Friday, April 6, 2012
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Sullivan Taylor Coffee House
19 S. Randolph St. Macomb IL 61455

Enjoy complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres while you view my latest photography, mixed media and line of journals.

Paul Guzzardo will also be offering a talk “A Walk on the Digital Sublime – Meets Occupy.” The talk will be held on Thursday, November 17^th at 7pm at the West Central Illinois Arts Center at 25 East Side Square.  The talk will be open to the public and free.

The installation has already been seen at several major universities. It opened at the University of Newcastle (UK) in September. It is currently at the school of Art and Design at the University of Dundee in Scotland where Guzzardo is a Fellow in the School of the Environment.  The exhibition opened at Western Illinois University on October 21-22, 2011 for the English Graduate Organization Conference: Intersections: Literature, Technology, and Science.

The work is part of a research project by Guzzardo and Jesse Codling, an independent graphic designer.  Guzzardo and Codling describe the installation as:

“A Walk on the Digital Sublime” bores into a St. Louis Missouri urban design praxis. The praxis “recursive urbanism” uses the street as: 1) an evolving search engine, a tableau you drift through, synthesizing as you move, 2) a platform to assemble networks to critique the network, and 3) a probe into how digital kit edits-us. Videos and accompanying graphics frame a struggle of getting onto the street, and manning way-stations to navigate through a digital fog. This streetscape praxis is now snared in litigation in St. Louis. St. Louis is where Marshal McLuhan did foundational media work. McLuhan anguished that the “privileged diet for the elite” would thwart art as radar. “A Walk on the Digital Sublime” tracks how a bogus idea of community provoked a lawsuit, and why a St. Louis elite decided to forfeit and obliterate McLuhan’s St. Louis legacy. And do it in time to celebrate his 2011 Centennial.”

Additional video, photo-strips documenting the installation, and content can be found on guzzardo’s blog site buildbetterbarrel.

Admission to the Arts Center is free.  The West Central Illinois Arts Center is located at 25 East Side Square on the historic Courthouse Square in Macomb.

In this space in the newsletter I will be writing you a brief message about our West Central Illinois Arts Center. This month the topic is membership.

First of all let me thank you for your WCIAC membership. As our organization moves forward though future years, decades and generations, a strong paying
membership base will be crucial to our success and prosperity. Besides the very real importance of membership dues to our bottom line, membership is also
important for other reasons. You can help serve and guide our organization by serving on committees, voting on board members, recruiting new members,
volunteering time and many other possibilities.

The Arts Center has been very strong in programming events, exhibits, performances, classes and etc. As we approach the tenth year of the organization, we need to strengthen our publicity, finances, membership, and other aspects of future strategic planning. We look forward to working with our membership to formulate and accomplish goals in these areas.

Now, looking back for a moment. Many of you were generous in your support for the capital campaign to acquire the building. Your contributions were essential to the establishment of the organization as it is today. At that time a membership structure had yet to be determined but be assured the board considers youall as members. As we work to put in place a sound fiscal program that includes renewable memberships, we would like include those of you who made contributions toward the capital campaign as part of the 2012 membership roster. Your benefits for the year will correspond to the level in which you contributed.  Please visit the ’contribute’ section of the center’s website for details on those benefits or click here for more information and please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have.

FYI, donors to our past capital campaign who are not current members will be contacted and their membership will begin. January first 2012.

Ars Gratia Artis

Sean Genovese

WCIAC Board President

Bring your original tunes and best acoustic guitar or other instrument (there is a piano available) and enjoy a jam session with Jay, a “tranzplant” to Macomb from Corpus Christi Texas.   Jay enjoys a wide variety of acoustic music from country western to classic rock, so no matter what your style Jay would love to improvise and make music with you.  Spectators are also very welcome, as are singers.  Jay will be at the West Central Illinois Arts Center from 2 to 4pm on Saturday August 20^th.  There is no charge to attend or participate in the jam session.

For more information about Jay and the Tranzplants visit www.texastranzplants.com

Be sure to check out the current show at the same time: “Life in 2 dimensions: The Art of Comics.” The gallery is open and free to the public 4 to 7pm on Fridays and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays.

Michael Murphy is an accomplished musician who has released eight albums of Folk and Native American Songs.   The most recent “Black Elk Songs” was named the Traditional Native American CD of the year for 2007 by the Rural Roots Music Commission.   Michael plays a number of instruments including the piano and guitar.  He picked up the Native American flute to bring his Mother’s Cherokee heritage into his life and has been playing and teaching for 25 years.

The Native American Flute workshop is geared towards beginners, no musical experience or music reading experience necessary.  Participants will be furnished with a beginners flute and there will also be an opportunity for participants to decorate their flutes. Michael will teach participants a little about the flute and the role of the flute in historic and contemporary Native American culture.   In a recent interview Michael said, “Anybody, anybody can play the flute. I’ve taught young, young children and I’ve taught very old people. … It doesn’t make any difference. The flute will overcome anything you think might get in the way easily.”

During the evening concert Michael will play a variety of music instruments including the guitar and Native American flute. He will primarily be playing selections from his eight albums.  In addition to the heavy influence of Native American music on his creative process you will also hear overtones of country-blues, Spanish Flamenco and liturgical music.   For more information on Michael Murphy visit his website at www.michaelmurphymusic.com.

Please join us for these special events at the West Central Illinois Arts Center located at 25 East Side Square in beautiful historic downtown Macomb.  Please RSVP for the workshop to reserve a Native American Flute. To reserve a workshop space or concert ticket, please visit our website at www.wciarts.org.  Tickets will also be available at the door. If you have any questions please contact the arts center at info@wciarts.org or call 309-836-2782.

Curtis Bisbee is a graffiti artist and WCIAC board member, who has been managing the new signage project. Watch for new signage, as Curtis will periodically change the look of our building every few months over the course of the next year!

The new sign in progress!

Check back again for photos of the transformation!