Maureen Kelleher

2012-02-04T08:42:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

got left off:

My show "HOLD FAST" is heavily laden

with my hero, JB, and my James Baldwin art

and my iconic work on Harriet Tubman,

"I'M GONNA TRY. H. TUBMAN"

I'll be speaking at the reception,

Wednesday, Feb 8,

4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Hope to see anybody who can make it there.

Sparkill NY -- about 40 mins north of NYC.

Easy drive, but a difficult day and time.

Or see you at the next event. Smile.

xoxo Maureen

HOLD FAST to your dreams.

show up til Feb 18.

St. Thomas Aquinas College

Azarian-McCullough Gallery

Sparkill NY

2012-02-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Hi, All.

Hope you're well.

My lectureship / 2 day residency at Penn State Berks went very well.

Standing in front of my ROCK PAPER SCISSORS PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, as I talked about it, were: middle aged whites and blacks, black and white and brown college students,

60s aged white male pathologist, 60s aged married african-american couple, 60's white female. White, 40s, a writer & musician committed couple. The range of colors, ages, commitment configurations was great.

But what was wonderful: I saw smiles of recognition and affirmation when I talked about the artwork, in which I describe my experiences with death row, condemned men, and long-timers, and lifers in prison.

Most gratifying, at the reception: a lot of folks were enthusiastic at the blunt description of my work at the state penitentiary. Nuff said. All details elaborated on in person, at the next reception, or open studio, or wherever our paths cross.

It was a great residency and learning experience. My thanks to Marilyn Fox, gallery director, and Chancellor Keith Hillkirk.

Live and art on !

2011-12-31T02:34:00.000-08:00

12-31-2011

New Year's Eve day...

Where did 2011 go ?? !!

Ah! Here comes another year.

--------------------

Visited, for the first time ever!, Rikers Island yesterday.

Work.

An entire island of incarcerated -- mostly black males, --

wearing the gray DOC jumpsuit.... required if they're gonna

do a visit.

Lots of women and children. The usual gang of folks

who are inside, and those who are visiting.

It's an amazing site, the visiting room.

--so many men warehoused, the sun streaming in,

bright and sunny, primary colored, blue-yellow-red plastic chairs

-- it looks like a playground in there,

and it's kinda sad to witness the hugs and kisses,

stolen, but in plain view, for all to see.

And it's desperate.

The little girl screams and cries and wants to see her daddy.

Mom is at the end of her rope, and wants to end all this crap right now.

So much has run amok.

So many are in desperate land.

Everybody puts on a happy face, 'cause you are happy to be

there, visiting.

One last hug, one last kiss,

and the awfulness of he's gotta walk away.

And you gotta walk the other way.

And these big armed guys are there to help you,

and keep you

two apart if the sadness gets to be too much, and you strike out

and just can't handle it all.

"You need to calm down. CALM DOWN,"

the two guards told the guy. He must have been a visitor,

but it was odd. He had handcuffs on, but only one was

closed, and the other was swinging from his wrist.

But he was outside, in the visiting area, then they

escorted him to the back, closer to the visiting area.

He was upset... angry... agitated. What had happened?

I don't know. This was the scene when we got to the head of the line,

at that door. About the 5th locked door.

The door where the woman guard lets in 1-2 at a time.

She's the 3rd to last check-in [ of 8 total ] before you get to the visiting room.

She checks you out briefly behind the screen,

for all the right clothes.

"Are you wearing pants?" she asked.

Yes! Yes! Of course I'm wearing pants!

I pulled up my dress to show my slip and

leg warmers.

"Put your dress down," she told me.

Oh! OH. She means underwear. It took a few

seconds to sink in.

Yes! I'm wearing underwear.

But take off that sweater; no layering allowed in here.

The machine is bigger than I am.

I am in it, I am of it, and it's a head trip.

yeah, yeah: to be part of something "that's bigger than me."

Is this what ran through Sisyphus's head?

2012: here we come.

2011-12-20T02:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays.

Hello to All and Happy Holidays.

Here they are!

A rouzing rousing? (spell?) holiday party at the studio building with fellow and fella artistes a few nights ago.

Folks actually showed up! wahoo. We don't socialize much in that building, we didn't know if anybody would materialize, and bingo: folks appeared. All good. Sometimes it's good to chat with cohorts of the creative type. Not too much bitching, but just enough to keep us on our toes.

My Penn State Berks show: "Through a Wooden Lens: Witness" -- is underway, 100%.

Art is there, Little Books are there, folks are rallying 'round in preparation.

For me: the eternal, ever-present, sometimes ever-frustrating question I"ve asked

myself and yes, my sister asked it too: What are you going to wear?

Hmmmm--- well, let me just see about this one.

Fashion Sturm und drang.

Dang: "What do men really want?" and "What am I going to wear?"

These are THE 2 questions that keep this old planet spinning on its axis, and me in

total quandry land.

Better do laundry; sheee-it.... can't be all dirty

and gorilla glue balls all over, and big tear on the shirt, where I tried to cut out the mistake (woopsy), and those stains that scream creativity run amok, and another cut with the chisel, [damn, FUCK ME! it hurts], and blood dries to such a cruddy, dull brown. I wish it would stay brilliant, as in the just-hit-the-air shade when it first spurts out) -- blood wiped down the side of my left pant leg, and that big honking orange paint thing on my right shoe top ('cause sometimes, 95% of the time, I don't believe in lids on paint cans, and who has desire to really, really, keep it all organized when there's that great stretch of wood that has to be scored with the saw, and if I don't do it now, I just may forget this terrific idea! ah !!! ), etcetera.

Yeah, can't be too all dirty and studio trashed when I'm supposed to speak to the public.

WITNESS runs Jan 19 -- March 4, 2012. Reception 6 p.m., Jan 26 -- if anybody could make it on over to Penn State Berks., Reading PA.

No, we're not talking Happy Valley Penn State, land of sodomites and men who abuse children, and men who see it and WITNESS, and others who witness and blah blah blah, can we get a freakin' witness to do the RIGHT THING and not protect the godawful monolith monster money machine of college sports?

Let us pray.... and hope some bigger, more mature, persons step up to the plate, take the higher ground, and tap into their inner big boy. ("Yes, put your big boy pants ON and KEEP THEM ON, and keep the zipper zipped up.")

It is clear: the biologically grown [yet forever 12 yrs old], rule the day, rule the locker room, and wreak havoc on children who had the misfortune to cross paths with them.

And who's being abused right now? It has not come to a standstill.

Keep our Eyes open. WITNESS what's right in front of you and me.

Mouth open and TAWK it out loud, and report it, and keep working on watching reality unfold,

and especially keep your eyes on those who are in power positions.

[ Get your wing man and bff behind you; you'll need ammo when confronting the power mongers and abusers. ]

They sure do have a lot of..... power.... to do ....

um...er.....things.... behind closed locker room doors, and doors everywhere.

2011-11-19T05:12:00.000-08:00

Sculpture lovers, art folks, and those who like to

be motivated:

here's a  clip   of Ursula;

she's in the black leather jacket,

a few mins into it, after the

introductions.

The use of anger in her work--

Using Anger as fuel, or is it dealing with anger?

http://glossaryartvideo.blogspot.com/2011/11/ursula-von-rydingsvard-in-conversation.html

------------

Hope you're well and cruising

right along.

blessed be Saturdays and sleeping late.

--------------

Oh glory be:    some 2 wonderful things

happened in studio yesterday:

don't forget:   "too many  Good things happen

 on bad days."

I wrote / felt/  experienced this  a few years

ago.

now I know  it's  a universal rule.

So:   grab  your  inner  hard ass,  the

one  who won't let you slink back home

and

relax and not deal with 'it all' in the

studio,

and keep going.

Clunk the inner child over the head,

and keep moving.

The minor revolution of  new combo / paradigm,

between materials and ideas,

will show up

and  and and You gotta be there to let her in.

Art Salon

2011-11-10T06:42:00.001-08:00

Art Salon 6 --> Rutgers -- Women & Art

guest writer & curator: Marilyn Symmes

guest artist: Joan Snyder

Really nice salon.

Hooked up with a couple artists and, of course!, ideas are now

flowing re: collaboration project possibilities.

Cherry on top!: Had some laffs and nice chat with

sculptor, Audrey Flack. Great spirit. Audrey will have

big show in spring 2012.

Nice to be able to spend a little quieter time

with strong women artists.

ART on!, women artist warriors.

And not to forget: the most gracious and

great ideas from Judy Brodsky. Thank you, Judy.

Encouragement is contagious.

Encouragement is love.

Smile.

Fall is here, wahoo!

2011-11-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Hi, Everybody.

Hope all is chugging right along for you.

Have met with Carl Rattner and Daly Flanagan; we've figured out
the specifics of my show at St. Thomas Aquinas College
in Jan 2012.

Very pleased. It's in Sparkill NY if anybody is open to
some ART !

Give me a holler if you'd want reception details, etc.,
or would like to be on the show's mailing list.

If time and the school's budget allow,
there might be a residency to work with and
speak with the students, too. That would
be great.

Might not be a lot of money flowing around
the art world, or any world, these days, but there's
always encouragement and good vibes to share.

ART on !

Almost have my 8' x 8' piece done for WITNESS
show at Penn State Berks, Jan 2012.

Wahoo! my biggest piece to date.
Exciting for me.

Kinda reminds me a little of P's "Guernica."..
a little bit of my own social commentary
on the prison industrial complex.

JAMES Baldwin: died 12.1.87 -- 25 years ago,
next year. Stirrings around for a commemoration
show. Would be fantastic. Interested folks should

be in touch. I want to pull together something on

T H E M A N. Am reading his Go Tell It On

the Mountain, his first work, that freed him to keep

moving forward as an articulate, sharp, concerned,

and caring writer par excellence. His spirit is among

us.

My show at Michael Mut Gallery, NYC

2011-08-24T13:30:00.001-07:00

PECKERWOODS ABOUND
Sept 6 - Oct 1, 2011.

If you want the artist's royal tour,
I've got keys. This is not "The Help."

2011-08-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

On Sat. Sept 10 -- Governor's Island, via Storm King, Mark di Suvero's sculpture: we're still planning on this
art picnic outing. If you'd like to join us, give a holler.
[ thxkatrina(at)netzero(dot)net.]
Meet at front gate, 1:00 p.m.

2011-08-17T11:56:00.001-07:00

Realizing the end of the story, John Thompson's case being heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, was never reported:

The high court heard John's case in October 2011.

April 2012: the court denied (5-4) John compensation for his 18 years on Louisiana's death row.

* * * * * * * * * *

But! of course! --> Can't keep a strong man down. John continues to work tirelessly for his group, Resurrection After Exoneration, and encourage support for exonerees of USA death rows.

2011-08-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hello, Everybody.

Hope you're well and trucking right along.

Long time since I've been on the blog site.

I've been interning with sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard. Grace, skill, professionalism, creativity out the wazoo -- words to describe this warrior woman sculptor. Her show is currently touring USA, and her book, Ursula von Rydingsvard: Working, is out [authors Patricia Phillips, Helaine Posner; Prestel Press].

=============================

From my studio: an upcoming summer show: Aug 18 - Oct 1, 2011 -- NYC, Lower East Side. Michael Mut Gallery. Michael is a wonderful spirit, avid gallerist and talented artist. The spirit I've been looking for, and now I've found. Smile.

My show is called PECKERWOODS, and features my pieces PECKERWOODS ABOUND, WE ALL COUNT, BABY, and JAMES, and my wooden art book, WARRIOR WRITER (featuring that great picture of James tough-as-shit Baldwin.)

PECKERWOODS ABOUND -- based on a true story, told to me by a woman whose grandmother was a slave. After we talked about her grandmother, this story of her work experience in Louisiana, 1970s, popped out. I was looking for A and out popped B. It's about the issue of power in the work place, the domestic worker and her boss, more specifically. I juxtapose her story with some details from Fredrick Douglass's work, Narrative of the Life.

I couldn't help but notice all the hubbub around the movie, "The Help," and David Denby's kinda , um, errrr,, whattttt????? review of this movie in this week's New Yorker. Why can't we white folks let the black folks speak for themselves? Ideas out of a writer's mind transcend reality? Authenticity? Huh? Whatever, Mr. Denby. My Peckerwoods Abound is one black woman's story of her very real and true and authentic story, in her authentic voice, her authentic reality, and nobody needs to create her words for her.

Hope you can make the show! Summer hours... -- but !! I've got keys to the mansion/um/er gallery through the end of summer. We can set a date and I'll show you around the pieces. That would be fun.

Art on, ya'll.

Yahoo.

Happy summer. Stay cool. Stay creative.

"...but anybody can have my blood."

2010-05-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wed 5.26.10

gave blood again! e. 67th St. NYC

Wahoo. I hang with only a few, but anybody can have my blood.

go out and give something away !

Table top silk screening ... wahoo !

2010-03-29T05:20:00.001-07:00

Did you see this? I just did.

4yudu.com -- it's a portable, table top silk screening machine! How fun.

I just may have to check it out .

I've got some shirts to design....... hmmm.... smile.

From Winnfield, LA and Mississippi

2010-03-29T05:12:00.001-07:00

U.S. SUPREME COURT will hear John's case: ugh. Not good news. It probably means the Big Court will overrule the 5th Circuit's good ruling for John, i.e. he had a chance of recovering some money from his 18 yrs -- 'but I'm innocent' death row incarceration. He was/ is innocent.... so the Big Dogs might wanna stop this train. Ugh. Probably will be heard in fall 2010. Google: "John Thompson, Louisiana death row, exonerated" and stuff will come up. Good luck. Fingers crossed for JT and all innocents on USA's death row.

I'm IN !

2010-02-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Senior Curator Jeffrey Wechsler and educator/docent Kathy Glaser came to the studio 2.18.10 -- and carried JAMES off and away to 'his' new, permanent home -- The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum ! at Rutgers University [New Brunswick]. JAMES consists of two pieces: James and James II, Reprise 2008 (and the noteboard). It's the piece about my father's advice to me -- i.e., "don't bring home a nigger." And then (Reprise 2008) I imagined what the advice would have been if I were 13 yrs old in 2008, when Barack Obama became the President. That's the latest news from the studio. ART on, ya'll !

Stay Strong. Keep Going.

2009-12-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

Resurrection After Exoneration, RAE, is asking for $$$ to help with exonerees' medical needs. These guys go for years without medical care when they're on death row. Then they get out and need medical and dental attention. If you'd like to donate, please Google "Resurrection After Exoneration." There's good info and details at RAE's site. Healthy options on, even for those who were wrongly and unjustly kept from them for years and years and years. Talk with Ora: 504-943-1902, New Orleans, Louisiana

Stay strong. Stay healthy. Keep going.

p.s. My sister's book just came out:
Snowflakes A Flurry of Adoption Stories by Teresa
Kelleher; you can get it via Amazon books.

Baltazar & Blood

2009-11-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

New personal best ! Needle in -- 6 mins, 40 secs -- needle out. Another pint of my blood is out in the universe, and soon to be in others' bodies. The swimming stepped up the process, from 8.5 mins...down to the above stated. Give blood. It's easy. Really easy if you swim and you're in shape. Thanks.Balty.at.NY.Port.Authority.Blood.Center.

Met Ali at the fabric store on 8th Ave. He likes James Baldwin, too. He remembers Go Tell It On The Mountain.

And I got some fabric for a new piece of art. Will go back to Textile Kingdom. Wahoo. 554 8th Ave., at 37th.

ART on, ya'll. Have a good one.

I like the way the site moves. The persons. Their stories.

2009-10-13T00:35:00.000-07:00

Wahoooo. !

The Center On Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University.

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/usIndex.html

N.A.W.A. Membership Opportunities

2009-10-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

N.A.W.A. [ National Assn. of Women Artists ] has recently created two new categories for artists interested in becoming involved with the association via membership. For details, please Google the N.A.W.A. website.

2009-09-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

JOHN THOMPSON & CURTIS KYLES

John Thompson -- 108th exonerated off USA death row (Louisiana) -- goes to England for speaking engagements in Oct. 2009. If you'd like to learn more about his story, Google: Resurrection After Exoneration. [R.A.E.] Available for speaking engagements and wonderful person to be around. Freed after 18 yrs on death row; I was his fact investigator. I do 'cold cases'; that's my day job. Snoop, look, see, move out, hear, listen, pay attention, care.

Curtis Kyles: # ? exonerated off USA death row (Louisiana). Curtis freed 2.97 after 14 yrs on death row. This one blew the lid off the concept of prosecutorial misconduct; unfortunately, it set a new super low for how low prosecutors will go to get a death conviction, close a case, and then, alas, ruin one innocent person's life for a lot of years.

Have your legal friends look it up on US Supreme Court site. wahoo. not.

And the hits keep rolling.

Let It Flood

2009-09-07T12:39:00.001-07:00

Blood donation again successful. This time only 8.5 minutes...needle in, needle out, voila.

Upper east side blood center and then a stroll down 1st Ave.

A labor of love on Labor Day.

Overt Civic Giving

2009-07-22T06:06:00.001-07:00

I give my time, my money, my blood.

Overt Civic Giving.

Overt Civic Now Get Going.

MAKE A SPLASH

Cullen Jones almost drowned as a kid. Then he learned to swim. Then he became an Olympian swimmer and set a world record. Wahooo ! This is a child-focused, anti-drowning campaign.

NEW YORK BLOOD CENTER

July 2009. This time I gave a pint at New York Port Authority. Needle in, 9 minutes, the scale tipped from left to right, needle out. Then Lorna Doone cookies and apple juice. I hang with only a few, but anybody can have my b-l-o-o-d. Let it flow.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN ARTISTS [N.A.W.A.]

I'm a member. There's a lot of encouragement and support here. You are welcome to submit your portfolio for membership review. When I don't have time, I give money. It's a good deal and my

'fella artists' are a great bunch.

GIRLS GOTTA RUN [Ethiopia]

The girls need money for shoes! shoes! shoes! Barefoot running went out ages ago.

THE JAMES BALDWIN PROJECT

Down the line, there may be a Baldwin-themed-something-or-other.

***************************

Give a holler if you have any questions re: donating or getting hooked up further with the above, or want to do Anything James Baldwin. Smile.