Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 28Th Is Pittsburgh Foundation Match Day!
A great opportunity to leverage your donations to support the non profits you care about. Also that same day, the foundation will launch a new website to make researching and giving to local charities easier.
A cut and paste job.
PITTSBURGH, Pa., October 13, 2009 -- The Pittsburgh Foundation will launch a major initiative designed to boost individual charitable giving and support local nonprofit organizations with a special 'Match Day' on Wednesday, October 28.
To celebrate the community's first-ever official day of giving, the Foundation will provide matching grants of $300,000 for the first donations received through its new PittsburghGives program. And a separate fund of $100,000 will provide matching dollars to support Carnegie Library, currently facing branch closures and cuts.
PittsburghGives is a comprehensive directory of nonprofit organizations together with on-line giving tools, developed by the Foundation as an easy-to-use web database to help donors research information about local charitable organizations. The program enables individuals and organizations to give on-line to nonprofits via credit card. The Foundation's donors may award grants directly from their funds to their chosen charities.
The Foundation's matching grants are expected to generate a minimum of $1.2 million in total contributions to eligible nonprofit organizations. "This is historic for Pittsburgh philanthropy," said Grant Oliphant, the Foundation's President and CEO. "Technology is enabling us to move the clock forward in the way that our community supports the critical work of our region's nonprofit organizations. PittsburghGives provides a new, easy and exciting way for people to give to the charities about which they care passionately."
For Match Day on October 28, the Foundation will host a community event at the PPG Place Wintergarden, Downtown, starting at 10:00 a.m. A bank of computers will be available to receive donations, and refreshments will be served. Individuals will also be able to access PittsburghGives and donate through their personal computers by logging on at www.PittsburghGives.org.
PittsburghGives will launch with the detailed profiles of more than 300 local charitable organizations and the Foundation will continue to develop the program.
PittsburghGives is designed to serve as a unique vehicle for nonprofits to showcase their work in the community, detailing information about their charitable programs, missions, management and finances. The Foundation began working with nonprofits in February to build profiles for the PittsburghGives site, and has provided participating charities with materials to help them to promote the program among their supporters and constituents in preparation for Match Day.
Initially, the Foundation planned to provide $200,000 in matching grants, but increased this to $300,000, awarded from its unrestricted grantmaking pool.
The Foundation has added a special $100,000 fund of matching dollars to support Carnegie Library following its announcement of cuts and branch closures to cover a projected budget deficit. Matching dollars to support the Library are provided from two individual donor funds at the Foundation.
“During this harsh economic climate, nonprofits are under even greater strain to meet demand for the vital services and programs they provide, and we hope that our day of giving will inspire and encourage philanthropists young and not-so-young to join in supporting our community,” said Grant Oliphant.
For the Day of Giving, gifts to eligible nonprofits in Allegheny County of $50 or more received by PittsburghGives (up to $2,500 per individual) will be matched
50 percent by the Foundation (to a maximum total of $300,000). For example, a gift of $2,500 will receive a match of $1,250 from the Foundation for a total charitable gift of $3,750. The maximum individual gift for Carnegie Library is $10,000, which qualifies for a matching grant of $5,000.
As a resource for the regional community PittsburghGives is free to access – there are no subscriptions or other charges, with the exception of a credit card fee charged by the service provider for on-line donations.
“After our Day of Giving, we want people to visit PittsburghGives whether they are curious, undertaking research or wish to make a donation. This new program has transformative qualities about the way that giving is done in our community, and the way that nonprofits are able to share information about their work,” said Grant Oliphant.
· The Foundation has also introduced a charitable gift card that may be purchased in increments of
$25, $50 or $100 for sharing with families, friends and business associates. The program works like
any gift card and is available for purchase from the Foundation.
Recipients of the gift cards may redeem them with the Foundation, directing the dollars to the charity or charities they wish to benefit or the cards may be presented to any nonprofit organization in western Pennsylvania for them to redeem with the Foundation.
The card has a one-year expiration, after which the money received for unredeemed cards will be used as part of the Foundation’s community grantmaking initiatives. To purchase gift cards, visit www.PittsburghGives.org, or contact Charles Stout at stoutc@pghfdn.org. Cards may be redeemed at www.PittsburghGives.org
Exiting Gordon Matta Clark Show In Saint Louis
Half assed post- may elaborate or correct.
I never experienced Gordon Matta Clark's work first hand, but just the guy is really a head opener in terms of the way he used simple methods to let people reimagine social boundaries and space. Swoon called him one of her greatest inspirations.
Gordon Matta-Clark
Conical Intersect (detail)
1975
27-29, rue Beaubourg, Paris
courtesy of David Zwirner, NY and the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark
"Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978) used neglected structures slated for demolition as his raw material. He carved out sections of buildings with a power saw in order to reveal their hidden construction, to provide new ways of perceiving space, and to create metaphors for the human condition. When wrecking balls knocked down his sculpted buildings, little remained. He took photographs and films of his interventions and kept a few of the building segments. The placement of Matta-Clark’s work in the building by Tadao Ando offers the means to recall the artist’s lost interventions. Ando's and Matta-Clark's structures break the visual and symbolic boundaries normally associated with the architectural “box” by allowing light to penetrate spaces in unexpected ways. Moreover, the exhibition programming builds upon Matta-Clark’s desire to give abandoned objects and buildings new meaning by connecting the artist’s social activism to present-day St. Louis.
The Pulitzer, in collaboration with Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, is organizing exhibition programming that will build upon Matta-Clark’s desire to imbue abandoned objects, buildings, and parcels of land with new meaning. The Pulitzer hopes to help carry Matta-Clark’s legacy into the 21st century and to inspire a new generation of social activism through creative acts."
"A new interactive arts program in St. Louis poses those questions, and calls on citizens to create the portrait through media and personal expression.
Later this month, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts will launch Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark, named for and continuing the legacy of a local urban activist who inspired community engagement through art."
Anyway, The Pulitzer Foundation is using the show as a springboard for community projects. Could be great or the usual bogus fake engagement we often get.
I found out about this on Rust Wire.
I never experienced Gordon Matta Clark's work first hand, but just the guy is really a head opener in terms of the way he used simple methods to let people reimagine social boundaries and space. Swoon called him one of her greatest inspirations.
Gordon Matta-Clark
Conical Intersect (detail)
1975
27-29, rue Beaubourg, Paris
courtesy of David Zwirner, NY and the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark
Gordon Matta Clark: Conical Intersect (1975, 16mm Film, Farbe, auf DVD überspielt, Farbe, ohne Ton 17'12") from nothinglefttoadjust on Vimeo.
"Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978) used neglected structures slated for demolition as his raw material. He carved out sections of buildings with a power saw in order to reveal their hidden construction, to provide new ways of perceiving space, and to create metaphors for the human condition. When wrecking balls knocked down his sculpted buildings, little remained. He took photographs and films of his interventions and kept a few of the building segments. The placement of Matta-Clark’s work in the building by Tadao Ando offers the means to recall the artist’s lost interventions. Ando's and Matta-Clark's structures break the visual and symbolic boundaries normally associated with the architectural “box” by allowing light to penetrate spaces in unexpected ways. Moreover, the exhibition programming builds upon Matta-Clark’s desire to give abandoned objects and buildings new meaning by connecting the artist’s social activism to present-day St. Louis.
The Pulitzer, in collaboration with Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, is organizing exhibition programming that will build upon Matta-Clark’s desire to imbue abandoned objects, buildings, and parcels of land with new meaning. The Pulitzer hopes to help carry Matta-Clark’s legacy into the 21st century and to inspire a new generation of social activism through creative acts."
"A new interactive arts program in St. Louis poses those questions, and calls on citizens to create the portrait through media and personal expression.
Later this month, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts will launch Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark, named for and continuing the legacy of a local urban activist who inspired community engagement through art."
Anyway, The Pulitzer Foundation is using the show as a springboard for community projects. Could be great or the usual bogus fake engagement we often get.
I found out about this on Rust Wire.
Cleveland Museum Donor Intent Correction and More Thoughts
I should have known that anger was making me write my two Cleveland Museum posts too fast. The general violation of donor intent, is still very bad but their actions are considerably better than I stated.
First the facts---- The museum, (at this point)is not actually selling any works in it's collection to pay for it's expansion.
"To be able to proceed, the museum has chosen a highly unorthodox way out of its quandary. It has gone to court for permission to draw up to $75 million over 10 years from the interest paid out on two endowment funds and two outside, restricted trusts for acquisitions. A decision is expected by the end of this month."
Now my thoughts.
Dropping the morality of violating, donor trust, lets look at what they are doing.
Basically, the museum's leadership is taking a very high stakes gamble that by expanding the museum's size and profile, it can draw in enough visitors and supporters to secure it's fiscal health. An interesting and honestly, plausible theory. Companies and private individuals take chances like that all the time. (they used to do it with their own money) This is a major museum, with core collections in areas like Asian art that might very well attract a lot more people.
The big problem here, is that none of the people involved in making this gamble have real "skin in the game".
How high is the risk? Pretty damn high! They are planning to double their size while at the same time shrinking the endowment cushion set aside to support the museum's operating expenses in a state suffering near depression conditions. If they can barely swing the expansion costs what are the chances they can cover the costs of operating a much larger institution?
Now, let's look at the incentives these people are operating under.
Heads the gamble works and they get to play around in a much larger institution and raise their career profile. Will they get higher salaries for running a bigger place?
Tails--- it ain't their problem.
In fact, one of the main actors, Timothy Rub is scheduled to take up the directorship of the Philadelphia Museum, leaving the people of Cleveland with the risk he took on.
Here's my personal take. The institution is really engaged in an act of economic terrorism. Behind their decision is the same twisted logic that gave us the financial crisis- an attempt to secure their power by becoming "too big to fail".The funds for a somewhat more modest and rational expansion had been raised already. moreover, Cleveland is a city with tons of empty and underused warehouse and industrial buildings that might have been adopted and reused at what might have been a great savings making the city an example of innovative fruagilty instead of irrational waste.
The bigger they get, the more risks they take, the greater the impact they have on the Cleveland region; the greater chances are that people or more accurately politicians will ever allow the full impact of a screw up to be felt.If this thing blows taxpayers small businesses and any non profit without their profile will bear the costs.
Directors of non profits and politicians like Tom Murphy should be made to put some real skin in the game and be made to pay financially for the long term consequences of their decisions.
First the facts---- The museum, (at this point)is not actually selling any works in it's collection to pay for it's expansion.
"To be able to proceed, the museum has chosen a highly unorthodox way out of its quandary. It has gone to court for permission to draw up to $75 million over 10 years from the interest paid out on two endowment funds and two outside, restricted trusts for acquisitions. A decision is expected by the end of this month."
Now my thoughts.
Dropping the morality of violating, donor trust, lets look at what they are doing.
Basically, the museum's leadership is taking a very high stakes gamble that by expanding the museum's size and profile, it can draw in enough visitors and supporters to secure it's fiscal health. An interesting and honestly, plausible theory. Companies and private individuals take chances like that all the time. (they used to do it with their own money) This is a major museum, with core collections in areas like Asian art that might very well attract a lot more people.
The big problem here, is that none of the people involved in making this gamble have real "skin in the game".
How high is the risk? Pretty damn high! They are planning to double their size while at the same time shrinking the endowment cushion set aside to support the museum's operating expenses in a state suffering near depression conditions. If they can barely swing the expansion costs what are the chances they can cover the costs of operating a much larger institution?
Now, let's look at the incentives these people are operating under.
Heads the gamble works and they get to play around in a much larger institution and raise their career profile. Will they get higher salaries for running a bigger place?
Tails--- it ain't their problem.
In fact, one of the main actors, Timothy Rub is scheduled to take up the directorship of the Philadelphia Museum, leaving the people of Cleveland with the risk he took on.
Here's my personal take. The institution is really engaged in an act of economic terrorism. Behind their decision is the same twisted logic that gave us the financial crisis- an attempt to secure their power by becoming "too big to fail".The funds for a somewhat more modest and rational expansion had been raised already. moreover, Cleveland is a city with tons of empty and underused warehouse and industrial buildings that might have been adopted and reused at what might have been a great savings making the city an example of innovative fruagilty instead of irrational waste.
The bigger they get, the more risks they take, the greater the impact they have on the Cleveland region; the greater chances are that people or more accurately politicians will ever allow the full impact of a screw up to be felt.If this thing blows taxpayers small businesses and any non profit without their profile will bear the costs.
Directors of non profits and politicians like Tom Murphy should be made to put some real skin in the game and be made to pay financially for the long term consequences of their decisions.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Football's Price
GQ has a very, very heavy story on the price some football players may have payed for their time in the game.
"Let’s say you run a multibillion-dollar football league. And let’s say the scientific community—starting with one young pathologist in Pittsburgh and growing into a chorus of neuroscientists across the country—comes to you and says concussions are making your players crazy, crazy enough to kill themselves, and here, in these slices of brain tissue, is the proof. Do you join these scientists and try to solve the problem, or do you use your power to discredit them?"
A lot of lead characters in this story center around Allegheny county and ex Steeler greats like Mike Webster.
Still haven't read all of it yet.I may post further on this.
"Let’s say you run a multibillion-dollar football league. And let’s say the scientific community—starting with one young pathologist in Pittsburgh and growing into a chorus of neuroscientists across the country—comes to you and says concussions are making your players crazy, crazy enough to kill themselves, and here, in these slices of brain tissue, is the proof. Do you join these scientists and try to solve the problem, or do you use your power to discredit them?"
A lot of lead characters in this story center around Allegheny county and ex Steeler greats like Mike Webster.
Still haven't read all of it yet.I may post further on this.
Deep Local and Encyclopedia Destructica's Old and New Media Artist Residency
This opportunity is a little complex so interested artists should read all the links and information carefully before applying.
Deep local, a company doing cool techno-geeky design and application stuff has joined with Encyclopedia Destructica to offer a new Three Month Artist Residency Program, designed to create projects joining art and technology.
Residents are asked to arrange their own housing and to work with available Deeplocal technology or assets when appropriate. The available technologies include SMS text messaging, Voice phone systems, iPhone and Android application creation, and the Deeplocal trans-media platform. Residents will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Deeplocal. While a project proposal should include work utilizing these technologies, this is not the only work expected of the resident.
At the end of the residency, the completed project or projects will be promoted and publicly launched through a public exhibit with a partner institution. Deeplocal will host an open studio visit once during the residency to allow their clients, customers, and staff to network with the artists at the company's office space. Encyclopedia Destructica will also host a small exhibition and artist lecture at Encyclopedia Destructica Studios once during the residency. This is a potential opportunity for the resident to expand their sales and support networks.
What do I get?
Artists are given support in the form of money, space, technology, and expertise.
Project funds up to $1,000
Full-time work space at Deeplocal plus support staff and technology assistance one day per week
Artist access privileges with Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Support in art production and promotion and access to printmaking and bookbinding facilities at Encyclopedia Destructica
Access to API for proprietary Deeplocal mobile technology platform, which includes Voice, SMS, web, and mobile
Assistance in grant application writing
Exhibition opportunities, including a public exhibition with a partner institution at the end of the residency, an open studio night at Deeplocal, and an artist lecture at Encyclopedia Destructica
Who should apply?
Anyone who has a creative idea, enthusiasm, a good work ethic, and a desire to learn. Applicants can propose work of nearly any nature and will be evaluated based on creativity, the degree that the project leverages Deeplocal’s technology assets, the need for corporate support, and the likelihood of successful completion in the allotted time frame. Applicants are not required to have any technology background. It may be beneficial to look at what Deeplocal and Encyclopedia Destructica can offer to make sure that you are able to take advantage of their assets.
This opportunity is ongoing and is open to both Pittsburgh and Non Pittsburgh based artists-- however, the actual residency requires staying here for the length of the residency.
Non area artists should remember-- this ain't NY, San Fransisco or LA. It's very cheap here and you may be able to scope out housing if you really want this opportunity to work with the the awesome tech and creative resources Pittsburgh has to offer.
Deep local, a company doing cool techno-geeky design and application stuff has joined with Encyclopedia Destructica to offer a new Three Month Artist Residency Program, designed to create projects joining art and technology.
Residents are asked to arrange their own housing and to work with available Deeplocal technology or assets when appropriate. The available technologies include SMS text messaging, Voice phone systems, iPhone and Android application creation, and the Deeplocal trans-media platform. Residents will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Deeplocal. While a project proposal should include work utilizing these technologies, this is not the only work expected of the resident.
At the end of the residency, the completed project or projects will be promoted and publicly launched through a public exhibit with a partner institution. Deeplocal will host an open studio visit once during the residency to allow their clients, customers, and staff to network with the artists at the company's office space. Encyclopedia Destructica will also host a small exhibition and artist lecture at Encyclopedia Destructica Studios once during the residency. This is a potential opportunity for the resident to expand their sales and support networks.
What do I get?
Artists are given support in the form of money, space, technology, and expertise.
Project funds up to $1,000
Full-time work space at Deeplocal plus support staff and technology assistance one day per week
Artist access privileges with Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Support in art production and promotion and access to printmaking and bookbinding facilities at Encyclopedia Destructica
Access to API for proprietary Deeplocal mobile technology platform, which includes Voice, SMS, web, and mobile
Assistance in grant application writing
Exhibition opportunities, including a public exhibition with a partner institution at the end of the residency, an open studio night at Deeplocal, and an artist lecture at Encyclopedia Destructica
Who should apply?
Anyone who has a creative idea, enthusiasm, a good work ethic, and a desire to learn. Applicants can propose work of nearly any nature and will be evaluated based on creativity, the degree that the project leverages Deeplocal’s technology assets, the need for corporate support, and the likelihood of successful completion in the allotted time frame. Applicants are not required to have any technology background. It may be beneficial to look at what Deeplocal and Encyclopedia Destructica can offer to make sure that you are able to take advantage of their assets.
This opportunity is ongoing and is open to both Pittsburgh and Non Pittsburgh based artists-- however, the actual residency requires staying here for the length of the residency.
Non area artists should remember-- this ain't NY, San Fransisco or LA. It's very cheap here and you may be able to scope out housing if you really want this opportunity to work with the the awesome tech and creative resources Pittsburgh has to offer.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
GA/GI Pittsburgh's First Arts and Technology Festival
"It's an event where art and technology will shake hands," said Christine Bethea, organizer for Geek Arts + Green Innovators Festival. GA/GI (pronounced GAH-gee) will be Pittsburgh's first festival of Art and Technology. "Pittsburgh has had some great recent events which make doing this, all that more exciting," said Bethea siting the 15 Minutes Gallery Burghbot Exhibition in June, 2009 @ the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the more recent Roy G Biv Festival of Noisy Robots in October funded by Sprout. GA/GI has also been fueled by the more positive moments of the city's G-20 experience.
It seems Pittsburgh is definitely ready for this festival. Participants already on board are Friendship Development Associates who has sanctioned turning the Friday, April 2, 2010 Unblurred art crawl into a high tech arts extravaganza, Jonano eco chic clothing, Union Project, The Pittsburgh Technology Council, Art + Technology at CMU, Art Energy Design, Ingram Clockworks, Modern Formations and a host of other organizations, galleries and individuals. Specific information on the event, its organizers and how to get involved can be found on the GA/GI blog.
It seems Pittsburgh is definitely ready for this festival. Participants already on board are Friendship Development Associates who has sanctioned turning the Friday, April 2, 2010 Unblurred art crawl into a high tech arts extravaganza, Jonano eco chic clothing, Union Project, The Pittsburgh Technology Council, Art + Technology at CMU, Art Energy Design, Ingram Clockworks, Modern Formations and a host of other organizations, galleries and individuals. Specific information on the event, its organizers and how to get involved can be found on the GA/GI blog.
Image: Power Flower from Art Energy Design
Disgusting Cleveland Museum Post Part Two
I think I'm not getting a job at the Cleveland Museum soon-- but honestly if this is how they operate, I don't want one.
It's likely this will extend into a three part post. Part one is here.
I want to preface my condemnation, by saying that yes, life can be complicated and dealing with the wishes of donors can be very complex. Time marches on, cities grow or fail, endowments fall and causes and issues change, leaving institutions to guess at how to adapt the perpetual wishes of donors to changing times.
However-- for an honest person trying to do the right thing, things are rarely as complicated as they seem. Basic principles do not change and discerning a donor's intentions is not that hard. I'm also very sypathetic to the circumstances and needs that can motivate people to do this- It still aint't right. How can you possibly expect people to make donations to charities if their expressed wishes are not followed?
The Hershey Trust did it right by gradually expanding the reach of it's mission with it's expanding it's assets while sticking to the donors wish to focus on a local community.
With the Cleveland Museum, the asset given was fine art, explicitly granted to the museum's permanent collection.
Logically one can break down the intentions of the donors by priority.
First-- They wanted the works preserved for posterity. I can take a guess they didn't donate them to be destroyed. If for example, the museum had run into problems that left in doubt their ability to protect the work, they had an obligation to get them to someone who could which might mean selling them.
Second---They intended the works to seen by the general public and did not intend the works to be put on the market and end up in a private collection.
Third----They strongly wished if at all possible that they remain in the Cleveland Museum's collection.
One needs to respect the donors as rational, and often very highly successfull human beings who put a lot of thought into their donations. If they had wanted to sell their art and donate cash to the museum-- that's what they would have done. They donated art for the museum's permanent collection. Violating or stretching donor intent should always be a last, not a first resort.
The details of this case, make it substantialy worse than the average and increasing common cases of small hard pressed institutions trying to survive. Culture Grrl has some great posts on this.
"In its court filings, the museum did not argue (as did the Barnes Foundation, Fisk University and the National Academy) that it needed relaxation of ethical guidelines or donor restrictions because its very survival was at stake. It wants to use the money to help fund the second phase of its 200,000-square-foot Rafael Viñoly-designed expansion. The projected cost of the museum's ambitious capital project (which included construction of its East Wing, above, which opened in June) ballooned from $258 million in 2005 to $350 million as of mid-2008---just before the economic bubble burst."
A real Rubicon has been crossed here and something has to be done about it.
Part Three comming soon
It's likely this will extend into a three part post. Part one is here.
I want to preface my condemnation, by saying that yes, life can be complicated and dealing with the wishes of donors can be very complex. Time marches on, cities grow or fail, endowments fall and causes and issues change, leaving institutions to guess at how to adapt the perpetual wishes of donors to changing times.
However-- for an honest person trying to do the right thing, things are rarely as complicated as they seem. Basic principles do not change and discerning a donor's intentions is not that hard. I'm also very sypathetic to the circumstances and needs that can motivate people to do this- It still aint't right. How can you possibly expect people to make donations to charities if their expressed wishes are not followed?
The Hershey Trust did it right by gradually expanding the reach of it's mission with it's expanding it's assets while sticking to the donors wish to focus on a local community.
With the Cleveland Museum, the asset given was fine art, explicitly granted to the museum's permanent collection.
Logically one can break down the intentions of the donors by priority.
First-- They wanted the works preserved for posterity. I can take a guess they didn't donate them to be destroyed. If for example, the museum had run into problems that left in doubt their ability to protect the work, they had an obligation to get them to someone who could which might mean selling them.
Second---They intended the works to seen by the general public and did not intend the works to be put on the market and end up in a private collection.
Third----They strongly wished if at all possible that they remain in the Cleveland Museum's collection.
One needs to respect the donors as rational, and often very highly successfull human beings who put a lot of thought into their donations. If they had wanted to sell their art and donate cash to the museum-- that's what they would have done. They donated art for the museum's permanent collection. Violating or stretching donor intent should always be a last, not a first resort.
The details of this case, make it substantialy worse than the average and increasing common cases of small hard pressed institutions trying to survive. Culture Grrl has some great posts on this.
"In its court filings, the museum did not argue (as did the Barnes Foundation, Fisk University and the National Academy) that it needed relaxation of ethical guidelines or donor restrictions because its very survival was at stake. It wants to use the money to help fund the second phase of its 200,000-square-foot Rafael Viñoly-designed expansion. The projected cost of the museum's ambitious capital project (which included construction of its East Wing, above, which opened in June) ballooned from $258 million in 2005 to $350 million as of mid-2008---just before the economic bubble burst."
A real Rubicon has been crossed here and something has to be done about it.
Part Three comming soon
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Disgusting Move By Cleveland Museum Violates Donor Intent Part One
I've been far too overwhelmed to post on this IMO, very important topic earlier. This happens with subjects that piss me off or move me emotionally. I always feel, I should do a perfect post; wonderfully written with links and quotes from every scource and then pretty soon I just let it go. The pile of major insults against freedom and what used to be called the rule of law grows so big, you just don't know where to start. This will be a two part post.
As bad as attacks on the living are, they still might have a chance to defend themselves. The dead have no such chance and to violate their last wishes is vile crime at least to me.
Respecting people's charitable bequests can raise tough issues, the first of which I might describe as "the dead hand problem". Suppose for example, you were very, rich in 1830 and left all your money in an endowment for those suffering from Smallpox. The disease is gone, the endowment remains and one has to make a guess as to what the donor might have wanted. This is a very common problem.
Another issue that can come up is that an endowment or foundation can grow beyond what might be resonably used for the donor's stated purpose. A great example is the Milton S Hershey Trust.
"Established in 1935 by Milton Hershey, The M.S. Hershey Foundation was created to provide educational and cultural opportunities for the citizens of Derry Township. In the early years, The M.S. Hershey Foundation concentrated on providing educational opportunities through the former Hershey Junior College, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center — a teaching hospital, and the former Hershey Educational and Cultural Center — an alternative to formal education. The Foundation also helped manage the sports and recreation programs of the Hershey Recreation Center at Cocoa Plaza before turning over operations to Derry Township.
Starting in 1970, the Foundation continued its mission to provide cultural and educational opportunities to the Hershey community by assuming operation of Hershey Theatre.
In the 1980s, the Foundation accepted responsibility for Hershey Gardens and Hershey Museum (now The Hershey Story). The Foundation also helped establish the Hershey Community Archives in 1985 and in 1990 took ownership of ChocolateTown Square community park. Most recently, in January 2009, the Foundation established The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue in downtown Hershey as a welcome addition to furthering its mission.
Milton S. Hershey established the non-profit M.S. Hershey Foundation for the educational and cultural enrichment of Derry Township residents and visitors. When he set aside 5000 shares of company stock in 1935, he couldn't have possibly envisioned that in the 21st century, the Foundation would support five outstanding sites - The Hershey Story, Hershey Gardens, Hershey Theatre, Hershey Community Archives and ChocolateTown Square. As The M.S. Hershey Foundation has expanded its scope, so has the need for community support."
Here you have a high class problem. The Hershey Company grew to a point at which the shares left in the trust could do more than just provide for the school the money was left for. People then guessed that the donor wished the money to support the Hershey community and one now has all this great stuff.
Often it's sort of a gray area (but usually it's not) For example, The Buck Trust was an foundation left by a couple in California who explicitly stated the money be used to only support causes in Marin County.This attracted people in San Francisco, who felt it was "needed more there", and that this need gave them the sacred right to break into the cash box.
"The award Friday by Judge Homer B. Thompson ended the San Francisco Foundation's lawsuit to amend the will of Beryl Buck, which stipulated that the trust fund's money go only to charities in wealthy Marin County."
A whole lot of legal fighting has ensued.
Of course one of the most famous recent cases has to do with the $5 Billion estate of Leona Helmsley who she clearly left to animal welfare causes.
“Mrs. Helmsley’s Trust Agreement and Mission Statement were clear: Help dogs. And the Trustees have not done this. Instead they pursued their own agendas with Mrs. Helmsley’s money,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.
“Every person with a will or estate—and every charity that relies on bequest income—should be profoundly concerned about this misdirection of funds.”
The trustees point out that just part of the funds left by Mrs. Helmsley could be enough to empty all the animal shelters in the country. But, whatever one might think of the wisdom of this cause--the prime fact is that we have no moral right at all to decide for her. None of the bequests of these people be called in anyway unreasonable. They just might not be what we would have done.
The same disregard for donor wishes has happened with museums but few drop to the level of criminal hubris displayed by The Cleveland Museum Of Art.
Part Two soon
As bad as attacks on the living are, they still might have a chance to defend themselves. The dead have no such chance and to violate their last wishes is vile crime at least to me.
Respecting people's charitable bequests can raise tough issues, the first of which I might describe as "the dead hand problem". Suppose for example, you were very, rich in 1830 and left all your money in an endowment for those suffering from Smallpox. The disease is gone, the endowment remains and one has to make a guess as to what the donor might have wanted. This is a very common problem.
Another issue that can come up is that an endowment or foundation can grow beyond what might be resonably used for the donor's stated purpose. A great example is the Milton S Hershey Trust.
"Established in 1935 by Milton Hershey, The M.S. Hershey Foundation was created to provide educational and cultural opportunities for the citizens of Derry Township. In the early years, The M.S. Hershey Foundation concentrated on providing educational opportunities through the former Hershey Junior College, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center — a teaching hospital, and the former Hershey Educational and Cultural Center — an alternative to formal education. The Foundation also helped manage the sports and recreation programs of the Hershey Recreation Center at Cocoa Plaza before turning over operations to Derry Township.
Starting in 1970, the Foundation continued its mission to provide cultural and educational opportunities to the Hershey community by assuming operation of Hershey Theatre.
In the 1980s, the Foundation accepted responsibility for Hershey Gardens and Hershey Museum (now The Hershey Story). The Foundation also helped establish the Hershey Community Archives in 1985 and in 1990 took ownership of ChocolateTown Square community park. Most recently, in January 2009, the Foundation established The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue in downtown Hershey as a welcome addition to furthering its mission.
Milton S. Hershey established the non-profit M.S. Hershey Foundation for the educational and cultural enrichment of Derry Township residents and visitors. When he set aside 5000 shares of company stock in 1935, he couldn't have possibly envisioned that in the 21st century, the Foundation would support five outstanding sites - The Hershey Story, Hershey Gardens, Hershey Theatre, Hershey Community Archives and ChocolateTown Square. As The M.S. Hershey Foundation has expanded its scope, so has the need for community support."
Here you have a high class problem. The Hershey Company grew to a point at which the shares left in the trust could do more than just provide for the school the money was left for. People then guessed that the donor wished the money to support the Hershey community and one now has all this great stuff.
Often it's sort of a gray area (but usually it's not) For example, The Buck Trust was an foundation left by a couple in California who explicitly stated the money be used to only support causes in Marin County.This attracted people in San Francisco, who felt it was "needed more there", and that this need gave them the sacred right to break into the cash box.
"The award Friday by Judge Homer B. Thompson ended the San Francisco Foundation's lawsuit to amend the will of Beryl Buck, which stipulated that the trust fund's money go only to charities in wealthy Marin County."
A whole lot of legal fighting has ensued.
Of course one of the most famous recent cases has to do with the $5 Billion estate of Leona Helmsley who she clearly left to animal welfare causes.
“Mrs. Helmsley’s Trust Agreement and Mission Statement were clear: Help dogs. And the Trustees have not done this. Instead they pursued their own agendas with Mrs. Helmsley’s money,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.
“Every person with a will or estate—and every charity that relies on bequest income—should be profoundly concerned about this misdirection of funds.”
The trustees point out that just part of the funds left by Mrs. Helmsley could be enough to empty all the animal shelters in the country. But, whatever one might think of the wisdom of this cause--the prime fact is that we have no moral right at all to decide for her. None of the bequests of these people be called in anyway unreasonable. They just might not be what we would have done.
The same disregard for donor wishes has happened with museums but few drop to the level of criminal hubris displayed by The Cleveland Museum Of Art.
Part Two soon
Monthly Truth Break October 2009
Sorry folks but the truth hurts.
Remember that the above figure does not include state and local liabilities and unfunded costs.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Mary Tremonte Featured Artist For Encyclopedia Destructica Open Studio
Mary Tremonte Mural In Braddock
The Lawrenceville Open Studios are the must see event tomorrow and a high point of that should be The Ecyclopedia Destructica studio.
Come visit the Encyclopedia Destructica Studios during the L'ville Studio Tour
Saturday, October 17th
10 am - 6 pm
all of our books and zines published since the beginning (2005) will be on display
sew together your own medieval carnival issue to take home
plus
artwork on the walls by
FLYING DESTRUCTICATE
Mary Tremonte
Holy cats and flying squirrels! Encyclopedia Destructica has selected the next FLYING DESTRUCTICATE! "Who could the next fantabulous artist in an already magnificent line of Flying Destructicates be? What could they possibly be up to now? What physical marvel of the book form could potentially be in production in the studios of Encyclopedia Destructica??!!!", you may be asking, thricely...
Well, the wait is over! Rejoice! Mary Tremonte is your new FLYING DESTRUCTICATE!!!! She astounds! She rocks! She removes your socks in a wave of undeniable awesomeness!
Mary is an artist-educator-DJ. She is a member of Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, a decentralized community of artsist who have banded together to both sell their work online and to collaborate with and support each other and social movements. She has recently completed residencies in Providence, RI and Halifax, NS. Mary is a Youth Programs Coordinator at the Andy Warhol Museum and volunteers at Artists Image Resource. She is consumed with printmaking, totally teens, collaboration, communication and the politics of social space, especially the dancepaty.
www.justseeds.org/artists/mary_tremonte
Come check out some work by Mary on the walls of the Destructica studios THIS SATURDAY for the Lawrenceveille Artists' Studio Tour.
Holy Crap: Art Prize Draws Thousands To Grand Rapids Part Three
Finally, I'm getting to the real meat of the post-- actual information, video's and images of Grand Rapid's Artprize contest.
I want to apologize somewhat about my previous "hell hole comments". Grand Rapids doesn't looks so bad.Without the art,I would describe it from the images as pretty bland. My point, was that this was not the place one would expect to draw huge crowds from all over to look at art.
The other reason, I tried to give all this backround on Michigan's dire economic situation is that we are all in some way headed that way. Economic development, by way of billion dollar show off projects and trillions in carpet cash bombing is comming to an end, one way or the other.
The new winners will be those who can do more with less and use very limited resources in innovative productive uses.
Whatever you think about any particular work, one has to say the concept was a huge hit. Plans are already in the works for another go at it next year!
Exiting and honestly very moving. Be back with more thoughts.
I want to apologize somewhat about my previous "hell hole comments". Grand Rapids doesn't looks so bad.Without the art,I would describe it from the images as pretty bland. My point, was that this was not the place one would expect to draw huge crowds from all over to look at art.
The other reason, I tried to give all this backround on Michigan's dire economic situation is that we are all in some way headed that way. Economic development, by way of billion dollar show off projects and trillions in carpet cash bombing is comming to an end, one way or the other.
The new winners will be those who can do more with less and use very limited resources in innovative productive uses.
Whatever you think about any particular work, one has to say the concept was a huge hit. Plans are already in the works for another go at it next year!
Exiting and honestly very moving. Be back with more thoughts.
UPMC Braddock Hospital To Close January 31st
Sorry not an arts post. Just keepin it real.
"UPMC purchased the faltering Braddock Medical Center in 1996, and has invested about $30 million in the 277,000-square-foot facility since then, including a new $8 million facade that hasn't even had a ribbon cutting yet. In the past six years, though, UPMC has lost $27 million at the hospital, and only 51 of the 123 beds are now occupied on average.
"We were projecting the daily census would go down to just 44 beds in 2010," Mr. Wood said, and that, combined with a 21 percent decline in admissions over the past five years, was the driving force in the decision to close."
"UPMC purchased the faltering Braddock Medical Center in 1996, and has invested about $30 million in the 277,000-square-foot facility since then, including a new $8 million facade that hasn't even had a ribbon cutting yet. In the past six years, though, UPMC has lost $27 million at the hospital, and only 51 of the 123 beds are now occupied on average.
"We were projecting the daily census would go down to just 44 beds in 2010," Mr. Wood said, and that, combined with a 21 percent decline in admissions over the past five years, was the driving force in the decision to close."
Register For Mobile Art && Code Syposium
MOBILE ART && CODE is a symposium on the artistic and tactical potential of mobile, networked and locative media: November 6-8, 2009 at CMU!
Heads up on what looks to be an amazing event.
"ART && CODE is an event series and online community dedicated to the democratization of computer programming for artists, young people, and the rest of us.
This November 6-8, we continue our successful workshop/lecture series with MOBILE ART && CODE: Mobile Media and Interactive Arts - a symposium on the aesthetic and tactical potentials of mobile, networked and locative media. The three-day event will feature intimate, practical, arts-oriented programming workshops for popular mobile platforms (such as the iPhone, Android, Nokia Smartphones, Arduino, SMS, and Asterisk PBX systems) along with an all-day series of free lecture presentations that contextualizes the use of these technologies in a variety of contemporary critical, artistic and design practices.
MOBILE ART && CODE is made possible by a generous grant from Microsoft Research, with oversight by the Center for Computational Thinking at CMU. The ART && CODE symposium series is a project of the CMU STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, directed by Golan Levin. If you have questions or concerns about MOBILE ART && CODE, please email Golan Levin at golan@andrew.cmu.edu."
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Holy Crap: Art Prize Draws Thousands To Grand Rapids Part Two
This my second post about Michigan and the Grand Rapids Artprize contest.
I feel I still need to provide more context to give one some idea how hopeless and deep the troubles in Michigan go. Green shoots in fertile, well watered soil in a sunny climate are not news. Grand Rapids is not widely known as an arts attraction. It has no Carnegie International and even more importantly, Michigan is perceived for good reason by most people as an intractable hell hole. It has an activist governor trying every trick in the book to "help her state", (minus the logical ones that would really help.)
Few dispute how hard she has worked, running all over the state, country and world with handouts, job incentives; snazzy new initiatives and regulations paid for by people other than herself to turn Michigan around.
"Michigan felt the recession first and hardest. The state ranks fifth in foreclosures and last in attracting new residents. Nearly 20 percent of its citizens are on Medicaid. As the auto industry has shrunk, so has tax revenue. The state government technically shut down for nearly two hours early Thursday over a budget crisis, and the legislature and governor are still tussling over how to resolve a projected $2.8 billion deficit. Underlying all of the grim statistics is the loss of jobs. Michigan has had the nation's highest unemployment rate -- now 15.2 percent -- for most of the past three years."
Granholm Touts Green Jobs
Swedens Carl XVI Gustaf Meets Governor Granholm to Explore New Alternative Energy Business Collaborations and Initiatives
"In her effort to attract employers, the governor has taken up the latest arms in the economic arsenal -- tax credits, loans, Super Bowl tickets and a willingness to travel as far as Japan for a weekend to try to persuade an auto parts company to bring more jobs to Michigan. She has won solar and wind energy, electric car batteries, and movie production jobs. About 10,800 of the new positions came from overseas companies, according to her office, the fruits of visits to seven countries."
But what are the net results???? Granholm tells a tale that as bad as things are they would be so much worse without her efforts which is a way of getting around the fact that --
"Michigan has lost 870,000 jobs -- about 632,000 of them during Granholm's tenure. The number is expected to reach 1 million by late next year, the end of her term."
And it didn't just start losing jobs in the last year or two.
The news was grim in other areas, too. In 2005:
• 19% of children in Michigan lived in poverty, up from six years ago.
• Almost a third of the state's African Americans lived below the poverty level.
• Detroit remained one of the poorest big cities in the country with almost a third of its residents living below the poverty line.
• Cities and townships posted drops in median household incomes ranging from 24% to 6% and poverty rates increased in all but three cities.
Even the jobs Granholm is touting as having "created" seem hardly sustainable. She seems to be good at attracting a particular breed of company.
Companies who are losing money and have no profits yet.
Companies with no profits who can't attract private equity investment or loans without massive government subsidies.
Of course, the rational employers that still make money or hope to do so have been getting out of the state.
This is why she has to do this.
Granhom begs for stimulus cash
Here Steve Wynn and the governor of Indiana which is also a big manufacturing state try to knock some sense into her.
The Indiana Governor seems hardly thrilled about having his taxpayers pay for the endless troubles of states like Michigan.
Anyway, I promise the next post will get to the actual Artprize and why I think it might be so important.
I feel I still need to provide more context to give one some idea how hopeless and deep the troubles in Michigan go. Green shoots in fertile, well watered soil in a sunny climate are not news. Grand Rapids is not widely known as an arts attraction. It has no Carnegie International and even more importantly, Michigan is perceived for good reason by most people as an intractable hell hole. It has an activist governor trying every trick in the book to "help her state", (minus the logical ones that would really help.)
Few dispute how hard she has worked, running all over the state, country and world with handouts, job incentives; snazzy new initiatives and regulations paid for by people other than herself to turn Michigan around.
"Michigan felt the recession first and hardest. The state ranks fifth in foreclosures and last in attracting new residents. Nearly 20 percent of its citizens are on Medicaid. As the auto industry has shrunk, so has tax revenue. The state government technically shut down for nearly two hours early Thursday over a budget crisis, and the legislature and governor are still tussling over how to resolve a projected $2.8 billion deficit. Underlying all of the grim statistics is the loss of jobs. Michigan has had the nation's highest unemployment rate -- now 15.2 percent -- for most of the past three years."
Granholm Touts Green Jobs
Swedens Carl XVI Gustaf Meets Governor Granholm to Explore New Alternative Energy Business Collaborations and Initiatives
"In her effort to attract employers, the governor has taken up the latest arms in the economic arsenal -- tax credits, loans, Super Bowl tickets and a willingness to travel as far as Japan for a weekend to try to persuade an auto parts company to bring more jobs to Michigan. She has won solar and wind energy, electric car batteries, and movie production jobs. About 10,800 of the new positions came from overseas companies, according to her office, the fruits of visits to seven countries."
But what are the net results???? Granholm tells a tale that as bad as things are they would be so much worse without her efforts which is a way of getting around the fact that --
"Michigan has lost 870,000 jobs -- about 632,000 of them during Granholm's tenure. The number is expected to reach 1 million by late next year, the end of her term."
And it didn't just start losing jobs in the last year or two.
The news was grim in other areas, too. In 2005:
• 19% of children in Michigan lived in poverty, up from six years ago.
• Almost a third of the state's African Americans lived below the poverty level.
• Detroit remained one of the poorest big cities in the country with almost a third of its residents living below the poverty line.
• Cities and townships posted drops in median household incomes ranging from 24% to 6% and poverty rates increased in all but three cities.
Even the jobs Granholm is touting as having "created" seem hardly sustainable. She seems to be good at attracting a particular breed of company.
Companies who are losing money and have no profits yet.
Companies with no profits who can't attract private equity investment or loans without massive government subsidies.
Of course, the rational employers that still make money or hope to do so have been getting out of the state.
This is why she has to do this.
Granhom begs for stimulus cash
Here Steve Wynn and the governor of Indiana which is also a big manufacturing state try to knock some sense into her.
The Indiana Governor seems hardly thrilled about having his taxpayers pay for the endless troubles of states like Michigan.
Anyway, I promise the next post will get to the actual Artprize and why I think it might be so important.
Some More Regional Casting Calls
Here's a few of the notices posted on the Pittsburgh Film Office site.Some are for leading roles, some are for extras in projects from big time Hollywood to student film projects. Do your homework.
Unfortunately, you just missed today's casting call for Extras in the wanabe blockbuster, Unstoppable
Actors Needed for Short Film
Vinegar Hill is looking for four actors needed to star in a short film in Indiana, PA later this month. Must be able to travel to Indiana PA for an audition October 23, rehearsal October 30th, and filming October 31st and November 1st.
ROLES:
§ Two Males, early 20s to early 30s
§ One Female, early 20s to early 30s
§ One Female, mid 30s to mid 50s
Please send head shot and resume to casting@vinegarhillpictures.com by Oct 19. No pay, but it is a great resume and reel builder!
CASTING Asian Actor and others for Student Short
Chatham U. MFA grad student looking for some actors for a short film shooting in early November. The movie is 3-5 minutes long and has no dialogue. Should shoot over one afternoon/evening.
Deadline: 10/25/09
Story Background: in the near future China has taken over the U.S. in a near bloodless conquest, in this new world vices such as alcohol, tobacco, and coffee are outlawed, thus becoming very valuable commodities in the underground economy.
Casting needs:
ASIAN MALE (any adult age) to play the local patrol officer.
MALE (any age/race, preferably bald/shaved head) to play a smuggler.
a few others of any age, type, gender to play patrons in the speakeasy.
contact:Mike at
mdemasi@chatham.edu
Black Boot Productions is currently casting all roles for the feature film, The Idea Thief. The film is a comedy about a struggling author’s personal battle against a plagiarist. Shooting is slated for summer, 2010.
Call For Actors! The Idea Thief
LEAD ROLES:
Joe: early thirties, slim and ordinary-looking. An easy-going guy, lately driven to emotional extremes by personal and professional difficulties.
Wendy: late twenties, slim and pretty in a girl-next-door way. Joe’s best friend. Supportive and intellectual, with a sarcastic sense of humor.
Pharaoh: early thirties, thick but not fat. A filmmaker with an eccentric personality. Impulsive, hyperactive, and very driven. Wears all black.
Stormy: early thirties, fat. A sloppy, beer-guzzling, oversized kid who wants nothing more than to drink, get laid, and goof off. He’s also as loyal as a golden retriever.
SUPPORTING ROLES:
Emily: late twenties, slender and pretty. Wendy’s lover. Lately very emotional after unwillingly breaking up with Wendy.
Mike: voice only. Joe’s spirit guide who gives him advice on life. Should have the polite, chipper voice of a good telemarketer.
Fred: Forties. Joe’s agent. Very businesslike—polite, but stiff.
Auditions will be held at Dee’s Café located at 1316 East Carson Street, Pgh, PA 15203 on Saturday, November 7th from 12:00 pm – 6:00pm.
For more information, contact Jon Skocik at724-531-0902or e-mail contactblackboot@gmail.com
Unfortunately, you just missed today's casting call for Extras in the wanabe blockbuster, Unstoppable
Actors Needed for Short Film
Vinegar Hill is looking for four actors needed to star in a short film in Indiana, PA later this month. Must be able to travel to Indiana PA for an audition October 23, rehearsal October 30th, and filming October 31st and November 1st.
ROLES:
§ Two Males, early 20s to early 30s
§ One Female, early 20s to early 30s
§ One Female, mid 30s to mid 50s
Please send head shot and resume to casting@vinegarhillpictures.com by Oct 19. No pay, but it is a great resume and reel builder!
CASTING Asian Actor and others for Student Short
Chatham U. MFA grad student looking for some actors for a short film shooting in early November. The movie is 3-5 minutes long and has no dialogue. Should shoot over one afternoon/evening.
Deadline: 10/25/09
Story Background: in the near future China has taken over the U.S. in a near bloodless conquest, in this new world vices such as alcohol, tobacco, and coffee are outlawed, thus becoming very valuable commodities in the underground economy.
Casting needs:
ASIAN MALE (any adult age) to play the local patrol officer.
MALE (any age/race, preferably bald/shaved head) to play a smuggler.
a few others of any age, type, gender to play patrons in the speakeasy.
contact:Mike at
mdemasi@chatham.edu
Black Boot Productions is currently casting all roles for the feature film, The Idea Thief. The film is a comedy about a struggling author’s personal battle against a plagiarist. Shooting is slated for summer, 2010.
Call For Actors! The Idea Thief
LEAD ROLES:
Joe: early thirties, slim and ordinary-looking. An easy-going guy, lately driven to emotional extremes by personal and professional difficulties.
Wendy: late twenties, slim and pretty in a girl-next-door way. Joe’s best friend. Supportive and intellectual, with a sarcastic sense of humor.
Pharaoh: early thirties, thick but not fat. A filmmaker with an eccentric personality. Impulsive, hyperactive, and very driven. Wears all black.
Stormy: early thirties, fat. A sloppy, beer-guzzling, oversized kid who wants nothing more than to drink, get laid, and goof off. He’s also as loyal as a golden retriever.
SUPPORTING ROLES:
Emily: late twenties, slender and pretty. Wendy’s lover. Lately very emotional after unwillingly breaking up with Wendy.
Mike: voice only. Joe’s spirit guide who gives him advice on life. Should have the polite, chipper voice of a good telemarketer.
Fred: Forties. Joe’s agent. Very businesslike—polite, but stiff.
Auditions will be held at Dee’s Café located at 1316 East Carson Street, Pgh, PA 15203 on Saturday, November 7th from 12:00 pm – 6:00pm.
For more information, contact Jon Skocik at724-531-0902or e-mail contactblackboot@gmail.com
Pittsburgh Art Events: 10/ 16-17/09.
Friday
"3-Way", the new exhibit at Fe Gallery (4102 Butler St, Lawrenceville), runs from 6-9 PM, and features the work of Anna Mikolay (Director of Education at the Mattress Factory), Josh Tonies, and Laura Tabakman. This non-profit venue typically shows art without regard to commercial imperatives, so there's a good chance you will see some stuff to make you go "hmmmm?!"
Have you had the opportunity to check out Maxo Vanka's murals at St. Nicholas Church in Millvale (24 Maryland Ave.)? If you haven't, this is the perfect chance- they are having a "50%-off flea market" this weekend. On Friday, it runs from 5-8PM and on Saturday, it's 8AM-2PM. Along with a dinner and a lunch, they are also welcoming people to tour the church itself.
Saturday
Spend the day (10AM-6PM) in Lawrenceville checking out artist studios. Despite the rapidly increasing price of real estate in this neighborhood, artists haven't (yet) been completely priced out. Although many of the participants are more of the "crafter" sort, you should take this opportunity to invade some strangers' spaces. Unlike the typical "house tour", this event is free. Make sure to stop by Encyclopedia Destructica (156 41st Street) to see where their magic is realized.
Apparently Shepherd Fairey is in town again, for his opening reception for "Supply and Demand" at the Andy Warhol Museum. The museum is encouraging all to come and meet the artist. I used to have a modicum of respect for Fairey... until I realized what a raging hypocrite he is. The guy has been freely appropriating the imagery of other creators for years, and in fact has built his career on the practice. So it galls me that he has sued others for so-called copyright infringement. Anyway you can meet him after 6PM, and meet his lawyers if you decide to appropriate his very own methods.
"3-Way", the new exhibit at Fe Gallery (4102 Butler St, Lawrenceville), runs from 6-9 PM, and features the work of Anna Mikolay (Director of Education at the Mattress Factory), Josh Tonies, and Laura Tabakman. This non-profit venue typically shows art without regard to commercial imperatives, so there's a good chance you will see some stuff to make you go "hmmmm?!"
Have you had the opportunity to check out Maxo Vanka's murals at St. Nicholas Church in Millvale (24 Maryland Ave.)? If you haven't, this is the perfect chance- they are having a "50%-off flea market" this weekend. On Friday, it runs from 5-8PM and on Saturday, it's 8AM-2PM. Along with a dinner and a lunch, they are also welcoming people to tour the church itself.
Saturday
Spend the day (10AM-6PM) in Lawrenceville checking out artist studios. Despite the rapidly increasing price of real estate in this neighborhood, artists haven't (yet) been completely priced out. Although many of the participants are more of the "crafter" sort, you should take this opportunity to invade some strangers' spaces. Unlike the typical "house tour", this event is free. Make sure to stop by Encyclopedia Destructica (156 41st Street) to see where their magic is realized.
Apparently Shepherd Fairey is in town again, for his opening reception for "Supply and Demand" at the Andy Warhol Museum. The museum is encouraging all to come and meet the artist. I used to have a modicum of respect for Fairey... until I realized what a raging hypocrite he is. The guy has been freely appropriating the imagery of other creators for years, and in fact has built his career on the practice. So it galls me that he has sued others for so-called copyright infringement. Anyway you can meet him after 6PM, and meet his lawyers if you decide to appropriate his very own methods.
Fist Fight Breaks Out Over Tom Murphy Legacy
Time doesn't seem to have changed the conflicted feelings people have about Pittsburgh's former mayor Tom Murphy.
Be back when I can with more thoughts. Follow all the links to hear the debate.
Be back when I can with more thoughts. Follow all the links to hear the debate.
3-WAY: An Exhibition By Three Pittsburgh Artists @ Fe Gallery
Sorry for the hasty cut and paste job here. The opening is tomorrow night, but you can also see the show on Saturday during the Lawrenceville Artist's Studio tour.
Remember, the gallery is now only open Thurs-Saturday, 12-3
Fe gallery is proud to present:
3-WAY
An exhibition by three Pittsburgh artists:
Anna Mikolay
Josh Tonies
Laura Tabakman
Opening Reception: October 16, Friday from 7-9pm
New Gallery Hours: Thurs-Sat 12-3pm
Dates: October 16- December 2, 2009
4102 Butler Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
412.860.6028
Free and Open to the Public
The exhibition includes individual bodies of work by three local
artists, along with a collaborative project. The artists, unfamiliar
with each other, were brought together by Fe's curator, Jill Larson,
and asked to create a site specific collaboration.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Holy Crap: Art Prize Draws Thousands To Grand Rapids
Ok, I didn't know anything at all about this, but I'll go out on a limb and say this is a potential game changer for the entire history of the state of Michigan and perhaps the entire "Rust Belt".
To set the stage here, the statistics and evidence show Michigan to be in at the very least a full blown depression bringing to mind words like disaster area and catastrophe.
"Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment inched up a tenth of a percentage point in September to 15.3 percent, state officials said Wednesday.
The figure compares with a 9.8 percent U.S. unemployment rate for the same month. The U.S. Bureau of Labor is scheduled to update the unemployment rates for all 50 states later this month, but Michigan has had the nation's highest unemployment rate since early 2006."
Grim, awfull; but it don't tell the half of it.
Following the link in the story, brings us this headine- "Discouragement over bleak job market shrank Michigan's labor force by 79,000 during last year."
Yes by the government's sick and obviously dishonest logic, people who are too discouraged to look for work, are not considered unemployed. However, it doesn't stop there a whole range of other people aren't counted in that figure either.
Above is a chart of the nationwide U6 unemployment rate.
The U6 rate includes
U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons.
But, Peter Schiff and others have pointed out that this figure also doesn't count a lot of people. If you own a "business or are self employed or an "independent contractor". You are not counted as unemployed. However, if your business is not doing well, you may have little or no income. Likewise, the retired are also seeing a huge decline in their savings.
Sorry, but it get's a lot worse. U6 unemployment/underemployment in Michigan, Oregon, California and Rhode Island is over 20%. Even by these criteria, Michigan is in a class by itself since it's had huge unemployment for many,many years.The main reason things aren't worse is that almost anyone with other options leaves the state.
"About 109,000 more people left Michigan last year than moved in. It is one of the worst rates in the nation, quadruple the loss of just eight years ago. The state loses a family every 12 minutes, and the families who are leaving -- young, well-educated high-income earners -- are the people the state desperately needs to rebuild.
Long treated as a symptom of Michigan's economic woes, outmigration has exploded into a massive problem of its own, a slow-motion Katrina splintering families, gutting state coffers and crippling an already hobbled economy, one moving van at a time."
I'll try to stop there but if you google.
Michigan Bankruptcy Rate
Michigan Foreclosure Rate
Michigan Homeless Stats
Or a long list of other measures, you will see a lot of bad stuff. Don't click images without some morphine on hand.
With all this in mind and in light of the years and billions spent efforts by the state, local and federal government to "fix things"; one wouldn't have guessed $500,000 dollars put up by a private individual as award money in an "American Idol style" art contest would have had much impact.
"Unprepared for the surge in ArtPrize visitors, some restaurants ran out of food and were forced to close early. Others stuck to their policy of being closed Sundays.
"Nobody had any clue this would happen," Doug Small, president of the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Wednesday.
Few hotels tracked ArtPrize traffic, Small said. Because the summer travel season was over and no other major events were taking place in the area, he said it's likely many extra hotel guests were there because of ArtPrize."
I will try to follow up on this.
To set the stage here, the statistics and evidence show Michigan to be in at the very least a full blown depression bringing to mind words like disaster area and catastrophe.
"Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment inched up a tenth of a percentage point in September to 15.3 percent, state officials said Wednesday.
The figure compares with a 9.8 percent U.S. unemployment rate for the same month. The U.S. Bureau of Labor is scheduled to update the unemployment rates for all 50 states later this month, but Michigan has had the nation's highest unemployment rate since early 2006."
Grim, awfull; but it don't tell the half of it.
Following the link in the story, brings us this headine- "Discouragement over bleak job market shrank Michigan's labor force by 79,000 during last year."
Yes by the government's sick and obviously dishonest logic, people who are too discouraged to look for work, are not considered unemployed. However, it doesn't stop there a whole range of other people aren't counted in that figure either.
Above is a chart of the nationwide U6 unemployment rate.
The U6 rate includes
U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons.
But, Peter Schiff and others have pointed out that this figure also doesn't count a lot of people. If you own a "business or are self employed or an "independent contractor". You are not counted as unemployed. However, if your business is not doing well, you may have little or no income. Likewise, the retired are also seeing a huge decline in their savings.
Sorry, but it get's a lot worse. U6 unemployment/underemployment in Michigan, Oregon, California and Rhode Island is over 20%. Even by these criteria, Michigan is in a class by itself since it's had huge unemployment for many,many years.The main reason things aren't worse is that almost anyone with other options leaves the state.
"About 109,000 more people left Michigan last year than moved in. It is one of the worst rates in the nation, quadruple the loss of just eight years ago. The state loses a family every 12 minutes, and the families who are leaving -- young, well-educated high-income earners -- are the people the state desperately needs to rebuild.
Long treated as a symptom of Michigan's economic woes, outmigration has exploded into a massive problem of its own, a slow-motion Katrina splintering families, gutting state coffers and crippling an already hobbled economy, one moving van at a time."
I'll try to stop there but if you google.
Michigan Bankruptcy Rate
Michigan Foreclosure Rate
Michigan Homeless Stats
Or a long list of other measures, you will see a lot of bad stuff. Don't click images without some morphine on hand.
With all this in mind and in light of the years and billions spent efforts by the state, local and federal government to "fix things"; one wouldn't have guessed $500,000 dollars put up by a private individual as award money in an "American Idol style" art contest would have had much impact.
"Unprepared for the surge in ArtPrize visitors, some restaurants ran out of food and were forced to close early. Others stuck to their policy of being closed Sundays.
"Nobody had any clue this would happen," Doug Small, president of the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Wednesday.
Few hotels tracked ArtPrize traffic, Small said. Because the summer travel season was over and no other major events were taking place in the area, he said it's likely many extra hotel guests were there because of ArtPrize."
I will try to follow up on this.
Pittsburgh Legend Bruno Sammartino
I know this might seem like chaos having little or nothing to do with Pittsburgh's art scene, Bruno, who came to Pittsburgh as a boy is an iconic legend with a truely American life story.
Broken kneck, multiple back surgeries, knee surgery. This guy paid the price of greatness.
Check out this second interview. I swear I didn't put this up as a joke. This is a great story and Bruno is a great man.
He mentions the conflict in the interview, between wrestling's identity as just a staged circus act, and his desire to be seen as a serious athlete demonstrating fantastic strength, speed, agility and skill.
"Sammartino made his professional debut in Pittsburgh on December 17, 1959, pinning Dmitri Grabowski in 19 seconds. [2] On December 23, he defeated Miguel Torres, for the local Spectator Sports promotion, in Pittsburgh. He soon became extremely popular. The name of the local TV wrestling program was Studio Wrestling and it was broadcast on WIIC-TV Channel 11. The host was Pittsburgh personality Bill Cardille.
In 1966, Sammartino bought the Pittsburgh-based Spectator Sports promotion. The promotion was a stopping point for national stars such as Gorilla Monsoon, The Crusher, Bill Watts, George Steele, and Bobo Brazil, as well as featuring local talent like Johnny De Fazio, Frank "Carnegie Cop" Holtz, Hurricane Hunt, Tony "The Battman" Marino, and John L. Sullivan (who later gained fame as Johnny Valiant). Although there were no major problems, Sammartino sold the company in 1971. He was later asked by the new Buffalo-based owners to help with the booking of Pittsburgh area shows. The local TV show was canceled in 1974, and the promotion shut down. The Pittsburgh area then became part of the WWWF territory."
Lou Albano Dies: Cyndy Lauper Still Having Fun
One of the great, great, greats has passed. Not really joking about this either. This is money made the old fashioned way.
Capt Lou is the father in this classic Cyndy Lauper music video
"Following the encouragement of fellow wrestler(and Pittsburgher) Bruno Sammartino, Albano transitioned from wrestling to announcing.[3] He transformed himself into the brash, bombastic manager Captain Lou Albano. With a quick wit and a grating personality, Albano delivered memorable promos that made him wrestling's most villainous manager. He earned the scorn of the wrestling audience as he attempted to dethrone World Wide Wrestling Federation superstar and WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino. In 1971, Albano achieved his objective when "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff ended Sammartino's seven year reign as champion.[3] For the remainder of the 1970s, Albano's cadre of loyal henchmen were unable to resecure the championship once Sammartino won it back."
Scott Fertig's Artist Tributes Blog
I was doing research for a post about the Henry Koener show at Chatham and stumbled on a great blog Scott Fertig "Dedicated to great artists who seem to be underserved on the internet." There are not a whole lot of posts but they focus mostly on artists's with some connection to Pittsburgh and Scott Fertig's life.
A few tributes Scott put up.
Joe Gregory
Michael Taylor
Ronald Hall
Sally Balick
Edward Sorel
Henry Koener
Anatoly Dverin
Speaking of Tributes, the blog died far too young just like Scott. (who I never met)But luckily his website is still up with some good documentation of his work.
"But Scott Fertig had a passion for faces, drawing caricatures both professionally and as a favorite pastime. Mr. Fertig, a Bon Air native who lived in Arlington, Va., died Friday of cancer. He was 41.
"Scott went everywhere with a drawing pad and paper," said his brother, Todd Fertig, of Jersey City, N.J. "He was drawing faces all the time and noticed similarities and forms that other people wouldn't notice."
Beyond caricatures, he also sold portraits and murals and had other artwork featured in galleries in both Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. His most prominent public artwork is the Times Project Wholey Warehouse Mural of a 1957 Chevy at 16th Street and Penn Avenue in the Strip District.
In 2002, the Washington Post wrote a feature story on Mr. Fertig, noting his habit of setting up shop at a local Starbucks and secretly drawing those around him."
Scott also had a nice blog of his caracatures and sketches.
Spend some time on the website. A lot of nice work there. I hope very much that the website and blogs stay up. It appears his family is doing that.
A few tributes Scott put up.
Joe Gregory
Michael Taylor
Ronald Hall
Sally Balick
Edward Sorel
Henry Koener
Anatoly Dverin
Speaking of Tributes, the blog died far too young just like Scott. (who I never met)But luckily his website is still up with some good documentation of his work.
"But Scott Fertig had a passion for faces, drawing caricatures both professionally and as a favorite pastime. Mr. Fertig, a Bon Air native who lived in Arlington, Va., died Friday of cancer. He was 41.
"Scott went everywhere with a drawing pad and paper," said his brother, Todd Fertig, of Jersey City, N.J. "He was drawing faces all the time and noticed similarities and forms that other people wouldn't notice."
Beyond caricatures, he also sold portraits and murals and had other artwork featured in galleries in both Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. His most prominent public artwork is the Times Project Wholey Warehouse Mural of a 1957 Chevy at 16th Street and Penn Avenue in the Strip District.
In 2002, the Washington Post wrote a feature story on Mr. Fertig, noting his habit of setting up shop at a local Starbucks and secretly drawing those around him."
Scott also had a nice blog of his caracatures and sketches.
Spend some time on the website. A lot of nice work there. I hope very much that the website and blogs stay up. It appears his family is doing that.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Luxury Goods and Art Markets Shift Towards Asia
I've speculated a few times on this blog about the effect China and India's rising wealth and spending power might have on the art world of the future. I'm pasting in this previous post in full without it's videos.
"If you watched any Olympic coverage, you got a nice visual display of the awesome transformation of Asia.This is not just a one city illusion, looked at by the numbers, Asia's rising trade surpluses, huge savings rates and currency surpluses demonstrate a vast potential spending power, most of which has yet to be unleashed. China for example has gone to great lengths to keep it's currency far lower than the market would, depressing it's citizens spending power.
The other thing that came across was the almost violent pride, that has developed in in China and it's similar in India-- which is starting to be seen in the exploding interest in Asian art.
I wonder about the place American Art, now plays in art history and the art market. In the post war world, we were the sun, everything seemed to revolve around us, especially the art market. The message in art history books was that all the paths of history lead to us, which was funny since a lot of the modernist movement, came from artists inspired by non western art."
Today's Times did a story about the staggering growth of China's luxury goods market and the efforts of Auction Houses to cash in on it.
"Christie’s and its rival Sotheby’s say that in the last few years Hong Kong has emerged as a top location for sales of expensive jewelry, gems and fine wines. Asians have also become major buyers of ultraluxury goods at their auctions in London, New York and Geneva."
Rolls Royce had the pleasant surprise of seeing 20 immediate orders for it's 250,000 Ghost despite taxes that double the price.
The story only touches on the art market. It seems so hard to separate, the value of art from the symbolism it represents. A Warhol soup can or Marilyn was an icon of an iconic age.In the same way the dynamic power of the "big dick" American abstract expressionists has come to symbolise America's power in the 1950's. Suppose we didn't have a big one back then? Would our art have been taken so seriously? Everything about American art and culture was seen as important partly because we were important. Will it always be so?
"If you watched any Olympic coverage, you got a nice visual display of the awesome transformation of Asia.This is not just a one city illusion, looked at by the numbers, Asia's rising trade surpluses, huge savings rates and currency surpluses demonstrate a vast potential spending power, most of which has yet to be unleashed. China for example has gone to great lengths to keep it's currency far lower than the market would, depressing it's citizens spending power.
The other thing that came across was the almost violent pride, that has developed in in China and it's similar in India-- which is starting to be seen in the exploding interest in Asian art.
I wonder about the place American Art, now plays in art history and the art market. In the post war world, we were the sun, everything seemed to revolve around us, especially the art market. The message in art history books was that all the paths of history lead to us, which was funny since a lot of the modernist movement, came from artists inspired by non western art."
Today's Times did a story about the staggering growth of China's luxury goods market and the efforts of Auction Houses to cash in on it.
"Christie’s and its rival Sotheby’s say that in the last few years Hong Kong has emerged as a top location for sales of expensive jewelry, gems and fine wines. Asians have also become major buyers of ultraluxury goods at their auctions in London, New York and Geneva."
Rolls Royce had the pleasant surprise of seeing 20 immediate orders for it's 250,000 Ghost despite taxes that double the price.
The story only touches on the art market. It seems so hard to separate, the value of art from the symbolism it represents. A Warhol soup can or Marilyn was an icon of an iconic age.In the same way the dynamic power of the "big dick" American abstract expressionists has come to symbolise America's power in the 1950's. Suppose we didn't have a big one back then? Would our art have been taken so seriously? Everything about American art and culture was seen as important partly because we were important. Will it always be so?
Open Thread Regional Review’s Open Reading Period Closes Nov. 1st!
Regular readers know I'm obsessed with the Pittsburgh art scene's extreme issolation from the outside world.
Yes, It's relatively easy to show your work here but very hard to make even regional connections without leaving the area entirely.This problem seems to be mirored by the even greater issolation of artists in West Virginia and Ohio. It doesn't have to be this way.
Anyway, print and online media are easy ways to try to break this loop
The Regional Review is a publication of Open Thread, a new regional arts organization based out of Pittsburgh. Open Thread seeks to establish frameworks for artistic discovery in the tri-state area, providing local artists, writers, performers, and vendors with opportunities for publication, performance, or exhibition.
October 8th, 2009 Adam Atkinson The open reading period for Volume Two of the Open Thread Regional Review closes on Sunday, November 1st at midnight! We’re considering unsolicited poems, stories, essays, paintings, drawings, prints, photos, video stills, documentation of 3-D work, comics, and mixed media and genres!
Who’s eligible? Any native or current resident of Open Thread’s target region: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Eligible writers and artists must also be in the early stages of a career in their respective field.
Here’s how to submit: go to www.openthread.org, register as an Open Thread member (free!), and then upload your work at www.openthread.org/submit! Be sure to read carefully: preference is given to work that meets our submission guidelines.
The Open Thread Regional Review is an essential collection of the region’s best emerging art and literature. Volume Two is scheduled for release in early 2010 and is supported in part by a Seed Award from The Sprout Fund. Volume One is available for purchase at www.openthread.org/publications.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am and is filed under Call For Submissions, Ohio, Open Thread, Pennsylvania, Publications, West Virginia . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Google Trike Now Mapping Off Road!
Most of are already pretty aware of Google's Street View but what about the world of dirt roads, alley's and bike paths where cars can't go.
"They go on to say that the best part about this new dataset is that we’ve been able to add a lot of new, detailed information to Google Maps - information that helps people better explore and get around the real world. For example, college students will be pleased to see maps of many campuses; and cyclists will now find many more trails and paths to explore. Soon we even plan on providing you with biking directions to take advantage of this new data. Of course, in the true Google spirit of “launch and iterate,” we plan to work with more data sources to add new features in the map.
Although no date is set, this is a much needed, and long over due function that will be a boon to cyclists and cycling. Oftentimes, the best driving directions are not the best roads to take a ride on. Also, since Google currently doesn’t have trail data, if you are looking for biking directions, and click “Walk There,” there is a chance that it will send you up E Carson St instead of the South Side Trail, for instance."
I'm waiting very eagerly for Google Bedroom View!
"They go on to say that the best part about this new dataset is that we’ve been able to add a lot of new, detailed information to Google Maps - information that helps people better explore and get around the real world. For example, college students will be pleased to see maps of many campuses; and cyclists will now find many more trails and paths to explore. Soon we even plan on providing you with biking directions to take advantage of this new data. Of course, in the true Google spirit of “launch and iterate,” we plan to work with more data sources to add new features in the map.
Although no date is set, this is a much needed, and long over due function that will be a boon to cyclists and cycling. Oftentimes, the best driving directions are not the best roads to take a ride on. Also, since Google currently doesn’t have trail data, if you are looking for biking directions, and click “Walk There,” there is a chance that it will send you up E Carson St instead of the South Side Trail, for instance."
I'm waiting very eagerly for Google Bedroom View!
Artist's Open Studio Weekend
This weekend of events and happenings includes some great opportunities to see (and perhaps buy) artists work in their studios and work spaces.
The fifth annual Lawrenceville artist's studio tour on Saturday will open 16 artists work spaces and let you see work from video and performance, to traditional stained glass, textiles, sculpture and pottery.
Just download the PDF for a map.
My personal must sees would likely include the studios of
Connie Cantor
Encyclopedia Destructica
Ron Donoughe
Dan Gasser
But the Casey and Rachel Hallas studio looks very interesting.
I'm a little bummed, that Tugboat Press isn't opening up.
Then on Sunday
On Sunday, consider popping into Open studio event of Susan Constance and Christine Bethea in Bloomfield.
Orange Balloons, an aRt-O-noMic open studio event
Bloomfield, 4073 Liberty Ave – 2nd floor
Sunday, October 18, 2008: 12PM – 6PM
Now for my rant!
People familiar with the art scene and geography of Pittsburgh might guess that one could easily put together an amazing Bloomfield/Garfield/Lawrenceville open studio/ art weekend or something which could easily include 30 different art studios and galleries.
Don't hold your breath on that one.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Charles "Teenie" Harris at the Carnegie til Nov 1st
(Photo from Carnegie Museum of Art website)If you have even a passing interest in photography, don't miss this exhibit . Pathos, humor,beauty, composition. It is all there. Pittsburgher Charles Teenie Harris has become more and more famous in recent years: There is a book of his work titled "One Shot" , a contemporary dance piece by Ronald K. Brown/Evidence that won rave reviews from the New York Times, and an ongoing series of exhibits at the Carnegie. The Carnegie owns most (or all?) of the late Mr. Harris's negatives and is archiving them and identifying those in the iamges as best they can.
I loved this exhibit, which literally led me to tear up. I actually haven't yet looked at the accompanying photos by Pittsburgh area children, but will on my next visit.
Here is the write up from the CMOA website about the exhibit:
"Documenting Our Past: The Teenie Harris Archive Project, Part Three
Through November 1
Forum Gallery
In honor of the 101st birthday of the great chronicler of African American life in Pittsburgh, this exhibition pairs classic photographs by Charles “Teenie” Harris with prize-winning snapshots by children living in Pittsburgh neighborhoods today. Following in the footsteps of the legendary Teenie Harris, these local children have photographed the meaningful people, places, and things in their lives. In keeping with the theme of a child’s vision of Pittsburgh, the Teenie Harris images are selected by his son Charles A. Harris, including scenes of his own childhood. The children’s work is sponsored by the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and the citywide “Gathering of Peace” antiviolence initiative.
Vintage prints and negatives in the Teenie Harris Archive were acquired with funds provided by the Heinz Family Fund, the Second Century Acquisition Fund, Milton and Nancy Washington, and by gift of the artist and the Harris Estate. General support for museum programs is provided by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Heinz Endowments, and Allegheny County Regional Asset District. Cataloging and scanning of the Teenie Harris Archive is supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for Preserving and Creating Access to Humanities Collections. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities."
For the NY Times Review of Ronald K. Brown/Evidence piece "One Shot" see here:
(Note this work was performed in Pittsburgh this past April).
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Aaron Gorson: Painter of Pittsburgh's Industrial Scenes
Henry Gorson: 1872-1933.An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Gorson Mill Painting Centerpiece of Auction" inspired me to do this brief entry. You can read the article, which includes interesting information about Gorson's ties to the local Jewish community here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09280/1003450-437.stm
And additional images of Gorson's work can be found here:http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=aaron+Gorson+paintings&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Some stuff that I am doing (shameless self promotion post)
October is always a busy month for the arts. This month's first Friday is a good example. On October 2, there were gallery crawls in Downtown, on Penn Avenue and in Shadyside. It's a good thing that galleries have regular hours so that you can catch all of those shows that you missed on opening night. Right?
Unblurred
Click on images for detail
I have a two-person show at Most Wanted Fine Art during the month of October. Above, far left, is an installation shot from the gallery. The works on display are from the Unreal Spaces series and are some of my newest works. T.I.N.A. is the artist that I am showing with (center image). His work is very political/commentary/social. Interesting is that he is using a pochoir technique for producing original multiples. The exhibit is at --
MOST WANTED FINE ART - 5015 PENN AVE.
T.I.N.A. and Susan Constanse displaying their newest images just in time for the "G-20 reply". Meet the artists Friday night! Please stop by the space or make an appointment Wed-Fri 1PM-6PM, search "MWFA" on www.youtube.com.
While I was on Penn Avenue for the October Unblurred event, I didn't really get out to take a look at the other exhibits. I did pop across the street to Artica to say hello and was pleasantly surprised to find a collection of Vanessa German's assemblages (far right).
Orange Balloons, an aRt-O-noMic open studio event
I like having open studios. It gives me a chance to show off my newest work. My studio is such a great big place that I always ask a few artists if they would like to bring some work in and set up in the studio for the day. This year, in addition to my wonderful studio mate, Christine Bethea, Michelle Gregio and Laurenty Josep will be joining us for the day.
How do you find us? We are near the Bloomfield end of the Bloomfield Bridge, next door to Iron Eden and across the street from Paul Lumber. Look for the orange balloons!
Orange Balloons, an aRt-O-noMic open studio event
Bloomfield, 4073 Liberty Ave – 2nd floor
Sunday, October 18, 2008: 12PM – 6PM
soulpurpose
This little show in 709 Gallery ended up being a really terrific survey. The work presented is from a wide range of artists whose practices include glass, painting, drawing, assemblage and collage. The exhibit was meant to showcase Pittsburgh artists to the dignitaries and luminaries visiting our fair city for the G-20 Summit. But that doesn't mean that we, as citizens of this fair city, can't enjoy the selection too.
Christiane Leach
Vanessa German (foreground)
Susan Constanse
Installation, left wall
Josh Hogan
Christine Bethea
soulpurpose, 709 Penn Gallery, Closing reception, November 6
The Trust’s Education and Community Engagement Department will also host a survey of 15 local artists in an exhibition and sale called “soulpurpose: Local Artists Showcase.” The exhibition at 709 Penn Gallery will run Friday, September 11, through Friday, November 6, 2009. Participating artists include: Leslie Ansley, Christine Bethea, Margaret Burley, Susan Constanse, John Flatz, Vanessa German, Rita Gregory, Gary Guydosh, Josh Hogan, LaVerne Kemp, Christiane Leach, Saihou Njie, Sandra Moore, Susan Ragland, Mark Traughber and Richelle Wilson.
Unblurred
Click on images for detail
I have a two-person show at Most Wanted Fine Art during the month of October. Above, far left, is an installation shot from the gallery. The works on display are from the Unreal Spaces series and are some of my newest works. T.I.N.A. is the artist that I am showing with (center image). His work is very political/commentary/social. Interesting is that he is using a pochoir technique for producing original multiples. The exhibit is at --
MOST WANTED FINE ART - 5015 PENN AVE.
T.I.N.A. and Susan Constanse displaying their newest images just in time for the "G-20 reply". Meet the artists Friday night! Please stop by the space or make an appointment Wed-Fri 1PM-6PM, search "MWFA" on www.youtube.com.
While I was on Penn Avenue for the October Unblurred event, I didn't really get out to take a look at the other exhibits. I did pop across the street to Artica to say hello and was pleasantly surprised to find a collection of Vanessa German's assemblages (far right).
Orange Balloons, an aRt-O-noMic open studio event
I like having open studios. It gives me a chance to show off my newest work. My studio is such a great big place that I always ask a few artists if they would like to bring some work in and set up in the studio for the day. This year, in addition to my wonderful studio mate, Christine Bethea, Michelle Gregio and Laurenty Josep will be joining us for the day.
How do you find us? We are near the Bloomfield end of the Bloomfield Bridge, next door to Iron Eden and across the street from Paul Lumber. Look for the orange balloons!
Orange Balloons, an aRt-O-noMic open studio event
Bloomfield, 4073 Liberty Ave – 2nd floor
Sunday, October 18, 2008: 12PM – 6PM
soulpurpose
This little show in 709 Gallery ended up being a really terrific survey. The work presented is from a wide range of artists whose practices include glass, painting, drawing, assemblage and collage. The exhibit was meant to showcase Pittsburgh artists to the dignitaries and luminaries visiting our fair city for the G-20 Summit. But that doesn't mean that we, as citizens of this fair city, can't enjoy the selection too.
Christiane Leach
Vanessa German (foreground)
Susan Constanse
Installation, left wall
Josh Hogan
Christine Bethea
soulpurpose, 709 Penn Gallery, Closing reception, November 6
The Trust’s Education and Community Engagement Department will also host a survey of 15 local artists in an exhibition and sale called “soulpurpose: Local Artists Showcase.” The exhibition at 709 Penn Gallery will run Friday, September 11, through Friday, November 6, 2009. Participating artists include: Leslie Ansley, Christine Bethea, Margaret Burley, Susan Constanse, John Flatz, Vanessa German, Rita Gregory, Gary Guydosh, Josh Hogan, LaVerne Kemp, Christiane Leach, Saihou Njie, Sandra Moore, Susan Ragland, Mark Traughber and Richelle Wilson.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Pittsburgh Weekend Events: 10/2-3/09.
Friday
Is this the night of the seasonal Downtown gallery crawl in the Cultural District? It sure is, and naturally it falls right smack dab on the same night as Unblurred. What a surprise! The shower of events in the midst of the Golden Triangle gets under way at 5:30PM.
937 Liberty has a a group show of work focusing on a single object (I hear tell this will contain multiple perspectives on "rope"). The folks behind it belong to The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society Of Media Photographers, which means that they get paid to make their images. That's cool. That must mean they are legitimate. Don't hold that against them.
SPACE (812 Liberty Avenue) is unveiling some "high-concept" project called Transfer Lounge, described as "a unique opportunity for artists from different parts of the world (from what I can gather- Valencia, Spain and Pittsburgh) to actively exchange their views and ideas around issues of mobility and transition." Unfortunately this tells me virtually nothing about what you might see if you make a visit.
Don't forget Soulpurpose at the 707/709 Galleries (Penn Avenue). The G20 might be over, but you can still see at least one curator's ideas about a balanced representation of local artists. Apparently Jen Cooney's "The Secret Lives of Stories" is still at 707, and this would be the single compelling reason for me to venture Downtown on a Friday evening. I saw her work a couple of years ago when the PCA and Filmmakers jointly hosted their Biennial, and it was easy to get caught up in her visual world. She seems to love Bigfoot, and for this reason alone, I must someday meet her.
Finally, I want to mention that a French Artist is showing installation art "highlighting simultaneously both the simplicity and the complexity of reality" (emphasis mine, quote theirs) at the Wood Street galleries. And that wraps up one crawl!
If you're going to Unblurred instead, consider dropping in on the Friendship Development Associates' birthday bash at 6PM. Be aware that this does cost money ($7 in advance, or $10 at the door). With all the free stuff going on this night, I'm sure the lines for beer won't be excessively long.
Despite what some other media sources are saying, Rick Byerly is reporting that the Rob Larson/Mike Egan collaboration is opening at Modern Formations (4919 Penn Avenue)
on Friday night. These guys have both appeared in the gallery before, so I know they are worth a stop. Egan does simple day-of-the-dead inspired paintings, and Larson appears to employ stencils and photographic prints extensively. It'll surely be an interesting mix.
Other Unblurred highlights include images from Susan Constance at Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn Ave), glass work by Sheila Klein at the Pittsburgh Glass Center (5472 Penn Ave), a 3D exhibit of Joseph Materkowski's abstract paintings at FAST>>FWRD (3700 Penn Ave), an Autumn "ensemble" at SPACE (4823 Penn Avenue), and a collection of stuff over at Garfield Artworks that includes (among others) multimedia creators Becky Corrigan and Evan Knauer. Whew.
Of course Shadyside has their version of First Friday too, so you can go and check out a reception for Cliff Enright's watercolors over at Mendelson Gallery (5874 Ellsworth Avenue). They are rather bright abstracts that contain a broad enough palette to match any decor. Meanwhile Cory Rockwood has some more of his "Painted Shaped Canvassesd" over at Gallerie Chiz (5831 Ellsworth Avenue). I've seen some of his works over at Moxie Dada, and I enjoy their subtlety. Rockwood shares the space with Ryder Henry, whose futuristic cityscape paintings impressed me very much during this past August's Visionary Arts Fest in Schenley Plaza.
As if the concordance of art events during first Fridays in Pittsurgh isn't already overwhelming, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (in the heart of East Liberty) is having a roll-out/call for artists for "Go East!", that is evidently seeking to compete with the other two regular monthly extravaganzas. They promise " A combination of live music, dance, theatre, film, spoken word, and more...crafts marketplace, music, free food and drink." Make sure to bring samples of your work on CD/DVD if you are interested in participating in such future events.
And if you happen to be in the Homestead area, you'll be close by the Pump House & Water tower, where four artists (including former Digging Pitt regular and current blog contributor Jean McClung) will display their work inspired by the Carrie Blast Furnaces (see Bittersweet Harvest for some previews).
Saturday
Another exhibition space is opening this weekend in Squirrel Hill, to join the ranks of Sirani Gallery on Forbes. The Christine Frechard Gallery (5871 Forbes Avenue) will feature emerging, as well as international artists, and their grand inaugural celebration kicks off between 5-9PM with a group show of locals, including the very talented Aimee Manion (another veteran of VAF). If I had my way I'd already own one of her paintings, but I fear she's quickly leaving my price range.
Pitsburgh Society of Artists is having their annual show at Borelli Edwards in Lawrenceville (3583 Butler Street). The opening reception is from 6-8:30PM. I was too busy to submit anything, but that doesn't mean I won't stop by.
Is this the night of the seasonal Downtown gallery crawl in the Cultural District? It sure is, and naturally it falls right smack dab on the same night as Unblurred. What a surprise! The shower of events in the midst of the Golden Triangle gets under way at 5:30PM.
937 Liberty has a a group show of work focusing on a single object (I hear tell this will contain multiple perspectives on "rope"). The folks behind it belong to The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society Of Media Photographers, which means that they get paid to make their images. That's cool. That must mean they are legitimate. Don't hold that against them.
SPACE (812 Liberty Avenue) is unveiling some "high-concept" project called Transfer Lounge, described as "a unique opportunity for artists from different parts of the world (from what I can gather- Valencia, Spain and Pittsburgh) to actively exchange their views and ideas around issues of mobility and transition." Unfortunately this tells me virtually nothing about what you might see if you make a visit.
Don't forget Soulpurpose at the 707/709 Galleries (Penn Avenue). The G20 might be over, but you can still see at least one curator's ideas about a balanced representation of local artists. Apparently Jen Cooney's "The Secret Lives of Stories" is still at 707, and this would be the single compelling reason for me to venture Downtown on a Friday evening. I saw her work a couple of years ago when the PCA and Filmmakers jointly hosted their Biennial, and it was easy to get caught up in her visual world. She seems to love Bigfoot, and for this reason alone, I must someday meet her.
Finally, I want to mention that a French Artist is showing installation art "highlighting simultaneously both the simplicity and the complexity of reality" (emphasis mine, quote theirs) at the Wood Street galleries. And that wraps up one crawl!
If you're going to Unblurred instead, consider dropping in on the Friendship Development Associates' birthday bash at 6PM. Be aware that this does cost money ($7 in advance, or $10 at the door). With all the free stuff going on this night, I'm sure the lines for beer won't be excessively long.
Despite what some other media sources are saying, Rick Byerly is reporting that the Rob Larson/Mike Egan collaboration is opening at Modern Formations (4919 Penn Avenue)
on Friday night. These guys have both appeared in the gallery before, so I know they are worth a stop. Egan does simple day-of-the-dead inspired paintings, and Larson appears to employ stencils and photographic prints extensively. It'll surely be an interesting mix.
Other Unblurred highlights include images from Susan Constance at Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn Ave), glass work by Sheila Klein at the Pittsburgh Glass Center (5472 Penn Ave), a 3D exhibit of Joseph Materkowski's abstract paintings at FAST>>FWRD (3700 Penn Ave), an Autumn "ensemble" at
Of course Shadyside has their version of First Friday too, so you can go and check out a reception for Cliff Enright's watercolors over at Mendelson Gallery (5874 Ellsworth Avenue). They are rather bright abstracts that contain a broad enough palette to match any decor. Meanwhile Cory Rockwood has some more of his "Painted Shaped Canvassesd" over at Gallerie Chiz (5831 Ellsworth Avenue). I've seen some of his works over at Moxie Dada, and I enjoy their subtlety. Rockwood shares the space with Ryder Henry, whose futuristic cityscape paintings impressed me very much during this past August's Visionary Arts Fest in Schenley Plaza.
As if the concordance of art events during first Fridays in Pittsurgh isn't already overwhelming, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (in the heart of East Liberty) is having a roll-out/call for artists for "Go East!", that is evidently seeking to compete with the other two regular monthly extravaganzas. They promise " A combination of live music, dance, theatre, film, spoken word, and more...crafts marketplace, music, free food and drink." Make sure to bring samples of your work on CD/DVD if you are interested in participating in such future events.
And if you happen to be in the Homestead area, you'll be close by the Pump House & Water tower, where four artists (including former Digging Pitt regular and current blog contributor Jean McClung) will display their work inspired by the Carrie Blast Furnaces (see Bittersweet Harvest for some previews).
Saturday
Another exhibition space is opening this weekend in Squirrel Hill, to join the ranks of Sirani Gallery on Forbes. The Christine Frechard Gallery (5871 Forbes Avenue) will feature emerging, as well as international artists, and their grand inaugural celebration kicks off between 5-9PM with a group show of locals, including the very talented Aimee Manion (another veteran of VAF). If I had my way I'd already own one of her paintings, but I fear she's quickly leaving my price range.
Pitsburgh Society of Artists is having their annual show at Borelli Edwards in Lawrenceville (3583 Butler Street). The opening reception is from 6-8:30PM. I was too busy to submit anything, but that doesn't mean I won't stop by.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
