Albany, NY- Sixteen visual arts faculty members from The Sage College of Albany contributed their work to “Practice”, at the Opalka Art Gallery, on display until February 21, 2010. This is the second faculty showcase at Opalka, the first was in 2002.
“Practice” is an exhibit is a combination of styles ranging from traditional to contemporary and even into new forms of media. The mediums used to construct these pieces included print and digital photography, sculpture, illustration, mixed media, architecture, monoprints, and even interactive touch screens and computers. The messages behind these works were just as diverse as the mediums. Some faculty artists chose to address current sociopolitical issues.
Sally Packard, the chair for the Sage College of Albany’s department of visual arts, submitted a piece titled “Globall.” This installment spoke to the viewer about carbon footprints and about how limited our resources are in terms of what we use. Packard incorporated an enormous wall drawing of a world map and pinned deflated globe beach balls on it indicating resource usage. She then left inflated globes spread out on the floor next to the viewer to signify the remainder of the resources available. To support her claims, Packard posted two computers at the end of the display with carbon footprint statistics on the screen.
“Polyvinyl chloride inflatable globes from China symbolize our part in the consumption in the unsustainable export of our culture,” said Sally Packard in an artist’s statement about “Globall.”
Other contributing artist’s chose more light-hearted subjects, such as Matthew McElligott, a professor of illustration, graphic design, and digital multimedia, as well as a freelance illustrator and designer. His contributions to Practice included illustrations from three of his published children’s books “The Lion’s Share,” “Backbeard: Pirates for Hire,” and “Even Monsters Need Haircuts.” In the illustration from “The Lion’s Share,” McElligott shows particular care for his work. The subject is an ant with an apron cooking in the kitchen of its underground tunnel. There is also a strawberry in the background that dwarfs the ant and creates a lighter feeling for the heavily shaded illustration.
“It’s designed to be read by a child in a few minutes, but takes years and years to create,” noted McElligott in a statement about his work.
If you would like to view Practice at the Opalka Gallery, please visit the gallery website at http://www.sage.edu/opalka/currentshow/ for hours of operation or further information.

Pan’s Labyrinth

Sunday, February 21

6:00 pm

Bush Memorial

All are welcome!

Troy, NY- On December 1st, the Revolution Hall in Troy featured Dirty Paris, a new band that is gaining local popularity. The four members Rob Morrison (percussion), Chris Duffy (bass), Dmitriy Bolotny (synthesizer, organ, piano), and Thomm Lafond (guitar) dabble in the genre of experimental, psychedelic funk-rock fusion.

Revolution Hall was overcome by positive vibrations from the stage, to the crowd, to the bar. The smooth blends of sound ranging from Caribbean cool jazz styles to modern electronic sound kept the people dancing. The music that Dirty Paris creates has influences from Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Frank Zappa, Phish, Led Zeppelin, the Weather Report, John Coltrane, Daft Punk, the Disco Biscuits, Bassnectar, the Grateful Dead, and many more. They collectively write and self- record all of their music.

Dirty Paris was originally formed in the summer of 2008 in Albany, NY. The band prefers to perform live at local venues such as Red Square and Savannah’s in Albany, Revolution Hall in Troy, Kings Tavern in Saratoga Springs, and they even played inside of the Ben & Jerry’s on Lark Street in Albany for Lark Fest this summer. One of their most accomplished performances so far was opening for the Disco Biscuits at Camp Bisco 8 in Mariaville, NY.

To hear music by Dirty Paris or to learn more about the band and up-coming shows visit http://www.myspace.com/dirtyparisband. For information about events at Revolution Hall please visit http://www.revolutionhall.com/.

It’s that time of year again, and also time to share with you some holiday traditions my family has. So put on your nostalgic hat and join me as I discuss some of my family’s traditions.

Every Christmas eve, my church, a small Presbyterian church outside Albany, NY has a candlelight service. My family and I set up bags which include candles insite and we light the sidewalk to the church’s entrance. We attend the candlelight service and sing traditional Christmas songs such as “What Child is This?” and “Silent Night”. After, my family has a small get-together at our house to have delicious homemade pies and cookies. After a long chat, we are allowed to open one present! Christmas morning is full of a scrumtuous breakfast cooked by my mom and I. Eggs, toast, bacon, and hot chocolate is served after we open our presents and stockings. Later, we join my grandmother for a ham dinner. She makes the best salads and pineapple upside down cake EVER for dessert. Someone usually plays “santa” every year and passes out the gifts to everyone, and we all watch the football game and talk for hours.

When new year’s eve rolls around, I throw a big party for my friends and I. We go out to dinner, the movies, and bowling. We ring in the new year with hats and noisemakers. I would have to say that aside from opening presents,  this is one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season.

After the holiday is over, it’s time to hit the stores for the end-of-season clearance rack and spend those gift cards like there’s no tomorrow! 

Now that I’ve shared my holiday traditions with you, what are some of yours? Please leave your comments below!

Have a safe and happy holiday season, and I will see you all next year!

Stewart’s 2009 Monologue Showcase is entitled “A Look at Gender and Power” and the show features nine Russell Sage student actresses portraying nine separate female leads from several theatrical works including “The History Boys,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” among others.

For more information, contact Stewart or the RSC theater department.

Albany, NY- The Opalka Gallery at the Sage College of Albany is hosting Some Women, a compilation of thirty-five years of photography by Dona Ann McAdams.  Some Women will be on display from now until December 11^th and McAdams offers a tour of her work on Friday, December 4^th at 7pm.

The exhibit holds thirty-five gelatin silver-prints dating from 1974 to 2009. This sheen black and white medium makes the characters pop to life.

“I like the tonal range and the tonal scale of black and white. I like the fact that black and white is a little bit removed from reality,” said McAdams in an interview with Elizabeth Floyd Mair of the Times Union.

It does seem as if the subjects in her work are removed from a moment in time and put on a pedestal to intensify their character. The mediums McAdams chooses play a heavy role in the composition of her work. She shoots all of her photographs in film instead of digital imagery.

“I shot Kodak Tri-X for years, but I switched just recently to Fuji Neopan. It’s a thicker emulsion base, and it works better for me,” said McAdams in her interview with Mair.

In Some Women, McAdams pulls photographs from ten of her portfolios. Her images explore the American West, nuclear industry in America, street protests and demonstrations, performance art, dance, and theater, Barcelona after the Olympics, the Saratoga Race Track, Rome, Appalachian farmers, and the mentally ill and homeless in New York City.

One of McAdams most prominent collections encompassed in the exhibit is The Garden of Eden. This portfolio surveys Coney Island from 1983 to 1998 and examines the mentally ill, particularly schizophrenics, as well as the homeless.

Dona Ann McAdams has won Obie Awards, for work with Off-Broadway theater in New York City and Bessie Awards, also known as the New York Dance and Performance Award. She also received the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University in 2002.

Galleries and Museums throughout the country and internationally have shown McAdams’ work. These include the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the International Center for Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Robert Miller Gallery, La Primavera Fotographica in Barcelona, the Print Center, and the Biblotheque Nationale in Paris.

McAdams is currently continuing to photograph workers and horses at the Saratoga Race Track and with the mentally ill of New York City.

“I’m going to photograph a gentleman next week,” said McAdams, “who wants to be part of the project but doesn’t want his face to be seen.” She plans to photograph his face straight on with his hands over it.

For more information please visit the Opalka Gallery’s website, www.sage.edu/opalka, or call Fabienne Waring, the Exhibition Coordinator at (518)292-7742.

I went to see the movie the day after opening day, and luckily managed to snag a seat in the side aisles. The audience “woo’d” when a shirtless Jacob Black showed up, but not as obnoxiously as I had expected. At “Twilight,” the girl fans were screaming as the opening credits came on, but not at “New Moon”, thank goodness. I was impressed with the graphics and the way the film was set up. I thought “Twilight” was corny, but “New Moon” definitely wasn’t. It was full of constant action, great music, and was better at following the story line than “Twilight.” I think it has a lot to do with the installment of a new director, Chris Weitz (who also directed the movies American Pie and About a Boy).

The soundtrack to “New Moon” has me blown away, as well. The artists that were picked are from Indie Rock bands and it’s great because this helps get their name out, since most Indie bands are underground or not well-known. The artists on the soundtrack include Indie Rock veterans Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Skulls, Anya Marina, Thom York of Radiohead and Lykke Li. Myers’ favorite band Muse is also included on the soundtrack. My personal favorite is “Possibility” by Lykke Li. This haunting, melancholic ballad is played while Bella falls into a deep depression over her lover Edward Cullen runs away.

Entertainment Weekly’s website reported that “New Moon” grossed $72.7 million on opening day, which topped “The Dark Night”, which was $26.3 million.

TheOatmeal.com - "How 'Twilight' Works"

For an alternative reading of the Twilight/New Moon phenonmenon, read this blog review from TheOatmeal.com on “How ‘Twilight’ Works.”

The play received a very positive review from The Troy Record on opening night entitled “College theater sparks serious thought.” The review can be read in its entirety here on their web site.

Olivia Mogul, an RSC sophomore, played the lead role, and spoke to the Record about how difficult it was to play a bed-bound woman: “What surprised me was how hard it is to act without using any part of your body. You have to find the energy of the character through attitude. It’s been an amazing experience that has helped me as an actress and as a person.

“I had to learn to generate energy without being able to use any other part of my body. Most of all I’ve had to learn what it is like to cope with a life-altering crisis. I often think what choice I would make if I were in that position. To tell the truth, I really don’t know.”

After being introduced by Dr. David Salomon, Director of the English and Modern Languages Department at Russell Sage, Millhauser began by telling the audience, “When you publish something, strange things can happen.”

To support this claim, he first told listeners about a letter he received a week after Martin Dressler was published. The letter was signed by a man named “Martin Dressler”, claiming that Millhauser’s novel was strangely similar to his life in addition to the identical names. Millhauser, shocked and surprised, immediately responded explaining how he came up with the specific name and the plot, and was glad to never here from the man again, though he joked that he lived for weeks, “in fear of a knock on the door” from the letter-writer.

His next example was a phone call he received from a man in response to his short story, “A Visit.” The man, who Millhauser vaguely knew, called and angrily asked if the short story was about his wife. This question quickly becomes comical when Millhauser reads the short story and the audience comes to find that the wife in the story is a slimy, “martian” frog.

After finishing “A Visit,” Millhauser prefaces his second reading by telling the audience he doesn’t know what to call it so he will call it a “thingamajig.” Its title is, “He Takes, She Takes,” and it discusses what happens when couples get divorced, and in Millhauser fashion, hilarity is added to the reading. The reading is composed of a back and forth of what he will take and what she will take, including the lines, “He takes the grandma, she takes the grandpa…He takes the draining board, she takes the dash board…He takes a chill pill, she takes a hike.” When Millhauser finished, a mixture of laughter and applause filled the room as he caught his breath from the quick-paced read.

Following the reading, all were welcomed to MOSS Bookstore for a book signing and meet and greet with Millhauser.