12/23/14 - 12/31/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Note: Weekly news again dominated by police brutality and abuse issues. Hopefully, this will not always be the case.

Pittsburgh

Theft count upheld against Pittsburgh police detective (Action 4 News)

Western Pennsylvania police chief gets lucrative buyout, despite scathing report (Pennsylvania Independent)

Fights close Monroeville Mall (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Pittsburgh based bike Magazine, Urban Vello shuts down (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Penn Avenue in Garfield reopens to two way traffic after years of construction (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Beaver County, Pennsylvania

Ohioville borough's former police chief falsified and forged records to increase state aid (Pennsylvania Independent)

Cleveland

Cleveland NAACP calls emergency meeting of lawyers to address police misconduct, protect protestors (Cleveland.com)

Evaluation of officer who killed 12 year old, Tamir Rice, raised many red flags

Cleveland's "I can't breath" police case happened four years ago (Cleveland.com)

Cleveland police union defends fired cop, saying others did far worse (Cleveland.com)

East Cleveland cell phone service provider cuts off service for non-payment as city considers bankruptcy (Kentucky.com)

Operator of Cincinnati and Cleveland casinos on the brink of bankruptcy (Cincinnati.com)

Filmmakers launch Kickstarter for documentary about Cleveland's Swingo's Celebrity Inn (Cleveland Scene)

Review: Kirk Mangus/ Things Love survey show of the late Ohio ceramicist @ MOCA Cleveland (Art Hopper)

Other Pennsylvania Urbanism and Transit news

10 charged in major PennDOT corruption probe (Philly.com)

Pennsylvania legislator  used taxpayer dollars to advance his acting career (The Morning Call)

Pennsylvania considers handing York School District to charter operator (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Other Police Abuse, Corruption and Civil Liberties news

Rand Paul will bring up police militarization in Senate next year (BuzzFeed News)

Horrifying civil liberties predictions for 2015 (Washington Post)

Two architects of "broken widows" policing go on the defensive (CityLab)

Tension rises after police shoot another black teen near Ferguson, Missouri (Reuters)

Off duty, black cops in NY feel threat from fellow police (Reuters)

No charges against Lodi California police in killing of mentally ill man (CBS Sacramento)

New Mexico cop arrested for Christmas Eve sexual assault (New York Daily News)

Alleged towing kickbacks land Miami cops in hot water (Miami Herald)

Ex-Baltimore cop alleges retaliation for reporting police brutality  (Reason)

In Brooklyn gun cases, suspicion turns to the police (The New York Times)

Family of toddler injured in Georgia Swat raid faces over $1 million in medical bills (Think Progress)

Washington state police gain more military firepower (Seattle Times)

Want to cut down on police brutality? Make police pay for their own misbehavior (The Week)

The NYC police union has a long history of bullying City Hall (CityLab)

E-Cig users and vapers need to join anti-drug war movement (Huffington Post)

Drug War fuels rather than fights crime (StandardSpeaker.com)

Law enforcement now inspecting sewage for clues about community drug use

Other Urbanism and Transit news

New Jersey is a terrible place for small businesses, analysis finds (NJ.com)

"Social urbanism" experiment breaths new life into Columbia's Medellin (The Globe and Mail)

The smartest cities rely on citizen cunning and unglamorous technology (The Guardian)

Rise in loans linked to cars is hurting poor (The New York Times)

Florida passes New York to become the 3rd most populous state (US Census Bureau)

San Diego urbanism took a beating in 2014 (Opinion) (Voice of San Diego)

2014's dumbest local ordinances (CityLab)

How the San Diego suburb of Vista, California became the capitol of craft beer (CityLab)

Other Arts, Architecture and Archeology news

Deaccessioning crisis has UK museums group contemplating stricter guidelines (Hyperallergic)

A new book argues quilts are art  (Hyperallergic)

Dizzying dioramas of the world's major cities (Hyperallergic)

Tim Burton's "Big Eyes" takes a look at art fraud (The Art Newspaper)

Year of record sales but at what cost to the art? (The Art Newspaper)

Cuba's art scene awaits a travel boom  (The New York Times)

Hello! Exploring the superweird world of Hello Kitty (Boing Boing)

20 years of street photography shows people around the world are pretty boring (CityLab)

It's been a big year for outrage in public art (CityLab)

The art world's patron satan (The New York Times Magazine)

The 15 weirdest and wildest art stories of 2014 (Artnet News)

Japanese "vagina kayak" artist indicted, faces up to two years in prison (Artnet News)

Son of former Beatles manager wins $1 million art lawsuit (Artnet News)

12/17/14 - 12/22/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Note: Weekly news again dominated by police brutality and abuse issues. Hopefully, this will not always be the case.

The Pittsburgh City Paper did an excellent 3 part story on problems with the city's unmarked. "99 cars".

Pittsburgh

99 problems: What public records reveal about the city's unmarked police units
 (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Police records show "99 units" lack department-wide mission, regulation, oversight (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Run-in with Jordan Miles wasn't first controversial incident for three 99-car cops (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Councilman seeks to prevent Pittsburgh police from acquiring surplus military equipment (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Oakmont's businesses, walkability gain notice of empty-nesters, downsizers (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Cleveland

Scenes from the Department of Justice investigation into the Cleveland Police Department (Belt Magazine)

Cleveland police officer accused of shoving girlfriend down stairs, knocking her unconscious (Cleveland.com)

Made in Cleveland: The rise of the maker economy in Cleveland (Cleveland Scene)

Why I left Los Angeles for this (Belt Magazine)

Fodor's names Cleveland a top 25 travel destination (Freshwater Cleveland)

Stepping up efforts to create a more livable, connected downtown (Freshwater Cleveland)

Ashtabula, Ohio

Couple moves from NYC, turns old meat market into dining destination (Cleveland Scene)

Other Ohio Urbanism, Arts and Transit news

Columbus, Ohio "complete streets" engineer and intern run over on downtown sidewalk (Streetsblog USA)

Other Pennsylvania Urbanism, Arts and Transit news

Pennsylvania police seize couple's $160,000 wine collection, want to destroy it all (Reason)

D.A. charges 2 Pennsylvania lawmakers with corruption in sting (Philly.com)

PA state legislators commonly engaged in jobs, investments that benefit from their office (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Recusals are rare in Pennsylvania Legislature (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

West Virginia and Appalachia

Appalachian Christmas traditions are still alive (Wilkes Journal-Patriot)

Parade will bring Appalachian dancing to Brooklyn (The Brooklyn Paper)

Other Urbanism and Transit news

Perth Amboy, New Jersey police chief charged with theft, suspended without pay (NJ.com)

Former Louisiana police officer indicted for multiple incidents of assault (US Department of Justice)

Oregon State Police detective pleads guilty to forgery, destroying evidence in major case (KATU.com)

NYC, cop accused of stealing and pawning jewelry stolen from boyfriend's mom

NYPD cop suspended after video shows brutality (The Chicago Tribune)

Former Saratoga County, NY Sheriff's deputy sentenced for dealing drugs (Albany Times Union)

Police killings increase calls for independent investigations (Times News)

Former suburban Chicago deputy police chief found guilty in brutality case (CBS Chicago)

Police violence sparks disability rights movement (Al Jazeera News)

Gunman executes 2 New York cops in "Garner Revenge" (New York Post)

How corrupt is your state government? (Acton Institute)

The rules of engagement: How militarized police units enforce the law around the world (Washington Post)

How far will cop unions go to halt reform? (Reason)

Millennials fleeing government employment (Reason)

Is Ann Arbor affordable? Nope. (And that's official) (SE-ME Start-Up)

Why the rent is too high, reason #239 (The Urbanophile)

High-end home sales surging in Southern California (Contra Costa Times)

A scary sign that more colleges may be forced to shut down football programs (Business Insider)

The simple change to truck design that could save lives (Streetsblog NYC)

To build safer streets, cities have to challenge state departments of transportation (Streetsblog)

Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct (elevated highway) must come down

The importance of driving to the US economy started waning in the 1970's (Streetsblog)

Other Arts and Archeology news

Brazil's most popular film is about militarized police

After outcry, Flickr stops selling prints of creative commons photos (Hyperallergic)

The Tate Museum digitizes 52,000 artifacts from the lives of British artists (Hyperallergic)

The lost histories of women at war: photo essay (Hyperallergic)

The physics of Pollock (Hyperallergic)

Mexican museum overwhelmed by popularity of Yayoi Kusama retrospective (The Art Newspaper)

Syria and Iraq's neighbors can help contain the looting (The Art Newspaper)

Uzbekistan museum staff replaced collection with forgeries, then sold originals (Artnet News)

Three Canton Exhibits Highlight Prolific Folk Artist Who Documented 19th Century Pennsylvania and Ohio

Ferdinand A. Brader, immigrated to America from Switzerland and for more than 20 years produced almost 1000 intricate pencil drawings. Most are accurate likenesses of farms and local houses from Eastern, Pennsylvania to Ohio.

The large drawings on craft paper have only been recently appreciated as both great folk art and a detailed look at rural life in the region.

From the Canton Art Museum exhibition page

"Ferdinand A. Brader was born in Kaltbrunn, St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1833. Many details of Brader’s early life are incomplete, but by the mid-1860s, he had married and had a son—and he had also likely begun drawing. Brader came to the United States in the early 1870s (according to research, possibly following a brother) and traveled extensively in Pennsylvania and Ohio. As payment for room and board, he created large pencil drawings of the farms and properties where he was given temporary residence. Families have passed down stories that he slept in a barn or other outbuildings.

Brader’s monumental drawings (30-by-40 inches and larger)—using paper and graphite pencil, which were readily available at the time—are dramatically accurate scenes, and they are mostly portrayed from an elevated perspective. Brader’s first drawings of farms and homes were made in Pennsylvania and dated 1879. Brader presumably created several hundred drawings in the counties of Berks, Lancaster, Montgomery, and Lebanon and as far west as the counties of Somerset, Beaver, and Allegheny. The majority of Brader’s drawings were done in Ohio. His first Ohio drawings appeared in Tuscarawas and Columbiana counties in 1884. From research, it appears Brader’s Ohio pictures were done in nine different adjoining counties: Portage, Medina, Wayne, Stark, Summit, Carroll, Columbiana, Mahoning, and Tuscarawas, continuing through 1895, with the majority featuring subjects in Portage and Stark counties. While best known for his farmstead pictures, Brader also recorded scenes of both the Portage and Stark County Infirmaries; railroad stations; and rural industries, such as grist mills, potteries, mines, and quarries."

The curator even put all the known locations on Google Maps!

From the New York Times

"Brader was, by all accounts, homeless. A German-speaking native of northeast Switzerland, he came to the United States in the 1870s, around the age of 40, after a career carving wooden molds for baked goods and textile-printing equipment. He left behind a wife, Maria Katharina Karolina, and a son, Carl Ferdinand, in Switzerland; little is known about them.

His drawings filled cheap paper sheets up to nearly five feet long, depicting window frames, weather vanes, porch benches, street signs and pets. He also created flowery birth certificates for his clients’ children.  

Andrew Richmond, a curator of the Canton exhibitions, said that Brader catered to industrious immigrant families proud of their new acreage. The marketing pitch, Mr. Richmond said, was in effect, “Why not capture the dream in a drawing and hang it over the fireplace?”  

Brader was paid for his work partly with room and board. He advertised by displaying renderings at stores in nearby towns. In the winter, when he could not sketch outdoors, he moved into public infirmaries. He eventually went back in Switzerland, after inheriting a small family fortune, but died before he could spend much of it. "

All three exhibits run from December  4, 2014 - March 15, 2015

Canton Museum of Art
1001 Market Avenue North,
Canton, Ohio

McKinley Museum
800 McKinley Monument Drive, NW
Canton, Ohio

Little Art Gallery,
North Canton Public Library
185 North Main Street,
North Canton, Ohio

Obviously, I would love for a local museum like The Frick, Westmoreland or Heinz History Center to host an exhibit. Sadly, this probably won't happen.

12/10/14 - 12/17/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Note: Weekly news dominated by police brutality and abuse issues. Hopefully, this will not always be the case.

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh evening street parking charges delayed (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Many in Allegheny County share the transit pain (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Once a trend, creative church reuse is now a modern tradition in Pittsburgh (Pop City)

Forbes ranks Pittsburgh as America's second smartest city (Forbes)

Cleveland

White Castle will close all 5 restaurants in the Cleveland/Akron area (Cleveland.com)

Cleveland mayor on collision course with Justice Department over police violence (Cleveland.com)

Cleveland Police's telling response to Tamir Rice and the DOJ report (Rust Wire)

Canadian columnist sees Cleveland's HealthLine BRT as a model (Toronto Sun)

Many long-eligible acts headed for 2015 Rock Hall class in Cleveland (WKSU News)

Akron

An illustrated mythology splashes over Akron Art Museum walls (WKSU News)

West Virginia and Appalachia

Why did Green Bank West Virginia ban wireless signals? For Science. (The Atlantic)

Last public hanging in West Virginia remembered with historic marker (The News Center)

Kentucky's moonlight schools (Appalachian History)

Other Urbanism and Transit News

Interactive Map: US police have killed at least 3,100 people since 2000 (Vox) (There is no official database of police fatalities)

Police brutality and living out of fear (Time Magazine)

San Fransisco cops found guilty of theft and corruption (KTVU News)

Texas cop uses stun gun on elderly man over inspection sticker (Huffington Post)

Video shows cops lied about traffic stop death of elderly man in Florida (CBS News)

San Jose cop suspended for threatening protestors of police brutality on Twitter (Vice News)

Time for a police offenders registry: A police job is a privilege not a right (Reason)

Did Congress stop marijuana legalization in D.C.? (Reason)

Regional transit app on the way for Chicago commuters (Mobile Payments Today)

Five signs America is falling in love with public transit (CNN Travel)

NYPD still doesn't investigate all fatal traffic accidents (Streetsblog)

The high cost of unwalkable school districts (Streetsblog)

A widely used planning manual tends to recommend building far too many roads (Citylab)

The Chinese government is building "affordable housing", in Brooklyn (Citylab)

Towards canine equity in the city (The Urbanist)

Other Arts and Archeology News

19 free art museums you should visit over the holidays (Huffington Post)

The evolving face of Santa, as seen in the Smithsonian's vast collections (Smithsonian.com)

Cathedrals hunt for stolen bible pages worth millions (The Art Newspaper)

Getting to know the artisans who make other people's art (Hyperallergic)

Overcoming conflict: India and Pakistan to share pavilion at Venice Biennale (The Art Newspaper)

Smithsonian's Asian Art collection goes online (The Art Newspaper)

Virtual galleries open new markets for art (BBC News)

12/4/14 - 12/10/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Cleveland

Cleveland officer who shot 14 year old considered unfit for duty by another police department (PBS Newshour)

National questions about police hit home in Cleveland (New York Times)

Cleveland Police evade Ohio's mandatory DNA collection law (Jurist)

Major expansion of The Cleveland Institute of Art nears completion (Cleveland.com)

Pittsburgh

Port Authority drivers ordered to stand trial for Pittsburgh bus crash (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Pittsburgh mayor stars on reality TV show, "Undercover Boss" (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

LBPC to unveil plans for a more walkable, bikeable Lawrenceville (Bike Pittsburgh)

US Steel keeps headquarters in Pittsburgh for a price (Pennsylvania Independent)

State liquor laws hurt young musicians (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Pennsylvania

Why 2015 could be the year for medical marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Independent)

Climbing employee pension costs squeeze state budget (Pennsylvania Independent)

No escape from pension math in Pennsylvania (Bloomberg News)

Harvard study ranks Pennsylvania among top 5 most corrupt states (CBS Philly)

Philadelphia regional transit system, SEPTA finally ditching tokens and paper tickets (NBC 4)
 
Other Urbanism and Architecture News

Can different training make police officers guardians, not warriors?

Do federal stats undercount police killings? (PBS Newshour)

More than 1000 people have been killed by police in 2014 (Reason)

Houston police chief calls drug war a "miserable failure", says Feds need to lead reform (Huffington Post)

Walkability vs. affordability (Washington Post)

More Americans are behind on car payments (CNN Money)

How a train station offering no new service cost $4 Billion in NYC (New York Times)

"Latino Urbanism" influences a Los Angeles in flux (Los Angeles Times)

Why the Da Vinci fire has L.A. urbanists rethinking downtown's future (Los Angeles Times)

Tech Culture and rising inequality: A complex relationship (CityLab)

Why Nashville is still America's music city (Next City)

Detroit artist: Actually Detroit isn't so cheap (Next City)

Copenhagen plans to expand by building artificial islands (CityLab)

Late-night transit service to expand from San Francisco to East Bay (San Francisco Examiner)

Other Arts and Archeology News

Pioneering Brooklyn Art space, Galapagos moves to Detroit (Detroit Free Press)

How Mosaics are shaping Haiti's future (Hyperallergic)

Miami graffiti artist in critical condition after cop runs him over (Hyperallergic)

Photographers irked as Flickr profits from creative commons images (Hyperallergic)

Museums and market finally warming to works on paper (The Art Newspaper)

A documentary traces the history of video game graphics (Hyperallegic)

Can satellite fairs give artists their first big break? (The Art Newspaper)

11/26/14 - 12/4/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Pittsburgh

Story of the first commercial radio broadcast (Appalachian History)

Central Catholic High School building new science, math and technology building (Essential Pittsburgh)

Local holiday markets for black Friday and beyond (Essential Pittsburgh)

Cleveland

Round up of Cleveland reactions to Tamir Rice shooting (Belt Magazine)

Boy Shot (Belt Magazine)

Home is where the football-hungry heart is (Freshwater Cleveland)

Inside the bizarre Cleveland Bazaar and ten years of peddling indie Cleveland arts (Freshwater Cleveland)

Youngstown

"A champion of the people": Youngstown says goodbye to Jim Trafficant (Belt Magazine)

Other Urbanism and Architecture News

Respected science journal, Nature publishes sober report on long term shale prospects (Houston Chronicle)

"Don't change the arts district" Says guy who arrived last year (LA Curbed)

New downtown LA shuttle service is "like a free Uber" (LA Curbed)

Loup: The love child of Uber and a bus service (Re/Code)

Leaving Paris for her suburbs (Washington Post)

NYC ground-zero transit hub to cost over $4 billion- twice original estimate (Fox News)

New Jersey Transit sending train crews to "charm school" (NJ.com)

New elevator is like a vertical mass-transit system (TreeHugger)

The horror every day: Police brutality in Houston goes unpunished (Texas Observer)

Hundreds of killings by police not included in homicide statistics (Fox News)

Rise of walking for fun and fitness as a social trend (Huffington Post)

Other Arts and Archeology News

Christie's chief makes surprise exit (The Art Newspaper)

Who will pay for Miami's new and improved museums? (The Art Newspaper)

Historian spots lost avant-garde  painting in background of kid's movie (Hyperallergic)

The revelry and luxury of Art Basel Miami Beach (New York Times)

How private collectors helped make Miami an Art Destination (West Virginia Public Radio)

5 famous stolen pieces of art (And where to see them) (Huffington Post)

Archeologists find Medieval City in UK (The Telegraph)

Long time New York Times, art writer resigns after several plagiarism incidents (ArtNet)

11/18/14 - 11/26/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Cleveland

12 year old Cleveland boy with BB gun shot and killed by police (Slate)

Two story bowling alley/eatery/lounge bar set to open in University Circle (Cleveland.com)

Culinary conversation whets the appetite at Cleveland's Museum of Contemporary Art  (Cleveland Jewish News)

Transportation town hall focuses on bikes, pedestrians and transit (Cleveland.com)

What comes first along West 25th Street- housing density or faster transit?  (Cleveland.com)

Pittsburgh 

What Millennials love about Pittsburgh (The Atlantic)

Yinz heard about Pittsburgh's new protected bike lanes?  (Grist)

Pittsburgh Penguins fans ranked as best in NHL for 3rd straight year (Forbes)

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review looks at local Bluegrass jam sessions (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Other Urbanism and Architecture News

MoMA presents tactical urbanism strategies for six expanding megacities (Designboom)

Dry San Diego to look to sewers as water source (MyFoxDC)

LA's transit agencies see success with suicide prevention camapign (ABC 7 News)

Should we consider ending the interstate highway system? (Strong Towns)

Thinking too highly of higher ed (Washington Post)

In pictures: An awful night in Ferguson (CityLab)

Police rarely criminally charged for on-duty shootings (Wall Street Journal) 

Baltimore jail staff corruption probe widens (Baltimore Sun)

How Silicon Valley created the world's biggest homeless camp (CityLab)

Global corruption a bigger scourge than terrorism (CBC News)

Seven reasons police brutality is systemic not anecdotal (American Conservative) (July 2)

Can cell phones stop police brutality?  (CNN)

Declining walkability plays a big role in China's obesity problem (CityLab)


Other Arts and Archeology News

The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture opens permanent NY space. (The Art Newspaper)

Visions of heaven and earth in an ancient Chinese tomb (Hyperallergic)

The mysterious death of the art world's favorite sheikh (The Daily Beast)

A journey deep inside Spain's temple of cave art (BBC Travel)

Why kissing in public is political in India (NBC News)

ISIS is waging another war on culture and history (Public Radio International)

Inside the Middle East's vanishing ancient religions (The Boston Globe)

Billboard includes streaming in music charts (The New York Times)

11/11/14 - 11/18/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Pittsburgh

Baron Batch discusses life as a Pittsburgh artist (Daily Toreador)

Nurturer of Modernism: Modernist studies conference looks at Pittsburgh's role. (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) (Nov 5th)

Pittsburgh Post Gazette looks at holiday season house tours (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Forbes ranks Pittsburgh as a top place for veterans (Forbes)

Pittsburgh's arena football team, The Pittsburgh Power, ceases operations (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Cleveland

Lawn mowing sheep, one of several green, money saving strategies (National Journal)

Lake Effect artist's studios and event space coming to Cleveland State campus district (Freshwater Cleveland)

East Boulevard is a hidden gem among Cleveland neighborhoods (Freshwater Cleveland)

Cleveland's best places to live car-lite (Green City Blue Lake)


Cincinnati 

Cincinnati bike movement skips angry drivers, gets right down to growing (Next City)

West Virginia and Appalachia

West Virginia University suspends fraternities after student death (Valley News Live)

WVU School of Art hosts second annual Iron Pour event (The Daily Athenaeum)

The All Good Music Festival and Camp out returns to West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle (JamBase)

Other Urbanism and Architecture News

How will congress respond to marijuana legalization in D.C.?  (Reason)

How sprawl hits Atlanta residents right in the wallet

Rise of the robot security guards (MIT Technology Review)

Riding the Rails: Chicago's history as a transit hub in photos (Curbed Chicago)

Survey shows Miami-Dade transit riders put frequent service and reliability first   (Miami Today)

American's cellphones targeted in secret U.S. spy program (Wall Street Journal)

Tensions over park behavior as homelessness rises in New York (New York Times)

Walkable development protects against catastrophe (Houston Chronicle)

Seattle government destroys play-garden for special-needs kids (Crosscut)

How the war on drugs perpetuates violence in Latin America (Vox)

World's largest solar energy plant producing much less power than expected (Associated Press)


Other Arts and Archeology News

Arts Scene in downtown Los Angeles grows (The Art Newspaper)

Christie's to sell largest private collection of Asian art at auction (The Art Newspaper)

Warhol's Elvis and Brando paintings sell or more than $151 million at Christie's (UK Telegraph)

11 modern and contemporary artists including Twombly, Ruscha, Kusama, Sherman, Gorky, break auction records

New project to digitize 10,000 Sci-Fi zines (Hyperallergic)

How Museums affect the brain (Hyperallergic)

Richmond, Virginia's RVA Street Art Festival announces a new location (Richmond.com)

Disturbing new documentary claims sex abuse widespread in Hollywood (The Hollywood Reporter)

Inside look at Harvard's new art museum (Boston.com)

A Philadelphia library sues Maurice Sendak's estate (Hyperallergic)

Real-life Sherlock Holmes hunts down stolen Nazi art (Vocative.com)

Black Comedy: cartoons in the first world war (Apollo Magazine)

Satirical news website, The Onion may be for sale (Bloomberg)

Call For Submissions: Looking at Appalachia Photography Project Seeks to Create Broad Regional Portrait

From, photographer, Roger May- in Belt Magazine

"What images first come to mind when you hear the word “Appalachia”? No, really. The first image?

One of the things I like to do in a group setting, particularly with students, is run through this exercise. I explain that there is no right or wrong answer. It always starts slowly. Not a peep from anyone. Inevitably, someone mentions coal. Then bluegrass. After a few minutes and some steady coaxing, we get down to the nitty-gritty. Incest. Trailers. Mountain Dew. Lazy. Uneducated. Now we’re talking. After compiling a list of a dozen or so of these visual cues, everyone seems to breathe a sigh of relief when it registers that they’re not alone in their answers. Nearly everyone thinks these things, but to say them out loud? That can be frightening. My next question is to ask what about these cues are unique to Appalachia or can they be found in other places in America. One by one, we all agree that not a single stereotype listed can be ascribed solely to Appalachia. So why is it then that we’ve come to associate them so strongly?"

May points out that many of the very well meaning New Deal and Progressive Era images of staggering poverty have stuck in the global imagination.

"Those images often represented the poorest parts of the area — to muster support for their intended cause — but unjustly came to present the entirety of the region while simultaneously perpetuating stereotypes.

So, what is it about these stereotypes, these visual triggers that are immediately conjured up when Appalachia is referenced? And how can we retrain our thinking and seeing?"

How have these stereotypes perpetuated the very poverty they aimed to fight? Brain Surgery and robotics in Pittsburgh is as much part of the "Appalachian Story" as poverty in Logan County, West Virginia.

50 years after the "War on Poverty", May aims to crowdsource a more complex and realistic picture of a vast area- that includes the entire Pittsburgh metro.

Submissions 

Submissions are not limited by style or subject matter (portraits, landscapes, etc.), however:

1. All work submitted must be the copyright of the photographer.

2. Photographs must be made in calendar year 2014.

3. Photographs must be made in one of the 13 state’s regions the Appalachian Regional Commission defines as Appalachian (here).

4. Submissions are open through 31 December 2014.

Include the date (month, day, and year), city, county, and state. Submissions must be in .JPG format, sized at 1500 pixels on the longest side, 72ppi. File names must include your last name and the city and state where the photograph was made (example: maychattaroywv2.jpg). Submissions received in any other format will not be accepted. Please do not watermark or add text to your submissions.

Photographs will be indexed by the state in which they were made. You are not limited to submitting work about one state, however please be aware of the ARC map boundaries. To be clear, this project is not seeking poverty pictures. Will poverty be included? Yes. Poverty exists to be sure, however the purpose of this project extends far beyond that.

Email submissions and questions to rogerdalemay@gmail.com.

May has already lined up an exhibition in Spartanburg, South Carolina- but hopes to tour the exhibition.

Sounds like a published book is also possible.

See, Looking At Appalachia for more details and images as project evolves.

11/5/14 -11/11/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Pittsburgh

Conflict Kitchen's Palestinian programming under siege (Hyperallergic)

The BBC's mobile news bureau experiment stops in Pittsburgh (Essential Pittsburgh)

Blame this Pittsburgh official for daylight savings time (Government Executive)

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra plays it by ear when hiring musicians (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Cleveland

Cleveland voters pass law that eliminates all city traffic cameras (USA Today)

Cleveland suburb, Maple Heights, Ohio also votes to remove traffic cameras (Cleveland.com)

Study projects Cleveland's downtown may have 23,000 residents in 5 years (ABC 5)

Walkable townhome development planned in Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland.com)

Cuyahoga County expected to borrow $168 million to repair and spruce up government buildings (Cleveland Scene)

West Virginia and Appalachia

18 year old freshman elected to house of delegates becomes youngest state lawmaker in U.S.
(CBS DC)

As coal jobs vanish, miners search or new careers (Associated Press)

Other Urbanism and Architecture news

NYC's hugely expensive Fulton Center transit hub opens to riders (NY1)

Americans aren't as car dependent as you might think (Streetsblog USA)

New Urbanism Film Festival kicks of in Los Angeles (Streetsblog LA)

Feeding the homeless: Act of charity or a crime? (My Fox Houston)

Airbnb finally adds a "don't secretly film guests" policy (BetaBeat)

How wearable tech will transform walkability of our cities (Tech Cocktail)

Does Pheonix have a soul?  (AZ Central)

An Etsy co-founder and his wife have big plans for Albuquerque (CityLab)

Is America's civic-architecture inherently racist?  (Intercultural Urbanism)

In symbolic vote, 80% of Catalans support independence from Spain (Yahoo News)

Why some places still have plenty of pay phones (CityLab)

The rise of invisible unemployment (CityLab)

Germany celebrates 25th anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall  (Wall Street Journal)

Other arts and archeology news 

A treasure hunt for undiscovered American artists (CBS Sunday Morning)

Brooklyn art center uses Airbnb to fund its programming (Hyperallergic)

Former director of NY's Frick Museum speaks out against expansion plan (Artnet)

Sotheby's Q3 revenue drops 12.7 percent (ArtNews)

Qatari sheikh, once one of the world's top art collectors dies suddenly 
(The Art Newspaper)

Norwegian architects fight to save historic National Gallery (The Art Newspaper)

U.K. copyright laws prevent display of hundred year old soldier's letters and other historic documents  (Reason)

Islamists blow up church dedicated to victims of the Armenian genocide (Public Radio of Armenia)

10/28/14 - 11/4/14 Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Pittsburgh

Oakland-Downtown Pittsburgh transit plan full of promises but short on funding (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Suburban Pittsburgh leaders push for bicycle lanes (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

New Ohiopyle Visitors Center offers spectacular views (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

American Theater Magazine looks at Pittsburgh's site specific Quantum Theatre (American Theater Magazine)

Frostburg, Maryland

Two public sculptures unveiled on Allegheny Passage Bike Trail

Pennsylvania 

A growing force in PA: Independent voters 

Cleveland

The rise of the Cleveland Museum of Art (Belt Magazine)

Ohio Magazine features walkable Cleveland suburb of Lakewood as one of the states best hometowns (Cleveland.com)

Republican National Convention sparks inflated rental market (Cleveland.com)

PlayhouseSquare lights up for Winterfest 2014 (wkyc.com)

Shipping container architecture trend expands in Cleveland (wkyc.com)

Akron

Devo co-founder, Mark Mothersbaugh and film director, Wes Anderson consider concept of surreal theme park in Akron (Time Magazine)

Other Urbanism and Architecture News

Share of first-time home buyers hits 27 year low (Wall Street Journal)

NFL Teams harness stadiums as museums (New York Times)

Great Lakes cities found at the intersection of walkable and affordable  (Great Lakes Echo)

Why middle class Americans can't afford to live in liberal cities (The Atlantic)

The case for trailer parks : Pre-fab homes grow as affordable quality housing option (National Journal)

Smartphones vs. taxi drivers (Reason)

Is the U.S. ready for seniors who want to stop driving? (Streetsblog)

Judge slams door on Uber in Nevada  (KOLO8 News)

Where are the world's most dangerous transit systems for women?  (CNN Travel)

New York City transit ranked safest for women among 16 major metro systems (Metro)

Why Minneapolis' beautiful bike freeways are totally the best (Grist)

Are walkable neighborhoods and bike lanes only for the creative class? (Public CEO)

Tiny houses have a not so tiny problem (Fast Company)

Tiny houses save Orlando owners money (Click Orlando)

Documentary to explore racism in transportation planning
(Streetsblog)

In violent Venezuela bulletproof everything (Yahoo News)

Ten little cities near D.C. with awesome urbanism (Greater Greater Washington)

Other Arts and Archeology News

Alberto Giacometti's Chariot sculpture expected to break record, sell or over $100 million (CNBC)

Chris Ofili's thumping art history lesson (New York Magazine)

The Getty unveils unpublished cache of Joseph Cornell's letters (Hyperallergic)

Columbian art is having a moment  (The Art Newspaper)

Documenting caves used in the Irish War of Independence

Basquiat's unseen notebooks coming to the Brooklyn Museum (The Art Newspaper)

Fake Monet forgeries hit the auction block (Artnet)

Crowdsourcing may be transforming the film industry (Wired)

Amelia Earhart plane fragment identified (Discovery News)

The Cleveland Foundation offering 2,300 Free Theater Tickets for November 30th shows

• “A Christmas Story” by Cleveland Play House at the Allen Theatre at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (family-friendly show)

• “A Christmas Carol” by Great Lakes Theater at the Ohio Theatre at 3 p.m. (family-friendly show)

• “The Santaland Diaries” by Cleveland Public Theatre at the Outcalt Theatre at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (adults-only show)

There will be an online ticket lottery system for the chance to be randomly selected to receive up to four tickets to a single performance.

See all the details here:

With friends like these: Seeing Possibility in East Liverpool and the Ohio River Valley

Caveat:

I have never been to East Liverpool, and not driving, has prevented me from exploring the area more deeply, which is the main reason I don't post much about it. I have been around Wheeling a few times.

What press regional cities like Wheeling, Weirton, Steubenville and East Liverpool do get tends towards the negative.

Rust Wire hosted a typical post-(By a girl allegedly trying to help) playing on every stereotype- starting with a highly inaccurate headline, "East Liverpool and the Unforgiving Economy of Rural Appalachia".

"It’s a city where almost every second or third house seems to be abandoned, and not just abandoned. Some are burnt out. Some are falling down. The locals talk about the incessant and merciless drug traffic. They say dealers have come up to the city from the east coast – having found a robust market for heroin and other opiates. The drug trade wreaks constant havoc on the streets. In late September, five people were shot there in a single night."

Crime, abandonment, drugs, toxic chemicals, high cancer rates, sadly all too true. But.. this is hardly more Appalachia (Some stretches of the river better fit that description) than Pittsburgh itself is. East Liverpool is about a 35 minute drive from Pittsburgh International Airport. You can't really be near a major Airport and in "Appalachia" at the same time, these places lack the isolation that defines Appalachian poverty.

What makes their condition so tragic is how they are being left behind in an increasing thriving regional economy. A few clicks on street view, shows what are still very beautiful towns with the remains of deluxe main street amenities- mini Pittsburghs.

Two major issues seem to come to mind.

1) The huge impact the loss of rail links. River towns on often narrow flood plains are not well suited to auto-centric development.

2) The strong tendency to still see often destructive heavy industries as their only chance at jobs, even as automation has radically shrunk the need for workers.

This post will hopefully trigger a conversation about better leveraging the awesome assets, history and location of these communities and better linking them to greater Pittsburgh.