My friend is going to Denver as a delegate. I am eagerly awaiting sparse but informative reports, though I realize if you are at this convention, writing home isn't at the top of your priorities. I wish I could be there. And, because art is my primary interest, and imagination is my friend, I had to pretend I was going to Denver this week.
Any time I go to any city, the most important navigations are to good restaurants and art museums, to galleries in stores and on streets.
So while I was fantasizing, I found some very cool (non food-related) things to do if you are lucky enough to be part of Denver and DNC history now. ART and artistic creativity in abundance
can be found at the D.A.M. and in the city.
Artists including Shepard Fairey and Ray Noland are heading to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, with Fairey doing some judging of MoveOn.org's Manifest Hope Gallery Contest.
Art lovers: there's a lot for you in Denver!
Details below.
Appropriately, the D.A.M. is showing a great 'Get Out The Vote' poster design exhibit, with
- a FREE day today at the Museum. 10 am - 5 pm.
FREE TODAY! And I would definitely do this:
- Friday, August 29, 6–10 pm
"Pose with your favorite candidate... create your own political button, canvass the galleries with red or blue, display your flag pin (free for the first 100 visitors), and enjoy the musical stylings of singer-songwriter Nina Storey"! --(with pictures)Denver Art Museum story
or just a schedule: D.A.M. schedule
- Meeting other artists is always stimulating.
Obama inspired artists will be meeting and sharing their own phenomenal talents that spark artistic activism.
(Street art --distinguished apart from gang graffiti, according to the LA Times article, is an evolution of the do-it-yourself punk art movement of the 1980s. Detractors call it vandalism. But many street artists are inspired by Obama's message, and their creativity sparks support as well as distain from the public. Kate Linthicum, (8.23.08) Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, does a nice piece on the
growing number of artists who identify with Obama's community organizing roots, and aim to contribute to the community through art. I relate.
I like this quote:
Still, street artists such as San Francisco's Eddie (he asked that his last name not be used for fear of legal retribution) are enthusiastic about Obama, and they say they are expressing their sentiments in the vocabulary they know best.
"I could go and volunteer at the campaign and make calls, but that's probably not the best use of my skill set," said Eddie, who has plastered the Bay Area with red-and-black posters that feature a close-up of the candidate's face. "Street art is what I do."
For those of us who want to contribute art, it is a way to help and be part of the movement for positive change. Of course some of us would never do street art unless on private property with permission. That would be me.
BTW, thank you so much for the votes on my Obama design contest entry! If interested, my design is posted with a link
to vote on Obama's site. it's really nice to contribute from our individual 'skill sets', as San Francisco Eddy says.