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“Fully Awake” a Documentary Film on Black Mountain College
Fully Awake. a documentary film which explores the history of Black Mountain College, will be shown on Tuesday, September 16th, at 7:30 PM in the auditorium (third floor) of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. This showing will be the monthly program for Alamance Artisans Guild and the public is invited. This film has further local connections as it was directed by Neely House and Cathryn Davis Zommer and was produced, at least partially at Elon. Cathryn is the sister of Courtney Davis Shoemaker, Elon’s current Espicopal Chaplain. The film won a Special Jury Award at the Rome International Film Festival 2007 and was selected for Berkshire International Film Festival. Please join us to see this incredible film.“Hidden in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Black Mountain College (1933 – 1957) was an influential experiment in education that inspired and shaped twentieth century American art. FULLY AWAKE: BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE is a documentary film that explores the college’s progressive pedagogy and radical approach to arts education. FULLY AWAKE explores how the confluence of this diverse community came together to create a unique educational model. Through narration, archive photography, and interviews with students, teachers, historians, and current artists, FULLY AWAKE investigates the development of this very special place; the site of Buckminster Fuller’s first geodesic dome, John Cage’s first ‘happening’, and the Black Mountain Review, and how its collaborative curriculum inspired innovations that would change the very definition of “art.” Fullyawake.org“WHY REMEMBER BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE?
• Teachers and students included:John Rice,
Founder & Classics Scholar
Josef Albers, Painter
Charles Olson, Writer
John Cage, Composer
Buckminster Fuller, Architect
Merce Cunningham,
Dancer & Choreographer
Robert Creeley, Poet
Jacob Lawrence, Painter
Willem de Kooning, Painter
Franz Kline, Painter
Robert Rauschenberg, Painter
M.C. Richards, Potter & Poet
• Black Mountain College was the first American experimental college boasting complete democratic self-rule, extensive work in the creative arts, and interdisciplinary academic study
• First geodesic dome built by Buckminster Fuller in 1948
• First multimedia happening occurred at Black Mountain College in 1952, staged by John Cage
• The Black Mountain Review, from 1954-1957, published influential authors including Beat Writer Allen Ginsberg
From http://www.ibiblio.org/
Fully Awake – PREVIEW
Tucked in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Black Mountain College (1933-1957) was an influential experiment in education that inspired and shaped 20th century modern art. Through narration, archive photography and interviews with students, teachers and historians, Fully Awake explores the development of this very special place – and how its collaborative curriculum inspired innovations that changed the very definition of “art”.
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bill levi and mc richards at Black Mountain College
Britt Robertson & Scott Eastwood Interview – The Longest Ride
Britt Robertson & Scott Eastwood Interview for The Longest Ride. Watch more The Longest Ride interviews, trailers, movie clips & behind-the-scenes videos ► http://bit.ly/TheLongestRideVideos Subscribe for the hottest movie & TV clips, trailers & promos! ► http://bit.ly/FlicksExtrasSubscribe
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THE LONGEST RIDE centres on the star-crossed love affair between Luke, a former champion bull rider looking to make a comeback, and Sophia, a college student who is about to embark upon her dream job in New York City’s art world. As conflicting paths and ideals test their relationship, Sophia and Luke make an unexpected and life altering connection with Ira, whose memories of his own decades-long romance with his beloved wife deeply inspire the young couple. Spanning generations and two intertwining love stories, THE LONGEST RIDE explores the challenges and infinite rewards of enduring love.
The film stars Britt Robertson (Tomorrowland) and Scott Eastwood (Fury) in the lead roles as Luke and Sophia. Robertson and Eastwood are joined by Jack Huston (American Hustle), Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones) and Alan Alda (The Aviator). Directed by George Tillman Jr. (Men of Honour), produced by Marty Bowen (Fault in Our Stars), Wyck Godfrey (Twilight series), Theresa Park (Best of Me), Nicholas Sparks (Safe Haven). The screenplay is written by Craig Bolotin (Light It Up).
LONDON, UK – Twentieth Century Fox will release the film adaptation of the bestselling novel, THE LONGEST RIDE written by master storyteller Nicholas Sparks (Dear John, The Notebook) on Monday 25th May
From Black Mountain College with love
Author photo by Nina Subin
“When you finish a novel, your creative muscles are very much in shape, so I don’t like to waste that period and just do nothing,” says North Carolina-based romance author Nicholas Sparks. He tells Xpress that within two weeks of completing one project he begins looking for an idea for his next book. “I like to maintain that creative fitness, so to speak.”
If writing really equaled working out, Sparks would be an elite athlete: His just-released novel,The Longest Ride, is his 17th work of fiction. But even this far into a career that’s spawned multiple seven-figure publishing deals and eight (to date) movies made from his books (The Notebook, Dear John and, most recently, Safe Haven among them), he says that he’s still surprised by how tough the writing process is. “The challenge of doing it new and original and well remains as difficult as it was on the very first novel,” he says. (That first attempt, by the way, was never published.)
“M.C. Richards: The Paradox of Being
a Woman in Cage’s Circle” (Olin)
Presenter
Jenni Sorkin
Abstract
Through original archival research, this presentation posits that the American poet, potter, and translator M.C. Richards (1916-1999) was one of the primary, if as yet unacknowledged, intellectual forces of the burgeoning 1950s queer aesthetic. It explores her unique legacy as the sole woman within her intellectual milieu, first at Black Mountain College in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and then at the Gate Hill Cooperative, a radical community formed in Stony Point, New York, that she co-founded in 1954, along with other Black Mountain exiles, including Cage, David Tudor, Paul and Vera Williams, Karen Karnes, and David Weinrib.
M.C.Richards: The Fire Within http://www.mcrichardsfilms.com
“M.C. Richards: The Fire Within” is an adventure into discovering the source of our creativity told through the life of Mary Caroline Richards (1916-1999). Author of the underground classic Centering: In Pottery, Poetry and the Person, M.C. was a pivotal figure at the famously experimental Black Mountain College serving as head of faculty (1949-51) with those soon to be avant garde luminaries in the New York art scene — Robert Rauschenberg, Elaine and Willem deKooning, Jacob Lawrence, Arthur Penn, Robert Motherwell, Merce Cunningham and John Cage among others. Reviews: “What a life force!” Eric Utne; “Unexpectedly moving” Anne Fabbri, art critic; “Unforgettable … in its simplicity and complexity” Michael Rumaker, author; “Inspiring film”, Arthur Penn
M.C. Richards’ Most Famous Workshop
Creativity: Clay, Color and Word — an M.C. Richards’ Workshop.” A virtually uncut documentation of a workshop by one of the world’s greatest philosopher’s of creativity.
“(an) articulately perceptive film” Robert Creeley, poet
“.. it’s all about … flesh.” Matthew Fox, theologian/author Original Blessing
“… the Mother Teresa of the art world.” Marjory Bankson, Theologian/author
” unforgettable … in its simplicity and complexity.” Michael Rumaker, author, Black Mountain Days “… a challenge to the very assumptions about how we ‘author’ our lives” Mary Emma Harris, author, The Art of Black Mountain College
“Unexpectedly moving” Anne Fabbri, art critic/curator
” What a life force! What a catalyst!” Eric Utne, founder Utne Reader
M. C. Richards
Mary Caroline Richards (July 13, 1916, Weiser, Idaho – September 10, 1999, Kimberton, Pennsylvania) was an American poet, potter and writer, best known for her book Centering in Pottery, Poetry and the Person.[1] Educated at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon, and at the University of California at Berkeley, she taught English at the Central Washington College of Education and the University of Chicago, but in 1945 became a faculty member of the notoriously experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina.
Later in life she taught art at the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality (ICCS) at Holy Names College (now Holy Names University). ICCS was founded by former Roman Catholic and current Episcopal priest Matthew Fox (priest).
She was married in 1943 to Vernon Young (marriage dissolved), and secondly in 1945 to Bill Levi (marriage dissolved).
The correspondence between Mary Richards and James Herlihy is preserved at the University of Delaware Library.
She spent the last 15 years of her life living and working as a volunteer at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, where she worked with residents with developmental disabilities and took up painting, and where the film “M.C. Richards: The Fire Within” was made. “Her art-of-many-genres wove together all her concerns, including community, agriculture, craft itself, and spiritual ideas. Always a poet, she regarded the end of her life – as physically limiting as it was – as another fulfilling adventure, “living toward dying, blooming into invisibility.” – Margaret Wakeley
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It has been my practice on this blog to cover some of the top artists of the past and today and that is why I am doing this current series on Black Mountain College (1933-1955). Here are some links to some to some of the past posts I have done on other artists: Marina Abramovic, Ida Applebroog, Matthew Barney, Allora & Calzadilla, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Olafur Eliasson, Tracey Emin, Jan Fabre, Makoto Fujimura, Hamish Fulton, Ellen Gallaugher, Ryan Gander, John Giorno, Cai Guo-Qiang, Arturo Herrera, Oliver Herring, David Hockney, David Hooker, Roni Horn, Peter Howson, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Martin Karplus, Margaret Keane, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons, Sally Mann, Kerry James Marshall, Trey McCarley, Paul McCarthy, Josiah McElheny, Barry McGee, Tony Oursler, William Pope L., Gerhard Richter, James Rosenquist, Susan Rothenberg, Georges Rouault, Richard Serra, Shahzia Sikander, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Richard Tuttle, Luc Tuymans, Banks Violett, Fred Wilson, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Andrea Zittel,
My first post in this series was on the composer John Cage and my second post was on Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg who were good friend of Cage. The third post in this series was on Jorge Fick. Earlier we noted that Fick was a student at Black Mountain College and an artist that lived in New York and he lent a suit to the famous poet Dylan Thomas and Thomas died in that suit.
The fourth post in this series is on the artist Xanti Schawinsky and he had a great influence on John Cage who later taught at Black Mountain College. Schawinsky taught at Black Mountain College from 1936-1938 and Cage right after World War II. In the fifth post I discuss David Weinrib and his wife Karen Karnes who were good friends with John Cage and they all lived in the same community. In the 6th post I focus on Vera B. William and she attended Black Mountain College where she met her first husband Paul and they later co-founded the Gate Hill Cooperative Community and Vera served as a teacher for the community from 1953-70. John Cage and several others from Black Mountain College also lived in the Community with them during the 1950’s. In the 7th post I look at the life and work of M.C.Richards who also was part of the Gate Hill Cooperative Community and Black Mountain College.
THE ENDLESS MOUNTAINS SPIRIT: M.C. Richards & Paulus Berensohn
Suraci Gallery
Mar 21, 2015 – May 08, 2015
A synergetic nexus of the arts occurred in Susquehanna County when clay artists and teachers Mary Caroline Richards and Paulus Berensohn lived and worked in Northeast Pennsylvania. During that time an influx of artists, dancers, writers, and actors visited and worked at the Endless Mountains Farm, a cooperative and a place of creative energy. Iconic books are associated with the Farm –– Towards Wholenessand The Crossing Point: Selected Talks and Writings by M.C. Richards and Paulus Berensohn’sFinding One’s Way With Clay. The exhibition documents that place and time in our region, many of the people involved with examples of their work in clay, and a lasting legacy of creativity.
The exhibition is a collaborative project between Marywood ceramics faculty, Matt Povse and Skip Sensbach, and Sandra Ward Povse, director of Marywood Art Galleries, along with Laurie Graham and Larry Wilson, current owners of The Endless Mountains Farm. Throughout Matt Povse’s tenure in the Department of Art at Marywood University, he would hear snippets about Paulus Berensohn, M.C. Richards, various artists, friends, and the Endless Mountains Farm: “Over the years living in Northeast Pennsylvania and being a part of the art community, I’ve learned of a rich history of creative energy right here in our backyard.” Together the group decided to document that period of time, and according to Matt Povse, “…with what seems to be a lingering energy from The Endless Mountains Spirit, we have been able to sew together a brief history and document the creative and communal haven just down the road from here.”
In 1965 Paulus Berensohn found property in the Endless Mountains region of Pennsylvania and bought 100 acres with an old farmhouse and a barn to live and work as a potter. In 1968, Richards moved to the Farm after she was mugged and robbed near her home in NYC. The exhibition focuses on the life–long dance between Berensohn and Richards, and the land. Through the combined synergy of these two artists, the Endless Mountains Farm became a melting pot of both the creative and human spirit, bringing together individuals from various backgrounds to create a special place and time in ceramics history.
During the time that Richards and Berensohn owned the Farm it became a creative haven for many friends and colleagues. Artists would spend time at the Farm’s studio to create their own work. Some would stay for short amounts of time while others stayed longer and used the Farm as their studio space. The environment instilled in the Farm by the relationship of Berensohn and Richards made it possible for others to share in the creative spirit. Although Berensohn left the Farm in 1972, his association with the Farm did not end there. Berensohn, who now lives and works in Penland, NC, still returns and stays at the Farm. Richards continued visiting her friends Graham and Wilson up until her death in 1999.
Following Berensohn’s departure, the Farm was set up as a cooperative ownership between Richards and three regular visitors: June Ekman, Burt Supree, and Remy Charlip, who had all met Berensohn through the New York dance scene. Ekman came to New York to dance with the Martha Graham School of Dance. Supree was a dancer, writer and the Dance Editor for the “Village Voice” in New York City. Charlip was a dancer, choreographer, and founding member of Merce Cunningham Dance Company. This cooperative arrangement made it possible for everyone to visit throughout the years and maintain their connection to the property. As people left the Farm, the shares changed hands to fewer principals and eventually was sold to longtime caretakers and stewards, Larry Wilson and Laurie Graham, who had lived and worked at the Farm throughout.
The exhibition is accompanied by a small catalog, The Endless Mountains Spirit, written by Sensbach with photography by Marguerite I. Fuller. The catalog text is based on interviews, historical accounts and archives, and ceramic objects made by Berensohn, Richards, and many of the artists who lived and passed through the Farm in the late 1960s–early 1980s. In 1968 the Farm hosted a ceramics workshop that included many of today’s prominent ceramists including Anne Stannard and Karen Karnes. The catalog concludes with Jordan Taylor’s residency from 2002–2010 at the Endless Mountains Farm, the last ceramic artist to work at the Farm. The work that Taylor created there connected him to the legacy of ceramic work that the Farm has born witness to for nearly 50 years.
Reception: April 18, 6–8 PM
Gallery Talk: April 22, 3 PM
Film Screening: April 29, 5:30 PM – TO SPRING FROM THE HAND: The life and work of Paulus Berensohn by Neil Lawrence, Swartz Center, McGowan Community Room
Please Note: Exhibition hours for May 4–8: 9am – 4pm
Paulus Berensohn at the Endless Mountains Farm, May 2014Image: Marguerite I. Fuller
M.C. Richards, courtesy of the Estate of M.C. Richards
Child’s Play from Finding One’s Way with Clay, both by Paulus Berensohn
M.C. Richards, Brown Flameware Casserole, Signed: Nov 3, ‘79
M.C. Richards, Thunder Dance, ca. 1971 (pictured in The Crossing Point, p. 38)
Installation detail.
Installation detail.
Installation detail.
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Related posts:
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