UMBRELLA - Mail Art Volume 21 no. 3/4 (December 1998).

A mail art experiment at Mar Vista Elementary School in Los Angeles, under the direction of art teacher Lorraine Bubar, involved students sending out 70 letters "most envelopes painstakingly turned into a child's work of art" that invited a response. 300 artists from across Southern California responded and their postcards were displayed. The teacher reaches 700 students going from classroom to classroom. The idea of sending artists art of children and asking them to respond meant that she consulted local galleries and museums for names and addresses. The response was amazing. Artists came in and interacted with the students. And mail art lives in Mar Vista!

A Salon de Fax will be held at the University of Maine Museum of Art from 4 December 1998 through 20 January 1999.

And I Quote... is an exhibition at Mary Delahoyd Gallery on 426 Broome St. curated by Pavel Zoubok. The exhibition is dedicated to Buster Cleveland (1943 - 1998) and includes work by Barton Benes, George Deem John Evans, Joan Hall, Walter Hamady, Al Hansen, Ray Johnson, Jiri Kolar, May Wilson and Faith-dorian Wright, among others.

Artistamp News for Summer 1998 featured essays by Guy Bleus, Ruud Janssen, Ina Blom, an artist profile of Steve Smith, reviews of exhibitions of artistamps, publications and a set of stamps from Ed Varney, the editor. $8.00 for issues 10 and 11, or $4.00 per issue from Ed Varney, Box 3655, Vancouver Canada V6B 3Y8.

Josef Klaffki (1943 - 1997) known as Joki was one of the most colorful and best loved of the European mail artists. He was sailing back from the Azores with three friends heading for Lisbon when a huge wave washed him overboard on 18 May 1997. The other three were below decks and though the sailboat was damaged and they had a fifteen-hour ordeal, they were eventually rescued. (See eulogy by Peter Netmail)

National Centre of Contemporary Art (Kaliningrad Branch, Russia) has opened. Among priorities will be one-man and collaborative projects in the sphere of International Network Culture. Special attention will be paid to modern experimental poetry: visual, sound, action, object, etc. Their first project, A Point of View: Visual Poetry: The 90s (ed. By Dmitry Bulatov, Simplicii, Kaliningrad, 1998: 592 p., 546 ill.), an anthology of international visual poetry has been published in Russia for the first time.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

A Book Should be a Ball of Light in One's Hand. Using this Ezra Pound quote as a starting point, please create mail art to be exhibited at the Washington University Bookarts Fair in the spring of 1999. No media or size restrictions. This exhibit may be viewed by children, so no X-rated work, please. All work meeting guidelines will be displayed. No returns and documentation to all. Mail to: Karyl Howard ("Retread"), 1911 Still Creek Pass, Wildwood, MO 63011. Please include your name and complete address. Deadline: 15 February 1999.

Tibet Mail Art. Ongoing call for mailart with theme of "Free Tibet". Works will be exhibited at the Living Poets website: http://dougal.derby.acu.uk/1. No jury, no fees, no returns. Any media, maximum size A4. Send to: Dragonheart Press, 11 Menin Rd., Allestree, Derby DE22 2NL, United Kingdom. Deadline: none.

Hamburger Art. Collection some discarded hamburger packing from the street. Use it to make a work. Any medium, collage etc. With it send details of the place where found, comments and observations. A4 maximum. No returns. Documentation to all. Send to Alan Turner, 10 Rathcoole Gardens, London N8 9NB, England. Deadline: 31 December 1998.

Martyrs, Heroes. Send images of heroes and martyrs of our era. Include some information about each. Any medium, A4 max. Documentation to all. No returns. Possible exhibition, possible zine. Deadline: December 1998. Send to Alan Turner, 10 Rathcoole Gardens, London N8 9NB, United Kingdom.

Cruces del Mundo. Crosses from the World. Networking Art Project. Please send your cross, por favor envia tu cruz. Deadline: 1 January 1999. Send to Hans Braumuller, Los Almendros 3898, „u–oa, Santiago, Chile. All entries will be used in Intermedia Art Installation by the year 2000 in Santiago de Chile in homage to indigenous people all over the world. Documentation to all participants. E-mail: braumueller@on-line.de

Before/Now. A mail art exhibition focusing on memories and images from childhood, and how these memories stay with us into adulthood. Requesting important memory from childhood from a variety of people, artists and non-artists, from around the world, and two photographs, a current photo and one from childhood. All of the material will form a human portrait, to be shown in April 1999, at The Living Room, an exhibition space in Santa Monica, CA, directed by Barbara Drucker. Deadline: 1 February 1999. Please send 2 photos, one from childhood, and a current one, plus an important memory. Size limit: 8.5 x 11", flat artwork only, up to 3 pages. Original photos or color Xeroxes requested. Remembrances can be handwritten or typed. All entries will be displayed, either on the wall or in books. None will be returned. Documentation will be sent to all participants. Send to Barbara Drucker, c/o The Living Room, 1132 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401 USA.

Dreams of the Millennium: The Millennium approaches. Will the year 2000 (or 2001) be just another year or will our universe change in ways we cannot yet imagine? Send me your written dream(s) on this subject--or other ruminous/luminous dreams and in return receive a copy of other dreams submitted. Send to Elaine Langerman, 3716 Yuma St. NW, Washington, DC 20015. Deadline: ongoing

Limping or Soaring to the Millennium. Images & text preferred. Max. Size: 15.24 x 12.86 cm. Deadline: 31 December 1999. The Sticker Dude Institute, Ragged Edge Press, 102 Fulton St., New York, NY 10038. Or send e-mal to stkrdude@interport.net

Salute to Chester Carlson, the Father of Xerography. Michael Leigh requests work any size produced on the copier to be send before the end of 98. Documentation to all. Address to A1 Waste 71, Lambeth Walk, London SE11, England.

Artists' Stamps. To contribute to a philatelic exhibition to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland. Please send 100 examples of your own postage stamp, a project of postage stamps for a real or fictitious nation or both. Every participant will receive a souvenir print. If you have an in Internet Connection, please have a look at Micronations to give you some suggestions. For a more spectacular result, send more than 100 stamps. They can be included in more booklets. Send all material to Rastorfer J-M, Case 54, Bergiere, CH 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland. Deadline: Unknown.

The Secret Life of Marcel Duchamp. Send your original black and white work. 14 x 21 cm. Subject: Fresh Window. Documentation to all participants. Send to: The Secret Life of Marcel Duchamp, 10, Pascal Lenoir, 11 Ruelle de Champagne, 60680 Grandfresnoy, France. Deadline: Unknown.

Trans.mit: Fluxus, Mail Art and NetWorks. Hosted by Queens Library Gallery. Please submit work/responses focusing on Communication and Interactivity in the Global Network. Send to: Queens Library Gallery, Karina Skvirsky, Curator, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., Jamaica, NY. 11432. Deadline: January 20, 1999. e-mail: kskvirsk@earthlink.net

Visual Poetry. Any theme, but no pornography. Max. size A3. Any medium, no returns. Deadline: 31 March 1999. Send to Luc Fierens, c/or Visual Poetry, Grote Nieuwedijkstraat 411, B-2800 Mechelen, Belgium. . Catalog to al participants after exhibition in 1999 or 2000. Works will be in the P.C.A. Mail Art Collection of Annina & Luc in Mechelen for future exhibitions.

Social Art. Any medium, no returns, max. size A4. Deadline: 25 December 1998. Send to Annina Van Sebroeck and Luc Fierens, Grote Nieuwedijkstraat 411, B-2800 Mechelen, Belgium. Catalog to all after exhibition at the Gallery in February 1999.

A-Wake for the Mail Art Spirit. On 31 December 1998 from dusk until dawn. In front of the Art Museum of your town, or the nearest Art Museum. All networkers will meet and light candles, incense, crackers, burn money or perform other impromptu incongruences, waiting for the insidious 6661 reversed. Anonymous multiples are invited. A-Wake for the survival of the "mail art spirit" for open, noncompetitive, ethereal, unruly and free exchange.

Jokers. From a real or imaginary deck of cards, decorated or not. The Jokers will be put into a book. No deadline. Occasional documentation. All contributions will be included. Send to Jokers! P.O. Box 31848, Seattle, WA 98103.

Rubberstamp Mailart Project. Online documentation. Send unusual/fluxus/dada/surreal rubberstamps (not images). No returns. Send to Planet Dada, 11 Menin Rd., Allestree, Derby DE22 2NL, UK. Deadline: 31 December 1999.

Ireland Today. Artists of the international mail art network & Irish artists are invited to send their viewpoint of the Ireland of today. Maximum size A4 (ca. 21x30 cm). Any technique & medium. No jury, no sales & no return.Documentation to all. Deadline:1 July 1999. Send to: Francis Fan Mail, P.O.Box 66, L-6401 Echternach,Luxembourg, phi@phi.lu. Exhibition: In different places in County Mayo, Ireland in August 1999.Internet: http://www.phi.lu/ireland.html, list of participants, gallery and details about exhibitions. Catalogue: a documentation will be sent to all participants after the show. Supported by Mayo County Council.

191: A Mail Art Assemblage Zine. Urgent call for themed submissions. Send 24 pages 1/4 A4 size, leaving 1 cm. On the longest edge and receive a bound issue of the zine. Specific upcoming themed issues desperately in need of submissions to complete those already received are: Picasso & Cubism, Artistamps. Mail pages to Planet Dada 11 Menin Rd., Allestree, Derby DE22 2NL, England.