This section exhibits various local actions and images. When the word "we" is used, it is an autonomous "we." If you have any interest in submitting local actions/works, we would be glad to exhibit them as inspiration.
Exhibition Description:
What makes statement driven art so emotionally powerful? It being witness to a piece of work that creates a bond between you, the viewer and the creator of the piece. A bond that can change the direction of thought and purpose. A successfully executed statement driven piece can be the catalyst that inspires the average person into an active agent for change. Art exists in societies to create shared dialogues and experiences. No matter the medium, art and artists can be the spark to establishing a commonality, to allow us to empathize with each other and encourage altruistic pursuits for the greater good.
Featured Artists:
Heidi Blackwood, Kit Boyce, Daniel Clarke, Chris Crisis, Assil Diab, Nathan Haenlein, Matthew Hawthorne, Meta Newhouse, Elizabeth Peters, Jameson Price, Katherine Pryor, Katie Rusch, Joe Scorsone, Pravin Sevak, Margot Splane, Cody Whitby, Karolina Bassi, Sean P. Castor, William L. Coleman, Marleigh A. Culver, Bekky Diniega, Anna M. George, Christine E. Gilboy, Tammy Huang, Rachel Kim, Evan M. Leggett, Corinne A. Murphy, Sarah K. Nelowet, Hunter Nye, Stewart A. Penson, James M. Steentofte, Zenzile X. Sky Lark
Music by:
Sundials, New Rock Church of Fire, Drunk Tigers, DJ Whitine
Project Description:
When Dinos Ruled RVA! is a publics arts project as faux archaeological dig. There Once Was A Rebellion's (T.O.W.A.R.) Public Arts Collective has buried sculpted ceramic "dinosaur bones" around the city of Richmond. Maps of the bones' whereabouts will be placed near the dig sites - as well as The Lucent Phoenix Resource Center - with clues to help the People of Richmond find them. People are then to take the bones to the Lucent Phoenix before or during the opening reception, Friday, September 4th, to receive a prize. The opening reception of When Dinos Ruled RVA! will include dino themed refreshments, cartoons, prizes, shirts, posters and more! Please joins us in this fun adventure to promote the public arts and acknowledge our magnificent predecessors whom have shared our planet earth.
Exhibition Description:
May 1st, International Worker's Day, celebrates an ongoing, worldwide workers' struggle. Originally, the international holiday was in remembrance of the 1880's fight for an eight hour work day during a time when workers were forced to work inhumanly long hours. Nationally, we fail to recognize this holiday, which marks the famous strikes for the right to a reasonable work day by an estimated 500,000 workers. The nationally spread strikes originated in Chicago.
The resilient Chicago workers' rights leaders: Parsons, Spies, Fischer, and Engel, were executed by the United States Government in response to a bomb being thrown at a rally on May 3rd. The rally was in retaliation to acts of police brutality, leading to the deaths of six workers and several wounded during the Chicago May 1st strikes. Their lives are celebrated through International Worker's Day.
This struggle is still relevant today with issues such as: migrant workers' rights, women's equal pay for equal work, sweatshop labor, economic hit men, economic imperialism and outsourcing. People travel to places far from home and their comfort zone to show solidarity with an international struggle for the right to be treated humanly in a collapsing system.
A May Day Parade was held in conjunction with the exhibition.
Featured Artists:
Jorge Catoni, Ichabod Bones, June Padgett, Max Heller, Katherine B. Duffy, Daniel Clark, McCalla Hill, Heather Layton, Chris Crisis, Will Godwin, Donna Schatz, Justin Kemerling, Sarah Kamal-Eldin, Kevin Rudulph, James Gillette, Alexangel Estevez, Tempestt Sheppard, Larry Babilya, Katie Rusch, Liana Mensh, Cody Whitby, Patricia Zacharry, Nathaneal Jeyachandran, Carra C Sykes, Gina Kang, Christina Nguyen, Celia Felter, Joanna Hile, Danielle Thomas, The All Saints Theatre Company
Music by:
W.M. Draper, Allison Self, Bread & Puppet Theater
On January 31st at a few people showed up at Gallery5's Lucent Phoenix Peoples Resource Center with some screen printing, sewing, stenciling and iron-on-transfer equipment for a project we are calling "I was lost, but now I'm fresh." The end result was hoodies/sweatshirts with imagery printed/sewed on them from various artists and hung outdoors for people in need of warm clothing.
On Sunday February 15, 2009, Our new public arts collective placed sweatshirts intended for those who are cold and void of shelter around the city of Richmond.
The project:
1.) Artists bought old sweat shirts, hoodies, and equipment to Gallery5 to print with. (It doesn't matter what the imagery is; we are just beautifying the clothing.)
2.) The artists print on the clothing.
3.) We printed "I was lost, but now I'm fresh" on the clothing. And replaced the Tags with the T.O.W.A.R. logo.
4.) Put the clothing on hangers (made from sticks and string) and hang them around Richmond for people to take.
By having a group meet together we can use each others' imagery/materials (depending on how comfortable the artist is with it) as well as pass clothing to each other to add imagery. Through the layering of imagery by various artists; the article of clothing becomes a documentation of a non-sensical conversation between artists and image makers.
The end result - like most public art - questions the white box in two ways: by using participants (people whom wear the clothes) as mobile galleries and by using the city as a gallery.
By adding the phrase "I was lost, but now Im fresh." the project has multiple meanings depending on the person wearing the object.
-When the article of clothing is by itself the phrase might imply that the clothing was lost
-When the person is wearing the clothing it might imply the participant being warm or becoming more fashionable
With this particular project we are trying to walk on the fine line of statement and entertainment.
There Once Was A Rebellion, Hz Collective and Gallery5 collaborated on an exhibition of socially conscious works.
RepressedIII featured works by: Noel Anderson, Marwin Begaye, Annie Bissett, Jorge Caton, Elizabeth Chaney, Jenida Chase, chris crisis, Travis Dodd, Katherine Duffy, Elizabeth Flinsch, Geroge Gregory, Matt Hawthorne, Peripheral Media Projects, John Hitchcock, Ryan Watkins Hughes, Lou Joseph, KD Matheson, Dylan Miner, Bruce New, Kevin Orlosky, Hassan Pitts, Mark Price
RepressedIII featured performance by: The Conciliation Project, The All Saints Theatre, Pacific Before Tiger, Amrita K. Dang, Cars Will Burn and Caustic Castle & Jason Talbot w/ video by Eric Eaton
Richmond, like many cities across the United States, struggles with a growing number of native dilemmas. However, the most daunting issue we endure as a populace involves a lack of communication. In an effort to aid civic dialog, Gallery5 and There Once Was A Rebellion join forces in a socially driven endeavor known as “I Dream of a Richmond…” This campaign will act as a public platform that cultivates local concerns. It will also serve as a regional forum that indiscriminately allows people to express their needs and aspirations regarding the community.
In the spirit of autonomy, it is the intent of “I Dream of a Richmond…” to provide a populist perspective that brings to light a sense of universal understanding. It is the hope of both organizations involved that such a project will instigate change and showcase various thoughts in a way that is not ostracizing but empowering.
If you would like to be a part of this ongoing project just email:
info[at]thereoncewasarebellion[dot]org
There Once Was A Rebellion collaborated with Gallery5 in an exhibition of socially conscious works on paper.
Repressed II Featured Works by: Chaz Maviyane-Davies, Noah Scalin, Mark Price, Katie McDaniel, Francis Horner, Keithly Pierce, Ben Capozza, Preston Duncan, Bruce New, Daniel Clark, Scott Mayo, The Liberty Project, Mike Broth, Helvetica Jones, NMoDesign, Bizhan Khodabandeh, and various visual poets
Repressed II Featured Live Performances by: Constant Mauk, Caustic Castle, Carz Will Burn, Chef Kirk, the All Saints Theatre Project, and members of Special Ed & the Short Bus
Banner drop over I-95 in reponse to the habit of many onlying showing dissent through marches. These banners were purposely made abstract for longevity and were hung in conjunction with an anti-war march in Washington D.C.
This action's intent was to make some peoples' work day be more enjoyable. We stuffed envelopes full of various printed materials including: shirts, zines, pamphlets, stickers, comics, puzzles, etc and randomly mailed them to various offices.
The Info Share Shelf is an on going project. We asfixed shelving units to neglected buildings creating a venue where people can give and recieve unwanted books—among other things. The images below include both a new and an old design of the shelving units.
If you would like to be a part of this ongoing project just email:
info[at]thereoncewasarebellion[dot]org
VCU created posters out of an article from a local newspaper to deter students from doing graffiti. We found the situation more complex than that and decided to respond accordingly. In response, we developed a counter poster that looked simlar, but with the names and images changed to two historically signifigant graffiti artists. These posters replaced their counterparts and stopped the campaign.
These stickers were made to point out the thrifty nature of cycling in the city.
