Palani puppeteer

Malin Palani is the 2017 Hartman Reserve Artist-in-Residence. These images were taken by Connie Svoboda, Development Coordinator at Hartman, at the Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA. A magical performance!

Bleeding Heart Series

Enjoying "Suck It: Watermelon" from Aypryl Pippert's Bleeding Heart Series. See the entirety at the "Department of Art Faculty Exhibition" at the UNI Gallery of Art, Oct. 9 - Nov. 17, 2017.

Waterloo Haitian Art Conference

 Haitian Art Conference attendees view a 1957 Belizaire painting in the UNI Collection Storage facility.

Waterloo Center for the Arts' Chawne Paige leads a tour of objects on loan to UNI from that institution.

Pink

Something pink for a late summer Friday afternoon.

Me in Arkansas 2015 after a deluge.

Thanks for the pic, Ace.

Doug DuBois at the Gallery

 Informal artist's talk on Sept. 7, 2017.

UNI Gallery of Art

August 21 – September 30, 2017

In Good Time

An beautiful exhibition of photographs by Doug DuBois (seen above). It was organized by Aperture Foundation, New York and Hermès Foundation, Paris and curated by Cory Jacobs.

Des Moines Metro Opera, 45th Season

  A Little Night Music, Stephen Sondheim – After to listening to this music for decades, 7/7/17 was the first time I’ve witnessed a live production. It was expertly cast, full of charming singers, all of whom conveyed quicksilver transitions of wit and emotion. So lovely to see/hear! The principals were excellent, but I was most impressed with the Liebeslieder Quintet who set the tone and commented throughout. Sondheim has to be well sung and the singing has to be expressive. All of this happened effortlessly, and the production is all the richer for that.

I wore a fire opal in honor of Madame Armfeldt's "Liasons."

Billy Budd, Benjamin Britten – An amazing production, even transcendent. I saw it on 7/9/17, and I’m still a bit speechless. The set was handsome and in every sense logical to the action, the lighting was brilliant, and the costumes suitably nautical and thankfully revealing – the principals and the chorus are fine-looking to a fault.

You expect the character Billy Budd to be radiant, he was, but as played by Craig Verm he was also brawny and lithe like a gymnast with a rounded, resonant baritone. It’s easy to understand how fellow sailors would love him. Captain “Starry” Vere, who sings to us first and last, is tormented by his decision to not save Billy, and Roger Honeywell communicates this by demonstrating that laws are not always just and telling us that “good has never been perfect.” Claggart, as played by a truly astonishing Zachary James, is the standout in this cast. I didn’t expect to be so moved by this character, but Mr. James gives us context for Claggart’s deeds. He’s a man who’s motivated by deep self-loathing and long-stifled desires, someone driven to destructive behavior for the purpose of suppressing his own emotion. Mr. James with his imposing physique, his anguished glowering, and his resounding bass make this point clear. Can I just say that upon meeting the actor after the performance this forbidding figure is actually quite delightful, all dazzling smiles and friendly conversation? Am I blushing?

As you’d expect, the orchestra under Maestro David Neely is perfection, all nuance and then power and precision when needed.

Anyway, I reserve my final comment for the splendid male chorus, all from the 2017 DMMO Apprentice Artist Program, which is directed by the capable, accomplished Lisa Hasson. In all my years performing and viewing theatrical productions, I have never felt such vocal power before. Act II, scene 2’s “Blow her away…” blew me away. I think the Blank Performing Arts Center building may have shaken right off its foundations for a moment, and I was reduced to gooseflesh.

I’m saying all this because I’m so impressed, really profoundly stirred. I rolled out of Des Moines with so many thoughts, I had to commit them to words. This is my third consecutive year attending DMMO productions, Janáček’s Jenůfa in 2015 and Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice (French version) in 2016, and I feel so happy to be in Iowa, so pleased to be a mere two hours away from such artistic excellence. Congratulations to all involved with the 2017 season, and I’ll be there with bells on in 2018.

DMAC, Summer 2017

"Ruptures" Exhibition entrance (UL); Anne Wilson's "Burst"detail (UR); El Anatsui's "Basin" detail (LL); and Mona Hatoum's "Turbulence (black)" (LR).

Mary Miss's "Greenwood Pond" detail (UL); Andy Goldsworthy's "Three Cairns" (UR); Auguste Rodin's "Honore deBalzac" detail (LL); and El Anatsui's "Basin" (LR).

The Des Moines Art Center, summer 2017. In honor of all the gifted artists we've lost this year.