You are here: Home » Getting Involved » Events » Art Wall Archive

Art Wall Archive

Buddhist-Inspired Photography

Our February Art Wall exhibit, “Two Photographers Inspired by Buddhist Teachings,” opens with a reception at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 2, and runs through February 27. All the works are for sale, with part of the proceeds
benefiting UUCCSM.
 
Photographer Karen Redding is showing selected works from “Travels Through Humanity,” her social documentary of indigenous people she has met in many parts of the world. UUCCSM member, Carol Ring, is showing works created by combining three evocative photos with a brief, superimposed “loving-kindness” phrase.
 
Karen became a professional photographer in 2008. She has worked as a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with a private practice and runs a mindfulness meditation practice. This background, combined with her passion for travel, inspires her relationship to her subjects and how she interprets what she sees. The work embraces the human landscape of diversity while highlighting what it means to be human: our need for connection; a quest for safety and a sense of belonging; our innate desire to be seen and accepted deeply. These photos from her travels have received favorable reviews in several art exhibitions in Southern California. Read more about her work at www.karenkredding.com
 
Carol always carries her camera, often stopping to shoot whatever captures her eye: reflections  clouds, graffiti, land and cityscapes, or just interesting abstractions of shapes and colors. She recently retired from a career as a graphic artist, and is becoming an ardent meditator and student of Buddhism and neuropsychology.
 
Each piece in this show features one photo that serves as a visual frame for two other images and a mindfulness or metta (loving-kindness) phrase superimposed. The works are meant to “re-mind” the viewer to be more  present, to relax more deeply into a felt-sense of our true nature. These prints are made by infusing dyes onto coated brushed aluminum. See this show and all of Carol’s artwork at http://www.yessy.com/carolring
 
Admission to this show is free, all works are for sale. Opening Reception: Sunday, February 2, 2014 at  1:00. Meet Karen K. Redding and Carol Ring. Light refreshments. Closing Reception:  Sunday, February 22, 2014 at 12:00 - 1:30. Open Sundays in February from 9AM - 1 PM.  Open by appointment Monday through Friday.  Contact: Nancy assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436, ext. 102 

Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica
1260 18th St, Santa Monica 90404 (corner of 18thand Arizona)
Sunday parking in structure on 16th Street south of Arizona Ave.

 
 
Kids With Cameras
The Human Relations Council of the Bay Area has partnered with the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and the Police Activities League since 2009 to offer children in the 7th through 9th grades an opportunity to learn photography with photographic mentors. The children and their mentors meet in six afternoon sessions in the summer to photograph local public art, architecture, people, the farmer’s market, and one another. Mentors review the photographs with the children weekly, and at the end of the six-week session the photographs are displayed at Bergamot Station. Each child is also given a photo scrapbook of their photos as a souvenir of their work.
 
The January Art Wall is dedicated to showing some of their work, predominantly photographs taken by YMCA kids under the mentorship of Charles Haskell.
 
— Charles Haskell
 
The Human Relations Council is a partnership of community organizations, institutions, businesses, and individuals which promotes and supports a respectful and socially just community through education, advocacy, and resolution of local conflicts and issues. Website: www.hrcsantamonica.org
John Christensen

Celebrate Life Through the Paintings of John Christensen

The vibrant paintings exploring everyday life as observed by Venice, California-based artist John Christensen will be on display in Forbes Hall throughout December for all art lovers to savor.

Christensen describes his creations as American primitive art. You and fellow art aficionados will have fun recognizing locations you’ve visited as represented in his bold works featured in the show “Full of Life.” 

You may relate to his depiction of driving on a freeway but then might be surprised by the sky above filled with hawks. Other works tell stories about fighting in the streets of Venice, hanging out at a favorite lifeguard station, or catching the perfect wave. His intriguing, multigenerational subjects are captured pursuing common life activities on the pier, at work, or riding the bus.

Self-taught, Christensen grew-up in the city of Santa Monica and seeks out strange, funny, and meaningful activities of people and animals. He is particularly interested in the world’s penumbras and in-betweens and in the places where differences of all kinds meet. Some of his favorite things are road-trips, early morning coffee, and just walking around. Faith, humor, wonder, and the fun of discovery motivate his work.

Don’t miss your chance to meet the artist and talk about his style and choices at the opening reception Sunday, December 1.

— Teri Bond

 

Exhibit Infomation:

Admission is free, all works are for sale 
Opening Reception: Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 12:00 - 1:30
Meet John Christensen. Light refreshments.
Closing Reception:  Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 12:00 - 1:30
Open Sundays in December from 9AM - 1 PM
Open by appointment Monday through Friday
Contact: Nancy assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436, ext. 102
 

Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica
1260 18th St, Santa Monica 90404 (corner of 18th and Arizona)
Sunday parking in structure on 16th Street south of Arizona Ave.

Map

Full of Life, December Art Wall Exhibit at the UU Church

John Chistensen's Website  

Making Connections Through the Zimbabwe Artists' Project

The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica presents 

Making Connections Through the Zimbabwe Artists Project - An Art Exhibit 
 
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 3, 2013 from 12:00 - 1:30pm 
Open every Sunday in November from 9:00am – 1:00pm 
 
The Zimbabwe Artists Project (ZAP) aims to strengthen self-sufficiency and deepen cultural  understanding by promoting women artists from rural Weya in Eastern Zimbabwe and selling  their work to art lovers in the U.S. Based in Portland, Oregon, ZAP’s goal is that through this  partnership the women will become economically self-sufficient. 
 
Most of the artists are single mothers or widows providing for their families by farming and  creating art.  Typically, the men from that region, leave to seek work in nearby cities. Income  from agriculture is very unpredictable and limited. The funds raised from art sales help the  women buy food, clothing, medication, seeds and fertilizer. 
 
In addition to providing financial support through the purchase artwork, ZAP provides health  care and educational services to the families and children who have been orphaned. 
 
The artwork addresses issues of gender, colonialism and globalization. Through learning the  personal stories as told by the artists, the hope is that viewers discover a connection with these  strong, talented and accomplished African women. 
 
We thought you might enjoy reading some of the original stories connected to the art that will  be on display throughout the month of November on the Forbes Hall Art Wall masterfully  curated by the very dedicated, long-time UUCCSM member Beverly Alison. 
 
VILLAGE LIFE 
By BEAUTY MUGADZA 
Board painting B3651 
 
Mrs. Charanga is coming from fetching firewood. Chenai is coming from fetching firewood. Mrs. Chenai is washing  clothes. Mrs. Honda and Mrs. Marugu are pounding rapoko (millet). Mrs. Rwanda is playing with the baby. Mrs. Chirara is cooking sadza. Mr. Tawengwa is carving a stick for porridge, and a table. Mrs. Saruwa is sweeping the yard. Mrs. Zambara is weeding vegetables. Mrs. Maruta is serving rapoko. Tapiwa is playing with the ball. Mrs. Chigogo is grinding rapoko. 
 
ARTIST BIO: 
Beauty was born in 1969. She has three teenage children. She learned to paint in 1988. “I paint because it helps me  with house costs: soap, school fees for children and other household expenses. I got married with a man who  wasn’t formally trained (as a builder) and who isn’t regularly employed. I need to help the family.” “I want  Americans to know that I am a woman who works hard. I would like to see what women in other countries do –  are they hardworking like me? I am proud that my children go to school properly dressed and they have enough to  eat because of my hard work.” Her favorite subjects include village life and weddings.
 
 
 
BIRDS OF AFRICA
By VERONICA CHITSIKE 
Fabric painting S 3392
 
One saddle-billed stork is drinking water while the other one is standing in the water. They are  found in Africa. (S 3392) 
 
ARTSIT BIO: 
Veronica was born in 1959. She came to Weya in 1982 as the second wife of her husband. She has three children,  ages 9 to 19. She learned how to create art in 1988. She felt it was a thing she could do as a woman, and she  needed money. “I am a full-time housewife who looks after children, fetches firewood, does plowing, herds cattle and takes them to the dipping tank. I have quite a lot of work.” She has time for her artwork during the rainy season only on weekends, with more time available during the dry season. Her favorite topics are wild animals (“baboons who live here in this place”) and village life.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
EVERYDAY LIFE 
By SARUDZAI SHONGE 
Applique A 3118
 
Waual, here is the exact fruit tree which I was looking for, the muzhange (Uapaca kirkiana) tree,” said Mrs. 
Mungure. “Are we going to pick-up some mushrooms first or fetch some firewood,” asked Mrs. Jowa sitting on a  stone. “I think we will fetch the firewood first and the mushrooms later,” replied Mrs. Shonge. “My children are 
about to come back from school so let me prepare lunch for them,” said Mrs. Chakwenya. Mrs. Paradza is carrying  her bundle of firewood on her head and is going home. (A 3118) 
 
ARTIST BIO: 
Sarudzai was born in 1972, the youngest of eight children. She attended school through the equivalent of 10th grade after which family financial constraints kept her from going further. She was married four years after  leaving school and has three children. She lives with her husband and children in Gokwe in central Zimbabwe. Sarudzai learned to do appliqué from her sister, Orpah Mungure, in 1990. She makes art to help with family expenses. Her favorite topics include lovers, village life and “at the market.”
 
Update, December 2013:  
To the Congregation: This is a tribute to the Website Committee of our church using a recent happening as inspiration. The committee worked hard to include the Zimbabwe art show pieces in the monthly presentation on our new website. It was seen by the editor of a widely read spiritual newsletter in the state of Washington who contacted our church in order to use one of the images featuring a village working together to benefit their way of life. The art committee sought the OK from the Zimbabwe artist, got it, and the circle was complete: Artists in Africa reaching out to Unitarian Universalists reaching out to the wider world and successfully connecting with cooperation, respect and peace. Thank you, Website Committee!
— Beverly Alison
 
Exhibit Information:
 
Admission is free 
 
Open to the Public: 
Sundays in November from 9AM - 1 PM 
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 12:00 - 1:30 
Meet the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Artists Project. Light refreshments. 
Closing Reception: Sunday, November 27, 2013 at 12:00 - 1:30 
 
Open by appointment: 
Monday through Thursday: 10am-5pm 
Fridays: 10am-1pm. 
Contact: Nancy assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436, ext. 102 
 
Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica 
1260 18th  St, Santa Monica 90404 (corner of 18th  and Arizona) 
Sunday parking in structure on 16th  Street south of Arizona Ave. 

 

Michael Rohde
About the work:
 
The medium in which I choose to work is fiber, primarily flat woven  pieces, but lately including vessel forms. I’ve picked this less than common  medium, having been drawn to the possibilities of relationships between  subliminal texture and the interaction of light and color.  Having taken this route, the weavings can become an embodiment of  the freedom to explore how colors relate to each other and to the surface  properties of the fibers used. Pure color and specific color combinations  of color have the power to speak to each of us, often producing differing  responses in each person. By limiting the vocabulary  to color and woven texture, the works are  better able to stimulate reactions and  emotions that these raw color and  spatial relationships can have on the viewer. 
 
Recent pieces of work over the  last several years have addressed the  impact of human and natural causes  on the homes and lives of people. These  include houses that disappear into the  sands of war, are filled with rising flood waters,  or simply vanish as the natural consequence of time.  Yet, without the foreknowledge of what is behind the creation of these  images, the works stand as objects of quiet beauty: begun with white yarns  of wool, silk, linen and other fibers, I add my own dyes to achieve a range  of colors and contrast not available in commercially dyed materials. Like a  painter, I mix my own colors to create something new.
 
About the artist:
 
After pursuing dual careers in biochemistry and weaving, I left behind  a job as director of a biotechnology research lab in 1998 to devote full  time to this work. Weaving has been a fervent activity since 1973. Formal  training in drawing, color, and design came from the Alfred Glassel School  of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Over the years, activities included  lectures, workshop teaching, juror, show organizer, and exhibitor in many  local, national and international juried and invited shows.
 
Recently work has been included in the United States Department  of State Art in Embassies Program, exhibits at the Textile Museum in  Washington, DC, the American Craft Museum in New York, the invitational  Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland, from Lausanne to Beijing (twice),  Houses for Nomads (a solo exhibit at the Janina Monkute-Marks Museum  in Lithuania), an exhibition at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa  Park in San Diego, and the permanent collections of the Mingei, the San  Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the Ventura County Museum of Art,  and The Art Institute of Chicago.
 
— Michael F. Rohde
 

Exhibit Schedule:

Weavings by Michael Rohde is open to the public  Sundays in October from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Artist's Opening Reception,  Sunday, October 6, 2013, noon - 1:30 p.m.
Artist's Closing Reception,  Sunday, October 27, 2013, noon - 1:30 p.m.
Weekdays by appointment - contact  Nancy in the church office at  310-829-5436, ext. 102 or       assistant@uusm.org

 

Bettye Barclay
Bettye Barclay is an artist who works in a variety  of media including acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, silk  painting, and clay. She has received numerous awards for  both her clay work and her paintings.
 
Her main focus from 1983 to 1998 was clay. During that time she exhibited and sold her work in fine craft  galleries throughout the United States. Her studio in the  mountains of Southern California became a place of great 
contentment and inspiration as she spent the years from  1988 to 1998 working in that environment.
 
After closing her clay studio in 1998 and moving  to Santa Monica full time she spent more time painting and 
began exhibiting her paintings in various locations in Southern California. Bettye’s paintings have been exhibited in  solo and group shows at many local venues including Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine, Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery, L.A Artcore Brewery Annex, and  others. Her paintings are in collections in California, Hawaii, Texas, and Colorado In 2008 she again started working with clay. Bettye especially loves the excitement of the fire and smoke of  raku firing, a process in which the raku glazed pieces are  removed from the kiln with tongs when they reach a temperature of 1800 degrees. The pieces are quickly put into  metal cans containing newspaper, which flames from the  pots. The cans are covered and the pots stay in  the covered cans for about twenty minutes. The pieces are  cooled in water, and it is then possible to see the iridescence and amazing color of the raku pieces.
 
Bettye's clay pieces have been exhibited and sold  in fine craft galleries throughout the United States, and are 
also in collections in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, and Korea.
 
At this time Bettye continues her creative expression in clay, acrylic, watercolor, and silk painting, using 
whichever of her chosen media are necessary for the creative ideas she seeks to express.
Sidonie Cheryl Smith
“I want to walk and step slightly left, I want to live in the  lavender spaces… .”
 
These words written by artist Sidonie Cheryl Smith describe  her transition from a predominately left-brain world into the  land of right-brain creativity and freedom. After retirement  Dr. Smith began artistic exploration at Santa Monica Emeritus College with artists Ruth San Pietro, Bruce Trentham,  Lynn Goodwin, and Mary Pillot.
 
Featured in this showing are several pieces from the  “Slavery: Another Name for Freedom” series. The special 
“Slavery by Another Name” recently aired by PBS inspires these pieces. The haunting images are a reminder of the legacy of slavery that manifests itself in the industrial prison complex system, which still to this day continues to utilize convict labor to capitalize major corporations. Immediately following emancipation of the slaves the need for cheap labor continued. A system was devised to acquire prison labor at little or no cost through the Black Codes and pleabargaining, which often resulted in imprisonment for life, the criminalization of Black people, and a skewed penal code.
 
These pieces give voice to this outrageous system and to  those caught in it and to those ancestors who scream from  the graves, “Never forget, never forget!”
 
There will be an Artist Reception on Sunday, August 4, at noon.
 
— Biographical information from the artist
July Art Wall: Faith in Action

The painting is by a former car wash worker, Marcial Hernandez. It uses the Mexican and Central American Day of the Dead theme of masked wrestlers to depict the CLEAN Carwash Campaign. Photo provided by Rick Rhoads.

June Art Wall Dedicated to Our Children

Once each year we exhibit the art produced by our children  18 and under. This year's exhibit has been organized by Cynthia Littleton and Beverly  Alison. 

Tom Milton Peters

Thomas Milton Peters is from Lincoln Park, MI, and currently lives in Santa Monica. After a tour in Vietnam in 1969, Tom spent 30 years working in a steel mill in Detroit. Retiring early in 1997, Tom headed west to Phoenix for a year and then on to Los Angeles. Following a short career as a graphic designer and a lifetime of photography, Peters added a doctorate to his educational accomplishments and settled into teaching. Tom
now teaches Assistive Technologies in the Center for Students with Disabilities at Santa Monica College and is a Disabilities Commissioner for the city of Santa Monica. He is a new UUCCSM member. The images for the Art Wall were captured along Venice Beach, between 2005 and 2008.

Local artists paint along the walkway for donations from tourists and leave behind a wonderful mess. On early morning walks from his nearby studio apartment Tom photographed what he found interesting. All the images have since been acid washed from the walkway. The only change made from what was found on the ground was some saturation in Photoshop. Tom met some of the struggling artists along the walkway, some are homeless, and promised them if he was ever fortunate enough to actually sell some images he would be back to share
the proceeds. Reception on May 5 at noon.


June Art Wall Dedicated to Our Children

Once each year we exhibit the art produced by our children 18 and under. Each piece must be framed,
preferably with a wire on the back. There are no restrictions as to size or medium. Submit only one piece per child accompanied by a small label containing title, medium, and price. If the art is not for sale, please indicate NFS on the legend.

The collection point for your submissions is Catherine’s office. Beverly Alison has donated several frames so if you need one they are stored in the office of the DRE. Please contact Cynthia Littleton or Beverly Alison  for additional information. The deadline for submissions is May 28.

— Beverly Alison