The Agenda

Forwarded from Laura Travis:

Please help us save the stone!

Matt Obert and Brooke Erin Goldstein are getting married, and you're invited to their engagement announcement party!

A Shepard Fairey Interview From The Archives of Matt Obert

[This article appeared in The Agenda #14, January 2006]

This interview was originally intended for publication in the NicePaper in August 1995. Unfortunately, there were no issues in August: the last issue of that publication came out in July of that year. Perhaps this conversation would have been lost forever, had I not been invited by Helen Stickler and James Brayton Hall to create a little zine for an art opening at RISD's Woods-Gerry Gallery in 1997.

Heartbreak Hits a Positive Note

by Matt Obert

There’s a new sign outside the Strand Theater; we called Rich Lupo for the scoop.

Here at Agenda World HQ, we were very excited recently to hear that the lease on the Strand building had changed hands.
What happened is Mike Kent was getting his fine and punishment for problems with Diesel, and he approached me about buying his lease.

by Matt Obert

This is an interview with Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins of The Internet.
Peter: From The Internet. Not “of the.” Do you want us to say our names?

Sure, why don’t you start out by introducing yourselves?
Peter: I’m Peter Gabriel.
Phil: And I’m Phil Collins.

by Matt Obert

Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, and RI Jobs with Justice are calling for applications for a seat on the Providence City Planning Commission (CPC) that will become vacant in January 2007.

Wunderground at the RISD Museum

by Matt Obert

Providence has a love/hate relationship with underground art spaces, unlicensed show venues, and unauthorized posters wheatpasted in public areas. On the one hand, you have the official story, and on the other hand, you have the true state of affairs. Sometimes, it seems that one hand doesn’t know what the other one is doing. On the one hand, we love to boast that our city is “friendly to artists,” and often cite success stories from the grubby underbelly of the Renaissance City to prop up this point. Wunderground: Providence, 1995 to the present, showing at the RISD Museum now through January 7 of next year, fairly bursts with examples of this kind of success story. Eight established and respected local artists (alphabetically: Mat Brinkman, Brian Chippendale, Jim Drain, Leif Goldberg, Jungil Hong, Xander Marro, Erin Rosenthal and Pippi Zornoza) were courted by RISD Contemporary Art Curator Judith Tennenbaum to co-curate these exhibits. After the shows come down, the museum is slated to close for extensive renovations — which affords the museum a rare opportunity to give these rowdy young artists temporary free rein without worrying too much about the cleanup afterward.

Purple Quill Award for
Most Tortured Sentence

If a journalistic ideal is to further public conversation, then the Providence Monthly succeeded admirably with their recent article ("Class War or Class Act?") in the September 2006 issue. We applaud the ProMo for providing the forum which brought together a diverse array of real estate developers and community organizers for a roundtable discussion of recent developments in Olneyville.

Nonetheless, we must quibble with their copy editing of the article. One paragraph in particular stood out to us like a hammer-struck thumb:

Duo Plans To Play Every Venue In Providence In One Day

by Matt Obert

Vinyl Von Ricci and Sir VZO, the electronic duo known as Mahi Mahi, shocked the music world with their recent announcement of a seemingly impossible tour itinerary. On the first Saturday in April, the two men in white are going to attempt to play every venue in Providence.