JOSEPH COCO

Professor of ART + MUSIC

REMEMBERING Helen LAU Running

Artist Joseph Coco

friendship 1975-2014

Helen Running is a pivotal person in my life, especially as a studio partner in Flagstaff, Arizona’s famed Upstairs Art Studio -1975-thru 1980. I say famed, because without knowing it at the time, by the mid ‘80’s her husband John Running established himself as a heralded photographer of Northern Arizona., -his generation’s equivalent of Ansel Adams-. Dr. Michael Collier, is now well known for his aerial photography of the Southwest, and Luis Tomas, artist, graphic designer and musician, is likely the most decorated artist in Arizona during the last 40 years.

Helen became a mover and shaker for Arts initiatives through her photography and writing. Helen’s invaluable assistance and savoir-faire paved the way for my 3-year tenure as the first Flagstaff Arts Council Coordinator. Her connections, gentle hand, and ability to speak clearly about the needs of Northland Arts organizations navigated me through the 3-Grants I wrote and implemented, (with Helen’s great grasp of grant writing). A true sharp shooter with a camera, she was instrumental in securing the Chamber of Commerce to sponsor those 3-grants for the CETA Program * –the late ‘70’s equivalent to the WPA Program of the ‘30’s. As Counter Culture young adults, Helen’s ability to ‘fit right in’, aided me for those 3-years of relations with the Symphony Association, Opera & Ballet Societies, Museum of Northern Arizona, Pioneer Museum, & Professional Artists of Northern Arizona.

An active member of the PANA -Professional Artists of Northern Arizona, Helen routinely took photographs of me in the studio or at clubs where I actively played.

Ever-supportive during my journeyman period in Flagstaff, she was part cheerleader and angel. Helen was older sister, fan, buoyant, and quick to laugh.

I first met Helen on a clear crisp February night in 1972. We crossed paths in front of the newly opened University Of Northern Arizona’s Symphony Hall. I commented to her that I had never seen a baby stuffed into a back-pack before. Her eldest daughter Shelly was along for the ride, and we headed in the same direction. I thought ‘how curious to bring an infant to a symphonic concert, and be so confident that her baby ‘Shell’ wouldn’t wail out baby talk, whimper or cry through the performance? At the end of the concert, I ran into her in the lobby, and we walked to her VW Bug. Such serendipity continued until I joined her and the others at Upstairs Art Studio, and then the lessons in the business of Art began. Her quips, “Make art, not money today Joey”… the next day… “make money today Joey, then art”, still ring in my ears. Down to earth and abundant in celestial smiles, and laughter, Helen was positively ‘Top Model’ for being all of 5’1”… at the most.

Discover Helen's photographs by contacting her daughter RaechelRunning@gmail.com

Professor Joseph Coco - M.F.A. / Luminarios Art & Music, BMI

* CETA Program Arts Council Northern Arizona - Flagstaff, AZ

"Community Crafts Project" / Anthony Cocilova, Project Director

"Three Historical Plays" / Annie Stillion, Project Director

Sponsor: Pioneer's Historic Society April ‘78 thru Nov. ‘79

"Renovation of The City Through Art" / Joe Coco, Project Director

Sponsor: Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce April 78 thru Nov.’79

Sited As Model Projects by the Department of Labor -Washington D.C.

JOSEPH COCO

1979 NEVER SATISFIED Flagstaff.az

upstairs art

ULRICKE ARNOLD

EARTH ARTIST

ulrikearnold.com

The Art of Cosmic Connection

Since 1980, Ulrike Arnold has traveled worldwide to historical and sometimes very remote areas to study cave art and work, many times alone, at sites that would offer the natural earth colors she desired for specific works. She recognized and honored the ancient’s use of pigmented earth in their attempts to chronicle reality by selecting powdered earth to carry her dialogue into abstract expressionism. (…) Drawn by a still unrecognized itch to draw the connection between that which was at her feet and in her hands, and that which was above her head, in the vault of the cosmos, she included in her travels the places in the world where man had constructed edifies and sculptures that, when look at with an open mind, showed the human propensity to reach up to the universe.

Helen Running, who worked for the United States Geological Survey’s Institute for Astro-Geology and resided in Arizona, befriended Ulrike, showing her images of the planets, moons and asteroids, and photos and papers covering the continuing discoveries in space. Ulrike began to frequently visit the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff gleaning additional information on the cosmos. (…)

In 2002, two seminal events occurred in Arnold’s life; her meeting with the American astronaut, Harrison Schmidt, in Arizona and a visit to the Barringer Meteor Crater the very next day that resulted in the possibility of Ulrike getting her piece of the cosmos. Both happened as a result of Ulrike attending the USGS celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission.

In a conversation with Schmidt, who had stood on the moon, Ulrike began thinking of the cosmos and how it could be integrated in her work. She asked him when the next shuttle was going into space as she would like to get her hands on some of the “cosmos”. They both laughed at the impossibility of such a thing happening, but the desire was planted firmly in her consciousness.

The next day as Ulrike was walking along the rim of the 50.000 year old, mile wide impact crater she was approached by a tall man in a cowboy hat. The didn’t know each other but still walked along side by side silently taking in the result of a high energy connection between the earth and the universe. The tall stranger finally broke the silence and asked if she were a scientist, and then got a bemused look on this face when Arnold explained she was an artist, and what she had been doing with her work, and at the moment she was having a revelation that in front of her was the actual evidence of our origins and a portent of our future. She told him of her desire to make a work using cosmic material. Kilgore said nothing for a moment, then told her he was meteoriticist and that he has for years collected meteorites from all over the world and cuts them to identify and classify them for science. His process results in pounds of meteorite cuttings. He asked if she would like to have some “stardust” for use in her work. (…)

Arnold has been visiting Killgore’s laboratory in Payson, Arizona, where he and his wife, Kitty, have the largest private collection of meteorites in America. Killgore provides her with different classifications of meteorite cuttings for her projects.

– Excerpt from a text by Count Guido Roberto Deiro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K-K06HxxqI

ulrikearnold.com

Dialogue EARTH

Ulrike Arnold earthart

Uleikw Arnold and Helen Lau Running

★★★★★