Transitions, Glad and Sad

Robert Boyd

Jeff Millar

 
Jeff Millar and Bill Hands, Tank McNamara, December 1, 2012

If you grew up in Houston in the 70s, you probably were aware of Jeff Millar, The Houston Chronicle's witty movie reviewer. He has died, aged 70. I think he was an influence on me in a small way--my unserious writing style probably has something to do with reading Millar's reviews as a teenager. Millar also was the writer of a very witty comic strip, Tank McNamara (illustrated by Bill Hinds).


Web-based artzine ...might be good is folding. ...might be good had a large readership, from what I have heard, but no reliable source of funding. (Unlike The Great God Pan Is Dead, they paid their contributors,which is probably why they had so many good ones. But expenses must be matched by revenues.) ...might be good was classy and serious, if a little dry. It wasn't there for your entertainment, but for your edification. They wrote about their subjects with rigor and seriousness. And losing ...might be good really sucks.

Idea Fund Winners

 
The Bridge Club received an Idea Fund grant for The Trailer, a mobile performance work

Fortunately there are reasons to be happy, especially if you are one of the Idea Fund recipients. The winners are The Bridge Club – Art and Performance Collaborative (Huntsville); Erin Curtis (Austin); Bill Davenport (Houston); Esteban Delgado (San Antonio); Everything Records / Robert Hodge and Philip Pyle (Houston), Madsen Minax (Houston); Ryan O’Malley, Joe Pena, Dr. Amber Scoon, and Jack Gron (Corpus Christi); Stephanie Saint Sanchez (Houston); Ethel Shipton and Nate Cassie (San Antonio); and Walley Films – Mark Walley and Angela Walley (San Antonio). Some of these winners are quite familiar to me, but most are artists I've never heard of. But the projects sound cool--The Underground Art Tunnel at Retama Park sounds like it will be worth a road trip to Corpus Cristi, and I really want to see Tia Chuck once it gets made. Congrats to all the winners!

PG Contemporary

I was bummed when Peel Gallery closed, but after several months of pop-up galleries, that space is going to be occupied (permanently, we hope) by PG Contemporary. PG Contemporary started small on Milam and recently expanded into a larger space on Milam. But I suspect this opportunity to be on Montrose next to Barbara Davis, Anya Tish and Wade Wilson was too good an opportunity to pass up. She is mounting her first exhibit there, opening tonight at 6 pm.