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 Women’s
Acts of Defiance: Video, Literary, and Visual Art Responses to
the IntolerableThat is a stunning title for a program,
isn’t it! This promises to be a stunning program – be sure to attend
May’s meeting! Kay Adshead has access to short, artistic videos
created to show different reasons for defiance, and some of our
members have stepped forward with their own artistic responses to
untenable situations. Every one of our gatherings is
unique and interesting and causes us to question and wonder. Please
join us for this multi-media presentation of responsive
creativity. If you would like to participate with your
own artistic response to a situation in which you are or were unable
to tolerate, please email info@wivla.org and let us know what
you would like to add to the program. At newsletter publication time
these members are participating in the program: Stella Brice, Gladys
Bullock, Zita Giraldo, Tayyba Maya Kanwal, Jane Mulholland, Jere
Pfister, Mary Riggs Ramain, Traci Shannon, Lillian Tharp, and
Margaret Toombs. Curated and facilitated by Kay
Adshead. The meeting will be held at Archway Gallery, 2305
Dunlavy, Houston TX 77006 5:45 Mix and Mingle; Please bring
wine or a snack if you can. 6:15: Short business
meeting 6:30: Program begins 7:30: Walk two blocks
to Brasil’s at the corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy for dinner
(Dutch treat).
 President's
MessageHats off to WiVLA! Well, actually, hats on.
WiVLA hosted Cultured Cocktails at Bar Boheme on April 20, and
sporting some lovely headgear, we introduced bar patrons to WiVLA.
In the process, we earned a percentage of their 5:00-8:00 pm drink
proceeds, and just as important, we had so much fun together! Next
year's event promises to be even better. Our
ECO Award presentations were marvelous! Both Lilibeth Andre and Lee
Steiner had fascinating projects, and they both explained them
thoroughly and delightfully. It was amazing to see and hear how
$1,000 can help a woman accomplish her goals! A few gasps later,
Mary Riggs Ramain and Kay McStay's names were picked from the boxes
of names as our 2017 ECO Award winners. I could sense calendars
flashing through their thoughts as they planned the coming year’s
activities. The last day of March was the joint
WiVLA-Houston Book Arts Guild 2 nd Annual Books2Eat
Festival. And festival it was! The variety and creativity of edible
titles was delicious and that was even before we started tasting
everything. If you have never joined in on the fun, either as
spectator or participant, please start brainstorming now for next
year’s Festival. It’s a library full of fun!
May’s meeting promises to be stimulating and thought-provoking.
“Women’s Acts of Defiance: Videos, Literary and Visual Art Responses
to the Intolerable” will be presented thanks to the access Kay
Adshead has to an assortment of videos and to WiVLA members who will
share their own responses. Put June 11 on your
calendar: WiVLA will visit the Cistern in downtown Houston. See
details later in this newsletter. A former actual cistern for water
collection, this space has now become the location of multimedia art
installations. What better way to enjoy this amazing space than with
your WiVLA friends! So, as you see, women of WiVLA
are having a great time with each other. The more you join in, the
more good experiences there are to be had. Is anyone interested in a
book club? A regular movie gathering? Maybe outings to some of
our treasured museums? We now have a WiVLA Facebook group just for
members. We can post opportunities and respond to each others'
ideas. Here is the link to join:
See
the news item later in the newsletter to learn about this new WiVLA
feature and how it will help us stay connected. Keep
the Renewal show in your line of vision – the entry
period for both literary and visual arts works is May 1 through June
15. The opening will be August 20. How have you experienced renewal?
Let that experience flow into a piece of literary or visual art for
this show. See the article later in this newsletter for the
prospectus. Ready? So many opportunities are
forthcoming; such creative fun calls. Grab your hat! Let’s
go! Cori Austin
President
WiVLA Outing to The
Cistern Join us at The
Cistern on June 11. An old drinking water reservoir built by
the city of Houston in 1926, the cistern lay empty until someone
with great vision saw its potential. It is now an art
installation location. The current multi-media show being
presented is “Rain” by Magdalena Fernandez. It is
described below as an “immersive experience,” Here is a link to the
website: http://buffalobayou.org/visit/destination/the-cistern/
Order a 12:00 noon ticket for Sunday, June 11.
We'll meet there at 11:45. Then we can have lunch after at the
Black Walnut Cafe on
Memorial. _______________________________________________________ Books2Eat – a
Delicious
Night! Reading
and Eating – two favorite past times of many of us! Books2Eat
managed to combine both in a wacky, creative, and fun party on April
Fool’s Eve. This is an international festival carried out on April 1
all over the world. Houston’s event was a festive part of the
world-wide celebration. Collaborating with
Houston Book Arts Guild, WiVLA helped Lee Steiner produce the
colorful and entertaining event for a second year in a row. Puns and
true-to-detail creations were ways that “books” were “cooked.” And
there were even prizes! Many thanks to the WIVLA members who created
entries and to the attendees.    Top: Overview of the
Books2Eat event on March 31.
Middle: Lilibeth Andre with her
entry.
Bottom: Judith Shamp with her entry.
To see more
pictures of the event, please click here.
RENEWAL
Prospectus times two -- Visual and Literary
WiVLA
is extremely excited to collaborate with the Evelyn Rubenstein
Jewish Community Center – “The J” -- in an event called One
Voice, One Vibe, Our Community. As many Houstonians are aware
that the greater Meyerland area was hit by devastating floods twice
within a ten-month period. “The J” became a hub for relief efforts
and continues to communicate with the community and local leaders in
the city and county. This has led to a renewed sense of pride and
excitement about the community. To celebrate the commitment to
connecting and rebuilding this vital community “The J” is sponsoring
One Voice, One Vibe, Our Community.
As the
centerpiece of One Voice, One Vibe, Our Community, “The J”
is commissioning an original anthem-like musical composition to
reflect the resilience of the greater Meyerland area, its Jewish
imprint, and the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center. The
WiVLA part of this will be an art exhibit along with written work
from our writers on the topic “Renewal.” The composition will
premiere at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center on August
20, 2017 with local musicians and singers. Earlier that afternoon,
an opening reception will be held with the WIVLA art work exhibited
in the Deutser Art Gallery along with a chapbook of the WiVLA
written work.
As you ruminate on the theme Renewal
and what you want to create for this significant event,
please think in terms of a secular approach to the topic.
Because the work is to be presented to the entire community of
Meyerland and its neighbors, it should have broad appeal. Work with
a religious slant will not be appropriate for this show.
Visual
Prospectus is here.
Literary Prospectus is here.
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April
Meeting Highlights the ECO Fund2016 ECO awardees
Lilibeth Andre and Lee Steiner had the rapt attention of the 25+
member audience as they both gave fascinating and inspiring
presentations about their use of the $1,000 awards throughout the
year. Lilibeth held us spellbound with her historical and
family slides while she detailed her research into the life of her
beloved grandmother. Oral history, documents, pictures, and personal
visits to El Paso were the instruments that allowed Lilibeth to
delve into family relationships, stories, traditions, and more than
a few surprising historical connections. Her presentation surely
showed the caring nature, warmth, and depth of her ongoing writing
project. On the visual front, Lee Steiner gave a
beautiful, colorful, and entertaining presentation on her "Locked in
Love" project. Lee became fascinated with the European and Eastern
tradition of lovers locking a lock on a bridge. Her interest soon
encompassed her own travels to photograph the bridges and locks and
additional help from family members to add to her photo collection.
Lee wanted to create an actual bridge with locks, a quilt-like
tapestry, and "trading cards" of love stories to be enjoyed at a
"Locked in Love" event along with distributing the cards to the
volunteer storytellers who wrote the love stories in 30 or fewer
words. Lee's slides, binders, samples, and statistics graphically
and artistically showed the many steps and delightful finished
project that was revealed at her studio in February
2017. Cori Austin with help from the presenters
managed drawing the names from the 2017 applicants. The winners were
the very surprised and happy Mary Riggs Ramain for the visual award
and Kay McStay for the literary award. (The editor suggests
members seek out the WiVLA facebook page for pictures of the April
meeting.)
WiVLA
Celebrated with Cultured Cocktails  WiVLA
members celebrated and shared our mission and programming with the
Houston community at a happy hour hosted by Bar Boheme. This April
20, WiVLA was the beneficiary of the Fresh Arts Cultured
Cocktails program—offering Houston arts organizations an opportunity
to meet with supporters of the arts, and benefit from a portion of
the proceeds of the event. Several board members and WiVLA members
were on location to engage the happy hour patrons and our invited
friends in conversations about WiVLA as an organization, as well as
our individual artistic passions.
The evening was lively with activities organized
by WiVLA members, including a “Create Your Own Cocktail” naming
competition using magnetic poetry. Bar patrons enjoyed voting on
their favorites, and we almost managed to convince our bar tender to
create a recipe for the winning cocktail name, “Fiery Wet Goddess.”
Playwright Kay McStay generated two dialogues-on-demand for patrons.
Writer Tayyba Maya Kanwal and illustrator Zita Giraldo created flash
fiction based on prompts gathered from the happy hour crowd.
(Curious? You can see Maya and Zita’s work online by clicking here.) The creative exchanges and conversations
during the happy hour were an invigorating example of WiVLA’s
potential in the Houston art community. Editor's
Note: The cocktail naming contest has a winner but we don't know who
concocted the name "Fiery Wet Goddess" that received the most votes.
If you will announce yourself to the editor, I'll deliver your
prize. There were at least 20 cocktail names and I include a few of
my favorites: Delirious Afterworld, Unstoppable Fluff Machine,
Childish Drunk, and Hazy Moon Storm.
New Facebook Group:
Announcement from Regina Vitolo
MaderWiVLA has a new Facebook group for MEMBERS ONLY.
If you would like to join, you can go directly to the link and send
a request, or you can email Regina at clockbirdstar@gmail.com, and she can send you an
invitation to the group. Here is the link:
NEWS
- New item from Regina Vitolo Mader: Facebook Group. See
notice above!
- Editor's Choice: Repeating items from Regina Vitolo
Mader, who is our Social Media guru, with excellent
information about Twitter and its uses. To see her advice and
resources, click here. For a one-page Twitter guide, click here.
- Looking for a
gift for a special friend? This lovely teacup and saucer set is
available for purchase for only $10 and is ALREADY WRAPPED. To
order, email info@wivla.org.
- Editor's Choice repeating Item #2 from
Regina, social media guru: Do you want to post on
WiVLA's Facebook page? Click here for a short tutorial with easy-to-read
instructions and images. Many thanks to Regina!
- AMAZON SMILE. Click here to read treasurer Lane
Devereux's thank you to recent donors and helpful
information about donations to WiVLA via several options including
Amazon Smile which is a way for WIVLA to receive
funds based on a percentage of purchases through Amazon. Good
idea!
- Stay
tuned for upcoming events!
Please
send in your news by the 20th of each month - art exhibits, literary
works, news, etc. - for inclusion in the following month’s
newsletter to newsletter@wivla.org.
- Josena Arquieta
writes: "I started classes at The Glassell School of Art in
January 2005. The school has a Certificate of Achievement
consisting of basic drawing, 2- and 3-D design, art history,
drawing, and painting totaling 32 classes. I have now completed
the program and will have a student show and ceremony Friday May 19 at 7:00 pm at the school at 2450
Holcombe Blvd. This event coincides with the Glassell student show
and sale." Editor's note: Please note the temporary location
for the Glassell while the new building is under
construction.
- Sharon Worley has a
new one-person exhibition of paintings at the Houston Public
Central Library McKinney branch: "Making Waves: Light, Water and
Color" open through June 2. http://houstonlibrary.org/learn-explore/exhibits/making-waves
April
3, 2017 - June 2, 2017 at Central Library | 1st Floor Art
Gallery, 500 McKinney St., 77002
- Catherine Lu of Houston Public
Media's KUHF celebrated April as Poetry Month in her program with
a diverse group of poets, one for each weekday in April. Some
people you probably know and some you'll want to meet! The beauty
is if you missed it on the radio, there's a wonderful website
where all the features are available. Each poet's page consists of
a short bio, an interview, and a reading of one poem, which is
also posted.
Voices and Verses: A Poem-A-Day Series |
Houston Public Media. Sandi Stromberg was
featured on Wednesday, April 19. You can see her page at:
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/arts-culture/2017/04/19/196806/national-poetry-month-giving-up-the-herd-by-sandi-stromberg/
- From now until June 1, member
Nan Toole's art will be exhibited at
FRESH ART / FRESH PRODUCE
on Saturdays from
10:00 am - NOON
First Congregational Church at 10840
Bienhorn, (go south from I-10
on Voss and turn right on Bienhorn). We hope you
can come see Nan's hottest, freshest art and pick up delicious
produce at the Farmer's Market. Nan will be in the building with
the bell tower. She hopes to see you there!
- Denise Bossarte has
published her photography in a series of books of Copyright Free
images on Amazon.com. The Do Your Art Your Way series of
books is for the collage artist, mixed media artist, crafter, or
SoulCollage® card maker who wants to include beautiful copyright
free images in their art. Each book contains dozens of original
images, with each image on its own page. No worries about cutting
out these images to use for your art! Each of the images comes in
a large and small version, so you can use them in your larger or
smaller works. Check out more on the books at www.doyourartyourway.com.
- Jane Chance signed
up for the summer workshop in Italy in the link below. Perhaps
members would like to view this opportunity: https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/writing-institute/italy.html
- Carolyn Dahl is featured in an article in the
May 2017 Houston Lifestyles & Homes http://houstonlifestyles.com/vibrancy-in-art-and-words/.
- Social media tutorials and fact sheets by Regina
Vitolo Mader are under the NEWS heading. Many thanks to
Regina for clear and concise advice!
-
Former member Adela Andea will be one of
twelve artists featured in SPRING/BREAK BKLYN
IMMERSIVE, a curator-driven fair during Frieze New York,
where she will create a large-scale site-specific
installation. 300 Flatbush Avenue Extension, Brooklyn, NY
11201Opening Night: Saturday, May 6, 7:00-10:00 pmOn View: May
7-14, 12:00-7:00 pm
Editors Note: We know a
lot of you are showing your work and getting articles and books
published, so we ask you to send the information to newsletter@WiVLA.org by the 20th of each month.
We want to support you and come to your openings and readings;
timely info to the newsletter gets the word to members and their
friends and contacts.
ANNOUNCEMENTS~
Book lovers may want to attend MenilFest & Gulf Coast
indie book fest on Saturday, May 6 from 11:00 am to 5 pm. It is an
outdoor festival on the grounds of the Menil. More information at
web address here.
~ Poets will read poems from
Untameable City: Poems on the Nature of Houston at River
Oaks Bookstore, 3270 Westheimer at River Oaks Blvd. on Saturday, May 6, 4:00-6:00
pm. Mutabilis Press' 4th anthology, this book was
chosen by Alyson Ward for the 2017 Houston Chronicle Reading
Challenge. As she wrote: "I love that anthology—some of the poems
are just quintessential Houston."
http://www.riveroaksbookstore.com/index-1.htm~
Elizabeth
Neckes, program coordinator with Artadia, is happy to let you know
that the 2017 Houston Artadia Awards are now open! The application
is open to all visual artists who have lived in Harris County TX for
at least two years and who are not currently enrolled in a full-time
art-related degree program. It is also free to apply, and the
deadline is May 15, 2017 at 11:59 pm
CDT. "We would greatly appreciate it if you could
share this information with your network. Artists can visit our website
for more information and to apply. We are @artadia on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter. To see the poster about the Houston Artadia
Awards, click here.
~
Member June Russell sends information on the following: Sculpture
Workshop at Betz Fine Art Gallery and Foundry, Working from
life, the Positive Approach to Sculpting with artist Lori Betz
who writes that the workshop will concentrate on methods of clay
modeling working from a live model in water based clay. We will
study the anatomy and proportions of the human figure, with
the emphasis on developing form and beautiful
composition. The workshop will provide an in-depth exploration of
the human figure while working from the same model each day.
Each person will receive individual attention, including
demonstrations on anatomy and technique. This is a three week course
on Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 am -3:00 pm with a lunch break.
For workshop dates contact Lori Betz at 713-576-6954,
lori@betzartfoundry.com,
www.betzartfoundry.com~
Margo
Toombs writes: "I am co-hosting deep listening circles at the Jung
Center the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month for the next 3 months
- 6:00-7:30 pm. Imagine talking without being interrupted. Listening
without feeling the need to fix the speaker. It's emotionally
refreshing. It's a gift. And it is free. Let
me know if you are interested in being on our email list." You can
reach Margo at bboop7@flash.net. You can read an introduction to
deep listening circles here. ~
Inprint opens its doors at 1520 West Main on the first Friday of
every month from 9 am to 12 noon for a writing cafe. Any and all
writers looking for a pleasant morning space in which to write are
welcome. For information, click here. Be sure and use the link to confirm
the Friday availability. A few Fridays in 2017 are blocked due to
other schedules.
~ WriteSpace is offering
several workshops in May and continuing into the summer. For
pricing, registration and more information, go to the WriteSpace website or contact them. Please see the WriteSpace website
for details.
~ Public Poetry announces a
marvelous month of events in May. http://www.publicpoetry.net/calendar~
Events and upcoming shows are noted on the Visual Arts Alliance
(VAA) helpful website at http://visualartsalliance.org/ ~
From Cori Austin -- Creative Mornings Houston: Every month, creative
people gather at a designated place for a program designed to
inspire and entertain. There is time for networking, visiting,
meeting new people, and having some kind of morning food and drink.
I've been three times. Each time has been totally different, but the
common denominator (I am a math teacher, by the way), is always
interesting people having interesting conversations. To join, sign
up for the Houston newsletter at https://creativemornings.com/cities/hou.
It’s always on a Friday morning and begins at 8:30 am. The location
changes each time. ~ Member
Debbie Blumberg writes, "I'm the founder and co-president of the new
Texas Chapter of the American Society of Journalists and Authors,
ASJA, and would love to grow our group. Founded in 1948, ASJA
is the nation's professional organization of independent
nonfiction writers. Our membership consists of nearly 1,200
freelance writers of magazine articles, trade books, and many other
forms of nonfiction writing. Professional writers are able to
apply to join. In Texas, we're planning several events, networking
and career development opportunities. ASJA also has an amazing
yearly conference in New York. Anyone interested can contact me for
more information - deborah.blumberg@gmail.com.
~ The
newsletter editor suggests you check out the Houston Writers Guild
webpage for useful links, workshops, contests, critique circles,
advertising opportunities, and news about their April conference.
The conference schedule is well-rounded and explores many topics.
Good info can be found at http://www.houstonwritersguild.org~
3rd Coast Books is now accepting fiction and non-fiction
submissions in seven genres. Please go to: www.3rdcoastbooks.com
~ Art
Houston is a new local magazine dedicated to all types of art and
they are seeking articles. For general submission guidelines,
contact the publisher at Art
Houston.~
Writers will find an abundance of resources on this new website created by writing coach Joan Dempsey.
Calls
for Entry: Visual ArtInclusion
in this list does not indicate endorsement by WiVLA. We recommend
you research each contest, and contact the
sponsor(s).~
Archway Gallery has an important link on their website: Call for
Artists for their annual juried show later this year. Click here to go to the website.
~ Also at
Archway: Upcoming exhibits include the Empty Bowls reception and
fundraiser. See the website. Click here.
~Affaire d'Art Fine Art Gallery in
Galveston announced a juried show with a deadline of May 15, 2017.
Member Rona Lesser suggests the website for detailed
information and prospectus. Click here. The pages with info and prospectus are under
the News and Events tab.~ Editor's
Choice to repeat this notice. The "painting" day part of the
program is in June. Member Rona Lesser sends a notice about
Breast Strokes: Hadassah Bares All for A.R.T. -- Awareness,
Research, and Treatment. This is a unique artistic
opportunity with a breast cancer fundraiser. A page with information
is here.~ Fraction
Magazine is an online venue dedicated to contemporary and fine
art photography. It brings together diverse bodies of work by
established and emerging artists from around the globe.They accept
submissions
from new and emerging photographers.~
FreshArts, of which we are members, has many opportunities for
artists listed on their website - check it out! WiVLA presented
information and fun games at our first event at Boheme. Stayed tuned
to learn how much the evening netted to our coffers. Many thank yous
to FreshArts and Bar Boheme!~ Juried
Art Services has a digital jurying system. Click on the
link above for more information. ~
CAFE' for Artists! www.CallForEntry.org is
a website that lists calls for entry nation-wide. Descriptions of
type of art and theme are listed, as is a link for more information.
Deadlines are included. Calls
for Entry: Literary ArtInclusion
in this list does not indicate endorsement by WiVLA. We recommend
you research each contest, and contact the sponsor(s).
~ Gulf
Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts announces its 2017
contests and awards. The literary journal was founded at the
University of Houston and holds an annual event with cash awards to
the winners and publication opportunities. Please click "Contests"
on their web page for full information and submission guidelines. http://www.gulfcoastmag.org~ Narrative regularly publishes fiction, poetry, and
nonfiction, including stories, novels, novel excerpts, novellas,
personal essays, humor, sketches, memoirs, literary biographies,
commentary, reportage, interviews, and features of interest to
readers who take pleasure in storytelling and imaginative
prose.~
Poets & Writers has a great database of conferences and
residencies for writers. Check it out.
~
Winning Writers is another great website for writing
opportunities. Check it out by clicking here. Renew
Membership Now Make
2017 your opportunity for creative encouragement and
support by renewing your membership to WiVLA. This
year promises to be outstanding in programs, writing and visual art
opportunities, and friendships with interesting and creative women.
Keep your membership current by renewing today! You can do it easily
online: http://wivla.org/membership.htm or download
a membership form and send a check to WiVLA, P.O. Box 130406,
Houston, TX 77219-0406.You can also renew at the May meeting. To
facilitate this, please print the information form and fill it out
ahead of time so you don't miss the opportunity to visit
friends before the meeting! If you are a new member who joined at
the end of 2016 (September through December), your membership
will run through the entire year of 2017.  If
you shop at Randall's, tie your account to WiVLA (#5341). You
can do this at the customer service counter once, and from then
on, WiVLA will benefit every time you
shop! Please
forward WiVLA Voices to all your friends who might be interested in
WiVLA. BRING A FRIEND TO OUR NEXT MEETING!
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