I've started a new blog...stop by and give it a read if you wish.
[link]
Thanks,
J.

[link]
Night of the Living Artist

A group show put on by Kerry Flaherty, resident artist of The Chicago
art Department. chicagoartdepartment.org

Friday, October 10, 2008 through October 31, 2008.
Opening reception Oct. 10, 7-10pm, closing reception will also be a
Halloween party on Oct. 31, 7 -10pm.
Night of the Living Artist will be including our resident DJ, DJ
Tapedek.

The Chicago Art Department
1837 S. Halsted
Chicago, IL 60608

Our artist will be using whatever media they prefer. Picking an
artist, musician, or author (living or dead ) that was an influence in
some way, just to Zombify them. Some of those picks include Preston
Blair, Franz Kafka, Oasis, and even Jim Henson. The Chicago Art
Department (CAD) cultivates new and emerging Chicago artists. Through
education, exhibition, artist residencies, and community building,
dedicated to supporting new voices, and ideas. My hope is this
common theme will show how a range of different artist can come
together in one show. And also give a chance to those new artist, who
may have never been in an exhibit says Kerry Flaherty. Night of
the Living Artist, will have Fine art, Illustrations, and even Plush
Sculptors presented in a fun atmosphere.

Gallery info:
CAD is in Pilsen
1837 S. Halsted St. between 18th and 19th Sts.
Bus: 8 Halsted. Fri-Sun noon-5pm.

For more information about the exhibit or for gallery
hours, contact The Chicago Art Department at
312.226.8601. Or go to [link]

Don't let this pass!!! Apathy=Lost rights
Please take the time to listen to the interview...if it doesn't scare you into action I don't know what will.
Thanks,
Creepy

This is about the Orphan Work Act that is currently making its way through U.S. Congress. Artists must speak up against this Act and it is important for others to be informed about it. This potentially involves the rights to your creations (past, present and future).

Michelle Barbera took the time to write this and her words are much better than mine to describe the situation. Please see below.

From: Michelle Barbera
Date: Wed, Jul 2, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Subject: Please help oppose the Orphan Work Act - stop artists from losing their rights to their own work

Hi everyone,
I'm writing to you because you're a visual artist and/or involved in the arts. If the Orphan Works Act passes in congress, we will lose our copyright protection for our creative works. This bill will potentially affect not only visual artists, but writers and filmmakers as well.

How would this happen?

The Orphan Works Act defines an "orphan work" as any copyrighted work whose author any infringer says he is unable to locate with what the *infringer himself* decides has been a "reasonably diligent search."

What's the impact on creative people?

1.) You and your fellow artists will have no automatic protection for you creative works. Right now you do, even if it's not copyrighted.
2.) You and your fellow artists will be forced to register the artwork with private, COMMERCIAL registries, which will charge a fee per piece.
3.) There will be multiple registries, so you may need to register with more than one and the infringer may not even see the registries you've registered with and take your artwork anyway. For free.
4.) The infringer doesn't need to absolutely find you to get permission to use your artwork, but YOU absolutely need to find the infringer and then it's an expensive, uphill battle to be compensated.
5.) These four points are JUST the beginning.

A great (and scary) interview about the bill:

Here's an MP3 interview of a very well regarded illustrator, Brad Holland, talking about the huge impact of the bill. I HIGHLY recommend listening to it. It's pretty unbelievable and very interesting.
[link]
I hope you'll join me in speaking out to congress against the bill. It's quick and easy to do. Net neutrality is still intact thanks to public outcry. Please don't let something similarly awful happen to artists.
Click on this URL to take action now
[link] />If your email program does not recognize the URL as a link, copy the entire URL and paste it into your Web browser.

Please get the word out to as many people as you can!

Thanks in advance,
-Michelle

p.s. I wrote this email myself, it's not a form letter.

Thanks to all of you that have purchased things from me in my ebay store in the past. I regret to inform you that I will no longer be selling on ebay due to their unfair business practices. Shortly I will be putting up a fully functional store on my own website where I won't have to pay outrageous fees.
Thanks again!
Creepy

[link]

I don't mind having someone remove my art from a category here on DA. What does piss me off is the fact that it just gets removed with no explanation! I have a piece that has been moved to scraps 3 times now. What the fuck? If you want to move it again, fine. Just give me SOME sort of fucking clue as to where you want it! If you don't I'm just gonna keep putting it in where I want it. Besides, I don't think it should be up to some random a-hole where my art belongs. I can classify it myself thanks very much!