text:
Wednesday, March 31, 2010

About the exhibition:
Norman Dreo’s new exhibition presents the child in need of the warmth of a hug, attention and constant love. Kalaro (Playmate) is an apt title for the show as Norman throws stuffed toys, dolls and semi-mechanized robots to engage lonely children. The fascination for play and the sublimation of psychological wants and needs for attention turn into wild imaginings in the minds of toddlers. Temporary friends turn out to be real friends. They are always available when the children need them. All they have to do is to open their closet and find them there, waiting eagerly for them.
With toys, who needs anything else?
About the artist:
Norman Dreo (born 1970) topped the talent test upon entering the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in the mid-80s. His art has been exhibited extensively in the Philippines, Singapore, Vermont, USA and in Europe. He has won several prizes at the Metrobank National Art Competition, Art Association of the Philippines and Ateneo Art Awards. In 2000, he was awarded Juror’s Choice at the Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards in Singapore and the Philippines. This is his eighth solo exhibition and second in Singapore.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

There are different versions of this story. This one is Francis Kong's version.
A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
He said, 'It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.'
One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot...
But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. 'My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,' said the CEO. 'Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!'
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot.. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, 'The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!'
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, 'Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!
His name is Jim!' Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.
'How could he be the new CEO?' the others said.
Then the CEO said, 'One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.
All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!'
End of story.
I have read variations of this story credited to anonymity but in terms of lesson is worth repeating specially in a country like ours that need to be reinforced with lessons on virtuous leadership.
Scriptures say whatsoever you sow you shall reap.
Plant honesty and reap trust.
Plant goodness and you reap friends.
Plant humility and reap greatness
Plant perseverance and reap contentment
Plant consideration and reap perspective
Plant hard work and reap success
Plant forgiveness and reap reconciliation
Plant faith in GOD and reap a harvest.
I guess the question is what are you planting now?

Sunday, March 28, 2010

In his fourth one-man show, titled Permanent, Mark Andy Garcia draws inspiration from personal trials and tribulations, particularly those involving his family, with whom he is especially close. At 25, he has managed to turn deeply-seated grief and wrath into works of art. In an untitled piece, Jeena Rani Marquez-Manaois writes, Garcia “disembodies his rage and bewilderment” over his sister’s decision to leave home “by creating a seven-foot beast expelled from a human figure.” In “Raquel and My Heart,” Garcia depicts a female figure slicing a human heart with a Macbethan dagger, an interpretation of his sister’s possible misgivings about his apparent but misunderstood apathy. In “My Mother,” Garcia paints his mother as a quiet embodiment of his grief, putting her in the most miserable place on earth. As an artist, he breaks free from realist conventions, but perseveres in achieving authentic emotions. While Garcia exercises control in creating the figure in “Walk with a Knife,” as if the figure is moving, he confidently allows spontaneity to take over in the painting. Then, in “Whisper,” where a riveting image of a skeletal and semi-demonic being is whispering to a male figure, Garcia acknowledges the more macabre aspects of his humanity in the context of chronicling his reaction to his sister’s elopement. Still, he takes comfort in his faith. In “Black Sea,” he expresses his need for God’s guidance to overcome difficult periods in his life. His solitary image appears in “Self-Portrait,” now as a persona that has moved beyond the rage of his untitled painting and deliberately distanced from others’ perceptions and judgment.

Garcia is also encouraged by Vincent Van Gogh’s example, paying homage to him in two works, namely, “Sunflowers” and “With Van Gogh.” In the midst of his family’s ordeals, he read Van Gogh’s letters, learning from the artist’s profound understanding of art and the artist’s life.

Artists Allan Balisi, Costantino Zicarelli, and Tatong Recheta Torres challenge each one’s creativity as they play the surrealist game, “exquisite corpse,” in Modern Life is Rubbish, their latest collaborative exhibit together at West Gallery. The game calls for each collaborator to add words or images to the composition in sequence without looking at each other’s images. “We used elements and themes that we worked on in our previous solo and group shows,” says Zicarelli. “We wanted to do something different, and didn’t want to do a usual three-person group show. We wanted our ideas to explore [similar] paths, just to see how far they would go.”

“It was our first time to do something like this, so it really felt different,” adds Zicarelli. “We had to draw or paint blindly. We didn’t have any idea as to how the finished work would look like. That’s why we gave it the title, Modern Life is Rubbish. It had sort of this yin-yang element to it. Just like our drawings, we had some bad ones and really good ones, but we all trashed them in one paper.”

Saturday, March 27, 2010

You are all invited to the

launching of the

Contest Theme for 2010: Mother and Child

to be held on Sunday, March 28,2010 , 6:00 o'clock pm

at the ECCA Exhibition Center for Contemporary Art,

Ground Floor, Chateau Verde Building,

Valle Verde 1(corner Atis and Kaimito Streets),

Gate 2 ,C-5 , Pasig City

Copies of the Entry forms will be available after the program.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Open Studio: Patricia Eustaquio/ Maria Taniguchi

March 25, Thursday,

1-9 pm

Patricia Eustaquio and Maria Taniguchi take art away from the gallery, and into the studio. On March 25, Thursday, from 1-9pm, Eustaquio and Taniguchi open their workspaces to the public, allowing a first-hand encounter of Taniguchi’s drawings and installations, and Eustaquio’s exploration of memory through painting and sculpture.

From works in progress to completed projects, Open Studio : Patricia Eustaquio/ Maria Taniguchi spotlights the artistic process and the space where all art takes form. With conversations between artist and audience, between work and viewer to complement the scene, the backroom is finally up front and center.

Open Studio : Patricia Eustaquio/ Maria Taniguchi is by appointment only. RSVP. Call 8160044, or email . Specific details will be disclosed then.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Title of Exhibit: Blurreality

Exhibitors: Hot Pan de Sayn art group with members Chica Alinell, Sharry Bobadilla, Steph Chan and Joan Tee

Exhibit Duration: March 20, 2010 – March 30, 2010

Venue: Sigwada Gallery, Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila

Exhibit Description:

The exhibit Blurreality is Hot Pan de Sayn’s first ever art exhibit after graduating from college in 2005. This exhibit will feature HPds members’ paintings, sculptures and illustrations which mirror their feelings, thoughts and emotions over the past years. The paintings are in mixed media and sculptures are done in wire works.

The term Blurreality means things that you see are not necessarily what they seem. It also refers to a state where dreams and reality combine, and it is impossible to separate the two. It is where ideals are met and broken at the same time. Blurreality can be a fantasy that came to life or a life lived in fantasy. Each artwork is an individual expression of discovery and self-exploration. Some are whimsically illogical, some bizarre, even comedic. Each piece holds a deeply personal meaning hidden beneath a seemingly nonsense aesthetic.

As part of this exhibit, the exhibitors will be conducting a free arts and crafts workshop for kids ages 3-7. The workshop is entitled “I Just Want to be Funny Today”. In this activity, the children will be taught how to make mask-type artworks, encouraging them to decorate it whatever they want to be that day. The objective of this activity is to promote creativity in kids, and instilling in them the “I can” attitude. I Just Want to be Funny Today lets the children be what they want to be for the whole duration of the workshop, whether that want to be a banana, a cupcake, a super hero, etc. Art materials for the workshop will be provided by the Hot Pan de Sayn art group.

Hot Pan de Sayn wants to tackle different issues using their art. For their first exhibit, they start by expressing what’s deep within their hearts and minds. They feel that they must dwell on this subject first, so that they can venture into deeper issues and subjects like social issues, more complex art, etc. The group’s vision is to promote the appreciation of art in their everyday lives, and the best way to do that is to start off by working from within themselves, and then giving out to the society.

Tala Gallery invites you to a Romantic Kill, a two-man show by Michael de Guzman and Art Sanchez opening on March 21, 2010.

Romantic Kill is the artists’way of presenting people’s fanciful preoccupation with love—for someone or something: a love or desire that pushes people to deprive or destroy their own or others’ feelings, emotions or beings.

In de Guzman’s paintings, he depicts love, hope and pain by capturing moments in the lives of people when they were either with great hope, with so much love, in deep pain or in grave fear, before or after their lives’ tragedy.

Meanwhile, Sanchez’ works on mirrors depict humans’ silent desire to end what they have loved but which has eventually turned to be disturbing for them—time, relationships and even violence as portrayed in his installation of small chromed soldiers.

“Romantic Kill” is third two-man show by the De Guzman and Sanchez. Both are home-grown artists of Angono, Rizal.

We Hope to see you all there!!

Exhibit Runs until April 10, 2010.

100 Scout De Guia St. (nr. Tomas Morato), Kamuning Quezon City PHILIPPINES 1103
[02] 441 1267 +63917 606 3222

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

New Drawings

An exhibition of new drawings by Romeo Lee and Victor Balanon
Opening on March 19 2010, 6:00 p.m.
Exhibition runs from March 29 until April 23 2010

Nova Gallery
Warehouse 12 A La Fuerza Plaza Compound
2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue Makati City Philippines 1200
+ 63 02 3927797 09228006927

Meaning to be Modern
A Selection from the Paulino Que Collection
March 6- 30, 2010
Finale Art File

Unprecedented in its magnitude and scale, “Meaning to Be Modern,” organized by Finale Art File (Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound, Gate 1, 2241 Pasong Tamo, Makati City), presents 80 works of 36 Filipino masters which are part of the Paulino Que collection. Showing a variety of styles, visions and techniques, the works collective evoke the Filipino soul in its post-colonial context, influencing succeeding generations of artists and setting the course of the Philippine visual arts. The masters are comprised of National Artists, emigre artists, abstractionists and figurative artists.

The masters are: Lee Aguinaldo, Frederico Aguilar Alcuaz, Juan Arellano, Lyd Arguilla, Jess Ayco, Constancio Bernardo, Victorio Edades, J. Elizalde Navarro, Ramon Estella, Carlos Francisco, Venancio Igarta, Jose Joya, Ang Kiukok, Cesar Legaspi, Diosdado Lorenzo, Arturo Luz, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Mauro Malang Santos, Vicente Manansala, H. R. Ocampo, Galo Ocampo, Alfonso Ossorio, Victor Oteyza, Rod. Paras-Perez, Jose Pardo, Ricarte Puruganan, Rodolfo Ragodon, Cenon Rivera, Helen Roces Guerrero, Manuel Rodriguez, Nena Saguil, Juvenal Sanso, Romeo Tabuena, Macario Vitalis, Hugo Yonzon Jr. and Fernando Zobel.

This is the second collaboration between Finale Art File and Paulino Que after the success of "Figuring the Times," a showcase of emerging artists held last year.

Show is open to the public from 10am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday, March 6 to 30, 2010.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

5-30 March 2010

Charisma Lico, Jan Eldric Fellizar, Marie Juliebeth Monge, Lynard Pastorpide, Miguel Manaois, Frances Ira Vidal, Miguel Bade, Rommel Agravante, Camille Asuncion, Anna Leah Aldaba Ralph Barrientos,Kathleen Fallaria, Alee Garibay, Mylene Lising, Clarisa Marie Rodriguez, Jose Luis Singson

BECOMING - appearance and essence of being

BECOMING is any process of change; any change involving realization of potentialities, as a movement from the lower level of potentiality to the higher level of actuality.

Becoming is an attitude towards time and change, it has a dynamic aspect of time called temporal becoming or passage. In the metaphysics of time, it understands passage or becoming and its relation to existence. Future and past events at a place, on this view, are no more less real than distant events at a time.

The now like the here is a function of one's perspective, one's position in the spacetime, and these positions are indicated by the line in the spacetime representing the history of spacetime locations of a particular object or person.

On this view, the future is still merely possible rather than actual; the past has become and is fully actual. If one thinks of the future as a branching structure of alternative possibilities (as the result, for instance, of free human choices or indeterministic quantum measurements), then one can think of the past and present as the trunk of that tree, growing as possibilities become actual in the present.

“BECOMING”, a collaborative art exhibition of young fine arts students still in their first year and second year levels from the University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines, provides an illuminating series of reflections on their relation between events, facts, and substances; their relations between a moment's being present with respect to a given perspective and a moment's simply being present.

Their works are notes of passages if one will assume to think of qualitative change – the acquisition and loss of presentness when viewed as second-order event in the history of first-order event. It is worth noting that on this view, these young aspiring artists in a given present, will present a tendency for debates in the future. For now are backdrop for introducing relations to temporal precedence and alternative accounts of becoming, perhaps their primacy or immediacy of experience in understanding and perception of time. Distinguishably, in one form or another, it is worth examining a bit more closely what tries to define a notion of becoming as time will discover how they assume to evolve as essences of their existence in the years to come.

BECOMING opens on 5 March 2010, 5PM at the NCCA Gallery, for details please contact Mimi Santos at (632) 527-2192 or email us at The gallery is located at G/F NCCA Building, 633 Gen. Luna St. Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. Gallery Hours: Mondays - Fridays 9:00 AM-5:00 PM; Saturdays and other Holidays – by Appointment

Artis Corpus Gallery would like to invite you to view the Picasso-Art Cabinet Initiated Art Events at the Picasso, located at 119 L. P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City. For its second art program, Picasso and Art Cabinet are featuring the following artists:

NORLITO MEIMBAN: from his MOTION Exhibition @ the Ground and Fifth Floors
KRIS JAN GAVINO: from his PARADIGM Exhibition @ the Second Floor
CAMILLE DE LA ROSA: from her AENIGMA Exhibition @ the Third Floor Gallery
ANTHONY PANUGAO: from his APOKALYPSIS Exhibition @ Sixth to Ninth Floors

Other Artists featured during this second art program for the Picasso are: Bryan Quesada (Video Art Projections at the 2/F White Wall) Lexigius Calyp and Egai Fernandez at the Ground Floor Lobby.

The exhibitions open for viewing from 18 March till 16 May 2010.

We hope to see you there. Thank you very much.

Enrico J. L. Manlapaz, President and Curator, Artis Corpus Gallery

Monday, March 15, 2010

CALL FOR ARTISTS: The Art Interview - 20th International Online Artist Competition

The Art Interview - 20th International Online Artist Competition is a quarterly, international, juried exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures in any medium. It is open to all living artists worldwide aged 16 and up. Participation in the Art Interview Biennale Exhibition and a total of 17,000 Euro in cash may be awarded each quarter to all winners. First place winners receive up to 10,000 Euro plus a featured interview in Art Interview Online Magazine.

The competition is run completely over the Internet, which eliminates the need for you to send slides or arrange for physical transportation of your artworks. Gain international recognition for your artwork and be interviewed along with the world's top artists, curators and gallery owners in Art Interview Online Magazine.

Read more information on the competition and how to enter it!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Greetings from the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).

I am writing to inform you of the Foundation’s upcoming Connecting Civil Society meeting (2-3 October 2010, Brussels) on the occasion of the 8th ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit and to request you to disseminate the Call for workshop proposals (attached) among your networks.

Recognising the importance of bridging civil societies in Asia and Europe, ASEF will bring together representatives from various civil society groups in both regions to discuss issues of mutual concern, including arts and culture. The two-day meeting will comprise plenary sessions and thematic workshops, wherein participants will discuss current trends and events defining Asia-Europe dialogue and forecast emerging trends that could define future ASEM priorities.

The Asia-Europe Foundation will then convey the outcome of this consultation to the governments at the 8th ASEM Summit (4-5 October 2010, Brussels). As you are aware, ASEF was established by the ASEM process (the main multilateral channel for communication and dialogue between Asia and Europe since 1996) and remains its only physical institution.

Issues in arts and culture will form the focus of one of the workshops at Connecting Civil Society. We are presently inviting applications from interested organisations in Asia and Europe to host the Art and Culture Workshop around the following theme:

Cultural globalisation is altering our notions of identity as well as our social values. How can arts and culture play a positive role in this changing socio-political environment? How should cultural policies in Asia and Europe address the new challenges of a multicultural and market-oriented society?

Selected host organisations will be expected to prepare the intellectual work for the workshop in consultation with ASEF and in accordance with ASEF guidelines. ASEF will organise the venue and handle logistics in Brussels for the workshop. Complete details of the event and the workshop application form are enclosed as attachments. Deadline for applications is 02 April 2010.

For background information on Connecting Civil Society 2004, visit and We request you to kindly disseminate this information through your networks and assist us in reaching interested organisations.

If you require any clarifications or have any questions, please let me know. My co-ordinates are enclosed below.

Thank you!

Warm regards,

Anupama Sekhar
Anupama SEKHAR (Ms) Project Executive, Cultural Exchange Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
31 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Singapore 119595
DID: +(65) 6874 9712 Fax: 00 65 6872 1207 E-mail:

POSTLOCAL: Painting by Bruihn, Nona Garcia and Anna Varona
March 17, 2010, Wednesday
6-9 pm

POSTLOCAL: Painting was born out of an answer to a question asked nine months ago in Japan. Curator Isa Lorenzo was in Tokyo completing a Japan Foundation art residency, and in her time alone (and away), looked back at the Filipino local art community and wondered: “What do we look like?” Perhaps bouncing from her surrounding environment, where the group takes primacy over the individual, and identity takes root from the collective, Lorenzo thought about the Filipino contemporary art community’s self-image and realized “We don’t know [it] yet. Time will tell and I do know that it is being built.”

Drawing from this, Lorenzo thought of POSTLOCAL, a show, minimal in quantity, yet with effects, wide and deep. Selected artists come together for a group show, yet this time, the artists don't know each other; group shows in Manila are usually a roster of friends. This time it’s not about the affinities or friendships, but about the work as extensions of the artists that come together. Generally unfamiliar with each other’s histories and processes, isolated practice metamorphosing into shared experience is the premise of this show.

Marking the start of POSTLOCAL is a painting show with Anna Varona, Nona Garcia and Bruihn. Interacting only through their works, the three turn ‘group show’ in on its head, thus allowing their work to be complete extensions of themselves. With familiarization and connection through the paintings, the pieces become the basis of a community built.

Anna Varona, a classically trained painter from the Art Student’s League in New York, makes a return to painting after several years of sculpture practice in Manila. She does so with classically painted, transparent colors building on each other, reaching a tonality reminiscent of mid-20th century Technicolor, spread on a brimming basket of contemporary allegorical subtexts. In her latest suite, the female is both trophy and heroine.

In one half of the diptych Death of the Brown Phenomenon, the female bust of a popular Filipino actor hangs as a taxidermist’s creation—a mounted trophy. Is this a conquest from a hunt or spoils from a botched surgical operation? In another piece, a female hand extends out from a suitcase, gestalt from the woman standing by. Is this a flirting gesture or a half-hearted grasp? Romance Wizard on the other hand, recalls Michelangelo’s glorious Creation at the Sistine Chapel; yet the reach is not of God for Man, but of the Male Customer for his Mail-Order Bride. If the Renaissance masters had seen Varona’s work 500 years ago, they would have deduced insanity, but at the same time, have recognized the style. Indeed, they would have agreed with Varona: “The classical style yields such beautiful results”.

Nona Garcia, a painter’s painter, with palettes and details that are both monochromatic and fine, comes to the show with measures on ‘white on white’. “White is difficult, a little color added, can make or break the tonal range”, Garcia volunteers.

Garcia bases her work on depiction of actual photographs, with white as the ‘coloring’ agent to the theme, highlighting or diminishing absence or presence. In White, Blank, she paints a portrait of an albino dressed in white; and in White, Empty, “an empty shelf found inside a hospital room that withstood the damages caused by the flood, its white walls and wooden planes tarnished from its submersion”, Garcia describes. It is with the natural qualities of each subject – the hue of each shadow, each stain from the block of wood, and each blemish from a patch of skin- Garcia explains, are what give vibrancy to a canvass and theme seemingly empty and monotonous. In transforming photograph into painting, Garcia found the hidden aspects of white.

Bruihn rounds up the exhibition with his Little Red Riding Hood. As a story, the symbolism is obvious: the little girl alone in the forest, the predatory male figure stalking her, the old lady eaten, and red signifying innocence lost. Only in Bruihn’s version, the cape reveals the forest, a forest that is internal. What to do when the fear of wandering too far from home is actually a fear of discovering the true self?

Bruihn is a slow artist, in the sense that he takes his time, and is deliberate and gentle with his pieces. He is a bit of a recluse, a bit of a rogue, and an artist who goes by a single name, Bruihn- a double entendre referring to a big brown bear as well as to the contraction of words by which he is familiarly known. The name extends the allegory to the artist’s own identity not belonging to any hegemonic art structure other than simply his own.

POSTLOCAL is about the interaction between the pieces- the classic and Technicolor, ‘the white on white’, and Little Red Riding Hood- with the underlying independence of each artist from each other. Like pieces to a puzzle, Varona, Garcia, and Bruihn speak the same language. Taken separately, the works are but pages of an artist’s book; taken together, the works speak volumes, rich in detail and exchange. What is revealed is what is common to the work, albeit very different in style, palette, and stroke.

Notes by Isa Lorenzo, with Nona Garcia excerpts by Cocoy Lumbao, Edited by Bea Davila

POSTLOCAL: Painting curated by Isa Lorenzo with Anna Varona Nona Garcia and Bruihn opens simultaneously with Dear Sweet Filthy World by Patricia Eustaquio at the Silverlens Gallery; and A Country Road. A Tree. by Jet Pascua at 20Square.

SLab and Isa Lorenzo would like to thank Paulino and Hetty Que, Cocoy Lumbao, Jeremy Guiab, and Rachel Rillo.

Image: Anna Varona, Romance Wizard, 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Kaida Gallery opens Womb Vox: 9 Filipina Artists on March 14, Sunday. LJ Ablola, Yasmin Almonte, Charito Bitanga, Camille dela Rosa, Mitch Garcia, Paola Germar, Jemina, Mervy Pueblo and Jeona Zoleta display works that create visual reverberations as they dissect the layers of feminine consciousness, expressing harmony and dissonance, passion and transcendence, luminosity and darkness, and the varying gradations of life caught in between.

Nine Filipina artists provide a distinctive reflection of what is natural to them-- the essential; what they find to be their own seeds of inspiration, letting them germinate in the process of birthing visual expressions on canvas, in sculpture, and the proliferation of their chosen art objects.

Pioneering abstractionist Charito Bitanga, Dean Emeritus of the Philippine Women’s University, leads this pack with her fragile yet compelling works on glass, as UP Fine Arts professor Yasmin Almonte puts forth her female-empowered expressionist paintings. Jemina’s multihued abstracts sing in counterpoint to Camille dela Rosa’s surreal anatomical explorations and Paola Germar’s cross-sectional deviations. Mitch Garcia, installation and performance artist, extends her paintings beyond live action, as sculptor Mervy Pueblo tames stone, metal and acrylic paint to create cerebral and elemental depictions. LJ Ablola and Jeona Zoleta compare and contrast strength and disempowerment, congestion and relief in their portrayal of glaring human/woman idiosyncrasies.

It did not take nine months to induce Womb Vox: 9 Filipina Artists, but it did take nine individuals of differing art career phases to combine their talents in creating this evocative selection of artworks. Womb Vox: 9 Filipina Artists will be housed within the nurturing walls of Kaida Gallery in celebration of International Women’s Month. The viewing public may now immerse themselves in the multi-colored pulsating energies and varied brush-beats of these artists, and maybe even sense the muffled whispers of their primordial sanctuary in contemporary art.

Womb Vox: 9 Filipina Artists will be on display from March 14 to April 2, 2010. Reception starts at 5:30 pm. Kaida Gallery is located at 26 Scout Torillo St., Brgy. Sacred Heart, Quezon City. For more details, please contact +632-414-4777 and +63928-505-7285 or email aidahysg@yahoo. com.

Seven art scholars from the University of the East (UE) will be holding an exhibit organized by The Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines (FCCP). The FCCP scholars composed of 4 alumni and 3 graduating students from UE's BA Fine Arts program will be showcasing their works and paintings in various styles ranging from realism, social realism to abstract.

Through the FCCP scholarship, these artists were granted not only with assistance in their tuition fee and art materials but most importantly with the opportunity to pursue a passion that will harness their talents and potentials as Filipino artists.

Today, most of the FCCP scholars are already pursuing careers in the creative field as photographers, graphic designers and artists in advertising companies. On the other hand, the graduating students are just as passionate to make their contribution in the Philippine creative industry and make a bright mark in the field of fine arts.

The scholars who will exhibit their works in the exhibit are: Romano Gerald Rago, Jenny Jasmin Lacay, Dave Lopez, Eleazar Perez, Chico Jansen Javier, Marinela Poso and Floyd Alcantara.

The exhibit will be mounted at Sining Kamalig, 4th level, Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao, QC. on March 15, 2010, 6 pm.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Two BenCab paintings have gone missing in transit from Los Angeles to Singapore.

Attached is a letter from Susan Baik, part-owner of the AndrewShire Gallery in Los Angeles where the two paintings were exhibited last year as part of a three-man exhibition.

The letter details the circumstances of the disappearance of the two paintings while under the care of FedEx. From the looks of it, Susan is now certain that it is a case of theft.

We are sending out this alert to warn you not to purchase these paintings if offered to you & to please let us know immediately if you hear anything about these paintings.

Please forward this email to anyone else who you think might come across these paintings.

Thank you for your kind attention & cooperation,

March 8, 2010

Dear Ben,

I cannot even start to tell you how genuinely sorry and mortified I am to be writing you this letter.

After two weeks of back and forth, I finally received notification from Fed Ex, instructing AndrewShire Gallery to formally proceed with a claim against the company, since they had failed to locate the two paintings that were shipped via Fed Ex from the Gallery in Los Angeles, to Singapore.

The irony of course is that Fed Ex picked up the paintings, carefully wrapped and package-sealed in a tube, at the Gallery in Los Angeles on February 26, and delivered an empty tube to me in Singapore on March 8, with the cover having been carefully sawn off, but with my address and details clearly stamped on the tube.

I have already filed a police report in Singapore, and it is my earnest hope that their investigation will reveal the details that Fed Ex is withholding from me –

1. How is it that an empty tube passes muster with customs in Singapore without a record?
2. If the tube was picked up from the Gallery with its cover sawn off, clearly empty, would not Fed Ex in Los Angeles have recorded the incident, and probably refuse to ship the item?
3. If an empty tube arrived in Singapore with its top sawn off, but with my address clearly on the tube, why did the local agents not contact me at all?
4. Further, did the empty tube not trigger any concerns on the part of the local agents with regards to potential theft?
5. Why does Fed Ex refuse to share with me the results of their ostensibly having studied their surveillance tapes at their Singapore warehouse, the names of the individuals who would have potentially handled the tube, and their internal correspondence on the case?

As frustrated and angry as I am at the turn of events, and despite the hours of anguished “how’s” and “why’s” I have subjected myself to, I have to now accept that the paintings have been stolen – not just misplaced.

What now?

1. The Gallery has filed a claim with Fed Ex in Los Angeles as they instructed us to.
2. I continue to follow-up, daily, with the police in Singapore, and will keep you updated on any information they share with me with regards to their investigations.
3. I am seriously exploring our legal options, both in Los Angeles as well as in Singapore.
4. I have sent out formal notifications to the local and international auction houses informing them about the theft, together with a clear description and images of the two paintings, and have requested them to please keep an eye open for any suspicious activity.
5. We have informed our insurance company of the incident, and the sequence of events, and I will keep you updated on their investigations, and any decision they make on our claim.

I would also like to send out to your collectors, a copy of this letter, making them aware of the stolen paintings.

Ben, the paintings were lost on our watch, and I feel absolutely terrible. In all the years that we have shipped art across continents, we have never had something like this happen to us. Fed Ex has always been entirely reliable with their collection and delivery schedules, and the risk of blatant theft from a secured facility, honestly, never seriously crossed our minds.

From the bottom of my heart, I am truly so sorry.

I look forward to talking to you soon,

Warm Regards,

Susan Baik

“When the Saints Go Marching In” will open on Saturday March 13, 2010 6pm at blanc compound Shaw. The exhibition will feature new works by Jonathan Ching. Ching explores traditional multimedia as he pays tribute to our shared pasts and histories. It will be on view until April 3, 2010.

A Country Road. A Tree. by Jet Pascua
March 17, 2010, Wednesday
6-9 pm

It’s been three years since Jet Pascua's last solo exhibition in Manila. This March, he returns to the Philippine art scene, armed with perspectives enriched by global experiences - from his Fine Arts education and residency in Norway, to his numerous exhibitions in Oslo, Berlin, and his adopted hometown of Tromsø.

On his return, Pascua zeroes in on drawings, choosing to momentarily set aside his characteristic video and performance art. For his latest work, entitled A Country Road. A Tree, Pascua’s graphite drawings on wood (some of which with acrylic paint to ‘color’ the image), meets the classic play, Waiting for Godot.

Pascua’s drawings absorb the atmosphere of the play’s opening scene where two men wait at a country road, at a tree for someone called Godot. Unsure of everything else except the road with a tree, the two men wait mindlessly, endlessly. Like Samuel Beckett’s play, Pascua’s exhibit is about repetition and question. A Country Road. A Tree. finds thematic symmetry with the two men’s decision to pass time by making nothing as something that needs to be done; thus finding themselves in a world that repeats itself.

Pascua explains drawing as a kind of performance, “repeating a certain movement, a stroke, hundreds or thousands of times until a desired outcome is achieved”. Turning nothing (strokes) into something (image), however controlled, is also filled with questions of whether the cycle has an end. Does it end because the act has been achieved and the point made, or does it end because “ I am too tired to continue”, Pascua wonders.

Pascua’s life too mirrors this repetitive theme. Despite having lived in Norway for six years now, Pascua feels he is still on a journey, caught in a “virtual space of being neither here nor there”, still waiting to arrive at a supposed destination. And as if waiting for Godot himself, he wonders if he is “waiting for something that may not even come”. So while he waits, Pascua comes back to Manila, where his journey began, armed with his art- his country road, his tree – hoping that these are markers of his way forward.

Words: Bea Davila, Image: Jet Pascua, Yesterday. Same Place., 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Greetings from the National Museum!

The National Museum opened in January 2010 an exhibition titled “Botong Francisco Coching: Telling Modern Time”, now on display at the 5th floor of the Museum of the Filipino People, National Museum (old Finance Building), T. Valencia Circle/Finance Road, Rizal Park, Manila.

The exhibition, curated by Dr. Patrick Flores, runs until the end of March 2010 and showcases the works of two masters, National Artist Carlos V. Francisco with his selected paintings, displayed back to back with comics illustrations of Francisco Coching.

As a collateral activity of the exhibition, on March 12 and 19, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., there will be lectures about the two contemporary artists. Alice Guillermo will speak on the first date while Robert Paulino and Solidad Reyes on the second, with Patrick Flores to discuss the curatorial component on both occasions. Both lectures will be conducted at the 4th floor, Tambunting Hall of the Museum of the Filipino People.

We would like to invite your fine arts students and faculty members to participate in both lectures. For confirmation or inquiries, please get in touch with Mr. Mel Lagartija or Ms. Rizza Salterio of the Museum Education Division at telefax no. 5270278. Please see attached file for the poster.

We look forward to seeing you at both lectures. Thank you.

Museum Education Division, National Museum
Telefax: (02) 527 0278

Invitation to Artists and Cultural Workers to a Discussion on the Morong 43

Dear Fellow Artists and Cultural Workers,

Warm greetings from Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP)!

"The abduction in Morong, Rizal province, last February 6 and continued illegal detention in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, in the same province, of 43 community health workers and professionals received widespread condemnation here and abroad. The denunciations escalated when the AFP leadership refused to promptly follow the stern order of the Supreme Court to show the 43 in open court." (from Joel Garduce)

We are currently continuing efforts to widen the campaign regarding the Morong 43 as the stakes of freeing them become higher. In accordance to this, CAP invites you to a discussion on the Morong 43 and the Free the 43 Campaign on March 13, 2010, 4pm at #1 Maaralin Street, Teacher's Village, Diliman. The speakers include, families of the arrested health workers to give their account, doctors and health workers, and lawyers that help the Morong 43.

Please do not hesitate to reply to this thread, email us at concerned_artists_ phil@yahoo. com or text/call us at 0929-6454102 for questions or confirmation.

As artists/cultural workers, we hope you are with us in our continuing efforts to guard the welfare of the people and our freedom amidst a regime that knows no boundaries in employing violence to suppress dissenting voices, especially as one of the victims of the Morong 43 is the wife of our fellow artist and former Dean of the College of Fine Arts in UP, Prof. Leonilo Doloricon.

Thank you very much and hope to see you there.

Roselle Pineda
Concerned Artists of the Philippines

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Dear Sweet Filthy World by Patricia Eustaquio
March 17, 2010, Wednesday
6-9 pm

Patricia Eustaquio, continues her exploration of memory with Dear Sweet Filthy World, bridging Elvis Costello’s song of the same name with oil paintings, cardboard sculptures, and boats cut from felt and cast in epoxy resin. Through these objects, Eustaquio expresses memory as an idea, and memory as she made it.

Eustaquio describes memory as a puzzle that must be broken down to be put back together again; it is ideas taken from our surroundings that “become floating individual thoughts that we access and take separately” to make a whole. Dear Sweet Filthy World is Eustaquio’s ode to this conceptual process, so vulnerable and relative, and yet at the same time, it is her narrative “to convey the irony of our feeling towards reality, the realities in life, the world.”

Taking her cue from the song, Eustaquio composes the show as a letter, allowing sentimentality and nostalgia to play a part. Understanding how one’s recreation of the past is built on fragments, Eustaquio allows her own memory to express itself, however limited and isolated it may be. As a subtext to Dear Sweet Filthy World, Eustaquio writes an actual letter, where she takes on the persona of someone coming to grips with a terrible event she has not experienced. This mirrors her memory of the Typhoon Ondoy tragedy. Watching from Delft, where she was completing her art residency, Eustaquio’s memory, time and space interfering, had gaps to be filled.

In doing so, Eustaquio’s art and language took a turn towards reaction. Dear Sweet Filthy World accuses the world, and questions the sweet and the filthy in it. Eustaquio wonders: "is the world sweet because of nature, and filthy because of man; is it vice versa; or is it either-or?" However personal, Dear Sweet Filthy World is also a set of “puzzles that complete themselves in the viewer’s mind”. Taking various forms and meanings, Eustaquio’s work allows us all to voice our feelings to a world where man struggles to shape memory, and fights to make sense of the ironies of life.

As in her previous show, Death to the Major,Viva Minor, Eustaquio allows us to question “the beautiful and grotesque, lifting the veil and revealing the void that waits underneath”.*

Patricia Eustaquio was awarded the CCP Thirteen Artists Award and the Ateneo Art Award in 2009, and will be part of the Art Omi Residency in New York in June.

*From Cross my heart and hope to die by Donna Miranda in Patricia Eustaquio’s catalogue (Silverlens Gallery)
Words: Bea Davila, Image: Patricia Eustaquio, Dear Sweet Filthy World II, 2010

Art Assemblage Contest for Private & High School Students.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Thelma Gecolea, Public Affairs Officer of the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines (the diplomatic representation of the European Union in the Philippines). I got your contact details from the NCCA.

May I seek your kind assistance in forwarding to your contacts (art educators, artists and art enthusiasts) about our art assemblage contest "Europe Ko To" which we are holding in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Philppine Women's University.

I look forward to your favourable consideration of this request.

Thelma Gecolea
Landline 8595124
Mobile 09209441371

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is inviting Filipino artists to join the 2010 GSIS Art Competition. This year’s competition has an open theme. The artist is encouraged to explore his best in presenting and conceptualizing his art entry. It is through this competition that we hope to view and produce diverse interpretations of what’s inside an artist’s mind. From the previous two (2) categories, this year, we have added the Sculpture Category in order to invite more artists to participate.

Official entry forms are available in all GSIS offices (Headquarters, regional Offices and Satellite Office) and other offices and galleries starting February 22, 2010.

Please read all the mechanics, rules and regulations carefully. The GSIS shall be strict in the implementation of the guidelines set. Entries could be disqualified for technical reasons.

1. There will be three (3) categories for this year’s competition:

I. Representational (any style, realistic, stylized (distorted figure), representational cubism, etc)
II. Non-representational (abstract) i.e. purely non-representational, no-recognizable figures and objects.
III. Sculpture

2. The competition is open to all Filipino artists age 18 years old (by April 17, 2010) and above. Participants can submit one entry per category. Therefore, each participant can submit one entry for representational, one entry for non-representational and one entry for sculpture. There is no participation fee.

3. The theme is open.

4. For the painting categories, the required size is 3 feet x 4 feet (horizontal or vertical excluding frame) with 10 kilos allowable maximum weight (including frame).
4.1 All entries must be ready for hanging (museum wrap or box type is allowed)
4.2 The medium acceptable is only oil on canvas, acrylic on canvas or watercolor. Entry using collage, decoupage, assemblage or use of non-pigment based materials like paper, board, plastic metal, etc. is not allowed. The entry must hang on a wall to qualify. Appropriate support, and/or equivalent devices should be provided to ensure the proper hanging of the artwork (ready for hanging). [For watercolor entries, any watercolor paper is allowed except Illustration Board]

5. For sculpture, the maximum size requirements are as follows: Height: 72 inches, Width: 36 inches and Depth: 48 inches
5.1 Maximum weight for the entries should not exceed 300 kilos.
5.2 Entries must be done in the generally accepted medium for sculpture such as Metal (steel, brass, copper, aluminum, et al); Hardwood (narra, mahogany, yakal, et al); Stone (marble, alabaster, granite, limestone, et al); Terracotta or stoneware (porcelain, ceramic, et al); Resin and other durable sculpture media.

6. The entry must be dated not earlier than 2010 must be his/her original work, and must not have been exhibited before nor revised nor awarded a prize in another contest.

7. The entry painting or sculpture must be signed but must be covered with masking tape prior to submission, to conceal the artist’s identity. It must also be properly labeled at the back, indicating the following: Artist (Name, Address, and Contact Numbers) Title of the work, Medium, Size, Year and Price.

8. All participants must be responsible for their entries. The GSIS shall not undertake any pick-up or transportation of any artwork to or from any point of origin. Wet paintings and sculptures will not be accepted.

9. Entries must be submitted at the GSIS Museum located at the GSIS Main Office, Financial Center, Reclamation Area, Pasay City (CCP Complex â€“ Diosdado. Macapagal Ave) on April 17, 2010 (Saturday) from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. only.

10 Entries submitted before or after the stated date and time shall not be accepted. Mail forwarders coming from the provinces should be advised by the participants themselves that the entry will only be accepted on the said submission date. Participants from the provinces are also encouraged to group together so that bringing or shipping their entries to Pasay City will be cheaper.

11. During the submission, the entry must have the following:
A) Completely filled-up and signed official entry form with one (1) 1 x 1 ID colored picture.
B) Photocopy of ONE valid ID (for age verification). The only acceptable IDs include: Current School ID, PRC License, Drive’s License, Official Company ID, copy of Passport, Postal ID, SSS ID, GSIS-E-card, Senior Citizen’s ID, Voter’s ID, NBI/Police Clearance, AAP Membership ID.
C) 5” x 7” colored photo of the work with the following information written at the back: Artist (Name, Address, and Contact Numbers) Title of the work, Medium, Size, Year and Price.
D) Notarized affidavit of the ENTRY FORM certifying originality of entry and subscription to the rules and regulations of the competition.
Note: Application and entries will not be accepted without the above-mentioned requirements

13. Announcement and awarding of winners will be held at the GSIS Theater. The date for the awarding of winners will be announced later.

14. Cash Awards for the winners in each of the three (3) categories
1st Prize - P 300,000.00
2nd Prize - 200,000.00
3rd Prize - 100,000.00

15. All Prize Winning entries will automatically become properties of the GSIS and will be included in the GSIS Art Collection.

16. Judges may decide not to award prizes if the entries do not meet certain artistic and competition requirements. All decisions of the board of judges shall be final.

17. The GSIS Museum reserves the right to use the name and photo of the artist and his/her entry for free in any broadcast, or print medium. The artist also grants GSIS the right to exhibit the entries as deemed fit. DUE TO LIMITED SPACE, NOT ALL ENTRIES WILL BE EXHIBITED. The GSIS reserves the right to decide which of the entries will be displayed during the competition exhibition. LIKEWISE, THE GSIS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHICH OF THE ENTRIES WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE CATALOGUE OF ENTRIES.

18. All entries on display should not be sold or taken out from the museum within the duration of the exhibit. The artist is responsible in dealing with the prospective buyer(s)

22. Officers of AAP and other individual artists tapped to assist the GSIS are not allowed to participate in the said competition.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences and Art Cabinet Philippines are pleased to present a talk on abstract art by Mary Ann Josette E. Pernia. The talk is a related activity of an ongoing exhibit of works by Eugene Jarque, Lexigius Calyp, Mac Valdezco, Pidge Reyes and Allain Hablo at the Picasso. It is scheduled for Saturday, March 6 from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon. Registration is at the 3F Gallery and the participation fee is P250.

The talk hopes to clarify the concept and give an overview of abstract art. Abstract art is considered the most characteristic form of 20th century art. It is rooted in the reaction towards traditional concepts of art, particularly art as imitation of nature. Its distinct tendencies and the premise behind abstract art have helped create a new reality for perception. Examples from Philippine art on exhibit will be discussed.

Mary Ann Josette E. Pernia graduated from UP Diliman’s Humanities program. She is currently education programmes consultant at the Lopez Memorial Museum and Library and teaches literature, humanities and Philippine Arts subjects at UP Manila.

Gallery hours are Mondays – Fridays from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm and Saturdays from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences is at 119 Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City.

For additional information:
Art Cabinet Philippines

Blanc Peninsula Manila will open with an inaugural exhibition entitled "These Are Days" on Wednesday, February 17 from 5PM until 8PM. blanc peninsula manila is located at The Peninsula Manila G/F Shops 8 and 9 Ayala Avenue cor Makati Avenue, Makati City.

The exhibition will run until March 12, 2010.

For more information please visit call/sms +63920.9276436

"These Are Days" will feature the works of

Allan Balisi
Andres Barrioquinto
Jonathan Ching
Mariano Ching
Melvin Culaba
Eugene Jarque
Geraldine Javier
Lao Lianben
Lynyrd Paras
Arturo Sanchez
Yasmin Sison
Mac Valdezco
Ronald Ventura

Stations of the Cross
A Lenten Art Project
February 17 to April 4, 2010
Jason K. Dy, SJ
Sacred Heart Parish
242 D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City

Twisted steel twined with aluminum wires
and plastic tubings with concrete debris
are salvaged skeletal frames of a shattered shrine

re-fabricated into sculptures of devotion
wrapped with wires insulated
with the colors of passion, death and pure love

to tell the narrative of fourteen stations
of agony and exaltation,
temptation and obedience,
condemnation and conversion,
betrayal and compassion,
suffering and sacrifice,
crucifixion and expiation,
death and resurrection
enthroned on solid concrete block of faith.

Monday, March 1, 2010

By Dave Lock Jr. and JCrisanto Martinez

Sigwada Gallery, an emerging alternative art venue, proudly presents an exhibition of the works of four upcoming visual artists. Titled “Oroquieta,” the exhibition features the works of Burog Alvarado, Indigo Narra, Wayan Narra and Dee Sarno.

Opening on March 2, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. and continuing until March 17, 2010, “Oroquieta” is a compelling journey that travels through the conjunctions, contradictions and convolutions of the cultural terrain that has endured seasons and systems. If we are to illustrate the contours of a preface of the contemporary arts in the street called Oroquieta in Sta. Cruz, Manila, we foreground the enduring careers of some artists/artisans/craftsmen who can best serve not so much as archetypes, but as criterion and exemplification of broader propensities in the aesthetics of the Oroquieta Street.

The images of Burog Alvarado rendered in pen and ink drawings come as negra-blanca, illustrative of the thin line that traverses the maximalist elements of chaos in his drawings and the integral calm meditation that engulfs the artist at work. Alvarado is in full control of the medium, with the lines and illustrations forcing themselves straight from the domain of his ideas. His series contains a central apparition reminiscent to the infamous Santisima Dela Muerta, and the image of the Virgin Mary, as Oroquieta is made popular for its merchandise of hand-carved icons. Burog retains his personal identity through the incorporation of the elements that he usually employs within his masterpieces: skulls, guns, and monstrous, alien-like creatures swarming around the four corners of his work much like the tattoos that inhabit his skin.

Dee Sarno is a young rising artist who plays with his fondness of piercing and tattooing incorporates it with his flesh-colored bone-like reliefs, causing a highly-detailed representation of penetrated dots into his resin medium. Sarno examined the symbols that lay in the path that sprouted as Oroquieta Street. Relic-like, Sarno’s pieces detailed a personal interpretation of the symbiosis of land, locality and communion creating artworks which are visually more than epidermal and are very much calcified like a skeletal fragment hardened by a solid pack of osteocytes. And it is in this unique style of presentation and representation that Sarno as visual artist successfully expresses his identity, flesh-colored bone-like. Perhaps it is natural, emanating from his inherent sense of art. Perhaps because it is pure.

The pictographs of the past become visible in the rendition of the “common tao” in the figurative expression of the portraits by Indigo Narra and Wayan Narra. Evoking a sense of nostalgia, the images in the canvases of the Narra brothers are dark, solitary figures with deep, penetrating gazes that attempt to catch the viewer’s eyes. These are the figures that are hungry to converse and wanting to tell their stories. Yet beyond the nostalgia, the Narra brothers rendered their artworks in mixed media over canvas. Thickly impastoed, the paintings convey the continuing development of a race-moment-milieu were the dominating sepia-based color palette run in contrast/complement with the modern medium and mode of execution. This transference is substantiated by the integration of socio-cultural-political concepts by the artists in their artworks, deepening the conversation between the viewer and the impastoed figures on the canvases by an interrelation of the common desire of both audience and these figures in the continued wanting for change and development/improvement.

The achievements that can be gained from and in Oroquieta are for those who are adept of seizing the opportunity, to research, view, listen, hear, taste, feel, read and comprehend its history, to examine its meaning, and redirect them proactively and positively in a medium of expression. Oroquieta must continue to procreate so as to give birth to artists and works of art. It shall endure interpretation and reinterpretation just as its reality has been upheld with the tinge of tradition, history and purpose both from within and beyond.

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text:
In twist, Provident is sued for not acquiring bank

March 04, 1994|By Timothy J. Mullaney | Timothy J. Mullaney,Sun Staff Writer

Baltimore-based Sterling Bancorp yesterday sued its prospective merger partner, Provident Bankshares Corp., claiming that the parent of Provident Bank of Maryland backed out of a deal to buy Sterling because of second thoughts about the price.

The suit filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court contends that a Dec. 15 merger agreement provided that Provident would exchange 1.291 shares of its stock for each share of Sterling.

But Provident's stock started climbing after the deal, rising to $20.50 on Feb. 10, when the deal was to be finalized, from $18.375 when the deal was announced, adding $1.4 million to the cost of the deal. The stock since has declined to $19.125, down 50 cents yesterday. The original deal would have been worth about $10 million.

Sterling said Provident tried to back out of the merger because the total price had risen. "The market price of Provident shares has gone up, which makes [the merger] more beneficial for Sterling shareholders and less advantageous for Provident," said David Clarke Jr., an attorney at Piper & Marbury who is representing Sterling. "We want the deal to go forward as it was structured. We were promised Provident stock and that is what the shareholders of Sterling want."

The small, privately held Sterling is a three-branch bank with $70 million in assets that caters to high-net-worth individuals. (It is not affiliated with Sterling Bancorp of New York, a publicly traded bank holding company.)

Provident, with $1.7 billion in assets and 43 branches, itself has been seen as a likely takeover target.

The merger was announced in December on the strength of a three-page letter of intent signed by both sides. The letter left some terms to be resolved later, but it said that the parties intended it to be a legally binding merger agreement. It did not say the deal was contingent on the signing of a more detailed final agreement.

The last draft of the final merger agreement was written by Provident's lawyers at Semmes, Bowen & Semmes and sent to Piper & Marbury on Feb. 10, Mr. Clarke said. Provident Chairman Carl W. Stearn then told Sterling that Provident was concerned about Sterling's loan portfolio and wanted out of the deal, according to the lawsuit. Neither side would discuss those concerns yesterday.

"We determined that their business was not what we had been led to believe," Mr. Stearn said in a statement. "Usually banks sue to avoid being acquired. The whole thing strikes me as a little strange."

Sterling, in the lawsuit, insisted that any doubts about Sterling's operations are a canard.

"Provident's alleged concerns . . . were unreasonable and often based on shoddy analysis that had resulted in elementary errors of fact," the suit said. The suit asks for an order that Provident complete the merger. If the court won't order the merger, the suit asks for damages of at least $5.4 million, claiming that the termination of the merger damaged Sterling's reputation.

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text:
Northeastern District...

March 08, 1994|By Richard Irwin

* BURGLARY/ARRESTS: Northeastern District -- Police arrested four teen-age boys after they entered Dominic's Hair Studio in the 4600 block of Harford Road Sunday. After being charged, all were released to the custody of their parents pending action by juvenile authorities.

* ASSAULT: Northeastern District -- Police were seeking a man who cut a resident of the 5100 block of Cedgate Road with a razor blade at the victim's home Sunday.

* ROBBERY: Southwestern District -- A resident of the 500 block of S. Paca St. was changing a flat tire in the 3300 block of Bloomingdale Road on Sunday when he was robbed of money by two men. The men also robbed two passengers of the car of their property and money.

* ROBBERY: Southwestern District -- A man who implied he had a gun robbed the High's dairy store in the 3700 block of Wilkens Ave. of $64 and several cartons of cigarettes Sunday.

* THEFT: Northern District -- Property valued at $700 was stolen from a car parked in the 5700 block of Chinquapin Parkway Sunday by someone who broke a window.

* ROBBERY: Southern District -- A resident of the 400 block of S. Gilmor St. was walking in the 800 block of W. Pratt St. Sunday when a gunman robbed him of his beeper, valued at $35.

* BURGLARY: Northwestern District -- Someone entered a house in the 4100 block of Westchester Road Saturday or Sunday and stole a VCR, jewelry and other property, all valued at nearly $1,000.

* ROBBERY: Northwestern District -- A resident of the 6900 block of Glen Heights Road was in the 6800 block of Reisterstown Road Saturday when she was knocked to the pavement by a man who stole her purse containing cash and property.

* ROBBERY: Western District -- A resident of the 3200 block of Massachusetts Ave. was in the 1800 block of Edmondson Ave. Sunday when a man placed an unknown object in her back and robbed her of property valued at more than $100.

* CHURCH BURGLARY: Western District -- Someone entered the Bible Way Deliverance Baptist Church, in the 1300 block of W. Lafayette Ave., through a hole in the roof early Sunday morning. It was not immediately known what property was taken.

* THEFT: Western District -- A 12-inch TV valued at $200 was stolen from a car parked in the 300 block of N. Monroe St. Sunday.

* THEFT: Central District -- A purse and its contents, a cellular phone and a man's leather jacket, all valued at more than $1,000, were stolen from a car parked in the 100 block of W. Eager St. Sunday by someone who broke a window.

* BURGLARY: Garrison Precinct -- Someone entered a home in the 3600 block of Forest Hill Road with a key Sunday and stole a VCR and TV valued at nearly $600. Police were seeking a suspect in the case.

* ROBBERY: Garrison Precinct -- A resident of the 6000 block of Lanette Road was waiting for a bus in the 500 block of Reisterstown Road Sunday when two men approached and robbed him of his wallet that contained an undisclosed sum of money.

Police Blotter is a representative, not comprehensive, list of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, reported by Richard Irwin.

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text:
Bears tear through Middletown, 59-41

March 13, 1994|By Katherine Dunn | Katherine Dunn,Sun Staff Writer

There were tears anyway.

Even though No. 1-ranked Hammond won its second state Class 2A title in three years yesterday at UMBC.

Even though the Golden Bears beat defending champ Middletown, 59-41, to avenge last year's title-game loss and snap the Knights' 50-game winning streak.

Even though they concluded a 24-1 season that was their best ever and included their first Howard County title and their first No. 1 ranking.

Still, the tears flowed in the locker room, especially for seniors Kacy Williams and Sonia Keiner, who have been friends since kindergarten and starting teammates since their freshman year.

"It was kind of sad because it was the last game," said Williams. "I think I've been so blessed in my life and this [win] is just another blessing."

Yesterday's championship victory came in typical Hammond style. The Bears simply wore down the third-seeded Knights (22-1) with their non-stop pressure defense and their runaway offense.

"Their quickness was the difference in the game," said Middletown coach Mark Miller. "We gave them everything we could, but they're just a very good team."

Although the Knights stayed within striking distance through the first half, the Bears' transition game eventually took its toll.

Most of the damage came from junior guard Tiki Nicholson, who scored 16 on 6-of-12 shooting. Tameka Harrison and Williams added 10 each while Kellye Townsend had nine, Keiner eight and Rene Hines six.

Defensively, Williams and Nicholson applied overwhelming pressure to Middletown's guards Kara Reed and Kristen Hofer. Reed, who averages 14.3 points, many from three-point territory, managed just 10 and only one three-pointer.

"The pressure Kacy and Tiki put on those two girls was relentless," said Hammond coach Joe Russo. "I knew if we played our game, they would really have to chase after us, and that happened."

The Bears' press forced four early turnovers and sparked an 8-0 game-opening run. Williams fed Nicholson, Harrison and Keiner for consecutive layups and Nicholson capped the rally with a short off-balance jumper.

Middletown, however, slowly climbed back, pulling within 18-15 early in the second quarter. Then Hammond put together a 10-2 run with four points each from Nicholson and Hines to go up 28-17 with 2:26 left until halftime.

Reed capped a three-point play and Hofer added a 20-footer to bring the Knights within five. "We weren't playing any defense and we weren't getting back," said Nicholson.

But the Knights could not sustain the momentum, turning the ball over on three of their last four possessions of the half.

The Knights never threatened in the second half as the Bears poured on the defense and continued to shoot well.

Hammond's only loss this year came to Elizabeth Seton in the IAABO Tournament the week after Christmas. Looking back, Russo said, that loss played a key role in the Bears' title drive.

"One of the advantages that we had was we lost a game," said Russo. "When you win that many games in a row [as Middletown had], you tend to think about when you're going to lose. That was a mental advantage for us."

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text:
Williamsport duo ousted (Local roundup)

May 23, 1998

BALTIMORE - The Williamsport doubles team of Abby Creek and Amy Spoonire lost Friday morning in the first round of the Maryland State Tennis Tournament, 6-4, 6-3 to the No. 4 seeded team from Montgomery Blair.

Creek and Spoonire took a 4-3 lead in the first set, then dropped eight straight games to fall behind 0-5 in the second. The Wildcat duo reeled off three straight games before losing the match.

"They just couldn't come up with the crucial points," Williamsport head coach Charlotte Trout said. "But they were really competitive, and I don't think they are too disappointed."

Creek, a senior, and Spoonire, a junior, finished the season 7-2 after teaming up at the end of the season to win the Washington County championship and take second in the District One tournament.

Hunt joins teammate at SLU

Andre Hunt, Hagerstown Junior College's record-setting jump specialist, has signed a full scholarship to compete for Southeastern Louisiana Univiersity in track and field next spring.

Hunt became the second HJC athlete to sign with the Division I school located in Hammond, La. Duriel Mason announced his decision to attend Southeastern Louisiana on Monday.

Hunt chose SLU over Georgia, Marshall and Eastern Kentucky. Tom Douple, HJC's first-ever track all-American, is the athletic director at Southeastern Louisana.

The Lynchburg, Va., native earned All-American status in 1997 in the triple jump during the national indoor meet. He set an HJC record of 49 feet, 4 3/4 inches, the longest indoor or outdoor jump in school history. He broke his own record with the leap, but his earlier jump of 49-3 broke a 20-year-old record.

Halfway Senior League

Elks 18, Minnick's 5: Travis Dunahugh had four hits to lead Elks. Derrick McAllister had three hits and Adam Wray, John Duff and Adam McAllister had two hits for Elks.

Clear Spring Minor League

Cubs 10, Yankees 5: Jordan Weaver, Chipper Mellott, Josh Bishop and John Caufman had two hits for the Cubs. Brian Doyle had two hits for the Yankees.

Conococheague Little League

Lions 11, Taylor Trucking 3: Drew Kidd and Ben Jordan combined on a one-hitter and Jordan had two hits for Lions. Kenny Singhas had three hits, including a homer for Lions.

Washington Co. Girls Softball

Rugrats 10, Smithsburg 5: Adrienne Kesecker struck out 18 to lead Rugrats. Smithsburg's Elissa Reed had two hits and two RBIs.

National Little League

Pangborn 9, Blue & Gray 8: Adam Hockensmith went 3-for-3, Ryan Harmon homered and Brandon Blahut had two hits for Pangborn. Matt Cronise had three hits and Justin Marshall had a three-run homer for Blue & Gray.

Elks 19, Longmeadow Exxon 6: David Siebert had three hits, including a home run, and Jeff Franklin had two hits for Elks. Wayne Young had two doubles for Exxon.

American Legion

Funkstown 5, Dallastown (Pa.) 1: Mike Squibb struck out seven and only allowed one hit in five innings of work to lead Funkstown. Zane Bishard had two of Dallastown's three hits.

Blue Ridge Adult League

Hagerstown Braves 11, Smithsburg Yankees 6: Danny Summer had three hits and Dan Cunningham had three RBIs for the Hagerstown Braves to improve their record to 5-0.

Brad Elwood had two RBIs and Nate Reeser scored three runs, while Mike Whiteman (1-0) had eight strikeouts for the Braves. Chris Black had two hits for Smithsburg (2-2).

West End Minor League

Callas 7, St. Lawrence 3: Corey Walzl had two hits and Dustin Calandrelle hit an inside-the-park home run for Callas. Dennis Zimmerman was 3-for-4 and Justin Martin hit an inside-the-park home run for St. Lawrence.

Clear Spring Little League

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 3: Cody Hartle threw 16 strikeouts and Travis Divelbiss and Phil Saloom had a pair of hits each for the Blue Jays.

Maugansville Little League

Brewers 3-6, Ruritan 2-3: Zeb Jacobs and Brian Barnhart combined to pitch a one-hitter with 19 strikeouts and Zachary Light had two hits for Brewers and Ben Ziegler homered for Ruritan in game one. Zeb Jacobs pitched a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Brewers in game two.

West End Little League

Coca-Cola 16, Elks 8: Jared Barnhart had three hits and Brock Randall and J.C. McElroy had two hits each for Coca-Cola. Chris Grove had three hits, Mike Petty and Jeff Short had two hits and Petty homered for Elks.

Valley Little League

SMRG 12, FOP 2: Drew Crawford had three hits and Matt Morin, Nick Shifler and Josh Tracey had two hits for SMRG. Tracey and Crawford combined to pitch a one-hitter and Tracey also homered for the winners.

Federal Little League

Lions 13, American Legion 9: Brent Tomms had three hits, including a home run, and Zack Lynn and Randy Stout had two hits each for Lions. Dustin Mizah had three hits and Tim Evans and Peter Sanicola had two hits for American Legion.

South Mountain Little League

Nationwide 10, Lions 7: Jared Mann pitched a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts and Robert Bowman, Chris Cannon and Cory Robinson had three hits for Nationwide. Will Strahl hit a home run for Lions.

Hagerstown Pony League

The Herald-Mail Articles


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Mail Call

July 01, 1998

Editor's note - Please be as brief as possible when calling Mail Call, The Daily Mail's reader call-in line.

Mail Call is not staffed on weekends or holidays so it is best to call Mail Call weekdays at 301-791-6236.

Readers are welcome to leave their recorded message on any topic they choose, but some calls are screened out.

Here are some of the calls we have received lately:

"I'd like to answer the person who thinks that older people once they reach the age of 75 shouldn't be allowed to drive. Does that person keep a record of what has happened in the last 2 weeks? Ten teenagers were killed in accidents and only one senior citizen. Senior citizens drive the speed limit and that's what you should go by."

"I agree with the caller. We do need to take the wealth out of Commonwealth Avenue over there at the Board of Education. I don't know how they can even sleep at night knowing that they can get raises almost every single year and teachers have to go without one for five years or even more."

"The Daily Mail's front page of June 26 said that the art work being done to make a fountain at Rest Haven Cemetery will be decorated with gargoyles. Aren't they spooky looking and weird? My question is why is that kind of art work being done for a cemetery? I have lots there and don't appreciate anything of this sort."

"When a 16-year-old cannot use the correct spelling of 'you're' perhaps it is time to give teachers a raise. They will have to work even harder to convince the child and his parents to become participants in his education. How could he ignore so many years of lessons or correct language usage?"

"Hey Mail Call, I'm a 14-year-old girl and was reading The Herald-Mail and saw that President Clinton wanted to take a poll on what brand of cigarettes you smoke. Well, I smoke Virginia Slims but please don't tell my mom."

"According to Police Beat in last Friday's Daily Mail, a car parked at a local exercise gym was broken into and the thief stole a credit card and $1,300 worth of jewelry. Why would anyone leave such valuables in an unattended car? "

"This is concerning the article in Sunday's paper on the curriculum audit. I found that there were a lot of contradictions in the article about the findings of the committee. First of all they were complaining how teaching styles vary amongst teachers from school to school but yet they wanted teachers to be current in what they are doing and current teaching styles say that you need to vary your teaching because student learning styles vary which then they saw an uneven use of effective teaching practices. Along with that they wanted things to accommodate the children but yet they want more standardization throughout the schools. The auditing was very contradicting in their points that they were making."

"Anyone who believes the American Medical Association liberal propaganda wing when they say 3,000 young people start smoking every day and 1,000 die from smoking every day are the same people who believe Bill Clinton when he said, 'I did not inhale' or 'I do not owe the Chinese communist any favors.'"

"This is in response regarding the tornado. I drove around all night during this storm and never saw one funnel cloud. All I saw was high winds knocking a few trees over here and there but never once did I see a funnel cloud. My car didn't ever get swept up in this huge tornado that everyone speaks about."

"Bill Clinton should be right at home. There isn't a nickel's worth of difference between a liberal and a communist."

"Hello. If anyone is interested in old post cards call me after 5 p.m. at 301-582-2155. I have quite a few of them. Thank you."

"Hello Mail Call. I hope you print this because I think it's important for people to know. I'm a single working mom who depends on my child support to make ends meet but that's not it. The Maryland laws says that if the absent parent does not pay child support they will go to jail. Well, get this. My ex-husband is in jail for violating his probation and I've not received a child support check for two weeks. So I called DSS, the Department of Social Services, and they said as long as he's incarcerated the child support petition stops and they are not obligated to pay. So it's OK absent parents, just do something against the law and go to jail and to heck with the children. Tell me what's wrong here. Somebody please tell me what's wrong with our system."

"Hey there, how about that wonderful win by the Suns on Sunday night and thank you Hagerstown Trust for that wonderful fireworks display. It was watched upon and beautiful. Thank you again."

"Hello Mail Call. Yes, I have a comment to make on Ron Bowers here. There have been some people that have for the past week or so been putting in the paper what Bowers has personally done for them. I applaud what the man has one for them OK, but Ron Bowers does not stand for single families. He's a County Commissioner and in order for him to get phrases from us other people around this county, he's going to have to prove to the people of Hagerstown and the surrounding areas that he wants to do for them what he's done for two families."

"Hi Mail Call. I'm calling about the continuing problems with the Frederick Police Department and I wonder if maybe the Hagerstown City Police Department might give the Frederick P.D. some retraining? I think that common courtesy when stopping people is necessary no matter what your color or age."

The Herald-Mail Articles


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Softball tourney a home run for CASA

September 13, 2009|By HEATHER KEELS

WILLIAMSPORT -- Shouts of "Go for it!" and "Good play!" rang out at the Pinesburg Softball Complex in Williamsport Sunday morning as softball players from all over the region supported each other -- and a cause -- at the 18th annual Run, Jane, Run women's softball tournament to benefit CASA, a local organization that helps victims of domestic violence and their families.

The two-day tournament typically raises $20,000 to $25,000 in entry fees, sponsorships, concessions and donations for CASA (Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused), Executive Director Vicki A. Sadehvandi said.

This year's tournament included 24 teams, said Paula Keser, who organized the event with Jackie Kelley. Many teams came from organized softball leagues, but others were pickup teams formed specifically for the event, Keser said.

The teams are divided into two groups and play a double-elimination bracket, with the top 12 returning the second day, Keser said.

Prizes include tote bags and trophies, but it's the cause and the joy of playing ball that attracts teams year after year, she said.

The money raised at the tournament supplements state, federal, county and United Way funding to pay for a variety of programs and services for people who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or rape, Sadehvandi said. Those services include emergency shelter for victims, counseling, support groups, legal advocacy, workshops and a 24-hour hot line.

The funds are critical to helping victims -- usually women -- rebuild their lives after breaking free from abusive relationships.

"You have people that leave home and they have nothing," Sadehvandi said.

CASA also provides counseling to help abusers change their behavior, she said.

"It's a serious problem here in Washington County, especially with the stressors that are on families today," she said.

As families deal with layoffs, tight budgets and other economic stressors, CASA has seen a large increase in the number of calls, as well as the lethality of domestic violence, with more people using weapons, Sadehvandi said.

Organizers said they are grateful to the event's many sponsors, including top donor Susquehanna Bank, as well as the Amateur Softball Association umpires who work at the event, and Gary Lumm, who arranged for the event to use the Pinesburg concession stands.

CASA director: "Help is available"

The Run, Jane, Run women's softball tournament held over the weekend served not only as a fundraiser for CASA (Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused), but also as an early kickoff for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

CASA Executive Director Vicki A. Sadehvandi shared the following information about domestic violence and how CASA can help:

Q. What is the most important thing people should know about domestic violence?
A. "Help is available," Sadehvandi said. Victims of abuse and abusers who want help changing their behavior can call CASA at 301-739-4990 or its 24-hour hot line at 301-739-8975.

All services are confidential, she said.

Q. What are some of the fears victims have about seeking help?
A. "Trying to make that decision to leave a domestic violence situation, or even reaching out for help, takes a tremendous amount of strength," Sadehvandi said.

It's not unusual for the abuser to threaten to kill the victim or to make sure the victim loses her children if she seeks help, she said.

CASA provides free legal advice and can help victims seek protective orders against their abusers, she said.

Q. Is CASA just for women?
A. CASA helps entire families, including the victim, the abuser and their children, Sadehvandi said. Most victims are women, but there also are male victims, she said.

Q. How does CASA's Abuser Intervention Program work?
A. The program provides counseling to help abusers accept that they have a problem and develop new ways to deal with their emotions, such as taking a walk or calling a hot line, Sadehvandi said.

Q. Is there a link between growing up in a household with domestic violence and ending up in a similar situation as an adult?
A. About 90 percent of the people CASA helps grew up watching domestic violence in their own families, Sadehvandi said. Many say they don't want to end up like their parents, but cannot help being drawn to similar relationships, she said.

CASA has a children's therapist to help break the cycle for the children of the victims it helps, Sadehvandi said.

"We see these little kids, and if there's no intervention, they'll be the victims and abusers of tomorrow," she said.

Q. Do all victims who turn to CASA end up leaving their abusers?
A. CASA provides shelter and help to victims who want to leave their abusers, but it can also help with safety planning for those who are not ready, Sadehvandi said.

"It's whatever she wants to do," she said.

Most often, victims come to CASA wanting the organization to "fix" their abusers, but CASA can't always do that if the abuser hasn't decided he wants help, Sadehvandi said.

Leaving for good isn't easy for many victims. On average, it takes six to eight attempts for a victim to successfully leave an abusive situation, she said.

Winning teams

Winning teams from the Run, Jane, Run women's softball tournament:

American League champion: Tim's Tools of Scotland, Pa.

Second place: Jayne Keller, DMD/Peckie's of McConnellsburg, Pa.

National League champion: Forry's of Harrisburg, Pa.

Second place: Potomac Valley Brick of Silver Spring, Md.

The Herald-Mail Articles


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Tri-State area residents tell their favorite memories of Christmas

December 23, 2011|By CALEB CALHOUN |
  • Mike Stoner of Hagerstown, Md.
Mike Stoner of Hagerstown, Md.

Hagerstown resident Mike Stoner's favorite Christmas memory involves a tradition that sent his children scurrying to bed in advance of Santa's arrival.

Stoner, who recently was collecting money for The Salvation Army at Valley Mall, said that memory dates back 30 years, to when his children were young.

"We would get the kids to the window, and I would go up in the attic with a bell and say, 'Santa Claus is coming,'" said Stoner, 69. "The kids would run and get in bed because they were sure that they heard sleigh bells."

Stoner was one of a number of area residents who were asked this week about their favorite holiday memory.

Thurmont, Md., resident Jeff Fraley, 41, also was collecting money for The Salvation Army. He said his favorite Christmas memory is of going to Eylers Valley Chapel in Sabillasville, Md., every Christmas Eve.

"It's an old chapel that has no electricity; it has candles," he said. "It's a very peaceful experience going up there for Christmas Eve services."

Hagerstown resident Kirk Stroup, 50, said when he was between the ages of 5 and 8 he always enjoyed family moments on Christmas Eve.

"My father and mother would set up the Christmas tree, and I would leave out cookies and an orange for Santa," he said. "Then around midnight, my father would eat the cookies, peel the orange, and throw the rind on the roof of the second floor and show it to me the next day as proof that Santa came. The care and concern my parents showed for me was great."

Dominique Perry, 18, of Chambersburg, Pa., was at Valley Mall with her family, many of them in line to see Santa Claus, when she talked about how her favorite holiday memory is something her family still does every year.

"On Christmas Eve, my whole entire family has a big Christmas Eve dinner, and then we all go out and get hot chocolate and go look at Christmas lights," she said. "Every year is pretty special; it's always different."

John Thew of Kearneysville, W.Va., was portraying Santa Claus at Valley Mall, something he said he has been doing for about 50 years. He said his favority memory is a new one, something a youngster said to him this year while he was in his Santa role.

"An 8-year old girl crossed my lap and said, 'Santa, the only thing I want is peace and for the kids to have toys that I have,'" he said. "Santa had a little trouble holding things together at that moment."

Thew's wife, Joicey, was acting as Mrs. Claus at Valley Mall, and she said that her favorite memory was when her husband one Christmas decorated a church in Gaithersburg, Md., that they used to attend.

"They had the children and the choir come up and sing after he decorated it," she said. "It was just so beautiful; he made everything that was up on the stage."

Irvin Ezekiel of Hagerstown said this Christmas is becoming his favorite memory because of how appreciative he is to be around family and friends. Ezekiel said he suffered a stroke two days before Thanksgiving this year.

"My favorite memory growing up was all the toys I got, including an electric train set and drum set when I was 13," he said. "Now, since I have survived a stroke, I am just thankful that I wake up every day and get to be around people I care about."

The Herald-Mail Articles


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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollections

Arts Center Benefit-Goers Join the Circus

March 30, 1993|KATHRYN BOLD

Clowns and magicians turned the Four Seasons Hotel into a circus Saturday for a benefit staged by the Sound of Music Chapter of the Guilds of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The "Circus Fantasy" gala attracted about 300 guests to the Newport Beach hotel for dining, dancing and clowning around. The $175-per-person benefit raised about $60,000 for the center's operating fund.

Send in the Clowns

"Because this is a recession year, we wanted a light, happy theme," said Jodi Greenbaum, event chairwoman.

Party-goers were greeted by mannequins and props that carried out the circus theme, including a circus performer riding a papier-mache elephant.

"We found the elephant at a place in Los Angeles that rents props for movies," said event co-chairwoman Catherine Thyen. "You can go wild in there."

Many guests wore colorful costumes inspired by the circus theme. Jeannie Awad, Sound of Music chairwoman, wore a red velvet gown with a feather boa that matched the rainbow hues of a clown's wig.

"I thought this fit the fantasy theme," Awad said.

Candice Schnapp, last year's chapter president, sported a purple, orange and gold sequined sheath with a dramatic bow and sash and a small stuffed blackbird perched on her shoulder, while husband, Roger, wore a matching sequined bow with his tuxedo. Both costumes were the work of Gildas in Newport Beach.

Under the Big Top

The hotel ballroom was decked out in purple, red and blue balloons to simulate a circus tent. Two mannequins were set up inside--an acrobat balancing precariously atop a pedestal and a trapeze artist dangling from a swing.

Tables were decorated with elaborate clown doll centerpieces by artist Marjorie Bennett and hand-painted enamel box party favors by Jacqueline Klein. Three real clowns, a fire-eater and two mimes, roamed among the tables teasing guests, while illusionist Ed Alonzo performed magic on stage. Alonzo levitated a napkin with the help of guest Tina Schafnitz, and he escaped from a straitjacket while somehow producing a live duck.

After the performances, guests were served a gourmet feast of chicken consomme with fresh mushrooms, baby lettuce tossed in raspberry vinaigrette, grilled swordfish with cilantro beurre blanc or grilled filet of beef with truffle potatoes, and for dessert a frozen vanilla truffle ringed with caramel sauce. Party-goers danced the rest of the night away.

Since 1979, the Sound of Music chapter has raised nearly $1 million for the performing arts center.

Among those attending were honorary chairmen Charles and Nora Hester, Judith and Ralph Blakeney, Robert and Terry Callahan, Jack and Denise Cancellieri, Don and Diane Christy, Peggy Goldwater Clay, Lynn Davies Cook, Robert and Judith Duke, James and Patty Edwards, Shari and Harry Esayian, Eve Foussard, Timothy and Patsy Marshall, Gary and Kasia Johnson, Tom Morgan, Sandy and Harriet Sandhu, Wally and Teresa Sinner and Richard and Sandy Sewell.

Los Angeles Times Articles


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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollections

Piazza, Caminiti Tie Up MVP Votes With Tenacity

September 23, 1996

SAN DIEGO — A committee of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America will eventually separate Mike Piazza and Ken Caminiti, choosing one as the National League's most valuable player. Too bad.

Why not forget the statistical comparison and call it a tie, a salute to their similar tenacity?

The highest honor. In the lexicon of the game: gamers.

There they were again Sunday, ailing but dogged principals in a pivotal finale of a showdown series in which each team won twice but the Dodgers tore four days off the calendar and came out with the same half-game lead with which they entered.

The San Diego Padres won the finale, 3-2, as 51,092 at Jack Murphy Stadium chanted "MVP" in honor of third baseman Caminiti and even Piazza later expressed admiration, as Caminiti did when asked about the Dodger catcher.

Who could blame them?

There was Piazza, with torn cartilage in his right knee, increasingly concerned that it isn't going to mend without winter surgery, spending nine more innings behind the plate and hammering a 446-foot rocket into the left-field upper deck for a career high of 36 homers after previously drilling a single, lining out and drawing an intentional walk.

There was Caminiti, with a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder that will also have to be repaired when the season is over, contributing two singles and a walk and making one of those twisting, gold-glove plays in a tense ninth inning on a wicked ground ball that drove him to his knees and served as a reminder why San Diego batting coach Merv Rettenmund claims he has as many saves as any closer in the National League.

Trevor Hoffman was credited with this one. He worked a hitless 1 2/3 innings to help narrow the race in the NL West again and move his team two games ahead of the Montreal Expos in the wild-card chase.

Both the Dodgers and Padres are off today, with the San Francisco Giants, an injury-riddled team of strangers, up next for Los Angeles; and the Colorado Rockies, who win on the road about once every month, next for the Padres.

The MVP? A backdrop to the Dodger-Padre confrontation.

So far back, Piazza would say, that it is hard to think about or talk about, but he said of Caminiti:

"If I don't happen to win it, I wouldn't feel that badly about losing to him just because of what he represents as a player."

Piazza listed guts, talent, competitiveness.

"He plays hard, but he also plays with humility," he added. "I like him a lot."

In the Padre clubhouse, Caminiti didn't have to be told about Piazza's ailing knee.

"I see it in the way he runs," Caminiti said. "I don't even know how he squats [behind the plate].

"To not have a good knee and hit with the power he does is pretty impressive because I know that I need my legs to hit. He has tremendous upper body strength.

"If he considers me a gamer it's a real compliment, because he's one as well."

Piazza shook his head, reflecting on the knee.

"I think I'm going to take up the Advil campaign after Nolan Ryan's contract is up," he said. "I've been popping them like candy, but I don't want to get started on any kind of stronger pain killers.

"After the season I'm going to have to get this reevaluated because it just doesn't feel right. There's too much weakness and pain.

"Some days it's better than others, but right now I can use the day off. Looking back, I probably should have taken a few more, but it's tough when you hit where I do in the lineup and are swinging good."

Piazza is batting a league-leading .344. He had five hits in the four games here after going one for 10 in Colorado, trying to do too much, he said.

"I was more relaxed here," he said. "I felt better about the way I was swinging."

Tim Worrell didn't. Piazza became the 13th player to reach the second deck, connecting on a Worrell fastball to make it 3-2 in the eighth. The 36 homers are one more than he hit in 1993.

"It's something to be proud of," he said, "but it takes a back seat to what we're trying to accomplish."

So does the MVP, of course, but Piazza doesn't entirely dismiss it.

He is hitting .360 over his last 28 games, finishing strong at a time when he's needed most.

"I can't lobby for myself, but I hope people recognize what I mean to the club," he said.

One such person is Tony Gwynn. Aside from his offensive contributions, the Padre outfielder said Piazza deserves a measure of credit for the success of a Dodger pitching staff that boasts baseball's best earned-run average.

"To me, Piazza has gotten a little more aggressive behind the plate," Gwynn said. "He takes more chances now [with his location and selection]."

High praise on a day when Piazza and Caminiti, those MVP candidates, were exchanging the highest.

Los Angeles Times Articles