WHERE:
Portfolio Gallery & Education Center
3514 Delmar
St. Louis, MO
Telephone: (314) 814-0141

WHEN: Friday, Nov.12th, 5:30 -7:00 p.m.

TOPIC: Phillip's upcoming trip to Haiti to begin production of his film "Seven Days in Haiti".

The film will look at the upcoming Presidential election in Haiti, and examine the relationship between the African American community and Haiti.

I just came back from viewing Lonnie Powell's show at the Porfolio Gallery and Education Center in St. Louis. Powell works in a variety of styles and media in his show "Still All Over the Place" that will be up through January 8th 2010.

Underpinning everything Powell does is a strong sense of structure provided by subtle and masterful drawing. He excels in portraits and offers an unusual perspective with views that are often from the ground up.

There's always feeling in his work. We're not just looking at an artist showing off his technical skills.

Contact Portfolio Gallery at:
3514 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63103
Phone: (314) 533-3323.
Public Email: portfoliogallery@att.net

Lonnie Powell wrote me back with a good addendum to the original post.

Hi Janet,

Upwardly,
Lon Powell

As an African American artist raised in Kansas City Missouri, it did not take long to see that he did not have the luxury of being just an artist. On the contrary, he had to be all things related to art and African American art. He had to be an art educator, an art critic, an art agent, a gallery operator, an art booster, a pickup and delivery man and anything else that might pop up. He humbly refers to himself as an art activist.

Lonnie has always sought to keep his art separate from his occupation so that his art was free of financial influences. This separation of art and money allowed him to steer clear of the trends, traps and compromises begrudgingly faced by many of his contemporaries. Although, this course proved to be less lucrative, the art remains true to his heart and shall remain so.

He never refers to his art as his work. His art is not work, his art is his very self and therefore, cannot be separated from the rest of his life.

ARTIST'S BIO

Lonnie Powell graduated from Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri where he studied with the late James Dallas Parks.

Lonnie's occupations have ranged from dishwasher at the Villa Capri Restaurant to Xerox Sales Representative, but the vast majority of his career has been as an art teacher in the Kansas City Missouri School District.

Lonnie was a charter board member and past president of The Black Archives of Mid-America and a cofounder of Euphrates Gallery. He is a current member and past president of the Friends of Bruce R. Watkins Culture Heritage Center. Lonnie is also president and founder of, “The Light In The Other Room”, a collaborate of twenty-two, African American Kansas City based artists.

He has shown in and around his beloved city of Kansas City, Missouri in many venues including solo and group exhibits at: The Ethnic Art Gallery, The Central Exchange, The Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and Museum, and The American Jazz Museum's Changing Gallery to name a few.

Lonnie has exhibited at a number of area universities including: Park University, Parkville, Missouri, Western Missouri University, St. Joseph, Missouri, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri and Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri where he spent a year (1969-1970), as an artist in residence.

He has had art accepted in competitions at: The Portfolio Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, The Atlanta Life Insurance Company's African American National Art Competition and Exhibition, Atlanta, Georgia, The Black Arts Festival, Dayton, Ohio, The Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, Missouri, and The St. Louis Art Fair, Clayton, Missouri. He is an award winning, Signature Member of The National Watercolor Society. His art is in numerous private collections as well as the corporate collections of Sprint Corporation, The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and The American Jazz Museum.

He has art in The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's traveling exhibition, Shades Of Greatness, which is currently touring galleries and museums across the country. In 2005 his watercolor painting, South Sun, received the coveted, Donor's Award C, from the 85th National Watercolor Society.

In the December, 2006, Watercolor Magic Magazine, named him as one of the "Ones To Watch." In June, 2008 he received the "First Place, Patrons Choice award in the First Annual Lakewood Oaks Exhibit in Lee's Summit, MO.

"ALL TIED UP (100% COTTON/ACRYLIC) is how I felt, when I was creating a new face for textile art, coming from the fashion world," says Constance. "ALL TIED UP keeps me connected to where I have or have not been. It's currently exhibited at LAMATH BUILDING, OAKLAND, CA. Portfolio Gallery would like to see ALL TIED UP next."

Constance Terrell lives and works in Oakland, California, one of my old home towns for many years and where I earned my BFA at the California College of Arts (and Crafts) majoring in clay sculpture, and graduating with high distinction. There, I learned "There is no art without craft," and in a recent phone conversation with Constance Terrell, she agreed with me completely.

Portfolio Gallery & Educational Center
3514 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri, 63103
314-533-3323, Email: Portfoliogallery@att.net
Grand Center, Arts, Entertainment & Education District

Now this fiber artist who has come out of the fashion design world has a solo exhibition at Robert Powell's Porfolio Gallery in St. Louis (you can read more about both Mr. Powell and Portfolio under the Art Matters category)...titled "Textiles At It's Finest." Certainly, it is that. Through March 31, Portfolio Gallery opens its 18th season, with the textile art of Constance Terrell. This exhibit is sponsored by Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.

Here's what Constance says herself about the roots of her love affair with fabric. Like so many of us, it came from home, and in her case, from her grandmother:

"I have been working with textiles for the past 14 years. I became attracted to fabric watching my Grandmother Jerry make ruffled crocheted table ornaments from 100% cotton yarn. At the time I was too young to put this art picture together. Now that I am mature in my art stlye, it makes sense.

"Crocheted textiles started around the 1700s in England and since traveled to different parts of the world. My grandmother was the first person that I saw turning beautiful crocheted table art into sculpture. She would create a form and then dip it into hot starch, letting it cool just long enough to handle the material. The starch would dry and the art form would hold its shape.

"This traditional, yet newly-developing art that is pleasing to the eyes will make the mind wonder. Textile Art is a developing art that can be manipulated and twisted into many diffrent shapes. Textile Art is made from all kinds of fabrics used in making 2-sided wall hangings, acrylic columns and soft sculpture with unlimited boundaries."

Ms. Terrell's Portfolio Gallery exhibit features paintings, drawings, sculpture, and mixed media textile pieces that explores the boundaries of textile art, with some particularly fine soft sculpture pieces. For many viewers when they think of textile art, they will think of quilting, painting on fabric and woven hangings. Constance Terrell has been manipulating textiles into beautiful fine art since 1996. Her art style is somewhat unexpected and a risky path to take.

Mr. Powell says, "As the twenty-first century unfolds and the art world seems increasingly dominated by artists who have embraced the new technologies, I am impressed by the power of abstract textile, art to hold its ground. Despite the expanding spectrum of media and high-tech tools, painting and especially abstraction, still offers a realm of visual pleasure and intellectual fulfillment that remains compelling."

BURNING BUSH IS 3' X 5' 100% cotton, acrylic, poly--black,white, gold $3,500