Tomorrow night is the opening reception and walking tour for the first (annual?) Sculpture Invitational. It starts at 6:00pm at artspace and ends at Legends Brewing Company. If you can't make the opening night walk you can always get a map and do it later, the invitational runs through October 20.
Style Weekly's Shannon O'Neill has an article out this week with more info and introducing some of the artists. The article makes mention of my previous Sculpture Invitational post and refers to that as a "public-relations setback". Sorry, I thought I was offering some good ideas - and I do think this is great and am excited about it. Why does it so often seem that if you don't cheerlead for something 100% you are perceived as being against it? I would like to see Allison Smith's Muster invade Monument Avenue, it would be perfect.
I'm glad to see that the end of O'Neill's article does address my valid criticism of a fourteen artist invitational that includes only one woman. Actually, in thinking about the history of Richmond public sculpture, I was also wondering how many black sculptors were included. Richmond is a city that is nearly 60 percent black but I am hard-pressed to name a local black artist. Or a single black faculty member or black grad student in any department of VCU's fine arts program.
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The most prominent black artist in Richmond (but not for her art) is probably Tosha Grantham. She showed her work in DC and the MidAtlantic region before she became an associate curator at the VMFA in 2001 of so. She would know who the African American artists in the region are since that is her specialty.
There was John Torres, who may have been a member of artspace. He died a few years ago... and claudia...somebody...she is a very talented fiber artist and is associated with Elegba...
and finally there was Ronnie Sampson. Ronnie and his wife Nancy were trying to do what you are doing right after Reagan was president. It was the beginning of BUSH I.
They started an arts zine, the first to be published with a mac here in Richmond. It was called SIGNATURE and was very classy. They probably have all of the editions in the special collections library at Cabell.
Finally, after doing so much for the arts in general and for 1708, which he may have been a member, he and Nancy realized that all of their clients were on the west coast. He was a fantastic printmaker and showed in the region before they sold everything and moved to San Fransisco. He explained to me that it doesn't matter what color you are or who you sleep with out there as long as you can do the job.
Being an artist is hard enough...being black and an artist must be 10 times harder.
Amieo - thanks for all that info. I will look for SIGNATURE in the library.
Gosh... nice words from AmieO. Very touching. One correction, though, the magazine that Nancy and I published was called "gallery".
Just stunbled across this post and thought I'd chime in.
Ronnie Sampson
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