A R T

Barbara Earl Thomas

Barbara Earl Thomas is a Seattle based artist who has been commissioned to create a new set of windows for the dining hall of Yale’s Grace Hopper College. Physically, her pieces are both delicate and colossal. She uses materials such as; egg tempera paint, glass, cut paper, printmaking, and sculpture.

Thomas explained her intent in a statement published by YaleNews that, “My goal with this project is to depict the history of the college’s name in a way that is real, honorable, and in the spirit of our time. I want the images to tell the story of the renaming, addressing John C. Calhoun’s disturbing legacy while honoring the life of Grace Murray Hopper.” Grace Hopper, the namesake of the school, was a prolific Yale alma mater. Her career as a computer scientist began in 1944. The following year she enlisted in the Navy. While her predecessor, John C. Calhoun, was a leading voice for those seeking to secure the institution of slavery. Yale decided to change the name from Calhoun to Hopper in 2017.

Sonya Clark & Writing Prompt

Portland Art Museum shared a writing prompt on their Instagram inspired by Sonya Clark’s piece, Penny Loafers. The description asks that you research her work before you delve into the project.

Clark’s artwork addresses race, culture, class, and history. In the description of Penny Loafers by the Portland Art Museum, Clark is quoted stating:

“Objects have personal and cultural meaning because they absorb our stories and reflect our humanity back to us. Sometimes common objects are sponges. Sometimes they are mirrors. I am instinctively drawn to objects that connect to my personal narrative as a point of departure: a comb, a piece of cloth, a penny, or hair. I wonder how each comes to have meaning collectively.”

The prompt is to write for six uninterrupted minutes reflecting on “The Sound of Footsteps… / On the path...”⠀

Write Around Portland provides weekly writing prompts to Portland Museum of Art. You can share your work if you like by tagging @writearoundpdx on Instagram.

L I T E R A T U R E

Upgrade Culture

Not “If” But “When”: An Artist Looks Into Upgrade Culture by Lydia Pine for Glasstire, is a synopsis of Julia Christensen’s book, Upgrade Available. Christensen and Pine encourage us to reconsider the afterlife of our electronic devices and the culture of upgrading. Doing so can transform our role as consumers within realms of capitalism, colonialism, globalization, the economy, the environment, etc.

Tamu McPhearson’s All the Pretty Birds

All the Pretty Birds, established in 2008, publishes fashion, global news, and lifestyle content. All the Pretty Birds was founded and directed by Tamu McPhearson whose career emerged from creating streetwear content. All the Pretty Birds sources are creative, engaging, and resourceful.

L O C A L

BIPOC Arts Coalition

BIPOC Arts Coalition was formed this July by David Lozano director of Cara Mía Theatre, Tonya Holloway director of Soul Rep Theatre, Sara Cardona director of Teatro Dallas, and Teresa Coleman Wash director of Bishop Arts Theatre Center. The group ultimately aims to support each other with efforts of sourcing funding and creating an antiracist platform with urgency due to COVID-19. You can read the BIPOC Arts Coalition manifesto in Art&Seek’s write-up here.

Dallas TRHT

In the first edition of Dallas TRHT’s Transformation Tuesday director Jerry Hawkins spoke with BIPOC Arts Coalition. They discussed specifics regarding racism within the art industry of Dallas. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do, begin by watching the conversation here.

Bath House Cultural Center

Bath House Cultural Center is my family’s go-to spot when visiting White Rock Lake. It is also the first gallery I showed in with my Mom, in fact, for the 2008 Día de Muertos exhibition.

At the beginning of the year, before any of us knew the impact of COVID-19, the Bath House began renovations. Now, they are still closed, employees are furloughed, and there is a reality of not being able to fully restaff.

Yet, the city of Dallas has a say in funding that could save grace. The Bath House Board of Directors published a letter in White Rock Lake Weekly, requesting visitors to contact Mayor Eric Johnson and our local officials to voice a plea to save the Bath House staff.

Here is a link to the article with a template ready for you to send, although personalizing it will go further! Here is a link to directly message Mayor Eric Johnson, and here is a link to the local official's directory.

P E O P L E

John Lewis

The death of John Lewis has been felt deeply. As the information on his legacy and quotes of his consequential words filled our social media feeds, I searched for references between the arts and Lewis. I found that in 2009 he was selected for the Congressional Arts Leadership Award for his commitment to the arts. This included sponsoring The Artist-Museum Partnership Act, which allows us creatives to file tax deductions on our contributions. I also read a quote I hadn't seen before, "Without the arts, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings" which still holds true, doesn't it?

For a documentary on John Lewis, I recommend Kera’s John Lewis - Get in the Way. The free link expires on August 17th but, is available on other streaming platforms as well.

I’d also like to highlight the times that John Lewis led a march through Comic-Con while promoting his graphic novel trilogy, March. At the convention, he would cosplay as himself during the March on Selma in 1965.