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THE URGENT ART FUND ANNOUNCES FOUR 2020 AWARDEES

Jul 9, 2020 | ,

Christa Ebert, Grounded, self portrait (2020)

 

July 8, 2020 CLEVELAND, OH – SPACES established The Urgent Art Fund in 2019, with funding from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture to support creation of artworks that are socially, politically, or culturally responsive. The Urgent Art Fund will support FIVE artist projects in 2020. Selected projects receive $5,000 each, plus additional resources including staff support, access to tools and studio space, and an annual SPACES membership.

We are pleased to announce the first four awardees of 2020: Anna Tararova, Mourning [A] BLKstar Collective, Christa Ebert, and Amanda D. King.

  • Anna Tararova will publish five risograph and screen printed books by artists of color through her project, Empress Editions. Artists will be selected through a call for proposals and interested artists are encouraged to apply online (link below). The five selected artists each receive short-term access to studio space in Midtown Cleveland in addition to design and layout assistance, printing, and binding services. The artist books will be released online, at art book fairs, and during a public event at Outlandish Press. Apply to Empress Editions HERE
  • Mourning [A] BLKstar Collective will present a series of online experiences filmed in culturally significant locations throughout Northeast Ohio. These Mourning [A] BLKstar Residencies, developed by James Longs, Theresa May, William Washington, LaToya Kent, Kyle Kidd, Dante Foley, Pete Saudek, and RA Washington, provide a gesture of fellowship and song while dealing with a global pandemic threatening the livelihood of hourly workers, teachers, artists and others. A premiere is expected online in September of 2020 via //BLK//BLUR, a POC founded and curated streaming platform.
  • Self-trained musician and activist, Christa Ebert, performs as Uno Lady and composes songs with her voice, electronic effect pedals, and unconventional instruments. For her UAF project, Uno Lady will present Grounded, an ambient, experimental film series and meditation-based audio-visual installation as a means to find peace in the present moment. This work is in development and will be presented online, free of charge., later this year.
  • My GOD is ANTIRACIST is a multi-layered, multimedia meditation on GOD as the embodiment of antiracism. Amanda D. King interweaves photography, text, video and installation with Black liberation theology, Black church aesthetics and recollections of Sunday service to invoke the viewer to perform antiracism as a spiritual practice. This work is in development for a public premier in the fall of 2020.

SPACES has one Urgent Art Fund grant left to award in 2020 and artists are encouraged to apply. Applications are judged by three external jurors based on feasibility, public accessibility to the project, artistic quality, and timeliness. Interested artists may contact the program coordinator, Cierra Rembert (cierra@spacescle.org) with questions about applications and requirements. The Urgent Art Fund is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a Support for Artists grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

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Watch the Video Premiere for Bridge the Divide Online at Steel Bridge Songfest

Jun 13, 2020 |

Uno Lady Bridge the Divide from Uno Lady on Vimeo.

Bridge the Divide, written for Steel Bridge Song Festival. View live 8:30EDT here
facebook.com/events/877955182616410/

Steel Bridge
Spans across the Sturgeon Bay
Links the land
Holds the hand of each shore
Ride on
Charge through
Share songs
Look to
Bridge the divide
Shore to shore

Steel Bridge Songfest is an annual music festival that brings together songwriters from around the country and the world. SBSF was founded in 2005 to benefit the preservation of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin’s iconic Michigan Street Bridge. The weeklong event centers around a focused writing and recording collaboration called Construction Zone, culminating in a series of concerts celebrating those new songs, the artists that created them, and the community where they were written.

For the safety of the writers and concertgoers, Steel Bridge has adapted to current risks heading into its 16th year and is moving the whole event online for 2020. A limited, “beta test” run of Construction Zone writing is currently underway thanks to technology!

The weekend concerts normally held at the Third Avenue Playhouse in Sturgeon Bay will be recreated via Facebook Live. Tune in to hear the new songs written this year, tributes to epic songs from SBSF’s 15-year discography, and special performances by Construction Zone writers past and present, all hosted live by musicians from around the country.

 

Watch the Video Premiere for “Town of Don’t You Worry”

Apr 27, 2020 |

My aunt was going through old books and found this poem typed out on my great grandfather’s stationary. The words spoke to me so I made it into a song and video. I hope you like it. Footage is from Verdun, France, Strasbourg, France, and zinnias in Cleveland, Ohio. Field recordings include streams at Chateau Orquevaux and an art fair in Gruyères, Switzerland.

 

 

 

WATCH THE NEW UNO LADY VIDEO FOR VENN DIAGRAM

Jan 30, 2020 | ,

UNO LADY released a new music video for “Venn Diagram,” from her new album, OSMOSIS on Volar Records. Venn Diagram was filmed and directed by TurnStyle Films in Cleveland, Ohio.

Uno Lady’s new album, OSMOSIS (EPK) on Volar Records, assimilates ideas, sounds, and styles, from 60’s pop, folk, jazz, and soul. Vocals are the foundation. OSMOSIS is a soaring collection of 13 songs. It’s a colorful journey through a sonic dream world, and Uno Lady is your guide.

YOU CAN BUY THE NEW RECORD OSMOSIS  HERE OR THROUGH BANDCAMP. 

STREAM ON SPOTIFY - INSTAGRAM @TheUnoLady

 

Photos and Videos from the Artist Residency in France

Dec 30, 2019 | ,

The artists residency at Chateau Orquevaux was magical and allowed me the focus needed to write and record 15 songs. I drove over 1,500 miles (about 2500km), down bumpy back roads and single lane highways through sunflower fields and wind farms.

The first song recorded  was “Dream” by the Everly Brothers. This song has been dear to my heart for as long as I can remember. 

I spent a few extra weeks in Europe and performed at LaDIY Festival in Strasbourg, France. I had two performances in Bern, Switzerland, at Cafe Kairo and Voodoo Rhythm Records Hardware Store. The last night of my trip I sang at La Pointe Lafayette, in Paris. I made friends that will be lifelong and was warmly welcomed by pals I haven’t seen in ten years. 

I plan to share short stories of my trip throughout the year. If you’d like to stay updated, please subscribe to Unolady.com/subscribe

Since the residency, I’ve been staying busy and released a  new record, OSMOSIS,  on Volar Records. You can stream, download digital, or order a limited edition green vinyl here.

Here are a few videos and photos from my adventure.

“Sunrise,” was inspired by waking with the sun. Time lapse feature the view from my bedroom window at Chateau Orquevaux.

 

During the residency, the other artists and I took field trips around town and to nearby cities. While other artists sketched, I took photos and made up melodies. One of the stops was the old stone church in town. I asked if I could sing, and it was there my new favorite hobby was born: Singing in cavernous spaces and belting what feels right. During my trip I sang and recorded improv performances in 5 churches and 1 tunnel. 

This next video is an improv performance at Cathédrale Saint-Mammès de Langres (Langres Cathedral) which was built in the 1100’s. It is the first video in the illicit hymn series. An illicit hymn: Singing, uninvited. A collaboration with the architecture and natural reverb. I am sorting through the footage. I hope to find a creative way to share these pieces other than youtube. I’ll keep you posted.

Lastly, I want to share with you the Cow Crooner video. While walking with the other artists, we passed by a pasture. I shared that I grew up in rural Ohio. As a child, there was a farm across the street that had cows and I would sing to them. They encouraged me to sing to this herd, so I did. To my surprise, the cows listened attentively and walk towards me. This is when my second favorite hobby was born: Cow Crooning. I serenaded a few herds throughout the trip and have more videos to share.

Happy New Year! Thanks for your support.

Uno Lady’s Performance on WCPN 90.3FM Ideastream Sound of Ideas Community Tour

Dec 23, 2019 | ,

WCPM- 90.3FM Ideastream NPR- Uno Lady is Christa Ebert, who calls herself a one-woman choir. She uses digital equipment, a keyboard, her voice and live looping to create an enchanting wall of sound. This year, she traveled to France to participate in an artist-in-residency at Chateau Orquevaux. In 2018, she received an Akron Soul Train Fellowship and was a Panza Foundation awardee. Christa Ebert is now a board member of the Panza Foundation.

You can listen to the Sound of Idea’s Community Tour NEO Artist Showcase here 

Here she is, as Uno Lady, performing, “Sanguineous” and “Don’t Break My Heart,” which features Roseanne Safros (drums), Theresa May (trumpet) and Beth Hiser (bass).

Listen to the new record, OSMOSIS on Volar Records. You can stream, buy digital or order a limited edition green vinyl here.

PBS WCPN 90.3 Ideastreams’ The Sound of Ideas Community Tour Airs Today

Dec 23, 2019 | ,

I was fortune enough to be a part of PSB/ WVIS Ideastream’s 2019 The Sound of Ideas Community Tour, NEO Artist Showcase. The show will be airing this morning at 9am on WCPN 90.3. 

Listen at 90.3FM if your in the Cleveland area or stream at https://www.ideastream.org/programs/sound-of-ideas/the-sound-of-ideas-community-tour-neo-artist-showcase

Photo by Phil Kidd

Northeast Ohio has an incredibly talented and diverse arts scene, including many award-winning performers in all kinds of disciplines. The Sound of Ideas Community Tour gathered some of the best and brightest artists in the area to performed in an artist showcase at the Beachland Ballroom in Collinwood, on December 11.

DEC 13- Uno Lady in San Deigo at Whistle Stop Bar

Dec 11, 2019 |

DEC13 Volar showcase, Uno Lady & Beating rec rls, +Passengers, D. Wrex

Friday, Dec. 13th brings yet another Volar Records showcase, which also marks a double record release for new LPs by Cleveland one-woman experimental-pop artist Uno Lady, and San Diego reformed post-punk band Beating, fka Beaters. Joining the show are the newest Volar signees, psych-post-punk band The Passengers and the operatic queer doom rock of D. Wrex.

Tix–https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uno-lady-tickets-84691479495

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