 Melusine, the latest work in progress, is getting many more scales! (So shiny) Stitch Therapy is tonight from 5-7 PM PST
Draping 101 starts Saturday, July 10 July 31 is the deadline for Opulent Mobility 2021 and thanks to Ikouii Creative for the best in show award! It's an eventful time- and July is just getting started. There is so much more to come! Check out my newsletter for more pictures, links, and details. Thanks so much for everything. XO Laura Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
0 Comments
 I'm really looking forward to taking part in the Ikouii Open exhibit and artist talk! It will open online Sunday, June 10th and the artist talks start at 12 PM PST.
It's a small world. Opulent Mobility artist David Isakson let me know about Ikouii, and it turns out I will be exhibiting along with with him and Emily Tironi (who was in the past two Opulent Mobility exhibits). One of the jurors was Antoine Hunter from Urban Jazz Dance Company, a Deaf dancer, who played the prince in the updated Firebird Ballet I just designed for Abilities Dance Boston. Here's a bit about them and this year's exhibit: "The Ikouii Open is an annual online group exhibition of artwork created by both disabled and non-disabled artists worldwide. The goal of the open is to activate social movements, educate, inspire, and evoke change within the arts and disability communities. This year's theme Without Labels will explore the interwoven influence of labels in disability and culture. Disability labeling has the potential to cause individuals to be singled out and even ridiculed. Labels can also define and artificially limit the way that an individual may think of themselves, and perhaps inadvertently push others to lower their expectations of an individual once they are labeled with a disability. While in retrospect, labeling perhaps helps groups of individuals who have disabilities in common form a group identity. Labeling may also provide access to proper accessibility and support. Are disability labels necessary? Do they do more harm than good? Do they force an identity? Do labels and changing definitions help or hinder our understanding of an individual’s lived experience? What are the implications of ‘disclosing’ a disability label? Could we imagine a life without labels?"  "Lavish" by Misty Stokes May has been fruitful!
I am finally getting back to editing the artist talks for Opulent Mobility 2020. In the latest video I talk with Misty Athena Stokes about invisible disabilities, disability identity, art, and fashion choices for Zoom events. On June 10th at 6 PM PST I'll be part of an online curatorial talk for Blank Canvas 8, a group exhibit I co-curated along with several others. To find out more, take a look at the online exhibit at the link above, come to the show I mounted at Wingwalker Brewery, or visit the other locations in Pasadena, Santa Monica, and in Malibu. I'll share the link to the curatorial talk once it has been set. Congratulations to Abilities Dance Boston on their adaptation and production of the Firebird Ballet! The show live streamed May 14-15 and was a big success. I'm proud to be the costume designer for the dancer and their wheelchairs, walkers, and canes. Check out the thoughtful review by Art Fuse on how the Firebird Ballet is taking inspiring flight. And if you're needing a little Stitch Therapy, I've got you covered. Join us June 6 from 5-7 PM PST and we'll get something started (or finished). Get in touch for the Zoom link. As always, this one is free. If you'd like more in depth sewing, check out the classes page and sign up for something! Intro to Sewing is next month and we start Draping 101 in June. Hey. Thanks so much for being part of this with me. You don't know how much I appreciate it. XO laura .  Photo by Pam Noles Get your stitch on!
This Sunday (and the first Sunday of each month) is Stitch Therapy from 5-7 PM. It's a free online get together where we sew, craft, and set up projects in good company. And you are welcome to join us. Contact me for the Zoom link! For serious sewers, the next online class is Intermediate Techniques: 4 Saturdays in May from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM. In this class, we cover zippers, bindings, seam techniques, and of course pockets. (Pockets are important.) Click on the photo to get to the sign up link and to find more upcoming classes. In July and August we shall be draping.
We accept 2-D and sculptural work, music files, and performances on digital media. Submit online at www.opulentmobility.com. Opulent Mobility is curated by A. Laura Brody and Anthony Tusler. The call for art begins April 11, 2021 and the deadline for submissions is July 31. There is no fee to share your work.
Artists will be informed if their works are accepted by August 15, the exhibit will open October 1, 2021, and the show will run through October 31. Opulent Mobility 2021 will held at Long Hall, Plummer Park in the City of West Hollywood, CA as part of the city’s celebration of Disability Awareness Month. The exhibit will also be online at opulentmobility.com. Many thanks to the City of West Hollywood for their partnership! Opulent, adjective 1. Characterized by extravagant, ostentatious magnificence: lavish, lush, luxurious, palatial, plush, rich, sumptuous 2. Given to or marked by unrestrained abundance: Extravagant, exuberant, luxuriant, prodigal, profuse, riotous, superabundant Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002  Zippered Joy Hey and good greetings!
Below are my upcoming online classes. This Saturday we'll begin with Alter Your Clothes Like A Pro and move on from there. Two classes are all new: Draping 101 (Saturdays in July) and Fabric Creations from 2D to 3D (Saturdays in August). Sign up and pay by clicking the links and you will get the Zoom link a couple of days before the first class starts. 4 sessions for $149. For a free session, join us this Sunday from 5-7 PM at Stitch Therapy! This isn't a class- it's a Zoom get together where we work on our individual craft and sewing projects and catch up with each other. It's good fun and good company. Sign up on the Facebook page or send a note from the contact page. I am looking forward to creating with you. Alter Your Clothes Like A Pro 4/3/21- 4/24/21 from 9:30 AM- 12:30 PM Bring in the items you've been meaning to alter and we'll get them conquered! Typically, students finish between three to six alterations in a 4-session class. Intermediate Sewing Techniques 5/1/21- 5/22/21 from 9:30 AM- 12:30 PM Learn some tips to level up your sewing skills! We'll cover zippers, seam finishes, bindings, piping, and pockets. Intro to Sewing 6/5/21- 6/26/21 from 9:30 AM- 12:30 PM Learn to use your sewing machine, make a reversible tote bag, and make a pair of PJ pants. NEW! Draping 101 7/10/21-7/31/21 from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM Draping is the art of creating clothing using a form and fabric instead of a paper pattern. If you've seen Project Runway, you have seen draping in action. In this class we'll go over the basic principles of draping, and then make a piece of clothing designed by you! Fabric creations from 2D to 3D 8/7/21-8/28/21 from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM A step beyond Draping 101 for adventurous designers and sewists. Come in with sketches and photographs of clothing designs you want to create, and together we can help make them a reality.  Scott Froschauer's RELAX UR OK, part of West Hollywood's Art on the Outside project. Photo credit: City of West Hollywood/Jon Viscott Exciting news! The City of West Hollywood's Art on the Outside committee approved Opulent Mobilit7 2021 as one of their projects! The exhibit will be held in October 2021 during Disability Awareness month. More details to come as they develop.
The image is from a current Art On the Outside project by Scott Froschauer. If you're cruising down Santa Monica Blvd. at Holloway Drive between now and June of 2022, you can see his RELAX UR OK and ONE LOVE street signs in person. Bit by bit the Opulent Mobility 2020 artist talk segments are going up on YouTube. Since I'm in the process of a big move, things are going slowly, but there are only so many hours in a day! Click on the YouTube link to hear Ellice Patterson of Abilities Dance Boston talking about adaptive dance, ableism in the dance community, inclusive description, and collaboration. While you're there, you can check out the six segments of the artist talk that are up and running. And hey. Take care of yourselves out there. In this segment of the Opulent Mobility 2020 artist talk, my co-curator and disability arts advisor Anthony Tusler talks about his involvement with the exhibit, how he and I work together, ableism, inspiration porn, and the power of art to make a difference.
He is a delight to work with. Check out his work at AboutDisability.com. It includes his photographs of the historic 504 sit-in, the protests that helped bring the Americans with Disabilities Act to life. Bit by bit the Opulent Mobility 2020 artist talk segments are coming together!
The first three are up already, a fourth is coming tomorrow, and more are on the way. Please enjoy the first segment, including an introduction by me to Opulent Mobility and an interview with artist Molshree Jain. I'll be editing segments in between packing up and moving to a new space, so it may take a while to get them all together and get ASL interpretation of each part. Thanks so much for your patience! Please. Let's keep safe and healthy out there. Los Angeles hospitals are already rationing care, and there are surge tents outside of the emergency rooms.
Wear your mask over both your nose and your mouth. Thank you. |
A. Laura Brody
I re*make mobility devices and materials and give them new lives. Sometimes I staple drape. Archives
November 2022
|
RSS Feed