THE TRYST

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - POETRY CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL

2011-02-21T13:29:00.000-05:00

2011-01-26T21:39:00.003-05:00

Photo Credit: ChazWags

Taking Back the ArtS: Examining Why ArtistS Struggle & What to Do About It
FREE, ALL AGES workshop for creative people of all kind who do not accept that the life of an artist (of any kind) should be one of struggle and who want to change the "feast or famine" systems in the artS. We will explore the power structures in the artS and how they perpetuate the legacy of the starving artist.
Sat., Feb 19th - 3:45pm to 6pm
The Tank
345 W45th St, Upstairs
NYC (b/w 8th and 9th avs)
RSVP to trystcollective@gmail.com

Collective Poem - Written at BP Event on 10/11/10

2010-10-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

Here is the collective poem written by participants and guests of the Tryst Collective event, "BP's Black Plague: A Response in Art & Music" on 10/11/10 at the R Bar in NYC.

Feel Free to Add Your Own Lines in the Comments Section!

(the title was given by a participant-writer)

Us vs. Them

The BP oil spill opened my eyes to...

the blindness of society

endless greed becomes our responsibility

BIG OIL SOAKED POLITICIANS

THE FULL-ON CORPORATE DEATH GRIP

BUST ... A BLACK EARTH OUT

further PREDESTINED inadequacy ... Party 'til the end (it's soon) WITH my partying friend, who blindly works for BP!

I want less...

The love you take is equal to the love you make

Hypocrisy

One Night Only! BP's Black Plague: A Response in Art & Music

2010-09-23T21:53:00.011-04:00

BP's Black Plague:

A Response in Art and Music

MONDAY, OCTOBER 11th, 2010 (Columbus Day)
7:00 PM
R Bar

218 Bowery (b/w Prince and Spring)
New York, NY

21+ ONLY

$10 at the door

Gulf Coast Artwork Silent Auction

Artwork and CDs for sale

Please RSVP to trystcollective@gmail.com

Featured Musicians:
The Whispering Tree
Laura Schleifer
Cosmolingo

Featured Artists:
Ariel Basso
Carl Dimitri (Rhode Island)
Deno Angelopoulos
Dylan O'Brien
Eleanor Kleiner
Elena Kariyannis
Harriet Kleiner
Jacq Lovelace
Jacob Reptile (Gulf Coast Artist)
Jessica Rowshandel
JOHNONEIL
Lauren Polley
Leah DeRivan-Keppel (jewelry & fine art)
Leslie Bender
Leyman Le Duke
Lisa Bauer
Michelle Elizabeth Posner
Nadia Gallagher
Pamela Conway Caruso (Gulf Coast Artist)
Rebecca Volinsky
Shayna C. Latiolas (Gulf Coast Artist)

Featured Poets:
Stella Padnos-Shea
and Jessica Rowshandel

UPDATE - IT'S A DATE! The Oil Spill Show Finds a New Home

2010-09-09T21:01:00.006-04:00

Thanks to the efforts of our Associate Director, Michele, and her brilliant event planning and networking skills, we have a NEW venue and a DATE (finally!). :: drum roll::

THE TRYST COLLECTIVE PROUDLY PRESENTS:

BP's Black Plague:
A Response in Art and Music

MONDAY, OCTOBER 11th, 2010 (Columbus Day)
7:00 PM
R Bar
218 Bowery (b/w Prince and Spring)
New York, NY
http://www.rbarnyc.com/

The R Bar is a gorgeous space. The folks at the R Bar are being super generous by practically donating the space to us because under normal conditions this would be a very pricey venue to secure. Consider us lucky! The arts goddesses and gods have definitely shown us that when one door (almost literally) closes, a better one opens up.

Please spread the word and tell your friends. We hope to see you there!

Thank you to all of the artists and musicians who have been exceedingly patient, quietly awaiting a date announcement.

-J

Photo credit: lisaclarke

Call for Entries and Musicians! BP's Black Plague: a Response in Arts & Music

2010-08-14T21:15:00.017-04:00

I have been quite disturbed by the BP oil spill, what about you? Devastation is long-lasting on many levels - environmentally and socioeconomically, for example. Creative people surely have feelings about the BP spill and/or our nation's oil dependence. The Tryst wants to hear from you!

Next month we are hosting a one-night show. (We are still awaiting a date confirmation). It will be a multidisciplinary show. We seek painters and musicians, but also photographers, illustrators, comic book artists, fabric artists and so on.

What You Need to Know:

1. You will not be paid. You will be, however, strongly encouraged to sell your work. The Tryst does not take commission.

2. We ask that you invite as many people as possible. After all, the name of the game is networking and building a following. We need to cross pollinate to do so.

3. The event will be ticketed so that we can pay for the space.

4. You must be comfortable with a grassroots group and nontraditional art spaces. No snobs, please.

5. For the artists: Unless we get an insane response from the community, we welcome you to show more than one piece. Since the show is themed, one piece must be your response to the BP oil spill and/or our nation's oil dependence.

6. For musicians: Your music does not have to be about the oil spill, but needless to say, we certainly welcome it.

INTERESTED?

Email us at trystcollective@gmail.com to let us know and please include a sample of your work. We can't wait to hear from you.

For inspiration, read Jessica's blog response to the spill: The BP Oil Spill Never Happened

Photo Credit: Blackmetta

Who We Are & What We Do - The SHORT Version

2010-07-15T21:21:00.004-04:00

Today I was asked to give an explanation of the Tryst, but the short version. After Michele and I slaved away and yammered on with drawn out explanations of who we are and what we do, I realized that we do indeed need a short version. So here's the response I gave:

Mission Statement-

The Tryst fosters a process of social change for artists of all kinds that eradicates the current "feast or famine" system and gives way to a creative middle class through which artists can completely earn a livelihood.

I'm an MSW, of the social justice kind, so naturally the Tryst is based on community organizing principles. We were founded in 2009 and our members have shown continued interest since our inaugural event last summer. We have events for two reasons 1) networking/exposure and 2) building membership. Once we have a more solid membership then we can sit down and say, "Ok, the creative community is facing this and this and this social justice issue. For instance, we have trouble obtaining healthcare, income and affordable housing. There is little middle class in the arts. How are we going to address this all? How are we going to change the system?" And then we will create campaigns to address these issues.

The events we have planned are shows revolving around topics like the BP oil spill and dependence on oil, defining Womynhood, addressing food injustice and agribusiness, sharing the community's experiences with mental health and substance abuse, and using found objects and rubbage to make statements (and art) about the state of the environment.

Most likely the shows will include musicians and visual artists, but we are open to other disciplines as well. It just seems that the setting is most conducive to these disciplines. But we will figure out, as we go along, how to be as inclusive as possible.

Photo credit: Tiago Ribeiro

The Tryst Collective - Where the Arts and Hoarding Meet

2010-07-14T23:20:00.007-04:00

By day, I am a social worker, and am an artist by always. Most importantly to the Tryst Collective, I'm a collector. I'm a collector of books and art supplies, pennies and, ehem ... people.

Yes, people.

At this point, I think I might even be considered a hoarder. But I'm okay with it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have people stashed away under the floor boards or in a basement. It's not like that. It's just that, over time I have met, befriended, and kept in contact with a lot of very talented, very creative people. I never knew the significance of my collection until it all became clear to me a few years ago.

All my life, I wanted to be a poet, a painter, a musician, and I was terrified to be any of these things because I knew all too well the struggles of my beloveds who were pursuing similar dreams. (I do love social work, by the way and without my social work education, I would not have envisioned the Tryst -- So, I guess I'm a social worker by always too, huh?) Unlike many of my creative contemporaries who decided to focus on their art, I have always enjoyed health insurance, paid time off, and a steady income. But I no longer wish to trade art for a 9-5 career, no matter how meaningful that career is; and I no longer wish for my friends to trade good health and financial stability for their art. It can't be an either/or scenario.

In social work school I decided that I was going to figure out how to also be an artist without having to face the social justice issues that creative people face relating to housing, income, and health (and even race, gender, ability, and age). Ok, well, I haven't completely figured that all out yet because I first had proclaim, "The creative community is facing some serious social justice issues! Pay attention," which is what the Tryst is currently doing, hence our people collection.

Not only do we collect people, but we also encourage the collection of people. I want you to collect people too because here at the Tryst, that's what we do. We are a bunch of hoarding missionaries proselytizing about the arts - banging our paintbrushes on our cymbals, ripping out pages from our chapbooks, balling them up and throwing them at your heads. "Hey, look here!" we exclaim. "Do you face these problems, too?" we ask.

These are issues that all creative people know about, but haven't seriously or successfully been addressed, systemically. There is virtually no creative middle class. This is a serious problem. The creative community cannot continue the way it has been, at the expense of their health, mental health, and without having their basic needs met.

What's the answer? We have to organize.

Community organizing is only as powerful as its membership. There really is power in numbers. Thus, collecting people is a powerful force. And the way we collect people at the Tryst is to have parties!

As Michele informed you, we are working on obtaining a venue for our next several parties (shows, exhibits, festivals, whatever you want to name them). We are really excited about the upcoming shows, which will be themed. For the next show, we are seeking performers, artists, crafters, and any other creative people who want to share work inspired by BP's mephistophelian oil spill. Please comment here or email us (trystcollective@gmail.com) if you are interested.

Altogether, we are planning six shows. After the (1) oil spill show (party) are shows (2) addressing ways to define Womynhood, (3) sharing reactions to the food industry and agribusiness, (4) using rubbage and found objects to make statements about the state of the environment, (5) sharing with you the frustrations of the 9-5 work world, and (6) revealing our private experiences with mental health and substance abuse.

The Tryst Collective is a public collection, for all the world to experience, and we would love for you to be a part of our community and help us build it so that we can create a world where we can work and live as the creative people we were meant to be.

Photo credit #1: Adrian Wallett
Photo credit #2: alicepopkorn

Photo credit #3: Fuseman

Won't You Join Us For a Tryst?

2010-07-13T10:27:00.005-04:00

Don't be shy! Have a taste!

We, at the Tryst, seek to break the boundaries of solitary artists, unknowns, and unsigneds by bringing them together in a supportive and positive space, helping them connect with resources they might not have access to, and providing an expanded community network for all kinds of creatives to participate.

There are many ideas flowing through our collective pipeline and we have been working on lots of stuff for you! We are in the process of nailing down venues to hold our shows, networking with other organizations, recruiting more members, and working on our own collateral material. So, while you haven’t heard from us in several months, I assure you, we’re still here and we’re a fantastic work in progress. Keep your calendars clear and your eyes open for our upcoming shows. They’ll be here before you know it!

It's so nice to see you!

I would like to welcome you to the Tryst and our new blog! It was little more than a year ago that the Tryst came into my life. I was invited to attend a show last June and afterward, I wanted to be involved. Since then, I have been collaborating with Tryst founder, Jessica Rowshandel, and several other founding members to help plan and grow the organization. It is an exciting process and a project that has truly become near and dear to my heart.

Now, while I’m no brilliant artist, I have done my fair share of running marketing departments and creating art through event production, graphic design, and photography. Sadly, I am no longer a professional in the creative fields. These days I tend to consider myself more of a creative enthusiast and live vicariously through the more talented artistic folk that I know. Among them are musicians, fine artists, comedians, dancers, filmmakers, to name a few. I have been offering my marketing insight, strategic-planning knowledge, and general ideas to the Tryst in hopes that they would find my meager talents useful. And they have - with arms wide open and with a true welcoming of my thoughts and suggestions. For that small token, I have found myself newly inspired and have started to regain some of the creative juices that I thought had long since dried up.

I personally believe that my friends, their friends, and their friends' friends should be recognized more often for the brilliant works they create. I am fascinated with the amount of talent amongst ‘ordinary’ people I have known for years and those I continue to meet everyday. While many of them are visionaries, very few are successful at getting their art exposed to wider audiences or even amongst their peers. They often have uninspiring day jobs and lament over not having more time to be creative. I, myself, have been in this rut before. I have felt the weight of the corporate world and the lack of creative personal time. I’m sure you have too. It’s not pretty.

What the horizon brings...

Recently, Jessica and I had dinner together and talked at length about the Tryst, what it means, where we want it to go, and what we hope our constituents will gain from it. Many ideas were discussed, dreams formed, and plans hatched. While Jess and I joked about our collective attention-span issues, got excited stumbling onto new ideas, and gleefully strayed off-topic, we somehow managed to get work done and created a meaningful vision for the Tryst. That vision, with the help of our founding members, later became our mission statement. It was a small but important step in our growth, one that really solidified our team and helped us move forward. I have been so impressed with our progress, the enthusiastic interest from our member artists, and the wonderful connections we’ve made with like-minded groups. It's been awesome! We still have a long journey ahead, but I am honored and delighted to participate along the way.

And maybe, just maybe, through our work, it will be possible for some of our artists to quit those uninspiring day jobs and focus on the art they love for a living. That is our wish for you!

Thanks to all of you who have shared with us and continue to share with us. We look forward to seeing you at the next show!

Art, love, and joy,
M.