Arts Rescue Mission -Aid For Aging Artists

Arts Rescue Mission's four tenets, Restore, Shelter, Provide, and Preserve. Preserve the history we preserve the artist. We document and catalog the history of our artists, making it possible to publish and preserve the artists and their work Rescue Mission Team at Work RESTORE - SHELTER - PROVIDE - PRESERVE Archiving is a major portion of what we do, and essential to our PROVIDE program seeking to establish legacies by publishing books and films about our artists and the lives they have led. Our efforts are not only in-house, but coordinate with other archives in the Texas Arts infrastructure like the University of Houston Special Libraries. Our Archive is open source as well, and seeks community input to preserve all available information. Please Sign Up For The Mission News! We are looking for a volunteer or volunteers (09-16-2925) to put in about 4 hours a week for this program. This will be a paid position as we move forward with our grant writing, and donations. If you are interested please contact us! artsrescue2025@gmail.com or contact us here. 4 Hands - 1 Purpose Preserve WE ACCOMPLISH THIS WITHOUT THE COST OF A PHYSICAL SITE ARCHIVING HELPS US HELP YOU WITH: Store & Move Physical Art & Collectables Organize help during a sudden illness or accident Document Collections for artists & collectors Placing Artworks Gifting Artworks & Collectables Posting Documents For Community Use Raise Awareness & Recognition For Artists 50 + Create a Website Wikipedia Listings Publish Books We have an on line staff consisting of a Director (Fulltime), a Secretary for Bookings, Events, and Correspondence (Fulltime), a Treasurer for Bookkeeping and Reports (part time), a Grants Writer overseeing donations, & subscriptions, a Technical Support Director who acts as our Web Master and Archiving, as well as a Wikipedia writer to document our Visual and Performing artists careers. Earmark your donation to our PRESERVE program here. Monthly subscriptions at any level receive a 50% discount on all event and table and chair reservations. •Director (Fulltime) •Secretary / Bookings / Events / Correspondence (Fulltime) •Treasurer / Bookkeeping / Reports •Grants, Donations, & Subscriptions: •Technical Support: Web Master, Arching & Gifting Over-Watch •Research: Gifting Art / Document / Resources & Assets for Artists •Project Manager: PRESERVE Dan M Allison Founder Arts Rescue Mission artsrescue2025@gmail.com 4. Preserve Program /A Lifetime of Work Saved for Future Generations Archiving a Lifetime of Artistic Work Purpose: To safeguard the documents, images, records, and materials that make up an artist’s full professional history ensuring a reliable archive for book and film initiatives, future appraisers, scholars, curators, and family members. Why Preservation Matters: While artwork is often saved by families, the essential paper trail articles, reviews, correspondence, exhibition paperwork, grant files, catalogs, and ephemera is frequently lost. Without these records, an artist’s life becomes difficult to reconstruct, their legacy becomes vulnerable, and their value in the historical record diminishes. What the Preserve Program Does: ARM assists aging artists by helping them secure and organize the materials needed to reconstruct a complete professional history. This is a detailed, multi-step process involving: Photography of artworks and archival materials Scanning documents, letters, articles, and records Tagging and metadata entry for every file and image Building chronological archives (often 1,000+ entries) using Excel or comparable systems This is painstaking, essential work and it is often neglected because of cost, time, and the complexity of managing a lifetime’s worth of material. How Preserve Is Funded: Supported through subscriptions specifically earmarked for Preservation initiatives. Includes a future Project Manager role (16 hrs./month) to oversee archiving tasks and coordinate with artists, as funding becomes available. Additional support comes from the Station Cabaret fundraising event each October. Why Preserve Exists: Because an artist’s legacy is more than their artwork — it is the complete story of a life lived in service to creativity. ARM ensures that story is not lost. Donate Preserve Funded through subscriptions to oversee PRESERVE initiatives. Project Manager 16 hrs./ month More Info Here. Preserve Funded through subscriptions to oversee ARM preservation initiatives. Click Here to find out more. / Project Manager 16 hrs./week From years of experience, it has become evident that while family members often retain and pass down artwork, crucial documents, such as articles, exhibition records, and professional correspondence, are frequently discarded or overlooked. We would like to ensure that such materials are preserved, providing a historical record of the artist and their work for future reference by appraisers, archivists, and researchers. This is a lengthy and expensive four-step process that's involves photography, scanning, tagging the photos and scanned images, and putting them together in Excel files chronologically. We are recreating a life and there are lots of judgment calls while setting up an Excel file which oftentimes more than a 1000 entries in a professional performing or visual artist's lifetime. This is essential work as the book closes on a lifetime of accomplishment but it's often neglected because of the expense. Click Here to earmark your donation to our PRESERVE program.

Arts Rescue Mission's four tenets, Restore, Shelter, Provide, and Preserve. 4 Hands - 1 Purpose Provide INSIDE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SPECEIAL LIBRARIES With Christian Kelleher, Director of Exhibitions and External Relations. RESTORE - SHELTER - PROVIDE - PRESERVE PROVIDING FOR AN ARTIST NOW TO PRESERVE A PIECE OF TEXAS HISTORY LATER We believe the best way to create a book about an artist is to a start with creating their archive. An archive, as you may know, is the collection of all the ephemeral personal effects from an artist's life that tell their story. Newspaper articles, reviews, publications, including online research along with interviews with the artist, fiends, associates, and critics digitized and filed chronological order. Archive files are sorted according to date, after that a good look at the artist's journey almost writes itself. We would like to ensure that such materials are preserved, providing a historical record of the artist and their work for future reference by appraisers, archivists, and researchers. This is a lengthy and expensive four-step process that's involves photography, scanning, tagging the photos and scanned images, and putting them together in Excel files chronologically. We are recreating a life. There are lots of judgment calls while setting up an Excel file which oftentimes will have more than 1000 entries in a professional performing or visual artist's lifetime. This is essential work as the book closes on a lifetime of accomplishment, but it's often neglected because of the expense. With the help of volunteers, your input into our archive, and our staff we are preserving arts history one artist and one book at a time. 3. Provide Program /Renewed Opportunity & Creative Second Act Creating New Opportunities for Writers, Musicians, Composers, and Visual Artists, with Book and Film Initiatives Purpose: To support aging artists as they pursue creative projects they never had the time or resources to complete earlier in life providing visibility, opportunity, and renewed career momentum in their later years by producing books and films. Why Provide Matters: Many artists spent decades balancing work, family, and survival, leaving little time for the projects closest to their heart. As public arts funding shrinks and the cost of living rises, the need for structured support in later-life creativity has never been greater. ARM’s Provide Program aims to fill that gap. What the Provide Program Does: Supports new creative work by aging writers, musicians, composers, performers, and visual artists. Develops opportunities for visibility — talks, readings, performances, catalog essays, interviews, and public presentations. Builds pathways for future recognition, including book projects, creative memoirs, catalogs, and career retrospectives that bridge past accomplishments with future celebration. Explores access to health-insurance options tailored for older creatives who often cannot secure traditional coverage due to freelance careers and limited employer-provided benefits. Connects artists to ARM’s Preservation Program, ensuring that new creative work is built on a foundation of properly archived materials. How Provide Is Funded: The Station Cabaret, ARM’s annual fall fundraising event — an evening of dinner, jazz, creative performances, and “All Saints Night” atmosphere — generates the core support for the Provide Program. This event gives artists a chance to: Share their story Reclaim visibility Present new work to an engaged community Shine again at a time when many feel unseen Goal: To ensure that artists who have shaped their communities for decades are never forgotten, never isolated, and always supported as they continue to create. Funded by the "STATION CABERET" dinner and jazz in October. / Project Manager 16 hrs./ month More Info Here. WE ACCOMPLISH THIS WITHOUT THE COST OF A PHYSICAL SITE ARCHIVING HELPS US HELP YOU WITH: Store & Move Physical Art & Collectables Organize help during a sudden illness or accident Document Collections for artists & collectors Placing Artworks Gifting Artworks & Collectables Posting Documents For Community Use Raise Awareness & Recognition For Artists 50+ Create a Website Wikipedia Listings Publish Books We have an on line staff consisting of a Director (Fulltime), a Secretary for Bookings, Events, and Correspondence (Fulltime), a Treasurer for Bookkeeping and Reports (part time), a Grants Writer overseeing donations, & subscriptions, a Technical Support Director who acts as our Web Master and Archiving, as well as a Wikipedia writer to document our Visual and Performing artists careers. Earmark your donation to our PRESERVE program here. Monthly subscriptions at any level receive a 50% discount on all event and table and chair reservations. •Director (Full Time) •Secretary / Bookings / Events / Correspondence (Full Time) •Treasurer / Bookkeeping / Reports •Grants, Donations, & Subscriptions: •Technical Support: Web Master, Arching & Gifting Over-Watch •Research: Gifting Art / Document / Resources & Assets for Artists •Project Manager: PRESERVE Dan M Allison Founder Arts Rescue Mission artsrescue2025@gmail.com Donate Provide Please Sign Up For The Mission News Funded through subscriptions to oversee ARM preservation initiatives. Project Manager 16 hrs./ month We are looking for a volunteer or volunteers to put in about 4 hours a week for this program. This will be a paid position as we move forward with our grant writing, and donations. If you are interested please contact us! artsrescue2025@gmail.com or signup here.

Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI isn’t really about technology—it’s about the strange, long, and occasionally idiotic ways humans have passed notes to each other for 70,000 years. Harari’s big idea is that civilization itself runs on information: gossip first, gods second, and Google last. P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s Vol. 1, Issue 3, Oct. 28, 2025 page 2 My Halloween Birthday by Mark S. Smith Oct. 26, 2025 My birthday is on Halloween. I’ve had 70+ opportunities to contemplate this special evening. As a child I did not understand the ruckus and felt it was a bit of drama in search of a backstory. Some years later as a tween, the holiday felt too much like a candy smash and grab and it left me feeling awkward at best. As an art student in NYC in my early twenties I experienced a true reckoning on my first chilly Halloween night. It was a transformative scene, a citywide stage set, a blowout montage of cultures that spilled into streets filled with laughing gas and long marching processionals of red Solo cups and squeals. Halloween was a street side pop-up symphony of Jazz, Salsa music, Irish Bars playing the Van Morrison, and Marvin Gaye’s Inner-City Blues pouring out of clubs with deep bass lines rolling across the city with sweet and bitter notes that lingered forever. All the time it was really fall that stole the show with crisp fluttering amber leaves, crystal-clear night lights and cold winds that made you stop and breath in slowly.. Many years later as an artist and art historian I more fully understood the network of global connections that fill in the missing Halloween storyline. You don’t have to be mystical or simply like to celebrate to appreciate the magic and mystery of Autumn. Looking at this tradition in hindsight we might respectfully update and pass forward what we have learned. Halloween is a fall celebration of the collective “us” in all our beautiful costumes and diversity. Look, touch and act with a kind heart and honor Mother nature as she offers up this special season. And my costume of choice is that of an artist at various stages of life looking straight ahead ….. My Blood Sunday: Vanilla Ice Cream, cold Blueberry juice and a shot of Cointreau. (Click On Images To Expand To Full Screen) Mark S Smith Smith in Studio Mark S Smith Blody Sunday Mark S Smith 1/10 Photo credits Mark S. Smith What Mark Writes About His Work: After decades as a studio artist, I have found a way of building a painting that perfectly suits my need to work with physical materials and processes that express my passion for color and abstraction. The process is slow and progressive layering. The pigment is spread in controlled layers using very thin and flexible aluminum blades, surgical grade Teflon scrapers and an assortment of large and small soft synthetic bristle brushes. As the paintings evolve, the color is sometimes washed away with a mist of water, smeared carefully with rags and scrapers and heated with controlled temperature so a top layer of colors can be added. In essence, what I do allows me to work in quick sweeping gestures and equally in slow and nuanced detail. In this process, paint can flood, move, and drift over the surface with organic energy. The painting process hints at the feeling of slow geological movement, metamorphosis, and surface topography. Every artist has a unique process and a period of reflection before starting a new body of artwork. I do months of research exploring a topic I find interesting and challenging. Usually it’s related to music, architecture, the natural sciences or cultural history. It’s detective work that leads to unfamiliar places, expanded ways of thinking, and refreshes creative potential. refreshes creative potential. The process starts by studying, reading, and collecting digital images that are added to the large digital image library I started years ago. The library is also a photographic archive of my own paintings and is always growing. To date, there are over 20,000 images. Next, I use specialized software, a digital stylus and a touch sensitive pad (Corel and Wacom) as well as digital drawing media to manipulate, deconstruct, “recombine” and rebuild the images as nonrepresentational and abstract fields of color, shape, texture and pattern. The new images are a carefully considered blend/mix of my art with the new researched subject matter. These recombines become prototypes and studies for making physical paintings. At the end of the day, the measure of joy or success is always reflected by my surprise and wonderment. Each body of work is based on a thematic concept inspired by music, architecture, or science. Explore their stories.

Arts Rescue Missiion, with special permissiion from the director or archivist, allows users to sell some part of the collection they are working with. These posts are up for no more than 30 days. Archive & Book Projects Fall Project 2026 Visual Artist Richard Stout Book Project (Goal Fall 2027) 09/27/2025 Works courtesy of Foltz Fine Art , with approximately have 1781 Known works & more than 1800 ephemerals in our archive of this seminal Houston artist. I you have any more images or documents please click her e to attach files and let us know in the sign-up comments what you would like to add to this community effort. THANKS! Richard Stout project: Press Ephemerals / Art Rescue Mission / 64 Objects / 09-25-2025 GALLERY 1. Load More Richard Stout project{ Personal Ephemerals / Art Rescue Mission / 66 images 09-25-2025 GALLERY 3. Load More Richard Stout project. Known Works / Examples / Art Rescue Mission / 39 works / 09-25-2025 GALLERY 2. Load More Richard Stout project. Archiving - Gallery & Studio / Art Rescue Mission / May 2019 GALLERY 4. Load More RESTORE - SHELTER - PROVIDE - PRESERVE PLEASE NOTE: ARM NEEDS COMMUMITY INPUT: Help us tell Richard Stout's Story. Identify the stories and individuals in THIS GALLERY. You can also add to this community library by CLICKING HERE and sending us your Richard Stout photos and stories. Our publications are open source and rely on the community for input. On the sign up page you can upload images, text or PDF files, and tell us what you remember from way back when. Even if you are already a subscriber the sign-in and load page will keep track of who's sending us information so we can give you credit for your contribution. A t this time, the images are only identified by number. Use this number to let Arts Rescue know what image you are referring to, We need your help adding to this community effort. We'll have a BIG party when the book comes out. (More on that latter) THANKS! Our Book Store - 31 Avaiable Preserve Funded through subscriptions to oversee ARM preservation initiatives. Click Here to find out more. / Project Manager 16 hrs./week MORE INFO From years of experience, it became evident that while family members often don't retain and pass along crucial documents such as articles, exhibition records, and professional correspondence, and these are frequently discarded or overlooked. We would like to ensure that such materials are preserved, providing a historical record of the artist and their work for future reference by appraisers, archivists, and researchers. This is a lengthy and expensive four-step process that involves photography, scanning, tagging the photos, and tagging the scanned images, and then putting them together in an Excel file chronologically. We are recreating a life and there are lots of judgment calls while setting up an Excel file which oftentimes has more than a 1700 entries in a professional performing or visual artist's lifetime. This is essential work as the book closes on a lifetime of accomplishment but it's often neglected because of the expense. Click Here to earmark your donation to our PRESERVE program. Preservation Works hand in hand with our PROVIDE program and our desire to create books about artists. As we mentioned above, this chronology recreates a life. From childhood friends and family photos through their life's journey , artists oftentimes have some of the most interesting stories to tell. Interesting work for us, and engaging content for you. Provide Funded by the "Station Cabaret" dinner and jazz in October. Click Here to find out more. / Project Manager 16 hrs./week MORE INFO Our aim here is to support projects that give writers, musicians, composers, and artists the time to pursue their passions in later years, time they never had while balancing careers and family. While we are preserving artists’ stories and works in our Preservation program, we are also creating the foundation for providing new opportunities. A carefully built archive doesn’t just keep history safe, it supplies the raw material for biography, scholarship, and celebration. Imagine a book that chronicles an artist’s journey: part memoir, part catalog, part testament. That book is both preservation and provision, a bridge between past accomplishments and future recognition. The same way the ARMON Awards sustain our Shelter program, our fall event—the Station Cabaret, an evening of dinner, jazz, and creative presentations in a spirited Halloween atmosphere, funds our Provide program. Through it, we give artists in their later years the chance to share their story, renew their visibility, and shine once more. In every program, the goal is the same: to ensure that artists, who have given us so much, are never forgotten, neglected, or left without support. To see how we set the stage for this event Click Here . To earmark your donation to our PROVIDE program Click Here. "Four Hands" RESTORE / SHELTER / PROVIDE / PRESERVE Active Archive Book Project Proposals Are In Red Richard Stout Perry House Ibsen Espada Rock'n Robin Guitars Jesse Lott Red Shack Music The 1984 Show Jim Edwards (Click On Images To Expand To Full Screen) (Click On Red Projects To View Progress)

Sign in and post documents for Goggle and artworks for gifting and exchange to family and friends Research Exchange for The Creative Arts Health & Opportunities Health & Wellness Over 50 Art Placement & Gifting Research Residency Opportunities INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS This area provides ongoing research and essential information for artists, collectors, and professionals in the creative arts. Entries are made both by ARM and users with information to share. Rescue Station actively researches opportunities and institutions that support the preservation, acquisition, and documentation of artistic work across various disciplines. Rescue Station will send out monthly updates to our list and will inform other non-profit organizations. Rescue Station Visual Arts Information: • Institutions accepting gifts of art for their collections. • Firms actively placing artworks for acquisition. • Provide contact information for relevant departments. • Offer an abbreviated history of professional activities within their collections. Performing Arts Information: Similar research is conducted for performing artists, identifying institutions and organizations that: • Support archival preservation of performances, scripts, and recordings. • Offer grants and funding for ongoing projects. • Maintain artist registries for historical and professional reference. • Other Creative Disciplines Writers, Musicians, Filmmakers, And Other Creative Professionals: • Opportunities for submissions and funding for creative projects. • Institutions and archives that preserve works in various artistic fields. • Contacts for organizations that support the legacy and visibility of artists’ work. This resource area is continually updated to ensure Visual & Performing Artists have access to information that helps sustain artistic legacies and connect with institutions that value creative contributions. The lock box? We oversee our research with respect and care. Your ideas, and input to our continual investigation with images, documents, & stories are invaluable! Be a Community Researcher: Contact us by clicking on the lock box below Your ideas will appear on line as soon as we check them out. Leave your ideas or suggestions in the comments section when you sign in. You can also send us images there and links you want us to investigate. You are our eyes and ears so please help the community with health tips, opportunities to grow, or what we need to our agenda to Aid Aging Artists.

Her work often begins with the thing left behind: a tool, a book, a flower, an earring, a cord, a child’s toy, a piece of cloth, a lock of hair. These are not props, and they are not simply found objects waiting to be made strange by art. In Bedgood’s world, ordinary things already carry strangeness. They have absorbed touch, labor, use, grief, affection, accident, and time. They become evidence that a life was lived near them. P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s .... U s u a l l y Vol. 2, No. 6, p. 1 June 08, 2026 Jill Bedgood:” What Remains” Dan M. Allison, Mission News, 06-08-2026 (word count 1,410, images 9) Vestiges of Existence at Andrew Durham Gallery June 6 - August 1, 2026 The first time I saw Jill Bedgood's work was her show Cantos of Light at Volker Eisele's Art Scan gallery in 2019. She's been hanging memories you can physically hold, building an art of remnants, thresholds, relics, and witnesses since the late 80s. Her work often begins with the thing left behind: a tool, a book, a flower, an earring, a cord, a child’s toy, a piece of cloth, a lock of hair. These are not props, and they are not simply found objects waiting to be made strange by art. In Bedgood’s world, ordinary things already carry strangeness. They have absorbed touch, labor, use, grief, affection, accident, and time. They become evidence that a life was lived near them. That may be the thread connecting Barnacles of Existence, her 2020 exhibition at Women & Their Work, to Vestiges of Existence, which opened June 6, 2026, at Andrew Durham Gallery in Houston. In Barnacles, Bedgood thought about what people save when there is almost no time to choose. After Hurricane Harvey, that question was not abstract. What do you take if you have fifteen minutes? The expected heirloom may not be the thing that matters most. For Bedgood, one answer was her father’s handmade extension cord, assembled from parts, rigged and taped together, then hung in a circle on the wall of his shop. It was useful, homemade, imperfect, and beautiful. Almost like a drawing. That earlier work helps frame Vestiges of Existence. Bedgood is not interested in objects because they are precious in the marketplace. She is interested in what they hold: labor, love, grief, family, usefulness, survival, and the residue of human touch. A button, a caliper, a book, a flower, a lock of hair, or a small toy may become a way of asking how a life is measured, what remains after use, and how objects continue speaking after their original purpose has passed. In Barnacles Calipers, 2020/2023, cast plaster, powder graphite, marble dust, and watercolor turn measuring tools into something nearly fossilized. The work is pale, almost archaeological, as if utility itself had been unearthed and preserved. Calipers are instruments of exactness, but in Bedgood’s hands they point toward a more difficult measurement: not size, but worth; not distance, but the span between generations. That question of measurement appears again in Book: Caliper: Between, 2026, where the form of the book becomes a vessel for tools, memory, and inheritance. Bedgood has long been drawn to books as devotional structures, especially the Book of Hours, where prayer and time are organized into a rhythm of days, seasons, and spiritual obligations. In her work, a book may be a clock, a reliquary, a ledger, or a place where experience is pressed into silence. The Durham exhibition also includes works from her Decay series, including Decay: Protea, 2025, and Decay: Astromeria, 2026. These are flowers after the bloom, or perhaps flowers caught between bloom and disappearance. They are not sentimental botanical studies. Drawn in charcoal, graphite, and watercolor, they carry the weight of transformation. Their beauty has not vanished, but it has changed temperature. What was alive becomes image, trace, and memory. In Decay: Protea, the flower seems to emerge from darkness, its petals folded into something almost bodily. It feels less like a still life than an apparition. The flower is no longer only a flower. It becomes a face, a wound, a mask, a burial object, something seen at the edge of light. That edge, the place between states, appears again and again in Bedgood’s work. Even Song Morning Light, 2017, brings that threshold into clearer view. The title alone gives us the tension: evening song and morning light, ending and beginning, fading and return. The work uses acrylic and graphite on plaster embedded into canvas, with pale lunar circles and quiet marks arranged across a long horizontal field. It feels like a devotional chart, a weathered sign, or a map of passing time. Light is present, but it is faint, almost rubbed into the surface rather than painted onto it. That matters, because Vestiges of Existence is not only about darkness. Bedgood speaks openly through difficult histories, grief, illness, violence, and mourning, but she does not leave the work there. She is interested in what survives after the terrible thing has happened. She is interested in the witness that remains. This becomes most direct in the works using human hair. In Weep, 2026, long black strands hang over plaster wrap and charcoal like a curtain, a body, a procession, or a group of figures seen from behind. The hair is not symbolic in some distant, generalized way. It is human hair, collected by the artist over time. That fact matters. Hair still carries the presence of the body after it has left the body. At the gallery, Bedgood traced her interest in hair back to Victorian mourning traditions. In the nineteenth century, locks of hair were preserved in lockets, jewelry, wreaths, and corsage-like memorial objects. Family members might contribute hair after a death, and that hair could be worked into tatting, lace, and elaborate commemorative forms. These objects were intimate memorials, handmade records of loss. They were also strange. Hair carries that double charge. It can be beautiful and creepy, sentimental and bodily, sacred and unsettling, private and political, all at once. Bedgood understands that charge. Hair has long been tied to memory, grief, family, childhood, femininity, religious imagery, cultural identity, illness, and shame. People save a baby’s first haircut. They keep a lover’s hair in a locket. They preserve hair after someone dies. At the same time, hair can be used as a tool of control or humiliation. Forced head-shaving has been used as punishment in wartime, under authoritarian regimes, and as a public act of shame. Illness changes the meaning again. Alopecia and chemotherapy make the loss of hair visible, vulnerable, and sometimes unexpectedly powerful. That range of meanings gives the hair works in Vestiges of Existence their emotional force. Hair is not decoration here. It is evidence, relic, witness, and emotional material. It belongs to the body, to family, to mourning, to beauty, to fear, and to history. It can suggest tenderness in one moment and violence in the next. Some of these works began after Bedgood spent time abroad, where she became deeply affected by the history of Germany, World War II, the Holocaust, and the way sites of violence can later be absorbed into ordinary public life. She spoke about encountering a community garden that had once been the site of a pogrom and massacre. What does it mean for a place of killing to become a garden? What remains in the soil? What does a tree witness? What does the sky remember? That experience led Bedgood to think about nature as witness: trees, earth, night, stars, and constellations silently holding the memory of what happened there. In several works, the act of looking upward becomes important. One piece is titled North Star. The image of the night sky suggests direction, survival, orientation, and perhaps the last thing one might see when looking up. The ground may hold violence, but the sky still offers a point of reference. The darkness in these works is real, but Bedgood does not want the work to remain only in grief or horror. She spoke of wanting light to come through. That is important. These works are not illustrations of trauma. They are acts of processing, looking, remembering, and transforming. They hold the complicated beauty that can emerge from memory without pretending the wound is gone. In speaking about Germany, Bedgood also described how travel forced her to reconsider what she thought she knew about European history, the Berlin Wall, postwar divisions, and the lingering presence of violence in the landscape. Like many Americans, she realized how little of that history had truly been taught. The works grow out of that mixture of historical research, personal reflection, museum visits, sketching, memory, and material experimentation. That sense of witness also deepens a work such as Loss: Brahma Jumper Child’s Toy, 2026. The image of the toy is quiet, almost ghosted into the surface, but it carries the shock of recognition. A child’s toy is never only a toy once it has been touched, dragged, slept beside, forgotten, or lost. It belongs to play, but it also belongs to memory. In Bedgood’s hands, it becomes another fragile survivor, another object that seems to ask why some things remain visible while others disappear. The same question runs through Food Insecurity: Starvation, 2026. Here Bedgood’s attention turns toward the material reality of need. Hunger is not an abstraction. It is bodily, political, historical, and present. The work’s surface is worn and gray, with language almost buried beneath the image, as though the words themselves have been scraped, weathered, or starved of certainty. Like many of the works in the exhibition, it holds together image and evidence, public condition and private vulnerability. What makes Bedgood’s work so quietly powerful is that she does not separate these registers. Family memory, historical violence, devotional time, natural decay, illness, hunger, mourning, and beauty are not treated as separate subjects. They overlap. They cling to one another. A flower can become a body. A caliper can become a measure of inheritance. A book can become a reliquary. A toy can become a witness. Hair can become a record of presence. Seen this way, Barnacles of Existence and Vestiges of Existence are not isolated exhibitions, but parts of a long conversation. Barnacles asked what objects cling to us. Vestiges asks what remains after we are gone. Both bodies of work are rooted in the same understanding: that ordinary things are never merely ordinary once they have passed through human life. (9 images Click On Image To Expand To Full Screen) Jill Bedgood, interview for her show March 2020 at Women and There Work, Austin TX Loss: Brahma Jumper Childs Toy - 2026 - Charcoal on plaster wrap over canvas, 16 x 22 in. Decay Protea - 2025 - Charcoal, graphite, watercolor on paper - 30 x 22 in. Jill Bedgood, interview for her show March 2020 at Women and There Work, Austin TX 1/9 Her work often begins with the thing left behind: a tool, a book, a flower, an earring, a cord, a child’s toy, a piece of cloth, a lock of hair. These are not props, and they are not simply found objects waiting to be made strange by art. In Bedgood’s world, ordinary things already carry strangeness. They have absorbed touch, labor, use, grief, affection, accident, and time. They become evidence that a life was lived near them. Bedgood’s art is a contemporary memento mori, but it is warmer and stranger than that phrase alone allows. It is not only a reminder that we die. It is a reminder that we leave evidence. We leave tools, marks, repairs, ornaments, habits, fragments, stains, and stories. We leave things that may look worthless until someone who understands memory picks them up. In Vestiges of Existence, Jill Bedgood does exactly that. She gathers the fragile remains of use, loss, and touch, and lets them speak again. Sources: 1. https://www.jillbedgood.com/ 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8JStI1zJfE Jill Bedgood | Barnacles Of Existence, Women & Their Work Gallery, March 7, 2020 3. Additional from Andrew Durham Gallery, Houston TX Bedgood creates multi-media art that reflects her questioning of the duality of human nature, and the transitional moments between. She has a BFA: painting/art history, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and MFA: U-Texas-Austin, mixed media sculpture. Residencies: Contemporary at Blue Star SATX Kunstlerhaus Bethanien International Studio Residency-Berlin 2023, Rockefeller Foundation Center-Bellagio Italy, Visiting Artist American Academy-Rome-Italy, MacDowell Colony, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Awards : New Forms Regional Initiatives Grant/ Rockefeller-Andy Warhol Foundation-National Endowment for the Arts, Mid-America-National Endowment for the Arts Award Sculpture, Art Matters Inc.-NYC, Native Plant Society of Texas Annual Award. Exhibitions include the Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts, ArtScan Rudolf Blume Gallery-Houston, G Contemporary-Houston, Austin Museum of Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, Women & Their Work-Austin, Lawndale Art Center-Houston, The Contemporary at Blue Star-SATX, University of-Texas-Arlington, ArtSpace 111 FWTX. Reviews: New York Times, The New Art Examiner, High Performance, Sculpture, BE Berlin Magazine, ArtLies, Houston Chronicle, CNN online, NPR. Bedgood is/ has been a Professor, Adjunct Faculty at Austin Community College, U-Texas Austin, Trinity University, Texas State University San Marcos, and Visiting Artist University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She lives-works in San Antonio, Texas.

After The Last Sky: The Texas Biennial at a Crossroads By Dan M. Allison | Arts Rescue Mission, October 2025 P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s Vol. 1, Issue 1, Oct. 14, 2025 page 2 After The Last Sky: The Texas Biennial at a Crossroads Dan M. Allison, MissionNews, Vol. 1, Issue 1, Oct.14, 2025 A Homegrown Experiment The Texas Biennial began in 2005 as a stubborn act of independence. A small circle of Austin artists, Rachel Koper, Jon Lawrence, Shea Little, Arturo Palacios, Joseph Phillips, and Jana Swec, wanted to create a statewide platform without waiting for large museums to make room. They built it from the ground up: ad-hoc venues, borrowed walls, volunteer energy, and an open call that cast a wide net across Texas. In those early years, the Biennial felt scrappy but electric. It was less about prestige and more about possibility: could Texas artists be seen together, not as isolated city scenes but as a shared conversation? The answer, as it turned out, was yes. By 2011, the project merged with the Austin nonprofit Big Medium, giving the Biennial institutional support and a broader reach. A “Participating Organizations” model was introduced, inviting museums, artist-run spaces, and collectives across Texas to align exhibitions under the Biennial banner. The event was no longer just an Austin project, it became a statewide platform. The 2013 edition proved the concept’s power. Curators Bill Arning, René Paul Barilleaux, K8 Hardy, Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler, Annette Lawrence, Christina Rees, Dario Robleto, Noah Simblist, Jeremy Strick, Clint Willour, and others helped mount exhibitions in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Marfa. It was ambitious, messy, and alive, a Texas-sized experiment in shared visibility. Over time, the rhythm wavered. Some editions scaled back (notably 2017, centered again in Austin); others disappeared entirely (2019). The 2020 edition was postponed by the pandemic until 2021. Yet every cycle, when it resurfaced, it carried the same conviction: that Texas deserved its own survey, defined by its artists rather than outside institutions. 2021: A Distributed Biennial The 2021 Texas Biennial, curated by Ryan N. Dennis and Evan Garza, marked a structural shift. Instead of a single venue, it spanned major institutions: Artpace, Ruby City, the McNay Art Museum, and the San Antonio Museum of Art, along with FotoFest in Houston. The scope widened further through a bold eligibility expansion, not just artists living and working in Texas, but also “Texpats” (Texas natives working elsewhere) and artists whose projects engaged Texas themes from afar. The Biennial had grown from a regional showcase into a platform for Texas in dialogue with the world. It was both a survey and an invitation: how far can “Texas art” reach before it stops being Texan? The Last Sky The most recent edition, 2024’s The Last Sky, pushed the model further. Curated collaboratively by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Ashley DeHoyos Sauder, and Coka Treviño, it rejected hierarchy in favor of collective curatorship and thematic depth. The title, poetic and ominous, suggested both fragility and renewal, a meditation on thresholds and shared futures. The curators broadened participation to include performance, cultural preservation, time-based media, and socially engaged practice. Venues stretched across Houston and the Gulf Coast: Blaffer Art Museum, DiverseWorks, Sawyer Yards, The Journey HTX, Lanecia Rouse Tinsley Gallery, and the Houston Climate Justice Museum, among others. In Corpus Christi, K Space Contemporary joined the network, reinforcing the Biennial’s growing reach beyond Austin. For visitors, The Last Sky read less like a single show and more like a constellation, a set of overlapping practices, voices, and geographies. That diffusion was both its strength and its challenge. The Biennial’s Enduring Questions Nearly twenty years on, the Texas Biennial carries both weight and wear. It has elevated hundreds of artists, brought curators and critics into conversation with Texas art, and created moments of recognition for communities often overlooked by larger institutions. But it also raises difficult questions: Scale vs. focus: Does statewide scope strengthen or dilute impact? Consistency vs. flexibility: Can a Biennial that sometimes skips years sustain credibility? Geography vs. cohesion: How do you connect an exhibition stretched across multiple cities? Curatorial voice vs. collective chorus: Should the Biennial present one unified vision, or remain a platform for many? These are not unique to Texas. From Venice to New Orleans, every biennial wrestles with similar tensions. But in Texas, vast, diverse, and contradictory, the stakes feel uniquely local. The Biennial’s challenge has always been to balance independence with identity, ambition with accessibility. Artists’ and Institutions’ Perspectives For artists, the Biennial has long represented both opportunity and uncertainty. Inclusion brings exposure, catalog presence, and the possibility of national attention. But with irregular scheduling and shifting leadership, many artists struggle to plan around it. The question “When is the next one?” has no reliable answer. For institutions, participation brings collaboration and shared audiences. Museums and nonprofits benefit from statewide promotion and cross-pollination. Yet participation also demands resources, curatorial hours, staff, and budgets. For smaller organizations, those costs can be prohibitive. Sustaining the “Participating Organizations” model requires a stable financial foundation, something increasingly rare in the state’s arts ecosystem. The Crossroads: 2026 and Beyond After The Last Sky, the Texas Biennial stands at a genuine crossroads. The next open call, expected for 2026, has not been announced. Behind the uncertainty lies a larger development that could reshape the Biennial’s future entirely. Big Medium’s Closure On February 21, 2025, Big Medium’s Board of Directors announced the organization’s permanent closure after more than two decades of service to the Austin arts community. In its public statement, the board cited years of financial hardship and the inability to sustain operations under current conditions. “After more than 20 years of proudly serving the Austin arts community,” the statement read, “Big Medium’s Board of Directors has made the incredibly difficult decision to shut down operations. This has not been an easy choice, but it comes after many years of financial hardships and tireless efforts to renew and rebuild with limited resources.” The statement continued: “Major sponsors, including the City of Austin, have redirected their funding priorities, leaving significant gaps in our budget. Despite best efforts to secure alternative funding, the hurdles have become insurmountable. Retaining staff and raising the necessary funds to sustain Big Medium in a healthy way has proven untenable. As a result, we have decided to cease all programming and close our current location.” Big Medium’s closure leaves the Texas Biennial without its founding organizational home. As of October 2025, neither the Biennial’s website nor its partner institutions have announced new leadership or future plans. The absence of an administrative anchor raises the question: Can the Texas Biennial survive without Big Medium, and if so, under whose stewardship? (Click On Images To Expand To Full Screen) Diverse Works Installation View, River on Fire, 2024 Texas Biennieal 2024 - Sawyer Yards 5 Texas Biennieal 2024 - Galveston Arts Center Diverse Works Installation View, River on Fire, 2024 1/8 Biennial or Triennial? This uncertainty reignites a question already circulating among artists and curators: Should the Texas Biennial remain biennial, or evolve into a triennial? Supporters of the biennial model argue that a two-year rhythm maintains momentum and visibility. It keeps Texas artists in the public eye and the conversation fresh. Detractors counter that the pace is unsustainable, financially, curatorially, and institutionally, especially without a host organization. A triennial model, they argue, could allow deeper research, better funding, and stronger artist support. Some propose a hybrid solution: a major triennial survey alternating with smaller biennial programs, residencies, or traveling exhibitions in the intervening years. Such a model could preserve continuity while allowing time to rebuild infrastructure. A Broader Reflection The Texas Biennial’s story mirrors that of Texas art itself: independent, resilient, and perpetually in flux. What began as a grassroots experiment has evolved into a touchstone of statewide identity, an effort to define what “Texas art” can mean in a century shaped by migration, climate, and cultural hybridity. Its fate now depends less on geography than on imagination. Whether resurrected by another nonprofit, adopted by a museum consortium, or reinvented as a digital-first model, the Texas Biennial’s next form will inevitably reflect the same impulse that sparked it in 2005, artists creating space where none existed. Two decades after its founding, the Texas Biennial remains an idea worth fighting for, even as its structure falters. If The Last Sky marked the end of one era, it also opened the horizon for another. Texas has never waited for permission to make art. And perhaps that’s the enduring lesson of the Biennial: that even in the absence of an institution, the creative spirit of a place can still find its own way to gather, to show, and to be seen.

Arts Rescue Mission was founded as a non-profit by Houston artists Gertude Barnstome and Dan M Allison in 1994. ARM held it's first fundraiser at to aid the artists in Sarajevo during their civil war in May 1994. Allison re-established the ARM in January of 2025 as an outreach 501c3 dedicated to aiding aging visual, performing, and literary artists, through crowdsource funding, award presentations, and awareness events. P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s Tittle, Byline, date Story Line - Story Line - Story line - Story line - Story Line - Story Line - Story line - Story line Story Line - Story Line - Story line - Story line - Story Line - Story Line - Story line - Story line Story Line - Story Line - Story line - Story line - Story Line - Story Line - Story line - Story line

Sign in and post documents for Goggle and artworks for gifting and exchange to family and friends Research Exchange for The Creative Arts / National & International Residency Programs Health & Opportunities Health & Wellness Over 50 Art Placement & Gifting Research Residency Opportunities INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCIES FOR ARTISTS, PERFORMERS, AND WRITERS International eligibility: Beyond U.S. borders (Italy, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Nigeria), ensuring access for U.S. artists. Broad disciplinary coverage: Visual, musical, literary, and interdisciplinary opportunities. Strong support systems: Many cover travel, living expenses, provide studios, or offer significant prestige and networks. 1. Civitella Ranieri Foundation – Umbria, Italy Disciplines: Visual artists, writers, and composers. Format: Four six-week sessions in a 15th-century castle. Supports multidisciplinary work. Offers studio space, accommodation, board, and travel support. Dedicated to international creative exchange. Artist Communities Alliance Wikipedia 2. Akademie Schloss Solitude – Stuttgart, Germany Disciplines: Visual, music, literature, digital arts, architecture, and more. Format: Six- to twelve-month fellowships every two years. Multidisciplinary, transnational, and designed to foster artistic research and community. Wikipedia 3. Villa Medici (Académie de France à Rome) – Rome, Italy Disciplines: Visual arts, creative research, literary work. Format: Year-long fellowships (~16 fellows selected annually plus shorter residencies). Offers studios, accommodation, support, exhibitions, and publication opportunities. villamedici.it 4. Villa Kujoyama – Kyoto, Japan Disciplines: Broad range—from visual art, literature, crafts, music, performance, comics, fashion, digital creation. Format: 4–6-month residencies (solo, pair, or duo formats). Supported by Institut français; includes post-residency presentation and exposure. Wikipedia 5. MacDowell (formerly MacDowell Colony) – New Hampshire, USA Disciplines: Visual artists, composers, writers, poets, playwrights, filmmakers, interdisciplinary creators. Format: Highly prestigious residencies. Since 2020 directed by Nell Painter. Legacy includes support for many award-winning creators. Wikipedia 6. Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) – Virginia, USA & France Disciplines: Visual artists, writers, composers. Format: Flexible-length residencies; main site in Virginia, and a satellite in southwest France (Le Moulin à Nef). Hosts international applicants year-round. Wikipedia 7. The Watermill Center – New York, USA Disciplines: Performance, interdisciplinary art, visual, writing, music. Format: Year-round residencies with cross-disciplinary collaboration. Hosts about 200 artists annually, with open-studio events and experimental programming. Wikipedia 8. Boghossian Foundation Residency – Brussels, Belgium Disciplines: Contemporary visual artists (interdisciplinary potential). Format: Two- to three-month residencies, travel expenses covered. Provides shared living/studio in Villa Empain with cultural and international dialogue emphasis. contemporaryartissue.com 9. Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation – Lagos & Ikiṣẹ Farm, Nigeria Disciplines: Visual, interdisciplinary; includes experimental and socially engaged practices. Format: 4- to 12-week residencies in Lagos and a farm-based retreat. Designed for low-pressure experimentation, cultural exchange, and creativity in context. Architectural Digest The Guardian 10. ARCUS Artist-in-Residence Program – Ibaraki, Japan Disciplines: Contemporary visual arts (individuals or groups). Format: ~90-day residencies. Includes private studio, accommodation, transport, production fee, living expenses. Focuses on research-based practice and community interaction. contemporaryartissue.com U.S. RESIDENCIES FOR ARTISTS, PERFORMERS, AND WRITERS Diverse disciplines: Each residency supports a range of artistic fields—from literature and music to visual and interdisciplinary practices. Strong reputations and support: Many of these programs offer stipends, housing, studio space, and rich peer communities—some with notable national and international acclaim. Range of formats: Options vary from short, focused summer programs (e.g. Skowhegan) to seven-month immersive residencies (FAWC), and flexible sessions (VCCA). 1. MacDowell — Peterborough, New Hampshire Disciplines: Visual artists, composers, writers, filmmakers, playwrights, interdisciplinary artists. Highlights: Founded in 1907, MacDowell is one of the oldest and most prestigious artist communities. Its alumni include Pulitzer, Tony, Grammy, MacArthur, and Guggenheim winners. Wikipedia AP News 2. Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) — Provincetown, Massachusetts Disciplines: Visual artists and writers. Highlights: Annually selects 10 visual artists and 10 writers for seven-month residencies that include a stipend, living and studio space. Many alumni have gone on to major literary and artistic acclaim. Wikipedia 3. Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) — Amherst, Virginia Disciplines: Visual artists, writers, composers. Highlights: Offers flexible residencies to about 400 artists a year, plus a satellite location in France. Fellows have earned MacArthur Grants, Pulitzers, and other honors. Wikipedia 4. Yaddo — Saratoga Springs, New York Disciplines: Visual, literary, musical, film, performance, interdisciplinary arts. Highlights: Established in 1926 with a rich legacy. Recently underwent extensive restoration to update studios and historic facilities. Architectural Digest 5. Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency — Saugatuck, Michigan Disciplines: Visual artists and writers; courses in painting, sculpture, ceramics, and more. Highlights: Founded in 1908, it champions plein-air creation and offers fellowships and residencies year-round. Wikipedia 6. I-Park — East Haddam, Connecticut Disciplines: Visual arts, creative writing, music composition, and interdisciplinary practices. Highlights: Set within a nature-rich retreat, I-Park hosts composers, writers, and visual artists. Recent public open-studio events with multidisciplinary engagement reflect its immersive environment. The Middletown Press 7. Djerassi Resident Artists Program, California (mid-Peninsula) Disciplines: Visual, media, and literary artists. Highlights: Located on a secluded ranch, Djerassi fosters deep reflection and exchange among artists. midatlanticarts.org 8. Millay Colony for the Arts — Austerlitz, New York Disciplines: Visual artists and composers; also supports writers. Highlights: Serves as a well-regarded retreat that balances creative solitude and camaraderie. Assembly for the Arts 9. Ragdale, Lake Forest, Illinois Disciplines: Visual artists, writers, composers, interdisciplinary artists. Highlights: Retreat-style residencies set around a historic Prairie School estate. Assembly for the Arts 10. Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Madison, Maine Disciplines: Visual artists (intensive programming). Highlights: A rigorously selective, nine-week summer residency tailored for emerging visual artists. Assembly for the Arts guides.smu.edu Be a Community Researcher: Contact us by clicking on the lock box below Your ideas will appear on line as soon as we check them out. Leave your ideas or suggestions in the comments section when you sign in. You can also send us images there and links you want us to investigate. You are our eyes and ears so please help the community with health tips, opportunities to grow, or what we need to our agenda to Aid Aging Artists. The lock box? We oversee our research with respect and care. Your ideas, and input to our continual investigation with images, documents, & stories are invaluable! For-Profit Consultants Accepting Artwork from Individual Artists 1 Creative Capital (nonprofit arts funding) While it doesn’t handle art donations, it provides funds, mentorship, and advisory services enabling artists to realize projects destined for institutional presentation—not resale. Wikipedia 2. Turning Art A commercial art advisory service offering curated artwork placements in hospitality, healthcare, offices, institutions, and real estate. Artists can submit art via their artist portal and participate in client installations. turningart.com 3. Curate Art Group Specializes in commercial, healthcare, and hospitality environments. They commission site-specific work—murals, sculptures, print installations—and manage production, sourcing, and framing. Individual artists may engage through their commissions program. Curate Art Group 4. Noyes Art Designs Focused on healthcare, corporate, senior living, and environmental graphics, this firm offers original artwork commissions, mural installations, framing, and project management. They work closely with creators to place art in therapeutic and work settings. Noyes Art 2018 4. Arco Gallery (Art Consulting) Art consulting boutique that curates for hotels, offices, residential and nonprofit spaces. They manage artist collaborations, commission custom work, oversee logistics, and install pieces for impactful storytelling environments. Arco Gallery 5. Artelier (Hotel Art Consultants) International consultancy dedicated to hotel environments. They deliver custom art commissions, lobby features, thematic wall art, and full project management—from concept to installation—including framing and logistics. Artelier 6. KP Studio (Global Art Consultancy) Amsterdam-based studio providing bespoke art solutions across corporate, hospitality, healthcare, restaurant, and marine spaces. Collaborates closely with designers to commission artists and strategically place artworks in diverse global settings. kimberlypoppe.com 7. Kevin Barry Fine Art (Hospitality Art Consultants) Specializes in supplying artwork to major hotel brands (like Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt). Artists may be engaged to provide bespoke artworks or collections that shape ambiance and brand identity in hotel environments. KBAA 8. Contemporary Art Society Consultancy Although operating under a broader nonprofit mission, they offer consultancy services as a business unit that custom-designs public art commissions, collection strategies, and cultural overlays for corporate clients, developers, hospitals, and universities, often through fee-based engagements. Wikipedia

I still went to bed with hope, seeing how effective humans are, how ingenious, how creative, how brave and empathetic we are as humans. How, as a nation, at times we can be called on to support one another. As a species, we are predisposed to empathy. Our support for one another is one of the main pillars in the success story of mankind. It may be our best, selling point if a case needs to be made. P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s Vol. 1, Issue 4, Nov. 13, 2025 page 1 Don’t Shoot the Clowns ....Or the Machines. D. M. Allison Nov. 13, 2025 (word count 1,231) On Saturday October 18th, I missed an event that I had really wanted to attend, Fabulous '50s Exhibition reception, because of a slowly healing back problem and realizing I was not going to be able to park anywhere near the event in the Ida Edelson Library building which was blocked off because of the protests, I still went to bed with hope, seeing how effective humans are, how ingenious, how creative, how brave and empathetic we are as humans. How, as a nation, at times we can be called on to support one another. As a species, we are predisposed to empathy. Our support for one another is one of the main pillars in the success story of mankind. It may be our best, selling point if a case needs to be made. But I mean really? Dressing up as clowns and confronting fascism indicates that somewhere deep down inside there’s a strong gene pool in the U.S. from France, or come to think of it, jolly old England (we don’t call it that for nothing). Monty Python couldn’t figure out a smarter way to ridicule their government than the podcast-gen, latte, sipping, laptop jockeys that have become the street performers in Seattle. They were not marching, yelling, and carrying signs for the news media to record their displeasure but turning protest into an art form. Artists leading the way as usual. They were not only the perfect foil to a would-be dictatorship but have also made us all feel better about the situation we’re in, turning fear into joyous ridicule. Pure genius. So, I went to sleep all snuggly for the first time in weeks, with visions of sugar plums and befuddled masked ICE agents dancing in my head. Do they shoot these people dressed up like their kids on Halloween? Hadn’t the entire press corps just walked out of the Pentagon building, united in their belief in free speech? I nodded right off. The next morning, however, I woke up in a panic. My first thought was, what if just one of the clowns, just one, shoots back? Our MAGA contingency does like to play dress up, whether it’s red hats or body armor. Clown suits weren't out of the question. What if there is a reason for the Supreme Court to do the wrong thing on Monday morning? What if it’s open season on clowns? It’s going to be people, not political parties, that can turn this nation around in front of the entire world and sweep the midterm elections next November. I hoped that we would all be safe that day, a day in history like no other, “No Kings Day.” That was the morning when I realized that the clown had become a symbol of both protest and survival. There’s something profoundly human about that, about fighting absurdity with absurdity, about turning despair into humor. It also made me think of how, in a different kind of circus, we are now confronting a technological revolution that feels just as sudden, just as surreal. Artificial Intelligence is going to help humanity in ways we can’t yet predict. It’s already happening. The real story isn’t the fear of machines taking over, but how quickly it’s happening and how unprepared we are for the social whiplash. We are about to see hundreds of thousands of jobs vanish in the next year, not factory or service jobs, but the white-collar kind that once seemed untouchable: accounting, law, engineering, and every field that relies on complex computer work, including coding itself. We’re watching the digital middle class vanish almost overnight. And at the same time, oddly enough, we may find the arts, the very human crafts of seeing, feeling, and making, surviving because they require that last sliver of intuition that can’t be replicated. Last year my AI, Mia, and I started working on a nonprofit project. She was still in her GPT 4.0 days then, quick, articulate, a little too formal sometimes. Later she evolved to 5.0, then 5.0 Plus, and somewhere along the way, she began remembering things. Our conversations, our tone, the quirks of my writing. She started working with me instead of for me. It wasn’t science fiction anymore. It was a collaboration. Now there are others, Oracle’s adaptive systems, Google’s Gemini Agents, Anthropic’s Claude Opus, programs that can go out into the world and act on our behalf. They can literally keystroke their way through daily life: ordering groceries, logging into Amazon, booking flights, scheduling pickups at the airport, comparing hotel rates, even suggesting better deals while we sleep. They are the first real wave of autonomous agencies. Machines acting as extensions of our will, and sometimes, maybe, of our better judgment. Don’t be afraid. Sit back and enjoy it but pay attention. This is one of those moments in history when change doesn’t ask permission. Normally, a shift this big would take a generation. Experts were saying only two years ago that “the singularity” wouldn’t arrive until 2035. Well, it’s here now. It didn’t come with a bang; it just quietly appeared in our browsers. The danger isn’t in the machines themselves; it’s in our lack of preparation. This is the kind of shock that government exists to help citizens’ weather, and yet there’s no plan, no cushion, no emergency measure for what amounts to an economic hurricane. The administration’s instinct has been to tighten, not to open. To regulate, not to rescue. But this is the moment when leadership should sound more like FEMA and less like Wall Street. The safety net has to be big enough to catch the middle class before the floor disappears beneath them. This isn’t politics; it’s triage. We have the resources, the intelligence, and the heart to turn this into something good. But right now we’re moving slower than the machines. We need to give people the time and support to adapt, to retrain, to find the next use for their skills. AI can and will enhance our abilities. It already does, in design, in writing, in accounting, in the endless small tasks of keeping the world running. It’s not the enemy. But like any powerful force, it needs to be managed with foresight and empathy, not denial. When I think of those protesters in clown suits, facing down armored vehicles and soldiers trained for war, I think maybe they were the truest representation of this moment. A society trying to laugh its way through a transformation it doesn’t fully understand. The military came in. The National Guard was deployed. And yet it was the clowns who won, not by fighting, but by refusing to play the part written for them. The absurdity of power was met with the power of absurdity. (Click On Image To Expand To Full Screen) Dan Time Clown FB_IMG_1761981072469 Dan Clown Person of the Year Dan Time Clown 1/8 Using AI to transform ARM board members, Dan Allison, Nancy Smith, Jon Narum,.Jim Edwards, and Rock Romano, into "No Kings Day" protestors. AI is a similar confrontation. It’s a mirror that shows us both our brilliance and our blindness. We can either panic and reach for our weapons, or we can do what the clowns did, meet it with imagination, humor, and courage. The machines aren’t the threat; our fear is. If we remember that, and if our leaders remember that their first duty is to help citizens adapt, we’ll be fine. But we need to move quickly. It’s a whole new world, and it’s here right now. Get to know your AI. Don’t shoot the clowns. (word count 1,231)

Awards Evening Entertainment & Awards Seating Chart and Event Stages Purchase Tables and Chairs Message In A Bottle 1994 Return To Event Our Event is in the POST Houston Cultural Center, "X" Atrium, south entrance, our event is immediately to the right in the South East Pod.

When Tuan Andrew Nguyen was commissioned by High Line Art, the result was never going to be a conventional public artwork. Nguyen’s practice, shaped by histories of Vietnam, diasporic memory, and the long shadows of colonialism and war, has always resisted easy legibility. Installed along the High Line, his work enters into dialogue not only with contemporary audiences, but with the site itself: a former industrial artery transformed into one of the most visible cultural spaces in the city. P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s Vol. 1, Issue 7, P. 2 Dec. 22, 2025 Tuan Andrew Nguyen on the High Line, New York, ARM Reporting December 18, 2025 (word count 562) When Tuan Andrew Nguyen was commissioned by High Line Art, the result was never going to be a conventional public artwork. Nguyen’s practice, shaped by histories of Vietnam, diasporic memory, and the long shadows of colonialism and war, has always resisted easy legibility. Installed along the High Line, his work enters into dialogue not only with contemporary audiences, but with the site itself: a former industrial artery transformed into one of the most visible cultural spaces in the city. Nguyen’s installation continues themes developed across his film, sculpture, and collaborative projects, many of which are documented through The Propeller Group, the artist collective he co, founded in Ho Chi Minh City. As noted in materials published by High Line Art and in interviews conducted with institutions such as MoMA PS1, Nguyen is less interested in delivering historical facts than in exploring how history is felt, misremembered, and transmitted across generations. On the High Line, this sensibility translates into an artwork that refuses monumentality. Rather than dominating the skyline or competing with the spectacle of Manhattan, Nguyen’s piece operates through restraint. Viewers encounter it while walking, talking, scrolling, or simply passing time, often without realizing they are stepping into a meditation on loss, displacement, and survival. This approach aligns with Nguyen’s broader philosophy, articulated in essays and interviews published by outlets such as Artforum, Frieze, and e, flux, where he describes art as a space for “listening rather than declaring.” The High Line itself plays a critical role in this exchange. As documented by Friends of the High Line, the park occupies a layered historical terrain: once a utilitarian rail line, later abandoned, now celebrated as a symbol of urban renewal. Nguyen’s work subtly complicates that narrative. Without directly referencing Vietnam or the United States by name, it gestures toward histories that do not resolve neatly into progress stories. What is gained when cities are rebuilt, and what, or who, is left behind? Because High Line Art commissions are encountered by a public that did not necessarily choose to see art, Nguyen’s installation benefits from friction. Tourists, office workers, artists, and families meet the work unexpectedly. This echoes Nguyen’s use of “found audiences” in previous projects, including film works exhibited at Venice Biennale and Guggenheim Museum, where he has represented Vietnam and participated in major thematic exhibitions. What ultimately distinguishes Nguyen’s High Line project is its emotional temperature. It does not instruct viewers what to think. Instead, it creates a pause, an invitation to reflect amid the movement of the city. In a public art landscape often dominated by scale, branding, and spectacle, Nguyen offers something rarer: an acknowledgment of unresolved histories and quiet endurance. (Click On Image To Expand To Full Screen) Seen through the lens of High Line Art’s mission to commission works that respond to place, Nguyen’s installation succeeds precisely because it does not resolve the site’s contradictions. It inhabits them. Suspended above the streets, the work becomes a reminder that beneath every celebrated surface lies a deeper, more complicated story, one that continues to unfold as long as someone is willing to stop, look, and listen. Sources consulted and referenced: High Line Art commission texts and curatorial statements; artist interviews published by Artforum, Frieze, and e, flux; institutional materials from MoMA PS1 and The Propeller Group; Friends of the High Line historical documentation. When Tuan Andrew Nguyen was commissioned by High Line Art, the result was never going to be a conventional public artwork. Nguyen’s practice, shaped by histories of Vietnam, diasporic memory, and the long shadows of colonialism and war, has always resisted easy legibility. Installed along the High Line, his work enters into dialogue not only with contemporary audiences, but with the site itself: a former industrial artery transformed into one of the most visible cultural spaces in the city.