volunteer

Grant School visit

| winter

Last month I was invited to tag along a few hours with local artists Debra Zemke and Katy Ottinger to offer some artistic help to some fourth graders at Grant Elementary School. The kids were putting together books based on things they had written, and some of them needed help with their illustrations. It was awesome seeing their stories in progress, and helping them with some drawing tips. I can’t wait to see their final books!

True/False documentary film fest 2010

| winter

This year I was again a volunteer for the True/False film fest that took place last weekend. I was on the screening committee, so I watched a bunch of documentaries in the last few months and wrote summaries of them. I saw a lot of good stuff throughout the process, but one of my favorites was the experimental short “Loop Loop”, which made it into the “Someone to Watch Over” program at the fest. Check out the full video of Loop Loop online.

True/False film fest 2009

| winter


Director Darius Marder talks about his film Loot at the Macklanburg Theatre.

This year I was a volunteer for the local True/False film fest, which just took place last weekend. I was on the screening committee, so a few months ago I watched a bunch of documentary movies and gave them a critical eye. I spent a fair amount of time brushing up my writing skills by writing summaries of all the films I watched. Most of the films I screened didn’t make it into the fest, so I ended up watching way too many films during the fest last weekend.

My favorite film that I saw at the fest was Loot. It was a great movie to watch with an audience; funny, poignant, and unpredictable. To top it off, the Q & A afterward with the director was just as interesting as the movie.

Mr. Moon

| winter

This is a drawing I’ve done featuring Mr. Moon, the mascot of our local new year celebration called First Night Columbia. This year, local artist Dennis Murphy (the creator of Mr. Moon), asked some grade school kids to draw up some hat designs for Mr. Moon’s head. The designs were only on display for last night’s celebration, but I am one of several local artists who is writing up some feedback to give the kids at a later date. I thought I’d draw this image to go with my write up. Check out the Columbia Tribune story for more about the project.