My sister-in-law (is an advocate and activist) specializes in what she calls "johnny letters". Letters to the newspaper to raise conciousness about how people live with disabilities, letters to get some change happening, and help people.

My work is not so important. But this is what John and I read last weekend in our local paper...

Why New Yorker moved to Georgia
I gave up. I have relocated to the South like millions of other New Yorkers over the last decade.
I love New York and Rochester, but I could no longer afford to live there. I was tired of the irresponsible leaders and politicians of New York. I was tired of the high sales and property taxes, as high as six times that of property down South. I was tired of the high state income taxes. I was tired about hearing about the late state budget for the last 20 years. I was tired of the poor job opportunities and excuses from politicians about bringing jobs to upstate.
All taxpayers know that when their incomes go down, they have to reduce expenses in order to survive. This logic escapes our state and local politicians who simply keep raising taxes as revenue decreases, continuing the downward spiral.
I will be praying for New Yorkers, hoping that they see the impending calamity that has been building for decades and do something about it. I am looking forward to my new job, lower state, sales and property taxes, much lower gasoline prices and warmer weather, to boot. This New Yorker wishes his fellow New Yorkers good luck.

MR. BLOWHARD

MARIETTA, GA.
Blowhard moved from Webster to Georgia last month.


<i> And my Johnny letter will be in the D & C this week. I'll link to it when I see it. </i>

Yes, Atlanta we still love ya, but sometimes it's good to shout along with the blowhards. Make a little change. Speak from your gut. Send out the johnny letters and fight the good fight.

take care,
Rachael

Recently I was interviewed by Kurt Andersen at Studio 360 for their show on letters . I had heard they were looking for mail art and got myself inspired to create and send a little piece of joy. My work and our talk isn't in the show but the show is lovely and the ideas are prescient.

Why does it matter what we send through the mail? Why do some artists go to such extreme efforts to send fantastic art through the mail? Why is the process of sending something so scary?

Maybe:

your words, your art, your ideas go out in the world and they are either received or rejected.

because everyone on some level wants a valentine, a friend, a secret admirer.

because we need to connect to others.

because mail is a break in the mundane. When it is not a bill or a solicitation, it is (or can be) a treat.

These projects ( pinhole cameras through the mail , and graceful envelopes --like this one , and Jeremy Adolphson's 4 x 6 collection ) have me inspired to keep sending. Even if my days of making and mailing a 40 page zine four times a year to 100plus people are over, I am still trustworthy .
Ok, that's it. I'm off to read and draw.
take care,
Rachael

Just so you know, Mondays are my days off. My days to wander and wonder and draw some and eavesdrop and spend time in spaces I wouldn't normally be. I consider the looking and thinking that I do on long walks to be as much of my studio practice as I do actually painting. And I wonder how the new environment (it's chilly here, trees everywhere, there's a definite sweater feel and a whole new small town/ medium-big city space) will affect, is affecting my art? I'll gather leaves. I'll draw leaves. I'll go to work tommorrow refreshed and ready.


Here's a lead for the sculptors (below) and here's hoping your day off this week is inspiring.
Take care,
Rachael

Residency
Sculpture Space, Inc.
(Utica NY)


Funded Residencies: Twenty new artists are selected each year and all receive a $2000 stipend to help pay their residency expenses. The selection is made by the Sculpture Space Review Committee and a rotating guest panelist in mid- December. Artists are notified in February of the panel's decision. Primary criteria are quality, originality, and potential for growth. Application must be received by November 1st of each year. NYS artists only: Free housing; $100 transportation stipend.

In exchange for time spent at Sculpture Space, artists are asked to help promote the organization by acknowledging Sculpture Space when the work that they make here is exhibited or published, and providing good slides of their work for our grant applications.

Application Requirements:
Applications should consist of:

No more than ten (10) labeled slides numbered 1-10. ONLY SLIDES, NO JPEGS.
The name, address and phone number of 2-3 references. 8 copies of a slide script with title, date, dimensions, and medium.
8 copies of a brief (half page) Project Description and/or artist's statement.
8 copies of a one-two page resume.
A Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) for return of slides. If you are an international applicant please submit 5 international mail coupons for return of slides.

Include a self addressed stamped postcard if you would like confirmation of the receipt of your application package. Please put your name and address on all materials submitted. Applicants will be notified of the panel's decision in February. Please call if you have any additional questions. Information is also available on our website, www.sculpturespace.org

The Residency: Artists are expected to stay for a full 2 month work stay and are given a key to the studio with access to the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Studio Manager assists with an introductory orientation, acts as a liaison with suppliers, and advises on technical problems by request. Artists are responsible for their own materials, specialized tools, fees for work done outside the premises, and for an assistant should they require one. We are able to help artists keep their expenses to a minimum but residents generally spend on average $1000 per month. Sculpture Space can accommodate a great variety of projects both in terms of materials and scale, and we will discuss each case individually. For the sake of safety a working knowledge of English is highly recommended. A personal visit is welcome and encouraged. Please call to make an appointment.

About Sculpture Space
Sculpture Space is unique in North America for its service to sculptors and the individual support given to artists who come to Utica, NY to make new work. The program currently selects 20 artists per year for two month residencies and has helped advance the careers of over 300 national and international artists since1976. Artists-in-residence are provided with the space, equipment, technical assistance, and specialized resources available in the Mohawk Valley to make sculpture on a scale which they otherwise might not afford and in an environment conducive to experimentation. The public is invited to quarterly work-in-progress receptions at the end of a residency period. The work that is made and first seen in Utica is often exhibited in galleries, museums and sculpture parks worldwide.

Housing: A subsidized three-bedroom apartment is available at low cost ($125 per month) to artists within walking distance of the studio. Shared bathroom. Food is the artists’ responsibility and there is a fully equipped kitchen in both the apartment and studio. No pets are allowed in the studio or the artists’ apartment.

NYS Artists: NYS artists receive free housing plus a $100 transportation stipend.

The Studio is located in downtown Utica, New York, in proximity to light industry and various fabrication shops. The facility consists of 5,500 square feet of open studio, and one 400 square foot private studio for special projects. The space is outfitted with concrete floors, a two ton system of traveling hoists, and extra wide overhead doors. The Artists Office has DSL and a G3 computer; artists should bring their own digital equipment at this time. The 3/4 acres of land that surround the building can supplement indoor studio space in the summer. An outdoor work pad is equipped with a 50' monorail hoist. Depending on the scale of the work, a maximum of four artists can be accommodated at one time.

Staff:
Sydney Waller, Executive Director l Takashi Soga, Studio Manager l Sarah Lathrop, Office Manager

Artists Office: Artists have a separate office with DSL connection.

For listing of equipment or any other questions, please visit our website.

Sculpture Space, Inc.
12 Gates St.
Utica, NY 13502
Phone 1-315-724-8381
Email: info@sculpturespace.org
www.sculpturespace.org


Application Date: 11/01/04


Sydney Waller, Executive Director
12 Gates Street
Utica, NY 13502
1-315-724-8381

Yesterday I was among a bunch of people watching David Bryne display and talk about his powerpoint art at the George Eastman House. I found the talk amusing and thought-provoking as the discussion moved more towards the conflict and connections of meaning and media and away from the particulars of Powerpoint. But then, there were wonderfully funny and beautiful powerpoint images. How does he get the bleeds between image? Not just that but how does one manage to create such a diverse body of work revolving always around stories of the ordinary. As I watched and listened, I kept thinking of the image of Bryne as a jittery guy, of which a little seemed true from my view 6 rows up, but maybe the energy is less paranoia and more the stuff that happens when you are constantly creating.)

The exhibit also includes some of Bryne's tree drawings; I'm hoping to get a chance to give these a closer look because I'm intrigued by how the language and the drawing can weave together and separate. David was there to sell his book no doubt but combined his talk with enough images and such humor that I left wanting to play more with powerpoint.
But instead of do that I looked up more about these Powerpoint presentations and found this Onion interviewand at the DJ Alchemi blog an interesting summation of some of the powerpoint art scene .
In other news, now that we have entered October, it feels cold and almost cold. Today started dark and gloomy and then was brightened by sunlight, creativity, and a cappucino. I'm painting a few pieces now and even if it is slow going I have a sense that the tinkering I'm doing now will result in something. Who knows what. As my friend Shelly reminded me today, "drawings (and I call paintings, too) have a life of their own."


Oh and apparently I won the lottery.
INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REF Number: NLL/231-ILGI0431/04
BATCH No: DAL/15/096/PTNL
TICKET No: 40611465897-6291
SERIAL No: 342-891103
LUCKY No: 8-66-11-20-71-64
RE: WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION

Sir, Madam
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners International
programs held on the 28th of September 2004 Your E-mail address attached
to
Ticket number 40611465897-6291 with Serial number 342-891103 drew the lucky
numbers 8-66-11-20-71-64, which consequently won in the 1st category, you
have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of US$ 1,000,000.00 (One
Million United States Dollars). This is from a total cash prize of USD$10,000,000.00
Million shared amongst Ten International Lucky Winners in the Category A
+ (Plus).

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
This lottery is a promotional program by DE LOTTO, (Biggest lottery Organization
in the Netherlands) to advertise to the world its existence. All participants
were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 50,000 companies
and 2,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world,
as part of our international promotions program, which we conduct several
times a year.

Be informed that your documents have to pass our authority to obtain a clearance....

To file for your claim, please contact our /your processing Officer
Mr.James Mash
Email:pgl_inc@mail2agent.com


yeah, right. I wouldn't buy that even if it were in Powerpoint !

take care,
Rachael

Well, OK, I don't know what the survey will say but I am very curious. Having art blogged for over six-months now and having spent a longer time reading and thinking about art, I wanna know you think. So, please do spend some time filling this out.

So, then, this has been a busy week at work, and with my adjusting to a new climate, but at this moment I'm loving the chill in the air, excited about seeing David Byrne's powerpoint presentation , thinking about how I'm gonna win the lottery ($101 million). Yes, I will remember you. I will remember the funny gang over at Yankee Pot Roast , even though they don't know me. But with that kind of hard cash, they will.

If my money doesn't come in, I suppose I'll be OK... I'm off to draw and look up some old friends from Atlanta and their projects (like this show at Agnes Scott college) .

take care,
Rachael