| Hello from The Cedars Union, We’ve been busy getting ready for you, world! While we’ve been humming along with member workshops (Drypoint Intaglio and Plaster Molds), lectures, and legal clinics we’ve also revamped our Join page. Check it out to see the ways you can become a Cedars Union Member Artist, or even just volunteer. |
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| Member artists learning drypoint printmaking; a grand mess after ceramic casting with plaster molds. |
| We are proud to say that this month The Cedars Union received W.A.G.E. certification. W.A.G.E., or Working Artists for a Greater Economy, is a nonprofit that creates minimum wage standards with a mission to establish sustainable economic relationships between artists and the institutions that contract their labor. Their national certification program publicly recognizes institutions who voluntarily commit to paying artists in accordance with their minimum wage standards. The Cedars Union is the first organization in DFW to make the list, joining other Texas organizations like Art League Houston and Blue Star Contemporary in San Antonio. By committing to certification we have taken what we see as an essential step in setting standards for ourselves, for the artists we exist for, and for a more sustainable and equitable creative economy in North Texas. Hurrah! |
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| This May we’ll be kicking off a series of talks to help gear creatives up for the reemergence of events. Tune in on May 18th when our old pal Erica Felicella will speak about the process of planning for pop-ups, public projects, and other unusual art events. We’ll follow this up on June 1st with an info session for Dallas’s Fire Marshall Keith Wilson, with more event tips and tricks to come. With these resources we hope to inspire artists to get ambitious and creative. “If you book them, they will come”…or at least we will. For those of you still excited about the prospects of participating in life sans traffic, check out Cohort 2 artist Cat Rigdon’s virtual beading workshop on the 6th. If you prefer to be more present consider her private or small group lesson on the same topic: Beading and Embroidery Basics. |
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| Cohort 2 artist Lisa Horlander has a solo show up at Jeanette Kennedy Gallery until May 29th displaying her mixed media sculptures. This is the last show in Jeanette Kennedy’s basement space ahead of moving to a new location in South Side on Lamar. Head over to the freshly minted Botham Jean Boulevard and check out the show. An Interview with Art and Equity Winner Jas Mardis was just published in ShoutOut DFW. Check it out here. Cohort 2 artist Elizabeth Hill completed an Earth Day installation for Novak Hair Studio in Fort Worth using recycled materials (and lots of hair foil). Cohort 1 alumna and Community Member Desiree Vaniecia’s print Blessed, but Hardly Favored, was featured in theThrift Studio Live event for the non-profit organization Dwell With Dignity. Read about its PaperCity article here, or watch a piece on it here OR here. Kristin Moore was published on the cover of St. Edwards Magazine with a painting commissioned by the University. Cohort 2 artist Cat Rigdon has been published this past month in MASS Gallery’s Pen Pal exhibition, an exquisite corpse project completed during the beginning of the pandemic. Her painting Form I/Home is being exhibited at The Walkers Gallery in San Marcos, TX. Member artists Kristin Moore, Desiree Vaniecia, Lisa Horlander, Laura Lawson, and Cat Rigdon are all a part of The Other Art Fair’s Online Studios, a virtual event held in place of the again postponed in-person event. Check out the work of these women and many other Dallas artists until May 29th. Another event will occur in real space and time in the fall. |
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| Lisa Horlander at Jeanette Kennedy Gallery; Kristin Moore for St. Edward’s Magazine; Cat Rigdon painting on laser cut plexiglass; Elizabeth Hill’s installation for Novak Hair Studio. |
| More Support options, please? We heard you! SIX ALL NEW GLORIOUS FRIENDS LEVELS TO CHOOSE FROM Want to contribute monthly in joyful light-hearted increments? Now you can. Your support can drive an artist’s breakthrough. It may be about their process, it might be about their business; it could be a leap into a different medium. Because The Cedars Union is a bold nonprofit undertaking, gifts from Friends and true believers are essential for artists making work in the place where you live. Somewhere on the other side of this Support link lies your perfect balance between very exciting and totally doable. P.S. We hope you like happy hours. |
| MAY PROGRAMS |
| Thu. May 6: Disco Beading: Virtual Workshop 6:00-7:30 online $25 per screen Painter and fiber artist Cat Rigdon will instruct participants how to make a small, colorful piece over a Zoom meeting format with reflective “disco beads”. Created for beginners, this workshop will cover the basic steps for planning a design and adding beadwork to a small piece of fabric with an embroidery hoop, needle, and thread. Materials must be secured by the participants ahead of the workshop if they would like to follow along with the supplies listed on our website. Ticket holders will receive a recorded video of the workshop after the lesson so that they can continue to review the practice. Hint, hint, Mother’s Day is the following Sunday! |
| Wed. May 12: Lunch+Learn: Setting Up an Arts Business 12:00-1:30pm online Free with Registration If you have ever sold or tried to sell your work, you are in business. In this Lunch+Learn attorney Tom Maddrey will compare and contrast various forms that business might take—from sole proprietorships all the way to LLCs and C Corporations—and help you understand which one will best suit you and help you achieve your goals. |
| Tue. May 18: Start to Finish: Producing a Public Art Project Webinar with Erica Felicella 6:00pm-7:00pm online Free with Registration Artist, performer, and special events veteran Erica Felicella will go through important steps and considerations when planning and applying for pop-ups, ambitious public works, or projects in unusual spaces. Topics include: Understanding the details of your event/exhibition, knowing when you need a permit and what kind whether it be a Special Events Permits with the OSE or TAP with the Fire Marshal, general liability insurance, how to prepare for safety for all parties, and more. |
| Wed. May 26: CU Member Workshop: Papermaking 6:00-9:00pm Free for CU Members/CU Membership Required Learn how to form small sheets of paper out of different materials — both recycled and fibers designated for papermaking. |
