ART Vandalism or Art? - Miriam pg. 5

Buildings Around Austin - Jonathan pg. 7

MUSIC Fading Strings - Miriam pg. 10

The Dillema for Music in School - Jonathan pg. 11

Table of Contents

ARTISTS Opening the Kiln on Ryan Mckerley - Dexter pg. 17

Surviving with Art - Jonathan pg. 19

Artists of EAST - Dexter pg. 21

ENTERTAINMENT Uchi - Dexter pg. 25

Galleries - Miriam pg. 27

F1 Racing Comes to Austin - Dexter pg. 31

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structures of the ancient world

Structures of the Ancient WorldJonathan

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The Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties of China. It is found at the center of Beijing, to the north of Tiananmen Square. It is the world’s largest palace complex. Construction lasted from 1407 to 1420. It is believed that a million workers and one hundred thousand artisans were driven into long and hard labor in order to complete the building. The Forbidden City is the depiction of 2,000 years worth of development of Eastern Asian architecture. It has influenced the development of modern Chinese architecture Over the years, the Forbid-den City has become one of the greatest tourist attractions in the world. This 9,999 room palace is surrounded by a 6 meter deep moat, and a ten meter high wall. The wall has a gate on each of its sides. The Me-ridian Gate is the main enterence to the Forbidden City, located at the southern end. The Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen gate) is located at the northern enterance, facing Jingshan park. The last two are the East Glorious Gate and the West Glorious Gate. Each gate is decorated with golden door nails. The Forbidden City is generally divided into two sec-tions: The Outer Court (Front Court), and the Inner Court (Back Palace). Ceremonies are held in the Outer Court, which includes the southern ar-eas. The Inner Court consists of the northern areas, and is where the Em-peror and his family live. It was also used for the daily affairs of the state. The Forbidden City is filled with symbolism. For example, yellow is the color of the Emperor. For this reason, almost every roof of the For-bidden City is glazed with yellow tiles, with only two exceptions: The li-brary, and the Crown Prince’s residences. The library has black tiles because black is associated with water, meaning fire-prevention. The Crown Prince’s residences have green tiles because green is associated with wood, meaning growth. The halls of both Courts are arranged in groups of three, in a shape representing heaven. The residences of the Inner Court are arranged in groups of six, in a shape representing the Earth. Every detail was planned to reflect the different views of the times.

Forbidden City

Photo From: Kallgan

Photo From: Andrew Bossi

St. Basil’s Cathedral

This Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible, to commemo-rate the capture of Kazan from mongol forces in 1522. It was named after St. Basil the blessed (1468-1552). Basil had caught Ivan’s attention in 1547, when he was able to correctly predict a fire that would spread through Moscow that year. Construction lasted from 1552 to 1560. It was the tall-est structure in Moscow, until the Great Bell Tower was completed (it was also commissioned by Ivan). There is a legend going around that Ivan had the architects Barma and Postnik Yakovlev blinded so that they wouldn’t be able to create anything as magnificent, although Postnik went on to create another cathedral in Vladmir. The cathedral almost came to its end when Stalin planned on tearing it down in order to create space and eat the movement of public parades. Thankfully, the architect Barnovsky prevent-ed it from happening by standing on the cathedral’s steps and threatening to cut his own throat if the masterpiece was destroyed. Stalin cancelled his plans, and Baranovsky was given 5 years in jail for his valiant efforts. It has astounded architects of today. They cannot agree as to wheth-er the creators where paying homage to he churches of Jerusalem, or if they were representing the medieval eight-pointed star by build-ing eight churches around a ninth. Nonetheless, it is known to have re-ligious and philosophical significance. At the time of its completion, it looked very different as to what we see today. For example, the Cathe-dral was all white, and the domes were gold instead of being multi-col-ored as they appear today. Throughout the ages, new parts have been added to the original, and the domes have been painted over. If you’re in the area, definitely take the time to visit this magnificent structure.

Djenné is the oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa, located 220 miles (354 km) southwest of Timbuktu, in Mali. It was founded around 800 AD by merchants, near the site of another ancient city. It eventually developed to become a major trading center in Mali during the 16th century. It’s great success came from the fact that it was situ-ated by a river, leading to Timbuktu. Over the years, Djenné impor-tance as an agricultural trade center has fallen, however several struc-tures of Muslim architecture still stand. Such, like its Great Mosque. There were two mosques previously built at the same site. The first was built around the 13th century. It is believed that.Koi Kukn-boro, a sultan who converted to Islam had turned his palace into a mosque in 1240. This is believed to be the first.. The second was built by the Sheika in the early 19th century, because the first one had fall-en into disrepair. Construction of the present mosque dates back to 1906, and the structure was completed in 1907. It was designed by Ismaila Traoré, an architect at the head of Djenné’s masonic group. The french, who were in control of Mali at that time influenced the construction of the mosque by offering financial and political support. The great mosque is the largest adobe building in the world, and considered as the greatest achievement of Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. Its base is comprised of rectangular sun-dried mud bricks that are held together by mud mortar, and plastered over with mud. The walls vary in thickness, but the average range is between 16 and 24 inches. These walls need to be large in or-der to support the large structure, and to provide insulation from the pounding rays of the sun. During the day, the walls warm up; during the night, they cool down. The prayer hall, supported by ninety wooden pillars that can hold a maximum of 3,000 people.

The ruins of this ancient Inca site was rediscovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham. It is believed to be one of the most beau-tiful, yet mysterious ancient places in the world. They were built atop the Andean mountains, at an elevation of 9060 feet. The Inca managed to turn the site into a small, but self-sustaining city. It is completely invisible from below, completely self-contained, surrounded by agricultural ter-races to feed its population, and was watered by natural springs around the city. All of this adds to the mystery, and the belief that Machu Picchu was used as a hidden city. Machu Picchu’s ruins show that it had palaces, baths, temples, storage rooms, and about 150 houses. These structures were carved from the gray granite of the mountain top, and many of the building blocks weighed more than 50 tons. In spite of that, the struc-tures are sculpted with such precision and fitted together with such ac-curacy, that not even a thin knife blade can be inserted between joints. It is now widely believed that the architectural design of the city was based on Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire. Machupicchu was built to follow the natural surroundings of the area, following the shape of the land. The central buildings follow the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls. The Incas incorporated a technique called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly with-out mortar. The structures were most likely built without mortar, since mortar-free construction was more earth-quake resistant than using mortar. This was especially important, as the site is located in a highly seismic area. The stones were placed in such a format so that they could move slightly and then move back later, without the walls collapsing.

Mosque of Djenné

Machu Picchu

Photo From: Romsrini

Photo From: sacredsites.com

Vandalism or Art?By Miriam

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On July 3, 1976, the ‘Freedom Train’ was spray painted onto 11 cars of a train, in anticipation for the upcoming Fourth of July. The stunning

artwork was never seen by the public. The train was scrubbed clean of the design before it was used again, because the art-work was seen as vandalism. Graffiti is commonly referred to as such, but it is actually an evolving form of modern art. Graffiti is even starting to appear in galleries, and there are places specifically set aside for graffiti artists. This has been happening as long ago as 1992, when T Cresswell published an article in the Environment and Planning D: Society and Space journal mentioning how graffiti was being placed in Manhat-tan galleries, and being described as “creative, ‘primitive’, and valuable.” This obviously didn’t become popular, for there isn’t much graffiti in galleries nowadays. However, it was an early attempt to put graffiti in a different light. More recently, in July 2010, an article in the Hindustan Times, by Sawhney, Aakriti, talked about a Great Wall of Graffiti. This great wall is de-scribed as a “five-story industrial building that offers artists an elaborate space to paint, draw and sculpt.” Its not possible for us to know if this is going to catch on, but I believe that it will be a popular idea among graffiti artists. For once, they won’t have to worry about writing on a piece of private property. In-stead, they will have a place set aside specifically for their use. Graffiti is not just art, it is also part of our culture. In a book titled Taking the Train, Joe Austin writes about a time when New York had a large number of European visitors. He writes that a “renovated and repainted “graffiti-free” subway

train” was arranged by the tour agency, but the visitors com-plained. They had expected the train to be covered with colors. Other parts of the world probably have an image similar to this implanted in their minds when they think of places such as New York City. It’s true that the trains are private property, and that the spray painted art can be seen as vandalism. However, if graffiti artists and the train industry could come to a kind of agreement, train art could become simply that: art. Graffiti might be nice to look at, but it can also be used for education. The word ‘graffiti’ itself comes from the Greek word ‘graphien’, which means “to write.” So graffiti is nothing more than fancy writing, done with colorful spray paint on a wall. In an article by Educational Foundations, titled Hip Hop Learning: Graffiti as an Educator of Urban Teenagers, it is proven that graffiti writing can help “acquire knowledge, skills, and values that are prized and useful.” The article also says that graffiti writing can help with the development of “individual identi-ties,” and can encourage teens to participate in activities that “transform their communities.” If graffiti art and writing has so much potential in education, I am surprised that schools don’t pay more attention to it. v The Freedom Train, despite its splendor, was seen only by a few Transit Authority workers and Transit Police before the paintings were destroyed. Sometime in the future, graffiti artists might be able to make their living off painting trains for the train industry. If spray painted designs can be displayed in galleries and used in education, then there is no reason to continue calling it vandalism.

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Most of us have visited the state capital once in our lifetimes, whether it be on a field trip or a personal excursion. It has influ-enced many of us, and is sure to be remembered throughout our lives. It is full of history, and is loved by many. The cornerstone was laid on March 2, 1885 on Texas Independence Day. Construc-tion was under the supervision of Rueben L. Walker, a civil engineer and an American civil war confederate general. At the time of it’s construction, it was considered the seventh largest building in the world. Now however, there are hundreds of other larger structures. Up to a thousand convicts and migrant workers were used to build it. The building was finally completed on Texas Independence day, on April 21, 1888. It was built with 400 rooms and 900 windows. The building stands at 308 ft. tall. This is 19 ft. taller than the US capitol building. Although, contrary to popular belief, it is not

the only state capitol building that is allowed to be taller than the US capitol. It was originally planned to be made entirely out of lime-stone from Oatmanville, but the material was found to be high in iron content. Pink Granite was an alternative brought up. Today, the lime-stone is hidden behind the granite, within the walls and foundations. The building has a neo-rennaisance architectural style. This style features a blend of several past architectural styles. It is characterized by its cubed shapes, balanced and symmetrical facade, smooth stone walls, and carved stone windows that vary in style between floors.Over the ages, it has been rewarded with several honors. It has been recog-nized as a National Historical Landmark since 1986, and was added to the national register of historic places in 1970. In a 2008 poll from the American Institute of Architects, it was ranked the no.1 state capitol. It was also ranked 92nd in AIA’s “Ameica’s Favorite Architecture” poll.

Buildings Around Austin

Texas State Capitol

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The Frost Bank Tower is an Iconic building in Austin. It is con-sidered one of the most recognizable buildings around Austin. This mainly comes from the height of it. It was originally designed to be the tallest building in Austin. However, the 360 condimoni-ums and The Austonian building soon surpassed its height. At this time, it is the third tallest in Austin, and the 50th in Texas. Its roof reaches the height of 515 ft and its top floor reaches 400 ft. In fact, was the first high-rise building to be constructed in the US after the 9/11 attacks. The building has 33 floors spread over 50,680 ft ² Over the years, the building has been rewarded several allo-cations. It voted by Austin Chronicle readers as the “best new build-ing in Austin” in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It was also voted for “best architecture” in 2004 and 2005. The building has also been nicknamed the “world’s largest nose hair trimmer”. It also holds the title for the tallest logo above ground in the city. It has also been termed the “centerpiece of the skyline” by several Austinites. The base of the structure is built out of limestone, while the actual tower is built of blue low-e glass skin. In fact, it is one out of only two buildings built out of blue low-e glass skin. The other one being the Re-uter’s building in New York City. More than 200,000 sq. feet of the glass was used for the facade of the building alone, and 45,000 for the crown. Also, 150 feet of lighting covers the crown of the building. The lighting is turned on during the night, and changes color on special occasions.

Frost Bank Tower

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The main building of the University of Texas is very popular among Austinites. It is one of the most recognizable buildings on the campus and in Austin. The previous Main Building was an old Victorian-Gothic building. The remains of it are old carillon bells at display outside the Bass Concert Hall. The tower was designed by Paul Cret of Philadelphia. Construction of the 307 ft tower was completed in 1937. It was origi-nally planned to be used as library space, using an 18-story dumbwait-er system to carry books from upper floors to students on other floors. The tower has Texas’s largest carillon, consisting of 56 bells at its top. Songs are played on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by Tom Anderson and Chris Humphery. The tower has Texas’s largest carillon, consisting of 56 bells at its top. Songs are played on Mon-days, Wednesdays, and Fridays by Tom Anderson and Chris Humphery. The UT tower is quite famous for deaths relating to the observa-tion deck. The deck has been closed several times: 1974, 1999, and recently, 2002-2003 due to the 9/11 attacks and several suicide jumps. The deck was reopened in 2004 after safety and security measures were added. On August 1, 1996, Charles Whitman, an architectural engineering major at the University locked himself in the observation deck and began shooting people with a scoped Remington 700 deer rifle. In a 96-minutes, he was able to kill 14, and injure several others. The tower is also very popular for lighting up during special events. The tower illuminates in white light in the evening, but usually varies in color (usually white and orange) on special occasions, like athletic victo-ries and academic accomplishments. For sad events (such as the death of a former president, the tower stays dark with a gloomy grey color throughout the night. After the 2005 Texas Longhorn football’s victory at the Rose Bowl, an orange tower and windows lit to form the number 1.

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Music

Four years ago, a project that would decorate the streets of Austin for months to come began. The project involved 70 unique guitar statues, which were placed around the city. Now, years after it

started, this project is coming to an end. Where there was once a colorful statue on nearly every corner of downtown Austin, people are beginning to find it hard to spot them. In November of 2006, a large charity project began in and around Austin. Ten-foot tall guitar statues were designed by local artists and scattered around downtown. Their purpose was to sit on many of the corners in the heart of the city, and be admired by anyone who walked by, until their time came to be auctioned off. The beautiful works of art are now quickly disap-pearing off the streets. Even after all those years, some people remain in the dark about what these colorful and resplendent statues were and why they were there. The project started with advertisements in newspapers, such as the Chronicle. When artists showed interest, they were asked to submit designs for the statues which they would later get to decorate. Every statue is differ-ent, reflecting the styles of art of numerous local and regional artists. Some were done using mosaics, with countless shards of colored glass covering the statue from top to bottom. Some of the statues are painted, with invis-ible brushstrokes bringing out details that add to the image without the eye noticing. And still others used techniques that not many know about. “My design gave a nod towards my sponsor, Ranch 616, which has snake imagery in its logo and decor.” Said Bob Wade, the artist who designed Gibskin which is on display on a pole in front of Ranch 616’s restaurant. “The “snakeskin pattern” was a photographically enlarged snakeskin onto a vinyl wrap material, similar to ones used on car ads.” He added, describing the way in which his guitar was designed. Vinyl is a type of tough and flexible plastic, which can be heat molded onto almost anything. The vinyl is reflective, giving it a nice shine when light hits its surface. This is what Bob used for his guitar, but there were many other techniques used by the artists. Some artists didn’t even have a set technique in mind when they started. “I went through mostly scraps and it was a evolution in process. Sort of like a doodle where you just go with it.” Said Aly Winningham, talking about Trip to the Light Fantastic, which ended up as a beautiful mosaic that stood outside Guero’s Taco Bar on South Congress Although the guitars reflect the artistic styles of their artists, they can only show so much. Bob does many different kinds of public art, mainly statues. Aly works mainly with glass and metal, although she has also experi-mented with a wide range of different mediums. The guitars have already started disappearing off the streets. The ones that were not vandalised or destroyed as they stood around for public viewing were auctioned off. The money from the auctions went to four local beneficiaries: Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), Austin Museum of Art (AMOA), American Youthworks, and the Austin Children’s Museum. “My guitar auctioned for over 40 thousand dollars,” Aly said, “So ultimately one could say I donated 40k to local non profits in Austin, which is something I couldn’t have done any other way.” Donating such a large amount of money to any cause is quite a feat. The artists who participated in the project were not being payed, so it was a charity project on their behalf as well and not just work for hire. As one walks through the city, or around Town Lake, the spaces where these statues once stood feel like gaping holes. Although many don’t know much about the project itself, it is hard not to notice the lack of these won-drous guitars that we have all come to be familiar with. As Aly aptly put it: “It was a win win for all parties involved.”

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Fading Strings

Twinkle Twinkle Lonestar, by Amanda Dunbar One of the few guitars still sitting around downtown Austin

By Miriam

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The Dilemma

for Music in

SchoolsJonathan

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In Fulton County, Georgia a group of parents raised 8,000 dollars to try to save the music programs their school districts desired so greatly

to cut, and even with repeated parental opposition, the school board refused to listen. The districts not only cut the programs, but laid off the 50 music teachers that went along. If more and more schools follow this course and pattern, our American School system may just be considered a lifeless, dull, and uninteresting place to learn. I don’t suppose many parents would like their children having these thoughts in their young eager minds. Music is a part of the culture that makes America such a diverse place to live. Take away the music, and you may just as well take away an invaluable piece of America. Horace Mann, the founder of the American school system would be frowning upon the school boards if he could see what they’ve done. He believed that music was a necessary skill in educating the youth for the development of aesthetic appreciation, citizenship, and thinking. He believed schools should equally invest time in reading and math, as much as they did in studying music and other fine arts. Nowadays, music is generally considered as a form of entertainment, when it is so much more. People have forgotten the culture that is contributed from learning an instrument. Music classes help students learn valuable lessons such as disci-pline, practice, and hard-working skills that they may use for the rest of their lives. For example, to learn an instrument a person must put tedious time and effort to master a piece of music, so they practice. By doing this, a student learns how to self-discipline themselves to a level of feeling proud and accomplished in their work. Personally being an Orchestra Student at LASA, I have my personal views on the subject. I started learning the vio-lin in my 6th grade year. Since then, I have become well or-ganized, and efficient, I have become more self-disciplined, respectful, and above all I have appreciated the excitement and fun in learning a string instrument. According to a study by World Music Central and the Texas Commission on on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, “Students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs.” I did not find this tidbit surprising. This fact just proves that music programs have shaped it’s students into young citizens that will one day become leaders. A known fact to students and teachers alike is that music programs compliment on skills learned in other classes. Some skills that music classes can help students develop better include small and large motor skills, reading and math skills, and socialization skills. Music is written in “measures”, in which there are a certain number of beats. If a song is in 3/4 time, it means that there are 3 beats per measure, with a quarter note counting as a single beat. Children can learn counting and fractions through musical instruction. When learned this way, these skills can be comprehended easily and will be more enjoyable

for a student. Musicians must learn to count and feel rhythms and beats. Music incorporates simple facts that can develop in a student’s mind over time. Improvement in reading has also been tested, and can also result in benefiting other classes. Children in Elementary Schools not only learn how to read the lyrics to songs, but also to read notes and understand the connection between their placement on a musical staff and comprehend the differences in the tones of the different notes. Reading music can also be beneficial for students who are also interested in learning other fine arts such as choir or theatre. According to the American Music Therapy Associa-tion, music is extremely helpful in developing motor skills. In moving one’s fingers and hands while playing an instrument,

the brain functions to create neurological connections with the fingers and hands to improve motor skills. Over time, tasks that require the use of musician’s fingers and hands will become relatively easier to do. Lastly, social skills in a child im-prove. When creating music in a large group, children learn to

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take turns, listen for their cue, and respect personal property. As with any artistic expression, making music can help improve a child’s self-esteem and build confidence. All of these social skills are necessary in the development of a child’s personality. They learn to become citizens and respect one another in the world. They then take these traits for them to use for the rest of their lives. Music isn’t only involved in culturally benefiting our nation. It also helps students with their test scores. I know it may come as a shock to thousands of school boards all over the nation who have spent thousands of dollars investing in things that will help reading and math testing scores, but it is a proven fact. There is such a way to raise test scores and keep music programs in schools. According to a profile of SAT data, “Students with course-work/experience in music performance and music apprecia-tion scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance

scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation.” I have always noticed how intelligent and sophisticated students that participate in music programs are. They are always usually the top-ranking students in my classes, and they all reached a relatively high level of attainment. Another study done by a research team

concludes that “of 237 second grade children used piano keyboard training and newly designed math software to demonstrate improvement in math skills. The group [using the piano keyboard method] scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children that used only the math software.” This study goes to uphold the fact that schools don’t need to invest hundreds of dollars in wsoftware and techniques when they can use a better method that people have known for hundreds of years. Take, for example, several schools in the Fulton County school board. The board had voted on a budget cut of 117 million dollars, and with it came the discharge of almost 1,000 teaching positions, including 50 musical instruction teach-ers. This occurred even with continued objection, petitions formed, and a little over $8,000 raised by parents of orchestra and band students. If your school district is planning on budget cuts that will affect music programs, then get involved. Write to the superintendent about the positive effects students can benefit from music instruction, offer some spare moments of your time and volunteer if possible. Think about fundraising activities to help support the programs, and contact higher authorities like state legislators, but above all don’t give up or think that it’s hopeless. When people pull together for a purpose, no matter how weak, can succeed.

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Opening the Kiln on

Ryan Mckerley“I think I was born with a brain chemistry that is inclined towards mak-ing pots. It all seems to be beyond my control. I really do enjoy making

and selling pots and teaching people my techniques. I would be very unhappy doing anything else.”

Photos by Vanessa Escobedo Barba

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Many people may say that making art for a living is impossible, but Ryan Mckerley; a local potter is living off of his art and he’s making it look easy. He makes porcelain and stoneware ceram-ics, and focuses on making his pieces functional, accessible,

and most of all, beautiful. He does this by creating basic forms that he either carves or leaves alone and these work as “blank canvasses” for the glaze and the firing technique he uses. He also enjoys sharing his knowledge with everyone around him and even gaining knowledge from others around him. Ryan Mckerley’s techniques are very complicated, but in the end yield amazing, and beautiful works of art. “My style slowly evolved over many years. I focused on one technique, water carving, because it was a new way of decorating surfaces and I enjoyed discovering all of its pos-sibilities.” His technique of water carving involves the washing away of dry, unfired clay with a wet sponge and areas where he has painted with wax are raised up, creating very interesting designs. His firing technique is known as soda-firing, where the kiln is fired to about 2,450 degrees Fahrenheit, and then he sprays baking soda mixed with water into the kiln. “I use a pump sprayer to spray in a mixture of water and sodium carbonate. The sodium vapor moves through the kiln and bonds with the silica in the pots forming a clear sodium silicate glaze.” This sodium vapor creates a very interesting effect on the glaze, and can vary be-tween glazes and the amount of sodium vapor that lands on the piece. This entire process creates a very beautiful piece that is functional and beautiful at the same time, and is very appealing to “potential buyers.” Ryan Mckerley is a very successful potter and has many different sources of income that make him successful. “I earn a living by selling my functional ceramics myself and through galleries, teaching after school art classes at East Austin elementary schools, working as the ceramic studio tech at the Dougherty Arts Center one day a week and teaching workshops all over the country.” Even though he is a very knowledgeable man that teaches and makes pottery for a living, he still needs help from everyone around him and this is what helps him become so successful, because most people don’t know everything there is to know about everything. And this is one fact many people take for granted. “If I can’t do something I usually bypass it and find another way to do what I need to do. Friends are always willing to help with their unique skills so I don’t need to know how to do everything.” One last thing that is very important to know about being a very successful artist is living in the right city that inspires creativity. “The creative com-munity is very supportive, the housing and rent are affordable and there are lots of teaching opportunities. The quality of life in this town is very high.” In case you did not realize, he was talking about Austin. All in all, Ryan is very devoted to his body of work and wouldn’t want to do anything else with his life. “I think I was born with a brain chemistry that is inclined towards making pots. It all seems to be be-yond my control. I really do enjoy making and selling pots and teaching people my techniques. I would be very unhappy doing anything else.” His level of devotion is shown in his body of work, not only does he have to throw, fire, and glaze the work, he also uses the water-carving method as described earlier which makes his method even more time consuming, according to him, he spends on average about 75% of his life doing something related to pottery. But after all of this work, when he opens the kiln up and sees the new work, everything starts to get better, and that’s why Ryan Mckerley keeps making pots. “Like is said before, I feel like I was born to make pots. Its in my DNA. What else am I going to do?” And that’s Ryan Mckerley’s way of doing things, just do what you love, and it’ll all be better in the end.

By. Dexter

Photos by Vanessa Escobedo Barba

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In 1995, Antonio Contreras was adrift in the ocean on a 15-foot rowboat, hoping to survive his escape from the Cuban government. Along with him was his wife Carmen Contreras, and his two infant children. Even with the enormous blue waves crashing on him, he pursued on to reach a seemingly hopeless destination. They paddled for five days straight, expecting to land somewhere far away, not only from Cuba, but from their horrid past as well. This haunting past has made a tremendous impact on his artistic style as well as his entire family. He fled from his home country to lead a better life elsewhere. He desired to go to someplace where he’d be free from his previous life. However, he has recently suffered numerous difficulties, which appear to be set backs in his life. The only way to escape the torture is by expressing his emotions through his art. Tony was born in a world of pain, where hardship is rampant, and the freedom to express yourself is abolished. “There is just too much oppression,” says Tony. “I wasn’t allowed to develop my artistic skills to their full potential.”

If he hadn’t left Cuba, he wouldn’t have been able to expand on his skills, and mostly because of the time-consuming work spent to feed his family. “I only reached the sixth grade,” he says. “There’s just nothing to live off of. You are obligated to work. I’ve been working ever since I was 7 years old.” He was taught by his grandfather how to garden and do labor work. During the years he spent in Cuba, he hid his emotions towards life and kept them raging inside of his mind unconsciously. It was only until he reached the US, that all of his feelings of resentment and sorrow were unleashed on paint. When asked to explain exactly how he got here, I could tell he shed a small tear. By talking to him, anyone can tell he is very sentimental about his past. His wife even had to come over to where we were and pat him on the back. “It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll get through it.” He finally got himself together and told me. “It’s really hard to push yourself in the ocean for five days straight without food or water or any glimpse of hope, but we did it. My wife, and two kids left Cuba on a five day trip to

JonathanSurviving with Art

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wherever the sea would take us. It’s a thing to describe it, and an-other thing to live through it.” Along the way, they met several carnivorous fish,were almost engulfed by a 40-foot high wave, and came across many other perils. Tony later told me that at one point he wanted to stop pedaling and just fall to the bottom of the deep ocean, but the idea of giving his family a better life gave him a cause to move forward. “We finally reached Grand Cayman,” continued Tony. “We stayed for five months. I almost died in the hospital where I was immediately taken to. Supposedly, I was extremely dehydrated. At first, they didn’t let us to pass to the US, but thank God that we were finally allowed to come over here in ‘95.” As soon as they recovered from the traumatic experience, Tony set himself to build a stable home for his family, and give them food to eat. He worked an average of 18 hours a day for 7 days a week working for a shipping company. Unfortunately for him though, Tony has just recently suffered a painful accident. He fractured his neck while working, and was given intensive surgery. They took out three intervertebral disks from his neck, leaving him with what doctors say is a chronic disability. Because of the surgery, he cannot turn his head more than 45 degrees in any one direction, he has to fall on his back in order to pick up something from the floor, he constantly has to take medications, and several nerves and tendons throughout his body are not working properly. Because of all these disabilities, he often becomes discouraged to do anything. “I often get depressed. I feel depressed because I can’t really do anything. I see others that can do lots of things, and I feel hopeless, because I used to be able to do all of that stuff.” For Tony, his injury is extremely devastating. He isn’t able to work much, and he feels angry at the fact that he can’t do much except for paint. “I paint to overcome, so that I can feel alive and useful again,” he says. His art inspires him to a point that when he picks up a brush, he forgets everything about his life, and does the thing he loves do most. Something that is astonishing about Tony is the fact that he’s never had a single art lesson in his life. “It was born with me,” he says, referring to his artistic skills. “No one ever taught me. I began painting by myself in my house in Cuba whenever I got a few minutes at the end of a hard day’s work. My artistic style couldn’t develop though, which is one of the

reasons I came over here.” And he isn’t the only from his family to acquire an innate sense of art. According to him, his other three siblings are artistically skilled as well. “For the four of us, art is a representation of life. It lets us soar beyond the highest clouds and dive deeper than the deepest sea.” For him, art isn’t paint on paper. It’s a way to express nature, life, and love. It is his way of traversing through the ages and looking back on other artist’s outlook on life. And Tony loves to paint everything people, objects, places, you name it. However, he especially loves to draw the green and lush landscapes that inhibit the countryside of Cuba. By drawing the vast blue sky with their fluffy clouds, Tony brings himself closer to nature itself. He feels a connection to life when he portrays the sights, sounds, and smells that inhabit his beloved country. “Cuba is beautiful,” he says. “You can tell by my art, just how much I love my country.” A quick glance at his paintings will reassure anyone of this. His home country certainly is a source of inspiration for him. Since he has never really been taught how to draw or paint in his life, you can tell that he needs a little fine tuning on some of his works. However, this does not impede him from translating his emotions to paper. I feel a sudden sense of love for nature and humanity. It reassures me that it was very difficult for him to leave his beautiful country. Tony’s life hasn’t just been a struggle for survival, but a search to find the meaning to his life. At times he questions this meaning. “I

submerge myself in my painting to get away from all the problems in my life,” he says. “At times, I feel like I don’t want to exist.

I’m ashamed to say it, but it’s the truth.” The only way he can express his sentiments towards his fam-ily and his deep emotions towards his past is through his art. Even though he feels lost at times, he always looks for the good things in his life. “This is also why I paint.I paint so that I can escape from my world of pain. Painting inspires me, so that I can continue on.”

“This is why I paint. I paint to escape my world of pain.”

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Artists of EAST

Chris Campbell, a potter makes functional, wood-fired pottery. He chooses to make the wood fired pieces, because engage people through all of their senses, and this sets his art apart from many others. He finds inspiration from historic ceramics that focus on being functional and then at times those pieces go from just a normal piece to something special. He does this through the wood firing process. It creates incredible variations throughout all of the pieces. Sometimes he may add a very thin layer of glaze, adding a very small amount of gloss to the piece. Either way he fires it, his pieces challenge the definition of beauty. This is be-cause the pieces contain ideas that are both very dissimilair, they are ugly and beautiful, familiar and unfamiliar, and also comfort-able and uncomfortable. All of these feelings create a pot that is very interesting and with this, Chris hopes to make the pot so that every time you use it, drink from it, eat from it, or any other use, you find something new about it and keep wanting to use over and over again.

Jennifer Chenoweth makes all sorts of art, but the main form of art is mixed media wall installations. She meticu-lously plans out every detail of her pieces including the simplest paint drop or shape. She gets ideas about shapes or forms to go on her pieces, and reproduces them in a way to make them look like random marks. She tries to imagine the piece’s shapes and sizes, and chooses the right material for the piece: wood, metal, plaster, clay, vinyl, concrete, or glass. When all of these objects are seen together, the work shows the evolutions of shapes through multiple processes, sizes, and materials. She uses methods that appear easy, but in reality were actually very challenging. All of her work incorporates abstract objects that may appear to reference known objects, or a unique shape that can create some unique emotion.

By. Dexter

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Artist, Daniel Arrendondo creates amazing paintings that reflect his religious past. He was born, raised and currently lives in East Austin. As a child his parents brought him to church four times a week. Wednesdays, Saturday, Sunday morning, and Sun-day in the evening. He defines his art as contemporary religious art, one thing he focuses on is putting a new twist on the “old masters” work like Da vinci and Michelangelo. He does this by painting landscapes and new age full body portraits. He finds most of his inspiration while in church and in the bible. He learned that he could paint and draw very well in school, he put two and two together and started making art. He also finds inspiration in religious music, and since Austin is a music town, he finds a lot of inspiration.

Artists of EAST Mychal Mitchell creates handmade journals and photo albums. She uses oil tanned leather that has been thrown out by companies that make purses and boots, this leather will often have imperfections on it and this is what makes all of her journals unique. She also uses 100% cotton watercolor paper, and hemp paper in the journals and these too give the journals a very nice rustic look. She learned how to make these wonderful journals in Venice, Italy from a proffessional book binder. When she came back to the United States, her friends saw a journal she had made and started wanting some for themselves and this is how her buisness, Iona handcrafted Books started.

Cherie Weaver creates what she calls “Thrift Mixed Media.” She chose this technique, because she wanted something that would combine her inspirations, old family photos, nature, food that everything and anything eats, thread, and masking tape. She started making art when she took art class in high school, she enjoyed expressing herslef this way and through poetry, but she chose art, because it was easier to express herself. Her inspiration also comes from all around Austin, the mix of old and new is great for inspiration. She also finds inspiration from the different artists all over Austin, she says the artist community here is great. She finds even more inspiration in theatre arts, music, and of course visual arts.

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Entertainment

UchiReview on one of Austin’s best restaurants by Dexter

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Uchi, a sushi restaurant on South Lamar serves some of the best sushi in the United States and it is located right here in Austin, TX. Recently, I was lucky enough to visit this prestigious restaurant. In this article, I will be reviewing the restaurant and telling everyone just how good it is. One of the things that makes this restaurant so good is the warm atmosphere of the place. When one walks into the restaurant, they are greeted by the amazing wait staff that leads you to your table. After that they bring you a nice, warm hand towel to wipe your hands with. Once you’ve settled in, you begin to look around and see the dark red wallpaper with dark gray Japanese trees, the dim-lit and intricately designed lamps, and mahogany tables and these all further the comfort of your stay. Your waiter walks over and asks you what kind of food you want. I went during the happy hour, so there were actually some very reasonably priced items on the menu. The first thing I got was the Spicy Tuna roll, which wasn’t very spicy, but the flavor was unbeat-able. The roll itself was amazing, usually spicy tuna rolls have tuna, rice, avocado, and some other things, but in this roll there was cucumber instead of avocado and this was a very nice touch. The cu-cumber was fresh and crunchy so it added another dimension of tex-ture to the roll instead of the usual smooth sushi texture. After that, I got three pieces of sushi, one was a shrimp piece, one a Norwegian mackerel piece, and the last one was a piece of torched wagyu beef sushi. The Shrimp piece had a slight crunch, and was just slightly sweet which was very nice. The mackerel piece tasted very fishy, and I am being serious about that. It was a little too fishy and I don’t think I would get it again, but it was still very good. The last piece I got was the torched wagyu beef piece, there was a slight soy sauce taste like it was shortly soaked in soy sauce. But the most amazing part of it is that the beef was just as tender as the rice and this is what wagyu beef is known for. Next on the menu was the Hamachi Nabe (Nah-beh) and all it is, is a delicious bowl of rice, fish, and a special fish broth that is cooked cooked right in front of you. The broth, and the toasting effect on the rice adds a lot of complexity to the dish and makes it very delicious. The very last thing we got was for dessert, Coffee Panna Cotta. This is a dessert worth noting and I like a lot of dessert. There are many different elements to the dish, these include a scoop of vanilla sorbet, panna cotta which is a mixture of simmered cream, milk, and sugar that is mixed with gelatin to form a milky sort of jell-o. And this is filled with a mango puree, there is also a coffee “dirt,” and mango flavored shavings. This dessert is definetely the best I have ever had in my life, it is also one of the most complex. The waitress told us to eat all of the things at once and this was great advice. You get the creaminess of the panna cotta and sorbet, then the fruitiness of the mango puree, and to finish off you get the flavor that is most associated with the name of the dish, coffee. All in all this restaurant was amazing. And it is my favorite res-taurant so far. The combo of the warm atmosphere and the amazing food makes a great restaurant. And with some food that (especially at happy hour) is reasonably priced it is definitely a place to go back to.

Spicy Tuna Roll

Shrimp sushi (right) and mackerel piece (left)

Coffee Panna Cotta

By. Dexter

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Things to be SeenBy Miriam

When it was founded in 1984, the Mexic-Arte Museum

stood in the Arts Warehouse space. In 1988, the museum moved to its current location in downtown Austin. Since they opened, they have been showcasing Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture.

Opened in September of 1995, Yard-Dog shows off the work

of artists who work in what they call a “folky, funky vernacular.” Most of the art is full of colors, and quite edgy. If you want to see folk art, or art by outsiders, then this is the place to go.

Picture © monad68 from Flickr

Location: 419 Congress Ave.Hours: Monday - Thursday: 10 AM - 6 PM Friday and Saturday: 10 AM - 5 PM Sunday: 12 PM - 5 PM

The Austin Museum of Art gets to claim the name

of the city they are in. This nice museum in the middle of downtown Austin features 20th century and contem-porary art, and reflects the character of the city. The AMOA has a second location, at Laguna Gloria, where it originally started out. The La-guna Gloria site is also home to an Art School.

DOWNTOWN-Location: 823 Congress Ave.Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri: 10 AM - 5 PM Thur: 10 AM - 8 PM Sat: 10 AM - 6 PM Sun: 12 PM - 5 PMLAGUNA GLORIA:Location: 3809 W 35th St.Hours: Mon - Sat: 9 AM - 5 PM Sun: 10 AM - 5 PM

Picture © JD Hancock from Flickr

Picture © Yard-Dog at http://www.yarddog.com/

Location: 1510 S Congress Ave.Hours: Monday - Friday: 11 AM - 5 PM Saturday: 11 AM - 6 PM Sunday: 12 PM - 5 PM

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Other Places Worth Mentioning

As of January 1985, Artworks has prided itself in displaying a

variety of fine crafts. Their displays include oil, watercolor, gouache (a form of opaque watercolor), and acrylic paintings; bronze and glass sculptures; and a range of vintage and antique art objects.

Although not really a gallery, Blue Genie Art Industries are worth

mentioning here. Since 1999, they have been helping Keep Austin Weird, with numerous murals and statues through-out Austin. Every year, Blue Genie hosts numerous events and shows, the largest of which is the Blue Genie Art Bazaar in December. This Bazaar features the work of over 100 artists, and is a free event that anyone can go to.

Picture © That Other Paper from Flickr

Picture © http://www.artworksaustin.com

Location: 1214 W 6th St.Hours: Monday - Saturday: 10 AM - 5 PM

Location: 916 Springdale Rd. #4Bazaar: 6226 Middle Fiskville Rd. 1 - 24 December Sun - Thur: 10 AM - 10 PM Fri - Sat: 10 AM - 12 AM

Blanton Museum of ArtLocation: 200 E MLK Blvd.Type of Art: European Paintins, Modern and Contemporary American and Latino art, drawings and prints.

Women & Their WorkLocation: 1710 Lavaca St.Type of Art: Contemporary art promoting the work of women astists in Texas

ART on 5thLocation: 1501 W. 5th St.Type of Art: Local, na-tional, and international contemporary art that doesn’t fit in a particular genre.

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Formula 1 racing

comes to Austin

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02 | 10.6.2010

By. Dexter

The new Formula track that is going to be built and finished in 2012 will cost the state of Texas twenty-four million dollars to build, and an extra twenty-five a year that will go to Tavo Hellmund, the man sponsoring the track. But this is nothing compared to the three hundred million dollars of profit that the state of Texas will receive annually from the track events. This large sum of money will greatly improve the already great Texas economy, the 14th best in the world to be exact. Austin, TX is the perfect location for the new track that will be created in 2012. Austin’s location is one that is matched by only a few others. This is, because it is in the middle of the “Texas Triangle.” The “Texas Triangle” is a mega region comprised of Houston, the Dallas-Fort-Worth area, San Antonio, and Austin. In 2000 this mega region had a population of 16,131,347, and in 2025 it will have a population of around 23.5 million. Besides this large population, there are also, on average 130 international flights arriving in a 180-mile radius per day, and in this 180-mile radius there are about 250,000 hotel rooms for the spectators to stay in. And even though 180 miles may seem like a long distance to travel, it is nothing to the die-hard F1 fans. In addition to the annual Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, there will also be many more events that will happen at the track, making it a multifunctional facility, great for family, friends… and work parties! One event mentioned by Formula 1 was a cart track program that would run on the F1 track itself. This carting program would be perfect for celebratory events, individual experiences, other group events, and “team-building exercises” for work related things. Another thing for more “special” people is the Motor Sports Driving club premium car storage, drivers training (driving fancy cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc), and concierge level services. The last thing mentioned by F1 was a driving and riding experi-ence, which would involve ride-a-longs with professional drivers and some test-drives. All of these extra events can provide more revenue for our state. Speaking of revenue, financial reports released by the state of Texas, it stated that the company that is sponsoring the track; Full Throttle Productions will require 7 million dollars in naming rights for the track. And another 17 million dollars from non-F1 fees, and the property rental costs. Tavo Hellmund, Full Throttle’s managing partner also requests twenty-five million dollars every year that the track is in service. This may seem like quite a “pretty penny” but it is nothing compared to the three hundred million dollars the state will gain in rev-enue, annually. Not only will the state of Texas receive a large amount

of money, but the track can provide a decent amount of jobs. To build the track, it will require about 1500 workers, and there will also need to

be 1200 other workers on race weekend, not to mention all of the other events that will happen there.

Because of all of these great things, I think the new Formula 1 track will have a very beneficial and mutual relation. Because Full Throttle produc-

tions and Tavo Hellmund will be able to make a large sum of money, the state can gain a large revenue from the event, even the “people traffic” in Austin will

go up which could in turn help Austin’s economy and all of it’s small businesses. But what is most important is that people all around the world can come to the

great city of Austin, relax, enjoy the sights, and go watch some Formula 1 racing!

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Author Bios

Jonathan

Jonathan is a wonderful human that lived on Earth several years ago. This was of course, until he fell in a liquid pit of hot led. If he were here, he would say that he liked to roam the dark mountains of Peru, and enjoyed collecting hair from everyone -- I wouldn’t bother asking him why. Anyway, he was traveling to the gloomy city of London, when he was captured by animal rights activists. They decided that his time had come, so they took him to a lab and transformed him into a lab rat. Then, they took young Jonathan and threw him into a pit of hot lead on planet Pluto (yes, it is still a planet). That was the end of Jonathan. But wait... then who is the kid who wrote all of his stories?

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Miriam

Miriam, usually just called Mimi for short, is 14 years old. She is the only girl in her group, and constantly feels the need to stop her group mates from acting like immature kindergartners. To chase away boredom (and make people be quiet for a while), Mimi always carries around a few puzzles. If you wish to get your mind shattered with frustration, all you’ve got to do is ask. When it comes to languages, she can speak Spanish, Swiss-German (and German, although not as well), and sometimes English (which would make her trilingual, for the most part). She is never pleased with her work, no matter how many people tell her it’s good, and will continue to edit something until it is actually mangled beyond repair. She is also not very good at ending things, which is why this just

Dexter

Dexter is a freshman at LASA and in the last couple of months just turned 14, yeah I know crazy. He loves pottery and loves making it even more. At his house, he has a kiln and potter’s wheel in the garage. Not only does he make pottery for fun on his own, he also makes pottery for Ryan Mckerley (look to the article Dexter did about him for more information). Other things Dexter likes are: mov-ies (especially Inception), all sorts of music, “fancy food,” and whistling. Some of his least favorite things are: lots of homework, his room, and tomatoes. He also thinks E-zine was one of his favorite classes, because he got to design tons of stuff for E-zine, like this page and several others. And he hopes that this class, and the use of all these design tools will help him with his future pottery buisness.

D

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