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 February 24, 2007         Janette Kennedy Gallery         Dallas, TX          

 

REACH -
ArtLoveMagic's first live event


report by Michael Lagocki  

 
ArtLoveMagic's first event, REACH, was more than I could imagine. It was inspiring, it was artful, it touched people. There is something absolutely magical that happens when positive people express themselves, together, in a wide range of art forms. Painting, music, poetry, jewelry crafting, comics and photography were all part of it. We brought it together and we brought it out of each other and it was alive with passion.

Fifty five days into ArtLoveMagic's existence as a real company (and not just my website), our first live event drew well over 300 people. It was a great start. True beauty. But here's some highlights:

A half dozen visual artists creating and selling original works.
Some really amazing art was on display and plenty was created at the show. When you see it all together, held up high like that, it's beautiful. I believe the overall quality of the gallery (Jeanette Kennedy) really led us to put something special into the setups. Rebecca Brooks' art literally "reached" out into the space, as did several of David Rodriguez's 8ft tall paintings.
 

 

 

 James O'Barr showed a body of work that few of his fans have seen before. Everyone sees The Crow stuff regularly, but James brought a large selection of personal paintings that he wouldn't normally take to the comic shows. I'm also very thankful that he lent us his celebrity for the show. A lot of the people who attended came because they are deeply passionate about his work



Pegasus and Word Became Flesh, two 8 foot tall paintings by David Rodriguez..

  

 
 


The music of the soul
 I'm a cartoonist. What do I know about live music and poetry? Thankfully, I involved Justin Nygren (of Tribe and Blue Door shows) to put the pieces together. He assembled a live show that brought the house down. People were enthralled. His plan was to rotate the acts quickly and mix in poetry and live jamming. The rapid pace felt dynamic, agile, and alive. If you weren't feeling the stage, you could walk around, watch people make art for 10 minutes, and by the time you came back something completely different was happening. The bands Faint Image and Many Days Waiting have that kind of free flow feel that really connected with the audience. People just came up and jammed with them all night.

The language of the soul
Legions of Will Richey fans showed up (many of  'em under 3ft tall). Will teaches for a living. He teaches children to do spoken word poetry. Now that I've seen it live, I understand how much he's empowering them. A child creating art out of their words and thoughts, and then reading those words live with soulful expression to an enthusiastic audience. That is holy work if there ever was such.

Check out the next pic. I even did a poem, for the first time in my life. I was so nervous I had to pull my hat over my eyes so as not to look at the audience. I performed a poem I wrote titled "The Spoken Word". Lil G liked it,...  so there you go.

 


 


Epiphany
 Halfway through the show, our jewelry artist, Sarah Gillmore came up to me and screamed, "Art Love Magic happened to me!!!" She was referring to the moment she found herself doing what she loves to do (making jewelry), surrounded by the people she loves (her boy James was there, as well as her mother and many good friends), listening to great live music, and selling her work to a receptive audience. Yeah, that's ArtLoveMagic.

What's next?
 Halfway through the show, the gallery told us they'd like us to return. We will be back at Janette Kennedy Gallery on April 28th, with a completely new show of performers and artists. I have 2-3 other shows popping up as well and we'll do what we can to keep the info here current.

If you'd like to get on the mailing list and experience this for yourself, drop me a line at mike@artlovemagic.com and get the latest news through our e-mail blasts. Sign up for it at the top-right portion of the site.

Things are jumping oooofffff!. Much much love to everyone who was there and saw it happen. I love you.

If you have any question of who we are,
  well this is who we be...
We are known on this planet mother earth
  and throughout the galaxy
You'll recognize us by our eyes
  the  L - I - G - H - T
And when you are in our presence
   you feel  L - O - V - E.

We be the people with the love inside of we.

from the song "Love"
performed live by AP and Faint Image
at REACH
   

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