Chautauqua Art Lab 2011

++++CHAUTAUQUA ART LAB 2011+++++

WHAT?
In its third year, the Chautauqua Art Lab (CQAL)

is a week-long grassroots citywide arts festival, free
university and art parade. Connecting innovative,
makers, thinkers and doers throughout St Louis
and the US.

WHERE?
Artist-run spaces throughout St Louis City

WHEN?
9-Day Festival from May 7th through May 15th

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?
Participation is a big part of the fest. Many of the
events offer workshops, community projects, and
share spaces as well as community dinners
throughout. Simply show up and join in.
All are welcome.

WEB: sporeprojects.blogspot.com

CONTACT: ghostsihavebeen@gmail.com

_______________________________________


1. SATURDAY MAY 7th- CINCO DE MAYO

a) Cherokee Street PEOPLE"S JOY PARADE
Location 1: Black Forest Parking Lot
Time: Meet at noon, parade starts at 1:11pm
Contact: Jenny Shriner- jmshriner@gmail.com

b) SPORE MOBILE GALLERY- Sarah Leitten
Location 2: Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee Street
Time: Ongoing
Final showing of "Three Sister's Shrine."
**http://sarahleitten.blogspot.com

c) AFTER PARTY
Location 3: Floating Labs at 4528 Ohio
Time: 9pm
Featuring: All Tiny Creatures (WS), Depth and
Current (OK), Half Gay, Eric Hall & a secret
art show in the Owl's Den

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2. SUNDAY MAY 8th- NORTH CITY EVENT
Info posted soon. Surprise event.
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3. MONDAY MAY 9th- NORTHSIDE TOURS

a) BIKE BRIGADE to Northside w/ Willy Zep
Location 1: CAMP 3022A Cherokee St. (backyard)
Time: Leaving 5:30pm, Returning 9pm
Contact: Willy at 314-479-2900

b) PUBLIC RECLAMATION PICNIC
w/ Kara Clark Holland
Location 2: Intersection of Cass and 14tth
Time: 6pm
Participate in photographer Kara Clark Holland's
public reclamation picnic. Bring food to share.
Project Info: http://karaclarkholland.com

c)PRUITT-IGOE TOUR w/ Michael Allen
Location 3: Pruitt-Igoe entrance on Cass Ave.
Time: 7pm
St Louis history guru Michael Allen will lead a
lively tour of the Pruitt-Igoe site.
Michael Allen: http://preservationresearch.com

d)KAREN HOUSE BIKE-BY w/ Willy Zep
Location 4: Karen House & Urban Roots Farm
Time: 8pm
Karen House: http://karenhousecw.org
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4. TUESDAY MAY 10th-
TEMPORARY FORT PROJECT (PART 1)

Location: Pig Slop- 2700 Cherokee Street
Time: 6:00-10:00pm
Contact: Zak at zmarmalefsky@gmail.com

As part of a two day series the arts community

is invited to build a fort structure inside Pig Slop studios.

Many Thanks to Herding Cats Collective, Pig Slop
Members & Cole Root for donations.
________________________________________

5. WEDNESDAY May 11th-
TEMPORARY FORT PROJECT (PART 2)

Location: Pig Slop- 2700 Cherokee Street
Time: 6:00- 11:00pm
Contact: Zak at zmarmalefsky@gmail.com

a)MUSIC: Dubb Nubb & FIREDOG: 6pm

b)SPORE GALLERY ARTIST TALK: 8pm
Juliet Hinely (Florida)
Contact: http://juliet-hinely.com

c)SHORT FILM SERIES: 8:30pm
Films by Phil Forsyth (Chicago), Sarah Leitten
(Chicago), Dan Schniedkraut (Minneapolis),
Brett Marren (StL), Philip Shorey (Minneapolis),
Bill Russell (StL), Willy Zep (StL), Jamie
Jessop (StL) and Sarah Paulsen's Forest Park
Community College film students.
Contact: Allen Killian-Moore-
tendrilinthemesh@riseup.net
_______________________________________

6. THURSDAY MAY 12th-
CHEROKEE STREET CRAWL

a)WEST CHEROKEE: 6-7:30pm
Archive, Fort Gondo (M.S.I.F), STL Style,
Cranky Yellow, Firecracker Press, & Peridot.
Evenn's Apartment Gallery (above Peridot).

b)EAST CHEROKEE: 7:30- 9pm
Pig Slop (CQAL Fort Project) , Aisle 1 (Joey
Potts), All Along Press (Jenny Murphy, Travis
Russell, & Angela Malchionno), SPORE Gallery
(Juliet Hinely) & David Langley's Studio.

c)OUTDOOR FILM w/ LIVE SOUND: 9:15pm
Location 1: Cherokee ReAl Garden, 2647 Cherokee
Rain Location 2: Pig Slop, 2700 Cherokee
Allen Killian-Moore's "Shut the Mouth" with live
soundtrack by Ali Jafar (Minneapolis)

_______________________________________

7. FRIDAY MAY 13th- OLD TYME
HOEDOWN & BBQ
Hosted by Charles & Chalot Douglas-Book
Location: Mrs MacCormick's Yard. 2917 Texas
Time: 7-12pm

a)BBQ POTLUCK: 7pm
Bring some yummy foods to share. Vegan food is
appreciated but we won't discriminate.

b)SOUND PERFORMANCES: Herding Cats
Collective- Anna Lum, Rich O'Donnell and friends
(StL), Bill Tucker (Chicago), Sincerely Ethics
(Minneapolis), Ghosts I Have Been (StL), Alan
Schilling (StL) & Daydream Lullaby (StL)

c)DANCE PERFORMANCES: Isaac Hester,
Kelsey Keil, & Audrey Simes
________________________________________

8. SATURDAY MAY 14th- EXPERIMENTAL
PERFORMANCES, WORKSHOPS & PICNIC

Location 1: Building Arts Foundation Museum.
2300 Falling Springs RD. Sauget, IL (East St Louis)
Time: 3- 8pm
More Info: www.buildingmuseum.org

a) YOGA with Amy Broadway. 3pm
Bring a mat or a beach towel.

b)PICNIC: 4pm
Bring food to share. Vegan options appreciated.

c)PERFORMANCES: Ongoing 4-8pm
Keith Buchholz (Fluxus StL), Lincoln Johns
(France), Ali Jaafar (Minneapolis), Allen
Killian-Moore (Stl), .E (Stl), Syna So Pro
(Stl), & Chalk (StL).

d)COLLABORATIVE JAM: Sundown
w/ Ghosts I Have Been

e)WORKSHOPS: On-going
- Electronic Alterations: Chalk (StL)
- Contact Mics: Emily Hemeyer (StL)
- Buttons: Amanda Rainey of Special Passenger
Records (Columbia, MO)

f)PANCAKE MASTER'S 30th BIRTHDAY!!
Location 2: Way Out Club at 2525 South Jefferson
Time: 10pm
Featuring: Rob Severson, King Kong Magnets,
Lord of the Yum Yum (Chicago), Bunnygrunt and
a secret celebrity guest. 21 and up. $7.
________________________________________

9. SUNDAY MAY 15th- WORKSHOPS,
COMMUNITY SHARE SPACE, & POTLUCK

Location 1: CAMP at 3022A Cherokee Street
Time: 11-5pm

a) WORKSHOPS
11- 1pm:"Popcorn in the Brain: Tapping into
both hemispheres to break through barriers and
discovering your potential."-by Bill Donius.

1- 2pm: "Sloup Proposal Workshop Presented for Solo
Artists with Half Thoughts." - by Sloup. Join us in

developing a one page proposal for the May 22nd Sloup.
Participants will alter/develop/respond to each others' ideas,

forgetting completely that they will compete for the next

Sloup grant.

c)OPEN FORUM IDEA SHARE: 2-5pm
Everyone is invited to share ideas! Make a slide-
show, prop your project on a table, turn on the
tape deck or just stand up & share. You can
email ahead or just show up. Straws are drawn
at 2pm. Voyeurs welcome.

Confirmed participants- Sarah Paulsen (The
Creative History of Cherokee Street), Cameron
Fuller (The Institute for the Perpetuation of
Imaginable Processes), Rebecca Bodhicky (Alice
Blue Collective), Emily Hemeyer (SPORE Projects
& Mobile Gallery), Eric & Michelle Repice (St Louis
Violence & Literacy Project), Jenny Shriner (CAMP),
Jeffery Miller, Amelia Jones & more.

d)CONVERSATIONS & POTLUCK: 6pm
Hosts: Hap Philips & Nita Turnage
Location: Muse Studio. 4601 S. Broadway

e)S. BROADWAY OPEN HOUSE: 8-11pm
Location: 4528 Ohio
-Open House: Arcadia Studios & Owl's Den. 8pm
-Dance Party: Lauderdale (Bottom of the Hill).
Featuring: DJ Invisible Cola, 18andCounting,
and Jeremy Kannapell.

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The St Louis Mythory Tour at the 2011 Southern Graphics Council Convention (SGC)

St Louis Mythory Tour
a collaborative tour and zine making workshop
by Emily Hemeyer & Michael R. Allen

May 12th, 2011. 6-9pm. Cherokee ReAL Garden. Cherokee Street. St Louis, MO
Southern Graphics Council (SGC) Convention.

“[M]yth is speech stolen and restored.”
-Roland Barthes, Mythologies



ABOUT THE PROJECT

The built environment of St. Louis reveals itself through our observations, often clouded by nostalgia, ideology and comparison. We look around us and see inscriptions of what we imagine St. Louis to be, be that a “red brick mama”, an emergent Rust Belt powerhouse, a faded imperial capital or simply our home. St. Louis offers back its own narrative mythologies, presented through chains of linked sites with collective meanings. We quickly find that the city’s own presentation of itself is as veiled as our own observation. There is no one St.Louis, but there is no one archetypal St. Louisan.

The Mythtory Tour imagines a landscape of accrued building that has been neglected, in physical form and human consciousness. This tour presents one possible mythology of place centered on traditions of construction converging across disparate neighborhoods and many generations in order to show us St.Louis. Whether you can find this city out there is irrelevant, because using this map you will find some city worth your love and respect.

1. THEY BUILT WITH EARTH
Sugarloaf Mound, 4420 Ohio Street




2. THEY BUILT WITH STONE
Stone House, 124 E. Steins Street




3. THEY BUILT TO PRODUCE
Lemp Brewery, southeast corner of Cherokee & Lemp streets



4. THEY BUILT IN THE AIR
Pruitt-Igoe Site, Southeast Corner of Cass and Jefferson Avenues



5. THEY BUILT FOR THE FUTURE
Kingshighway Viaduct, Kingshighway Boulevard Between Vandeventer and Shaw Avenues



6. THEY BUILT UNDERGROUND
Cherokee Street Caves



7. THEY BUILT ON THE WATER
Mississippi River near the Graffiti Wall

Mythory Tour In Process

Received in October from Emily in Philly!

An upcoming SPORE artist for spring, Emily Peters just sent this gorgeous package out of Philadelphia. This our first communication of an ongoing mail art exchange. Hand-dyed and constructed the neck piece is made of objects that are special to me; bones and trinkets from trips, friends and my parent's farm. The package also included a mold for a key to Emily's apartment and several photo-transfer pieces in need of treading. The package was an old Wheaties box. Beautifully done Emily!

Collaborate with SPORE!

Send proposal to Emily at ghostsihavebeen@gmail.com

Include in your proposal:
1. 3-5 jpegs of past work or website link
2. Concept outline. Including writing, drawings, video, and/or images.
3. List materials. These should be found, constructed or recycled.
4. Q- How the project will engage the community?

LOCATION: SPORE is presently located in St Louis, Missouri.

GALLERY MONTHS: Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Feb, March, April, May (off months- Dec, Jan, June, and July).

ARTIST RESIDENCY: We offer a communal 1-week residency w/ an "opening", community share and/or performance for out-of-town artists and musicians. This includes studio access, housing, general materials, and use of a bike. Sliding scale donation of $50-$100 covers food, studio and housing costs.

MOBILE COLLABORATION: SPORE relishes collaborations in other communities. Exchanges can range from a weekend to short residencies.

NEEDS: Always accepting gifts of gas, maintenance, money, materials, and art for the archive. Currently looking for a projector and amplifier.

Appalachia Bound

Robert Long's "Still Life: Composition #1 Three Chairs" was installed today. Balancing varnished scraps from discarded chairs the installation resembles a delicate skeletal structure metaphoric in origin that will change with the vibrations of the journey. This is piece one in a three-part series Long is creating for SPORE. The SPORE van itself, with 180,000 miles and ABS issues has had a hectic summer. Fortunately after a hefty mechanic bill she's running splendidly and is outfitting to embark on a three week venture through Kentucky, West Virgina, the Carolinas and Tennessee.

Throughout the venture Emily will be documenting historic Utopian communities, cultural colonies, optimistic homesteaders and visionaries. Sharing also the improvisational chantings of Ghosts I Have Been.

Upcoming show = Robert Long

Robert's Website: Home (www)

Fill In The Blank Gallery- Chicago

SCOSAG- St Louis City Open Studio and Gallery

Something New Chicago

Oakland Photos

Photos from SPORE show at AK Press Warehouse in Oakland CA this past Spring.

Colby

While making my way through northern Kansas I notice dark circulating clouds in the near distance. In Kansas storms can sometimes look more intense due to the rolling planes and vast landscapes. And of course parts of Kansas are known as "Tornado Alley" for a good reason.

I call my roommate Ben, a notable computer guru, for a weather report. "According to the National Weather Center: Clear Skies," he tells me. "Well, except for this storm but its nowhere near you according to this map." So I keep driving, getting closer to the storm. 10min later I call again.

"Really Emily its nowhere near you but it does look like its growing in intensity," he says sternly. I can tell my call is a little anoying him this time. I keep driving. The winds start and a little hail.

I call again."Listen, there is definatly a storm. There hail the size of golf balls. When was that report made? Storms move fast out here you know," I'm a more that a little concerned a this point. I grew up in an area with tornados and the clouds I was seeing were not friendly.

"Alright, well.. it seems that the map I was looking at was not updated. In fact, there is a dangerous storm right on top of you. You're near Colby you say? The weather service says there is a tornado warning," Ben says this like a computer. He's not known to deliver bad news in an easy to hear way. I notice an exit ramp for downtown Colby and exit immedatly. The wind is blowing harder. I'm scared.

As I pull into town it looks nearly empty. Buisnesses are closing. Everyone appears to be going home. I notice a woman painting what looks like a mural on the side of a salon with a little girl standing next to her. Another artist maybe? Not having any other option I stop.

Still a little scared, I depirately introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Emily. I'm from St Louis and am traveling cross-country with a mobile art gallery. I've never seen a storm quite like this one. Not really sure where to go for shelter... do you have any suggestion? I don't know anyone in this town." She tells me not to be scared and explains that storms like this happen all the time. I'm told to wait as she walks towards the back of the salon with her daughter.

It seems to be taking her awhile or maybe time was just strange in that moment. I start talking to the two women cleaning the shop. They tell me to go to Wal-Mart since the salon is closing and so I leave.

About a 1/2 mile down the main street I noticed a local bar. Just as I pulled over a car pulls up behind me. Its the woman from the Salon. "You don't want to go in there. Beleave me," she seemed to notice my fear. "Don't worry I promise I'm not a serial killer. Besides, everyone around here knows me." She smiles. "Why don't you follow us to our house. I've got soda and food. Can't beleave those women told you to go to Walmart. That's not safe at all." She introduces herself. "I'm Devin."

I follow Devin to her aparment in a complex. Its simple but nice. There are art prints on the wall including Van Gogh and Klimt hainging next to family photos. I notice a family photo of her and her husband with a son and daughter. Everyone in the photo is smiling but her husband. There are art supplies covering the living room table including markers, paints, and pencils.

"It's a mess in here. I'm so sorry," she appologizes. "No need," I say. I notice a drawing on the table of an animated sugar cube holding a phone. It says "Ok Girls. Remember to use your suga voice." Its a good drawing. "Did you do this?" I ask. "Oh yeah," says Devin shyly. "I do a lot of the illustraitions around the shop. I love doing art but I'm not an artist," She says this quickly. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Well, you know... I don't call myself an artist. I did got to school for a few semesters. Always wish I could have gone to the Art Institute in Kansas City but then I had kids. I love my kids," she says this in a way that makes me think she still thinks about art school. "Its never to late," I say.

We end up talking for a while about our lives. She tells me about Colby and what its like growing up there, her kids, and seperating from her husband. Her daughter hangs out for a while and they goes to bed. She's 8 and has school in the morning. I'm quickly forgetting all about the storm blowing on the galss door. Its loud. "I should call my husband," she says after returning from putting her daughter to bed. The storm seems worse than usual and my son is with him. She talks for a while and then sits back on the couch. "Well... he tells me there is a wall of dirt. I'm not really sure what that means but its not good. Lots of cars on the side of the road, people taking cover. Its a good thing you stopped when you did. The storms get crazy out here sometimes." I am glad I stopped and that I met Devin.

The next hour went even faster. I was attempting to make it to Vale Colorado that night to a condo my friend Charle shares with several of his snowboarding buddies. Soon Devin and I got on the topic of tornados. She tells me about photos she took of a town in northern Kansas that was leveled in 2001. Soon she pulls them out of a drawer. The photos were taken with an SLR, some in black and white. "These are good photographs," I tell her. "Yeah?" asks Devin shyly. "Its been a long time since I've taken any. I really like photography." She speads them out on the kitchen table and tells me about them. "This X is for when no bodies are found," she's pointing to a large red X covering the front side of a delapidated house. I feel chills. "This photo is of the old man's car that died. Its crazy how these storms can do this." The car is lodged into a tree. She shows me about 20 or so photographs. All of them intense. The last one she shows me is of a nearly demolished unrecognizable building. "This was the Dairy Queen. 30 people survived hiding in the cooler." I had seen photos of tornado devistation and watched Hollywood movies but nothing compared to seeing these photos in person and hearing Devin explain them.

"I want you to have these," she tells me. "You like them and maybe you can do something with them. They've just been sitting here in this drawer." She hands me the photos, taking a few for herself. We talk for a while longer and I notice that the wind isn't blowing quite as hard. After a while I thank Devin and say goodbye.

Behind on the blog again and so much has happened. Made it to Portland and spent a few days with old and new friends. Loving Vegan Food Carts, cuddling with Sandra and my former kitty Cleo, biking everywhere, Craft Night, Voodoo Doughnuts, cocktails made with real fruit, the Potato Captain, $1 vegan corndog night, and gardens as front yards. Oh yeah and I keep seeing art by Nikki McClure and absolutely love it. Had a show of sorts at Tender Loving Empire run by one of the cutest couples I think I've met in a while. They were super rad and let me set-up in their alleyway for the First Thursday event. Some really superb bands played that night too. The White Lighters had about 7 kids playing everything from guitars to xylophones and do this collective harmonic singing thing. The set was followed by an eloquant girl and her guitar. Her voice in some ways reminded me of Joanna Newsome but also containted a sofistication using multiple languages.

Trip Blog

Running WAY behind on blogging. Somehow made it all the way to Washington State to Port Angeles. 2,000 miles. Giving most of the credit to my friend Iain who worked on van's brakes before I left St Louis. There is a piano in the coffee shop I'm sitting in, a girl just walked in and started playing Chopsticks and the Figgy Pudding Christmas song. Though I admittedly dislike both songs something about hearing them in this moment is making me laugh. So I guess this is a "sorry folks" traveling is too amusing to spend another afternoon on the computer. Here's why...