[Announcer] Funding for "The Art Show" is made possible by, The L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, the George and Margaret McLane Foundation.

Additional funding provided by... and viewers like you.

Thank you.

In this edition of "The Art Show," printmaking inspired by nature.

(upbeat music) Reinterpreting history through dance.

(upbeat music) Breaking the cycle of gun violence through art.

(upbeat music) And exploring a monochromatic monumental sculpture.

It's all ahead on this edition of "The Art Show."

(upbeat music) Hi I'm Rodney Veal and welcome to "The Art Show."

Where each week we provide access to local, regional and national artists and arts organizations.

Pull Club is a women-owned design and printmaking studio based in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati.

Formed by three friends from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Their business specializes in textile and paper screen printed goods.

Inspired by nature, humor and the Midwest, Pull Club creates new items and patterns each season, with an eye on what they think will have broad appeal year round.

Here's their story.

(upbeat music) Hey-- I think we draw our inspiration from our surroundings.

A lot of our things are humorous, but also we really love nature.

It comes across in I think, everything we make.

There is usually animals or plants or something like that involved in it.

So really, it's based on kind of everything and anything from our lives, history is what we're doing, where we're going.

I'm Linda winder, Amy Scarpello, Chelsey Hughes.

And we're Pull Club.

I like the way I drew this mouse.

I didn't recreate that in the drawing but we all each have our own kind of drawing and illustration style.

I like to start by actually physically drawing usually.

And I'll do like a little sketch or something like that.

If it's like gonna end up on a t-shirt or paper print and then I will either scan something or I will just go ahead and start drawing in the computer at that point.

It's always a collaborative effort at some point.

So whether it's Chelsey makes a drawing and sends it to us, Linda and I are gonna give some input feedback.

Like if there's gonna be text on it or colors or make it simpler, make it... we kind of like will push each other in that regard especially when designing for ourselves.

When we're in the studio late into the evening, that's where like a lot of our ideas come from.

Just kind of like joking around with each other.

Really, the friendship drives a lot of our ideas.

'Cause it'll just be us hanging out or talking about something and then we'll be like, yeah, that's funny.

It's good enough.

Let's do it.

I think one of the great things about a studio or having some sort of collective is they will push me to do things that, I wouldn't have thought to do, or use certain colors or something that I would've never have done on my own, but it'll push my illustrations to like a new level a lot of the time.

So I think that we all help each other do that.

The core of printmaking it's a process.

And one of the things that I enjoy about it is you can't just jump in and do it.

You can try, (Chelsea chuckling) you're gonna fail and it's not going to work out.

So you have to, every single time I call it leveling up.

Every time we have a project, every time we try something new or different you are learning a new skill.

Or even when you run into a challenge like there's something wrong with the screen, or the colors aren't layering the way we thought.

You work through it and you learn and that's the only way.

And if you're learning, you learn from someone who's really passionate about it and has done it for a long time.

Even the difference between fabric printing and doing the paper prints.

And the screens on that fabric it's like a t-shirt screen or any other kind of fabric screen, the mesh is more open, so it allows for more ink to touch the fabric because the fabric will absorb more ink.

It's just like the feel of pulling the squeegee through is a little different than when you press on the paper.

It's like a thing you kind of have to learn to feel and do enough times that you're like, "I know exactly how much pressure to put on this" from doing the run.

So it's really a thing you learn by doing, I'd say.

I think the special thing about print is being able to do multiples, which just lends itself to an entrepreneurial spirit very easily.

I love the limitations of it, of the art form.

I love taking an image and being like, how can I translate this in the least amount of colors but still get my message in the feeling across?

(upbeat music) For us like this, the whole thing has been just a huge learning experience and also been a great experience for us to use our various skill sets in different ways and build on those both individually and collectively.

So I think for anyone who has interest in doing that or trying to make something bigger out of like their passions, it's not as scary as it seems.

It's a little scary.

It's a little scary, but then it's like not that bad.

I feel like a lot of pride by being around for like five years.

Feels like pretty substantial especially when we were starting out and had zero expectation of even being in business.

(upbeat music) If you'd like to learn more about this or any other story on today's show visit us online @cetconnect.org or thinktv.org.

Our next story takes us to Oklahoma and a dark chapter in American history.

On May 30th, 1921 a young black man wrote rode alone in an elevator with a young white woman.

Accounts of an incident that allegedly took place between them soon erupted into what became the Tulsa race massacre.

For the Greenwood art project, choreographer Ari Christopher created "This Car Up" a dance film an art installation that examines and reinterprets this catalyzing event.

A word of warning, this story contains material you may find upsetting.

(suspenseful music) I felt like, looking at the story of Sarah Page and Dick Roland in the elevator was a way that I could contribute to the storytelling and the civic healing around the Greenwood race massacre or Tulsa race massacre.

The film for me is a way to look at all these things and explore different relationships.

Texture... Maybe they're friends, they're lovers.

They're going somewhere special, secret.

Please remember what we talked about with the pelvis.

[Kevyn] Yes.

I proposed the piece to the Greenwood Art Project.

Well, before COVID was on my radar.

Oh, one arm.

One arm is like a door rather than a scoop.

And then I also needed to find dancers who were already working together and sharing germs.

So that we could make our safe bubble for them and they could take their masks off.

And then this one, can we also loop.

When you reach the end, can you just right away, it should end on a four or a five wait for the next one or... And then we met by zoom for about three hours to rehearse.

They were artists, they showed up and they brought their whole selves and they were really great to work with.

All I need is for you to enjoy yourself.

-We are.

-Yeah.

Yeah, because this is gonna be a long, it's gonna be a long day.

It's going to be a long weekend.

Yeah.

There was a kind of light-aired wonderment in the first scene.

We're in all white, there's lots of light.

It's about a proposal it's romantic.

Like Roma was working on her romantic, like engagement squeal.

And so there's this like lightheartedness that makes that part more fun to engage with.

(indistinct chatter) I know you're right.

The romantic windows and the white walls, can help bring forward the story , that maybe Sarah and David were romantic.

And the black void, that black box, they almost seem like especially when they're wearing white, they almost seem like ghosts.

Kind of just suspended in time.

Yes just like that.

And then in the adversarial section, I had a really hard time choreographing for that.

It can be really touchy to go that aggressive side.

So that was a big challenge yesterday.

I think it was good to check in with each other.

(upbeat music) Don't wanna make another piece of art or culture.

That could be another piece of evidence that black men are dangerous.

But we still have to address it, right?

To be responsible and to tell the story.

I was really amazed to see how those movement ideas played out in the elevator so differently, than in the larger spaces.

It seems to put a magnifying glass and really push up the intensity of those exchanges.

(gentle music) I'm aware that I'm probably one of the only white artists involved in the Greenwood Art Project.

When we were in the black box, we wore whites... And I think about five years ago...

The dip?

Yeah.

The dip can you be?

Yeah.

That would have made me real nervous and real upset and question my right to be a part of this.

Now I question more my responsibility to be a part of it.

I remember when my mom...

Okay, so we were walking around the pond at the Greenwood Cultural Center in probably 1988 or '89.

And I had been going to school in North Tulsa as one of the only white kids at school since kindergarten.

And she stopped and she looked at me and she said, "Do you know what happened here?"

I said, no.

And she said... (suspenseful music) "There was a massacre."

(gentle music) And so I looked around and I was like, "Well, where are the memorials?

"Where are the plaques?"

I didn't think it was true honestly.

I'm interested in it because I'm still processing.

Right, but maybe now it's the contact point and flexing the fingers back.

Dance can't really teach you the specifics of time, date, location and address and all of these things.

So if it keeps its value, it keeps its value because it activates empathy in the audience.

(gentle music) And I wanted to put forward.

Time and space.

This idea that you could be a little more careful about what you assert to be the reality of things.

(upbeat music) "The Art Show" is going to be traveling around Southwest Ohio.

You might see this logo in your neighborhood.

Follow the travels of "The Art Show" on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @thinktv @cetconnect.

And check out The Art Show hashtag.

Now let's visit the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida to meet Senior Melvin Gomez.

We step into his studio to learn how he is using this talent to break the cycle of gun violence.

(gentle music) Since my childhood, I was supposed to be creative by making my own toys with the material that I found in nature including wood, clay, rock.

And since then, I have been really interested in art.

And one of my neighbor he's a painter and I always looked at him, he's working and at some point I asked him if he was willing to teach me because he don't teach.

And he say yes.

So I start having classes with him, with my neighbor.

And that's how I start getting truly into painting and drawing.

And in 2014, I got the opportunity to study visual art in an international school in Norway, and I met Kimberly White, Associate Director International Admissions from Ringling.

And I knew about the fine art program.

And I say, I want to go there.

As department head I look at all the applications and when Melvin arrived, he came from the school in Norway.

So I thought he would be Norwegian.

And then he showed up on campus and obviously he was not Norwegian.

He's a really gifted painter.

He's expressive, he's got great content.

That's there.

He's trying to deal with the human condition and bigger issues.

But just in the general way of applying paint, I just love his surfaces and a sense of color and composition and form and brush marks.

He knows that his hand can make certain marks that no one else's can.

This kind of mark is more appropriate for the horse.

This kind of mark is more appropriate for the figure.

This kind of mark is more appropriate for the landscape or the light source and the clouds.

That ability to grasp that and to organize it and then to adjust it continuously is like, I think everyone who has worked around Melvin knows that like his trajectory is like superstar level.

And we're all glad to be part of it.

I would say it's incredibly rare.

And the level of sophistication goes into not just like great technical skills as far as rendering, but seeing some of the compositions, you start to see right away all those dynamics of interaction, social, political and historic as well.

There is really a strong composition to see children shooting a horse, but I grew up in El Salvador around that social context with guns.

I don't want to glorify violence at the same time, I want also the viewers to have their own interpretation when they confront my painting.

Because for instance, the painting in the back, it's a concert of life and death.

You can talk about philosophy with Melvin.

You can talk about like political things.

You can talk about really deep intellectual associations of subject matter that oftentimes you never get to that point in a conversation with students.

My art has some classical approach in my artistic process but at the same time I'm trying to pursue and find my own voice.

He knows what he's doing, and we're just here to help along with like technical advice, conceptual advice, maybe some references or historic context but the subject matter, the themes, what he's creating, inventing and transferring to the surface, that's entirely it's beautiful.

That is my main inspiration to express human condition, emotion, feelings and desire.

And I use my personal experience as an inspiration.

(gentle music) In 2009, my life changed forever.

(suspenseful music) I was a victim of gang violence in my country.

(gentle music) I saw art in a way, it gave me hope and motivation to move forward in life.

I wake up happy to pursue my passion and I'm so happy to come to my studio because there is a painting waiting for me.

There's been times where I've come in here, there's been a Thursday class and I come back in on Monday and I'm like, "How did you even do all this work?

"Did you sleep?"

I am gonna graduate in May next year.

My goal at the moment is to teach.

Also I want to go back to my country and share what my Ringling taught me.

I went back to my country after I finished my studies in Norway.

And I opened an art school for children with the mission of breaking the cycle of gun violence and providing the tool to create art three years ago, with my neighbor who taught me painting classes.

And I told him while I'm not here you are in charge from the art school, and when I come back, I'll take full responsibility.

My main focus is to keep them busy and spend their time positive.

It'd be great for Melvin to stay here.

I think he'd be incredible asset to the community and a great leader and maybe he'll come back.

But I think he could bring all those traits back to his home country and really build something special over there.

It's truly important.

Painting to me in some way I will say saved my life because it truly gave me a new perspective in life and I don't see myself doing something else.

Did you miss an episode of "The Art Show?"

No problem.

You can watch it on demand @cetconnect.org and @thinktv.org.

You'll find all the previous episodes as well as current episodes and links to the artist we feature.

Artist Louise Nevelson's sculpture Mrs. N's Palace is monumental.

Made up of over 100 discarded objects collected around New York city, it took 13 years to complete.

Let's visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to look back at the exhibit epic abstraction which featured this work and learn more.

(gentle music) This spectacular sculpture behind me is titled Mrs. N's Palace.

And it's one of the great works by the American sculptor Louise Nevelson.

It's actually composed of pieces that date back in time to as early as 1964, though it was assembled as a unique work in 1977.

Mrs. N's palace is one of the Nevelson's greatest works but it hasn't been seen at the Met for many years.

Installing it here on the second floor of the Met's modern wing took quite an effort, but it was well worth it.

The work itself is comprised of about 130 individual sculptural collages.

These relief collages that then are attached to a large box.

The sculpture is comprised of scraps of detritus that she collected all across the city creating these abstracts in many cases, relief sculptures which she then treats primarily by painting in black.

Nevelson described her materials as the skin that New York has shed and that she is scavenging and then giving new life making art.

That's both in a way about New York, but also of New York.

In many instances, her original source material is discernible without much effort.

There are boxes from filing cabinets and from staircases and ballast trades where she's repurposed architectural salvage parts are quite heavy in appearance and even sort of aggressive in effect but other parts are lyrical, elegant, thin, whimsical, even.

In other instances her materials are really difficult or impossible to discern and register really as unique abstract sculpture.

The title derives from a couple of sources.

One is that, her nickname in the neighborhood where she lived was Mrs. N, and "palace" is evocative.

She intended this work to be her ideal habitat or a kind of shrine to herself.

This is Nevelson creating her own universe.

An environment that's based entirely on her own sculptural practice and her vision as an artist which in a way tied wonderfully to her desire to live her own life on her own terms.

(gentle music) If you wanna see more from "The Art Show," connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You'll find us @thinktv and cetconnect.

And don't forget to check out "The Art Show" channel on YouTube.

And that wraps it up for this edition of "The Art Show" until next time, I'm Rodney Veal.

Thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) [Narrator] Funding for "The Art Show" is made possible by, The L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, The George and Margaret McLane Foundation.

Additional funding provided by... and viewers like you.

Closed captioning in part has been made possible through a grant from the Bahmann Foundation.

Thank you.