Recently completing her annual “Who To Watch” list, local Blogger and host of The Wonder Of Ivy Podcast, Lisa De La Cruz highlgihts Reading’s most interesting people. The Who To Watch list features 16 community focused people from all across Reading.

“Last year I created The Wonder of Ivy’s “Who To Watch” list because I felt like I did not see myself or my peers represented in our community. Day in and day out I saw so many of us grinding in our lanes and felt that I needed to use my platform to elevate us all. As I started compiling the list, I started feeling this excitement in my skin that I was on the breaking point of something special and little did I know, just how special it was.”

“This year I was able to put on this project again, only bigger and better. I’m honored to introduce you to all the amazing people on this list. This year’s list contains 16 of the hardest working people you will meet. This list contains people 16 who don’t just “talk it” but “walk it.” And this list contains 16 people you should watch in 2019.”

The List

To follow Lisa and the Wonder of Ivy, subscriber to her podcast on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/wonderofivy

New year, new artists. The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts held an opening reception event Friday highlight dynamic and interactive art. The new exhibits feature Autoethnography by Damien Davis in Cohen Gallery east, At The Same Time by NAPOLEON in Cohen Gallery west, and SENSORY ENGINEERING: the Age of Experientialism by the GoggleWorks Virtual

Autoethnography by Damien Davis is on display Jan 11-Feb 15, 2019, in Cohen Gallery east. “The last fourteen years of my practice have been focused on an in-depth and evolving investigation of the formal and political significance of lines and vectors, both on an American and trans-global context. I am interested in how lines can be used (both aesthetically and conceptually) to divide and connect ideas, while also having the potential to encircle and diagram even broader ones.”

“The vector objects I create can be stored and later modified into infinite permutations, allowing me to move, scale and rotate objects without degrading the quality of that original object. I employ vectors to facilitate my investigation into representations of (seemingly) concrete ideas that can only be realized in base iconic forms.”

At The Same Time by NAPOLEON is on display Jan 11-Feb 15, 2019, in the Cohen Gallery west. “At The Same Time is a group show by members of NAPOLEON, a Philadelphia-based artist collective and exhibition space. This exhibition draws together works by all the members of NAPOLEON, who are all independently practicing artists. Similar to the cooperative manner in which we run our exhibition space, At The Same Time celebrates the widely divergent artistic practices of the group.”

“The title of this exhibition comes from a piece by member Rebecca Tennenbaum, whose works are sculptural studies for machines of unknown utility, perhaps machines for envisioning a different future. This engagement with both envisioning a new world, and questioning the narratives of our past, runs across many of the works in the exhibition. Other works draw from more intimate and personal experience, reflecting on the challenge of creating space and stability in a world where events seem to be moving at an ever accelerating pace.”

SENSORY ENGINEERING: the Age of Experientialism by the GoggleWorks Virtual Reality Lab is on display Jan 11-30, 2019, in the Schmidt Gallery. Kris Jackson and Jason Morris have created the region’s first ever VR lab at the GoggleWorks, teaching VR painting and sculpting, 3D printing and best design practices to area students and fellow artists.

“Virtual Reality has transformed the world around us, changing the way we learn, work, and even the way we create and appreciate art. VR has given artists new avenues of expression that were unimaginable just a few short years ago. It can enhance the act of viewing art, transporting users into the art studios where a painting was created, and then instantly send them into virtual environments, where those paintings become fused with magical landscapes created in VR.”

“For SENSORY ENGINEERING, we’ve partnered with a variety of talented traditional artists; you can appreciate their work in the real world while also viewing it through the prism of VR. Explore the studios where these works were created and move about inside virtual spaces inspired by the artwork you see hanging before you. The show grants you the ability to explore this exciting new world. Step inside and enjoy”