Monday, October 30, 2006

AAP's 96th Annual Update

Okay, just when you think that you're shouting in the wind and you can put anything out in the air without thinking about it, someone calls you on one of your more glaring oversights.

The following was posted in my comments from Tey Stiteler of the CMOA:

Hi Susan,
Thanks for your blog about the AAP show. Media as we know it is
getting smaller and smaller because of budgetary constraints, so spreading the
word through alternative methods, like your blog, is a very good thing.

The AAP has been working hard in getting coverage for the show.
There are articles about the Associated Artist exhibition in both Pittsburgh
Magazine and Carnegie Magazine this month.

It has been shown on KDKA TV,
WPXI TV, and via the links below. In addition, Mary Thomas from the Post-Gazette
and Kurt Shaw from the Tribune Review will be reviewing the exhibition for the
papers this week.

On Q will do a feature about the show on WQED TV, but
I don't know the date.

Post-Gazette hot
tickets listing


Post Gazetted
listing


http://kdka.com/kdcountry

on the Associated Artist
web site
www.aapgh.org

and on my museum's web site www.cmoa.org

Hope this helps.

Tey Stiteler
Communications Manager
Carnegie Museum of Art

Thank you for the grace of your response. I appreciate that and the time you took to reply to my post. Especially since I am but a light breeze in the roar of the wind. I did follow the links that were provided. Two of them are for listings, as noted. The one two KDKA, I don't see a reference to the exhibit. I have been known to miss things, though.

Okay, but here's the thing: why isn't the local scene behind this exhibit? This is an opportunity for local artists to have their work presented at a major museum. It is also an opportunity to participate in an objective review process that isn't so dependent on the entrenched system of Pittsburgh's art scene. The juror is almost always from out of town and doesn't know who holds key positions in the regional art scene. This is a real opportunity.

And if we really want to make Pittsburgh culturally attractive, artists need to feel that they can step up here. Artists come, they love the city, the people and the scene. But it is extremely difficult to advance a career as a producing artist from here. It's not like there aren't major collections here. And there is an amazing scene. All you have to do is show up on Penn Avenue the first Friday of each month or wander around in Lawrenceville a little. It's not like we're hiding or anything.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

the rumor mill says that since only one board member got in the show the AAP is doing nothing of substance to promote the show. if this rumor is true then AAP is showing typical insular behavior. i can only speak from personal experience but when i dropped my piece off the board member who accepted my work made a comment on how she "didn't care" about the show since she didn't get in.

John Morris said...

I sort of don't think this is the right time for it, but I have some pretty ambivalent feelings about the guild system here and what seems to be thier role in balkanising and isolating the scene here.

I would love more feedback on this.