Venture behind the scenes of the Crocker Art Museum and Sacramento’s art scene with ArtInteractive LIVE! This immersive, digital program is part variety show, part family game night, part revealing art discussion forum. Members will experience storytelling from diverse makers and creatives, and even take on some quick, hands-on creative challenges. Join us to explore a new theme each month. Jennifer Dasal, author and podcast host of ArtCurious, will join us for this month's theme, Lost and Found.

Register for this event via the Crocker’s link here.

PLEASE NOTE: this event begins at 6 PM Pacific Time.

I have a very special opportunity for anyone who would like to enjoy an exclusive special event. I’m doing a virtual tour of Michelangelo’s Florence-- a live tour where I take you through many of the great works of art and locations within this gorgeous Italian city. This virtual tour will also include a download of a specially-created PDF map of the tour, as well as a list of some of my personal favorite Florentine locales--including not just art, but also my favorite restaurants, shops, and more--all for $15 per person.

This virtual event will be held on Friday, November 5, at 7:30 PM Eastern time, and is limited to 20 participants (if there is interest in an encore session, I will look into adding more). Please join me! You may purchase tickets below.

Join Winston-Salem’s beloved bookstore, Bookmarks, for a conversation with the host of the ArtCurious podcast, Jennifer Dasal, as she presents her new book, ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History. This book looks at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. It demonstrates why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore. We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Money and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed -- or even murdered.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art Curator Allison Slaby will be in conversation with Dasal as they lead us on an entertaining and educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before.

This is a free event. Registration is required. TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE. 

About the author:
Jennifer Dasal is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the host of the independent podcast ArtCurious, which she started in 2016 and which was named one of the best podcasts by O, The Oprah Magazine and PC Magazine. She holds an MA in art history from the University of Notre Dame and a BA in art history from the University of California, Davis. She has also completed PhD coursework in art history at Pennsylvania State University. She lectures frequently on art both locally and nationally.

About ArtCurious:
A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast

We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings?

ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.

About Reynolda House:
Reynolda House preserves and interprets an American country home and a premier collection of American art. Through innovative public programs and exhibitions, the Museum offers a deeper understanding of American culture to diverse audiences. 

About Allison Slaby:
Allison Slaby is the curator at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  She joined the Reynolda House staff in September 2005.  At the museum, she has curated over twenty exhibitions, including the Fall 2016 exhibition, Grant Wood and the American Farm.  In 2016, she published a paper entitled “Grant Wood’s Agrarian Landscapes: Myth, Memory, and Control” in Formations of Identity: Society, Politics and Landscape (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2016).  Ms. Slaby is a graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.  In 2002, she earned her master’s degree in art history, specializing in American art, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  She has served as the graduate intern at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College and as the membership coordinator at the Rose Art Museum of Brandeis University.  Previously, she held positions at Harvard University and at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library in Washington, D.C.

 ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History (Paperback)

Order your copy of “ArtCurious” for this event from Auntie’s Bookstore!

Register for this free event now!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkd-qsqjwpHtNld8OUoo7crn16DzjeigCX

We are surrounded by art every day. Claude Monet’s water lilies are ubiquitous on scarves and umbrellas. Our cabinets are full of the Campbell’s Soup cans that inspired Andy Warhol. Even a urinal can be art, as Marcel Duchamp proved with his ready-made Fountain, which has been called one of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century. There’s so much more to the art world than museums, fancy galleries, and old men in paint-spattered shirts and berets, and Dasal knows that the real gems lie in the stories, especially the ones that never get told. ArtCurious is art history as you’ve never read it, stories that will shock and entertain, make you question what you thought you knew, and introduce you to unknown characters and hidden histories, conspiracy theories, scandal, and intrigue. The tales—told in her signature charming and accessible style—range from the weird (Andy Warhol collected toenail clippings) to the dark (a British painter might have been Jack the Ripper) to the quietly fascinating (Norman Rockwell might be best known for schmaltzy Saturday Evening Post covers, but he also painted significant works addressing race and social justice).

Since 2016, Jennifer Dasal has been wowing listeners with her wildly entertaining podcast, “ArtCurious,” where she delves into the weird and wonderful stories behind the world’s greatest artists and artworks. Now, in her first book, she goes even deeper on the questions that have fascinated her listeners and explores fresh mysteries, including seven chapters of all-new material. Dasal, who is also the curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, tackles her subjects with humor, lively prose, and thorough research, resulting in a book that’s as informative, eye-opening, and entertaining as her podcast.

Join Jennifer for this virtual conversation, with special guest Carolyn Janssen. Janssen is a Los Angeles-based artist and educator, whose work has exhibited in solo shows at the Julie Saul Gallery in New York and Quinto del Sordo in Madrid. She has participated in residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Royal NoneSuch Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Intercambiador Madrid and Kala Art Institute. Janssen has completed commissions for the North Carolina Museum of Art's permanent collection and the San Francisco Arts Commission, contributed to the Spring/Break Art Fair and Unseen Photo Fair in Amsterdam, and participated in group exhibitions at the Minnesota Street Gallery, the Contemporary Art Museum: Raleigh and Essex Flowers. Her work has been featured in Beautiful/Decay, Womanzine and In-the-InBetween Journal. Janssen received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from the University of North Carolina.

Please note that the times for this event are Pacific Daylight Time.

ArtCurious author and podcast host Jennifer Dasal has been hired privately to give a special presentation on this date.

If you'd like to do similarly for your museum, university, or community organization, please email me at jennifer@artcuriouspodcast.com, or visit my  Hire Me! page.

Join The Breath & the Clay community online for our series of keynote talks, virtual performances and interactive discussions from leading voices on art, faith and culture. In this short presentation, Jennifer Dasal highlights the work of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint and discusses her link to Spiritualism.

To register for the conference (on a pay-what-you-can basis), visit The Breath and the Clay’s website.

About The Breath and the Clay 2021

Our theme for the 2021 gathering is re-enchantment. We live in a world fatigued with concerns of survival, disruptions of normal life, and for many, a loss of deeper, spiritual meaning. The notion of re-enchantment then becomes all the more important. Humanity shares a collective need for reverence, for wonder, for experiences of the sacred and the holy. The artist fills a particular role in rebuilding these bridges between the power of imagination, dreams, vision, the spiritual life and our everyday world.

My initial interest in re-enchantment as our theme for this year came from the writings of German sociologist, Max Weber. Around the turn of the century, Weber coined the word disenchantment, signifying that society had shifted from a religious, mythic or superstitious understanding of the world to a rationalistic, scientific view of the world. But after a hundred years since this shift in society’s view of the world, the human heart continues to yearn for transcendence, continues to yearn for meaning beyond the material world, and continues to ache with an ache that only a deep, abiding, spiritual connection can satisfy. It is the artist, more than most, whose work bridges the realm of everyday life with the realm of the heart’s yearning, the beautiful, the spiritual and the true.

I want to personally invite you to join our community online March 17-21 as we explore the relationships between art, faith and culture through the lens of re-enchanting the world.

- Stephen Roach

Please join me for a FREE discussion about all things “ArtCurious” with Wake County Public Libraries! This event is free to anyone, regardless of where you live— but registration is requested. Please log onto bit.ly/Artcurious to secure your spot!

We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings?

ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.

Jennifer Dasal is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the host of the independent podcast ArtCurious, which she started in 2016 and which was named one of the best podcasts by O, The Oprah Magazine and PC Magazine. She holds an MA in art history from the University of Notre Dame and a BA in art history from the University of California, Davis. She has also completed PhD coursework in art history at Pennsylvania State University. She lectures frequently on art both locally and nationally.

REGISTER HERE to join the free VIRTUAL event, and in lieu of ticket prices, please consider donating to Politics and Prose.

For more details, see the Politics and Prose website.