Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests.

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Now, GO FIND FUN!

MODERN ART IS FUN FOR KIDS.

This Sunday, September 20, from 1-4pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is hosting a free “Family Day”. They’ve got two great shows on view that kids will enjoy: “No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston” and “Perspectives 167: Jason Villegas”. Eighteen artists and collaborative teams participated in “No Zoning” to show how Houston’s crazy mixed use, lack-of-zoning landscape has inspired their creativity. You can see a bright yellow abode full of plastic toys and knick knacks created by “Flower Man” as well as the tree that Jack Massing and Michael Galbreth (aka “The Art Guys”) married recently (I think it’s single already!). Mosey on downstairs and see work by Brooklyn-based (and former Houstonian) Jason Villegas – he takes an interesting look at over-consumption in our society by creating mythical creatures out of thrift store “junk”. Kids will love his “Third World Textile Spirit” which is a huge creature fashioned out of old cloth toys, shirt, towels, etc. to form something that looks like it would fit in at a Chinese festival. The “Family Day” will include fun games for kids, refreshments, and lots of good old fashioned fun.

The Contemporary Arts Museum is “always fresh, always free.”

HAPPY "PEACE DAY".

Next Tuesday, September 21, is the International Day of Peace ("Peace Day"), which provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first “Peace Day” was celebrated in September, 1982 and in 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace. By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal.

In honor of that day, I’d like to recommend you take your kids to see a special film screening at Unity Church this Sunday, September 20. “Happiness Is” will be screened at 1:30 and 3pm at the church at 2929 Unity Drive. This new film explores the road to happiness and the pursuit of happiness as protected by our founding fathers. The film looks at the topic of happiness through the eyes of spiritual leaders including the Dalai Lama, philanthropists, scholars, the occasional celebrity (including John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson) and a wide range of happiness “experts” as they describe their definitions of happiness. I think you’ll conclude that, in the end, the goal of obtaining happiness is an individual journey.

There is no fee but they recommend a $5-10 “love offering.”

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE HOUSTON'S HEAT TO INSPIRE AN ARTIST.

Wayne White's exhibition at Rice Gallery, "Big Lectric Fan to Keep Me Cool While I Sleep" is a line from legendary country singer George Jones’s song, “Ragged But Right,” which was stuck in Wayne White’s head when he visited Houston in the sweltering month of June. To honor Jones, White will create at Rice Gallery a fifteen-foot puppet head resembling a young, flat-topped Jones, circa 1950. The massive head will sit sleeping on its side, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling, billboard-style lettering with a show of George dancing inside the head. Over the course of a prolific career in Hollywood and the art world, Wayne White has done it all, from set design and puppetry, to cartooning and illustration, to oil paintings and bronze sculptures. Best known as the three-time Emmy winning creator of many of the puppets in the hit, late-1980s television show "Pee-wee’s Playhouse", White has done production design and art direction for numerous television shows, advertisements, and music videos, including Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time” and The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight.” Most recently, White is known for meticulously painting irreverent and humorous phrases on top of found, thrift-store lithographs depicting romantic, 19th century renditions of pastoral landscapes and seascapes. He was dubbed by one journalist as “the weirdest landscape painter in America.”

The Gallery is open Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11am-5pm, Thursdays, 11am-7pm and Sundays, noon-5pm. "Big Lectric Fan" is on view through October 18.

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...THE MOTHERHOOD CENTER. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

ONE STOP SHOPPING FOR MOMS.

If you are a mom or mom-to-be and you haven’t stopped by The Motherhood Center, you need to! I’m recommending it this week because it’s a great jumping off point for learning about activities for parents in Houston as well as because of all the onsite activities they offer. It’s a great place for one-stop shopping for items such as breastfeeding pumps and baby clothes and books as well as a plethora of classes, consulting services, and even massage therapists. You can find nannies and babysitters, doulas, and lots of support groups as well. And the kids classes include ballet, music, baby sign language and yoga. There are also plenty of socializing opportunities, from a weekly “Mom’s Talk” support group to occasional girls’ bingo nights. This Thursday, September 17, from 4-6pm, they are celebrating “Grandparents Day” with toddler art projects, hand massages and music – all for free.

Gabriela Gerhart is the founder of The Motherhood Center. A native of Czechoslovakia, Gabriela is a pediatric nurse and physical therapist and is certified as a breastfeeding educator, a postpartum doula and a prenatal masseuse. She established this haven for mothers in 2003, turning a lifelong dream into reality.

CHECK OUT MORE THAN BOOKS AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY.

My exhibition, "Mod Mandalas: The Chakra Series," opened this week at the Central Library, 500 McKinney. This exhibition brings together the spiritual concepts of mandalas and chakras through seven pieces of art that use hubcaps to symbolize modern mandala images. “Mandala” is an ancient Sanskrit word that means “circle” and “essence” and has come to mean our true soul; mandalas are represented in art by circular forms. Chakras are seven energy centers along various parts of the body that individually represent nature, pleasure, power, love, creativity, intuition and spirituality. “Mod Mandalas: The Chakra Series” was motivated by my personal need for balance and introspection which led to the study of chakras and mandalas as meditation tools. The chakra concept was also chosen because of its rich subject matter and its relationship to inner energy and balance, which influences the equilibrium of the world. Hubcaps were chosen because of their mandala-like designs and their connection to daily mobility which becomes a metaphor of the continuous underpinning of spirituality in our daily lives. It is my hope that this exhibition will inspire a wide variety of people to study chakras and mandalas as portals to personal peace.

The Library is open Mondays-Thursdays, 9am-9pm, Fridays and Saturdays, 9am-6pm, and Sundays, 1-5pm. Mark your calendar now for the kid-friendly closing of the exhibition on Sunday, October 18, 1-5pm.

TALENTO BILINGÜE DE HOUSTON ANNOUNCES A POETRY CONTEST.

“ArtEcolÓgiko EcoPoÉtiko 2009” is a poetry-drawing contest for children 6 to 12 years old sponsored by Talento Bilingüe de Houston. Using the prompt of a kingdom in desolation (as a metaphor for our dying planet), children living in Houston are invited to apply their poetic genius by creating a healing artwork as remedy for a dying King. To stir their artistic imagination, TBH will release short videos every week to give them glimpses of the King’s condition and his subjects’ concerned reactions.

Participants will get to meet the actual Queen and King during the “ArtEcológiko EcoPoétiko” reception organized to acknowledge their creativity on October 17 and the winners will be recognized at TBH’s "¿Dónde jugarán los niños?” kick off concert on October 18 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. The top three winners will receive cool Pachamama prizes (pachamama is a product that inflicts no harm on the environment) as well as publication on TBH’s campaign posters.

Deadline for entries is September 25.

Sarah Gish
Gish Creative
1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116
Houston, Texas 77057
phone/fax: 713.532.1173

email: sarah@gishcreative.com
web: www.gishcreative.com
and: www.thesummerbook.com
and: www.saveourlandmarks.org

© 2009 Sarah Gish

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