AnasAbdin
Show & Tell
ojovivo
Kaledo Art
roma★
Stranger Things
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Keni
noise dept.
Origami Around
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
occasionally subtle
No title available
Kiana Khansmith
NASA
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
Not today Justin
i don't do bad sauce passes
almost home
Cosmic Funnies
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Romania
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Australia
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from United States
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@simonefcpsarts-blog
This weekend, I went to the America Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. It was really cool because all of their exhibits feature both contemporary and historic works only by self-taught artists. It was super inspiring to see such raw talent and creativity.
Went to see the Vagina Monologues to support my girls Sarah and Lili! IT WAS AMAZING. So proud of them and everyone who was in the show did a great job. The last performance, the one about LGBTTQ, was super powerful.
For my workshop this semester, we took the girls to the American History Museum in DC and visited the First Ladies Dresses Exhibit. This exhibit featured many of the first ladies’ dresses, along with their jewelry and accessories. It was really cool to view art in this way. After that exhibit, I explored the museum a bit more and saw some cool sculptures.
Not much to say here, other than that the Rihanna concert was AMAZING! Love her and her music, so I knew it would be a blast. Lili and I had really great seats, even though we were up dancing the whole time! Was definitely the best Tuesday I’ve had, like ever.
I went to my first speaker event of the semester last Tuesday. It was titled “Diversity Through the Eyes of an African-American Businessman.” This event is part of UMD, Stamp, and MICA's Black History Month schedule of events. Dr. Maurice W. Dorsey has been extremely successful in his endeavors. It was very interesting to meet someone who attended a segregated school and gain that perspective, as well as learn about his life growing up as a gay, African American man. He did not let opportunity squander despite the many obstacles he faced.
Yesterday night, I attended my last Pentathlon event, which was my Speaker event credit. I had the privilege of hearing from Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and activist, Angelique Kidjo. She spoke about her experiences growing up in Benin and immigrating to France and the United States. She talked about how she was constantly exposed to racism and sexism as she went through life, yet never gave up. She also discussed the influence music has had over her life, and describes music as “a weapon of peace.” One thing that really resonated with me is when she said “music is the universal language. It does not matter what your skin color is.”
Sunday night I went to see The Weeknd in concert at the Verizon Center! I only took videos so I don’t have any actual footage of the stage or anything to upload to Tumblr. However, these are some of the selfies my friend and I took during the show. It was a blast, all of his crew is very talented and he sounded amazing in person. In addition to witnessing a great performance, my friend and I actually were asked to come backstage for an after party! We got to meet and hang out with The Weeknd’s friends (like his guitarist pictured above) and Travis Scott was in the room dj-ing! Overall, amazing time and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Today, I went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and kind of created my own gallery hop of sorts. I initially went there to visit the new exhibit that opened this weekend, titled “Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty.” However, after that, I wandered around the hallways and visited floors I hadn’t seen before, such as the Contemporary Art floor (3rd), which I have included a few photos from in this blog post.
The Irving Penn exhibit was inspiring. He was one of the twentieth century’s most prolific and influential photographers of fashion. He was considered an accomplished photographer for 70 years, all the up until his death in 2009. I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside the exhibit, but this way you’ll be more inclined to explore for yourself!
Today, I joined the Film Studies Department in Ulrich Recital Hall for a talk by Disney Pixar lighting supervisor Jonathan Pytko. Jonathan primarily discussed his work on the upcoming Disney Pixar film The Good Dinosaur, which will be out in theaters on November 25 of this year. He also gave us audience members an unexpected treat -- we had the opportunity to view some finalized scenes from the unreleased film! Now I know I’ll have to see the rest when it comes to the theaters. I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside of the event for copyright reasons so I just took a photo of the movie poster.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I got out of this speaker event. I learned a lot about what goes into the behind the scenes of making an animated film, and even greater detail in regards to the role the Lighting Department plays. The main objective of the lighting artists is to "say something to the audience without using words.” They strategically choose where to include and focus light in particular scenes to direct/draw the eye in specific places. They do this through using contrast, shadows, etc to make shots as beautiful and impressive as possible.
I spent a chilly October evening at The Clarice tonight. My best friend and I went to see a play called Employee of the Year. The cast included only five girls under the age of 11. I’ve never seen anything like it -- there were no props or anything. It was a unique mix of monologues, slight movements, and occasional singing. Throughout the play, it was made clear that it was an attempt to figure out what it means to grow up and to determine how people become who they are through the eyes of five young girls.
This is a painting from my favorite stand in the festival. The artist was a man named James Fox. He created a company called Weird Art Society: nOrmal iS nOTHING. When explaining his vision, he talked about how Weird Art Society is an expression of individuality. This painting stood out to me specifically because I liked the message. “Be weird, make art, change society.” Is there anything else more important than that?
This is the first thing that attracted my wandering eyes as I approached the festival and I instantly fell in love with every piece. I’m a lover statement jewelry. I think it can turn a plain outfit into a showstopper. When talking to the artist, Dolkar Lhamo, she told me that every piece on display was handmade and that all of the materials were from Tibet. Lhamo was born and raised in Tibet, and this is her way of keeping a piece of her culture with her in America. Every piece was so original and unlike any other. Her jewelry store is called the Tibet Sky Emporium.
HYATTSVILLE ARTS FESTIVAL 9/19/15
Totally forgot to take a selfie while wandering among the white tents, but I managed to snap a flick as I was walking back to my house!
Having grown up in the Hyattsville community, I have gone to this festival for many years. However, this year was even more rewarding than those of the previous. I saw a variety of local artists sharing their crafts, witnessed an amazing live performance, and treated my taste buds to some of Hyattsville’s finest local food and drink. The photos that I took today highlight the culture and talent that engulfs the Hyattsville Arts District.
Next most important and favorite thing: food. It was extremely hot out today, but that didn’t stop me from running up the street to Cafe Azul, a local Venezuelan place that was selling mouth-watering empanadas outside for the festival goers. Food is definitely considered an art form, especially when made from scratch that same morning. I helped myself to one with beef and one with chicken. And, of course, I had to share it on my Snapchat (hence the emojis at the bottom of the photo lol).
I thought this would be an extremely relevant photo to show because it goes along perfectly with this year’s Art Scholars theme: Trash and Treasure. This artist owns a local business called Tanglewood Works. When talking with the artist, she explained the main purpose of Tanglewood Works is to provide a place where “upcycling and art connect.” In this photo above, the artist reused old colanders and transformed them into crimson lighting fixtures for use in the dining room, or wherever else you want a totally rad light.