Join “At The Edge” & HK: ArtiST Festival!

Media Exposure & Press Features:

About us & what’s in it for you: With the semi-annual ‘13 Collector’s Edi-tion of “At The Edge” Arts & Culture Magazine, we continue a remarkable promotional opportunity, appealing to lovers of art, artists & great writing. We proudly announce a new partnership with renowned industry leader Disticor, the 5th largest U.S. + #1 Canadian distributor! Now we are sold at 100’s of North American newsstands & bookstores including Barnes & Noble; also through wholesalers such as Hudson News: even marketed through innova-tive branded digital app. technologies including on Apple/Ipad & Android! A breathtakingly designed original style, & hyper-focused, multifaceted ad platform. Our large HK: ArtiST festival also promotes Sponsors in numerous ways! Find much effective targeted distribution per capita, specially focused on Manhattan. We hand delivered & mailed internationally 1000’s of our pre-miere issue, also available at many NYC commercial & cultural venues-shared by many more artists, consumers & tasteful art aficionados. Our literary con-tent continues the well wrought stories about the local NYC arts & cultural scene...& beyond! The emphasis remains upon personal perspectives, honesty & drama, featuring the tales & triumphs of cutting edge artists & institu-tions, including: fiction, poetry, profiles, photography, interviews, reviews, & more. Our images are beautiful: Striking, Detailed, Surreal &/or Visionary.

“At the Edge” will have abundant yet demographically targeted distribution, sold at dozens of fine & independent bookstores, + placed at

www.ArtistsInTheKitchen.org

Founder / CEO / Publisher / Creative Dir.Michael Marcus Felber

Editor in Chief / Lead Designer Mike theFelbs Felber

Editors:Michael Marcus Felber Wamara MwineVivian Riffelmacher Matt Abuelo Stephen Gambello Marz GiarrizzoFred Quintiliani Mike Boyd

Sponsor/Media Kits composed by “3 Mikes”: theFelbs, Mike Felber & Mike Wolf

Page Designers:Ben SamraAlida VerduzcoLisa HoffmanClaudia NagyMark KielinskiDouglas Manson Guillermo P. Lorente Perez

At The Edge Magazine Credits ‘13:

HK ‘12 Open Studios Festival Credits:HK: Artist Core TeamMichael Marcus Felber- Founder/CEO/Publisher , Ofer Caspio- PR Director,Johnny Cathcart- Director of Film/Video, Tricia Stukes- Director of Social Media, Lauren Patterson- Director of Special Events, Carlos Couto- Operations Manager, Sean Devney - Street Teams, Ben Samra - Webmaster, Lawrence Adler Grosberg - Biz Guru/Advisor, Mike Boyd- Traffic Manager, Mike Meyers - Transportation, Phil Harris, “Valdes family”, Karen Chen, Stephen Gambello, Dorothy Krakauer, Mike Millis, Katherine Morena, Heidi Russell, Nadine Charlson, Yasmar Cruz.

Graphic Designers:Mike theFelbs Felber - Director of Graphic Design, Salma Jane - Lead Designer, Mike Boyd, Mike O’Reily, Shannon Lamb, Maggie Ruder, Allan Vaca, Diana Williams, Ben Enzfelder

"2013 Sophomore/Collector's Edition! A Spin-off Arts & Cultural Publication from our free Hell's Kitchen NYC Open Studios weekend Festivals, Founded 2009:

At The EdgeAn Independent Art Publication

Devoted to Emerging Artists Worldwide.A Division of

THE EDGE SOCIETY

The Hell’s Kitchen Artist Festival was advertised, writen about and mentioned in many places prior to the festival in order to get the word out the best we can. Here is a few link highlights as well as a list of the several other places the word was spread through. For full list of links please see: www.artistsinthekitchen.org/media-placements

Multiple NYTimes features Inc. in Arts & Leisure ‘09-’12!International Women Artist Salon Blogwomenartsalon.blogspot.com/2012/05/iwas-to-part-ner-third-time-with-hells.html

NYTimes.comwww.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/arts/06spare.html?_r=0

Broadwayworld.comwww.broadwayworld.com/article/The-1st-Annual-Hells-Kitchen-Artist-Studio-Tour-To-Be-Held-1168-20091014

Times Square Chronicleswww.t2conline.com/hells-kitchen-arts-festival-may-18th-20th-2012

Thirteen.orgwww.Thirteen.org/metrofocus/tag/nyc-arts

Heedmag.comwww.heedmag.com/Online/2012/06/21/hot-in-the-kitchen-the-hells-kitchen-artist-festival-showcases-the-work-of-nyc-artists

Artslant.comwww.artslant.com/ny/venues/show/33575-hells-kitch-en-artists-festival-2012

globalnewsmen.comglobalnewsmen.com/events/162-4th-annual-hell-s-kitchen-art-festival

Also 100’s of U.S. multi-media News Wire reports: TV/Radio/Press coverage. Reaching 60 million daily visitors.

Select List of Media Feature Stories & Listings:American Art, AOL Finance (752k visitors), Time Out NY, Daily News, Promotions on numerous national TV affiliates of NBC, CBS & ABC, + Joe Franklin “Biz. of Show Biz.”, Bloomberg Radio., Nyc-arts.org, Washington & Wichita Biz. Journals, 200k daily visitors NonsenseNYC.com, Artcards.com, Manhattanstyle.com, Theskint.com, Geminiandscorpio.com, Luso-Americano newspaper: article (print), Citylimits.org, www.nyc.com, Nyfreeguide.com, Events.nydailynews.com, Artcalendr.com, Entitiz.com, Eventsnearhere.com, Eventorb.com, Eventful.com, Zvents.com, myeventguru.com, breitbart.com, Forbes.com, Wktvu.com, Nycarts.com

The annual HK: ArtiST Festival (est. 09) & "At The Edge" Magazine, (est. '11) are productions of Hell's Kitchen Artists Guild & Hell's Kitchen Artists Association (HKAG/HKAA). Both Sole Proprietorships of Festival Founder/CEO & Publisher Michael Marcus Felber. The latter formerly Fiscally Sponsored under the national non-profit artist service organization Fractured Atlas since 2009, bequeathing 501(3)c federal tax exempt status for select charitable organizations. Web site: www.ArtistsintheKitchen.org.

For Premiere & expanded online editions of “At The Edge”, its Sponsor/Media Kits, Press Features, stories & listings, 4 Social Media (Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter & Flickr), Press Releases, Business Plan, many versions of HK: ArtiST Festival Maps, Postcards Invitations, Ads, Videos/youtube channel, official forms & more, see: www.artistsinthekitchen.org/Promos.htm.

~ Synopsis of At The Edge Media Kits & ‘12 Fest Press Release ~

An All Free NYC Weekend Art & Cultural Extravaganza: Hell's Kitchen's Artists in Studio Tours (HK: ArtiST) Festival & exhibition at 130 + venues! Visit Homes, Open Studios, Theaters, Galleries, Gardens, Taverns, local businesses: with 30 hours of parties over 3 evenings! Featuring all genres & of shows- rollicking revelry, music, art, drama & dance drama, performance art, readings, even donated local cuisine & drink. A startlingly Epic Opening Party: 10 hours, 3 floors 10 spaces; a 10 ring circus including 4 full Theaters!

A Legendary Historic District’s new Tradition! A grass-roots social movement, a permeating underground murmur erupting: the independent & FREE HK: ArtiST festival is established as one of NYC’s prominent art & social events!! 5th annual festival 5/17-19: For 3 entrancing spring daaaze 1000’s of artists, performers and revelers open their studios, biz., clubs & streets; supported by gutsy local venues + a few visionary and generous finance & realty staples the vision has expanded & thrived. A mapped & self-guided tour-artists emerging or honored careers. 3 nights & 2 days of a culturally insatiable, Dionysian Art Bacchanalia of all visual forms & mediums; fine art, sculpture, theater, music, fashion, multimedia, film, photography, dance, comedy, body painting, public spectacle galore. 5 Parties over 30 hours, featuring continual entertainment of all genres! Raw & refined local vibrant talent (and in some cases epicurean local cuisine donated) at venues from classy lounges to murky speakeasies to intimate art salons, patrons and visitors rockin’ at soirees/shows of music, art, drama & dance. Batteries of blazing artists, from raging social commentators to crisp ex/impressionists to sly, depraved surrealists!

-Con’t. p.5

Front & inside back cover design (excluding other artists’ images used in windows) Created by Joseph Wippler for the Motion Picture “Don Peyote”, a film by Don Fogler - Back Cover design by Artem Mirolevich, with Dragon by Bahman Akhavan. - All unlabled backgrounds in mag courtesy of theFelbs.

-HK Open Studios Festival p. 214-218 + Map 159-162. Enchanting Cultural Creative Cornucopia Weekends: Midtown West Murals p.18-21. Plein Air Par Excellence!

-A Profoundly Human Urge: Biagio’s Tattoo Gallery p. 28-29

-Dripping Designs Unique Apparel by theFelbs p. 32-33, 182.

-Travel Revelry/Revelations: Mystical India-NYC. Stephen Morrow p. 40-47.

-Our Nirvana New Age Story/Store: Cover Artist Wizards Joe Wippler p. 60-61, 141, James Groeling p.172-173.

-Hell’s Kitchen Living! Artists, Performers, Authors... John Amadeo 70-71, Nadine Charleson 88, Phil Harris 98-100, Judy Negron 151, Janet Restino 22, Dave Scalza 19-20.

-Surrealist Masters & Romantic Magic-A Love Story. Scott Goodwillie p.102-104, Artem Mirolevich 11,13 A. Kirov 194-196.

-Scintillating Gotham City History w/Transcendent Artistry: Sir Alex & Gloris Schloss p.107,109.

-Rubin Museum:, NYC: Himalayan Art, Buddhist/Tantric Wisdom- Seven Floors of Ancient Scolls, Mendalas & Sculptures p. 110-111.

-Paradise + Innocence Lost & Found: Sex, Psychedelia & Rock ‘n Roll. Joseph Maurico p. 112-116.

-Hot Pants: A Memoir Triumphant. Johnny Cathcart p.146-148.

-From Mystery & History/Myth through the Sensual Sublime: International Women Artists’ Salon p.156-159.

-“The News Factory”: Notes from a Dying City: NYC Poems, Paeans & Pain Matt Abuelo p.169.

-Gone Beyond MFA: Painting’s Classic Tavern Virtuosos. Stephen Gardner p.176-177 & Benjamin Enzfelder p. 14.

-Quiet Storm Photography Oscar Rivera p. 131, 178.

-Inner Visionary Spirit-Muse, or Only Commercial Soul:Art’s Integrity Sacrificed? Aladddin Ullah p. 179-181.

-“Glad to be a Road Warrior”: My Knights & Days/Daaaze with Gladys Knight. Mark Rhatigan p. 184-185.

-Art for Healing Gallery NYC- Loren Ellis & Co. p. 188-197.

-Philosopher-King of Zen Projections, Sound & Feeling: The S. Brian Adam Interview. Mike Marcus Felber p. 198-213.

May 17-19 is our 5th Annual all free weekend celebra-tion! Would you like to volunteer, exhibit art, perform, &/or work on or submit to this magazine? Venues provided, including group & solo shows. 30 hours/ 3 evenings of soi-rees to entertain & network at! Write ArtistsintheKitchen.org/Volunteers, scroll down for roles to intern & gain skills, friends & connections. Rewards range from gratis registra-tions & issues to prime space; free large ads designed for Directors, + much other credit/promotion. Positions open in PR, Parties/Special events, Social Media, Graphic De-sign, Artist Liaisons, Street Team, Marketing, Film/Video, Web...Also assist with Sales, Editing, &/or layout here! Top commissions paid for procuring patrons, ads, & expanding in store + online platforms! Shape 2 great Midtown NYC cultural institutions. ALL types of referrals, art, enter-tainment, writing & support, Professional through reliable yet eccentric, are welcome! As are calls to me; Odd Leader Mike Marcus Felber- 212-582-2990 or Sirrealizest@gmail.com!

Features & Cover Stories:

- Masthead -

Disticor, Roy Arias Studios, Trump Hospitality Holdings, Alcone, Bar Nine, Clinton House, Cinema Verite, Dripping Designs, Producer’s Club, Fountian Gallery, Tobacco Road, Merilu Pizza, Nirvana NYC, One Sandwih At A Time, Quiet Storm Photography, WSNA, International Women Artists’ Salon, The Set Shop, L’allegria, The Delta Cafe, Playwright Celtic Pub, Adriatic Wines, Kashkaval, Quiet Storm Photography/Oscar Rivera, The Gin Mill

Sponsors - “At The Edge” + HK ArtiST ‘12 Festival:

Good Patrons Go to Hell! Become a Patron of “At The Edge” + Hell’s Kitchen Art Fest– & Enter Business Heaven.

See news / updates / comments on our Like page: Facebook.com/AtTheEdgeMagazine.

Press/Patrons/Advertsers, + Work on Magazine &/or HK: ArtiST Festival-Submissions/Exhibit/Perform.

Magazine launch parties held at Empire State Bldg. bar 3/1 & The Gin Mill, Kearny NJ 3/2. Details: ArtistsintheKitchen.org. - Special Thanks- Publisher: Shweiki Media ‘11-’13! -

~~

2 3

Index of Artists

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Celeste Duboise 82Charlie Hubbard 17Chris Kinch 23, 34Chris Kull 18, 20Chris Riggs 26Chris Wallin 117Christian Tai Leach 68Cynthia Reed 68David Gerbstadt 69David Scalza 19, 20David Tobey 69Deanna Masselli 51Dee Solin 50Demi Davis 128, 129Diana Becerra 125Diana Williams 52Dominique Perez 59Dorothy Krakauer 126Dr. Swapan Basu 129 142-143Dripping Designs 182Eileen M. Begley 157Ekaterina Aksenova 133Elain Shamache Ebrahimzadeh 193Emily McHugh 36, 37Eric Booth 131Erica Schreiner 16Erin Dinan 82Father Frank Sabatte 54-55Fernando Silva 138-139Fran McGee 124, 125, 127Fred Quintiliani 130Georgi Kandelaki 48Georjana Macri 52Giorgio Casu 49Grace Musser 186Grigorios Athonasis Kritkos 24-25Guillermo Lorente 118-119Heidi Russell 51,158Hell’s Kitchen Murals 18-21Holly Overton 48Ingvild Waerhaug 167Int’l Women Artists’ Salon 156-159Jack Cesarco 23Jacy Topps 23James Groeling 173-174James Humphry 174-175Jamie Martinez 53Janet Restino 22Jason Covert 53Jason Fairchild 56Jason Jackson 48Jason Rafferty 49Jeffery C. Wright 27Jeffrey Blaine 58Jeho Bitancor 190Jene Youtt 186Jennie Yip 38Jessica Cooke 26, 27Jill Austen 35Jill Slaymaker 57Jiri Mesicki 152Jo Jo Austria 192Joaquin Goldstein 61Joe Mauricio 112-116Joelle Circ 159John Amadeo 70-71Johnny Cathcart 146-148, 169Jon Epstein 183Joseph Wippler 60-61Judy Negron 151KC Tidemand 187Keiko Tokushima 35Kenneth Burris 101Klone Killa 19, 57Kwane & the Uptown Shakedown 171Laura H. Cannistraci 116Lawrence Rosenberg 155Lillian Gottlieb 152Linda Lerner 35Lisa Zilker 151

Loren Ellis 188-189Lori Pirone 163Lorraine LaPrade 38-39Louis Mangiapia Jr. 197Lourdes Ramirez 30Maira 163Marcia Haufrecht 72Marco Riha 73Maria Petroskaya 168Mark Lee Blackshear 73Mark Rhatigan 184-185Mary Clark 117Matthew Abuelo 169Michael Marcus Felber 84-85Michael Swiskay 168-169Mike Boyd 34Milena Oda 123Monica Riera 89Nadine Charlsen 88Nancy Pacheco 122Narell Thomas 117Nico Boccio 31One Love 153Oscar Rivera 178Paul J. Botelho 120-121Peach Jin Tao 175Peter Valentyne 66-67Philip Harris 98-100Philip Tsai 89Phillip Giambri 98-99Pranada 62Rafael Martinez 67Raquel Fica 62Rick Krieger 63Rob Thompson 64RoByn Thompson 150Roger Duvernoy 65Rubin Gonzalez 23Russell Chartier 120S. Brian Adam 198-213Sabina Pieslak 157Salma Jane 218Salma Shamy Chiu 121Scott Goodwillie 102-104Scott Wilson 91, 92Sean Devney 91Shalini 90Sir. Alex & Gloria Schloss 107, 109Sofia Bachvarova 106Sprezanna 21Stan Fine 92-93Stefano Losi 86, 96, 97, 105Stephen Gardner 165,176-177Stephen Morrow 40-47Tahiti Steve 5Tammy Winward 166Tatiana Korinfsky 35,36Ted Walner 76The Amazing Amy 217The Rubin Museum 110-111The Slut Junkies 149theFelbs 30, 32-33, 153Tiffany Zern 36Tom Blatt 78Toni Silber-Delerive 94, 105Valentine Aprile 100Victoria Kovalenchikova 95,96, 105Vid Son Doz 105Virginia Ross 149Vivian Riffelmacher 154Wen-chi Chen 87Whitney Anderson 97Will Chiapella 166Yasmar Cruz 86Yu Zhang 97Yuka Hasagawa 50Zaynap Zub 52

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Legend At The Edge --- Ye Olde Key Cover Story Cover Artist(Gold) (Silver)

Aaron Corbit 74Aaron Krosner 74-75Adam Brobjorg 74Adam Weisman 75Aladdin Ullah 179-181Alejandro Merle Otero 108Alexander Ebrahimzadeh 76,77Allan Reddick 77Amia 156Amy Fukes 77Anastassia Menshikova 21Anna Leah Jacobson 108Anna Malta 108Annie Mitchell 183Anthony Kirov 194-196Anthony Leyro 215Ariel Ruvinsky 10Art For Healing Artists 140-160Artem Mirolevich 11,13Artist Unknown 38ArtSnapper 167Arturo Zamora 191Bahman Akhavan 80Batya Wise 81Ben Henderson 80Benjamin Enzfelder 14Beth Macriorowski 80Biagi’s Tattoo Gallery 28-29Bivas Chaudhuri 109Bob Sell 80Brent Leopold 78Carla Cubit 10Carliss Retif 78Carlos Couto 79Carmela Tal Baron 15Carmen Figueroa 83Carolyn Weltman 12Cassidy Rae Limbach 16

Sponsor/Media Kit Synopsis- Con’t. Random Sneak Peak of Literature/Tales, Art + a Professional-Features Tease!

Stephen Gardner was born in England and studied art at the Cornwall college of art graduating in 19823, he both worked in Germany and freelanced in London, England up until 1989 where he moved to New York City to further his career as an illustrator and artist. He became a member of the Society of illustrators in that same year. Gardner has painted the covers of over two hundred book covers and painted countless baseball cards for both Topps and Upperdeck. His painting for the movie posted “Unforgiven” is part of the permanent collection at

the Society of Illustrators and his portrait of Joe DiMaggio hangs in the baseball hall of fame.Gardner started his bar painting series as part of his MFA studies at FIT where he graduates in 2001 and now teaches.

-View his feature on p.165, 176-177

Tahiti Steve designs by Steven A. Weiss. My passion is marketing. A Travel Club I started in ‘87 was a great joy & way to network & build lists of friends & customers. One in the pets! biz. asked me for a tropical line of clothing for animals. I used the Islands I twice visited, falling in love w/the people, culture & atmosphere. I place my images on towels, T-shirts & beach wear. This summer join a group exhibit I am hosting on L.I. in NY. Inquire at: tahitisteve@aol.com.

Joseph Mauricio is a performer teacher life coach author living in Baltimore. A veteran of thousands of shows as an actor comedian and improv performer Joseph is the founder of LIFEWORK Personal Performance Coaching, helping performers professionals and private clients recognize empower and project their personal voice into a public arena.

Joseph studied theater at Emerson College acting with Uta Hagan writing with Allen Ginsberg performance with Anne Waldman and meditation with Sakyong Mipham and Pema Chodron . Joseph is a senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition and the author of soon to be published Waking Up In Chaos: A beginners Guide to Enlightenment, and Blood, Sweat and Buddha: Confessions of a Dharma Chef.

-View his feature on p.112-116

Background images: Tahiti Steve

“About the Author:”

100’s of popular tourist, leisure & culture centers. To be picked-up by both upscale & curious residents & visitors. Including many key Broadway Theaters, scores of Restaurants, Festival Venues, Hotels, Offices, Boutiques & Art Supply shops in the dynamic neighborhoods of Hell’s Kitchen, Times Square, Midtown East, Chelsea & Greenwich Village. The magazine will reach a wealth of readers via our website: In addition, the inaugural & the next collector’s edition supports the established HK: ArtiST free festival weekend, which draws so much more interest to our neighborhood.

Sponsors receive gratis: a full advertising campaign supported by our superb, established annual HK: ArtiST cultural weekend extravaganza! Since this publication precedes & mutually enhances our arts festival, ads promoted in “At The Edge” will enjoy these extra rewards at no expense:

• Your custom-made ad designed by us or in collaboration with you,.• Your business name/logo on up to 25,000, full color, two-sided postcard invitations, many over-sized 6” x 9”, distributed well before, during & at 100’s of venues & events at our 5th annual May 17-19 HK: ArtiST ‘13 Free Weekend Art Festival. • Name & logo on our state-of-the-art website ArtistsintheKitchen.org, in hyperlink form on our homepage, taking visitors directly to your web site. • Prominently featured name & logo on 1000s of our HW ornately crafted Event Guides/Maps. • A considerable boost for all our advertisers through endorsement in our newsletter to 10k+; & at our many busy soirees & Social Media hotbeds: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr & Tumblr.

Unique, Daring, Brash Editorial ContentYou will find an emotively raw, always enthralling glimpse directly into thet front line & established art world, often via the artists’ turbulent souls. Revealing the dramatic inside stories of HK: ArtiST, elite &“At the Edge” artists & performers.

A Wondrously Inventive World Lurks Within:• Masters & bold new artists for an inner muse/museum’s palette.

• Read/see us cooking in dynamic midtown’s Hell’s Kitchen ‘hood.• Get an inside track on NYC & U.S. art trends, street to top galleries. Our complimentary festival weekend tours + 30 hours of parties always draw a cornucopia of visitors & copious media to collect 5 figures of our branded non-profit propaganda Thus coupling your PR campaign with our specially designed ad in “At The Edge” is a successful strategy to support (y)our good cause! Explore: ArtistsintheKitchen.org. For full Sponsor & ad info, rates, plans, demographics & more, check www.Artistsinthekitchen.org/files AtTheEdgeMagazineCorporateMediakit.pdf.

Eric “eyeball’ Richardsn

Martin C

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Nandi Riguero (also circle im

age above)

Nature Collage:Giorgio Casu, Carmela Tal-Baron,David Scalza’s Garden, & others!

4 5

I had a slowly

detonating dream...

...For a few year’s to start a free Arts Festival for my beloved neighborhood the legendary Hell’s Kitchen. Tremendous history, tumult & drama: the west side of Midtown Manhattan, site of draft riots, prohibition, (breathe deeply, with feeling): hardscrabble existence orphanages shipping industry glory Damon Runyon(esque living) immigrants galore, elevated coal train open air markets Westies gang-& finally a historic district in ‘73, labeled Clinton Hill. Astonishing that this area has such a community feel: zoned for mostly 5 story buildings despite being next to Times Square & the Theater District, containing restaurant row, & east of the corporate canyons of NYC! Home of innumerable celebrities, largely actors, & the intersection of eccentric glamour, fact & fantasy + its rough hewn side is exemplified by both John L. Sullivan & Sly Stallone having originated here.

I had 1st worked with in ‘87 in my 1st post college F/T teaching/social service position, found a rent stabilized place on 9th Avenue in ‘95. Then I discovered Art Walks: largely in hallowed Brooklyn ‘hoods, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Park Slope Gowanus Bed Stuy, Fort Greene Wallabout Red Hook Carroll Gardens... Harlem, Tribeca, Noho-& even in New Jersey. In ‘09 after the good fortune of being able to attend to a surviving parent in her final days, I returned from Long Island & met a young lady who, with her partner/man, helped start the most successful non-corporate art crawl, in Bushwick. So that summer with them as consultants & with help more than anyone from one dedicated young man who

attended my SUNY at Buffalo Alma Matta precisely 20 years earlier, I started HK: ArtiST. Hell’s Kitchen Artists in Studio Tours.

Joined & migrated from a fiscal sponsorship under the umbrella of

Fractured Atlas’s non-profit umbrella, formed Sole proprietorships under the names inscribed on the fantastical

buildings used on the front cover on our premiere issue last summer: Hell’s

Kitchen Artists Guild, & Hell’s Kitchen Artists Association. See: there is a sort of business guru, managed Warhol, Ali, started

& helped run major & non-profit affairs, even the 1st NYC swing club before Plato’s Retreat! An associate of his suggested a magazine to “monetize” things, help not only make the festival more successful, but promote more effectively our mission: increase the fortune of artists, make this arts & theater burgeoning area more renowned as an arts destination, invite folks into shows in our very homes. While inexorably, at least incrementally influencing the paradigm of NYC to move

as much as possible more towards a love of the arts & the non-material, our spiritual/emotional, humane aspects of our existence.

Hence a Dionysian & heartfelt Arts & Culture magazine you are holding, “At The Edge”, followed by an expanded online interactive edition. Though the

irony has been seeking sponsors/ads to make this successful, there were a couple of relatively large donors, Holiday Inn 57th Street, the commercial & residential giant Worldwide Plaza. Yet most are local businesses that usually show art, often for weeks or more, for artists who have no places here, galleries, arts venues or schools, a local printer or who did our maps in trade...ALL are welcome to contribute, & the 1st issue featured some of these artist impresarios, the Rabbi from

Publisher’s NoteBy: Michael Marcus Felber

Sanctorum of wealth & fame at the crossroads of commerce, fashion, art, theater, technology...there are so many unknown & toiling hard for mere survival. Does anyone question that our nation’s support & opportunities for art is almost inversely proportional to its real & potential

wealth? The artist has little hope of leaving the 99%,

& so much supposedly geared towards even any exposure for them is exploitative, mercenary, or intrinsically ghettoized.

Yet the spirit of art, writing, theater, dance & all expressive human ventures cannot help transcend its limitations, however long the arc of history takes to bend towards justice. To paraphrase MLK. Enjoy & pass on this sophomore issue supporting our live-meet-the-artists kaleidoscope of shared visions. Our preference is more towards the surreal, sincere, personal,

in depth, unusual, pathos & epiphany-laden explosions of creative invention & confessions. And something I wish that is akin to just pure Love.

I can individually & en masse solicit & almost literally harangue & entreat literary + visual content from f(r)iends & strangers, local art & cultural leaders to much effect, but missing reliable & very competent specialized Professionals, the result would be no more than a mismatched incomplete mishmash of a raw product. Perchance more similar to “At The Edge” pointless if weirdly evocative anagrams such as “Get Hat Ted” “Hate eat Eg” or “Thee Gated” or “Heed Date G” or “Heat Gheed” or “Heath Geed” or “G Head Tee” or “Hedge Gate” or “Gee, Tea DHT” Anywho-

The Actor’s Temple, a man (who did our cover now) who runs a new age store, residents from famed 46 story Manhattan Plaza for artists of all stripes, etc...

All these efforts are profoundly homemade & rely overwhelmingly on volunteers & artists to build it: departments for special events/our now 6 parties over 30 hours, our 4th Annual event May 18th-20th. PR, Street team help, graphic designers to do ads (including for our major assistants), liaisons for artists & venues...& of course editors! There are so many to thank, review our masthead for that, but for what you read now, I must give special recognition to our Editor in Chief for our 1st issue, Charles J. Rosenthal, & our current tireless layout whiz, Michael Boyd. And not to be schizophrenic, but fate decreed that a Craigslist ad recruited a graphic designer who said “you will not believe this, but I have the same name...” Mike Felber, unrelated! So I made him master of that realm!

What hath we wrought? Big plans to expand to other mainly Manhattan communities, perhaps fostering separate periodicals. But either way, in the words of a campaign I wish to properly pitch (their creative involvement & support with) to PR giant Ogilvy & Mather whose headquarters moved from one HK structure to another: “proving print is not dead”. With all the wonders but alienation inherent in this often only virtual world, the sensual experience of real magazine well recapitulates the virtues of personal & artistic connections, real shows, sharing, depth & resonance of building bonds of emotion, artisanal/aesthetic, professional & personal collaboration.

The index tells you about our wondrous local, metropolitan area & beyond contributors. Like the artists, I personally recruited many who impress with their brilliance &/or unique flavor & feel for art & literary efforts. Sold online & exploring select commercial venues, we reinforce both the value & nobility of the adored individualistic, highly quirky loner AND celebrate the collectives perpetuating expressive & practical success: & art for its own seeds of contemplative, societal & emotively reflective, cathartic & beauty-infused sake. While we savor the bittersweet irony that amongst the very Santum

Sheep Meadow Central Park, NYC

6 7

Let’s start with thanking our Publisher contact Jennifer from Shweiki Media, a patient & sweetly responsive advocate for our cause. She was planning to attend our magazine launch party, & arriving from Texas for HK: ArtiST ‘12----> before our 3 Floor, 6 studio, 4 theater 10 ring circus of continual performances (Roy Arias Studios). If you need really well done jobs, deadline savvy experts, yet offering very affordable print materials from an ultra modern/efficient plant & warehouse, contact www.shweiki.com!! (see ad p. 162)

What you hold would be impossible to construct absent the help of the Editors credited in the masthead. Though I must single out those who helped a lot from the inaugural issue, great volunteers from mid ‘11 & again this issue/Spring, despite a full schedule & assorted personal obligations. Thank you gentle & kind big guy William Farmer, we all enjoy working with you. Vivian & Matt Abuelo have been great helps & intellectually rigorous forces, while attending meetings, including at great housing activist employers/group show venue West Side Neighborhood Alliance. Cindy Horowitz did so much as an Editor & Traffic Manager for the 1st outing. And then there were two (main & indispensable forces).

I received a call from a Craigslist ad seeking help in many areas, including Graphic Design. “I don’t know if you will believe this, but my name is also Mike Felber”. Yes, unrelated, though an uncommon last name. Spiraling into the (good) looking glass it was! So of course I had to make him Director of the Department! On call waiting an ex GF thought I had finally cracked, gone from eccentric to Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs: “I can’t talk right now Cathy, I have Mike Felber on the line, I cannot keep Mike Felber waiting”! But besides all the related japes about how you can always count on him/me...He has excelled at helping shape the design & “Branding” of major documents like the Sponsor/Media Kit, promotional page, getting the best cutting (At The) Edge yet warm look & feel for this new periodical, while putting up with the synthesia-prone, nothing succeeds like (Surreal) Excess overload aesthetic of his larger & older namesake here! Highly creative & ethical, he continues to grow.

Now running up to 8 simultaneous C.L. ads yielded another gem of good fortune: Mr. Michael Boyd, Editor in Chief. Just above NYC, a markedly gifted manipulator of images & designer, his facility & imagination with layout & organization abilities are Legion. I could not have hoped for a better Professional, & he has worked around the clock with family obligations & an absurdly adorable 5 year old son, Harlem. His willingness & initiative to volunteer while providing great print options are a bit dazzling. Somebody hire these gentleman while they are not engaged full time in their fields: you will be Uber-fortunate to have them! Seriously. Mike@theFelbs.com. Grenlends@gmail.com.

Craigslist is not just the den of flakes & perverts! Overflowing submissions & huge organizational tasks led me to place 2 ads in the last few daaaze before D(eadline) Day! To get the magazine back before & have at the festival. Luckily Wamara Mwine responded. White House Correspondent for Politicsincolor.com, & covered politics for UPI, NBC, CNN, published, adviser to attorneys, politicians, Church leaders in crisis-media & PR. A Remarkable ability to work remotely & absorb, recall, edit very quickly while

respecting & implementing a highly specific artistic layout vision. I would like to graciously thank all designers who worked on this mag including: Alida Verduzco, Lisa Hoffman, Ben Samra, Claudia Nagy, Guillermo P. Lorente Perez, Mark Kielinski, Douglas Manson, and of course my namesake Mike “thefelbs” Felber!! Our final product is much better with the dedication to your work & personal care!

Thanks for reading this lead in by a confessed writeaholic! (sic). For our elaborately designed Sponsor/Media Kits, ads, many videos & youtube channel, social media (fb, twitter, tumblr, flickr, earth dance), last & elaborated digital editions, maps, postcards, business plan, forms, press releases: formal & crackpot Dreams, whimsy & altruistic Schemes: see http://www.artistsinthekitchen.org/Promos.htm.

And please reach out directly to join us, support us, question, rant &/or rave after perusing our offerings from masters to emerging arts impresarios!!

Warmly,Mike Marcus FelberPublisher, “At The Edge”,

Founder/CEO & Odd LeaderArtistsintheKitchen.org212-582-2990

“I hope & trust we

embody something

unspeakably unique

yet consistent with the

universal archetypes of

soaring Spirits saturated

with bottomless Soul.”

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David Scalza commissioned this huge mural on the back of a great HK: ArtiST Festival sponsor, Holiday Inn 57th Street. He is the creator of a large, 3 courtyard wide sculpture garden ofrecycled & found art, & in ‘09 had Mr. Cull spend 3 months on this greatmural of a combination of nature & astronomical related scenes I puckishlyentitled “Cosmic Travelogue”. There was an opening party for both projects inlate summer ‘09. -Publisher’s Note.

Chris Kull

“Constructed of Recycled, re-purposed & donated objects, a plein air master Fresco, painted pat io, innovat ive wa lkways/br idges , every sort of modified furniture, industrial

& household item imaginable. Umbrella tables, whimsical & unlikely objects strung up high overhead & on walls, creative seating, & the hand built stage rigged for sound when necessary.”

Mike since you insist on making a spectacle out of me you ought as well add the “10 years of continually building flower boxes out of re-purposed wood acquired at construction sites around Hell’s Kitchen, developing my front of building sculpture garden, changing it to suit the season, such as X-mas themes/lights. Also maintenance on this & projects on my block + in this community: painting watering plants and flowers, donations from neighbors and myself, flowers mostly purchased from local farmers market, etc...”

David Scalza

Anastassia MenshikovaHoley Cream Mural -796 9th Ave.

Hell’s Kitchen Murals--

Background Mural: “Monster Mash/Demon Feeding Scene” by Sprezanne & Klone Killa - 725 10th Ave.20 21

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...It brings to light various famous paintings and sculpture from human history. However, art has and always will be a part of our lives. The

oldest form of art known, are the cave paintings from 32,000 years ago. This is some of the earliest evidence of our existence during these times, showing that art, has been a part of the human condition before we were even able to record the events of what we do. The oldest mummified man that was discovered, is the furthest that we can look back to see how humans have lived in the past. Otzi, the 5,300 year old ice man, shows us a little of his own art. Otzi was tattooed! Tattooing is said to go back, through oral tradition, some 10,000

years. Just like art, tattoo has been a part of our pre-historic lifestyles and will continue to be so. Like painting and sculpture, tattoo is art. True art no matter what the media; paint, marble, tattoo, etc., comes from the soul of the creator to be appreciated by the observer or owner. The intriguing, meaningful, and creative art are that ones that get remembered, even treasured. In our time, we should take a note from our ancestors and choose to live with art in all its forms. Trends in art come and go, as trends of what is considered art come and go.

Bringing art and tattoo full circle, Biagio’s Tattoo Gallery in Denville, NJ, embraces art in all of its forms.Biagio’s Tattoo Gallery is a unique experience. The atmosphere is clean, crisp, warm, and welcoming. A place where art of all forms can be expressed and viewed by anyone interestted. There is art on the walls that show off rotating featured artists, as well as the owner’s work, Leilani and Biagio. The “Tattoo” is a performance. Tattooing is performed live in the middle of the gallery and displayed on widescreens for visitors to view the process of body art happening in real-time.

B.T.G.’s mission is to open the world to the creative side of the human mind. All of the art on the walls display creativity through experimentation, intellect, and skill. The showcased artists will always have these attributes. The body art clients help broaden this creative awareness by bringing ideas to the artists to create their tattoos. Each tattoo artist that works at Biagio’s Tattoo Gallery will put forth the effort to design a custom tattoo for the client to receive. Skill, creativity, and great customer service will be the tools each artist will use to make each design a work of art.

Art... When the word is heard...

A l l body art will be performed live on display for viewers to gaze upon just as they would the work on the walls. Breaking the image of the typical tattoo, Biagio’s Tattoo Gallery invites people to experience just how different the tattoo and the experience can be.

Biagio’s Tattoo Gallery opened its doors to the public on February 10th 2011 with their Grand Opening on April 30th. The day was full of festivities in a family friendly environment. Children

were entertained by face painting, cotton candy, and other assorted goodies leaving parents, along with other adults, free to peruse the arts. The guest were

discussing tattoo ideas and mingling with the artists of the various displayed work. The crowd, diverse as the art in the gallery, was privee to live musicians strumming original and familiar songs in acoustic sets. Even when no vocalist was performing, random collective singing erupted sporadically throughout the day/evening. The grand opening also doubled as a fundraiser for the Leilagio Arts Scholarship. All proceeds from work done that day along with donations totaled $842 and were

put toward the $1000 fund for a lucky William Paterson University art student! B.T.G. also travels and feel conventions are a great way to see new places and meet new people. Since B.T.G.’s ultimate goal is to showcase great art, they really enjoy performing tattoos at tattoo conventions. Conventions are also a wonderful way to meet other artists and view art from around the world!

www.BiagiosTattooGallery.com - (973)620-9944 - 3138 State Route 10 West, Suite 1, Denville, NJ 07834.

“Feeling the Weight of Responsibility” -Biagio Pagliarulo

“An O

bservation of 2012” -Biagio Pagliarulo

The current trend is to consider tattoo as something other than art. The time has

come for that trend to change.

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I’m an artist un-noticed for most of my life until I started to use my art-like super-abilities to shift my career towards a decent living salary. I once worked as a shipping receptionist for a screen printing sporting supplys company, while I freelanced my artwork to that company and a few tattoo artists to help pay for my commute to Westchester Business Institute in White Plains, New York (later to be called “the College of Westchester”). I soon graduated in 2001 with a Associates degree in Digital Media. For the next decade I spent with a global giant printing company as a Scanner Operator/ Retoucher working on images for many well-known publishers world-wide. In 2010, I left this company and started freelancing as a graphic designer under the name of “grenlends” as a solo

artist helping others in the digital media industry to achieve and understand imaging for their printing needs. Mixed-media is my choice of art expression but my most useful method is painting.... watercolors paintings, airbrushings, photoshop CS4, illustrater, inDesign, Corel5, Power Point & any 8+ megapixel digital camera.

grenlends@gmail.commichaelboyd1974@gmail.comgrenlends.artistswanted.org

Background Image : Tatiana Korinfsky-

A day like any other in downtown Brooklyn,the usual lunch hour crowds searching for whatto put between two pieces of bread, make it through the rest of this cold, rainy Thursdayanother week without being laid off, look for a sale to wrap around frustrationsof never having enough, foreclosedlives caught in some invisible mud slide who may ormay not have heard rumors of an angry crowdsconvening on Wall street, major trafficdisruptions they’ll cause, and if whileheading to the gym, school, their usual appointmentsthink about it all, it’s to get home without any troublecaused by those building levees to halt the slide

for those who say, live every day as if....yada, yada, yada..what if it’s a day the toilette backs upyou can’t reach the super, the floor is getting flooded, and you must leave for work Should you even try

a day when you have a raging toothache,probably infected, your health insurance won’t kick infor two more months and you can’t afford to pay the dentist, What’s the point

as you’re cleaning up the shit in your lifestruggling to clear a place to do what keeps your heart beatingthe reason you put up with the daily tedium of jobs, endlesschores have enough energy

to hear your own voice through everyone else’sleave your imprint on something more than a W2 form

I say, refuse to live any day as if it were your last:live your own life, which is...

Linda Lerner

I came to New York in 2006 to pursue a career in Illustration. I use textile patterns in my work and this has become my signature. The pattern not only breathes life into my painting but it also allows my work to tell stories.

I get inspiration from nature and four seasons. Each season has its own smell, color, scenery and even sound. The nature I experienced through my senses still stays in my head and inspires me.

Keik

o T

ok

ush

ima

Jil

l A

ust

en

“Philodendron”

“FDR

4 Pres”

“James B

ond Island”

“No Horses”“Pierre Hudson River”

“Sea World A

rmy”

(Background: Tobianne Felber)

Christopher’s works are predominantly intended to create a strong visual impact, with occasional plays on social commentary and humor. In addition to his classical training (School of Visual Arts,

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts), Christopher’s

works are s t r o n g l y influenced by his s l a n t e d view of s o c i a l norms and customs.

Chris Kinch

Mik

e B

oyd

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The creative journey has taken me from Australia to Japan to New York to London, where I have variously lived, studied, and worked. My Muse has inspired me to express myself in the areas of photography; theatre (playwriting, directing, producing, acting); poetry (mainly Haiku in English); art (water colours, oils, pencil sketching, Japanese black ink painting). I have been profoundly influenced by the Japanese aesthetic, andconsider Kyoto to be my spiritual home.

Tatiana Korinfsky(Background Image)

FREE WILL:

See you’re right, the “BIG” difference is this,the Light to the Dim.I focus on Me,We are all the same,and Nobody can see it that way.Then clutter arranges and once again,I capture the maze.I form the pieces to begin,again and again.My heart bounces, ticks,inside of my chest,because I have the desire.Free will in the country,who said this themselves.I will walk with confidence,while others may tremble to their feet.I stand tall,and I don’t stoop for all.I am made to shine,Yes, I am made to shine.

Tiffany Zern

Jadite Galleries’ owner Roland Sainz opened his first art gallery in Hell’s Kitchen in 1981. Born in Cuba, he came to New York in 1959 and worked as a Wall-Street business man for twenty-one years, but Roland says he “got tired of making money and decided [he] loved art.” Opening a gallery on 50th st. and 10th Avenue was, at the time, a risky decision. Home to the merciless Irish gang The Westies and burdened with the memory of a century of unchecked brutality, even by the 1980s, Hell’s Kitchen was still a rough and lawless neighborhood. It was not, to say the least, a place most aspiring gallery owners were eager to open doors. So, Roland paid a visit to a police captain on 54th st. and told him he was living on 55th st. between 5th and 6th Avenues, but considering an apartment on 52nd st. and 8th Avenue. The captain said simply, “Well, the thieves live in Hell’s Kitchen, but they go and rob where you live now.” So, much to his wife’s dismay, Roland bought the apartment in Hell’s Kitchen and “took his wife to the middle of the street and pointed to Radio City, Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and asked her, how long do you think that is going to take for that good part of Manhattan to come this way?”In spite of what Roland foresaw for Hell’s Kitchen future, the reality of those initial years was true to the neighborhood’s reputation- deeply troubled. On the day he bought his condominium in 1981, Roland remembers, “a client was buying a lottery ticket at a candy store on 8th Avenue and 52nd when a guy came in to rob the place and killed the client. That same night on 9th and 52nd st., the police had like twenty guys up against the wall with shotguns and everything because they were drug-dealers.” When Roland told some of his more affluent neighbors on 42nd and 8th about his gallery and frame-shop, they said to him “when you get out of the building, you turn east. You go east.” And he did. He “kept to himself,” closed up shop at 6 o’clock each night, and lived in “a relatively safe area, so he never had any problems.”Running a gallery for twenty-some years in New York is no small feat. When Roland was first thinking of opening Jadite, he went to see a well-known art consultant who told him, “If I were you, I would open a pizzeria, a coffee-shop, something like that. I would not open an art gallery because art galleries, they go out of business in a year, and if they do make a little money, if they do survive, they don’t actually make money until after the second year.”

Roland says this hurt him

tremendously because he had pride, he was very proud and cocky, a Wall-Street

character, and he had made a lot of money on Wall-Street so he figured he would do the same thing in art. But he was determined, despite the odds, to open a gallery, so he rethought his whole approach and, sure enough, he started making money after the first six months. But in his twenty-eight years in the business, he has seen countless galleries go broke and close. So, what was the key to his success? Hell’s Kitchen. He looked at Chelsea, at Soho, but the spaces in Hell’s Kitchen were cheap, which attracted artists, and kept his prices competitively low. By now, the galleries in Soho have mostly been pushed out by boutiques, and as Chelsea becomes “out-of-price, expensive, [the art community] is moving this way,” into Hell’s Kitchen. Sometimes his clients go to “Lee’s Art Shop and they charge them 500 dollars for a couple frames, and then they come to [Jadite] and I charge them 300, and they want to know why I am so inexpensive- is my material inferior to Lee’s Art Shop? And the answer is no.” There are only half a dozen companies that sell frames in the area. The same company stops at Jadite and then continues on to 57th st. and drops material at Lee’s Art Shop. But the low cost of living in Hell’s Kitchen, the rent and services, allow Roland to offer his clients discounts on framing and art.Roland has seen Hell’s Kitchen undergo tremendous change over the years. Much of older generation has disappeared and buildings like the Manhattan Plaza and the Worldwide Plaza have appeared on the horizon, giving way to a younger population of professionals who can afford the sky-rocketing costs. Roland says these changes are great for the middle class but “the ones who remain poor, they have to move out, basically.” Some were lucky enough, however, to buy apartments when the city was selling them for two-hundred dollars and continue to live in Hell’s Kitchen today. So even as the neighborhood develops and its community morphs, a piece of its mythic past remains.Roland hosts a lot of local Hell’s Kitchen artists in his gallery. When I asked him what kind of art he looks for, he said he “tries to focus on the positive and the beautiful and the great, what art is all about. I try to stay away from the tragedy of political ugliness. I would call it ugliness, because some of it is nice, okay, but a lot of it is ugly.” As someone who has lived through and witnessed the rougher days of Hell’s Kitchen past, Roland Sainz continues to house the light, the transformation, the salvation we so often find in art.

Emily McHugh

Cont’d ->36 37

Too Many Condoms-(Excerpt from Super Socially Awkward Virgin Girl’s Guide to the Universe)

I make it my business to attend at least one Pride festival every year. Whenever I go, it is always the same: I graze every table looking for candy, lip gloss, pens, notepads and other free stuff, but what I usually end-up getting are zip-lock bags full of condoms.

Sometimes I take these things because I am curious about how they might feel, taste. Hmmmm…banana. Other times I grab these things because I feel obligated. To not take a condom packet at one of these tables almost seems that I am announcing to the three volunteers—whose organization probably just wants to get rid of the three hundred plus condoms they have stashed around the office from Prides’ past—that I am not practicing safe sex, or worse, that I am a virgin.

The dreaded V. I don’t mind, usually…Generally, I brandish my “V” like a suit of armor. The last “V” standing in a room full off people doing it, or have done it and lived to tell the tale. I feel wonderfully, foreign, new, like a story that no one has written. But when I am at Pride, I often don’t feel so proud. I feel as if my queerness depends on me having done it (more so with a woman than the pretty men I find myself eyeing during the festivities). I feel as if others are judging me when they sense my inexperience. As if they are thinking that there must be something terribly wrong with me if, even when folks are frolicking through the streets semi- or completely naked, I can’t get a date or a hookup. Aghhhh.

Once, I was bold enough to decline an offer to take a bowl full’ o’ condoms home with me. The woman at the table

had instructed me to “Take as much as I like.” So I replied that none was plenty, “I don’t really have any use for those,” I tried to explain. “We have dental dams,” she pushed. “Yeah, but I don’t really engage in those activities,” I continued with an awkward grin. “Oh,” she says with eyebrow raise. I move on, uncomfortable. Being a “V” is like coming out all over again! So, now I just take the condoms whenever they are presented to me. I shove them in my bag, forget they are there, and while in the grocery store fishing for my wallet, I end up pulling out a Durex. My book bag’s protected. But what do I

do with these condoms? I have condoms from 2006 when I attended my first pride in Baltimore. I have condoms from my first Black Pride in Harlem (where I also received my first flavored dental dam). I have condoms that come with a small packet of lube. There are condoms that are pre-lubricated, ones that are flavored, clear

ones, purple ones, red ones, blue ones, sensitive, NYC, Durex, Lifestyles, old ones, new ones. Which I could probably keep in a box, near my socks, and culottes…

or I can be a little more creative:

•Need to keep your produce fresh?Condoms over your zucchini, squash cucumbers may protect them! And

just imagine all the fun things you can do with them as you wait for them to ripen!

•Better yet; penile water balloonsthat make for extra slippery fun!

• Protect yourself from air-borne diseaseduring the flu and cold season by using a dental dam to cover your nose and mouth!

• Don’t like it when your dog kisses youon the lips? Use a dental dam to protect your mouth from his question

one! As a bonus, he’ll enjoy the flavor and think you are treating him!

• Can’t get the key to go into or come out of the lock?Try a little Astro Glide and see if it will slide right out!

• Forgot your lip gloss, ladies? Dab a on a little lube and keep stepping! • Oh, my favorite: TheWall O’ Condom. Wall paper your place from head to toe with multi-colored, unwrapped condoms. You will be reminded of safe-sex every where you look. And when a special some one comes around, and the mood is right (sing), pull one down, and go to town!

Creativity!Functionality! No?Thenwhatelsecanyoudowithaboxfullofcondoms?Oh,havesex.

...I didn’t think about that.

Jennie YipJennie Yip’s beautifully rendered artworks evoke a dreamy and sensual elegance of exquisite artistry. Her talent and business acumen have landed her international recognitions working with world renown clients such as L’Oreal USA, Revlon, McCann Erickson Worldwide, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Coors Brewing Co, to name a few. Her illustrations have been used for T.V. commercials, national ad campaigns, as well as on licensed products. She has completed a high profile book “Eva Scrivo on Beauty” for celebrity hair & beauty stylist, Eva Scrivo and published by Atria/ Simon & Schuster, April 2011. Several of her fashion & beauty illustrations aresuccessfullylicensedbyFDVArtfolio,wallartdecorpublisher.Work with award-winning menswear designer, Joseph Abboud/ HMX Group. Ms. Yip is also represented by Just Looking Gallery, a fine art gallery in San Luis Obispo, CA. Among her achievements

and recognitions are three national juried-exhibitions from the Society of Illustrators’ Museum of American Illustration, NY and a retrospective with the FashionArtSource&Fashion Institute ofTechnology in 1999. She’s owner of Jennie Yip Studio & a partnerofFashionArtBank, Inc. She holds a BA with honors from Marymount Manhattan College and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Fashion Instituteof Technology. All

artworks © Jennie Yip www.jennieyip.com

Lorraine LaPradeA

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Sofia BachvarovaSofia Bachvarova's artistic universe resides within an eternal twilight. Her works generate perpetual enigma. The paintings, objects, and installations possess an enthralling magnetism that draw us into a haunting, mysterious, and mystical dream space that is as deep as it is disturbing. I find myself lost inside a land of lingering enchantment and at the same time, like a fairy tale, there is a palpably unsettling eeriness. Ambiguous and obscure, her art evokes traces of gothic romanticism with an undeniable beauty that brims with the baroque and bizarre.Hers is the work of a seductive sorceress excavating from primitive sacred rituals and transforming them into a kind of 'urban witchcraft'. There's a feminine force underlying the creations, one feels as if she has secretively accessed the depths of her unconscious in order to paint us a unique realm hidden behind some distant corner of her imagination. Bachvarova plays with our eyes; her paintings reveal as much as they conceal, much like how one sees (and doesn’t see) at dusk. The paintings are partly figurative so we find ourselves in a world that is somewhat recognizable but then not really; and herein lies their intrigue. They convey the mysterious, macabre, and magical. Her sculptures and objects that hang in real space are frequently found with her painting worlds. Bachvarova's obsession with suspension, objects hung and suspended, floating in mid-air, seems to be a metaphor for the way in which her artwork leaves us-- in suspense.

- Deborah Zafman, Ph.D. Zafman-Greenberg Art Advisory

“What She Found W

hen She Turned B

ack Was O

nly The B

eginning”

Beyond the Hanging Garden #2

Beyond the Hanging Garden #3

“She Often Found H

erself Tethered Betw

een What

Wasn't T

here and What W

ill Be G

one Next”

Seventy years can be considered a long life. For the lucky among us, it can be a lasting love story - one that included a world war, celebrity, a royal vacation, and never least, New York City. This is the story of Gloria and Sir Alex Schloss, two lovers sharing a life full of chance moments that defined their character, shaped their future, and forever touched the lives of those fortunate enough to notice and feel their unique gift of art. Their story began in high school, in 1939, when Alex was an undefeated Golden Gloves Boxer. Among those who witnessed one of his many victories was Babe Ruth, who saw him win so decisively in a Police Athletic League fight that he was compelled to congratulate Alex personally after his walloping victory. This was a proud, if not uncharacteristic feat for a man who began portrait painting as a child. It would not be the last of such triumphs. After high school, in August of 1941, Alex decided to move to Virginia to work in a U.S. naval base. When his girlfriend Gloria showed reluctance to accompany him, he proposed. And so there would be no mistake, Alex clarified: “if you don’t marry me now, you’ll never see me again.” Alex and Gloria eloped in Jersey City before moving to Virginia. In December of 1941, Alex was in the U.S. Army, preparing to go to war. When Alex joined the Army, he was branched Infantry, and knew soon after that this was not the right job for him. Determined to shape his own fate, he tested for the U.S. Air Force, and became an Air Force mechanic. This was no ordinary change of events. The Infantry unit to which Alex had been assigned took over 90% casualties in the invasion of Normandy. As he wrote his own history, he served instead in the Philippines, where even war could not assuage his artistic passion. Soon enough, Alex gained steady work from his fellow Airmen painting their bomber jackets with their respective unit insignias and mascots. His business was so successful and kept him so busy that he was the last to realize that the island where his business thrived had been occupied by enemy Japanese.

Surviving the war unscathed, Alex returned home to Gloria, and the two moved to Brooklyn, on Myrtle’s city housing for veterans. Even this was no ordinary event. During their stay here, Alex tried to join the Art Students League, but classes were full and he could not enroll. One of his neighbors was attending hair dressing school, and recommended Alex join him. Alex did join him, and stood out among his peers. He went on to work for Richard Hudnuts on 5th Ave. and soon opened his own salon, Alex and Robert, also on 5th Ave. At the height of his success, Alex employed 22 workers, and gained the distinguished honor of being selected the hair dresser for the Miss America and Miss Universe beauty pageants. Alex and Gloria had two children, and when they went off to college, Gloria had difficulty finding work as a millinery, making hats. It was at this point that Alex encouraged her to go to the Village and sell some of her work. Gloria had been creating 3D portraits with plaster, cloth, and wire figures on collage backgrounds. She made portraits of musicians, dancers, matadors, but it was her sports figures that sold exceptionally well. Soon she would be making custom portraits, and her work has been collected by legendary sports figures such as Muhammad Ali, Lawrence Taylor, and George Steinbrenner, among so many more. Gloria is also an accomplished sculptor. She has studied at the Art Students League, the National Academy of Fine Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum. After working for Miss Universe pageants, Alex returned full time to portrait painting. He became known for a unique fresco technique using marble dust, sand, and oil paint presented as stucco painting, achieving very heavy and dramatic textures. His favorite theme has always been nude portraits, although he became famous for portraits of royalty, celebrities, politicians, financial moguls, and their respective families. New York City landscapes are also well represented in his collective body of work, among which some of the best are winter paintings of a snow covered Plaza. Alex did go on to study at the Art Students League, National Academy of Fine Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum. In 1970, Alex signed a lease for the gallery at the Plaza Hotel. The gallery became a showcase of his unique style and ability to a vast and diverse audience of affluence and influence. As a result, Alex has painted portraits of Chuck Woolery, King Hussein of Morocco, the children of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Robert Goulet, Chief John Big Tree (the model for the Indianhead Nickel), and countless others. In many cases, he painted family portraits of Plaza patrons, and would go on to paint family portraits of their grown children with their own families. Particularly noteworthy became one special admirer of Alex, Count Bonifazi of Italy and Monaco. The Count has collected over 20 of Alex’s works, and, during a two week vacation to his castle in Monaco, Count Bonifazi knighted Sir Alex Schloss, who now is written into history in Italy’s Royal Book. Arleen Schloss is Sir Alex and Gloria’s daughter, and an accomplished artist in her own right. She studied at the Art Students League, Parsons School of Design, and graduated from NYU. Her work is represented in public and private collections throughout the world, and has been exhibited in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She is a critically acclaimed performance artist and is well known for creating A’s, a collaborative performance art workshop that encourages the experimentation of disparate art forms. Sarah Schloss is Sir Alex and Gloria’s grand-daughter. She has attended the Milwaukee School of Art and Design and has published a book of original stories and illustrations called “Burry Me Deep – 5 stories about childhood, love, and loss”. Gloria Schloss, now 90 years old, was widowed last year after 70 years of marriage. She now resides in Sir Alex’s former studio in Hell’s Kitchen, a gorgeous, light filled salon of both their art covering every wall, resembling a French Impressionist moment in modern time. Each drawer in the studio now archives pictures, scrapbooks, correspondence, newspaper articles, seemingly endless memories of a singular life lived by two artists whose mutual love and support took them on a most fantastic journey throughout the world, among eccentrics, bohemians, royals, but grounded, always, in our very own, Hell’s Kitchen. - Carlos R. Couto

Alex & Gloria Schloss

(Background- Sofia Bachvarova)

(Background- The Schloss’s Apartment)

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Alex SchlossOn January 29, 2011, the noted and poignant painter, Sir Alex Schloss, passed away at the age of 89. As a New York native, he developed a unique style by achieving a near three-dimensional effect with the swift of his brush strokes. His uniqueness lay in mixing oil paint with sand and marble dust, allowing him to capture the essence of his subjects and perfecting the art of painting portraits.

Bivas Chaudhuri

An award winning international artist, Bivas Chaudhuri studied art at the University of Kolkata, India, and

obtained an MFA in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College, New York. He has exhibited extensively in South Africa, Norway, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Zambia, India and the US.

His bicultural background and knowledge add a rich mosaic of ideas to his creative work. Bivas states "My current work is involved with space, which is full of energy. I use repetitive visual elements and meditative process to energize the whole space. The highly structured, slowly changing imagery is a close resemblance of my deep state of mind. It is emblematic of modern times mixed with personal feelings and impressions."

His work is represented in many public and private collections and has appeared in Udresfeabifen, Chitrali, Art News Artspiral, Art Forum and Art in America. His teaching experience includes an Adjunct Professorship at City University of New York, Queens Museum, New York and a stint as Visiting Artist for Pratt Institute. Bivas lives and works in New York.

Anna MaltaAnna Gabriela Malta was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1975. She graduated from Cidade University, RJ, with a degree in Marketing and has an MBA in business from IBMEC, RJ, and post-graduate degrees in Philosophy, São Bento College, RJ and in Image, Memory and Communication from Candido Mendes University. Currently she attendsthe Photojournalism and Photo Documentary Program at the ICP -International Center of Photography, NY. For the past 10 years she has been the owner of a bookbinding design studio. She has been part of multiple collective exhibitions and has had two solo exhibitions in Rio de Janeiro. She is currently working in two projects: one about young poets from the South Bronx - Power Writing;and another about book culture and its changes.- www.agmalta.com

Anna Leah JacobsonFire-Spinning during HK: ArtiST '10 Opening Party, outside Skyline Hotel Ballroom Outside “Demon Feeding Scene” mural created during Inaugural '09 Festival!!

Anna is a very talented performing artist, video documentary producer, Cinematographer + belly & fire dancer! She is also well grounded, kind & just gorgeous. She was so gracious in her willingness & enthusiasm for performing at various points during our Open Studios-she was met after our 1st Festival in the Fall of ‘09. Pictured here is her enchanting show when we led everyone out of our main Opening Soiree in ‘10-better the safety & drama of playing with fire at night outside the great mural we created during our 1st event. We collaborated on a couple other events that night with the historic Times Square Arts Center, providing entertainers & a beautiful hostess-but this was are biggest party, 500 + guests over the course of the night, free as all of our events, gratis food from Brownstone catering, & all manner of bands & song, DJ, body painters behind a screen when NYU dancers were shy about even artistic nudity, even sword dancing into the wee small hours.

Alejandro Merle OteroS t a r H o r i z o n M e d i a . b l o g s p o t . c o m

Gloria Schloss, 90- 3D Sports Artist

“Caterillar”

“Earth Dance”“EarthLightNewEra” “Next 50 Years”

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Joe

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grou

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Background Lisa Hoffman

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Jiri Mesicki

~ theFelbs

Our bodies collect dust, and impurities build, and will build substantially if not counteracted in some way. Some dust, just on the surface, whilst others lay deep below layers of. Dust stuck deep does not creap out willingly, part of me, and needs more harsh treatments to be rid of this time.

The fire exists to bring forth light to this subject. To burn, to rid of dust buried deep inside forming impurities, must have heat, burn i must to keep the factory clean! But take care of the unending flame, must not stay. Balance is needed to keep the interior from burning too long.

The Burn

Lillian Gottlieb

“Remembered”

“The Critic”

“The Beach”

“Tom Wolfe”

Human figure in its environment has always fascinated me the most. The struggle to apply itself with all of its talents and wants, is the human state of existence I want to depict. New feelings, fears, and insecurities shape our psyche today: How long will the world around us look the way we know it? How will our culture change when we will not be able to afford today’s lifestyle? At the same time, we want to surround ourselves with beauty and create an ideal, just and safe world. I, we, live with these thoughts in the back of our minds and this creates a conflict, a tension between the ideal and the reality. The way we see ourselves in the paintings is the

way we may choose to believe we are. In this way an artist influences the audience and, in turn, the audience changes the world.

Ms. Gottlieb conceived the character of Anabel, who is known for her stylish image and insightful quotes, in the late

1990s. She attributes her success in propelling this character to getting out of her own way and allowing her creative side to show. Her

professional affiliations include the International Women Artists’ Salon and the Alliance of Queens Artists Inc. When not working, Ms. Gottlieb enjoys

reading and playing the guitar. She also volunteers with The Fresh Air Fund.

Video at youtube.com/watch?v=ysJbZzP-oXw lillian@anabelnewyork.com

A native New Yorker, ADAM SCOTT, professionally known as ONE LOVE, started his musical career at a young age. Not surprising, coming from a music background as his grandfather played the trumpet with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. At age nine, Adam was on the road to becoming an accomplished drummer and by the age of 14, he was well sought after by local bands. At the age of 17, he picked up the guitar and was a natural. Never being interested in covering songs, the guitar became his personality to write and sing, and again he proved to be a natural. He has been on two tours with Big City Lights, playing lead guitar and singing harmonies. Adam met producer/engineer JON CASTELLI, who immediately recognized Adam's talents, and gave him the opportunity to write and record what is now his first single release entitled "Get Up And Go". John's partner, producer EVAN SCOTT SMITH came into the mix and One Love's music came to fruition, and as a result, a six-sing EP was completed.

"ONE LOVE" is not just a name, or even an idea; ONE LOVE is a movement." Adam states. "And not just for me and my band, but for everyone. I didnt start ONE LOVE, the idea; I wanted to start ONE LOVE- the movement."

And so he did. ONE LOVE has captured the attention of many fans and is currently on a Northeast Tour with his live band. While on tour, ONE LOVE has been writing and recording his upcoming LP and is planning to release a "Live Album" by year's end. Adam will be turning 24 in May 2013.

www.Oneloveny.comfacebook.com/Onelovenyyoutube.com/Officialonelove

One Love

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“The Cookie Jar #3”

Vivian RiffelmacherA lifelong artist, V.I.V. has always been drawn to organic forms and shapes. “I was never interested in drawing or painting cars or houses or inanimate objects. People, faces, figures,

trees and growing things, the beautiful subtlety of how lines curve in nature were much more interesting.”

“Veteran of 1956’ is a portrait of someone I knew who had fought in the Hungarian revolution and lived in exile in the US for 40 years – one country’s “revolutionary” is another country’s terrorist. A common theme in the saga of the Hero is the well-intentioned, over life size protagonist who is literally consumed by the forces of evil he battles in his life. This man survived many battles but at a terrible personal cost to himself and anyone in the near vicinity. The blues, purples and bloodshot reds were originally intended as an underpainting but I liked the effect and adding anything else seemed anticlimactic.”

Vivian and her husband- writer and poet Matthew Abuelo, have been community activists with West Side Neighborhood Alliance (WSNA) since its inception in 2006.

NOTORIOUS V.I.V.

“Chairmen of the Apocalypse” is a series of portraits of the often jolly and harmless looking old men who have spent the last 30+ years dismantling all the social networks

so carefully constructed in the US in the early and mid 20th century.”

“Charles”“Rupe”

“Roger”

“Veteran of 1956”

L a w r e n c e Rosenberg is a native New Yorker and a graduate of Queens College where he received his BFA. He worked as a stylist and textile designer in the home furnishing and bed and bath industries. He ran a design studio, Open Home Designs, for ten years. Lawrence has painted his entire adult life and has exhibited in venues in Hell’s Kitchen where he has been a fixture since 1995. He has worked almost exclusively on paper for years with mediums ranging from oil stick to gouache to colored pencil. “I love working with oil stick. It’s where drawing and painting can combine

beautifully. There’s no really good painting without good drawing.” Though he finds a kindred spirit in the European painters of the early 20th century, he also greatly admires the American abstractionists of the 40’s and 50’s.”Process is everything. I like to find the painting rather than know every detail of a picture plotted in advance.” Though he often sees himself as a landscape painter, he also gets inspiration from the city at night, religious themes, and personal objects.

Lawrence Rosenberg

“Chasing Klee”

“Three Teeth”

Foreward by: Derek VidalIn the years that I have been fortunate enough to partake in Mr. Rosenberg’s artistic gifts, I have found his work to possess deep artistic roots of influence - namely, those of Picasso, Matisse, and Klee, to name a primary triad. For instance, in his The Cookie Jar, Mr. Rosenberg takes a mundane object d’art and, through mere simplicity, color, and solid presence alone, most successfully transports us into that delectable world familiar to us all - caught with our fingers (child- and adult-like) in the perennial cookie jar, with all the ramifications that that implies, which Mr. Rosenberg underscores subliminally with such apparent ease. His other pieces, though, are more abstract than this

one. However, veering from verisimiltude, they nonetheless contain equal and meaningful substance with each final viewing. I thank Mr. Rosenberg for his deliberate efforts to pursue his n e v e r e n d i n g artistic journey!

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Hell's Kitchen Artists' Guild/Association (HKAG/HKAA) Presents Graphic Design Masterpieces of Altruistic Printed Proselytism! HK: ArtiST (Artists in Studio Tours) Festival promotional material, 2009-2013. Plus Propaganda Supporting Proud Progeny Publication "At The Edge".

For exhaustive representation of our documents, see www.artistsinthekitchen.org/Promos.htm. This includes Flagship, expanded, & current editions of “At The Edge.” It’s fb page, Corporate/NYC & local/HK Sponsor Media Kits with complete background, plans, advertising & demographic information. Dozens of Press Features & listings for the HK: ArtiSt Festivals, ‘09-present. Many variants of postcard invitations, maps, ads, videos/youtube channel, social media (Facebook Tumblr Twitter & Flickr), Business plan, official forms, & more!

Postcards & Promo Material from Years PastA Look Back....

Creative & late night collaboration of 2 Mike Felbers, improbably unrelated. Guild, Festival & Magazine Founder & CEO Michael Marcus Felber, + Director of Graphic Design & Editor in Chief Mike "theFelbs" Felber.

Background image part of “Monster Mash: Demon Feeding Scene” created on Skyline Hotel during 1st HK: ArtiST Festival ‘09-- See pages 16-19 for full coverage of Open Studio Tours Murals!

Whimsical mock front & back covers replaced by actual one of Initial (Summer '11) issue for the

Sponsor/Media Kits. Replaced by Actual covers of Seminal Arts & Cultural Magazine. Based upon 1st Festival mural created during first, '09 festival weekend on Skyline Hotel:

"Monster Mash: Demon Feeding Scene". By Sprezanne & Klone Killa. Also as in this spread, other a s s e m b l a g e s of HKAG/HKAG members & festivals.

Humble Beginnings

‘10 Postcard v.1 and Map

‘11 Postcard and Map v.1

Version 1‘12 Postcard (formap see p. 159-162.)

Design Elegance

Stephen Gardner

See stephen garder’s feature/cover story on p. 176-177

Full page ads run over 2 weeks in May in 5 NYC papers. Proroting HK: ArtiSt Festival 10 & featuring S p o n s o r s (as always on postcards & maps also). RUn in NY Press, Clelsea Clinton, The Westsider, West Side Spirit, & Our Town through Manhattan Media.

Image by James Groeling & HK Artists, featured (with edits) as front cover of premiere editon "At The Edge".

‘09 Postcard and Map

2 sided '11 & '12 Festival Maps & Postcard Invitations

have up to 4 variations each + 20K runs. also crafted

for '11-'13 issues for front, back, & inside back covers.

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"What do you do?"It's a question that many are asked when meeting new people. Sometimes it's because small talk tends to focus on work, other times it's just more polite then what people are actually thinking to ask. The answers can be widely varied, and some of them are pretty self-explanatory. "I'm an accountant.", "I'm a fireman.", "I collect cans.", "I pick my nose in the dugout of a professional sports team.". Most of these answers don't really need any additional details, and some you'd probably rather not know. One that does however is, "I'm an artist".

What do I do? Everything I can.Short answer, easy, explanation over. Right? Not so much. If you were to ask this particular artist, the answer would be some variation of, "I'm an 'art-whore' ", this is a self-stylized term that I've been using since,.... since, I can't remember, but a long time now. What it means is, any form of creative work that someone asks if I can do. I answer "yes". This approach means that every new project is a challenge, not simply because it's the creation of a new visual, but because often, the surface, execution, size, etc, are completely different from past projects.

New projects mean figuring out how to accomplish the task, and every day becomes a learning experience on how to create things more effectively with new techniques.

An example of this happened last year while working with the HK art group 'Artists in the Kitchen'. The man in charge saw my work either online, or at a show, and asked if I would be interested and able to work on a cover for 'At the

Edge magazine'. For an artist trained as an illustrator, starting to get their career moving, there was a very simple choice, "yes".

Over the next few weeks I had one of the more interesting educational experiences of my early freelance life. Before then I'd been working one-on-one with clients to do paintings, drawings, tattoo designs, and even murals for business owners. This was the first time that the client was a group of people all adding their own input on a visual I'd be building the foundation too. At first, there was some confusion, as each person would chime in an idea that made sense on it's own merits, but not necessarily something that would work well with the other elements already decided on. So the best way to explain this from my end became sketching, and visually showing everyone what they were asking, and what of those suggestions and requests would look best. It works well interacting with one client, so it seemed that this would be the same, just with more people around. It was the first time I've ever shown a group of people what their joint ideas would look like the best I could put together. The feedback was great, the ideas started to flow, and there was actually a group vibe in a sense. Simply because they could now see a sample of what the piece would look like, and understand why specific ideas could be integrated

successfully, and others, less so.

Creating the piece after that was simple, working with the wealth of the ideas that had been discussed and blending them with the visuals in my mind's eye. The image formed together, some ideas had to be adjusted or dropped, either from a visual approach because they wouldn't work with what was already there, or because the group decided against using certain concepts. Of my part, the painting became a basis for the editors to build the lettering around (locations which we'd discussed in meetings) and include segments

of other visuals to create a collage of visual imagery where it would work best for the cover. It was the cornerstone to a great image, and something that I was glad to have been a part of.

Since then, I've continued my career as an art-whore, and have been a part of a few other group projects, as well as other illustrations for companies, and the experience has been nothing but a benefit. Murals, comics, and set design have also become a pretty solid part of what I do regularly, as well as logo designs and some other graphic imagery. A lot of these things I'd never really considered being along the lines of what I could be doing for a living, but the joy of creating something new all the time has been a hugely positive part of my career as an artist.

All stemming simply from a common question- "What do you do?" -------------------------

See whole mural, used as background for this feature at http://jamesgroeling.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/townhouse-art-gallery-mural.

You can see more of James' work and read about upcoming projects at www.JamesGroeling.com

James Groeling

James Groeling with his Townhouse Gallery Mural (Park Slope Bk. NYC)

“You’re a what?...”

“Surrender”

“Sirens Kiss”

“Bondage Through Heat”

“Of Dreams & Death”

“Seeking Kali”

“Bumps for Hope”

Getting artists to focus & complete projects can be like herding cats! But in his work to complete most of the front cover of the premiere issue of "At The Edge", James Groeling was steadfast. I had gathered artists from mural through even mosaic together for a 1st meeting at The Renaissance Restaurant, graced by work from a great Hell's Kitchen artist, festival volunteer & Theater Design Professor. I had a vision of a variant of the 1st mural we did for inaugural HK: ArtiST Festival '09 on the Skyline Hotel, where we had our biggest party in their ballroom in '09. This had demons gleefully cavorting, holding humans, with fork & knife + playfully pouring salt on one...A sort of monster's pod of eggs-but I had in mind the central devilish figure stirring a pot where heat was simulated as arising from a low vent below. My informal business guru managed Warhol, Ali, helped start & run high power Co's.: & I was willing to go with his related vision of it holding a giant paintbrush, but using windows & water for reflections...

The idea(l) evolved to include a nubile & nude she devil with goat feat at a 3/4's angle, painting in an elegant brownstone's large a store window, with an arch shaped window above containing 6 separate segments, all parts showcasing our artist's work ! Between beautiful large gaslights above her, baby demon discretely dancing in or as the flame. Ironically I used for reference antique style real gaslights that were at the nearby residence of Nadine Charleson, whose aforementioned Photographic quality watercolors have been hanging where we met-for several years & festival weekends. James was patient with another artist who was in crises, yet trying to collaborate with via drawings exchanged virtually.

He added lush red/brown saturated color, patient with my additional suggestions & for reflections in glass such as an elegant spiral staircase. Pixie-like mischievous mini-demons cavorting amongst or inside the she-devil's paint

pots. Undulating concrete pillars between a lush brick construction, the semi-circular vault inscribed with my "Hell's Kitchen Artist's Association Collector's Edition" legend & organization. All designed within a giant oval, outside of which I fed our most intriguing images for beyond this perimeter. Used for several versions each of 10's of 1000s of postcards & maps for our May '11 Open Studios, before our initial publication emerged that summer!

THANK YOU James for your selfless commitment to these eccentric & altruistic causes! Now I make good on your shy request besides developing your ad: of course I wanted to build you a spread & celebrate your striking & so well rendered visionary art & story! You do so much excellent work, individually, for galleries/murals, join, support, & lend your considerable talents to great collective endeavors. You are exactly who & what type & paradigm of art I most prefer encourage to represent! As your Blog & artistic mission amply &

literally illustrate, training, discipline, & originality abound with your many amusements, muses & soul.Enjoy Mr. Groeling’s sublime front cover for the original issue of “At The Edge”-& assorted genres of literary & HK: ArtiST Festival marketing exaltations-see p. 164-165 ______

Publisher’s Note

“Bouquet of

Dream

s”

NYC Paintball Mural

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“The public house is a first aid post in which human beings receive treatment for injuries sustained in the battle with life”

As an Englishman, drinking culture has always been a big part of me life and when I came to New York some 23 years ago as an illustrator looking for new challenges, it was in the multitude of Manhattan’s bars that I first started to feel a sense of belonging.

This body of work began in 2005 as part of an MFA program I undertook at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I had gone back to school to reinvent myself as an artist and

illustrator as I had come to a kind of creative crossroads. One of the very first assignments

we were given by our drawing professor Melanie Reim was to carry a sketchbook with us at all times

and have a theme to the work. I immediately chose “bars” as my theme and set about drawing with the kind of

The Bar Art ofStephen Gardner

enthusiasm that I hadn’t felt in many a year. Indeed I had forgot the joy of drawing from life and the fact that I was able to combine two passions, drinking and drawing made it all the sweeter. I remember another of my colleges chose “bridges” for his theme and very quickly started to struggle and come a particularly cold November he wasn’t out sketching bridges; he was sat in a bar with me.

I started the process by going into what ever bars I came across, ordering a pint and just sitting and drawing what was in front of me, I’ve always loved the characters that bars produce people watching is just a great part of New York life in general but I very soon realized that all bars were not created equal and that some bars were unbelievably rich in both décor and history. I started to gravitate to New York’s old bars, the ones that just dripped with story telling opportunities, the bars that had survived the prohibition era. The first one on my list being McSorley’s, I think it would be possible to fill me life drawing and painting it that bar alone, it is a veritable living museum but I also started to think about all the other

great old bars I’d visited over the years such as Pete McManus, Chumley’s and the Ear Inn and as I would talk to friends

a n d fellow bar flies I was given many other suggestions of great old bars to visit. For a bar to fit my definition of great it has to have a neighborhood vibe, an indigenous population,

if you will, nobody in New York wants to drink with tourists, that’s why

they invented Houlihan’s. Finding these real bars became a mission and once you start to look there was just so much material to

work with. Soon I became something of an expert in the bars and their respective histories.

After filling a multitude of sketchbooks I began to convert some of my more successful drawings into paintings, the first one being “ Early Bird at McSorley’s” for which I received the Stevan Dohanos from the Society of Illustrators in 2009, this was the first painting award

of my career and I needed no further encouragement. I felt for the first time in what had been a rather unpredictable career as an

illustrator that I had finally found my own voice.

“Becca”

Milano’s

White Horse Tavern

Rhoman’s

Fanelli’s

Milano’s

Fanelli’s

Step

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to see more of Stephen Garder's work please check p. 164-165

I have subsequently taken it upon myself to document as many of these old pubs and taverns as possible and it seems a though there is a never ending supply. In my 23 years of living in this city I have seen so many changes, not all for the better and some of my favorite drinking holes have already gone, most recently Bill’s 90’s Café on 54th and Madison lost it’s lease after 88 years and now this former “speakeasy” has been stripped and gutted to make way for a new “speakeasy” style bar, I’m very sensitive to what I see as the homogeneous crap that seems to be creeping in to the city. I certainly don’t enjoy the ‘Disneyfication” of 42nd street, there used to be some real character there and now it’s all corporatized and sanitized. It seems that the character of the city is being throttled

out of existence in favor of some corporate ideal. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone?

A few years ago we lost Chumley’s in the west village another survivor of the prohibition era but it could not survive the ravishes of time. I had the privilege of sitting and sketching in this particular tavern on many an occasion, it was one of my favorite place to take my English friends when they visited, there is just no way to recreate the atmosphere and the feeling of history in these places anymore than you can create a 30 year old scotch in a week. Gone, yes but not forgotten.

I consider it my challenge and my purpose to try and capture these places and to convey my love for both the bars the traditions that they represent. As for the paintings themselves, my aim is always to try to be, as true to the nature of each specific bar as possible in terms of lighting color and clientele, I will sit for hours and observe the customers and the bartenders and try to do justice to what I’m experiencing. Each place has it’s own signature and idiosyncrasy, it’s own style and story- What more could an artist ask for?

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When I spoke to Paul Mooney at Caroline’s a while ago he told me of an incident when we was producer and head writer of the Richard Pryor show in the 70’s. Mr. Mooney was Pryor’s writer and close friend for years. NBC wanted Pryor to tone down the satire. Pryor’s sketches were not just gut busting funny, they were putting up a mirror to white America and NBC was scared shitless. They insisted Pryor play it safe, but Pryor was defiant. He was not willing to compromise. The show was

shortly canceled afterwards. Fast forward to years later-Paul Mooney was approached by Comedy Central to become the head writer/producer for Chappelle show. All of Dave Chappelle’s so called friends stayed on the show even after Dave Chappelle defiantly left. Paul’s response to Comedy Central was “I can’t do that! Dave is my friend.” I often wonder if more comics had the loyalty and courage of Mr. Mooney, how much progress could be made. The Chappelle show was subsequently canceled and there was a void in that time slot. Comedy Central could’ve moved in a direction of giving that time slot to a show that was more progressive. Instead Comedy Central gave Carlos Mencia (whom every comedian knows has made his career stealing material from fellow comics (look up Joe Rogan vs. Carlos Mencia on youtube) that time slot. His show consistently displayed stereotypical sketches that pandered to a xenophobic audience. Comedy Central could’ve done the right thing after Chappelle left but instead delivered comedy targeted to the lowest common denominator. This industry has a legacy of this kind of discrimination. Double standards are obvious but when we object to an executive, producer, or casting director we are labeled “difficult”. How can anyone not object to this nonsense? Women have to endure it was well as men; the absurdity in films where non-white women are constantly trying to hook up with a white guy? So a white guy can be horny for a hot black, Latino, Indian or Asian girl, but my character has to like boys if I want to work in film? You talk about a double standard! The exotification of black/Latino/Indian/Asian women has been going on for years and continues to in Hollywood. Whether it’s Halle Berry getting sodomized by redneck Billy Bob Thornton in “Monster’s Ball” or Parminder Nagra falling for her white coach in “Bend it like Beckham” Hollywood loves its redundant theme of exotic women falling for white men. It’s been going on for decades and not about to change anytime soon. So I abandoned this notion that film and TV were going to change. They never were going to because it is a cultural thing. It is high time that we put our destiny in our own hands. I decided to spend more time writing and less time complaining. When I decided to be a writer and challenge some of the racist /misogynistic status quo roles, I was awarded artist in residency in some of the biggest theaters in New York and throughout the country to develop plays. I had this naïve idea that theater is the last place an artist can be authentic. There is nothing more captivating than watching a great live performance onstage. I could develop my stories and characters that were nuanced and layered. I learned, unfortunately, that in these institutions, “develop” is where it begins and ends. Theater in many ways is worse than Hollywood. With Hollywood and comedy you get what you see. It wasn’t always like that. Once upon a time in New York it was different. Once upon a time man named Joseph Papp, from the late 60’s up until the day he died, opened his doors to the Public Theater to emerging writers, actors and directors to embrace the counter culture, embrace diversity, and never, ever fear the truth. He is known for being the founder of Shakespeare in the Park but more notorious as the champion of new, bold, daring plays as he nurtured some of the most innovative voices in theater. He developed and produced some of the most groundbreaking plays in American Theater. Plays that spoke to the current events of the day: race, anti-war, immigration, gay rights, the hippie counter culture, etc. That beautiful mission of giving a voice to those who could not be heard was what changed the landscape of theater. This movement was happening not in some far off place in Europe or Australia but in my hometown of New York. It is no coincidence that the first play that premiered from that ground breaking theater was “Hair”, an anti war counter culture musical that had the pulse of the nation and rocked the house each night it was staged. Growing up in NY I’ve seen dozens of plays there. I’ve watched many plays like Miguel Pinero’s “Short Eyes” to Suzi Lori Parks’ “Topdog Underdog” and left floating after each show. When I saw Reuben Santiago Hudson’s “Lackawanna Blues” I was floored watching a solo show performer doing his monologues accompanied by a blues guitarist. It was life altering to see what innovation and such profound, moving performances from Joseph Papp’s mission, which continued with George Wolfe carrying on that legacy even after Mr. Papp Passed away. The beauty of the old Public Theater is you could be a first hand witness to how theater can challenge an audience to rethink a subject. The plays there inspired audiences to rethink the world, that anything was possible.

I felt the Public Theater was where I belonged so I pursued that dream. I found out that Joseph Papp is dead, George Wolfe is gone and so is their vision for this kind of theater. So as Hurricane Sandy sets its sights on my favorite city, my place of birth, I wonder what happened? Why is it that arts in New York are losing its courage, its swagger, its vision of diversity, its backbone, and its voice like the one Joseph Papp sought? In theater today, they pretend to be progressive and even get money- grants for promising diversity, but they are just limousine liberals who talk a good game. Most of these theaters allow white artists to get produced and some even create shows about other ethnicities like Mike Daisey who created a show about Steve Jobs and the exploitation of Chinese factory workers who manufacture Apple products. It’s well documented by a reporter on NPR’s “This American Life” that Mr. Daisey lied about his tales of China. While I applaud Mr. Daisey’s noble attempts to expose the horror and injustice of those factory workers I can’t help but wonder if these institutions believe only white folks can tell stories about Asians, African Americans, Latinos etc.? Why is there such a huge disparity of white and non- white writers? So are artists of color dismissed in that discussion? Is art only palatable, does it only work when white folks tell it? For the record my beef is not with Mike Daisey, but institutions of these theaters that are putting on work that is out of touch and doesn’t challenge what is going on today – the 99 percent, Occupy, Mass incarceration, bullying in schools, anti immigration, police brutality, Islamaphobia, race, etc. It’s corporate theater run by folks who say they are progressive, even “communist” but it’s all rhetoric. These institutions are not allowing a level playing field. None of these theaters have the courage, the balls to champion work by artists of color and women that have the pulse of what is going on. Nothing proves that point as much as the following story I’m about to tell. As a comedian we sometimes preface by saying “true story” and this travesty is stranger than fiction. In 2008 the Public Theater produced a musical called “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”. It’s about the infamous 7th president of the U.S. as an adolescent. It portrayed him as a rock star and hero to America. While this musical had him dancing like a hipster and making him seem so likable, the reality is Jackson was notorious for his treatment of Native Americans with the Indian removal act, leading to the trail of tears killing many Native Americans as one of the most inhumane leaders of our time. He violated every treaty and was far from being a nice guy! He was a dictator, a racist, and not a rock star as portrayed in this absurd musical. The public Theater that once began as a progressive counter culture institution promoting anti-war with plays like “Hair” has now sunk so low that they were championing works of men that were deplorable as Andrew Jackson. So now plays written by Asians, Blacks and Latinos were absent, but there is room for Andrew Jackson to be portrayed like a rock star? Joseph Papp is probably rolling over in his grave, heartbroken that Native Americans are

protesting his theater. The same theater that would once champion the injustices done to Native Americans is now championing the man who killed their people? Way to go! Beautiful! All this at a theater where there is STILL NO room for artists of color. You can’t make this stuff up! I wrote my own show traveled the country, traveled out of the country but does it makes sense all my work is about New York, takes place in New York, yet I can’t produced in NY? So you would think that same theater gets it and hires more artists of color but instead we are nowhere to be found. What do writers and artists do? Say nothing! “Oh Aladdin I don’t want to burn bridges”. “The greatest sin of our time is not the few who have destroyed but the vast majority who sat idly by” --- Dr Martin Luther King JrIf there were solidarity in the arts we would see a better product instead of being shut out of these institutions. Instead these institutions monopolize the grants that smaller theater companies lose out to. They get funding to build multimillion-dollar theaters and have fancy wine and cocktail opening nights, boasting about diversity yet the blackest ones in the room are the catering staff. Diversity is an illusion in their theater. Don’t take my word, see for yourself. Action speaks louder than words and the voice of the people are silent in these institutions. Instead, it is a bunch of safe, elitist decision makers that have sold their soul so they can pretend they are creating work that matters, while the only ones attending these pretentious shows are rich New Yorkers who don’t know what the fuck is going on in the real world. Theater, film, arts is out of touch because the folks who run these institutions are out of touch. Whether it’s the Board of Ed, Public Theater, or your day-to-day life, New Yorkers are having a tough time surviving and the arts are not reflective of that reality. It is under representing us; the working class! Although confronting the race problem should be a priority, these issues boil down more about class than race. Occupy Wall Street had the right intention but American government will beat the shit out of you if you object. Hollywood, health care and the Board of education works the same way. Fall in line or we will make life miserable for you.

And voting for two corrupt politicians that don’t give a damn about the 99 percent is NOT THE ANSWER! I’ve watched people: Doctors, nurses, teachers, artists stay silent and tell me “it’s great you are speaking up Aladdin”, but I can’t say anything because I don’t want to burn bridges.” No one wants to do anything that costs them something and in the process we are all selling out. Well let’s stop sleeping with compromise and let’s have an orgy with integrity!

Photo credits- Top Right: Allison Joyce Getty Images Middle: AP Julio Cortez Right background: NOAA

Aladdin is a veteran of stand-up comedy. He has been featured on Networks such as: Comedy Central, MTV, BET and PBS. Acting credits include, regular cast member on Uncle Morty’s Dub Shack (IATV), American Desi, and more recently as the voice of Hanuman in the award winning animated feature, Sita Sings the Blues which was hailed by critics such as Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times (“thumbs up”!) and A. O. Scott of the New York times (“Tour de Force”). As a playwright, Aladdin’s Plays have been featured and performed in workshops throughout the world- The Halal Brothers (The Public Theater. The Labyrinth, Lark Play Development Center, Classical Theater of Harlem) He is a member of the Public Theater’s Inaugural Emerging Writers Group Where he developed “Indio” which also had workshops at New York Theater Workshop, Cape Cod Theater Project, NY Stage and Film, and Shakespeare in Paradise Festival at the Bahamas.

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Music can take you in many different directions, for me it took me to the road. The road can take you anywhere and everywhere if you let it and that’s just what I did for about 20 years. One day you can be playing music with the biggest stars in major cities and the next you find yourself surrounded by a bunch of wannabe's in a small town. It’s the definition of living life in the fast lane. Opportunities fly in and out as connections and friendships are made, you meet all types of people and experience all sorts of things. You may not start your career out wanting to be a sideman or a pit player but stuff like that can just happen, or at lest that’s what happened to me.

I'm a composer and I have a strong background in theory which allows me to play any range of music styles and improvise on a whim. Early on, when I started auditioning, I would use this gift to only play stuff that I wrote. I pushed my own signature of playing on to the people that listened. Most didn’t like this tactic but I just wanted to show them what I could do. Finally a group of brilliant Jazz players that played for everyone from Stevie Wonder to Gladys Knight, Mary Wells, and even Little Anthony wanted me to play with them. It worked out for both of us as they needed me for studio work, (jingles, soundtracks and songs); in return I got to play with them in the pit for many of the artist they backed

up. In the eighties many artist who toured couldn't afford to keep a full company with them at all times so instead, they hired musicians that were already on the road. We would play a concert for thousands one night then be playing in a casino lounge for a few out of money gamblers the next. We played when they paid and that was all there was to it; that and our love for music.

When a band is hired for a tour, the first night can be crazy. You don't know the entertainer except for the celebrity they put on; and they don't know you. This happened to me when I first played for Gladys Knight back in the eighties. Her opening act that night was Little Anthony and the Imperials and Mary Wells. Mary was the problem because her piano player/ bandleader was stuck in Philly and I had to fill in. Mary had no charts with her and I had no idea who she was. She came over to me twenty minutes before curtain rise to go over her songs. My bandleader forgot to mention anything to me about who she was and what songs she would be performing. The venue was filling up, two thousand plus and Mary looked out and said, “We don't have too much time, let's go over my hits.” I said “fine, but who are you and what is your song?” She fired me on the spot, and yelled to someone to get her a real piano player. See I wasn’t being arrogant; I simply was innocent of all charges. We never rehearsed her stuff and I really never heard of her, from what I remember at lest. All I knew was that I was there to play for Gladys and little Anthony.

My bandleader Dave Danna Dame over and said in a whisper “You idiot, you don't know Mary Wells?” “No!” I said. He then started to play and sing her song. “Hey I know that song!” By following his hands on the guitar I got the chord changes and started to play the song as though I wrote it. She turned back and came to the piano asking, “Are you messing with me? You know my song!” I said “Well I guess I do…now.” She said “Wrong key, bring it down” and I did. We quickly wrote up charts and got through the set. In the end, Mary didn't need me to know her song, I could just follow her, because she was that good and, I guess, so was I.

The tour went on and we were in Oklahoma City at a very fancy hotel. They gave us the lounge during the day to rehearse new songs or just jam for tourists that where staying there. It was just the band, not the stars. We would eat and drink at will, we were treated like kings at least we thought we were. Even Bill Cosby came in one afternoon and listened, he was performing in town and staying at the hotel. It felt like the top of the world, buying rounds of drinks for women and dropping names all over the place. We even played for Bill as he sang an old standard in front of a group very pretty woman. I was 28 and felt like Mister Big Shot. This was 1986, and the hotel lounge charged twelve dollars for a bottle of Bud, it just went up from there with the drinks. See I was just a working musician and not rolling in dough, but no one knew or cared; Mister Big Shot I was. We were there four days and, unknowingly, ran up a nice bill. On Sunday when we were getting ready to check out and go, the road manager Steve came to us and said, "Your pay for these show will almost pay your tab". After all our pay was gone we still had a balance of four hundred and eighty dollars. The best part was that not only were we negative money but this all happened in front of my new former girlfriend. She watched as me, Mister Big Shot had to go into his pocket and scrounge up all remaining money just to pay my share. I remember the girl giving me a look as she quickly left with her failed dreams of being Mrs Mr.

Big Shot. So we played

Oklahoma City in front of thousands and ended up negative four hundred and eighty dollars.

On to the next town and more life learning experiences and the stories go on and on; buses breaking down and spending a long night in a truck stop bar trying to get the bartender to run away with me and see the world. As temping as that was for her, she could not leave her insane husband/cousin that would track us down and do really bad things that I didn't want to deal with. So off to the next town south of the boarder where the folks there believe the Civil War is still on and New Yorkers are (I don't have tell ya). I was young and playing music for great entertainers, crossing the country and learning the craft. When you go to a show to see someone you love like Gladys Knight or any stars, its magic. When you play in the pit night after night it's just a job; as great as it is. When you’re off from the show you let off steam usually in places where you probably shouldn't be. In the end I have some amazing memories to hold on to, and a few I have chosen to forget.

The buses and truck stop, the hotels and motels and your new best friend is waiting in the next town. You become a true nomad; traveling from city to city taking in all you can, the history of each place and the different lifestyles of people in our country. It can be dangerous on the road if you let your guard down; especially in night clubs, where you can be a target on stage of a jealous boyfriend, that doesn't like the eye contact you're having with his girlfriend and to this day I keep stuff in a suitcase and not in my closet.

The road will always be a part of me and I will forever hold on to the stories, people and places I have been. For now I am settled back in New York running a music venue getting ready for my time to write the great American musical or something along that line. You can take the Musician off the Road but you can never take the Road out of the Musician.

Mr. Mark Rhatigan is an accomplished keyboard player & sideman, & amongst his musical accomplishments is being a long time Road warrior with Gladys Knight. At last count he manages five bars in & east of Hell’s Kitchen, which included the one we held parties with continual performances (stand up, music/bands, readings, fire spinning & belly dancing...) during HK: ArtiST ‘10, & scheduled to close the ‘12 Festival weekend. This particular establishment was Port 41-formerly variously a gay & hippy-esque tavern-& under his steady guidance morphed into the musical showcase of Tobacco Road, possessing a beautiful backline for the eclectic shows he has developed, including “dueling pianos”.

We appreciate his wry good humor & patience in accommodating our events & stocking our map & postcard propaganda during our events, & his fatherly guidance is beloved amongst his employees. We had looked forward to the planned makeover for this venue, & wonder if the one consistent feature of most all its incarnations at the tail end of Port Authority would remain: the comely bar staff clad as its subtitle has suggested: “The Bikini Bar”. Feminine charms various & sundry brightening historically

colorful if rough-hewn surroundings. -Publisher’s Note

Mark Rhatigan

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with stain glass, ultraviolet mural painted on a semi-circle, large World War1 era memorial. Virtually all scheduled performed as planned, & a couple of 1st timers broke their proverbial cherry. Including my coincidental namesake, Our since early ‘11 Director of Graphic Design & map design savior whose talent for layout made his assumption of Chief Editor Duties a blessing!

But amongst all the good fellowship, pub food & drinks opened specially for us again on their usual day of rest-their are always waves, levels of perception & a flow of energy felt only by some. The truly appreciative audience sanctifies what the shows signify, fleshing out the meaning, forming more with their degrees & quality of feeling. Their were some very talented groups, though I must single out Karen & Joe, an interracial couple who “met cute” when the lady asked her future partner for a ride to a gig...Her blues voice, power & subtlety of intonation I perhaps in the “Love in Vain” vein felt nobody else really completely could sense. But the Beast of Feelings & well earned epiphanies she conjured & embraced were transcendentally touching & powerful. And her lovely feminine strength suffused sweet nuances coupled with the implacable force of “Sympathy for the Devil” would make Mick Jagger weep. I know I did.

After Midnight into Monday morning-well, folks do not show much for these shifts. So the 5 Bar Manager who long played keyboards on the road for Gladys Knight & I brow beat & pleaded writing from, including that Tobacco Road where we were will play another day. Maybe at our this year or next part of MakeMusicNY.org over 1000 concerts on the Summer Solstice event-we have a legendary local park for 12 hours, & can use the remaining paints again donated by Alcone.

Their is an unavoidable practical dual strategy & irony: nothing is more valuable than the ethos spotlighting art, drama & culture for its own sake, emotional rewards, lessons, immersion in & enlightenment of the viscera of the human condition. Yet being in the moment, inventiveness & incisive feeling tones must be balanced against & support raising awareness & the fortunes of artists, musicians, actors, dancers-& the exponentially more creative & long tamed neighborhood at the very Heart & Soul of NYC.

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How can there be so much culture unknown

in the midst of business & theater district riches & newly

ascendant many ringed tourist & native saturated Times Square? It is akin to a pre-fire ‘n wheel non-hoax primitive tribe discovered in the middle of a 7 figure metropolitan area. The mind reels, boggles, & finally snaps-to attention. Cannot be adequately stressed: how the priorities & support for the non or not merely material suffer so grievously in modern day America.

So join us next year & issue. Hell’s Kitch-en. We are far more than just the Kitch. And “in” in the sense of both the inside/center of commerce, art, culture-& the irreducibly inspirational mystery & interiority of individual + collective experience.

“Come on into my Kitchen”, to borrow from the legendary Blues icon Robert Johnson, overwhelming talent famously rumored to have been acquired during a Mississippi midnight bargain at an unholy seminal crossroads with the Devil/Legba himself. Apologies for the cross(roads)-pollinating metaphorical appropriation, but it is apropos for us also: “At The Edge” of the Crossroads of the World.

One of over 1000 Concerts on the Summer Solstice all around the 5 boroughs of NYC as part of MakeMusicNY.org, our spot was a fabled & gracefully tree laden Hell’s Kitchen park. Kiddie play areas, ground fountains /sprinklers, in back B-ball & handball courts-& in the center we set up for our line up of performers on a wide range of styles, some late cancellations & substitutions, such as the lovely classical violinist who ended up....leading off things! For 7 some hours we had great entertainment & fellowship, children frolicking, adults enjoying powerful vibrations of all ilk, & directly serving up the donated Italian cuisine!

By: Michael Marcus Felber

We unfurled our latest freak flag May 18-20th, all free for 4 years running! The 1st 2 stuffed 6 months apart, full page ads taken out in 5 NYC papers in ‘10, these last 2 summarized in this periodical for our revitalized creative gusher of a historic community. Hell’s Kitchen greets the world, see what we hath wrought!

Dozens of features, listings, & media attention, from press through TV, radio & online/Blogs a-plenty: http://artistsinthekitchen.org/media-placements. ; 3 daaaaze of events, walking tour expanding annually to somewhat north of 130 venues for the art crawl. The intimacy of artists met in homes, studios, galleries, theaters, businesses such as eateries, lobbies, live public projects/painting, murals done by us, others, original art of interest already there put on the map, now interactive to mobile devices. Some work left up for weeks or indefinitely, gracefully & organically hung & coming down. Any sales profiting the artist. Nobody pays over $25, those absent adequate funds nothing. A free copy of this issue & original art offered for all participants & writers.

The particulars? Many of them accrue during the 10 hours of parties Friday-Sunday (technically Monday, since all scheduled 6 PM ‘till 4 AM). Why so much? ‘Cause I never know just how many folks will register & follow through, & the evening events are for when all can gather in one place, network, & PERFORM for each other & the public in cathartic, networking & emotional bonding + Dionysian Glory! This is Giving & really hearing fellow artists & entertainers more than self indulgence.

Some highlights: opening night was 10 hours at Roy Arias Studios, we had use of 3 floors & most of the time 10 spaces, some full theaters, expanding & consolidating as the crowds did. We hashed out logistical quandaries on the spot, & peak traffic had simultaneous skilled bands, a video laden play, a Hawaiian themed Exquisite Corpse (a modern variant of the Surrealist parlor game) room with plenty of body & other painting, hours long shows by the 350 + strong member International Woman Artists’ Salon (who also had one of the large group show spaces during the day art walk)...& somewhat more revelry.

Saturday night like last year I reserved a multi-room & garden space that is hard to fathom as an SRO, Clinton House amongst several dozen housing organizations under one banner. We had great readings, acoustic & electric shows, Yoga contortions set to Blues music & belting, water tossed from above, shows indoors & out where you could stand between & watch both: & I Killed them with donated food from local merchants. Kashkaval Mid Eastern delicacies to Merilu Italian basics, Cases of Adriatic Wine, salads & the last trip with a requisitioned shopping cart desserts in admirable quantity & some variety! The after party was a last minute replacement-thank you Playwright Tavern for donating your whole long 2nd floor restaurant space! The die hards (sic) joined as blues melded ‘n melted with Irish/Celtic traditional fare, more comedy, sing alongs, another so cute young lady boogeying to chosen & now sung music.

All of this occurring parallel with the massive 9th Avenue International Food Festival. Countless masses, multiples of 6 figures along closed off streets: & our Sunday Party right on the Broad & (as it had just ended) dirty Boulevard. Apologies to Lou Reed. This special event was especially charming-3rd time

I selected Bar Nine. Not because it is 1 minute from my since ‘95 home. But they have stage & plenty of seating, + a long plushly furnished & banquet laden L-shaped back area blessed

“Best of HK: ArtiST Festival ‘12. Mad Midtown NYC Art Explosion”

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Frannie McGhee -HK: ArtiST

‘12 Festoval Opening party, Roy

Arias Studios, Exquisite Corpse

room w/ Mike Meyers & Co.

Publisher Mik

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Summer Solstice Festival Wrapup!!

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We were one of over 1000 NYC concerts on the Summer Solstice as part of the free, egalitarian, ambitious & unique sonic cultural extravaganza: MakeMusicNY.org! Thursday 6/21 in Hell’s Kitchen Park, 3-10 PM on 10th Avenue between 47th/48th Streets! On an insanely hot day where the PA system was stacked high & 1-man wheeled in-was day of free music of many genres. Offers to improvise/jam with us, Local donated cuisine, yoga/contortionist, & an after party at a classic Restaurant Row Tavern!

This served as a post HK: ArtiST ‘12 Festival meeting, many friends who neighbors socializing & network, suggestions, idea(l)s, plans & offered to bring instruments to jam! Schedule below. So much fun in a beatific heart & soul of Hell’s Kitchen idyll in front of basketball & handball courts, playground surrounding, benches ideally suited for an audience, that we did not even get to the face painting remaining from our HK: ArtiST Festival from 1 month prior!

THANKS to www.setshop.com. Though they sell mostly photo backgrounds, seamless paper & expendables, they not only had by far the cheapest generators, but donated it with delivery & pick up! And this great local Italian restaurant donated a huge portion of pasta with delectable red sauce, asking nothing. http://lallegriarestaurant.com. Hence both their gratis ads (we design for almost all advertisers) herein! As if ordained by The Gods, an Open Studios Alumni & great frienemy met a French national on his last day in Central Park: he was a professional sound man for the Theater! Just what we needed with the usual Special Events/sound man indisposed! We appreciated also our lovely last minute classical violinist replacement.

Salma Jane is an art lover, who is active in the visionary art and holistic/shamanic spiritual community within NYC. She started getting involved in the Hell’s Kitchen Arts magazine project in order to expand her exposure to grass roots arts initiatives and the people in those movements, within the city. Visit my website www.Souldish.com!

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For more information on upcoming events visit www.ArtistsInTheKitchen.org

Salma Jane

© 2013A Publication of The Hell’s Kitchen ArtiST Association/Guild

Publisher Mike Felber w/ HK:

ArtiST alumnus Stella Lillig

Lead Graphic Designer ‘11 & ‘12

Background image (excluding other artists’ im

ages used in window

s) Created by Joseph W

ippler for the Motion Picture “D

on Peyote”, a film by D

on Fogler

Before 3:45 PM AND Substitute/Alternate/Striker for inevitable unavoidable later cancellation: Hell’s Kitchen’s own Sandra Small & the Smallworld Band. Soul/Funk/Rock/Jazz. www.sandrasmall.com. Before 3:45 PM & throughout when opportunity presents, including last set below:: David Scalza & his multifarious & ethnic musical instruments improvisation with/distributed to audience. Djembe drums, flutes, geee-tar, more.

3:00-3:45 PM Emily Salmon, Classical violinist www.emilysalmonviolin.webs.com3:45- 4:40 PM One Mic/ Krhazey80, Hip Hop. onemicartists.com & art-start.org4:40- 5:45 PM One Love. Pop, Acoustic Guitar. www.oneloveny.com fb.com/oneloveny5:45-6:50 PM The Buzz Clips, ‘90’s Rock Covers. www.facebook.com/thebuzzclips

6:50-8:00 PM Karen and Joe. Rock & Blues. http://www.reverbnation.com/karendavis (original tunes) http:// www.reverbnation.com/karendavis

8:00-9:10 PM Curtis Becraft and the Dilettantes. Rock,Blues, Traditional/Irish. Facebook/CurtisandtheDilettantes accompanied by Amazing Amy, Yoga Contortion Dance Jam, who ALSO is free to perform throughout!9:10-10 PM K-Joe. Hip Hop & Jam! joeville@gmail.com10:00 PM ‘till late: After Party at O’Flaherty’s Tavern. No Cover, Live Music, Garden...Feel free to bring instruments & play with us & house musician!

Schedule for Summer Solstice Concert:

Aaaand: we only locked 1 (Dali-esque mustachioed San Fran expatriot walkabout-inclined Photographer!) person in the park! Well, we/I did not know that he was retrieving his bike, & later he found his way back to the residence of Yours Truly, having scaled the only vertical & pointed atop bars impressively!

Puncture wound limited to sneakers, I treated 'em to 'scream where we did a donuts & ice cream mountain full wall mural 2 years back. Apres after la after party, my guest was woken by dawn so we could await the parks dept. unlocking & thus entry + bike liberation!

It would not be the same valence of off kilter creative gravitas absent a denouement of a harmless accidental predation-caper misadventure! ;)

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