Volume 3, Issue 18
August 30 - September 12, 2001

OUT OF THE WOODS

Dear Editor:
You can't imagine my surprise when I opened last week's Go-Go to see a story about Woodhog dyes [www.gogomagazine.com/0317/style.html]. I read with gaped-mouth astonishment about these two young ladies who have built a business from the ground up on their clever and innovative tie-dye designs.

The part that astonished me the most? The fact that I happen to own an original Woodhog Dye more than five years old. And it wasn't created by Rebecca Miller or Stacey Golden. It was created by my brother-in-law, Tom Hodge, owner of Chicago Dye Works, previously called Woodhog Dyes.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and this case is no exception. You see, Ms. Miller was engaged to Tom Hodge until two years ago, when they parted ways and she moved back home to Denver from the Chicagoland area house she shared with Tom.

Tom created Woodhog dyes long before he even met Rebecca. The clever little anecdote Miller spouted in the lede was actually concocted by Tom, as was every single one of the designs pictured in your article. I should know, as I designed a catalog for the company more than four years ago-- much longer than the two years since Miller launched her "original" business venture.

While Tom and Miller were together, she toured with Tom to trade shows all over the country. Tom taught Miller everything about the business, from the process used to create the intricate designs to booking a booth at a craft show or county fair. Her thanks for the loving apprenticeship? Not even a word of credit to the man who gave her the skills to do what she does.

It is true that patenting these unique, one-of-a-kind designs would be a hopeless task, and Tom never got around to patenting the process itself, but it would be nice to at least have seen him credited in the article. I know that would have been hard for your reporter to unearth, given the circumstances, but the truth is still the truth, regardless of how it's spun. I'm sure Tom would never pursue litigation over the matter with Miller, but I urge you to strip Woodhog of the designer of the year award you doled out to them last year. The person who deserves that award lives in Chicago, and his name is Tom Hodge. --Dave Flomberg

ART ( NOT) FOR RENT

Dear Editor:
First, thanks for the broad & informative coverage of the local arts scene. In practice, Go-Go's the only Denver metro pub I've come across which act-ally features a diverse range of people, places and work surfacing locally. It's so nice as a resident, gallery-goer, and active artist to get to read about an art scene beyond the museum/contemporary gallery/"alternative" gallery/artist world constantly orbited by Denver's other newspapers.

I do want to respond with a point of clarification/correction for an item appearing in your Local Arts column [ www.gogomagazine.com/0316/flipside.html], though. Regarding the blurb on Space Gallery and the artist "rental fee" structure: Mike [Burnett] may be employing this policy now and into the future, but it was NOT how he was running the gallery when I showed there (mid-June through mid-July). Rather, we contracted to do the exhibit in the way most traditional commercial galleries do: no "rental" or other fees to the artist, with the gallery receiving a straight percentage on all sales.

I point this out only because of a personal (and admittedly, possibly unfair) bias against "rental galleries." While fully supportive of any fair means, structures and policies a gallery owner decides to employ to keep their business healthy, I personally don't show my work in rental galleries, and don't wish to allow my name and work to be erroneously associated with such.

Thanks for your attention on this. Best Regards, --Amy Marinelli

Also, Walgreen's needs to start stocking my 11x14 black art frames again. You hear me over there? Don't make me get the belt.

--Chris J. Magyar