Creativity

Eva Avenue grapples with climate change anxiety and visualizes the world becoming healthy again in her painting inspired by Thomas Hart Benton’s “Instruments of Power.”

For the first time ever, you don’t have to drag your body down to 57th Street to study at the Art Student League of New York. You can take live classes online — no application required — at this world-famous art school in the heart of Manhattan.

Submittable, you remind me of bones bleached against the gypsum sands of New Mexico, where time and wind mark the passing of the hours, days, weeks, months since I submitted my creative nonfiction personal essay to The Gettysburg Review.

How heavy I felt when one of my professors noted that I hadn’t applied anywhere else. Why had I only applied to SUNY Purchase? Didn’t I aspire to be an actor? And the truth is, no. I aspired to keep existing.

Being an artist means putting yourself out there. The deeper and more real your expressions are, the more you set yourself up for criticism. Sometimes it’s tough to sift through which criticism to ignore, and which to pay attention to.

Our current background image is “Penrose Substitution” by Jared Tarbell. Tarbell is a generative artist who explores the life-like emergent qualities of generative systems.

Nate and Ben of Iska Dhaaf chat with Sam Miller about their latest album: “I think writing about dark things is healthy. Our first album had themes about drone warfare and disconnection. The new EP is more about communication and wanting to be close to others, even though we often fall short.”

For the last few years, I kept checking for accessible foreign editions of some of these books. I reached out directly to Reza Dalvand, the illustrator of Ace, who put me in touch with his publisher in Iran.

Strange Magic’s Javier Romero shares his solo project’s evolution, how his new album holds up to pandemic realities, and how he keeps track of hundreds of “mumble jams” to feed his songwriting.

Ayanna D.N. Freeman explains how she went from having no idea her destiny was in skincare to launching and nurturing her own successful brand.

Movement for Mercy is a live dance performance which honors the intersections of experiences and shared history throughout our community.

Our latest background image is a painting by artist, photographer and filmmaker Jesse Littlebird. Check out his visual art on Instagram. 

Singing the words to our favorite song is a way to interact with the art we love, a way to feel like we are part of it… But some songs are so good that we love them even if they have no lyrics.  Some songs are able to communicate a full range of human emotion without a single word.  Here are five of those songs, and what makes them so iconic.

Hey arts-loving friends! Albuquerque’s Arts Hub is raising funds for artists impacted by the pandemic. Donate at their Facebook page or at their website at http://www.abqartshub.com/relief

Eva Avenue shares more songs from bands who’ve had to COVID-cancel shows or tours. If you like what you hear, go to their page and support an artist today! Titles and links below.

Many of us are stuck in isolation, unable to share or promote our work in the ways originally planned like tours, festivals, conferences, etc., so I was thinking it might be of help to offer a way to spread the word digitally about what’s happening with your work.