Man, oh man, did we have an exciting week! It must have been the best 1st wedding anniversary ever! Let's see if we can't catch you up to speed...

Monday night's book-signing event was off the hook! We couldn't believe how many people showed up, and neither could Russell Howze, the book's author, and curator of StencilArchive.org. There were so many stencil enthusiasts in attendance, in fact, that the good people at Powell's City of Books had to bring out a whole rack of more chairs to accommodate the crowd. Still, there were people left contentedly standing on the sidelines when the chairs ran out. The presentation Russell gave was great, and the "wooooot's" heard when Tiago's name was called out were especially heart warming because most were from people we don't even know!
The subsequent Stencil Ride that Tiago led, (as part of Pedalpalooza), was a real hit, as well. Many left the event saying that it was their favorite Pedalpalooza event to date. We were out fraternizing about the city well into the night, and returned home very flattered and satisfied.

The next day marked the public portion of the Towards Carfree Cities Conference, and Tiago's first official public art performance with spray paint! Thanks to Meghan Sinnot, one of the organizers of the conference, for arming Tiago with the spray chalk and, more importantly, the official permit that allowed him to paint burning upside-down SUV's on the grounds of City Hall! Conference attendees from all over the world stopped to watch, applaud, and congratulate Tiago for his artistic accomplishments and messages!

The rest of the week was filled with wonderfully ridiculous and inspiring Pedalpalooza events, including the Solstice Ride, which we co-lead! We rode all night for the shortest night of the year, and were re-married in front of a crowd of about 100 bikey friends by bike light at the top of Mt. Tabor. Thanks to Rev. Phil and Leigh from Vancouver for the wonderful words and thoughts they shared, and to everyone who participated, observed, and heckled! We love you all!

Yes, it has been a magical week, and the perfect prelude to a magical summer for the year of two-thousand-great! Before I go, I just want to remind all of you that you only have a few more days to catch the rest of Cycleseen, the all-around-P-Town exhibit of bicycle related art, in which our own Mr. DeJerk is featured in not one, but TWO different shows! The art comes down this week, though, so get out there and Cycle-see it while you can!

Love, and be super duper ridiculous,

Mrs. DeJerk

DeJerk to be featured as interactive artist in this year's Towards Carfree Cities International Conference!

That's right! The 2008 Towards Carfree Cities Confrerence is coming to Portland tomorrow, and Tiago DeJerk will be leading an interactive art experience for the attendees on Tuesday the 17th. This is the first year that the conference will be hosted in North America, and it's occurrence coincides with Portland's recently earned recognition as the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States! The conference theme is "Rethinking Mobility, Rediscovering Proximity," and according to the site,

"This year’s Towards Carfree Cities conference theme is intended to promote discussion of urban livability, mixed-use development, local agriculture, pedestrianization, strong neighborhoods, accessible public space, and sustainable transportation. The conference program unites diverse interests, from city planners to developers to environmental activists to transportation service providers, around the common goal of reducing communities’ dependence on automobiles."

This conference is going to be amazing! Thousands of attendees are expected from ALL over the world. If you're able to, you should attend at least a portion of it. If you aren't in Portland, you can watch the video-stream coverage of the conference on CrankMyChain! Cycle TV.

Come on down to city hall on Tuesday the 17th to participate in the public day of the conference! Tiago will begin his interactive art installation around 5:00pm, and if you stay till the end you can catch the Sprockettes performance at 7:00! Can't wait to see you!

Love,
Drica

Just in case you live in P-Town and haven't been by Powell's this month, here's a shot of the front window of the world's largest independent bookstore! The Portland premiere event at Powell's is only a few days away!

Please join Tiago, myself, and Stencil Nation's author, Russell Howze, for an intimate event there this Monday the 16th at 7:30pm. Afterwards, Tiago will lead a Stencil Ride as part of Pedalpalooza. He'll take us all on a tour of some of Portland's stencil art, and we'll make stops on the way to stencil items ourselves! Bring shirts, bags, vinyls, and whatever else you want to stencil.
Also, as part of the exciting book related news, check out the list below that Rusell posted on Stencil Nation's blog!

We look forward to seeing you all this weekend, and especially on Monday!

Love, Drica

Here’s the list of museums that have currently ordered the book to sell in their shops:

• Weisman Art Museum Minneapolis
• Getty Museum LA
• MFA Boston
• National Building Museum DC
• Berkeley Art Museum
• Dia Center For The Arts NY
• Museum Contemporary Art Chicago
• MOMA NY
• Norton Simon Museum LA
• Walker Art Center Minneapolis
• MOMA SF

You know, Tiago's been getting a lot of well deserved, steadily increasing praise and adulation this past year. He's been featured on websites, in newspaper, on the radio, and now, even in a book. All in all, we feel pretty great about the direction we're headed! Something happened recently, though, that's filled us with a warm gooey feeling that's even warmer and gooier than all those other things - combined! It happened last Thursday during Tiago's Cycleseen show opening at the Independent Publishing Resource Center. There we were, hob-knobbing with the poster producing elite of Stumptown, when someone called Tiago over to the central cork board, to point out a very special note that the center had received. The note, (which can be seen on the opening page of the IPRC website), was from a student who had attended Tiago's Stencil Workshop, hosted by the IPRC last year. This student had been so inspired by her newly acquired skill set, that she developed an entire space at her home to be dedicated to art! Here she is in her own words...

PORTLANDERS LOVE THE IPRC AND OUR WORKSHOPS! Here's what one recent participant had to say: "I'm just writing to tell you how thankful I am to find a place like the IPRC! I took the spraypaint stencil class last weekend. . . the instructors were fabulous and have inspired me to turn my garage into an art space. Thanks again for offering such fantastic workshops!"

Wow! How's that for inspiring? I sure am proud of that Mr. DeJerk! Thanks for taking the time to read about this. Now let's all get out there, share some skills and spread ridiculous love and inspiration!

Heart,
Drica

Great news, folks!

The book Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community and Art by Russell Howze hit stores on June 1st. You better get to your favorite book store and pick up a copy quick, because this hot little number features outstanding work by the likes of Banksy, Swoon, and your very own Tiago DeJerk! (Although the book has him listed by his given name – Tiago Denczuk – we see the misnomer as a minor defeat for the cult effect, the parents DeJerk see it all as a major victory!)

Mr. Howze, creator and administrator of the website Stencil Archive, has been a big fan of Tiago’s work since it was first posted to his site by an anonymous admirer in 2006. From that point, Tiago’s fan base on Stencil Archive alone grew so quickly that Russell was inspired to invite Tiago to be a featured artist in his upcoming book. This was all way back in the late summer of yesteryear, (literally August of last year), mind you, when Tiago was a young newlywed, with empty pockets and a head full of ideas. One idea that he couldn’t have had, though, was of how much this book would end up meaning to him!

Well friends, that’s the long and short of the history of the book. Now on to more good news! It seems that, as the book and author were making their way up the coast, a great friend of Tiago’s, the Sprockette’s very own recently transplanted Agent Chaos stumbled across a copy in San Francisco. This agent was a particular inspiration to Tiago during the formation of his stencil craft, and her opinion is highly regarded by him. Here’s what she had to say about the book: "Nice job being in a BOOK on the page after SWOON!! It makes me so happy!!"

Y’all may know as well as we do, however, that close friends – regardless of how desperately they try not to be – may become biased where art is concerned. It only took a quick trip to Powell’s, though, to prove Agent Chaos absolutely correct! The book looks amazing, and not only is Tiago one of 350 artists represented in its pages, he’s also one of only a handful of those artists whose work is accompanied by a two-page spread, complete with a colorful artists’ bio! YEE HAW!

We are so darn tootin’ excited, that we’d buy each and every one of you a copy if we could! Unfortunately, we can’t. But you can support DeJerks AND Russell Howze by visiting the book’s website at stencilnation.org and ordering your own copy at wholesale price! Then, if you’re in the Portland area, you can join us at Powell’s City of Books, the world’s largest independent bookstore, on June 16th at 7:30pm for an official book presentation and signing! Immediately following the event will be a bicycle ride led by DeJerk himself as part of (you guessed it) Pedalpalooza 2008. Read more about the ride and the event in our news section! And thank you for all of your support!