Sisterhood City: Feminist Art in Los Angeles

Friday, Jan. 21 at 2 pm I will be participating in a panel discussion at the LA Art Show. The panel, Sisterhood City: Feminist Art in Los Angeles, is moderated by art historian, critic and writer Betty Ann Brown, and includes Otis gallery director Meg Linton, critic Peter Frank, and artists Sandra Rowe, Linda Vallejo and myself (Rachel Rosenthal is unable to participate). Panelists will discuss how politics, history, and geography conspired to make California the perfect locus for the genesis of a rich tradition in feminist art. Come hear us, make comments of your own, and cruise through the L.A. Art Show while you’re there! It’s at the LA Convention Center and you can find more info about parking, admission and a list or art exhibitors at http://www.laartshow.com/.

Tour of Art Along the Gold Line

"Water Street: River of Dreams," public art by Cheri Gaulke

Please join me on Saturday, June 26, 2010, 10 am for a very special event — Art Along the Gold Line — a docent and artist-led tour along the MTA’s Pasadena Gold Line. The tour is a fundraiser for the Avenue 50 Studio, a non-profit art gallery in Highland Park. www.avenue50studio.com

Join us as we artistically bridge East Los and Pasadena on the Metro Gold Line. Meet the artists of the Metro stations who will describe their artwork in the community. We will have refreshments as we travel along plus lunch will be provided by Home Girl Café.

The tour will be led by Vanessa Acosta, Board Member and owner of Cultural Arts Tours and Workshops with participating artists:
John Valadez — Memorial Park Station
Southwest Museum — MTA Docent
Cheri Gaulke — Cypress Park/Lincoln Heights Station
Little Tokyo Station — MTA Docent
Mariachi Plaza — MTA Docent
Paul Botello — Indiana Station
Maravilla Station — Jose Lopez
Clement Hanami — East LA Civic Center
Ulises Diaz — Atlantic Station
Michael Amescua — Union Station
Chinatown Station — MTA Docent

Donation:  $40 per person includes snacks and lunch. Please make checks payable to “Avenue 50 Studio.”

We will meet at the Pasadena Senior Center, 85 East Holly Street, Pasadena, CA 91103 for registration between 9:30 to 9:55 am. We will walk to the Memorial Station and begin the tour there. Refreshments will be served at the Senior Center. Parking is available at the Marriott for about $6 all day on Raymond, across from Memorial Park, next to the Armory Center for the Arts and Heritage Wine.

So if you’ve ever wanted to know more about the art on the Gold Line, this tour is for you! Maybe I’ll see you there.

Los Angeles Film Festival features Cheri Gaulke’s student films

 

Xochi Maberry-Gaulke and Anjoum Agrama in The Stand

Saturday, June 19, 10 am will be the first of two screening dates for the Future Filmmaker Showcase, an annual feature of the Los Angeles Film Festival. Each year student films are selected from international submissions and I’m proud to say Harvard-Westlake student films have been represented every year since we started entering. This year we have a record four films in the High School Program #1. They are The Stand, Still Life, A Gum’s Life and Dem Shoes. The first three were created in my Summer Film Camp and the last one was created by seniors in my advanced video art class, all at Harvard-Westlake School. I am especially proud of The Stand, which co-stars my daughter Xochi in a comedic role. She has been getting great feedback on her performance from film festival judges as luminary as composer Randy Newman. My other daughter, Marka, is the assistant director.

Many thanks goes to Hebe Tabachnik who puts together a great program every year including a luncheon for the youth filmmakers and this year, one-on-one guidance sessions with industry professionals. Here’s how the Los Angeles Film Festival describes High School Program #1:

Through comedy, music, and documentary, these stories illustrate how teens (and some unfortunate pieces of gum) face love, death, commerce, depression, and even sexual harassment.  Candid, poignant, and comedic, this collection gives us a peek into the challenges of their everyday teen existence. Program running time is 84 minutes. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online at http://www.lafilmfest.com/2010/ or at the box office.

High School Program #1, June 19, 10 am and June 26, 3 pm

L.A. LIVE Regal Cinema 12, downtown Los Angeles

1000 West Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA (213) 763-6070

Here’s more about my students’ films. A Gum’s Life (director Sophia Tran) combines stop-motion animation and live action to delve into a day in the life of a piece of chewing gum. Still Life (director Lee Feldman) is a silent-film love story gone awry when one lover gets stuck in the film frame and is separated from her love. Dem Shoes (directors Lucas Casso and Adam Maltz) is a hip-hop don’t stop music video celebration of one boy’s amazing collection of shoes. The Stand (director Olivia Chuba) is a mockumentary about trying to beat the competition. Two old friends – a free spirit and a control freak – set up a lemonade stand. Will their friendship survive when a boy moves his competing business next door? Come find out the answer to this and other questions tomorrow or next Saturday!

The book “Marriage Matters” is “Out There”

Marriage Matters, the artists’ book that Sue Maberry and I created in 2005, is included in an exhibition called Out There that opens tonight.  http://laaa.org/out_there_2010/index.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA) and the City of West Hollywood are proud to announce the third annual Out There exhibition celebrating the LGBT experience during West Hollywood’s Pride Month festivities. This effort commemorates West Hollywood’s lasting commitment to raising public awareness and appreciation of the talents and abilities of all artists.

The Out There exhibition, opening at Gallery 825 on June 11, is an all-media exhibition juried by Hillary Metz of Blythe Projects Los Angeles. Ms. Metz’s past commitment to the LGBT Community via the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance and the 2009 Create Equality artwalk in Culver City poises her as the ideal curator to jury this important exhibition. Out There celebrates and acknowledges the special opportunities that West Hollywood has provided for creative individuals over the past 25 years. Out There is made possible by the City of West Hollywood Arts Grant Program and the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission. Out There runs June 11-17 at Gallery 825 (with special Sunday hours on June 13 after the Pride Parade).

Featured Artists: Brandy Eve Allen, Dori Atlantis, Eric Allen Carter, Joanne Chase-Mattillo, Ching Ching Cheng, YaYa Chou, Richard Chow, Raul de la Torre, Bryan Fair, Steve Fujimoto, Alisa Gabrielle, Martin Gantman, Cheri Gaulke and Sue Maberry, Shizuko Greenblatt, Niku Kashef, Siri Kaur, Shelley Kommers, Jonas Kulikauskas, Linda Kunik, William Mackenzie-Smith, Steven Moses, Gustavo Muñoz, Bob Poe, Mei Xian Qiu, Glynnis Reed, Gwen Samuels, Mark Schoening, Steve Seleska, Thomas Skene, Alix Soubiran, Eugenie Spirito, Michael Salvatore Tierney, Daena Title, Dan Vanclapp and Art Weeks.

Reception: Friday, June 11, 6 to 9 pm and after the Pride Parade on June 13. Show runs through June 17.

Admission: Free 

Where: Gallery 825, 825 N. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90069  

For more information call 310.652.8272 or e-mail [email protected]

Marriage Matters was also pictured and discussed in a review of the Love Never Dies exhibition in Minneapolis.  It’s a great review about a very interesting exhibition of work about the “gay marriage” issue. Check it out. http://www.downtownjournal.com/index.php?&story=15466&page=65&category=93

Exhibition about gay marriage opens in Minneapolis

Our Wedding, July 5, 2008

I’m very proud of my latest video art work called Our Wedding which was created in collaboration with my life partner Sue Maberry and our daughters Xochi and Marka. It just opened in an exhibiton called Love Never Dies at Form + Content gallery in Minneapolis.  The exhibition also includes Sue’s and my artists’ book, Marriage Matters, which is one of our art works that incorporates Sears portraits of gay and lesbian families. The book and video were called the “centerpiece” of the exhibition by Minnesota Public Radio (though they failed to say our names!). Here’s a link to the story and some wonderful shots of some of the other artists’ works in the show. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/state-of-the-arts/archive/2010/05/love-never-dies.shtml.

The video Our Wedding was produced by Sue Maberry and me, but the impetus for it came when our daughter Xochi wrote an essay about our 2008 wedding for a school application. Fifteen-year-old Xochi is the writer/narrator and her twin sister Marka is the director/editor. Sue and I served as producers/editors. Soon I will begin entering it in youth and lesbian and gay film festivals. Here’s a description of the 7 1/2 minute video art documentary.

Twin daughters of lesbians collaborate to tell the story of what their mothers’ legal marriage means to them. The 14-year-old girls served as “documaidens,” carrying flip video cameras instead of bouquets to record the ceremony. Phranc, the All-American Jewish lesbian folk singer, wrote and performed an original song for the event. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the battle against California’s Proposition 8. Not your typical home movie, this short documentary offers a glimpse into the life of an artistic lesbian family.