Contact:
Susan Jeffries
ART TALKS Volunteer for Frank Bette Center for the Arts
Email:  Susanlj@pacbell.net
 
April 1,  2014
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
ALAMEDA, CA—Frank Bette Center for the Arts Hosts Michael Schiess, of Pacific Pinball Museum, on  Early Pinball Backglass Art.

Pinball wizards may take little notice of the art surrounding the score boards but “backglass” painting is part of the experience of playing.

A significant part of the appeal of pinball comes from its vibrant art. The experience of playing  pinball would be diminished if the backglass art was missing. Pinball would simply not be pinball without the art, the animation, and the scores flashing in bright lights and numbers.

On Wednesday, May 14, Michael Schiess, founder and director of the Pacific Pinball Museum, will discuss this unique art form at the Frank Bette Centre for the Arts.

Schiess will also present  samples from the Pacific Pinball Museum's extensive collection. He will review the art, the artists, the process of making backglasses, and the companies that produced them. He  will also discuss the museum's mural program which has enabled local artists to craft stunning hand painted murals of selected backglasses.

Schiesss presentation includes a review of classic backglass artists such as George Molentin and Roy Parker, whose works spanned 1935 to 1980, and mid-century artists Art Stenholm, Christian Marche, and Dave Christensen, who produced  backglass from 1964 to 1981.

Schiess will share backglass samples from the collection of Richard Conger, a high school auto shop teacher known as the”Keeper of the Pinball Flame”. Conger's collection, housed at his “Silver Ball Ranch” in Sebastopol, spans pinball history.

Pinball has become so popular that the Smithsonian Institution's History Museum in Washington DC has presented programs on the topic.

Currently located on Webster Street in Alameda, Schiess plans to renovate the former Carnegie Library, opposite Alameda's City Hall, and relocate the Pacific Pinball Museum there. When this happens, Conger's collection of rare and unique machines may be included. This will make PPM the only museum in the world to feature a collection of this magnitude.

This May 14 event is the fourth in the Frank Bette Center's lecture series, ART TALKS. The program, held on the second Wednesday of each month, runs from 7:00pm - 9:00pm; gallery opens at 6:00pm.
    
Admission is $10 for guests, $5 for Bette Art Center members. For more information: visit www.frankbettecenter.org or call 510-523-6957. Backglass art from Richard Conger's collection housed at “Silver Ball Ranch” in Sebastopol, CA.

Contact:
Communications Director: Communications@frankbettecenter.org
Margaret Fago: mwfago@earthlink.net or call 332-6922 before April 11 and after May 1.
 
March 28,  2014
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alameda watercolor artist, Margaret Fago, heads to the city of San Luis Potosì, Mexico, to document the largest traditional Easter festival, "Semana Santa."

San Luis Potosì is an old colonial silver mining town established by the Spanish in 1592. Semana Santa is rooted in Spain and the highlight of the week long celebration is the Procession of Silence, on the evening of Good Friday.

Also on the itinerary is a visit to the village of Real de Catorce, once an abandoned mining town now revived as an artist colony and spiritual center for local people.

Margaret Fago and her husband, Fred, will document the festival and their travels through photographs, paintings and writing.

This project is an offshoot of a recent exhibition at Alameda's Frank Bette Center for the Arts of artist and cultural preservationist, Miguel Guerrero Diaz. Diaz's trip was made possible through the generosity of Dick Davis and the Wilmette Art Guild of Chicago.

Davis commissioned Diaz to document and thereby preserve the disappearing indigenous culture of the native peoples of Mexico, particularly life in Diaz's indigenous Nahuatl village in the mountains near Zacatlan.  

These interconnections bring the Fagos to Mexico from April 12 to 30. They will also record their experiences in a travel blog.

See more about Diaz's show at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts.

For more information: visit www.frankbettecenter.org. For pre- and post-trip interviews about the project and the trip, contact Margaret Fago directly: mwfago@earthlink.net.

Contact:
Susan Jeffries
ART TALKS Volunteer for Frank Bette Center for the Arts
Email:  Susanlj@pacbell.net

March 9,  2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALAMEDA, CA—Frank Bette Center for the Arts Hosts Local Art Expert, Deric Torres, for Talk about History of Art in the San Francisco Bay Area

On Friday, April 9, early California art expert Deric Torres will speak at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda. Torres will discuss Bay Area painting from 1872 to 1920.  He will bring a small gallery of art from the period.

Torres is the director of furniture and decorative art and early California fine arts at the Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, where he also serves as an appraiser and auctioneer.  

For nearly 25 years, he has been immersed in California art both as a collector and as an adviser to collectors of art and antiques.  Torres has worked extensively with both private and institutional collectors, and will include in his talk information about current market trends in California art.

This presentation is the third in ART TALKS, Bette’s new series of art history presentations for art lovers and collectors.  All ART TALKS programs are held at the  Frank Bette Center for the Arts , 1601 Paru in Alameda, on the second Wednesday of each month from now until June 11. The talks start at 7 p.m., and the gallery is open at 6 p.m. for those who wish to view the current exhibits.           

Previous ART TALKS presentations at the Bette Centre have attracted capacity crowds, so reservations are recommended. Admission is $10 for guests, $5 for Bette Art Center members.  For more information: visit www.frankbettecenter.org or call 510-523-6957510-523-6957510-523-6957510-523-6957510-523-6957510-523-6957510-523-6957510-523-6957.

Photo: Artist Carrie Clinton gets an early look at one piece of early California Art that Deric Torres will use in his April 9 program at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts.