Making art *and* money

There are a lot of resources mentioned (and linked) in the article along with some inspiring success stories. Here's a taste:

Mr. Niles and Ms. Hellmuth have learned on their own what Elliot McGucken teaches in his course, Artist Entrepreneurs, which he developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a grant from the Kauffman Foundation. Mr. McGucken?s course, now taught at Pepperdine University, rests on the principle that those who create art should have the skills to own it, profit from it and protect it.

?It?s about how to make your passion your profession, your avocation your vocation, and to make this long-term sustainable,? he said.

Tristan Hummel, 22, a senior at the Art Institute of Chicago, said he wanted to help create a world where artists could do art as their primary practice and still make a living. Three years ago, after reading that Chicago?s El trains were available for rent, he got the idea to bring artists together to create an art show on wheels. This fall, his idea came to fruition with ?Art on Track,? an eight-train car on the orange line that traveled Chicago?s loop while displaying the work of more than 200 emerging artists.

[Photos ...]

Art schools, too, are starting to step in. At the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., students can now major or minor in a program called ?The Business of Art and Design.? Larry Thompson, the school?s dean, said he was inspired to create the program when he read about Dan Pink?s book, ?A Whole New Mind,? which popularized the notion that artists, especially those who can marry left and right brain skills, the analytical and the creative, will be in high demand in the coming years.

?I am committed to destroying the myth of the starving artist,? Mr. Thompson said.

There are more art-related and creative jobs now than ever before, because of computers and the Web. Also, running your own arts or crafts business is much easier now, for the same reasons. It takes only some skill and samples to get started in many cases, so educating yourself is the place to start.

Mambo's Urban Furniture

Madrid, Spain - Check out Mambo's many other interesting street interventions under "urban furniture" on his site.

USA: Opt out of phone books and yellow pages

I sure hope this works! I get 6 of these tree-murdering useless things per year, some from phone companies I don't even use. It's past time to be able to opt out. Some companies are cutting old-growth forest for phone books, which is obscene.

Berok and Chacon - underwater scene

Berok and Chacon, from Spain, painted this lovely 11 x 7 meter mural recently, which includes an amazing octopus. Lucky guys had a lift too.

"Don't Talk to the Police" by Professor James Duane

Even if you're innocent and not under suspicion, you can be jailed for things you say to police. Just don't talk to them without a lawyer by your side. Even when you're just a witness, even when you are the one who called the cops, you can be arrested or prosecuted later for things you say.

Don't talk to the police without a lawyer, because [paraphrased]:

1. It can't help you. They can arrest you no matter what you say -- and probably will. What you tell police can't be used to help you at trial. Save it for court. Don't try to talk your way out of something after the police show up.

2. It's possible to admit you're guilty or say something incriminating, even by accident. Save it for court.

[It also doesn't help to admit guilt when the cops insist that they will go easier on you if you confess. So many kids fall for this one! It's just a lie they tell you in order to get you to self-incriminate so they won't have to prove anything. Cops can lie to you, but it's easy to get thrown in jail merely for lying to them (ask Martha Stewart). This is particularly true for the Feds. Some people would also get off on bad busts except for the fact that they admitted they were guilty to the police.]

3. Even if you are innocent, if you make a mistake when telling your story -- even by accident -- you could get convicted later as a result.

4. Even if you are innocent and tell the truth and only the truth, you might still give the cops information that could get you convicted in court. Prosecutors need to convict someone, so they look hard for someone no matter how far fetched the case may be. The 5th Amendment protects you from incriminating yourself, but only if you don't do it. Keeping your mouth shut is the only way to be sure. Innocent or guilty, the 5th protects you. Don't waste what little protection you have by talking.

5. If you talk to the police, regardless of what you say, they could easily remember what you said badly, exposing you to the possibility of being wrongfully convicted in court.

6. Even if you are videotaped.

7. Especially if the authorities then turn up someone with even mistaken or unreliable evidence that contradicts your statements.

[Tip: Television has nothing to do with real life and it may be entirely misleading about police and court procedures.]

[And last but not least, the big lie that will not die: Undercover police and informants can lie when you ask them if they are the police. There is no magic police deactivation phrase!]

: Thank you very much officer, but I can't talk to you without my lawyer here.

Albus Cavus in DC

Jam at an intersection in Columbia Heights in Washington DC on Sunday, November 9, 2008.

Participating artists: Tim CON (DC), Decoy (DC), Billy Mode (MD), VJ (DC), Owel (DC), Gaia (MD), Leon Rainbow (NJ), Will Kasso (NJ), Demer (NJ), Peter Krsko (DC) - on flickr.

10,000 hours = expertise

Malcolm Gladwell explains the relationship among effort, talent, and success. What looks like genius can be explained to some extent by practice. Early successes mean early parental support.

BBC - Election night in Chicago USA

This video is the best one I've seen so far from that hopeful night.

The NYT spoof - Yes Men and others claim responsibility

We've seen The Yes Men in action before, and they are some of the coolest pranksters ever.

President-elect Obama's first YouTube address

It's a new day in American leadership, and what a difference. Let's hope Congress gets behind him and that his economic interventions work.

Of course, the idiots are freaking out too. So now is the time to step up our intolerance for hate speech and racist attitudes. It's not something we just have to put up with, it's a tiny cowardly minority with big mouths.

Election night photos in Chicago

My photos of the election night rally in Chicago didn't turn out as well as these did, but this slide show shows the crowd and the new first family, and it gives you a real sense of what it was like on the ground. It is being reported that 250,000 people were there at the rally in Chicago with us, although most of those folks would have been outside the park itself where you can't see them. This wave of humanity you can see is the first 40,000 or so who made it inside.

It was a trip leaving the park. Everyone was especially polite -- in a state of shock really. Optimistic shock, but definitely stunned. We walked for a dozen blocks in a crowd as far as you could see of quiet happy people. No cars. Every once in a while a wave of happy shouting would pass over us. I've never seen so many happy, relaxed, well-behaved cops in my life. I've never felt safer in a big crowd.

Now, perhaps, a change for the better is in the wind. Let's all hope so.

A NYTimes parody

Too funny. Must be a cynical week all over. Rumor is these folks not only spoofed the NYT but they also printed hard copies and distributed them in NYC, so be on the lookout if you're in the City.

Thanks to Katie for the tip

LULZ: Onion satire on YouTube

YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video
via Boing Boing

Bombing Beirut

Stone, graffiti pioneer from Germany, recently went to Beirut Lebanon to work with writers there. Previously you'll recall Stone organized two big events in Cuba with Os Gemeos, Won, Neon (Germany) and Cemnoz -- altogether more than 25 writers from Germany, Brazil, and Cuba.

BLF and Wachovia Bank (RIP)

Rezine69 Light Graf Exhibition

President elect, Barack Obama

Yes We Did.

Here are some excellent photos from the campaign.

I participated in the election-night rally in Chicago (thanks, K!), and I'll post a few photos from it in a day or two.