For those of you that appreciate art and like owning art there is coming on June 16, 2012 the 20th annual art auction to benefit the Museum of Northwest Art located in La Conner, Washington.

There will be over 300 works of art by emerging artist as well as master artist available for bidding. These works of art include paintings, prints, glass, photographs, sculpture, ceramics, art jewelry and textiles.

For those of you who may not want to purchase a work of art but are curious as to what will be available, the museum is providing an open house free to the public on Friday the 15th from noon to 5:00 P.M. and on Saturday, June 16th (the day of the auction) from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.

You can reserve a table by contacting the museum if you want to participate and enjoy the action in person. The event starts at 5:00 P.M.

Now, for those of you who may want to participate but can’t be there in person the museum is providing the ability to have absentee bidding. Again contact the museum for details on how to participate in this venue.

The museum plans on having a full Auction catalog web site completed and available by June 1st complete with images of the art work.

I personally am planning on checking out this web site in the beginning of June.

So have fun and help support the Arts!

There is currently running a retrospective exhibition of Dieter Roth’s self-portraits at the Museum of Modern Art in Salzburg, Austria. The exhibition runs from March 3, 2012 through June 24, 2012.

My Eye Is a Mouth

Daily Mirror, 1961 2 cm x 2 cm

All images of Roth’s work courtesy of the dieter-roth-foundation.com and are © Dieter Roth estate until 2068

Coming to The New York Public Library in May will be an exhibit of Patrick Harbron’s photographic brilliance as he captures the images of our favorite Rock and Roll legends. The photographs were taken during the musician’s concerts and capture the energy and exuberance of the performers and their audiences. This should prove to be an excellent exhibit for those that love great photography and that are also huge fans of the greatest musicians and groups of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Many of these photographs have never been published or exhibited before.

The exhibit runs from Thursday, May 10 through Friday, August 10, 2012.

It is entitled: Rock and Roll Icons: Photographs by Patrick Harbron

The location is the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Plaza Level Lobby

“Harbron photographed artists such as Elvis Costello, Blondie and Deborah Harry, The Cars, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Police, Tom Petty, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, KD Lang, Dire Straits and Van Halen early in their careers. He followed these artists to prominence and others that were already well known including The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, David Bowie ,Queen, Neil Young, Bob Marley, The Who, Genesis, Elton John, KISS, U2, Aerosmith, Santana, Michael Jackson and Ray Charles.The work has been published on album,CD and DVD covers, in books, magazines, for publicity and tour booklets.

Harbron has received numerous awards including two JUNO Award nominations for album cover photography. Some of his album work is included in the Taschen books ‘1000 Records Covers and Rock Covers.”

The national tour of Green Day’s “American Idiot,” the explosive Broadway hit called “wonderfully raucous” and “emotionally charged” by The New York Times, opens in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 14 at the Ahmanson Theatre at 8 p.m. There is a preview on Tuesday, March 13 and performances continue through April 22, 2012.

Original Broadway cast member Van Hughes will star as Johnny, a role in which he concluded the “American Idiot” Broadway run, along with original Broadway cast member Joshua Kobak as St. Jimmy, Jake Epstein as Will, Scott J. Campbell as Tunny, original Broadway cast member Leslie McDonel as Heather, Gabrielle McClinton as Whatsername and Nicci Claspell as The Extraordinary Girl.

“American Idiot” will also feature Talia Aaron, Krystina Alabado, Gabriel Antonacci, Larkin Bogan, Jennifer Bowles, Matt DeAngelis, Dan Gleason, Kelvin Moon Loh, Tommy McDowell, Jillian Mueller, Jarran Muse, Vince Oddo, and Okieriete Onaodowan.

“I am thrilled that we get to share ‘American Idiot’ with audiences across North America,” said director Michael Mayer. “The creative team and I couldn’t be happier with the stellar group of actors we’ve assembled which includes original Broadway cast members Van Hughes, Joshua Kobak and Leslie McDonel along with many wonderful and talented new additions to the ‘American Idiot’ family.”

“American Idiot,” a 2010 Tony Award®-nominated Best Musical and 2010 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Show Album, features the music of Green Day with the lyrics of its lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. The book is by Armstrong and Michael Mayer and direction is by Tony Award®-winner Mayer (“Spring Awakening”).

The show is choreographed by Olivier Award-winner Steven Hoggett (“Black Watch”) with music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Kitt (“Next to Normal”). The tour features Tony Award®-winning scenic design by Christine Jones and Tony Award®-winning lighting design by Kevin Adams.

The acclaimed creative team also includes costume design by Andrea Lauer, sound design by Brian Ronan, video and projections design by Darrel Maloney, music direction by Jared Stein, associate choreography by Lorin Latarro and associate direction by Johanna McKeon.

Winner of two Tony Awards®, “American Idiot” is the story of three boyhood friends, each searching for meaning in a post 9-11 world. Through incredible spectacle, thrilling performances and with the hope embodied by a new generation, “American Idiot” will give audiences the time of their lives night after night on tour in the same way it did during its acclaimed Broadway run at the St. James Theatre from March 2010 to April 2011.

The musical features the hits “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Holiday” and the blockbuster title track “American Idiot” from Green Day’s 2004 Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum album. Also included in the score are several songs from Green Day’s 2009 release “21st Century Breakdown” including “21 Guns” and an unreleased love song, “When It’s Time.”

“American Idiot” premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2009 and played through November of that year. In April 2010, the musical opened on Broadway where reviews were unanimously positive with Charles Isherwood of the New York Times calling the show “the most adventurous musical to brave Broadway in the past decade” and the Toronto Star naming it “the first great musical of the 21st century!”

Tickets for “American Idiot” are available online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling (213) 972-4400, or in person at the Center Theatre Group box office at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center.

VIZIO is the Official TV Partner of the “American Idiot” tour.

For more information on “American Idiot,” visit www.americanidiotthemusical.com

This article is for everyone that may have a family member or friend that is blind and/or physically handicapped that enjoys books. There is an excellent web site available with an abundance of resource information suited for everyone’s needs. The site is the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and is associated with The Library of Congress.

The National Library Service provides for a FREE library program of braille and audio materials sent to eligible participants in the United States by postage-free mail.

For those that would like to have the audio materials the NLS can provide a FREE NLS digital talking book player to those that qualify. If you prefer these players are also available for purchase. For those that prefer the option to download digital-talking books you can register for the BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) service. The web site has a list of providers for these downloadable books, such as the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.

Another service of the NLS is that they provide a list/review of the recent braille and audio books which is published every two months. A couple of examples from the January/February 2012 list are:

Adult:

•  The Immortal Game: A History of Chess; or, How Thirty-two Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science, and the Human Brain: author David Shenk
• Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft: author Thor Heyerdahl
• The Time Traveler’s Wife: author Audrey Niffenegger

Children:

•  Just Grace Walks the Dog: author Charise Mericle Harper
•  Crispin: The End of Time: author Avi
•  Gator on the Loose! Animal Rescue Team, Book 1: author Sue Stauffacher

Other services that are available include music instruction and books, plus braille transcription and proofreading courses.

The NLS, also, has a special area devoted to children called the Kids Zone. This area has information for preschoolers through the eighth grade.  Their book selections include the series The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter collection.

There are many ways to experience Creativity in the Arts and Awendan means work turned from one language into another. This is a perfect example of that where the written word is turned into another written form (braille) for those with special needs so that they can also enjoy the wonder of books.