Mat Gleason, Brent Green, Dan Cameron, Kip Pastor, Ruben Dario @ GCAC

We would like to thank everyone who has participated in programming over the past week here at Grand Central Art Center. It has provided another active schedule of diverse programming and wide range of visitors.

Last Thursday, Mat Gleason from Coagula (both the magazine and gallery) stopped by to see the exhibitions and chat a bit. We had the opportunity to talk about Tony de los Reyes, Constantin Hartenstein and Erin Morrison‘s work and the upcoming programming, before the conversation shifted to Angels baseball. Mat is one of the Angels number one fans, he actually pens for http://www.halosheaven.com/, but we won’t reveal his moniker, you’ll have to guess. The talk of baseball led to a great conversation about Adam Moser‘s residency/project this summer at GCAC, The Cut-Off Men. We honored Mat by presenting him with one of the team autographed, limited edition, baseballs from the project. Now if Mat would just stand still for one moment, we could get an in-focus picture…

Friday afternoon, artist in residence Brent Green and his collaborators, Mike McGinley, Jacquelyn Gordon, Tim Rutili, Tim Hurley and Jim Skuldt, met up at the Orange County School of the Arts, Margaret A. Webb Theatre. They spent much of the afternoon doing set-up and sound checks with the amazing OCSA team and volunteer students for that evenings screening with live soundtrack performance of Green’s feature film Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. The venue is top notch and the sound quality was fantastic! After the sound check and a few warm-up runs, we headed down for a wonderful, pre-screening/performance, Mexican food dinner in downtown Santa Ana.

Following the early dinner, it was time to head back to the theatre for the performance. There was a great audience who experienced a performance that was truly emotional, reflective and inspiring. It was a very moving evening of live music soundtrack and powerful film. Thank you Brent and your collaborators for creating such powerful art! Our sincere gratitude to the team at the Orange County School for the Arts, especially Aaron Orullian, Patrick Williams, Eric Hamme, Kevin Cook, Cathy Michaels. We are looking forward to future collaborations with your team, faculty and students!

The working week started of Monday with a visit from Orange County Museum of Art Chief Curator Dan Cameron. We invited Dan down to speak with students enrolled in the Exhibition and Design program at Cal State University Fullerton. Dan shared stories of how he began his career in the curating practice, his early travels to Spain that so inspired him, and his early writing on the topic of art. He talked about past projects, including his time at the New Museum, curating the 2003 Istanbul Biennale and the development of Prospect 1 in New Orleans. The students asked great questions and the conversation was lively. Thank you Dan for the time, energy and inspiration you provided to our students.

Monday evening, we partnered with OC Food Access Coalition, Positively Delicious OC and Memphis at the Santora to present a screening of the film In Organic We Trust. We had the great fortune to work with two wonderful individuals through this collaboration, OC Food Access Coalition Executive Director Gillian Poe and Program Coordinator Mire Molnar-Barton. We had an engaged crowd on hand that had the opportunity to talk with numerous organizations that set-up booths in our lobby, take in the tasty treats provided by Memphis, and enjoy the screening of the film. Following the film, the audience was provided the opportunity of a Q&A with the films Director/Producer Kip Pastor. It was an educational exchange that lasted close to an hour, with quality information provided by both the filmmaker and audience.

This afternoon, we were visited by Jose Quant and Shell Martin of the Q Art Salon, one of our great gallery neighbors here in Downtown Santa Ana. Jose and Shell brought Ruben Dario of Teatro Nacional Ruben Dario, Managua, Nicaragua, for a site visit to GCAC and conversation about cultural exchange possibilities. Lots of ideas and energy, so we will keep you posted as things develop.

Once again, we thank everyone who participated in our programming over the past week and look forward to providing more opportunities for community focused engagement in the coming days and months.

Lots of great GCAC programs, educational outreach, exhibitions and performance on the horizon!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING YOU JOIN US!