For the month of March at Cortona Cafe we are showing a selection of art works from art students at Franklin High School! Jed Dunkerly teaches art at FHS and put together the show:

The works hanging in the Cafe for the month of March are from current and former art students of mine at Franklin High School. Several of the projects on display came out assignments to create "movement" for the eye of the viewer, others were portfolio pieces with more individual prompts, still others were from students who had me a while ago and keep coming back into my room at lunch or after school to make art because they just can't stop. And it is that spirit, the compulsiveness to create, the spark - that fills me simultaneously with the wonder of how I can't possibly teach this to my students (they bring it on their own), and show glad I am that I get to teach them...give them some directions, some encouragement, materials, a studio to work in, and this- a chance to show what they can do to the world...at least the part of the world that passes through this door during these couple weeks.

Enjoy. These are the students/artists that remind me how spectacular people can be, in those times when I need that reminder the most.

Thanks to Tracy English for making the connection.

Jed Dunkerly

Cortona will be hosting an opening for this art tomorrow night, Saturday March 12, from 5-7pm. Please come out to see the art and support the youth in our community!

This month we are featuring a series of paintings by artist Benjamin Kerr! Here is his artist statement:

There is a lot of pressure when you are hailed as the greatest young American artist to come along in the last hundred years. Fortunately, Mr. Kerr did not have to labor under that burden. Art in America did not describe Mr. Kerr as the “savior of American art in the coming millennium” but, if it did, you would be hearing all about it in the promotional materials for this event.

Mr. Kerr initially showed his paintings to close friends and family members who unanimously found the paintings lacking in almost every regard. A lot of people would be discouraged by the poor feedback, not to mention the lack of formal training and talent, but not Mr. Kerr. Mr. Kerr’s reaction was unique; he decided to show his work to a wider audience in a vain attempt to find someone who might actually like it.

The ground braking tactic of taking canvas, stretching it over a wood frame and then applying paint is so simple, but so revolutionary, that it leads many to wonder why it has never been done before.

Come check out the new art and let us know what you think! An opening for his art is scheduled for this Saturday February 12th from 6-8pm at Cortona, so plan to stop by, meet the artist, enjoy the art, and converse with other art-loving neighbors! Mr. Kerr can be reached at benjamindavidkerr@hotmail.com.

This week we are highlighting Art Donnelly from Seachar, a "grass-roots, non-profit organization that promotes the widespread use of biomass waste to create biochar and generate clean energy for the purpose of mitigating global warming, rebuilding healthy soils, improving household air quality, and building green economies in the U.S. and developing countries."

Seachar is short for Seattle Biochar Working Group, and the group accomplishes its mission through "research, education, and the development and distribution of appropriate technologies." Check out this newspost about the work that Donnelly is doing in Central America with his clean-burning stove technology, and explore the website for opportunities to learn, donate, participate, and spread the word!

This week we are highlighting a couple business cards for practical services!

Earl's Cuts & Styles is located just two blocks up from Cortona, and offer high quality haircuts for a reasonable price. Check it out and support a local Central District business when you're due for your next haircut!

If you're needing someone local to notarize anything for you, Christie Ray is your local Seattle notary! Everyone needs this service now and again, and Ray is licensed and insured. You can contact her at christieray007@gmail.com.

Following up on our announcement of a new web development class for entrepreneurs & open dev night that will start next Monday, Jan 17th 7pm at Cortona - the first tutorial for students to complete before they come can be found here:

This is the first of 23 tutorials that will be rolled out over 2011 to help introduce web development to entrepreneurs. These tutorials will be published about a week before the corresponding free in-person class that will be held at Cortona Cafe in Seattle, WA on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month starting at 7pm. If you're in the area, come on by any time during the year. If not, feel free to follow along online.

While there are a ton of tutorials out there on every topic we'll be introducing this year, our angle will be to stick with the "give me the general concepts" and "let's just get this rolling" essentials and allow you figure out the details on your own (we'll point you to resources & other tutorials out there). We'll be tailoring the class to high-school students who would call themselves reasonably "good with computers" but may have little to no programming experience. However, even if you are 80 years old with decades of programming experience, we're hoping these tutorials will still be helpful to spark an entrepreneurial spirit and/or bring you up to speed on HTML5, CSS3, Rails3, etc....

Click here to get started »

Students are encouraged to work on the tutorial before coming to the class. However, if you get stuck somewhere in the tutorial or aren't able to work on it - feel free to show up and a web developer from the community will be there to help you out.