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Space Coast Progressive Alliance Present Beyond the Pretty Picture

BEYOND THE PRETTY PICTURE: WHEN ART IS POLITICAL

When Colin Powell gave his WMD speech in Feb. of 2003 to the UN security council, a huge blue curtain hung behind him to hide a tapestry of Picasso’s famous painting of the bombing of Guernica. Depicting the agony of the civilian population, it was deemed capable of undermining a speech meant to propel the US to war. Such is the power of the visual image.

As we scrutinize the media reportage of ongoing protest demonstrations, the panoply of street images – murals, shrines, signs, performance, graffiti, and t-shirts  –  grabs our attention, deepens our response and sometimes touches our hearts. Art provides us with documentaries, editorial cartoons & bumper stickers as commentary to news reportage and debates. Full disclosure: SCPA tries to stimulate your interest with a graphic image on our monthly announcements.

How influential is protest art in shaping political outcomes? Its history goes back to the work of Goya, the political cartoons of Daumier, and the Mexican Murals. Will the images created by today’s brave artists help to rescue the planet and our democracy? Our speakers will weigh the impact of those more-than-pretty-pictures.

Join us at:

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89091950550 ID: 89091950550

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q

SPEAKERS:

KATHIE ELIAS,  Independent Curator-Since 2006, Kathie Elías has been a museum professional, serving as educator and curator of Caribbean art within multiple art institutions. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the Florida Institute of Technology, a BA in Arts and Humanities with a major in Clinical Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico, and a certificate in Grant Writing and Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida. She has actively designed, developed, and executed educational programming in response to the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Foosaner Art Museum, and the Vero Beach Museum of Art collections. Currently, she works with multidisciplinary artists and artist collectives to develop exhibitions and art education projects in Puerto Rico, the US, and Germany.

Katsitsionnni Fox is a Mohawk filmmaker sharing empowering stories of resilient Indigenous women. Her debut film was the award winning Ohero:kon – Under the Husk a 26-min documentary following the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their traditional passage rites to becoming Mohawk Women. Katsitsionni received the Jane Glassco Award for Emerging Filmmaker at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival in 2016 as well as the Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking Award at LA Skins Fest in 2016. This film received funding from Vision Maker Media and has been broadcast on many PBS stations since 2017. Her most recent film, Without a Whisper – Konnon:kwe is the untold story of how Indigenous women influenced the early suffragists in their fight for freedom and equality. Without a Whisper received an audience award at Woods Hole Film Festival, Best Short Film Winner at Female Voices Rock Film Festival and Best Documentary Short at Red Nations Film. Katsitsionni has been selected as a 2021 Nia Tero Storytelling Fellow, focused on amplifying Indigenous creatives working on innovative projects rooted in culture, environment and story. She is currently in production for Kanenon:we – Original Seeds a documentary on Indigenous women seed keepers protecting and rematriating our seed relatives for future generations.

Derek Gores, Artist-Born 1971 New York, BFA Rhode Island School of Design 1993. Internationally acclaimed collage artist known for forming lush portraits from recycled paper scraps. Gores exhibits with galleries in Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin and more. Clients include New England Journal of Medicine, Playboy, Hotel Bel-Air, the Kentucky Derby and more. Gores has exhibited with social activist art shows including Re:Form School, Into Action, Manifest Equality and more. In 2009, Gores was honored to be included in the Manifest Hope DC exhibit coinciding with President Obama’s Inauguration.

Locally, Gores is a champion of the Eau Gallie Arts District and art’s place in the Space Coast conversation.

Website: derekgores.com Instagram: @derekgores-

“Art can say things that words cannot.”

“Art has the potential to reach people as their open, child-like selves. Sometimes words are too defined, too limiting.”

Jeff Parker-Growing up with rockets on Florida’s Space Coast, Jeff Parker began his cartooning career as an editorial cartoonist at Florida Environments newsmagazine in 1989 followed by Orlando Business Journal in 1990 before joining the staff of his hometown newspaper, FLORIDA TODAY, in 1992. He “retired” from editorial cartooning in 2013 after more than 21 years at FLORIDA TODAY.

Jeff is presently co-creator of the daily comic strip “Dustin” with friend and fellow editorial cartoonist, Steve Kelley. Each day, “Dustin” invites readers into the lives of the Kudlick family, who have welcomed the strip’s unemployed, 23-year-old namesake back into the house after college for “just a little while.”

“Dustin” is syndicated by King Features and can be found in more than 380 newspapers worldwide. In 2011 and 2017, “Dustin” was recognized with the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Division Award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip and nominated for the same in 2012, 2013, and 2020.

Jeff also helps Mike Peters produce his wildly-popular comic strip, “Mother Goose & Grimm.”

Jeff is a member of both the National Cartoonists Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. His editorial cartoon recognition included awards from Gannett News Service, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Florida Society of News Editors, the Florida Press Club and the Florida Press Association. In 2004, Jeff was honored to take home the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Division Award for Editorial Cartooning after four prior nominations. He has been published in Pelican Books’ Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year since 1992.

Jeff works from his home studio in Tallahassee, FL. His wife, Pat, considers him her only child.