Some Mixed Berries rolled into Los Angeles

and had a physical meet up. It happened today at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Michael Masucci, Kate Johnson and I — Christa Forster — lunched at the outdoor cafe and loitered in the “Becoming Los Angeles” exhibit.

7/13/2014 Michael, Christa and Kate at the NHMLA

Michael Masucci, Christa Forster, Kate Johnson, July 13, 2014, Los Angeles


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Screen Shot 2014-07-14 at 12.03.05 AM     I had a great time, and as I was writing them an email this pm, thanking them and sending them waaaaayyytoomany links related to things we talked about during our visit, I had this thought (inspired by Vanessa Blaylock), “What if I posted this on .Re/act so that the Mixed Berries (and any others) who weren’t with us today could participate in the conversation and maybe find something useful via the links I inserted into the email?  So here it is. TTY’ALLS.

Hi Kate and Michael,

It was great to meet you IRL today! I really enjoyed hanging out with the two of you and sharing ideas.
I am about to overload you with links (as promised), things I mentioned today during our conversations (I’m a linkaholic).

 

 

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  1.  Here’s a link to the documentary about Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides. Stunning film about a great artist. I was reminded of it while looking at this  food storage artifact (above)  in the Becoming L.A. exhibit today.
  2.  Here is the article from Edutopia about using the artist studio model in the high school classroom, which I think could possibly help students understand the importance of interdependence and trust (regarding working with others, as well as with themselves). 
  3. I mentioned Joan Didion‘s essay collection, Slouching Toward Bethlehem to Kate while we were looking at the Just Add Water exhibit; there was a quote from Didon’s  essay “Holy Water” on the wall — from a different book– and now that I know that Kate grew up in Riverside (!) and is a native daughter of California, I suspect that Didion’s essays will resonate for her even more than they do for the general public.
  4. Here is a link to the site about The Match, a new multi-arts complex in Houston which just broke ground in May 2014. Given Michael’s work on the Santa Monica Arts Commission and the Bergamont Station issue, y’all might be interested in checking out the website. This project has been in the works for at least 10 years, btw.
  5. 14 Pews is the micro cinema where y’all could screen some of your own work in Houston! (Cressandra Thibideaux, the ED and a filmmaker herself, is a friend). 
  6. And here are two residency resources that grow out of Houston. The first one is set in the Italian home of my girlfriend Laura Harrison, a talented filmmaker whose documentary on the Ant Farm artists’ collective screened at Houston’s Cinema Arts Festival in 2011 or 2012 (maybe y’all could come to Houston to check out this festival — can you tell I’m trying to get you to visit to Houston?)
    1. The Bogliasco Foundation offers one-month residencies to individuals of all nations who can demonstrate notable achievement in the Arts and Humanities. 
    2. The other residency is run through the Museum of Fine Arts Houston — but is open to artists of all nations — and takes place in  Southern France — Brown Foundation Fellows Program at the Dora Maar House (Maar was an artist and surrealist photographer romantically linked to Picasso).
Okay, that’s all I got for now. No, wait —
There is a video I want to link to about Net Neutrality (a Mixed Berry Shake discussion fave) that I came across today on Twitter.
All love,
Christa

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http://www.christaforster.com