morte d’ päs – the beginning, of sorts…

PÄS is dead. yes, it’s not some Dia de los Muertos gimmick, or just a name for the performance. PÄS, as we know it, is truly done, finito. good night project art school. it’s not necessarily a bad thing however. it’s just time to get out of the cocoon, so to speak. in our fifth year now, things have evolved and we are simply not that thing we were in our hopeful dreams of 2009. therefore we are adjusting and staying true to who we are. and what better way to go out than to have René Cardona orchestrate a poetic performance. René was in the PÄS space before any of us were here… in the 90’s. remember those days? he was here painting for a living. and living for his painting…

on November First 2013, morte d’ päs: a poetic performance took place in the Magoski Arts Colony, signing off the final days of project art school… with René at the helm, his side-kick Greg, Daniel Johns and Amy Cardona aroused us with their strings, Kristy Prince honed us in with her reverse paint dance in Creation, and I got to break a bunch of glass in Destruction. it was lovely. it was a moment for all of us. as the crowd outside the plastic wore question marks as eyebrows (figuratively) and pondered what was “going on in there,” we reached a state of being that no esteem was familiar with. we slowly, and gently, put PÄS down to rest, in a ceremony that was really just for us and no one else. after all the years of providing the stage for others, it was now our turn to not care “what they think.”

it’s really quiet in here nowadays. there’s nothing going on in the mornings now but the sounds of vince’s brain broadcast over the house speakers and his mind written on make-shift notes taped to every corner of the colony. occasionally, we’ll hear the tip toes of Ricardo Gonsalves, or the entrance of Carol or Steffi in the artside workshop space. pause. it’s a good time to reflect. perhaps it’s time to push play…

and this is probably a good time to thank all the artists that have shown in PÄS Gallery since 2009, especially those who have helped shape it behind the scenes: Jesse Gaona, John M. Sollom, Sabrina and Armina Contreras, Kevin Ito, Greg and Vanessa, Ryan Garrett, Tony Munoz, Rick Tamashiro, Leah Song, Elaine Bevacqua, Valerie Lewis, Sharon Kennedy, Shine Jackson, Michael Ziobrowski, Artemis Nolasco, Becky Holt, Jonathan St. Amant, René Cardona, Michael Magoski, Candace Magoski, Corky Fullerton Foundry, Mike and Pam Atta, Hiron Ju, Christie Yuri Noh, John and Pam Keller, Philip Higson, Chuck Oldfield, Jesse La Tour, Tony Bach, Landon Lewis, Brian Lucett, Matt Box, Ricardo Gonsalves, Joel and Jeni Maus, Chantal deFelice, Hagop Najarian, Adrian Lopez, Brian and Wendy Torres, Nick Balderas, Shawn and Virginia Sandfer, Josh and Monica Johnson, Holly Bliss, Vince Morgan, Jeff Steinwand, Kenny Sperling, Katherine England, Matt Leslie, Jane Rands, Josué Rivas, Brandon Monk Muñoz, Dan Joyce, Stephan Baxter, Torrey Cook, Tim and Nancy Johnson, and tons more… we love you.

here are some photos of the memorial, along with other random happenings within at 223 W. Santa Fe Ave.:




































looking forward >> to 2014…