May 10, 2008 
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My Top 3 |
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Getting all different types of people from throughout the community to the Palm Springs Art Museum was the goal of this year’s “art party.” And, although we didn’t attend many of the festivities, we wanted to return to see the Altered Books, exhibit that was benefiting both the museum and the Palm Springs Public Library.
We had seen half of the works that had been made from discarded books at the library at the exhibits official opening last month, but didn’t see the rest that were at the museum until today. We still loved Michele Jamison’s “26,000 Words” origami piece made from the 1973 CaledcottMedal winner, “The Funny Little Woman as retold by Arlene Mose” that featured illustrations by Blair Lent; as well as several of the works of Robert Charles Dunahay, especially his World Book Encyclopedia “Knowledge is Power” and Burnt Book.
Another artist whose work was not at the library that we admired was that of Gideon Cohn who has a studio here in the Backstreet Art District. He had done a triptych that represented several elements of his own journey that he then incorporated into the art works of “Air - My Consciousness Emanates to the Far Reaches,” “Fire - My Body Feels the Fire Within,” and “Earth - My Feet are Grounded in Our Sacred Land.” The first piece really spoke to me with its Hebrew symbolism and parts that took the word “withdrawn” (the books had been ‘weeded’ from the library’s collection) and the book, Maps of Consciousness by Ralph Meltzer, to portray the ability of the mind to turn things on and off.
Of course Steve and I got caught up in the “Silent Auction” and bid on both Jamison’s “26,000 Words” and Gideon’s “Air - My Consciousness Emanates to the Far Reaches,” and as it turned out won both. At the end, Gideon then explained how his three pieces were meant to be one, and he asked if we wouldn’t purchase the remaining two at a reduced rate. And, even though I couldn’t imagine where we would hang them all, we decided that for charity we would.
It was an art party alright and now we are the proud owners of two Palm Springs artists to add to our
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