Art & Coffee was a joy (May 2011)

Our monthly Art & Coffee show (every first Friday) has really been popular lately. Each of the last four or five shows have been absolutely packed. In case you missed it, here’s some photos from May’s show by Firebird Images.The man with the plan. KZach, our trusty open mic general, keeps the performances moving.

Audience members brought their passion to the stage. Poets and Musicians always bring surprises to Art & Coffee.

Even our music director, Deborah Driscoll, brought a guitar up and performed. We haven’t seen that from her in a bit.

Of course, live art is a HUGE part of the show as well. Joshua Poole worked on his found art/painting creations and spoke with attendees about how he creates his art.

We even pulled a few new tricks out of our sleeve, like a live DJ covering the It’s A Grind’s outside porch area.

Beware of roaming performers! The crew from the Circus Freaks came out to join our merry event…

…and impressed with some beautiful motion and color.

One of the highlights of the night was a huge artist jam that went down outside. The team shown above is a pretty impressive lineup of local painters: from the front, Kelsey Kincannon, Daniel Perez, Ixchel Aguliar, and Eddie Walker.

I think artlovemagic as a whole has a collective crush on poet Maggie Smith.

Oh Mama Nye, how you love us with your beautiful songs. Thank you.

All in all, another amazing one for the history books. Big ups to first time producer Hallie Garcia for putting this one together (with trainer Nicole Rodriguez). You girls did amazing.

Art & Coffee is the first Friday of every month in 2011 at It’s A Grind in Deep Ellum. Don’t miss it!

-ML

Open House + Love Pancakes (dec 2010)

We did it again. The last time we opened our office doors and shared some art and pancakes with the world was a blast. It called for another run of greatness. So last night (Dec 1st, 2010) we brought out the paintbrushes, the guitars, and the pancake batter once again.

Artists in the house! Ashley Jones spins up a new creation while Khalid and Samax make noise!

Of course, David blows everyone away again with his gorgeous work.

The young artists aren’t having it. They prove that the marker is mightier than the brush.

Ahhhh, Mama Nye. You can taste the love in her cooking. It’s delicious.

Pancake lovemarks.

Uh… don’t ask.

The first Wednesday of the month is usually a meeting for us. This is about as “meeting” as we got last night. A dry erase board with the next four events listed on it.

Live music is a must, so Deborah Driscoll and Matt Baron brought some beautiful rhythms and vocal to us.

Speaking of beautiful vocals, do you know Eric Tipton? You should. You really should.

Fear not Lawrence, we’ll definitely be doing this again.

Of course not everyone wanted to leave when the night was over.

So we headed to 2826 Arnetic to listen to dj36t spins a few beats.

Thanks everyone for what was a pretty brilliant night. Open Houses are fun! Let’s do this again.

The next open MEETING (ie – we actually get stuff done) is January 5th. Come out and help us revolutionize local art, music, poetry (and occasionally pancakes).

a moment at city hall

post by Michael Lagocki
photos by Sherry Smith

On Wednesday August 8th, ArtLoveMagic was recognized and honored at City Hall for our work pairing artists with local children in our Kid’s Workshops. It was a great experience.

Thankfully, Photographer Sherry Smith was among those there to be honored, and she took these photos. Also present to be recognized were Kelly Nygren, Deborah Driscoll, Michael Lagocki, Conor Muldoon, and David Rodriguez.

We didn’t really know what to expect going in. We were invited and accepted. It was a really nice gesture. The Mayor and the City Council were in attendance, and in front of everyone a slide show played of photos from the worksops. Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway spoke about artlovemagic and what we do, and the importance of recognizing it.

The workshops are the result of a ton of people’s efforts, many more than were able to be at the ceremony. Most certainly the Deep Ellum Foundation, who found space and funding for the program, Jeanne Blanton generously provided that funding, and over a dozen more artists and musicians associated with the artlovemagic family brought their time and talents.

I wasn’t expecting to speak. But Barrry Annino of the DEF asked me to. I thought it was a cool gesture. I told the Mayor and those present that they really needed to create space and funding to kid’s art and music programs. That when children learn to think creatively, they learn to think metaphorically. And if you can do that, you can be intelligent in any situation.

Ashleigh Vroom (pictured far left) coordinated the latest round of workshops. She helped us find the kids, find the environments to work, feed everybody, etc. Aidan Reese (9 yrs old) attended the experience as a student.

The whole experience was kind of surreal. Even seeing the inner workings of city government… watching the procedures that took place before we were called up, citizens addressing the mayor with grievances about budget cuts and local libraries, it was wild, something I’m sure we’ll all remember.

A certificate of recognition was presented to us..

Afterwards, we got to hang out a little outside of City Hall and enjoy time together. The artists involved in this day know each other pretty well. We’re close friends but don’t always get time together outside of shows. It was good to fool around a bit.

We work pretty hard. So something like this is meaningful. We’re proud and thankful. And we hope to do more with kids, especially in Deep Ellum which has been so welcoming to us. Want to learn more about our experiences at the Kid’s workshops?

Click here to read a blog post about our most recent ART workshop.

Click here to read a blog post about our most recent MUSIC workshop.

Kids Music Workshop

This morning, ArtLoveMagic hosted its first ever kids music workshop.  While we’ve done this with visual art before, this was the first time we were able to do it for music.

The workshops are in partnership with the Deep Ellum Foundation and special thanks goes to Jeanne Blanton who made a donation to specifically underwrite them.

Deborah Driscoll–ArtLoveMagic’s music director–arranged the day.  The kids were in groups of 5 and they rotated through 20 minute classes. The directive was simple.  Do something that inspires and make sure it is hands on.

Kelly Nygren taught percussion.  Not only did she have multiple instruments for each of the students to try, but she also taught us that we all have rhythm in our pulse, heartbeat and breathing.  She showed us that anything could be an instrument, and she made waterbottles filled with rice that the kids could take with them as shakers.

As it was, the shakers turned out handy in Tony Cherry’s songwriting class.  Not only did the groups learn to write songs through word associations, descriptions, and daily life stories, but in a couple of classes they pulled out the shakers and sang along.

In guitar class, we learned about the difference in electric and acoustic, the different parts of the guitar and about chords.  We also learned to “play loud and play proud.”

Melody Cherry taught us how to breathe in order to use our bodies as instruments.  After some warm up and practice at holding notes, the kids were able to get onstage with the microphone and perform.

In Ms. Delphi’s piano class, there were three keyboards and we learned that “Jack and Jill” (the two black keys close together) were near C, D, E and the “Three Little Pigs” (three black keys together) were next to F, G, A, B.

Isaac Davies taught about how Hip Hop started from sampling records and how those samples are linked together to make new music.  The kids were albe to play with the sampler and Isaac even taught a bit about freestyling and showed off his skills.

After the classes, the students had pizza, then when that group left, the others arrived and teachers and volunteers set up to do it all again.

Many thanks to Life in Deep Ellum for providing the venue, all the teachers and volunteers who walked kids from class to class, set up chairs and made sure even the most timid weren’t left out.

For ArtLoveMagic, days like this are about passion.  As public schools are cutting art and music programs, we are becoming stronger and stronger advocates for the power of the arts.  We all remember our own introduction to paints, instruments, color and song.  We are brighter more beautiful people because of it and it was very, very fun to share that.

–Cathy Hutchison

note- we’d also like to extend thanks to Jeanne Blanton, The DEF, and Mayor Pro Tem Caraway’s staff for supporting this event.

Love pancakes at our Open House

story by Michael Lagocki
photos by Nicole Rodriguez and Michael Lagocki

We love Mamma Nye. Every once in awhile ArtLoveMagic throws an open house at our office in Deep Ellum. Not so much an event really, as a simple hangout- a chance for us to get together and be friendly. Without the craziness of an event going on, we get to talk and chill in a relaxed manner, meet new folks, etc.

Last night’s Open House was no exception- except in that it was exceptional. The secret ingredient was Mama Nye (Kelly Nygren) cooking love pancakes for the crowd. Each one a work of art (literally) and delicious to boot. The longer the night went, the more elaborate the edible art got, until finally Kelly and local improv comic Jill Headen were drawing portraits of everyone as pancakes. Tasty.

Here our music director, Deborah Driscoll, takes a turn at some pancake art herself.

More beard!

We always do some kind of live creativity. This open house included a giant sketchbook page 8 feet wide. Folks were encouraged to pick up a pencil and marker and join the oversized jam.

The art was led by Ian Robertson who set up a cool sky scene where people could work off of his sketches of heroes and villains flying in and out and of clouds. This worked out so cool we’re going to save it and hopefully set it up at the next open house for more people to complete or color the image.

We also used this Open House to start putting up the next art gallery in the Deep Ellum Community Center (where we office). 3 times a year we change out the art that’s hanging on the walls and in the windows. It’s an opportunity to show new people and give local creatives a chance to have their work seen.

Our new gallery will include work by poet Jay Bookworm (left), painter Amanda Davis, photographers David Leeson and Jasana Boudard, illustrator Jamel Jones, jeweler Rachel Deniger, and about a dozen more inspired folks.We’re still putting the finishing touches on this new gallery. It should all be up and tagged before the end of the month.

The next Open House date is Wednesday, December 1st 2010.

Stay connected with artlovemagic on facebook or through our email blast to get all of the upcoming dates.

 

 

Seeing the Future (Part Three)

(This is the third and final post in a series called Seeing the Future. Part One is HERE and Part Two is HERE.)

The last two posts have focused on the idea of transition.  Ironically, since the last post, my own life has gone through several upheavals.  In the beginning of November I was laid off from one of the best jobs I have ever had.  Just prior to that, two roommates decided to move out at the end of the year and another roommate got a job teaching in South Korea.  The month of December saw the loss of our community house and a move from 2500 sq. ft. to a duplex that is just under 1000 sq. ft..  All with a family of four over the Holiday season.  Talk about transition.

But, in the end we handled it all.  We stuck close to our friends and family and we relied heavily on them for support, emotionally, physically as well as financially.

ArtLoveMagic is also in a season of transition.  We are learning to pull back from doing 1000 thing decently to doing 500 things phenomenally.  We are learning what it means to operate as a non-profit organization while maintaining the core of our DNA.  In a sense, as we enter into our fourth year of awesomeness, we are growing up as an organization.

In all, if you happen to be one of the people who spends a lot of time behind the scenes (which, by the way, is not that difficult.  If you want to get more involved, come to a First Wednesday meeting at the office.  That is a great place to start.), you just might notice things transitioning.  We’re trying to move from madness and chaos to what Mike mentioned in the earlier post: Intentionality.

Take a minute today and look around.  Look at your schedule, look at your heart.  Look at all of those crazy things you have in your schedule and ask a question:  Which of these things truly help me to get where I want to be?  Then, be Intentional.  Drop the stuff that you use as an excuse to not do the things you are passionate about and Focus on the parts that need to be done.

May 2010 be a year of  Transitioning to Intention, living your life on purpose.

Posted by Justin Nygren

It’s A Grind – New Venue, New Shows!

December 11th, 2009 ArtLoveMagic had our very first show at It’s A Grind Coffee in Deep Ellum.  We called it, “Unplugged Fireside Sessions” to honor the four acoustic acts and the toasty fireplace that warmed the hearts and fanny’s of many attendees.  All were feeling festive, most partaking in the delicious Christmassy beverages that were offered, while being attentive to the amazing live art and music happening all around them.

Our music lineup for the night included the jazzy Lenny’s New Legs, singer/songwriter Zachary Scott Pohl, The pop-duet GaydenLee, and the folky-zombie goodness of Parallel Play.

The live art was a unique blend that featured Conor Muldoon throwing pottery, Joe Townson painting, and Jen Sulak doing live portrait photography.

And we’re doing it again…

This time we are featuring live art from:

Eddie Walker – Air Brush

Josh Dryk – Fire Painting

Carissa Battaile – Vintage Portrait Photography

Sarah Brown & Keanna Pohl drawing/watercolor collaboration

and Aaron Garcia – Painting

Live Music will be powerfully performed by:

photo by Jen Sulak

Lenny’s New Legs

Elle

and Arianne Patty

ArtLoveMagic presents Art & Coffee at It’s A Grind, 2901 Indiana Blvd, Dallas, TX 75226 January 8th, 7:30pm – 10:30pm *FREE*

Arts Goggle – Review!

On Saturday, October 3rd ArtLoveMagic’s first infiltration of Fort Worth was unmistakably ArtLoveMagicy.  A photo collection of some of the night’s badasses:

Trayce Cochran

Elizabeth Trosper

Eddie Walker

Zach Scott Pohl

and of course, Riki Johnson

Riki Johnson, David & Nicole Rodriguez, and Keanna Pohl were the producers on this event, and they really kicked butt.  All the artists and musicians were happily creating and performing inside of a chill vibe and colorful atmosphere.  One of our newest volunteers, Sara Brown took the time to relate her experience to Keanna & me.  As one that has been involved with ArtLoveMagic for a couple of years now, I always find it refreshing when new folks come in and share their love with us.  Here were some of the cool things Sara experienced:

“The Goggle Event was my first real exposure to this type of creative outlet.  I love the honesty, caring and spontaneity of the artists.  Josh Dryk (right) was the highlight for me, as he showed us how painting with fire could be done.  I love the smell and feel of fire, as well as the visual effect!

I found this a healing experience for me, moving into this large city. It is so nice to know there is such angelic folks like you to make life feel so alive! It would benefit so many people that need to know they matter….”

Welcome, Sara.

I really dug the fire art, too.  Conor Muldoon (below) throwing pottery live is always one of my favorite’s, and there were plenty of people who agreed with me.  I had the honor of performing the classic “Four Women” by Nina Simone with Kelly Nygren at my side, and the entire main stage was hosted by Fort Worth’s own Mike Guinn.  National Spoken Word champion Nnambdi Orakpo (below) was the feature poet of the evening and when he spit his piece, “Play Pretend” my eyes couldn’t help but leak and my soul couldn’t stop it’s speak…as Malcolm Jamal-Warner of the Cosby Show said, “Nnambdi is pure fire.”  I was the greatful recipient of his new book, Avant-God, Vintage Poetry Collection, which he was kind enough to sign for me. The Texas Red Legs rocked me to the last drop at the end of the night with their smash hit, “Black Sky Growl”, and so much more lie in between, you had to have been there.  I do hope that we continue to do shows with our friends at Arts 5th Avenue.  What nice people!  Art on, Fort Worth.  We’ll be seeing you.

photo of Josh Dryk fire painting by Jenice Johnson, photo of Nnambdi Orakpo by Sondra Beamon, all other photo’s by Amber Nix Matthew’s.

photo by Sondra Beamon

Lots of Parties

You may have noticed we’ve been throwing a lot of parties at our office lately. We work hard, we’re all volunteers, and we need to have times where we’re just hanging out and having fun together. Our parties aren’t usually publicly advertised, but they are open to anyone who wants to contribute to artlovemagic and help us bless the Dallas art scene.

We had a pretty good turnout considering we announced the party 48 hours before and had a rainstorm come down on top of us.

The night was billed as a concert. Deb Driscoll, Aaron Garcia, and Kelly Nygren opened the mic with some smooth, jazzy sounds.

Next up was Gayden/Lee. Tommy (playing guitar and sitting) is the original drummer of the Redlegs, and recently departed to take care of his health and pursue new music with Gayden/Lee. After his set, he watched the Redlegs (it was the first time he’d seen them play since leaving the band).

They play a great mix of covers and originals by both Erin and Tommy. You can hear a taste and check their upcoming gigs here. http://www.myspace.com/gaydenlee

We were planning to have the Texas Redlegs play in our parking lot, but the rain meant we had to move them inside. That’s a whole lotta sound for one little community center. It was pretty crazy in there.

As Kelly Nygren said, you don’t usually get to see the Redlegs under flourescent light. True pros at all this, the guys put on a great show. Their new drummer, Valente, has a great sound. This band rocks every single time I see them. www.texasredlegs.com

We’re artists. We can’t help it. We always seem to be drawing on something.

Babies dig local rock and roll too.

Great people. At times, artlovemagic is a lot of challenge, especially because we still desperately need people and resources. But really, I can’t imagine a much better way to spend my time then surrounded by the folks in this photo.

It was meant to give us a night of fun and rest before this weekend’s massive girlShow. I don’t know about rest, but it was definitely fun. Thanks to all who attended and performed. So much love.

post by Michael Lagocki
photos by Nicole Rodriguez

ArtLoveMagic Opens their House

Article by Deb Driscoll
photo by Michael Lagocki

Did you know that we were cool enough in the eyes of the Deep Ellum Association to have an office donated for us to use for the greater good of the arts?  Well, we are.  And Wednesday night we opened the doors to our collective artist family for a hang out and mingle session.  It was tightly packed and rightly so since there were live performances from Serena Wills, Kelly Nygren, Spencer Garland (and friends), Matt Barron, pizza, drinks, and Eddie Walker even let us fiddle with his Air Brush contraption.

Sounds pretty cool, huh?  Yeah, we thought so, too.  Thanks to all who came out and made the night so much fun!

If you liked how it went, or feel slightly jealous about missing out then I cordially invite you to come out again NEXT Wednesday night at 7pm for our weekly management meeting.  That’s where all the magic happens, the events are planned, ideas are exchanged and yeah we totally kick it every week.  Now you know.  We don’t occupy the office all the time.  We have art to do.

The address to the office is:

2630 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75226

Much Love!