and genuine sentiment. Perhaps no other artist is more identified with capturing intimate moments between women and their children than Mary Cassatt. \nIn her 1880 pastel on paper\, “Mother and Child (The Goodnight Hug)\,” Cassatt demonstrates her mastery of pastel on paper. Introduced to the medium by Degas\, the artist achieves all the spontaneity and luminosity that is the hallmark of the Impressionists\, yet the bold\, loose approach to mark-making is inventive and fresh. Filled with pattern and movement\, the drawing is vibrant and alive. It is as if the child has just been swept up in its mother’s arms. The tenderness with which they embrace\, their faces pressed against each other\, we feel their bond. They are one. \nOn this Mother’s Day during the Time of Coronavirus\, the bond between mother and child seems all the more cherished. Many of us are nostalgic for the comfort we felt in our mother’s arms\, or the simple pleasure of a goodnight hug with children who may be grown and far away. As people\, we are different in countless ways\, but we are bound together by one essential truth – each of us is some mother’s son or daughter. There is no greater love.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 18\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. If there was ever an artist for this time\, it would be American Edward Hopper. No one depicts isolation better than the “artist of empty spaces.” Hopper’s most iconic works\, including “Nighthawks\,” painted in 1942\, speak to the alienation of urban life\, where people are together\, but feel alone. After years of struggle as an artist and illustrator\, Hopper had his breakthrough during the Great Depression\, when his straightforward style of realism brilliantly coalesced with his un-sentimentalized subject matter to capture the essence of Depression-era life. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in his 1930 oil on canvas\, “Early Sunday Morning.” \n“Early Sunday Morning” depicts just that\, a row of closed shops on Seventh Avenue in New York shortly after sunrise on a Sunday morning. Completely devoid of people\, the sharp geometry of the buildings\, coupled with the long shadows\, make the street look stark and desolate. There is a voyeuristic quality to Hopper’s work that invites the viewer to construct the narrative. And while some interpret this painting as a commentary on the Great Depression\, Hopper himself preferred not to ascribe meaning to his images\, instead saying\, “I was more interested in the sunlight on the buildings and on the figures than any symbolism.” \nDuring The Great Isolation\, this scene of shuttered shops on an abandoned street has become a common sight in communities everywhere. Experts are likening the economic impact on small businesses to The Great Depression. Now is the time to support the businesses and institutions run by our friends and neighbors that strengthen the social fabric of our community. As shelter-at-home restrictions lift and businesses begin to reopen\, whenever you have the choice\, choose local. When we invest in our communities\, together we thrive.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n \n\n\nPOST 17\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The Age of Impressionism that corresponds with the last quarter of the nineteenth century marked the coming of age for the city of Paris. The old medieval city had recently undergone a massive renovation by Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann and Paris was suddenly a vibrant and modern city. A new class of Bourgeoisie\, nouveaux riches who benefited from the economic boom\, emerged\, and with them an interest in bourgeois leisure pursuits of art\, culture and café society. French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s masterful oil on canvas\, “Bal du Moulin de la Galette\, 1876\,” captures the joie de vivre of the period using a painting technique invented to reflect the rapidly changing nature of modern life. \nImpressionist painters were interested in spontaneity. They were attempting to capture a moment in time\, a candid snapshot of life not unlike those popularized by the recently invented camera. In order to achieve this their paintings were produced quickly on site\, en plein air\, using short\, unblended strokes of color. For the Impressionists\, rapid painting was both their subject and their style\, whether they were painting scenes of Paris life or the French countryside. “Bal du Moulin de la Galette” depicts a popular Parisian dance hall. Some people crowd the tables and chatter\, while others dance. The atmosphere is so lively you can almost hear the sounds of music\, laughter\, and tinkling glasses. The painter bathed the scene in dappled sunlight and shade to produce the effect of fleeting light the Impressionists so artfully cultivated. \nRenoir reflected on this work by saying\, “The world knew how to laugh in those days!” Now\, in the Time of Coronavirus\, when we are isolated from each other\, it feels as if those days are gone forever. We find ourselves longing for conviviality and camaraderie. But we must believe that when the time is right\, it will return\, and the world will open up to us slowly but surely\, shimmering like the sunlight through the trees. And when it does\, it will be that much sweeter knowing we will never take these fleeting moments for granted again.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\nPOST 16\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes rose to prominence as official court painter to Charles IV of Spain. Dissatisfaction with the aristocracy increased during Goya’s tenure\, and what was believed to be an alliance with France to overthrow the Spanish King resulted in a bloody battle for Spanish independence. Later\, Goya would document the atrocities in his most famous painting\, “Third of May\, 1808.” Increasingly disillusioned with humanity\, Goya produced a satirical series of dark prints from 1797-1798 called\, “Los Caprichos” (meaning caprices or follies). The artist used these 80 aquatints and etchings to critique contemporary Spanish society. The most iconic of these prints is No. 43\, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” \n\nIn the image\, a figure\, believed to be the artist\, is asleep at his drawing table. In his dream he is haunted by owls and bats\, symbols of folly and ignorance. The title of the print\, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” is inscribed on the front of the desk. Goya’s epigraph for the print reads\, “Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her\, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders.”\nIn the Time of Coronavirus\, many of us are plagued by monsters. The uncertainties and anxieties of the day run rampant in our imaginations\, making restful sleep a rare commodity. It is difficult to make sense of the conflicting information available to us. We don’t know who or what to believe. It feels like a bad dream. But as Goya suggests\, we need both rational thought and our creative imaginations to weather these times\, because reason combined with imagination is the mother of the arts\, and art is the source of wonder that helps us confront and battle our demons.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 15\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Earth Day was established on April 22\, 1970 to bring awareness to world-wide environmental concerns. American artist Robert Rauschenberg was commissioned to design the first Earth Day poster to benefit the American Environment Foundation in Washington\, D.C. Rauschenberg was a well-established artist in the Post-War New York School of Abstract Expressionists\, known for his paintings\, sculptures and Combines that merged the two mediums. An outspoken social\, political and environmental advocate\, Rauschenberg had a prolific output of prints and posters that enabled him to reach a wider audience and raise support for his various causes. \nFor the design of his first Earth Day poster\, the artist placed the Bald Eagle\, the national symbol of the United States\, at the center of the composition\, in effect\, positioning our country in the middle of the global crisis. Imagery of pollution\, contamination\, deforestation and endangered species surround the eagle. An edition of 10\,000 off-set lithographs were published by Caselli Graphics in New York. A larger format lithograph\, based on the original design\, was produced in a limited edition of 50 by Gemini G.E.L.\, Los Angeles. \nThis Earth Day\, 50 years later\, we have the unique opportunity to reflect on our individual roles as environmental stewards. We’ve seen how quickly nature has renewed itself in the period since we began shelter-in-place. It’s up to us to determine how measures to control pollution\, slow climate change\, minimize our carbon footprint and support a healthy planet continue after The Great Isolation is over. Let us come together as good global citizens. Our collective future on the planet depends on it.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\n\n\nPOST 14\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Derived from the Portuguese “barroco\,” meaning irregularly shaped pearl\, the term Baroque is attributed to the dynamic and theatrical art that emerged in Europe during the 1600s. A major contributor to the period was the influential artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio whose use of tenebrism\, a style of painting incorporating dramatic contrasts of light and dark\, was emulated by future generations of artists known as “Caravaggisti.” A controversial character in his own right\, Caravaggio’s outspoken disdain for the classical masters drew criticism from those who regarded him as the “anti-Christ” of painting. In “Saint Jerome Writing\, 1605–06\,” Caravaggio uses a combination of tenebrism and symbolism to cast the figure of Saint Jerome in a spiritual light. \n\nFluent in Greek and Hebrew\, Saint Jerome is credited with his translation of the bible into Latin. As a result\, he is always portrayed in his study with the attributes of a scholar. Breaking with tradition\, Caravaggio presents us with a naturalistic\, unidealized depiction of the aged saint\, immersed in his work\, draped in the simple cloth of an ascetic removed from the outside world. The room is dark and spartan\, but he is bathed in divine light. The painting includes a skull\, the seat of knowledge\, and symbol of the death of the physical body now reborn at a higher\, spiritual level. \nDuring this period of isolation\, removed from the distractions of the outside world\, we finally have time for self-reflection. Each of us has the unique opportunity to look inside and find our light. Let us emerge with a renewed sense of purpose\, resolved to be the best version of ourselves for our family\, our friends\, and our community. When our spirits shine bright\, we light the way for others. \n\n\n\nPOST 13\n\n\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The cinematic arts deserve equal time\, so today I give you a 3-minute excerpt from Christian Marclay’s\, 2010 masterpiece\, “The Clock.” Described as a moving collage\, “The Clock” is a 24-hour long montage of thousands of film clips that depict clocks or reference time. It took three years for the work to be compiled. “The Clock” is screened in real time\, so it is\, itself\, a timepiece\, each clip synchronized with the actual time it is being viewed. \n\n“The Clock” is a meditation on time. A temporal art form\, “The Clock” examines how the elements of time\, plot and duration are depicted in film. It includes clips from many of the great cinematic masterworks of the last century\, paying homage to the medium. At the same time\, it plays with the conventions that construct meaning in narrative\, thereby undermining any sense of chronological coherence for the viewer. The artist has described “The Clock” as a memento mori\, an artwork about the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death. While viewing “The Clock\,” we are continuously reminded about the passage of time; how much time we’ve spent and how much time we have left. \nLife in the Time of Coronavirus has disrupted all sense of time. Without our regular daily routines\, it is easy to lose track of the hours and the days. We seem to be in an endless holding pattern\, waiting for the clock to restart and our lives to go back to normal. But the future is uncertain\, and we can’t relive the past\, so we need to focus on the here and now\, because there is no time like the present to start living.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\nClick image to view The Clock \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 12\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The Barbizon School were a group of French landscape artists painting in the Forest of Fountainebleau surrounding the village of Barbizon. Their work is regarded as the strongest movement of purely landscape painting in 19th century France. They were also pioneers in painting en plein air\, directly from nature\, paving the way for the Impressionists. A founder of this group\, Jean-François Millet took on the plight of the rural poor as his subject matter. Now considered a masterpiece of the genre\, Millet’s 1857 oil on canvas\, “The Gleaners\,” was poorly received in its day by the upper class who took exception to its commentary on social inequity. \nIn “The Gleaners\,” Millet presents three peasant women performing the tedious task of gleaning; collecting the wheat scraps left in the field after the harvest. The job was backbreaking\, but made an important contribution to the rural workers’ diet. Millet understood this. In an attempt to dignify the subjects and draw attention to their harsh labor\, Millet placed his figures in the foreground\, against a broad sky\, their monumental forms dominating the canvas. The symbolic contrast between abundance and scarcity\, and between light and shadow\, further serves to emphasize the class divide. This sensibility established the artist as a champion of social justice for the poorest of the peasant class. \nFor some of us\, shelter-at-home is an opportunity to slow the pace and leisurely engage in domestic activities that give us pleasure. But for others\, this period of isolation represents a real and present economic hardship and a commitment to long hours of strenuous labor. Illness\, loss of work\, even the inability to purchase necessities has put a strain on our friends and neighbors. Essential workers in the fields of healthcare and food distribution toil tirelessly for our benefit. Now is the time to summon the better angels of our nature and embrace our common humanity. However and whenever possible\, share your bounty. Engage in random acts of kindness. We rise by lifting others.   Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 11\n  \nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Following independence from Spain in the 17th century\, the Dutch Republic quickly gained economic prominence owing to their lucrative trade routes\, centralized banking system\, and robust flower market driven by the tulip. A new class of wealthy merchants and art patrons rose to power\, and thus began the Dutch Golden Age. Whereas the Catholic Church favored religious subject matter\, Calvinist teachings rejected religious iconography\, so still life painting\, previously considered a lowly art form\, blossomed in popularity with the Dutch Reformed merchant class. One of the most accomplished practitioners of the genre was a woman\, Rachel Ruysch. The daughter of a botany professor\, Ruysch developed an international reputation for her highly accurate\, yet naturalistic compositions\, all the while raising 10 children. “Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop\, 1716” is an excellent example of an ornamental still life imbued with complex religious symbolism. \nStill lifes are idealized compositions of perfect specimens that bloom at different times of the year. For the Baroque era viewer\, the symbolism of each flower would be easily understood. In “Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop” Ruysch organizes her flowers into a specific hierarchy relating to the life of Christ\, topped by the iris with its groupings of three petals\, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. At the center of the arrangement\, side by side\, are the white poppy\, symbol of death and the crucifixion\, and the blue morning glory that opens to the light\, symbolizing the resurrection. Closer inspection reveals insects feeding on the flowers\, signifying the transient nature of life. \nLike the Story of Easter reflected in this work by Rachel Ruysch\, Life in the Time of Coronavirus is a complex narrative composed of human suffering and transcendence. It reminds us that life is like a delicate blossom\, fragile and fleeting. But with the arrival of spring\, we remain confident in the knowledge that the cycle of life will move us out of the darkness and into the light\, and life will triumph over death\, because hope springs eternal.🌷Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 10\n\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Today I give you “The Signs on the Door\,” a watercolor by French artist James (Jacques) Joseph Tissot\, c. 1896-1902. This painting is one in a large series depicting the life of Moses and the story of Exodus executed by the artist from 1896-1900. A successful society portraitist of the period\, Tissot is best known for his paintings of well-dressed women and their fashionable lifestyles. Like his contemporary Édouard Manet\, Tissot was a self-proclaimed Realist and painter of modern life. He declined to participate in the 1874 exhibition that gave the French Impressionists their name. In the last years of his life\, Tissot turned his attention to biblical subject matter\, in particular the Old Testament. \n“The Signs on the Door\,” depicts a moment in the Book of Exodus when God rains ten plagues down upon the Pharaoh and commands Moses to free the enslaved Israelites and take them out of Egypt. Before the final plague\, the killing of the first born\, the Israelites mark their doors with lamb’s blood as a sign that the Angel of Death will pass over them. The image is rendered in Tissot’s characteristic illustrative style. \nJews around the world have begun the observance of Passover\, an eight-day commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt that takes its name from this event. It is a story of liberation from slavery\, followed by an arduous journey of revelation\, that ends in a celebration of homecoming. As we collectively search for meaning in the Time of Coronavirus\, it is a testament to the unwavering belief that despite our travails\, sooner or later we will all find our way home. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n– Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n  \n \n\nPOST 9\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. The late 18th century Age of Revolution marked an end to absolute monarchy throughout Continental Europe and the Americas. The desire for freedom\, not only political freedom\, but also freedom of thought\, feeling\, and the expression of these ideas\, is the hallmark of the period known as Romanticism. Nature\, in all her awe-inspiring vastness\, emerged as a favorite subject matter\, exemplifying the aesthetic concept of the sublime. Among the artists best known for their transcendental landscape paintings is Germany’s Caspar David Friedrich with his masterpiece\, “Wanderer above a Sea of Mist\,” 1817-1818. \nIn “Wanderer above a Sea of Mist\,” a solitary climber stands on a rocky promontory and leans on his cane. The figure surveys a vast panorama of clouds and mountains through a thick mist. The archetypal man\, depicted from behind\, is at once master of all he sees\, and at the same time\, dwarfed by the enormity of the vision and the uncertainty of the journey that lays ahead. Nature as both transcendent and fearsome is the perfect expression of the sublime. \nAs human beings\, we tend to go about our daily lives with a false sense of superiority\, believing we’re impervious to the forces of nature. But the Coronavirus pandemic has left us devastated in its wake. The escalating number of cases has us feeling helpless\, and the mounting death toll reminds us of our human frailty. It is a fearful time. While we are learning every day how to battle the virus and move towards treatment and a cure\, humility in the presence of nature’s greatness may well be the most lasting lesson. \n\nGail Phinney\, Education Director\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 8\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Women engaged in the daily routine of bathing and grooming has been a ubiquitous subject throughout the history of Western Art. Georges Seurat’s “Young Woman Powdering Herself\,” 1888-90\, a portrait of his model and mistress Madeleine Knobloch\, presents a late 19th-century depiction of a woman at her toilette\, similar to those popularized by other French artists of the period\, including Edgar Degas\, Édouard Manet\, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. What sets this work apart is the distinctive pointillist style in which it is rendered. \nBest known for his monumental work\, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte\,” 1884\, George Seurat was a leader in the Neo-Impressionist movement and influential in the development of divisionism. Based on optical theory\, divisionism is a calculated system of colored dots arranged on the surface of the canvas in a manner that allows the viewer’s eye to blend the colors from a distance. Unlike the French Impressionists who used rapid painting techniques to capture the fleeting effects of light with such spontaneity\, there is nothing spontaneous about the work of Seurat. \nAs we shelter at home and work remotely\, our daily routine can fall by the wayside. Our motivation to carry on with regular grooming habits so tied to our self-esteem starts to wane. It’s easy to lose pride in our appearance\, and every glimpse in the mirror adds to our depression. Sometimes the simple act of getting out of bed in the morning is a struggle. But it’s important to try. Today I rallied. Today I showered. Today I dressed and fixed my hair. Today I’m winning. I hope you are\, too.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nPOST 7\n\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. And now for something completely different – I give you Sandy Skoglund’s 1980 Cibachrome print\, “Radioactive Cats.” Creating at the nexus of sculpture\, installation art\, and photography\, American Sandy Skoglund turns everyday domestic scenes into surreal\, dreamlike environments. Rather than relying on digital methods\, the artist hand-crafts elaborate installations using her own sculptures along with sourced objects\, while incorporating friends and family members as subjects\, all in an effort to comment on the human condition. \n“Radioactive Cats” features two elderly figures in a stark interior invaded by an over-abundance of neon-green felines. While the evocative image is open for interpretation\, Skoglund communicates a heightened psychological experience by contrasting the monochromatic interior with brightly painted animals who appear to have been irradiated\, while the drably dressed inhabitants are seemingly non-plussed. \nThe threat of contracting and spreading the Coronavirus has us living in an altered reality\, one where we don veritable hazmat suits to leave our homes and engage in elaborate sanitizing rituals when we return. For those of us Boomers\, It’s a new Atomic Age where everything we touch outside our door feels threatening. This is the new\, almost\, but not quite\, for the moment\, normal. As surreal as it may seem\, we have to learn to live with it. Like Skoglund’s clowder of radioactive cats\, the virus has invaded all our lives. We can’t be in denial any more.    Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 6\n\n\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. One of the most iconic artworks in the Western canon\, “The Scream\,” is an 1893 tempera and pastel on cardboard by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. The image has become synonymous with the angst of modern psychic life\, and the general malaise often associated with the end of the century. The original title of the work was “Despair.” \nMunch described his inspiration for the piece in this way\, “I was walking along the road with two friends. The sun was setting. I felt a breath of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned blood-red. I stopped\, and leaned against the railing\, deathly tired – looking out across the flaming clouds that hung like blood and a sword over the blue-black fjord and town. My friends walked on – I stood there trembling with fear. And I sensed a great\, infinite scream pass through nature.” The artist conveys his sensibilities\, and the central figure’s inner life\, through the exaggerated use of line\, garish color and distorted shape. It haunts us. \n\nLife in the Time of Coronavirus is filled with uncertainty. How long will the pandemic last? What changes are coming? Will things ever be the same? Sometimes the fear and anxiety washes over us like a great tsunami. Sometimes we feel so frustrated we want to scream. Sometimes we just break down and cry. But this I know\, every morning the sun will rise again\, and with each new day comes a new start\, and some way\, somehow\, we will find the strength to walk on.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 5\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. “Waiting\,” a pastel on paper completed by Edgar Degas over the period 1879-1882 is one of 200 works depicting classical ballet dancers at the Paris Opéra. Although Degas exhibited with the French Impressionists\, he did not share their interest in painting en plein air\, or outdoors\, instead considering himself a Realist. \nA member of the Bourgeoisie\, Degas turned his attentions to depicting the demi-monde\, a group that existed outside the accepted social structure and included his favorite subject matter – ballerinas\, cafe singers and jockeys. Degas’ fascination with Japanese prints called ukiyo-e is evident in both the voyeuristic depiction of this world and in the flattened\, diagonal composition. In “Waiting” he uses a raked composition with sparse detail to heighten the emotion in this behind the scenes glimpse of the life of a ballerina\, bent over holding her ankle\, next to her a figure dressed in street clothes\, perhaps her chaperone\, both exhibiting a similar sense of exhaustion and anxiety in their posture and demeanor. \nI can’t think of a more appropriate work to convey the struggle many of us feel as we wait. . . wait for stranded loved ones to return from far away locations\, wait for signs and symptoms of the virus to appear\, wait for news of a treatment or a vaccine\, wait for the panic to subside\, wait to be out of isolation and back in society. The waiting seems interminable\, but we have no choice but to be patient\, find our inner peace and believe in our hearts that this too shall pass.  Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n\nPOST 4\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Thomas Eakins was one of the foremost American Realist painters of the late nineteenth century. Academically trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris\, his subject matter was largely drawn from the people and places of his beloved Philadelphia. “The Champion Single Sculls (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull)\, 1871\,” one of the first in a series depicting the sport of sculling\, was painted after his return from Europe. \nThe painting commemorates the victory of amateur rower\, Max Schmitt\, in a race on the Schuylkill River in October 1870. A sports enthusiast and avid rower\, Eakins added himself to the composition behind the oars of the scull in the near distance. Eakins is best known for his fascination with the human figure and was a longtime life drawing instructor at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. His early photographic experiments with capturing the human body in motion pioneered the development of motion pictures. \nWhile many of us find enjoyment in outdoor activities\, we must continue to practice responsible social distancing. Be respectful of the earth and one another. As we collectively heal\, so will nature if we tread lightly on her. You need go no further than your own backyard or open your windows to enjoy a gentle breeze\, listen to the birds sing and marvel at the beauty of the world around us. Like us\, nature is both fragile and resilient. Let’s nurture her as she has nurtured us. Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \n  \nPOST 3\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Along with philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau\, some French Enlightenment era artists rejected the frivolity and corruption of society under the monarchy\, and\, instead\, exalted the simplicity and honesty of peasant life. Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and his 1740 oil on canvas\, “Saying Grace\,” exemplifies this in a quiet scene of domestic interaction between a mother and her two young daughters saying grace before a modest meal. It is so heartfelt and charming\, you can feel the love between the family members\, as well as the affection held for them by the artist. \nIn genre paintings like this\, as well as his masterful still lifes\, Chardin celebrated everyday life a world away from the aristocracy at play depicted in the popular Rococo art of the time. His work had wide appeal\, even with the nobility\, in fact\, “Saying Grace” was once owned by King Louis XV. \nAs we shelter-in-place we have the opportunity for many such moments to quietly connect with our families\, whether homeschooling or informally instructing our children as we go through the rituals of the day. And though some of us are separated from the ones we love right now\, we have the technology to reach out and touch them remotely. Take a minute to look around you\, find grace in the simple gift of life\, and if you haven’t already done so\, tell someone you love them. ❤️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPOST 2\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson. Today I give you “Oath of the Horatii\,” a monumental oil on canvas painted in 1784 by Jacques-Louis David. David\, a favorite of the French Salon and the aristocracy\, became the leading French Neoclassical painter of the age. At the time of the French Revolution\, he swung both ways\, also serving as Minister of Propaganda for the radical Jacobin Party during the Reign of Terror. He believed paintings representing noble deeds in the past could inspire virtue in the present\, and used his heroic work to influence public sentiment.\n\nThe most famous of these works\, “Oath of the Horatii\,” illustrates a story in Roman history. The leaders of the warring cities of Rome and Alba decided to resolve their conflicts in a series of encounters waged by three representatives from each side. The Romans chose as their champions the three Horatii brothers\, who had to face the three sons of the Curiatii family from Alba. In cinematic style\, David’s painting depicts an intimate moment in the story\, as the Horatii sons swear on their swords\, held high by their father\, to win or die for Rome. The painting is encoded with symbolism of patriotism\, self-sacrifice and civic duty\, along with the obligatory weepy women. \nTimes of crisis require sacrificing the interests of the individual “me” for the benefit of the collective “we.” Until the virus passes\, everyone must do their part for their community\, even if it means isolating from it for a time. Be a warrior\, be brave\, do whatever it takes\, we’re all in this fight together. ⚔️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director \n \nPOST 1\nArtful Daze – Sharing a beautiful work of art to contemplate each day with a little art history lesson to keep yours truly actively engaged in the work I love. We begin with William Adolphe Bouguereau’s\, “L’Amour et Psyché\, enfants” an oil on canvas painted in 1890. Cupid and Psyche\, young lovers in Greek and Roman mythology\, are depicted as innocents in their first embrace\, he with angel wings and she with butterfly wings that both represent her name in Greek\, and are a symbol of metamorphosis\, as in the story she transforms from mortal to immortal in pursuit of her lover. \nBouguereau was a regular contributor to the French Salon and painted in the highly representational Academic Style\, depicting mostly classical themes\, as was the accepted practice of the time. After the rise of the French Impressionists his work fell out of favor\, but has since been rediscovered and appreciated for its beauty and skillful rendering of the face and figure. \nI chose this work because\, being the hopeless romantic that I am\, I cannot help but think about Love in the Time of Coronavirus\, and fast forward nine months from the end of isolation to our collective embrace and the resulting birth of all the beautiful babies in the world. Because despite what befalls us\, love finds a way\, and like Cupid and Psyche\, we will find our way back to each other in the end. ❤️ Gail Phinney\, Education Director
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/artful-daze-2/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210918T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210919T160000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20210812T000855Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210812T000937Z
UID:10000158-1631959200-1632067200@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Malaga Cove Art on the Lawn Show
DESCRIPTION:Palos Verdes Art Center presents the Malaga Cove Art on the Lawn Show on Saturday\, September 18 and Sunday\, September 19 from 10 am to 5 pm in Malaga Cove. \nThe event features paintings\, jewelry\, ceramics\, photography\, wearable art\,n and prints from artists from the eight art groups affiliated with Palos Verdes Art Center: Artists Open Group (AOG)\, Pacific Arts Group\, Paletteers\, Palos Verdes Painters\, Peninsula Artists\, Photographic and Digital Artists (PADA\, Third Dimension\, and The Artists’ Studio (TAS). \nMalaga Cove Plaza is located at the entrance to the City of Palos Verdes Estates on scenic Palos Verdes Drive West between Via Chico and Via Corta. There is plenty of free parking.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/malaga-cove-art-on-the-lawn-show-14/
CATEGORIES:Calendar
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210809
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210810
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20200416T193025Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220408T011644Z
UID:10000085-1628467200-1628553599@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:INSTRUCTORS' INSIGHT
DESCRIPTION:  \nBelow are the Instructors’ Insight Archives\, where teachers from The Studio School shared their thoughts and artmaking tips through videos\, writings\, and small galleries during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. These exercises familiarized our faculty with web presentations\, making The Studio School [online] possible. \n  \n  \n \n  \nJAN NAPOLITAN \nForming clay on a potter’s wheel is fascinating\, but this is only the beginning of a long process.  The piece generally needs to be refined\, and then the fun begins.  What to do with the surface?  Hopefully\, the artist has a vision as the piece is being formed or the form itself speaks to them.  Handles? Carving?  Added clay?  Added colors? Or nothing\, and just left to dry as-is before the first firing (bisque).  Then more decisions are needed.  What kind of firing?  High fire?  Raku\, sodium\, saggar\, low fire as alternatives?  Read more HERE. \n  \n \n  \nJAMES WISNOWSKI \nIn this instructional video the viewer is given an over-the-shoulder vantage point to see all steps taken to create a painting. Working from a photo reference\, a pencil sketch shows the important elements of shape and value when planning your classic composition. Also seen is basic color mixing on the palette\, and all brushwork needed to complete the painting.\n\nFor over 40 years\, artist James Wisnowski taught painting which reflects both his spiritual\, and artistic inspiration found in the quiet beauty and serenity of nature. Slowly disappearing landscapes are captured and documented in this ever-changing environment for future generations. He shares the rediscovered beauty that may be lost or forgotten in everyday subjects.\nSEE MORE <HERE>. \n  \n  \n \n  \nJEFF STELLGES \nSee this step-by-step instruction to make a Saggar Kiln Insert or\, How to fire Saggar work without messing up your regular or raku gas kiln <SEE MORE>. \n  \n \nFRANCIS MASTRANGELO \nWatch Francis Mastrangelo in his studio as he talks about the power of being an artist. Read more <HERE>. \n  \n \nSOLMAZ SHAMS \nWool painting is a relatively new technique used in Europe and Central Asia\, using layers of wool and enhancing it with various colored wool fibers. This form of painting does not use any paint nor is there a need for a brush. Solmaz Shams has offered wool-painting classes at PVAC. She has also prepared a video for beginner or intermediate-level learners in which she demonstrates the process of using wool fibers to create paintings using a technique called “Needle Felting.” To inspire viewers to make their own art pieces\, the video is a step-by-step demonstration of experimenting with wool fibers of various colors\, laying out on a sheet or base and needle-felt the fibers to create a painting. <READ MORE> \n  \n \nROBIN BOTT \nMandala Art / Ages 6 and Up \nMandala art has been created for thousands of years by people from all around the world. The word Mandala comes from Sanskrit\, an ancient Indian language. Mandala means “circle.” The circle is seen as a magical form\, without beginning or end. \nThe materials needed for this project include coffee filters\, markers\, and water in a spray bottle. \nStep 1: Fold coffee filter in eighths. \nStep 2: Spray with and saturate coffee filter with water on both sides. \nStep 3: Draw a design with markers\, flip over and trace the same design on the other side. \nStep 4: Open and reveal!  <READ MORE> \n \nROBIN BOTT  \nPastel Sunset Seascapes/ Ages 5 and up \nSeascapes depict views of the sea. Seascapes became popular between 1790 and 1800\, but works of art depicting the sea stretch back to antiquity.  \nThe materials needed for this project include paper and chalk pastels. \nStep 1 Draw horizon line \nStep 2 Draw the sun\, sky\, and blend \nStep 3 Create the water \nStudents will learn about line\, shape\, color\, and blending. <SEE MORE> \n  \n \nROBIN BOTT (Tie-Dye) \nRobin comes from a family of artists and her creativity has been fostered by her parents since she was a child. Following this path\, she has taught children and adults in local schools and art institutions including Palos Verdes Art Center. Robin has over 18 years of teaching experience. In this video\, she demonstrates a fun and historic art form that even young children will enjoy. <SEE MORE> \n  \n \nVAL SIMON \nOver the years\, I have experimented with many materials used in construction as well as several artist mediums sold in art supply stores. \nCombining all my experiences and my multi-talents\, the enjoyment of experimenting in itself and diving into the unknown has been the greatest teacher of all\, as you get out of your own way and become free. <SEE MORE> \n  \n \nCAROLYN LALIBERTE \nCarolyn LaLiberte\, feeling the overload of communication and chaos of our contemporary world\, struggles to find a place of spiritual clarity. LaLiberte explores thoughts and feelings through her imagination\, asking questions that she knows cannot be answered. In her installation\, Travelers Bound for Future Lives\, she has created an imaginary world of floating ceramic boats. The 102 boats loom above\, hanging from the ceiling in a mass of repetition.  <SEE MORE> \n  \n \nROY KUNISAKI \nThe pieces are made on a pottery wheel and combined with hand sculpting to add multiple clay parts. Depending on my idea\, I choose to either throw the main body or hand sculpt. All the smaller elements are mostly made on the wheel achieving machine-like parts using straight edges instead of my hands to achieve a clean-edge look. By using these tools and techniques\, I’m able to make my ideas come to life through a form of ceramics that emphasizes assembly. <SEE MORE> \n  \n \nDAEL PATTON \nThese four pieces represent my understanding and feelings about painting in the Abstract Expressionist style. The result is my interpretation and application of some of the philosophies of that period. The main concept is that the basic art elements\, color\, line\, texture\, design are “the subject” of the painting rather than a recognizable object such as a landscape\, still life or figure\, etc. <READ MORE> \n  \n \nDEBBIE GIESE\nArt reflects who we are\, what we see or hear\, what we experience and feel. My art also allows the viewer to peek a little bit into my soul. These four paintings are my most recent works of art and reflect my experience painting during the Pandemic.  The COVID-19 virus hitchhiked via planes to the USA and jolted the world with unexpected changes. Everything came to a halting pause except for “the essentials.” Brick and mortar schools and businesses were closed\, meetings and events were either canceled or postponed indefinitely.  When a “State of Emergency” was declared on March 13 and the stay at home orders were given\, I realized I needed to quickly adjust to a new way of thinking and living to get through this pandemic with minimal negative effects. I was determined to keep a positive attitude. <READ MORE> \n  \n \nADRIAN SANDSTROM\n“I find great joy in knowing that my work is used. Whether that is with a mug that someone uses to start their day\, a table full of plates that a meal is enjoyed with\, or simply a piece on a shelf that is admired. While the goal is functionality I also strive to make that form as graceful and carefully decorated as possible.” <READ MORE> \n  \n \nFRANCIS MASTRANGELO #1\nWatch Francis Mastrangelo in his studio as he explains why it’s fantastic to be an artist\, and what he does when he’s tired of painting stars. See the video <HERE>. \n \nLearn How to Play the Surrealists’ Drawing Game: Exquisite Corpse\,” <HERE>
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/insight/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210801
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210802
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20200404T172334Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210809T193259Z
UID:10000083-1627776000-1627862399@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:PVAC ARTISTS CANVASS presents Jasper Wong  in discussion with Julia Huang:  See the Video
DESCRIPTION:PVAC Artists Canvass presents Jasper Wong  in discussion with Julia Huang\n\nIn case you missed it!… \nA recording of “PVAC Artists Canvass presents Jasper Wong in dialog with Julia Huang” is now available online. [CLICK HERE] This online exhibition is part of our 90th Year Anniversary Exhibition\, PVAC90: Past\, Present & Future. \nThe discussion focuses on Wong’s local and international murals project POW! WOW! – Huang worked very closely with Wong to bring this unique beautifying project to our neighboring community. September 2021 celebrates 6 years of POW! WOW! Long Beach. www.powwowlongbeach.com \nLeading up to this Canvass event\, Wong had been installing POW! WOW! The First Decade: From Hawai’I to the World at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu; on display now until September 19\, 2021www.bishopmuseum.org/powwow/ \nJasper Wong is an artist\, illustrator\, and curator. As an artist\, he has exhibited worldwide\, in places such as Japan\, California\, France\, London\, Mexico\, New York\, Hong Kong\, Chicago\, and Australia and he has been selected on multiple occasions by Archive magazine as one of the 200 Best Illustrators worldwide. \nHe is the founder of a gallery in Hong Kong called ABOVE SECOND\, and also the co-founder alongside Jeffrey Gress of the creative community center LANA LANE STUDIOS\, as well as the streetwear brand\, BIG BAD WOLF\, with his wife\, Amy Wong. \nJulia Huang is known to our area as CEO of the multiple award-winning interTrend\, a design and advertising agency based in Long Beach promoting art and cultural shifts in marketing. \n__________________________________________________ \n\n\nIn case you missed the live event\, a recording of the Zoom presentation\, PVAC Artists Canvass presents Carlos Cuervo\, is available online  HERE.\n\n\nThis presentation of the artist’s photography was made possible in cooperation with Photographic & Digital Artists (PADA) with special thanks to Judy Herman who moderated the discussion on March 20\, 2021.\n\n\nCuervo shows works from his portfolio and discusses his motivation and technique in capturing expansive landscapes that will haunt and intrigue the viewer. A new member of the PVAC community of artists\, Cuervo’s work is featured online in our 90th Year Anniversary Exhibition\, PVAC90: Past\, Present & Future.\n\n\n“I am a 40-year-old Spaniard with a deep love for nature. I have always been very interested in photography and things really took off in 2015 during a backpacking trip to Norway. That lit an intense desire for exploration and a real interest in landscape photography. I really enjoy the whole process of visualizing the photo; the planning\, hiking\, and the feeling of accomplishment with the final photograph.” – Carlos Cuervo\n\n____________________________________________________\n\n\nBelow are archives of CALL FOR VIDEO\, an initiative of PVAC during 2020.\n\n\n\n\n\nSKIN IN THE GAME: ARTISTS DISCUSSIONS\, moderated by guest curator Brent Holmes. \nPVAC is proud to present its first ever-continuing discussion with artists online. This opening pre-recorded broadcast sets the pace for surveying the hearts and minds of artists included in SKIN IN THE GAME. With sincere gratitude to its Curator\, Brent Holmes\, PVAC is fortunate and proud to present his series as a tool for engaging in communication on sensitive topics\, while also providing a unique insight into the studio workings of a diverse and talented group of artists from across the country.\nThese talks have been edited down into 30-45 minute segments for viewing. Consecutive discussions to be posted weekly. Read more HERE.\nWARNING: These videos contains explicit language and may not be appropriate for all viewers.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLiz Cantine\, as a local artist\, author and instructor\, has used her multifaceted talents to create A Brush of Giftedness. Writing multiple poems about famous artists\, not only has she included illustrations by Heidi Dong\, a talented artist and student of hers with autism\, Cantine has also choreographed dances for her students to accompany each one. Read <MORE>. \n\n\n\nBorn in Germany and studying sculpture at Northern Illinois University\, Sandra Leonard is quite aware of such historically critical art as it has mobilized her own; Wandering Bird revisits revolutionary thought that took place exactly 100 years ago. Aligned with Dada (anti-art) and Surrealism\, from 1919 until 1932\, Bauhaus was an epicenter for reinventing perception. From it\, Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadische Ballet made its debut in Stuttgart in 1922. Derivative of the multi-disciplinary root popularized in a Bauhaus living art practice\, Leonard creates Wandering Bird expressly for the purpose of celebrating Schlemmer and the long since defunct German school\, yet still much relevant school of thought\, made evident in her larger body of work. “I first create the costumes or wearable sculpture pushing the abstraction of the figure. When collaborating with performers to interpret the costumes\, a reciprocal dynamic is set up as the costumes impede motion therefore\, dictating and or influencing movement. The resulting performances bring the sculpture to life transforming the wearer into kinetic sculpture.” Leonard’s work was included in PVAC’s “Wearable Expressions: 7th International Juried Exhibition” in 2017. <READ MORE>\n\n\n\n\nIn times of uncertainty\, local artists continue to encourage viewers of their works to engage in making the world around them a better place. PVAC has received submissions from three such exemplary local artists taking initiative to ensure that their art is imbued with the power to make positive change.  Impactful Gestures\, <HERE>\n\n  \n \nSubtly\, Ben Mabry’s “Memory Window” pans back and forth from a timidly caged viewpoint\, merging imagery of blossoming fields of yellow and industrialized waterscapes. A parading knight appears frequently adding another somewhat lighthearted level of superimposed imagery. This is a clear reference to the Arthurian table’s search for The Holy Grail as juxtaposed with words by T. S. Eliot\, in reference to the legend.  Window on The Wasteland\, <HERE> \n\n \nMy love of art revolves around my struggles and successes to create on canvas and paper the mysteries of life. I am a contemporary artist. My styles are free and strong. My goals are to have the viewer enjoy my work yet intrigued by my subject matter. I love to make a blank piece of paper or canvas come alive. I want intrigue\, mystery and soul to be a part of my art. Jody Wiggins in the Studio\, <HERE> \n\n\nPVAC has been seeking art to share with our membership and immediately found valuable content in this video provided by Francis Mastrangelo. He welcomes us to his working studio for an intimate glimpse into his mind as an accomplished artist of many disciplines. Handheld and DIY\, Francis’ video is exactly the kind of take-charge moment we were looking for – it is intimately raw with the video’s strengths focusing on an almost one-on-one advice session between artist and viewer. All of this\, and more\, awaits us inside his sketchbook of magic!   The Magic Sketchbook\, <HERE> \n\n\n\n \n\nFauna Nocturna\, began when I discovered that coyotes had dismantled and played with a ceramics installation I’d created in my yard. Since then\, I’ve employed hunting trap cameras to document wildlife as they investigate areas of my yard that I’ve manipulated for artistic purposes. These stills and videos give evidence to a generally unseen\, specific animal experience which humans are not normally privileged\, and reveal the human desire to interact\, and connect with\, wild animals.   Deb Diehl: Fauna Nocturna\, <HERE> \n  \n \nPatricia Keller is a local Palos Verdes artist who submitted her innocent video capturing sandpipers on the beach during sunset. Running in unison against the setting sun\, each bird’s silhouette peppers the light-reflecting waves.  The image reminded me of another coastline I had seen across the globe in another context altogether. It was also the responsive way in which Keller moved her lens across the nearby landscape that nudged my memory of another video. The sandpipers running along the beach in Keller’s video offer a relaxing way in which to engage with the world; turning our attention to mundane natural beauty may\, in fact\, elevate the subject to something ethereal or even spiritual.  Sandpipers and Stonemilker\, <HERE>\n  \n  \n 
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/call-for-video/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210621
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210724
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20210607T161108Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210607T163019Z
UID:10000156-1624233600-1627084799@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:Summer Art Camp
DESCRIPTION:Explore and learn at our Virtual Summer Art Camp for students ages 5-13! Camp is the week of June 21st and until July 23rd. Worried about Zoom burnout? We’ve got you and your kiddos covered! Students will learn recovery techniques that help them bounce back resilient\, rested\, stronger\, and ready to tackle the next school year. Virtual Summer Art Camp will also include physical instruction through the introduction of stretching\, methods in yoga\, breathing techniques\, and expression; all of which help students learn to cope with the tough year we’ve all endured and prepare for what may be to come. Week by week\, students will create art pieces inspired by the various themes and techniques they’ve discovered. Sign up today and receive a $30 discount on tuition for members. One of the most beneficial qualities about attending camp online is that students can attend from any location\, even if out of town or on vacation. This will be an unforgettable virtual camp experience that your child won’t want to miss\, but spaces are limited! Registration is open now. Click HERE for more info.
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/summer-art-camp-2/
CATEGORIES:Only Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210525T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210624T230000
DTSTAMP:20260430T100131
CREATED:20210526T022628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210526T022628Z
UID:10000155-1621969200-1624575600@pvartcenter.org
SUMMARY:The Summer Show Artist Call
DESCRIPTION:The Summer Show\nPVAC Artists Groups Juried Exhibition\nJuly 23 – August 21\, 2021\nArtist Entry: May 25 – June 24\n\nJuried all-media exhibition hosted by AND open for submission only to members of the Palos Verdes Art Center’s eight active artists groups: Artists Open Group\, Pacific Arts Group\, Paletteers\, Palos Verdes Painters\, Peninsula Artists\, Photographic and Digital Artists\, The Artists Studio\, and Third Dimension.\n\nNOTICE: This is our first onsite exhibition since COVID-19. We will continue to place all shows online as well. If we re-enter lockdown due to Los Angeles County orders\, this will be a virtual exhibition only\, on view at pvartcenter.org.\n\nJUROR: GLORIA PLASCENCIA\n\nGloria Plascencia is a portrait and fine art photographer\, curator\, and former Arts Commissioner for the City of Hawthorne\, where she served from 2015 through 2019.\n\nShe is an Accredited Master Photographer\, a title earned by competing in international portrait photography competitions\, and an accredited photography judge from Professional Photographers of California. She has been published in the Los Angeles Times\, The Daily Breeze\, Easy Reader News\, and L.A. Graffiti Black Book by David Brafman (Getty Publications).\n\nShe has curated several exhibitions in Southern California and her works have been exhibited in many galleries\, including Los Angeles Municipal Art Center and Palos Verdes Art Center. She was named one of the top eight curators in 2015 by Genie Davis at CBS Los Angeles.\n\nwww.GloriaPlascenciaPortraits.com\n\nCALENDAR:\nOnline Submission Dates via CaFÉ: Tuesday\, May 25 – Thursday\, June 24\nJuror’s Selections Announced via CaFÉ: Friday\, July 2\nTake-In of Selected Works: Friday\, July 16 – 9:00 to 11:00 am\nOpening Reception: Friday\, July 23 – 6:00 to 9:00 pm\nClose of Show: Saturday\, August 21\nArt Pick-Up: Monday\, August 23 – 9:00 to 11:00 am\n.\nONLINE SUBMISSIONS PROCEDURE:\n·     Go to www.callforentry.org/\n·     Create a CaFÉ profile.\n·   Follow step-by-step instructions in CaFÉ for creating a profile. Please be sure to identify your media and substrate\, i.e. oil on canvas\, digital on copper\, etc.\n·    Apply to call for The Summer Show 2021. You may submit up to 3 pieces of art once your profile in CaFÉ is complete.\n\nREQUIREMENT FOR ENTRY:\n·     Current PVAC member in good standing\n·     Active member in one of the 8 artists groups\n\nFEES:\n·     Each artist may submit up to 3 pieces maximum\, for a total fee of $35.\n\nQUESTIONS?\nIf you have any concerns\, please contact Val Simon:\nphone – 805-300-8946\nemail – valsimon19@gmail.com
URL:https://pvartcenter.org/upcoming_events/the-summer-show-artist-call/
CATEGORIES:Calendar
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