grace

… filling in the negative space with positively everything

Celebrate The Year of the Tiger 2010 in Houston!

Members of the Chinese Youth Society of Melbou...

Image via Wikipedia

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, which commences on February 14, 2010 and ends on February 2, 2011. The Tiger is the third sign in the Chinese Zodiac cycle, and it is a sign of bravery. This courageous and fiery fighter is admired by the ancient Chinese as the sign that keeps away the three main tragedies of a household. These are fire, thieves and ghosts.

The Year of the Tiger 2010 is a Yang Metal year, and it’s a year of much activity, drama, changefulness, crisis, and unpredictability. Tiger years are associated with political and social instability or upheaval. Metal is not a very compatible element for Tiger (Tiger prefers Wood and Fire), and thus 2010 is expected to be challenging and turbulent overall. Nevertheless, the Tiger does prefer Yang, and 2010 is a Yang year, which strengthens matters somewhat. It is strong for technological advances and innovations.

The overall theme is one of change and unpredictability, and so all signs will benefit from remaining flexible and adaptable to changeful conditions in 2010. While caution and moderation were advised in 2009, the Year of the Ox, flexibility and the ability to deal with change are essential qualities in 2010.

CELEBRATIONS AROUND HOUSTON

Thurs, 2/11/10
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Pagoda
Cocktail Party
Pagoda Vietnamese Bistro & Bar
4705 Inker St Houston TX 77007
7pm to 12am

ArtCamp Houston – The Dialogue Begins

Last fall, a certain guy – “Il Douche” – said some things that painted a distorted landscape of Houston’s arts community. He cherry-picked items, took them out of context, and presented them as indicative of massive mismanagement of “your money”…even though it wasn’t. “Your” money. It’s tourists’ money. It’s the money visitors like me spend when we go to Houston to enjoy its art and cultural offerings, and stay overnight. It’s Hotel Occupancy Tax money.

A few of us were wary of the effects this misinformation would have on the general public: Would it curb – or stop – public support of the arts in Houston? Would arts organizations and venues be squeezed or shut down? Would people lose their jobs? Would artists still be able to perform, exhibit, create, …eat?

It was a great opportunity for the arts community to spin the situation positively and speak out in one voice to advocate for GREATER support for the arts: if arts organizations had more money, they could afford to hire in-house accountants and/or dedicated administrators to do greater diligence in holding grantees accountable to their grant stipulations. As it is, arts organizations are already strapped to provide services for their members, constituents, audiences and stakeholders; to do development and fundraising; to do marketing and promotions; to coordinate events; and to just manage day-to-day operations.

Support the Arts at ArtCamp Houston February 28!

Ok folks, there are six days left to ArtCamp Houston – have you registered yet? Click here to register – it’s free!

ArtCamp Houston is a community-based event this Saturday, February 28, at Caroline Collective (4820 Caroline, Houston 77004) to bring arts supporters together to discuss the state of the arts in Houston, share best practices, and develop strategies on how we can *collectively* support and contribute to our arts community.

Through an open forum and peer-to-peer education sessions, we hope to:

  • Inform participants about resources available to them online and offline
  • Share best practices among organizations, including audience development, fundraising, board/volunteer recruitment, and online outreach
  • Share best practices among artists, such as developing their careers, promoting themselves and their work, obtaining gallery representation, and building an online presence

All community members are invited and welcome to participate as a volunteer or speaker, including artists, arts organizations, administrators, curators, collectors, creatives, patrons, related organizations, granting bodies, gallery representatives, and art enthusiasts. We’re all in this together – let’s work towards progress together!

For more information, please contact Matthew Wettergreen at mwettergreen@gmail.com or Grace Rodriguez at grace@aynbrand.com.

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