Juliana Hatfield's Covers and Artwork

Juliana Hatfield, who had a musical presence in the late '80s with Boston bands the Blake Babies and Some Girls, really burst upon the national scene with the success of the soundtrack from the 1991 film Reality Bites ("Spin the Bottle"). Since those days, she has continued her music career while broadening her range to include a memoir ("When I Grow Up") and  painting. She is currently pursing an MFA degree at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Juliana has a devoted fan base, as well as the acceptance of critics, who loved her 2010 LP "Peace & Love"; who, in fact, have loved everything she has done since she seem to rev up in the new century, releasing five studio LPs. (Photo Credit: Phil Morrison)

Her fan base helped fund her last LP and is presently in evidence at the Pledgemusic Website, where she is at 200 percent of her goal for a fan-funded "covers LP", with proceeds to benefit IMPACT, a group that teaches self defense to women. Juliana offers a range of products from that site (artwork, guitars, CDs), even songwriting services, at a range of prices.  Juliana explains - "...A percentage of the money we raise will be donated to IMPACT Boston, which teaches self-defense and self-empowerment to people who really need it. I took a weekend self-defense course there a few years ago and it was really great and I was able to see with my own eyes how much it helped the women who were enrolled. IMPACT offers scholarships for those who can’t afford the workshops. I want to thank everyone who made possible the creation of my last album and I hope you all are as excited as I am about my first album of other peoples’ songs."

Janet Echelman's Sky Sculptures

Inspired by the local materials and culture of Mahabalipuram, an Indian fishing village famous for sculpture, American Artist Janet Echelman stumbled upon a material that would change her art, and life, forever. One evening, while observing the fishermen’s nightly routine of bundling their nets, Echelman imagined a new type of sculpture – a volumetric form that could be the scale of a large building but remain light enough to ripple in the wind, constantly reshaping the net and creating ever-changing patterns.

With a sophisticated mixture of ancient craft and modern technology, Echelman collaborates with a range of professionals including aeronautical and mechanical engineers, architects, lighting designers, landscape architects, and fabricators to transform urban environments world-wide with her net sculptures. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE AT HUFFINGTON POST...

Pretty Kid Pop for the Oppressed

Emerging Dragon Fly

The current high school-aged generation leaves parents scratching their heads on a lot of issues - they are not, as a whole, a deep group - but they have one outstanding characteristic: they have got your back. They don't like negative bias and bullying, as a rule. And they don't like judgmental and mean-spirited dominant types, particularly as in their age group they are confronted by them on a daily basis. That's why they grow up to express their angst and frustrations through films like Mean Girls, Bridesmaids, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Heathers, and a thousand others. And it is at the root of Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" campaign. It is most certainly going to get better for whoever is behind this video and this song, featuring a group of beautiful young people getting all proselytizing with it, but in a charmingly musical way with expertly crafted musical material delivered professionally and with a vision for what it wants to be. Really good stuff. The New York kids are fronted by singers Grace "Tucan" Gara, Faith Gara, and Kristie Kleine. - Staff

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