Hello Everyone! After a sort of crazy month buying our first house, packing, finishing some pottery for the show I’m about to tell you about while packing up the house, traveling internationally and moving (tomorrow!), I’m a little down to the wire in announcing my total excitement about the Art From The Ashes (AFTA) benefit for the Lost Pines Recovery Team of Bastrop, Texas which opens tomorrow in Austin! I wrote about the Bastrop County Complex fires a couple of times last fall (click to read my original posts, The Art of Fire and AFTA Goes To Texas), which got me in touch with the amazing creative team at AFTA. I’ve had a great time collaborating with Joy, Stacy and Nina to curate an art-science exhibit that will be displayed within the exhibition space.
I also had a blast creating a piece of pottery for the show (special thanks to Roxanne Hernandez of the Lost Pines Recovery Team for helping me get my piece fired when all of my pottery equipment was packed away!), which you can view – along with art from over 70 Texas artists – at the show’s opening tomorrow, Saturday April 28, 2012 from 6-10pm at the Starr Building at 121 W. 6th Street (beween Congress and Colorado) in Austin, Texas. Gallery hours are 12-7pm until May 5th. There are several special events scheduled (details below) and all donations and proceeds from art sales will benefit the Lost Pines Recovery Team, a multi-faceted organization dedicated to reforesting and recovering the Lost Pines ecosystem of Bastrop, Texas. Not in Austin or can’t make it to the show? Dont’ worry – you can still donate to this wonderful cause by clicking here!
The AFTA show has already garnered some great press in Austinist, Austin Chronicle and AltSounds. You can also see a TV spot this morning on local Fox Austin (channel 7.1) featuring Joy and some of the AFTA artists!
ART from the ashes Benefit Exhibition
April 28th – May 5th Austin, TX
Starr Building
121 W. Sixth Street (between Colorado and Congress)
Austin, TX
The exhibition will showcase over 70 works of art donated by Texas based artists and ART from the ashes. In AFTA’s spirit of “Support. Inspire. Create. Renew,” works featured will incorporate materials salvaged from fire site locations in Bastrop County. This diverse spectrum of mediums will be further enhanced with the inclusion of a video installation of “Lost in the Flames” filmed by Andrew Shapter in Bastrop County, TX during September 2011, a unique art-science exhibit that will explore the creative ways in which artists have depicted fire ecology through the ages; and “Works On Wood” an installation created by Bastrop County’s youth utilizing reclaimed Loblolly pine. Proceeds support the efforts of the Lost Pines Recovery Team.
Contributing Artists: Leon Alesi, Stella Alesi, Bale Creek Allen, Peggy Anderson-Mapes, Jill Bedgood, Joan Bohls, Susi Brister, Debra Broz, Max Butler, Monique Capanelli, Stacy Conde, Shannon Curfman, Edgar Diaz, Laura Dugan, David Dunham, Cassandra Emswiler, Joy Feuer, Mary Fischer, Brooke Gassiot, Hayley Gillespie, Leah Godfrey, Joshua Goode, Louis Greco, Jesse Hartman, William Heath, Roxanne Hernandez, Melanie Hickerson, Peggy Jo Hilburn, Jessie Johnson, Pat Johnson, Kelly Johnston, Mona Kasra, Chris Klink, Surin Maryn Vesoett, Jon Langford, Suzanne Lewis, Shea Little, Keith Lorcher, Carol Lyon, Peter Mangan, Revi Meicler, Paul Meyer, Aaron Michalovic, Raina Michalovic, Marjorie Moore, Kandra Niagra, Amanda Overton, Jamie Panzer, Carol Schumacher, Brian Phillips, Randall Reid, Karol Rice, Rebecca Roberts, Debbie Sager, Barbara Samuelson, Nina Savill, Russell Smith, Sharon Smith, Jessica Stone, Lisa Studier, Kenny Trice, W. Tucker, Wendy Wight, Jon Windham, Michael Yates
OPENING RECEPTION
SATURDAY APRIL 28TH
6-10 p.m.
Suggested donation $30
includes sips, bites and entertainment by the Aiana String Quartet
GALLERY HOURS
APRIL 29TH – MAY 5TH
Noon – 7p.m.
SPECIAL EVENT PROGRAMMING
SUNDAY APRIL 29th
3-5p.m.
Suggested Donation $10
Join us for an afternoon of Texas bluegrass music performed by The Lost Pines, one of the fastest groups on the Austin music scene.
Refreshments provided.
WEDNESDAY MAY 2nd
Art & Fire Ecology Panel Discussion
6:30-9p.m.
Suggested Donation $10
Join ecologist and artist Dr. Hayley Gillespie as she discusses fire ecology and how it has been depicted in the arts through the ages. Come and learn more about the ecology of the Lost Pines of Bastrop County, the native species that live there and how Bastrop County Complex Fires may affect endangered species. Arrive early to meet a real, live endangered Houston Toad (courtesy of Rachel Rommel of the Houston Zoo). Panel discussion to include Mike Forstner (Professor of Biology, Texas State University), Christina Andruk (PhD Candidate Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Texas, Austin) and Meredith Longoria (Biologist, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department), Greg Creacy (Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept, Natural Resources & Fire Coordinator for State Parks)
SATURDAY MAY 5th 3-4 p.m. Suggested Donation $10
Performance by the Peterson Brothers Band. The Peterson Brothers combine the classic blues sounds of legends with their own unique blend of soul-infused inspiration.
Proceeds from all programming support the Lost Pines Recovery Team’s restoration efforts of the Lost Pines Region of Bastrop County, TX.
The Spring 2012 benefit to support the restoration of Bastrop County’s Lost Pines Region, will mark ART from the ashes’ sixth benefit exhibition since its inception in 2007.
biocreativity 