Author name: Peg Johnston

“EVERYONE HAS A HOMETOWN”

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PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST 2016

Sponsored by PAST Preservation Association of the Southern Tier   May 3rd to May 29th

Broome County has been home to many and has a rich history. In the "Everyone Has A Hometown" Photography Contest, sponsored by the Preservation Association of the Southern Tier, we invite you to submit original photographs that highlight and celebrate the historical, architectural and cultural uniqueness of Broome County. Through this competition we hope to advocate, educate and encourage civic engagement. All entries will be on display at the ART Mission and Theater gallery beginning on May 6th and throughout the month of May.

Deadline: Tuesday, May 3rd, 3:00 to 6:30

Entrants may bring their framed photography to the ART Mission and Theater, 61 Prospect Street, Binghamton (www.artmission.org). All photos must be of Broome County. Applications will be available at the ART Mission, at the PAST Salvage Center, 21 North Depot Street and PAST’s web site (www.pastny.org).  Each photo requires a short application and a $15 entrance fee. Students in high school or middle school will have a $10 fee. Make checks payable to PAST.

Photos need to be framed and ready to be hung.  A 3×5 card needs to be attached to the back of the frame and be filled out with the title of the picture, the location, and the photographer’s name, email address and phone number. Note: The photographer does not have to be from the town that they photograph.  Judges will use the number assigned to the frame to determine winners.

Download application below.

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Binghamton University to digitally preserve local history through Past 2 Future Project

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BINGHAMTON, NY – You might have preserved your grandmother’s wedding gown for posterity, or plan to pass a cherished family necklace along to your children, but what about photos, films, letters and other records – the kind of records that tell stories so easily lost?
 
What if you could have them digitized at no cost to you?
 
Binghamton University’s Past 2 Future Project (P2F) can do just that and is actively seeking letters, documents, photos, diaries, movies, audio-tapes and other records that depict the rich history of individuals and organizations in the Southern Tier. Students will digitize the records, return them and a digital copy to the owner, and Binghamton University will retain a copy for students, faculty and the community to use for research.
 
Kevin Wright, P2F director, has developed the project to be a true University-community connection, and one that opens up several paths for undergraduate research:
through information collection, processing and preservation (film digitization, cataloguing, preserving paper records and life-history interviewing);
by interpreting and analyzing the information; and
through independent research mentored by faculty members.
Wright’s vision is that some important themes or tracks will emerge from the digitized materials. “What I hope and think will happen is that we will start to accumulate a lot of information and some important tracks will emerge, like in innovation, entrepreneurship, immigration, environmental impact – and we can actually use the project as a recruitment device for getting freshmen here,” he said. “We will teach them research methods and they’ll have real, live data to do research in their second semester of their freshman year.”
 
A number of students are already involved in P2F, and will begin a series of oral histories with local residents in the spring semester, while others train on digitizing material.
 
As the digitized collection grows, it will provide scholars and students with valuable data for exploration and analysis that will provide the people of the Southern Tier with documentation of the area’s rich history, accomplishments, failures and everyday life over time.
 
There is certainly plenty of material out there. “Pretty much any time I talk to someone about it, they say ‘I’ve got something for you,’” said Wright, who noted P2F will be in the data collection stage well into the next semester and next year.
 
“We need a sufficient amount of data before we can hand it to students,” he said. “As a researcher, collecting data and beginning to put it into user format is also part of the research project, not for the analysis, but by being actively engaged in data collection and data management.”
 
P2F is located in the Nelson Rockefeller Center, Room 262, at Binghamton University. Contact Wright at wright@binghamton.edu or call 607-427-2051.

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What Happens After The Bin?

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A lot of us have good intentions. When we’re provided the option to recycle, we toss what we think of as recyclable trash into the appropriate bin, and assume our job is over: Our waste will be recycled, and we’ve done our part. But, as we are about to learn, this isn’t always true. All plastic is not created equal. Some plastic, like the durable #1 PET (also called PETE, and when recycled, rPET), is inherently reusable—it can be melted down and reused again and again without loss of function. And other types of plastics not as easily recycled wind up in land?lls.

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Winners Announced in Photo Competition

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Best of Show: "Courthouse Detail" by Kirk Van Zandbergen

5th BOB JOHNSTON MEMORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW AND COMPETITION
SPONSORED BY Cooperative Gallery 213 and the Two Rivers Photography Club

January 1 – 23rd, 2016

            The Cooperative Gallery 213 and the Two Rivers Photography Club are sponsoring the 5th Bob Johnston Photography Show and Competition January 1-23rd, 2016. “We are looking forward to the best photography this area has to offer,” according to Peg Johnston, Cooperative Gallery president and daughter of the late Bob Johnston. It is an open themed Photography Show and Competition and all photographic media and all photographers are eligible to enter. Photographs will again be judged by J. W. Johnston (no relation), a local professional photographer.

            A reception for the photographers, friends, and the public will take place New Year's Day at the Gorgeous Washington Association Art Walk from 6-9, with gallery hours starting at 3 pm that day. The Exhibit will be open Fridays 3-6 pm, Saturdays 12-4 pm and by appointment until January 23rd. Prizes and cash awards for the winners will be presented at First Friday, January 1st at 6:30 pm at a reception for the artists.

            The winners are as follows: Best of Show– “Courthouse Detail” by Kirk Van Zandbergen; Judge’s Choice in Black and White—“Phaseolus coccineus (Scarlet Runner Bean)” and "Asclepius tuberosa (Butterfly Weed)" both by Susan C. Larkin; Judge’s Choice in Color—“Arboreal Spirit I” and “Arboreal Spirit II” both by David LoParco. Ten Honorable Mention awards will be awarded to (in alphabetical order): “Dew of the Morn” by William Bay; “The Silhouette Maker” by Barry Biddle; “Colors of Darkness” and “Indiglow” by Jessica Fridrich; “Urban Construction” by Bill Gorman; “Creepy Crawler” by Dan Harendza; “No Corner for the Devil” and “Fall Oak” by Sandra Kirker; “Selfie” by Peter Kofira Jr; “JD2040” by Lesli Van Zandbergen

            The Competition is named for Bob Johnston, a lifelong photographer and a gallery member who died in 2010. “Bob Johnston was an ‘Ansell Adams’ kind of photographer who worked mostly in black and white film and favored both urban and natural landscapes,” said Bill Gorman, also a photographer and member of the Cooperative Gallery. Bob Johnston defined a good photo this way: “For me, the successful photograph is one in which both the abstract elements and the subject matter of the image reinforce each other to provide an emotional experience for the viewer.”

            The Cooperative Gallery, a popular stop on the First Friday Art Walk, located at 213 State Street in Binghamton, is open on Frist Friday 3- 9 pm and regularly Fridays from 3-6 and Saturdays from 12- 4 pm. Find us on Facebook at Cooperative Gallery 213 and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter on our website at  www.cooperativegallery.com or on our Facebook page.

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Blight Mural Project Final Report

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The Dept. of Public Art received a $5000 grant from the Chenango Co. Arts Council and the Hoyt Foundation in 2015 to place murals on blighted properties. In all, DPA volunteers placed 37 panels on 11 sites.

The Blight as Our Canvas project aimed to post temporary murals on blighted properties in Binghamton. The goal of the project was to get public art into neighborhoods and to improve the appearance of blighted properties. Audiences included neighborhood residents, local artists interested in painting, and property owners trying to improve their buildings.

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The Inside Story of Shell’s Arctic Assault

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Reporter Barry Yeoman digs deep into Shell's oil drilling in the Arctic even after they pulled out earlier this year. Our government agencies have been bullied by Shell to rush the process. 

A months-long investigation shows how the energy giant pressured the Interior Department during the company's gung-ho Arctic push—and got most of what it wanted (except oil).   Read more here.

https://www.audubon.org/news/the-inside-story-shells-arctic-assault

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Are You a Poet? Split This Rock

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Check out Split This Rock, a progressive poetry collective with lots of events both online and in the DC area.
 Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2016 April 14-17 , 2016
 
The 5th annual Abortion Rights Poetry Contest is open for submissions – January 10, 2016 deadline.
 
On December 20 we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the influential series, Sunday Kind of Love. A unique collaboration with Busboys and Poets, the series predates even Split This Rock!
 
In January we are proud to kick off a major series of events, Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here DC 2016, a city-wide festival dedicated to the people of Iraq and those living everywhere that free expression is threatened. Arab and Iranian poets and translators will be reading and talking about the power of translation throughout the DC area.

Visit their website at http://www.splitthisrock.org/

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Amazon vs Local Business

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reprinted from Institute for Local Self Reliance

Amazon is on a building spree, and many local officials are eager to bring one of its giant fulfillment centers to their own backyard. They are so eager, in fact, that some have resorted to offering the company lavish tax breaks and other public assistance. Between 2012 and 2014, Amazon picked up $431 million in local tax incentives to finance its warehouse expansion.

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Searching for Peace, Once Again

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By Tim Wolcott

         Soon before the beginning of the current school year, Bob Graves, the Maine-Endwell High School Spartan Theater Company Director, was asked what they were going to present in 2015-2016.  “Would it be another musical or a tragedy?”  The questioner (which was not me) went on, “I really liked when you produced those little plays about peace.”  Bob wasn’t yet sure what the company was going to do, so he honestly admitted, “we haven’t decided yet.”

         Mr. Graves recounted this story in his introduction to this season’s first presentation, “Searching for Peace”, a collection of one-act plays and songs with peace as the central theme.  He went on to say, and I paraphrase, “after thinking about all the current wars that are putting American lives at risk, maybe it is time to revisit the theme of peace.”  I am glad he made that decision.  Too often the courage to trumpet peace is drowned out by the false majesty of war.

         The present production was very similar to the 2006 production, but had musical interludes and a couple of additional theatrical acts.  The November 7th, 2015 performance was, depending on the piece, poignant, audacious and/or inspirational. 

         I also had the pleasure of seeing the production in 2006.   This production was a reprise of the four original acts – “How Violence Is Ended”, “The Christmas Truce”, “When the Twins Went to War” and “The War Prayer”.  The staging was different, but the text was the same.  In the Buddhist legend, “How Violence Is Ended”, the clarion call was repeated, “Do not be short-sighted” (seek impulsive revenge) and “Do not be long-sighted” (hold grudges).  “The Christmas Truce” recounts the spontaneous cessation of war on Christmas Eve by German and English troops during W.W.I.  Hearing “Silent Night”, hauntingly sung, in German, offstage while the English trench soldiers become visibly mesmerized by its serenity was very powerful. The message of Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer” could not resonate more.  In that act, a preacher in the pulpit is rallying the congregation to war through biblical passages and patriotic slogans when he is interrupted by a female messenger from God.  She proceeds to translate the preacher’s uplifting rhetoric to its barbaric reality.  After a prolonged silence of rapt understanding, the congregants declare her insane, and the preacher continues his sermon as the play ends.

         During the interludes, talented musicians within the cast amplified the powerful content from the dramatic acts.  A faculty member sang, in French, a WWI protest song (while a translation was shown simultaneously) that included the words, “President, if blood be shed, let it be yours.”  John Lennon’s “Imagine” and “Let It Be” were sung to echo the non-violent sentiment of the production.  The evening ended with the entire cast and audience singing Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”. 

         We all do have to participate in giving peace a chance.  This production surely helped us see and hear how.

 

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United Cultural Funds Available

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BCAC GRANTS AVAILABLE; FREE  SEMINARS OFFERED
Broome County Arts Council is accepting grant applications for its 2016 United Cultural Fund (UCF) Project Grants and will hold free seminars on eligibility and how to apply.  Hosted by executive director Sharon Ball, the seminars are scheduled throughout Broome County and will also offer information on the UCF and other potential funding sources for Broome County artists and arts organizations.  There is no cost to attend a seminar, but reservations are strongly advised.  Call 607-723-4620 or e-mail information@broomearts.org to reserve a seat at any of the following seminars:
 
• Wednesday, November 4
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Windsor Whip Works Art Center
98 Main Street, Windsor
 
• Tuesday, December 8
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
George F. Johnson Library
1001 Park St, Endicott
 
• Wednesday, December 9
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Broome County Arts Council
81 State St, Suite 501, Binghamton
 
• Wednesday, December 16
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Mary Wilcox Memorial Library
2630 Main St, Whitney Point
 
BCAC’s United Cultural Fund (UCF) Project Grants are intended to promote cultural development and expand the public impact of the arts in Broome County. The maximum grant request is $1,000. To download eligibility guidelines and application forms, visit http://www.broomearts.org/ucf-project-grants/ .  For more information, contact Broome County Art Council at 723-4620.

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