Get It On!: The Art Handling Olympics @ Ramiken Crucible, March 21 3pm

Periodically, I condition my wallet by working as an art handler at a couple of esteemed art institutions in the area, one of them being the CCS Bard|Hessel Museum. The CCS|Hessel installation crew is fielding a team  (rBad) for the first ever Art Handling Olympics which is coming up on Sunday, March 21 at Ramiken Crucible down in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  The competition kicks off at 3pm with the Official Opening Ceremony.
rBad, along with r support crew will join some fourteen other 4 person teams will be vying for glory via a handful of absurd feats of skill and endurance indigenous to the often absurd world of art handling and installation.
Think of it as MXC with booze, box cutters and measuring tape.

If you're around the LES that day come show your colors and cheer us on to either said glory, orto immediate and inglorious indignation. 

Oh, It's on, alright.  It's on!

Live Model Drawing Group forming in Beacon

There's an effort afoot to form a new live model drawing group in Beacon. Right now, the effort exists as a cyber-group on the Beacon Citizen Network community website, testing out the level of interest in the community.
If you're interested in participating or would like to be kept updated as to when and where the group will begin meeting, sign up at the BCN website. If you prefer not to join the BCN, you can send your contact info to martoraj[at]earthlink[dot]com.

Beacon's new official website needs your photos

A revamped version of the city of Beacon's official website is currently being developed. Randall Martin is acting in the role of volunteer "photo editor" for the site's photographic content, and he's looking for content from the public. Here are a few details the project and what kind of material is being sought:

I'm volunteering with a team of people to revamp the official City of Beacon
website. This is another no-budget project. I have been dubbed "photo editor"
and have been charged with the responsibility of finding local photographers who
may want to donate interesting iconic images of Beacon to be included on a slide
show on the home page.
There will also be themed galleries, ongoing changing
feature stories that will need to be illustrated and events calendars.
There will
also be links to contributor' s websites and/or contact info. Let me know if you'd
be interested either now or in the future. "Now" means before Thanksgiving. If you
know someone else who might be helpful you could let me know.
Examples of images we are looking for:

Firstly: While beautifully decaying buildings make nice subjects for photography, we have determined that decay is inappropriate for this municipal website.

Looking for Non-Snapshot / Heightened / Artsy versions of:
Beacon Historic heritage,
Beacon's diversity,Seniors, Youth, children (especially in beacon places)happy people in the park, on the street,
Beacon parades and events, Beacon's farmer's market, Small town atmosphere, Businesses, especially with people in the photo,
Beacon's
waterfront,
Beacon sports activities (football, baseball, soccer, basketball),

Mt. Beacon,
Beacon through the seasons,
Beacon's scenic splendor (waterfalls, Fishkill Creek, the estuary path, etc.).
Beacon Holiday Decorating Contests for businesses and residents.
It would be particularly valuable (because no one is interested in doing it) to take interesting pictures of mundane themes, like
City Hall, the DMV, community centers, parks, etc. also businesses, especially
with people in the picture.

Thanks

Randall
randallmartindesign .com

Spirit of Beacon Day 2008 pictures: Beacon Artists At Large and Beacon's youth sample the future.

Talk about a super soaker. The Spirit of Beacon Parade went off as planned with uncertain weather looming last Sunday.
Here are some images from the Beacon Artists At Large parade entry. As part of a spontaneous collaboration with the Beacon Community Center, some students on one of the Center's afterschool programs drew depictions of what they want to be when they grow up. These drawings were then adapted into a large parade friendly format.

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George Mansfield's contractor in the foreground.
The getting soaked at about the midway point.

I'm not sure of the true identity of this masked marcher. Perhaps I've seen him before?

Who doesn't want to be a ninja.
Chris Ancliff with the dance teacher.

Dan Spitzer and his kinetic monster - a worthy aspiration

Taking a post-parade rest.

Clara Gould Art Fund, Hudson Invitational Exhibit and Talk at Van Brunt....and touching hands.....

Van Brunt Gallery and the Howland Cultural Center are hosting an event to launch the Clara Lou Gould Fund for the Arts. This fund, named for Beacon's previous Mayor of 18 years, Clara Lou Gould, under the auspices of the Community Fund of Dutchess County and BACA, will "fund Beacon projects not generally supported by other area arts organizations, including individual artist’s projects, unique exhibitions, performance or public art projects, arts education programs, and community projects that promote area artists and arts activities and that draw attention to the valuable role of arts and culture in our community." Tickets for Friday's event are $100. For more information, and to order tickets online, click here.


Part of the events for the evening will include a preview of the Hudson Invitational exhibit at Van Brunt. The exhibit, which is being presented by Van Brunt Gallery in association with Curcio Projects, and which is co-curated by Jennifer Mackiewicz, relates to the Sitelines Art Fair program that was scheduled for last May but cancelled shortly before.
The art fair was/is intended to highlight contemporary art venues, both commercial and non profit, active throughout the Hudson Valley.

The panel discussion that is accompanying the Hudson Valley Invitational Exhibit is scheduled for Sept 14 at 3pm - at Van Brunt Gallery - and it will touch upon the topic of the present and future of the arts in the Hudson Valley.

The discussion will be moderated by Almanac Weekly Art Critic Paul Smart. Participating panelists include: Benjamin Krevolin, board president of the Dutchess County Council on the Arts, Norm Magnusson, known for his allegoric paintings, his faux historic roadside signs, and his Funism.com website, Tom Roe, founder of Wave Farm in Greene County and a leading proponent of the new Transmission Arts movement, currently on view at the SUNY Purchase's Neuberger Museum. Also on the panel are Sparrow, author/poet/critic, Robert The, Kingston-based conceptual and book artist with a background in philosophy, Christina Varga, Woodstock gallery owner and Brian Wallace, curator at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY-New Paltz. The panel will be streamed live on free103point9 Transmission Art Radio via a link at www.free103point9.org, or tune in by pasting http://comm.free103point9.org:8000/vanbrunt.mp3.m3u into your media player. to have

I've written a bit in previous posts about how I though the art fair could potentially set certain conditions serve to feed and connect the region's artists and venues in a way that would bridge the distance between the HV art communities. By that I mean that the corollary events and projects that would pop up around a successful fair might create a gravitational force that would draw more people into a collaborative relationship. I'd heard of gripes about why this thing was happening in Beacon. Why not? Of course, there's no reason that it couldn't happen in Peekskill, Hudson or Kingston, it just never has. Of course it hasn't happened in Beacon yet either. A possible remedy to assuage this griping might be to organize the fair as a series of contemporaneous events that would be happening in a number of communities up an down the river. However, I think it would prove to be a poor strategy for it would simply disperse the energy of such an event over such a large footprint as to dilute the potential impact of a shared moment and place and it would reinforce the art community breach as exists now. If maximum impact, participation, and variety desired effects, I think a better solution would be to hold such an event in a different city every year. Logistically, this would be more difficult, but the potential for collaborative creativity, as well as dynamic, evolving presentation could create that cultural gravity and excite and equally dynamic of artists/venues to participate. To some extent, the concept would be that of an annual nomadic convention, or model of the Olympic Games.


In the spirit of cross community interaction, a panel talk was held last Saturday as part of the recently completed 2008 Windows on Main St. project. The talk, which looked at the aspects of artists working in the public sphere, covered WOMS in context with the Peekskill Project, represented by Michael Natiello, and the 10x10x10 project in Ellenville with the creator of that project Judy Sigunick . The talk was scantily attended, and virtually all in attendance were either on the panel, or in some way affiliated with the projects discussed, but what occured, was an excellent discussion about the artists' experiences of working among the public in traditionally non art locations. Basically was a sharing of the obstacles, the rewards and the discoveries common among the projects. It was also enlightening to learn about the artists' activities that so closely parallel one another, demonstrating some wonderful affinities.

The fact that Sunday's talk at Van Brunt will be streamed live on the internet (thanks to Free 103point9)alone is exciting. I'd like to see more talks/art events in the area streamed or otherwise shared more profusely online. It's hard to make it out to too much, and there's not a lot out there that represents the goings on in the various communities. I wish there was more.

Doin' it for the kids

I got home after work on Friday, and caught a bit of a broadcast on ch. 22 of the presentation Palani Mohan gave to students at Beacon High School. I caught just the last several minutes of the talk, in which he fielded questions from the students and adults in the audience. Questions to Mohan moved from his photography and the process of publishing his book to his experience of living in Asia, and how much it costs to fly there. Kudos to the Beacon City School District and Fovea Exhibitons Gallery for developing this educational outreach program. For students to be exposed to critical current events from around the world through the first hand words and images of the photographers who have been there is a rare experience that one would expect would be restricted to schools in very large cultural centers of the country. The fact that this program is available to the students of Beacon, and in the frequency in which these talks occur, is a distinction in which the community can take pride.

This item in the Poughkeepsie Journal on March 12 is very cool. I think one of the generally unheralded benefits the city receives from Dia:Beacon is the extensive education program developed by the museum with the Beacon School District for the students of Beacon. A long standing component of the program entails yearly projects where visiting artists work with teachers and students in the various grade levels to create broad installations inspired by trips to the museum for display in and around Beacon

The POJO article by Michael Woyton highlights a current project by seventh graders at Rombout Middle School. The students worked with visiting artist Kirsten Mosher and their art teacher Edmund Trad to develop a piece after looking at the work of Sol LeWitt at Dia. The photo accompanying the article shows about 15 students standing shoulder to shoulder along three walls of a corridor wearing white t-shirts, each adorned with about a six inch tall single horizontal orange stripe. The orange stripe is located on each shirt so as to create a single line at the same height running from student to student regardless of the height of each student.

This piece created by these students is amazing. It really hits at the core of the challenging concepts that are presented by the work exhibited at Dia. This project develops a sensitivity to one's environment and the moments that are created as we move through it.

Since students are forming the art themselves, "it enables them to feel part of the artwork," she said. Beacon resident Zack Ericson, 12, said the process of creating the different artworks was interesting. "You can take a space and create a new space," he said, of the striped T-shirts.
We could take this classroom and make it into seven different rooms," Ericson said. Hena Kalola, 13, of the Town of Wappinger, is looking forward to her next visit to Dia:Beacon, when the students will exhibit the art they've created.
Trad said it was important for his students to experience something other than traditional art such as landscapes. The use of space and how art can fit into it is something the students have embraced, he said. The experience will help students connect conceptual art with their surroundings, Trad added.
"The students are acting in it," he said.
Mosher said the art project helps develop students' language skills because they have to verbalize how they want the art to turn out.

The article alludes to the fact that the Rombout students' piece will be displayed soon, and I'm anxious to see it. Broadening their perceptions of their world, how they make connections, and how, as beings relating to other beings, they are engaged in the complex and dynamic form of collaboration that is a society are the benefits these kids are receiving, whether they're immediately conscious of it or not.
Opening the sense of possibility of altering one's space - of one's reality, that's a visceral process. You can't teach that in a lecture, but being able to witness and process abstract concepts through the poetry of an orange stripe linking students in a class can be powerful. The power really lies in the student's investment in that process of creating that poetry. Here's where the "my kid could do that" or "Christ, it's just a plywood box" comes in. It's sometimes less the resulting object than the involvement of creating that plywood box, which challenges the maker's notions of value, talent, art, beauty, etc. that breaks ground within the mind to be able to make powerful connections between the process of creating a "thing" and shaping one's life. These are difficult concepts, but witnessing the cause and effect inherent in the push and pull of conceiving an idea and trying to manifest that idea in some form is what the practice of art is. It's problem solving at it's most elemental form.
I applaud both of these programs which are offering the students of Beacon an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the world and equipping them with the ability to reflect on their roles within it.

Citizens of Hyde Park, bring out your videos

Poughkeepsie base Matthew Slaats is embarking on a project that will cull together the home movies of past and present residents of Hyde Park, NY in order to create a visual history of the town. The gathered footage will be presented together in a video installation in Hyde Park this Spring.
Matt will be accepting donations to the project at the Hyde Park Free Library every Saturday from 10 am to noon. Every Saturday through March 2008. The Library is located at 2 Main St., in Hyde Park, NY. Inquiries can be directed to the artist at mbslaats@gmail.com or 845 889 8181.
Matt has started a blog to track the progress of the project. More information can be found on the blog including how the Hyde Park's drive in theater inspired the project and the technical aspects of how he plans on combining the donated footage.
The Hyde Park Video Project has received funds from the NY State Council on the Arts via the Dutchess County Arts Council. The Hyde Park Free Library sponsored the project's application for the grant.

Spire Benefit Auction Details

Spire Studios: Quarterly Open Studios, Auction and Fund Raiser for Grace Smith House Saturday, December 10 - Preview begins at 12pm - Auction 7-9pm Pre-Previews will be held on: Saturdays & Sundays beginning Nov. 26 - 12-5pm Tuesday Evenings at 8pm
Spire Studios - 45 Beekman Street - Beacon, NY 12508 - 845.231.3275 Spire Studios will host a silent auction on Saturday, December 10th, in conjunction with its well known quarterly open studios, to benefit the Grace Smith House of Poughkeepsie. Benjamin Krevolin, Director of the Dutchess County Arts Council, will serve as host and auctioneer to sell over 100 art works donated by local artists. 100% of the proceeds will go to Grace Smith House, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides shelter and social services for victims of domestic violence. Its Executive Director, Judy Lombardi, will be in attendance to introduce visitors to the agency’s benefits. Bidding for the “small works,” which include both emerging and well known artists from throughout the region, will begin at $50. The works will be on view at the studio’s galleries and bidding will begin on Saturday November 26th from 12-5pm. Spaces for artists interested in donating work to the exhibit are still open. Please contact the studio for more information. About Grace Smith House - www.gracesmithhouse.org The mission of Grace Smith House, Inc. is to enable women and their children to live free from domestic violence through: - Providing shelter and apartments, advocacy, counseling and education; - Raising the consciousness of the community regarding the extent, type and seriousness of domestic violence; and - Initiating and taking positions on public policies in order to provide options which empower victims of domestic violence For a list of Participating Artists, please visit www.spirestudios.org

Call to artists (though not exclusively artists) for ornaments at bau.

Jennifer Mackiewicz and Angelika Rinnhofer invite you to a pot luck and tree decorating party at Beacon Artist Union.

Please help us decorate a Christmas tree for the children’s ward at Vassar Hospital. Create a Christmas ornament, bring it together with a dish or some "Christmas Cheer".
Friday, December 16, 2005 at
bau

161 Main Street in Beacon. The party goes from 7-9.
Make a difference in a child’s life this Christmas. Donate a toy or an ornament. Or both.

Please RSVP by December 10 to arinnhofer@yahoo.com or jmackiewicz@diaart.org
We look forward to seeing you at bau!

Psychopath Collector Posters on Main St.

Via Tyler Green's artblog, MAN, comes a little more information, if not an explanation for these posters tacked up along Main St. The NY Observer/Transom article by Michael Grynbaum chronicles some background information......

The article has been shuffled into the NYO Archive, and I could not locate it. Basically, a collection of these, or similar posters are pasted around in Chelsea as well, and several folks are interviewed giving varied responses regarding the fellow in question in the posters, but there is no clear idea as to who is responsible for them.

Perhaps a novel form of self promotion?

10/11/07 Note: the NY Observer link is repaired, and the original article is there