Uncle Hartwick by Rachel Nanstad

Premiered Thursday, November 15, 2012.

Rachel Nanstad grew up in the remote wilds of Oak Ridge, TN, secret birthplace of the Atomic Bomb. She currently lives in Oakland, CA and works in the Mission District, San Francisco as an editor and videographer.

Works screened at the Center were made between the years 2004-2012. The content ranges from a short documentary about a cat who got his head stuck in a jar to experimental, hand-processed films about dreams, unusual Uncles and music videos.

These pieces explore psychological space, cosmic space, identity and true stories of life on earth.

Also included is a trailer for a documentary work in progress about a public access girl group from the late 1970s that wanted to become rich and famous. Coming soon: The Reed Sisters an American Story.

photo taken by Diana Elliot

December 6, 2012October 1, 2015

Public Art in Modesto interactive map

Check out this excellent interactive map listing the public art in Modesto. Public Art in Modesto is a project of the Modesto Art Museum and Geography students at California State University Stanislaus.

http://tinyurl.com/afkqa2a

December 3, 2012October 1, 2015

ArtPlace spoke with the Building Imagination Center about creating political allies

courtyard-view Through its Resident Filmmaker Program, the Center brings regional documentary video artists to Modesto to actively engage the community with hands-on video creation, and to provide real world experience for California State University Stanislaus film students. It is the Center’s mission to create an environment where artists can work, thrive, and feel supported by the community, and then to catalyze this growth and leverage it to benefit the local community by creating a vibrant activation of the downtown art scene.

ArtPlace spoke with Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Director for the Building Imagination Center, about the goals of the Center and the downtown art scene in Modesto, California.

ARTPLACE: Have you gained any political traction with your efforts? If so, with whom and how did you do it?

GOMULA-KRUZIC: The Building Imagination Center has been very well received in Modesto by local residents, other art and civic organizations, and officials in public office. One significant indication of this acceptance is our recent invitation to be a part of the Modesto Downtown Hospitality and Promotions group. Recently, the City initiated an effort in conjunction with the Downtown Improvement District, Chamber of Commerce, and Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to improve the sociability of our downtown. This program consists of three branches: Operations, Promotions, and Economic Development. Due to the Center’s interest in creative placemaking in our downtown, we were invited to be part of the Promotions Group.

The Promotions Group focuses on promotions, marketing, special events, and public relations for the downtown area, focusing on making it look more inviting and appealing to the local citizens. While we have been contributing to the research about exactly what type of person or group is currently using the downtown area, and for what purposes, we have also played a key part in the first transformation project, which was featured in the local newspaper. Right outside of our windows, we can see the City taking its first steps towards re-imagining downtown Modesto by converting non-usable street corners into pedestrian friendly ‘parklets’. These are small urban parks created to provide a public place for citizens to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the city around them. Through the redistribution of city owned tree and flower planters, the addition of some decoupage painting techniques, and cafe tables and chairs, the city has in one weekend transformed the urban experience of 10th and J street. And the Building Imagination Center was right there to help.

Prolong Expression by John Fandl

Premiered on Thursday, October 18, 2012.

Created in Modesto by the Building Imagination Center’s resident filmmaker John Fandl.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuCRL9sVxv4&w=320&h=240&rel=0]

Fandl’s work explores how organizations find creative ways of making a difference in their surroundings. More specifically, how they use art as a tool of healing. This can be many things, from painting a mural on a fence to prevent graffiti, or hiring at risk high school students in a print shop to keep them out of trouble.

The Resident Filmmaker Challenge is a two and a half week long production laboratory that connects the region’s best filmmakers with our own local nonprofit organizations to develop a short form documentary video.

November 5, 2012October 1, 2015

Parklets are here!

Recently, the City initiated an effort in conjunction with the Downtown Improvement District, Chamber of Commerce, and Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to improve the sociability of our downtown. Due to the Center’s interest in creative placemaking in our downtown, we were invited to be part of the Promotions Group.

The Promotions Group focuses on marketing, special events, and public relations for the downtown area, focusing on making it look more inviting and appealing to the local citizens. While we have been contributing to the ongoing research about how the public uses the downtown area, we have also played a key part in the first transformation project.

Right outside of our windows, we can see the City taking its first steps towards re-imagining downtown Modesto by converting non-usable street corners into pedestrian friendly ‘parklets’. These are small urban parks created to provide a public place for citizens to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the city around them. Through the redistribution of city owned tree and flower planters, the addition of some decoupage painting techniques, and cafe tables and chairs, the city has in one weekend transformed the urban experience of 10th and J street.

The transformation was covered in two Modesto Bee articles, here and here.

And the Building Imagination Center was right there to help. Come out, enjoy a sandwich, and enjoy this transformation firsthand.

parklet-moving-planter — The City redistributes it’s tree and flower planters to define the borders of the new parklets.

parklet-almost-finished — Bistro tables and chairs welcome pedestrians to stop and sit.

October 31, 2012October 1, 2015

EPLO #3: Tour of Building Imagination Initiative’s Interactive Video

EPLO #3: Tour of Building Imagination Initiative’s Interactive Video

The Building Imagination Initiative’s interactive video work Luna Eclose will be going on tour with intermedia performance group DOUBLE VISION.

As the audience enters the installation, they will find themselves moving through a maze of hanging scrim, multi-source video projection and sound. Willingly, or not, their own bodies become participants as light and shadows create overlays echoed throughout the space. Sharing the space with the audience are three dancers. The audience is invited to place instructive signs upon the dancers, dictating their movements. Through this simple interaction, the audience plays an active role in directing the course of the event.

Luna Eclose will feature artists from across the United States including video directed by Jessica Gomula with production by CSU Stanislaus students, sound by Sean Clute, choreography and performance by Pauline Jennings, Jennifer Mellor, Ellen Smith Ahern and Lida Winfield.

DOUBLE VISION creates experimental performances for dance, music, and video. Led by Sean Clute and Pauline Jennings, the company has distinguished itself nationally and internationally. DOUBLE VISION has presented work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Macworld Artists Salons, and the Merce Cunningham Studio. Internationally, the company has performed at the Museumsquartier Wien (Vienna), Primo Piano LivinGallery (Lecce), Institut Intermédií (Prague), Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture (Greece), and ProARTS International Choreography Platform (Brno). This past fall, Clute and Jennings presented their work at ISEA2012 (Albuquerque), DUMBO Dance Festival (NYC) and the Wave Rising Series (NYC).

Media Contact:
The T.
64 South Main St. #4
Stowe, VT 05672
Tel: 413-627-3443
PR@double-vision.biz

Upcoming EPLO #3 Tour:

December 14th: QUENCH ARTSPACE. 4403 Main Street. Waitsfield, Vermont.
December 15th: EASTERN BLOC. 7240 Clark Montreal, QC H2R 2Y3, Canada.
December 16th: CDFS. 18 Langdon Street, Montpelier, Vermont.
December 21st: Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn, New York.

October 19, 2012October 6, 2015

Outside the Picket Fence by Christian Hali.

Outside the Picket Fence by Christian Hali

Premiered on Thursday, September 20, 2012.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOvMoMsreuA&w=320&h=240&rel=0]

Resident Filmmaker Christian Hali’s work explores how mediated images and narratives smuggled ideology through popular culture. In his video work, he uses the conventions of film and television (narrative, slow motion, film grammar) as a structure to explore our day-to-day experiences and reflections upon the macro and micro.

October 19, 2012October 1, 2015

The Architecture of Robert W. Beharka AND Architecture Photography & Art Exhibition

September 15-October 15, 2012.

Coinciding with the fifth annual Modesto International Architecture Festival, the Modesto Art Museum is hosted two exhibits of architectural art.

Architecture Photography and Art Exhibition
Architectural paintings, drawings, photographs, watercolors, and other art from artists of all ages. The exhibit is made possible in part by a grant from Target.

The Architecture of Robert W. Beharka

An associate of Frank Lloyd Wright, architect Robert W. Beharka developed his own version of modernism, building less traditional, more organic homes. Beharka supervised the construction of three Wright houses, and then set up his own architectural practice in Los Banos, California. The exhibit includes drawings, notes, artifacts, and photos of his work.

October 8, 2012September 11, 2015

ArtPlace spoke with the Building Imagination Center about succeeding in its initiative to create community change

ArtPlace spoke with Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Director for the Building Imagination Center, about the goals of the Center and the downtown art scene in Modesto, California.

ARTPLACE: What do you have to do really (really) well to achieve success with your initiative?

GOMULA-KRUZIC: My experience has been that change doesn’t happen until people can visualize it. Change will happen when people can imagine a better future for themselves and their community, and have a sense for how that future can come about. The whole purpose of the Building Imagination Center is to stimulate people to imagine a better Modesto and provide a path to get there. This is what we need to do really really well.

Modesto is already known as the least livable city in the county and everyone here is well aware of the ranking and why it is so. For our gallery exhibit, we will help people see the physical place of Modesto in a different light by exploring some of the area’s architectural heritage. Local artists of all ages will exhibit photos, drawings, paintings, and watercolors of Modesto’s architecture. We will also have an exhibit of the architectural design of Frank Lloyd Wright associate and local resident Robert Beharka. This exhibit, and the Building Imagination Center itself, will serve as the hub of the fifth annual Modesto International Architecture Festival.

ARTPLACE: How do you expect the community to change as a result?

GOMULA-KRUZIC: It is not enough just to have an exhibit. We want to create concrete changes for the better. Together with the Modesto Art Museum and other community partners, we have asked people to submit paint schemes for a nearby dilapidated Art Deco Style gas station in downtown Modesto. One entry will be selected, and the building will be revived and painted accordingly. We want to show that imagining how a building could be better is actually the first step in making it happen. As part of our first show, we will exhibit all the designs that were submitted by Modesto residents and others along with photos of the transformed building.

Additionally, we will be hosting a PARK(ing) Day event as part of the architecture festival. This is an annual worldwide event where artists, designers, landscape architects, and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.

Read the article

September 22, 2012September 11, 2015

Center Aims to Attract Artistic Talent to Modesto

MODESTO — The Building Imagination Center, a downtown Modesto venue to promote video and the visual arts, has its grand opening reception Sept. 20.

Thursday’s reception is timed to fall during downtown Modesto’s Third Thursday Art Walk, when several galleries stay open late.

Modesto Bee – DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com Some of the gallery of images of architecture by Robert Beharka on display at the Building Imagination Center, Sept. 18, 2012.

Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, the center’s director and an associate professor at CSU Stanislaus, said she hopes to serve the community by helping residents learn and improve video skills that could aid them in their careers.

“Our goal is to attract talent to Modesto and keep talent in Modesto,” she said.

During the reception, the center will screen a new short video on homelessness by the center’s first filmmaker-in-residence, Christian Hali, and four students from CSU Stanislaus’ Video and Time-Based Media program.