Call for Artists: Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show
Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
thread.br@gmail.com

“Merging fashion design and visual art,” Uncommon Thread is a juried competition encouraging entries from all disciplines. Uncommon Thread is “interested in the fusion between fine art and fashion.”

The competition will award “sound craftsmanship, but focuses on innovative design, dramatic detail and use of alternative materials in the creation of a full-bodied piece of art.” First, second and third places will receive cash prizes; all accepted entries will be part of a choreographed stage performance on October 12, in Baton Rouge.

Uncommon Thread is looking for artists from all across the country. Interested artists should visit their website www.uncommonthreadbr.com for entry forms and further detail. Submission deadline is September 17, 2007.

If you are reading this blog, you are already familiar with the work of this week's Creative Action  Hero -  Molly Dwyer, our webmistress.  About a year ago, before I was a member of the Board of Directors, I attended a board meeting.  Leona Walden, vice president of the board asked if anyone had any ideas about how we could market the Art Center's workshops without spending a lot of money we didn't have.  Being a devout butinsky, I had to put in my two cents.  Our web site was state of the art when it was constructed, but that was ten years before and it seemed to me that we should do something new.  It turns out the board had already thought of this, but found the hefty $16,000 price tag to be out of our reach.  I was asked if I knew anyone who would create something new for a fraction of that cost for the Art Center.  I did. 

I called my friend, Molly Dwyer, PhD;  writer, teacher, workshop leader, graphic artist, actress/director, web designer, a Renaissance Woman and fan of the Art Center.  Molly first got involved in the Art center in 1974.  She worked with our founder, Bill Zacha.  The story goes that Bill wanted Molly to direct the play, "Barefoot in the Park".  It was not a play that Molly had any particular interest in, but she struck a deal with Bill - she would direct "Barefoot in the Park", and if it was a success  she could then direct a second play of her choice.  "The 7th Seal" was the play Molly chose - and then she talked Bill into playing the part of the Knight and Louis Vinciguerra into co-directing with her, and the rest was history.

Since then, Molly has moved back and forth from the coast several times.  Her most recent and, I hope, permanent return was last summer - just in time to help the Art Center.  She asked me what my goals were for the website.  I told her improved workshop sales, color, art, visibility for member artists and the Art Center.  "My ultimate goal is to come up on the first page when anyone googles 'art center'".  She then met with Mike McDonald, director of marketing, and got his approval and input and toured the facility.   Based on our signage and the environment we live in, she chose the colors for our new website.   I hope you have all noticed that wherever possible Molly has used art work from member artists to illustrate the beauty of our location.  All have attributions and wherever possible direct links to the artist's own website. 

In case you were wondering - some days when I google "art center" we are on the first page, but typically we range between pages 1 and 4.  However, we aren't done yet.  As we continue to add more features to our site the more interesting we become to Google.  Look for upcoming features such as:  on-line feed from the John Fisher sculpture project; starting on July 10, On-line Instructor Art Auction; new MendoArt magazine pages; shopping cart sales for our Gift Shop; and more on-line galleries.

Molly has volunteered about 50% of the time it took to develop the site and charged us a pittance for the other 50% which translates to about 25% of the $16,000.00 price tag quoted by another web designer.  Donations from the community have paid for the time Molly has charged us for.  Net cost to the Art Center for our new website - $00,000.00.  Thank you to all our donors.   Our budget for ongoing maintenance of the site has not increased, so if there are any Art Center Citizens out there who appreciate what we are doing on-line, and would like to help defray the costs of website maintenance and continuing development, please consider making a donation to the Art Center for that purpose. 

We owe a huge THANK YOU to Molly.  She is one of the people who works behind the scenes and rarely gets recognition from anyone other than those who work at the Art Center.  You can let her know how much we appreciate what she has done for us by blogging here or going to the contact page (button on home page) and sending her an e-mail.

During this last month, the Mendocino Art Center has had visitors from all over the world. These are visitors to the website, approximately 3500 last month and they came from Europe, the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, South and Central America, Canada, and all but two US states.

We had visitors from Florence, Athens, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, London, Dublin, Zurich and Amsterdam; from Delhi, Bangkok, Pretoria, Montreal, Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai, and Santiago. From the UK, from Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Germany; from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal; from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Croatia. We had visitors from Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Israel; from Nigeria, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, South Africa, and the island of Mauritius. We had visitors from India and Nepal, from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia. We had visitors from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Columbia, and Mexico.

Of course most of our visitors are from the United States, and most of those are from California. But we also have a large contingency from Texas. We’re getting respectable numbers from Washington, Oregon, New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Nevada, Virginia and Georgia. And we’re getting a smattering of visitors from every other state in the country, with the exceptions of North and South Dakota.

We had visitors from Fairbanks and Anchorage, from Honolulu and the Big Island of Hawaii. We seem to have a following in New York City, in Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, and Portland. We had nearly as many visitors from the Bay Area as we did from the Mendocino area, and Southern California, from Santa Barbara to San Diego is well represented. In fact, the whole California coast seems to know about the Mendocino Art Center.

So, if you're wondering who cares about art these days, and who’s checking in to see what's happening at the Mendocino Art Center, know that we're attracting a growing, international community of artists and art appreciators. And, if you’re reading this, know you’re part of that community and we’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment. Say hello; tell us where you’re from and what brought you to the website. We’d like to start a two-way conversation. That’s why we built this blog! We hope The Mendo Voice will become a gathering place, and that means we're hoping to hear from you. (Yes you!)

It’s easy to leave a comment, simply click on the comment button below and follow the very simple directions.

molly

You may have noticed that the Art Center is undergoing a physical transformation.  A few months ago, Bob Treaster, a volunteer at the Art Center, decided that our buildings needed a face lift.  He came to a Board meeting armed with color chips and asked for permission to repaint the place.  He wanted to pay for the permits, do all the work, and he wanted to pay for the paint.  He made us an offer we couldn't refuse.   He went through two meetings with the Art center Board, Peggy Templer and Michael McDonald to approve the colors.  Once the decision was made, Bob and I went to the Historical Review Board together, and were thrilled that they approved our permit application.  Then, he purchased the paint,  and with very little outside help has painted the Main Gallery Building.  There is some cleanup, repair and preparation to be done on the computer lab and Apartment #4.  When that is completed Bob will continue the painting. His goal is to repaint all the currently painted buildings. This can only be a labor of love.  Bob is a true Creative Action Hero and we can't thank him enough for all he is doing for us.  If you would like to volunteer some time to help him, you can find him at the Art Center almost every day.
   
You know, I just love these warm, fuzzy stories.  Luckily I have a few of them to tell.  So stay tuned for next week's volunteer making a difference.

THE ROCK IS COMING.  If you have been following the information on the website (on the "Special Events" page) about the John Fisher Project, you may have been wondering where the rock is.   Well, wonder no more.  Thanks to our intrepid Executive Director, Peggy Templer and Texas Quarries representative, Mike Prokop the rock will arrive at the Mendocino Art Center at 8:00a.m. on Thursday, July 5.  Weighing in at a stunning 20,000 lbs, this baby needs some special handling so Bill Daniels will be on hand with his heavy load equipment that we will need to unload the rock and set it in place.  John Fisher, the sculptor and David Russell, the coordinator of the sculpture department will be there to make sure it is placed in just the right spot and I plan to be there to shoot a few pics and just generally be part of the excitement.  Join us if you can.  If you would like to spend some time speaking with the artist, plan to attend our "Meet and Greet" on Friday, July 13 from 5:30p.m. to 7:30p.m.  We might also get Peggy to tell the tale of the traveling rock.  Much laughter to be had there.  Goldeneye, a sponsor of the event, will be pouring their wonderful wines and we will have hors d'oeuvres.  The cost is $10.00 and the money will go to the Art Center's Reconstruction fund.

Liliana