Sunset Beach, Hawaii
By Zulma | June 30, 2009
Last night’s sunset over Sunset Beach, Hawaii
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Jenny Rivera en Hawaii
By Zulma | June 29, 2009
My dad had a dream last night that Jenny Rivera the famous banda singer from Mexico asked him to be her truck driver of as he calls it, “some mercancia.”
My dad is a happy go lucky Mexican American that has lived in Hawaii for over 18 years now. He watches television (univision) to stay in touch with latinidad.
He loves El Gordo y La Flaca and El Gordo has a friendship with Jenny Rivera and so, he constantly talks about all the celebrities they talk about on that show.
Topics: Latinos in the Media, Popular Culture | No Comments »
El Gordo de Molina’s Thesis on El Gordo y La Flaca, Univision
By Zulma | June 29, 2009
Today, just now, in Hawaii, I heard El Gordo de Molina spell out a wonderful thesis about the popularity of Michael Jackson in contrast with the popularity of the Beatles and even the King himself (Elvis Presley).
El gordo said in other words that “Michael Jackson has been blogged, Twittered and socially networked.” Gordo actually said that Michael Jackson is more famous than both the other two popular culture icons because mass media is more prevalent and powerful than ever before. I agree with el Gordo. Gordo emphasized, “Lo conozen en todas las esquinas del mundo!” (They know him [MJ] in every corner of the world because of the media prevalence all over the world.
I think Gordo made a wonderful point and I wish I had the funding to focus on his thesis and try to prove statistically this is true. In terms of number of people that are talking about Michael simultanously because of social networking tools such as facebook, myspace, twitter and the like MJ is going to be conmemorated in a very new and immutable way until our servers crash and burn from the apocalypse, tee hee.
Ok, I’ll talk about this a little bit more later as I’m off today and I’m heading to sunset beach house to relax a little more.
hugs,
z
Topics: Popular Culture | No Comments »
Dara Greenwald explains to MicroRevolt history of Farmworker Video
By Zulma | May 27, 2009
I love this video. These are my two collegues from arts.rpi.edu and Cat Mazza author of MicroRevolt interviews Ph.D. Candidate in Electronic Arts candidate Dara Greenwald on one of the pieces in her recently curated show called Signs of Change.
The piece is about an art collective that helped farm workers create the visual posters and graphics for their demonstrations.
Very interesting video go to
the microrevolt reblog to check it out
http://www.microrevolt.org/reblog/
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Freephone construction at Lui Velazquez
By Zulma | May 27, 2009
Learn more about the Freephone here:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHAT: Freephone Art Project Provides Deported People with a Phone Call
WHO: Chris Head, Micha Cárdenas, Elle Mehrmand, Katherine Sweetman, Felipe
Zuñiga and Camilo Ontiveros
WHERE: Lui Velazquez Gallery, Calle José Maria Larroque #273, 2do Piso,
Int. 6, Colonia Federal, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, C.P. 22 300
WHEN: Saturday May 30th, 2009, 1-6pm
CONTACT: Micha Cárdenas, mcardenas a+ ucsd d()+ edu
The Freephone is an art project that aims to provide people just deported
from the US with a free phone call. To achieve this, a group of UCSD
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students and graduates are coming together to
present the phone at the Lui Velazquez gallery in Tijuana, just a few feet
from the turnstiles where people who are deported are dropped off by the
border patrol. The project is by the artists Chris Head, Micha Cárdenas,
Elle Mehrmand, Katherine Sweetman, Felipe Zuñiga and Camilo Ontiveros
The Freephone is an effort to use new media performance art or performance
with technology to make the experience that people who are deported from
the US a little bit less difficult. To make the phone, the artists bought
a non working payphone casing from Ebay.com, wired it to a new $10 phone
from a store and hooked that up to an adapter which would allow the phone
to make calls over the internet. Then, the phone was installed outside of
the Lui Velazquez gallery. On Saturday, May 30th, the artists will do a public
performance including posting signs, talking to people coming through of
the turnstiles into Tijuana and sign spinning to direct people who may
have just been dropped off by the border patrol towards the free phone.
“Every day at this gallery we see people being deported by the Border
Patrol. We wanted to engage the public space outside of the gallery as
well as inside,” said Katherine Sweetman, director of Lui Velazquez.
“Art has the power to concretely improve people’s lives. Artists can go
beyond just representing or commenting on political issues and actually
engage in political action as art,” said Micha Cárdenas, recent graduate
from UCSD’s MFA program. “The Freephone is part of the tradition of Border
Disturbance Art along with projects such as the Transborder Immigrant Tool
from the Electronic Disturbance Theater”, said Cárdenas.
The Freephone will be shown on Saturday, May 30th as part of the Satellite
Ensemble II, a show by UCSD MFA students aimed at taking UCSD’s artistic
impact beyond the boundaries of the campus. The show will begin at
Agitprop gallery in North Park and will take place along the path from
that gallery to Lui Velazuez in Tijuana via public transit. In addition to
the Freephone, the show will include work by artists including Crystal
Z Campbell, Zac Monday, Clare Zitzow, Priscilla Lazaro, David White
and Anna Chiaretta Lavatellii.
“We want to not just make art with technology, but also show people how it
was made, how they can use it and how they can make their own open source
art projects,” said Chris Head, about the Freephone. To accomplish this,
the Freephone will be included in the ALTBIT open source art show later
this year at Lui Velazquez. ALTBIT is a project to combine a number of
open source and open hardware art projects together in one repository and
present them in workshops in various locations in the US and Mexico.
Initiated as part of the Society of Molecules, the Freephone performance
will be part of a distributed aesthetico-political event coordinated by
the Sense Lab at Concordia University in Montreal including artist groups
from around the world including Madrid, Naples, Boston, New York, Montreal
and other cities.
For more information on the Freephone, contact Micha Cárdenas
at mcardenas A+ ucsd d[]t edu
http://luivelazquez.com
http://alt-bit.org
http://visarts.ucsd.edu
http://ucsdse2.blogspot.com/
http://senselab.ca
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Mexico City: Performance Art
By Zulma | May 27, 2009
its all about PERFORMAGIA OVER THERE,
CHECK OUT THE EVENTS CURATED BY MY MEXICO CITY HOMEBOY PANCHO LOPEZ
REPROGRAMACI?N
To members of PERFORMAGIA
Pancho Lopez
Today at 5:20pm
Reply
PERFORMAGIA 2009
MUSEO EXPERIMENTAL EL ECO
jueves 28 de mayo – 19:00 horas
conferencia de jos? miguel gonz?lez casanova
performance de mar?a ezcurra
videoconferencia de bartolom? ferrando
performance en video de francis taylor
viernes 29 de mayo – 19:00 horas
conferencia de thereza l?pez
performance de v?ctor mu?oz
videoconferencia de francis taylor
performance en video de bartolom? ferrando
performance en video de ko siu lan
s?bado 30 de mayo – 17:00 horas
marat?n-concurso performagia 2009
concursan: orgy, carlos amado cabrales quintana, asdr?bal galindo, melissa garc?a, carlos i. cruz i., kuasar nova, carlos jaurena, se?orita m?xico 78, sa?l l?pez velarde y anadel lynton
discurso del “sr. presidente” v?ctor sulser
el eco – sulivan 43 – col. san rafael
———
PERFORMAGIA 2009
MUSEO DE ARTE DE TLAXCALA
jueves 4 de junio- 19:00 horas
performance de andrea ferreyra
viernes 5 de junio – 19:00 horas
conferencia de andrea ferreyra
performances de rub?n vel?zquez, ricardo mart?n, gabrielle civil y el ganador del concurso
s?bado 6 de junio – 19:00 horas
conferencia de ileana di?guez
performances de paola yee, pancho l?pez, miguel rodr?guez sep?lveda y brama santos
clausura con fat mariachi
museo de arte de tlaxcala – plaza de la consituci?n s/n y guerrero 15, centro hist?rico de tlaxcala
Topics: Uncategorized | Comments Off
Mapping the Hood Event in San Diego this Friday
By Zulma | May 26, 2009
Voices: Mapping the Hood
Art at the Core: Building Community presents its culminating event, Voices: Mapping the Hood, a two- part artistic rendering of the stories of the people and the places that make up the sister communities of North Park and City Heights. Using art as the catalyst, we hope our multi-media dance theatre production and our visual art installation will reflect our lived experiences, collective concerns, and community celebrations.
Note: Walk-up tickets are Pay What You Can within one hour before showtime.
Art @ the Core partners are North Park Main Street, Stone Paper Scissors, transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project, Eveoke Dance Theatre, and The Cultural Worker.
Friday, May 29, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Tenth Avenue Theatre
930 10th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 238-1153
Website: www.artcoresd.org
E-Mail: nikki@eveoke.org
Map & Directions
Ticket Type Price Quantity
General $20.00
Senior $15.00
Student $15.00
Topics: Electronic Art World | Comments Off
Disorder Mexican Experimental Music band
By Zulma | May 18, 2009
http://habitacion404.blogspot.com/
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
I have a masters degree in Facebook
By Zulma | May 14, 2009
Check out this awesome article that i published to scribe today.
I’ve sent this out by email to some of my favorite facebook friends, but today, I release it to the public.
Be gone facebook manual
Please make sure you donate to my pay pal account at zulma@zulmaaguiar.com to pay me back for my hard dozen hours or so that facebook took away from me. I had sleepless nights thinking oh em gee, my professor whom I highly respect is going to know I went clubbing last night in Los Angeles when I was supposed to be writing my thesis. Therefore, I created this PDF file to control your friends, create levels of trust, encrypt, hide, hack and remove!!!
enjoy
Chicana Feliz la facebook hacker
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
LA: Just Seeds dudes showing work!!
By Zulma | May 14, 2009
Anti-Police Brutality Show LA
A handful of Justseeds artists (and tons of other good folks) are in this show coming up in LA:
Stop the Armed Forces
An Exhibition of Conscious Art and Music Against Police Brutality
Friday May 15th
8pm – 2am
2323 East Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, 90021
Open Gallery May 16th, Noon – 6pm
Artists include:
Jon-Paul Bail, Brianna Lengel-Bail, Alison Smith, Tim Holgerson, Louis Hennings, Jesus Barraza, Melanie Cervantes, Ryan J. Saari, Taarna R. Grimsley, Paul Barron, Favianna Rodriguez, Frank Zio, Chuck Sperry, Ron Donovan, Emory Douglas, Contra, Yem, Ritzy Periwinkle, John Carr, Karen Fiorito, Hit+Run, 2Cents, 2Rabbits, ABCNT, David Kietzman, Josh MacPhee, Mear One, Vyal, and more…
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
FW: Sound in the Frying Pan
By Zulma | May 12, 2009
—— Forwarded Message
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
FW: Sound in the Frying Pan
By Zulma | May 12, 2009
—— Forwarded Message
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
augusto boal, Theater of the Opressed
By Zulma | May 7, 2009
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/
AR2009050202025.html
Brazilian theater director Augusto Boal dies
The Associated Press
Saturday, May 2, 2009; 7:51 PM
RIO DE JANEIRO — Augusto Boal, the Brazilian theater director and
playwright known for the interactive genre called the "Theater of
the Oppressed," died Saturday. He was 78.
Boal died of respiratory failure following a long battle with
leukemia, according to Elisa Nunes, a spokeswoman for Rio’s
Hospital Samaritano.
Boal, who studied theater arts at New York City’s Columbia
University, created Theater of the Oppressed in the early 1960s as
a way to establish a dialogue between audience, playwright,
director and actors that encouraged political activism.
Seen as a threat to the dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964
and 1985, Boal was arrested, jailed and tortured before being
exiled to Argentina.
He returned to Brazil after the fall of the military regime.
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Are Chicanas making interactive art forms and New Media?
By Zulma | May 5, 2009
Wow, I think I found my own thesis topic for my Visual Arts Ph.D.
Lets not even go there. I’m very happy with my MFA.
In any case, I’m giving a talk tonight to students of famous Chicano Muralist Victor Ochoa at Grossmont College. I did a pre-liminary search on google to try to find other chicana’s making interactive art and new media.
Well, I know that Nao Bustamante is making New Media. She was my professor at RPI.
I know that Alma Lopez is making New Media, she was the first media artist I ever met back in 1998. She basically inspired me to look into the Art Degree after it was offered to me.
I know Ask a Chola is making awesome videos that she podcasts and publishes on her blog and that is a form of New Media.
I know Rio Ya?ez is exploring animations very much like the work curated by my friend Paul Slocum from the and/or gallery back in Dallas, Texas.
I know that Alex Rivera and Angel Nevarez made that awesome LowDrone.
However, are Chicanas making interactive art?
What do I mean by interactive art?
Well, have you heard of Perry Hoberman? What about Jim Cambell?
Ok, this is exactly what I’m talking about.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m boasting, but I think I’m the only self-proclaimed Chicana Artist that makes New Media Art, well besides Guillermo Gomez Pe?a. Wait, but is he a Chicana? He would say yes of course. I’d say, nell!
This just encourages me to write a grant to Creative Capital and get me some money. I deserve it after forking out thousands of hours into making the Turnstyle.
Topics: Uncategorized | Comments Off
Excellent Clean Healthy XRays!
By Zulma | April 24, 2009
this is from 2006 in May. In the middle of grad school I took this picture. Aesthetically its awesome!
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Yes Men Collaborator in first Solo Show in LA!!
By Zulma | April 23, 2009
Steve Lambert at Charlie James in LA
EVERYTHING YOU WANT, RIGHT NOW! – NEW WORK BY STEVE LAMBERT
APRIL 25 TO JUNE 6, 2009
ARTIST’S RECEPTION APRIL 25, 2009 6 – 9PM
Charlie James Gallery
975 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Charlie James Gallery is pleased to announce LA’s first solo show of internationally renowned artist-activist Steve Lambert. You may have encountered Steve’s work already, though you may not be aware of it. Maybe you saw him interviewed on CNN, or listened to him on NPR. Lambert’s work operates in popular culture, using everyday language and humor to convey ideas that both subvert and expand the worlds of art, free technology, and media. In the course of his work, Lambert has worked with volunteers to close every McDonald’s in Manhattan; he has renamed a street in San Francisco, and replaced advertising on the internet with curated art images. Perhaps most famously, Lambert and the Yes Men orchestrated the New York Times Special Edition, wherein he and his collaborators wrote, printed and distributed a near-perfect imitation of the New York Times, its differences detectable only in its content, which included a cavalcade of ‘if only it were true’ headlines like “Iraq War Over” and “Maximum Wage Law Succeeds.”
In Everything You Want, Right Now!, Lambert takes on the vernacular of commercial signage with a regional emphasis unique to Los Angeles. Visually, he is interested in what makes certain styles of signage feel so innately familiar, and in the methods that signage employs to grab our attention. Lambert will investigate the numerous emotional promises that inhere in commercial advertising, promises that may excite or reassure us, while remaining ultimately undelivered. The business of fine art and the relevance of the white cube gallery will also come under the scrutiny of Mr. Lambert. Under his direction, the Charlie James Gallery will be transformed into something reminiscent of an over-eager appliance store during the 6 week run of his show. The gallery will be festooned with pennants inside and out, the windows painted over with garish promises of “Slashed Prices!” while the interior pulses away with lighted signage, all promising wild levels of deliverance to the viewer.
Steve Lambert is the founder of the Anti-Advertising Agency and the lead developer of Add-Art (a Firefox add-on that replaces online advertising with curated art images). He has collaborated with numerous artists including the Graffiti Research Lab, Packard Jennings, and the Yes Men. Steve’s projects and art works have won awards from Lower East Side Print Shop, Rhizome/The New Museum, Turbulence, the Creative Work Fund, Adbusters Media Foundation, the California Arts Council, and others. His work has been shown at various galleries, art spaces, and museums both nationally and internationally, and was recently collected by the Library of Congress. Lambert has appeared live on NPR, the BBC, and CNN, with reportage of his exploits captured in multiple outlets including the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Guardian, Harper’s, The Believer, Good, Dwell, ARTnews, Punk Planet, and Newsweek. He is a Senior Fellow at the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology in New York, and teaches at Parsons/The New School and Hunter College. Steve studied sociology and film before receiving a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2000 and a MFA at UC Davis in 2006.
About Charlie James Gallery: Charlie James Gallery formed in 2008 in Seattle, WA and had its debut in Chinatown, downtown Los Angeles in November of 2008. The gallery exhibits emerging and mid-career artists confronting issues of contemporary cultural significance. Housed in a 1947 Chinatown manufacturing building and newly redesigned by Dane Johnson, the gallery is situated amidst numerous other contemporary art galleries of strong reputation. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday from 12-6. For more information please visit www.cjamesgallery.com or email info@cjamesgallery.com.
from F.A.T.
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Meditation @ Red Lotus Society in San Diego
By Zulma | April 23, 2009
~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW CLASSES at the Ideal Studio
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naqshbandi Sufi Meditation
with Haji Daud Idris Abdul-Salaam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Friday of every month
7:30 ~ 8:30pm
Starting May 1st
Sufism is the ‘inner’ or ‘mystical’ tradition of the Islamic Faith. The Naqshbandi are unique for their silent dhikr (rememberance of God), an Islamic form of meditation and prayer. Classes include a discussion of Sufi principles, guided silent meditation, and question answer session with Daud.
Classes by donation.
The Red Lotus Society is honored to host the Naqshbandi the first Friday of every month; May 1, June 5, July 3, August 7, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weekly Schedule of Classes
MONDAY
Capoeira Mandinga
@7:30pm
Classes held by – Instructor Das Cavernas
Supervision by- Contra Mestre Paulo Batuta
www.capoeirasd.com
$10/class $5 for RLS Capoeira Mandinga SD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TUESDAY
Open Mat Yoga
@ 6:00pm
Zen Meditation
@ 7:30pm
Traditional Rinzai style Sesshin (’group practice’)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WEDNESDAY
Supreme Science
with Hip Fu
@ 6:00pm
Mantra Meditation
@ 7:30pm
Use the power of your own voice to tone sacred
sounds for balance, tranquility, and well being.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THURSDAY
Ashtanga Yoga
with Deanna
@ 6:00pm
Tibetan Buddhist Meditation
@ 7:30pm
Traditional Shamata (’calming’) meditation to
train the mind in impartial, pure awareness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRIDAY
Power Fusion Yoga
with Dave
@ 6:00pm
Special Event Meditations
Check on-line schedule for details
@ 7:30pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SATURDAY
Special Saturday Workshops
Saturday, April 25th
“Calming Your Anxious Mind”
Vipassana Workshop Part III*
*If you missed the first two sessions, you may still attend this third and final class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUNDAY
Vinyasa Yoga
with Dave
@ 10:30am
Intro to Qigong
with Linda
@ 12:00pm
Mindfulness Yoga
with Charlie Ninh
@ 2:00pm
Ashtanga Yoga
with Kaori
@ 4:30pm
Shingon Buddhist Meditation
with Tenshin Takahashi
@ 6:30 pm
Takahashi Sensai was ordained as a Sohei (warrior monk)
by Masters of the Shingon Mikkyo Buddhist Sect in 2007.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And don’t forget!
The Red Lotus Society’s first annual
SIT-A-THON
Day-long meditation retreat for peace!
May 9th, 2009
Register free on-line
Twelve different 45 minute Meditation Sessions Featuring: Vietnamese Zen, Tibetan Shamata, Japanese Shingon, Chinese Taoist, Vipassana, and more…
All classes are held at the Ideal Studio, the Red Lotus Society’s Conscious Movement and Meditation Center. Unless otherwise noted, all class are by donation. There is a suggested donation of $8 per class, but no one is turned away for lack of money.
The Red Lotus Society is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization promoting peace through meditation.
For more information visit our website at:
www.redlotussociety.org
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Sita Sings curated by KJ Mohr @ NMWA Film Fest 2008
By Zulma | April 23, 2009
I still remember the films I saw at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
My favorite animation was this one. Now you can watch it online.
http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/blog/watch-sita-sings-the-blues-online/347/
Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by e-mail. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.”
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Mario Press
By Zulma | April 20, 2009
April 19, 2009
OZZIE ROBERTS
Restoring art at schoolhouse teaches respect to 700 students
By Ozzie Roberts
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. April 19, 2009
Mario Torero has always wanted to share his passion for art with others,
especially inquisitive youngsters. (Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune) -
Mario Torero and Mariana Lopez want to upgrade one of Mario’s landmark
murals. (Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune)
Teaching kids to be more socially responsible is a goal of the folks
running Albert Einstein Academies charter school in South Park .
So when they decided to give their 100-year-old landmark schoolhouse a face
lift, they made it a priority to preserve a familiar and sometimes
controversial mural on an outside wall.
That meant finding the original artist and getting him to lead the project.
Respecting the person and his work would send the right message to the 700
kids in the Academies’ elementary and junior high school programs,
principals Jeannette Vaughn and David Sciarretta said.
So they turned to dedicated parent and school supporter Mariana Lopez, who
said she knew of Mario Torero, the original artist-activist, well-known for
murals he has painted across the county and world. Through family friends
and acquaintances, she tracked him down.
And now folks at Einstein and in the community anticipate that by
midsummer, the mural will be brighter and make a definite statement about
the innovative school.
Nearly 20 years ago when the building was Brooklyn Elementary School ,
Mario, a former student there, led fellow artist Rocco Sotoshi from Yokohama
, and a crew of pupils in creating the abstract piece he called ³Freedom.²
It was part of a multimillion-dollar project reviving art in public
schools, and through its lines and symbols, Mario says, it pays homage to
peace and the end of the Cold War.
But the mural was not without detractors.
Upon its completion, Brooklyn Elementary School officials reported
receiving hundreds of calls from angry residents, many of whom thought
images of covered wagons and cows would have been more appropriate for the
wall.
Still, the undertaking was an extremely personal experience for Mario, a
61-year-old transplanted Peruvian: Using his art to make social statements
is his life.
³Where I was born in Lima , my dad Guillermo Acevedo was a great
artist, and it was a time of great political strife,² Mario says. ³I grew up
around a lot of artists, in an arts community and I learned to speak out
and express myself through my art.²
Mario’s business cards identify him as an ³artivist.²
Mariana, 38, who hails from Mexico City and Acapulco and whose 7-year-old
son, Emilio, attends Einstein, understands the value of preserving the
artist’s work, which has become part of the Golden Hill/South Park
community.
³I have a special attachment to this (neighborhood),² she says. ³My first
home as a married (woman) was right here in Golden Hill.²
Mariana and her family now live in Chula Vista . But more than nostalgia
moved her to find Mario and work with him for several months on plans for
the new project.
She is also trying to raise the $10,000 Mario calculates it will cost to
carry out the refurbishing and upgrading, which calls for him to add to the
mural a portrait of Albert Einstein, images of a globe and several
international flags.
Mariana says she believes that it is right to involve the original painter
in any project that will alter his work.
That spirit is written into the mission statement of Einstein, which is the
only elementary school in the county sanctioned to run an International
Baccalaureate program.
³Our mission is to provide an internationally oriented, culturally diverse,
academically rigorous and socially responsible educational experience for
children of all races, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds,² the pledge
reads in part.
And soon to Mario, Mariana and everyone else involved in the mural
upgrading project, the spirit behind the big, bright painting on the old
school wall will forever confirm all that.
Ozzie Roberts: ozzie.roberts@uniontrib.com or (619) 293-2037.
Topics: Artists | Comments Off
Mario Torero on San Diego Union Tribune
By Zulma | April 20, 2009
April 19, 2009
OZZIE ROBERTS
Restoring art at schoolhouse teaches respect to 700 students
By Ozzie Roberts
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. April 19, 2009
Mario Torero has always wanted to share his passion for art with others,
especially inquisitive youngsters. (Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune) -
Mario Torero and Mariana Lopez want to upgrade one of Mario’s landmark
murals. (Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune)
Teaching kids to be more socially responsible is a goal of the folks
running Albert Einstein Academies charter school in South Park .
So when they decided to give their 100-year-old landmark schoolhouse a face
lift, they made it a priority to preserve a familiar and sometimes
controversial mural on an outside wall.
That meant finding the original artist and getting him to lead the project.
Respecting the person and his work would send the right message to the 700
kids in the Academies’ elementary and junior high school programs,
principals Jeannette Vaughn and David Sciarretta said.
So they turned to dedicated parent and school supporter Mariana Lopez, who
said she knew of Mario Torero, the original artist-activist, well-known for
murals he has painted across the county and world. Through family friends
and acquaintances, she tracked him down.
And now folks at Einstein and in the community anticipate that by
midsummer, the mural will be brighter and make a definite statement about
the innovative school.
Nearly 20 years ago when the building was Brooklyn Elementary School ,
Mario, a former student there, led fellow artist Rocco Sotoshi from Yokohama
, and a crew of pupils in creating the abstract piece he called ³Freedom.²
It was part of a multimillion-dollar project reviving art in public
schools, and through its lines and symbols, Mario says, it pays homage to
peace and the end of the Cold War.
But the mural was not without detractors.
Upon its completion, Brooklyn Elementary School officials reported
receiving hundreds of calls from angry residents, many of whom thought
images of covered wagons and cows would have been more appropriate for the
wall.
Still, the undertaking was an extremely personal experience for Mario, a
61-year-old transplanted Peruvian: Using his art to make social statements
is his life.
³Where I was born in Lima , my dad Guillermo Acevedo was a great
artist, and it was a time of great political strife,² Mario says. ³I grew up
around a lot of artists, in an arts community and I learned to speak out
and express myself through my art.²
Mario’s business cards identify him as an ³artivist.²
Mariana, 38, who hails from Mexico City and Acapulco and whose 7-year-old
son, Emilio, attends Einstein, understands the value of preserving the
artist’s work, which has become part of the Golden Hill/South Park
community.
³I have a special attachment to this (neighborhood),² she says. ³My first
home as a married (woman) was right here in Golden Hill.²
Mariana and her family now live in Chula Vista . But more than nostalgia
moved her to find Mario and work with him for several months on plans for
the new project.
She is also trying to raise the $10,000 Mario calculates it will cost to
carry out the refurbishing and upgrading, which calls for him to add to the
mural a portrait of Albert Einstein, images of a globe and several
international flags.
Mariana says she believes that it is right to involve the original painter
in any project that will alter his work.
That spirit is written into the mission statement of Einstein, which is the
only elementary school in the county sanctioned to run an International
Baccalaureate program.
³Our mission is to provide an internationally oriented, culturally diverse,
academically rigorous and socially responsible educational experience for
children of all races, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds,² the pledge
reads in part.
And soon to Mario, Mariana and everyone else involved in the mural
upgrading project, the spirit behind the big, bright painting on the old
school wall will forever confirm all that.
Ozzie Roberts: ozzie.roberts@uniontrib.com or (619) 293-2037.
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