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CrossFit Semifinals Directors Talk Harsh Financial Realities of Running Events

CrossFit Semifinals Directors Talk Harsh Financial Realities of Running Events

Photo Credit: Athlete’s Eye Photography

In 2018, CrossFit founder and then owner Greg Glassman was frank about the financial truths of running Regional competitions.

It’s extremely expensive. Look at the Brazil event. We’re at the venue where the Olympics were held. It cost me over a million dollars and what comes out of it is two people go to the Games,” Glassman said.

Four years later, Atlas Games Semifinal Co-Owner and Director Alexis Leblanc-Bazinet is facing a similar reality: He has discovered it’s challenging to even break even, let alone turn a Semifinals event into a profitable business.

Why this matters: Until 2019, CrossFit LLC incurred the costs and responsibilities of finding the fittest athletes to compete at the CrossFit Games. Glassman himself even said running Regional competitions was never a money-making endeavor for the company. That being said, we can speculate that CrossFit LLC was able to fund CrossFit competitions largely because of the revenue they generated from affiliation fees and Level 1 certifications.

  • But in 2019, CrossFit passed the financial burden—first via Sanctionals and now via Semifinals—to outside organizers like Leblanc-Bazinet, whose businesses don’t always have other revenue streams like CrossFit LLC does, and are now responsible for finding a way to do something CrossFit wasn’t able to do: Turn their events into profitable businesses.
  • “It was a business call (for CrossFit), and people jumped. We did. We jumped in with a plan where we could make money at the end of it if everything could go right,” said Leblanc-Bazinet, who is also a gym owner and works full-time as a website designer.

The Atlas Games Reality: Unfortunately, almost nothing has gone right for Semifinals organizers like Leblanc-Bazinet, who wasn’t able to host an in-person competition in either 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic, which caused him to dive into his own wallet to stay afloat.

  • “I took most of the (financial) hit myself,” he said, adding that he has spent the last two years essentially volunteering countless hours of his time to keep the event alive.
  • “Depending on what you consider a loss…Is three year of salary a loss? I have been volunteering for three years,” he explained.
  • What about 2022? Though COVID-19 can arguably be blamed for the last two years, even when Leblanc-Bazinet raised his ticket prices for the recent Atlas Games held in Montreal, Quebec to CA$45 a day, or $115 for the weekend, the event was only able to turn a small profit, and Leblanc-Bazinet was able to take small stipend after three years of not paying himself.
  • Though grim from a business standpoint, Leblanc-Bazinet said he doesn’t blame CrossFit.  “More sponsors would help, but I don’t have a lot of complaints (about CrossFit),” he said.

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Editors’ Picks: 11 Events for Your Art Calendar, From a Gallery for Un-Instagrammable Art to a Curators’ Talk on the Term ‘Latinx’ | Artnet News

Editors’ Picks: 11 Events for Your Art Calendar, From a Gallery for Un-Instagrammable Art to a Curators' Talk on the Term 'Latinx' | Artnet News

Each week, we search for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events, both digitally and in-person in the New York area. See our picks from around the world below. (Times are all ET unless otherwise noted.)

 

Tuesday, May 24

Virtual Curatorial Leadership Summit. Courtesy of the Armory Show.

Virtual Curatorial Leadership Summit. Courtesy of the Armory Show.

1. “What’s in the X?: Making Sense of the Latin American/Latinx Art Debate” at the Armory Show, New York

The Armory Show kicks off its 2022 Curatorial Leadership Summit, chaired by Mari Carmen Ramírez, curator of Latin American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with a conversation about whether to say Latin American, Latino, Latina, or Latinx. The panel, moderated by Ramírez, will discuss the terminology’s historical and theoretical foundation, and how it relates to curatorial and institutional practices.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 1 p.m.–2:15 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

 

Wednesday, May 25

Installation view “Peter Nadin, The Distance From A Lemon To Murder” at Off Paradise. Photo: Guillaume Ziccarelli. Courtesy of the artist and Off Paradise New York.

2. Peter Nadin in Conversation with Randy Kennedy at Off Paradise, New York

This week, artist Peter Nadin and author Randy Kennedy will be in conversation at Tribeca’s Off Paradise gallery, where an exhibition of Nadin’s work, titled “The Distance From a Lemon to Murder,” is on view through June 23. The show marks Nadin’s return to “painting from life,” after an extended departure from the commercial art world. In the series, Nadin focuses on the meticulous process of grafting a lemon scion (the fruit and branches that stick above ground) to the rootstock of a sour orange (the underground root system and trunk). Nadin’s sculptural paintings are musings on the notion of grafting information and experiences to form our individual realities. Speaking to the Paris Review ahead of their conversation, Nadin recalled reading that Stalin grafted lemon trees, a practice he would take part in between signing the death warrants of hundreds of individuals. “That difference between the actions, the careful grafting and the mass horror,” Nadin said, “I realize now, must have been in my mind without knowing it.”

Location: Off Paradise, 120 Walker Street (the talk will also be livestreamed at @offparadise, and available later for viewing online.)
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

"Just Wide Enough to Hold the Weight," installation view. Photo courtesy of Baxter St Camera Club of New York.

“Just Wide Enough to Hold the Weight,” installation view. Photo courtesy of Baxter St Camera Club of New York.

3. “In Conversation: Just Wide Enough to Hold the Weight” at Baxter St Camera Club of New York

Baxter St. Camera Club of New York presents a virtual conversation with curators Drew Sawyer and Phalguni Guliani and photographers Marvel Harris and Siddhartha Hajra, in conjunction with the gallery’s current show, “Just Wide Enough to Hold the Weight” (through June 8). The exhibition, which also features work by Soumya Sankar Bose, is an exploration of the three artists’ queer and trans identities through self-portraiture and staged scenes.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 11 a.m.

—Neha Jambhekar

 

Faith Ringgold, Matisse’s Model: The French Collection Part I, #5 (1991). © Faith Ringgold / ARS, NY and DACS, London, courtesy ACA Galleries, New York 2022.

Faith Ringgold, Matisse’s Model: The French Collection Part I, #5 (1991). © Faith Ringgold / ARS, NY and DACS, London, courtesy ACA Galleries, New York 2022.

4. “On Faith: Artists on Faith Ringgold’s Influence” at the New Museum, New York

Catch artists Diedrick Brackens, Tomashi Jackson, and Tschabalala Self in conversation about the massive artistic influence of Faith Ringgold, timed to the nonagenarian’s current retrospective at the New Museum, “Faith Ringgold: American People” (through June 5, 2022). Writer and curator LeRonn Brooks, a contributor to the exhibition catalogue, will moderate.

Location: New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York
Price: $15 general admission
Time: 7 p.m.

Sarah Cascone

Thursday, May 26–Friday, June 24

Audrey Flack, <em>Glass Forest I</em> (1954). Courtesy of Hollis Taggart, New York.

Audrey Flack, Glass Forest I (1954). Courtesy of Hollis Taggart, New York.

5. “Audrey Flack: Force of Nature” at Hollis Taggart, New York

Audrey Flack celebrates her upcoming 91st birthday (on May 30) with a show of never-before-seen works on paper, as well as Abstract Expressionist paintings from the 1950s and ’60s. The gallery uncovered the early works on paper while conducting archival research in the artist’s studio. Dating from the period between Flack’s graduation from the High School of Music and Arts in Harlem, her time at New York City’s Cooper Union, and her studies under Josef Albers at Yale, these paintings show the young artist’s development as she came to embrace the Ab-Ex movement.

Location: Hollis Taggart, 521 West 26th Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Open reception (RSVP required) 5 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

 

Thursday, May 26

Robert Motherwell’s studio in Greenwich, Connecticut, January 1986. Photo by Renate Ponsold, courtesy of Kasmin, New York.

Robert Motherwell’s studio in Greenwich, Connecticut, January 1986. Photo by Renate Ponsold, courtesy of Kasmin, New York.

6. “In Conversation: Robert Motherwell’s Lyric Suite” at Kasmin, New York

Katy Rogers of the Dedalus Foundation, the director of the Robert Motherwell catalogue raisonné project, will talk with Kasmin senior director Eric Gleason about the artist’s “Lyric Suite” series, which is currently featured in a show of 60 works on paper at the gallery (through June 4). Motherwell painted the works over just a few weeks in 1965, translating his mastery of color and form to an unusually small scale: nine-by-11-inch sheets of unryu paper, purchased at a Japanese store in New York.

Location: Kasmin, 297 Tenth Avenue, New York
Price: Free with registration (attendance is limited)
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

 

Thursday, May 26–Saturday, July 16

Keisha Prioloeau-Martin, Morning Routine: Water the Plants (2022). Courtesy of Olympia.

7. “Keisha Prioleau-Martin: Garden Party” at Olympia, New York

Olympia presents the first solo exhibition of New York artist Keisha Prioleau-Martin, curated by Nilufa Yeasmin. Having spent her whole life in New York, Prioleau-Martin paints verdant scenes of indoor and outdoor urban spaces. The joyful works depict people coming together to share and enjoy nature as it is available to those in populated cities. The show also presents a new body of sculptures by the artist.

Location: Olympia, 41 Orchard Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Opening Reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

—Neha Jambhekar

 

Saturday, May 28–Sunday, July 24

"Lee

8. “What a Long Strange Trip” at Analog Diary, Beacon, New York

Derek Eller, Abby Messitte, Katharine Overgaard, and Franklin Parrasch are teaming up to open a new gallery, Analog Diary, in Beacon, New York. The new venture will be “a space where thinking about art without the mind clutter of an Instagrammable frame of reference is possible,” according to a statement for the inaugural exhibition. “What is off the table is the notion of ‘off the table’—concepts of exclusion and a restricted mindset are not a thing here.” Reflecting this rejection of prescribed categories, the gallery is opening with a wide-ranging group show featuring Jose Alvarez (D.O.P.A.), Radcliffe Bailey, Nicole Cherubini, Zoë Charlton, Al Freeman,  Miles Huston, Lee Quiñones, and Dorothea Tanning, among others.

Location: Analog Diary, 1154 North Avenue, Beacon, New York
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 4 p.m.–6 p.m; Saturday and Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

 

Through Saturday, June 25

Moonlight Room, Installation View, Courtesy of Carvalho Park

9. “Moonlight Room: Krista Louise Smith and Rosalind Tallmadge” at Carvalho Park, Brooklyn

Carvalho Park presents a two-person painting exhibition by Brooklyn-based artists Krista Louise Smith and Rosalind Tallmadge. Both artists present serene, monochromatic works in various shades of pale pastel, “offering a transcendent cohesion” of their styles. Dreamy pink and blue hues of the sky appear in Smith’s paintings, often inspired by her travels, and particularly her recent trips to New Mexico’s desert. Tallmadge’s works are infused with light and glimmer, invoking geological elements through the use of materials such as fabric, mica flakes, and marble dust. The effect of them together is like “being wrapped in a serene, feminized glow,” according to co-founder Jennifer Carvalho.

Location: Carvalho Park, 112 Waterbury Street, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Thursday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Neha Jambhekar

 

Through Sunday, August 28

Renee Cox, <em>Miss Thang</em>, from the series "The Discreet Charm of the Bougies"</em> (2009). Photo courtesy of the artist.

Renee Cox, Miss Thang, from the series “The Discreet Charm of the Bougies” (2009). Photo courtesy of the artist.

10. “Black Venus” at Fotografiska New York

This wide-ranging show curated by Aindrea Emelife examines Western representations of the Black female body. By including archival images from 1793 to 1930, as well as contemporary photography from 1975 to the present, the exhibition allows Black women to reclaim their agency, rejecting the fetishization and sexual objectification faced by previous generations. Featured contemporary artists were born from 1942 to 1997, with an intergenerational mix that includes Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Zanele Muholi, and Renee Cox.

Location: Fotografiska, 281 Park Avenue, New York
Price: $26 general admission
Time: 9 a.m.―9 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

 

Through Saturday, June 18 

Evelyn Statsinger, Forest Gift (1987). Courtesy of Gray New York.

Evelyn Statsinger, Forest Gift (1987). Courtesy of Gray New York.

11. “Evelyn Statsinger: Currents” at Gray New York 

For decades, the Chicago-based artist Evelyn Statsinger (1927–2016) created drawings, paintings, and sculptures of the natural world. The artist’s early works from the 1950s were kind of all-over botanical patterns and drew the admiration of the likes of Mies Van Der Rohe. In fact, Statsinger had two exhibitions of her work at the Art Institute of Chicago, first in 1952 and then again in 1957. Statsinger’s later works, though, are particularly beguiling, as this exhibition organized by writer and curator Dan Nadel makes clear. In these peculiar visions, the artist forgoes naturalism and identifiable forms for abstracted and fantastical depictions of nature that feel both wholly out of this world and of the moment. 

Location: Gray New York, 1018 Madison Avenue, 2nd floor, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m

—Katie White

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There’s talk of fishing and other spring events in the community news

There's talk of fishing and other spring events in the community news

Orioles feeding on grape jelly and oranges outside Bev Waller’s window. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Miniota News By Linda Clark

Congratulations to Robyn and Traci McKean and big sister Brae on the arrival of Logan Elizabeth on May 9th. Congratulations also to grandparents Randy and Ollie McKean and Keith and Brenda Orr and other family members.

Our university students are arriving home for the summer with many seeking employment in the area and surrounding towns. Have a great summer!

Saturday, May 14th saw the foot and vehicle traffic increase in our town for the Town Wide Garage Sales. Hope everyone found some treasures and the sales were good for the vendors.

Henri Nouwen said, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose Joy and keep choosing it everyday.”

 

Evergreen Place By Helen Martens

“I’m only wishing to go a-fishing,

For this the month of May was made.” – Henry van Dyke

It’s always an exciting time when fishing season opens. It begins May 15. The $23.70 you spend for a license is well worth the excitement and the catch!

On Saturday, May 14, we got that “brighter outlook on life” again. Julian, our manager Nikki’s husband, and his brother Joel Desjarlins washed our windows here at Evergreen. They are a team of brothers who are available window washers.

The rain we’ve had has given us a wonderful green lawn. Chris Leach mowed the grass for the first time this Spring on Sunday, the 15th.

Vern and Margaret Rollo enjoyed a drive out to Minolta, their hometown, on Sunday.

We get the Virden paper on Friday, May 20. I read that May 20 is National Pizza party Day. That sounds yummy! And get your bicycles out, it is also National Bike to Work Day.

Of interest to some may be that on May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which provided 160 acres of public land, virtually free of charge to those who had lived on and cultivated the land for at least five years.

Driving around in the country, one interest I have, I have not seen farmers out in the fields yet. If the forecast carries through the week there will be more rain again. Much patience is needed.

Victoria Day is coming up next week on Monday, the 23rd. It is always observed the Monday preceding May 25. I took note that Victoria Day is Canada’s oldest non-religious holiday.

Verna Pennycook, out there in Melita, if you read this paper, we, at Evergreen are sending you Get Well greetings. We ask you to get healed and come back soon. You are missed at Evergreen.

The Spring birds are showing up all over. Marlene was watching a Ruby Throated humming bird out of her upstairs window. A friend forwarded me a picture of eight orioles around the feeders last Thursday in the valley close to Virden (front page photo). I had never seen anything like it before.

The co-ordinator of the Virden Book Club, Sandra Nash, is a resident at Evergreen. She told me our next meeting will be the second Thursday of June instead of the first Thursday. June 2 – 4 are the Book Sale days at the Library. See you there?

Quote for the Day:

   ” The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn’t know how to read.”

  – Benjamin Franklin 

 

Princess Lodge By Janice Simpson

The following residents have a birthday in May: Joyce Heaman, Rita Draper, Percy Pierce, Sheila Pierce, May Tapp and Kay Lynn Gardiner.

The Cloggers came to Princess Lodge on May 4 to entertain us. It was very good of the ladies.

Les and Bernice Graham visited with Tim and Heather and family of Rocanville last Thursday.

Leona Joseph visited with Ethel Bowles on Wednesday.

Several of the residents attended the tea on Friday, May 13 at St. Paul’s Church.

Janice was out at Wayne and Lori Stuart’s for a family supper, May 14. Randy Stuart, Kelly Hudson and Levi were visiting from Yorkton.

Harvey and Karen Veldhouse of Souris visited with Joyce Heaman on May 12 and had a lovely supper at Wellview Golf Course.

Janice treated the residents for the Royal Purple week on Friday, May 20. Royal Purple week is May 15 to 21.

It’s so nice to be able to get together again for meals and entertainment.

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Upcoming events at Warrior’ Path State Park

Upcoming events at Warrior' Path State Park

Warriors’ Path State Park has announced a number of upcoming special events and outdoor discovery opportunities.

• May 28 will be the next of “Hiking Adventures” series, which will include an 11-mile “rough and rocky” hike on the side of Holston Mountain, to discover rich woodlands and rare wildflowers.

• June 4 is National Trails Day, and the park will be celebrating with “Trails All Day!” Guided hikes and nature walks will be offered all day, from a sunrise hike at 6 a.m. to a night hike ending after 10 p.m.

• June 18 will be the annual Dragonfly Day — a chance to learn about these amazing insects by spending a day out in the field with two amazing dragonfly experts.

Also, the park will be starting its award-winning “Summer In The Park” activities in just a few weeks, right after Memorial Day weekend. Guided nature walks, evening campfire talks, Junior Ranger activities, and wildlife demonstrations are among the activities that will be offered. The schedule is different each week, and will be posted on the park’s website and Facebook page.

Details about park events can be fund at www.tnstateparks.com/parks/events/warriors-path.

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Artist Talk with Ballet BC Choreographers – GlobalNews Events

Artist Talk with Ballet BC Choreographers - GlobalNews Events

Ballet BC is hosting a free Artist Talk ahead of our May program ‘What If’ (May 12/13/14), featuring all four choreographers behind the program: Felix Landerer, Dorotea Saykaly, and David Raymond and Tiffany Tregarthen (Out Innerspace). Moderated by dance journalist Pia Lo, the event is free to attend and a fantastic opportunity to further engage the choreographers and their brand new creations before their premiere at ‘What If’ at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 12/13/14. Save the date: Monday May 9 at 6pm in the Birmingham Studio at Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street). No registration is required. We hope to see you there! More info: bit.ly/balletbcwhatif

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Rekindling new arena talk? First meeting of Calgary’s event centre committee

Rekindling new arena talk? First meeting of Calgary's event centre committee


Calgary’s event centre committee will meet for the first time as part of the effort to restart discussions around a new home for the Calgary Flames.


The committee, which includes citizens and members of council, will hold its inaugural meeting Monday morning.


The meeting is set to begin at 9:30 am and go until 1:00 pm.


The five-person committee includes:


  • Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp

  • Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott

  • Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean

  • Brad Parry, president of Calgary Economic Development

  • Deborah Yedlin, president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.


The committee came to fruition after the agreement to build an event centre officially fell apart at the start of this year when the city and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation couldn’t agree on additional funding.  


The meeting will be streamed live on the City of Calgary’s website.