BEACON ART SALON AND BEAHIVE HOST EXCLUSIVE EVENT
The event is Tuesday, October 6, 8:00 to 9:30 PM, at BEAHIVE (291 Main Street, Beacon, NY). It features a one-hour screening of the premiere episode, "Compassion," followed by a brief presentation by Stacey Ward Kelly, BAS director and Art21 Institute Teacher. It is free and open to the public and follows the BAS monthly meeting, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM.
BAS founder Stacey Ward Kelly is one of 15 educators chosen nationwide from NY, Chicago and LA to be in the Art21 Educators program, a year-long professional development initiative designed to cultivate and support K-12 art educators interested in bringing contemporary art, artists, and themes into their classrooms.
The "Compassion" episode features artists whose works explore the possibility of understanding and reconciling past and present, while exposing injustice and expressing tolerance for others: William Kentridge, Doris Salcedo and Carrie Mae Weems. Weems incidentally did a photo project in Beacon a few years ago.
The season premieres on PBS the following night, October 7th, with a new episode each Wednesday during the month (10pm (check local listings). Through in-depth profiles and interviews, the four-part series reveals the inspiration, vision and techniques behind the creative works of some of today's most thought-provoking artists.
This screening is part of Art21 Access '09, an international screening initiative created to increase knowledge of contemporary art, ignite dialogue, and inspire creative thinking. Screenings are held at over 300 museums, schools, libraries, art spaces, and community centers and is organized in collaboration with Americans for the Arts' National Arts and Humanities Month.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Carrie Mae Weems takes inspiration from colloquial forms — a joke, song, plea, or rebuke — to create complex photographic series that scrutinize subjectivity and insist that pernicious stereotypes be held up to the mirror of everyday emotional and intellectual life. In a recent video and photo series, filmed around the time of the 2008 United States presidential election, Weems reflects upon the legacy of the 1960s that led to this recent historic moment.
Doris Salcedo draws from the oppressive history of her country, Colombia, when creating her work. Her understated sculptures and installations embody the silenced lives of the marginalized, from individual victims of violence in her own country to the larger disempowered populations of the Third World.
The Beacon Art Salon (www.giraffeandturtle.com/bas.html) is a group of artists and art enthusiasts who live, work, show or play in Beacon, NY. The members gather once a month to support one another and build Beacon's art community. Meetings are open to all.
Over the past ten years, Art21 (www.art21.org) has established itself as the preeminent chronicler of contemporary art and artists through Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century. In addition to its PBS series and year-round series-based education and public programs efforts, Art21 has expanded its film production and educational efforts in recent years, including the premiere of the new short-format documentary series Art21–Exclusive on multiple online platforms and expansion of the Art21 Blog. New programs are also in the works, including a feature film as well as Art21 Educators, an ongoing professional development program for teachers.
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