MY First Visit To the Tom Museum

These are some shots from my first visit to the Tom Museum which happened only last month. I knew Tom's work pretty well and had visited his studio before, but I was still stunned by the fun, cute, creative and powerfully subversive world he is creating in the little house near the Mattress Factory.

Free fall

The Rand Corporation recently published a report, Arts and Culture in the Metropolis - Strategies for Sustainability, which is available online. The report, which compared Philadelphia with ten other urban areas comparable in size, includes Pittsurgh as part of the study. The report analyzes the systems of support for the arts.

There are a large number of foundations in Pittsburgh as well as Philadelphia, many of which support the arts in some form. Some support only education initiatives, some support public programs. The public progrms encompass visual, performing and literary arts.

Unfortunately, foundation support is declining. Many of these organizations are in a position of having to develop new arenas of support for their endeavors. Pittsburgh, with its low median income, lacks indigenous support. You can see this when you go to gallery exhibits. Direct support of artists, through the purchase of artwork, is sadly lacking. A red dot is an occasion to celebrate because of its so-rare occurence.

The current exhibit at SPACE gallery, Home Away, expresses this in a very indirect way. The curator and artists in the exhibit have not posted a price list. And if you ask the gallery attendant for a price, your inquiry will be met with a flurry of embarassed activity as the attendant makes a number of phone calls tracking down the answer to your question.

The Post Gazette has an article about the Rand report with responses from Mr. McMahon, the President of the Cultural Trust. Some of the statistics quoted in the article give a very clear snapshot of the reasons for the lack of support. Like the highest per capita number of organizations per resident and the decided lack of cooperation among the organizations.

The solution for this dilemma is an elusive one. The Rand Corporation's conclusion that the arts would be well served if there was a strong central agency is a sound one. However, that conclusion is not neccessarily a solution. It would certainly help the arts organizations to have a strong central leadership and to coordinate their activites and promotions more closely. Individual support for the arts is what needs to be nurtured.

Beam me up Scottie! I can't take this anymore...

Wow, I found this old post on an old Drink and Draw that Susan left for me to publish.





Captain Kirk made a special guest appearance at Drink and Draw on Tuesday. He brought great props and we had a blast...

next up:

Crystala as Marilyn Monroe

March 6
6-9PM
$10

brillobox
4104 Penn Avenue
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Community Gallery project in the Hill District

Last week, I posted about this really terrific project that is happening in the Hill District and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Well, here are some images from the wonderful kick-off event at the Hill House on Saturday March 3. The grand finale will be a reception for the children at the Hill House on Saturday March 31.

The kids will be working with Deanna Mance, Biko, Tim Fabian and Christine Bethea on Saturdays through March. Tasha Watkins is assisting all of the artists at their workshops. And on April 7, we will be holding Pittsburgh Soars, a kite-flying extravaganza. Denys Candy from the Find the Rivers project has located three flying sites in the Hill District.

So get out your calendar and write down the dates!

A special guest, one of the puppets that Cheryl Cappezutti made for Pittsburgh Roars.
Evan Frazier (Hill House) and Lissa Rosenthal (Pittsburgh Roars)
Bill Peduto stopped by to say hello
Vanessa German's Migration project
Christine Bethea's Seussville on the Hill project
Suan Constanse Origami elephant herd

Digging Pitt's flat files

New images have been loaded into the flat file blog. What are you waiting for? Go check it out.

Can We Try A Little Harder ??

I went this evening to the wonderful show at Space Gallery to take the nice long look that I didn't get at the gallery crawl, only to find that they now close at 6pm most weekdays. I guess I should have checked. The artist/curator, Thad Kellstadt and all the artists involved put a lot into this elaborate, personal, trippy extravaganza which Kurt Shaw rightly called one of the best shows in the two and a half year history of Space Gallery.

The show includes Jacob Ciocci of Paper Rad; The North Carolina collective: Team Lump; Brooklyn artist Maya Hayuk; and amazing works by Pittsburgh artists like Thad himself, Jenn Cooney, Matt Barton, Ladyboy and Jae Ruberto.

But this rant isn't really about that show. It's about the fact that people don't seem to care. Thad said they had to cut the hours back because not many people come in. To my knowledge, the mysterious- Cultural Trust which controls most of the exhibits downtown never told people they planned to cut the gallery hours. Did they ever ask if volunteers would help sit those spaces to keep them open or try to raise money from the businesses and property developers who should have an interest in breathing life into the downtown or try to raise money from people who love art?

This sadly relates to all the other small things that people have never bothered to do here like listing in the regional gallery guide or having a local one; creating an online cultural map and guide to the whole city. Providing low cost or free links and a guide on the city's convention website. Putting together some type of meager indoor art fair to showcase regional galleries or perhaps having a city wide art blog.
Most of these things would not take a lot of effort and might find willing sponsors.

women's work

The opening reception for women's work was on March 2. It was a great night. Janis Burley-Wilson selected the work for the show. The work she chose for the exhibit showed a lot of diversity. So often, these group shos tend to be the same people showing with the same people. It was nice to shake up the mix a bit.

The exhibit:

women's work
March 2 - April 20, 2007
709 Gallery
709 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15222

The show closes on April 20, which is the next Downtown Gallery Crawl. It's a great time to see all of the visual arts venues in the cultural district.


I love galleries that provide seating. It makes it so much easier to stick around...
Susan Constanse -- A Venial Journey
Christiane D
Vanessa German

Margaret Burley

Monique Luck
Sarah Beitler

Saturday Afternoon at the Digging Pitt

Our friend Jason was in town from Flint, MI this past weekend, so we brought him by the Digging Pitt to meet John and have a New York diaspora powwow. Here's John, Jason, and Tom passionately discussing downtown Brooklyn and Stuyvesant Town in terms of Jane Jacobs, Le Corbusier, and Frank Gehry.

Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project

Celebrate Kids Art, Performances and Fun Hands-on Activities
March 2007 in Pittsburgh Neighborhoods

Saturday, March 3, 12:00 noon-1:00pm.
Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project Kick-Off Reception
Join community leaders and neighborhood kids and families as we kick-off the Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project. (Media is invited.)

Northside, South Side, Hill District, East End and all around the town, navigate your way through youth arts programs with the Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project!

From March 1 – 31, 2007, Pittsburgh children and families will experience and explore dynamic after school and youth programs that engage kids grades K-12 in Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

Visual, performing and written artwork of Pittsburgh youth will be presented through neighborhood community gallery sites. Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project locations will collaborate with numerous after school programs and businesses in their respective neighborhoods.

The neighborhood sites will showcase the impact that each program makes by presenting exhibitions that include special weekend performances and fun hands-on activities by and for kids K-12 and their families. In addition, each branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will have special Community Gallery Project programming.

Together, We All Form a Community of Neighbors! In addition to the programs and activities at each Community Gallery Project site (East Side, Hill District, Northside and South Side,) be sure to visit your neighborhood Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh during the month of March for family stories and group activities that celebrate individuals and families. For more details, check out the events listings on Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh website at http://www.carnegielibrary.org/.

Each neighborhood exhibit and related programming will be free and open to the public.

The Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project began through the collaborative spirit of Pittsburgh Roars and will culminate with a catalog that showcases the creativity from each neighborhood and serve as a resource guide of the innovative after school art programs available to K-12 students in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Community Gallery Project is made possible through the generous support of The Grable Foundation. Special thanks to Southside Works for donating space for the South Side community gallery site and to Whole Foods Market for supporting East End activities.

Schedule of Activities
by Neighborhood

• EAST END
  
  
• HILL DISTRICT
  
  
• NORTH SIDE
  
  
• SOUTH SIDE
  
  
• CARNEGIE LIBRARIES O

MY War With Google

I am sort of engaged in an ongoing war with google. It's not google's fault or anything, they are a search engine and they pick up bits of info and link to them whether they are wrong or right.

The issue comes from the fact that I have a gallery in Pittsburgh and I want the people who used to know me or my work to know that. But, thanks to an old inaccurate bio that's on Art Net, MOMA's website; and a few other places -- people think that I live and work in Queens.

So google -- here's the facts

John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh. John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh. John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh. John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh. John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh. John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh. John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh,John Morris Lives and works in Pittsburgh. John Morris lives and works in Pittsburgh, John Morris Has A Gallery In Pittsburgh.

Eigen + Art Does It Right

I mentioned that I liked the Eigen booth at the Armory a lot. I came across this old story on that gallery that has increased my respect for them even more. It gives a nice short history of the gallery's origins in the depressed post industrial city of Leipzig. What knocks you out is the support and commitment that the gallery has shown in supporting it's artists.

"While many contemporary dealers poach established artists from their rivals or make money on the secondary market (buying and selling already known works), Lybke, the son of a former brothel-owner turned carpenter, is interested in artists whose careers he can nurture from early on, even providing some with studio space."

In return of course the dealer demands a lot of loyalty. I did a post that touched on that issue of gallery loyalty a long while ago. This guy gets loyalty the old fashioned way -- He earns it. The twist is that Lybke's first gallery was in Leipzig, the cheapest city in Europe which makes one wonder if galleries paying New York type bills can afford to nurture artists or take risks.

Flat Out @ Unblurred on March 2

Flat Out @Unblurred was a lot of fun last night. Trinity Gallery joined us in bringing work to the Community Activity Center on North Pacific. It's a beautiful space that will hopefully be used for more events like this.

Digging Pitt brought several portfolios of artists works to the venue. Many of the artists included in the flat file archive were represented. It gave us an opportunity to talk about how important an archive is for exposing emerging artists to the general public. And really, there aren't that many galleries that can readily mount an exhibit of this nature on short notice.

We'll be back, so however you're following gallery events, keep an eye open for more of these flat out table top exhibits. If you want to receive gallery updates, you can always get on our update list or become one of our friends on MySpace. And if you would like to host such an event at your venue, please contact us at Digging Pitt.

The Flat Out @Unblurred

The event ended up with a few surprises. Tom Fallon stopped by with some friends to see what we were up to. Tom Fallon and Christine Bethea
Tom and Marie Fallon and Christine Bethea

Correcting MY Bio

So the gallery that used to represent me/ still sort of does or whatever, is in the process of revamping it's website. They opted for some kind of extreme minimal design and this post ain't about that either.

What this post is about is that they just reloaded the same John Morris bio they had on there before. It was never exactly right and now it ain't close.

I was born in 1964, not 1965
I live and work in Pittsburgh and have for close to three years
I have a gallery and blog in Pittsburgh

The messed up bio they have up on their site has lead to a proliferation of wrong stuff all over the place. Ok, I will confess to keeping the 1965 birth year on my own gallery site. At some point, it becomes very hard to change an inaccuracy so you just let it go.

Todd Pinkham and Patrick Schmidt

Digging Pitt hosted an artists talk on February 22. Our speakers were Todd Pinkham (Lush Life exhibit) and Patrick Schmidt (Visual Grammar). Gary Jurysta, who is the curator for Visual Grammar, was also on hand. The conversation was spirited and fueled by the several students that attended. Thank you all for making this such a successful and invigorating event.

Digging Pitt encourages activites and events at the gallery that bring artists and art lovers together. Updates are available through Digging Pitt's MySpace and on the gallery calendar.

Interview With John Morris.

This is repost of Merge's interview with me on his Serendipity blog

John Morris is an artist originally from Queens, NY. Armed with a growing dissatisfaction and an innovative concept, Morris moved to Pittsburgh in 2004 to open up Digging Pitt gallery. Its flat files contain the work of more than 180 local, regional and national artists. The Digging Pitt is accessible via the internet at both its homepage and blog.

Merge Divide: Ok... so first off, the obvious question... Why would a successful artist living in the absolute center of the art world move to Pittsburgh?

John Morris: That's a long story. You have to have some idea of what life is like in NY for most artists. It's easier to sell work, but you have to reach an insane level to have any security. Some of my friends had left and I was nursing a deep grudge against the art world.

MD: How did you develop a grudge against the art world? What was the nature of the grudge?

JM: Well, I think that the scene today doesn't seem to to have a whole lot to do with the quality of the work. Most of the good artists don't have galleries and those that do are on some kind of product driven treadmill.

MD: But you had found some success in a Brooklyn-based gallery called Pierogi. Why don't you say a bit about the nature of your relationship with that gallery.

JM: Ok... Another long story. But I guess one would say they discovered me.

MD: I know that they played a large role in your development as an artist. But Pierogi also seems to have affected your thinking on the role galleries play in the art world. Besides their connection to your career, what did you take away from your experience with Pierogi?

JM: Well, to give some perspective... I did little subtle drawings. I had years worth of work, but most of it was hard to photograph and I was also too broke at the time to have it done. Getting anything seen by anyone was very hard... let alone getting anything shown. I don't think there were many people with a serious interest in seeing new stuff. So I was just so grateful and blown away when I heard that there was a guy who just looked at stuff in Brooklyn.

MD: I think that there are probably many readers that aren't familiar with Pierogi. They came up with an interesting approach to showing art that was based around a flat-file system. How did you originally process that idea when you discovered it?

JM: I read this NY Times article about alternative dealers at what was called the Gramercy Art fair in NY. One of them was an artist who had asked other artists he liked to have portfolios of their work in his place. The works were kept in architectural file drawers and the inventory had grown to include close to 300 artists. I also heard that the guy was always interested in seeing new work. When I saw it, it kind of blew me away.

MD: What kind of effect do you believe it had on the art scene in NYC?

JM: First of all, I wish the effect had been greater, in that I don't think that anyone has pushed the idea to the kind of scale that would be needed to tear down the current system.

Still, it's been huge. I guess at least 10 artists affiliated with the gallery have been in Whitney Biennials, and many more have been picked up by galleries. Also Pierogi played a big role in developing new collectors.

I don't want to exaggerate, but there were practical parallels between Brooklyn and Pittsburgh. There was a vast sea of artists, but most of the scene was underground. Putting a large array of the work being made there in one place helped people realize that something huge was going on.

MD: So yeah. You brought this concept to Pittsburgh, believing it was exportable. How do you think the difference in the size of the existing market affects how this concept plays here?

JM: Basically, I just didn't think it mattered much. Art has a global market. There are art fairs and there is the emerging potential of the internet. And yet the whole system seems trapped in a high-cost place not well suited to producing work. In the time since I started the gallery, Pierogi has opened up a big annex in a depressed city in Germany called Leipzig. I now do see some flaws in my thinking.

MD: How do you gauge the reaction to the Digging Pitt Gallery?

JM: I just don't know. In Brooklyn, you had a huge pool of people who got the gallery concept and seemed to understand how it was different and why it was needed-- Artists who saw it as a way into the system, collectors who felt priced or frozen out, and a lot of other people who just saw it as a place for dialog and interaction. Here it's much more a job of selling the idea and making people understand it's value.

MD: What do you think makes it so difficult to convey the concept of a flat file gallery in Pittsburgh?

JM: Well, I hope that the reason isn't that there are just not enough people here interested in art; that is a possibility. I do shows, have parties etc... But, the idea of a bunch of porfolios lying in cabinets is going to be interesting to a crowd that is strongly commited to seeing work.

I also don't think that there is anywhere near the difficulty of getting into shows in Pittsburgh. Relative to the number of artists, there is a lack of exhibition spaces in NY. A lot of my Pittsburgh artists are in shows all the time, so getting them excited about the flat files has been hard.

MD: So given your experience so far in Pittsburgh, what are three things that you would like to see change here?

JM: I think that in NY, Pittsburgh has a fairly good reputation. The International, Warhol, and Mattress Factory all have lots of weight... as does CMU. To be honest, I feel a bit ripped off. My sister lived here and I came through town and liked it. Then I did a little research and came across stuff about the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative, AIR, The Brew House and I thought-- awesome... people would be happy to see me here... and that I was coming to a place sincerely commited to building an arts community. I kind of don't feel that way now. I kind of feel that I am working alone.

MD: I'm not sure that answers the question. How about this... In an ideal world what would you see as the role of the Digging Pitt in the local community, and in a broader sense?

JM: Locally, I hope that the gallery can become a central focus and gathering place for people who are interested in art, and that the files can help show people how much good work is being done here... and help link Pittsburgh to the world.

I also hope the gallery can grow in a way that can make it a signifcant entry point for artists into the system.

MD: Well... I wish you all kinds of luck for future success. Thanks for taking the time.

JM: Thanks a lot for talking to me. My last major interview was with some birds.

Some Thoughts about Manhattan's West Side

The Armory Show ( which was not in an Armory ) put me in an area I haven't been in while and got me thinking about recent development of the West Side. So I decided to republish an old post I did that seems to fit in.

I ended up in a discusion on another blog about the relationship of highways to cities. In so many cities this relationship is an unstable and abusive one, but are there alternatives to it? New York once had a major highway on the west side of Manhattan and the tale of it's birth, death and future is a great one.

This was a highway that seemed to pretty much everyone to be an absolute necessity and in fact, a much larger replacement was planned. Then over a period of years it just kind of fell apart. The rather amazing rebirth of the West Side of Manhattan and the way that the city has adjusted to this change is someting to study.

Many cities have this type of highway, a by product partly of a time period when, for a variety of reasons, waterfront property was considered the place to thread ugly roads and needed infrastructure. The damage and cost of these roads started to become more clear as cleaner waterways and the movement of industrial uses out of central cities opened up the water as a valued asset. I think that part of Boston's (Big Dig fiasco) was an attempt to fix that type of highway by burying the road. The story isn't over, but the energy and oportunity that seems to have been opened up for NY by the collapse of that road has helped to reveal it's true cost. Heres a link to the Trump project on the way and here is the dreaded road as it is now in Chelsea.

Art Fair Orgy : Diva Containers

A lot of people seem to have found the Diva Fair a drag. I missed it, but I am grateful for the few cargo containers that I ran into. Except at the Red Dot and Fountain, where I found a number of people a bit too happy to see anyone; there was a minimal interest in interacting with the city. Diva at least played that role even if they were just trying to get blogger pawns like me to buzz about them. I saw exactly two containers so my opinion about the work has no value.

Art Fair Orgy : Scope

I didn't spend anywhere near the time that Scope deserved. The expectation from it's previous appearances was to expect an uneven, sloppy madhouse of ill thought out grad school work and stunt art. Instead it was capital P, professional all the way. Almost all the edge this fair had has been polished away or at least you had to look for it.




I didn't find this Gabe Martinez work as compelling as a lot of other people partly because it's location in front of a "cutting edge" art fair robbed it of suprise value. But, I did like it. Another blogger caught the changing of the guard of the real human beings that kept the work going through the fair.

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery had a great booth with a lot of new media work like this minimalist copmosition of shifting light by Jim Cambell made from electronic circuit boards. There were also several good Alan Rath works.



Marborough Chelsea had several great works by Chakaia Booker and an intense woven paint work by Steven Charles.



Sorry, that's about all the shots I have.

Flat Out @ Unblurred

Digging Pitt Gallery and Trinity Gallery will be joining forces for Unblurred on March 2

The table-top show will be housed in the Community Activity Center, one block off of Penn Avenue.

Flat Out @Unblurred
March 2, 2007 6-9pm
Community Activity Center
113 North Pacific Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Digging Pitt will draw from its extensive flat file archive, bringing a sampling of the gallery’s artists to the Pittsburgh community. Trinity gallery will be presenting some of Dan Gaser’s fine photography.

Art Fair Orgy : The Armory Show

There is no way to talk about the Armory Show without showing the line.

The good thing was that the organisers were limiting the number of people inside to a reasonable level so when I got in it was ok.

Galerie Eigen + Art did Germany proud with it's booth but my poor shots are a disgrace.



Pierogi was a standout with a fun display of their program but the booth was far to small to browse the files. The large Graham Gillmore and the Kate Gilmore video capped off a strong booth.

Robert Miller Gallery handed most of their space to Yayoi Kusama



Lehmann Maupin showed the latest progression of Tony Oursler's work



Nature Morte from New Dehli made it in