SwissMiss, goin' out to DooNanny

Just sent off copies of the Swiss Miss video, exploring a traditional dance of my peoples, to be a part of Doo Nanny Woods of Wonder Film Fest in Seale Alabama, at Butch Anthony's Museum of Wonder.

 

And, sent copies off to the Kansas Humanities Council, too...

 

More about DooNanny on FB: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=7&ved=0CCoQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgroup.php%3Fgid%3D80850038545&rct=j&q=doo+nanny%2C+seale+alabama&ei=mhaAS_CkHJTINdnD9b8E&usg=AFQjCNF_4-sIAGn4OoWFWcw7rGfZ9m3p9w

 

Butch Anthony's Museum of Wonder:  http://www.museumofwonder.com/

Sketchbook Project, ON VIEW in BROOKLYN NY

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (February 19 - 21, 2010) will be the second showing of the Sketchbook Project goes on view at 303 Grand, Brooklyn NY. Our hand-drawn book "And Suddenly - There it WAS! A WLCoWSVoWLT Road Trip" can be checked out and perused during this second of many showings around the country.

If you're not in the area, you can also check out the posted scans on our page of the Art House Co-Op site:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/submissions/12572-and-suddenly-there-it-was-wlcowsvowlt-road-trip

See ya' on the road, and in the galleries!

-Erika

Erika Nelson: Your source for inappropriate nationwide quotes since 1973.

 

Re-quote from Wall Street Journal hits front page of Section P, Dallas Morning News...  Way to spread some left-handed compliments about Kansas.

 

"Nobody expects anything out of Kansas.  So that gives you a premission slip to do whatever the hell you want." ...Aritst Erika Nelson, discussing the surge in roadside sculptures appearing along Kansas Highways (The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday)

 

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DallasMorningNews/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=RE1OLzIwMTAvMDIvMTQ.&pageno=MTcz&entity=QXIxNzMwMw..&view=ZW50aXR5

FRONT PAGE Wall Street Journal article today!

 

Front page, today's WSJ - These Unknown Sculptors Are Outstanding in Their Fields in Kansas

 

Look for the WLCoWSVoWLT in the online slideshow, and an off-color quote from Erika in the article:

 

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703894304575047461204497670-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwODEwNDgyWj.html

WLT goes to Telluride for Mountainfilm 2010

Got the confirmation call today, so it looks like a GO for Mountainfilm in Telluride Colorado in May - whoop!  They've requested the Fossil Fuel truck, and I DO believe we'll be setting up the NEW Sideshow Extravaganza.

 

More about the festival here: http://www.mountainfilm.org/about/

 

Hello, 2010!  I like ya' so far...

 

 

Worlds Largest Documentary - World Premeir at SXSW!!!

Way to go, Amy and Lizzy!  They've been working for a while on this look at World's Largest across the U.S., and the WORLD PREMEIR IS HERE!  At the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

 

Congrats!

 

(WLT Director Erika was interviewed for this film in 2004, but I have no idea if I made the cut.  Either way, it's going to be an important tool in telling the story of Small Towns that Think Big)

Tourist Season starts earlier and earlier, it seems...

Today's Back Yard Visitors get the extra-added bonus of being the FIRST of 2010!  They are Londoners taking a year to see what can be seen, and documenting it all here:

 

http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=hollyandrichiewalkabout

Indianapolis Sack Men

Before I forget, remind me to write out the physical configuration of the bus - I crammed a whole life in there for a few years (there was a storage shed, too, for the large installation art environment that was still being booked at a few venues in the Midwest). The bus contained all of the ‘stuff’ for day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-to-year provisions and items and some silly sentimental items, too. The accordion lived in the attic, the banjo under the bed. And, remind me to tell you about testing all of that out…

Living on the road started out as a truly wandering thing. I had not set plan or agenda, a few dates in different states, but that was about it. It sounds like a freeing thing, an open possibility, a mental frontier, but it is actually quite overwhelming when you pull away from what used to be home (and THAT is a whole ‘nother hill o’ beans, and not worth getting into just yet - it’d still be full of curse words and vitriol) and have no set ‘end’ point.

Read the rest on the full post at the World's Largest Things Posterous blog...

Big News Days!

Some bee must be in a collective bonnet, 'cause there's been a rash of image requests and interviews about quirky Kansas roadside attractions and the like -

 

Talked on the phone Friday with New York Times reporter Stephanie Simon, then got an image request late last night for the same story.  Print or online, we don't know yet, but I'm sure Kansas images are flooding her in-box.

 

Then, just today, a media request from ABC News (most likely online, too, but who knows...) for Roadside Attraction images.  OF COURSE I sent in som eof the requested things like the W.L. Ball of Twine, but had to add in the WLCoWSVoWLT, the meta-photo of the WSVo the WLCoWSVoWLT VISITING the WLCoWSVoWLT, and the WSVoWL Badger, from the WLCoWSVoWLT Collection.

 

Oh, and there were some other ones speckled in there, too, but those will have to be additional stories for another time...

Kansas 150 Speakers Bureau Catalogue

...now available online!

 

I have two new lectures through this great program, and they're offering ONE FREE BOOKING to any Kansas Non-Profit organization (while funds last) in 2010 - great win-win-win!

 

You can find out how to schedule a fun and informative lecture here:

 

http://www.kansashumanities.org/programs/speakers_bureau/speakers.html

 

The new offerings are:

 

Folk Art in Kansas - From wheat weaving and egg painting traditions passed down from immigrant ancestors, to visionary environments composed of cement sculptures or metal whirligigs and the internationally renowned work of Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton, Kansas folk art has much to teach us about creativity and the innovative spirit that inspires our state.  This presentation will look at folk art and "outsider" art as a part of our state's history and heritage.

 

Monumental Sculpture in Kansas - From Wichita's "Keeper of the Plains" to Oakley's oversized bronze Buffalo Bill sculpture, Kansas towns have a history of putting up large sculptures as a way to help explain "who we are".  These works of art provide a connection to our history and reflect community expression through iconic structures, but they can also serve as lightning rods for disagreement.  This presentation will consider the power of large-scale public art in community and how it can showcase artistic expression, history, and local pride.

 

Let me know if there's a time you want to have one of these programs, and we'll get the ball rolling...

 

-Erika Nelson, Director

Worlds Largest Things

 

p.s. - I'm also still on the Kansas Arts Commission Arts on Tour roster, if you're looking for a hands-on workshop, or have been inspired to THINK BIG and build your OWN Community Icon:  http://arts.ks.gov/roster/visual_literary/nelson.shtml

Journeying Germination

For Thing-A-Day, I'm trying to capture some of the stories behind the devlopment of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum.  See my own Posterous blog for a full explanation, and image set that I'll be using to jar my own memories...

That sort of confused, in-between time can be the time of most clarity and vision… Which parts to you listen to, which parts do you discard? And, how do you hold multiple seemingly contradictory ideals or goals or directions in your head (and in your being) at once? This was a time of transition, and choosing paths.

Read the rest on the full post at the World's Largest Things Posterous blog...

Backstory Paintings

Here's part of what I'll use as inspiration in this year's Thing-A-Day writing project - the images from the development of the large Backstory Paintings from 2007, illustrating some of the events surrounding the years from 1999 - 2004. I am enjoying re-visiting these (I don't think I've looked at them since they were painted, as they're still stuck in limbo storage in another state, and this set of images is from WAAAAYYYYY back in the photostream) and the odd parallel that happens with memory - as the images emerge(d), so do(did) the stories... I'll try not to look TOO far ahead, and just pick one as inspiration for a story-of-the-era based on that chosen image....

Or not.  I'm fickle that way.

Posted via email from Worlds Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the Worlds Largest Things