Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

NoLa Rising Arrives in San Diego

Custom NoLA Rising Posters Now Available

New, custom made posters showcasing the fighting spirit of NoLA Rising is now available through our good friend and ally, Mags. If you would like one of these beautifully appointed posters for your collection, visit Mags at

http://www.artbymags.com/

Those of us at NoLA Rising are looking forward to having Mags back at home (in NoLA) where she belongs. For those of y'all interested. This will also be the design of our first solo t-shirt. Stickers of this design will be coming out in the next week or so.



Plans are also well underway for our partnership with DEFEND NEW ORLEANS for a joint venture shirt coming out this fall. This strategic partnership transcends business as we are in the final stages of setting up our status in Louisiana as a non-profit, where J.C. of D.N.O. has decided to join the board and continue the battle for the culture of New Orleans on another front.

RIP SOLVE - Brendan Scanlon

ReX sends his second official letter of condolence to the family of Brendan Scanlon. Though ReX and Solve had never met, ReX has long admired many of his pieces from afar. We here at NoLA Rising have seen what violence does to a city, a family and the spirit of community. Let us honor him for his conviction and celebrate his life. For more information about our fallen brother, check out a flickr group honoring him:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ripsolve/



Click on the NOTICE to enlarge and read. NoLA Rising will be sending a donation to the Madison East High School, In honor of Brendan Scanlon, 2222 E. Washington Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53704 and we kindly request that you consider also.

G.I.T.M.O. Arrives on the Scene

ReX has received a message today from G.I.T.M.O., the group taking responsibility for the F. RAdTke stencils of his face and the empty bubble...emblematic of the fact that he has nothing interesting or worthwhile to say. It's an open-ended project (revolution!) that allows the passer-byer to fill in statements according to their sentiments. Here is what G.I.T.M.O. has to say to introduce themselves and their call to action:

G.I.T.M.O.
Galloping Indelibly Toward Mass Outfreakage

Greetings citizens of New Orleans, we are G.I.T.M.O.
We are one and many.
There's a chance you have seen our handiwork around town.
If you haven't, here are some examples:




You will soon be seeing xeroxes of the stencil with instructions at various locations around town.
this is an open invitation to anyone who wants to join in on the fun.
This fall be on the lookout for phase 2 of G.I.T.M.O.
sincerely,
G.I.T.M.O.

DISCLAIMER: I would like to add that I am unaware of the members of G.I.T.M.O., but their recent efforts show that they are many and they are strong. In other news, F.R. allegedly attacked a boy yesterday in the Lower Garden District with mace pepper spray...details to follow once I get a full report and can accurately make a news report.

What is Art? - Dave Bachli shows XO Studios to Doug McCash from Times-Picayune

Dave Bachli shows XO Studios to Doug McCash of Times-Picayune. See what he has to say here:

X/o Studios

NoLA Rising Photo Triptych by Robin Walker

This following is a repost from Robin Walker about a photo shoot we did. I personally believe that Robin is one of the ten best photographers in the city and is getting better by the day. You can see some of her work HERE. ALSO, click on the picture if you'd like to view the full triptych...



Now for the Re-post:

Statue: Jaggedsoul
Body Painting: Michael Dingler
Artist, Fred, Tagger: Michael Dingler
Lighting designer/technician/badass assistant: Max Prophet
Photographer: Robin Walker
This little brainchild of mine was inspired by Mike Dingler's recent legal battle with the city of New Orleans, posed upon him courtesy of Fred Radtke.

For those of you not from New Orleans or not in the know, I'll give you a synopsis:

Michael "Rex" Dingler is an artist in New Orleans who founded Nola Rising, a project that creates signs that bear messages of hope for a floundering city and posts them around the city. They are usually brightly colored pieces of art that generally make people smile. Many other people joined the Nola Rising family and started creating art and helped him hang it around the city.

Fred Radtke is a generally hated radical vigilante who started Project Clean Sweep in New Orleans. His non-profit organization’s goal is to wipe out graffiti in the city. He does this by smearing gray paint on any piece, bomb, tag, or sticker he sees. He’s even been known to paint over flyers people have posted. Graffiti artists respond by painting over the gray blocks. Some have created stickers with stylized images of Radtke that read “Fred Radtke is a ticking time bomb” or “Fred Radtke is a criminal”. Recently, someone started stenciling a photo of Fred’s head with the text “Fred Sez” underneath him and an empty word bubble over his head so that taggers can voice their dislike for the violent “activist”. His most recent endeavor: painting over Nola Rising artwork, which is in no way graffiti.

Late last year, he launched a personal vendetta against Michael Dingler and set out to “financially cripple” him. He got the city involved and Michael was cited on many different counts and faced a potential fine of $50k.

Instead of stopping his project, it brought more publicity to it and rallied more people behind him. The Nola Rising family grew and soon hundreds of signs were created. Benefit shows were held and money was raised for Michael’s defense fund. A petition was passed around stating that Nola Rising was much loved art and not graffiti.

When the court date rolled around, Michael was ready and Radtke made a fool of himself in court. In the end, he was basically given a slap on the wrist and a $200 fine. He was told he couldn’t personally hang the signs anymore. It was a small victory for Mike and Nola Rising, but we’re sure Radtke’s fight to stop his project will not end. The good thing is that this has raised a lot of buzz on Radtke’s actions and the widespread dislike for him, and the numerous lawsuits raised by business and property owners whose properties he’s illegally painted on, have come to light. I think New Orleans will soon see a stop to this villain.

I want to thank Rex Dingler, Max Prophet,and Jaggedsoul for all of their help on this project. Without them, this idea never would have come to life.

As seen on the streets of Toronto, Canada

NoLA Rising maintains its presence in Canada!




Thanks Toes!

ANTICS of NoLA Rising

Ladies and Gentlemen, but especially the ladies, this Saturday night at One Eyed Jacks: ANTICS by NoLA Rising (if our shipment comes in in time) before and during GOOD GUYS!

It's yous, Take It - The New Orleans Show

It’s Yours, Take It

In coordination with four cities around the world, NoLA Rising presented the It’s Yours, Take It show on June 7th, 2008. The other four cities are in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and Singapore.

Throughout the course of a few hours, over a hundred and fifty pieces of artwork were displayed and freely given to people passing by. Pieces disappeared much faster than we thought and we stuck around to linger and take pictures of people grabbing up artwork.

The most amazing thing was how some people couldn’t quite grasp the concept that it was free. The number one response was, “why?” Well, “why not” is my number one answer to that 9 out of 10 times in life.

We made a party of it there on the street and we abandoned what was left around four or so. I returned around midnight to find about six lonely pieces, of which two were swept up right in front of my eyes. It was great to see that even many hours later, pieces were still going.

I ran into Adé (of Café Brasil) around that time and we talked about the show. I thanked him for letting me use his building and we’ve secured the use of it in the future when we do it again.

For those of you who want to know more about It’s Yours, Take It, go to:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/itsyourstakeit/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolarisingproject/sets/72157605511425717/

NoLA Rising presents It's Yours, Take It - Video by Adam Copus of WWLTV


A quick shot of the artwork once we realized some of it may go quickly, as we had to beat a few people with sticks (just kidding...we used whips). This was early on, but some of the artwork was already taken...

The Many Faces of It's Yours, Take It

In the Flickr group, It's Yours, Take It, there's a name for the people who take the artwork that is left for people to have for free. They are called The Takers. It's rare that shots of The Takers are produced, as there's often the case that the artwork is left. NoLA Rising decided to stick around and get some shots with such Takers. We did our best to record as much of the artwork and the people as we could, but as soon as we started, artwork began disappearing. In the end, a great day was had by all. Now, for a long litany of photos, The Takers:

My favorite taker of the day

Master Jeff of L'art Noir

Super Group

She believes in Love

Oh, he got a good one!

Couple in Love

Very proud of the lovely rendition of elephant butt

CAFE BRASIL! NoLA Rising! It's Yours, Take It!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!

NoLA Rising is proud to announce the location of It's Yours, Take It...a free interactive art show. For everyone who has eagerly awaited this day, it has arrived. This is your opportunity to come and pick out a single piece of artwork so long as supplies last.

WHERE DAMMIT?!?!?! CAFE BRASIL! On the corner of Frenchman and Chartres AT NOON. A super special thanks to Ade (who's name can't be properly spelled here because of the lackluster program I am currently using...so it's pronounced Ah-day, but not slowly). He has generously let multiple art shows and markets occur on and in his property and the chain of friendship with our little show is greatly appreciated.

NoLA Rising believes in art for the people. NoLA Rising believes that Art Can Heal the Wounded Soul. NoLA Rising believes in New Orleans and the promotion of our arts both here and abroad. NoLA Rising not only reinforces our city as the cultural base of the South, but also as one of the premier locations for emerging arts in the greatest renaissance to ever happen to a major American city.

We have nowhere to go but up, brothers and sisters! Come and join us at Cafe Brasil.

Afterwards, from 5 to until whenever, we'll be having the after party at XO Studios in the Marigny at the corner of Dauphine and Press. We'll call it an art swap. Come join us, swap your piece with someone else if you like, show it off like it's bling for your wall, baby! Come, crush a cup of wine with us...!



Special thanks also to L'art Noir, the St. Claude Arts District, SKULL CLUB!, Cargill Inc., Bonus Saves, Sherri!, Ranger Dave, Defend New Orleans, NooMoon, Avi, Naughty Kitty, Robin Walker, MaxMan, NOLady, our brothers at Humid City, Charlotte, Mark F., Maitri, Meryl, Tim R., & Jennifer D. And, of course, to everyone who comes out to paint and everyone who sent in artwork.

Remembering Bobby

A good friend shared this. I pass it on to you;

“Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation … It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
RFK, 1968

R.I.P - RFK, June 5, 1968

---

Thanks to Lord David for posting this

It's Yours, Take It: New Orleans Location Set

NoLA Rising has set the location for the It’s Yours, Take It show occurring on Saturday, June 7th. Sometime in the afternoon, we’ll set the artwork up with the permission of a local business owner and allow for the progression of the interactive public exhibition to take place. The location of the show will remain a closely held state secret until the night before if not the day of…if we remember to post it at all.

For those of you wanting a clue as to where to go for this pedestrian delight, this feast of color, the only hint to be given as that you will be able to find it downriver from the Quarter, upriver of Chalmette, due north of Algiers Point and south of Dillard University. So, we hope to see you out there…

And to the business owner letting us do this at his place, we thank you in advance and will praise him for his greatness when we announce the location.