A Man’s Point of View: From the Desk of Brandon Rasberry

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Brandon Rasberry, the most awesome intern on the planet. Seriously, he's that good.

Old Spice finds Fresh Audience with Bold Campaign

By Brandon Rasberry, Marketing Intern

After reading articles attacking Old Spice and their new advertising campaign for lack luster production (see the link above for one of the commercials from the campaign), I bought into the negative hype. You know, the “It’s too good of a campaign to be true” and other comments about how, “The campaign doesn’t focus on the product”. After reading the latest reports on Old Spice sales however, I stand corrected and apologetic, as should many in the advertising community. So I say to you, loyal readers, in the same manner that I texted Amy earlier,“I was wrong…dead wrong.”

According to Nielsen data, Old Spice’s sales are up 107% since they have enlisted the services of actor Isaiah Mustafa (The Old Spice Guy) and Wieden & Kennedy, the Portland, Oregon based agency. Once again, Old Spice sales have increased one hundred and seven percent. What is making the campaign so successful beyond the hilarious testosterone filled television commercials? Look to Old Spice’s viral twitter campaign (@OldSpice) for the answer. Taking a step outside of the traditional announcement like use for the still very young world of social media advertising, W & K used the actor to make custom videos for individual followers to the twitter account. The result was more than 100,000 tweets and nearly 100 MILLION youtube views.

As it happened with the wheel, Gutenberg press, the light bulb, and most importantly (to my generation) the iPhone, sometimes it only takes one innovation to spark a new way of global thinking. Social media and how it is utilized as a marketing tool is about to evolve dynamically.

Raise your glass to three years of ART & INSPIRATION at the August 5th Downtown Gallery Crawl!

The Downtown Arts Alliance will hold a special 3^rd Anniversary Celebration Downtown Gallery Crawl in downtown Monroe/West Monroe on Thursday, August 5 from 5:00-9:00 p.m. This special anniversary Crawl will feature a diverse showing of fine art across multiple mediums, live music, including live performances by the Vidrines and Lisa Spann, and special guest artist exhibits.

“Crawlers” will also get a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from downtown hotspot CODA. To participate in the drawing, Crawlers must visit all seven participating Downtown Gallery Crawl galleries and get their Crawl maps stamped. After visiting all seven galleries, Crawlers should turn in their stamped maps at CODA by 8:45 p.m. The drawing for the gift certificate will be held around 9:10 p.m. at Bry Park across from CODA. Crawl maps will be available at all seven galleries.

Andrea May, president-elect of DAA and owner/artist of the Mystic Art Gallery, said, “This is a special Downtown Gallery Crawl event to commemorate three years of successful Crawls as well as the tremendous growth in not only the arts community, but also in the downtown Monroe and West Monroe areas now known as the Riverside Cultural District.” The Downtown Gallery Crawl is often credited with being one of the major contributing factors to recent downtown economic development and revitalization.

Recently, the Monroe City Council voted to adopt an ordinance to rename the blocked off portion of North 2^nd Street (off DeSiard) “Art Alley.” This will be the first Downtown Gallery Crawl held since the street was renamed.

The featured galleries for August are as follows (in alphabetical order):

ARENDER studio + gallery (131 Art Alley, downtown Monroe)

ARENDER studio + gallery presents “p.o.e.m,” paintings and installations by  artist Sarah Plaia Davidson. Davidson said of her work, “Every experience has its own palette–my paintings are the words used to describe that experience, written silently in verse.” According to the artist, viewing Davidson’s work is like “a slow zoom…the panels are as books, palette is narrative, color is experience, each line, like a word or groups of words and sounds.”

Becton Gallery (130 Art Alley, downtown Monroe) Contact: Margaret Becton, 318-267-1634 or  Polly Spence, 318-547-0153 

The Becton Gallery presents a one-woman show, entitled “Unbridled,” featuring the work of artist Lissy Sanders. “Unbridled” focuses on modern interpretations of horses.  Artists/owners Margaret Becton and Polly Spence will also exhibit new works in an expansion space outside the gallery.

Livaudais Studio (122 South Grand St., downtown Monroe) Contact: Joli Livaudais Grisham, 318-791-0307

Livaudais Studio presents “Catalyst,” a series of prints by Marie Bukowski, an associate professor, studio program coordinator and graduate program coordinator at Louisiana Tech.

Bukowski said, “My work is often deceptively simple using motifs that include words, numbers, grids, diagrams, boundaries, and linear, near-universal forms such as circles and ellipses, as well as some that suggest contortionist cups and vessels posing as hieroglyphics. Arranged in sequences like the syntax of a secret language, or the poetic notations of an autistic architect, they appear amid vaporous mists of color. Together they comprise something like a dream, or maybe the schematic of a dream. In my work, seemingly random forms are actually engaged in a dialog with each other, and also, with the viewer. Their placement is conversational, where they can only be deciphered through imagination.”

Mystic Art Gallery (137 Art Alley, downtown Monroe) Contact: Andrea May, 318-237-4926

The Mystic Gallery presents, “In the Art of A Child,” which showcases the wonderful talents of young artists Marie Livigni, Audrey Livigni, Hannah Bamburg, Caroline Florsheim, Noah Mills, John Minor Wade, Arielle Douthit, Victoria Sullivan, Olivia Thomas, Georgia Derry, and Richmond McGough.  May said, “I am really excited about the art that these wonderful young artists did. I had so much fun with them.”  They range from age 5 up to age 13. These young artists recently participated in the “Art Camp” at the Mystic Art Gallery under the instruction of owner/artist May and will be showing their art pieces they worked on during the camp.  May said of the special exhibit, “If you give a child a paint brush, they will give you art.”

May will also be showing a collection of colorful drawings.  May says that she wanted to do something a little different for this special anniversary Crawl and show a side of her art that she has never shown.  May’s 60-plus drawings depict nature; a subject May feels “is where you find real, true beauty.”

The Mystic Art Gallery will continue to provide art lessons to young artists under May’s instruction.  If you would like to sign your child up for art lessons, please contact Andrea May.

Ouachita River Art Gallery (308 Trenton St., Antique Alley, West Monroe, LA 71291) Contact: Charlie Heck, Sr. or Brenda McDaniel, 318-322-2380

Brenda Clark McDaniel of Monroe, Louisiana is the Ouachita River Art Gallery’s featured artist in August.  Her show, “Running Out Of Time”, will consist of oil and acrylic paintings depicting the decline of common living things.

The artist says, “This show was inspired by the beauty I see in common living things as they near the end of their lives. I hope to show the viewer that a living thing coming to the end of its life does not have to be ugly, but can be a beautiful process. Death is not the end, but a beginning.”

A native of Mer Rouge, Louisiana, who has lived in Kentucky, Kansas, Texas and Europe, McDaniel specializes in representational paintings of animals, people, places and objects, taking side trips into fantasy and imagination. Before deciding to paint full time, she was a commercial artist employed

in the advertising business, where she garnered many local as well as national awards. Although McDaniel attended several universities and private schools, she considers herself primarily a self-taught artist. She helped organize and open the local gallery of the Ouachita River Art Guild and has many commissions of homes, portraits of people and pets, southern landscapes and still lifes hanging in private and corporate collections in the U.S.A., Europe and The United Kingdom.

The gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Admission is free. Gallery member’s work can also be seen at ORAG’s extension gallery located in the lobby of Ouachita Independent Bank/Bankers Mortgage Plaza at 18th and Louisville in Monroe. Call 322-2380 for more information.

The Sugar Gallery (135 Art Alley, downtown Monroe) Contact: Lou Davenport Kavanaugh, 318-243-3092 or Damon Adcock, 318-557-6113

The Sugar Gallery’s group of artists, known as “Sugar Babies,” is celebrating the third year of the Downtown Gallery Crawl and the naming of North 2^nd Street, “Art Alley” by going back to the early 60’s.  Think Frank and the Rat Pack, Marilyn and “Vegas, Baby!” All the artists have new work to show and sell.

Damon Adcock debuts a sneak peek from his brand new photography series entitled “Industrial Basement,” new prints of his famous “Martini Glass” series, as well as new works from the ongoing series “Glass and Light.”  Adcock will also present acrylic, 3-D paintings on interestingly shaped canvases.

Adam Davenport will be showing a series of miniature oil portraits that he has been working on for the past several years.  Most are 3 X 4 inches and feature “interesting characters” he has captured in many different settings.

Newest “Sugar Baby,” Carolyn Davenport Mills will be showing her new line of Marilyn Monroe inspired pillows.  All are pure “glam” and are made of silks and satins, with some featuring handmade chiffon flowers.  Mills will also offer these handmade flowers as pins and hairpieces.

Lou Davenport Kavanaugh will have many new acrylic paintings from her “Homely” series and also paintings from her new acrylic series, “Truckin!”   Kavanaugh’s work is described as brightly colored and whimsical.

Diane Frost Rosenberg has some fantastic new jewelry to show.   She will be offering exquisite handmade Tudor style necklaces as well as sterling silver pendants from Nepal strung with semi-

precious stones such as carnelian, black onyx, amber, jade, lapis, agate, turquoise and pearl.  Rosenburg says she’ll have  “funky and fun ankle bracelets” on-hand as well.

Otis Lee Tugwell is showing his fun-filled photographs and silk-screened prints.  Many are “acid colored,” bright and cheerful!

UPSTAIRS/big room gallery (135 Art Alley, above Sugar Gallery, downtown Monroe)

UPSTAIRS & big room gallery present the work of painters Caroline Youngblood and Mary Nelson, as well as work from photographer Arely Castillo, including a collection of prints, entitled “Espana con Amor” and the painting “Evolving”. Castillo has lived in Monroe since December 1999, when she moved from Mexico City.  Since arriving in Northeast Louisiana, Castillo has obtained a degree in Communication and a master of arts from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Castillo says she finds inspiration in her work from her own experiences with people and different cultures.  Living and visiting places including France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Thailand, Qatar, South Africa, and Canada have greatly influenced her perception of life and her work.

Her photographs entitled “Water Buffaloes” and “Alan with Chicken” were recently featured at the juried competition of Masur Museum. She has also contributed photographs to the book, “Katrina:  Devastation, Survival and Restoration.”  The National Press Photography Association and the Associate Press have recognized Castillo’s photographs with multiple awards.  She is currently a photojournalist and videographer at The News-Star and she is a part-time faculty member in the Department of Communication at ULM.

Works from resident artists Jason Byron Nelson, Anna Schriefer, Liza Kidd, Emily Caldwell and Sean Powell will also be on display. At 7:00 p.m. the Vidrines will take the stage for a special musical performance.

The Downtown Gallery Crawl is sponsored by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Sunny 98.3, Delta Style, Sir Speedy, KNOE, KEDM, Monroe Transit, Delta Business, Marsala Beverage and Lamar Outdoor.

The Downtown Gallery Crawl, held bi-monthly in Monroe-West Monroe, is hosted by the 501 3 (C) organization the Downtown Arts Alliance, a community of artists working together to culturally enhance and revitalize Monroe-West Monroe’s historic riverfront commercial district. For more information, contact a participating gallery, visit www.DowntownGalleryCrawl.com, add us on Facebook @Downtown Gallery Crawl, email info@downtowngallerycrawl.com or view photo galleries at tinyurl.com/downtowngallerycrawlpics.

North 2nd Street to Art Alley?

The Downtown Arts Alliance, a non-profit community of artists, has been working hard to change the name of the partially blocked off portion of North 2nd Street (off DeSiard in downtown) to “Art Alley” because of its majority artist/gallery tenants. This alleyway is the home of ARENDER studio + gallery, Becton Gallery, big room gallery, Mystic Art Gallery, Sugar Gallery and UPSTAIRS. Nearby are also Livaudais Studio and Gallery and Ouachita River Art Gallery. This group of community-minded artists have been the heartbeat of downtown revitalization over the last three years. Since the the Downtown Arts Alliance began hosting the Downtown Gallery Crawl, a bi-monthly, free community arts event, restaurants and businesses have opened, new residents have laid out their welcome mats and at least once every other month, you’ll see people of all ages walking the streets of Downtown Monroe to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

To rename North 2nd Street to Art Alley has a huge impact on the entire community surrounding this little, blocked off street. To read more about the benefits, download the Art Alley Proposal that was given to the Monroe Planning and Zoning Committee recently. To show your support for this effort, come by the Monroe City Council meeting tonight, May 25. Pre-meeting is at 6pm, regular meeting starts at 7pm. If you can’t come by, leave a comment of support on the official Downtown Gallery Crawl Facebook page.

Benefits of Art Alley

• The new name Art Alley will help people identify the location of this blocked off alleyway that is separate from the

rest of North 2nd Street

• Art Alley can be used to promote the Downtown area as part of an up and coming business and cultural center.

• By naming North 2nd Street, a street with a high concentration of art galleries and artist space, the City shows its

support of the growing arts and culture movement taking place downtown.

• Art Alley will give the residents and galleries of North 2nd a permanent home that will continue to grow by helping to

attract new residents, artists and other galleries and studios.

• The new name Art Alley will be used in promotional materials the same way Antique Alley in West Monroe is used

when promoting Monroe-West Monroe for tourism, business meetings and conventions.

• Art Alley brings Downtown Monroe and West Monroe together for a common goal (many shoppers interested in items

found in Antique Alley will be interested in the offerings on Art Alley as well) and both Alleys will compliment

one another.