Tuesday, June 9, 2020

New Free Class from CI Gallery

Writing Ekphrasis about the Art We Miss: Public Art in the Inland Empire


In a five week class, John Brantingham will discuss public forms of art in the Inland Empire, and teach you how to engage with them as a writer and a poet. These are free classes that meet from 5-6pm on Fridays. 


Museums are extraordinary places for growth and learning, but they are also not the only places where art lives. We are surrounded by art that exists in public spaces that reflects and often belies the social, political, and emotional truths of a community. Often this art is commissioned by the community. Sometimes it is not. Some of it is curated. Much of it is a statement that in part rages against the idea of curation. In this class, we will be looking at as much public art as we can. 


The arts are a cultural conversation that we have communally and with the people of the past. Ekphrasis supercharges that conversation because we are describing art, arguing with and for the artists, and extending the narrative presented to reflect our new understanding of past conceptions of the world. Your voice in the arts matter. Only you can talk credibly about your life, and ekphrasis helps you to present your vision of the world so that we come to understand your extraordinary point of view. At the same time, it helps you to climb into yourself and understand yourself in a way you never have before.


July 3 What is ekphrasis? What is public art? Exploring the poetic form and the art we drive by every day, both the city sanctioned art and not.

July 10 Murals of the area and ekphrasis in flash fiction short stories

July 17 Sculpture and installation and fiction vignettes

July 24 Political statement and poetry

July 31 Touring art-rich parts of the city and the lyric flash essay


Classes will meet on Zoom, and all are welcomed. The zoom link will appear on John Brantingham’s and California Imagism Gallery’s Facebook page, and on https://www.californiaimagismgallery.com/ and http://sasseartmuseum.org/. This link will appear at 4:45 on the days of the event.


All are welcome. This is a free class. We will have live interpreting for Deaf and hard of hearing people.




Saturday, June 6, 2020

Link to Today's Book Club

https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/93818241122?pwd=cS93aE1EbXpNTFlWdDJVTHV5YUFoQT09

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

California Imagism Gallery Book Club

Hi everyone, we're disturbed by recent events and like a lot of people, we're not sure what the best way forward is or how to help in the best way possible. One thing that was recommended was starting a book club that focuses on issues of race and equity. We're going to do this starting Saturday, June 6 from 10-12 PST. Our first book is Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, and we're going to move through the list from this link: Save the Tears.

On Saturday, I will put up a link to my personal zoom room at about 9:50 am both here and in Facebook. 

Whether or not you have read the books we'll be discussing, please feel free to join us and this conversation.

All my best,
John