REPRESSED V: FREE TO SPEAK - Call for Entries

From our friends at Gallery 5 in Richmond, Virginia comes this call for activist art...

REPRESSED V: FREE TO SPEAK May 2010

Josˆ© Marˆ‚a Heredia - poet: inspired the Cuban people to stand up and fight against Spain.

Seymor Chwast-designer - illustrator: his anti-war poster "End Bad Breath" indirectly encouraged the anti-war movement of the 70's.

John Lenin and Yoko Ono - famous musicians/artists: created the powerful anti-war campaign stating "THE WAR IS OVER...if you want it to be."

What makes statement driven art so emotionally powerful? It being witness to a piece of work that creates a bond between you, the viewer and the creator of the piece. A bond that can change the direction of thought and purpose.

A successfully executed statement driven piece can be the catalyst that inspires the average person into an active agent for change. Art exists in societies to create shared dialogues and experiences. No matter the medium, art and artists can be the spark to establishing a commonality, to allow us to empathize with each other and encourage altruistic pursuits for the greater good.

Dedicated to social awareness, Gallery5 invites visual and performing artists to submit their statement focused work to Repressed V: Free to Speak.

Deadline is March 6th.

More info and an application can be downloaded HERE (PDF).

Call for Entries: Repressed IV: May Day

My friends at Gallery 5 are once again looking for artists for their annual socially conscious art exhibition...

Repressed IV: May Day
Exhibition: May 1st, 2009
Submission Deadline: March 6th, 2009

A Socially Conscious Exhibition
This year’Äôs theme: Workers Rights

This coming Repressed IV is more specific in content so we are releasing our call for entries a little sooner to give everyone a little extra time to make some new work!


SHOW DESCRIPTION:
May 1st, International Worker's Day, celebrates an ongoing, worldwide workers' struggle. Originally, the international holiday was in remembrance of the 1880's fight for an eight hour work day during a time when workers were forced to work inhumanly long hours. Nationally, we fail to recognize this holiday, which marks the famous strikes for the right to a reasonable work day by an estimated 500,000 workers. The nationally spread strikes originated in Chicago.

The resilient Chicago workers' rights leaders: Parsons, Spies, Fischer, and Engel, were executed by the United States Government in response to a bomb being thrown at a rally on May 3rd. The rally was in retaliation to acts of police brutality, leading to the deaths of six workers and several wounded during the Chicago May 1st strikes. Their lives are celebrated through International Worker's Day.

This struggle is still relevant today with issues such as: migrant workers' rights, women's equal pay for equal work, sweatshop labor, economic hit men, economic imperialism and outsourcing. People travel to places far from home and their comfort zone to show solidarity with an international struggle for the right to be treated humanly in a collapsing system. We invite all artists who are involved in this struggle to exhibit your work in our upcoming exhibition, Repressed IV: May Day.

All of the galleries in Richmond's Downtown Arts District present special exhibits on the first Friday of every month. Next May's First Fridays Art Walk happens to be on May Day. So in light of this fortuitous coincidence our May exhibition will be a celebration of workers' rights through art, education and action!

The packet with entry requirements and show description is available by
http://www.thereoncewasarebellion.org/uploads/repressedivcallpacket.pdf

Images from past shows may be found in the actions section of
http://thereoncewasarebellion.org/index.php?page=actions

Donations For Creations: Richmond, VA - Nov. 22nd

As part of their final project, students from Design Rebels, my class on socially conscious graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University, have set up an event for this Saturday called Donations for Creations that will benefit Daily Planet, an area homeless services center. Folks throughout the Richmond area are encourage to attend:

Donations for Creations
November 22nd, Saturday
2:00pm ’Äì 8:00pm
1509 W. Main Street
Richmond, Virginia

Come bring donations of winter clothes and non-perishable food for the Daily Planet homeless aid provider, and exchange them for artwork from local artists and artisans.

Check our blog for a list of items the Daily Planet needs to aid people without a place to live this winter.

The more generous your donation, the more fabulous the art piece you can take home with you. Please come out and join together with Richmond's artists to promote art while helping the community.

If you can't make it to our event or would like to support the Daily Planet directly, you may do so here.

There will also be musical acts performing throughout the afternoon.

The students/event were already featured on a local web video program MashUp (click the Nov. 14th episdoe).

Get more info on their blog HERE.

Haustalks: Richmond, VA

Folks in the Richmond, Virginia area should check out Haustalk, a series of free, monthly socially conscious design forms curated by John O'Neil of Thinkhaus Design at Gallery 5.

The upcoming schedule is as follows...

October 22
Living, Working, and Designing Green: Eco Friendly Consciousness, Part 2
Gallery 5, 7:00 PM

Featuring:
Jocelyn Tice, owner of Green Duck
Green Duck Biodegradables is a local company that makes plant-based packaging available to customers who strive to be Green.

Copeland Casati, President of Green Modern Kits
Green Modern Kits is a team of green architects, house kit fabricators, industrial designers, and furniture craftsmen who produce eco friendly affordable green housing and furniture plans.

Scott Kyle, Founder of Full Scale Architecture
Full Scale Architecture believes advanced green is better than good design. It’Äôs great design. It’Äôs not just about aesthetic appeal, but environmental harmony. And it’Äôs not just sustainable, but regenerative.

November 19
Ethnic and Racial Stereotypes In Mass Media
Gallery 5, 7:00 PM

Featuring:
VCU Graphic Design Sophomore Students
A group of students from the VCU Graphic Design Department, School of the Arts, will be presenting their research on how ethnic and racial stereotypes are currently being used in advertising, brands, and other media outlets.

The Conciliation Project
The Conciliation Project is a social justice nonprofit theatre company in Richmond that develops and conducts theatre performances concerning the historical legacy of racism in America. The theatre performers will be discussing their plays and will provide an overview of the history of racism in America.

December 17
The Gift of Design: Design It Yourself (DIY)
Gallery 5, 7:00 PM

Gallery 5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond, Virginia 23220
Phone: 804 644-0005
gallery 5@gallery5arts.org

Do you have Change For A Ten?

ART 180 is a Richmond, Virginia based non-profit that works to connect children in difficult circumstances to the self-expressive power of art. As part of their ongoing fundraising efforts they have created the Change For A Ten campaign. They are encouraging folks to create a ten dollar bill that expresses their vision for positive change in their community and send it along with an actual $10 donation. The resulting pieces are being displayed on their blog and will be eventually show in an exhibition at Virginia Commonwealth University's advertising department Brand Center. There's even a competition specifically for creative students/professionals (PDF).

Find out more about Change For A Ten and get a template to make your own submission HERE.