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September 13, 2007
Taking One For The Team
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| I watched the Art Commission last night. The photo above
represents how I feel about that experience.. It takes about 6 months after watching one of these before I can build up the courage to to do it again. After sitting through a couple of hours of tortuous public access TV I had a feeling that's hard to describe. I think it would be similar to drinking a six pack of cream soda in a 10 minute period. That's got to be pretty close. I was bloated, on the verge of retching, and had my mind reeling from a massive sugar-like high. I think every Chicoan should watch the Art Commission at some time in their life. It actually made me question the benefits of democracy. And that kind of heretical thinking is good for the soul when taken in moderation. At one point I thought it was the "Debra Lucero Show", who gave a 30 minute monologue about Chico Palio and Artoberfest marketing material and efforts. They've got cups, and T-shirts, and what-not. And we can all expect to be barraged with Benny Hill-ish Chico Palio commercials on the tube. Lucero wasn't so bad, but after the first few minutes I pretty much got the point. It also looks like plenty of work went into the Artoberfest and Palio. But that was not the worst of it. I think the quote that sums up the meeting belonged to Art Commissioner Paul Friedlander who said "I second that emotion". There was a lot of new-agey mumbo-jumbo coming from a couple of the commish's. That's probably what sets me off. I think the meeting tweeked my chakras and my aura today feels very maroon. My absolute favorite part... there were actually book reviews going on. These were part of joyous descriptions of a trip to a public art seminar some of the commissioners made. Book reviews I tell you! For the love of God, there were book reviews! At the end of the meeting where the agenda allows for public comment the commission chair stated that the room was empty. It dawned on me that I may have been the only member of the public in Chico to suffer through that. I feel so lonely and soiled. Somebody please hold me. So as not to commit drive-by blogging I need to leave this on a positive note. Art Commissioner Kathy Barrett is coherent and capable. Art Commissioner Samantha Gale is bright, young, and is definitely smart enough to stay out of the inane conversations. And there was one newsworthy item that made the entire meeting worthwhile. I thought I heard Lucero say that Alan Chamberlain would be singing at the Chico Palio. And I thought I heard her say he'd be singing in Portuguese! Alan's a remarkable guy. |
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CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Nobody, see comments below for answer. |
Posted by Lon at September 13, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
Lon--
Yeah, I'm doing my Bossa Nova schtick for the cause. Old school samba, some Dori Caymmi, perhaps some Djavan, and of course, Tom Jobim.
--Ax
Posted by: Alan Chamberlain at September 13, 2007 07:01 AM
As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon!"
Don't worry Lon, you weren't alone. I was actually there, for the first part anyway. I went to speak up for Common Path, which is a local artist resource website run by Weston Thomson. He's pretty much Chico's art hero for Chico's younger and less represented talent. Common Path is a free opportunity for anyone to show their work to the world in a classy ad free online gallery. As more artists get on board, the more they draw exposure to others and help each other out. A leader with the Chico Art Center seemed to feel threatened for some reason and spoke against it rather than realizing how it could benefit their membership and offering to help out. This makes me glad I went.
This kind of thing is pretty much the future for artists. The trickle down economy of galleries and organizations that represent "the arts" doesn't leave much for the people who create it. The Common Path site helps out artists that make the effort to help themselves. It can eventually become a self managing online public artists' resource for the City which seems to need a lot of help with things like this.
Here's a link to the portfolio I'm building on Common Path. Check out Weston's art too, while you're there:
http://commonpath.org/node/2006
Here's the homepage:
Posted by: Gregg Payne at September 13, 2007 09:29 AM
Lon,
Is it edible? (the thing in the pic.)
Looks like a snake wrapped around a piece of red candy. which it's not... the porous nature of the shiny red thing makes it seem to be some sort of glass, or crystal.
Posted by: TrevHastings at September 13, 2007 03:10 PM
Trevor,
It is edible. I think...
Lon
Posted by: Lon at September 13, 2007 03:33 PM
Hey Gregg,
Thanks for pointing me there, I had never seen that page before. I am a sketch artist, not the best on earth, but everyone has their own style, in my opinion.
Might sign up on there, drop some of my sketches.
Thanks again,
Trev
Posted by: TrevHastings at September 13, 2007 03:53 PM
Looks sort of like an apple in a basket, or perhaps an exotic mushroom, or maybe some piece of art glass. Baffling.
Posted by: Alan Chamberlain at September 14, 2007 07:05 AM
Alan,
I guess I should provide a clue. It's related in some way to the photo I used in the post.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at September 14, 2007 07:45 AM
A doorstop?
Posted by: Anthony at September 14, 2007 09:39 AM
Is it a peeled guava? Looks similiar.
Posted by: TrevHastings at September 14, 2007 10:02 AM
I'm calling this one. I win! It's a buckeye chestnut.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at September 14, 2007 12:22 PM