Jan's Gallery

RAIL ROAD SQUARE ART DISTRICT, IS A SAFE HAVEN TO OUR ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, SINGERS & STUDENTS.
WHERE DO WE GO IF ITS TORN DOWN?

My daughter Kate, a tattoo artist, is holding a TATTOO RAFFLE to benefit our new non-profit, Start the Ripple Inc., that helps educate and feed kids in rural Uganda (no plumbing or electricity). You can buy a ticket or two! Here's the info:

The raffle starts now and ends Sunday at 8pm when winners will be picked. All proceeds go directly to .the.ripple and

• RULES: Tickets are $20. You can purchase as many as you like, and SHARE THIS!

• FIRST PLACE: winner can pick one of these two designs in color or black and grey. The other design will be available to tattoo.

• SECOND PLACE: wins a $80 gift card to Honey

• THIRD PLACE: wins a 4x5 painting

* HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS:

PayPal: [email protected]

Cash App: $swimmingbell

Or you can drop cash at Honey (there is a mail slot in the door).

**DO NOT FORGET to include your email address so I can contact you! and how many tickets you'd like**

If you don't want to purchase tickets but still want to donate, visit www.start-the-ripple.com/donate.

$5 buys a child’s school materials for a term

$10 feeds five kids for a month

$20 buys a uniform

$50 sponsors three kids for a term

$100 pays a teacher's monthly salary

Learn more: https://linktr.ee/starttheripple?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabuzWPvV7i346J2E4f3Na0yQZgLCchwcWV4BDJ--J9ckwbhTeZ88U3uogo_aem_7SYwIP5A6AztgA80QIKV9Q

If you want to give $$ to help people in the midst of the Gaza destruction, CARE is a good place to donate. The aid workers there are putting their lives on the line.

Bearing witness to the destruction in Gaza "Since this crisis started 10 months ago," she said. "Every day I woke up thinking it can't get worse, and every next day I realize I was wrong.”

Hey, let's put golf courses all over our Florida state parks! What a WONDERFUL idea (not). Read about it here, then click on the "Action" link below to register your protest against environmentally threatening development in our parks.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2024/08/20/are-changes-coming-floridas-state-park-system/

Action: State Parks Threat • Florida Wildlife Federation Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Announces major changes to State Parks throughout Florida.

Ain't Miss Behaving
Is off to a wonderful start
Make sure you get your ticket AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' - The Fats Waller Musical Show! It's selling out!

Muwanguzi, Alinda, Princess, and Miracle, pictured below, live in a village in East Africa with no plumbing or electricity. My niece collected enough money to build a well, latrine, and a school! So, if you donate $10 to our non-profit bank account here at Centennial, every penny of the money goes straight to the adults in this village who feed these children a meal at school. Really! $10 feeds one of these kids for an entire school term. All my friends, please donate. https://www.start-the-ripple.com/donate

Look who showed up at my gallery on First Friday! My kinda guy…

UNDERGROUND THE MUSICAL Won 🏆 for Best Production and Best Singer at The New York Theater Festival 2024! Time to update your resumes Lili Forbes & Akil DuPont.
I would like to thank all the amazing actors, production assistance, also those who have been with us on this journey since forever! Too many names to call, so I'll just say, to Team Underground, The Village and all yal with a TShirt!! Thank you!! 😊 Blessed ❤️

If any of you in town need recommendations on stuff like "County Judge" on your Democratic Party primary election ballot, let me know. I got the goods.

The Democratic National Committee's event, “UPDATED: Women for Harris National Organizing Call” - sign up now to join!

UPDATED: Women for Harris National Organizing Call · The Democratic National Committee NEW DATE: To accommodate the unprecedented demand, we are now moving the Sunday call to Monday, July 29th at 7:00 PM ET. We are committed to ensuring that all women can be a part of this moment. It is clear that we are fired up and ready to elect Kamala! We will see you Monday for a call with specia...

Hey musicians, where yal at this summer?

COVER PHOTO UPDATE: This is Elvic and Vicki with their family in the village of Kyanjiri, Uganda. My niece and I began a non-profit, Start the Ripple, Inc., to help the people of this village who live without what we would consider to be the basic necessities.

Since first visiting in 2020, my niece has been able to help them build a school, latrine, well, etc. (see description below). I am asking all my friends to help with this project. Any amount you can donate will continue the good work that has begun here. www.start-the-ripple.com (If you want to donate a smaller amount than the choices on the website, let me know.)

Here is the description:

The construction of the initial 4-room schoolhouse began in 2021 and was completed in 2022. In that same year, we also dug the first latrine and built two staff rooms. In 2023, a brick standalone building was constructed to serve as an additional classroom, along with a separate brick building for an office. Additionally, a 120-foot deep water well and pump were installed for a year-round water supply. Staff housing for the school managers was also built in 2023. The second latrine was started in 2023 and finished in 2024.

The school opened its doors to the public in February 2023 with 6 students registered; 15 attended on the first day. By the end of the first week, there were close to 45 students. We completed the first school year in 2023 with over 80 students. Currently, in the second term of 2024, we have more than 120 students. We anticipate many more as we expand our capacity.

Currently, five classrooms are utilized for teaching. Students learn using blackboards while sitting at small tables with wooden benches. The children use blank workbooks for writing. Teaching is conducted in both English and Luganda, the primary tribal language of the area. However, having 120+ students in five small classrooms is not practical, and our student body is growing. At times, teachers conduct lessons outdoors due to cramped conditions. We urgently need to construct more classrooms to accommodate more students and teachers.

There are more children in the village and surrounding areas who want and need education, but we cannot accept new students with our current resources. The primary school needs five more classrooms and at least five more teachers. We purchased a nearby piece of land in January 2024 with the hope of constructing a secondary school. For the secondary school, we will need at least four classrooms, an office, and six or more staff members to teach and manage it.

Primary School Needs:

5 classrooms
Kitchen
Playfield & playground
Cafeteria
Secondary School Needs:

4 classrooms
1 office
Field
Kitchen
Cafeteria
2 latrines
Water well & tank
General Needs:

Food (maize, beans, salt, milk)
School supplies (books, workbooks, pens, pencils, erasers, chalk)
Sanitation supplies (soap, toilet paper, etc.)
Staff housing (to accommodate as many teachers as possible)
Electricity ($5,000 to bring to the village, or solar)
Hire teachers, secretaries, sports directors, security, etc

Start the Ripple HAS BIG POTENTIAL Every little action OUR MISSIONS EDUCATION WATER & SANITATION HEALTHCARE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ENVIROMENTAL CONSERVATION

This is where I want to be right now!!

It's today! Come see us. Eat, drink & be merry.

My fav 4th of July photo...

MEN WANTED Ain't Miss Behaving the musical. Email [email protected] a video recording of yourself sing any song from the musical

still need some actors for Ain't Miss Behaving cast. DM me for details

DeSantis has vetoed the little state funding (less than half of what was originally recommended) for Cultural Arts & Museums! $32 million dollars were wiped out across the state! He killed all the money because of something called "Fringe Festivals." To stop those, he stopped everybody. This is idiocy!

Museums barely function on state appropriations and now they have nothing!

His bigoted policies and authoritarian nature make him a perfect running mate for the orange. Can you think of two worse leaders for our nation?

You are invited to come hear some oldy-goldies at the Moon tomorrow night (June 22), doors 6:30 pm and show 7 pm. The Beatles, the Everly Brothers, Cookies, Crystals, Linda Ronstadt, Wilson Pickett, Eric Burden & the Animals, and more! $10 on line at the Moon website now (www.moonevents.com) or at the door is OK too. Join us! Music jam afterwards, around 9:30 or 10 pm!

Bill Jones on vocals, lead guitar & banjo; James Vance on vocals & rhythm guitar; Danni Vogt on drums; Jimbo St. John on bass; Steve Van Gorder on vocals and keys; and three gal singers, me (Jan DeCosmo), Valerie Vorce Johns, and Caroline Jones. Special guest for set three: Scott Carswell!

All my friends! Get your tickets NOW on the Moon website for our Sat. night event, featuring oldy-goldies by the Fla. High Demons Reunion Band, which we formed last year in order to be half-way good. Even if you can't come, buy a ticket! LOL

Next week-long trip to Havana is Nov. 13-20. We will include not only our regular 4 tours, but also add optional dance lessons (Yoruba, salsa, and rumba). Folks on the last two trips loved the dance lessons. We have some new night spots to go to, to dance, eat, and listen to music too. Join us!

Yal! Is here is a beautiful cast
Buy tickets here for Underground by Akil DuPont https://innovationtickets.com/product/underground/

Come hear original music from some 'Taters and some Lili Forbes at the 72nd Annual Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, FL, this weekend! We play on the Heritage stage on Saturday at 3:30 pm and Sunday at 4 pm. For more see https://www.floridastateparks.org/FloridaFolkFestival

If you want to know about Africa BEFORE the it was colonized by Europeans, and more, order this book for $25 that I created for use at FAMU while teaching there from 1981 to 2018. It offers a response to the most commonly-used apologia on the part of those who would make light of the horrors and uniqueness of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, i.e., that the world has always had slavery and slavery existed in Africa. The response? The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was unlike any type of slavery that had existed hitherto in the world. Previous forms of slavery were a condition of having lost conflicts in battle (submit or die) and were NOT based on skin color. They also were not a lifelong condition, or a status that was automatically inherited by offspring. Learn more!

African Cultures and the African Diaspora Textbook used for African Humanities class, FAMU, Tallahassee.

Some glimpses inside the gallery...

SALE of Jabare's paintings TONIGHT at First Friday (Oct. 6), 6:30-9:30 pm, Railroad Square Art Park. Jan's Gallery is 615-4 Railroad Square, by the Cat/Book shop and across the field where the food trucks park. Jabare is a local folk artist. Come buy something!

Go see Elvi Nichols' art at the airport!

What : Visions of Gratitude Exhibition | 'Inside the Artist’s Studio' virtual tour

When: Exhibit through Nov. 2 | Oct. 5 via Zoom 5-6 p.m.

Where : TLH Airport Art Gallery | Online at tallahasseearts.org

Cost : The first 30 minutes of parking at the Tallahassee International Airport is free

It's TONIGHT (Sept. 23). Bring your dancing shoes and jam with us!