Edition No. 65
Arts and Culture
Grosse Pointe Artists Association present's Black and White featuring 54 pieces by 43 artists exploring shades of grays to black. (Photo: Bridge by Lawrence Hamilton)
Community and Family
Live at the Alger performance series celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with fiddle and mandolin instrumentalist Brad Phillips.
American Democracy
“Ukraine War Shifts the Agenda in Congress, Empowering the Center” - New York Times
Black and White
The Grosse Pointe Artists Association’s current exhibition theme is Black and White. This exhibition challenges artists to look at a world without color. From subtle shades of grays to black, the exhibit will feature work ranging from realism to surrealism and abstraction. This exhibition features 54 pieces by 43 artists exploring the mystery of a world without color.
The Juror for this exhibition is Marat Paransky, a sculptor, painter, photographer, and mixed-media artist. Born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1986, his family settled in Metro Detroit in 1997.
You can view Black and White in person at the GPAA gallery at The War Memorial, now through April 28. Viewing hours are 2-6:30 p.m. on Thursdays and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays. There will also be a artists forum providing an opportunity for viewers listen to the artists talk about their work at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, via zoom. It will be moderated by Mark Zapico of CCS.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with fiddle and mandolin instrumentalist Brad Phillips
The War Memorial (TWM) is excited to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with its next Live at the Alger performer Brad Phillips. The event will take place Thursday, March 17 at TWM’s historic Alger House. Phillips will indulge guests during an evening of storytelling through traditional and original instrumental music.
Identifying primarily as a fiddler, Phillips, is a classically trained violinist and multi-instrumentalist, playing both mandolin and guitar. His show Tales of a Midwestern Sideman explores the broad scope of influences from old-time American music to the various traditions of Celtic fiddling and jazz to tell the autobiographical tale of his journey from fiddler to sideman, to embracing his own creative voice as a singer-songwriter.
“My style is difficult to pinpoint. I'm a classically trained violinist who studied jazz in college, yet I identify more as a multi-genre fiddler than a classical or jazz musician,” explained Phillips. “As a singer-songwriter, I've been told that I match the vibes of James Taylor or John Denver. I've spent most of my music career as an instrumentalist, but the truth is, I've been keeping my singer-songwriter ambitions a secret until recently,” said Phillips.
Audience members can anticipate a wide range of songs and instrumental music on violin, mandolin, guitar, and octave mandolin during Phillips’ performance. There is also a narrative to his show with a lot of storytelling.
“I dive into the tales of the people I've met and the places I've been as a musician over the span of my unique professional path and play the music that I've found along the way,” said Phillips. “Ultimately, my path has led me to my own musical voice, and I'll be sharing some of my original music that is near and dear to my heart.”
In-person and virtual viewing opportunities are available at the link below!
“Ukraine War Shifts the Agenda in Congress, Empowering the Center”
New York Times, March 15, 2022
Over the past two weeks, a growing number of journalists, commentators, and political practitioners have noted that the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine seems to be leading to greater bipartisanship here in the US.
Writing in the New York Times, Jonathan Weisman noted that, “The escalating crisis in Ukraine is upending policy and political thinking on both the left and the right on Capitol Hill, as an immediate threat to the global order and soaring energy prices empower the political center at the expense of the two parties’ flanks.” Weisman, however, noted that significant political potshots were still being taken by Senators and Representatives from both parties. As a result, he was unable to determine whether this is just a lull in partisanship or a movement back toward a more genuinely bipartisan US foreign policy in which politics again stops at the water’s edge.*
The Times article is at the link below.
*In 1948, while pushing the measure that paved the way for US membership in NATO through a reluctant Senate, Foreign Relations Committee Chair Arthur Vandenberg (R-Michigan) coined a phrase that still resonates and, perhaps, sets a standard for our national leadership at this time, “politics stops at the water’s edge.”
Inspired Thoughts is a collection of highly curated content that embraces the spirit and purpose of The War Memorial: arts and culture, community enrichment, leadership, and patriotism.
Derived from the notion that learning from others is the key to success, Inspired Thoughts is meant to shine a light on those making a difference in the world around them. This collection features artists, poets, writers, architects, and every thought leader in-between. Inspired Thoughts is the strongest reflection of what The War Memorial stands for, and what we aim to be.
The content featured on Inspired Thoughts is curated by War Memorial leadership — we also look forward to featuring special guest curators in the near future. If you are interested in providing content for Inspired Thoughts, please email our Communications team at dmurphy@warmemorial.org.