I am not sure if Spokane, Washington knows how lucky they are ! Tours, art shows, panels!
The co-op started a few years ago but just recently began focusing more on promotion and outreach. You can help and donate as well...
Jenny Hyde is also working on this show. Get in on it ! Call For Art: Digital-Matter(s): Call for Work
See their roster of great artists http://saranacartprojects.wordpress.com/artists/ including Rima K. Simaitis, NEA grant recipient and Garric Simonsen, Twitter Celebrity. More soon ... http://saranacartprojects.wordpress.com/
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As we - my boyfriend and my dog drove cross country this summer I was thrilled to see these tables at Badlands National Park. I would say it would be worth the packing a lunch and making a day of it - wherever you are in the country(that's for my Monacle Magazine friends). I wonder if other cool tables are out there ?
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I had to search what a logline was but for this film it is "What Jane doesn't know could hurt you.". I have been following the production filming via their facebook page and blog. As well- I know a couple of the talented actors and met Jacqueline Gault, the director this summer! It's not too late to a walk-on role with a character ! Yes, if you support this film and be rewarded - http://www.meetjanedoethemovie.com/html/pledge_rewards.html I just heard they hope to be in full production in October! A scene was shot at Dante's a few weeks back that we will be showing at a big party at on 9/1. More soon ... Come back for details!
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Alicia Blue Gallery brings Last Thursday alive with "Rites in Passage", this will be a
A Portland debut of San Francisco based artists Kevin Taylor and Colleen Flaherty.
The Gallery is more than a Last Thursday gallery - be sure to follow on twitter and stay on top of what is going on!

Upcoming - 'I Dream Animal' July 29 - August 22 Christine Nguyen, Caryn Baumgartner and Karen Florek.

More details @ www.aliciabluegallery.com
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The largest mural in NYC, covering two exterior walls of Griffin Court Condominium at 800 Tenth Ave., begins tomorrow!
Corrinne Ulmann’s winning mural depicts a pattern of trees using variations of light and shadow intended to evoke the building’s 8,700-square-foot private courtyard and the nearby DeWitt Clinton Park. The mural will cover two large exterior walls of the two-building condominium complex, each measuring 1,800 and 4,700 square feet.
In addition to having her design overlooking NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, Corinne will receive a $20,000 stipend, an art show hosted by Alchemy Properties at the building to display her works, a private consultation with a top art dealer, and a display of her work in the building’s lobby..Photo above -rendering of the mural- events to come - might have to just visit NYC soon -

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an opera by Bethany Ides(who I hear is moving to New York)

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A new play written and performed by Ezra LeBank is happening in Portland, Oregon ...Yes, Mr. LeBank is here for the summer - out from hiding in the rocky mountains. He is taking a short break in his role of assistant professor of University of Montana and wearing his hat of artistic director of Lynx Co. Theatre Company.

July 14-17th, 2010. 8PM @ Conduit Dance, Inc- Pythian Building

918 SW Yamhill, 4th Floor $12/$8(students)

Read more Lynx Co social theatre @ http://lynxco.blogspot.com/

And, Keep your eyes peeled - You might even catch him running by the waterfront or enjoying our PDX food carts !

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I still hear people talking about the Risk/Reward Festival from last year!
The Breakdown for SATURDAY, JUNE 19:
5pm | Erin Leddy, Oslund + Co, Angela Fair,Paul Budraitis directed by Sean Ryan
8pm | Hand2Mouth, Katherine Longstreth, Mike Pham, The Cherdonna & Lou Show
Buy Advance tickets and check out the other events going on like "DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE: Why Festivals?"
A Panel including: Chris Weber (Bumbershoot), Sean Ryan (NW New Works Festival),
Trisha Mead (Fertile Ground), Chantelle Hylton Simmons (Portland Folk Festival and Brooklyn Northside Festival), Kelsey Tyler (JAW), Jerry Tischleder (Risk/Reward),
and moderator Michael Rohd of Sojourn Theatre (Facilitator)
hand2mouththeatre.org
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Oregon Film Collectibles to be auctioned off! & so much more like this "Colony Dress" designed by Project Runway designer Janeane Marie.

Photos, collectibles, storyboards, signed posters, paintings and drawings by artists such as Gus Van Sant, the Pander Brothers, Rose Bond, Chel White and Zak Margolis

The auction will go live at Film Stuff for Stuff the Film, an event on June 10th at the Ace Hotel Cleaners. There will be a $10 donation for admission.

Proceeds will benefit the Media Arts Education Fund administered by the Oregon Media Production Association and the film Stuff by Lawrence Johnson. View the trailer and find out more about Lawrence Johnson. And be sure to check out the auction site is administered by Slate Technologies. (& follow @stuffthefilm )

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Hello Beautiful People!  I've got two pieces to share, but first there are a few announcements.  I was thrilled yesterday when the William Morris Society took note of my project and included it in their blog News from Anywhere.  I have been looking at their website a lot while working on this project and it's an honor to be part of their important work.  I took the obvious next step and am now an official card carrying member of the William Morris Society.

I have started to assemble my team (thanks Kickstarter backers!) to work on this project and want to introduce you to them so you will rest assured that it's money well spent.

First is Andrew Lorish, who is my key assistant on the project. He started last week, and will spend much of his tenure assembling the brooches from the pieces I sculpted.  Andrew studied sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as running their Sullivan Gallery where students learn the ins and outs of bringing their artwork to the public eye.  He has worked as a studio assistant on some very interesting projects, such as the Mt. Baldy Expedition and John Rose's beautiful windows for the Eugene Public Library. I am really glad to have Andrew on board while we come down the homestretch in these last five weeks.

Next up is Kristin Mitsu Shiga, a longtime friend of mine, who is also an accomplished metalsmith. Kristin is finding some time in her busy schedule to act as a consultant for the double life that this installation will lead, acting as both sculptural and functional object. It's imperative to me that every single element is well-made and Kristin has been working with me to come up with the best solution for the hundreds of findings that will support the piece when it's on the body. Click the link on her name to see the piece about Kristin from a recent episode of Oregon Art Beat.

The third person I've started talking to is Sabina Samiee, who has been volunteering her photographic talents to my favorite little nonprofit organization for the past year. I am hiring Sabina to come in for several photo shoots during the making and installation phases so the project is professionally documented.

Okay...it's time to catch you all up on the latest news straight from my workbench:

I'm continuing to work on resolving the large group of bird heads that I showed in the last update. Now they all have wire feather elements on their heads. They now await the final elements of wrapping the wire and painting the balls on their tips.

This bird pin features two apples. William Morris often included fruit in his patterns, so I wanted to make sure I honored that. this piece is simply titled "Apples," as so many of Morris' titles were succinct and to the point. This piece is around 3-4 inches high.  Click here to see an example of a Morris apple pattern from the Victoria and Albert Museum's collection.

The 24 pieces in this series will each have a ruler sculpted into a leaf. I have amassed a little collection of wooden rulers over my years of collecting found wood scraps and decided to sacrifice a few for the installation. This piece will be titled Blackthorn after one of my favorite Morris patterns.

I am coming down the homestretch with new designs--four more are about to be finalized, possibly today, and I'll present them as soon as I can. Five weeks left until the installation and there's no time for rest.

Don't forget, if you're in the Portland area, you're invited to come see these pieces this weekend at my Open Studio event! 


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I have two large bird head pieces to show today--these are around 6-8 inches in length.

There will be one black and one natural wood bird head in each repeat.
One of the birds will be holding a strawberry.  His name is Epping, for the forest that Morris explored when he was a child. He started his intense love of nature there, and could identify all local species from an early age.
The second bird will be holding a small nut. His name will be Woodpecker, after one of Morris' tapestries.
There's more variation in this design than most of the other elements in the repeat sections of the installation. Some of the found materials I've used for this design are: turned rosette moldings, game pieces, a giant Tinkertoy block, toy wheels, and a dismantled Mexican molinillo.

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While I'm finishing up a few new pieces to show you from my Beauty of Life show,  I thought I'd do a short piece about the place where it will soon live: the Portland Building Installation Space. This tiny venue has been lovingly attended to by the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) for the past 16 years. For many years, it was one of the very few places to only show installation work in Portland and it continues to be one of the city's hidden art gems to see work by emerging and established regional artists. The image here is from a 2009 project by Nickolus Meisel.

The installation space is in the downstairs lobby of the Portland Building, where the city keeps its municipal bureaus and departments such as: Environmental Services, Human Resources, Management and Finance, Parks and Recreation, Risk Management, Technology Services, Office of Transportation, and the Portland Water Bureau. It was designed by Michael Graves in the early 1980's and remains controversial to this day with its colorful postmodern facade, and the pronounced lack of natural light for those who use it on a daily basis.



Above the front entrance sits Portlandia, designed by Raymond Kaskey.  This huge bronze amazon has become one of the city's icons. It also happens to be the second largest copper repoussé statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty.

RACC supports eight shows a year in this space. The building is open to the public from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and staffed by security around the clock, seven days a week. I love this space because it's mostly seen by city workers and those who need to use their services.  Anyone is welcome to enter the building during their operating hours and see the exhibitions. I was lucky enough to snag a spot once before, in 2004, where I premiered my Vertical Garden.  (Faithful blog readers may remember that I found a permanent home for it last year!) RACC has a great online archive of the over 100 shows that have been in this space that you can see by clicking here.

There's no opening or closing events for shows in the Portland Building Installation Space, so I decided to host an open studio event all day on Saturday, September 11th and show this project in progress. Please click here to see my website's calendar for hours and location.  I haven't ever had an open studio presentation to the public before, so I'm curious to see how that goes. It's also the 100th birthday for my house, so I figured a ritual gathering of some sort was in order. I hope to see you there!
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I had a great weekend in the studio and have lots to show! It's an exciting milestone for me because I have only a dozen or so pieces left to resolve and I'm hoping this will happen in then next week so I can start focusing on the one of a kind edges of the installation where it starts going wild.

Before I start tonight, I have some business to take care of. I've been doing some more thinking about how this Kickstarter campaign is going to work: I will document all of the pieces online once the show is installed. Each piece will have its own name and placement code in the big picture of this installation. When it's time for my Kickstarter funders to choose which piece(s) they want, I will ask you for your top choice(s) with two backup choices. Then I will move down the list from the first supporter on down, fulfilling the earliest bidders from the top pledge tier first, and move down through the levels accordingly. There will be over 700 finished pieces in this installation, so there's a pretty good chance that everyone will get what they want. But if you're lurking in the shadows, you might think about getting your name on that wait list soon!

Okay. Enough business talk. It's time to unveil the weekend's offerings:

I'm going to title this mostly monochromatic piece "Pimpernel," after a very lovely design Morris did that you can see by clicking here. This piece is about three inches wide.

This is Rosebud. It's a tiny (two and a half inches high) pin named for a really sweet pattern designed by J.H. Dearle for Morris & Company. Dearle worked for the business nearly all of his life, coming as a teen and eventually being appointed art director of the firm upon Morris' death in 1896. He was multi-talented, creating beautiful designs for designs for tapestries, embroidery, wallpapers, woven and printed textiles, stained glass, and carpets

The piece on the left is "Cross Twigs" and the one on the right "Cherwell." These are small pins, no bigger than two inches in any direction. Cherwell was another Dearle design, with a beautiful thistle in this two-color print. 
This piece will be titled "Dove and Rose" after one of Morris' prints from 1879. It's about five inches high.
Last but not least, I present Wandle.  This is a piece I'm excited about because it's a new modification of a found object--the honey dripper. 

As a reminder, every one of the pieces you've seen today are part of the 24 panel repeats that dominate this installation.  I have two more that are pretty close to being done that I'll post in the next few days. Goodnight!

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Two new pieces to show. They are both leaf forms, but about 6x the size of the teeny tiny leaves I showed a few blog posts ago. I'll title the green one on the left Evenlode, after one of Morris' textiles. The original Evenlode is part of a series of designs that Morris named after tributaries of the Thames river.

One of the great resources I've been using for this project is Linda Parry's book (simply titled William Morris) she wrote over a decade ago that accompanied a big survey show of Morris' work at the Victoria and Alberta Museum.  Here's a little anecdote from the book about Morris' original naming of the Evenlode pattern that I found amusing, only because I know how hard it is to title work myself:

"[Morris] drew the pattern at Kelmscott House while suffering from gout, and found some difficulty in naming it. In a letter to May on Saturday 3 march 1883, he wrote 'I have been at work pretty hard & have made a new pattern which in honour of the occasion I ought to call "Colchicum": only as Colchicum is nothing less than a crocus & I have stupidly omitted to put a crocus in, to avoid questions being asked I must fall back on a river and call it Evenlode.'"

I will title the second brooch, the simple brown leaf, Acanthus, after one of Morris' most popular designs you see here. I know the Acanthus all too well--an eager gardener who owned my house years before I did planted Acanthus all over the property and it has been extremely difficult to get rid of, as every little bit of root left when you try to dig it up starts a new plant.  Agh!  It's not such a bad plant, but one or two is plenty for my small property.  I know that my simple leaf brooch is not as ornate as the original plant or Morris' design, but the curvy stem reminds me of the way he's rendered these leaves to make his pattern.

I was excited to get my postcards for the show the other day! A shout out to Portland printers Colormation, who I love to use.  The cards have a wonderful heft and the color is perfect.


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Yee haw! I have five more finished designs to share from my upcoming installation the beauty of life! My kickstarter campaign is inspiring me to keep plugging away and I love watching this repeat pattern come to life.  Anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about should click here and catch up with me! And for the rest of you, onward ho!

Here's another of the bird pins. Its fairly straight forward, using various found woods for the bird itself.  The wings of all 24 birds in this design will be made from different Scrabble tiles.  Oh, yes, almost forgot to name this one.  I'll call her St. Catherine after this beautiful tapestry done by Morris' wife Jane.

This ornate floral pin is titled May, after the daughter to William Morris. She was an expert in textiles and a champion of embroidery techniques and design.  
 The pear and strawberry pins will be eponymous.

The last one is a simple nut form, which will also be self-titled.
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Three new pieces to show...

Tiny leaves are one of the smaller elements in this project--these are what I refer to as "tie tacks" and are available at the $25 level in my Kickstarter campaign. There are two different styles of this tiniest leaf--one painted green and one made with a nice dark brown walnut and clear coated. The leaves are a little over an inch wide.

The walnut leaf will be called Froissart, after the famed chronicler of the 14th century French monarchy. Morris created ornate and leafy designs for the published works of this writer that were stunningly beautiful and intricate.

The green leaf will be titled Lodden, after one of Morris' more colorful fabric designs. On both leaf pins, the stem will have a striated curled stem.

This bird pin, named Sussex after Morris & Company's rush-seated chair designs. The bodies of all 24 birds in my pattern will be made with a different wood, taken from some great eco-flooring samples I found at SCRAP.

I'm excited about the wings, which are another SCRAP score--I was wishing I still had the handful of ink-stained wood letterpress spacers that I found there years ago, but they have been used on various projects already. I tried looking on the web to see if anyone was selling such a thing, but to no avail. Then I noticed the bag of used popsicle sticks I purchased, intending to use them for paint stirrers. Many have an imprinted text on them, and others have the fruity patina of whatever flavor they once supported.

The flower that each of the 24 birds is staring at will be a slightly different shape--here are some of the forms I carved the other day that might be used for that element. They will be painted, not raw wood.
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At this point, I have designed the general forms for all 32 brooch designs that will be in my 1x2 foot repeat. Since there are 24 repeats, I will need to make each design in a multiple of 24. On a day-by-day basis over the course of the next month, I will develop the colors for each design, complete one prototype, and make the components for all 24 pieces.

I'll introduce the pin series with the one that's already completed and shown in my Kickstarter video. I am naming this one Kelmscott, after the town in England where Morris spent much of his life and was buried in 1896.

The 24 birds based on this Kelmscott design will not be identical. Looking back at the grid I showed in yesterday's blog post, the brooches in the 15 aggressive repeats might find themselves going a little wild. As you see here, most of the bird bodies are made with a fluted piece of architectural molding, but six of them were made from a turned molding, and a single one will be made from the handle of a found wooden spoon with grapes carved into it.

Since these pieces are located right in the center of the repeat, I will stick fairly close to the original design when assembling them later.
 When these are completed, each of the 24 pieces in the Kelmscott series will have the title and numbered section of the installation written on the back.
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Thanks to Marthe at Lark Crafts for featuring my Kickstarter project on their blog today! Click here to read it.
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Okay...so here's the plan.

Remember my early drawing about how the The Beauty of Life installation will look?  Here's a reminder of what I thought way back in October when I wrote my proposal to RACC:
Well, of course things have evolved a bit since then, but not too much. The only major changes are the density of the installation and the fact that every piece is going to be wearable.  I've finally worked out the strategy for getting this project done.  Here's the sketch I did of the repeat sections that will make up the installation.
So, basically, there will be 24 repeated sections.  I broke these down into three main categories.  The nine darker sections in the middle are what I call the "static repeats" where the pieces will more or less be identical.  I say more or less because there will be subtle variations in each element so that no two pieces will ever be identical, but this center section will establish the repetition at its core.

The pink sections are what I call the "aggressive repeats." This means that although there will be a lot of similarity here to the static repeats, there will also be elements, particularly at the edges, which will become more wild and organic, moving out of the formality in various ways.

The third category is the nine neckpieces which will extend from the wall under the carpet and re-emerge changed.  I think I figured out today that these pieces will actually be a combination brooch/neckpiece, whereas there will be a brooch that will pin to the shirt, and a lightweight cord will emerge from it and orbit around the neck multiple times before finding its way to the second brooch which will pin to the wearer's garment.  It's an expansion of my necklaces I made for the New West Coast Design show.  More on this later.

I have basically designed all 32 brooches /pins /tie tacs/ whateveryouwannacallthem at this point and decided that I will develop each one on a day by day basis, revealing each one here on my blog for as long as it takes me to get through them. Some are infinitely simple and others more complex, so we'll see how it goes, but my goal is to get through all of them before my big open studio event on September 11th where you can come see the actual works and support my Kickstarter campaign when you see the one you want for your very own!  Here's a sneak peek at the early stages of the big layout--tomorrow we'll get started on the nitty gritty details so I can start showing you some finished pieces.
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I have launched a fundraising campaign through Kickstarter to help me fund my latest installation--supporters get first pick of the original pieces of brooches, tie tacks, and neckpieces that will make up my wallpaper print.



to read more and support my campaign, click here to go to my page on the Kickstarter website! Thanks so much for helping me make this dream a reality.
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Great progress this week on my installation!  First of all, I have a title: The Beauty of Life.

I chose this because it's also the title of an essay written by William Morris when he proclaimed "have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." This statement was what inspired me to make this installation double as jewelry pieces. I also think it's a great title because the natural vignette will transform from beauty and order to wild chaos, and the implication that it's all beautiful and all a part of life is appealing to me.


I have also been working on making my components, hoping to pre-sell some of the pieces in this show so I can afford to hire a team of jewelers and craftspeople to help me with the assembly and construction. Now that it has this wearable aspect, it increases the labor involved by at least threefold.  More on that later.....

Feeling dissatisfied with my simple songbird in the preliminary sketches, I decided to turn to Charley Harper and see how he rendered birds, hoping to push me in a new design direction.  It was definitely a helpful exercise and I made this pin to see how it looked.  The body is made from a piece of architectural molding. There are some other found object parts in here, mixed with some I sculpted from scratch.  Seeing this finished element makes me excited to start to design what will surround it in the larger installation. 

Here are some of Charley Harper's illustrations that I really looked at, and then a few more of my drawings of compositions I'm contemplating for the show.

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I've been putting off writing this blog post because it's been hard to accept--a dear friend and mentor passed away two weeks ago, Marcia Macdonald.  Marcia came into my life almost twenty years ago when she worked for my parents at their gallery Opus Five in Eugene.  Although I was already familiar with American Craft Magazine and had attended a fantastic summer session at Penland School, it was Marcia who gave me a glimpse of her life as a part of a national art community that made me decide to formally study art and pursue a career of my own.  I can't deny that Marcia's artwork had a profound influence on me as well--her use of color and loose style were eye-opening, to say the least.

There have been a few nice memorials online for Marcia--I'll let them tell you more about her professional accomplishments.

Obituary from the Greensboro, North Carolina Record
Obituary from the Eugene Register Guard
Society for North American Goldsmiths
Penland School of Crafts blog

You can see in each one that she made a personal impact on so many people. The timing of her passing, sandwiched between a week of two new babies in my family's inner circle, reminds me of how Marcia was there for me at a time when I experienced several significant upheavals in my life.  She was good that way. My dad always called her Marsh Hawk, which made me smile. He doesn't give out nicknames to just anyone!

Memorial contributions may be directed to Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro or Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C.
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I am loving the idea that these are going to be pins too--makes designing the elements a new challenge, plus I get to use my metalsmithing degree a bit more!
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Here's a few drawings for the Portland Building installation I did while traveling south last week. I'll post more in a few days.
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I decided that my upcoming Portland Building installation needs a new angle after reading the above quote by William Morris. It won't look visually different, but I think this installation needs to double as something "useful," in this case, I want to make every element a piece of wearable art: brooches on the walls and the parts that vine under the carpet would be necklaces. Adds a bit more work, but I'm hoping to be able to hire some extra hands to help me make it happen. Still need to find my title. Unghhhh..that's always the hardest part!
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What is Next Nature? It's a great blog that writes about this:

Some centuries ago landscape painters taught us to appreciate the quality of an untouched landscape. Ever since we have been doing everything to recreate it.

We camouflage cell phone antenna mast to look like tries. We fly thousands of miles to experience a pristine landscape. Some countries even go so far to reconstruct prehistoric landscapes at obsolete industrial sites – revived extinct animals included.

Within our society, nature is continually presented as a lost world. It is associated with originality, yet appears only once it is has disappeared. Do we have genuine experiences of nature any more? Or are we living in a simulation of it?

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In other news, I just bought a Little Torch! Woo hoo! Watch out world!
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Ampersand Vintage has added a sweet little gallery space in the back of the main room--it's a pass-through to the shared courtyard out back where they have occasional events, but still gives the artist room to show a small body of work and the viewer a private room to contemplate it. For me, it was a welcome respite from the Last Thursday craziness to see this show by Misha Capecchi.


(the following is from her artist's statement) This body of work seeks to revisit the history of eugenics and to examine the artifacts of its theories that affect contemporary ways of thinking about human genetics, individual potential, and racism. I am interested in looking at this point in history (1900-1940s) where science, acting as an absolute truth, was exposed as merely a human construct; a product of culture.

I attempt to objectively revisit this period and its contemporary remnants. I conduct my own experiments, reconstructing the eugenicist’s tools and photographic documents out of comforting materials: cheese, chocolate, bread and fabric. I then allow the nature of the materials and its exposure to the environment to direct the final outcome of the piece. The cheese and the bread with exposure to elements in the atmosphere slowly decompose over time. The chocolate, though in a stable state now has the potential to melt with exposure to heat. The fabric, due to the nature of the material, and its inability to translate detail, creates an object that is abstracted and removed from reality.

The work is small, and therefore begs a concentrated interaction with the viewer. The work is not meant to repulse, it instead is meant allow for quite reflection on society’s capacity to normalize brutality and inexcusable ignorance. More specifically the work seeks to examine the potential that every individual has to play both the victim and the predator.

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I also loved this wall of work at next door Together Gallery by David Wien--reminds me of some Alexander Girard pieces I love. I love it when 2-d artists really contemplate the wall behind their work as he did here.
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Great journal entry from David Byrne, whose daughter is apparently attending California College of the Arts. I would love to see him address one more little issue in this article: the importance of being intentional about poorly-crafted work. Or maybe that's a separate journal entry....anyhow, I wish he had been a candidate for the Editor position at American Craft Magazine! I love this Ted Talk he did titled How Architecture Helped Music Evolve. Brilliant.

Click here to read the Byrne article Arts 'n' Crafts.
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Storm Tharp has a pleasantly sparse show at PDX--I know he's had a busy year, what with the Whitney Biennial and all--but managed to squeeze out a few large ink pieces for a PDX show. I love the juxtaposition of them with the pink panels that remind me so sweetly of Agnes Martin and in the case of the poster-sized show announcements which were stacked in a pile by the door, Felix Gonzalez-Torres. (Thanks to Calvin of OpenWidePDX for the stack photo.) I will never get tired of looking at Tharp's incredible paintings. Their technical mastery is eye candy to me.

I spied a nice little preview of some of the collages by Eva Lake on the internet a few months back, read the review on PORT, and heard the interview on her Art Focus show, but it didn't subdue the true pleasure I felt seeing her latest body of work in person. I was just as happy standing at the door and looking at the entire collection as I was seeing each of the bullseye pieces from a closer perspective. A brilliant use of color. Click here to see more images from the show.

We also caught the moving performance today of Theaster Gates at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. This show has been a steady progression of artists working in the museum space, adding to the body of work left behind. It was perfect to be there today, Juneteenth, and witness Gates' beautiful voice as he sang songs and whitewashed the gallery with a pale gray ceramic slip. Here's a taste of the performance.


A few last nods to the shows in the Nine Gallery (Christine Clark and Mary Blankenburg)
and a nice little bicycle-themed photography show at Charles Hartman that included this piece by my doggie's namesake.

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The opening celebrations for the World Cup Soccer Tournament are commencing, and it's reminding me of the early days of writing this blog when I was a scholar at the Wood Turning Center's International Turning Exchange.

Here's the 2010 Lineup:
Luc DeRoo, artist, Belgium
Irene Grafert, artist, Denmark
Jay Heryet, artist, UK
Wonjoo Park, artist, South Korea
Derek Weidman, artist, US
Dave Huntley, photojournalist, US
Karl Seifert, photojournalist, US
Stefano Catalani, scholar, US, Italy

Click here to go to the ITE blog where you can follow along with 8 weeks of collaboration, creation, and education.

And back to the World Cup for a minute--I came across these images of a special project that artist Diem Chau did with Wieden+Kennedy and Nike for the World Cup. The project is called Write the Future and Chau's contribution was to carve a set of 6 of this year's football stars for a special promotional package. Here are a few images of the press kit, and then a video so those of you who weren't lucky enough to get one can learn more about Write the Future. (via Notcot)






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Hello Beautiful People!

Yes, I'm still here....finally recovering from an amazing year putting together a huge art event. Phew--talk about a learning experience. It really makes my previous 100+ piece installations feel like a cakewalk. I have loved being able to work with my immediate community, meet a ton of new people, and in the next few weeks will see four permanent murals added to my neighborhood. My work with Art on Alberta isn't done, but I'm also glad to be able to return to the studio this summer with time to focus on my first new installation in two years.

To get me back into the swing of blogging again, (and to celebrate four years since my first Bunny with an Artblog entry!) I thought I'd share a few things that I've been thinking about lately:

1. R.I.P. Louise Bourgeois. Read about her here. Thanks for reminding us all that life can begin at 70.

2. Miranda July has an installation in Central Park this summer called Eleven Heavy Things. The cast fiber-glass, steel-lined pieces are designed for interaction: pedestals to stand on, tablets with holes, and free-standing abstract headdresses. A series of three pedestals in ascending height, The Guilty One, The Guiltier One, The Guiltiest One, ask the viewer to ascribe his or her guilt relative to the people around him. A large flat shape, painted with Burberry plaid, hovers on a pole, waiting to become someone’s aura. Another hanging shape looks like an intricate lace headdress. A series of tablets invite heads, arms, legs and one finger. A wider pedestal for two people to hug reads, “We don’t know each other, we’re just hugging for the picture.” July assumes and invites the picture — 11 photo opportunities, in a city where one is always clutching a camera. Though the work begins as sculpture, it becomes a performance that is only complete when these tourist photos are uploaded onto personal blogs and sent in emails — at which point the audience changes, and the subject clearly becomes the participants, revealing themselves through the work. (from the Daily Plant Newsletter)

3. My buddy Tom Hill is part of a show at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design. He, along with three other artists, have created installations using traditional craft materials of paper, metal, wood, etc.

4. Also in San Francisco is another buddy Gideon Chase's solo show at Eleanor Harwood Gallery.
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Hello Beautiful Person!

Pardon me while I step away from the blog for a few more days and focus on seeing through this huge event I've been working madly on for the past nine months: Art on Alberta's 11th Annual Art Hop! I am wrapping up my tenure as President of my neighborhood's all volunteer art nonprofit and have been having a lot of fun putting together an exciting mix of art activities like community mural painting, a Destination DIY Stage hosted by Julie Sabatier, bitch magazine's stage including a feminist quiz show, TED fellow Colleen Flanigan's BioRocker Coral Conservatory Zone, a community stage and three music stages, and the Art in Hand Portland Playing Cards show, where my King of Hearts will be on display. For more information, visit Art on Alberta's website by clicking here, or show up to get yourself the printed program with all the information you need for a day of fun!
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Hello people of the Portland-area world!

My classical manband, FourScore, is gearing up for our wild revival of Hildegard of Bingen's 12th century musical masterwork, "Ordo Virtutum," in a radical staged, danced, played and sung production at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Portland, as part of the Coulter Concert Series.

PLEASE PASS THIS CALL FOR SINGERS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES! Super!

* * * * *

FourScore, a Portland-based critically acclaimed classical manband that I'm part of, is seeking up to 50 amateur, student, professional or otherwise wildly enthusiastic singers to sing as part of a “Mega-Chorus” in a two-performance-only, radically reinterpreted revival performance of the first surviving musical morality play: “Ordo Virtutum.”

Written and composed by 12th century mystic, abbess, philosopher and visionary composer Hildegard von Bingen, this “Ordo Virtutum” features a cast of outstanding young Portland singers, and is staged by myself (“Beggar’s Opera,” Opera Theater Oregon). Ben Landsverk (Holcombe Waller, Rachel Taylor Brown, etc) is the music director, and Kaj-anne Pepper (TBA Festival 2009, Linda Austin, etc) directs the movement and dance.

This is a newly concepted, staged and arranged revival production, coming on the heels of our critically acclaimed debut performance of the work this past February at First Presbyterian Church, Portland.

**This “Mega-Chorus” for “Ordo Virtutum” will sing approximately six minutes of music in the performance: an opening invocation which begins the work, and the closing Procession which ends the work. Additionally, all “Mega-Chorus” singers will execute simple movement while singing, and will also be asked to recite several lines of Latin (spoken). The music is early plainchant: arching unison melodies, sung either a cappella or with organ accompaniment.

The Details…

Performance information:
TWO PERFORMANCES
(we prefer involving folks who can be involved in both performances, but let us know if you can only do one)

Friday, September 24: 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 26: 4 pm
at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 6300 SW Nicol Road, Portland

(each performance runs approximately two hours)

Rehearsal information (one rehearsal only):

Thursday, September 23, 7 pm to 9:30 pm, at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 6300 SW Nicol Road (Raleigh Hills area of Portland), with stage director SMB, choreographer Kaj-anne Pepper and music director Ben Landsverk
*attendance at the Thursday, Sept 23 rehearsal is required for involvement in the project*

Unfortunately, no pay is available for the “Mega-Chorus,” but each singer will be admitted free to the performance.

We welcome your participation! If interested, send an email with your name and phone number to hildegard2010@ gmail.com - please do pass this along to your theatre and/or choral colleagues, and thank you!

* * * * *
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2010
Downloadable press materials at fromeverycorner.blogspot.com
Images available on request

For more information, contact:
Stephen Marc Beaudoin
stephenmarcb@yahoo.com

FourScore’s Acclaimed “Ordo Virtutum” Returns in Sept 24 + 26 Revival at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church

The “outstanding performance” (Oregon Music News) of Hildegard of Bingen’s 12th century liturgical music-drama returns with several new principal singers, and fresh musical and staging concepts, in this newly staged and choreographed revival production as part of St. John the Baptist’s Coulter Concert Series

PORTLAND – To honor the 831st anniversary of the passing of medieval music’s most celebrated composer, FourScore classical manband, choreographer Kaj-anne Pepper and friends are reviving their acclaimed 21st century production of Hidlegard of Bingen’s masterwork “Ordo Virtutum,” in two performances only this September 24 and 26, 2010, as part of the Coulter Concert Series at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, Portland.

Hildegard – a much-loved mystic, composer, visionary, polymath and beer-maker – rocked the twelfth century with her liturgical music-drama “Ordo Virtutum” (or “Order of the Virtues”), which draws out, in the style of an allegorical morality play, the fight of the heavenly Virtues (Faith, Hope, etc) versus the Devil for who owns the right to the human Soul. The score is filled with arching chant lines, declamatory drama and poignantly expressive music. The work likely premiered at Hildegard’s St. Rupertsberg church in the year 1152.

FourScore and friends’ September 24/26 revival production of “Ordo Virtutum” builds on the wild success of their debut one-night-only performance of the work, in February of 2010 at First Presbyterian Church (as part of the Celebration Works series), which incorporated modern dance, old and new instruments as varied as electric bass, temple blocks, hand chimes, Wurlitzer organ and trumpet, and site-specific staging in a radical and fresh interpretation of this extraordinary old masterwork. Writing about that performance, James Bash in Oregon Music News called the production “outstanding,” and recognized that “with the imagination of FourScore, Hildegard’s music and spirit lives on.”

It was there that St. John the Baptist Episcopal rector, the Rev. Robert H. Bryant, experienced the power of this staged, danced, sung and played contemporary interpretation of “Ordo Virtutum,” and invited the production team – music director Ben Landsverk, choreographer Kaj-anne Pepper, stage director Stephen Marc Beaudoin and FourScore classical manband – to create a newly arranged, staged and danced production for a two-performance revival as part of the church’s Coulter Concert Series. These revival performances also act to commemorate Hildegard’s death, which is recorded as occurring on or around September 17, 1179.

The St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church “Ordo Virtutum” revival production introduces acclaimed fresh voices into major roles, including Portland mezzo Cecily Kiester as Humility, tenor Les Green as Victory and soprano Mel Downie as Chastity. Soprano Elizabeth Bacon returns in the seminal role of the Soul (voice), with Kaj-anne Pepper doubling Bacon as the Soul (body). Additional cast members include Bennett Bailey, Stephen Marc Beaudoin, Kristen Buhler, Brian Francis, Tim Galloway, Ben Landsverk, Andy McQuery and Gigi Urban. St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church organist Fred Beal is special guest performer, and the entire company will be joined by a special pick-up choir featuring more than 40 local singers from groups including Flash Choir and Portland Vocal Consort, as well as students from Lewis and Clark College, Pacific University and Portland State University.

“Ordo Virtutum” is scheduled for two performances only: 7:30 pm on Friday, September 24 and 4 pm Sunday, September 26, 2010, at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 6300 SW Nicol Road Street. Tickets are $15 suggested donation, general admission. More information is available by calling 503-245-3777.


Calendar Listing

WHAT: “Ordo Virtutum” Hildegard von Bingen’s landmark12th century medieval music-drama

WHEN/WHERE:
**two performances only**
Friday, September 24: 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 26: 4 pm
at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 6300 SW Nicol Road, Portland

WHO: Produced by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church’s Coulter Concert Series, featuring FourScore – a classical manband – on voices and instruments. FourScore comprises Ben Landsverk, Brian Francis and Stephen Marc Beaudoin. The cast includes Cecily Kiester as Humility, Mel Downie as Chastity and Les Green as Victory.

TICKETS: $15 suggested donation at the door (general admission). More information at 503-245-3777.

YOUTUBE PREVIEW: www.youtube.com/smbeaudoin79

Praise for the February 2010 premiere production of “Ordo Virtutum”

James Bash at Oregon Music News:
“Hildegard of Bingen may have died 820 years ago, but with the imagination of FourScore, her music and spirit lives on.”
“An outstanding performance, with a strong set of soloists.”

Lisa Radon at Portland Monthly:
“A medieval morality play gets a 21st century treatment.”
“Kaj-anne Pepper is a committed, adventurous dancer and dancemaker.”

Brett Campbell at Willamette Week:
“Whether touched by the divine, diabolically clever or just half-tetched, the 12th-century nun/visionary/healer Hildegard of Bingen sure wrote some beautiful, soaring tunes.”

CAST:
The Soul (voice): Elizabeth Bacon
The Soul (body): Kaj-anne Pepper
Humility: Cecily Kiester
Victory: Les Green
Chastity: Mel Downie
Knowledge of God and Contempt of the World: David Krueger
Charity and Modesty: Kristen Buhler
Fear of God and Faith: Andy McQuery
Obedience and Patience: Tim Galloway
Hope and Celestial Love: Gigi Urban
Innocence: Ben Landsverk
Discipline: Bennett Bailey
Mercy: Stephen Marc Beaudoin
Discretion: Brian Francis
The Devil: FourScore

# # #
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I'm about to get woo-woo with y'all, for just a moment.

I occasionally connect with one of my dear friends and mentors to do some visioning work. To articulate and vision my future; to describe some of the qualities and habits I have and want to develop and hold to get there; to get specific about the action I can take to make traction on this vision, to move forward.

All of this relates to the current happenings and activity in my life. I share it so openly because my hope is that the universe is listening.


HAVE

Full time job in arts administration

Doing what I do best-honoring strengths-giving full self over-fully owning leadership capabilities

Inspiring and a great conduit for inspiration for others

Financially self-sufficient-confident

Working on projects that most speak to me-time is spent creatively-using skills as singer and stage director-using skills to create the ultimate “it”

Happy healthy wonderful relationship-strong and sexy

Living on my own or with R

Feeling warm-feeling filled with the right stuff

Feeling heard and satisfied

Feeling impactful


BE

Genuinely happy and positive

Open and a conduit for new ideas and inspiration

Confident in vision

Great listener

Humble

Calm-when called to be

Able to respond to any environment and context effectively


DO

Daily and weekly re-visit goals and motivations-keep fresh

Remind self why I am doing what I'm doing when experiencing moments of discomfort

Parcel out and manage energy

Choose actions that align with this vision (every action large-small)

Continue to build skills around meeting facilitation

Continue to build range in working with people

Find wisdom in all situations

Confront the things that need to be addressed with grace and compassion

Contribute in every sense

Mindful of time spent with R-grateful of what’s there-check in with R
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I start a new chapter in my professional life and development today. So too will this blog follow suit.

I've accepted a post as interim managing director of PHAME Academy. PHAME, in case you're not familiar, is one of the most unique nonprofit organizations in the Portland metro area - an arts organization providing professional classes, programs and performance/creation opportunities in music, dance, theatre, writing and the visual arts to adults with developmental disabilities (like down syndrome, autism and others).

I'm returning to my roots, in a sense. Some of my most meaningful professional work has been in arts administration. Yet I also recognize this as something of a test drive. I have a six month contract with PHAME. I'm coming to the organization at a tender moment in its development, but with an extraordinary staff (Jessica Dart, artistic director; Ben Landsverk, music director), passionate board, strong faculty and a marvelous core of supporters and volunteers. I am humbled by the opportunity to serve the organization in this interim role.

My intention is to write here, broadly, about leadership and organizational development; about planning and visioning and strategy and all those other touchstone buzzwords we love to bandy about in nonprofit leadership; about the ups and downs, ins and outs of working with a small nonprofit org for 182 intense days.

We're off and running!
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I've turned my attention away from this blog for some time. It has felt a bit foreign to the essential experiences of me.

That will be changing again soon, I think. I'm ready to revisit some of the thoughtfulness, introspection and public processing that so attracted me to blogging as outlet and forum to begin with. I'm ready to fire up the blogging again - or will be in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, since regular postings have dried out considerably, I've had a hell of a fun time working on projects with an amazing assortment of people: raising money and plotting Portland Pride parading for Karol Collymore's campaign for Multnomah County Commissioner; collaborating with the ever-inventine Kaj-anne Pepper on shows here and there; working away diligently as a newly minted member of the board of directors for PHAME Academy; plotting music adventures into 2011; attempting with mixed results to get my butt back in shape; and basically kicking ass at my day job.

Things are full, and good. A new chapter here starts soon.
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Thanks to my loyal visitors - though I feel I've disappointed you so! - in the last 30 days, including folks from...

Chicago, Illinois; Chula Vista, California; Cologne, Germany; Glasgow, United Kingdom; Huntsville, Alabama; Kelowna, BC, Canada;
Leasburg, Missouri (population 323 as of 2000 US Census); Medford, Oregon; New Delhi, India; Norfolk, Virginia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Tallmadge, Ohio (population 16,390 as of 2000 US Census); Voorhees, New Jersey.
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One month since my last From Every Corner blog posting! Now that's unacceptable.

Changes happening, lots of good activity and productivity, my friend and Multnomah County Commissioner candidate-of-choice Karol Collymore blasted through the primary and is now actively campaigning in the general election, I sang alongside a trio of Portland divas in a recent Portland Cello Project show, my work on the board of PHAME Academy proceeds apace, I'm considering writing music again, I'm MC'ing a literary event this Thursday night at Aura as part of Portland Latino Gay Pride...

Etc.

I am here.
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Today has taught me a few things. Things one has been taught before, but that one should be reminded of time and again.

Thing 1: It's never too late to make amends.

Thing 2: Imperfection is beautiful.

Thing 3: The 11th hour is when it all happens, and when it all matters.

That is all.
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That lurks here on the blog?

Who are you from Albany, Oregon, whom at 4:29 pm yesterday searched on the Googles for "from every corner stephen" and landed herein?

Who are you from Bulleen, Australia (state of Victoria) who yesterday early morn was cruising the webz for "starting here starting now soundtrack blogspot" and then, once landing here, decided to plop yourself down for 18 minutes and 33 seconds?

Who are you, one Eric Wolf of Seattle, Washington, who has started a blog (at this late date??) with the name "City of Rain Music Blog" (??) and therein linked back to mine and are a frequent visitor thereof?

And who are you, naughty in anonymous North America, spending your Sunday morning in a hungry image search for smooth pecs, only to happen upon this tasteful little destintation.

Who are you that lurks here on the blog?
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[following up on part 1 of the series, begun on March 21, 2010]

Interviewer: So yeah, it's been a few weeks since we last talked.
Stephen Marc Beaudoin: Sorry about that. I've been eating cupcakes and singing and then I went to Disneyland and came back and have a great deal going on. Also, I bought a bike!

Int: Whoa, you bought a bike?
SMB: Well no, but yes. My boyfriend bought me a bike. So it's my bike, but I didn't buy it. But I'm excited about it!

Int: I bet. I wasn't aware you were an aspiring cyclist.
SMB: In a way, I am. I haven't owned a bike since I was about 12, I think, so this is a pretty amazing step for me. And here we are in bike-friendly Portland, and I hadn't yet had a chance to be out and about enjoying the city and the mountains and trails and all of that gorgeous stuff by bike. So I can do that now, and R can go with me.

Int: Biking aside, what else is news?
SMB: I'm behind on some projects - most notably I am behind schedule with my new English libretto for "The Barber of Seville" with Electric Opera Company. In many ways, this is an even more ambitious undertaking than the "Beggar's Opera" I wrote and directed in 2009. Maybe not more difficult or ambitious - just very, very different. My Italian is rusty, I'm coming up with all sorts of cliche-riddled rhymes and it's just generally slow going. But there's nothing like a big looming deadline to light a fire under your... you get what I'm saying.

Int: Are you displeased with your writing for the project?
SMB: No, not displeased. Just impatient. I want to get to the good stuff. So I can work very slowly and painstakingly to work something out until I'm pleased with it, as opposed to just throwing stuff down in draft form and reworking it from there. I hate the process and it's excruciating, but it's so, so good at the same time.

Int: On another note, I've heard a rumor you're becoming a touch more involved in politics.
SMB: (laughs) Ah, so people are talking!

Int: They might be...
SMB: The essence is this: there's only one candidate in the City or County races in the Portland area that's fully captured my attention and support, and that person is Karol Collymore. She's running for Multnomah County Commissioner, Seat 2, to replace Jeff Cogen, who's the frontrunner in the race for County Chair.

Int: You say Ms. Kollymore has captured your attention and support. How so?
SMB: Karol is a smart, smart person, an amazing woman really and in my view the only candidate for the Seat who has the brilliance, experience, vision and real heart to bring it all together and serve her constituents best. She's on the right side of all progressive issues and causes, and a real supporter of the arts. She gets it. She gets my support.

Int: Very nice. Listen, I notice you're nursing a large cup of coffee and looking at your to-do list for the day. Should we wrap here for now and continue on sometime later this week?
SMB: That's a brilliant idea. Promise I'll talk more before the end of the week. There's much more up my sleeve...
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[It seems that - since I've been blogging with an alarming infrequency of late and yet at the same time there has been so much professional and personal activity worth sharing and reflecting on, and I know that you've been wondering "where the hell has he been?" - an interview is called for. An interview with me: SMB. And by me, too. And so - here we go. This is Part 1. Parts 2 & 3 to follow in short order.]

Interviewer: Hey Stephen, thanks for sitting down to chat. It's been a while.
Stephen Marc Beaudoin: It has been a while. Gosh I've been busy. Good and bad busy, but busy! Productive busy. Mostly good.

Int: What are some of the good things?
SMB: Oh, lots of good things. I've been getting things in order to bring the Hildegard "Ordo Virtutum" back for some performances this September at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Portland, and looking into taking it on tour after that series of shows. I've also been starting up my work in writing a new libretto, in English, for Electric Opera Company's summer production of "The Barber of Seville" - Emily Zahniser is directing and Scot Crandal is starring and they're two of my favorite people so how could I say no? I'm having some slow goings with it right now but I know I know this is the week where it will all start turning into magic.

Int: OK, so the Hildegard was a hit and it's coming back, you're following up the "Beggar's Opera" success with another opera libretto. What else in the good things category?
SMB: I joined the board of directors for PHAME Academy last month. PHAME is the Portland region's arts education and performance academy for adults with developmental disabilities - an exceptional organization going through some big transitions right now and I'm really thrilled and honored to be working with them. Also, what else? Hmm. Oh yeah, I confirmed that the Betty-tones - this is the male quartet that recorded "Bitty Boppy Betty" on Pink Martini's "Splendor in the Grass" album - will be making our Hollywood Bowl debut this September with Pink Martini, which is way exciting. And there's a special guest involved, but I'm not at liberty to announce him... err, that person, yet.

Int: You said "good and bad busy" early in the interview.
SMB: Yeah, well... I guess busy is busy, right? I mean, I'm feeling productive and wanted and inspired and all of that good stuff. So it's all starting to come together for me. I just am starting to - I guess you'd say I'm starting to really curate my time, or my involvement in arts projects and endeavors, more and more. Starting to say no when I feel it's not a good fit for me right now to be working on something; and when I say yes to something, going at it full bore.

Int: Intensity seems to be part of the SMB package.
SMB: Oh absolutely. No question. It gets me in trouble sometimes, but it's there and I can't avoid it, it's such an essential fiber of my being. Right now I'm trying to figure out the ways in which all of these intense but sometimes disparate elements of my personal and professional lives, these twelve different careers I've had or am having, into two or three specific, meaningful, powerful projects. Or opportunities or jobs, whatever you wanna call them. It's simultaneously about paring down and muscling up.

[to be continued...]
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Thanks to visitors in the last 48 hours from places I've never been (or don't think so, anyway - not yet...):

Bankya, Bulgaria; Brisbane, Australia; Buxton, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Duluth, Georgia; Hobro, Denmark; Kennewick, Washington; O'Fallon, Missouri; Manila, Philippines; Marlborough, Massachusetts; Petaluma, California; Spartanburg, South Carolina and Spring Lake, Michigan.
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... the Oregonian!

On continuing their fine tradition of wacky, inane editorials!

Witness their most recent editorial board screed: a broad, and dumbly cheerleading, essay praising the work of the Oregon Cultural Trust to high heaven, with lines like this: "The trust is just a flat-out fine idea and needs yet deeper support."

Yawn.

Oh, and I especially love that there is zero mention of the horrific 2009 raid on the Trust's coffers, during which the state stole $1.8 million in money raised through the Trust's sale of specially designed license plates, or that the much-vaunted tax credit - which allows donors to Oregon cultural institutions to make a matching gift to the Trust, then get 100% of that matching gift back in their tax refund - is scheduled to sunset in the year 2012.

Nice work, as always, Oregonian editorial board!

(if you're looking for quality arts journalism tho, check out D.K. Row's recent piece on the changing state of Oregon arts philanthropy)
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[needed to find some easy way to get this info out to a ton of people, so here goes...]

Dear "Ordo Virtutum" mega-choir member,

I'm thrilled that you have signed up to be part of FourScore classical manband's upcoming Sunday, February 21 performance of Hildegard of Bingen's "Ordo Virtutum," her extraordinary musical morality play from the 12th century.

This is going to be quite a show!

I want to share a few details about the Saturday, Feb 20 rehearsal and Sunday, Feb 21 performance with you, as well as information on tickets, call times, etc. Please read this through to the end:

1) You must attend the Saturday, Feb 20 rehearsal, 11 am to 2 pm at First Presbyterian Church (SW 12th and Alder) in order to participate in the performance. Please arrive well before 11 am, through the front church doors at the corner of SW 12th and Alder, so we can begin promptly. A volunteer will be there to sign you in, hand out sheet music, etc.

2) The music for the mega-choir is available at the rehearsal. Don't worry if you don't read music (though I know the vast majority of you do) - we will rehearse this with music director Ben Landsverk on Saturday Feb 20!

2a) The mega-choir sings in two moments: right near the start of the performance, and again at the very end of the performance: about five minutes total. There is some basic movement (walking, hand gestures, etc) that will be asked of you as well, and will be taught by movement director Kaj-anne Pepper.

3) All mega-choir singers receive up to two half-price tickets to the show ($5 each), and these tickets must be purchased at the Saturday, Feb 20 rehearsal (cash or check only). Every mega-choir member must purchase at least one half-price ticket, and your seating for the performance will be reserved in some of the best seats in the space.

4) The dress will be basic black - please come attired in simple black for the performance. Your call time for the Sunday performance is 1 pm sharp.

More info here:
http://fromeverycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/call-for-singers-for-ordo-virtutum.html

We're so thrilled to have your participation in this unique performance, and look forward to seeing you on February 20!


Best, all,
Stephen Marc Beaudoin
producer, "Ordo Virtutum"
singer, FourScore classical manband
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My back hurts.

I'm, 30.

I was grumpy for most of last week, intermittently any way, until I got back into a reasonable exercise regime, and now of course I'm feeling better, more with it, more together (less grumpy).

I sort of cooked dinner for R last night, to celebrate an early Valentine's Day. It came off reasonably well (but who knew one should wash the fingerling potatoes before one boils them?), except I was reminded once more of how little talent I have in the kitchen, and never have. Who's game for crashing a local cooking class with me?

And this morning? I'm typing out copious notes and such for the Hildegard "Ordo Virtutum" program; prepping for seven hours of rehearsal and meetings, and staying calm.
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From this past Sunday of marathon "Ordo Virtutum" with FourScore and friends rehearsalizing - two clips.

The first, the entrance of the play's first named Virtue, Knowledge of God (imagine hand chimes instead of the piano):




... and the second, just before the Devil arrives - the Virtues shake it all out:



We're T minus 16 days until showtime! I'd ask if you've bought your tickets, except there's no advance ticket sales for the show, dang. But I trust it's in your calendar.
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From Every Corner had one of its busiest months yet last month - thanks in large part to the boon around "Songs for Haiti." I thank you for visiting and sharing in the journey, and welcome recent visitors from interesting places like...

Albemarle, North Carolina; Amersfoort, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Edmonton, Canada; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Karnal, Haryana, India; Lewiston, Maine; Mountain View, California; Parow, Cape Town, South Africa; Rochester, New York; Stamford, Connecticut, and tiny Tygh Valley, Oregon - a Wasco County "census-designated place," population 224.

Happy reading, wherever you are.
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I'm writing this here, on my blog, so I don't forget. No, really.

Hildegard to-do's today:

1. Create Facebook event
2. Respond to all of AVB’s emails
3. Email SD about PSU tix
4. Recruit 50 more singers for mega-choir
5. Remind singers to bring schedule-books tomorrow
6. 8 music stands in First Pres
7. Mtg with Jon Stuber RE organ improv’s, talk tomorrow, play on Feb 7? (4, then 2, 5, 18, 87) – copy for Jon S, length of improvisations (1.5-2 mins for first one; 2 min’s for second one)
8. Ribbon for effect
9. FourScore mtg to record Devil speaking parts
10. Recruit girl for Devil (Odile, Tuesday’s sister’s daughter?; who else has a young girl/daughter that could do this?)
11. Tape recorder from Kristen
12. Costumes/makeup????
13. KP photo, credit to Eric Sellers
14. Investigate ribbon pop effects with KP
15. Finalize solo coachings for next 2 weeks
16. Program translation? To AVB

(BTW: this is one performance only, Sunday February 21, 2pm at First Presbyterian Church in Portland)
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Hello.

My name is Stephen Marc Beaudoin, and I'm a musician, artist and arts administrator. I bring creative people together to make exciting, dynamic collaborations spring to life.

You might know me as the recent producer of an event called "Songs for Haiti," a one-night-only marathon concert of marquee Portland musical talent. Through ticket sales, merchandise/concessions, individual donations and a very generous matching donation from the Ray Hickey Foundation, the event raised upward of $150,000 for Mercy Corps, to support their disaster relief efforts in earthquake devastated Haiti.

You'll be hearing more from me soon.
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In our (never-ending?) quest for healing through Hilegard: the latest message from the Hildegard Healing Center.



(FourScore and friends present Hildegard von Bingen's musical morality play "Ordo Virtutum," February 21, 2010 at First Presbyterian Church in Portland. Watch out)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2010

For more information, contact:
Stephen Marc Beaudoin
stephenmarcb@yahoo.com


Portland Music Luminaries Raise Their Voices in Thurs, Jan. 21 “Songs for Haiti” Concert at the Aladdin Theater, to Benefit Mercy Corps

This Thursday, Jan. 21, some of Portland’s favorite musicians – including pianist Thomas Lauderdale, hip-hop artist Cool Nutz, Portland Cello Project and the legendary Storm Large – join forces for the city’s first large-scale musical response to the Haitian earthquake disaster, to raise money for Mercy Corps


PORTLAND – As the city reacts to the unfolding destruction in Haiti from the country’s recent devastating earthquake, a group of luminary Portland musicians has stepped forward to raise their voices – and some much-needed money as well – in support of our friends in Haiti.

“Songs for Haiti” is the resulting one-night-only show: a meditation on the enormous loss of life in Haiti; a celebration of hope; and ultimately a fundraising concert aiming to raise upwards of $25,000 for the Haiti disaster relief efforts of Mercy Corps.

Some of the marquee Portland performers appearing in “Songs for Haiti” include pianist Thomas Lauderdale (bandleader, Pink Martini), the Portland Cello Project, acclaimed hip-hop artist Cool Nutz, Grammy-nominated pianist Janice Scroggins, the legendary Storm Large, Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki with pianist Grace Fong-Iwasaki, Broadway veteran baritone Douglas Webster (Les Miserables), singer-songwriter Holcombe Waller, and local choral ensembles Flash Choir, PHAME Academy Choir and the Grant High School Royal Blues. Oregonian columnist Margie Boule and KOIN Portland 6 reporter Tim Joyce are the event co-hosts.

“In the midst of any tragedy, we return always to music,” says event co-producer Stephen Marc Beaudoin. “And each of these extraordinary artists has stepped forward to offer their talent to honor those lost and express hope for Haiti’s future.” In addition to each artist donating their time for the concert, the Aladdin Theater is generously donating its space and additional resources to help produce the event.

Repertoire in “Songs for Haiti” ranges from classical standards – Jun and Grace Iwasaki will play the Rachmaninoff “Vocalise,” among other works – to original hip-hop music by Cool Nutz, gospel-flecked tunes performed by Janice Scroggins, and musical theater. There will also be nods to Haitian music throughout: Lauderdale will perform a hauntingly beautiful piano solo, “Ballade,” by little-known Haitian classical composer Ludovic Lamothe, who was known during his time as “un Chopin noir” (“a black Chopin”).

“Songs for Haiti” is one performance only: 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 21, at the Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie in Portland. Tickets are $30, and go on sale 10 am Tuesday, January 19 through Ticketmaster.


Calendar Listing

WHAT: “Songs for Haiti,” a benefit concert for Mercy Corps featuring a diverse line-up of Portland music luminaries.

WHEN/WHERE:
**one performance only**
Thursday, January 21, 2010, 7:30 pm at the Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, Portland.
Call 503-234-9694 for more information. Tickets go on sale 10 am Tuesday, January 19

WHO: Featured artists include pianist Thomas Lauderdale (of Pink Martini), hip-hop artist Cool Nutz, Portland Cello Project, Grammy-nominated pianist Janice Scroggins, Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, singer-songwriter Holcombe Waller and the legendary Storm Large, among others.

TICKETS: $30, all seats (general admission). Call 503-234-9694 or go to aladdin-theater.com for more information – tickets go on sale 10 am Tuesday, January 19.

FULL PERFORMER LINE-UP (as of Jan. 18):

Pianist Thomas Lauderdale (bandleader, Pink Martini)
Holcombe Waller
Portland Cello Project
Grammy-nominated pianist Janice Scroggins
Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, with pianist Grace Fong-Iwasaki
Baritone Douglas Webster, with cellist Elizabeth Byrd and singer-actress Erin Charles
Flash Choir (Sarah Dougher and Pat Janowski, artistic directors)
PHAME Academy Choir (Ben Landsverk, music director)
Grant High School Royal Blues (Katy Wagner-West, music director)
Cool Nutz
Legendary singer-actress Storm Large

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Hey heeeeey!

Here's a call for singers I recently started sending out to all manner of folks in town. Thanks for passing it on to students, amateur and pro choral groups and anyone else in the Portland metro region interested in contemporary performance.

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FourScore, a Portland-based critically acclaimed classical manband that I'm part of, is seeking up to 150 amateur, student, professional or otherwise wildly enthusiastic singers to sing as part of a “Mega-Chorus” in a one-night-only, radically reinterpreted performance of the first surviving musical morality play: “Ordo Virtutum.”

Written and composed by 12th century mystic, abbess, philosopher and visionary composer Hildegard von Bingen, this “Ordo Virtutum” features a cast of outstanding young Portland singers, and is staged by myself (“Beggar’s Opera,” Opera Theater Oregon). Ben Landsverk (Holcombe Waller, Rachel Taylor Brown, etc) is the music director, and Kaj-anne Pepper (TBA Festival 2009, Linda Austin, etc) directs the movement and dance.

**This “Mega-Chorus” for “Ordo Virtutum” will sing approximately six minutes of music in the performance: an opening invocation which begins the work, and the closing Procession which ends the work. Additionally, all “Mega-Chorus” singers will execute simple movement while singing. The music is early plainchant: arching unison melodies, sung either a cappella or with organ accompaniment.

The Details…

Performance information:
Sunday, February 21, 2 pm, at First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder, Portland
(performance runs approximately two hours)

Rehearsal information (one rehearsal only):
Saturday, February 20, 11 am to 2 pm, at First Presbyterian Church
With music director Ben Landsverk and the full cast

Unfortunately, no pay is available for the “Mega-Chorus,” but each singer will receive a half-price ticket for the performance.

We welcome your participation! If interested, send an email with your name and phone number to hildegard2010@ gmail.com - please do pass this along to your theatre and/or choral colleagues, and thank you!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2010
Downloadable press materials at fromeverycorner.blogspot.com
Images available on request

For more information, contact:
Stephen Marc Beaudoin
stephenmarcb@yahoo.com


When the Devil Comes Knocking in this 12th Century Music-Drama with FourScore and Friends on Feb. 21, Expect the Unexpected

First Presbyterian Church’s “Celebration Works” series presents a radical re-imagining of Hildegard of Bingen’s “Ordo Virtutum” musical morality play, featuring FourScore classical manband, a cast of Portland’s brightest young singers, and dancemaker Kaj-anne Pepper

PORTLAND – A landmark 12th century Medieval music drama by visionary mystic composer Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098-1179) comes crashing into the 21st century this February when it’s reinterpreted and performed by a team of wildly creative Portland musicians and one of the city’s most singular dancemakers.

Bingen’s “Ordo Virtutum” (or “Order of the Virtues”), one of the earliest surviving musical morality plays, receives one performance only in this new staged, danced, sung and played interpretation featuring FourScore classical manband, dancer/choreographer Kaj-anne Pepper and a cast of outstanding Portland singers: 2 pm on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at First Presbyterian Church in Portland.

Recognized for their “true boldness” (Northwest Reverb) and “intense moments” (Oregonian) of music-making, FourScore classical manband brings their inventive aesthetic to this fresh new interpretation of the “Ordo Virtutum.” The music-drama chronicles the ages-old struggle of heavenly virtues (Hope, Faith, Mercy, etc.) battling the Devil for who owns the right to a human Soul. The work is believed to have premiered around the year 1152, performed by nuns to mark the dedication of a new convent in Rupertsburg, Germany – a convent that was founded by Hildegard herself.

For FourScore’s February 21 performance of “Ordo Virtutum,” the classical manband will be joined by a cast of first-rate Portland singers, including Tuesday Rupp (Humility), Scot Crandal (Victory), Kathy Fitzgibbon (Chastity), David Krueger (Knowledge of God), and soprano Elizabeth Bacon as the Soul. Joining Bacon in the role of the Soul is rising Portland dancer/dancemaker Kaj-anne Pepper, a former member of performance troupes like Sissyboy and the Gender Fluids whose choreography was recently featured in the 2009 TBA Festival as part of “Ten Tiny Dances.” For this project, Pepper – noted by Willamette Week as one of “Portland’s most compelling performers” – is both creating movement for the singers, and also dancing in the work himself.

“My aim is to discover gesture, phrase and expression that doesn’t reach to mimic but embodies the stretch back through time to reconnect with the source of Hildegard’s inspiration – her visions,” Pepper says. “I’m a 21st century performance artist. HVB is a 12th century performance artist. She was probably the first Diva. I can get into that.”

The musical approach to the work is led by noted Portland singer/conductor Ben Landsverk, whose musical direction with artists like Holcombe Waller and the Pacific Youth Choir have earned him critical acclaim. Landsverk’s eclectic approach to instrumentation, voice combinations and choral arrangements in the “Ordo Virtutum” ranges from Notre Dame school era organum to Messiaen-inspired choral explosions and free improvisation. FourScore classical manband (Ben Kinkley, Ben Landsverk, Brian Francis and Stephen Marc Beaudoin) is the house band for the work, performing on both early and modern instruments, including banjo, trumpet, piano, laptop, melodica, recorder, electric guitar, chimes and tape recorder.

Stephen Marc Beaudoin (“The Beggar’s Opera,” Opera Theater Oregon) stage directs, and the movement and choreography is by Kaj-anne Pepper. Additional cast members include Tim Galloway, Andy McQuery, Maria Karlin, Gigi Urban and Kristen Buhler. First Presbyterian Church organist Jon Stuber is special guest performer, and the entire company will be joined by a special pick-up choir featuring more than 100 local singers from groups including Roxy Consort, Flash Choir and Portland Vocal Consort, as well as students from Lewis and Clark College and Portland State University.

“Ordo Virtutum” is scheduled for one performance only: 2pm on Sunday, February 21, 2010, at First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder Street. Tickets, $10 for general admission and $8 students/seniors, are available at the door the day of the performance. More information, including directions to First Presbyterian Church, available by calling 503-228-7331.


ABOUT Celebration Works:
Celebration Works is First Presbyterian Church of Portland’s annual series of concerts and art exhibits. Begun in 2002 as “Fine Arts & Performances at First Presbyterian Church,” the series got a new name, “Celebration Works,” in its second season as the church prepared to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2004. The church is committed to the series as a means of celebrating God’s gifts of creativity and imagination and of sharing its historic building and magnificent pipe organ with the Portland community. The income from the sale of tickets and donations for refreshments is used exclusively to fund the Celebration Works series.


Calendar Listing

WHAT: “Ordo Virtutum” Hildegard von Bingen’s landmark 12th century medieval music-drama

WHEN/WHERE:
**one performance only**
Sunday, February 21, 2010, 2 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder, Portland

WHO: Produced by First Presbyterian Church’s Celebration Works arts series, featuring FourScore – a classical manband – on voices and instruments. FourScore comprises Ben Kinkley, Ben Landsverk, Brian Francis and Stephen Marc Beaudoin. Principal guest singers include Tuesday Rupp as Humility, Elizabeth Bacon as The Soul, Kathy FitzGibbon as Chastity, Scot Crandal as Victory and David Krueger as Knowledge of God. The movement and choreography is by Kaj-anne Pepper, who also dances in the work.

TICKETS: $10 at the door (general admission), $8 for students/seniors. Call 503-228-7331 for information.

YOUTUBE PREVIEWS: See youtube.com/smbeaudoin79

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Watch this. Ponder it.



Then check back here early next week, when I've got all the deets of this outrageous performance-in-progress - Hildegard of Bingen's extraordinary ORDO VIRTUTUM - ready for public consumption.

The essential equation looks like this:

SMB + FourScore/Ben Landsverk x Kaj-anne Pepper + 100 person mega-chorus = ??##$&*#@OMG#(*&. So far anyway - we've been working in earnest for several weeks now, making discoveries and failures along the way...
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Tweet tweet. Tweedle-y tweet.

You can find me now on Twitter. That's @smbeaudoin, 64 brave followers and counting.

Yes, I needed one other thing to do with my time, thanks.
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