Running a shop, art space, and crafty business can be overwhelming with just two people. So we tend to get stuck in our little Art Star bubble sometimes. Erin & I have recently vowed to check out at least one art exhibition outside of Art Star at LEAST once a month. Tomorrow night we will be attending “Divided – An Election Party and Exhibition“, which will be held at the Ice Box within the Crane Arts Building on Tuesday (election night!) beginning at 7pm.
The exhibition/event is by artist + frequent Art Star collaborator (she made our latest line of mugs illustrated by Susie Ghahremani + we have some other special projects planned with her) and just all around awesome lady – Hope Rovelto & (I’m sure equally as awesome though we haven’t met yet) local artist Amanda Benton. The exhibition will feature art made by the pair.
Here are the details from the press release: “The main event will occur Tuesday, November 6, the evening of one of the most highly anticipated Presidential elections of our time. Beginning at 7:00pm, the artists will project live feeds of the election results from multiple news sources alongside an exhibition including politically themed broadsides, newspapers, ceramics, t-shirts, an interactive map of the United States, and more.
With the support of several local businesses including Barry’s Home Brew, who will be providing beer, and The Dapper Dog Food Truck, who will be serving up some special “Obama and Romney Dogs,” the goal of the collaborators is to capture and critique the spectacle of political discourse in our media landscape. The division of the gallery into blue and red spaces will mimic and call attention to the passionately divided supporters of Republican candidate Mitt Romney and Democratic incumbent Barack Obama.
From the artists: ‘The tension between the divided space is meant to mimic that of our two party system. We are a divided country. Our political debate reflects that and this show is meant to reflect that as well.’
An admission price of $20 gets you your choice of a handmade ceramic cup, all the beer you can drink, games, art, music, and a chance to watch history being made with artists and citizens from the Philadelphia area. A $5 discount applies to all students with ID and anyone who shows up with an “I voted” sticker. A portion of the proceeds from the evening will go to the American Red Cross to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy.”
We hope to see you there – after you vote of course!
And finally, I decided to paint these doors with chalkboard paint. It was driving me crazy the way it was. It still needs a few coats, but I plan on using it to write a blurb about Art Star & also hang the magnets. Maybe I’ll let our little customers draw on it too while their parents shop. That might get too messy though.