Annual holiday an opportunity to examine Indian history, law, identity @HeardMuseum

A sample of photos by Matika Wilbur, via Project 562.

If you’re fortunate enough to have today off for Indigenous People’s Day, I’ve got a suggestion for the best place to spend it: The Heard Museum in Phoenix, which has a series of events to commemorate the day.

Here is a list of the events, which begin at 12:30 p.m.

You may have heard that the Phoenix City Council voted that the city would celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. That makes it the largest U.S. city to celebrate the annual event.

As the news story reported:

The proposal to create Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Phoenix emerged in May, when residents Jeff Malkoon and Carlos Bravo submitted to the city an application for a historical commemoration.

“The city of Phoenix is built on what was the Hohokam civilization,” Malkoon told council members. “We just think this is a significant statement for a city like Phoenix, being such a center point in the Southwest.”

And this is part of a growing national trend, as CNN reports.

In what was a great preview of Monday’s Heard events, audience members at the Heard Sunday afternoon heard from two artists and two lawyers on the intersection of art, Indian identity and law. (I wrote about the event here.)

That gathering included insights from artists Matika Wilbur and Gregg Deal.

Deal’s film “The Last American Indian on Earth” was screened. It shows, in surprising and occasionally humorous ways, the complicated relationship mainstream American society has with Native culture.

Wearing a faux historic Indian costume (manufactured in China, for good measure), Deal strode about Washington DC. The reactions he got were troubling and laden with meaning.

As Deal says in the voiceover, “When you let the cameras roll, Americans, they don’t disappoint.”

As one hand-written sign he holds tells passersby, “My spirit animal is white guilt.”

L to R at the Heard Museum panel on Indian identity, art, and law, Oct. 9, 2016: Matika Wilbur, Kevin Gover, Gregg Deal, Brett Shelton.

Matika Wilbur then spoke, presenting her itinerant photo experience with Project 562, which aims to photograph citizens of each federally recognized tribe in the United States (there are now 566).

As she describes on her site:

“Most of the time, I’ve been invited to geographically remote reservations to take portraits and hear stories from a myriad of tribes, while at other times I’ve photographed members of the 70 percent of Native Americans living in urban settings. My hope is that when the project is complete, it will serve to educate the nation and shift the collective consciousness toward recognizing our own indigenous communities.”

A longtime educator from Seattle, Wilbur asked, “When are we going to stop asking our children to choose between cultural education and Western education?”

Wilbur also spoke about how Indian identity is “inextricably connected to the land.” Discussing the sensation known as solastalgia—separation from home—she wondered how the Cocopah, for instance, known as the people of the blue-green water, could be Cocopah if access to that water is denied or destroyed.

In the subsequent panel discussion, attorney Kevin Gover addressed that issue and the way violations have been visited on Native peoples by the American legal system. For example, in Fletcher v. Peck (1810), the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Indian title to land was not true title, as Indians were itinerant hunters and had never been farmers—an absolute misstatement of the facts. But it was decisions like that which provided the veneer of law to unjust decisions.

In fact, Gover pointed out, the most famous Native-land-title cases were collusive ones, manufactured conflicts presented by land speculators to prod a desired outcome from a compliant Court. To America’s enduring shame, the Court proved a willing co-conspirator in the effort.

The American legal system, Gover said, “played a huge role in the removal and dispossession of Native peoples.”

Through their art, Matika Wilbur and Gregg Deal explore America’s complicated relationship with Native peoples. As a teacher, Wilbur reminded the audience that these mainstream viewpoints are learned ones, and that the dominant Western view of Indians helps shield society from honest appraisals.

To illustrate that, she showed search results in Google images from searches for the simple terms “African American,” “Asian American,” “Hispanic American,” and, finally, “Native American.”

Among all of those searches, the Native American search was the only one that yielded an almost uniform view of Indians as historic beings—and actually as faux historic beings. Nearly every image reconfirms the popular image of Indians as conceptualized 150 years ago.

Google image search results for “Native American,” Oct. 9, 2016.

Where are the modern Indians who live among us, Wilbur asked.

They are all about us, Wilbur and Deal said. If people are willing to see.

Again, here are today’s Heard Museum events.

Google image search results for “Asian American,” Oct. 9, 2016.

Google image search results for “African American,” Oct. 9, 2016.

Google image search results for “Hispanic American,” Oct. 9, 2016.

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Event @HeardMuseum examines art, law, Indian identity on 10/9

Among the elements of a Heard Museum dialogue will be the screening of a short documentary about Gregg Deal and his performance piece ‘The Last American Indian on Earth.’

This Sunday, October 9, the Heard Museum in Phoenix hosts an event that examines important intersections. “A Conversation at the Intersection of Art, Law and Indian Identity” will include a panel discussion of attorneys and American Indian artists. Some of the questions addressed will be, How does an artist’s vision implicate such identity? And what are the consequences, both legally and in the wider community?

For the event, the Heard is partnering with the Native American Rights Fund and the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Admission is free, but RSVP here is required. A reception begins at 3:30 p.m., and the program begins at 4 p.m.

Kevin Gover will moderate the panel discussion. He is the director of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Panelists will include:

• Brett Shelton (Oglala Sioux Tribe), artist and staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund
• Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute), contemporary artist/activist
• Matika Wilbur (Swinomish/Tulalip), artist and social documentarian in Indian Country. She is founder of Project 562 which explores Native identity and experience through a dedication to photographing contemporary Native America.

Organizers say:

“The program will include the screening of a short documentary The Last American Indian On Earth, about contemporary artist Gregg Deal’s first performance piece ‘The Last American Indian On Earth’ (TLAIOE), a piece he carried for a year. TLAIOE explores the romantic, misunderstood and often racist interactions average Americans have when encountering an Indigenous person. The performance allows Deal to explore this strange American interaction, the problems with it and the critical thinking that goes in to asserting identity and enacting change.”

For more background, here is a great video with Gregg Deal speaking in Washington DC. (at Creative Mornings in July 2014):

More information including a link to the free tickets is on the event’s Facebook page.

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Tell your artsy lawyer friends: Creative Arts Competition submissions due 1/13

Creatives always welcome: Old Vic Theatre stage door (photo by YellowFratello via Wikimedia Commons).

Here is a preview of my editor’s column in the January 2016 issue. It’s all about the arts, baby, and getting those submissions in by January 13:

Vision in, vision out

Sure, creativity may reflect individual talent. But it may take a community to spur your muse.

Oddly enough, it was an advertisement—for our annual Creative Arts Competition—that made me think of that. For it is our experience that marketing matters, and although there are many talented lawyers in Arizona, getting them to submit their work by our deadline of January 13 takes prodding and cajoling. And part of that encouragement comes via ads.

Our current ad seeking submissions from artistic attorneys is on page 23. But only the close-reader will note that the ad is part of a four-month series, each with a slightly different headline. The ads were created by our own talented Production Manager, Michael Peel. And the headline variation? Crowdsourced, o’course. I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, though, I ask your help in communicating a contest rule change to your own crowds: Those submitting photos are now limited to a maximum of 15 submissions. We’ve found that digital photography makes it all too easy to submit 30, 40, even 100 photos. No mas, as Ansel Adams probably said. Friends don’t let friends submit terabytes. (Enjoy all of our legalistic rules here.)

Back to our rotating headlines.

You’ll see that our current ad asks readers if they’ve “got verve?” In previous months, we asked if they’ve got passion, inspiration, and oomph. Yes. Oomph.

Arts competition ads being voted on in our office.

Those were merely the most popular arty-nouns among staff who voted on the visual array displayed and available in our office. “But” (you ask), “what ended up on the cutting-room floor? What words were rejected?”

I’ll tell you. And then I want you to write to me to say which of those terms you think deserved a better fate. What are your faves?

Here is the also-rans list, each preceded by the question “got … ?” ideas – forte – moxie – insight – creative – imagination – voice – entries – vision – knack – flair – skills

Tell me which you prefer—and why—and I may pick my own most-creative responder. I’m at arizona.attorney@azbar.org. I’ll determine the most headline-worthy riposte, and you may win your own little something–something for your troubles.

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Presenting on how to present at #nabecomm15, seeking your insights, ideas

How to present best is my assigned topic at an upcoming conference. Help a fellow out.

As I finish up a PowerPoint presentation, it occurred to me: Why haven’t I asked you all for your insight?

And so I seek your input on my presentation topic. My assigned title is “The Art of Presenting.”

Pretty high-falutin’, right?

So what I wonder is this: What are your one or two best ideas that transform a presentation from “Meh” to “Wow!”??

Enough already with dull presentations …

To give you a sense of my presenting obligation, here is the program language:

“A lot of what we do comes down to how we engage with people, communicate and get our message across. When you are asked to create a presentation, your presentation style and visuals need to be spot on. Our presenters will discuss the art of getting your presentation just right. They will share thoughtful tips on how to communicate clearly and concisely during your presentation, followed by tips on how to engage your audience visually.”

My presenting cohort will be the terrific Catherine Sanders Reach of the Chicago Bar Association. You can read about the conference here. (And no; I will not be going to Harry Potter World.)

… let’s bring on the must-see, compelling presentation.

We’ll be the first to admit that “the art of presenting” may be setting the bar a tetch high. But we’re up to the challenge.

Your idea(s) on what makes a presentation terrific (and the opposite) are welcome. Please send them to me at arizona.attorney@azbar.org.

Thanks!

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Kids be trippin’ and other art and legal events, via @SaatchiArt

Man Ray’s Glass Tears (via wikiart)

It’s all art all the time this week. A little law too.

Soon, I will share my surreal October Arizona Attorney editor’s column. It’s about art, plus it has a clown image. You’re welcome.

And then there was this odd pro se defense to art fraud. I read about the strange legal story out of San Francisco, and it occurred to me it’s a pretty good argument for the value of lawyers. As the story goes:

“When Luke Brugnara represented himself during a bizarre art fraud trial in May, the fallen real estate magnate frequently railed that the art he was accused of stealing was ‘fake’ and essentially worthless. That argument didn’t carry much weight with the federal jury that convicted Brugnara. But at an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday, a government expert conceded that much of the art at issue in the case has ‘no commercial value.’ The hearing led U.S. District Judge William Alsup to muse aloud about how the prosecution might have turned out had Brugnara relied on counsel rather than represent himself.”

Read the whole sorry artistic tale here.

Adding to the artistry (but not the legalism) of today’s Change of Venue blog post, I was pleased to see it was Man Ray’s birthday earlier this week. That’s his “tears” photo at the top of this post.

As the terrific Saatchi Art folks describe it:

“In celebration of his birthday earlier this week, we’re raising a glass to Man Ray, an artist and provocateur whose name is synonymous with the Dada and Surrealist movements. Though he considered himself only obliquely part of these groups, his influence is unquestioned. Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1890, Man Ray spent his early years in New York City and eventually moved to Paris, where he spent most of his artistic career, where he found inspiration in the European avant-garde movement.”

“He made drawings and paintings first but found his metier when he began to experiment with interdisciplinary methods and photography. Man Ray’s assemblages and images were unconventional for the time, combining mediums and presenting subject matter that was often provocative. Photographers today still draw inspiration from Man Ray’s daring style.”

Don’t stop there. Read all of Saatchi’s “7 things to know this week in art.” And then follow them for more art-y updates.

Finally, thanks to Saatchi and the world’s reaction, we now know that a young student managed to stumble into a million-dollar painting in a Taiwan gallery. As you watch him do it in the video below, marvel at (1) how your week may have been tough, but, really, no comparison, and (2) he was adept enough not to spill his drink!

Here’s the painting before the boy’s stumble:

Flowers painting by Paolo Porpora

Curious about the damage a little stumble can cause? Here’s a photo:

“Pressed” flowers? The painting by Paolo Porpora after a young man tripped and fell into it.

Keep your footing, and have a terrific weekend.

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As #Deflategate rages, a villain is finally located: courtroom artist

A Tom Brady courtroom artist was panned online and has apologized. Because priorities.

It takes a lot to get large media outfits interested on a deep level with the justice system. Despite how central our courts and laws are to every area of life, it usually takes a special element—like a notorious murderess or, say, a football player—to garner serious coverage.

Well, if you combine a famous baller with what’s widely perceived to be a visual fail, you’ve got a story the press wants to cover.

That’s what happened as New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady sat in a courtroom. And the story that emerged was about the lack of artistic justice he received from a New York Times sketch artist.

You can see the artwork above. While the Patriots fans among my readers cry deep and abiding Tom Brady tears, I’ll simply say, first … I have always been a big fan of the courtroom sketch artist, and I’ve covered their exploits before. Whether you’re drawing John Gotti, Tom Brady, or some other dissembler (sorry to bring on more tears, Pats fans), the job of the courtroom artist is a tough one.

Obergefell v. Hodges sketch by Arthur Lien.

So evocative can a courtroom sketch be that we’ll be running one (by Arthur Lien) in the next Arizona Attorney Magazine. It depicts the Supreme Court as the ruling in the same-sex marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges was announced. (And yes, we paid Art for his work!)

That’s why the NYT story irked as much as it informed. Brady was in federal court appealing his four-game suspension (The injustice! The horror!), and artist Jane Rosenberg did her best to quickly capture the essence of the sullied QB.

And, O the anger her work wrought, as people emerged to impugn her skill and wax poetic about Brady’s baby-faced visage.

Ultimately, the twittersphere would have its justice, as Rosenberg offered an apology of sorts:

“I’m getting bad criticism that I made him look like Lurch,” she said, referring to the Addams Family character. “And obviously I apologize to Tom Brady for not making him as good-looking as he is.”

Hey, Ms. Rosenberg, I’ve got a suggestion: Apologize for nothing. NOTHING.

After all, we have to be open to a deeper possibility. As an artist, Rosenberg was tapping a deep well of resonance. Maybe she drew not what was precisely before her, but what lay beneath.

Oliver Wilde offers an analogue in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Who’s to say what evil lurks in the hearts of men?

Oliver Wilde’s Dorian Gray is a pretty-boy, but the painting reveals a deeper story.

And I reached deep within and tried my own hand at drawing a likeness of Tom Brady, but this is the best I could do.

Cue the ire of the Patriots’ fans and Brady defenders (some of whom—men and women both—have told me, “He’s too cute to be guilty,” reminding me the jury system—and the human race—is a crap shoot).

I offer a hat-tip to Tim Chester of Mashable for the story link.

Here’s wishing you a great—and fully inflated—weekend.

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Mobile monument to 1st Amendment is crowdfunded by @tjcenterorg

Combining art and the First Amendment may be a natural match. But making it mobile? That may ensure the amendment of first in people’s minds.

I just came across a new crowdfunding venture, and this one creates a mobile and democratic monument to the First Amendment.

That could be a worthy follow-up to the installation of Arizona’s Bill of Rights monument near the state Capitol. This new effort would put the monument in a shipping container, which could be re-sited at will. It also would allow and encourage input by passers-by, who could add their own messages to the structure.

You can read more about the campaign here. And here is a video from the organizers.

Board members for this initiative include journalist Dahlia Lithwick and UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh.

There are 36 days left in the effort. And if you’ve never viewed a crowdfunding site, take a look. It’s a process that provides some payback—large or small—to funders.

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Lawyer–artists gather for magazine photo shoot

Attorney Mark Bockel poses in the Larsen Gallery, Scottsdale, as photographer John Hall shoots his picture, March 12, 2015.

The annual photo shoot for our Creative Arts Competition winners was held last week, and it looks like it was terrific.

I say “looks” because I was out of town and had to miss it. But that makes me doubly happy that Art Director Karen Holub thoughtfully provided me some “behind the camera” shots. (Which is kind of amazing, as she was herding cats, a photographer, and multiple lawyer-winners.)

All of the professionally shot photos will appear in the May issue of Arizona Attorney Magazine—along with the talented artists’ work. In the meantime, click here to see last year’s winning work.

Thank you to the Larsen Gallery in Scottsdale for hosting our shoot. As always, your space and the work you display are remarkable.

Have a great—and artful—weekend.

Here are a few more shots. (Click them to biggify.)

Photographer John Hall at the Arizona Attorney Magazine arts photo shoot, Larsen Gallery, Scottsdale, March 12, 2015.

Photographer John Hall with attorney Mark Bockel at the Arizona Attorney Magazine arts photo shoot, Larsen Gallery, Scottsdale, March 12, 2015.

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Andy Warhol Portraits #Warholphx show at @phxart opens Wednesday

Andy Warhol, Cow, 1976

Andy Warhol, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, 1985

A cow and a queen came to an art museum. Much to the dismay of royalty-lovers everywhere, the venue displayed portraits of the Mum and the moo in equally beautiful ways. And that decision—and other choices made by artist Andy Warhol—either transformed or destroyed art, depending on whom you ask.

“Andy Warhol: Portraits” opens this Wednesday, March 4, at the Phoenix Art Museum, and the show’s vibrant, warm embrace confirms that the PAM curators are firmly in the “transform” camp. Warhol’s work and his influence are stunningly explored. And though Warhol had a gaze and an aesthetic that was famously straightforward and that kept viewers at a remove, the Phoenix show manages to humanize him in multiple ways.

(Before I get started: If you’re wishing this post had some legal-ish content, simply recall that Warhol’s work and legacy have been marked by litigiousness. The lawsuits have ranged among the authenticity of his prints; to whether a Farrah Fawcett print over a bed belonged to her ex-lover Ryan O’Neal, who slept in that same bed (or belonged to the University of Texas, which never slept with her but was bequeathed her possessions); to the slippery topic of trademark ownership in the iconic banana design on the 1967 album cover of the band The Velvet Underground and Nico. Enjoy your tangential reading, if you must. But the rest of you? Let’s get back to the terrific show at the Phoenix Art Museum.)

Almost all the works on display come from The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (one beautiful exception on display from the Phoenix Art Museum’s own collection is a series of 100 multicolored silkscreens in cube form, all gathered in a box). At a February 27 media tour, Amada Cruz, the recently arrived Sybil Harrington Director at Phoenix Art Museum, describes the artist’s significance. A widely talented individual, Warhol used painting, photography, filmmaking, magazine publishing, music producing, and even the artistic “event” as moments of cultural inspiration. He also was the first modern artist “to embrace commerce and meld the high and the low effortlessly.” Hence, the queen and the cow.

Andy Warhol, Portraits of the Artists from the Portfolio Ten From Leo Castelli, 1967.

“It’s a portraiture show,” Cruz reminds us, “but not in the mold that you traditionally think.”

The museum’s Dr. Jerry Smith, curator of American and European art to 1950 and art of the American West (could museum titles get longer, please?), describes the path Warhol took, as well as his early-onset nervous system disorder that kept him inside and drawn to a lifelong love of movies. Later in life, the commercial illustrator became highly attuned to what customers wanted. Where other artists might disdain a focus on “brand,” he welcomed it. Intrigued by celebrity, he forged an identity marked as much by his circle of “superstars” as by his own wry involvement in that very circle.

Curator Dr. Jerry Smith in front of a self-portrait of Andy Warhol.

To see more images of works that appear in the show, go to the Arizona Attorney Magazine Facebook page here.

Warhol’s charming persona is everywhere in this show. It’s visible in an early letter the young Andy Warhola (his original family name) received from Shirley Temple in response to his request for an autograph. It’s present in the affection he clearly felt for those who were his subjects, whether Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, or more minor figures lost to the sands of time. And his own personality is with us when we read the image captions, wisely leavened with quotations from Warhol’s own daily journal.

A display of photos of Andy Warhol as a boy and young man.

The artist’s own life is also present in a display of photos of him as a boy and young man. Gathered together in a glass-covered table in the exhibit’s heart, they are worth seeking out.

Andy Warhol, Jackie, 1964.

As Dr. Smith speaks, the mind drifts, Warhol-like, to recent Web events (the newest frontier). What would the bewigged artist have thought of a battle over a dress color, or a nation transfixed by video of escaping llamas?

Smith beams and muses that Warhol would have loved the week’s llama news.

“He would have eaten it up,” Smith says. “There is so much in today’s culture that speaks to who Andy Warhol was.”

(Unsure? Head over to this Slate story that Warhol himself would have appreciated: No, culture-warriors, two llamas and a dress don’t indicate a media #fail. Quite the opposite.)

Smith even offers that Warhol “would have invented Perez Hilton,” if he could have.

Andy Warhol, Marilyn, ca. 1967

Andy Warhol, Skull, 1976

That playful attitude clearly informed the gallery’s design, which includes large and eye-catching color-blocks. The placement of artworks on the wall, says Smith, is meant to communicate with the artist. Just as Warhol was unconcerned about perfect color registration in the development of his photographs, museum staff did not seek to align pieces exactly along the color-blocks’ edges. The result is a comfortable irregularity, which leads viewers to pause and reassess as colors mix and separate.

Andy Warhol Portraits exhibit, Phoenix Art Museum, March 4 – June 21, 2015.

Andy Warhol Portraits exhibit, Phoenix Art Museum, March 4 – June 21, 2015.

One piece that benefits from darkness rather than color is Warhol’s 15-foot-long Last Supper image. It is set off via blacklight in its own light-emptied space. Stroll in and let your eyes adjust to see what Warhol intended.

Andy Warhol, The Last Supper, 1986

A room with three Warhol videos will attract most viewers for a few moments. (True-believers will linger longer.)

Another room demands viewer interaction. “Silver Clouds” offers inflated Mylar rectangles that attendees are free to send soaring (but be assured that “spiking” the clouds will get you a museum-guard reprimand). That installation is bound to become an exhibit favorite.

Andy Warhol, Silver Clouds installation, 1994 (Museum staffer Chelsea Ellsworth demonstrates)

In the same way, a few elements toward the end of the exhibit prod us toward participation.

A “screen test” area provides a camera and a backdrop for your own four-minute silent movie. You can opt to have a link of your work emailed to you, which you can share with all of your circles (including, perhaps, Perez Hilton).

Camera and lighting for personal screen test area, Phoenix Art Museum, Andy Warhol: Portraits

Personal screen test area, Phoenix Art Museum, Andy Warhol: Portraits

Next to the screen test is a test of your willingness to engage the macabre. A wall-mounted monitor streams the 24-hour webcam trained on Warhol’s Pittsburgh grave. Not much may occur there, but I’ve been told that his birth and death days may offer must-see TV (picture soup-can stacks, etc.). I leave you to research that. (You can see the grave-cam here; it looks cold.)

Keep an eye on Warhol’s grave 24/7.

Near the screen test area, a wallpaper-adorned selfie station offers the one place in the exhibit that such a thing is permitted. Of course, selfies are matched perfectly with the self-referential artist. As Smith said with a smile, if Warhol were alive today, they’d probably be called “Andys.”

I must admit that a selfie hadn’t occurred to me, but the written prohibition that the media received (and that applies to the public) made me chuckle. To its credit, the Phoenix Art Museum did not devise this rule; it was crafted by the Warhol Museum itself. I watched the cemetery monitor closely to see if the artist was turning over in his grave at such a non-Warhol requirement. (Perhaps we can be hopeful that the Warhol Museum folks are not tone-deaf but are simply punking us. In either case, Warhol is laughing somewhere.)

No selfies in much of the Warhol exhibit (even if you look fabulous!).

A final element of the show requires mention. Although most all museum shows these days have a requisite joined-at-the-hip gift shop with related and unmemorable items, the Warhol shop is brilliantly and artistically perfect in its placement and item selection (“curation,” could we say?).

Shopping experience at end of the Warhol exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum.

Shopping experience at end of the Warhol exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum.

I have seen and strolled the museum’s Warhol gift shop. My uneducated opinion? They’re gonna make bank.

Warhol, of course, loved to explore the intersection of art and commerce. So the museum’s having the show flow into the store surprises and pleases rather than disturbs the viewer. And the bald greeting—“SHOP”—makes the Warhol-lover smile.

Dr. Smith told me that the museum sought to purchase the rights to an image of the artist actually shopping. Unable to secure those rights, they opted instead for the mannequin-cum-wig and the simple word.

As a public service (in this entirely noncommercial story), I share with you the great artist strolling an aisle, a superstar in a supermarket.

Yes, Andy Warhol shopped too (even for soon-to-be-iconic Brillo pads).

The show opens Wednesday, March 4, and runs through June 21, 2015. You will want to spend far longer than the Warhol-famous 15 minutes to commune with his pieces.

If you have a few more seconds, my Vines from the media tour are here, here and here.

Exhibits related to the Warhol show include films and installations, some with Arizona ties (and some are Rated X). Read about them here.

To see more images of works that appear in the show, go to the Arizona Attorney Magazine Facebook page here.

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Your poetry, prose sought for @FourChambersPhx @phxart Museum collection

As we head into the annual arts competition for Arizona Attorney Magazine, I hear from many lawyers who express “I wish I were as talented as an artist.”

Well, you never know until you try (I respond), but I understand how many folks are nervous about taking that leap.

The next month may provide you an opportunity to take a hop, if not a leap. A joint initiative of a small press and an art museum has put out a call for work. And what they seek are creative viewer responses to something (anything; your choice) in the Phoenix Art Museum.

The great publication is Four Chambers Press. And you can read all the details of the project here.

As you’ll see, the result of the initiative will be “to assemble a small collection of poetry and prose responding to exhibits and collections within the Phoenix Art Museum towards the release of a chapbook and a live performance during Art Detour on First Friday March 6, 2015.”

What if you can’t get to the museum in person? No problem; you can view its collection online (and then write and submit your piece online too).

Before you avert your arts-nervous gaze, read the whole set of guidelines. They include this gem:

“RESPONDING TO ART: As one of the goals of this project is to provide a formal space for collaboration between different art forms here in Phoenix (thereby increasing the cohesiveness in our city’s cultural scene, we might be looking for a new insight or avenue of meaning into the work at hand–an explication of the process behind it, an exploration of it’s social or cultural context, etc etc.”

That “etc etc” and the examples they offer mean that they are completely open to new ways of seeing and expressing. You can’t do it wrong, you won’t break anything by trying. And if your work is selected, it will be immortalized in a marvelous printed book.

Limits? They have a few: A poem cannot exceed 200 lines; prose should be no longer than 3,000 words. (And I suspect it would break no one’s heart if they were even briefer.)

The deadline for submissions is Sunday, February 1st at 11:59 PM MST. (Yes, they mean it.)

Come on; you got this! And as an added benefit, I may even submit something myself. When it’s all done, whether my piece gets in or not, I’ll share it with you.

Will you share back? See you at the museum.

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