• POETRY OUT LOUD: Cheryl Evans Wins Local Competition; Places 3rd in State Finals
• ANNOUNCING MEET THE ARTS COMMISSIONERS:  Peter Maund
• ARTIST'S SPOTLIGHT:  California Independent Film Festival
• ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Jan Weiss - How to get Internet Exposure for Your Art
• ANNOUNCING Fine Arts Series, A National Gallery of Art Video Loan Program
• ANNOUNCING ART BEAT Video Magazine featuring interviews with artists from Contra Costa County
• ANNOUNCING Art Passages, video highlights of the Art Passages gallery in Martinez
• ANNOUNCING MIXOLOGY:  New Art Passages Gallery Opening April 14th
• ANNOUNCING CCTV's ART BEAT Programming Schedule
• ARTS DIRECTORY & CALENDAR:  Artists' Free Resource
• ART BEAT Newsletter:  Call For Submissions
• AC5 ON FACEBOOK

"We are extremely proud of all the students involved in California Poetry Out Loud, from the 40,000 classroom participants to the 27 county winners who wow’d thousands in the Senate Chambers on March 15." - California Arts Council

View the Contra Costa County competition slide show here.

Cheryl Evans, a senior from Deer Valley High in Antioch, took first place in the Contra Costa County “Poetry Out Loud” competition on February 7.  Evans was one of thousands of students across the state to participate in the national recitation contest, a program run by the California Arts Council in the state and started by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to engage high-school students in the presentation of poetry through memorization and performance. Evans advanced to the California state finals that took place in Sacramento on March 15, 2010. At stake were hundreds of dollars on the state competition level and thousands at the national finals of Poetry Out Loud.

Cheryl Evans gave stunning recitations along with a very competitive pool of finalists, including students from Delta Academy for the Performing Arts, Dougherty Valley, Independence High, Las Lomas High, Miramonte High, Monte Vista, Mt. Diablo High, Pittsburg High, Richmond High, Salesian High and Venture High.  Countywide, over 2000 students memorized a poem for the program this year.

In a close race, Second Place went to Jenni Lopez from Delta Academy for the Performing Arts, and Third Place to Abel Pineda from Richmond High.

“Young people interested in rap and slam contests can be surprisingly interested in classical poetry when it’s presented through the Poetry Out Loud competition,” said Muriel Johnson, Director of the California Arts Council. “We’ve seen students from all backgrounds and academic levels embrace this program wholeheartedly. It can change their lives.”

One of the goals of the Poetry Out Loud program is to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry: recitation and performance. Poetry Out Loud competitions start in the classroom, then at the school, region, state, and national finals, similar to the structure of the spelling bee. The national initiative is part of an attempt to bring literary arts to students, a critical need in U.S. schools, according to a 2004 NEA report Reading at Risk that found a dramatic decline in literary reading, especially among younger readers.

Addendum to this announcement:  Cheryl Evans won 3^rd Place in the Poetry Out Loud State Finals competition on March 15th.  Watch for Cheryl's interview to be published in the next ART BEAT.

View the video of Cheryl's recitation at the state competition here.

More information can be found at www.cac.ca.gov and www.poetryoutloud.org

Peter met Clea Galhano at a conference at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.  Peter was there teaching workshops and wound up jamming with Clea at the faculty party.  Clea subsequently invited Peter to tour with her, beginning with rehearsals and a warm up concert in Minneapolis, and on to Carnegie Hall for a May 13 performance.  Artbeat subscribers with New York connections take note!!

Peter is an interesting blend of talent in both the business and art worlds.  He is a thriving, if not quietly understated successful professional in the music business and in the business of playing music.  He has earned high praise from his colleagues for his past work as Director of Business Development for Sibelius, and is currently the VP of Business Development for Legato Media, LLC.  His business profile can be viewed on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-maund/4/231/b58.

In addition to his business successes, he is a talented percussionist and a seasoned performer, teacher, presenter and author.  His literary work titled, “Percussion” in A Performers Guide to Medieval Music, Ross Duffin, ed., Indiana University Press, was published in 2000.  He has given lectures and presentations for the American Recorder Society, the Ethnomusicology Students of Indiana University, Bloomington, the Vancouver Early Music Society, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and many others.  Performances include appearances with the Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players, Chanticleer, Davka, Ensemble Alcatraz, Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Hesperion XX (Jordi Savall and La Capella Reial de Catalunya), The Harp Consort (Andrew Lawrence King), Paul Hillier, Kitka, Musica Pacifica, Alasdair Fraser’s Skyedance and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, among others.

Peter’s teaching includes workshops, classes and private lessons in percussion, early music ensembles, music appreciation and world music.  He has served on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, the San Francisco Early Music Society Medieval & Renaissance Music Workshops (Dominican College, San Rafael, CA and Sonoma State University), the Amherst Early Music Institute, and for Balnain House (Inverness) and Scottish Culture and Tradition (Glasgow).

Peter has a long list of venues at which he has performed over the years and appears on over 50 CDs.  His 2010 recordings to date include “Dancing in the Isles”, with Musica Pacifica and “The Lost Mode”, with Annette Bauer and Shira Kammen.  An exceptional individual who truly and actively promotes the arts and expresses brilliance through music, he is a valued member on the AC5 Commission.

*  Partial list of excerpts from performance reviews:
“(Peter Maund) performed brilliantly on a range of percussion instruments… true rapport and sensitivity to one another’s music making.”  - The Washington Post
“… astoundingly virtuosic.”  - San Francisco Chronicle
“Percussionist Peter Maund Brought a delicate sensibility to his sounds and rhythm that is exception.”  - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“the most considerate and imaginative of percussionists.”  Glasgow Herald

 

ARTIST’S SPOTLIGHT:  2010 California Independent Film Festival April 22 – 25, 2010
http://www.caiff.org/

“Filmic conversation is universal, is spoken by all, and transcends cultural barriers.  Our mission is to educate, inspire and entertain.  This is a great event, a great place to gather… a must see for all!”  - Beau Behan

AC5’s ART BEAT interviewed Beau Behan, Program & Promotion Director of the California Independent Film Festival (CAIFF).  We asked Beau, soft spoken, articulate, and world-traveled, how he became involved with the film festival… “I became friends with Derek Zemrak, the founder of CAIFF, in 2001.  We collaborated on a book that Derek was writing, Any Man’s Son, I was the editor, and it was then that I started volunteering for CAIFF.  The film festival brings together film buffs, casual movie goers, filmmakers, actors and student filmmakers for a great experience on all sides.  Having actors at the festival who are in the movies being screened, makes it exciting for the fans and we really enjoy having them.  Having the filmmakers there gives them an opportunity to learn from the audience’s reactions and questions, and student filmmakers are able to get questions answered by established filmmakers.  My role for many years has been that of celebrity interface, making all the behind the scenes arrangements, everything from transportation, to understanding the little details that will make a difference, setting their accommodations, showing them around when they arrive and generally making sure they are comfortable.“

ARTIST OF THE MONTH:  Jan Weiss
How to Get Internet Exposure For Your Art
By Jan Weiss

The more places you submit and show your work the better the chances you have of being found through search engine marketing (SEM). There are two ways you can be found through searches. First there is the organic way. The more hits on your site the higher up in page ranking you become. Don't think you can fool the system by clicking on your site over and over...your IP address shows up in the searches and the search engines are smarter than that. Then there is search engine optimization. You know when you search for a particular item and there is a special search box at the top and the side navigation bar? The owner of that site has paid for that placement. They submitted a keyword or key phrase to the search engine, like Yahoo, Google or Bing and when the browser puts that word or phrase into the search box a paid subscriber shows up in that space. This is pay per click meaning that that retailer or owner of that site pays each time you click on their advertisement. Be nice...don't click over and over.

Ok getting back to what I said about submitting your images to sites. Here is a list of ways to show your art.

• Start a blog. This is like a web site but it changes a lot more. This can be free if you use Blogspot, a Google owned service, some have a small fee such as Typeface and WordPress. Every day write a paragraph about your art and add an image. Use key words like your name or the material you used for your art such as "acrylic painting" or "Digital photography". If there is a location in your art such as "San Francisco Zoo" use that word in your paragraph. Blogs can be simple and straightforward. If you want to monetize it then you will need to learn about ad space. There are help buttons; use them.

• Etsy. Etsy is retail site for handmade art. It is free to set up a shop. Once you submit a product for sale it costs you $.20 to list it. If it sells then there is a small percentage paid back to Etsy. You will need a Paypal account to have an Etsy shop. Popular products on Etsy are jewelry, handbags, invitations and original art.

• Flickr. Flickr is owned by Yahoo. It is a photo sharing site. You can upload your images for free. If you want to have several galleries within your account there is a small yearly fee. Upload items that are about 1000 pixels. Don't go any larger than that. For added image protection, watermark your images. Flickr offers the opportunity to join and connect with other artists worldwide who create art similar to yours. Flickr is an excellent way to show many images at one time rather the sending jpegs which can be slow and clog up your inbox.  

• The last suggestion for today is Twitter. Twitter is free. It allows you to send a message up to 140 characters (including spaces) to your followers. Use keywords in your tweets. If you add a new item to your Etsy shop, then send a tweet and watch your traffic increase. In order to get Twitter followers you will need to follow others. So in the search box on Twitter put in the word Etsy. Artists on Twitter that have Etsy shops may have posted their listings. So click on their Twitter account and follow them. They will get a notice that they have a follower and quite possibly will want to follow you. Avoid tweeting about inane stuff like what you ate for breakfast; other then you no one else is interested. Use this space wisely and don't tweet all day; three to five tweets is plenty.

I am a published artist with fifteen years in the art industry. I focus on modern digitally inspired art. I also dedicate much of my time to featuring emerging artists on my blog http://www.tuesdaymoonstudio.blogspot.com additionally I make my art available on my ImageKind site. http://www.tuesdaymoon.imagekind.com/store/ This on-line store is my internet presence to buyers looking for inspiring and originally created art for their homes, offices and as excellent additions to anyone working in the hospitality industry; great for hotels and health care facilities. All pieces have companion images and are offered as finished product. Art is my passion and offering my experience to others is what I enjoy.

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FINE ART SERIES:  Now Showing on CCTV

Contra Costa TV Airs Fine Arts Series, A National Gallery of Art Video Loan Program

ANNOUNCING ART BEAT Video Magazine
Featuring Interviews of Artists from Contra Costa County

ART BEAT Video Magazine Presents The Art of Authentic Movement:  An Interview with Anandha Ray

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ANNOUNCING MIXOLOGY New Art Passages Gallery Show
Art Passages presents MIXOLOGY: An Expression of Inspired Imagery and Exceptional talent from Contra Costa County Visual Artists

The new Art Passages MIXOLOGY gallery show is coming soon!  The Gallery Opening is scheduled for April 14.   This is truly an exciting event; the new exhibit features over 60 works from six Contra Costa County visual artists, each extremely talented with great works to present.  Below are samples from each of the artists to be exhibited in the April show.  Click on the artist's name in the text below, to view their web references.   

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ARTS DIRECTORY & CALENDAR SERVICES

Did you know AC5 offers a free directory and calendar service for local artists in Contra Costa County and surrounding areas?  The directory service is sponsored by AC5 and is available free of charge.  While we have a strong membership, there may be some readers who have not yet created an entry in the directory.  The directory is categorized for ease of searching.  You may create your listing based on your area of artistic specialization.  There are listings in Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Literary and Media Arts, and Arts Organizations.  Whatever category you choose, there is a simple online form to fill out and you can post images of your work and external links to your web site.  You can link your eMail address so that people can contact you through the directory service.  There is also an events calendar where you can make entries for your events.  Entry in this directory will make you eligible for the new monthly publication Artist of the Month in the ART BEAT newsletter.  Are you registered?  If not, join now and experience the benefits first hand.  The link for registration is http://directory.ac5.org/.  Note, the Arts Directory will soon be advertised on CCTV spots, and in the AT&T Real Yellow Pages.  We strongly encourage artists to use this powerful marketing tool.

 

The ART BEAT newsletter has three monthly sections with content published from submissions by our readers.  This represents three wonderful opportunities for artists to increase their visibility and share information with the public and with other artists in the community.  We invite and encourage readers to submit articles with photos and links, for the following sections of ART BEAT:  

(1) ARTIST’S SPOTLIGHT publishes selected articles submitted by local artists or arts organizations in Contra Costa county.  The selected articles will not be used to advertise or market the artist's work.  Rather, they will focus on artists' point of view about their work, projects, activities, or lifestyle and experiences.  We want to feature artists' writing about their passion for their art, their challenges and their solutions, about surviving as an artist or arts organization in today's economy. 

Call for Submissions:  To be considered for this publication, artists and arts organizations can submit articles to AC5.  Articles selected for publication will be featured in the following month's ART BEAT newsletter.  The deadline for the next round of submissions is April 15th.

Submission Guidelines:  Articles can be submitted via email to ac5@ac5.org. Articles may be submitted as in-line text within an email, or as a document attachment.  Please limit your submissions to no more than one page of single spaced text in 10 or 12 point font.  Images related to your article (no more than four) may be included as attachments and you may include web links.  Please do not send hard copy submissions.  AC5 reserves the right to edit submissions.

(2) ARTFUL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE MONTH In an effort to expand the effectiveness of the AC5 Mission, which is to be a convener of the arts, and to make the arts available to everyone in Contra Costa County, we would like to raise "arts awareness" through monthly publishing of photographs submitted by local artists and photographers. 

Call for Submissions:  We request and encourage our readers to submit photographs of their art or, artful photographs.  Include in your submission a brief description of the photo(s) and any web links that relate to the work.  Please limit the number of photographs to four photos per submission.  For the February issue of Artbeat, the submission deadline is April 15, 2010.  Send submissions as image file attachments to ac5@ac5.org. 

(3) ARTIST OF THE MONTH highlights one artist or arts organization each month with text, graphics, and links about the artist or arts organization, their works, shows, events and any other newsworthy notes.  The artist of the month will be selected from the registered artists and arts organizations in the Arts Directory & Calendar at http://directory.ac5.org/ on the AC5 web site.  If you would like to be eligible to be selected for this article, please be sure that you, or your arts organization, are registered in the Arts Directory.  Candidates for the Artist of the Month will be randomly selected from the Arts Directory.  If you are not yet registered with the Arts Directory, if you sign up before April 15^th you will become eligible for Artist of the Month for the April edition of ART BEAT.