Free Republic

Frank Kelly Freas, the Hugo-Award-Winning artist who painted covers for some of the best-loved SF books of all time, died at his home in Los Angeles on Jan. 2, his official Web site reported. He was 82. Freas, who was under hospice care, died in his sleep before dawn in the company of his wife, Laura.

This is a message to my fellow professional (and amateur) artists:The plight of the people victimzed in the South Asia Tsunami Disaster has touched the world. We all want to help them, but, besides donating as much as we can to the various relief agencies involved in the global aid effort, what can any of us really do? As artists, it’s our duty to use the abilities God has given us to help our fellow men, but how can art help people who need food, water, medicine, clothes, and hope? I think I may have discovered a way. While there’s...

Special Dispatch Series - No. 817 November 23, 2004 No.817 Arab Progressive Columnist: Arab Artists Deal with the Past and Not with the Present, Due to Fear of the Regimes    The progressive Kuwaiti columnist Ahmad Al-Baghdadi published an article titled 'Drama and Tyranny' in the UAE daily Al-Itihad. The following are excerpts from the article:(1) "The [month of] Ramadan has showered us with historical [TV] series' and dramas [dealing with] the Ottoman period ... with the Imperialist period ... or with the period of recession and poverty... "[These series'] do not deal with the present, not to mention...

Second of two parts. What is the artist's role in society? Artists have been debating the question throughout history. The former U.S. poet laureate said he thought about the election results all day -- "when I could think." "The question of how the rest of us should behave seems pressing," he said. "Erosion of civil liberties? The courts? Further and deeper predations on the environment? It's hard to see how the Endangered Species Act will survive, except perhaps in name. An interesting indicator of the intentions of that Bush clique will be to see whether they punish Republican dissenters like...

The Springsteens support Kerry, the Schillings support Bush. Bruce Springsteen held a free concert for Kerry with 80,000 people in attendance. Schilling helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 84 years. While being interviewed by Good Morning America, Schilling threw in a last minute political comment. "just tell everyone to vote...and vote for Bush". The look on Charles Gibson's face was worth the price of admission. Both "celebrities" symbolize their perspective candidates values. Springsteen, a rich, famous musician who spends most of his time ensconced in his own world. Schilling is a rich...

Thursday, 10/21/04 Video of beheading in Iraq part of Nashville art exhibit By ALAN BOSTICKStaff Writer Show of students' work also includes explicit sexual photo A video showing the beheading of an American hostage in Iraq and a photograph of a man masturbating have divided students and challenged administrators at Watkins College of Art & Design.

By PETER COOPER Staff Writer A vote is a voice, and celebrity provides a microphone. Thus — especially in an election year — it's common for politically minded artists and musicians to use their fame as a platform to push agendas and candidates. That's been the case for hundreds of years in hundreds of countries, and the American tradition includes plenty of singing and stumping.

Artists back effort to unseat Bush Several leading Norwegian artists are donating works to a local campaign aimed at driving US President George W Bush out of office. The campaign, called "Tellhim.no," is raising money to place an ad in the Washington Post just before the US election in November. The artists include painter Frans Widerberg and photographer Morten Krogvold. One of Widerberg's paintings, for example, will be auctioned in August over the campaign's web site, with proceeds from a sale going towards efforts to unseat Bush. "We are frustrated and shaken over what's been going on," Widerberg told Norwegian...

http://adeimantus.blogspot.com/2004/06/instant-rehabilitation-of-saddam.html In his report on the transfer of sovereignty, Associated Press writer Tarek el-Tablawy includes the following quote to buttress his assertion that "the response [to the handover] in Baghdad was mixed":"Iraqis are happy inside, but their happiness is marred by fear and melancholy," said artist Qassim al-Sabti. "Of course I feel I'm still occupied. You can't find anywhere in the world people who would accept occupation. America these days, is like death. Nobody can escape from it."I am always suspicious of these man-on-the street-type of quotes, which reporters too often use selectively as a device to interject their own...

A London nightclub cancelled a concert last night by the Jamaican reggae artist Beenie Man after officers from Scotland Yard stopped him at Heathrow airport to discuss his allegedly homophobic lyrics. The singer, real name Anthony Davis, had flown to London as part of a European tour. He is one of the biggest stars of the dancehall genre but he has attracted increasing criticism from human rights campaigners who claim that songs such as Bad Man Chi Chi [Queer] Man incite the murder of gay men. Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, head of the racial and violent crime taskforce for the...

    STOP HARPER!JOIN Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, Treble Charger, Sarah Harmer, Sarah Polley and other prominent Canadian artists in opposing Stephen Harper. As a prominent artist we need your name on this statement of concern!  Canada is sleepwalking into the election of Prime Minister George Bush! He is a Conservative Culture Killer and we need your help to stop Stephen Harper NOW! Anyone interested in canadian culture, should read the Globe and Mail article: Tories set to bring CRTC duties in-house - 21st June 2004 "I also don't think this is...

(Hello everyone! This is the new featured essay at my pro-life website, www.indefenseofthefetus.com. I am posting it here because many of you had good suggestions for my Ultimate Pro-Life Links page, and I was hoping some of you might be able to suggest some good pro-life artists or art works for me.) Artists and Activists Could someone please tell me where all the pro-life artists are? Our country's political and cultural establishment endorses the slaughter of helpless innocents by denying the most fundamental human right to those most in need of its protection, yet I'm aware of no significant playwrights,...

Why A Naked Bike Ride? Every day we are bombarded with countless messages demanding our obedience to the corporate dictates of a consumption dependent society. Little regard is paid to the future of our planet and generations left with a legacy of waste and environmental contamination. How many countless times each day do our media masters spin the same message: Unless you buy this, you are not worthy. Unless you look like this you should be ashamed. By cruising naked down the spending frenzy capitals of the world, we are saying.NO! ...a fancy new car is not a mark of...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello on Tuesday defended musicians who speak their minds in these "fairly dangerous times" and warned Americans to guard against "any attempts by people who swindle their way into office."

I HAVE NEVER met anyone who told me they loved modern art. No one ever came up to me, their eyes glowing with pleasure, telling me I just must see, say, the new wall drawings by Sol Lewitt in the 1970s, or the smashed-plate paintings by Julian Schnabel in the 1980s, or the life-size, glazed porcelain figures by Jeff Koons in the 1990s. I have, however, met plenty of people who have told me that I ought to like modern art. There is some place for “ought” in life, but none at all in art; art is a gift, not...

Brad paisley has a new song out that bashes the hoity toity Celebrities. It's halarious. Has anyone heard it yet?

As actor and left-wing activist Tim Robbins complains about how unfairly he and Susan Sarandon are being treated these days, you can almost hear the world's smallest violin playing in the background. Until it was abruptly canceled, Robbins and Sarandon were scheduled to appear at a Baseball Hall of Fame salute to their movie Bull Durham. The Hall's president decided to can the whole event, saying the couple's opposition to the war in Iraq undermined the U.S. position and "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger." It's not the first time their anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom statements have...

 Arthur Szyk. A great unknown artist  http://www.szyk.com/ World War Two George WashingtonHis illuminated manuscript of our Declaration of Independence.  His illuminated manuscript of Israel's Declaration of Independence.I urge you to take a look at this EBAY auction to see it. It's truly beautiful and a big image Here is small size rendition Founding of Israel More at:http://www.szyk.com/Plus you can see Arthur Szyk's work here.  

Posted Mar. 06, 2003 Eric Klister column: Look for musicians to turn up volume on anti-war stanceThe bombs are about to fall, troops are set to be deployed and tanks are ready to roll, or so it appears. I wonder what Bruce Springsteen and Madonna are thinking. As sure as it appears that a war with Iraq is imminent, you also can bet that musicians are ready to launch their own attack in the form of protest songs, speeches and advertisements. Curiously, the music industry so far has turned down the volume on anti-war sentiments. At this year’s Grammys, hardly...

YO! I'M FOR DUBYAClassical Musician Yo-Yo Ma and R&B star Brian McKnight, speaking on the Grammys red carpet, talk about their support for President George W. BushVideo Presentation