My story about artist Joe Keo ran in today's Bristol Press. Sorry if you looked Thursday and could not find it. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/ylsk6kb.If I could, I would be at Joe's show tonight, but I cannot. I hope he gets a nice turnout, though, with a friendly hometown crowd. If you can stop by, do.
Whatever you think of his art, give him credit for having the guts to put on a show -- and funding it HIMSELF. I should have put in my story that Joe's show is self-funded, but I didn't. This morning, there are mean and ignorant comments at the end of my story on the Press site griping about how their tax money was used to fund this.
Not true. A few of Joe's supporters made donations, but most of the money for the show came from Joe himself. He lives in Bristol and works full time in New Britain as a shipping clerk.
Donations collected at the show will benefit the Bristol Historical Society, not Joe. (If you want to support Joe, give him your donation directly. And throw a few bucks in the donation box if you can to show the historical society that you're glad they're having a young artist series there.)
P.S. Hats off to the BHS for hosting this series!!!
Amen. The comments on this article were so insulting and demeaning and had no backing of truth. I wish people would stop to think about their words before they go spewing out hateful things on the internet. It's like people think just because it's the internet and they can post anonymously means they can get away with being a prick. I would just like to say that I'm proud of Joe for being bold enough to share his ideas with the world, and no matter what your view is on what "real art" may or may not be, we should all respect that he was brave enough to share his unique perspective with the world.
ReplyDeleteThank, Rae, for your kindness and for commenting! I, too, am disgusted with so many of the comments on the Press site and on the Bristol Blog, too. It makes you wonder about humanity, really, when you see all those hateful things. I agree that it is the cloak of anonymity that emboldens posters. The trouble is that even if you have a blog policy insisting that people use their real names, it can't be policed.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I feel sort of forlorn for not having many comments on Extra BS, I think of Steve Collins and the time he spends on the Bristol Blog and all the junk he has to wade through (some of which does not get posted) and wonder what I'm wishing for. And I also wonder why he bothers.
I think a lot of people dislike his blog because of the comments, which are not his words. That's weird, too.