Wednesday September 1, 4:30–6 pm
FWAC!
[First Wednesdays Arts Coffee]
WNC Carson City Campus

FWAC! is CCAI’s monthy gathering of artists and arts & culture enthusiasts for coffee and conversation. As always, all welcome to attend!

This month we feature a very special FWAC! on the WNC Carson City campus [2201 West College Parkway] in the Main Gallery in conjunction with the artists reception for Secrets Revealed, a printmaking exhibition organized by Candace Nicol.

Special thanks to our hosts at WNC!

[Graphic from Google image search for 'coffee and art .' Click on image to enlarge.]

For details click here

[Is it too early to start planning? Article reprinted in its entirety from The Guardian, in conjunction with Goal 2010!, CCAI's exhibition of World Cup fine art posters at its Courthouse Gallery. On view through September 10.]

England’s World Cup bid ‘unbeatable’, Nick Clegg tells Fifa team
• ‘England can host a fantastic World Cup’ Fifa delegation is told
• ‘Few countries can beat us for passion’ says Clegg

Nick Clegg today highlighted England’s “unbeatable bid” as he met the Fifa team assessing the country’s suitability to host the 2018 World Cup.

Welcoming the delegation to Downing Street, the deputy prime minister emphasised the coalition government’s commitment to the bid.

“I believe this is an exceptionally strong, unbeatable bid. We in this government believe in it, we hope that you will believe in it,” Clegg told the inspection team.

“Our job during your visit is to show you that we already have the infrastructure and facilities to host a fantastic World Cup.

“I’m an MP from a city, Sheffield, which is one of the many cities hoping to host some games during the World Cup and I know from that city that the excitement and the passion which is behind this bid really is very considerable.”

He said the tournament would have the power to “inspire so many people” across England. “I think there really are very few nations that can claim the same passion we have in England for the game of football,” he said.

Clegg welcomed the international delegation to No10 because David Cameron, the prime minister, is on holiday.

Downing Street, however, rejected suggestions that Cameron should have broken off the trip with his family to Cornwall to meet the Fifa team.

“The nature of the visit is technical. The prime minister is fully behind the bid and will be involved as the bid progresses,” Cameron’s official spokesman said.

The Fifa team is led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, president of the Chile Football Federation, who said it was a “real honour” to be in No10 and promised to look objectively at the bid.

“We will work hard with the local organising bid committee to be in the position to write a very fair and complete report to the executive members of Fifa,” he said. “We promise you that we will do our best to have a very objective report.”

[screen grab from August 23 Guardian online. Click on image to enlarge.]

For details click here

[Below, from CLUI, whose director Matthew Coolidge was a featured CCAI "Nevada Neighbor" in March. CCAI's fall programs will focus on art and ecology. Stay tuned for announcements!]

The Center for Land Use Interpretation

For details click here

The World Cup may be over, but enthusiasm for the global sport continues at the Courthouse Gallery, site of Goal 2010!, CCAI’s exhibition of World Cup fine art posters – and at the Carson City Library. The  Library currently features a display of soccer books from  their collection of books on the subject –suitable for all interest and age levels.

 A recent addition to their holdings is “How Soccer Explains the World.” Subtitled “an {unlikely} theory of globalization,”  this remarkable collection of ten essays by New Republic Editor Franklin Foer explores issues ranging from ethnic strife in the former Yugoslavia and the role of Red Star Belgrade supporters to America’s ambivalence towards the most popular game on the planet. The book encourages  a view of soccer and its myriad social contexts as ideal for social, political and  existential reflection on the world. It’s a fun, serious read!

You can browse all the library’s soccer holdings by visiting the library — or by visiting its online catalog. A library card provides premium access.

[Photograph of Carson City Library display courtesy of Youth Services Librarian Amber Sady.]

For details click here

[As the World Cup ends and with it, our month-long soccer indulgence, we feature one last bit of World Cup media - a deft English salute to the ultimate game. Do note that "Goal 2010!" CCAI's exhibition of the FIFA Fine Art Poster PortfolioGoal 2010! continues at the CCAI Courthouse Gallery continues through September 10, and we'll periodically feature prints from the exhibition, and soccer books at the Carson City Library.]

Brick-by-brick fussball: World Cup Final: Holland 0-1 Spain

A recreation of the 2010 World Cup final ”in which Spain kept all their pieces together despite dirty play from the Dutch” from the brilliant and sadder-but-wiser mates staffing the Guardian sports desk.

One of a suite of their riveting marriages of stop frame animation Legos and actual match audio.

WATCH  to relive the yellow cards held high – and Iniesta’s ball finding the back of the net.

Link to all the videos, including a painful recreation of Rob Green’s ‘awful moment‘ in the USA-England match.

For details click here

“Who wants to cook chapattis when you can bend a ball like Beckham?

If you’re 18, love Beckham and can bend a ball like him the world’s your oyster, right? Wrong. If you’re Jess Bhamra  - 18, Indian and a girl - forget it. Do you think your marriage-obsessed folks will let you play a man’s game?”

In conjunction with Goal 2010!, CCAI’s exhibition of World Cup fine art posters at its Courthouse Gallery, the CCAI Blog! is delighted to feature related media at the Carson City Library and CLAN Cooperative Libraries Automated Network.

With this post, we  spotlight Bend It Like Beckham, a film directed and co-written by by  Gurinder Chadha. A DVD of the film is available through CLAN.

The film, a serious, thoughtful and hilarious comedy, lovingly depicts  the cultural challenges common to England’s first and second generation immigrants  - and the more universal coming-of-age clashes well known to all parents and teens. And of course it’s about a passion for soccer.

The 2003 film  stars Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, at the time relatively unknown actors. The former went on to play Dr. Neela Rasgotra on televisions long running situation drama “E.R.” for no less than 129 episodes. The latter, now on Hollywood’s A List, has wowed audiences in Pirates of the Carribean, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice and Atonement.

The film received a PG-13 MPAA  rating for adult situations and language.

The Carson City Library and CLAN collections have an impressive number of tomes devoted to the ‘beautiful game. You can browse all the library’s soccer holdings by visiting the library — or by visiting the library’s online catalog. A library card will give you premium access.

[Graphic and opening quote from Cinematic Intelligence Agency web page for 'Bend It Like Beckham.']  

For details click here

Issac “Shakes” Kungwane lumbers down 11th avenue, pausing momentarily to light a menthol Cravin A. His thick fingers form a cup around the flame, shielding it from the winds of this bitter South African winter. Horns blare from taxi vans that careen through Alexandra’s frighteningly narrow streets. “Watch these cars,” Shakes warns. “In Alexandra they don’t stop, they just drive through you.” His body, short and squat, begins to shake in a fit of raspy, sardonic laughter. In his wake, throngs of children dribble soccer balls between passing cars, shouting and teasing one another in Zulu language. “This is what we did as kids in Alex [andra],” says the 40-year-old. “Everyone played soccer. In the street, in the stadium, everywhere.”

more

Part of a series of profiles that Nick Fitzhugh and Pete Muller did as part of a documentary series on soccer in Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township. The mini documentary series chronicles the role of soccer in the lives of five Alexandra residents.

[Posted in conjunction with the World Cup and "Goal 2010!" CCAI's exhibition of the FIFA Fine Art Poster Portfolio at the CCAI Courthouse Gallery. Photograph by Pete Muller. Click on image to enlarge. Thanks to AP in DC and Guadalajara for making the connection.]

For details click here

Saturday saw the end of the United States team to move beyond the first game of the knock-out round of the World Cup, but the “Greatest Show on Earth” continues – as does Goal 2010!, CCAI’s exhibition of the official World Cup fine art poster portfolio at the CCAI Courthouse Gallery.

[Graphic: back covers of The New York Post and Daily News.]

For details click here

CCAI is delighted to announce the electronic publication of “The Museum of Bitter Sorrows presents ‘Life Is A Prison, Please Grant Me Release’”, an essay by arts and film writer Pam Grady commissioned in conjunction with Scott MacLeod’s exhibition by the same name at St. Mary’s Art Center.

The exhibition continues through the end of the month. See link below for additional information and gallery hours.

CCAI extends congratulations and appreciations to Pam and Scott.

Essay

Exhibition

[Photo from exhibition album. Caption: "The Museum of Bitter Sorrows. Central hallway installation view.. St. Mary's Art Center. June 2010"]

For details click here

On June 16 South Africa celebrates National Youth Day to commemorate the anniversary of the Soweto Uprising.

The World Cup affords an opportunity for nations across the globe to celebrate competition, athleticism and teamwork at its  best. It also provides an opportunity to spotlight national and global social issues.

Youth Day reminds us of the history of South Africa and the struggle against apartheid.

From Wikipedia entry for Soweto uprising:
“On the morning of June 16, 1976, thousands of black students walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally to protest against having to learn through Afrikaans in school. Many students who later participated in the protest arrived at school that morning without prior knowledge of the protest, yet agreed to become involved. The protest was intended to be peaceful and had been carefully planned by the Soweto Students’ Representative Council’s (SSRC) Action Committee, with support from the wider Black Consciousness Movement. Teachers in Soweto also supported the march after the Action Committee emphasized good discipline and peaceful action.”

The uprising was a key moment in the struggle by South Africans to defeat the regime and its policy of apartheid.

[Post in conjunction with Goal 2010!, CCAI's exhibition of the FIFA World Cup fine art poster portfolio. Graphic from google image search for 'Soweto uprising.' Caption: "Soweto June 1976. Mbuyisa Makhubu carries the body of Hector Pieterson, shot by police during the student protest against Afrikaans as the school language medium. (Photograph by Sam Nzima)"]

For details click here