CP weblink to review, Movie Projections and Silent Auction

As you all know by now, our exhibit was reviewed in the Pittsburgh City Paper. Here is the weblink:

Do You Understand? Review in the Pittsburgh City Paper

You can also see a section of Prajna's piece on the home page which triggers the art section. Click on that image and it will lead you to the review:

Pittsburgh City Paper homepage

Congrats to all of you!

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Secondly, for those of you with projections or films in the exhibit, I would love to get a copy of your work at the end of the event to post on our blog website. Please let me know if that is doable.

If memory serves, I think your films just need to be on a site like vimeo and we can embed them from there. Let me know when you have them posted.

Do You Understand? website blog

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Lastly, I just wanted to remind you about the Future Tenant Silent Auction. If you would like to donate one of your pieces, please let me or Future Tenant know (orvokkih@gmail.com). For your donation you get a free ticket to the bash. Here is the info on the event:

Party Like a Rockstar!

Saturday, February 27 from 7 - 11pm

Grey Box Theatre in Lawrenceville

Support Future Tenant and get the star treatment!

Tix $35 ($25 for students)

Open bar included; rehab is extra.

Additional Info:

In addition, silent auction donation items can take other forms that artwork. If you work for an organization or business that would be willing to donate tickets, coupons, services, etc... those types of donations are great as well. The proceeds from the auction and fundraiser will go to our continuing processes at FT. Thanks! You can email me at orvokkih@gmail.com if you are interested.

Also would like to mention that if you do donate, you get a ticket to the actual event, which is chock full of booze and music and all of that party stuff, as well as being listed in all of our PR as a donor.

 

A nice shout out from the Post Gazette

Top Three New Things at This Friday's Gallery Crawl

Top Three New Things at This Friday's Gallery Crawl

I've been gearing up for January 22 and my third Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District since last fall. The Gallery Crawl is a quarterly event presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust that features free admission to more than 15 different art galleries and performance venues in the Cultural District. The crawl runs from 5:30 to 9pm on Friday January 22. While all of the events are sure to be engaging, here are my top 3 things not to miss on the Winter 2010 Gallery Crawl.

Do You Understand?: Communication Through Technology
Future Tenant brings us Do You Understand?: Communication Through Technology. I am particularly fond of this gallery since it is operated by my friends and colleagues - the Master of Arts Management graduate students at CMU. But even with my bias, I think this gallery really is amazing. In Do You Understand?, artist Kim Rullo attempts to forge the worlds of art and mass communication through a social commentary piece on modern communication. She primarily uses projections on the walls of the gallery to communicate with her audience, investigating questions like "Are we as close to each other as we think we are?" and "Are we communicating, or are we becoming virtual and physical hermits?"

CP Review Update and T-Shirts

From Chuck Lanigan, the reviewer from the CP:


It will appear next Wednesday 1/27 in print. 

He also mentioned he was somewhat limited by the space allotted to him by the CP for his article, so he "included representative descriptions of work by selected artists at the exhibit that caught my eye... this doesn't mean other pieces didn't have merit or that I 'liked' them less — I just had to pick and choose." Just an FYI.

Additionally I wanted to give a shout out to the people who printed the T-shirts for me (in case any of you ever needed such services — i.e. logos and screen printing on merchandise): Cronmiller Marketing. Ken Rapko is my rep. The shirts were reasonably priced, their work is impeccable and Ken is a stellar, efficient guy who delivers an amazing product. 

Lastly, I know the shirts are a little bigger than you are probably used to. I thought they were going to run small so I bought larger sizes for safety reasons since I knew I would not see the shirts until completed. For those of you whose shirts are a little too large, one of the artists mentioned to me they washed the shirt in hot water and put it on high in the dryer. Said it worked well and made the shirt fit better. Another FYI. 

Thanks for an amazing opening, Pittsburgh City Paper and Gallery Crawl, January 22.

* Over 300 people (Future Tenant stopped counting at 300), 6 boxes of wine, several trays of caviar (and other varying seafood) later, Friday night proved to be a stellar success. In fact, Future Tenant expressed it was one of their most successful gallery openings ever. So congrats to all of you — you deserve it! It was an amazing night for me and I hope for you as well.

Here is a link to opening night images on Flickr.

Do You Understand? Flickr

• I think the Pittsburgh City Paper will be publishing our review tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.

• The Cultural District Gallery Crawl is set for Friday, January 22nd. This is a great opportunity for those of you who could not see much at our exhibit Friday night while wading through the legions of individuals; Or for people who could not make it that night that still wanna see the exhibit. We are one of the featured venues. I will be there and I hope to see some of you there as well. Here is the info:

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents
Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District
5:30 - 9pm, Friday, January 22, 2010

PITTSBURGH, PA - The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Department of Education and Community Engagement heats up the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District with the first free Gallery Crawl of 2010 on Friday, January 22, from 5:30 - 9 p.m. This exhilarating evening of events showcases an array of activities throughout the Cultural District with the trademark, eclectic mix of visual art, dance, music and more.

"Now beginning its sixth year, the Gallery Crawl continues to be a gateway for new patronage in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, while also bringing people together to socialize and explore their shared curiosity for varied art forms," said Kathryn J. Heidemann, Senior Manager of Education and Community Engagement, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

All Gallery Crawl events are free and open to the public. For more information and a map of the Gallery Crawl events, visit pgharts.org or call (412) 456-6666. The Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District is sponsored by First Commonwealth with media support from City Paper and 91.3fm WYEP.

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Wood Street Galleries
601 Wood Street

Martin Bonadeo: Alba Magica MMX
For the first time ever, Wood Street Galleries will host Alba Magica, a retrospective of Argentinean installation artist Martin Bonadeo that spans over a decade of his work. Gallery visitors will have the opportunity to interact with Bonadeo's projections, luminal sculptures and electronic objects that explore the ways in which we approach and measure space and time.

SPACE
812 Liberty Avenue

Behind Our Scenes
An exhibition that showcases artists working 'backstage' in Pittsburgh's art scene while providing an opportunity to celebrate and further unite this community of artists.

Images: Left, Clouds by Leslie Clague; Right, a piece by Chris Craychee

Shaw Galleries
805 Liberty Avenue

Rouault: Visages
Features all 10 original pochoir prints from the late French Expressionist Georges Rouault's very rare Visages Portfolio (Album of Faces).

Book signing by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Brian O'Neill
7 - 9pm

Toonseum
945 Liberty

Enchanted Drawings: A Century of Animation
The ToonSeum is Pittsburgh's Museum of Cartoon Art. The ToonSeum presents new exhibitions every two months, the current exhibit presents 100 years of original animation art. From Gertie the Dinosaur to Spongebob!

707 Penn Gallery
707 Penn Avenue

Particulate Behaviors: New Works by Anjali Srinivasan
The exhibit explores the threshold of olfactory sensation, optical phenomena and participatory environments, through installations and objects of spice, glass and emergent technologies.

709 Penn Gallery
709 Penn Avenue

Adam Welch: A Few Objects - On a Theme of Contradiction
Artist Adam Welch presents a range of works involving sculpture, painting and drawing composed with the artist's reoccurring themes of paradox, solipsism, and contradiction.

Image: Finding Order (detail) by Adam Welch

Pennsylvania Culinary Institute
808 Liberty Avenue

Culinary Sculptures
Various sugar and tallow sculpture pieces created by PCI faculty. Hot food and beverages prepared by PCI students available for $1.

820 Liberty Avenue

Resolutions by Urban Tree Forge & moxie DaDA
Resolutions promotes moral courage and strength of mind. Artists have been chosen for their choice in materials and context of self-discovery, as well as their resolve to create and produce from within the urban landscape.

937 Liberty Avenue

Bricolage: For Real For Real
7:30-8:30 pm
Featuring only a microphone, an audience, and the true-to-life narratives of local performers, For Real For Real is a gritty new stand-up performance series. Inspired by the Moth storytelling series in New York and Los Angeles, "For Real For Real" is Pittsburgh's own yarn-spinning extravaganza. First floor, 7:30 - 8:30 pm.

Robot Resolution
An exhibition of robotic and mechatronic sculptures and installations by the individual members of Rossum's, a Pittsburgh-based robotic art group. This event is part of the Steel City Robotic Art Project in partnership with the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Second floor, 5:30 - 9 pm.

Pittsburgh Gospel
Pittsburgh Gospel choral performance. Third floor, 8 pm.

Future Tenant
819 Penn Avenue

Do You Understand? Communication through Technology
Curated by Kim Rullo, this exhibit features technological advancements that have opened our world like never before.

CAPA Gallery
111 Ninth St.

Fast Forward
CAPA Gallery proudly hosts an exhibition of work by CAPA Visual Arts alumni.

901 Penn Avenue

Matthew Conboy's Pittsburgh Project
Photographs and video from Matthew Conboy's contemporary rephotographic survey of W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project (1955-56).

Northside Urban Pathways Gallery
914 Penn Avenue

behind the line
A myriad of line drawings await you with the backdrop of favorite Steel Pan band & hip hop dance performance

August Wilson Center for African American Culture
980 Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh: Reclaim, Renew, Remix
An exhibition that not only tells the story of African Americans living in Western Pennsylvania through imagery, film and oral history, but gives visitors their chance to retell it.

Arthur Murray Dance Studio
136 Sixth St.(above Melange Bistro)

Free Dance Lessons!
• Cha Cha, 7pm
• Tango, 7:30
• Salsa, 8
• Swing, 8:30

Backstage Bar
655 Penn Avenue

Live music by Emily Rodgers
Contemporary acoustic folk
5:30-7:30

Theater Square Lobby
655 Penn Avenue

First Commonwealth Hospitality Spot
Stop by to enjoy complimentary sugar cookies and hot chocolate

Press for Do You Understand? and Tomorrows Big Event

Hey everyone.

I have been perusing the internet and found a few weblinks to our show. Just thought you guys might enjoy seeing them:

Do You Understand? POP CITY

Do You Understand? CP

Do You Understand? Pittsburgh Buzz

Do You Understand? Broken Controllers

Do You Understand? The Trib 

Also, I spoke with the CP reviewer for about an hour today and he took a look at all of your work.

As for tomorrow, everything starts at 6 with a performance around 7. Those of you with projections may want to get there a few moments earlier to make sure projections are on and working properly.

Thanks to you all for your hard work. Your pieces are brilliant and wonderful. I am eternally grateful to all of you for giving of your time this past year. I know how difficult it is to balance art with life so my appreciation runs quite deep for your time and talents. Thank you for putting up with my numerous emails as well. And thanks to all of you for your offers of help with everything. You are a really generous group of individuals. I hope this exhibit was and will continue to be a great experience for you and will continue you on a path to more showcases and shows.

We worked very hard this past week to make sure your art was given its due in the space. I think you will really enjoy seeing it hung and part of the complete Do You Understand? "package." Special thanks to the folks at Future Tenant as well: Kate, Orvokki and Corrine for all their help and guidance. And to Manfred and Sarah for devoting their time and expertise with the hanging process. I am not an expert hanger by any stretch of the imagination and without them I would have had used white pedestals instead of painting them black and I still would have been down there trying to make things level and probably weeping uncontrollably.

I can not wait to see all of you tomorrow. Thanks again. You have all given me much. I mean this sincerely.

the TRIB

I have to dash off in a few moments to go the the space, but I wanted to give you a heads up.

Kate from FT got an email from the Trib a few hours ago, and they are going to do an ad for the show!  I am not sure of the day it will appear or what not, so keep an eye out...

Alrighty I am off.... See you all in a few days.

2 additional updates

I apologize for bombarding you with updates:

1. FT just informed me that their fundraising director found a food sponsor for our opening night! Seviche on Penn Ave. YAY!

2. FT is having their annual fundraiser at Future Tenant on February 27th. Orvokki was wondering if any of you were interested in donating your piece from this show for their silent auction. The donors will be mentioned in their programming of course and the proceeds go to keeping FT processes going. I imagine if you are unable to part with a piece from this show, another piece of artwork may work as well. Please let Orvokki know if you are interested.

Thanks so much!

Our Exhibit is going to be reviewed in the CP / Bio and Artist Listing updates

8 days...

It looks like our exhibit is going to be reviewed in the Pittsburgh City Paper!

How this happened:

Last week I received an email from Orvokki saying there was interest to from the City Paper to interview me about the show.

Here is the (paraphrased) message from Chuck to Corinne: 

Hi, Corinne. I will be reviewing the Future Tenant exhibit on communication and technology for the *City Paper* in January. I exchanged e-mails w/ Bill O'Driscoll, their arts & entertainment editor.

I would like to chat further informally with the guest curator, Kim Rullo before the exhibit. I figure we'll have a few notes to compare and I would enjoy talking with her on the subject and what's she's planning with the artists.

Chuck

I met with Chuck last night for about an hour and a half. We talked a lot about the show, the inspiration for it, the artists, and what you guys will be presenting. He will be coming to the space next week to check out the art and will also attend the opening. He mentioned that he may want to contact a few of you after he sees your work to chat on it further. I just wanted to give you a heads up. If he is interested in contacting you I will pass along your email address. If any of you are uncomfortable with being contacted let me know.

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I have received most of your names, titles, mediums card information as well as the description of your project. I need to send the title card info to FT ASAP. I am also sending the info over to the graphic designer this evening for the exhibit program so if you want a project description included in the program, please send your info right away.