TXB09

As the rest of the city prepares for the onslaught of South by Southwest, we’re busy prepping the gallery for the Texas Biennial’s group show DIY: Double Wide, opening at W&TW on March 6. For this exhibition, the TXB09 website promises “spaces, clutter, balloons, spores, planets, nomads, forests, televisions, families, loners, blues, beads, claws, beasts, marquees, tornados, divers, doodads, forests, traffic, squiggles, and a haircut.” Eee!

The artists:
Anila Quayyum Agha
Anne Longo
Barry Stone
Beau Commeaux
Carolyn Zacharias McAdams
Catherine Colangelo.
Celia Eberle
Charlotte Smith
Christie Blizard
Gladys Poorte
Harmony Padgett
James Talbot
Jamie Panzer
John Spriggins
John Swanger
Jules Buck Jones
Justin Parr
Kana Harada
Keith Allyn Spencer
Kim Cadmus Owens
Marc Burckhardt
Mary Stengel
Mona Marshall
Morgan Sorne
Olga Nicalaevna Porter
Peter Leighton
Raychael Stine
Raymond Uhlir
Ryan Lauderdale
Susan Cheal
William Rosshirt

The opening:
Friday, March 6, 6-8pm, FREE
Women & Their Work Gallery
1710 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX 78701

*BONUS – We’re also throwing our own special event the last week of the Biennial! Our current obsession Silky Shoemaker will debut a new video play and then we get to bounce to the avant garage synth of No Mas Bodas! It’s going down April 2nd–stay tuned for more details.

Something to see: 2night

2
A release party for
Austin Video Bee
at the Carousel Lounge

Thursday, February 19th

1110 E. 52nd Street
7:30 PM – Midnight
(screening at 8:30)

With the “2″ key stuck down hard, each video pairs an AVB member with a guest artist to create pieces based loosely on two-ness.

Artists include: Elizabeth Abrams, Maryam Kashani, Anna Krachey, Rebecca (Marks) Leopold, Ivan Lozano, Jill Pangallo and Alex P. White, Michelle Proksell, Corkey Sinks, Laura Turner and Amanda Graham, Jason Villegas, Kate Watson and Sally Bergam, and Lee Webster.

AUSTIN VIDEO BEE IS A MULTIMEDIA VIDEO COLLECTIVE BASED IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. AVB SEEKS TO PROMOTE EXPERIMENTAL AND INNOVATIVE PIECES AND TO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE VITAL AUSTIN ARTS COMMUNITY.

Selling Culture as an Economic Force

That’s the headline from yesterday’s Times article which recounts how arts-friendly members of the House and Senate struggled to secure arts funding in the new economic-stimulus bill when things looked bleakest: Though the original House version of the bill included $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Senate version approved no arts dollars whatsoever, and as of February 6th, the Senate had even voted for an amendment specifically denying any stimulus money for museums, arts centers and theaters. But in a fortunate turn of events, supporters like Representative Louise M. Slaughter and Nancy Pelosi were able to convince a House-Senate conference committee that the arts do, in fact, provide jobs and stimulate the economy. Arts groups backed them up with figures asserting that the arts contribute 6 million jobs, $30 billion in tax revenue and $166 billion in annual economic impact.

This is GREAT news! Stimulus includes the arts.

Did you hear? The arts actually didn’t get shafted this time around. The House passed the stimulus package (no thanks to the Republicans) and it included $50 million in direct support for arts jobs through National Endowment for the Arts grants. The Americans for the Arts blog writes “More than 85,000 letters were sent to Congress, thousands of calls were made, and hundreds of op-eds, letters to the editor, news stories, and blog entries were generated in print and online media about the role of the arts in the economy. Artists, business leaders, mayors, governors, and a full range of national, state, and local arts groups all united together on this advocacy issue. This outcome marks a stunning turnaround of events and exemplifies the power of grassroots arts advocacy.”
I totally agree. This keeps on happening, we think it can’t happen, and then with a little leg work and a lot of love it happens!!! Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that the Senate can get it done tonight. We are ecstatic over here and are going to start on our NEA grant today!

Just Look @ HER

As Katherine McQueen and I were 2 weeks away from the opening of Pattern Pattern Pattern I discovered the work of Cassandra C. Jones. Dang, too late! I would have loved to have invited her to the show. Cassandra makes wallpaper installations. Here is a detail of her awesomeness.
Good Cheer!

The reviews roll in for No Sure Footing

This week has been a good week for No Sure Footing. The exhibit got two reviews. Check them out at Austin 360 and Austin.com