Relatives expressed pride in comments under a news story this month on ajc.com about husband and wife Atlanta artists Micah and Whitney Stansell winning $100,000 in a contest in which they transformed a Herradura Tequila barrel into a work of art.
But the funniest celebratory response came from fellow Atlanta artist Rocio Rodriguez on artsatl.com: “Whitney, buy me a shot!”
For their winning piece, the Stansells created a zoetrope inside the oak barrel that features a running horse. Ttitled “Look Inside, 2013,” it’s a tribute to Eadweard Muybridge, the English photographer who was a pioneer in the study of motion. Red marquee capital letters encircling the outside of the barrel tempt viewers to “LOOK INSIDE.”
As a precursor to their bigger prize, the Stansells’ work won $10,000 in a regional Herradura Barrel Art Collection competition in October held at Atlanta’s Mason Murer Fine Art. That win placed them into the finals in Miami against winners from seven other cities.
The Stansells said the winnings are giving them a “feeling of freedom — the sense that we are free to continue making art on our own terms.”
The couple has collaborated on major installations for the annual Flux Night in Castleberry Hill, notably including 2010’s “Between You and Me,” a five-channel video projection that covered the Norfolk Southern Railway Building’s epic facade.
Micah was a Museum of the Contemporary Art of Georgia Working Artist Project in 2010-11 winner, receiving support for a solo show at the Buckhead nonprofit. Whitney is represented by Whitespace gallery in Inman Park.
In their artists statement for the Herradura barrel, they explained: “Early alchemists believed the distilling of ‘spirits’ to be magic. In the same way, early cinema devices like the zoetrope were used to conjure spirits and were presented as magical objects. We think there’s still something pretty magical about the inside of our Herradura barrel.”
More on the competition: www.herradurabarrelart.com.
MUSIC
Atlanta Opera announces family shows
In addition to its season at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, the Atlanta Opera presents music to thousands of schoolchildren every year through its Studio Tour. In addition to the school presentations, the company will present eight public performances of “En Mis Palabras” and “Knightly News” aimed at family audiences at various metro venues. The Studio Tour features young artists, many of whom are members of the Atlanta Opera Chorus.
In the bilingual (Spanish and English) “En Mis Palabras,” a young girl struggles with establishing her own identity while her father struggles to let go. The hour-long performance features four singers, a guitarist and a pianist. It is targeted at audiences in grades 6-12.
“Knightly News,” most appropriate for grades K-5, is a mixed-up operatic newscast featuring modern characters from traditional tales. Conveying the theme that each person has unique talents and strengths, the one-hour opera performed in English features four singers and a pianist.
The schedule:
“En Mis Palabras”
- 7 p.m. Jan. 16: Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road, Atlanta.
- 7 p.m. Jan. 24: La Amistad at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswell Road, Atlanta.
- 7 p.m. Feb. 1: Atlanta Opera Center, 1575 Northside Drive, Building 300, Suite 350, Atlanta.
“Knightly News”
- 11 a.m. Feb. 15: Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell.
- 3 p.m. March 2: Elm Street Cultural Arts Village, 8534 Main St, Woodstock.
- 11 a.m. March 22: Atlanta Opera Center.
- 3 p.m. March 30: Decatur High School, 310 N. McDonough St., Decatur.
- 11 a.m. April 12: Southwest Arts Center.
Tickets, $7, available via 404-881-8885, www.atlantaopera.org.
Capitol City Opera thinks big
The board of directors of Capitol City Opera, encouraging love of the music in Atlanta since 1983, has set what it termed an “ambitious” fund-raising goal of $100,000 for 2014.
The company will focus on three initiatives:
- Expanding educational outreach programs to reach more children in under-served locations.
- Enhancing training programs for singers.
- Upgrading technology so that it can upgrade its website and reach remote audiences with live-streamed performances.
More information: www.ccityopera.org.
VISUAL ART
Cut images, cutting wit in online exhibit
After creating 100 small collages for a New York exhibit earlier this year, Atlanta artist Hollis Hildebrand-Mills decided she should extend it by creating a virtual show of the pieces, too.
So following its run at Chelsea’s Ceres Gallery, “Afloat: An Installation” became a WordPress exhibit nearly 100 days ago, with Hildebrand-Mills adding a new image along with some stream-of-consciousness text daily.
Some of the 5-inch-square collages reflect Hildebrand-Mills’ fascination with tidal waves and other natural disasters, but the artist, who lives in Johns Creek and works in Little Five Points, also is inclined toward happier imagery: beautiful ballerinas, flying foods, the AJC Peachtree Road Race. Usually a dozen or more snippets she cut from magazines merge in one composition, the artist leaving it to the viewer to connect seemingly disparate parts.
The images intrigue, but Hildebrand-Mills’ commentary, sometimes addressing the day’s collage and sometimes launching off on unrelated tangents, captures the imagination, too. She comments wryly on everything from inflatable Halloween decorations “the size of the bungalow in which is has to be stored off-season” to her recent sinus surgery and from her knack for getting picked for jury duty to the unending challenges of art-making.
You'll find this and more at www.hollishildebrandmills.com.
Some of Hildebrand-Mills' collages are included in the exhibit "Little Things Mean a Lot," a holiday show of more than 300 broadly ranging small works, at Buckhead's Swan Coach House Gallery through Jan. 4 (www.swancoachhouse.com/gallery).
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