Another Outlet for Writers and Poetry Lovers

from Yodi:

Stop by, listen and join in. Starting February 2, 2010 the Hava Java Café at 526 N. 19th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania will be presenting a poetry reading called West Side Poetry.

Hosting West Side Poetry will be Yodi from the Word Wednesday Poetry Ensemble. This ongoing open mic event will feature many members of the ensemble as well. West Side Poetry is every Tuesday starting at 7pm.

Juried Show in Bethlehem Accepting Submissions

Bethlehem's Fine Arts Commission's 45th Annual Fine Arts and Craft Show, A Juried Exhibition.
Date: May 8-9, 2010.
Over $2,000 in awards.

Slide deadline February 12.

For prospectus, send SASE to:

Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission

55 E. Church Street

Bethlehem, PA 18018

Or download the file from www.bfac-lv.org

For additional information call 610-865-3924 (after 5 pm).

Featuring work by Gregory Coates....

Allentown-based artist Greg Coates will have is work featured soon in multiple shows. Greg will have his own show beginning in February in Philadelphia and he is also part of a group show in Troy, New York. Here are the details:

GREGORY COATES

Dada: Influence and Response In the salon

DATES > February 8 – March 2, 2010RECEPTION > Friday, February 12, 2010, 6-8pm

At the Sande Webster Gallery, 2006 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

www.sandewesbtergallery.com

From the gallery announcement:

Coates is an international conceptual artist poised in the gap between painting and sculpture. Exploring the nature of unconventional materials is a signature part of his work. He is able to balance an abstract modernist painting sensibility with a gritty found object sculptural inclination. Coates is able to spin mundane rubber tubes, feathers and discarded materials into fine works of art that astonishingly transcend the materials themselves. There is an excitement and tension in the brave use of materials that is resolved by a mastery of craftsmanship. The result is often large-scale contemplative installations that envelop the viewer. Dada: Influence and Response presents new rubber and feather works that explore a contemporary conversation with the anti-art movement of World War I. Dadaism was anarchistic in nature and rejected the prevailing standards in art, commenting on the meaninglessness of the modern world. Coates’ art continues this spirit of Dada, utilizing collage, assemblage and readymade objects without rules or limitations.

Coates was awarded the Joan Mitchell, Pollock-Krasner and Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Fellowship Grants and the New York State Foundation Grant. His work is shown internationally, most recently at Galerie Denkraum in Vienna. In 2002, at the occasion of receiving the Edward Mitchell Bannister award in Rhode Island, Coates’ friend and award presenter Professor Bob Dillworth wrote: “Insisting on the material nature of art, on the interchangeability of things in the world, and malleability of meaning, Gregory Coates has broadened the scope of his own reality to put process and risk-taking at center-stage. This amounts to a kind of visual radicalism rarely seen today.”

and

The Shelnutt Gallery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute presents "Collage" from Feb. 4 to Mar. 31. A group of 13 artists celebrate their diversity to honor Black History Month. Reception is Feb. 4 at 5:30-8:30 pm.

Aside from that exciting news, Greg is featured in the current issue of LV Magazine, where he discusses his "New Museum" project and more. (Chen Arts Group and Diane Teti - manager of Art Mart - were also mentioned in the piece.)

Greg and Kiki Nienaber are also planning an art show on the nude image at their studio in April. Contact them if you're interested in submitting work for inclusion:

Greg: coatesgregory4@gmail.com Kiki: kikihq@gmail.com

Meeting Notes 1/23/10

Thanks to everyone for attending our January meeting. Some of us enjoyed a tour of the fabulous new Salemme Foundation Gallery before our dinner. If you have not seen the gallery, please contact Joe Skrapits for a tour.

Sarah welcomed new members and spoke about our grant project which will feature thirteen 2'x2'x2' artist designed plexiglass cubes. The theme for this community art project is re-urbanization. The cubes will be on display, possibly at an indoor space, in June.

Pete Lewnes announced that he has been appointed President of the Allentown Arts Commission, and that Sarah Fulton has been nominated to serve on the Arts Commission. Congratulations to both Pete and Sarah. Pete spoke about Arts Ovation Award nominations which are due January 29th. Pete has gotten the Allentown City Arts blog running, and I will put up a link soon.
More great news from Pete: he informed us about a LANTA grant which is available for the restoration of public sculptures, murals at the transportation center, and other public works of art. Also, he is working on a new fabulous culinary school for 7th St.

Heather Haas is looking for artists to paint murals on garage doors in the city. For more details on this project, contact us at the e-mail and we will forward to Heather.

Diane Teti talked about the success of Art Mart. Business has slowed down a little since the holidays but she plans on having special events and artist workshops in the space soon. Channel 69 News, TV 2 News, and Lehigh Valley Magazine covered Art Mart, so there was good publicity. There was one sentence in the Morning Call's Retail Watch section. See link to Art Mart at our sidebar, and contact Diane if you would like more information. Diane also mentioned the idea of a Second Saturday Art Walk on Hamilton St. And don't miss Word Wednesdays at the Brew Works, organized by Yodi and Kari Holmes.

Greg Coates is featured in Lehigh Valley Magazine.

Angie Villa brought up the idea of a future group fine art show, possibly at the Allentown Art Museum Community Room gallery where we held our Velocity Show last year. If anyone has any suggestions or would like to coordinate the show, please contact us at the e-mail.
Also, if anyone is interested in helping create and maintain a Facebook page for Chen Arts, which links to the blog posts, please contact us at the e-mail. So far, Stefan and Kate expressed interest at the meeting.

I forgot to mention this at the meeting: The Villas, local original power-pop band, with special appearances by 8 yr. old Gianni Villa and 26 yr. old Pat Villa, will be performing at Mayfair, Sunday May 30th 5:30-7pm Lakeside Stage. See link at our sidebar.

Matt is working on "Fringe Fest" a music and art festival. I believe he mentioned Art and Soul Gallery would be involved too. Sorry, I missed some of the details here, maybe Matt can talk about that in a comment?

Please feel free to add anything in the comments. Thanks to everyone. The art scene in Allentown has really taken off. Thanks to Jenny Chen for outstanding Malaysian food. Thanks to Sarah for her work at the blog and e-mails. See you in February.

Angie Villa

Tango Orchestra performing Thursday night

Live Argentine Tango Orchestra
Mandragora Tango
Playing for our listening and dancing pleasure Thursday, Jan. 21st 7:45 pm
(Complimentary Tango Talk & Introductory Lesson begins at 7 pm)

The Allentown Symphony Hall
23 North 6th St.
Allentown, Pa. 18101

For Tickets Contact:The Allentown Symphony Box Office: (610) 432-6715
www.allentownsymphony.org

Advance sale tickets: $20 / Tickets day of event: $25 / Students: $10 (w/ ID)
Presented by Sharon Hillman & The Allentown Symphony Association
www.mandragoratango.com

News coverage of the new Salemme Foundation gallery

This article was featured in Sunday's (1/17/10) Morning Call:
(sorry the formatting was screwed up in copy/paste)

NOTICE: The Chen Arts Group is invited to a personal tour of the gallery before dinner Saturday from 5-6:30. Address is 542 Hamilton. Phone: 610-434-7476. Hope to see you there.

Antonio Salemme, a noted artist whose nude sculpture of actor Paul Robeson shocked the 1930s elite, lived and worked in Williams Township for a third of his life. Now, his art has a permanent home in downtown Allentown.Bathed in the light from a magnificent 18 foot-wide arched window overlooking Hamilton Street, a half-dozen figure studies stand or sit in repose, the brick façade of the Hotel Americus across the street glowing softly behind them. A life-sized female nude, in the Greco-Roman style of a classic Venus, stands solemnly next to a seated bronze athlete, his muscles glistening. Smaller sculptures surround them -- some in clay, some in plaster, some in bronze.Along the walls, shelves are teeming with more than a hundred smaller sculptures, in various states of completion. Busts of Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy and jazz icon Ethel Waters rub shoulders with more abstract pieces. Nearly two dozen paintings, in styles ranging from the elusive spontaneity of Cézanne and the Post-Impressionists to the vibrant colors and seductively distorted perspective of Matisse, hang on the dove-gray walls.This is the new Antonio Salemme Foundation on the second floor of 542 Hamilton St.. There is so much remarkable about the space. First, it represents the work of a supremely gifted artist.Antonio Salemme was a prominent sculptor/painter who spent half of his creative life at the center of the teeming arts scene in New York's Greenwich Village from the 1920s through the 1950s, working with artists such as Willem de Kooning and Arshile Gorkey. His most famous piece is a controversial nude sculpture of actor Paul Robeson.In 1959, Salemme and his wife Martha, also an artist, purchased an old schoolhouse in Williams Township, Northampton County, that the couple converted into a home/studio. He worked there until his death at the age of 102 in 1995, and Martha until her death nine years later.As remarkable as Salemme was, equally remarkable is that their prodigious collection of art found a home in Allentown. That story goes back to 1982, when the couple formed a nonprofit foundation with the dream of establishing a museum to display their work. 1982 also was the year that Joseph Skrapits, an artist, freelance writer and contributing editor to American Artist magazine, met the couple.''I first met Antonio through an article I was doing for Philadelphia Magazine on his famous Paul Robeson sculpture,'' says Skrapits, a native of South Whitehall Township. ''When I first met him, I was just bowled over -- here was this very vigorous man, 90 years old, who started talking about Greenwich Village, his friendship with Paul Robeson, and all these people he knew like [Abstract Expressionists] Willem de Kooning and Arshile Gorky. But it wasn't like he was name-dropping -- he was just talking about his life.''Skrapits also had the itch to paint, and Salemme became his teacher and mentor. ''Over the 11 years I knew him, he became a sort of grandfather/big brother -- a really splendid person. Just before he died, I promised him I would see that Martha was OK. I didn't have any thought of becoming involved in the foundation until she passed away in 2004,'' he says.The couple had amassed a lifetime of work and had no family or children to bequeath it to, so it went to the foundation. ''There was the house and a studio full of artwork. Some of us -- former friends and students -- looked at each other and asked ourselves, 'Well, now what?' '' says Skrapits, now president of the Antonio Salemme Foundation.One day soon after Martha's memorial service, Skrapits, who lives in downtown Allentown, discovered there was a small space available at the new Musselman Arts Development Center at Sixth and Hamilton streets. With money from the sale of Salemme's Williams Township property, the space was secured in 2006.''Basically, our endowment was what we got from the sale -- there was nothing else,'' Skrapits says. ''But I was still looking for other possibilities, and found a bigger space -- 1,200 square feet -- at 542 Hamilton, in what had been the old Empire Beauty School. We moved everything into it in October.''''This new space is a tremendous advancement in the cultural revitalization of downtown Allentown,'' says Bob Metzger, interim director of the Allentown Art Museum. Metzger had visited Salemme's studio and met Martha. ''Here we have the work of an artist of the first rank, known and respected to many within the art world, but unfortunately relatively unknown to the general public. This long overdue recognition is warmly welcomed, and will give the opportunity to let him be known to his own community for the first time.''Skrapits, a volunteer like all the members of the foundation's board, is committed to telling others about Salemme. At this time, the foundation space is planned not as a traditional museum or gallery, but as a place to study Salemme's art. It is now open weekends and a formal opening is scheduled for late March. The group also has an impressive Web site.''Our mission is to preserve the legacy of an American master, Antonio Salemme, and to educate the public about his contributions to 20th-century art,'' says Skrapits.The Antonio Salemme Foundation now looks more like an artist's studio than an art gallery. In fact, the place is as much a work in progress as are some of its pieces -- bronze, unfired clay and plaster casts representing all phases of the sculptor's trade. ''We're still in an editing phase, having just recently unpacked more than 120 boxes of sculpture -- about 150 pieces, and that's just the small ones -- and hundreds of paintings. Then there's hundreds of examples of Martha's work, which are mostly watercolors,'' Skrapits says.Salemme's opus is indeed impressive, and represents a bridge between the Impressionists of the 19th century and 20th century Modernism. Born in Gaeta, Italy, in 1892, he moved to Boston with his father in 1904 after the death of his mother. He began studying art when he was 14, and in 1912 a Bostonian patron of the arts, recognizing his talent, sent him to Rome, where he studied classical sculpture. Returning to the United States after World War I, Salemme established a studio in Greenwich Village.Salemme became a prominent artist in the 1920s through the 1930s, when his Neoclassical style and reputation as a portrait sculptor earned him one of the first Guggenheim Fellowships, awarded in 1932.''To give you an idea of how important he was at the time, two of the other award recipients that year were Martha Graham and Lewis Mumford. He didn't even have to apply -- he was invited to take it,'' Skrapits says.One of his most important, and arguably most controversial works of the period, was his 1926 full-figure nude portrait of the actor Paul Robeson in bronze-colored plaster, titled ''Negro Spiritual.'' The sculpture is missing. Notable pieces on display from Salemme's classical period include ''Seated Athlete,'' a life-size bronze not shown in public since it was displayed at the Whitney Museum in 1936; ''Eve,'' another classic life-size bronze of a standing female nude, and a 1926 bust of Ethel Waters, the prominent Harlem Renaissance jazz/blues singer. Paintings from this period are very Post-Impressionistic, such as his Cézanne-like view of Central Park, with its soft colors and carefully preserved perspectives, or his portrait of British novelist Gerald Heard.But as the 1930s waned, Neoclassicism was giving way to Modernism, with figures and landscapes becoming more stylized and more expressionistic. What Salemme was doing was going out of style.''By the time he moved to the Lehigh Valley, he pretty much let his ties to the art world go. His focus was becoming less social and more imaginative and visionary,'' says Skrapits.The Salemmes discovered Northampton County through Manhattan friends who had a weekend place there. On a visit, they discovered an old schoolhouse that was being renovated into a residence, thought it would make a good studio, and bought it in 1959 as a weekend retreat. In 1962 they made the decision to move there permanently.His change of focus is evident in some sculptures on display from this period, such as fanciful, heavily textured pieces Salemme called ''environments.'' But many works from the period still preserve his classic quest for realism, such as busts of John F. Kennedy, Einstein and Eisenhower. Not one to be modest, Salemme called his Kennedy portrait ''the finest there was of the man, and no one is more qualified than myself to say so.''Salemme's later paintings show his drift to a more stylized vision. His world becomes more Matisse-like, filled with bright colors and distorted perspective. A still life of a bowl of green tomatoes becomes a surrealistic study with an imaginary background scene. Portraits of women he called ''imagined portraits'' are created from remembered or imagined details, not from the figures themselves.''When I met him, it was all about color relationships and almost surreal perspectives -- a more modernist approach. He once told me, 'I did my best work after I turned 70,' '' says Skrapits. ''I mean, here was this guy, 90 years old, just churning this stuff out -- it's like he was still trying to tell us something.''

ANTONIO SALEMME FOUNDATION
What: Space devoted to the work of the late painter/sculptor, who worked in Williams Township, Northampton County for a third of his life
When: Open 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, call first; or by appointment. Grand opening in the spring.
Where: 542 Hamilton St., second floor, Allentown
Admission: Free, donations acceptedInfo: 610-433-4150,http://www.antoniosalemme.org/Steve Siegel is a freelance writer.Jodi Duckett, editorjodi.duckett@mcall.com

Benefit Concert for Craig's Kids

Please spread the word about this event. Craig was dedicated to Art N Soul and building the arts community in Allentown. This concert is a benefit for Craig's children. Offer your support if you can.

Open House Cooperative Art Show on Saturday

I received these details from Kerri Ann and Adam and re-posted them here. Hopefully some of you can make it to the show on Saturday. This is becoming a regular event.

What: Gypsy Creations is hosting an Open House Cooperative Art Show

When: Saturday, Jan. 16 from noon to 7 p.m.

Where: 32 S. 18th Street, Allentown

Details: There will be a cooperative art show featuring Victor Fritch, work by recycling artists, drums, fine art, wearable creations, baskets, butterflies and more. Live music by Flux Capacitor.

Call 484-350-9674 for more information.

Save Your Mother. Shop Local. Buy Recycled.
Hosted By Gypsy Creations

Submissions Accepted for Art Event at The Caring Place

The following info is from Bethlehem artist Reinaldo Valentin. He is coordinating a show to benefit a local charitable organization. You can see some of his work right now at Art Mart. His website is: http://www.undermyfeetgallery.com/

Window of Opportunity

Artist Reception at The Caring Place
Friday, January 29, 2010
7-9 p.m.
931 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA

Under My Feet Gallery is organizing the Window of Opportunity art show. This will feature artworks by artists of all levels, from emerging to established. All sales will benefit the not-for-profit organization, The Caring Place, in Allentown to help raise money to send a group of inner city students to Washington, D.C.

Collectors walk away with something beautiful; a piece of art they love and their money going directly to support their community. Window of Opportunity provides an excellent opportunity to get a one-of-a-kind work of art and helps broaden the view of the world for a youth.

Attention Artists!
Deadline is Monday, January 25

All artists are invited and encouraged to donate one small 2D or 3D piece that must be priced under $50. We will also be auctioning off larger pieces of work. Please note size of work, price and if you would like to have a med-large piece auctioned off, please make a note of it and the value. Artists can submit up to 3 pieces of paintings, drawings, photography, prints, mixed media, and handcrafted items - all are welcome. If you would like to participate in this show, send one to three images to: reinaldovalentin@verizon.net

Learn more about http://www.thecaringplace.org/ or http://www.undermyfeetgallery.com/

Artists: Share Your Work Abroad

The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation is currently accepting applications for artists interested in performing in foreign locales. See the qualifications below.

Sadly, the deadline is this week: January 8, read on....

The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation's "U.S. Artists International" application for engagements taking place between March 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011 ends on January 8, 2010.

The program is committed to ensuring that the impressive range of expression and creativity of the performing arts in the United States is represented abroad.

USArtists International provides support for American dance, music, and theater ensembles and solo artists invited to perform at significant international festivals anywhere in the world outside the United States and its territories.

For more information about USArtists International, including program guidelines and application:

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
http://www.midatlanticarts.org

Attention: Sara Nash, Program Associate, International at saran@midatlanticarts.org.

Local Literary Magazine Seeking Submissions

I recently received a flyer from a friend for Halicarnassus, a self proclaimed "start-up literary magazine" based in Allentown. This new publication - the first edition is set to print in spring - is accepting submissions until March 1.

Writers can submit short stories, poetry, plays, non-fiction essays, illustration/comics and photography. Up to 3 submissions allowed per person, 6000 word count max.

Here are more details: Please do not submit previously published or otherwise copyrighted work - and - let the magazine know if your piece has been simultaneously submitted to another publication.

To Submit:

Attach written submissions in Word format and photography/illustration submissions in Adobe PDF format (300 dpi minimum) and send to:

Submit_To_Hal@yahoo.com

Specify the type of submitted work in the SUBJECT of the email.

See the blog at: tohalicarnassus.blogspot.com

Christmas Carol Crawl this Wednesday

From Diane Teti:

The 1^st Annual “We don’t need no stinking bulletproof vest!” Christmas Carol Crawl!

Join us as we brave the downtown and scare away any would be “perp’s” with our singing as we crawl to a couple of local watering holes, starting at 5pm Wed. Dec. 23 with complimentary beer (courtesy of the Allentown Brew Works) and wine at the newly-opened Art Mart at 813 W. Hamilton Street where we'll hand out our song lists and we’ll then head at 5:45 to the House of Chen (732 W. Hamilton) – Jenny, the owner, is extending their happy hour prices for us (be prepared to step back in time!), and then at 6:30 we'll roll onto the the newly opened Made in Brazil restaurant (bar area) in the Holiday Inn (try the Caipirinha!), then we'll finish at the Allentown Brew Works for our final round of song and a sampling of the Rude Elf beer!

Yes, we really sing, song list/ words provided. Wear your Santa hats, ugly Christmas sweaters or other holiday flare and let's get merry!

Email partyAllentown@gmail.com to RSVP and you're welcome to join us anywhere along the crawl. Happy holidays!

Opportunity to Show Artwork

From Liz at Touchstone Theatre:

Dear friends,

The Touchstone Theatre Gallery is accepting submissions for two exhibitions.
One is to be held February 26 – April 30, 2010. The exhibition will complement the performance of Fresh Voices, our annual showcase for our class of apprentices. Submissions will be accepted until January 31, 2010.

The second exhibition will open May 13, and will complement Pan, an original “modern day epic of sex, drugs and rock and roll gone bad.” Submissions will be accepted until April 9, 2010.

Submissions can be e-mailed to liz@touchstone.org or mailed to Liz Wheeler, Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. 4th Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015.

Digital images should be jpegs between 72 and 150 dpi, and between 300 x 300 pixels and 600 x 600 pixels. Begin the title of each jpeg with your last name.

If you mail a submission and want it returned, include a self addressed stamped envelope.

For more information, visit www.touchstone.org or call 610-867-1689.

Coat Drive for the Homeless at Art Mart

Through the rest of this week, Art Mart will be accepting coats, hats, gloves and first aid materials to distribute to the homeless in Allentown and Bethlehem.

Please donate what you can. Winter is almost here and those without shelter can use adequate clothing and first aid to make it through the season.

Please drop off during these times: Wednesday 11 am to 2 pm, Thursday 11 am to 2 pm and Friday 12 to 4 pm. Distribution will take place Saturday. Art Mart is located at 813 Hamilton St., across from Allentown Brew Works.

Have a happy holiday season!

Waiting For Obama at ART MART

Well, it was fun just waiting for him!

Photo: Angie Villa

Kick Off the Holidays at the City Tree Lighting - and Art Mart!

The City of Allentown's annual tree lighting ceremony will take place from 4-7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 3) at the pocket park at PPL Plaza, directly next to Art Mart at 813 Hamilton Street.

Please join us at Art Mart. We will be open for the duration of the events. Get most of your holiday shopping done in one place! We have fine art, handcrafted goods, hats, scarves, totes and more. Shop local this holiday season.

Here is the full list of events for the Tree Lighting:

Crafts for Children
Elf Parade
Elf Preparation Station
Music
Ice Carving Demo
Nutcracker & Pip the Mouse appearances
Arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus
Tickets for Sale to Lights in the Parkway
Free Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides
Tree Lights Up at 7 pm

Hope to see you there!

ART MART On Channel 69 News!

Here is a link to the Channel 69 News coverage of Art Mart.

ART MART

Meeting Notes 11/21/09

Thanks to everyone who attended and spoke at our November meeting at House of Chen. We had a large turnout this month, and there was a lot to talk about. Thanks to Jenny at House of Chen for providing unique and delicious Malaysian cuisine. It's great to see so many local artists and community volunteers coming together to create a cool and very happening art scene in downtown Allentown.

ART MART is opening this FridayNovember 27th 5-8pm. Curator Greg Coates addressed the group, as well as Sarah, and event coordinator Diane Teti. The address is 813 W. Hamilton St. and ART MART will be open during the Holiday season Wed- Fri 11am-2pm and Fri- Sat 5pm-8pm.

Volunteers are needed to sit at the store, so contact Sarah at the e-mail if you are interested in helping. ART MART is on Facebook too, where you can check for updates.

Angie Villa spoke about THE ART OF GIVING art auction to benefit the Lehigh County Conference of Churches Soup Kitchen. The auction will be held at The Baum School of Art on March 19th. Artists can donate work, all proceeds will be given to the soup kitchen. Contact Sue Highet at 610-435-5054

Greg Coates spoke about UNSEEN: PAINTINGS BY CHRIS NEYEN a gallery show currently at Greg's studio at 614 Washington St. You can see the show by making an appointment with Greg. There was a great turnout for the opening. Show runs through Dec. 13th. Congrats to Chris!

Cathy and Jonathan Botch spoke about their online artist's website called Flashpoint Creativity, Inc. Address is http://www.flashpointcreativity.com/

Diane Teti spoke about Word Wednesdays at The BrewWorks, and that artists can have digital images of their work projected on a screen during the event. Yodi and Kari Holmes are coordinating this event.

Marilyn Hazleton talked about the Spoken Word poems at our blog, and the city's upcoming Haiku Competition.

Joe Skrapits informed us that he is no longer an Allentown Arts Commissioner, and invited us to see the new home of the Salemme Foundation , which is located across the street from the Americus on Hamilton St.

Ethel Drayton-Craig spoke about Jazz coming to The Allentown Symphony, Fri. Dec. 4th, and The Arts Luminarium.

Ro Geseck spoke about her murals at The Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, 4th and Walnut.

Don't miss the Hess's mural, it will be painted over when the exhibit ends on Jan. 10th. Ro's Civil War mural will be up until the summer.

Did I forget anything?

Angie Villa

Photo of PPL by Gianni Villa, taken the night of our meeting.

Artists: Share Digital Images of Your Work

I had a recent chance to take part in Word Wednesday at Allentown Brew Works. There were 30+ people there and many of them came to share their poetry.

Yodi and Kari have a great event going on. That night, Kari was the perfect, personable hostess and Yodi and the musical ensemble (drummers and guitar, also open to public participation) provided great backup to the poets with chill musical interludes.

Prior to the break, the Word Wednesday crew shared digital images, projected on the wall, of artwork created by local artists. They want more artists to submit images of their work to be shown to the public in a digital slideshow at a future Word Wednesday event.

Please email submissions to: WordWednesday@hotmail.com

Word Wednesday is held the 2nd Wednesday of each month in the cozy Silk Lounge, lower level, Allentown Brew Works, 812 Hamilton Street.

Poems from "Velocity" show - at long last!

Poet Marilyn Hazelton has compiled the poems written by artists and the public at the "Velocity" show closing in June. She requested that they be posted here. Thanks to Marilyn for leading us through a great creative exercise, and thanks to those who participated. Enjoy!

From Marilyn:

A Meditation on Writing from Art

To walk into a gallery, allow a work of art to extend an invitation, accept, and begin to interact with that painting, sculpture, or entire room adds an unusual layer to the art process and becomes it’s own form of art.

Artists and family and friends of artists added that artistic effort to the opening and closing receptions for “Velocity”, the Chen Art Group’s summer show at the Allentown Art Museum.

The resulting poems reflect the viewers’ visual responses and perceptions, as well as memories and reflections, evoked by the art.

The Poems:

Many thanks to Susan Weaver and Marilyn Hazelton for co-hosting the writing event at the Closing Reception of “Velocity”, to Wilhelm Schmidt for his assistance in typing many of the writings below, and to all who participated.

for the Chen Arts Show

Human murmurs, conversations

The walls stand quiet, waiting for attention.

“Hear us” the works say

“Interact with us.

Enter into relationship.”

Silent they wait as we turn to face them.

Georgine Miller

Balancing Act

After "Coffee Cups 5" by Glenn Lash

Glaze shimmers

on that twist

of dough

dunked forever

in a turquoise mug.

Above,

a clattering cup

tips a splash

of joe.

A doughnut

draws my gaze—

circled with an eternity

of chocolate icing.

It wears an upturned cup

like a

teetering top hat.

Poised on its lid,

a potter's spiraling

vortex,

dizzying

as a sugar rush.

I drink to this

off-kilter

totem

to hedonism

and that

all-American

institution ...

the coffee break.

Susan Weaver

Memories from the front line.

Inspired by Lee Leckey’s painting “Center Front”

Veil concealing ghosts of recent past.

Center, drive, round and round, crosses, lines.

How did they begin,

Forms, fields, patches, life?

Penetrating, one by one,

Repeating actions memorized.

Waning, waxing, taking center front, interrupted,

Memories run off.

Leading, one by one,

Eyes toward unpredictable future.

One by one,

Circles, ground, sky.

Rafael J. Cañizares-Yunez


Glimpses and Reminiscences

I see my salvation walking towards the enemy

Waiting to strike in the name of God

Although the enemy is the devil, he has taken a deceiving look

In the eyes of a peaceful soldier, the deadly swan is the worst enemy

But, in the eyes of a human, it is just a swan

In between the rivals is the sign of Jesus’ mother

Who is defending the rights of all human race

Kamilah Velez

For “3 Piece Man”

a sculpture by Heather Haas

Tripartite -

arc and trough

of skin and bone,

the negative space

carries weight, emotion,

defines life

thinly suspended

by a rod of steely resolve.

We are often cut thus.

Perhaps this stark white shell

is a cocoon

already shed,

the true self

transformed.

Ann Corbett Burke

Alley in Autumn

After "Emmett Street, Allentown" by Joseph Skrapits

Narrow houses crowd

Emmett Street

like neighbors talking

over the back fence

before winter closes in.

To a wall of aqua blue

the phone pole's shadow,

a compass needle,

points up the alley,

collects my eye

from its

distraction

by a swath of fence

painted persimmon

in afternoon sun.

An oak tree waits

for wind to drift leaves

and open a view

skyward

past peaked roofs

that will change beyond return

this half-street moment,

this autumn brilliance

captured

on the artist's canvas.

Susan Weaver

for “Emmett Street” by Joe Skrapits

Florence! Oh skip it

And all the cousins would laugh

The headless house man

or

no more peanuts please

Bill Villa


“Surf’s Up”

for a sculpture by Wilhelm Schmidt

Roots soaring

after the storm,

wings of wood swirl

upward from the vortex.

Enchanted,

I see a hole

nearly hidden:

the eye

of dark disturbance,

an epicenter

from which is flung

pure joy.

Ann Corbett Burke

Surf’s Up

for a sculpture by Wilhelm Schmidt

Wild whorl wings

Movement caught trembling

Windblown

In polished wood

Shape glanced sidelong

Eye seizing

Grappling

Almost

Fleeting

Gone

Paul Blaney

Zero Gravity

For “Escape Velocity” by Sereno Jacob

Shivering, thunderous metal plates

Meet the Stratosphere.

In only moments sky will be gone.

Free of ground.

Free of air.

A blank page, as black as all nights.

A chance to start new.

Anonymous

For “Hyper View” by Rick Hildenbardt

You are wild you are free

You herd together for life support

Your life is carved from the land

Along comes man

And you are now only a memory

Carved in wood on a wall

Anonymous


or “Cotterman’s Tornado” by Ryan Fulton

A naked boy quietly contemplating the stars

Gazing toward the heavens

+ knowing that they’re ours

Peering eyes, fixed on the skies

Before the Mexican temple

At home + at peace

Sarah Fulton

For “Untitled Cow Drawing” by Greg Weaver

Just A Few Squiggles

Comical simple tail to head drawing

A squiggly cow, makes you join smiling

Across the meadow frolicking

On a lark, just sailing

Ears and tail compelling

Care-free romp tale-telling

Heard from stories trailing

Cathy Botch

Solace

for” Solastaglia”

Button dropped, and then again found

Now contained, still, no sound

Worn with pride, in a far off place

Released from threads, hanging in space

Newly used, in the past for closure,

Semi-revealed, a partial exposure

Once held in fingers, young and old

Suddenly art, impossible to hold

We live, we pass, but once we come through

In art, as in life, we are created anew

Graham Lustig

for “Shy Geoff” by Yodi

Splatters and squiggles of paint

Fly like confetti in a parade

Or streamers at a childhood celebration

As Geoffrey watches Yodi

Play with paper

Angie Villa

for “The Patriot Act” by Georgina Miller

Forlorn expression looking back

The eyes must say what the mouth can’t

Face recessed in white and red

While blue muzzles what is said

Zehra Follweiler

for” Marley’s Trail”

Beauty is all around us

In nature

In animals

In creativity

Beauty created by God

Dog hike. Straight trees and

Flowing blades of grass. Get lost

On the path, enjoy the journey

Anonymous

Lake Erie Sunset

For a photograph by Jeff Williams of the same name

Fingers

of ice

and fire

reach for light,

like a hand rising

into the play of winter.

Beyond this,

beyond

other eruptions

between sheets

of frozen beach,

a slim slice

of water

borders

ice peaks

rising and falling

in conversation

with God

disguised

as sky.

Marilyn Hazelton