PART 2 OF UTOPIA LAB AT JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ART CENTER WITH FIBER ARTIST XENOBIA BAILEY

Greeting everyone, I finally was able to find time to post the last part of my over-the-top Artist-in-Residency at the nationally acclaimed visual and performing arts complex, The John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheyboygan Wisconsin in 2009.

My every wish as an Artist-in-Residency was met by the John Michael Kohler Art Center Staff. I wanted to out-reach to as many community and education groups as possible, (it almost kilt me), but that’s what they made happen for me.

I titled my creative exploration workshops the UTOPIA LAB.

One of the many highlights of the John Michael Kohler Art Center is the Open Studio Space called the Artery: This is a Free interactive open studio for all who visit the Center. In this space is where I conducted my Utopia workshops.

This is the "conceptual community house" that was built for me by the Kohler Centers installation crew out of cardboard and pinewood; I called this house the in-side-out-side house built by the community.

This is the inside of the conceptual house. The inside of the house is the outside. With artificial grass, The art students from one of the local high school painted the inside of the house with the sun, clouds, ribbons in the sky, trees, fruit & vegetable gardens, a garden elf to protect the garden, and a floating factory building.

And a profile of President Obama for the Economic Stimulus Funding that funded this residency.

The Utopia Lab was created to inspire the Mother of Invention in us all, to abolishes the idea, that lose of a job means, lose of the ability to work in a fulfilling capcity and maintain economic, social and cultural stability for yourself, family, community and so on and so forth.

This is a Fact: “If you dig deep enough into your imagination, there is no telling what lost treasures you will find”

That’s what this workshop and the traveling exhibit RE-POSSESSED is about.
Cultural DELIVERANCE & REDEMPTION in the aesthetic of Funk.


(Community Hands): This is a detail view of wallpapering collage on the outside wall of the house. The high school students covered the outside walls with beautiful wallpaper all patchworked together to make a wall collage.

As some of the young people from another workshop and from a local community center were cutting out images from newspapers and magazines…

I photographed their hands, printed the images cut them out and collaged them to the wallpaper to symbolize community hands.

This young artist is from a local elementary art class that ventured inside to the outside of the house. He is wearing his “Thinking Hat Crown”. He and a few other children found some loose rubber gloves in the “ARTERY”.

They thought these rubber glove could be used as a “cool” Art Project…. (So that’s where my cleaning gloves were…).


These charmers stick together like they came from the same peapod…

See… What did I tell you… am I right or wrong?


This young man is very clear that he wants to be a magician… as he shows off his magician crown that he thought out so very well and created... “Great idea,.. Every business needs a good hearted magician/wizard”, that’s what I always say…

The exercise for the crown project is to enhance our human nature and hold on to it for a lifetime. This is a very important kid-power trick that is lost on the road to adulthood. This ones tower of powers is definitely in her hands.

These guys found some really great discount coupons in the magazines as they were making their collages… Great looking-out guys!!!

Can’t you see the Adventure Seeker under all of this character in this Lad…? He's displaying a real good grip of imagination at this point...

So, that's where my big clear tape was!!!

This “woman-child” has a very special clarity about her vision…
Very good place to grow from…

Me dashing from table-to-table. You can see the turquoise mountains with auras on the wall that were painted for the ambiance of the Utopia Lab. We did not have enough time, but I wanted to stencil crowing red roosters on each turquoise mountain peak to add to the spaces visual energy.

You can also see at the top of this image, some hanging color paper mosaic figures, that are hanging from tree branches painted turquise. The hard working high school students put this together.

This is the (what could be called) a fish eye view of the arts studio were the Utopia Lab a in full operation for 17 days.

This is the coordinator of the ARTERY, my new sistah-pal-co-worker, Yvonne Montoya, she is one of the most hardest working pleasantest people I have worked with.

Without Yonne Montoya, this workshop was would have not been possible, she was defenately the wind beneath my wings and her own wings on this project, because we were flying around to make things happen every single day.

This is a group of art teachers from Minneapolis; I am giving instructions on how to make newspaper roses.

Me giving an artist talk to a group in the gallery where the exhibit RE POSSESSED was installed

These beautiful photographs were taken by the talented staff photographer Jeff Machtig. He made my work look dazzling & beautiful.

Every time I install the exhibit RE-POSSESSED, I install it different, but I really think I like this wall of Cosmic Mandela that was created for the Kohler Center because of the high ceilings.

This is the Bag-of-Funk (The Big Dipper) and the cosmic debris.

I think I will do this wall again.

A partial view of the RE-POSSESSED installation in the gallery space, with the crochet creations Sistah Paradises Great Wall of Fire Revival Tent and the Cosmic Mandela.

View of Sistah Paradises Great Wall of Fire Revival Tent and the Ball of Fire Crochet Floor Piece.

Gallery Talky-Talk.

Another partial view of the exhibit, Garment, wall mandela, Chandlers by Dorian Webb
Crochet workshop in one of the Kohler Centers many artist studios in the basement. This is an amazing space that draws amazing people to it.

The one day workshop was to quick and short, so we were not able to really get a project finished, we were mostly practicing crochet stitches.


Practice, practice…

And more practice…

The Brilliant Director of this Glorious visual & performance arts complex.

Ruth Kohler and me having a conversation during The Centers Annivesary Celebration.

Thank you so very much for the place in your history...

Meet Knitty City - by American Express OPEN and Facebook

GREETING FOLKS... IF YOU DO'NT KNOW BY NOW KNITTY CITY IS ONE OF MY MOST SPECIAL PLACES OUTSIDE OF HARLEM....

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO AND GIVE THEM A DAILY VOTE, AND YOU WILL SEE HOW THEIR LOVE FOR THE TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMOPORARY ART OF FIBER ART WILL SPREAD.

THEY GOT MY VOTE... THAT'S FOR DANG SURE!!!

PEACE

XENOBIA

Handmade Portraits: Xenobia Bailey

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND... REMEMBERING CHIEF SEATTLE AT HIS GRAVE SITE ON THE SUQUAMISH RESERVATION NEAR SEATTLE WASHINGTON

WHILE I WAS IN SEATTLE, I TOOK A FERRY TO BAINBRIDGE ISLAND TO VISIT A CHILDHOOD FRIEND AND WE DROVE THROUGH THE SUQUAMISH RESERAVATION, 

I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE CHIEF SEATTLE AND CHIEF KITSAP'S BURIAL MONUMENTS.

I WAS SPEECHLESS...

THIS IS CHIEF SEATTLES GRAVESITE... IT WAS INSTALLED IN 2009.

IT WAS A PLEASURE VISITING THE SITE.... THE GROUNDS ARE SO BEAUTIFULLY KEPT.

COLLEGE ARTS ASSOCIATION 2013 CONFERENCE IN NYC. CALL FOR PAPERS BY SESSION CHAIR ARTIST XENOBIA BAILEY

Xenobia Bailey: Artist, Cultural-Activist, is inviting proposals of papers to present at a session she is chairing at the 101st College Arts Association Conference, which takes place Feb 13-16, 2013, in New York City titled.

FUNTIONING WITH NOTHING BUT THE FUNK: BLACK ART AND DESIGN, THE FINAL FRONTIER IN RECONSTRUCTION

Xenobia Bailey, independent artist, xenba@yahoo.com

During the Atlantic slave trade, North America procured a labor force of approximately 3,000,000 enslaved Africans, whose traditional skills, cultural lifestyles, and vernacular art was suppressed, for the development of the industrial economy of North America.

Through memory, these suppressed arts, and the spirit of antiquity, emerges through contemporary homemakers, artists, and musicians in African American communities...along with 400 years of post-traumatic stress disorders, all brilliantly articulated in Funk Music.

There is an urgent need for research and development of the theory and properties of the aesthetic of  Funk, for redevelopment of distressed industrial towns, that can blossom into industrious communities. The practice and philosophy of Funk in urban planning, can rejuvenate urban ruins and decay into a model city.

Seeking papers on the history of the aesthetic of Funk, Black Reconstruction of the 1860s, and/or the black migration north. Explain how the aesthetic of Funk is a catalyst for engineer, architect, design and studios, innovative trades and craft workshops, to revitalize the humanities in inner cities, through product designs, packaged goods, services, advertisement, art education, and art therapy.

| Proposals | College Art Association | CAA | Advancing the history, interpretation, and. www.collegeart.org Founded in 1911, the College Art Association Promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts and in creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practices of art. And much, much more.http://www.collegeart.org/proposals/

XENOBIA BAILEY'S WESTERN MEDICINE HAT

THIS MEDICINE HAT IS MADE FROM (DARK YARN) BUFFALO YARN FROM A RANCH IN TEXAS AND YARN FROM THE FIRST SHEARING OF A BABY LAMB (BROWN YARN) FROM A RANCH IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

THE FEATHER IN THE HAT, IS A OWLS FEATHER, MY NIECE FOUND THIS FEATHER IN A FOREST IN SEATTLE, AT THE FOOT OF A TREE THAT HAD A NEST WITH A MOMMA OWL AND HER TWO BABY OWLS IN IT... MY NIECE FINDS ALL OF MY FEATHER WHEN SHE TAKES HER MEDICINE WALKS IN NATURE.

THESE ARE ALL DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE SAME MEDICINE HAT.

THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT MY BLOG... I PLAN TO UPDATE MORE OFTEN.... HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

I JUST FINISHED THIS QUEEN MOTHA CROCHET CROWN.... I'M EXPANDING ON MY THE FUNKY-FLY MATURE WOMANS SILHOUETTE FOR MY FALL & WINTER 2012 COLLECTION...


THESE ARE ALL THE SAME CROCHET CROWN, PHOTOGRAPHED IN DIFFERENT LIGHTING TO SHOW THE SCULPTURE OF THE CROWN.

THIS CROWN IS FOR SELL, IT WILL BE IN MY ETSY STORE VERY SOON....

THANKS FOR CHECKING IT OUT.

FUNKY-FLY URBAN BOHEMIAN CROCHET CROWNS FOR MEN

THIS CROWN HAS ALL READY SOLD... BUT... THIS STYLE CAN BE MADE TO ORDER ON xenba.etsy.com

NEW CROCHET CREATIONS, ORIGINAL DESIGN, READY TO ORDER AT xenba.etsy.com

CHECK-OUT MY ETSY HANDMADE PORTRAITS: XENOBIA BAILEY (Please Click on this text to view video)

EMERGENCY ALERT FOR "THE GRANDEST WIZARD", "ATOMIC-DAWG-BABA-SUPREME" GEORGE CLINTON, THIS IS A GLOBAL STUDIO FUNDRAISER, SHOUT-OUT

(PLEASE OPEN THIS LINK AND CHECK OUT THIS IMPORTANT FUNDRAISER)
http://www.indiegogo.com/Fundraser-for-C-Kunspyruhzy-and-What-Studios

LISTEN-UP WORLD.... THE "FUNK" BEING IN NEED LIKE THIS, AIN'T THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSE TO BE HAPPENING!!!....

LET'S SHOW OUR RESPECT & LOVE FOR THIS GENIUS AND HIS CREW OF REBELS FOR UP-HOLDING THE STAINED BANNERS OF FUNK FOR ALL THESE LIVE-LONG YEARS...

PASS THE LINK AND THE WORD AROUND TO EVERYONE IN YOUR CIRCLE... THE BROTHER REALLY NEEDS TO GET BACK ON TRACK AND GET BACK ALL WHAT WAS LAWFULLY TAKEN FROM HIM.... (HE'S TAKENING IT ABOVE, BELOW, AROUND AND BEYONDER THE COURTS, HE'S TAKING IT TO US!!!)

PS... I THINK GEORGE CLINTON NEEDS ONE OF MY "FUNK FLY CROWNS"... WHAT DO YA'LL THINK?

PEACE

YA'LL

FIBER ARTIST/COMMUNITY CULTURAL ACTIVIST XENOBIA BAILEY WILL SPEAK ON A PANEL AT THE CAA 100th ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES 2/22/2012

GREETINGS FOLKS... I'LL BE SPEAKING ON A PANEL IN L.A. AT THE COLLEGE ARTS ASSOCIATIONS CONFERENCE: 2.22.2012, FROM 2:30-5:00PM.

I WILL SPEAK (PANEL TITLE BELOW) ABOUT THE ULTRA CREATIVE AND EXTRAORDINARY EVERYDAY WOMAN & GIRLS FROM MY COMMUNITY IN SEATTLE WASHINGTON, NEW YORK CITY AND OTHER COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, WHO WERE A VITAL PART OF MY EARLY DEVELOPMENT AND STILL INSPIRE MY VISION, DIRECTION AND IDENTITY AS A FIBER ARTIST/COMMUNITY CULTURAL ACTIVIST TODAY.

CAA Committee on Women in the Arts

“Necessary Positions”: Intergenerational Collaboration in Feminist Art and Activism

Wednesday, February 22, 2:30 PM–5:00 PM
Concourse Meeting Room 407, Level 2, Los Angeles Convention Center
Chair: Maria Elena Buszek, University of Colorado, Denver

(RE)PRESENT: An Ongoing Intergenerational Collaboration
Nancy Azara, independent artist, and
Katie Cercone, School of the Visual Arts

Still Partying: A Collective Response to Judy Chicago’s "Dinner Party"
Margaret Cuonzo and Liz Rudey, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus

Losing the Mother/Daughter Plot? Bridging the Generational Divide in Feminist Art Practice, Theory, and History
Joanne Heath, University of Leeds

Paradise in Her Hands: Blasts of Inspiration, the Activation of Creative Flow, and the Discovery of the Wonder-Worlds of Fiber
Xenobia Bailey, independent artist

"Necessary Positions:" A Dialogue
Suzanne Lacy, Otis College of Art and Design, and Andrea Bowers, independent artist

XENOBIA BAILEY SOLO EXHIBIT AT SEATTLES NORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM OPENING OCT 29, 2011 6-8:00PM

This is an open invitation to my Home-Coming Solo Exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle Washington. I’ll be sharing parts of the Fruits of my discoveries, of the Mystical Treasures of the Aesthetic of Funk from my Creative Explorations in the Eastern part of the United States, from the past some-odd-years in the medium of Crochet.

This exhibition will be held at the Northwest African American Museum (Which has an amazing history of it’s own). Located at 2300 South Massachusetts St. Seattle, Washington 98144. October 29, 2011-May 6, 2012.

Exhibit Opening Reception: October 29, 2011, 6:00-9:00pm. (Free)

With this project I have taken the basis homemakers craft of crochet… a humble decorative technique, commonly used to create baby clothing & accessories, doilies, tablecloths, bedspreads, window drapes and afghans to adorn the home, and altered it into an crochet Arts-of-Jubilation, composing energizing surface designs of contrasting colors and repetitive linear patterns. Creating handmade wall hanging, floor covering and soft furnishings of assembled crochet mandalas.

These Inspirational accessorized Artifacts bear witness to Re-Possessing the Ever-lasting, Ever-flowing, Sustaining Spirit of the Aesthetic of Funk, and the abilities of this under cultivated aesthetic to enhance daily life of the Super-Natural Nature of Everyday People through the art of crochet.

The important element of the cultural evolution of the Aesthetic of Funk in the African American Community, is the raw power surge of “Black Consciousness & Experiences” that has sustaining Black people through Spiritually uplifting Funky Music since Emancipation Proclamation of the 1860’s.

This exhibit is a works-in-progress. My artistic mission is to research, develop and organize the fragmented and disassemble African American’s domestic textile cultural history, into my interpretation of the evolution of crochet and the visual aesthetic of Funk.

Starting with African American Vernacular FolkArt, to the Beautification of the Humble Rural & Urban Home. The Fine Art, Abstracted Narrative Compositions of Jacob Lawrence. Onward to the Funky Assemblage Fine Art Sculptures of Nick Caves. The Cubist abstractions of William T. Williams. To Odili Donald Odita Mystical abstractioned murals. And on and on and on, into the emergence of Abstract Designs for Products designed exclusively in the Aesthetic of Funk for family, community and Global Re-Juvenation & development.

This epic Body of Works is exploring Crochet and the Aesthetic of Funk as an Inspirational alternative lifestyle of Deliverance into self sustainability. This concept of personally designing in the aesthetic of Funk, is suited for the sensibility of all creative communities and all those who feel the Tribe-Vibe call of Nature.

“THIS IS HOW WE DO IT IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST! SO COME VIBE WITH US IN THIS EMERALD CITY AT THE NORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM!”

Sandra Jackson-Dumont is the guest curator of XENOBIA BAILEY: THE AESTHETIC OF FUNK. She is the Kayla Skinner Deputy Director for Education + Contemporary Art Dept. at the Seattle Art Museum.

Sandra Jackson-Dumont is an independent writer/curator/cultural producer.