I've written here in the past about what a terrific artist my cousin Diana Leviton Gondek is, who works out of the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago, where she's an artist-in-residence. I'm biased, of course, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. (Among other things, she was commissioned to make life-size fiberglass horses to honor fallen Chicago police officers, of which one work was displayed at Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's office. And she was commissioned to do the artiwork for the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, which got its start in Chicago.) You can see much of her work here, in case you want to see some actual visual evidence. It was therefore a treat to read an absolutely wonderful article about Diana -- described as "Famed American artist" (which admittedly may come as a surprise to Jackson Pollock, though it allowed her to write me back, addressed as "Dear Cousin of Famed Artist") -- for an international women's magazine, eShe Magazine, published out of New Delhi, India. The article is detailed, but not terribly long, and I heartily recommend it -- biased as I am -- for the stories she tells about how she got from there to here. What stood out most to me was talking about her mother, my Aunt Iris, who was an inspiration and so supportive of her. It couldn't have been otherwise, since Aunt Iris was as close to being the living incarnation of 'Auntie Mame' as anyone I've ever come across -- though in fairness, that's help by her being my actual aunt. Something not even Diana can claim. You can read the full article here. Unrelated to the article, but part of the whole "This is Diana" picture, she mentioned to me a wonderful-sounding workshop she's putting together for an Art of Epilepsy Exhibition, done with young artists who have epilepsy. After they finish their paintings on what life story they wish to tell, Diana will then create a sort of montage, "our version of the Chagall’s American Windows," is how she puts it, with the hope being to have it all come together at the Epilepsy Conference this fall. The Neurologist in charge of the overall project, Dr. Julie Thompson-Dobkin, said she wants to use Diana's idea in other states where the exhibition is shown. (If you don't know the Chagall American Windows, they're a mosaic he did for the Chicago Art Institute. Here's a photo I took of it, which is three large panels together.) And just so we end on Diana, and not that Chagall fellow -- who, great and famed as he is, he is not American, nor Diana, here is one of her horses, this the one outside then-Mayor Emmanuel's office. (Side note: After I took the photo at City Hall, I spent a while there typing away on my cell phone. As this whole process took a while -- including quite a few attempts trying to find the best angle to get the horse, door and Mayor's sign in the frame. with the cordoned-off area in the way -- it eventually caught the attention of some official people there who politely but pointedly asked me, "Er, sir, what are you doing??" I explained that my cousin designed the horses and I was trying to write an email to her, tapping letter-by-letter with my thumbs, not one of my top skills, and figuring out how to send the picture. That satisfied their concern, and since they all expressed how much they liked the horse, I even got bonus points for being Cousin of Famed Artist, a title I am now considering putting on my business cards)
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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