In March, an invitation to view ceramic work by New York–based artist Patrice Renee Washington brought me to Richmond, Virginia, for the very first time. A midsize Southern city often referred to being as far north as one can get until one is in the North, Richmond’s...
(BITTER) SWEET VIRGINIA
GALLERY ROUNDS: XANADU Gallery V, Pasadena City College
Currently on view at Gallery V, located on the Pasadena City College campus, is “Xanadu,” a group show featuring the work of nine artists. Though tightly curated by Shelli Tollman, who is also in the show, each artist has enough breathing room to leave a real impact...
Village Mindset Innovative Community-Building at Art + Practice
It has long been the rule for nonprofits of all kinds to create and maintain paternalistic relationships with the causes and communities they claim to serve. Unfortunately, there are several arts nonprofits that fit this bill. So it’s refreshing to catch up with an...
Moving Forward with Women’s Center for Creative Work GRACE AND GRIT
To incarnate is to become embodied in form, and form follows function. From the outset of the year 2020, leadership at the Women’s Center for Creative Work began the task of expanding its physical form because they had had the good fortune of having outgrown their...
Safety First Pandemic Protocols Create New Positions
What sort of working environment will the Los Angeles arts workforce return to once the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over? Or maybe a better question to ask is: How will we honor the skilled work of the preparators, installers, instructors, docents, assistants...
In Conversation: Kesha Bruce Step One to Afrofuture
A good white American friend can be hard to find, so I appreciate and cherish mine. It’s June 2020, a month that will probably go down in history as one of the most pivotal, enraging, disgusting, hypocritical, amazing months in American history. And one by one, these...
Will Blockchain Live Up To Its Promise?
Mention Blockchain and most people immediately think of Bitcoin. No surprise since Blockchain technology was invented to track transactions of the once-esoteric cryptocurrency. But Blockchain is being touted as a technology that will revolutionize our world, in ways...
RECONNOITER
Naima J. Keith is the deputy director of Los Angeles’ California African American Museum (CAAM), arriving in 2016 from the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. Being an LA native, what was your awareness of CAAM, their programs, and their history before leaving Los...
THE MIAMI REPORT: Day 1
“What’s Art Basel like?” It’s a question I get asked a lot. Mainly because within my friend groups I’m either the only artist, or I’m the only artist who makes it her business to visit the fairs in Miami. My first time making this trip was two years ago. I didn’t...
We got Rock & Roll, but No Tater Tots
Chinatown really had it going on this weekend. Saturday saw the inaugural opening of Tieken LA; gorgeous and cinematic paintings that put us on notice about our disappearing natural landscapes at Charlie James; a pleasant and almost creepy installation at The...
Women of Brazil & The Smiths
I began the evening feeling like a time traveler. Gallery 38’s PST LA/LA opening had long been in my Google calendar, but I didn’t confirm their address until the day before. Turns out, it’s right in my old neighborhood. Since then, galleries and eateries have popped...
Have Art Will Travel
Saturday really was a lot. Shoutout to the Metro, Uber and my strong legs for getting me from South LA to Boyle Heights to East LA, then over to Hollywood; I’m still recovering. As you know, Pacific Standard Time LA/LA kicked off in earnest this past Saturday, with...
CAAM Summer Nights and The Institute for Art and Olfaction
I linked up with my homegirl and creative partner, filmmaker Niki Williams, and we Uber Pool-ed it to CAAM to check out their event “Summer Nights” and the silent films they’re screening as part of their “African American Women in Silent Race Films” exhibit. I had the...
“Creatives” Gather at Art of Freelance
So, the event I’m about to gossip with you about was brought to you by Art of Freelance —a “10-week online course for creatives who want to push themselves to the next level.” I feel obligated to say the following; the emergence of the word “creative” as a title to...
Sprints for the Arts
Sprints. They’re good for the body, in short and intermittent bursts. Are they good for the arts? 90x90LA was a series of inclusive literary events held 90 days in a row in 2014, hosted by Writ Large Press. They’re back at it again this year with a focus on cultural...
Jazz in the Summertime Feels so Correct
What I was expecting: an elaborate installation that would marry musical acts with the Geffen’s front area in an interesting and artistic way. What I got: a free summer concert with food trucks, cash bar and admission to the Carl Andre exhibit (fuck that guy, IMHO)....
Honoring our Legends Now
My art-sister-in-arms and I headed out to Craft and Folk Art Museum Saturday evening to take in their survey show of Betye Saar’s washboard assemblages. Spanning the course of 20 years, from 1997 to present, this specific exhibition references the domestic, spiritual...
Downtown Art Walk
Feeling apprehensive as I walked to the nearest Red Line stop to catch a train downtown; I believe that the last time I tried doing the Downtown Art Walk was about seven years ago. Since then it had morphed from being an intimate, thoughtful event attracting people...