Luke Judge

The Hayward Gallery in London is to be turned into a giant art school next summer, with classes for the public held by artists including Tracey Emin and Turner prize winners mark Wallinger, Martin Creed and Jeremy Deller, as well as famous international names such as Thomas Hirschhorn and Marlene Dumas. Artists will hold lectures and workshops, and the event will culminate in an exhibition of work produced by the public in the gallery.

“It’s going to be crazy,” said Patrick Brill, who makes art under the name Bob and Roberta Smith. “The idea is to make it a great big sandpit of ideas.” Southbank’s artistic director, Jude Kelly, said: “It will be open for anyone from the public for a month to learn not just art, but anything else that the artists want to teach.”

The Hayward’s Wide Open School is one of the expected highlights of Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World, which runs next summer from 1 June to 9 September, to coincide with the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Other highlights will involve the largest-ever gathering of poets, spearheaded by Simon Armitage; a residency by the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar Orchestra and its chief conductor Gustavo Dudamel; an African strand led by Senegalese musician Baaba Maal; and a four-day celebration of Wales led by the renowned bass baritone Bryn Terfel, regarded as the greatest British singer of his generation.

There will also be a programme led by disabled and deaf artists, including Graeae Theatre and Candoco Dance – the largest such event, aiming to provide a parallel to the Paralympic Games.

The festival is inspired by the conviction of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympic movement, that every young person has an Olympian spark of talent waiting to be drawn out – not just on the track or field, said Kelly.

The festival’s focus will not be art being “done” for audiences, but audiences getting involved in making art.

According to the Hayward gallery’s director, Ralph Rugoff: “Wide Open School grew out of a response to the Olympics, as being the moment when for three weeks most of us become couch potatoes and watch people with glorious bodies do things we could never ever do in a million years – and we become passive. So I began to think what kind of offer we can make that’s going to flip that on its head. We are going to ask people to become much more active and to make work themselves.”

Armitage’s project, Poetry Parnassus, will invite more than 200 poets to gather at the Southbank for readings and workshops, including a final gala event with all the writers.

He said: “The dream is to bring a poet from every country participating in the Olympics to the Southbank and to make the Southbank a great community of poets.”

Each writer will also contribute to an anthology called the World Record, to be published by Bloodaxe Books, celebrating poetry in translation. the event will look to the spirit of the ancient Olympics, in which poets competed, and composed victory odes to successful athletes – Pindar’s Olympian Odes being the most famous case.

The Simón Bolívar Orchestra, which has always proved a crowd-puller on the Southbank and at the Proms for the committed musicianship and passion of its young players, will return for a four-day residency.

This year, they will create pop-up concert halls and will be on hand for teaching sessions for young British players. there will be a children’s concert and musicians will set up a fiesta of Latin music.

Baaba Maal’s Africa Utopia will be a series of talks, debates and concerts focusing on what the African continent can offer the rest of the world.

A number of younger people will be joined by “elders” – African musicians, artists, writers and activists – to debate social change in the context of African examples.

pop Art art 117, international names, jeremy deller, poets, sandpit, turner prize winners

Toronto composer John Roby’s wickedly funny song “Steve, It’s Time to Leave” circulating online is as good an illustration as I’ve ever seen for why liberal democracies fund the arts.

Roby, who usually writes music for places like the Stratford Festival or Canadian films, gives a voice to more than 60 per cent of us when he croons, “In the good old day we had democracy/Now it’s Steve-autocracy/With a daily dose of hypocrisy spewing from the PMO.”

And this is why art matters: In the space of a day the catchy tune has had more than 1,300 hits on YouTube, prompting giggles and conversations. (I had to explain “take a walk in the snow” to an 18-year-old.)

Meanwhile, a website launched yesterday called ShitHarperDid.com has apparently gone far more viral. the site is clear, simple and devastating — like any good punchline — in its presentations of outrageous decisions made by Harper and his Conservative government. As the creators say in their press release sent out this morning:

“with its blunt sense of humour and four viral videos featuring young Canadians sharing their honest opinion of the prime minister, ShitHarperDid.com went viral very quickly (as reported in the Globe & Mail). Within a few hours it had received Twitter endorsements from Margaret Atwood (162,000+ followers) and Ellen Page (100,000+ followers). By 2 p.m. the site had received more than one million page views and subsequently crashed. the site was reposted quickly and received an additional 521,000 pageviews by the end of the day.

Notice who put that phenomenal little social media machine together. “a network,” says the release, “of young Canadian comedians, musicians, actors and designers.” In other words, a fresh generation of artists.

Along with Parliament, the courts, news media, and education, the arts are part of the “open forum for discussion” that Plato first identified as necessary for any government run by citizens. So while art is usually entertaining, it isn’t entertainment — it’s not a consumer product any more than education or the courts are consumer products.

The theatres and the art galleries are among the places in society in which citizens grapple with what it means to be a citizen. It’s where we educate ourselves, think about everything from political issues to the human condition, challenge authority and shape our world.

That’s why we fund the arts collectively: so we can all participate. We’re not subsidizing artists — they subsidize themselves by accepting the lowest salaries in Canada — we’re subsidizing the cost of the tickets so that art is available to everyone.

Speaking of making art available to everyone, artist photographer Bob Preston of Victoria has created his own graphic commentary on Stephen Harper, changing the Obama mantra ‘Hope’ to ‘Nope’ and is making the image available for free for all to use online.

The politics of arts support

Not surprisingly, the Liberal platform includes sustained funding for culture while Harper tells us Canadians don’t care about arts. Just like he insists we don’t care about Parliament being prorogued, corrupt politicians, or a prime minister who lies to our faces.

Contemporary Paintings hypocrisy, prime minister, sense of humour

New Features in Vangobot’s Interactive Studio February 2nd, 2011 admin

Vangobot has some new toy image filters for your enjoyment! Best of all, you can now enlarge your artwork for free using the Enlarge Image option. See them all in the Interactive Studio.

Check out Brush Planner to see directional brush paths as featured in Brush Path Planning with Polygonal Convex Hulls.

The Cutout option is an advanced version of Photoshop’s built in cutout filter.

Shoegaze is modified to work just like the paintings shown in the Green Stripe gallery.

Hull Curves is a fantastically realistic painting filter that uses a combination of polygon hull fill painting, masked line detailing and split hull details.

Share this:

pop Art convex hulls, february 2nd, hull details, realistic painting, shoegaze

Updated October 14, 2010 13:51:00

Sydney-bound: China’s famous terracotta warriors. (Reuters/Philippe Wojazer)

Some of the world’s most recognisable pieces of art, including China’s famous terracotta warriors and a collection of Picasso paintings, are to be exhibited in Sydney as part of a new annual event.

Ten of the life-size warriors and horses, buried more than 2,000 years ago near the city of Xian in northern China, will be on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from December to March.

The exhibition will be the first in the Sydney International Art Series, launched today by Events New South Wales, the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Also on display at the gallery will be the largest-ever collection of Picassos to come to Australia.

The Museum of Contemporary Art, meanwhile, will host a retrospective of work by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Premier Kristina Keneally says the new event will draw thousands of tourists to Sydney each year.

“Either of these shows in their own right would be cultural attractions, but bringing them together as we are … (will attract) more than 300,000 visitors to our city, bringing as much as $20 million a year for the NSW economy.”

Art Gallery of NSW director Edmund Capon says the Picasso exhibition will likely be the biggest show the gallery has ever hosted.

“We are looking to turn the building upside down in order to accommodate it,” he said.

Tags: arts-and-entertainment

traditional Contemporary Paintings keneally, kristina

Contemporary Paintings art paintings prints

Her first composition, at age 4, was a song about death. The inspiration might have come from the daily walks she took with her nanny to a cemetery, where the nanny took care of her late husband’s gravestone and her reserved stone next to it. The exercise was not a somber one and left Auerbach with the lasting impression that death is merely part of life.

“I would go to the piano and I would compose stories,” she says. “I would create a fairy tale or story that was illustrated in sound or derived from the sound. Even though music is the most abstract art form, it’s also the most personal. For me the personal connection is very important. I do think in metaphors, images and stories as I compose, but all of them can change from day to day.”

Auerbach’s music is tonal, but she loves spiky dissonance, aggressive gestures, extreme dynamics, contrasts of color and texture and heightened emotions, from hallucinatory reverie to slashing violence. In a piece like the Sonata for Cello and Piano, the instruments circle each other, animated by inner lives like method actors exploring their subconscious.

“She has a very good sense of pulse and a good sense of timing,” says Wu Han. “Her ideas never go on too long. They’re like a good story.”

Auerbach often refers to standard forms. She has written several sets of preludes (for solo piano, violin and piano, cello and piano) that wink at Bach’s seminal models and journey through all 24 major and minor keys. But her language still sounds contemporary, suggesting new wine poured into old bottles.

Auerbach’s admirers are quick to call her an original, but her own view embraces a paradox. “I think it’s important to understand that the only way to be truly original is when originality is not a goal,” she says.

“Art doesn’t develop in a Darwinian sense. We don’t get better and better; we get different. We tend to think of progress in the scientific way, but it doesn’t apply to art. The only way to discover your true original voice — and there is infinite possibilities for originality nowadays — is by being honest with yourself and striving to write the best music you can, and not think about what category the critics might put you in or if this might start a new trend.”

Auerbach says that fearlessness is a prerequisite. That’s certainly how she’s lived her life, particularly on that fateful day in July 19 years ago. Of course, there were trade-offs; she didn’t see her family for five years. More recently, tragedy struck in the form of a fire last fall at the New York apartment she shares with her husband, a double bassist. Auerbach’s Steinway piano, library of Russian books, musical scores and family letters were destroyed, and the couple has been living with relatives in Sarasota, Fla., while the apartment is rebuilt.

The losses were devastating but she has soldiered on, finding meaning, even poetry, in the act of starting over. After all, she’s done it before.

Contact MARK STRYKER: 313-222-6459 or

abstract Contemporary Paintings abstract art, dissonance, extreme dynamics, lasting impression, solo piano

When spring comes it is time for a liver cleanse. This is a good time to rejuvenate the liver for the coming year of work. One good way to cleanse the liver is to use herbal teas. They are easy to use and they provide a powerful punch to reawaken the liver.

Here is a herbal formulation for the liver provided by Brigitte Mars (herbalist in Colorado) called “Puri-Tea” which consist of:

* Peppermint, red clover, fennel, licorice* cleavers, dandelion, oregon grape root, burdock root* butternut bark, chickweed, parsley root, nettles.

Another liver herbal tea is:* Fennel Seed (1 part), Fenugreek (1 part)* Flax Seed (1 part), Licorice Root (1/4 part)* Burdock (1/4 part), Peppermint (1 part).

Here’s another herbal combination that is good for detoxifying and cleansing the liver:

* Yellow Dock root, Dandelion root, Licorice root* Red sage, Sarsaparilla, Hyssop * Pau de Arco, Milk Thistle Seed, Parsley leaf.

Here’s something else you can do for you liver. Buy an extract of Milk Thistle Seed. Then when you make the liver tea’s list here, add 2-3 full droppers of the Milk Thistle Seed extract to the tea.Here are the effects of some of the herbs listed above.

* fennel seed – white cell formation, acid/alkaline balancing * peppermint – body cleanser and toner * red clover – blood purifier * licorice – adrenal stimulation * cleavers – anti-infection * dandelion – cleansing and strengthening * oregon grape root – cleansing, building * burdock root – purifying * nettles – rich in minerals * chickweed – * fenugreek – helps to eliminate toxins and mucus * yellow dock root – cleansing, white cell formation * pau de arco – cleansing, white cell formation * milk thistle seed – cleansing, building

You can make these teas yourself or look for a ready made one at a health food store. What I do is buy a 1/2 or 1 oz of each herb. Then I mix one full tablespoon of each herb into a mason jar. Shake it up and its ready to go.

Boil 1 1/4 cup of distilled water in a glass container. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of herbal mixture. Let tea sit for 10-15 minutes. Strain and drink when it cools down a little.

Drink one cup of tea before breakfast and one before dinner for about 1-2 months.

experimental Alternative brigitte mars, mason jar, oregon grape root, parsley root

The National Gallery has acquired Ommah (2005) by Nam June Paik, a moving reflection on his Korean heritage and his last work of video sculpture. AP Photo/Markus Schreiber.

WASHINGTON, DC.- At its annual meeting in late March, the Collectors Committee of the National Gallery of Art made possible the acquisition of Black Plank (1967) by John McCracken (b. 1934), a rare black early plank in pristine condition, and Ommah (2005) by Nam June Paik (1932–2006), a moving reflection on his Korean heritage and his last work of video sculpture. Concurrently, the Gallery accepted one additional gift from Victoria and Roger Sant: Untitled Composition (1929) by Joaquín Torres-García (1874–1949), an important work of Latin American modernism.

“This year, the Collectors Committee’s selections brought the Gallery two important firsts: its first work of video art by Nam June Paik, one of the founders of that medium, and its first work of sculpture by John McCracken, one of the leading figures of minimal art,” said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. “We are very grateful to the Collectors Committee, which enables the Gallery to continually enhance its holdings of contemporary art, and to Gallery president Victoria Sant and her husband Roger for the Gallery’s first painting by Torres-Garcia.”

The Collectors Committee discretionary fund for photographs, drawings, and prints supported the acquisition of three photographs by Francesca Woodman (1958–1981): Caryatid, New York (Study for Temple Project), New York (1980); Untitled, Rome (1977–1978); and Untitled, Providence, Rhode Island (1975–1978); two drawings by Al Taylor (1948–1999): Untitled (Can Study) (1994) and Untitled (Floaters) (1998); a set of ten lithographs by Glenn Ligon (b. 1960): Runaways (1993); and a photolithograph on newsprint by Robert Gober (b. 1954): Untitled (1991).

Black Plank by John McCracken

Black Plank is the first work by the artist to enter the collection, engaging not only with the Gallery’s strong holdings of minimalist work, including pieces by Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Fred Sandback, Anne Truitt, James Turrell, and Larry Bell, but also with paintings by Barnett Newman, whose “zips” helped inspire the planks, and with the pioneers of abstraction before him.

McCracken is a unique figure among minimalists. Though he is often grouped with the “light and space” artists who formed the West Coast branch of the movement for his interest in vivid color and polished surfaces, his signature achievement, the “planks” that he invented in 1966 and that he still makes today, have the tough simplicity and singularity of New York minimalism. McCracken notes that his planks bridge sculpture (identified with the floor) and painting (identified with the wall), adding that in so doing they bridge the physical and the mental.

McCracken’s first planks were hollow plywood structures sprayed with paint, but he found that over time the grain began to show through. His solution was to add a layer of fiberglass over the plywood and to apply pigmented resin for its intense color and high sheen. Despite their polished surfaces, for McCracken the planks have otherworldly “personalities” owing to their different colors and dimensions. He recalls “an ancient Egyptian portrait of Chepren, in black diorite.”

Ommah by Nam June Paik

Created in 2005, the year before the artist’s death, Ommah (“mother” in Korean) is his last video work of video sculpture, a genre that he helped to invent in the early 1960s. The first work of video art by Paik to enter the Gallery’s collection, it joins three works on paper by the artist.

A traditional Korean robe or hanbok hangs suspended from a stick of bamboo. The diaphanous silk provides a screen on which images on an LCD TV monitor can be seen. The monitor plays a program lasting several minutes and looping continuously. Three Korean-American girls, dressed in their own traditional costumes, dance, play ball, beat a drum, and ride in a toy car. They are carefree but choreographed by Paik. The background imagery includes close-up views of early video games, and material from Global Groove, the video Paik made for WNET-TV in 1974. All are manipulated using a version of the color video synthesizer Paik invented with Shuya Abe around 1970. The music includes ambient sounds of the studio, both straight and processed, and snippets from Paik’s own experimental music tapes of the 1950s.

This cruciform work appears stable and iconic, but our activity before it is crucial: viewers might move side to side or even peek around the robe for a better view. Paik attacked with gusto the passivity that he sensed early television imposed on viewers. Through endless play with the medium, which he eviscerated and recomposed, he reclaimed it as an expressive, democratic tool.

Untitled Composition by Joaquín Torres-García

Untitled Composition was bought directly from the artist by his good friend, the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, soon after it was made, and it has remained with Lipchitz‘s heirs. Its acquisition brings the Gallery its first painting by the artist (it joins a 1933 drawing titled Port of Uruguay).

Torres-García’s paintings expand the grid of high modernism to include pictographs and symbols exhibiting a remarkable touch—subtle but direct, playful but profound. By 1929, the year of this work, the artist was already 55 years old, with a long career behind him. Untitled Composition is one of a few works from that year in which Torres-García arrived at his mature style. His allegiance to De Stijl is evident in the vertical-horizontal grid and the restriction of the palette to the three (muted) primaries. The articulation of the grid through delicately layered colors, however, is his own, as are the symbols filling it. They embody what Torres-García would call Universal Constructivism, proposing a harmony between the realms of the intellect (represented here by the triangle and clock), the emotions (the house), and the earthy, natural world (the fish and elephant). The artist expanded this system to include pre-Columbian elements with his move back to Montevideo, Uruguay, his birthplace, in 1934, but he remained faithful to its basic outlines for the rest of his career.

In Uruguay, Torres-García shook up the academic establishment and diffused modernism through the Grupo Arturo and his Taller Torres-García, laying the groundwork for the explosion of abstract art in postwar Latin America. He was also influential in New York, where a posthumous exhibition at Sidney Janis in 1950 was admired by Barnett Newman and no doubt influenced Adolph Gottlieb and Louise Nevelson. More broadly, his fascination with the compartmentalization of signs has its legacy in works by Jasper Johns, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others.

Photographs, Drawings, and Prints

In her short but impressive career, the American photographer Francesca Woodman (1958–1981) made a remarkable series of portraits and self-portraits. In her first works, such as Untitled, Providence, Rhode Island (1975–1978), she consciously explored earlier art, mining yet also subverting the sexually charged nature of mythological subjects such as Leda and the Swan. In self-portraits made soon thereafter, such as Untitled, Rome (1977–1978), Woodman utilized both light and movement to create an almost ethereal presence, simultaneously revealing and concealing herself, subjecting herself to the gaze of the camera but deflecting it at the same time.

Her most ambitious work, The Temple Project (1980), presents Woodman and a few friends dressed and posed as caryatids–the sculpted female figures that serve as an architectural support and the Greek term for the maidens of the goddess Artemis. In Caryatid, New York (Study for Temple Project), New York (1980), Woodman displays the female figure in a far bolder and more direct manner than in any of her previous work. Yet once again the figure hides her face from our view; she is the subject of the photograph but she remains mutable—unsettled and impossible to fix. These are the first works by Francesca Woodman to enter the Gallery’s collection.

Al Taylor’s Untitled (Can Study) (1994) and Untitled (Floaters) (1998) demonstrate that the humblest of subjects—lowly tin cans and fishermen’s floaters—can occasion magnificent drawings that explore space, volume, and shadow. Like Marcel Duchamp, Taylor was heavily invested in shadows, which assume fully autonomous roles in the two drawings acquired.

Glenn Ligon’s Runaways series (1993) consists of ten lithographs based on “run-away slave” ads published in 18th- and 19th-century newspapers. Without disclosing his intentions, Ligon asked friends to describe him, subsequently inserting their observations into the format of the runaway ads. Each friend’s account differs somewhat, underscoring the fluid confines of identity.

An untitled photolithograph by Robert Gober (1991) for the journal Parkett simulates a page from the October 4, 1960, edition of the New York Times. Mixed in among pieced-together wedding announcements and gruesome news items that defy belief, Gober inserted a fabricated story about the artist’s own death-by-drowning at the age of six, exploding the myth of the safe and nurturing home. He brought the story still closer to home by carefully hand-painting two coffee rings—the inevitable domestic mishap—onto the page.

1. National Gallery Announces Exhibition of Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries
2. Exhibition of New Works by Artist Paul Rusconi at Stellan Holm Gallery
3. SFMOMA Acquires Conceptual Art Collection with Works by Bruce Nauman
4. Luminous, Dye-Infused Works on Paper by Sohan Qadri at Sundram Tagore Gallery
5. New Works by Los Angeles-Based Artist Thomas Houseago at Michael Werner Gallery

abstract Contemporary Paintings korean heritage, minimal art, national gallery of art, temple project

What are the benefits of acupuncture? Why should I go through with it? These are the most common questions of people who get introduced to this traditional Chinese medicine. Unknown to you maybe the list of benefits is pretty long. These include the following:

It’s a non-invasive procedure. This simply means that you don’t have to go through very painful process just to alleviate the pain or get rid of the illness. Though the procedure requires the use of needles, they are very fine that they don’t cause a lot of pain on the skin. In fact, their thinness can be compared to the width of one strand of your hair.

There are some people who report to suffer from bruising, mild bleeding, or skin swelling. These instances, however, are extremely rare. This is because acupuncture professionals have been trained how to insert the needles to different points.

Moreover, you also have the option to say that you’re uncomfortable or you’re feeling pain from the insertion. There are a number of reasons why you can feel that way. One of these could be you have sensitive skin. Nevertheless, the acupuncturist can adjust his or her methods to fit your preferences.

It’s cheap. If you’re going to compare how much you’d spend on other modes of treatment, you can actually spend less on acupuncture. For example, rather than purchasing medications for your back pain, you can settle for the procedure, which is considered to be its best form of treatment.

It doesn’t have side effects. Speaking of medications, acupuncture, in general, doesn’t have side effects. It doesn’t even have to get in the way with your daily activities. You can just spend an hour or two inside the clinic and proceed with your appointments right after.

This is in contrast with the medications where you can definitely experience some side effects. A number may complain of dizziness or nausea during acupuncture, but the common reason is anxiety or fear of needles.

It helps treat several diseases. More studies have revealed the illnesses or diseases that can be treated, prevented, or reduced by acupuncture. You have joint pains, from mild to severe such as osteoarthritis. It is also known to treat infertility problems as well as addictions or phobias. It can improve the function of the central nervous system, the brain, and the circulatory system. It is also considered to be one of the most ideal methods of losing the unwanted weight.

It can be combined with other methods. Acupuncture is highly flexible. It becomes even more effective if the sessions are accompanied by intake of Chinese herbs or formulas. You can also use acupuncture together with Western medicine such as medications. A good example is in the case of infertility. You can actually opt for acupuncture before or after in vitro fertilization, egg-donor transfer, or artificial insemination to provide therapeutic effects.

With these reasons, surely, you will be convinced that acupuncture can actually improve the quality of life.

experimental Alternative anxiety, diseases, instances, invasive procedure, modes

Except where indicated, all area codes are 419.

Toledo Museum of Art: 2445 Monroe St.; 255-8000; Canaday Gallery: Bare Witness: Photographs by Gordon Parks; through April 25. Works on Paper Galleries: Whistler: Influences, Friends, and the Not-So-Friendly; through May 30. Gallery 18: Mexico’s Toledo by Francisco Toledo; through May 9. Hours: Tue.-Thu., 10 a.m.-4; Fri., 10 a.m.-10; Sat., 10 a.m.-6; Sun., noon-6.

American Gallery: 6600 Sylvania Ave., Sylvania; 882-8949; Glass Marbles, Glass Eggs: Geoffrey Beetem, Jody Fine, Hot House Glass, Mark Matthews, Shawn Messenger, Kris Parke, John Sutton, Doug Sweet, and Michael Wallace: Sat.-April 24. Meet the artists: Sat., 1-4. Hours: Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6; Mon., Sat., 10 a.m.-5.

Art on Central: 6540 W. Central Ave.; 350-6871; glass, ceramics, jewelry, paintings, photography; on permanent view. Hours: Mon.-Thu., 10 a.m.-7; Fri., Sat., 10 a.m.-6; Sun., 1-5.

Bowling Green State University: Fine Arts Center: Willard Wankelman and Dorothy Uber Bryan galleries: Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition: through April 3. Hours: Tue., Wed., Fri., Sat., 11 a.m.-4; Thu., 11 a.m.-4 and 6-9; Sun., 1-4. Bowen-Thompson Student Union Art Gallery: Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition: through April 3. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 8 a.m.-9; Sun., 10 a.m.-9.

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History: 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit; 313-494-5800; Contemporary artist Robbie Best; through April. Joe Louis: Hometown Hero; through May. Crowning Glories; through Sept. Hours: Tue.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5; Sun., 1-5.

Collingwood Arts Center: 2413 Collingwood Blvd.; 244-2787; Women’s History Month Exhibit: through April 2.

Copper Moon Studio: 7154 Front St., Holland; 867-0683; Stacy Wetzel and Amy Wetzel; fused and stained glass, jewelry, photography and paintings; on permanent view. Hours: Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6; Sat.-Sun., noon-5.

Detroit Institute of Arts: 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-7900; Walter Gibbs Gallery: The Neighborhood Project; through Sun. Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955; through July 3. Hours: Wed., Thu., 10 a.m.-5; Fri., 10 a.m.-10; Sat., Sun., 10 a.m.-6.

D’vine Design: 116 Louisiana Ave., Perrysburg; 874-2816; jewelry, paintings, sculptures, metal works, rug weaving, and poetry art; on permanent view. Hours: Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5; Sat., 10 a.m.-3.

Ella Sharp Museum: 3225 4th St., Jackson, Mich.; 517-787-2320; Emmet Gallery: The Sweetest Pyron Gallery: Names in Town: Jackson Chocolatiers; through June 12. Hours: Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4; Sat., 11 a.m.-4.

Fenwick Gallery of Fine Art: 7638 W. Central Ave.; 843-2887; Harold Roe: wildlife paintings; Carol Connolly Pletz,:paintings; and Carrol Lee Rice: abstracts; through April.

Findlay Art League Gallery: 117 W. Crawford St., Findlay; Photo 28; through Sat. Hours: Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-2

Firenation Glass Studio: 7166 Front St., Holland; 866-6288. Original Works by Matt Paskiet: ongoing. Hours: Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5.

Flatlanders Art Galleries: 11993 East U.S. 223, Blissfield; 517-486-4591; With Technical Assistance — the TA’s of Adrian College; through April 3. Ken Thompson and John Leyland: Switch Hitters II: You Make Mine, I’ll Make Yours; through April 25. Leslie Adams: recent drawings; through April 25. Hours: Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5; Sat., 10 a.m.-4; Sun., 1-4.

Frame Shop Art Gallery: 7101 Orchard Centre Dr., Holland; Andrei Protsouk, Marcus Glenn, James Spearman, A. Chen, J.W. Scott: serigraphs; G. Smith: blown glass; R. Mazzei: fused glass; E.F. Ivory: Tagua nut carvings; on permanent view.

Franciscan Theater & Conference Center, Lourdes College, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania: WAVE art festival: Sat.

Flying Joe Coffee House, Levis Commons, Preston Parkway, Perrysburg; Tangled: drawings by Ron Tiller: through April.

Georgette’s: 311 Conant St., Maumee; 891-8888; Art from the Sunshine Studio: through Wed. Hours: Mon.-Fri., 6:30 a.m.-3; Sat., 8 a.m.-4.

Huntington National Bank: 1001 Sandusky Ave., Perrysburg; High Dynamic Range and Infrared Photography by Janelle Lorenzen: through April.

Inside Angles Custom Framing Gallery: 909 S. McCord Rd., Holland; Jerry Runkle: paintings and constructions; through Wed. Hours: Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6; Wed., 10 a.m.-7; Sat., 10 a.m.-4.

Kellfire Glass Studio Gallery: 2620 Centennial Rd., Suite W; 517-6061; Kelly Sheehan: ongoing.

Lourdes College: 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania; McAlear Hall gallery: the work of Melinda Hallenbeck, Angela Jankowski, Molly Miller; through April 20. Opening reception: Sat., 2:30.

Mr. Atomic Gallery & Studio: Common Space, 1700 N. Reynolds Rd., room 204; pop art; on permanent view. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 1-10.

National Center for Nature Photography: Secor Metropark, 1001 W. Central Ave.; Art Weber: Travelogue; Bob Jacksy: The Wilds; Raptors; Award Winning Photos from the Outdoor Writers Association of America; through April 4. Hours: Sat., Sun., noon-5.

Ottawa County Historical Museum: 126 W. Third St., Port Clinton; 732-1039; George Jensen: digital slide show of paintings; ongoing.

Owens Community College: Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 30335 Oregon Rd., Perrysburg; 567-661-7000; Terhune Art Gallery: Louis, Susan and Matthew Krueger: A Family Affair: mixed media; through Sat. Hours: Mon., Tue., Fri., 10 a.m.-4; Wed., Thu., 10 a.m.-8; Sat., 10 a.m.-3.

Owens Community College’s Findlay-Area Campus: 3200 Bright Rd., Findlay; 567-429-3076; Passion for Life, Passion for Art; today. Hours: Mon.-Thu., 8 a.m.-7; Fri., 8 a.m.-4:30; Sat., 9 a.m.-1.

Perrysburg Municipal Building: 201 W. Indiana Ave., Perrysburg; paintings by Joan McKee: Yes, I Do Windows; and Garden Art & An Eclectic Collection; watercolors by Janet Ritter Davies; through April. Hours: Mon., Wed., Thu., Fri., 8 a.m.-4:30; Tue., 8 a.m.-7.

Perrysburg Municipal Courthouse: 300 Walnut St., Perrysburg; Tamra Mielke: paintings, Barns of Wood County; through April. Hours: Mon., Wed., Thu., Fri., 8 a.m.-4:30; Tue., 8 a.m.-7.

Prism Glass Works, Ltd.: 102 W. Wayne St., Maumee; 897-4100; Sharon Carothers, Julie Carothers: stained, leaded, and fused glass, panel and Tiffany-style lamps, mosaics, and glass jewelry: on permanent display. Hours: Tue., Wed., Fri., noon-5:30; Thu., noon-8; Sat., 10 a.m.-4.

Richmond Gallery: 417 W. Main St., Marblehead; 798-5631; Ben Richmond: oils, watercolors, prints; on permanent view. Hours: daily, 10 a.m.-5.

River House Arts: 115 W. Front St., Perrysburg; 874-8900; Absolut Europa: prints; through April 3.

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center: Spiegel Grove, Fremont; 332-2081; Croquet: A Sport Story; through Aug. 1. Hours: Tue.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5; Sun., noon-5.

Sanger Branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library: 3030 W. Central Ave.; Judy Miller: photography, and Kristen Vasques: gemstones and artifacts from around the world; through Wed. Hours: Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-9; Fri., Sat., 9 a.m.-5:30; Sun., 1-5:30.

Shared Lives Studio: Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Dr.; Insecta Botanica: Fri., 5-8 (opening reception); Sat., Sun., noon-4.

Silver Lining Gifts & Gallery: 122 Mechanic St., Waterville; 356-4529; Mary McNamara, Lonnie Rosenberg, Harry Daughtery, and Ann Beck: through Wed. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6; Sun., noon-5.

Space 237 Galleries & ClaySpace: 237 N. Michigan St.; 255-5117; Annual Children’s Art Exhibit: today, Fri. Hours: Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-5; Sat., noon-4.

Toledo Artists’ Club: Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Dr.; Patterns in Nature; today, Fri. Juried art show: through April 24; reception Sunday, 2-4. Hours: Tue.-Fri., 1-5; Sat., 1-4.

Toledo-Lucas County Public Library: 325 N. Michigan St.; 259-5207; Connect to Creativity Teen Art Show: through April 24. Hours: Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-9; Fri., Sat., 9 a.m.-5:30.

Toledo School for the Arts: 333 14th St.; Gallery 333: Midyear Visual Art Exhibition: through April 1. Hours: Thu., Fri., 11 a.m.-5.

20 North Gallery: 18 North St. Claire St.; 241-2400; Kimberly Arden: Adorning Glory; through April 24. Hours: Wed.-Fri., noon-4; Sat., 1-5.

University of Findlay Lea Gallery: Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion, 1000 North Main St.; Senior art show: today. Hours: daily, 8 a.m.-8.

University of Michigan Museum of Art: 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; 734-764-0395; Creative Pursuits by Cory Arcangel; through April 11. Tradition Transformed: Chang Ku-nien, Master Painter of the 20th Century; through April 18. The Collection of Dorothy and Herbert Vogel; through May 2. Hours: Tue., Wed., Sat., 10 a.m.-5; Thu, Fri., 10 a.m.-10; Sun., noon-5.

University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts: 620 Grove Place, next to the Toledo Museum of Art; UT’s 2010 Bachelor of Fine Art Exhibition with Elizabeth Herren and Erin Morlock: photography; Baylee Burrowes and Julie Cikra: paintings; and Dean Bucher: amalgamations of found objects; through April 25. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-10; Sun., 10 a.m.-10.

Wassenberg Art Center: 643 South Washington St., Van Wert; 888-238-3837; Ohio Watercolor Society: through Wed. Hours: Tue.-Sun., 1-5.

Way Public Library: 101 E. Indiana Ave., Perrysburg; Fire Apple Series – Glass by Matthew Paskiet: through April. Hours: Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-8:30, Fri.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5:30.

Williams Park: State Rt. 300 (Main St.), Gibsonburg, O.; Sculpture in the Village; artists from Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania; daily, year round.

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What Is Methylsulfonylmethane known as MSM?

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is an organic material found in popular dietary supplements. It is considered an organosulfur compound. Since our bodies require sulfur, these compounds can be biologically useful in some cases.

This substance takes the form of a colorless solid at room temperature. It occurs naturally in plants, fish, and milk. It is often employed as a solvent for industrial applications. Methylsulfonylmethane is considered to be similar in composition to dimethyl sulfoxide. This relationship may explain how methylsulfonylmethane affects the body’s use of dimethyl sulfoxide.

Potential Health Benefits of Supplemental Use of Methylsulfonylmethane

Despite its long and confusing name, methylsulfonylmethane is often sold as an ingredient in a variety of different nutritional supplements. The most popular formulas include glucosamine and chondroitin. Many consumers use MSM for several health benefits.

Victims of osteoarthritis use methylsulfonylmethane to alleviate symptoms of pain. Osteoarthritis also causes severe inflammation. Many osteoarthritis patients consume methylsulfonylmethane to reduce this inflammation. Similar benefits have been observed where rheumatoid arthritis is concerned. MSM is taken to reduce the inflammation and pain caused by this chronic disease as well. These analgesic and anti-inflammatory capabilities may help with the treatment of gout and fibromyalgia. Methylsulfonylmethane helps reduce general joint pain and symptoms from carpal tunnel syndrome.

Some consumers purchase methylsulfonylmethane to naturally treat intestinal disorders. It is known to help with parasitic infections, acid reflux, chronic constipation, and ulcers.

Patients with severe allergies may benefit from supplemental use of methylsulfonylmethane. It is also helpful in preventing snoring. Mental acuity, stress tolerance, and skin condition may improve with consumption of this dietary aid.

Studies Regarding the Effectiveness of Methylsulfonylmethane

Clinical Drug Investigation published a popular study regarding the use of a combination of glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane in the treatment of osteoarthritis. This combination was shown to cause an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect.

A study by scientists from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences also examined the effectiveness of methylsulfonylmethane as a treatment for osteoarthritis. A steady dosage of MSM reduced pain and improved physical capability among participants.

Scientists have also noted the potential efficacy of methylsulfonylmethane in the reduction of symptoms from seasonal allergic rhinitis. A study from the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine demonstrated this possibility in an experimental trial.

In Conclusion

While additional research is necessary to confirm the full range of health benefits that can be attributed to methylsulfonylmethane, this organosulfur compound is a favorite for many fans of natural health products. If you are suffering from joint pain due to arthritis, you might want to consider dietary aids that contain this substance.

While methylsulfonylmethane is considered to be completely safe, always consult your primary care physician before making changes to your nutritional plan. Certain dietary supplements are contraindicated in combination with specific pharmaceutical drugs. Also, you may have allergies or health conditions that interact negatively with individual products. Your doctor best understands how your medical history should influence your future dietary choices.

However, methylsulfonylmethane offers a wide range of health benefits. When developing your nutritional plan, consider products that contain MSM.

experimental Alternative confusing name, health benefits