Clusterbomb Bears: Southwestern New Mexico and Gila Cliff Dwellings

In November 2010, Eamon and I got married in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Afterward we took a short trip around Southwestern New Mexico including City of Rocks, Tome Hill, the Gila Wilderness, and Gila Cliff Dwellings. While on the trip, I took some Clusterbomb Bear photos in the region.

Shrine Workshop at The International Art In Response to Violence Confrence

I was invited to give a talk and host a workshop at the 1st International Art in Response to Violence Conference at Northeastern Illinois University held September 30-October 1, 2010.

This event was sponsored by the Illinois Art Therapy Association, Adler School for Professional Psychology, as well as the MA in Counseling, Fine Art, and Psychology departments at NEIU.

I gave a presentation about my experiences working in communities as an artist since moving to Baltimore in 2008 and hosted a workshop on building shrines.

Creative Activity Workshop

Workshop Title: Shrine Building Workshop

Proposal: I have been building small shrines from things I find on the streets of Baltimore City. I collect objects and arrange them in handmade boxes, creating something beautiful from a very turbulent and violent city. In this workshop, materials will be provided for construction of a small shrine or amulet. Participants will be guided through quiet personal reflection on a difficult experience, and technical assistance will be provided for the design and creation of an object to symbolically transform or commemorate their survival of the situation. Participants will keep their shrines or amulets.

These are some of the end products:

I would definitely give this type of workshop again. I enjoyed the atmosphere working with a group of artists and art therapists, but I could see doing this with many different groups of people. The participants in this workshop really liked the way the it was organized and I was satisfied with the outcome of the prompts I used for the project.

This was the description I submitted for my presentation:

Paper presentation

Presentation Title: UnWIREing Baltimore

Proposal: The Wire, a popular television series, has familiarized people all over the world with Baltimore’s story- the corruption, the high murder rates, the 42,000 abandoned houses, the heroin and gang activity…but there is another story that needs to be told. I would like to share my field experience as an artist working with inner city youth in those neighborhoods of Baltimore. In my presentation, I will share art programming and student work from these neighborhoods, as well as a slide show of several of my own shrine installation and sculptural art works that have emerged from their stories and my own reflections. I will provide information, stories, and effects of other activists’ projects and partnerships with the city- such as murals and community gardens that have transformed abandoned lots where drug and gang activity had been taking place. Such undertakings in these neighborhoods provide a source of inspiration and hope for the community.

The presentation was very cathartic for me. I have had a wide range of experiences in Baltimore and needed to mark my growth since leaving Chicago. It was very helpful for me to take the time to process my experiences and have a venue to share with an interested audience.

Presenter Bio

Lisa Krause (b.1979) is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. A native of Illinois and 2007 graduate of Northeastern Illinois University,she focused her BA on art-based research with youth in psychology and recycled materials in sculptural installation. Currently, Lisa facilitates art workshops for youth in rough neighborhoods, builds shrines and bear-bombs, & participates in solo, group, and puppet shows.

Clusterbomb Bears: Hammerfest, Norway

New photos of the Clusterbomb Bears photo installation project during our trip to Norway for the Oslo Comix Expo in June 2010. I photographed the bears in Hammerfest, a small fishing village in the Arctic Circle and then sold all the bears at the Expo in Oslo.

The photos are in a Sami Burial Ground, near the shore of the Artic Ocean, in an outdoor facility for drying fish- which was historically a main industry of the town before oil refining companies took over, and on the summit of a mountain in the town of Hammerfest.

I will be showing these photos at the International Art In Response To Violence Confrence in Chicago, IL September 30- October 1 2010. I will also be giving a presentation about my personal and community art work in Baltimore as well as experiences and opportunities for like-minded artists in the city. I also will be giving a workshop on shrine building.

Ball Movement II: Mole Balls

7th Annual Transmodern Festival
April 15th – 18th, 2010 — Baltimore
Museum of Art + H&H Building, Baltimore



(where the moles learn to survive through waves of hellish laser beams of doom (made of ping-pong balls), veiled behind some alter egos (different character cut outs with a face hole). mean while, the exterminators works out their team effort to overcome disorientation and distractions of all natural and supernatural elements, and successfully score and eliminate the pests by unleashing velcroed thunder balls aimed at their head. head shots only. SEE VIDEO BELOW

A project of Michael Benevento and Andrew Liang

Contributors / Artists
Russell Hite, Katherine St Paul Hill, Elena Johnston, Sean Honey, Jeff Mcgrath, Jordan Kasey, Lou Joseph, Eamon Espey, John Bohl, Katie Rose, Gary Kachadourian, Kieran Gillen

Mole Sculptor
Lisa Krause

Harness Engineers
Melanie Lester and Risa Ono

Sound Engineer
Martin Kasey

Staff / Volunteer
Annie Gray, Steve Santillian, Miranda Pfeiffer, Krysten Watson, Joana Kopcyzk, Mitchell Goodrich, Megan Chin, Michell Porucznik, Bettina Yung, Maude Kasperzak

Photographer / Videographer
Monique Crabb, Emmanuel Nicolaidis, Andrew Shenker












This Just In:
Review on Charm City Current blog April 28, 2010
While I didn't get mentioned on the website for my work, there's some great photos of the molehelmets and a really good review of transmodern by the director of the Baltimore Museum of Art

Forum of 40 Champions- Curated by Gary Kachadourian

Forty champions, each possessing a special power, have been invited to create a warrior to enter the Minstallation Gallery and face the special powers of their peers.

Minstallation Gallery
Creative Alliance at The Patterson
3134 Eastern Ave. Baltimore, MD
Closing Reception, Saturday, April 10, 5-7pm
February 27 – April 10, 2010





Curated by Gary Kachadourian
Installation and Logo Design by Eamon Espey
Sound by Witch Hat
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=300706996682&ref=mf


I used this project as an opportunity to expand on my warriors that I had been making before. I added to the original 2 and made a bunch more. As with my shrines, I've been using stuff I pick up walking around. In this case some things include shells, seeds, stones, ground turquoise, cardinal bones, a humming bird's head, prize-winning chickens' feathers, and hair from rabbits, deer, and dog.