We Loved Your Diamond Eyes

DIRT PALACE DECEMBER 2015 We Loved Your Diamond Eyes Louise DeCurtis 1979-2015 It is with much sadness in our hearts that we report the loss of our beloved friend, former Dirt Palace member, and brilliant artist Louise DeCurtis. Her rebellious spirit and scintillating sense of humor will be sorely missed. Louise's irreverent Shit Talker zines are some of our libraries  most prized possessions (but don't just take our word for it that they are AMAZING, they also exist in the MOMA's collection and are featured in MOMA's historical compendium of women artists - MODERN WOMEN). It was an honor to have known her and to belong to her Sisterhood of the Snake. Our love goes out to all of Louise's friends and family. This spring we plan to have a memorial ceremony for Louise at the Dirt Palace in conjunction with the creation of a permanent installation based on her art work. We don't have a date set in stone, so if you'd like to participate but need to plan travel in advance, please be in touch. In the meantime we are trying to compile as many images of her work as we possible so that we can archive her legacy on the web. Do you have any of Louise's work (Paintings, photographs, zines, writing, flyers, drawings, etc)? If you do, we'd love to get a digital image for our archive. Please send any images to dirtpalace@yahoo.com

WINDOW NOVEMBER WINDOW ARTIST: MIKE LESLIE A Whole World of Cones Mike Leslie B. 1981 Worcester, MA Found road cones, pants, shoes and 10 years of skateboard wheels. DECEMBER WINDOW ARTIST: MIMI CHRZANOWSKI Mimi Chrzanowski physically works in Providence, Rhode Island, but mentally works in a pink-dolphin-shaped submarine with a crew of cute demons. Her installation, Pink Bull, makes public the most popular energy drink enjoyed in the paradise of hell aka Babytown. Read Babytown and other comics at Mimi's website --- http://bbytown.tumblr.com *****UPDATES***** PANZ Ongoing collaborative installation from Dirt Palace members Alison Nitkiewicz and Pippi Zornoza (PANZ) is now in the AS220 women’s bathroom. XANDER MARRO December = Days of Masks nights of quilts, afternoons mailing stuff at the post office. “We don't know much about Masks in this culture, partly because the church sees the Mask as pagan, and tries to suppress it wherever it has the power (the Vatican has a museum full of Masks confiscated from the 'natives'), but also because this culture is usually hostile to trance states. We distrust spontaneity and try to replace it with reason” - Keith Johnstone Impro Winter as one long spontaneous performance mostly indoors. But keep me making the walk to the post office by ordering some stuff! 50 Lampshades of Grey won't last long, and last year's Trouble anthology makes an awesome gift. Some prints, tee-shirts, masks are available at my store through the mail, but most everything on my web-site (posters, dolls  etc) can likely be bought – just inquire. Always open to trades, deals, offers of useful services and cold cash discounts for stuff bought direct outta the studio. PS – "in progress" quilt pictured above features patches by past dirt pals Sam Merit and Mickey Z check out their rad shops too!  DANIELLA BEN-BASSAT Daniella is back from her residency in Montreal. You can see what she worked on here: https://vimeo.com/147517329 She also has some new items in her webstore. If you have always wanted something that says "TAKE MY IDENTITY....PLEASE", "THIS 'TUDE SHALL PASS", or "FEAR IS THE MIND KILLER" hop on over to Club Darnell. Use discount code "SPOONEMS" for free local delivery.  JIEUN REINER Jieun has been going wild in studio filling holiday orders! Check out almanacforjune.etsy.com for all of your holiday needs ;) ALISON NITKIEWICZ Alison is working on a short film. Stay tuned! Here's another shot from the AS220 bathroom collab with Pippi: NINA RUELLE  Nina is spending December at MASS MoCA, where she is an artist in residence at the Assets for Artists studios. So far she has been making a mess playing with sequins and listening to lots of apologetic pop songs.   PIPPI ZORNOZA After 5 years of working on the project, the Dirt Palace Facade is finally installed! Thank you to One Neighborhood Builders and Chris Ackley, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Winton Bell Gallery and Nathaniel Walker, Erika Tazberik, Melanie Bohrer, Sabina Matos, the Department of Art Culture and Tourism, LISC and Citizens Bank's Growing Communities Fund, the Rhode Island Foundation, NEFA, Rhode Island Housing Corporation, Sam Hogg, Meredith Younger, Doug Borkman, Will Reeves, Shauna Duffy, and everyone at the Dirt Palace. Without your support, this project could have never happened. PANZ finished their ongoing installation in the AS220 womens’ bathroom. RECTRIX goes into the studio to record this month O HORVATH O is contributing a page to merritt kopas' surgery fundraiser project INTERNET MURDER REVENGE FANTASY, a collaborative poem-comic about growing up on the internet. It's a super exciting project and all proceeds go to an great cause. merritt also has a bunch of other exciting donation perks (including custom art, sex toys, and other freaky surprises) listed at MERRITT.HELP ***DIRT PALACE LIBRARY HI-LITES*** MONTHLY PICTORIAL TREAT FROM THE DUSTY SHELVES OF THE DIRT PALACE FURTHERING THE QUEST TO SPREAD FUN LIKE GIN AND JUICE, MOSTLY GIN Louise DeCurtis Shit Talker #1  24 page zine, photocopy, color xerox, 2 color screen printed flocked paper, sewn pocket, and 2 color screen printed kiss emery boards. Louise DeCurtis Shit Talker #2 44 page zine, photocopy, color xerox, 2 color screen printed cover.

Dirt Palace Facade Unveiling!

Images from the Unveiling this past Saturday!

All the leaves were bluuuu // and the sky was pink

All the leaves were bluuuu // and the sky was pink ;o Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

DIRT PALACE OCTOBER 2015 FACADE UNVEILINGS! FILM SCREENINGS! AND SUBLETS.... OOOH MY..... The Dirt Palace Facade Unveiling!!! After 5 years in the making!! This Saturday October 17, 3:30pm In front of the Dirt Palace and after...... SHIVERING SHELVES Saturday, October 17th  7:00 PM Join Dirt Palace for an evening of film and video!  Featuring work by  Vanessa Renwick (PDX) Pippi Zornoza  Leslie Thornton (PVD/NYC) Chrissy Jones (PHL) Maralie Night of beautiful work by local and traveling artists! Come check it out!!! ________________________________________ DECEMBER-ISH SUBLET ALERT!  $100/week for a huge lofted room (big window, lots of light, plants galore), studio space (private studio with table, also shared access to silk screening equipment, a C&P letterpress, a wood shop, a band room, and an animation studio), a huge communal kitchen, 6 awesome housemates, and a cat named Baby! Email us for more information or to express interest!

WINDOW AUGUST WINDOW ARTIST- SIMON SLOWINSKI Wave Nets is six panel silkscreen mono-print created for the Dirt Palace window. Simple "nets" constructed with string and tape where used in the printing process to create overlapping chaotic grids of color and texture. Simon Slowinski is a artist and printmaker living in Providence Rhode Island and Brattleboro Vermont. SEPTEMBER WINDOW ARTIST- NINA RUELLE Meat Week showcases a series of tapestries that delve into the shiny world of mass-marketed American femininity. They are works of meticulously crafted crap, turning the shelves of Walmart’s beauty aisle and dollar store decadence into sickly sweet tableaus that hint at the carnal underpinnings of our desire. Under the watchful eyes of Uncle Sam, swathes of rhinestones sparkle in the pink glow of vanity lights, rows of tampons wing glorified sanitary napkins, and heart-shaped sperm swim in a sea of fake fur and lace-frilled eggs. But even Uncle Sam’s blind eyes can’t miss the fact that pearl-filled condoms burst and decay and that for one week out of every four, some women feast to satisfy their anemic cravings. Nina Ruelle is currently in residence at the Dirt Palace. You can see more of her work at www.ninaruelle.com *****UPDATES***** O HORVATH O is stoked on leather weather, chasing the cat and baking stuff in not-100-degree heat! They will be at COMIC ARTS BROOKLYN on Saturday November 7th in (you guessed it) Brooklyn's Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church. They will have old books, new books (???), shirts and whatever else they find in the basement.....  DANIELLA BEN-BASSAT Daniella is currently in Montreal, where she will be for the next 6 weeks doing a residency at Studio XX - a feminist center for technological exploration. There, she plans on making motor based sculptural sound loops, honing her Arduino skills, and learning how to drive 2 blocks without getting honked at.  Below is a photo of the street laughing at her parking job. NINA RUELLE Nina spent the end of her summer in a haze of satin, pearls, and tinsel, preparing "Meat Week" for installation in the Dirt Palace Window. She also had a piece in the Mission Gallery's collaboration with FANG at the CityArts Gallery show "Art as Activism /// Activism as Art." Since then, she has been printing posters for Magic Lantern and updating her website (check it out! www.ninaruelle.com).  To combat her lack of summer adventure, she has been finding innovative ways to feel as though she is in the great outdoors. Also if you want to pretend to be Nina for a month, you're in luck! She's going away in December, and looking for someone to sublet her room for 4-6 weeks around that time. DECEMBER-ISH SUBLET ALERT: $100/week for a huge lofted room (big window, lots of light, plants galore), studio space (private studio with table, also shared access to silk screening equipment, a C&P letterpress, a wood shop, a band room, and an animation studio), a huge communal kitchen, 6 awesome housemates, and a cat named Baby! PIPPI ZORNOZA Unartig video of NYC RECTRIX performance at the Silent Barn. (Click through to watch video) XANDER MARRO Xander has been living in Nebraska learning about bugs and the popcorn factory, and bugs and the fields, and bugs and the glorious nature of prairie thunderstorms, and bugs and  the Otoe tribe, and bugs and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and bugs and the karaoke bar in a town with a population of 214, and bugs and sunrise, and bugs and the history of the sunbonnet, bugs and straight gridded roads each exactly a mile apart lined with wild hemp fighting it out with ragweed to be the closest thing to the sun. Plants that are holdovers from a time before this land was part of this country. A time not even that long ago. She is pictured here holding a pink banana jumbo squash that she bought for $4 at a 300 mile long yard sale. Photo by Anita Koesterwww.anitaoliviakoester.com JIEUN REINER Wow! Jieun has had a truly amazing and exciting summer filled with more beauty than one could ask for. Now she is back to the daily grind, and working on a few new projects too, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a memory:  ALISON NITKIEWICZ Al took a trip to Cali and met up with Jieun. She lost her phone and gained beautiful memories. It rocked!!! Artistically, she is exploring new horizons......stay tuned!! xoxo AL  ***DIRT PALACE LIBRARY HI-LITES*** MONTHLY PICTORIAL TREAT FROM THE DUSTY SHELVES OF THE DIRT PALACE FURTHERING THE QUEST TO SPREAD FUN LIKE GIN AND JUICE, MOSTLY GIN Today's fresh juicy liberry treat is a zine called PIG TALES from our friends at Paper Rad!  Sandwiched between the screamingly bright covers is a fat lil collection of femmey pig themed comics, games, collages, and even weavings.... plus some sick screenprinted post cards.... P.E.A.C.E (Pigs Eat Almost Continuously Everyday..... Pigs Envisioning A Compassionate Environment?)

I Got Down On My Knees  /// And I Began To Purray /// forward to a friend

jewels of jewel-eye

rhinestone vision//summer santa

DIRT PALACE JULY 2015 JEWELS FOR YOUR EYES NEW MEMBER OPENING AT THE DIRT PALACE Seeking experimental feminist with projects in need of a space for getting things done! Preferably things that will make use of our facilities: LEGAL live/work space! screen printing shop, letterpress, animation stand, music rehearsal room, wood shop, large shared space for building bigger projects, library. Base rent is $288 + $67 that goes towards the heat kitty = $355/month + utilities. The total is usually around $420 (this includes electric and internet). Members are also expected to attend weekly meetings, monthly work days, do regular chores, keep the kitchen clean, and take a leadership role over running some aspect of the collective project vaguely falling under the conceptual roof of “The Dirt Palace”. If you are interested, all of this (and more!) will be explained in our epic 20 page document called “the occupancy and consciousness agreement” that we will e-mail you upon request. Residencies at the Dirt Palace average about 24 months, but we are open to people with short, medium, or long term interest. Opening is for September with some flexibility towards an October start date. If you are interested getting in touch sooner than later would be better! Send an e-mail to us at dirtpalace@yahoo.com  BREAKING NEWS! 2015/2016 Strategic Planning  The Dirt Palace was awarded a grant from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation for strategic planning work with the Alliance of Artist Communities as consultants. Through May 2016 Pippi and Xander will be researching artist run spaces, feminist projects, communes, diy organizations, and residencies, with an eye towards organizational sustainability and best practice. We will then be working with the expert insight of AAC to craft a mid-range strategic plan.  Is there a project or space that has been super inspiring to you that you think that we HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT?  We’d love to hear more. No project too new/too old or too punk/too institutional. As our research develops, we'll be sharing profiles of projects that we’re looking at on our blog. So keep an eye out there! We’ll also be compiling a big binder of research in our library as a resource for other folks working on developing artists/diy spaces.    If you were tuned into last month’s newsletter, you’ll know that this planning couldn’t happen at a better as we’re now a 100% legit legal live/work space.

WINDOW   JULY WINDOW ARTIST: ERINA DAVIDSON  "Obon, or Bon Matsuri, is a summer festival that takes place in Japanese communities during the months of July and August. Rooted in the centuries old Japanese Buddhist tradition of honoring the dead, today's Bon Matsuri is characterized by celebration and youthful energy. The games, prizes, street foods, and dancing at Obon are fond and familiar memories for most Japanese who regularly attended the festivals as children." Erina Davidson was born in Tokyo, Japan and currently lives in New York.  http://www.erinadavidson.com   *****UPDATES***** OLIVIA HORVATH THIS JULY! O HORVATH returns to the Dirt Palace for a thrilling second run! SEE them finally do their laundry!!!  FEEL the crushing reality of an overexposed screen at 3am!!! EXPERIENCE the heart-pounding thrill of missed deadlines!!! REMEMBER the leftovers they stuck in the fridge six weeks ago!!!   XANDER MARRO  IS A)  The Cinders (aka the best artist run gallery project ever) Artist of the month for July. She had so much fun making a bunch of new one of a kind masks for the occasion. B) Prepping some movies for her screening as part of the Show and Tell series at Anthology Film Archives Aug 6th - NYC C) Loving Montreal & Plotting her even further adventures – i.e. planning to be gone in September – do you have a project that you could get done if only you had access for a month to a screen print shop or practice space or Steinbeck/animation stand, or various other kinds of studio space.  Get in touch if you’re interested in a sublet.     JIEUN REINER Jieun will be out on the dusty trail until September! She will be partying on an epic road trip through NM, CO, WY, MT, WA, OR, and CA, hitting a long list of spots in pursuit of ultimate beauty and crystal clear water.  The shop will be closed until late August/early September. This full moon/crescent moon cuff will be available when it does!  NINA RUELLE Nina just can't stop. ALISON NITKIEWICZ After a month of grueling wallpaper and lamp making, Alison has a show up at Aurora Providence! Check it out, it's up until October 1st!      PIPPI ZORNOZA   RECTRIX performed with MAR and PWR RTLZ this past weekend and will be performing the ANNIHILVS 18 year anniversary show in NYC August 15th RACHEL LEWALLEN Rachel has enjoyed keeping busy this month in anticipation for a predictably less chaotic August! Interspersing beach time with solitary studio days & late nights at work, she luckily has barely made time to feel the summer heat.  [[JULY RRLEW SHOWS]] July 17th  Vox Populi Aux, Philadelphia PA w/ V. Manuscript Moor Mother Goddess Cienfuegos  July 27th Psychic Readings @ AS220 w/ Valise Violet Gyna Bootleg Muyassar Kurdi Rachel joyously awaits her journey to a new home in Providence this coming September and could not thank the Dirt Palace more for all it has given her. She would truly not be the same without the support and love of the women here <3   ***DIRT PALACE LIBRARY HI-LITES*** MONTHLY PICTORIAL TREAT FROM THE DUSTY SHELVES OF THE DIRT PALACE FURTHERING THE QUEST TO SPREAD FUN LIKE GIN AND JUICE, MOSTLY GIN   2015 Zine from New (returning) member O Horvath!! Belly of the Beast

Need no external liberators  /// PANDA PARTY /// forward to a friend