Images from Live Drawing; also April open drawing workshop coming!

Alison Tharp, who's been coordinating our Live Drawing parties (and drawing in them herself), sent on some new photos of last month's event. For those of you who have never been to one of our Live Drawing Parties: a group of artists come out and draw/paint/whatever, and sell their art over the course of the night for not much dough. It's a great opportunity to watch the creative process of lots of great local working artists, and also collect their work for peanuts.

In April, Alison and I are working on a new event, which will be an open drawing workshop - open to all comers. Folks of all skill levels can come, draw together, have a beer or two, and maybe pick up some new tips or techniques. Details coming soon on this one...

For now, enjoy the Live Drawing Photos!

on March 3 - a mini opening for a new series of portraits by Lena Zentgraf

Lena shot a series of portraits during the opening of Alternate Takes (the show that's still hanging in the cafe). She'll be back to display the result of that shoot, and do another portrait sit and shoot.

These are really striking portraits - you have to see them in person to really appreciate them. And, if you sit for a portrait, you can become part of what's becoming a really beautiful and interesting series of Lena's work.

These shots will only be displayed in the cafe until the end of this show's run, so your time to come check them out will be limited. Don't miss them.

on the facebook

Upcoming show: Paper Trails (a zine show) - opens March 9

We're excited to announce another collaborative art show - this time partnering with the Rock Paper Scissors Collective and Tomas Moniz of Rad Dad Zine. Paper Trails is a zine-themed show, encompassing hundreds of zines, many of which are locally-produced.

The show runs from March 9th through April 12th and opens with a party on March 9th from 6-10pm. The opening will feature a Zine Variety Show with readings by Tomas Moniz, John Bobst, and Mari Naomi along with music performances by Annah Anti-Palindrome and Jon Barba. DJ Baro will add some vinyl flavor to the party.

At the opening party, and for the duration of the show, we'll host the Paper Trails zine-making station. Visitors will be encouraged to contribute pages to the crowdsourced Paper Trails zine, which will be curated from submissions, then printed and distributed by the R.P.S. crew after the close of the show - it will be available for purchase at R.P.S., Actual Cafe, and other art spaces and book outlets when it's done.

We'll hang featured installations from local zinesters Endless Canvas, MariNaomi, Jaime Crespo, and others, and show tons of other zines on a display designed by Jamie Mayne of RPS. Genres will include Riot Grrrl, Radical Politics, Parenting, Gender & Sexuality, Comics/Art/Photography, DIY Skill-Sharing, and more. Zines will be available for sale or trade, and a zine reading library will be installed in the cafe (replacing our normal book exchange for the month).

I'll post some images and such as soon as I can get some. Don't miss this show - it's a one-of-a-kinder.

new show up...Alternate Takes / People Make the World Go 'Round

We just opened an excellent new show of portraits in several media (photos, drawings, paintings), by a really talented group of artists: Chloe Crossman, Ashley Eberlein, Sage Redclay, Stephanie Sarley, Daniel Salo, and Jeffrey Chung. Apologies for not getting this stuff up before the opening, but the show's up for a full month, so you've got some time to come check it out. I'll do a few posts over the next couple weeks focused on each artists work, but for today, here's a quick overview...enjoy!