An open letter to Senator Bernie Sanders from an American of Cuban ancestry

Havana street, 1950s

Senator Bernie Sanders,

There's a grossly erroneous perception, driven home by Hollywood movies and the narrative of the left worldwide, that pre-Castro Cuba was ripe for the Castro brothers due to the extreme poverty in the island, corruption, backwardness, disease, illiteracy, etc.

Nothing could be further away from the truth.

Senator Sanders'... your well documented admiration for the Cuban Revolution, cemented this last weekend by your comments during the 60 Minutes interview, is the most recent incarnation of the American left's fascination and support for the bloody regime which has brutalized Cuba for decades.

Senator Sanders: To whoever fed you the line about literacy in Cuba before Castro: In 1956, the United Nations literacy report noted Cuba had the second highest level of literacy in Latin America and higher than several countries in Europe.  Fidel Castro did not lift Cuba from the darkness of not knowing how to read and write.

Cuba was the most likely, and also ironically and tragically, the least likely of all Latin American nations to fall under the clutches of Communism. In 1953 Fidel Castro wrote (In History Will Absolve Me):

"Once upon a time there was a Republic. It had its constitution, its laws, its civil rights, its President, a Congress, and law courts. Everyone could assemble, associate, speak and write with complete freedom. Public opinion was respected and heeded and all problems of common interest were freely discussed. There were political parties, radio and television debates and forums and public meetings. The whole nation pulsated with enthusiasm."

Then he, and his brother, erased that Republic, brutalized it, and replaced it with a Communist dictatorship.

Cuba was not a backwards island nation in 1959....

• In 1829, Cuba was the first nation of Latin America, and also before several European nations, to use steam ships.
• In 1837, Cuba became the third nation in the world, after England and the US, to build a railroad. It also had the causal effect of creating a significant Chinese immigration to the island.
• The first doctor to use anesthesia in medical operations in Latin America (and also before Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and many other European nations) was a Cuban. It was ether and the year was 1847.
• In 1860, in the city of Cardenas, two clinics started the world’s first health insurance projects. Known then as Mutual Benefit Organizations, these MBO's were the precursors of what are known today in the US as Health Maintenance Organizations or HMO's. Membership in one of Cardenas's MBO's gave its members access to all of the then available medical treatments that the clinics offered. As the medical systems and clinics developed, most Cuban hospitals and clinics provided free healthcare to the poor.
• The first Latin American to play professional baseball in the US (and the “father of Cuban baseball) was the Cuban, Esteban Bellan in 1871.
• The very first demonstration on planet Earth of an industry powered entirely by electricity was in done in Havana in 1877.
• In 1881, a Cuban epidemiologist, Dr. Carlos Finlay, was the first to discover the transmitting agent of yellow fever, the mosquito Aedes Aegypti, which now also happens to carry zika. Dr. Finlay studied medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in the US.
• The first system of electric lighting in all of Latin America, and also before a dozen European countries was installed in Cuba in 1889.
• The first streetcar in Latin America (and before six European nations) began operation in Havana in 1900.
• In 1900, before at any other country of Latin America, the first automobile arrived in Cuba. By 1959, there were more Cadillacs in Havana than in New York City.
• The first Latin American woman to drive a car was the Cuban writer Renee Mendez Cape in 1900.
• The first Latin American Olympic champion was a Cuban. The gold medal was won by the fencer Ramon Fonst Segundo, in 1900 (he also won a silver in that Olympiad). In 1904 Fonts won three gold medals in fencing!
• The first Ibero-American nation to abolish bullfights was Cuba in 1901.
• In 1902, when Cuba finally broke away from Spain, the island had been the source of between 50%-75% of the entire Spanish Gross National Product.
• The first city on the planet to have a direct dialing telephone system was Havana in 1906. The second city in the world to have a direct dial telephone system was Santiago de Cuba, the capital of the Oriente province. All through the first half of the century, Cuba had more telephones per capita than any Latin American country except Argentina and Uruguay.
• In 1907, the first x-ray medical department in Latin America (and before nearly every European nation) was established in Havana.
• On the 17th of May, 1913 the first international aerial flight in Latin America was achieved by the Cuban pilots, Agustin Parla and Domingo Rosillo del Toro. The flight was between Cuba and Bone Key, Florida and lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes.
• Cuba, in 1918, was the first country of Latin America to grant divorces to married couples.
• The first Latin American (and the first person born outside of Europe) to win the world championship of chess was the Cuban master, Jose Raul Capablanca. He’s considered one of the greatest players of all time and was world champion form 1921-1927. He only lost 35 matches in his lifetime.
• In 1922 Cuba was the second nation in the world to have a commercial radio station, and the first nation in the world to broadcast a music concert. By 1928 Cuba had 61 radio transmitters, 43 of them in Havana, giving the nation the fourth place of the world, only surpassed by the US, Canada and the Soviet Union.
• In 1935 the concept of the radio novel and radio series was created by the Cuban Felix B. Caignet. That was the seminal birth of the telenovela as well!
• In 1935, the first black man to play professional baseball in the then segregated Major Leagues (and 12 years before Jackie Robinson) was the Cuban player Roberto Estalella. Cuban professional baseball had never been segregated.
• In 1937 Cuba was the first nation in Latin America (and before most European countries) to establish a legal work day of 8 hours. It also established a minimum wage!
• In 1940 Cuba became the first country of Latin America (and also before many European nations) to elect politicians by universal suffrage and absolute majority.
• Also in 1940, when 70% of the Cuban population was white, Cuban voters elected a black Cuban as President (Fulgencio Batista). Batista was the first (and so far only) black  President elected in Latin America.
• In 1940, Cuba was the first nation in Latin America (and before several European nations) to recognize and authorize the right to vote for women, the equality of rights between sexes and races, and the right of women to work.
• In 1942, the Cuban musical director Ernesto Lecuona became the first Latin American musical director to receive a nomination for an Oscar.
• The second country in the world with a commercial television station was Cuba in 1950. Throughout the decade, Cubans had more TV sets per capita than any other Latin American country, and more than Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal.
• Also in 1950, Damaso Perez Prado’s mambo piece Patricia was the number one record for 15 consecutive weeks in the Hit Parade list.
• In 1951, Desi Arnaz became the leading producer in American television. He also pioneered the concept of a third camera in television programming.
• In 1951, the Hotel Riviera became the first hotel in the world with central air conditioning
• A year later, in 1952, the first all-concrete apartment buildings in the world were built in Havana.
• In 1953, about 57% of the Cuban population was urban and more than 50% of the population lived in cities with more than 25,000 inhabitants, 33% lived in four cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
• In 1953, one-sixth of the population lived in Havana, making it the third-largest capital in the world in relation to the total number of the nation's inhabitants (after London and Vienna).
• In 1954 Cubans had the third highest meat consumption per capita in Latin America (after Argentina and Uruguay) and higher than most European countries.
• In 1955, Cuba had the second lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America, 33.4 per thousand born and the third lowest in the world. It ranked ahead of France, Belgium, West Germany, Japan, Austria, Italy, and Spain.
• In 1955, life expectancy in the US was 66.7 years. Life expectancy in Cuba was among the highest in the world at 63 years of age; compared to 52 in other Latin American countries, 43 in Asia, and 37 in Africa.
• 
  
• In 1956, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce analysis, Cuba was "the most heavily capitalized country in Latin America" and its "network of railways and highways blanket the country."
•  
• In 1957, a United Nations report noted that Cuba had the third largest number of doctors per capita (one for each 957 inhabitants) in Latin America, and more doctors per capita than Britain, Holland and Italy.
• The same UN report also noted that  Cuba had the number one percentage of electric access to houses in Latin America (and higher than Portugal, Spain, Greece, Ireland, and all of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union), and second in Latin America, after Uruguay, in per capita daily caloric consumption (2870 calories per person). This was also higher than all Eastern European nations and three Western European nations.
• In 1957 Havana became the second city on the planet to have a 3D movie theater and a multiscreen theater (the Cinema Radio Center).
• In 1957 Cuba had more television stations (23) than any other country in Latin America, way ahead of much larger countries such as Mexico (12 television stations) and Venezuela (10).
• In 1957 Cuba was first in Latin America, and ranked eighth in the world in number of radio stations (160), ahead of countries such as Austria (83 radio stations), United Kingdom (62), and France (50).
• In 1958 Cuba was the second country in the world to broadcast television in color. The US, of course, was the first.
• In 1958, Cuba was the first country in Latin America, and the third country in the world with the most cars per capita (one for every 38 inhabitants).
• Cuba was also first in Latin America and third in the world with the most electric home appliances per capita.
• In 1958 Cuba was the first country in Latin America and third in the world (after the US and England) with the most kilometers of railway lines per square kilometer and the second in the total number of radio receivers.
• In 1958 Cuba had 58 daily newspapers of all political hues. There were 18 daily newspapers in Havana alone. Bohemia magazine, with a circulation of 250,000, was the largest Spanish language weekly magazine in the world.
• People wanted to immigrate to Cuba – not escape from Cuba! Despite drastic immigration curbs set in place in the 1930s, when European immigrants almost matched the number of natural born Cubans, during the entire decade of the 1950's, Cuba was second in Latin America in the number of immigrants per capita.
• In 1958, and in spite of its small size, and small number of people (6.5 million inhabitants in 1958), Cuba ranked as the 29th largest economy in the world, ahead of several European nations.
• In 1959, Havana ranked as the number one city in the world with movie theatres (358). New York and Paris were second and third, respectively.
• By 1959 Cuba had a large middle class comprising about a third of the population and 23% of the working class was classified as “skilled.”
• In 1959, Cuba's gold reserves were third in Latin America, behind only Venezuela and Brazil.
• Cuba had the third-highest per capita income in Latin America, exceeded only by Argentina and Venezuela (around $550 a year). It was also higher than Italy, Japan, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal and every single Eastern European nation in the Soviet bloc.

And then came 1959 and the Castro Brothers’ Workers’ Paradise… Since 1959, over one million Cubans have escaped from the island, and tens of thousands have died attempting the escape.

You lost Florida this weekend.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

                                                          Sir Winston Churchill

Very respectfully,

Florencio Lennox Campello

An American of Cuban Ancestry

Read this book

To simply state that this book was the most eye opening experience ever delivered to me since I learned how to read would be a gross understatement! This book is not only a disturbing history lesson on how the perfect social storm led to the cunning manipulation of the consumers’ habits and preferences, but also a deeper scientific understanding of how they can be steered and driven in our feeding processes. 

The intelligence preparation of the grocery aisle battle space alone makes for voracious reading (pun intended), while the scientific backgrounds to taste and visual attraction to packaging are also immensely helpful to forever educate when we next visit the supermarket.

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this mutant trying to rip off artists!

Captain Charles (charlesk300300@gmail.com)

Top of the Morning to you, I actually observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes some of your art piece, I must also say you are doing a great job. I would like to know what inspired that work. I am very much interested in the purchase to surprise my wife. Regards Captain Charles { charlesk300300@gmail.com }

Wanna a local residency?

Due: March 16, 2020

The Visual Arts Department at Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, is pleased to announce the following opportunity:

Artist in Residence Program: A semester-long program including personal studio space, opportunity to interact and collaborate with students, and honorarium. Applicants can specify Fall or Spring semester. Access to department art facilities can be arranged. Please note: housing is not provided. 

https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/academics/departments/visual-performing-arts-tpss/artist-in-residence-tpss.html

Isla Llorona for Queen's University

An alumni of Queens University of Charlotte in Charlotte, NC just donated the below 1978 painting of mine to the University!

"Isla Llorona"
Oil and Acrylics on Gessoed Paper. 1978 F. Lennox Campello, 37.5 x 50 inches (framed)

This 1978 painting is from my Cuba series, which I did for a class assignment while a student at the School of Art at The University of Washington and brooding, green Seattle.

This series, which I actually started in 1976, before I was even a college student, uses the brutalized island of Cuba to deliver textual and visual messages about the sad fate of the continent's longest running dictatorship.

On this piece, I painted the words "Cachita, si puedes tu con Dios hablar, preguntale por que razon, al Caribe, con mis lagrimas quiere llenar."  

This translates to: The words in Spanish translate to: “Cachita, if you can talk to God, ask Him why with my tears the Caribbean He wants to fill…”

Cachita is the familiar Cuban slang for the Virgin of The Charity of El Cobre, the Patron Saint of Cuba.

Opportunity for artists

Due: March 22, 2020

The Visual Arts Department at Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus -- Applications for Open Gallery Themed Exhibition Series, Transcending Borders.

For the 2020/2021 season, we invite artists to work with real or perceived restrictions, containments, rules, or labels in such a way as to push beyond their limitations. These borders could be self-imposed, cultural, societal, physical, or natural divisions. This exhibition would be an opportunity to challenge, question, conform, or break these constraints.
https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/academics/departments/visual-performing-arts-tpss/tpss-gallery-call-for-entries.html

Frida at auction

This 1981 proof just showed up for auction at an auction house in Florida - as I recall, I did this work for portrait class at the School of Art at the University of Washington... I did it as a lithograph edition of ten, and thus with one work I also got credit for it at Printmaking class! Two birds with one stone!

Bid for it here.

From HumanitiesDC

Some good opportunities here:

The deadline is one month away to submit your application for the Humanities Vision and Humanitini Curator grants:

The Humanities Vision Grant provides financial and capacity building resources to community organizations interested in creating innovative interpretations of humanities scholarship for public audiences. The grants are driven by the proposed final product; each grant will produce an educational resource that will be added to a publicly accessible, online archive. Deadline: March 13, 2020.

Learn more about the Humanities Vision Grant and how to apply by registering for one of our upcoming webinars .

The updated Humanitini Curator Grant provides opportunities for graduate students and others conducting and presenting original humanities research. Each Curator will create a public humanities program based on their research or area of expertise. The public programs will follow HumanitiesDC's successful Humanitini model that brings thoughtful humanities discussions to Washington, DC's happy-hour scene. Deadline: March 13, 2020.

But there's more!

• We are proud to announce a new grant partnership opportunity! The Youth Media Literacy Grant is for organizations to develop media literacy curricula that can be used for either an in-school or out-of-school time program for students ages 12 to 18.
• Last year's debut DC Documentary Short Film Partnership Grant (DC DOCS)  is back. DC DOCS supports documentary film projects that record the District's history, people or places. 
•  Soul of the City Partnership Grant encourages the development and execution of a high-quality, national model level, Humanities-driven, youth engagement program for young people, ages 14-19.
•  DC Community Heritage Project Grant will afford communities, neighborhood organizations, churches and others the change to tell their stories through public humanities projects.

Visit our Partnership Grants web page or view/download the 2020 Grants Flyer for more information.  Thanks for helping us share these exciting opportunities!

CARL ALEXANDER: The Last Unknown Washington Color School Painter

CARL ALEXANDER:  

The Last Unknown Washington Color School Painter

view exhibit

Show dates: February 14 - March 21, 2020

Meet the Artists Receptions:

Thursday, February 13, 5-8 pm and Saturday, February 15, 2-6 pm

  Closing Reception: Saturday, March 21, 2-6 pm

ZENITH GALLERY

Few among us have had the pleasure of seeing the color field paintings of artist Carl Alexander, most of which were created in the 1950's. Many of these handsome abstract works were painted when Carl was a student of art at Howard University working under the tutelage of Washington Color School artist Morris Louis. Carl and I shared the rare experience of being among the few students working with Louis in 1953. Importantly, six decades later, Carl's beautifully executed paintings hold their own in the company of the highly regarded color field paintings by other Washington artists done in the 1950's and 1960's. Carl, like his friend and colleague, Kenneth Young, worked quietly as artists/designers at the Smithsonian Institution here in the nation's capitol until their retirement.                                                         - David C. Driskell

Primary Color Geo by Carl A. Alexander

The 1953 meeting of artists Morris Louis (1912-1962), and Kenneth Noland (1924-2010), set off a new movement known as the Washington Color School. They expanded on Abstract Expressionism with a heavy focus on the role of color and its application. New York art critic Clement Greenberg promoted it in his landmark exhibit Post-Painterly Abstraction in 1964. The Washington Color School subsequently reached international fame, and remains the DMV's "key" artistic movement.

Carl A. Alexander (b. 1930), a native Washingtonian, attended Howard University in the mid-1950's when Morris Louis was appointed an instructor there. Alexander was exposed to the early stages of the Washington Color School. Through his connection with Louis he met and socialized with other notable Color School painters, such as Gene Davis, Howard Mehring, Thomas Downing, Alma Thomas, and James Hilleary. This influenced, Alexander's paintings, especially his treatment of color, have a certain resemblance to Louis' notable veil paintings. His friendships with Downing and Mehring are also evident by his use of the circle motif. After graduating Howard, Alexander worked at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History until he retired.

An Art Critic Accidentally Shattered a $19,000 Glass Sculpture

... she placed a Coke can on one of the stone elements in order to take a picture as a critique of the work.

Lésper, who is known as a provocateur, defended herself, telling Milenio, the Mexico City newspaper she writes for, that she placed the can near, but not on, the sculpture when it shattered. “I had an empty can of soda, I tried to put it on one of the stones, but the work exploded,” she said. “It was like the work heard my comment and felt what I thought of it.” She denied deliberately endangering the work, or attempting to leave the scene of the accident.

Read the whole article by Javier Pes here. 

Artists and Makers Studios Parklawn - 5th Anniversary Celebrations!

Artists and Makers Studios on Parklawn Drive in Rockville is proud to feature the work of Resident Artists for their 5th Anniversary Celebration in March of 2020 in two galleries with sculpture, jewelry, paintings, fiber, mixed media, printmaking and more. 

David Amoroso exhibits a new series in the large gallery – “Raised by TV”. David’s fondest childhood memories are of the times he spent drawing or watching TV. Meet his favorite characters in his signature larger-than-life portraits. These exhibits will open for their 5th Anniversary First Friday festivities on March 6th between 6pm and 9pm and will showcase Resident Artists’ open studios for browsing and shopping, and acoustic guitar with David Ziegele.

“5th Anniversary Resident Artist Exhibit”
“Raised by TV” with David Amoroso

Opening Reception
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Friday, March 6th, 2020

Artists & Makers Studios11810 Parklawn Dr., Suite 210
Rockville, MD 20852

Call to Artists for Paint It! Ellicott City 2020

Deadline for entry: April 12.

The Howard County Arts Council is seeking artists to take part in the juried portion of Paint It! Ellicott City 2020. The annual plein air paint-out will be held June 25-29 in picturesque and historic Ellicott City, Maryland, with a minimum of $1,000 in total awards given to participating artists. The event will culminate in a gallery exhibit at the Howard County Center for the Arts from June 29 - August 14. Juror: TBA. 

 https://www.hocoarts.org/2020-02-call-to-artists-paint-it-ellicott-city-2020-juried-exhibition/ 

Apply for 2021 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery, Common Ground Gallery, and Concourse Gallery

Deadline: April 5, 2020. 

VisArts invites artists working in all media to apply for 2021 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery, Common Ground Gallery, and Concourse Gallery. Exhibitions in each of the galleries explore the breadth of contemporary art featuring emerging to mid-career artists. Exhibits reflect a wide range of media and experimental approaches that offer the viewer unexpected interactions with art. 

The Gibbs Street Gallery is approximately 1,100 square feet with 16 ft. ceilings. It is on the street level with floor to ceiling windows along one wall. International, national and local artists are welcome to apply. The Common Ground Gallery is located on the second floor and is approximately 300 square feet. 

Artists must live in the Mid-Atlantic region to apply for a solo exhibition in this gallery. 

The Concourse Gallery is located on the second floor and is approximately 500 square feet.  

It has curved windows along one wall. International, national, and local artists are welcome to apply. 

Applicants who have participated in a solo exhibition at VisArts within the past two years are not eligible to apply. 

All application materials must be submitted online through their website no later than 11:59 pm EST on 04/05/2020. 

Click here to submit.

Christie’s Tried a Sale of Art Starting at Just $100. It Paid Off Big Time

Christie’s bet that an online-only sale of lower-priced art would attract new buyers seems to have paid off big time. The sale, dubbed Christie’s 100, featured 92 lots by many well-known contemporary artists, with bids starting at as low as $100. Certain works even sold for considerably less than the average New Yorker’s monthly rent, including a Louise Lawler print for $1,000, and a John Bock work on paper for $750.

Read the whole article by Eileen Kinsella here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 2, 2020

Up to four artists are awarded annually with a solo gallery exhibition in one of two gallery spaces (each approximately 13' x 25') at the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts at Penn State Altoona. 

Open to all visual artists in any media. Entries must have been completed within the last two years. 

Artists will be selected from on-line submissions by a faculty committee. Artists creating original works of art in any media are encouraged to apply. If awarded, artwork must be suitable for installation and must not exceed 84" in any firm dimension. 

Two-dimensional works must not weigh more than 60 lbs., including frame and must be ready to hang with the appropriate attached hardware. Three-dimensional works weighing over 80 lbs must have a base that can be rolled or composed of elements that can be easily moved.

 Digital and non-traditional media will be considered. 

There is no submission fee. 

More info., visit: https://altoona.psu.edu/academics/divisions/arts-humanities/misciagna-family-center-performing-arts/application-ivyside-juried-arts-competition  

Contact: ehf10@psu.edu or call 814-949-5451.

Wanna go to an opening?

CARVED IN STONE | PAINTED WITH LIGHT 

Exhibit Dates: January 21, 2020 - April 4, 2020

MEET THE ARTISTS Reception: Wednesday, February 5, 5-8 pm

1111 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20004

Featured Artists

David Therriault, Carolyn Goodridge & Hubert Jackson 

New Members Show Opens Tomorrow at Foundry

Courtney Applequist and Sheila Blake - New Members Show

February 5 - March 1, 2020

   

       Reception and artists' talk:  Saturday  February 8, 5 - 8 pm

Foundry Gallery

Courtney Applequist
My work draws inspiration from the seen world.  I seek the use of found geometries and colors to depict the feeling of a moment, finding a degree of tension: beauty and dissonance.  I work primarily in oil paint, interjecting charcoal, pastel and other media as the moment requires.  The thoughts I start with are nothing more than a beginning, and I am driven to a new place as the piece unfolds.

Sheila Blake
I’ve been a painter all my life. Creating the illusion of space and light with paint is what thrilled me from the beginning, and it thrills me now.  I went to Cooper Union in New York, lived in California, then moved to Durham, where I taught art at Duke University.  After moving here I taught at the Corcoran.  Now I have a studio in Takoma Park, and keep the demands of life to a minimum so I can paint full time, every day.  There’s so much in these paintings: the light, the mood.  The subterranean menace.

Last week to see this cool show!

Small Treasures  

On display now through February 8, 2020 

At 1429 Iris Street NW, Washington DC 20012  

ARTISTS: Caroline Benchetrit, William Buchanan, F. Lennox Campello, Lea Craigie-Marshall, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Susan Freda, Carolyn Goodridge, Ibou N'Diaye, Peter Hansen, Stephen Hansen, Hubert Jackson, Mihira Karra,  Anne Marchand, Kristine Mays, Hadrian Mendoza, Nancy Nesvet, Carol Newmyer, Keith Norval, Katharine Owens, Suzy Scarborough, Gavin Sewell, Patricia Skinner, Bradley Stevens, Paul Martin-Wolff, Marcie Wolf-Hubbard... 

Artists New to Zenith Gallery: Nina Benton, Najee Dorsey, Lisa Meek

Frazetta and me

When I was a young teen, I ran across the book covers of the late, great master Frank Frazetta.  To say that his artwork made an impression upon me would be the second greatest understatement if all of human history.

I became a Frazetta collector. I bought books, magazines, fanzines, posters, and later on in life, when I could begin to afford it, original artwork.

I met the artist a couple of times in my life, and both times I was essentially hypnotized by what a nice guy he was, and how generous and open.

When I decided to apply to art school at the University of Washington, my application portfolio contained nothing by Frazetta-style works, and comic book style panels.  As my counselor noted during the interview, my application package was not what the review panel was "used to seeing" and thus the interview was going to be "more important that usual."

I was accepted, and in my subjective... cough, cough... opinion, I am currently the second greatest graduate ever from that school... cough, cough.

Two Washington Huskies: Chuck Close and Lenny Campello

But I digress - a well documented Campello habit, which I call "meandering." In the years since, my respect and awe for Frazetta has continued to grow, and he will always be a key part of my artistic footprint.

A few days ago, while searching for something else, I found a couple of the Frazetta style drawings which I created in 1977 for that epic proposal. They are the work of a 20-year-old seeking to imitate a master artist.

I was clearly no Frazetta (by far), and clearly I was soooo lucky that the university's selection panel saw something in these Napoleon Dynamish amateur drawings... Notice how my "art" signature is even in the style of his iconic signature -- but here they are for posterity:

The curious case of the broken Bisque

As most of you know, starting a few years ago, and kindled by a happy accident that I had while creating a piece for a fundraiser for the Smith Center for Healing, I discovered the joy of creating original artwork by recycling broken Bisque, which otherwise be discarded and would fill more landfills somewhere.

Let me digress: I was once told that one of Rome's seven hills is nothing but broken pottery that accumulated over the milennia.

Back to the curious case at hand.  In order to do this, I contacted several of the local DMV area "do it yourself" pottery places - I actually wrote most of them a snail mail letter, asking them to save me their broken Bisque.

Nearly all ignored my letter, except for Color Me Mine in Rockville, which told me that it would take them a few months to accumulate enough broken Bisque that would make it worth for me to take the trip. A couple of weeks later they called me and I came back with two boxes full of broken Bisque.

I used those pieces to create the work which then I exhibited in 2017 at my solo show at Artists and Makers Studio in Rockville and which got this nice review in The Washington Post.  This is what the wall of those pieces looked like:

I was on a roll! Not only creating innovative new artwork which was really catching on well with the public ar art fairs in New York, Houston and Miami, but it was essentially recycling and re-purposing a substrate which otherwise would end up in our landfills.

Campello Bisque wall at Pulse Art Fair Miami Beach 2019

A good all around story... right?

When I was offered another solo show last year at the Stone Tower Gallery in Glen Echo, I contacted all the same local places and even spread out a little further out in MD and VA.  This time I didn't get a single response, so I decided to drop by Color Me Mine in Rockville and All Fired Up in Bethesda, and personally ask for them to save for me their broken Bisque.

Bethesda said they'd have to ask their manager, who wasn't there at the time... since I hang around that area a lot, I came by a few days later and did speak with the manager, who agreed to collect the broken Bisque. I then returned in a few weeks, only to be told by the attendant that she had no idea what I was talking about, and that I needed to talk to the manager... again. I did so a few days later, and was once again reassured that they'd save the broken Bisque for me. A couple of weeks later I stopped by and, as you may be already guessing,  I was once again told by the new attendant that she had no idea what I was talking about, and that I needed to talk to the manager. This cycle, because I'm around that area often, continues to repeat months and months later. It has become almost a like a never ending game for me.

I even received an email from their manager which said: "Hello thank you for contacting us here at all fired up. We don't have any extra bisque ceramic shards that are scheduled to be thrown away. If we do come across any I will keep you in mind."

But zero (so far) there has been broken Bisque ever collected from All Fired Up.  As far as I know, all their broken stuff ends up in their dumpster, and I'm not into dumpster diving where there are so many restaurants that share the dumpsters.

Rockville was a different story. When I stopped by, their manager informed me that she needed to get permission from "corporate" before she gave me the broken Bisque.  When I informed her that they had given me broken Bisque before, she informed me that the shop was under new owners. I smiled and told her that I'd be back.

A few weeks later I was in the area and dropped in. "Corporate said no," informed me the store manager. I was surprised, and asked her if she knew the reason. She passed on that "corporate was concerned that if the store gave me broken Bisque and I cut myself with the broken Bisque, that I would sue them."

I was a little stunned, and just looked at her for a while in silence. As she was noticeably becoming uncomfortable, I thanked her and left.

I then researched who "corporate" was, and found them, and wrote then a letter.

I didn't hear back from them... so I wrote them another letter. After being ignored twice, I sighed in exasperation and looked online placed an order from Chesapeake Ceramics in Baltimore. When their carefully box arrived full of beautiful Bisque, I broke all of them and created new work -  you can see it here.

Then it dawned on me that they must have tons of broken Bisque, and that dumpster diving in their warehouse might yield a treasure. And thus, after I came back from Miami in December, I wrote them a letter.

To my delight, a nice lady named Gina called me right back in a few days. This angel from the Baltimore regions told me that they'd be delighted to save broken Bisque for me, and that they'd be glad to be part of re-purposing the broken material for an art project. She followed it all up with an email.

Superb customer service from someone who is really good at her job.

A few weeks later Gina called me - she had saved a couple of boxes for me, and today, when I drove up to their warehouse, I finally met this very nice lady, and gave her a hug.  When I backed up to their loading dock, the nice gent there even helped me to load up, not one, but about half a dozen boxes full of beautiful broken Bisque!

Thank you Chesapeake Ceramics! You untangled what seems like a winning proposition for everyone and which for some reason became the curious case of the broken Bisque.

An ignorant man can get educated

Someone should send this article to Kaepernick (@kaepernick7) the next time that he wears that T-shirt with Fidel Castro on it:

"The dominance of the white political leader and the disenfranchisement of black Cubans have always been a part of the island’s history."

 NY Times article here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: February 17, 2020. 

The Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 South Carroll St, Frederick, Maryland, introduces Graphic Era, a celebration of the graphic arts by digital design professionals and artists from around the U.S. 

This exhibition will feature a selection of artists who are using illustration to engage larger audiences via social, digital and print media. 

Graphic Era introduces visitors to the digital arts and artists who adapt this artform to a new generation and their interests. 

Exhibition dates: April 4 – 26, 2020. 

Awards: Grand Prize $500; Gold $250; Silver $150; Bronze $100. 

For additional information, visit: https://delaplaine.org/exhibitions/opportunities/graphic-era/