Upcoming Events

A few wonderful things going on in Chicago in the next few weeks.

Raks Geek, founded by  Dawn Xiana Moon, has a show this Friday at 8pm at the Uptown Underground. The theme is "Monsters + Marvels." Their website notes about the show: 

"Join bellydancing Wookiees, firespinning superheroes, and hooping Borg for an unforgettable night of nerdiness and dancing! Raks Geek presents a brand-new show inspired by the X-Men, Star Wars, Silent Hill, Star Trek, Avengers, and more. Join in the geekery as we light things on fire!" For more information: http://raksgeek.com/#upcoming

Visual artist and make up artist Zsófia Ötvös is having a show at the Elephant Room Gallery on Sunday at 3pm. She is going "to introduce the Irma May series as never before..." 

Check out more information at https://www.facebook.com/events/980284312082390/

Edra Soto's piece "GRAFT" is on display at the Arts Club of Chicago as part of the Centennial Open House. For more information, check out: http://www.artsclubchicago.org/the-arts-club-of-chicago-at-100-open-house/

That's all for now!

Thank you

I want to take a moment to thank some additional people who have played a special role in the project. I have asked friends, family, and acquaintances for their help in contacting people. People have made introductions via email, Facebook, in person and more that have been crucial to the project. I've been able to reach some people that I may not have been able to without their help. Once again, I am overwhelmed by the generosity of people to reach out to their friends and acquaintances on my behalf.

So here's a not so definitive list of folks who have facilitated the interviews:

Carron Little, Jamie O'Reilly, Melissa Potter, Linda Garcia Merchant,  Paul Durica, Maria Gaspar, Nora Lloyd Moore, Nancy Freeman, Marta Nicholas, Heather Dumdei, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Michelle Dieschbourg, Nikki Dieschbourg, Angelique Grandone, Hadley Austin, Iwona Biedermann, and more. 

WIthout them, this project would be lesser for it. Thank you.

Coming up:

Melissa Leandro will both  be participating in the group show:  DOCK 6 Collective, Design and Art Series #9. 

The exhibition opens this Saturday, June 11th, 2016/ 2-10pm!

Edra Soto will be performing at the Untitled Warehouse Show at Dock 6 starting 8pm on Saturday.

The Gallery is at 2100 N. Major Avenue, Chicago IL

Learn more about Dock 6 Collective at: http://www.dock6collective.com/

Check them out!

59!

Just a quick note. I completed the 59th interview this past week with Dawn Xiana Moon, singer, songwriter, bellydancer, and more. You can check out her group Raks Geek here: http://raksgeek.com/  for amazing bellydancing with a geek culture theme! 

This weekend, I also had the pleasure of seeing Honey Pot Performance's Ma(s)king Her at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. I've talked about this group and work previously; I interviewed Meida Teresa McNeal, Executive Director and Artistic Director, for the project and the Vocalo piece. The work was the result of several workshops held in the fall at the Washington Park Arts Incubator, other universities and colleges and more. The piece was inspired by Afro-Surrealism and Afro-feminist thought. It was a moving and powerful modern fairytale. I'm quite pleased that I had the chance to check it out. Below are some photos from the performance. 

Honey Pot Performnace

Honey Pot Performance 

That's all for now!

SWAN Day and Other News

Hello! I just returned from a lovely trip to NYC. I spent SWAN day (Support Women Artist Day) attending a guided tour about Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun at the Met; she was an amazing artist who regularly painted Marie Antoinette and other notables of her age. Here's more about her: http://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/%C3%A9lisabeth-louise-vig%C3%A9e-lebrun

Later, we stumbled upon an exhibition "Printing Women" at the NYC Public Library Main Branch. There were etchings by Queen Victoria and Marie Medici. So cool! 

I'm back to interviews and other mischief in Chicago.

Other things on the horizon:

Nora Moore Lloyd has some photographs in a pop up show called "Women's Art from the Chicago American Indian Community" in the atrium of the Thompson Center downtown. It's open from Monday the 28th until April 1st. I interviewed Nora Moore Lloyd in my Vocalo piece. Go check it out!

Honey Pot Performance will perform Ma(a)sking Her at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion from 4/14/16 to 4/16/16. I also interviewed Meida Teresa McNeal for my Vocalo piece in February. I'm super excited about the show! You should check the show out: http://honeypotperformance.com/projects/masking-her/