Get Some MOJA
The dog days may still have their bite, but the deadline is approaching for a significant fall festival. The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs is planning the 2007 MOJA Arts Festival and seeking art to fill the Avery Research Center.
While the yearly celebration of African-American and Caribbean Art won’t kick off until Sept. 23, now’s the time for artists to get their slides or JPEG-formatted CDs together to be considered for the juried exhibition.
Recent MOJAs have striven to reflect Chucktown’s abundant legacy of African and Caribbean cultures. They’ve included iron-wrought sculptures, installations, video art, giant cereal box covers, and coloring books. The organizers haven’t shied from showing art with a political edge, or giving space to contemporary work. Juror Arianne King Comer favors textiles in her own work as an artist, so it’s possible that some cloth concepts may appear in this year’s show.
The cut-off date for entries is Thurs., Aug. 23 and the exhibition is open to all artists residing in S.C. For more information or an application form, entrants should contact Visual Arts Coordinator Francina Smalls-Joyner at the Office of Cultural Affairs, 180 Meeting St., Suite 200. Charleston, S.C. 29401 or call her at 724-7305. —Nick Smith
Bid Early and Often
Since its inception six years ago, Redux Contemporary Art Center has made a name for itself with all kinds of important art stuff — community classes, affordable studio space, cool exhibits — but the reason we love it so much is the cheap art auctions. Original founder Bob Snead introduced the concept back as an undergrad at College of Charleston; he and his artist pals would gather their work together and auction it off to the highest bidder — even if that bid was $25. Our walls are festooned with our winnings from such auctions. Now, Redux is innovating yet again, with a new online auction. They are inviting art patrons to view their works online and post bids, via eBay, thereby automating the process and helping the nonprofit arts center raise as many beans as possible. The auction helps launch FriendsofRedux.org, which highlights donors and sponsors. The auction has about 30 products and services, with something for everyone. Bidding opened last week and will continue through Friday, Aug. 10 on items ranging from a one-hour photo session with Kevin Hoth to a commissioned painting by Colleen Terrell. Other items up for grabs include a Tony Wurman lamp from Max Jerome, a signed book by graphic designer extraordinaire David Carson (man, we’ve been wanting one of those), a giant bottle of wine from Cypress, a Stella Nova mini-makeover, and even an “instant art collection” from Redux, which so far is one of the most popular bids. Proceeds from the auction go towards Redux’s arts education programs. —Stephanie Barna
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