American Jewish Museum presents: Being Good
Artist Reception: Thursday, November 10, 6-8pm
When we share the best part of what we are with others and bring out the best that they are, we reinforce our purpose…and we’re all happy. – Randy Gilson
Being Good, organized by photographer Brian Cohen, documents three transformational artists and thinkers based in Pittsburgh who share their humanness and employ their art to improve the lives of people living in distressed neighborhoods. Being Good draws upon the nuanced difference between doing good and being good. Most people from time to time do some good. Being good, though, penetrates deeper. Being good denotes those individuals who, at the core, are driven to fashion their own lives and artistic practice to interweave with the lives of others. The work of Vanessa German, Bill Strickland and Randy Gilson concretely affects people’s reality, empowers individuals in their communities and alters the neighborhood fabric.
Vanessa German, poet, performance artist and sculptor is photographed by Lynn Johnson; Bill Strickland, ceramicist, educator and entrepreneur, is photographed by Scott Goldsmith; and Randy Gilson, visual artist and gardener, is photographed by Brian Cohen. Sorely needed, especially in a splintered world rampant with examples of inequity, Being Good confirms our capacity and desire to strive for goodness.
Links to more information about the exhibition’s photographers and artists:
http://www.scottgoldsmith.com/
http://www.lynnjohnsonphoto.com/
http://www.briancohenphotography.com/
http://randy.land/
http://www.billstrickland.org/
http://21stcenturyjuju.com/
