Hosted by the

Racine Arts Council

316 Sixth Street
Racine, WI

Please join us at Racine Arts Council artspace for the very first ArtVenture––featuring discussions and demonstrations with the artists of Aqua Bleu.

Between 7 and 8 pm, I will discuss how I captured the dreamlike colors of her series of images entitled “Mira La Luna.” Hint: no Photoshop involved.

Also, Milwaukee artist Pamela Anderson will being painting LIVE at Aqua Bleu from 6 to 9 pm, and will discuss her technique and inspiration. Learn more about Pamala’s work at http://www.paintmysky.com

The Downtown Racine Corporation launches this new series of art-focused community events, designed to combine the focus of Racine’s gallery nights with the popularity of Downtown Racine First Fridays.

Aqua Bleu ends on Saturday, June 25.

Aqua Bleu honors the continuing influence and inspiration of water on all of us living with a Great Lake. Our days and nights are enhanced by a lake view. Michigan quenches our thirst and sets our internal compasses to a true east, rather than a true north. We are drawn to bodies of water wherever we travel or move. Aqua Bleu reflects the imprint made by living with water, in all its containers – lakes, oceans, seas, rivers, pools, puddles and glasses.

Featuring:

Photographers:

Eddee Daniel
Lora Ellingson
Laura Gorzek
Karina Schafer
Marc Wollman

Painters:

Stephanie Barenz
Heidi Keyes
Beki Borman Lloyd
Suellyn Scoon
Greg Helding
Joyce Ottum

Sculptor:

Carrie Chimenti

Organized for Racine Arts Council by arts advocate and curator, Jessica Zalewski.

Hosted by the

Racine Arts Council

316 Sixth Street
Racine, WI

Opening reception:
Downtown Racine First Friday
May 6, 2011
6:00 – 9:00 pm

Aqua Bleu honors the continuing influence and inspiration of water on all of us living with a Great Lake. Our days and nights are enhanced by a lake view. Michigan quenches our thirst and sets our internal compasses to a true east, rather than a true north. We are drawn to bodies of water wherever we travel or move.

Aqua Bleu reflects the imprint made by living with water, in all its containers – lakes, oceans, seas, rivers, pools, puddles and glasses.

Featuring:

Photographers:

Eddee Daniel
Lora Ellingson
Laura Gorzek
Karina Schafer
Marc Wollman

Painters:

Stephanie Barenz
Heidi Keyes
Beki Borman Lloyd
Suellyn Scoon
Greg Helding
Joyce Ottum

Sculptor:

Carrie Chimenti

Organized for Racine Arts Council by arts advocate and curator, Jessica Zalewski.

Live Music
with Chicago songsmith
Rob Reid
on Friday, June 3rd
6 to 9 pm
for Downtown Racine’s First Friday Art Event.

Shannon is one of those amazing women whose gentle, sincere, caring nature immediately presents itself to you. Her fun-loving spirit shines around children. (It was a hoot to see her and her partner, TJ, act our scenes from movies with their daughter, Victoria.) She is also a certified doula, a person who provides emotional, educational, and non-medical support to mothers before, during, and after their births. It is easy to see why this is such a perfect profession for her. She is currently studying to become a midwife, and is a board member of Mothering the Mother, a local doula organization. The organization has an outreach program that assists single teen moms at their birth, and as Shannon says, “what an important time for a woman to have a doula,” so that teen moms are not alone during this significant and life-changing moment.

Thank you Shannon, TJ, and Victoria for sharing your day with me, and getting a glimpse into the special bond your family shares.

Here’s just a couple of my favorite pics from today.

But on October 5, 1999, leukemia won and the world lost a brilliant mind, a tenacious journalist and an inspired writer. He was the iconic old-school journalist, with a robust gusto to bring progressive change to environmental and humanitarian causes, and shed light on political abuses with wit, flair, and cutting humor.

I will ride 150 miles, from Mequon to Door County, on July 24th and 25th in his memory as part of a fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphomia Society. Mile after mile I will ride with hundreds of other riders in a collective effort to defeat leukemia once and for all: so no more individuals have to have their lives derailed, no more families have to endure the tragic loss of loved ones, and to bring hope and cures to those currently battling this devastating demon. When I look back on our relationship,  I am grateful beyond compare for his steadfast support and belief in me. It is the energy of this gift that I will cling to when I get tired. I will be refueled by the memory of how bravely he dealt with chemo as it zapped his tremendous energy, and inspired by the dignity and pride he commanded till the very end.

And when the ride is done, I will raise a glass in his honor, and reflect on all the joy he graced me and many others with, and think how a 150 miles is but a blip on the map compared to the distance I would go if I could bring him back home.

For more information or to donate, please visit:

http://wi.llsevent.org/pledge/index.cfm?mid=KARINASCHAFER

Watch my progress as I train for the 150!

http://www.dailymile.com/people/karinaschafer

On Gallery Night

Friday, April 16th

6 to 9 pm
Guildess hosts

FLOW

an art exhibition showcasing diverse artwork
in honor of Earth Day, with an emphasis on water.
Entry to Art Exhibition is FREE!

Live Artists Studio

228 S. 1st Street, #302

As Gallery Night exhibitions slow down,
FLOW heats up and transforms into the

EBB After Party

9 pm to Midnight
Featuring entertainment

by Eat the Mystery a la Carte

and local djs.
Just $5 for EBB After Party.

In honor of Earth Day and our commitment
to the breathtakingly beautiful Great Lakes,

Guildess will donate 25% of any piece sold at FLOW

to UWM’s Great Lakes WATER Institute (GLWI)
A portion of the EBB After Party admission will also support GLWI.

Juror’s Choices selected by Naomi Shersty,
a mixed media artist who lives and works in Milwaukee,
and currently teaches at UWM and MIAD.

FLOW Juror’s Choice Artists:
Byron Becker
Coree Coppinger
Kelly Crandall
C.M. DeSpears
Shana Goetsch
Kileigh Hannah
Sue Lukas
Mandy Mahaffey
Erica Meier
John O’Hara
Amanda Rochwite
Michael Waraksa

FLOW Art Exhibition will also include work by:
Kasia Drake-Hames
Michelle Dube’
Julie Feierstein
Jessica Fuchs
Grace Matson
Bruce McNabb
Mary Prince
John Schafer
Cheryl Schommer
Becky Tesch
Donald Urness
Steven Yeo
Bill Zuback

FLOW will also feature work by Guildess Members:
April Heding
Karina Schafer
Jessica Zalewski

]]> http://karinaschafer.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/flow/feed/ 0 karinaschafer FLOW FLOW Art Exhibition / EBB After Party GGspacer http://karinaschafer.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/in-honor-of-valentines-day/ http://karinaschafer.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/in-honor-of-valentines-day/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:46:48 +0000 karinaschafer http://karinaschafer.wordpress.com/?p=115 ]]> A Zombie Romeo & Juliet Love Story in a Strangely Familiar Location…

Video for Danny Price & the Loose Change’s “Don’t Let The Storm Get In Your Way”

directed by Ken Zanowski.

Click here to see more photos I took of the video shoot & the Zombie School Portraits!

Guildess invites all artists, in all media, to submit art pieces for FLOW,
Guildess’ April Gallery Night juried exhibition.

On Friday, April 16, 2010, Guildess hosts this sparkling event and exhibition, juried by Naomi Shersty during Gallery Night and After Hours at Live Artists Studio, on the border of the Third and Fifth Wards.

Submit your artwork about all things that ebb and flow by March 2, 2010
(our minds drift naturally to water and energy, but it’s creatively up to you..)

In honor of Earth Day and our commitment to the breathtakingly beautiful Great Lakes,
Guildess will donate 25% of any piece sold at FLOW
to UWM’s Great Lakes Water Institute (GLWI).
A portion of the entry fee will also support GLWI.

See below for further details about entering your artwork.

—

FLOW Submission Basics:

1. Email artist information, artist statement and jpgs of artwork by Tuesday, March 2, 2010
to guildess@sbcglobal.net with “FLOW Entry” as the subject line

2. Maximum of 2 entries per artist

3. Artist information must include:

• Artist Name
• Artist Email Address
• Artwork Title
• Date
• Medium
• Sale Price (if not for sale, please indicate NFS)

4. Please submit clearly identified .jpg images of artwork, at 72 ppi, maximum of 1000 pixels on the longest side

5. $15 non-refundable entry fee ($5 to GLWI) -
a request for fee will be sent via PayPal upon entry receipt.

6. Guildess will inform all applicants of the results of the jurying by Wednesday, March 11, 2010

7. Be available to deliver accepted pieces, wired properly for hanging,
on Friday, April 10, 2010, 5:30-8:00 pm
to Live Artists Studio, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Incomplete entries will not be considered.

Questions: email us

confessions in smokey bars from the Lalitta series, photo by Karina Schafer 2006

“her streets are well ployed“

the elder advised
the young romeo
courting the eye
of the jejune juliet,

“her streets are well plowed,
my boy.“

but she, orphaned,
desperately searched,
settled more often
than not
for 2am romance
and truncated serenades:

love that never sees
the light.

the boys,
they harshly judge,
only after

at the morning’s blue
mist / pink sunrise,
as they drive down
one-way streets
and forget
where they came from.

*************************
[[[ Karina Schafer will read poetry from her book, v.1: captured poems and some that got away, along with some new poems at The Coffee House (19th & Wisconsin) TONIGHT at 8pm for the Food Pantry Benefit with Barbara Chudnow, Sarah Rosenblatt and Sandy Weisto. $4 and 2 Cans of Food ]]

I was reflecting this morning on the aftermath of the North Avenue fire and people’s response to it. The loss is personal for so many reasons.

Beyond the substantial loss of people’s homes, businesses and jobs, a friend and I were discussing architecturally the significance of this and how that corner will be forever changed. I was thinking about the inlay tile that is on the building, how they just don’t pay attention to details like that anymore. It’s details like this that make the East Side and numerous neighborhoods of Milwaukee so special: it isn’t a strip mall, it isn’t cookie cutter – the architecture has personality and style – just like the residents … and the businesses. The majority of businesses on North Ave are run by individuals, not chains (though sadly more and more are creeping in), and this effects a person’s relationship with a business – it makes it more personal – it is what creates a community. The Pizza Man staff and owners considered themselves a family, and I think customers felt like a part of that extended family.

I think “ma & pa” businesses also effect a person’s identity. It helps give people “permission” to be unique, to be true to themselves and be accepted for that – not feeling the pressure to have to morph into the latest fad or corporate trend. Personally, this is one of the things I have always treasured about the East Side. Admittedly, the East Side does not have a monopoly on open-mindedness (or even an untarnished record – far from it) – Riverwest is far more diverse – and Bay View is experiencing a Renaissance, but the East Side is where I came from, so it is what I know best. When I travel, I find so many other U.S. cities, victims of urban sprawl, are carbon copies of each other, indistinguishable and lacking soul. I often return respecting Milwaukee (and Lake Michigan) a little bit more. Sure, Milwaukee has some notable warts (and for the sake of this love letter to the city, I will not enumerate them now), but it has tremendous soul and an enduring identity.

If Pizza Hut were to burn to the ground, I’m sure no one would shed a tear.

*********************

I’d also like to give a big shout out to the brave Milwaukee Fireman who risk their life and did such an amazing job tackling this fire and preventing it from becoming an even bigger tragedy… and under so many obstacles! Thank you!

Click here to see my full photo essay on yesterday’s fire

Body Awareness Center

1234 N. Prospect Ave.
Milwaukee, WI
6:00 to 9:00 pm – Gallery Night – Fri., Jan. 15th
12:00 to 3:00 pm – Gallery Day – Sat., Jan. 16th

CoPA’s 3rd Annual Juried Exhibition