Gregg Chadwick at Manifesta Maastricht

Home From the Road Listening to Michael McDermott's "Carry Your Cross"

I am back after more than a month on the road. Fall in Santa Monica is crisp and reminds be of all the autumn days that have past in my life. Michael McDermott's new song "Carry Your Cross" seems to sonically embody my thoughts and dreams. Take a listen to a beautiful and haunting song.

More of Michael's poignant music at:
The Music of Michael McDermott

Vernissage in the Netherlands

My next solo show opens on September 25th at 5pm at ManifestaMaastricht in the beautiful city of Maastricht in the Netherlands.

More info at:
ManifestaMaastricht
greggchadwick.com

Gleeful Rendition of Born to Run at the Emmy's

Jimmy Fallon leads the cast of Glee along With Tina Fey, Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Jorge Garcia (Hurley on Lost), Randy Jackson (American Idol) in a "Gleeful" rendition of Springsteen's "Born to Run" in the opening skit from last night's Emmy's.

The Real August Dream: August 28, 1963

For My Brother: Bruce Springsteen - Spirit in the Night - Live 1973 in Los Angeles

Sometimes music is the balm that soothes our pain. I am remembering my lost nephew Luke one year after his passing and sending musical empathy to my brother Kent Chadwick and his wife Cathy.
Peace

Clearing Up the Misconceptions Around the Proposed Islamic Center on Park Place

By Gregg Chadwick


"All men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion."
- President Thomas Jefferson

Let's Define Our Terms About the Proposed Islamic Center on Park Place

I. Is the Proposed Islamic Center at Ground Zero?

No, the new building will not be at the the former site of the World Trade Center and cannot be seen from Ground Zero.

II. What is the Proposed Plan for the Building?

The Park 51 Group has proposed a thirteen story building which will include:

1. Recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
2. 500-seat auditorium
3. Restaurant and Culinary School
4. Cultural amenities: Art exhibitions, Musical Performances
5. Education programs
6. Library, reading room and art studios
7. Childcare services
8. A prayer area ( On the thirteenth floor will be an Islamic prayer room which will be run be run separately from Park 51 but open to the New York Community)
9. September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space (open to all)

Cordoba House will be a center for multifaith dialogue and engagement within Park 51's broader range of programs and activities. Cordoba House will be developing under the leadership of Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf, a program manager for Park 51 in the interim stage.

III. Does the City of New York own the land that the Islamic Center will be constructed on?

No, the City of New York does not own the land. Nor does the Federal Government. This is private property and the owner purchased the vacant building when no one else could see the value. This building has remained empty since September 11th when a wheel from one of the planes came crashing through the structure. Many of the buildings nearby are vacant and the neighborhood is struggling to pull away from possible blight. Businesses that existed before September 11th have failed due to the loss of foot traffic. The Islamic Center will bring people and activity into the area and will benefit the struggling shop owners nearby.

IV. The Proposed Islamic Center is Not a Mosque?

"That it may even be called a mosque is debatable. It is designed as a multi-use complex with a space set aside for prayer -- no minarets, no muezzin calls to prayer blaring onto Park Place."
-Clyde Haberman of the New York Times

Matt Sledge explains, "The 92nd Street Y, on which the Cordoba House is explicitly modeled, has a whole host of Jewish events that take place inside of it, but no one calls it a synagogue."

V. Isn't the Proposed Cordoba Center offensive to the families who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001?

Many Muslims in the World Trade Center towers died during the September 11th attacks. Their relatives mourn and shed tears the same way the families of Jews, Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Agnostics, and Atheists do. Some of the first responders were Muslims and perished when the Twin Towers collapsed.

VI. Just how far is the Proposed Islamic Center from Ground Zero?


Map by Matt Sledge in the Huffington Post


"From 45 Park Place, the former Burlington Coat Factory building that will make way for the Cordoba House, it's two blocks, around a corner, to get to the WTC site. Park Place doesn't lie between the construction site and any mass transit stations, so you would need to go out of your way to have it offend you."
-Matt Sledge


Matt Sledge in the Huffington Post explains his video: "If you look up the walking directions you'll notice that it takes a couple of minutes to walk the distance (approximately a tenth of a mile) between the two spots. Pretty much two minutes exactly when I took the trip with a shaky video camera. Here's the clip, first sped up to 4X speed then slowed down to 1X:"

VII. Who is in favor of building the Islamic Center?

Yesterday New York City's former Mayor Ed Koch agreed with President Obama, current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the local community board overseeing the proposed Islamic Center's construction, that New York should "protect the legitimate rights of American Muslims to build" the proposed Islamic Center.



"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
-President Barack Obama

Ed Koch writes that President Obama's "position will be remembered by later generations of Americans with the same high regard as President George Washington's letter in 1790 to the Jews of Rhode Island who built the Touro Synagogue in that state." Mayor Koch relates how Moses Seixas of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, wrote to George Washington:

" -- a Government, which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance -- but generously affording to all Liberty of conscience, and immunities of Citizenship: -- deeming every one, of whatever Nation, tongue, or language equal parts of the great governmental Machine:"

President Washington responded with these powerful words:

"... The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent national gifts. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."

Gregg Chadwick
New Amsterdam
20"x16" oil on linen 2010

VIII. Is the area around the proposed Islamic Center zoned for religious centers?

Numerous religious centers and houses of worship exist in Lower Manhattan. St Peter's Church, the oldest Roman Catholic parish in New York City was built in 1840. The church was damaged during the September 11, 2001 attacks. St. Paul's Chapel, at 209 Broadway, an Episcopal church, sits opposite the east side of the World Trade Center site. It is the oldest surviving church building in the city. There already is a Mosque four blocks away from ground zero. It was created long before the Twin Towers were built.


IX. Who is Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf?

"A vast common ground does exist, a point that the leader of the Cordoba Center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, evokes in his book "What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America." There is no better way to defeat the morally bankrupt ideology of al-Qaida than to seek that common ground."
-Professor Parvez Ahmed

"Imam Feisal has participated at the Aspen Institute in Muslim-Christian-Jewish working groups looking at ways to promote greater religious tolerance," Walter Isaacson, head of The Aspen Institute told the Huffington Post. "He has consistently denounced radical Islam and terrorism, and promoted a moderate and tolerant Islam. Some of this work was done under the auspices of his own group, the Cordoba Initiative. I liked his book, and I participated in some of the meetings in 2004 or so. This is why I find it a shame that his good work is being undermined by this inflamed dispute. He is the type of leader we should be celebrating in America, not undermining."

Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf actively promotes peace and understanding between religions and defines what President Obama called for in his comments at the White House on Friday evening during a dinner to mark the start of Ramadan:

"A nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in contrast to the religious conflict that persists around the globe."

X. What do New Yorkers think?

"The people who live and work here are not obsessed with 9/11. The blocks around Ground Zero are like every other hard-working neighborhood in New York, where Muslims are just another thread of the city fabric. At this point the only argument against this project is fear, specifically fear of Muslims, and that’s a bigoted, cowardly and completely indefensible position."
-Daryl Lang

Blogger Daryl Lang, a New York City resident, posted this week a provocative collection of photos that depict the current neighborhood around the World Trade Center site. Businesses in the two block radius range from a strip club, to fast food joints, to an off track betting parlor.


Photo by Daryl Lang from his post “Hallowed Ground”: A few photos of stuff the same distance from the World Trade Center as the “Ground Zero Mosque” from his wonderful blog: History Eraser Button.

XI. What do you think about the Proposed Islamic Center?

"If there is going to be a reformist movement in Islam, it is going to emerge from places like the proposed institute. We should be encouraging groups like the one behind this project, not demonizing them. Were this mosque being built in a foreign city, chances are that the U.S. government would be funding it."
-Fareed Zakaria


September 11, 2001 will not be forgotten. But as the rubble is cleared and wounds heal, life continues in Lower Manhattan. Hard working New Yorkers of all faiths and cultures try to find their own small part of the American Dream. Are we going to allow fear mongers to push the Park 51 project out of lower Manhattan? Ed Koch reminds us of an ugly moment in American history and encourages us " not to do again, albeit in different form and to a different group, what we did to Japanese-Americans during World War II when we rounded them up without cause. No Japanese-American was ever charged with treason, notwithstanding that they were placed in internment camps for the balance of the war."
The Park 51 project should be built in Lower Manhattan and all Americans should celebrate our freedoms by supporting all faiths and all cultural groups. Moments such as these define the character of the United States.



"We're all about multiple points of entry, offering programming in the areas of arts and culture, education and recreation. Within that larger vision, Cordoba House will be a center for multifaith dialogue and engagement within Park51's broader range of programs and activities."
-From the Cordoba House website


More at:
Matt Sledge
Read Daryl Lang's complete post and view all of his photos at:
“Hallowed Ground” A few photos of stuff the same distance from the World Trade Center as the “Ground Zero Mosque”:
Park 51's Cordoba House website

Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell on Today’s Ninth Circuit Ruling in Prop 8 Case

photo by Richard Perry / New York Times
Pictured in this New York Times photo from 2009 is my courageous family member Hannah Johnson tearing up as she applauds a New Jersey Senate committee vote on a bill to legalize gay marriage. The bill passed a committee vote but stalled in the Senate. The struggle continues in New Jersey and in California.

(San Francisco, CA, August 16, 2010) — Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Proposition 8 proponents’ motion to stay U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision, which means that same-sex couples in California will not be able to marry while the case is on appeal. However, the Ninth Circuit put the appeal on a fast track and specifically directed that the Prop 8 proponents address "why the appeal should not be dismissed for lack of Article III standing” in their opening brief.

________________________________________

Statement on the from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell

”Every additional day that couples must wait to marry again in California is painful, but despite the terrible disappointment for the many couples whose right to marry has been delayed yet again, today’s ruling includes another significant victory for our side. The court did the right thing by putting the case on a fast track and specifically ordering that Prop 8 proponents show why they have a legal right to appeal. This ruling brings us one step closer to ending the nightmare of Prop 8, and restoring full equality for all Californians.”

More at:
The National Center for Lesbian Rights

The Translator

In spite of its brevity, Daoud Hari's "The Translator" is an important book. Daoud's words courageously shed light on the horrors taking place in Darfur. On July 14, 2008 the International Criminal Court in the Hague charged Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, with ten counts of war crimes, three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. The ICC Prosecution charges that President al-Bashir "masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part" three tribal groups in Darfur because of their ethnicity. As I write this in August 2010, over two years after the publication of "The Translator", President al-Bashir has not been brought to justice and the situation in the Sudan has become increasingly untenable. After a brief cease fire in February 2010, the killings in Darfur continue.

Daoud Hari remains exiled in the United States where his writing and speaking engagements continue to gather international support to end what many call genocide in Darfur. Hari's small volume, which chronicles his harrowing journeys across the war torn landscape, weighs heavily in the international discourse about Darfur. Daoud Hari's "The Translator" is a must read for the politically engaged.

Airborne Toxic Event's Song for Neda

Airborne Toxic Event's Song for Neda

The Call - ندا -Neda, originally uploaded by greggchadwick.

Gregg Chadwick
The Call - ندا -Neda
36"x48" oil on linen 2009

Let the Wedding Bells Ring: Same Sex Marriage Stay Denied. Gay Marriages To Resume in California on Wed., August 18, 2010

The evidence presented at trial and the position of the representatives of the State of California show that an injunction against enforcement of Proposition 8 is in the public’s interest. Accordingly, the court concludes that the public interest counsels against entry of the stay proponents seek.

None of the factors the court weighs in considering a motion to stay favors granting a stay.

Accordingly, proponents’ motion for a stay is DENIED. Doc #705.
The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment forthwith.

That judgment shall be STAYED until August 18, 2010 at 5PMPDT at which time defendants and all persons under their control or supervision shall cease to apply or enforce Proposition 8.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

VAUGHN R WALKER United States District Chief Judge

Full Decision at:
Same Sex Marriage Stay Denied

Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Judge in San Francisco

REMEDIES

Plaintiffs have demonstrated by overwhelming evidence that Proposition 8 violates their due process and equal protection rights and that they will continue to suffer these constitutional violations until state officials cease enforcement of Proposition 8. California is able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as it has already issued 18,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples and has not suffered any demonstrated harm as a result,see FF 64-66; moreover, California officials have chosen not to defend Proposition 8 in these proceedings.

Because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the court orders entry of judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement; prohibiting the official defendants from applying or enforcing Proposition 8 and directing the official defendants that all persons under their control or supervision shall not apply or enforce Proposition 8. The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment without bond in favor of plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors and against defendants and defendant-intervenors pursuant to FRCP 58.

IT IS SO ORDERED."

Full Decision at:
Full Decision: Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Judge in San Francisco

Governor Schwarznegger's Response is Classy:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a ruling invalidating Proposition 8:

“Judge Walker had the great responsibility of deciding whether Proposition 8 violates the Constitution of the United States. He heard in-depth arguments from both sides on fundamental questions of due process, equal protection and freedom from discrimination. There are strong feelings on both sides of this issue, and I am glad that all viewpoints were respected throughout the proceedings. We should also recognize that there will continue to be different points of view in the wake of this decision.

“For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for all Californians to consider our history of leading the way to the future, and our growing reputation of treating all people and their relationships with equal respect and dignity.

“Today's decision is by no means California's first milestone, nor our last, on America's road to equality and freedom for all people.”

Governor Schwarznegger's Response to the Judge's Ruling Against Prop8

The Shadows of Time

Kamila Shamsie's novel "Burnt Shadows" uses a cinemascope vision to portray a Japanese woman's struggle to understand her life in a spinning world where historic forces seem to lead her and her family into an inevitable showdown with fate. Hiroko carries the memories and scars imprinted into her skin from the atomic blast in Nagasaki in 1945 from Japan to India to post-partition Pakistan. Her son Raza carries the memories into a politically charged New York where the events of September 11, 2001 still loom in our headlines. Shamsie deftly leads the reader through the haunted landscapes of the last sixty years and by distilling chilling historical events through the vision of one family her words shed light into the shadows of time.

An important work that I highly recommend.

More on the author:
Kamila Shamsie: British Council Contemporary Authors
Find "Burnt Shadows"

Initial Thoughts on Inception

Christopher Nolan's "Inception" is the box office smash of the summer of 2010 which is indicative of the film's place in the new century. Whether the film will stand alongside "Citizen Kane" or "Taxi Driver" is up to the future to decide. But it can be argued that Nolan's film provides a necessary contemporary conduit for the questions: "What is reality?" and "Who decides what reality is?"



The Persistence of Being
Gregg Chadwick
36"x24" oil on linen 2010

U2 Debuts New Song at 360 Tour Rehearsal in Torino, Italy

An August surprise from U2. Listen with the crowd waiting for the Torino show as the band runs through a new song and others during the soundcheck. Rumor has it that Miss Sarajevo will also be played on this leg of the tour ...

Las Piedras del Cielo

Gregg Chadwick
Las Piedras del Cielo
16"x20" oil on linen 2010

"From the top they could make out, apart from the canyon, some small boulders which seemed to be as high as a man. Those who went down and who reached them swore that they were taller than the great tower of Seville."
- Pedro de Casteneda, notes from the Coronado Expedition

"I have heard rumors of visitors who were disappointed. The same people will be disappointed at the Day of Judgment. In fact, the Grand Canyon is a sort of landscape Day of Judgment. It is not a show place, a beauty spot, but a revelation"
- J. B. Priestley

My latest paintings gather thoughts and images of time, history and place. On a day when a federal judge blocks the imposition of a biased law, I post my painting in solidarity with the myriad cultures that call this land home. For the Hopi it is a sacred place called Ongtupqa. Spanish settlers described the Gran Cañón. Many speak of the Grand Canyon as if contemporary residents were the first to feel the power of its great beauty. But the stones themselves seem to speak of the history of time.

More at:
Judge Blocks Key Parts of Immigration Law in Arizona
How the Canyon Became Grand
by Stephen J. Pyne

Die Kathedrale Der Bucher (The Cathedral of Books)

Gregg Chadwick
Die Kathedrale Der Bucher (The Cathedral of Books)
20"x16" oil on linen 2010

I am back from Berlin steeped in imagery and inspiration and new work. Today, books are on my mind as my latest painting was inspired by the Selexyz Dominicanen, a bookstore in Maastricht, the Netherlands, located in a deconsecrated Dominican Church. Also, Michael Krasny interviewed Phil Cousineau about his latest book Wordcatcher which includes over twenty images of my artworks inspired by Phil's marvelous word histories.


Phil Cousineau Catches Words with Michael Krasny

The Persistence of Being

Gregg Chadwick
The Persistence of Being
36"x24" oil on linen 2010

Cadillac Desert

Gregg Chadwick
24"x36" oil on linen 2010

Happy Father's Day!

Kent Chadwick in a Saffron Hug


Bob Chadwick in Uniform


Ralph Heilemann in DC9 Hat

The Furrow
-WS Merwin

Did I think it would abide as it was forever
all that time ago the turned earth in the old garden
where I stood in spring remembering spring in another place
that had ceased to exist and the dug roots kept giving up
their black tokens their coins and bone buttons and shoe nails
made by hands and bits of plates as the thin clouds
of that season slipped past gray branches on which the early
white petals were catching their light and I thought I knew
something of age then my own age which had conveyed me
to there and the ages of the trees and the walls and houses
from before my coming and the age of the new seeds as I
set each one in the ground to begin to remember
what to become and the order in which to return
and even the other age into which I was passing
all the time while I was thinking of something different

Obama's Oval Office Call for Clean Energy: Full Transcript and Video

Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill

Full Transcript of Speech from the Oval Office

June 15, 2010
8:01 P.M. EDT

Good evening. As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists. And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.

On April 20th, an explosion ripped through BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers lost their lives. Seventeen others were injured. And soon, nearly a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water.

Because there has never been a leak this size at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits of human technology. That’s why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy. Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice.

As a result of these efforts, we’ve directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and technology. And in the coming weeks and days, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well. This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that’s expected to stop the leak completely.

Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it’s not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years.

But make no mistake: We will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long as it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.

Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward: what we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and what we’re doing to make sure that a catastrophe like this never happens again.

First, the cleanup. From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history -- an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost 40 years of experience responding to disasters. We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are working across four states to contain and clean up the oil. Thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf. And I’ve authorized the deployment of over 17,000 National Guard members along the coast. These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, they’re ready to help clean the beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims -- and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible.

Because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming and other collection methods. Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil. We’ve approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try to stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we’re working with Alabama, Mississippi and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines.

As the cleanup continues, we will offer whatever additional resources and assistance our coastal states may need. Now, a mobilization of this speed and magnitude will never be perfect, and new challenges will always arise. I saw and heard evidence of that during this trip. So if something isn’t working, we want to hear about it. If there are problems in the operation, we will fix them.

But we have to recognize that despite our best efforts, oil has already caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife. And sadly, no matter how effective our response is, there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done. That’s why the second thing we’re focused on is the recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast.

You know, for generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water. That living is now in jeopardy. I’ve talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don’t know how they’re going to support their families this year. I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers -– even in areas where the beaches are not yet affected. I’ve talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists might start coming back. The sadness and the anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost.

I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.

Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short term, it’s also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bounty of this region. The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that’s already suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats. And the region still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That’s why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment.

I make that commitment tonight. Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy, who is also a former governor of Mississippi and a son of the Gulf Coast, to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists and other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region.

The third part of our response plan is the steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster like this does not happen again. A few months ago, I approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance that it would be absolutely safe –- that the proper technology would be in place and the necessary precautions would be taken.

That obviously was not the case in the Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why. The American people deserve to know why. The families I met with last week who lost their loved ones in the explosion -- these families deserve to know why. And so I’ve established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place. Already, I’ve issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue. And while I urge the Commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, I expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially.

One place we’ve already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service. Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility -- a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves. At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations.

When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the Interior, one of his very first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency. But it’s now clear that the problem there ran much deeper, and the pace of reform was just too slow. And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency -- Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and Inspector General. And his charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog -- not its partner.

So one of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations, better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20 percent of the world’s oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean -- because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked -- not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.

We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America’s innovation and seize control of our own destiny.

This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels is going to take some time, but over the last year and a half, we’ve already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that someday will lead to entire new industries.

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of jobs -– but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation –- workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors.
When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill –- a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses.

Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And there are some who believe that we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy -– because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.

So I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party -– as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development -– and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet. You know, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny -– our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how we’re going to get there. We know we’ll get there.

It’s a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.

Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region’s fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe. It’s called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and today it’s a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea -– some for weeks at a time.
The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad. It took place after Katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago –- at the beginning of the most difficult season these fishermen have ever faced.

And still, they came and they prayed. For as a priest and former fisherman once said of the tradition, “The blessing is not that God has promised to remove all obstacles and dangers. The blessing is that He is with us always,” a blessing that’s granted “even in the midst of the storm.”

The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face. This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again. What sees us through -– what has always seen us through –- is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it.

Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

BuddhaFest "Om" Flashmob in a Washington DC Bookstore

"June 09, 2010 — What if we could make a difference by doing something simple? A bunch of us walked into a bookstore in downtown Washington, DC, sat down and started chanting OM. Here's what happened."

BuddhaFest "Om" Flashmob in a Washington DC Bookstore
Produced by Cory Wilson

DC's First Buddhist Film Festival runs from June 17th until June 20th.

SCHEDULE
All events at the Katzen Arts Center at American University unless otherwise noted on the schedule. A few events will be held across the street at the Kay Spiritual Life Center.

Location

4400 Massachusetts Ave, Washington, DC, 20016

THURSDAY - JUNE 17

6:30 PM | Opening Reception: Featuring contemporary Asian refreshments from Mie N Yu of Georgetown and an opening ceremony led by Tibetan Drupon Tinley Ningpo.

8:00 PM | Opening Film: Cherry Blossoms

FRIDAY - JUNE 18

4:30 PM | FREE SCREENING: Fire Under the Snow

7:00 PM | Program: Tara Brach and Lama Surya Das

Living Buddha - Awakening in Today's World. Lama Surya Das and Tara Brach share teachings and practices that invite the unfolding of our deepest human potential for love, understanding and freedom.

9:00 PM | Screening: Dhamma Brothers

SATURDAY - JUNE 19

10:00 AM | Meditation and Teaching: Lama Surya Das

11:30 AM | Lunch (on own)

1:00 PM | Soto Zen Priest Ryumon H.G. Baldoquin, Sensei leads a meditation and talk as an introduction to the 2 pm film.

Talk: Can We Hear the Birds Sing? An Intimate Look at Differences within U.S. Buddhism.

2:00 PM | World Premiere Screening: Colors of Compassion: The Teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh

3:00 PM | Q&A with Eloise DeLeon, the filmmaker. Ryumon H.G. Baldoquin, Sensei will then lead a discussion about the film and the issues raised in it.

4:30 PM | Screening: Tulku

6:30 PM | Screening: Burma VJ, 2010 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary

7:00 PM | Screening: Blessings (at the Kay Spiritual Life Center)

9:00 PM | Screening: Meditate and Destroy

9:00 PM | Screening: The Buddha (at the Kay Spiritual Life Center)

SUNDAY - JUNE 20

10:00 AM | Meditation and Teaching: Lama Tsony

11:30 AM | Picnic for Peace
Take part in a meditation on peace and enjoy a meal with others who share the same vision. A vegetarian meal plus a bottle of water will be available for $7. You may also bring your own lunch.

1:00 PM | Screening: Peace is Every Step

2:00 PM | Discussion: Peace In, Peace Out

Hugh Byrne, co-founder of the Washington Buddhist Peace Fellowship, leads a panel discussion on the film and on engaged Buddhism. Panelists include Bill Aiken, associate national director of Soka Gakkai International - USA Buddhist Association, and peace activist Colman McCarthy, founder of the Center for Teaching Peace.

A commitment to the Buddhist principles of compassion, peace and equanimity poses the challenge of embodying those qualities at work, school, in family life, and through social action. Join us for a group discussion on engaged Buddhism, on how peace on the inside can lead to peace on the outside, and how meditation in action can change the world.

3:00 PM | FREE Workshop: Want to Be a Peacemaker? Start at Home

Everyone has grand theories about solving conflicts across the ocean, but it's across the living room where it gets tricky - or wild. Colman McCarthy leads this one-hour workshop on the basic steps of nonviolent conflict resolution.

3:30 PM | Double-Feature Screening: Compassion in Exile

4:30 PM | And: Dreaming Lhasa

5:30 - 7:00 PM | Tibetan Dinner: Enjoy delicious homemade Tibetan food for dinner while supporting our local Tibetan community. No ticket required. You may purchase food a la carte.

7:00 PM | Closing Program: Sharon Salzberg
A leading American teacher and author concludes the festival with a meditation and talk. Special musical guest Ben Beirs. The evening will conclude with a closing ceremony of chants and prayers led by Tibetan Drupon Tinley Ningpo.



Gregg Chadwick
Shumisen
Posted in solidarity with BuddhaFest

Details at:
BuddhaFest

Presented by Eric Forbis & Gabriel Riera
Made possible by a team of volunteers
Sponsored by the Kay Spiritual Life Center at American University
And the Insight Meditation Community of Washington
With appreciation to the International Buddhist Film Festival



Thanks to Gabriel for the info!

Gregg Chadwick @ Artwalk Culver City June 5th, 2010

From the curator:

Murmurs
New Paintings By Gregg Chadwick
Artwalk Culver City 2010


“In Gregg Chadwick’s paintings there is an elegiac tone, a kind of nostalgia for a manifestation of the purely spiritual that most of us can never hope to attain. The paintings are truly captivating in that they invite us irresistibly into their spaces and hold the attention there in their swirl of light and color, suggesting inexhaustible depths of experience for the eye to explore.”
-Peter Clothier

It is my pleasure to feature Gregg Chadwick’s artwork to a growing audience at the Artwalk Culver City 2010. Chadwick’s vision is global and inclusive. The paintings in Murmurs encourage viewers to travel into their haunting beauty. Fittingly, within the past year Chadwick’s paintings have entered collections in Tokyo, Rio, Paris, and Amsterdam as well as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston.

Chadwick is currently at work on paintings for a major exhibition slated to open in October 2010 at the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery located in the historic city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. A book on his art will be published in conjunction with this exhibit.

Another solo show of Chadwick’s work is set to open at the Monterey College Art Gallery in October 2011. Gregg Chadwick’s painting Painter and Model will be exhibited in the Julie Nester Gallery’s exploration of the self-portrait in contemporary art. The exhibition opens on June 14, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

When:
Saturday, June 5, 2010 from 12-8pm
Artwalk Culver City 2010

Where:
@ SP, 8540 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California 90232

Curated by Kelly Colbert
more info: 919 225 9370 greggchadwick@earthlink.net

HBO Documentary "For Neda" Streaming Online (Farsi)

The Call - ندا -Neda, originally uploaded by greggchadwick.

Gregg Chadwick
The Call - ندا -Neda
36"x48" oil on linen 2009

HBO Documentary "For Neda" Streaming Online (English)

The Call - ندا -Neda, originally uploaded by greggchadwick.

Gregg Chadwick
The Call - ندا -Neda
36"x48" oil on linen 2009

Louise Bourgeois Has Died at 98

Louise Bourgeois photographed in 1990 behind her marble sculpture Eye to Eye (1970)
Photo Raimon Ramis
© Adagp, Paris 2008

"I have been to Hell and back and let me tell you it was wonderful."
- Louise Bourgeois

The artist Louise Bourgeois has died at 98 on Monday at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. It seemed that she would live forever. Her career has been historic.
Holland Cotter has just written in the New York Times that "her psychologically charged abstract sculptures, drawings and prints had a galvanizing effect on younger artists, particularly women."

I have been inspired by Louise Bourgeois' work for quite some time, having encountered her sculptures for the first time when I was a High School student taking classes at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC. Her life ends but the mystery embodied in her artwork lives on.

A recent bio provides the details:

"Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911 to a family of tapestry restorers. In 1938, Bourgeois married American art historian Robert Goldwater and moved to New York City, where she currently lives and works. In a career extending over seven decades, Bourgeois has explored her memories and fears in a complex body of work ranging from poetic drawings to room size installations. She has stated that she gives her emotions and fears a physical form. In 1982, Bourgeois was the first woman artist to receive a Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She represented America at the Venice Biennale in 1993, and was given the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 1997. In 2007, the Tate Modern in London, in collaboration with Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, organized a Retrospective of her work that travelled to the Guggenheim, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Hirshhorn in the United States."

More details to follow...

Louise Bourgeois, Artist and Sculptor, Is Dead
E' morta a 99 anni la grande Louis Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois edition to benefit Freedom to Marry

"Everyone should have the right to marry. To make a commitment to love someone forever is a beautiful thing."
- Louise Bourgeois


Louise Bourgeois
I do, 2010
Archival dyes on cloth with embroidery
16 × 12 inches; 40.6 × 30.4 cm
Edition of 300 with 35 APs
Gift of the Artist; Courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York

Murmurs

Gregg Chadwick
Murmurs
36"x48" oil on linen 2010

Dennis Hopper - Artist, Actor, Collector - Dies at 74

Andy Warhol
Portrait of Dennis Hopper
silkscreen on canvas 1971

“The American art world often likes to put artists into boxes. You’re an artist, not a filmmaker. You’re a photographer, not a painter. But Dennis shows you can blur those boundaries, which is very current and exciting.”
-Jeffrey Deitch

Dennis Hopper has died at 74 just weeks before an exhibit of his work will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Over the years Hopper has created paintings and photographs along with his films. His photographs are noteworthy because of his unique access to his portrait subjects such as Andy Warhol and because of his romantic, brooding aesthetic.


Dennis Hopper
Double Standard
silver gelatin print 1961

Jori Finkel in the Los Angeles Times noted that " most big museum exhibitions take years to organize, but new director Jeffrey Deitch had the idea for this show just a couple of months ago when visiting Julian Schnabel, a longtime friend of Hopper."

“We’re rushing this exhibition because Dennis Hopper is ailing,” Deitch says, “and I wanted him to be able to participate in the selection of works. He saw the space with us last week.”

Dennis Hopper's exhibit Double Standard opens at MOCA on July 11, 2010:
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles



Dennis Hopper Discusses His Art Collection

A poignant piece on Dennis Hopper by Richard Stayton in the Los Angeles Times:
An uneasy ride with Dennis Hopper
A wonderful interview with Hopper from the November 2008 issue of Venice Magazine:
Dennis Hopper: The Hollywood Interview


Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild plays over the opening scene of Dennis Hopper's film Easy Rider


Dennis Hopper and Portrait of Dennis Hopper by Julian Schnabel

Jung's Red Book at UCLA's Hammer Museum until June 6, 2010

by Gregg Chadwick



"L.A. is a city where people come to find themselves and explore new ways of thinking and being. They have a longing for an understanding of soul, and find themselves drawn to Jung."
-Nancy Furlotti, (co-president of the Philemon Foundation which financed the the translation of The Red Book)

At the Hammer Museum until June 6th is the exhibition The Red Book of C. G. Jung: Creation of a New Cosmology. On display for the first time on the west coast is psychologist Carl Jung’s (1875-1961) Red Book. Many scholars consider Jung's Red Book the most influential unpublished work in psychology. The Hammer Museum explains that "Jung also considered the Red Book to be his most important work, or as Jung described it, the "prima materia for a lifetime’s work."

Jung's massive illuminated volume has spent most of its existence in a Swiss safe deposit box. Only a select group has ever been allowed to view Jung's Red Book. Thanks to the Rubin Museum in New York, the Foundation of the Works of C. G. Jung, the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, the C.G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, and the Jung family private archive, we now have the chance to view the Red Book.

The Hammer's show is intimately presented. Jung's Red Book is displayed open in a glass case in the middle of the exhibition space. Facsimile edition's of the Red Book printed by W.W. Norton & Company line one wall while Jung's thoughts, sketches and paintings encircle the room.

Jung sought to find a visual form for his dreams and fantasies and ended up using a mandala like structure in his graphic work. Similar in appearance to Tibetan Buddhist artworks, Jung's drawings and paintings evoke a world outside the flow of physical time. Instead we are given a fascinating glimpse into Jung's psyche. This once in a lifetime opportunity is not to be missed. And the lecture series (see below for an example) is noteworthy as well.


HAMMER LECTURES
RED BOOK DIALOGUES: LAWRENCE WESCHLER & DENNIS PATRICK SLATTERY




More at:
Jung's Red Book at the Hammer Museum until June 6, 2010
Susan Emerling in the Los Angeles Times on Jung's Red Book

Book of Twilight

Gregg Chadwick
Book of Twilight (Crepusculario )
16"x16" oil on linen 2010

LOST: The End & JMW Turner

JMW Turner
Regulus
91 x 124 cm. oil on canvas 1828-29, finished 1837
Tate Gallery, London
© Tate
"I saw that the sun was a lump of white standing out like the boss of a shield."
-Sir John Gilbert (after watching Turner paint on Varnishing Day)



Last night the final episode of Lost was broadcast on ABC. After a six year run the series ends almost as it began with a close up of Jack's face. Six years ago, Jack opened an eye to the strange new world of the island. Last night his eye closed to the mystery.

Satisfyingly, the mystery remains for us. The intersection of quantum physics and myth that seemed to engender the island remains tantalizingly out of reach. Jack's father may have walked offscreen into a heavenly light in the slide sideways/ slide metaphysical finale but on the island the tangible wreckage of a plane remains in the final shot before the credits roll.

At the start of this season, Chad W Post on the WSJ's Speakeasy wrote,"So if Lost wraps up with a definitive conclusion, with a series of resolutions and answers to all the mysteries, I’ll be disappointed. Great works of art don’t work that way. Great works of art are open to interpretation. If I already know the solution, why revisit the puzzle?"

Yesterday, in Paris the exhibition Turner and the Masters closed as well. I had the opportunity to visit the Grand Palais a few weeks ago and reveled in the light in Turner's works. In JMW Turner's paintings, light and shade are not abstract concepts nor a means to an end. Light and Shadow for Turner were in a sense palpable beings or characters.

As this season's episodes of Lost built to a conclusion, the dichotomy of light and shadow gained screen time. At times this duality was schematically rendered as black and white or as a glowing cavern and a shifting being of smoke. In a mythic sense were Jacob and the Man in Black merely personifications of day and night? Or was there a darker battle between Good and Evil that threatened all existence?


JMW Turner
Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego in the Burning Fiery Furnace
918 x 708 mm oil on mahogany exh 1832
Tate Gallery, London
© Tate

Turner would have had fun with the themes and imagery in Lost. I can only imagine how much richer and powerful Turner's depiction of the glowing cavern would have been. In the hands of a master like Turner a simple medium of pigment and oil can create a world that far surpasses the technological feats of digital graphics.

Turner learned much from the artists who preceded him. From Claude Lorrain, Aelbert Cuyp, Rembrandt and others Turner learned "to blend ... in all the golden colour of ambient vapour." It is the mystery within this blending of light and shadow that draws us back into Turner's paintings over and over again.

Chad W. Post hoped that "the final moments of Lost echo the ambiguously abrupt ending of The Crying of Lot 49, which leaves the reader tantalizingly close to resolution but forces them to go back through the book time and again, revisiting key brilliant passages in hopes of figuring it all out. I want my Lost incomplete. I want it to leave me with a desire to keep re-watching and debating. I want it to remain the great work of art it has become over the past five seasons."




Some Other Thoughts on the Lost Finale:

Chad W. Post writes "In terms of the overall narrative arc, I thought this was pretty brilliant and satisfying. The show has always been more about the characters than the mysteries. And the more time that passes (hello 1:30am!), the happier I am with how Lost resolved itself."

Tyler Cowen writes on Marginal Revolution,"Overall I thought it was the best final episode of a series I have seen, with close competition from The Sopranos."

James Poniewozik at TIME Magazine writes: "Lost, was not perfect, because nothing is. I still believe that Jacob and the Man in Black were never characterized as richly as other characters, like Ben, which rendered Locke in the end too much of a generic baddie. And the final images--with the heavenly light shining though the doorway of the chapel, as Christian walked into it a la Close Encounters--were a bit overly touched by an angel. But the finale, as good TV finales do, captured what the show's essence. Lost is a story about community, connections and interdependence. You live together, it told us, or you die alone. And when you live together--when you share of yourself and make meaning with others--you never die alone, even when you die bleeding out on the floor of a bamboo forest."



Sir John Gilbert wrote after watching Turner paint on Varnishing Day:

"He had been the Royal Academy all the morning, and seemed likely, judging by the state of the picture, to remain for the rest of the day. He was absorbed in his work, did not look about him, but kept on scumbling a lot of white into his picture -nearly all over it. The subject was a Claude-like composition, a bay or harbour-classic buildings on the banks of either side and in the centre the sun. The picture was a mass of red and. yellow in all varieties. Every object was in this fiery state. He had a large palette, nothing on it but a huge lump of flake white; he had two or three biggish hog tools to work with, and with these he was driving the white into all the hollows, and every part of the surface. . . . The picture gradually became wonderfully effective, just the effect of brilliant sunshine absorbing everything and throwing a misty haze over every object. Standing sideway of the canvas, I saw that the sun was a lump of white standing out like the boss of a shield."

Much more at:

LOSTWatch
Turner and the Masters
Turner et Ses Peintres
Chad W. Post is the director of Open Letter Books at the University of Rochester and Three Percent, a website dedicated to promoting international literature.
:Chad W Post on the WSJ's Speakeasy