|
|
SPRING FLING!
Dear Friends and Artists,
Yes, the opening day of the Spring Fling! on April 21 was a perfect day to celebrate the season of blossoms. We were blessed with sunshine and pleasant weather, and all artists and guests who gathered at the reception looked cheerful, radiating positive energy throughout the galleries, sharing the delightful spring spirit with everbody. Rebirth of living beings, spring has come!
I want to thank all of the participating artists whose works gave me a great challenge and also a pleasure to get to know your inner voices in viewing all of your works. You are the ones who brought the show to successful fruition.
We look forward to welcoming all artists and art-lovers to our upcoming Spring programs and Sweet 16 Anniversary of the Wonderful WAH Center this Fall. See you there!
Yuko Nii, exhibition juror & curator
WAH Center Founder & Artistic Director
|
1st ANNUAL SPRING
DANCE FESTIVAL
Curator Yana Schnitzler
Fri. May 4 & Sat. 5, 8pm
Featured Companies: Akiko Furukawa, Alissa Horowitz/AVtv Creations, Anabella Lenzu/ Dance Drama, Andrea Jane Dispenziere, Anri Nakano, binbinFactory, Emily Faulkner/Wind Up Dances, Giorgia Minisini, human kinetics movement arts, Ikada Dance Company, Jennifer Primosch, Jules Bakshi/Subtle Details Dance Theater, Kuan-Ling Tsai, Marissa Maislen, Nicole Speletic, Racoco Productions, Rebecca Silverman, Sacred Space Dance, Sara du jour, Sunproject, Virtuosic Dance Project, Yoo and Dancers.
|
|
ARTIST NEWS
 |
Suprina |
BOGAR ALONSO
WAH Salon artist and poet Alonso will perform as part of the Poetic People Power show Retro-Active: 10 Years of Poetic Action, Helen Mills Theatre, May 17, 8pm.
Poets: Bogar Alonso, Tara Bracco, Karla Jackson Brewer, Erica R. DeLaRosa, Andy Emeritz, Nate Gunsch, Frantz Jerome, Angela Kariotis, Dot Portella, Shetal Shah, Pamela Sneed, Jonathan Walton, and Justin Woo.
TAKAMUNE ISHIGURO
A former WAH Salon artist now living in Japan, Ishiguro is an accomplished printmaker whose work was selected for DAEJON/TOKYO International Print Exhibition, Korea, April 18-25, 2012. Artist website.
NANCY SALEME
Spring Fling! artist Saleme's proposal was selected for the 2nd Annual Art Competition 2012 for The Hammond Museum and Japanese Scroll Garden of North Salem, NY. The competition was juried by Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, Associate Curator, El Museo del Barrio; Monica Ramirez-Montagut, Curator, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum; and Miwako Tezuka, Associate Curator, Asia Society, New York. Opening this Summer. Artistwebsite.
 |
Nancy Saleme |
SUPRINA
WAH Salon and Spring Fling! artist Suprina's interactive public sculpture Circle of Intention will be shown at the 2012 Governors Island Figment Arts Festival this Summer, opening June 9 until September. Her work "revolves around what it is to be human. How beliefs are caught between consciousness and our primitive animalness....the predicament of finding our place in this world." Artist website.
|
COURTNEY WEIDA
WAH Salon artist Weida is a ceramist and Assistant Professor of Art Education. She studied at Northeastern University, Harvard University, and Columbia University Teachers College. Her latest book Artistic Ambivalence in Clay: Portraits of Pottery, Ceramics, and Gender is a collection of glimpses into the lives and works of fifteen prominent women artists in contemporary ceramics. Artist website.
MARY WESTRING
WAH Salon artist and Salon coordinator, Westring traveled to Uganda in 2002 to confront the ongoing abduction of children taken by the Lord's Resistance Army and used as porters, child soldiers and "wives". She documented these children through portraits expressing their pain and suffering. 10 years later, she has again documented these "Children of Conflict", this time with young adults who have lived through this horrific past and become the next generation addressing the changing needs of Uganda.Children of Conflict=Ten Years Later is currently on view atFigureworks Gallery, Brooklyn, April 28 - June 3, 2012. Reception: Fri. May 11, 6-8pm.
|
DENNIS YUEN
 |
Mary Westring |
|
WAH Center
(Williamsburg Art & Historical Center)
135 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York 11211
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ROGER ERICKSON
BEQUEST TO WAH
Thanks to the recommendation of WAH Salon artist Linda Smith, whose sister was married to Roger Erickson, the WAH Center was named in the bequest of Roger Erickson. Roger was a master of assemblage and ink drawing, a wonderful artist and dear friend of both Yuko Nii and Terrance Lindall in the 1960's. The WAH Center is honored and deeply grateful for the family's generosity.
|
What should I look for when viewing a work of art? |
by Stephen Lloyd Auslender Ph.D
Excerpts from
An open letter to the non-artist public re the old question, "What should I look for when viewing a work of art?"
The answer is, simply, nothing.
You shouldn't look at art in order to see something, you should, rather, feel what you see; feel through your eyes.
Feel,
don't
think.
When viewing art Western Civilization people ask an almost set series of questions: What does it mean? What is its message? What is it saying? How can I use it? Is it a good value? Is it a good investment? Will it increase in monetary value over time? Will it increase my prestige if I own it and show it off? Is it a "good" work? Is it an "important" piece? Does it match the drapes?
People are always looking for objective criteria with which they can evaluate fine art - it never occurs to them to pay any attention to how they feel about it.
So, what to do?
Try to feel what you see without thinking about it at all. Go through a gallery or art show thinking about nothing. Just look at the images before you. Not every piece may say something to you. Do not force it. I have gone through shows where none or only one or two artworks said anything to me. Allow me let you into a little secret, many artists do not know the meaning of what they make, they just make it.
So stop asking what does it mean but try to put yourself in an easy receptive mood.
It won't be easy - you've spent a lifetime being trained not to do this very thing!
April 8, 1993
revised March, 2012
Auslender is a WAH Salon member, Spring Fling! artist, and essayist.
|
UPCOMING
& ONGOING
Spring Fling!
April 21 - May 27. International juried exhibition, curator Yuko Nii. More than 90 participating artists, occupying the 1st & 2nd floors of the WAH Center!
1st Annual Spring Dance Festival
Fri. May 4 & Sat. May 5, 8 pm. Curator Yana Schnitzler. Featuring 25 dance companies and choreographers. Admission $10.
Harvest Fest International juried show to celebrate the WAH Center's Sweet 16 Anniversary this Fall (Oct/Nov). OPEN CALLannouncement coming soon!
|
DONATE
We need your help to preserve our historic building. Every dollar you are able to contribute is very much needed and appreciated. For all those who have enjoyed our programs and benefited from our artistic mission, we thank you for showing your support! All donations are tax deductible, as per Internal Revenue Code Section 170 (f)(8).
|
SUBMIT
To be included in our newsletter, please email listings, notable news, announcements, press links and images.
Since so many of our artists and performers continue to make great strides, we cannot include all of their announcements in each newsletter. However, we will try to produce a balanced and fair representation of what our artists are doing each quarter.
|
INTERNS &
VOLUNTEERS
Interested in becoming an intern or volunteer? Please contact us for more info.
|
|
|
|
|
|
