I'm Going to Israel-Palestine. I'm Telling You About It!

This image is from the CIA's The World Factbook

 People, it turns out, have been asking me what I'm going to be doing in Israel-Palestine. My answer has been along the lines of: Chilling. Because to my mind, in that we won't be performing taxing physical labor or wrangling/teaching childrens like other Quest trips The Crossing runs, it's pretty chilled out. But perhaps it yields a more realistic picture (and seems less hedonistic) to say we'll be meeting and talking with both Palestinian and Israeli peace activists.

Our group's itinerary is superb. This is largely the result of Eric Ogi, et al. having put the trip together like a boss.

This is what we'll be doing: visiting Biram, the village in which Melkite Greek Catholic Church Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Elias Chacour grew up, and the Mar Elias School in Ibillin. While we're in that area we'll also meet with Fr Chacour himself in Haifa, see the Sea of Galilee, and visit Nazareth.

Next we'll go to Jerusalem and the West Bank. We'll do some typical stuff in and around Jerusalem like visit Yad Vashem, the kotel, and various churches. But we'll also tour an Israeli settlement; meet with Dalia Eshkenazi-Landau, one of the central figures of the non-fiction book The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East; talk with folk from Rabbis for Human Rights, and visit the Sabeel Palestinian Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.

In the West Bank we'll go to the Freedom Theatre in Jenin: hang out in Ramallah; visit Jericho; tour the Aida Refugee Camp; visit Tent of Nations, an educational and environmental farm I heard a lecture about during the Fall 2012 semester at Edgewood College; stay overnight with a Palestinian family; and stay at the International Center of Bethlehem.

It is impossible for me to even type without smiling. This is the kind of thing I've been googling for the past few years--and now I actually get to go there and see this stuff and meet the people I've been reading about. My stomach knots, and I can only smile because it is unbelievable. My brain keeps looping the lyric, "This is crazy." And this is not even all the stuff we will be doing.

Please wish us godspeed, so to speak, and the ability to bring our best selves to our adventure.

Oh, and there will be a "shareholders'" event in mid-June at which attendees will share what they learned and experienced. If you're in or around Madison, please come to The Crossing.

Sitting Back, Unwinding

I turned in my last assignments from this semester last week.  Now I'm just getting ready for I-P. That is such an excellent state of affairs I almost feel obligated to write a rap song about it. Nevermind that. It appears that Will Smith got there first.

Not surprisingly, I am very much looking forward to this summer, have been since the Spring 2013 semester started. As a student, I feel like I squeeze all the living I want to do into its fleeting months. Well, this year I have a plan. 

Stuff I Want To Do This Summer

1. Pick berries
2. Make fruit cobbler
3. Make a pie from scratch
4. Make a cake from scratch
5. Make awesome vegan food (with friends?)
6. Work on Israel-Palestine film festival 
7. Create a magazine
8. Figure out Art Education plan of study
9. Take a dance class (Bellydancing? Tap?)
10. Get running game on point
11. See "All My Sons" at American Players Theatre
12. Get my room organized
13. Get more exercise (Kickboxing? Pilates?)
14. Help friends in their gardens
15. Go to Iowa City 
16. Visit friends in other parts of the state

Get Paper: A Blog Post About the Upcoming "Text Support: A Library Exhibit About Paper" and Sundries

I haven't heard or seen much about it, but I know that the show Silver Buckle Press director Tracy Honn and Kohler Art Library director Lyn Korenic have been working on opens April 15 in Special Collections in Memorial Library.

I worked with these library doyennes mostly last semester when I was writing my paper about Amos Kennedy, Jr. and doing a video project about artists' books. And I, of course, found them to be very helpful experts. I've found Lyn extremely forthcoming with sources and providing access to the art library's wonderful artists' book collection. And Tracy has helped me to understand what I was seeing when I looked at prints and talked with me about design.

Other events going on in conjunction "Text Support: A Library Exhibit About Paper," which is up through June, include the Friends of UW-Madison Library's Annual  Schewe Lecture by...wait for it, please...hand papermaker extraordinaire and MacArthur laureate Tim Barrett and an artist's talk by pop-up book man No. 1 Shawn Sheehy.

Photo provided by Tracy Honn. 

Silver Buckle Press Is the Gold Standard

This is a repost of a story I did for the UW Libraries' new News & Events site, which is a great source of information about the mind-boggling array of cool things going on there.

Hand-inked print

For fans of typography and print history, Silver Buckle Press, located on the second floor of Memorial Library, is a resource that is both charming and vital to the preservation and the celebration of print and printing. Silver Buckle Press is a working museum of letterpress printing – a living archive of materials and process.

Letterpress printing involves the actual setting, inking, and impressing of pieces of type in a printing press—creating an artisanal print a world away from the quotidian office inkjet.

Press History
The University of Wisconsin Libraries acquired Silver Buckle Press from the estate of Robert Shaftoe, an art director at the Ford Company and printing hobbyist, in the early 1970s. According to its director Tracy Honn, one of the most important things about Silver Buckle is that its holdings are “not behind glass.” Its mission, she said, is to be a demonstration and education lab.

Silver Buckle Press Today
Rather than collecting dust, Silver Buckle collects fans. For students and scholars in departments like English and art, Silver Buckle Press is, well, the gold standard.

Katie Garth, a graphic design student, is the current Printing Assistant. “On a typical day, I might distribute type, assist in print production, perform research for upcoming projects, or help Tracy prepare for tours and other visitors,” she said. “My understanding of letterpress printing was initially informed by my study of graphic design, which led me to take an interest in book arts and printmaking.” Also, she found the draw of “set[ting] type  away from the screen and combin[ing] the design process with fine art printmaking” hard to resist.

Collection Highlights
But how to determine the Press’ pièce de résistance?

Honn is understandably proud of Silver Buckle’s specimens of Van Lanen, a typeface the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum (less than 100 miles north of Milwaukee) commissioned Matthew Carter to do. And so Carter, the MacArthur Fellowship-winning type designer who gave the world the Verdana font, created his first wood type—which is named after the Hamilton’s founder Jim Van Lanen. Silver Buckle is one of only three institutions in the U.S. that own the Van Lanen typeface.

Chicago hand press

Honn also directs the visitor’s attention to what could forgivably be called the most adorable printing press anyone has ever seen. The Sigwalt No. 11 press is a tabletop model used by amateur journalists in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. “They [did] the same sort of thing bloggers do,” Honn said. “We’re coming back around to a sense of doing it on your own.”

Visit Silver Buckle Press for more information about the press, its history, and current activities. To view rare historic materials, visit the Silver Buckle Press Collection in the UW Digital Collections.

Images courtesy of Silver Buckle Press.

Faythe Levine's New Film Is Ready

Last week during SGC's I stopped by Sky High Gallery to peep the show by The Little Friends of Printmaking, who are, unfortunately, still planning to move to California.

Whilst there, I, of course, chatted a little with Faythe, whom I had approached earlier about being the topic of the research project I'm doing for my art education class. (She graciously said yes.)

I was really excited to hear that her new film about sign painters is done and that she's booking it. Yay! Unfortunately, it wasn't completed in time to make it into this year's Wisconsin Film Festival. Dang. I hope to play a part in its screening here in Madison, though. I, ahem, actually haven't seen Handmade Nation yet, so perhaps that could be a double feature.

I will be writing a piece for Bitch magazine's blog about Faythe, too.

SGC | Milwaukee | 2013

Two great tastes that taste great together: Milwaukee and printmaking.

I am going to the SGC International conference in Milwaukee! Yay! I would've been even more awesome if I'd had Spring Break this week and wasn't going at the ass end, but such are the vicissitudes of grad school life...

I want to blog more about cool stuff that's going on and is accessible and the fact that this can just be part of one's life. That sentence was, indeed, totally really amorphous, but it's been a bee in my bonnet about creative work this past year.

Amos Kennedy won't be there this year, which is too bad because I could've added to my nascent art collection. But I guess the man did just up and move across the country, so I totally get it. Or he might have a show he's getting ready for.  (Hmm. Maybe I should edit and post the interview I did with him last semester?? I can haz content!)

The (always awesome) Little Friends of Printmaking will be there, and it's always great to catch up with them. (Not that I'm expecting them to change their name or anything.) I did see them at Ritz Crafters and buy the tuxedo cat on a bike poster last month. But they're still moving to L.A. Boo! Shame! Unfortunately, I will not make it to the opening reception for the show at Sky High Gallery tonight because of aforementioned vicissitudes.

But many thanks to them for permission for the use of the image above.     

I'm Going to Israel-Palestine. Ask Me About It!

Photo by Eric J. Ogi

Obviously, I'm very excited about this. Lots of really cool opportunities. The trip is arranged by The Crossing. More info later...

Mission To...

Iowa City is likely my favorite place in the world. I have such a good time when I'm there. It's balmier than Wisconsin. And I really set it off when I hit the secondhand stores there! (Yes, I'm looking at you, Mark.) I love the way smaller places like Iowa City (and Milwaukee) have this awesome let's-make-it-happen attitude. Iowa City is the little city that could--albeit one with with a top-shelf literary pedigree.

Mission Creek is in many ways the embodiment of the can-do spirit of Iowa City. Iowa City is the little city that could--albeit, one with a top-shelf literary pedigree. Someone, like Mission Creek co-founder Andre Perry, is always cooking up some way to make Iowa City a better, more vibrant community. Which is why I asked Andre how I could help out with Mission Creek this year. His answer was simply to tell people in my area about Mission Creek.

Queer People of Faith. The Crossing. March 7 to 10, 2013.

They're here. They're queer. Their god is one of love, not fear. Get used to it!

Matthew Vines will be at The Crossing in Madison March 7 through 10 for a series of awesome events. It's coming up so soon! You know what Joe Biden would say about this, right?

Vines, a co-Kansan (yes, some of us are, in fact, dope) is helping to the lead the way in challenging the played out notion that being gay is a sin. In case you missed it, here's the New York Times piece about him from last semester.

I learned about the Queer People of Faith event through Evan Karg, a future divinity student who never fails to bring a smile to my face. Of course I wanted to become involved, so I wrote the press release.

Here are the deets:

MAIN EVENT:  Thursday, March 7, 7:00 to 8:30 PM

OTHER EVENTS:
Friday, March 8, 1 to 2 PM: Conversation and Lunch with Matthew Vines
Saturday, March 9, 2 to 3 PM: Tea Time Talk -- Coming Out as a Queer Person of Faith
Sunday, March 10, 5PM: Matthew Vines at Vespers (followed by dinner)

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Photo by Lindsey Byrnes

Yes, I still listen to So Jealous on trips to Iowa. And sing along.  

Tegan and Sara are playing in Madison on Sunday. I have a non-fiction deadline the day after, but the  more I listen to tracks from Heartthrob, the less I feel inclined to stay my ass home. The twitchy excellence of "Closer" would definitely have a place on an excellent mixtape for the guy I'm crushing on. Also, my money is on this becoming everyone's summer jam. I also like "Shock To Your System." By "like," I mean "cried the first time I heard it."

The last time I saw Tegan and Sara was in 2004--right here in Madison, as it were. If I were sure their setlist included "We Didn't Do It," I'd be all in.