everything (very) nice!

Art Seniors 2011(l to r: Hannah Snider, Kelsey Stamper, Leah Babik, Abigail Claire Watkins, Megan Sauter, Danielle Speirs, Brenna Fitz-Gerald)

 

Stewards of True Beauty: How to care for your works of art---Part One

End of the semester. Its been an interesting one. Be sure to take the time to see some of the work that your classmates have been working on during the course of the semester. There blog links are to the lower right. Check 'em out and comment :)

Stewards of True Beauty: How to care for your works of art---Part One: "Song of the day: Katy Perry ET (Benny Benassi Remix) While working on this internship, I have learned a lot of things about how to care for..."

details on senior EXHIBITION:

Location 
Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery at Georgetown College



Dates
 April 27-May 12, 2011



Hours
 The Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery is open daily M-F 12:00-4:30 PM
 and by appointment



Events 
Opening Reception, April 27, 5-7PM
; Closing Reception, May 12, 5-7PM

During the Opening Reception,
 Art History Candidate Hannah Snider
 will give a presentation at 6 pm.



The exhibition … and everything nice includes
 works and research of seven Bachelor of Arts
seniors expected to graduate in May, 2011.

Quick Bios:

Leah J. Babik grew up in Northern Kentucky. Painting
 and drawing are her preferred mediums. Spending time in Asia, 
Africa and most recently a semester in France has influenced
 her perspective on life and work. After graduating, she plans to
work in Ghana doing micro financing.

Brenna Fitz-Gerald is from Defiance, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky. She has been working with textiles, specifically knitting, crocheting, and sewing, for 15 years now. In the future she plans on continuing to create work, plan her wedding, and get a job, but beyond that, it's still a mystery! See more at http://colorfulmanatee.wordpress.com

Megan Sauter works in sculpture and ceramics. She also teaches 
ceramic classes, to both children and adults and sells her jewelry
and pottery. She plans to enter graduate school and teach
at college level. See more at www.wix.com/Msauter0/artist

Hannah Snider was raised in Taylorsville, Kentucky. Her senior art 
history thesis project examines the initial stages of the 
Permanent Art Collection of Georgetown College. After graduation 
she plans to find an internship in order to gain more experience.

Danielle Speirs was born in Spokane, Washington. She is a double major, Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Bachelor of Art with an emphasis in graphic design. She is interested in the possibilities of combining the two.

Kelsey Stamper is from Georgetown, Kentucky. She works in
digital media: graphic design, photography and info-graphics.
 She hopes to continue to work in this field.
See more at Kelseystamper.blogspot.com


Abigail Watkins is from Mount Washington, Kentucky. Currently, her work is directed toward an approaching life change, as she will be moving to the Netherlands in summer 2011.



For further information please contact:


Laura Stewart, Director of Art Galleries and Curator of Collections


E-mail: laura_stewart@georgetowncollege.edu 
Phone: 502-863-8399

Professor Boris Zakic


E-mail: boris_zakic@georgetowncollege.edu
Phone: 502-863-8107


For more information, please visit: 
www.georgetowncollege.edu/art/

Senior Show 2011, TONIGHT!

Come to the opening of our art seniors' thesis exhibition. Doors open to the Wilson Gallery at 5 PM with a presentation at 6 PM. Join the fun and support your classmates. See you there!

sugar, spice and tin?

...and everything nice, the Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery exhibition featuring work by the graduating seniors, 2011, Leah Babik, Brenna Fitz-Gerald, Megan Sauter, Hannah Snider, Daniel Speirs, Kelsey Stamper, and Abigail Claire Watkins opens with a reception, 5-7pm on Wednesday, April 27.  See you there!

And, I saw an article about this incredible work by Los Angeles-based artist Pae White and wanted to share. 

Oslo Opera House main stage curtain by artist Pae White

It's not tinfoil but a curtain for an opera house, made using a "computer-assisted loom."  To learn more about it, visit this link.   

Moving assembly line

(This is a project from an 8th grader.  The video, research, and images is all cited at the end.)

     Fords Moving assembly line definitely changed the industrial world. For the better or worse is definitely up for debate.  Obviously it created a distance between craft and production. Minus assembly line work like found in the Steinway Piano factory (see trailer below, full movie available in library).
But I think much like the industrial revolution changed the countries view on higher education, Fords work on the model T changed the face of object making and the expectation of the public in its cost and reasonings. This is a constant battle for the role of the artist and craftsman, it is now up to the maker to educate their audience.
     There has been such a loss in the way of productivity, that I don't know if it can ever be redeemed. Much like the suburban mass production that has created so many homes and bred an expectation of speed and less than average creation as an acceptable norm.  I see this now bleeding into academia where education has for many become Fords moving assembly line. It has become a set of boxes to check off with no real skill invested in any one over the other. In what hopes? In the hopes to finish. So many say "I cant wait to get out of here". This saddens me greatly.  (I have not named this subject as  student or faculty because I see it in both.)
    There is a great solution to this apathy towards quality, and it goes back to before the Model T. The answer is investment of yourself into a craft. Whatever that craft is, writing, making, studying, analysis, storytelling, teaching, etc.  Where your time (mental or physical) is there is your practice. For some they have an apprenticeship in napping, some in multitasking, and some have an apprenticeship under the belief of career searching (which for some has potential of rightness).  I just ask you to consider thinking across your time and find who you are learning under.
  

Thank You Juilee Decker and Peter Morrin!!!

and finally, before we forget, a big thank you to our symposium organizers. (below)

Signing out from UofL's Ekstrom Library. Hope you've enjoyed the discussions.

UofL has video recorded the entire conference, including the keynote by Professor Theresa Leininger-Miller, Department of Art, University of Cincinnati.

Panel Three Skype

"Much contingent on what we mean by public." Helen Lessick
pictured Jack&Helen at a conference in Santa Monica

PANEL THREE

MAPPING, IDENTIFYING, AND CREATING LEGACIES: INTERNET RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC ART

Internet technologies, including Web 2.0 technology and other digital platforms, are viable resources for - and a means of creating – public art. An overview of multiple formats will be introduced by the moderator and the panelists will then discuss their current work.

Moderator: Professor Juilee Decker, Chair, Department of Art, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky.

Panelists:

• Chris Huskisson, Adjunct Faculty, Department of Art, Museum Studies, University of Kentucky and Lisa Broome-Price, Acting Director, Gaines Center for the Humanities, University of Kentucky, Central Kentucky Museum without Walls website and Take It Artsidephone App
• Helen Lessick, Project Manager, Web Resources for Art in Public via Skype
• Jack Becker, founder, Forecast Public Art, and publisher, Public Art Review, via Skype

Panel Two and Lunch...

lunch topic: the issues of permanence. A nice extension to what came up during the Q&A: How does the temporality of accepted proposals, if a recent trend at all, measure up to bronzes a la Hamilton (you can picture Davidson's fountain here instead, too) etc.? To which, Leticia Bajuyo, quoting Christo, suggested a flipside, that there is a "bravery" of sorts that could be associated with an artist undertaking a project, knowing it will have been short lived and "passed." Rhetorical device or not, the "bravado" does give way to the instantaneous, freshness and dialogue. It also aids to the cost effectiveness by eliminating the need for preservation and minimizing the opportunity for vandalism. After all, consider the annual waxing of all public bronzes required by State of Kentucky as one of those laboursome steps. Thank you Peter for engaging me in the conversation.

PANEL TWO

ART + PUBLIC=PUBLIC ART

How do artists define the terms “public” and “art”? Discussion of specific works and projects in the region will highlight ways in which public art has been created, is received and further re-viewed over time.

Moderator: John Begley, Gallery Director, Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville

Panelists:

• Ed Hamilton, sculptor and Morgan Professor, Department of Fine Arts, University of Louisville
• Leticia Bajuyo, Associate Professor of Art and Gallery Director, Hanover College, Madison, IN
• Valerie Sullivan Fuchs, video artist

Public Art Symposium Today

Panel Two

It's a tight-pack symposium: from Jim Clark's "let art lead the way," to Jones's "shred [it] to plant a tree," the 9am panel set the agenda. Taking stock of "our" public art economy ranges broadly. The public art engagements do seem to have taken us well beyond the Lysicrates monument, (I'll get to blogging/smartphone apping soon, after panel 3). It has also, which what makes this just as exciting, remained relatively unchanged. That is to say, to “work locally and think globally” actually holds true to Ancient Greece as well as to Georgetown College's sculpture program, the New Albany Bicentennial Public Art Project or any recent LexArts initiative. More after lunch.

PANEL ONE

LOCAL FIRST: PUBLIC ART ORGANIZATIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Local public art programs, initiatives and projects. Panelists will offer a brief overview of their public art projects, funding, programming, and administration and recent achievements.

Moderator: Alice Gray Stites, artwithoutwalls, Louisville

Panelists:

• Jim Clark, President and CEO, LexArts, Lexington
• Karen Gillenwater, New Albany Bicentennial Project, Carnegie Center for Art and History and New Albany Urban Enterprise Association
• Mary Lou Northern, Senior Advisor for Parks and Cultural Affairs, Metro Louisville
• Hallie Jones, Creative Director and PAINT (Producing Art in Neighborhoods Together), Center for Neighborhoods

  
  

INTRO/ Panel One

*all photos by Gregory Decker

Public Art and the City: Louisville 2011 Public Art Symposium

We're blogging and Tweeting from the Public Art Symposium organized by Peter Morrin of the U of Louisville Center for Arts and Culture Partnerships Initiative and yours truly.

BLOGGING THROUGHOUT the conference on FRIDAY on this site by Professor Boris Zakic from Georgetown College.

FOLLOW THE CONFERENCE ON TWITTER with Tweet-ers from TakeItArtside! and the University of Kentucky: http://twitter.com/#!/takeitartside

In Memory: Dr. Donald L. Jacobs 1919-2011

It is with sadness that we learned on Thursday of the passing of Dr. Donald L. Jacobs, generous donor and friend of the Art Department and Art Galleries. As readers of this blog well know, Dr. Jacobs and his wife, Dottie, have shared their collection of fine art and artifacts with students of the college for more than a decade through site visits to their home and the installation of nearly 200 works in the newest building on campus, the Ensor Learning Resource Center.

The article above is excerpted from the Herald-Leader celebrates the opening of the collection in 2002. For the full article, see David Minton, “Georgetown Students Owe Much to Doctor.” Lexington Herald-Leader. 6 Oct. 2002-H1.

The Jacobs Gallery has enabled students to view works of fine art and objects first-hand, a key learning objective of the art department. Numerous class visits to the gallery have enabled students to directly observe modern and contemporary works of art in addition to 32 artifacts from world cultures, including ancient Greek vessels, two African masks and wood and figurines, Chinese porcelain bowls, Asian equestrian figures, ceramic pieces from Costa Rica, Peru, Guatemala, Indonesia, and Palestine, as well as transitional figures such as the Ushabti from the Ptolemaic period. In addition to art classes, many sections of this year's Foundations 111 course -- a required Freshman general education course -- utilized the Greek vessels in their study of the literature and culture of the ancients. This spring, Honors students sat beside the Kantheros, Lekythos, and miniature Skyphos while musing Homeric hymns to Dionysos and the wonders of Anacreontic verse. Students enrolled in the "Artistic Traditions of Asia" seminar, a Foundations 112 course, researched and presented material about the Asian artifacts and prints in our collection.

Over the past decade, students have come into direct contact with prize works of which no museum in the area can boast. But, equally important, students, faculty, and staff of the college have come to know Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs, generous benefactors but, also, caring, dear friends of the department who have opened our eyes to the wonders of collecting, to developing a passionate pursuit for art, and what it means to share one's passion with a broader community.

Prior to the establishment of the Gallery on campus, and, even, since, the Art Department has been fortunate to have an open invitation to bring students to the Jacobs' home to view art "in its natural state." Below, three photos from student visits to the Jacobs' home over the past few years.

Above: Summer 2008 field trip. Course: Old Masters, Young Geniuses.

Above: Fall 2006 "Modern Art" class visit.

Below: Fall 2005 Curatorial Studies class visit.

Friends of the gallery and department, please feel free to write a comment below as a testament to the ways in which you have been touched by the collection and the generosity of Dr. Donald L. and Dorothy Jacobs. All comments received by Thursday, April 21 will be printed and forwarded to the Jacobs family.

For more information on Dr. Jacobs (whom the students have affectionately called "Dr. J"), see the online obituary. In closing, I would like to suggest that David Minton had it all wrong, in the article above: it's not just the "Georgetown students" who "owe much to doctor" -- it's all of us. Thank you, Dr. Donald L. and Dorothy Jacobs!

Invite to GC Art Alums Gathering, May 12th

“Where are they now?” If you’re curious what your classmates are up to these days, or would like to share some of your recent exciting projects, art-related or not, consider joining us for an evening of networking. The art department will host an “Art Alum Re-connect” on Thursday, May 12. We have talked about doing an Alum event that is geared toward current seniors for some time, but could never come up with an adequate time and format. Finally, it’s a go: the seniors will be having their exhibition closing, the finals are over and the graduation ceremonies just a few days away. You probably remember these few days of “intense quiet” yourself. I will send an e-mail invitation, based on our compiled list of addresses (it is far from complete, but it’s a start), in the next few days.

Also, on Dr. Decker’s behalf, I would like to invite you to her “hopefully annual” end-of-the-year-dept-party on Last Day of Class, Wednesday, May 4. For the direction to her house please e-mail.

*Images from Archives of 2004/2005 school year (by faculty and students). Other years will be coming soon--

Art and Protest

We've been discussing Protest Art of the 1970s in my Mexican art class, and I ran across this recent example just this morning and thought I'd share since the artist involved is one who we've featured on this blog several times before.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, whose 2010 installation Sunflower Seeds was featured on this blog last year, has often used his works for activist purposes, speaking out against censorship, mass consumption, Chinese working conditions, and state oppression. He has already suffered repercussions of creating critical art, including being beaten and having received orders for the destruction of his studio. Now, it seems that Weiwei has been detained by Chinese officials for nearly 2 weeks and is being charged with "economic crimes." Many of those closest to him, including his assistant, his driver, his accountant, and his studio partner, are also missing. The alleged "economic crimes" notwithstanding, many feel that his capture is an example of China's intolerance of alternative voices and dissidents, and see his detainment as an extreme form of censorship.

The international art world has responded to the potential loss of one of their own in a number ways, including installations, street art, petitions, posters, and performances. This article has a long list of how these "guerilla art" tactics are popping up all over.

In class, we've been discussing similar tactics used in Mexico in the 70s to protest a similarly oppressive state and how artists also turned to nontraditional media (non-institutionalized media) as a means of subverting institutionalized (state-sanctioned) crimes. It's also a striking statement of the different conditions in which artists find themselves working. In general, I think these examples are a good indication of the power of images to critique and challenge. Hopefully, in this case, we'll also see the power of an international response that will successfully effect Weiwei's release and safe return. I guess we'll see...

Shout Out: Public Art, and Public Art Redux, and Periodic Table of Artists

The creator of this riff, Andrew Robert Keast, deserves a shout out:

A shout out to Rachel Fawcett Allen (class of 2007) who's spearheaded a public art project with her classes at Frankfort Independent. View the blog here and the write up about her project in the Kentucky Dept. of Education newsletter here (scroll to page 4). Visit Rachel's blog about the project here. Some of the photos really tell the story of student efforts, cooperation and sharing of tools in limited quantities (sounds familiar to us as we, too, have limited facilities!). I've included a photo from Rachel's blog below.

Third, a call for all to join us for a public art conference in Louisville. The conference has been organized by Earl Grey and Peter Morrin of the Center for Arts and Culture Partnerships at the U of L. Student admission is free; all others $15. Hope to see you next Friday! And, note, we'll be blogging about the conference all day, from this site. Look forward to sharing info with you!

One Day for Design: Today, April 13, 2011

Thanks to Jessica Shields for pointing this in our direction: Today is One Day For Design, a discussion platform aimed at dialogue on the meaning and future of design. Twitter conversations encouraged. Lurk through the website discussion or contribute via hashtag #1D4D

Gallery Hop This Friday in Lex!

Gallery Hop this Friday in downtown Lexington from 5-8 PM, a great chance to visit galleries, see contemporary works of art, hang out with friends and make new ones, as well as earn some Nexus/CEP Flex credit (ask me how).

I'm especially excited about this year's University Open show, featuring student work from Kentucky colleges and Universities. And once again, Georgetown will be represented in the show. You can find the show at ArtsPlace, 161 N. Mill Street in Lexington.

Here's what LexArts says about the Gallery Hop...

LexArts’ Hop is a self-guided tour of the visual arts in downtown Lexington, KY. Patrons visit the sites of their choice, beginning at any location. It occurs 5-8pm on the third Friday of February, April, June, September and November. Hop began 25 years ago and continues to be the premier event for the visual arts in Lexington. Admission is always free and sites present a new exhibit for each hop. Most sites offer refreshments for guests.

LexTran generously provides Colt Trolley service free to hop patrons, which will stop at any bus stop along the routes marked on the map in this brochure. Thanks to the Colt Trolley service Hop borders have expanded in recent years to include artist studios being established in the Distillery District on Manchester Street and on North Limestone. The season sponsorship by Stoll Keenon Ogden has also contributed to the growth of Hop by funding an increased marketing effort. Hop is managed by LexArts, as a service to the visual arts
community in Lexington.

To find out more about the Hop, including a downtown gallery map, click HERE.

Stunners

A blog or two back, I inquired about scientific testing designed to illuminate whether human beings react similarly to great works of art.  I have often wondered whether such tests could somehow show that "greatness" in art could be measured.  Well, a neuroscientist is close to finding the answer.  V.S. Ramachandran, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and a psychology professor at U.C. San Diego claims that, "'our knowledge of human vision and of the brain is now sophisticated enough that we can speculate intelligently on the neural basis of art and maybe begin to construct a scientific theory of artistic experience.'" Incredible but sad, perhaps?  The author of "This Is Your Brain on Art," Morgan Meis suggests so. 

Meis cautions that there is a certain fear of the unknown involved here:  "we have no idea what the implications of discovering the laws of aesthetics would be."  However, and as Meis points out, even if Ramachandran and others agree about the uncertainty of such an adventure, humankind will likely forge ahead with the quest to discover what makes great art great, whatever the consequences.    

Speaking of great and not-so-great art is another interesting article about a new public sculpture of Michael Jackson:  "What separates a stunner from a stinker?".  Martin Gayford compares a statue erected outside the Fulham Football Club to Jeff Koons's iconic (?) contemporary work, Michael Jackson with Bubbles, 1988, to make his point.   In Gayford's view, "If you are ever tempted to become a relativist and doubt there are any real divisions of quality in the arts, just spend a bit of time contemplating something really, really bad."

 Happy reading! 

Indiana Museum of Art

Well day one is in the books.  Had some fun times on the way up to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and had a great time inside.  Just got into the hotel for the night. More pictures to come.  Tomorrow we are on our way into Chicago.

Seniors Show @ ICEHOUSE

from yestr. evening: Leah, Kelsey, Megan, Brenna and Danielle (not pictured Abby and Hannah)

Congrats! Safe travels to Chicago--

RED@.NO

I was very excited about going to the exhibition RED this week, but when my flight got cancelled Wednesday morning, it has thrown my already-tightly-packed-schedule for a real loop. The $16 priceline's insurance made up for the loss OK, still missing the latest installment in a series of projects by a good colleague of mine was disappointing, to say the least. Here are some snippets or read more at http://www.nyartbeat.com/event/2011/62FC

Epoch: Historic Portraits

Twelve portraits on Display in the Cochenour Gallery Thursday, April 7 through Thursday, April 14 created by ART 370: Portrait and Lighting.

If it is even conceivable, try to consider what it would be like to only have one photograph of yourself. What’s more, pretend that this portrait doesn’t occur until you are roughly 20 years old. And one more thing, this picture can only be seen by one person at a time.

This was the case in the mid to late 19th century. The photographic process had just been discovered and it was making its way from Europe to the United States. At that time it was the Daguerreotype capturing the most accurate likeness of individuals and democratizing portraiture.

In response to these considerations, ART 370: Photographic Portrait & Lighting revisited this idea, creating portraits in a manner somewhat similar to early photographic processes. Although our images were produced using the technology of today, a key feature was revived—the extended exposure.

Due to limitations of chemical processes and quality of optics, early photographic production required extremely long shutter speeds by comparison to today’s standards, sometimes needing minutes, if not hours to make an exposure. As the technology improved, times were reduced to as few as thirty seconds.

The portraits on display here embrace this feature of the long exposure (typically 20-30 seconds) and the psychology of a single photograph potentially representing one’s self for a lifetime. It is perhaps a peculiar notion in today’s world of social media and connectedness, but one that has produced moving results.

Art for Lunch: Thursday 4/7/11 @ around 12:00

Join us for a special guest star on Thursday (tomorrow). Josh Howard, class of 2007, will share his recent work with us. See above for a sample of Josh's work (from his website artisticbydesign.com) We'll start a few minutes late this week (closer to 12:10). Those of you with 12:45 classes, please come and feel free to leave a little early. Special note to afternoon photo students: Josh will be joining you this afternoon for class, also.

Papa Johns pizza lunch will be provided. Hope you can join us!

The Art (?) of Video Games

Yes, visual art friends, it's true: next year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is hosting an exhibition featuring video games.  The Art of Video Games, as it has been titled by curator Chris Melissinos, even features the opportunity for YOU to vote as to the content.  

According to the Museum's website, the exhibition will feature still and moving images of some eighty games, video interviews of artists (programmers) and even several interactive examples including such stand-bys (even I know these) as Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers (italics courtesy of the Smithsonian's site).

If you haven't already, before you click the link to vote for PONG, you might have asked yourself, who is Melissinos? (I did, ask myself that is, not vote.)  Erik Silk, an intern for "All Things Digital" at the Wall Street Journal, describes Melissinos not only as having begun his gaming career playing them at age twelve, but also as being a programmer with Sun Microsystems for seventeen years and Chief Gaming Officer there for the past twelve.  All of which, along with Melissinos's reputation in the gaming community, apparently led the Smithsonian to invite him to curate the upcoming exhibit.

While I find myself questioning whether Melissinos will prove to be a good "curator", I am likewise doing a double-take at part of the title of Silk's article:  "...Pong Equals Picasso".  What???  Or perhaps more importantly, what do you think, friends?