More Day of the Dead!

I came across the Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Ogden Museum on my twitter feed. I had the pleasure of visiting the museum last Mardi Gras. I loved it! It's one of the best museums i've ever been to. So much original and unique Southern style art. I loved the Folk Art tradition in New Orleans, it has a distinct humour and really vibrant style. The Ogden's Dia de los Muertos celebration is no exception! The museum is very connected with the culture and people of New Orleans. Museums can be a bit elitest but this one is so open and inviting to the public. It has an eclectic mix of music nights and loads of other events. I wish I could be there this Hallowe'en!

These photos are from the museum's facebook page. The calendar page of the museum site gives the following info:

"Artist Cynthia Ramirez creates a Day of the Dead altar to honor New Orleans icon Uncle Lionel Batiste. The altar will include items that she has incorporated into it, as well as those the public has brought her to include."

"Presented by the Consulate of Mexico, New Orleans; Tulane University's Stone Center for Latin American Studios and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art."

ATAI Conference 2012

I was at the ATAI Conference last weekend with a lot of my classmates on the dip.

It was a really interesting day with talks from Lesley Burgess, Gemma Tipton and Mary McCarthy, followed by a panel discussion on various topics in art education today. I had not been aware of the proposal to amalgamate all teacher training courses into one facility, it was interesting to hear thoughts and opinions on that from the panel.

The most enjoyable part of the conference for me was perhaps the opportunity to see some of the leading student work from around the country. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, so I had to make do with my (poorer quality) camera phone. There's a few images here to feast your eyes on anyway!

Dia de los Muertos

I'm doing a Day of the Dead class with my TY group tomorrow in school. I love Mexican culture and their vibrant art tradition and I wanted to take a different approach to the usual Hallowe'en themed art done in schools. I also think there's something a lot more edgy and exciting about the Day of the Dead art than the traditional Hallowe'en images we get here.

I've featured two female artists here, Sylvia Ji and the wonderful ZSO. Sylvia Ji uses the traditional Catarina image in her work a lot, ZSO dipped her toe into Mexican art with these fab Calavera, I love them all!

Very unseasonably I did a few calavera back in August for a friends birthday, great fun to paint, hopefully the pupils will enjoy it tomorrow.

Posters from A Brief Exchange

So i've been blogging a lot about A Brief Exchange the last couple of months, Noeleen recently put up a facebook album of the work done for the show, there is a lot of great work there.

I'd highly recommend you to check it out. Here is some of the work to whet your appetite...