LylaDove.com

Looking for intern-volunteer opportunities

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:43:58 +0000

Over the past few months I have been researching organizations with youth programming. I am looking for a place to learn long term programming and how to work within an organizational framework rather than the one-off individually organized events I am accustomed to.

Goals

participate in current successul programs
organize longterm program from start to finish:

funding
curriculum/teachers
research outcomes/impact
venue (school or center)
participants
medium (mixed?)

Top Three

Others I have found: Rumble Art Center, Hyde Park Art Center, CAPE

I have arrived

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:09:31 +0000

It took two years, but I have finally made it. The real work begins September 1

Street Artists Program

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:07:16 +0000

Post Script: after a serious lull in blogging time here is a discussion on my experience as the Program Associate for the San Francisco Arts Commission’s, Street Artists Program.
Essentially the SAP provides artists and craftspeople a license (for a fairly hefty fee) to sell works of art or hand crafted items on designated streets in SF. They are definitely solving a problem by only allowing handmade items to be sold on the street. The difficult thing about this is what they are doing is solving a problem, instead of advancing the careers of local artists. The SAP is a regulating body, and giving order to what in many other cities is a chaotic mess. I think however, the regulations get in the way of it truly being a program that enriches the lives of the artists and the public. Artists doing great work are honestly, well, few and far between in the program. I don’t blame them, what artists need is a support system a place to be promoted. Workshops, exhibition opportunities, marketing, this is what is lacking in the SAP. There is room for these things within the regulations.
On another note, I learned a tremendous amount about government systems and how they relate to artistic practice. I have a much better understanding of how arts funding works. I got to work in proximity to a lot of great people and see the inner workings of a very busy cultural affairs department. I really appreciate the SFAC giving me the opportunity to assist in a small way. Despite my aesthetic problems with the SAP it was a great experience.

I Am An Emotional Creature

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:17:53 +0000

Today Jason and I were exploring Berkeley and he stopped to geek at a mac shop in the window there was poster for an Eve Ensler talk on her new book and it was today, so I waited on hold to buy tickets for 20 minutes then got disconnected and we ended up going to Pegasus Books to buy them. We got there early to get good seats (and I’m glad we did because the ladies had their claws out). I was really surprised by how humble and entertaining Eve is. At one point she was talking about a girl who was doing the new play who cut herself, and she said to the girl every time you want to cut, write. create. whatever. She knew this girl was a writer. So the girl starts writing instead of cutting and then she starts to talk to the group about what she is writing and eventually about the cutting and it leads to this openness, and things start to become easier and a little more okay for this one girl. This is striking for me because this is what I intend to give to the world with working in community art. I want to show people how to have an outlet, and educate them on the beauty and the positive force that art can be in their lives. I feel like with examples of strong women to who made a change like Eve, I can really make a difference in the course of young peoples lives. Art has the people to heal and unify, I am inspired anew.

more photos

New World

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:25:13 +0000

My first entry since the move to the bay area. updates are in order.
Jason and I drove cross country starting in Niceville Fl, stopping in New Orleans, San Antonio, Carlsbad NM, Roswell NM, Flagstaff AZ, and Las Vegas finally landing in Livermore CA.
some things we saw and did:
Ogden Museum- I was considering applying to UNO’s Arts Ad program, and now I am not.

Blue Star Art Center- If you are wondering what my dream world looks like, its this.

Carlsbad Caverns- totally awesome.

Roswell UFO Museum- you just can’t drive through area 51 and not stop in Roswell, the museum was as low-budg as their website suggests, clearly funding for crazies isn’t as high as I expected.

Lowell Observatory- really cool and informative, great guided tour.

Grand Canyon- words can’t really describe.

We did a pretty bad job of documenting the drive, unless you really like pictures of the desert taken from moving vehicles.

Project: Graduate School

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:41:22 +0000

SO, graduate school the ulcer of every BA art history student in the world. After literally a year of research and advice and crying I have applied.

The major issues:

deciding what to study
the right fit
the right city
relocating for two
dealing with my academic issues

The majors I considered were Museum Studies, Arts Education, and Arts Administration. Everyone wants something different, some employers want Art History majors, some want you to be ten years older, some want specific research interests. I decided on Arts Administration, because I know what I want my endpoint to be and in order to get there I have to write grants, develop programs, know cultural policy, have management skills and have knowledge and passion for art. Only Arts Ad gives me all of this education in one place.

The right fit is difficult to determine without being able to spend a month in each place, feeling out all of the professors and coffee shops. Ultimately I know I am going to study community partnerships and programming. It is important for non-profits to be the focus of the program. I believe that knowledge and access to art can make such a difference in peoples lives that I devote mine to bringing art to everyone. I need a program that will support unusual ideas. But also offer a wide variety of courses, arts ad is designed to prepare people to be directors and down the line so really its just the culture of the program and the expertise/ experience of the professors that determine the fit.

The right city, some cities are much more supportive of the arts than others. The other issue that I am facing in terms of the city is the need for an existing infrastructure of community programming and organizations. There is not a lot of sense in trying to study running community orgs in a place that A: doesn’t have any or B: doesn’t care about them. Nor does it make sense for me to settle in a place where I can’t work.

Relocating for two. A couple years ago when one of my professors heard I was engaged we had a conversation that went like this:

R- so I heard you’re getting married?

Me- Yep

R-yeah I did that once

Me- yeah? what happened?

R- its just important for you to know where you are in your lives. You planning on going to grad school?

Me- yes

R- whats he gonna do?

Me- so far we plan on him moving with me and working while I go to school, then when I am done, he goes to school.

R- so you’ve thought about it then.

Me- yep, so are you divorced?

R- when I graduated from grad school, my wife moved to Australia to get her doctorate, and I moved here to work, we figured we would see eachother for christmas, but neither of us are big planners so were tickets are $2000, so I haven’t seen her in a year.

We still plan on moving together and taking turns going to school, it is important for him to live in a place where he can have a good job (undergrad location wasn’t a good place to have a job) and advance his career in the mean time. Planning for two is good because I can hopefully fall back on his income, and bad because I have to plan around his needs. Then of course, who knows how a graduate course load plus extra work will effect our relationship. The first two years of marriage have been solid, I think we can handle it.

Dealing with my academic issues is a doosie. I am not a great writer and have little experience in some of the fields I will be studying. But I have a lot of experience in other areas. My overall GPA is not great, so I will have a hard time getting scholarships at public universities. what I lack in standardized test scores, I make up tenfold in elbow grease and intuition, but how you prove that to a stranger at the end of a phone line? I did not have time to take my GRE with all the work at the gallery and WFHPI during my last semester, this is something I just let slip through the cracks, it disqualifies me from some great programs and we will see how much it really matters to schools that don’t require it.

Final consensus: I applied to five schools (because they were almost paid for by the SB Perry Scholarship) and each of them has very specific strong points. the bottom line is that all my work, everything I did to prepare, I really have no idea what will really get me in.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago- The city of chicago has the best community atmosphere that I could find in terms of arts orgs. I think the culture of the school suites me and I like that it is an art school, and their co-op can’t be beat. Admittedly I have put the most time and devotion into admittance for this program.

Drexel University- Philadelphia is also a great city for arts partnerships. I like the professionalism exhibited by the program and the existence of the AGAA, a very active student organization just for Arts Ad students. (UPDATE: After a phone interview with Cecilia Fitzgibbon, the Director, I have been accepted to this program 2/3/10)

Columbia College Chicago- Once again Chicago’s unique community climate. Initially when I applied to this program there was a specialization in community arts, which has since been consolidated with the other five arts management programs offered. It makes me very nervous to come into a program at the first year of a new organization, but CCC is still a great school.

University of Oregon- The west coast has a lot of appeal for Jason and I. Oregon is known for being more politically liberal. The program is focused specifically on community arts and activism, the Director has done all of my dream research and it would be great to study under him. But the smaller city is not great for building a career for me or Jason, with a much more limited number of jobs.

NYU Steinhardt- NYU is NYU, it would be really nice to be a graduate of New York University. I will get great experience and an unrivaled network, I am worried about going into such a large program. I am really kind of scared of this one.

Current Works 7/3-7/10/2009

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:41:15 +0000

Poster design by Samantha Williams
Current Works at the UWF Art Gallery, the first exhibition of student work curated by a student (at least to my knowledge). I had very short notice in putting this exhibition together but I got a great response from students and the attendees of the Building Creative Futures workshop really enjoyed the work. The exhibition was designed to showcase the different mediums that are taught at UWF’s Department of Art as well as the currents that flow through the art community here. Art schools are just that: Communities, we learn from each other build on each other’s skills and knowledge and feed off of the international currents in the art industry, in addition to the guidance our professors bestow upon us.

images from the gallery follow

Holidays Done Catellier Style

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:54:04 +0000

Being the holiday hating assholes Catellier’s are, if it wasn’t about food, we celebrated with food anyway. So here I am alone at home on the fourth of July blasting music to cover up the sound of fireworks with a delicious meal in my belly!

fried crab rangoon with citrus ginger salad! all from scratch (except the won ton wrappers)

Crab Rangoon

8oz krab

80z cream cheese

two minced garlic cloves

half a bunch of green onions chopped

a splash of worsteshire sauce

a splash of soy sauce

packaged of won tons

bowl of water

oil for frying

cast iron pan or wok

mix all the the ingredients together and pull apart all the little pieces of crab, put the won ton wrapper faceing you in a diamond shape, dallop a tea spoon of the mixture, wet the edges of the won ton, fold over and press the sides together. They fry FAST, be careful, turn them over once it is browned to get both sides.

Dressing

zest of one orange

one clove of garlic minced

two inches of a piece of ginger grated

juice of half an orange

salt and pepper

1/8- 1/4 cup balsamic vinaegar

1/8- 1/4 cup olive oil

mix well!

Salad

mixed greens

bean spouts

cucumbers

carrots

cherries (this dressing is great with fruit)

cashews (not pictured)

the rest of the green onion chopped

chop up veg and toss in dressing

serve the other half of the orange as a little dessert. This was delicious!

things I would add for next time- avocado in the salad, pomegranate juice in the dressing and I should have shredded some of the leftover won ton and fried it for crunchies on the salad.

Business card is a go!

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:39:49 +0000

It has taken us a few weeks to get caught up after the annual meeting and Jessica’s graduation, but here is my new business card! Jason has finished the little video for the card. It demonstrates the folds.

The graphics were designed by Decellus Coleman, A recent graduate of the UWF graphic design program (conrats D!) I couldn’t find any examples of truely creative resumes. what I was looking for is to combine a little bit about my philosophy as an up-and-coming museum professional, with my credentials in a tight little package. I found a restaurant whose business card unfolded into a menu and had a eureka moment! it was printed by the friendly people at Vowells.

it is 3.5×8 inches with three folds, down the a standard business card 2×3.5 inches.

I hope this can be an inspiration for others to do new things with their resumes!

AAM annual meeting follow up

admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:12:22 +0000

So last weekend I attended my first annual meeting. It was truly a rewarding experience.
I want to follow up on those grants I wrote and let you know although I did not receive a fellowship from AAM (next year!) I did receive two grants from UWF, $500 from SGA and $425 from Alumni affairs, which is absolutely amazing!

Although I do have to say the ticket exchange system is a little exasperating, all of the programs I attended were rewarding these were my favorite:
Identity Related Visit Motivations: Tools for supporting the museum experience- John Falk is awesome, Identity motivations is going to revolutionize evaluation.
Getting Started in Your Museum Career- Greg Stevens, truly gregarious!
EMP and Museum Edu 101- I obviously benefited from 101 talks being offered, EDU was especially enlightening.
at Outside Inspiration for Design- I MET NINA SIMON!- and her presentation was great
Hear Art See Music is an inspiring concept
The Role of Evaluation in Planning for and Cultivating Creativity I think is session really helped me redefine creative culture in museums

I met some very cool people, collected great advice, and most of all gained confidence!