Last House Productions AUDITIONS

AUDITIONS for the short film, The Bully.

Award-winning filmmakers of Last House Productions will hold auditions for their next short film, The Bully on Saturday, December 5th, 2009, 12:15 – 4:30pm.

Shooting of the film will take place in and around the Milwaukee area in late March and early April of 2010. Meals will be provided on lengthy shooting days.

Young actors of all types, ages 7 to 18, are encouraged to audition for lead roles. Also needed are adult actors ages 25 to 50.

Auditions will be videotaped and will consist of improvisation and readings from the script.

More information about The Bully can be found at the official website.
For an audition appointment call Matthew at (562) 261-4637 or email thebullymovie@gmail.com

WPCA - Milwaukee's best gallery of 2009!

Many, many thanks to all of you who took the time to vote for us in the Shepherd Express's annual poll of Milwaukee's Best! We feel very thrilled to be named Milwaukee's best art gallery of 2009.
We all know that the competition in the gallery category must have been tough as there are many amazing people here in town, including many of our dear friends, working extremely hard to both embrace Milwaukee's wonderful artists and bring in the fresh talent from elsewhere. Hence, we are even more honored to be awarded this title.

To see complete results in Arts and Entertainment category, please visit this link.

We are very grateful to everybody who contributed to our success: our supporters, unbelievable members, all the volunteers and interns, our Board and all the funders who back up their faith in us with their monetary funds. We couldn't have done it without you - it's been a truly team effort.

But above all, many thanks to artists who worked with us to make the gallery events true success. Starting with the most recent, we have to acknowledge Rosa Zamora, who carefully curated the current Day of the Dead Exhibition, an amazing group who under auspices of Terry Daulton and Dolly Ledin put together Paradise Lost, truly wonderful Jennifer Harris and Regan Golden (we are sending big thanks to Regan in Houston, TX), MARN mentors and mentees, Gabriel Villa and Rene Hugo Arceo and all the good folks of Pilsen, Richard Knight, members of the Southeastern Chapter of Wisconsin Visual Artists, and - above all - our artist members who stand by us through thick and thin. THANK YOU!

Faces of Día de los Muertos

Many, many thanks to over 320 attendees of the Día de los Muertos celebration: artists, friends and neighbors, who came to participate in the special festivities of the night. As always, Rosa Zamora brought together an unforgettable, diverse group of people to create the ofrendas for the loved and important ones who passed away. The evening was full of attractions for anyone from age 1 to 101: from yummy food and snacks, sugar skulls meticulously crafted by Rosa herself, face painting by Eriks Johnson, to wonderful traditional music by the Mexican trio and a lecture on Oaxacan tradition of the Day of the Dead by Dara Larson and Dan Leister of Alverno College.
I know we haven't been very good about posting recently, so I hope that a small sampling of our pictures from the evening will make up for the lack of posts.




Gary Tuma and our artist members, Paula Schulze and John Fatica. Beautiful hand-cut flags above their hands were meticulously prepared by Rosa.



This amazing mural was created by Armando Gallegos, who spent a long week crafting his piece.



Eriks Johnson's face-painting services were in such high demand by both children and adults alike, that he didn't leave his chair until 9.30 pm. Water and snacks were brought to him by nice volunteers. Waldek Dynerman of MIAD looks on as Eriks is starting his another creation.



The altar by Ximena Sosa "We can't stop a bullet but we don't have to shoot" is created to commemorate victims of gun violence.

Ximena Soza and Cristian Muñoz, who also created an ofrenda for this years' exhibition.

Educational team extraordinaire: WPCA's Director of Education, Kate Bradley (right) and Teresa Lauer.

Lona Long Velasco, our Board President and curator, Rosa Zamora.





Eriks hard at work - he seriously did not stop for 3 hours!







Cristian Muñoz, Ximena Soza and Rosa Zamora.

Antv Antinao created an altar dedicated to the Mapuche people (living in nation of Chile) he descends from.



Dara Larson of Alverno College.

The Board: Lona Long Velasco and Morgyn Stanahan.











Gary Tuma, Dale Christiansen, Pegi Taylor Christiansen.

Milwaukee's art funding in danger

As you might have heard, the funding provided annually by the City of Milwaukee for the Milwaukee Arts Board is in real danger, so it is pertinent that we voice our opposition to the proposed budget cuts for the upcoming year.

We can express our concerns about the Arts Board funding at the Mayor and Common Council Joint Public Hearing on TUESDAY, October 13th at 6:00 pm, in the Council Chambers at the City Hall (Third Floor, 200 E. Wells St.)

If you cannot attend, you can also email the Mayor at mayor@milwaukee.gov.

BELOW, YOU'LL FIND THE LETTER WE RECEIVED FROM ALDERMAN MURPHY.

***

Dear Members of the Milwaukee Arts Board and fellow Arts Organizations,

As you may already know, under Mayor Barrett’s proposed budget for 2010 the Milwaukee Arts Board will lose approximately two thirds of its funds. The Mayor has recommended cutting $110,000 from the 2009 allocation of $160,000. The subsequent result of this action will also be a loss of $25,000 matching grant dollars from the Wisconsin Art Board’s.

I am clearly opposed to such a cut; the largest reduction in any department. This proposal would result in a total loss of almost 75% of the board’s funds. I thus encourage you to attend the Joint Public Hearing being held by the Common Council and the Mayor Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the Common Council Chambers, Third Floor, City Hall, 200 E Wells Street, to share your concerns. As many factors are taken into consideration when determining the next year’s budget, it is important that the Common Council hear your voices in opposition to the Mayor’s budget.

I look forward to seeing you at the hearing to support art in the City of Milwaukee.

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call me at 286-3763.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Murphy

Alderman, 10^th District

***

Stimulus Grant

Last Tuesday, Governor Doyle announced the awarding of $300,000 in stimulus grants for Wisconsin arts organization. Walker's Point Center for the Arts is a recipient of one of the $15,000 grants. That evening, a local legislator questioned the use of federal stimulus funds for the arts. On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden announced a $299 million award to a local firm for research and development of automotive battery technology. There was nothing but praise for that funding. And rightly so, since green technology research and development is a stated goal of the current administration.

In doing the math ($299 million vs. $300,000) I was reminded of the monetary value we place on arts and culture in this society and how arts are often the last funded and first cut when we have an economic downturn. I was also reminded how the arts are the focus of attack simply because artists often challenge the status quo and push our emotions on political, social and economic issues. The arts can also calm us in trying times and unite us in common cause. These are the very reasons the arts are necessary to sustain our vitality and continue our national dialogue around issues of culture and the arts.

The current recession has impacted all sectors of employment not just the financial or automotive sectors who have received the vast majority of stimulus funds. The purpose of stimulus funding was to create and restore jobs. The arts grant received by WPCA will result in the restoration of our part time classroom art teacher position providing free after school art education. These are Milwaukee youth in a neighborhood that has seen significant job loss during the past year. This position was cut in February due to the current recession and funding challenges facing many nonprofit organizations during the past several years. I am also reminded that artists' wages are far lower than those of research scientists or financial managers who have benefited most from the stimulus funds.

"Decorative Directive" in the news

"Decorative Directive" is a wonderful exhibition and it has enjoyed some excellent press coverage so far.

It was among the Gallery Night picks of Kat Murrell in the Third Coast Digest, Peggy Sue Dunigan in the Shepherd Express and Mary Louise Schumacher in the Journal Sentinel.
To find out more about the exhibition you can read the review in the Shepherd and also an interview with Regan Golden on their website.

If you haven't seen the show yet, these articles can give you a wonderful background to truly enjoy and appreciate the work of both Regan Golden and Jennifer Harris. Please, come visit us before August 22.

New Art Fair in Madison, WI

We received this information from one of our artist members and thought that some of you, who do exhibit at art fairs, may be interested in this opportunity. ArtWorks: Madison Show is a new event developed by designer Colin Murray. More information on the website: www.ArtWorksMadison.com.