Arts
Courtesy Art
The Noyes Art Gallery is hosting a show for art by mothers sponsored by the Nebraska Mothers Association.
Art contest
honors moms
BY CASEY JOHNSON
As Mother’s Day once again
approaches, we take time to
thank Mom for all of the things
she has done.
We celebrate the balancing
acts they pull off and the contri
butions they make to the com
munity. So itis only fitting that
some of our most talented
mothers be recognized for their
art.
The Nebraska Mothers
Association Annual Creative
Arts Competition opened
Friday night at the Noyes
Gallery, 119 S. 91*1 St., to those
who wished to see that talent.
All of the contests begin at
the state level, with the first
prize winners going on to the
nationabcontest in Portland,
Ore.
All of those advancing are
then recognized at a luncheon
put on by the Nebraska Mothers
Association.
The contest is judged by a
jury of individuals with a back
ground in the art field.
There is a $10 fee for enter
ing the contest, and the only
requirements for the entries are
that the piece be done by a
mother and that it revolve
around some aspect of family
life.
The contest labeled as visual
arts is one of three mediums
that the Mothers Association
has. The others are music and
writing.
The visual contest has win
ners in each category of visual
arts, including painting, draw
ing, sculpture, photography
and crafts.
Nebraska .Mothers
Association and former nation
al president Loris Shwab said
the organization was almost 70
years old and the Nebraska
chapter had been having an art
contest since the 1940s.
She also said that the con
test usually had about 40
entries, but this year there were
less than 30 pieces.
Julia Noyes, owner of the
Noyes Gallery who has had the
contest for five or six years, said
the Mothers Association has a
mixture of people, from profes
sional artists to beginners wrho
have never had work in a
gallery.
The participants need not
be members of the Mothers
Association, but many of them
do join after they are exposed to
the organization.
Doni Stoner, a mother of
two and a first-place winner in
the medium of oil painting, said
she found out about the organi
zation through her art teacher
and she was going to join the
organization because she liked
what they stood for.
She also said that as well as
art giving her satisfaction, it
gave her son another perspec
tive on his mother.
“I am a full-time homemak
er, and I am one of the few that
are left. And it makes him feel
like, hey. my mom can do
something,' and that charms
me more than anything." Stoner
said.
Alumni
opens
art show
at 1427
■A former UNL student
opened her first show of 23
paintings.
BY ALEXIS EMERSON
Becky Potter, an alumni of
the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, opened her art show
at Club 1427 on Feb. 21.
With 23 paintings, mostly
water color and oil pastels,
Potter said she was happy to
see the crowd that showed up
for her opening.
“There were about 45 peo
ple there," Potter said. “I think
it was good for a Wednesday
night."
The night of her opening
Potter sold two paintings, but
she said she didn’t paint for
the money.
In fact.
her job, but Jhe more
painting
relaxed her.
*? “\ Dc
,Pain‘ it, the
because I enjov u'pttpy "
it,” Potter said. t/euer*
"It’s just an
added bonus Potter
that I can make _
money from it.”
Potter said
she did take time off from
painting after she received a
bachelor’s degree in graphic
design and painting from
UNL.
In the past two years Potter
put together her current show
of all flower paintings, mostly
abstract.
“I was really nervous."
Potter said. “It was a lot of
paintings to get done, matted
and framed in that time."
Potter said that Club 1427,
which will be holding her
show until March 21, had
been very helpful in support
ing her and other local artists.
“I’m just trying to get my
art out there,” Potter said.
“The more people that see it.
the better.”
Her paintings will not go
down for long after the Club
1427 show', however.
Potter said she just
received a contract to put her
work in the Noyes Art Gallery,
and in June she will have her
art in Doc’s Place, w'hich is
located in the Haymarket.
Potter said the best thing
about painting, however, was^.
seeing a finished painting for
the first time.
“It’s so exciting when I see
a finished product,” Potter
said. “I just think, ‘wow.’”
Flee from 'See Spot Run's' boring, offensive plot
■The movie starring David Arquette is filled
with sight gags that just aren't funny.
BY SEAN MCCARTHY _
See viewer watch movie. Run, viewer, run.
The definition of what exactly constitutes a family
comedy is about as concrete as what constitutes the
phrase “part of a nutritious breakfast.” Sure, Coco
Puffs are marketed as a breakfast cereal, but they’re
nothing more than a bowl of chocolate-flavored com
puffs. How the hell can that be nutritious?
In the same vein, how can a movie, filled with dog
poop gags, racist characterizations, zebra fans and a
running gag involving a dog treating a man’s crotch as
a chew toy get categorized as a family comedy?
David Arquette plays Gordon, a dense, bumbling
mail carrier who has the hots for one of his neighbors.
The object of his affection, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb),
has to go on a business trip and is forced to leave her
son with the irresponsible Gordon. Stephanie’s son,
James (Angus Jones), is shy, sheltered and doesn't
know how to have fun.
In one of the subplots (hevah, five writers have to
do something for a paycheck), a mob boss (Paul
Sorvino), reeling from the loss of half his manhood at
the teeth of FBI superdog Agent 11, orders a hit on the
pooch. To protect Agent 11, the FBI puts him in a wit
ness protection agency. The dog’s primary trainer,
Murdoch (Michael Clarke Duncan of "Green Mile”
fame), goes through separation anxiety as a result.
Somehow, these two stories get fused together
with the skill of a stoned lO^-grade shop student.
Gordon learns responsibility wtiile James learns to be
a kid and to catch a wicked sugar buzz by ingesting
Froot Loops. Meanwhile, the mob boss regurgitates
every' bad mafia cliche in mo\ies. Even his henchmen
lift the running “Godfather III” joke from “The
Sopranos."
Dumb family comedies are nothing new: Disney
has unloaded a ton of brain-numbing family come
dies since the 1960s (any Disney film with Don Knotts
in it). However, in order to keep adults interested,
many family comedies are having to mix in the crude
humor and sexual innuendoes of films like "There’s
Something About Mary” and “Scary Movie.” As a
result, adults not only have to sit through the moronic
sight of seeing Arquette get nearly shocked to death,
but they also have to explain to their kids what the
See Spot Run
1-*+ft ft ft)
funny dog dropped just after he went after the mob
boss's privates.
No one gets away clean in this mess. Arquette’s
movie career is quickly approaching Baldvvinesque
proportions, and Paul Sorvino is a long way from his
performance in the masterful “Goodfellas.” The direc
tor, John Whitesell, spent more than seven years in
directorial purgatory' after making “Calendar Girl” in
1993. After this movie, it looks like he won’t be direct
ing a major movie again anytime soon.
The only thing more irritating than watching
.Arquette step and roll in a pile of fresh dog droppings
is the blatant racism of the film. The sole Chinese
character in the movie is a cab driver who can barely7
speak English. Arquette’s best friend, played by
Anthony Anderson, has the grim task of challenging
onlookers to a break dancing contest, but his 300
pound frame slams to the pavement before he can
even start on his routine.
Two deaf people also are inserted into the film for
no other purpose than a sight gag. “Uh, Director
Whitesell, the NAACP is on line one, and the Coalition
for People With Disabilities is on line two.”
Crude humor is a necessary element in many
family movies. However, the better batch of these
movies ("The Sandlot” and “The Iron Giant") were
able to weave in character development and plot so
that the crude humor wasn’t die sole element of keep
ing people glued to the screens.
With any hope, both Sorvino and Duncanson will
be able to still find viable parts that can match their
talents. In other cases, we can only hope diat Arquette
will be banished from both film and "Call ATT" com
mercials after this cinematic abortion. That way at
least some good will come out of this movie.
Despite all of the animal violence that occurred in
the film, the credits stated that no animals were
harmed during filming. Still, that doesn't make up for
the scars that will bum in most everybody's mind after
w alking out of the theater. However, for families, a
good dose of Harry Potter and a positive family film
should be good remedies to cure those wounds.
“See Spot Run.” Rated PG for crude humor and .
comedic violence. Showing at the Douglas 3 and East
Park.