Love. It’s what makes your heart sing. It’s rapturous moments of complete joy where everything seems perfect and the stars are all aligned. If we are creatives, we yearn to design, write, draw or paint with love too . . . but in the course of our days, the creative juju can get lost. We run our businesses, find ourselves more involved with paperwork, administrative tasks and a never-ending stream of meetings. We forget what it’s like to be deeply involved in the process of creation just for the love of it.

Sharing design love is the mission of founder, Troy Monroe, who along with founding members Rich Hollant, Constanza Gowen-Segovia and Brian Grabell created Design is Love.  With a gorgeous site design and welcoming language, Design is Love invites you to help share and shape a unique creative community with heart. But DIL isn’t just a meeting place for designers. If you are a non-profit, Design is Love can help you too by matching your needs and goals with a creative who believes in what you do.

Join us for one of the most enjoyable art events in Connecticut coming up June 3, 2010.  Art After Hours sponsored by the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Phoenix Companies presents Justin Lowe – MATRIX 159 from 5-8pm and AIGA CT joins the mix with Bad Ass Movie Night at 8pm with a special screening of the award winning film Herb & Dorothy.

My last experience at the Wadsworth’s Art After Hours was a splendid evening.  Music and cocktails after work amidst an elegant museum setting. Attend a gallery talk, enjoy music and other live performances, take in Justin Lowe/MATRIX 159 and then join AIGA CT in the museum’s art deco theater for the film. Thanks to the Wadsworth, admission to the Arts After Hours reception and BAMN screening is free to AIGA members.

The Amistad Center for Art & Culture Presents
High Water Marks: Art & Renewal After Katrina

Art exhibition will celebrate New Orleans cultural history and commemorate the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

A new exhibition featuring the works of contemporary artists entitled, High Water Marks: Art & Renewal After Katrina, will open May 1 at The Amistad Center for Art & Culture at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.  The exhibition will explore the legacy of Black artisans in New Orleans and the achievements of a range of artists who have documented the city’s devastation and are committed to the city’s recovery. High Water Marks is on view from May 1- September 19, 2010.

The exhibition consists of thirty –one works, photographs, mixed-media and installation pieces, many by artists who have a connection to New Orleans. It will include material from The Amistad Center’s collection such as  a 1915 post card of a Praline Seller; 19th century works such as the lithograph of John James Audubon  by New Orleans- based artist, Jules Lion’s (1810-1866); and works by 20th century artists such as Deborah Willis, Charly Palmer,  Malaika Favorite, Lewis Watts, Radcliffe Bailey, Bradley McCallum, Jacqueline Tarry, Willie Birch, Luis Cruz Azaceta, and New Orleans native and currently Hartford area-based artist, Donald Boudreaux.

From New Orleans’ earliest days, the work of Black artisans made the city a colonial prize and distinguished it from other ports.  A Sunday morning walk through the market in New Orleans in the 1800s would feature the vibrant presence of Black women vendors shouting the praises of their food. Since then,  the city’s jazz legacy, culinary achievements, architecture, art, and distinct Creole culture, have made New Orleans a continually fascinating destination for visitors and a city that continues to insist upon the relevance of arts and culture.  Five years after the horrific hurricane hit,  the arts remain an essential aspect of New Orleans and central to its post-Katrina renewal effort.

An on-line gallery guide for the exhibition will be available at  www.amsitadartandculture.org. An audio guide via cell phone will accompany the exhibition.  Major support for this exhibition is provided by the J. Walton Bissell Foundation. Additional support for this is made possible jointly through contributors to the United Arts Campaign and the United Way Community Campaign.  Educational materials and programs are sponsored by the GE Foundation. The Amistad’s Center’s general operations are supported by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.

Founded in 1987, The Amistad Center for At & Culture is a not-for-profit cultural arts organization housed at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum For more information about The Amistad Center visit www.amistadartandculture.org or call (860) 838-4133.

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is located at 600 Main ST. in Hartford, Connecticut.  The Museum is open Wednesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Please visit www.wadsworthatheneum.org for more information.

This article was created for this last weekend’s Career Strategies for Visual Artists Workshop presented by Greater Hartford Arts Council.

Every artist should have an online portfolio. Many artists however are either too busy making art or simply just don’t know how to get started. If you do have an online portfolio this article will help you make it the best it can be. If you don’t yet have one, the tips and resources here will help you as you begin to develop your artistic showcase.

I’m pleased to be taking part in this event, Taking Care of Business – Career Strategies for Visual Artists – April 10th, 2010.  Helping artists promote their work and supporting them in seeing themselves as true entrepreneurs is something I’ve been involved with many years. I’ll be providing one of the One-On-One Workshops, Online Portfolio Development on behalf of AIGA CT. (I’m told that all my appointments have been filled!!) The event is featured by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism. Visit the website to obtain more information regarding this exciting and beneficial event. Register and join us today!!

Three-Part Statewide Professional Development
Series for Artists Continues in Hartford April 10th

Hartford, CT—The Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism (CCT) is featuring nationally recognized speakers and presenters at Taking Care of Business – Career Strategies for Visual Artists, a series of three professional development conferences.  Advance registration is required and space is limited to the first 100 artists who register.  Go to www.LetsGoArts.org/ArtistsWorkshops to register before the April 10, Saturday event.  The fee for registration is $20 for each conference in the series and includes lunch.  The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation is the workshop series sponsor.

Registration is now open for Business Strategies, the second conference within the series, hosted by the Greater Hartford Arts Council.  The event will take place on April 10th, Saturday, from 9:30a.m. to 3:00p.m. at the Robert Kinsella Arts Magnet School in Hartford with registration/networking/coffee & snacks beginning at 8:45am.  The third conference in the series, Marketing & Promotion, will take place on May 1st at the North Haven campus of Gateway Community College, hosted by the Greater New Haven Arts Council (registration will open April 1st).

Business Strategies and the Empowerment of the Artist Entrepreneur is the keynote address for April 10th with speaker Mr. James Grace of Massachusetts.  Mr. Grace will provide conference participants with some of the essential tools that artists need to be effective and thrive in their careers as well as speak to the importance of artists viewing themselves as entrepreneurs.  Mr. Grace is co-Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council and is a past Executive Director of the Massachusetts Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.  Visual artists who have experienced challenges or who have questions regarding good financial management or legal issues such as contracts, copyright and insurance will be well-served.

Visual artists attending the Business Strategies conference will choose from two of four workshops presented throughout the day along with innovative 20 minute one-on-one consultation sessions called “The Doctor is IN.”  The full roster of workshops include:

·   Before You Sign on the Dotted Line: A Crash Course in Contract Negotiation which will be led by Mr. Grace.  This seminar will discuss the ways contracts can positively or negatively influence an artist’s professional career.

·   NYFA Artist Source: Get connected to the resources you need, will be presented by Elena Dubas of the New York Foundation for the Arts.  This practicum will teach participants how to use NYFA’s extensive national directory of awards, services, and publications for artists.

·   Gallery Relationships and Pricing Your Work will be led by well-known Connecticut curator and gallery director, Janice LaMotta.  Artists will learn the fine points of establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with galleries.

·   You, Your Business & Your Money, presented by Mr. Paul Ramunni, will provide expert advice about the basics of managing money as well as important information on taxes affecting entrepreneurs.  Mr. Ramunni is a CPA and instructor in residence teaching financial literacy for the University of Connecticut regional system.

·   The Doctor is IN will offer a unique opportunity for artists to register in advance for a 20 minute one-on-one consultation with an expert in a variety of entrepreneurial topic areas for artists.  Nine doctors/topics will be available to choose from.  Check-ups for artists will include: The General Practitioner with Ray Tubbs, Evolution: Managing Changes Throughout Your Career with Dr. Richard J. Scaldini, Showing and Selling Your Art with Beth Pite, Order Out of Chaos: Organizing Your Business with Shirley M. Hall, Online Portfolio Development with Lisa Mikulski, Copywriting, Contracts and Other Things that Scare You with Todd Pickens, Initiating Partnerships: Cross-Discipline Collaboration with Jacques Lamarre and Making the Right Statement: Everything Written with Deb Wadsworth.  When artists have completed or are waiting for their 20 minute “doctor” session, they can also stop by the cafeteria for informal group lessons on business networking at Networking in a Nutshell with Chip Janiszewski.  For more information on these presenters, please visit the conference registration web site.

During the on-line registration process, artists will have an opportunity to submit digital images of their work to be featured in a “JPEG Jam” at the close of the day’s conference activities.  Attending artists will also have an opportunity to network with their peers and continue seminar discussions during a lunch provided by the conference.  For more information, visit the registration site www.LetsGoArts.org/ArtistsWorkshops or call the hosting organization, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, at (860) 525-8629 or email info@letsgoarts.org

Additional support for producing the series has been provided by the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, Housatonic Valley Cultural Alliance; Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Norwich Arts Council, Putnam Regional Cultural Assessment, Shoreline Arts Alliance, Arts & Culture Collaborative/Waterbury Region, and the Windham Arts Collaborative.

Marina Gallery
153 Main Street
Cold Spring, New York 10516
April 9th through the 30th

A nice mix of collage and sculpture, ceramics, paintings, and prints. Marina gallery is nestled in Cold Spring, New York. A warm and inviting village right on the river.

Artists: John Allen, Jane Arnold, Ada Pilar Cruz, Barbara Smith Gioia, Grace Knowlton, Martee Levi, Maria Pia Marrella, James Murray, Marina Yashina

Reception for the Artists:
April 9th Friday, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Work on view: Thursdays to Sundays
12:00 to 6:00 pm or by appointment
845.265-2204

Hi All

Tomorrow is April Fools Day.

Don’t be foolish…join us for Daryl Zang’s artist reception.

April 1, 2010, 5 – 7:00pm
Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Art.
Community Gallery, 21 Edwards Street
Springfield, MA 01103
PHONE: 800.625.7738
HOURS: Tues – Sun, 11am – 4pm
Museum Website: www.springfieldmuseums.org
Addmission is Free
Hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served.

Daryl Zang, Second Reading

Caravaggio - Super at Emmaus

I wanted to be a lawyer. Constitutional law, in fact.  So, in 1993 I went back to college as an adult with two small children at home and all the many responsibilities of a grown-up.  Attending college as an adult was certainly challenging. I remember saying “How much harder can this be than a full time job?”  Let me tell you…it was a lot harder.  I attended Middlesex Community College, in Middletown, Connecticut. I worked hard at my studies because like a bad credit report, I had to reinvent myself.  I had attempted college once before right out of high school and, rather than study, I found partying more to my liking.  My failure at college was, of course, documented on my transcript and my past worked against me.