Thanks to Words and Deeds , I had the chance to learn about magical props from Violet Juno and roll around with Harold, mapping vast silliness. Violet has made me want to discover performance art again -- to think about its shape for myself and W2C. Check her out: Since Violet Juno was 13 years old, she has lived with chronic pain 24 hours a day from head to toe.  Early on, art was one of the things that brought her joy in spite of the pain.  She wanted to read the next chapter in the book, listen to the end of the song, and watch the second act of the play.  At 17, Violet was misdiagnosed with a terminal illness and told she would not live beyond 21.  Although it was a mistake, the experience underscored that nothing is guaranteed in life and galvanized her to go to art school. Violet began by making sculpture but very soon began to perform with her sculptures and create videos and performative paintings.  In the process, Violet discovered that art h...

I want to go to this, but I can't! Someone go and report back at the next W2C class--please! Wiesenfeld Visiting Artist Lecture: Riva Lehrer Monday, April 11, 7:30-9 pm Co-presented with Disability Studies **NEW LOCATION** Westminster House Common Room 2315 College Ave, 2nd Floor (at Bancroft Way) Art Practice and Disability Studies are pleased to present the final Wiesenfeld Visiting Artist Lecture of the 2010-11 academic year. Riva Lehrer is a Chicago-based painter, teacher and writer who has lived with spina bifida since birth. For Lehrer, the disabled body is intensely beautiful, memorable, unexpected, and lived in with great self-awareness. These are not bodies that are taken for granted or left unexplored. This beauty has often stayed unseen despite the constant, invasive public stare. Disability is complex; it demands images that combine hard facts with unexpected gifts. Lehrer has lived and exhibited in Chicago since 1980. She has had solo exhibiti...

The second series of Write To Connect took place at the iconic LightHouse for the Blind in SF (near Civic Center BART). Over the course of four Saturdays this January, we made shapes with word and breath, performed and outlined creative projects, wrote dispatches from other bodies—all meditations/departures from  ideas of Emergence, Emulation, Energy and most of all, Embodiment. Yellow lentil line break schematics, woven amulets, Lynda Barry interviews, and yogic exercises were all part of the mix. We were quite a crowd this time. 13 folks came to the first class, including 2 who attended via conference phone. The fact that I was actually able to make the free conference call service work still seems miraculous. (Thanks Kylie.) (Many thanks to Richard and especially Brandon at LH who made sure I had the space and bat phone at the ready.) Most of the participants were blind or low vision. A couple were wheelchair users. And a few had learning or psych disabilities. When I was envi...