Steve Poleskie/Then & Now

Steve Poleskie/Then & Now

How many innocent civilians have been killed by our military drone strikes?  Many of these MQ-9 Reaper drones, on combat and surveillance missions over Afghanistan, are remotely piloted by members of the 174th Attack Wing based at Hancock Field, just a short drive up Route 81 in Syracuse, New York. How must it feel to go home to your wife and kids in Mattydale after just having destroyed, by mistaking them for a group of Taliban, a wedding party of innocent Afghan civilians?

Then and Now/Steve Poleskie

Then and Now/Steve Poleskie

The word “boy” stings. I realize he has purposely chosen the word to convey the feeling of how it must have sounded to generations of black men. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything, really. I was visiting a friend in the Peace Corps and now I’m going home.”  I have said the wrong thing again. After two weeks in the country I am aware that most people here are not too fond of Peace Corps Volunteers. Most Sierra Leonese think of them as American spies.

Then & Now, Stephen Poleskie

Then & Now, Stephen Poleskie

ur turn came and we shuffled our bikes up to the starting line. My eyes should have been on my own set of lights, but I couldn’t help looking over at the Hustler’s “Christmas tree.” He got the green and took off. My eyes flashed over at my own set and, after what seemed like a long time, I got green. I took off. Glancing up I could see the Hustler, which appeared to be half way down the ¼ mile track. But I was gaining on him. I ran my tach to red line in each gear. I was right on the Hustler’s tail. I risked a glance up at the finish line. And then I was passing him. I held on and crossed the line first.

Stephen Poleskie/Then and Now

    Leaving Moscow?   By Stephen Poleskie  Contributing Columnist   “Just fill out this form and you can go. . . .” Jenya said, sliding a paper in front of me. “But it’s in Russian, I can’t read Russia,” I replied. “We know you can read it,” Jenya...

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

I took the drawing off the wall and laid it on the floor. I could stand there looking down at the huge work and get an idea of what I wanted to do, but had to bend over and get on my knees to draw on it or paste the collage pieces onto the surface. I tried this for a time, until my back began to hurt. I had cracked my spine in a motorcycle racing accident many years ago and it still bothered me. It’s hard to be creative when one is in pain. I stopped work on the collage and considered abandoning the project. Then I got an idea—the conference room upstairs.

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

I don’t suppose that I am the only person who goes to sleep at night wondering if they will wake up to find the world at war. Or perhaps the war will have started by the time you read this article. I will not comment on the quality of the world leaders leading the world during these times…

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

When I mentioned that I was writing an article about teaching myself to fly, my friend asked: “Who do you think you are, Leonardo da Vinci?” So I know a clever person, who must have read Leonardo’s notebooks. In case you haven’t read these texts, when he wasn’t working on paintings, murals, or designing war machines, Leonard often made drawings for devices to get himself into the sky.

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

Such was the technology of the 1960s, perhaps carried over from the 1860s when the structure was first built. It wasn’t all that bad though. The building, 76 Jefferson, became so popular as a residence for artists that in 1972 the Museum of Modern Art mounted a show of all the people of note that had had studios there. I was included as well as many of the screen prints we had created and the Paris Review poster series which we also printed.

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

Steve Poleskie/Then and Now

Elaine de Kooning and Steve Poleskie, photo by Eddie Johnson Remembering Elaine de Kooning at Chiron Press   by Steve Poleskie Contributing Columnist The Denver Art Museum is currently holding an exhibition titled “Women of Abstract Expressionism.” It will be up...

Bill Dixon/From the Edge

Bill Dixon/From the Edge

I took the High Street bus to a campus bar near my apartment, washed my hands thoroughly, and ordered a cold bottle of beer. I told the bartender, Harry, I’d just gotten out of prison. He asked me if they offered to let me keep the striped suit. A funny guy, Harry…. It took me about fifteen minutes to settle down, and start erasing the previous hour from my thoughts, a job that’s still not done.

Then and Now/Stephen Poleskie

Then and Now/Stephen Poleskie

The art expert and the customs inspector moved to a corner and had a brief conversation, tentatively looking my way from time to time. Then the customs inspector came back to me and announced, “The professore will look at your work now. . . .” His use of the word professore was reverent, not sarcastic.