Today I’m meeting w/Grand Valley artists profoundly impacted by Dave Davis. He founded #GrandJunction’s Art on the Corner program and helped establish GJ’s arts & culture commission. Davis passed away unexpectedly last summer, yet he’s still a large presence in the community.
This is a portrait of Davis, done by Palisade artist Gary Hauschulz. It’s passion tea on paper towel. Meant to be ephemeral and break down over the years. Hauschulz says Davis was a great friend, artist & teacher.
Grand Junction 🚘 Clifton to Tour Dave Davis’ home/studio/galley. His daughter Amanda gave me a tour.
She says her father was immensely creative. He built this place up, adding onto a small house she described as a “shack.” His art is everywhere, 100s of paintings & sculptures including “Paint the Piece,” which people have painted over 280x. Goal: 500. See how thick the paint is.
Clifton 🚘 Fruita to speak with one of Davis’ protégés.
His mentee says the best thing Davis taught her is that you can “make art from anything.” The work in the middle is one of the 1st pieces she made while apprenticing w/Davis. The 2 sculptures flanking it are by Davis.
.@jess_m_clark and I are downtown right now. Many businesses are boarded up or putting up boards. Speaking to a landlord who says they’re putting these up “out of an abundance of caution.” He hopes the decision comes today or tomorrow given how the city has shut off downtown.
Things are mellow at the square, people talking, someone playing the piano. We spoke w/Carmen Jones of Kentucky Alliance & Black Women’s Collective, who described scene as “prickly,” as city awaits the AG announcement. Jones thinks the barricades are “an intimidation tactic.”
Diamond Dorsey improvising a song, “I hope these guys get held accountable... Black Lives Matter.”
Lou's @CarlyJMusic released 1st single off forthcoming album today. Music vid features 3 @LouBallet artists & 4 musicians.
🎧to "Burn Your Fears"⬇️
Johnson says, "I wrote "Burn Your Fears" for a dear friend of mine, Marisa Wittebort, shortly after she was diagnosed w/ an extremely rare form of lung cancer. She really beat the odds and was able to live 4 full years after being diagnosed, but she passed away last November..."
"...after her diagnosis, Marisa told me the story of how she decided to embrace life going forward... She wrote down her greatest fears on tiny pieces of paper & threw them into a fire... I wrote the song as an anthem for her... abt facing something incredibly difficult..."
First a quick s/o to @newsandtribune, which reported this 1st.
Yanoviak came to the center in 2018. She's leaving to be an art teacher with Sacred Heart Model School in Louisville.
Yanoviak told me the past 2.5ish yrs has "the greatest privilege of my professional career,” but she had time to re-evaluate things during the pandemic & she's making this move to focus on her family more.