‘Wednesday arts update’

    

Six items for you in tonight’s arts update.

• Bro. Ryan recently put the finishing touch on his greatly anticipated portrait of Bro. Prince Hall.

If you have been following his progress on this via social media, you could feel justifiably amazed by his balance of creativity and respect for his subject. There is no way to know exactly what Hall looked like, so Ryan instead rendered contextual elements to tell the story. Items depicted in the foreground and background and, of course, Hall’s regalia and gavel tell a remarkable life story with a veracity you can count on.

Prints are available for purchase now. Click here.

• Bro. Erik LaMarca, of Kosciuszko Lodge 1085 and Shakespeare 750, is the subject of the recent Craftsmen Online, one of a number of digital magazines serving New York Freemasonry.

LaMarca’s photography will be on exhibit next month at Solas Studio in a show titled “Revelation: Sight Through Symetry.” Click here to enjoy a look at a few pieces.

• Bro. Scott J. Watson’s latest venture into art history conducts us to a lodge in eighteenth century Vienna. Mozart’s lodge, specifically.

I’m sure we’ve all seen the painting showing the great composer seated in lodge. I’ve used it here on The Magpie Mason a number of times over the years.

Watson explains what goes on in the image, and one thing particularly zapped me. Watson has us cast our eyes to the East, where hangs a painting I somehow never before thought about.

Let Royal Ark Mariners who have ears hear. And click here. Sign up for his newsletter too.

• There is a mural decorating downtown Mt. Vernon, Ohio that will make every Mystic Prophet smile:

Courtesy Marty Trent

Unveiled (See what I did there?) in November 2017, but brought to the Prophets’ attention a few days ago in social media, It is painted on the side of the former Masonic hall in the neighborhood, and is a tribute to the groups that contributed to the local social scene. The nearly 3,000-square-foot piece was painted by John Donnelly, an art professor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

• I had intended to post something about this last year, but when I saw the Wall Street Journal had beaten me to it, I kind of forgot about it.  Rothko Chapel, the landmark ecumenical spiritual space in Houston, has reopened, following a $30 million renovation that took almost a year.

The rehabilitation was mostly structural in nature, with the building being bolstered to withstand the hurricanes the region receives. Mark Rothko’s 14 paintings arrayed throughout the chapel now benefit from a new central skylight and modern interior lighting. On the grounds without the chapel, the landscape has been stripped of all sights except for Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk, the crystal-shaped shaft perched atop a pyramid that arises from a reflecting pool. Dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1971, the artwork symbolizes the chapel’s purpose as a human rights locus.

Rothko Chapel marks its fiftieth anniversary this year. Click here for photos.

• And, finally—I can’t do this all night, you know—is the latest from Piecework magazine, which contains a brief article on aprons.

“Unfortunately for historians, makers of aprons did not sign their work,” writes Deborah Dwyer. “Newspapers of the period advertised professional embroiderers specializing in military and Masonic regalia; sign painters offered painted aprons, and stationers supplied engraved ones. Undoubtedly, family members made some aprons as gifts.”

Read all about it here.