The power of Etsy

I was living in New York at that time. Everybody thought it was very cool buy something different and unique and actually, I agreed too, It was Etsy.com they were talking about. The website that "enables people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers". Everybody can have access to a huge marketplace and showcase their art or objects or clothes or accessories. I think It's simple and I think It's great. Then last week I read an article on the main Italian newspaper about the power of Etsy, 5 million merchants and a PIL bigger than a nation. "Handmade nation" is also a movie about the rise of Diy, arts and crafts. So, For those who still do not know what Etsy is...check it out. Both if you are an artist or a buyer!

Architectural beauties

Pardon my being Italian and, as such, yes I am a soccer fan. We won the world cup 4 years ago, and now, alongside other big favorites like Brazil, Argentina, England and Spain, we are in South Africa fighting to win the cup again.

A part from the fact that the championship is in Africa for the first time ever, the curious thing is about the incredible architectural structure of the new stadiums. Look at these:

One last thing about Artlink:

Call For Entry! Artlink's 8th Regional Exhibition Prospectus is now available. Artists within 100 miles of Fort Wayne, Indiana are eligible. Download the full prospectus at www.artlinkfw.com

Saturday 12th June Downtown Fort Wayne

This forthcoming Saturday: Drop Your Avant Garde from 6pm-12am at 800 Block of Calhoun Street
Join the DID and Comcast for art, live music, food and drink specials, and more as four NEW unique art exhibits will be created in unconventional urban spaces.
These venues include 816 Pint & Slice, Dash-In, Loaf ‘n Ladle, The Garden Beauty & Barber Studio, and Ryan Hadley Studio. These locations will have new art, live music and food and drink specials.

Artlink news/updates:

-Organic Perspectives will be in the gallery until July 7th! Check out papercuttings from Deborah Whistler done by hand! Believe me, they are spectacular!
-Spend a week with Cara Lee Wade exploring CS4 Adobe Photoshop and get three graduate credits for that week through the University of Saint Francis. You can't beat a semesters worth of credits in one week! Check out www.artlinkfw.com for the registration form.

Organic Perspectives opens at Artlink, don't miss it!

June 4 - July 7
Opening reception for Organic perspective will be on Friday, June 4, 2010 from 6-9 p.m.
5 artists will be featured: Paul Adams, photographer (Lindon, Utah), Dale Clifford, printmaker (Savannah, Georgia), Lori Hepner, photographer (McKees, Pennsylvania), Justin Miller, painter (Fort Wayne, IN) and Deborah Whistler, paper cutting (Hanover, Indiana).
Push Pin Gallery: Works by Diane Overmyer

Art Market Watch

I was pretty astonished to see that one of my fellow Italian artist, Maurizio Cattelan, has sold one of his last works at Sotheby's for $ 7,922,500! A record for an Italian contemporary artist, especially considering he's one of his most famous works is "The ninth hour" where the Pope John Paul II gets hit by a meteorite...

Being Italian I am kind of flattered by all these money spent for his work, but the real question is: having all that money to spend...would you really buy his art and put it in your house?

They call it "Expressive Recycling"

Before moving to Fort Wayne last summer I lived in New York, both Manhattan and Brooklyn and I'm familiar with the Gowanus Area in Brooklyn where David Belt and his company MacroSea like making their eco-friendly art experiments.
Last year it was the Sea Pools and this year it's Glassphemy!
Since recycling it's boring this is a creative way to have fun while making the earth a better place. Check out the article and the video on the New York Times.
What do you think? I have to admit that I do like it!

A couple of ArtLink reminders:
Print exhibition will be running until May 26th, so if you haven't seen it yet...hurry!
Dont' forget on May 22nd the studio visit to one of Fort Wayne finest artists Terry Ratliff.

Your Stars of the arts

About a month ago TIME magazine selected three artists to watch on the occasion of the Whitney Biennal. The Whitney Biennal is an incredible window for new trends and artists where "contemporary" sometimes rhymes though with trivial and illegible.
Anyway to cut a long story short the three names to keep in mind are all women: Nina Berman (photographer), Kate Gilmore (video artist) and painter Lesley Vance.
Now...It'll be great to know which are YOURS three artists to watch in Indiana or Fort Wayne area!