News

Kim Abeles Transforms Trash Into Art at Harvard-Westlake School

in Exhibitions / News / Talks/Panels / Teaching  by Cheri Gaulke
Obama in 9 Days of Smog and McCain in 18 Days of Smog, 2008

Obama in 9 Days of Smog and McCain in 18 Days of Smog, 2008

I would like to invite you to check out this exhibition I organized at Harvard-Westlake School where I am now the Visual Arts Department Chair.

Over a period of five weekdays, nationally acclaimed artist Kim Abeles was dumpster diving at Harvard-Westlake’s upper school to collect trash without the general knowledge of students, faculty or staff. She then cleaned, ironed, and assembled the trash in her studio and transformed it into new artwork. Abeles environmental art, as well as works that were collaborations with Harvard-Westlake students, will be featured in the Feldman-Horn Gallery in an exhibition called Nature Studies, from Feb. 9 – March 6. The gallery is open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. school days and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Please join us for two public events on Wednesday, Feb. 18. At 9:35 a.m., Abeles will do a gallery talk especially for students and staff, and she conducts another talk at 6 p.m. especially for parents and the public, which will be followed by a reception until 9 p.m.

Abeles, currently a professor of art at the California State University, Northridge, earned national recognition with her smog series in which she literally invented a way to “paint” with particulate matter. The Harvard-Westlake exhibit will feature her complete collection of presidential smog plates. Other large-scale environmentally themed works on display include The Leaf Lounge (All the World’s Leaves), in which hundreds of fabric leaves were created at five times the normal size in which Gallery visitors are encouraged to lounge!

Leaf Lounge (All the World’s Leaves), 2000

Leaf Lounge (All the World’s Leaves), 2000

Background
Each year, the Harvard-Westlake Visual Arts Department hosts a professional artist’s exhibition in Feldman-Horn Gallery. Inspired by HW’s Green Initiative, Visual Arts Dept. Chair Cheri Gaulke contacted Kim Abeles, who is known for work that addresses environmental issues and often involves communities. Abeles began working with teachers and students to develop projects that involve the skill sets taught within the classes. Students in various departments examined the relationship between humans and the world around them, particularly our consumption-driven culture. Video students recorded Abeles as she dumpster-dove and carried garbage from the trash bins to her car. Math classes evaluated the typical consumption and waste at Harvard-Westlake based on the collected materials, like the amount of water left in discarded water bottles. Photography students investigated the relationship between the sun’s ultraviolet rays and skin tones. Sculpture students made “smog catchers” by using leaves from campus trees. Environmental-science students collected water labels and documented the trash each of them generates over two days. The environmental club and women’s studies students made connections between the environment and Native American spiritual teachings. Journalism students documented the entire process in the school newspaper.

In the spring, a catalog of the exhibition will be published that documents and examines the role of art in education and how art can be a tool for social change around issues such as the environmental crisis. The exhibition and catalog are made possible through the generous support of Harvard-Westlake Trustee Janis Feldman Horn.

For more information, contact Harvard-Westlake Visual Art Department Chair Cheri Gaulke at (818) 487-6596 or [email protected].

Neighborhood Church Green Fair

in News / Public Art  by Cheri Gaulke

green-fairThis is the Unitarian Universalist Church that I attend in Pasadena. This Saturday, Jan. 31, 10 am – 4 pm, they will be hosting a Green Fair. There will be live music, environmental films, kids’ crafts, healthy food, vendors with sustainable products, a succulent sale, and more. It’s free!

And here’s a bonus. You can meet the kids I recently went to Ethiopia with who will be selling their books to raise money for water wells. They are YouthInkwell Publishing. And you can see my most recently completed public art piece — a glass, steel and stone “flaming chalice” set in a rain garden.

For more info go to the website, http://neighborhoodgreenfair.com.

Talking About the Woman’s Building

in News  by Cheri Gaulke

I wanted to let you know about a talk I am doing at ONE, the national gay and lesbian archives in Los Angeles, as part of the ONE Culture Series. The talk is called The Woman’s Building: An Organization of Our Own. Writer Terry Wolverton and I will be sharing how this historic feminist organization influenced our work and how its impact lives on.

From 1975-1991, I was involved with the Woman’s Building in various roles including student, artist-in-residence, building manager, and board member. It had a profound impact on my life and art. When the Building closed in 1991, its archives went to different places and can be found now at the Getty Research Institute, the Archives of American Art in the Smithsonian, Otis College of Art and Design, and the ONE archives. Though not a lesbian organization per se, the Woman’s Building was a place where feminist, lesbian, and women’s art in general could be explored and made public.

If you are so inclined, join us for a talk and discussion of these exciting and fertile years.
Sunday, September 21, 2 pm FREE
ONE Archives
909 W. Adams Blvd.&
Los Angeles, CA 90007

ONE Archives is located near the USC campus between Figueroa and Hoover. There is parking behind the building entering on Scarff Street. For further information call ONE.  www.onearchives.org

That's me, bottom right, on the day of my wedding, July 5. photo by Kevin O'Malley

A Screening of the Film, Preacher’s Sons

in News / Talks/Panels  by Cheri Gaulke

I am honored to be introducing this documentary film by my friends Mark Nealey and C Reed at a special screening of “Preacher’s Sons.”

“Preacher’s Sons” is a provocative chronicle of five troubled boys; the two men who adopt them; and the four cities that alternately accept them (Los Angeles), revile them (Grand Rapids), exclude them (Reno), and lionize them (San Francisco). Join the fledgling Stewart family on their five-year, emotionally charged odyssey through the American heartland. Marvel, as they meet racism and homophobia with faith and irreverent humor. Observe five all-but-lost boys becoming a true band of brothers. And find out what really happens behind the minister’s closed doors, in this intimate, moving, and humorous portrait.

The preacher is the Rev. Greg Stewart, who started this journey as our minister of religious education at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, where I am a member. The filmmakers, Mark and C, followed Greg and his family over a 5 year period. Tragically, shortly after completing the film, Mark was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a couple weeks ago. This is the first public screening of the film and it is a benefit for the family’s medical expenses. It is exciting too that the film’s subjects, Greg, Stillman and their 5 boys, will be coming down from San Francisco for the screening. I encourage you not to miss this wonderful opportunity to see this special film. I hope you to see you there.

Thursday, April 3, 7 pm, $10 suggested donation

Laemmle One Colorado, 42 Miller Alley, Pasadena, CA 91103

Advance tickets available online with no additional fees at http://www.laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?date=04032008&thid=9

Here’s a link to the film’s website: http://www.preacherssons.com/

Filipino WWII Veterans Memorial

in News / Public Art  by Cheri Gaulke


Click here to see more photos of the Filipino WWII Veterans Memorial

Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial
Lake Street Park, Historic Filipinotown,
227 N. Lake Street, Los Angeles, CA
90057
Designed by Cheri Gaulke, Artist
Commissioned by L.A. City Council District 13, Eric Garcetti, Councilmember
Unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 2006

Project Description The memorial honors the struggles, victories and patriotism of the Filipino World War II veterans. Five large black granite monoliths (5-7’ tall x 3-4’ wide) rise from the ground and two granite benches (1.5’ tall x 2-5’ wide) allow viewers to sit in meditation before them. Etched onto the face of the monoliths are photographs and text that tell the story including: the historical relationship between the United States and the Philippines, the invasion of the Philippines by Japan, the brave defense and battles of WWII, the surrender and horrific Bataan Death March and prisoner of war camps, General MacArthur’s return to the Philippines, the independence of the Philippines resulting in the loss of veterans’ benefits, and the ongoing struggle to receive recognition by the US government.
Materials In the space between the second and third monolith rises a vertical sheet of dichroic glass that shifts in color from warm copper to cool blues as the viewer moves in front of it. The shimmering dichroic glass serves as a contemporary eternal flame. The materials are both traditional (exquisite black granite with engraved text) and contemporary (dichroic glass and etched photographs on granite). The front and back surfaces of the black granite are highly polished and the top and sides are a natural broken surface. The black granite speaks to the strength and substance of the story; the broken edges give an earthy quality befitting a memorial; the highly polished surface reflects the viewer calling them to involve themselves in the story. The first four monoliths recount the war experience and the fifth tells the story of the quest for benefits. The space between the fourth and fifth monolith forms a V, subtly representative of veteran, valor and victory. The two granite benches have the word “valor” etched in English and Tagalog.
Placement The monoliths are arranged on a slope between the street and the recreation center at Lake Street Park in the Historic Filipinotown section of Los Angeles. The street side of the memorial has the word “valor” etched quite large, a map of the Philippines, and a quote from a survivor of the Bataan Death March which states, “Bataan was not our last battlefield. We are still fighting for equity.” At the recreation center side, viewers can walk towards the monoliths and read the story, or stop and sit on the benches and contemplate history. The intention of the memorial design is to be a place where the veterans themselves can tell their stories, as well as a place that teaches future generations about these important historic events.

—Cheri Gaulke, Artist