Made By Hand Film Series Features 3rd Ward Teacher Megan Paska In 'The Beekeeper'

A still from The Beekeeper.

In November we heard that the Made by Hand documentary series was working on a short film about our very own Rooftop Beekeeping and Chickens in the City teacher Megan Paska, known far and wide for her many outstanding endeavors as the Brooklyn Homesteader. We've been eagerly awaiting the film ever since, and it's finally here—and predictably, it's amazing.

The Beekeeper, the third film in the Made by Hand series, focuses on Paska's working maintaining apiaries across Brooklyn. It features breathtaking shots of rooftop farms, the NYC skyline and her fascinating beekeeping work. Along with her inspiring narrative and music that strikes just the right vibe, this one's as pure and delightful as the Brooklyn honey that she harvests.

Watch it below, but be warned: once you do, it's going to be hard to resist signing up for an upcoming session of Paska's Beekeeping 101.

-- John Ruscher

Friday Opening: Robin Grearson Curates Criminy Johnson's 'Dreaming Without Sleeping' At The Active Space

 

Back in June we highlighted Stay Gold, 3rd Ward teacher Robin Grearson's curatorial debut during Bushwick Open Studios. We also featured her second curatorial endeavor, the two-person show Is Between, which she organized for Bushwick Beat Nite. Now she's curated her third exhibition, Dreaming Without Sleep, which opens this Friday, February 24 from 7-10pm at The Active Space.

Dreaming Without Sleeping showcases the work of Criminy Johnson, also known for his street art as QRST. "Criminy Johnson creates oil paintings depicting the strange environments and subjects he imagines, and while working out his ideas, he often makes wheatpastes that relate to these in some way," Grearson says in the press release for the exhibition. As Johnson's first NYC solo show, Dreaming Without Sleeping gives those familiar with his street work (which you may have encountered around the neighborhood) a chance to see another side of his art.

Friday's exhibition reception will also celebrate the grand opening of The Active Space, which just put the finishing touches on its new gallery space. Grearson invited us over to check out the gallery and an in-progress QRST wall mural that Johnson is creating for Dreaming Without Sleeping. Check out some photos, along with some Johnson's oil paintings after the jump.

Make sure you get to Friday's opening early, as the first people to arrive can snag a very limited number of one-of-a-kind drawings straight from the hands of Mr. Criminy Johnson.

And if you're having trouble finding the right words to describe your own art, keep an eye out for upcoming sessions of Grearson's 3rd Ward class, Learn to Love Your Artist Statement (or at least make friends).

-- John Ruscher

Contemporary Music Organization "Ear To Mind" Asks David Karlins To Take Their Vision From Mind To Screen

David Karlins and Ear to Mind co-director Inhyun Kim meeting in the conference room.

Since its beginnings in 2010, contemporary music nonprofit Ear to Mind has relied on a typical cookie cutter blog-style website as their online home. It did the job, but with an upcoming concert at illustrious Carnegie Hall, the organization decided they'd like something more original and reflective of their adventurous artistic identity. For that they turned to 3rd Ward Web Design teacher and prolific author David Karlins.

"They felt it was essential to create a Web presence more in keeping with the creative energy and spirit of what they are all about," Karlins says. He met up with Ear to Mind co-director Inhyun Kim and worked to create an online destination that achieves just that.

"A substantial focus of my Web consulting involves working with artists, musicians, performers and particularly venues, organizations that promote the arts," Karlins says. "While my main activity is writing books and developing online teaching materials for publishers like Dummies and teaching material for Adobe, I do keep my fingers on the pulse of cutting edge Web challenges by continuing to do design projects."

Karlins' upcoming book is Web Sites for Dummies All-in-One. Here at 3rd Ward he teaches classes including Web Design with Adobe Creative Suite (both regular and condensed) and Intermediate Web Design // CSS3 and loves soaking up our positive vibes. "My meetings with the principles and people involved at 3rd Ward allow us to absorb and bounce off the diverse activity and creative energy here, and in turn feed into my work on books, my live and online classes, and the teaching materials I create here," he says.

The Ear to Mind Carnegie Hall concert that prompted Karlins' design work happens on April 19 and will feature pianist award-winning Jenny Q Chai playing a variety of music, including the world premier of a new composition by Inhyun Kim.

-- John Ruscher

TEACHER FEATURE // Grace Bello Interviews Illustrator Yuko Shimizu for The Atlantic

We've highlighted 3rd Ward fiction teacher Grace Bello and her sidesplitting creative writing a few times, including pieces published by McSweeney's and Splitsider and adapted for the stage by Lively Productions. Now we're excited to point you towards her fascinating interview with Japanese artist and illustrator Yuko Shimizu for The Atlantic.

Bello talks with Shimizu, whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, Playboy, Rolling Stone and many other publications,  about everything from the Internet and animation to her favorite illustrators and her habit of listening to WNYC while she works.

Here's Shimizu's take on trends, along with some helpful advice for aspiring artists and illustrators:

What's an art or illustration trend that you wish would go away? 

Whatever is a trend, I wish it would go away. There's always something that's very popular right now, at this moment. And a lot of people go, "Oh my God, there's a goldmine out there!" and they try to do it. And a lot of people's work starts to look the same. And those people might get work at that point, but then the trend goes away, and then the next thing comes along, and you're not in fashion anymore. I feel it's a bit sad to chase the trend -- any trend. Especially for young people who want to be illustrators, I hope they just do their own things and do not chase the trend.

Read the whole interview here.

For more of Bello's recent work we highly recommend her excellent series of interviews with comedy writers Patricia Marx, Merrill Markoe and Margaret Sanger for The Hairpin. For more of Shimizu's work, check out her website or her recent book for Gestalten.

-- John Ruscher

TEACHER FEATURE // Writing Instructor Grace Bello Sends Another Story to the Stage

The last time with checked in with 3rd Ward flash fiction teacher Grace Bello her new short story, "Advice from the Prettiest Girl in the Office" had just been published on the comedy website Splitsider.

Now, just like her Street Car Named Desire riff for McSweeneys.com, the story will part of Lively Productions' monthly "Blogologues" series, which brings blog posts and other online writing out of the computer screen and onto the stage.

The New York Times recently featured Lively Productions and "Blogologues" on its East Village Blog, speaking with Jen Jamula and Allison Goldberg, who founded the theater company back in 2007.

"'Blogologues,' an upcoming show at Under St. Marks, will turn the spigot and let Internet culture gush out at full flow," said the Times.

Bello's story will be part of "Blogologues: I Need A Vocation," which will take place on Monday, August 29 at Under St. Marks (94 St. Mark's Place, between 1st and A). Shows are at 7:30pm and 9pm, and a $15 ticket includes a beer. 

TEACHER FEATURE // Buck Jackson's Rational Polyhedra

Buck Jackson is real, real busy. In addition to teaching at 3rd Ward, the designer teaches at CUNY, is opening his own design studio, and he’s a dad. Exhausts us thinking about one of those things.

About that design studio: it’s called Design Office Studio, and Buck says, “The primary focus of the studio is on furniture and skatepark architecture. The ultimate goal on the furniture end is: design, prototype, create finished piece and fabrication documentation, and sell designs to furniture companies. On the skatepark end, I’m working with skater, surfer, and documentary filmmaker Felipe Arias on a skatepark in his home country of Panama.”

Buck describes his design work as “rather rational,” saying, “I’ve been working with polyhedra and simple tension/compression systems in furniture. Right now I’m interested in wooden furniture that moves outside typical assemblages that are free of glue, screws or nails, and can be broken down and re-assembled.”

The Louisiana native had a humble entrance into the furniture design world, taking a job sanding and sweeping the floors of a cabinet shop when he was 18. But three years later, he began a series of assistantships for local artists and crafters, and went on to study at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and Georgia’s Savannah College of Art and Design, before moving to New York in 2005. Here, he worked for the mechanical engineering firm Hoberman Associates, and for a model and prototyping firm “which held denizens such as Frank Gehry, SOM, Calatrava, Sir Norman Foster and Richard Serra,” before beginning the process of opening his studio.

When asked about his run here so far: “The thing I like most about teaching at 3rd Ward is the diversity of the students; I can have a Harvard grad and a bus mechanic in the same class.” 

Meanwhile, make sure to keep up with Jackson's Design Office Studio in two very different incarnations; head on over here or here.

-- Anastasia Friscia 

TEACHER FEATURE // Elizabeth Waugh // Book Release

Photographer, writer and Unlimited Member  Elizabeth Waugh will be releasing her new dual book, Pantheon, at 3rd Ward on Sunday, July 24! Two art forms collide with the release of Pantheon, a two-volume collection of evocative photography and writing. Imbued with archetypes, the collection leaves a poignant and lasting impression. This will be 26-year old Elizabeth’s ninth release since the start of her career at age 17.

The 8x10 inch hard bound book of photographs and the 6x9 inch paperback collection of short stories will be on display and available for order at the exhibition for $50. Plus, uests will also have the opportunity to participate in a live photo shoot at the event and will receive a digital copy of their portrait.  Swing by Studio C from 1 to 4 pm to get involved!

TEACHER PURSUITS // A “Call & Response” Between a Teacher & Member

3rd Ward teacher, Christine Garvey, and Member, Sarah Lutkenhaus, are collaborating in the Northside Festival next weekend.

Each piece in See Saw begins a narrative in which one artist began a drawing and passed it along to the next, creating a back-and-forth, call-and-response interaction. Each work compels and entices, allowing viewers to navigate the work and arrive at their own conclusions on where the piece began and ended. The result is a new drawing that captures the tension between what we see and what was seen.

Check out their project at Café Grumpy in Greenpoint at the opening on June 18th from 11:30-1:30pm.

Want to take a class with Christine at 3rd Ward? Check out DIY Printmaking here or the Intensive here. Multiple sessions, sign up today!

TEACHER FEATURE // Elizabeth Waugh’s Beautiful, Disconcerting Photos

Fine art and fine dining! This Sunday, photographer and 3rd Ward instructor Elizabeth Waugh is throwing a dinner party of sorts to celebrate the release of her new book, "Pantheon." The June 12 event—tickets available here—features a five-course dinner prepared by chef Sung Uni Lee, as well as a gallery show of Waugh’s photos and live reading of the short stories in "Pantheon."

"Pantheon" is Waugh’s ninth annual book of fine art photography and short stories.  She describes it as "a curated experience of archetypes and myths" and "an intersection of the beautiful and disconcerting." She’s been putting together books since she was 17, and says, "Their production has been ritualistic for me."

The Chicago native studied Fine Art at the University of Southern California and honed her technical skills at Massachusetts’ Hallmark Institute of Photography before settling down in New York three years ago. Now, she says, "I have a studio in Brooklyn, and fashion clients such as Elie Tahari and Gilt Groupe. It's an amazing journey I'm on, and I am very grateful."

This fall, Waugh will be teaching a yearlong photography class at 3rd Ward called Branding Your Vision. She unreservedly calls teaching at 3rd Ward "the best thing in the world." Oh, we’re blushing.

-- Anastasia Friscia

TEACHER FEATURE // More Laughs from 3rd Ward Writing Instructor Grace Bello

Need some advice? Ask the Prettiest Girl in the Office! She probably won't solve your problem, but she'll have your side splitting.

What exactly are we talking about? The latest published piece by writer and 3rd Ward flash fiction teacher Grace Bello, who we recently featured when her satiric take on A Streetcar Name Desire's Blanche DuBois, originally published by McSweeney's, was performed live on stage.

Bello's satire and wit is just as sharp in this new piece, "Advice from the Prettiest Girl in the Office," a faux advice column by a delusional office mistress. Read it now over on the comedy website Splitsider.

Here's a little bit to get you started:

Dear Prettiest Girl in the Office,

Unlike me, my friends have full-time jobs. When they invite me out, we always go to clubs that serve $14 martinis. I try to say no, but I don’t want to rock the boat or seem cheap. What do I do?

Sincerely,
Funemployed in Fresno

Dear Funemployed,

I understand what you’re going through. When I first started modeling as a fresh-faced teenager, I worked as a cocktail waitress at one of those kinds of places. It was full of handsome, rich men in suits. You know, like in the movies?

For more of Bello's wit and insight make sure to follow her on Twitter!

-- John Ruscher