Diary of an Art Hand....lete?

Here's breakdown of one person's date on the event of the inaugural Art Handling Olympics:

7:45 am - Wake up and check my look in the mirror - I likes what I see.

7:57 am - eat breakfast consisting of pineapple and yogurt, topped with some corn flakes (I pretend they're Wheaties)

8:21 am - I do my morning stretches, 'cause I'm playing old and I'm dealing with some back pain.

8:35 am - Consider shaving my entire body from the neck down. Might make up for time lost due to back pain, but decide I don't have time for another all day project. Settle on just shaving neck.

9:50 am - Meet up with teammate Sara to head to rendevouz with the rest of team rBad

10:51 am - A united rBad convoy is city bound

11:27 am - Potty break pit stop/detour in the wilds of Westchester County.

Descend here all ye with hopes of glory and fame.

12:42 pm - arrive at Ramiken Crucible, official AHO venue.

1:26 pm - rBad's team photo is taken

The Stripped Screws' striped stockings.

2:05 pm - rBad team knuckle tattooing

2:53 pm - Opening remarks and layout of events from AHO organizer Shane Caffrey

The Nitro Lords!

The all LADEES team, Screw 'Em

The Well Hungs Team.  I only just now got the connection between the team's name and the logo of the horse...It takes me a while sometimes.

AHO official blogger, Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City tweeting the event.

3:15-3:20ish pm - The qualifying event "Special Delivery" begins.  rBad is in the second 6 team heat.

 rBad in the home stretch.  Even though all looks copacetic, at least one of us at the very moment is convinced he is dying, his thighs feel like bundles of stretched out bra straps and he wouldn't be surprised if blood started spurting from his eyes.

 A brave bystander rescues the Quick and Dirty team from a surprise attack by another bystander

 This image and the previous one, courtesy of Rachel von Wettberg

3:41 pm - O god, o god,  god, o god o god, o god, o god.

3:52 pm -  The Well Hungs and the Kings of Cleats participate in the first heat of "Hang This."  I've regained my breath from the grinding ordeal of the Special Delivery.

4:20 pm - The Quick and Dirty and Dept 13 are in heat two of Hang This. And I insured that the dumplings and whiskey I consumed in Special Delivery would stay down by burying them under a supressive layer of cheese balls.

4:45 pm - rBad is hungry so we pack up gear, and head into Chinatown for dinner.

6:12-6:17 pm - Watching the woman from the restaurant trying to rustle an eel out of the tank.  It's a real contest of wits.

6:35 pm - Walking back from the restaurant, we pass the gallery, considering whether we should rejoin the gathered crowd.  Instead we head to the cars for our long drive home, champions, not of of international art handling primacy, but of our own.......whatever.   Really, the Art Handling Olympics is like the Special Olympics in that everyone is a winner.....any other similarities between the two contests, is for the viewer to decide.

I'm not sure what this posting is for.  I just liked the way it fluttered in the breeze.

In the end, the Kings of Cleats take the day with the Well Hungs and the Quick and Dirty also making to the medals platform.

Here's a video piece on the event by the NY Daily News:

For more info and better pics of the event, check out:
The NY Times article and slide show
Art Fag City's exaustive coverage, including  photos by Marina Galperina.

My City Was Gone|What is ever lost? Mapping Place and "Space with Freespace

Matthew Slaats is not a fellow who is ever wanting for a way to fill his down time.  He concluded the Hyde Park Visual History Project last October with a long awaited interactive projection at the Hyde Park Drive In and now he's fully involved in the Midddle Main Revitalization effort, working to leverage artistic activity to invigorate the cultural and economic life in a stretch of Poughkeepsie's Main St.

Matthew's work is interactive and participatory.  His impulse is toward community building and he engenders that in activities which are engineered to pool the knowledge, experience and creativity of a given community.

His latest project is an online and real world project called Freespace.  The website of Freespace seeks to generate a network of sites of of significance - of personally held significance as opposed to significance on an institutional or national scale.  The nature of the project is open ended and will ultimately be determined by the aggregated character of submissions by the public, and the site will map those locations and experiences and individual's experiences tied to that location.   As stated in the website's About section, the impetus for the project arose out of a visit to the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park as a way to spur a sort of National Park System that reflects the American experience of the common individual.  The project is a cataloging of the relationships built between people and place.
When Matthew sent the link and an invitation to participate I was reading James Fallows' article How America Can Rise Again in The January 2010 issue of The Atlantic and the pairing felt particularly synchronous.
In the article, Fallows questions several individuals on the state of the nation's well being and tracks the attitude that's been ingrained in the American psyche since its infancy that the society's high point has passed and the downhill slide is underway.  Fallows' inquiry takes stock our current state and indexing the values of today's society against the real and perceived visions of our history.  Freespace is a similar activity, codifying the involuntary habit we all have of staking claims on our surroundings based on our experiences and emotions.  Freespace charts this new territory in land we all already to navigate it with new insight;
it's just one particular approach on remaking the concept of the commons.  Stake a claim, then open it up for your neighbors to enjoy and share.

The Pressure is mounting; more details on the Art Handling Olympics

Paddy Johnson from Art Fag City has an interview with Art Handling Olympics founder Shane Caffrey reveals valuable details of this Sunday's competition, including, the menu that is part of the qualifying event: dumplings and shots of whiskey.
The members of rBad are getting psyched with every passing moment.

Link updates, Artist Talks at the Hessel Museum

I've made a couple additions/updates to the artist links in the right sidebar:  Greg Slick has a new website catelogueing his various works.  Robert Brush's new website is listed in the sidebar.

I've also added a link to Ron English's website.  Juxtapoz.com recently did a two part profile on the artist who moved to Beacon a little over a year ago.

Blogger now has the option of creating pages.  You can see above that I've created two pages for area art venue/resource links, and for web resources.  If you have a link to suggest, shoot me an email or make a comment here,and I'll work on getting it added.

Finally, artist Nicole Eisenman will be giving a talk tomorrow, March 18 at the Hessel Museum as part of the current exhibition project Living Under the Same Roof, curated by the CCS Bard curator in residence Ana Paula Cohen.  The series of talks of which the Eisenman talk is a part is co organized by Judy Pfaff for her course "Art in conversation."  Martha Rosler kicked off the series on March 11.

Here are the upcoming talks:
April 8 - Stephen Shore
April 15 - Matt Mullican
April 22 - Robert Longo
April 29 - Judy Pfaff

All talks are scheduled at 2pm.

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!

Update on the TransArt Institute residency at Dia

I'm waiting on confirmation for the TransArt Institute residency at Dia:Beacon that is scheduled for tomorrow.
As of this morning it was on, but given the conditions brought on by the snow storm and the difficulties that many of the resident hosts are going through, the plan may have to change. I'll update inform
ation as I get it.
If you have any questions or concerns, give me a call 914-844-6515.
One thing that I do know is that the plan to lead artists through the museum blindfolded at 11:30am will not happen.

Update, 11:38am: the program is a go. Visiting artists will be contacting hosts to confirm the possibility of their stay. Some artists will be opting to return to NYC at the end of the day.

Electronic Music: Powered by Girls Workshop at Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, March 13

On March 13 the Ann St Gallery in Newburgh NY will be hosting a free workshop on creating electronic music for girls aged 13-18.  Suzanne Thorpe and Bonnie Jones, both electronic music artists will conduct the afternoon long workshop called Electronic Music: Powered by Girls (1-5pm) which will be followed by a public concert performed by Thorpe and Jones at 8pm.
You can read the full press release with details of the workshop and the artists here.

Electronic Music: Powered by Girls, contact Bonnie Jones at (443) 858-3494 or bonniejones[at]gmail.com, or Suzanne Thorpe at (212) 206-1505 or suzanne[at]emf.org. For more information regarding the Ann Street Gallery, contact Virginia Walsh, Director, at (845) 562-6940 x. 119, vwalsh[at]safe-harbors.org.

It's a small world after all; a potluck invitation: Spire Studios, Sun, Feb 28, 2010

Some 20 artists from around the world are descending on Beacon on February 28 for a two day residency at Dia:Beacon.  The artists who are all enrolled in the TransArt Institute MFA program are being hosted by Beacon residents in their homes.
Folks are invited to join the group at Dia:Beacon on Sunday at 11:30 am to lead blindfolded artists from the museum entrance through the galleries and to the interior of one of Serra's Torqued Ellipses. The artists will spend two days at the museum working on projects that will respond to Dia's exhibits.
After the museum closes on Sunday, the group will convene at Spire Studios for drinks, conversation and a little potluck dinner.  If you're interested in stopping in an being part of the conversation, feel free to, and bring a little something to munch on.  For more information, contact Angelika .

Angelika is in the final stretch of getting her MFA program through TI.  The program consists of an intensive Summer residency in Berlin with a short Winter residency which starts later this week at the Sideshow Gallery in Brooklyn.  She's organizing this Beacon extension to the Winter session.  Coinciding the Brooklyn residency, TI will be holding its annual open house for anyone interested in learning more about the program.

Stepping Out in Beacon NY on Feb 13, 2010

A few images from stepping out in Beacon on Feb 13, 2010.

Though unrelated, I'm sure, Will Walker's sculpture above at Van Brunt Gallery rhymes nicely with the
hues in the sunset I snapped through the window of Will's studio back in October.

David Rothenberg et fils creating layers of music, digital and live at bau.

Young love burgeoning at the Valentine's show at Spire Studios.

Jan 29, 2010: Opening Reception of Harry Roseman's Hole in the Wall at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar

Harry Roseman gave a talk on Friday evening at Vassar on the occasion of the official opening of his installation, Hole in the Wall in the atrium of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at the college.
Roseman's talk, along with a screening of a video documenting his Woven Walls installation at the Kleinert Art Center in Woodstock in 2008 preceeded the opening.  The main lecture hall was filled to capacity, so a second hall was enlisted, offering a projection of a live online stream of the talk. 

Unfortunately, the webstream had some form of buffering issue and we weren't able to see the entire talk.  A recording of the talk is available for viewing here.
The upside to this technical glitch was that those of us in the second hall were able to go in and view the work before the crush of people filled the space...and fill the space they did.  It got claustrophobic quickly, so I bailed out prior to the performance by Adrienne Elisha of a composition she created which was inspired by the installation. 

It had been too long since I last visited the Loeb.  There's really no better place in the area in which to casually stop in and indulge in morsels sized portions of great work.  The small size of the temporary exhibition and permanent collection galleries offer a remarkable opportunity to get a fix without needing to devote a great chunk of time. 

Anthony Easton's pilgrimage to Poughkeepsie - and kork

kork's current offering is a collection of snapshots by Toronto based artist Anthony Easton (his blog).  I met up with Anthony and his friend Pat at Dia Beacon on Jan 17.  The two had conceived a multitasking road trip, the first portion of which focused on visiting religious pilgrimage sites in upstate NY, like the Sacred Grove in Palmyra where Joseph Smith received the revelation that gave form to the Book of Mormon and the Mormon church.  The trip culminated in the installation of Anthony's work on the kork board in Poughkeepsie.

Anthony Easton placing photographs on the board of kork.

Anthony's project on kork consists of the photographic documentation of his vacation/research trip in upstate NY. 
In his statement, Anthony cites the recognizeable experience of suffering through a viewing someone else's vacation photos.  This curse of living vicariously through representations of other's experiences has only been magnified through proliferating technology and the annointment of all as producers of content, banal though that content may be. Anthony invokes the traditional banality of this form of vacation documentation, and gives it the pride of place that any individual gives to the relics of their fondly held memories.  These photos are the very same vestiges of leisure time that find their way into office cubicles on on to desks as rememberences of places visited and things during those non-work times spent away from the workplace.  They're emblems of experience and of the personal flown as flags of home in the pseudo home of the office. 

My contact with Anthony had been limited to short email exchanges until we rendezvoused at Dia the day before installation.
His endeavor of vacation as form of pilgrimage strikes a chord with one of the underlying tenets of kork:  how do we experience art?  Can a bulletin board in an accounting office become a cultural destination?  For me, the nature of pilgrimage and primary experiences plays a role in the broader implication of this work in this office in Poughkeepsie.  Would someone venture to POK to view the expression of an artist on a bulletin board in an office? Does the percieved value of such a site warrant such a trip? Is it sufficient to simply experience it remotely?  Is it enough to know that something is going on somewhere, and get the gist of it rather than making the effort of getting there?  Maybe, and yes - sometimes no.  Folks are more than welcome to stop into the office and check out the artworks.  They are equally welcome to feel satisfied that what they see online gives them some form of full experience.
The kork project as a whole partially rests on the calculation of reward divided by effort exerted - both in the creation of the works and the viewing of them. In this case the artist tested that calculation for himself.  
I'll admit to some anxiety when Anthony contacted me last year, interested in creating a project, and willing to travel to POK from Canada, and making that travel part of the piece.  I felt, but restrained, the need to inform him fully of the informality of the project and  he might not want to knock himself out over it.  But his coming is the realization of the kind of primacy of the primary experience that is self rewarding and not dependent on a climax resolution for validation.  I respect that attitude.  I know I'm projecting here, but I read it as an imperviousness to futility. It's a key to living, and making art; to dig a hole, not to retrieve something, nor to deposit something, and if something is found, to feel free to leave it in place, then fill in the hole once again and take something away from the whole endeavor.

This array of office implements and corresponding newsclippings is the most naturally sculptural and consistently enjoyable vision I behold whenever visiting the office of Bailey Browne CPA & Assoc.

Meet yer Maykr: Jim White

While in Denver back in November, I paid a visit to Jim White in his studio to pick up his contribution to the kork Advent project.
While there, I shot some images of Jim's space and a bit of the nascent works of various forms he has in progress.

I met Jim in the late 90's at a group exhibit he was participating in at Revolucciones space in Denver.  I was struck by his facility for drawing and his compositional treatments.  I bought two paintings from that exhibit and we've been in and out of contact ever since.

As I'm writing this, I'm recalling an instant during an exhibit I had at EDGE gallery in 2002.  At the same time, Jim had a show up across the street at Pirate.   Having run over to check out Jim's show, I came away feeling very envious of his work.  I can't say now what it was in particular that drew that reaction out of me, and I can't actually remember what I saw - that portion of the memory has been drowned out by response to it.  It's the only time I can remember feeling that way toward someone elses work.  It was a short but sharp sensation.

A box of antique player piano rolls that Jim is starting to use in his collages, such as he did for his Dec 19 contribution to the kork Advent project.

A personalized valentine.

Jim said that he's just now returning to drawing and painting after a period in which he's been involved in creating small foamcore sculptures.  These table top sculpture sit somewhere in between misguided architectural models and a fanciful scheme for cultural merchandising.  Jim thinks of  to these as miniature monuments; each one a lilliputian ode to the heyday of macho plop art.

In time, these pieces will receive some form of paint treatment.  We began discussing possible applications of these for a future kork project....stay tuned for that later in 2010.

Some images of Jim's workspace:

 The two untitled works from (98, 99?) currently hanging in my bedroom.

You can view past Meet yer Maykr studio visits at Maykr.com

In the neighborhood

There's a sculpture that suddenly appeared in the front yard of a house just up the block. I noticed it yesterday on my way to the gym.
It's an alright piece;  One that I might notice if it were in a public park or civic setting, although it maybe a bit generic in that public sculpture kind of way.  But in this setting (complete with a plaque with artist name and sculpture title: Robert Giordano; First Gate) the work definitely has more of a charge.

Part of this charge comes from the surprising context of this work sitting on a residential front lawn.  It's a slight tangle in relation to the otherwise uprightness of the line of Victorian homes on the block.  Perhaps the only really odd thing about the presence of the sculpture here is that it is not festooned with Christmas lights.  And although the popularity of those inflatable Christmas lawn figures push the envelope of scale even further than this comparatively modest structure,  the other reason I think it works here is the relationship of the work's size to its setting. The sculpture dominates the square of lawn on which it sits in a wonderfully almost-claustrophobic manner.  Lawns are tedious, tiresome uses of space, but here that bit lawn has been deputized into an actual purpose of framing and supporting the sculpture.  The ratio of sculpture to grass here turns the normal sculpture to sculpture park relationship on its head - and it works really well in this situation....unlike this similarly but less successful tweaking of scale in a public work.

It gave me a lift to see it there.  It also reminded me of how uninterested I am in the bulk of sculpture in sited in natural settings, or conventional civic settings.

I'm intrigued by the thought of having a sculpture tour that takes place in the front lawns of residences, if only for the novelty and the potential for the absurd. 

This is the endThis is not the end This is the End This is not the end This is....

If you're a frequent visitor to Maykr, you have noticed that the blog is going on two months since it's last post.

This post is here to confirm that which you already know: maykr is on indefinite hiatus.

I've decided to pull back to focus on personal and collaborative projects (including some Maykr publication projects), more studio time and a re-imagining of my art blogging activities. Maykr is not dead - it's in an induced coma, but there are signs of life here. You'll notice that I've added a MAYKR twitter feed in the sidebar. Many of the announcements I've posted about previously will be funneled through there - so keep your announcements and notices coming and as I'm able to, I'll throw them there.  There is also a  MAYKR group on Facebook, so feel free to join up and post art related items yourself there or start a conversation.  Also, don't forget about the Beacon Art Postcard Archive (BAPA)  this project continues and I continue to need contributions of postcards and other art promotional ephemera.

The writing I will be doing in the near future will be channeled through my personal blog which will contain a lot of my studio oriented items in addition to Maykr-type, art related posts.  I want to create a more clear correlation between those things in the broader world (and artworld) that draw my attention and my studio activities, and how both sides of that coin influence one another.   I'm working on a new webpage/blog format that will provide me a proper context for this dual writing I'd like do, although I'm being stymied by technological limitations at the moment.  It's possible that I'll start posting Eye Candy Fridays again after the new year, and I have a handful of Meet yer Maykr studio visit posts in the pipeline, all of which you'll be able to find at chrisalbert.blogspot.com for the interim. 

This change of venue stems from that desire to tie together (for myself) the strands of writing and mayking that dominate my time.  Also, my interest in blogging has incrementally drifted from art related items specific to the Beacon Area.  It's not captivating enough for me  to maintain a Beacon-area specific blog any more.  I think it's best to create a little more separation between the newer content and the local-centric archive that the Maykr blog has become.  

As with any body in a coma, Maykr can still sense your presence. Although it may not be able to respond fully, it still holds within it the memories and essence of a body having lived. You can always direct questions or announcements to info[at]maykr[dot]com.  Going forward, I'll work to maintain the currency of the links on this page, and hopefully add new ones as they come up. I will also work to add lables to older posts that will make the pre 2007 content more searchable.

Finally, I send my gratitude out to all who have become regular visitors to the blog, and those who have subscribed to the blog's feed, and those who have shared with me their words of encouragement over the years.

Thanks.
C.

James Westwater at Heidi Cho Gallery in NYC, opening tomorrow

James Westwater is among the artists featured in an exhibit opening tomorrow at the Heidi Cho Gallery in Chelsea.  Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds also includes the work of Richmond Burton, Maurizio Pellegrin, Tad Wiley and Saya Woolfalk.

Heidi cho is located at 522 W 23 St. the opening reception is taking place from 6-8 pm and the exhibition will run through Nov. 12.

Hyde Park Visual History Project Premieres Oct 17 at the Hyde Park Drive In

After two years of hustling and armed with some 2000 images gathered from residents of Hyde Park, Matthew Slaats is ready to present his interactive Hyde Park Visual History Project at the Drive In theater in Hyde Park.

Matthew was in Beacon on Saturday and gave me a quick rundown on this tail end of the project and the added technically interactive twist he's incorporating into it.

The projected collected images and accompanying sound will be influenced by movement of bodies in a set location on the grounds of the drive in. 

Here's Matthew's description from the project's Facebook event page:

The Hyde Park Visual History Project, developed by artist Matthew Slaats, is a community‐centered artistic project that engages the elaborate evolution of the local landscape and its inhabitants through images and sound. Serving as a dynamic meeting point for the community, the arts, and the history of Hyde Park, NY, the project builds an understanding of place through donated images, home movies, film, and audio. The collected visual and auditory material will be presented at significant sites in the community throughout the summer of 2009, culminating in an installation at the historic Hyde Park Drive In Theatre. For these installations, images of the past and present will meld into brilliant moments of color, all of which is supported by a sound track developed from recordings of children describing their hometown. Audience and environmental movement will control this interactive installation, becoming the driving force for the installation.

The Project Presentation will take place from 8 - 11pm on Saturday, Oct 17 at the Hyde Park Drive-In Theater on Rt 9.  If you try to find this on google maps, it'll send you way up state, but I've marked it on a map right here.

Be sure to check out Matthew's blog on the project which chronicles its development and his thoughts that have emerged through his interactions with the public of Hyde Park and their memories of the place.

On for this weekend.

I've been squeezed for time of late, so if you're looking for information on the openings and happenings tonight at Floor One, Gallery G, bau, Van Brunt, RiverWinds, and many others, check out BACA's website......

note that the time for the Art21 screening today at the Beacon Community Center has been changed from 2 to 4pm.

Also, Collaborative Concepts' Saunders Farm Project in Garrison is having its mid-run reception today from 2-6pm.  Musical performances are scheduled throughout the day.

Thursday night's talk by Thomas Nozkowski up in Stone Ridge was great. Aspects of his process really resonated with me, making it personally rewarding...I'll have more on this soon.

On the subject of talks, this one comes via the arts muse blog: the Katonah Museum is hosting one given by Robert Storr on the subject of "Art's Self-Sufficiency in a Boom/Bust Art World".  Storr's talk is happening tomorrow at the Chappaqua Crossing Auditorium from 5-7pm.  The talk is being held on the occasion of Storr being named the first recipient of the museums new Himmel Award. This is a pricey one, $85, $75 for museum members and $25 for students.  If you're interested, call 914.232.9555 x2978.  The Chappaqua Crossing Auditorium is a t 480 Bedford Rd in .....Chappaqua.

And don't forget COTA is happening in New Paltz today starting from 10-5.

Eye Candy Friday: Oh, ho, ho It's Magic

Hanging out last Friday night with Will Walker, fresh from his two month residency at Seven Below in Vermont, brings us this week's EFC: the work of Peter Miller.  Peter was one of Will's two studiomates, along with Mia Feuer at Seven Below and his website is chock full of subtle, visually and intellectually rich work and there's a lot to see on his website between his video pieces and the video documentation of his performances and installations.  Just the thing for perusing on a rainy Friday. 

Expect to hear a bit about Will's experience in vermont in his own words and images in a forthcoming MAYKR post.

Art 21 "Compassion" airs tonight on PBS. "Fantasy" preview screening @ BCC on Oct 10 4pm

If you weren't able to make it to the Art21 Sneak Preview Screenings of Art 21 Episode 1 at the Beacon Community Center last Saturday or at the Beahive last night, the episode will be airing tonight at 10pm on WNET 13.

A preview screening of Episode 2 "Fantasy" will be held at the Beacon Community Center on Saturday, Oct 10 at 4pm.

Fantasy features the work of  Jeff Koons, Mary Heilmann, Cao Fei and Florian Maier-Aichen.

I've mentioned some of the various attributes to the Art21 world and the accompanying educational programs.  Stacey Ward Kelley and Jennie Duke, both teachers in Beacon Public School  are two of 15 chosen nationwide to participate in the Art21 Educator's program.

Stacey and Jennie will be presenting a development workshop for visual art teachers in the Beacon and Newburgh City School District's on Nov. 3.  Via Beacon Citizen Network .

Update:  "Compassion" will be viewable on the PBS Video Portal until Nov 13, 2009

Rideshare to Stone Ridge for Thomas Nozkowski talk and opening

If anyone is interested in carpooling to tomorrow eve's presentation and opening of Nozkowski's work, drop me a line.  As of now a party of two of us will be heading up for it.

Free weekend admission to Dia:Beacon for Beacon residents All-Year-Long

Beginning Saturday, Oct 17, Dia:Beacon will begin offering year round free weekend museum admission to residents of Beacon NY.

This new initiative, made possible by Lyn and John Fishback in honor of Pete Seeger will kick off on the 17th with a celebration with refreshments, a performance by Pete Seeger and adult and family tours.  It all starts at 11:30, here's the schedule:

11:30 am   -  Refreshments

12:00 pm   -  Welcome Remarks & Performance by Pete Seeger

1:00   pm   -  Adult and family tours of Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries

2:00   pm   -  Line, Rythm, Chance, a guided family activity in the museum's Learning Lab.

                     open to children 6 and above accompanied by an adult. 

                     For reservations email familytours@diaart.org.

Beacon residents simply need to present a driver's license or other government-issued ID for free entry to the museum.

Additionally, the final Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Workshop to be held at Dia:Beacon will take place on that same day at 2pm.  The topic for this last session is Considering the Fiscal Sponsorship Model to Structure and Support Art Projects. ( I'll be out of town that day and would love a report from someone on this....perhaps Mr. W.Walker?) For reservations call 845-440-0100 x19 or rsvpVLA@diaart.org. These workshops are sponsored in part by the Dutchess County Arts Council.

More Dia:Beacon news: 

Advance tickets for the first stage of Trisha Brown Dance Co. performances on Nov 14 & 15 are on sale for Dia members.  Tickets go on sale to the general public on Oct 15.  General admission to the performance is $35 and includes museum admission.  Dia member tickets are $20.

The St Luke's Chamber Ensemble is kicking off a new concert series at Dia:Beacon beginning on Oct 18.

The Antoni Tapies exhibit will be closing in the coming weeks.  I believe that an installation of Agnes Martin works will follow the Tapies show.

On Saturday, Oct 24, at 1pm, Allstar gallery talk giver Kenneth Goldsmith will be returning to give a talk on Sol LeWitt. Not to put too much pressure on Mr Goldsmith, but this better be good, because (based on his Warhol talk) I've been really building up this talk in my mind....That usually doesn't bode well for my own personal endeavors, so I hope he will fare better than I tend to in light of my own preassumed excellence.

Finally Finally, winter is coming and with it come shorter days and with those shorter days come shorter hours at Dia:Beacon.  On Oct 22, the museum will be open Thurs-Mon 11-4pm. On Nov 13 the museum will be open Fri-Mon 11-4pm.

Jackie Battenfield Lecture in Peekskill, Tuesday, Oct 6, 7pm.

Jackie Battenfield, artist and author of An Artist's Guide:  Making a Living doing What you Love will be speaking tomorrow night, Oct 6, at 7pm at the Westchester Community College Center for Digital Arts in Peekskill, NY.

Admission is $5.

Ms. Battenfield's book came out this Summer, and though I haven't read it, I've seen it referred to extensively around the blogospher. In fact, Ed Winkleman happened to mention it on his blog again today.  Joanne Mattera whose Marketing Mondays are full of good information has both highlighted the book (for which she was interviewed) and interviewed the author in that weekly segment.

The Center for Digital Arts is located at 27 N Division in Peekskill.  914-606-7304

On Today:

The NYC hub of ecoartspace is hosting an opening reception today called Down to Earth. Simon Draper and Todd Sargood, E Odin Cathcart, Jeff Bailey and Cathy Lebowitz will be representing the Habitat for Artists in the exhibit. The reception is taking place tonight from 6-8pm at 53 Mercer St down in the city.

Of course, Walkway over the Hudson opening events are scheduled today in Poughkeepsie.  There's a live feed on the website. the parade is scheduled to happen at 1:30.  Given the weather today, I hope there's plenty of non slip tape up there on the floor... It's a long way down.

Open Space will be presenting the comedy stylings of Beacon's own Sam Anderson and a lecture by David Rees called "How to Win The Lottery"  The hilarity will be happening from 8 to 9:30 tonight.

Finally, don't forget the screening today of Art21's "Compassion" at 2pm at the Beacon Community Center at 23 W Center St.

Thomas Nozkowksi, visiting artist at SUNY Ulster: Talk and exhibit, Oct 8, 7pm.

 Thomas Nozkowksi Untitled(1), 2008 (detail) aquatint on paper.

My mailbox was illuminated yesterday by a notice from the Muroff Kotler Art Gallery at SUNY Ulster in Stone Ridge, NY (12484).  Visiting artist Thomas Nozkowski will be giving a talk and slide presentation on Thursday, October 8 at 7pm, followed by the opening reception for the exhibit "Complete Prints & Related Drawings." 

The talk and exhibit are both located in Vanderlyn Hall, with the talk/slide presentation happening in the Student Lounge (VAN 203).  The gallery is VAN 265.  Here's a campus map.

Nozkowski's exhibit will be on view from Oct 8 - Nov 6, 2009.

Art21 preview screenings in Beacon, NY: Oct 3 & 10 at the BCC and Oct 6 at the Beahive.

"Compassion" will be screened on Oct 3 at 2pm at the Beacon Community Center, and on Oct 6 at 8pm at the Beahive.

Art21, the Peabody Award winning series of documentaries on art and artists in the 21st Century is coming 'round again for its fifth season in October.

Since 1997, each Art21 season features a handful of themed hour-long episodes that present segments on three or four artists, in their own words, describing the nature their work and the issues behind it.

This season's 4 episodes are organized around the the four themes of Compassion, Fantasy, Transformation and Systems.

Over the years, the scope of Art21 has developed and amazing set of educational material and programs around the documentaries.  As the featured artists respond to and incorporate various political, social and personal issues into their work, The material has the position of demonstrating how to use art as a tool for their student's comprehension in all other subjects.  Additionally, the Art21 blog features a rotation of invited guest bloggers to chronicle aspects of the artworld most significant to them.  Daniel Fuller , a former Beacon resident, who is now the Senior Program Specialist at the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative was one of the  guest bloggers over the Summer.

An initiative that has grown over the past two seasons Art21's program of Access Events where the program teams up with institutions and groups internationally to host preview screenings and events to accompany the series on PBS.

Several screenings are planned in the Hudson Valley including Newburgh, New Paltz and Kingston.

I have scheduled Preview screenings of Episode 1 (Compassion) on Oct 3 at 2pm and Episode 2 (Fantasy) on Oct 10 at 4pm both at the Beacon Community Center at 23 W Center St.

The Beacon Art Salon and the Beahive will be screening Episode 1 on Oct 6 at 8pm. 

Episode 1 "Compassion" highlights the work of Carrie Mae Weems, Doris Salcedo and William Kentridge.

Episode 2 "Fantasy" features Cao Fei, Florian Maier-Aichen, Jeff Koons and Mary Heilmann.

Beacon has a rare distinction for a city of its size as it has had ties to many of the artists who have been highlighted in the documentaries over the years through the presence in town of Dia, Minetta Brook, Tallix and the Beacon Cultural Foundation.  In the case of the episodes we'll be screening at the BCC,  Jeff Koons who's in episode 2 had many of his highly polished steel sculptures fabricated in Beacon at Tallix.  The Beacon Cultural Project brought Carrie Mae Weems, of episode 1, to Beacon for an exhibit at the Beacon Project Space in 2002 and supported a project by her that was conceived as a series of interviews in a Main St storefront called the Record Shop, and concluded, in 2005, in an exhibit for the BCF in the Library Gallery of Bulldog Studios called Sited for the Record.

"Fantasy" will be screened on Oct 10 at 4pm at the Beacon Community Center.

This event is part of Art21 Access ‘09, a celebration of contemporary art and Season 5 of Art:21-Art in the Twenty-First Century sponsored by Art21. Art21 Access 09 is held at over 300 museums, schools, libraries, art spaces, and community centers and is organized in collaboration with Americans for the Arts’ National Arts and Humanities Month. Visit art21.org for more information.

Catching up, making recompense

Here are a few things I missed in the run up to my open studio this past week::

Jane Thornquist pictured here with works by Susan English. photo courtesy of Garrison Art Center.

The Garrison Art Center hosted an exhibition closing artist talk and performance as part of the Plastic Waves exhibition by Susan English and Jaanika Peerna.    The performance portion of the event was presented by Jane Thornquist.

Garrison Art Center also hosted a painter's and writer's workshop on Saturday...missed that.  However, they have announced their new schedule of classes, so you can visit their website to view that.  And on Friday, Oct 2 at 8pm, GAC will be hosting a benefit comedy performance Emily Levine at the Depot Theatre. GAC will be holding an auction on Oct 3 too, so check that out.

Joseph Bertolozzi  gave a talk on his Bridge Music at Elant in Fishkill on Friday the 24th.  Joe will be awarded a 2009 Dutchess County Executive Arts Award at a ceremony on October 28 in Poughkeepsie.  Linda Hubbard of RiverWinds and BACA will be receiving a special citation at the same ceremony.

Hudson Beach Glass opened a new exhibit on Saturday evening called Beacon on Fire.  The group show featuring work by Emil Alzamora,Tom Holmes, Rudy Mendoza, Jill Reynolds, Rosalind Schneider, Stephen Spaccarelli and Leigh Li-Yun Wen will be on view through Nov 15.

The Dorsky Museum in New Paltz announced a program of talks and a symposium to accompany the museum's ongoing Art and the River project.  The first event was a lecture on Sept 23 by professor emeritus of Geology at New Paltz, Gill Brenner. 

Future scheduled events include the Nov 7 day-long symposium "Revisiting The Hudson: Nineteenth-century Landscape Painting in Context" and a gallery talk on Nov 19 by Monroe-based landscape photographer Greg Miller to accompany his exhibit "Panorama of the Hudson River".

Greg Miller delivered a presentation on Saturday at G.A.S. in Poughkeepsie as part of the Bridging The Hudson exhibit there.  Upcoming events include presentations on Oct 10 at 1-3pm by Dick Crenson and Oct. 17 at 1-3 by Joseph Bertolozzi.

Karlos Carcamo is taking part in an exhibit, along with Barbara Weissberger and Nicholas Kashian, called Mirror on Mirror Mirrored at Dean Project in LIC, which opened on Sept 19 and will run through Nov 19. You can also check out images from this show on Karlos' blog where you can also find images from his current show at MARTE Contemporaneo in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Tony Moore's work is included in an exhibit called Out of the Anagama: Kilnmasters and Stokers at Vessels Gallery in Boston.  The show opened on Sept 26 and will run through Oct 18.  Tony will be giving a gallery talk on Sunday, October 11 at 2pm. 

Finally, Gary Jacketti has been exporting the work of many Beacon artists to Stone Harbor NJ all Summer.  Gary spends every Summer down on the Shore, and this year opened up a gallery called Beacon Art Shortwave Gallery to eat up any leisure time he might have otherwise had.  With the season closing down, so too will the gallery until next Summer.