 Many thanks to University of Southern California Visions and Voices for bringing this Opulent Mobility retrospective exhibit to life! Thanks also to Professor Julie Van Dam and Pamela Schaff at USC and all the folks who made this possible.
And as always, deep gratitude for the artists: Shelley Barry, Megan Bent, Ciara Chapman, Kat Chudy, Vanessa Cruz, Julie Forbush, Patricia Fortlage, Kellie Gillespie, Bronte Grimm, Ellen Mansfield, Joy Murray, Abigail Stockinger, Emily Tironi, and Rachel Ungerer. You rock my world. Poster text: OPULENT MOBILITY Featuring artists whose work reframes and recalibrates conventional approaches to disability and chronic illness, Opulent Mobility is a group exhibition that opens at the Keck School of Medicine’s Hoyt Gallery on September 25. The show runs September 25th through October 25th. EVENTS Reimagining Disability Narratives through Artistic Practice TUE | 9•24•24 | 12:30 PM TAPER HALL 301, UNIVERSITY PARK CAMPUS On the day before the opening of Opulent Mobility, artist and curator A. Laura Brody will help us imagine a world defined by disability-centered ethics and aesthetics. Opening Event and Panel WED | 9•25•24 | 12 PM MAYER AUDITORIUM, HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS Curators A. Laura Brody and Anthony Tusler, artist Patricia Fortlage, occupational therapist and Limitless Dance co-founder Debbie Wang, and USC professor Julie Van Dam will address the pertinence of disability art practice to disability ethics and aesthetics. Gender, Queerness, Disability, and the Arts TUE | 10•1•24 | 11 AM TAPER HALL 309K, UNIVERSITY PARK CAMPUS Multidisciplinary artist and queer and trans disability activist Brontë Grimm will discuss their artistic trajectories and aesthetic practices with curator A. Laura Brody. ADMISSION IS FREE. RSVP AT VISIONSANDVOICES.USC.EDU Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Pamela Schaff (Medical Education, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics), Julie Van Dam (French and Italian), Erika Wright (Medical Education and English), Sabrina Derrington (Pediatrics), and Ron Ben-Ari (Internal Medicine and Medical Education). Co-sponsored by the Keck School of Medicine’s HEAL (Humanities, Ethics, Art, and Law) Program and the Center for Bioethics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
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 By popular request:
the Opulent Mobility call for art deadline is extended to September 15, 2024. We could all use a little breathing room nowadays. Many thanks to all who submitted work! It is looking fantastic and I am so excited to put this year's exhibit together. XO A. Laura Brody  Artworks (clockwise from top to bottom): On the Menus by Patricia Fortlage, Here for All of You by Rachel Ungerer, and Sick Coat by Kat Chudy. The latest newsletter goes up tomorrow morning, but you can get a sneak peek now!
In short: -Genius Teatime with Ernie Silva and CandyJoe Dahlstrom is at 3:30 PM PST, August 24 -The Opulent Mobility 2024 call for art deadline is 8/31/24 -Thanks to Visions and Voices for hosting an OM retrospective! The initial lecture is 9/24/24, opening and panel discussion is 9/25/24, and Bronte Grimm will join us for a talk on Gender, Queerness, Disability, and the Arts 10/1/24 -Enter the Goddesses and the Arts of Costumes open 10/6/24 at the Los Angeles Makery Full details in the newsletter. Let's be good to each other in these turbulent times. XO Laura  How do I love thee, mending? Let me count the ways. I mend for many reasons. It is fun, creative, mentally soothing, helps clothing out of landfills, keeps my well-loved items in shape, and makes for great community.
But I also mend for solidarity. Consider that: The global fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. Globalization of fashion means tremendous damage to the ecosystem, human rights abuses and wage theft. It has dumped vast amounts of fast fashion on West Africa and Chile, destroying economies and landscapes. Much of it relies on cheap or forced labor, including American prison labor. Palestinians in Gaza used to provide much of the cheap labor force for Israel. Want to find out more? Check out the Clean Clothes Campaign. It doesn't have to be this way. Come mend with me! The latest event was at La Tierra de La Culebra park at the $5 Art Party's Radical Art Learn In for Palestine. I'll partner with the city of Rosemead's Art in California Parks August 14, and will join the Hollywood Food Coalition August 15. As always, get in touch to set up your own Visible Mending session, virtual or otherwise. Let's mend together. XO Laura  What's going on? 3 art events, Genius Teatime, 3 calls for art, 2 collaborations, fantastic folks, and ways to take action. Sending hugs in these turbulent times.  Sunday, May 19 from 2-5 PM: Fresh Take closing at the Makery Saturday, May 25: Ikouii Artist Showcase opens online And hey! New news! September 13-21: Opulent Mobility retrospective at Hoyt Gallery, part of USC's Visions and Voices. Details TBD.  It's Genius Teatime! On May 25 Mandi, Rebecca, and Jay guide us through navigating government systems for neurodivergent and disabled kids. Saturday 3:30-4:30 PM PST on Zoom, suggested donations $10-35, no one turned away for lack of funds. You'll benefit our speakers, Apraxia Kids, and the Opulent Mobility accessibility fund. Check out my Substack for videos and edited transcripts of Julia Cordero-Lamb and Kate Conklin's GT talks. There are more to come! There is a paywall, but get in touch if it causes hardship.  3 calls for art: Have you shared your Goddess art yet? For Enter the Goddesses 2 submit your art that celebrates your goddess/es of choice. Deadline August 1, no fee, 30% commission. The Art of Costume Couture wants your wearable art! Deadline August 1st, no fee, 30% commission. Opulent Mobility 2024 challenges you to re-imagine disability as opulent and powerful! Deadline August 31, $20 flat fee but contact me if it causes hardship. 30% commission, details in the link.  Collaborations, fantastic folks, and action ideas:
I so appreciate the folks who hire me for their mends, alts and custom gear AND I am excited for upcoming mending collabs! Thanks to Shelley Powsner of Repair Cafe Pasadena and Amy Bauer. Just finished a leadership cohort for artists with disabilities and I am stoked. We have so many plans for the future! Check out upcoming events from two members: DJ Kurs of Deaf West and Ifunanya Nweke of Jazz Hands for Autism. ArtsEarth is awesome. Post your art events on their site for free! Democracy.io and 5 Calls lets you contact your reps with ease. And I now answer all the political emails with suggestions on how to better use our tax dollars. Let's study war no more. XO Laura  Here's what's happening: 3 art events 2 calls for art (and one's on the way) 2 projects and a terrific talk 2 great organizations to support And so many thanks. Here's to creative growth in tough times.  3 art events on the way: -I'm in great company in Fresh Take, a photography exhibit at the Los Angeles Makery in DTLA, 260 S. Los Angeles St, LA, CA 90012. -Many thanks to Denise and Marylou at Left of Center Art Gallery in Las Vegas, NV for including the Goddess in Process in their exhibit "Hanging By A Thread". -And Opulent Mobility will be at Brand Library in Glendale in 2025!!!  2 calls for art up now and one on the way: -In Enter the Goddesses 2 the gods have had their time... now the goddesses take center stage! Submit your art that celebrates your goddess/es of choice. -The Art of Costume Couture is a call for wearable art, dipping into the world of fantasy, costume design, and fashion ideas that merge and float between art, fashion, and craftsmanship. Deadline for both is August 1st. No fee, 30% commission, details in the links. -The Opulent Mobility 2024 call for art is coming soon!  On the mending and making front: Amy Barin, thanks for trusting me with your grandmother's worn out quilt. It will make a stunning jacket. CandyJoe Dahlstrom and Eddie Silva, your custom baseball jersey is going to be fabulous. Looking forward to 108 Stitches! And many thanks to Amy Bauer for working with me on a public mending project! (Stay tuned for details...) Do you want something custom made or custom mended? Get in touch!  Talks, thanks, and send some love:
Join us for Genius Teatime with Ellice Patterson April 27th at 12:30 PM PST/3:30 PM EST on Zoom- we'll be talking about dance as a tool for intersectional disability rights. The latest interviews on Substack are Tom Peters and Austin Lubetkin. Stay tuned for Julia Cordero-Lamb's talk on regenerative farming on April 20th! Many thanks to: -Kacy Treadway and Jacque Rogers for the Heart of Friendship -Shelley Powsner, Repair Cafe Pasadena, and Pam Noles- stay tuned for a collaboration -Professor Van Dam at USC and our upcoming Plague Wear Atelier -The Puffin Foundation awarded me a grant! Woohoo! And if you can, send some love to the World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. It feels strange to have such a flurry of creativity in these dark times, but here we are. As Pam says, keep that hope alive. XO Laura  Goddess in Process by A. Laura Brody Mending Goddess(es) In this latest newsletter: -Share your goddess art and costume couture (2 brand new, no fee calls for art!) -Learn to mend or let me fix it for you -check out the stories on Substack and Genius Teatime -And in times of darkness, let's stir up some good trouble. XO Laura  Two new calls for art: In Enter the Goddesses 2, the gods have had their time... now it is high time for the goddesses to take center stage! Submit your art that celebrates your goddess/es of choice. Curated by A. Laura Brody. The Art of Costume Couture is a call for wearable art, dipping into the world of fantasy, costume design, and fashion ideas that merge and float between art, fashion, and craftsmanship. Curated by A. Laura Brody and Lisa Tomczeszyn. Deadline to submit work is August 1st. No fee to submit, 30% commission to gallery on sales, details in the links. Exhibit scheduled for October 3-27 at the Los Angeles Makery. Learn to mend- or let me fix it for you!Sign up for a free 15 minute consultation and we'll make your well-loved items fit beautifully and mend what's broken. With my 30+ years of experience you will learn fast and get great results. Special introductory rate is $55 for the first hour. After that, $65/hour for alterations, mends (visible or invisible), repairs, or one-on-one instruction. Group lessons online or in person in the Los Angeles area only for $40 per person for a 2 hour lesson, 6 person minimum.  Read the Substacks and Join us for Genius Teatime! Genius Teatime is back March 9th with the delightful Deb Sivigny! 3:30- 4:30 PM PST in the Zoom room. Deb is a scenic and costume designer, a fabric and jewelry artist, and the writer-creator of HELLO, MY NAME IS… an immersive installation about Korean adoptees partially based on her own experience. The latest interview on Substack is with Joy Murray. In her words, “I’ve used the arts to help navigate life, cope with a long term disability -- to find enchantment and insight…There are so many ways we are told through our lives to conform, to be quiet, and to not stir up trouble. I hope to resist that in my life and to help others resist." Join us if you can or get in touch for the recording link, check out the Substacks, and please spread the word far and wide!  I really appreciated this quote and maybe you will too.
"Sure. Sometimes it's hard to believe you've made any positive impact on the world. But it's pretty easy to believe you've made a sock. Look at it. There is is. Put it on. Your foot is warm. Take that, nihilism." This is proven scientifically. When you feel overwhelmed by existential despair, do something. It doesn't have to be big. It just has to be something that is not nothing. Let's stir up some good trouble together. XO Laura
Welcome back to teatime! Genius Teatime, that is...
On February 24, 3:30 PM PST Andrea Jennings will talk about authentic representation in entertainment, March 9th at 3:30 PM PST Deb Sivigny will cover set and costume design and her immersive installation on Korean adoptees, and April 27 at 12:30 PM PST Ellice Patterson will share her stories of Abilities Dance Boston and intersectional disability dance. Thanks so much for joining us! We'll be throwing in some new ideas too. Stay tuned... and enjoy the archived talks on the Opulent Mobility channel. Talks are mostly 3:30-4:30 PM PST on Zoom unless otherwise specified. Suggested donations $10-35, no one turned away for lack of funds. Your donations benefit our speakers, their charities of choice, and the Opulent Mobility accessibility fund. Thanks to you all, and to Pamela Samuelson of Embodywork LA for providing the boost to get this party started. We've been going a full year now!!! How did that happen?!  So hey! I've started out on Substack with transcripts from the artist interviews for Opulent Mobility. The plan is to do the same for the archived Genius Teatime talks. You can go direct to the posts or subscribe for free.
All the archived GT talks on YouTube are captioned and corrected for accessibility purposes. I really enjoy having the talks in text form, though, since it lets me catch up details I may have missed or forgot about during the Zoom sessions. I hope you enjoy these too.
This weekend we welcome back Genius Teatime and have our final panel talk on Chronic Illness and Art for Opulent Mobility!
Saturday from 3:30-4:30 PM we meet on Zoom for Genius Teatime with my co-curator Anthony Tusler. We'll discuss disability art and why it matters! This talk will benefit Disability Rights Advocates, our speaker, and the Opulent Mobility accessibility fund. Suggested donation of $10-30, no one turned away for lack of funds. Click on the picture of Anthony in his wheelchair to sign up. Sunday from 2-4 is our final panel talk for Opulent Mobility on Chronic Illness and Art with artists Patricia Fortlage, Monica Marks, and me (A. Laura Brody). Join us in person at the Los Angeles Makery at 260 S. Los Angeles St, LA CA 90012 or get in touch for the Zoom link. Many thanks to all of you who have helped keep these exhibits and talks going. Can you believe it has been 9 years of Opulent Mobility and a year of Genius Teatime? Looking forward to year 10- and we have some great surprises coming up! Please stay tuned. XO Laura |
A. Laura Brody
I re*make mobility devices and materials and give them new lives. Sometimes I staple drape. Archives
September 2024
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