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  September  7-8, 2007        Janette Kennedy Gallery        Dallas, TX  
 

ArtLoveMagic & The Urban Arts Festival

On September 7-8th, ArtLoveMagic took on our biggest challenge yet, 2 shows in 2 days in partnership with South Side's 2007 Urban Arts Festival.
 

 
Friday Night
ArtLoveMagic's 4th major show of the year was a crazy-fun-insane-blast. It had the most number of artists we'd ever shown, the most number of different artforms represented, and was our highest attended show yet. Freestyle poetry and music were in the air, and paint was being slapped onto canvases all over the place.
 

 
New additions to our mix like live sculpture and ceramics added a different vibe and helped us maintain an important goal- every ArtLoveMagic show is an absolute unique work of art unto itself. No two shows have ever had the same lineup of artists or felt quite the same. We intend to keep it that way. There's always a surprise...just like...

...Hal Samples added something absolutely unexpected to the night. Just about a week before the show, Hal offered to come in a set-up a photography studio for free portraits for our guests. He brought a full studio setup, with a backdrop and umbrella lights and everything. One by one (or group by group) our attendees went up and had the most fun they've ever had in front of a camera. Hal was on fire and having a good time. I don't think he ever stopped smiling the whole night. It absolutely shows through on the pictures. His joy immediately set people at ease and they just laughed and loved while he snapped picture after picture. You really should check out the photos here, and when you're done, look at Hal's blog here. 

Our second artist to ever take the feature spot behind the band was Riki Johnson. At the Awaken show, Nick and Natalie Hutchings had this spot and painted an 8 foot wide painting of rain falling down on a Dallas landscape. Riki went a completely different route. She painted a gorgeous triptych of canvases that could be seen from the other end of the gallery.

This role of painting behind the performance stage has been a real surprise of the last two artlovemagic shows. Both times the results have been really amazing and we think it adds a lot to the experience. We're going to continue to do that as we can and each artist will only do it once.

Our interactive-audience participation display this time included a drawing area where people used red and blue crayons adhered together to make 3d images (yes, we had the glasses!), and an origami table where Nathan Hay taught folks how to fold paper into beautiful shapes and objects.

What else is there to say? It was a beautiful night filled with beautiful art, friends, experiences and joy. This is what we're in it for.

But wait! There was more the following day!

Saturday 
The folks at the Urban Arts Festival asked us to come in and add a sense of live creativity and interaction to their wonderful outdoor festival. We responded by producing two live art stages that ran all day long, three symposium Q & A panels with local artists and art officials, teaching a drawing lesson, creating a coloring and activity book for the festival attendees, and involving Will Richey with The DaVerse Lounge kids to create a spoken word show.

It took me a bit to start up on Saturday. After performing in the gallery until midnight the night before, the 8am setup time was no fun. Fortunately, by the time I woke, the sweltering heat kicked in. Ah, but what does it matter when you're surrounded by art and artists.

Our live stages kicked ass. We ran a painter's stage and an experimental stage all day. The painters stage produced several gorgeous paintings on wood and canvas, while the experimental stage did everything else we could think of. Painting on shoes, live pottery, charcoal attached to 3ft bamboo sticks. What can we say? We we're feeling playful. I asked my friend, fellow comic book artists Josh Boulet, to draw a five foot tall comic book page live for our guests. He one-upped my suggestion and went for an eight foot tall masterpiece. Want to see it come to life? Click here to get Joshed and see the piece from beginning to end.

By far, the most fun I had was the panels. The above photo is from us preparing the panel on Creativity and the Spirit, an amazing discussion on how art is affected by the soul and the drive to do something positive. This panel was kicked off with a poem from Will Richey and then immediately went into an hour talk with Will, painter David Rodriguez, graphic novelist Robert James Luedke, and photographer Sherry Smith. Other panels included a discussion on local Underground Comics and The Dallas Art Scene.

Of course, we set up an ArtLoveMagic table as well, so we could meet new artists, get them involved, etc. The number of artists and performers attached to the group is fast approaching the century mark. This has been an incredible first year for us.

I'd like to thank the folks at the UAF for believing in us, especially Monica and Christie. Taking on this challenge made our company grow and I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish here. Brilliant things lie in store, and I'm sure we'll be working with the great people at South Side again soon.

www.artlovemagic.com