August 2011 Edition of Holstein Happenings

Following is the latest issue of Holstein Happenings, published by Friends of Holstein Park. To sign up for the monthly FOHP newsletter, click here.

Holstein Happenings
July 30, 2011

Greetings from Camp Holstein . . . Lots to see and do this month.
Movie in The Park - Sat, July 30 at dusk (8:30 PM)

Join your neighbors tonight on the Holstein Park ball field to watch Shrek Forever After. Admission is free. Bring your own lawn chair. Some concession refreshments will be available. Sponsored by the Bucktown Arts Fest and Friends of Holstein Park.

Pool Closed - Tues, August 2 9 AM - 1 PM
The Holstein Park pool will be closed for four hours this coming Tuesday for cleaning. It will re-open at 1 PM.

Talent Show - Fri, August 5 1 PM
Summer Camp at Holstein Park ends with a bang Friday. Kids from all the park programs will hold their annual summer talent show Friday at 1 PM in the field house auditorium. Parents and others in the community are welcome to attend.

Swimming Meet - Sun, August 14 11:45 AM - 5 PM
The Holstein Pool will again be closed to the public when the Holstein Hurricanes swim team hosts 13 other north side park teams in a Swim Challenge. Come cheer on our young competitors.

Friends of Holstein Park - Tues, August 16 6:30 PM
With the Bucktown Arts Fest on the horizon, the Friends of Holstein Park are looking for volunteers to spend a few hours during the fest publicizing the upcoming Circus in the Park and Apple Pie Contest. Please stop by to see how you can get involved.

And thanks to everyone who participated in the Clean-Up Day around the playground. It looks great!

Softball Championships - Tues-Wed-Thurs, Aug 16, 17, 18 6:30 PM

A summer of fun comes to a head during Playoff Week for teams who participated in the Holstein Park 16" softball league. Playoff Week starts Tuesday, August 16. The Final and Semi-Final game will be Tuesday, August 23, and Thursday, August 25th at 6:30 PM.

Teen Beach Bash - Thurs, August 25 4 - 8 PM
Teenagers willing to venture over to the Lakefront are invited to Loyola Park at 1230 W. Greenleaf for a FREE afternoon and evening of music, games and food. Beach volleyball and soccer, Swimming, Frisbee Golf, DJ Music and Dancing, and food are all part of the event. For teenagers ages 13 to 18.

Arts Fest Kick-Off Party - Thurs, August 25 6-9 PM
Get the inside track on some great art bargains at the Bucktown Arts Fest kick-off party August 25 from 6 to 9 PM in the Jackson Junge Gallery (corner of Milwaukee and Wood).

Wander the gallery while the Lollapalooza-featured band Kids These Days provides background jazz, mingle with the artists, dine of the fanciful treats of J & L catering, and pick up some great art at the silent auction. Tickets are $30 in advance via Paypal or $40 at the door. To volunteer at the fest or kick-off party call 312-409-8305 or email inquiries@bucktownartsfest.com. Get online tickets at www.bucktownartsfest.com.

Bucktown Arts Fest - Sat-Sun, August 27 & 28 11 AM - 7 PM

The 26th annual Bucktown Arts Fest promises to be bigger and better than ever with more artists, bands and performances than ever. The fest is held in Senior Citizens Park and along the neighboring streets of Lyndale and Oakley. See you there.

Yoga in the Fall - Sign up Now

Michelle Kranicke of Zephyr Dance will be leading a weekly yoga starting Wednesday, September 19, from 6:30 to 7:30 for neighborhood adults. Classes will run until December 7. The cost is $10 a class or 12 classes for $100. Learn more by emailing zephyr@zephyrdance.com. Bring you own mat.

AND FINALLY . . .
Can you spare a little time to get involved in your community? Friends of Holstein Park is looking for a few more volunteers to help with our Circus in The Park, September 24 & 25, and The 7th Annual Bucktown Apple Pie Contest, Sunday, October 16. Contact Michelle Pennington (mrwerle[at sign]gmail.com) or Lucy Jacobs (lucydomino[at sign]aol.com) if you can help.

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Holstein Happenings is a monthly newsletter from Friends of Holstein Park to keep you informed of what's happening in our park. If you would like to add more names to the Holstein Happenings mailing list, send new addresses to friendsofholsteinpark@yahoo.com.
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Images from Future Obscura at Jackson Junge Gallery, Friday May 6

The 'time machine' artist, Jason Brammer, right, was busy making stuff this past Friday at the daylong installation of his new work, at Pipeline week ahead calendar sponsor, the Jackson Junge Gallery, so we chatted with the next best thing... Brammer's makers/parents. We're happy to report that art, found objects, and scripture themes are in the artist's genes.

More on this in the next pipeline e-newsletter, May 10.

Images from Spring Fling Performance at Jackson Junge

It was raining this past Thursday evening, which meant that Phlash's son's baseball practice was rained out, so he was able to pop by the Jackson Junge Gallery and snap a few images of dancers from MaZi Dance & Fitness performing work inspired by the paintings of Laura Lee Junge.

Unfortunately I had to work until 8PM in my cube last Thursday, otherwise I'd have attended the performance too. Now it's 2AM as I type this. Nothing like pain from a herniated disc and a deadline night to keep myself awake!

But no more whining... if I wanted to stop writing the pipeline I'd have quit a long time ago. That's what all the addicts say, right?

here's some dancing...

Spring Fling with MaZi Fitness at Jackson Junge

DANCE/ART PERFORMANCE: “Spring Fling”
Thursday, April 28, 2011 7pm – 9pm
Jackson Junge Gallery
1389 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, 60622
773-227-7900

Art imitates Art! Two cultural venues in Wicker Park, Jackson Junge Gallery and MaZi Dance Fitness Centre join forces to create “Spring Fling,” a dance and fine art event that breaks new ground. MaZi instructors and students choreograph and perform dance inspired by the paintings of Laura Lee Junge, Jackson Junge Gallery’s signature artist. Some numbers present live recreations of Junge’s work while others express the mood and emotion her art evokes. The evening combines image, music and movement into a multi-sensory experience of pure delight. The event will be held at the Jackson Junge Gallery, 1389 N. Milwaukee Ave in Chicago, Thursday, April 28, 7pm – 9pm. Admission is free.

The Jackson Junge Gallery features the work of Laura Lee Junge and other contemporary Chicago artists.

Images from the Opening of Silk Lights

A fun time was had by all at Jackson Junge Gallery this past Friday. The occasion was the opening of Silk Lights, featuring batik by Irena Saparnis.

Images from Side Effects at Eyeporium, B-Sides at Coalition Gallery, and Jenny Scobel at Firecat Projects

A fun time was had by all at various ART events this past weekend, and yes I was one of those people having fun, bopping around, etc.

Let's begin in no particular order, with the opening of Bruce Riley's Side Effects this past Saturday.

Eyeporium Gallery will feature the "dream-like" paintings of Riley through March 30.

I was honored to chat very briefly with Riley, and was curious about his style, since the show featured many oil paintings in addition to Riley's newer, brighter work which he is standing in front of here.

"For me, it's more like scribbling and doodling. There are no mistakes to make other than technical, no rules about what the image is. It's quick dry paint and I am able to see each section very quickly... If you can get lost with yourself than the work is successful," Bruce explained.

And, in my un-expert opinion, it seems like he got pretty lost! This show, like many of Eyeporium's shows, is a must-see...

Moving on, the night prior, I left a very long and draining week at work with a lighter spirit, eager to enjoy Friday night, which I am now recounting at 6:10AM on a Tuesday morning in hopes of wrapping up today's Pipeline in the next 60 minutes. Pat's Internet connection is down, so he is meeting me at Quizno's at lunch (which means I'll have to find the time to take a lunch!) to get my key and then to come over to "HQ" and do some copy editing. When I come home at 8PM I'll address Pat's edits. Yesterday while I was at work Phlash was here at HQ uploading his pics. And during the day I received stories from Eva, Dika, and a resident who wrote in! In a word "Busy" - and yes, I will slap the next person who tells me that "busy is good." Um, to a point....

Bucktowner and Pipeline reader and artist Christine Olson, pictured in front of a tree, with Coalition Gallery in the background, joined me at two of the art events on Friday, while Phlash was across town at A.D. (After Daley).

At B-Sides, I asked Christine to select her favorite pieces. Her top two favorite were a stained glass triptych by one of the following artists listed on this card (SORRY, no time to Google it and I apologize for not having scribbled artist down) and a striking piece by Brad Nugent titled "Vermilion Christ (Homage to Gaugin's Yellow Christ) 2009" which was posted near the entry to the exhibit, which Christine described as "not like a traditional art show."

Indeed, the selected artists were extremely diverse in form and style. The selection process by B-Side curators required two letters of recommendation and acceptance into CAC's Artist Incubator program.

I enjoyed the collages of Dimitri Pavlotsky, who, like Riley, is also experiencing a breakthrough after decades of working on oil painting, which can be a painstaking and slow creation process, since some painters constantly paint over a canvas to a point where a work is never complete, or feels complete.

Of the collage making process, Dimitri, flanked by two of his pieces, says that he likes it because "You don't take too much time. Somebody gave me the hint, they said you move things down, you put the next thought down, you go faster and faster and lay it [collage] out as you are completing it."

After B-Sides, we hopped in Christine's car and dashed over to to the final hour or so of Jenny Scobel's opening reception at Firecat Projects, 2124 N. Damen.

Tony Fitzpatrick, pictured in a snapshot by Christine, met Scobel, pictured in front of her portrait work, in Brooklyn 20 years ago. They remained friends, and Tony invited Scobel, a new transplant to Chicago, to show her work at his new gallery, which is innovative because Fitzpatrick does not take a commission (more on this in this New City story about Firecat Projects).

The room was packed with people and Tony seemed thankful, given the bitter cold evening. "I'm always scared that when I do these things that it'll be me and the artist standing in a room together staring at each other."

No chance of that, Tony.

We then bypassed A.D. (After Daley) since Phlash was covering that event, and left for Logan Square, where I was eager to meet up with friends I have not had an opportunity to see since NYE due to all this scurrying around the neighborhood nonsense. Christine, possessing children at home and such, bid goodbye after providing stellar curbside service!

Though out of the neighborhood, it seems worth mentioning that there was a really cool Beer draft glass at Dunlay's on the Square, which recently celebrated its six or seventh anniversary (anyone remember when it was Boulevard Cafe?!)

The desserts at Dunlay's are amazing. I ordered something in a skillet, like a warm apple crisp with ice cream on top of it (not pictured, I am not a food photographer!) which was devoured quickly with six or seven spoons and might be the source of my raging cold and runny nose, unless I picked that up at the cube farm, speaking of which, it's about that time...

Images from (Outside of) Johalla Projects' Forever Rotten

It was prime time for slipper socks and the new Interpol album, thus I did not get a chance to pop in at Johalla Project's Forever Rotten opening this past Friday night en route home from the anniversary celebration at Jackson Junge, but I did encounter the following outside its door in the 1500 block of Milwaukee where a line was forming: a) Two women, both named Dayna but each spelled differently, one of whom said that a photograph of a friend of hers appears in the show and 2) A really cool Chevrolet that may or may not have been connected to the opening. All I know is that it was one cool dashboard.

Last Call for Nature's Fury

There's drama in the high skies, storms on the horizon, and funnel clouds touching the ground. Her name is Mother Nature and she's pissed off about some stuff, and taking it out on the plains of the Midwest. David Mayhew is the guy watching the tantrum between land and nature, with a camera in his hand and an eye for composing images striking enough to last until Last Call, which is this weekend. Jackson Junge is where the storms are happening. Be there from Noon-5PM today (Sunday). After that, the storms go down and blank walls reset everything back to calm.

Full disclosure: 1) J2 Gallery is a Pipeline sponsor, and 2) I own a David Mayhew print, of the sun breaking through clouds, purchased in 2006 at an art fair in Evanston, long before The Pipeline existed. I'm just a fan.

Chicago Artists Month at Jackson Junge Gallery Begins with a Duel

Good and evil, sanity and insanity, and control and chaos are all excellent areas to explore within the framework of art, and Laura Lee Junge is doing just that, in a collection of oil paintings, mixed media and sculpture comprising "Dual: The Battle Begins," opening Oct. 1 at the Jackson Junge Gallery, 1389 N. Milw.

Within these kinetically charged paintings, the impetus for their creation being Junge's inner struggles between a commissioned client's desires and her artistic integrity, the “warriors” and “angels” battle the intellectual, moral and emotional dilemmas that have inspired and plagued the psyche of humankind.

“I don’t like to get too literal in the interpretation because I want people to draw their own experiences from this series” cautions Junge. “However, in my view the gladiators represent challenges people deal with that are created by external sources; social, political, community issues that impact them in a personal way. The tribal images relate to internal strife caused by emotions, matters of the heart and conscience.”

Junge is the signature artist at the Jackson Junge Gallery, which celebrates its first-year anniversary in October. “Dual” is the third major exhibit the prolific painter has mounted at the gallery, and while warriors and angels are common subjects for Junge, this is the first exhibit when they've been presented together.

As the only permanent venue for her work in Chicago, residents and visitors are becoming increasingly familiar with Junge's engaging art, displayed in the gallery between showings of other local, contemporary artists. Among other recent honors, one of Junge’s images was selected to represent the September 2010 Lakeview East Festival of the Arts in Chicago.


Duel opens Sept 28, with a reception, open to the public, slated for Friday Oct, 1st from 6 to 9PM. Duel closes Nov. 14. All welcome at the opening reception. The Jackson Junge Gallery is open six days a week, closed on Mondays. Tuesday- Saturday, 11am – 8pm. Sunday, 12 noon – 5pm.

Jonesing to learn more? Here are a few images of Exhibit Highlights, titled Tribal Warrior, Gladiator Warrior, and Fort Ifeye, as well as information on other 'J2' gallery events planned in tandem with Chicago Artists Month 2010, the 15th annual celebration of Chicago’s vibrant visual art community coordinated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

OTHER CHICAGO ARTISTS MONTH EVENTS AT JACKSON JUNGE GALLERY:
October 8 – November 7
Opening Reception, Friday, October 8, 6pm – 9pm

“Tool Box Flower Box”: Facets of urban life where art, technology and nature co-exist are presented in this unusual exhibit. Twenty local Chicago artists contribute single pieces ranging in media from oils and acrylics to watercolor, ink and mixed media. The art composes a “suite of nature” that demonstrates how machinery, technology and modern paraphernalia can harmonize with organic matter

Saturday, October 16, 8pm – 11pm
Dawn O’Keefe Williams & The Lucky Dogs

Dawn O’Keefe Williams and her backup band The Lucky Dogs perform a blend of blues, jazz, rock and soul. The singer’s repertoire includes favorites from Billie Holiday to Bonnie Raitt along with her own original songs.

Friday, October 22, 6pm – 9pm
Jackson Junge Gallery Anniversary Bash

Chicagoans are invited to attend the one-year anniversary celebration of the Jackson Junge Gallery which features the work of Laura Lee Junge and other Chicago artists. Guests can share a toast, peruse the art and meet several of the artists currently on display.