Category: Default

post by Michael Lagocki
photos by Sherry Smith

On Wednesday, August 8th, ArtLoveMagic was recognized and honored at City Hall for our work pairing artists with local children in our Kid’s Workshops. It was a great experience.

Thankfully, Photographer Sherry Smith was among those there to be honored, and she took these photos. Also present to be recognized were Kelly Nygren, Deborah Driscoll, Michael Lagocki, Conor Muldoon, and David Rodriguez.

We didn’t really know what to expect going in. We were invited and accepted. It was a really nice gesture. The Mayor and the City Council were in attendance, and in front of everyone a slide show played of photos from the worksops. Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway spoke about artlovemagic and what we do, and the importance of recognizing it.

The workshops are the result of a ton of people’s efforts, many more than were able to be at the ceremony. Most certainly the Deep Ellum Foundation, who found space and funding for the program, Jeanne Blanton generously provided that funding, and over a dozen more artists and musicians associated with the artlovemagic family brought their time and talents.

I wasn’t expecting to speak. But Barrry Annino of the DEF asked me to. I thought it was a cool gesture. I told the Mayor and those present that they really needed to create space and funding to kid’s art and music programs. That when children learn to think creatively, they learn to think metaphorically. And if you can do that, you can be intelligent in any situation.

Ashleigh Vroom (pictured far left) coordinated the latest round of workshops. She helped us find the kids, find the environments to work, feed everybody, etc. Aidan Reese (9 yrs old) attended the experience as a student.

The whole experience was kind of surreal. Even seeing the inner workings of city government… watching the procedures that took place before we were called up, citizens addressing the mayor with grievances about budget cuts and local libraries, it was wild, something I’m sure we’ll all remember.

A certificate of recognition was presented to us..

Afterwards, we got to hang out a little outside of City Hall and enjoy time together. The artists involved in this day know each other pretty well. We’re close friends but don’t always get time together outside of shows. It was good to fool around a bit.

We work pretty hard. So something like this is meaningful. We’re proud and thankful. And we hope to do more with kids, especially in Deep Ellum which has been so welcoming to us.Want to learn more about our experiences at the Kid’s workshops?

Hey all. Deb here.

Monday, Michael Lagocki and I got to tour the Dallas Museum of Art with Nicole Stutzman, the Director of Teaching Programs and Partnerships. The coolest part about that, (aside from getting to spend some time with Nicole who is super nice) is that the museum is closed on Mondays. That’s right. Mike and I got to sneak around after hours and check out all their pristine exhibits.

We were visiting specifically to do some research for our upcoming Creativity Challenge this Friday night, August 20th. Mike needed to take a good look around and find the perfect spot to have our class, and I think he really did a great job choosing it. I love the art we’ll be surrounded by…Pollack, Rothko, and Kline. Truly inspiring stuff!

We also wanted to take a good look around at all the exhibits so that we’d have an idea of what our participants would have to choose from in their Creativity Challenge. Some of the past creativity challenges that Nicole told us about were pretty neat, however I think ours which includes help from 7 local artists and breaking 3-d images down will be amazing!

I’ll be one of the teachers this Friday and I’ll be in great company! Bianca Elise, Michael Lagocki, David Rodriguez, Jamel Jones, Michelle McSpadden, and Dehvon Ward will also be leading our different groups on this cool experience.

All you have to do to participate is buy a regular price admission to the museum on Friday night. Once you’re in you can sign up to participate in the CREATIVITY CHALLENGE on the first floor. We’ll teach two rounds of it- at 8 and 10pm. Maximum fifty people can sign up per time, so make sure to sign up a little early.

Looking forward to creating with you

words- Michael Lagocki
photos- Josh Dryk

This past weekend we produced our first Kid’s Workshop of 2022 (we did two last year) that invited local children to come out and learn from artists in the ArtLoveMagic collective. As many great artists as we know, it’s a logical extension of what we do to include teaching in our model.

We brought six artists in, each with a different discipline:

Conor Muldoon: pottery
Sherry Smith: graphic design
Samax Randolph: illustration
David Rodriguez: painter
Diana Hawkins Rushing: bookmaking
Ashley Jones: collage

The day was fantastic. Many of these kids don’t have access to great art programs, so to be able to pair them with local working artists is a real pleasure. It’s good for the kids, it’s good for the artists, and it’s good for us as an organization to remember why we do this and to invest in the future of Dallas art a little.

Special thanks to our supporters: Jeanne Blanton, the Deep Ellum Foundation, and Mayor Pro Tem Caraway and his staff.

We’ll be creating another workshop next weekend, this time with musicians! Check back here for pics and story.

report by Justin Nygren

You see, I’ve heard it said that third projects have this “thing” about them. Sometimes artists choose to rest on their proverbial laurels based on the success of their first two projects. They bask in the fame. They enjoy the spotlight and the buzz around their name. So, they slack. They relax on their creativity. They take it for granted that people enjoy what they do. In short, they get proud. They begin to think the whole thing really is about them.

On the other hand, some third projects seem to do something unique. They cause the artist to reach outside of themselves for inspiration, to fuse pieces of the puzzles from deep within and bring forth something into creation that the world has never seen. They move past the buzz, past external expectations and into the realm of…

AWAKEN.

When we set out to establish the Live Events of Art Love Magic, we intentionally integrated the value of giving new artists a place to begin their career as professional artists. It has been an honor to give the floor to multiple new artists in our shows. REACH saw Rebecca Brooks and Sarah Gilmore. FUSION saw Kevin Steele, (Chelsea) Blessings and The Elder Statesmen (featuring my wife, Kelly on the mic)… This show saw the likes of Amanda Davis, Dee Hill, and Dale Norvell bring their talents to a public audience for their first time and all of them did an incredible job. However, my greatest pride in AWAKEN was seeing Sherry Smith and her photography in the gallery. Sherry and I go back a long way and our journeys have definitely seen harder days. But thankfully, by some Great Grace, our paths have gotten a little cleaner and our lives are making enough sense that our art and our gifts are beginning to shine through. It was great to see a sister shine. Brightly.

I feel like Mike, Dave and I refused to rest on the laurels this time around. We stretched ourselves, put ourselves into new roles and I think we came up with a beautiful recipe that brought forth an awesome soufflé of artistic goodness.

Where can we go from here? Well, we’ve got a few projects boiling in the pot that will take us through the end of the year. Part of Art Love Magic’s DNA is trying to do some good in the world outside of ourselves. As part of that heartbeat, we’re working on a benefit event for a friend’s 3 year-old daughter who recently had a liver transplant. If you’d like to make a difference, come on out and bid on some pieces. You’ll know that you are changing the world of a family in need. Also, Southside on Lamar, who has graciously hosted all three of our events this year, has asked us to design some major parts of the Urban Arts Festival in September. We’ll keep you posted on the dates and the details. And then, after those gigs we might just take a break until New Years. Who knows, we might just need that time to prepare for something on December 31st. (Insert maniacal laughter here.)

Finally, AWAKEN opened our eyes (pun intended) to the fact that we need masses. We need masses of people to help us spread the word. We need masses of hands to help build this movement, one moment at a time. We’re going to shamelessly ask for your help and the help of your networks. We know that we’re doing a good thing and good things need people to make them happen. We’ll be keeping you posted on how you can join us in the Love Revolution.

Dreamers, keep your eyes open. Reach out, fuse and awaken the masses. Bring the art, spread the love and make the magic.

Justin Nygren
Live Event Producer
REACH, FUSION & AWAKEN

report by Michael Lagocki
Art Love Magic’s first live event, REACH, was more than I could imagine. It was inspiring, it was artful, it touched people. There is something absolutely magical that happens when positive people express themselves, together, in a wide range of art forms. Painting, music, poetry, jewelry crafting, comics and photography were all part of it. We brought it together and we brought it out of each other and it was alive with passion.

 55 days into Art Love Magic’s existence as a real company (and not just my website), our first live event, drew well over 300 people, and made a profit. Not a big profit mind you, but we’re going to figure that one out. It was a great start. True beauty. Thanks be to God, we filmed it. I may try to make that available sometime. But here’s some highlights:

A half dozen visual artists creating and selling original works.
Some really amazing art was on display and plenty was created at the show. When you see it all together, held up high like that, respected, it’s beautiful. I believe the overall quality of the gallery (Jeanette Kennedy) really led us to put something special into the setups. Rebecca Brooks’ art literally “reached” out into the space, as did several of David Rodriguez’s 8ft tall paintings.J. O’Barr showed a body of work that few of his fans get to see. Everyone sees The Crow stuff regularly, but James brought a large selection of personal paintings that he wouldn’t normally take to the comic shows he does. I’m also well aware that he lent us his celebrity for the show. A lot of the people who attended came because they are deeply passionate about his work.                
       Pegasus and Word Became Flesh, two 8 foot tall
              paintings by David Rodriguez were both shown.

The music of the soul
I’m a cartoonist. What do I know about live music and poetry? Thankfully, I involved Justin Nygren (of the Tribe and Blue Door shows) to put the pieces together. He assembled a live show that brought the house down. People were enthralled. His plan was to rotate the acts quickly and mix in poetry and live jamming. The rapid pace felt dynamic, agile, and alive. If you weren’t feeling the stage, you could walk around, watch people make art for 10 minutes, and by the time you came back something completely different was happening. The bands Faint Image and Many Days Waiting have that kind of free flow feel anyway. People just came up and jammed with them all night.

The language of the soul
Legions of Will Richey fans showed up (many of  ’em under 3ft tall). Will teaches for a living. He teaches children to do spoken word poetry. Now that I’ve seen it live, I understand how much he’s empowering them. A child – creating art out of their words and thoughts – and then reading those words live, with soulful expression – to an enthusiastic audience. That is holy work if there ever was such. And there was, and it is.

Look below. I even did a poem, for the first time in my life. I was so nervous I had to pull my hat over my eyes so as not to look at the audience. I performed a poem I wrote titled “The Spoken Word”.
‘Lil G liked it, so there you go.

Epiphany
Halfway through the show, our jewelry artist, Sarah Gillmore came up to me and screamed, “Art Love Magic happened to me!!!” She was referring to the moment she found herself doing what she loves to do (making jewelry), surrounded by the people she loves (her boy James was there, as well as her momma and many good friends), listening to great live music, and selling her work to a receptive audience. 
Yeah, that is Art Love Magic.

What’s next? Halfway through the show, the gallery told us they’d like us to return. We will be back at Jeanette Kennedy on April 28th, with a completely new show with completely new performers. I have 2-3 other shows popping as well and we’ll do what we can to keep the info here current.If you’d like to get on the mailing list and experience this for yourself, drop me a line at mike@artlovemagic.comThings are jumping offfffff. Much much love to everyone who was there and saw it happen. I love you.

If you have any question of who we are,
  well this is who we be…
We are known on this planet mother earth
  and throughout the galaxy
You’ll recognize us by our eyes
  the  L – I – G – H – T
And when you are in our presence
   you feel  L – O – V – E.

We be the people with the love inside of we.

from the song “Love”
performed live by AP and Faint Image
at REACH