June 15, 2016
Table of Contents
How a Decaying Painting Spurred America's Most Comprehensive Pigment Collection ...... 2 Art a Life‐Long Passion for Margo Sety ...... 3 Spain Police Nab 7 Suspects of Large Francis Bacon Art Heist ...... 4 Pick up a Paintbrush, Head Outdoors for Inspiration ...... 5 Splash Mob Pairs Painting and Dance ...... 6 Guccifer, Who Revealed George W. Bush's Secret Life as a Painter, Pleads Guilty to Hacking ...... 7 Melbourne Artists' Supplies is a Mecca for City Creatives ...... 8 Donors Should Give to Art Education, Not Just Fine‐Art Collections ...... 9 This Houston Artist Expresses Powerful Emotion With Every Brushstroke ...... 10 You Can Relax Now, Because Netflix Is Streaming Bob Ross ...... 11 The Louvre and Musée d’Orsay Shut Down as Seine River Floods ...... 12 Art Supply Store Closing This Month ...... 12 Quiet Hero Turns Lives Around With Paintbrushes ...... 13 $80 Million Andy Warhol Elvis Painting Elbowed at SFMOMA ...... 15 Aboriginal Art Centres: Acker Report Shows Many Losing Money ...... 15 Banksy Surprises British School Children With Playground Mural ...... 17 C.C Lowell Is On The Move ...... 18 How Can I Get My Kids Interested in Art? ...... 19 2 ______
How a Decaying Painting Spurred America's Most Comprehensive Pigment Collection
CAMBRIDGE, MA: Art conservation departments are more or less ubiquitous in museums today, but it wasn't always this way. The first dedicated conservation facility in the United States wasn't founded until 1927, when Edward Forbes, then‐ director of Harvard University's Fogg Museum, initiated the museum's department of research and restoration.
Forbes had a personal stake in art preservation. Attending to his own collection of Renaissance paintings (like this Madonna he bought in Italy), he traveled the world collecting rare pigments to improve identification and conservation efforts—and he created a chromatic archive in the process.
The Fogg's department of research and restoration is now the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, one of four research centers at the Harvard Art Museums. Helmed by director and senior conservation scientist Narayan Khandekar, the collection comprises over 3,600 items which are on display in the Straus Center's analytical labs. Besides the meticulously‐organized pigments, the center also houses binding media, historical scientific equipment, and raw material samples.
While the Forbes Collection and the Straus Center improved conservation efforts, they've also been instrumental in research and, notably, authentication. In 2007, Harvard Art Museums undertook an investigation into 3 of 32 paintings thought to be by Jackson Pollock. The paintings were found in a storage facility in Long Island in 2002 by Alex Matter, who claimed they were finished by Pollock in the studio of Matter's father, photographer Herbert Matter. The authenticity of these paintings were questioned soon after the study.
Using a technique called laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (LDI MS), the researchers identified some common nineteenth‐ and twentieth‐century pigments, like synthetic yellow ochre, synthetic ultramarine blue, and titanium white. But they also found materials like PO 43, an orange pigment that wasn't commercially available as paint until 1950, as well as PY 151, another hue of orange that wasn't patented until 1969, and PR 254, a red pigment discovered in 1974.
The paintings in question were thought to have been created between 1946 and 1949, and Pollock died in 1956. He was also known to use commercial housepaints, rather than mixing his own pigments, so the study cast serious doubt on a number of paintings that already lacked the aesthetic sophistication of authenticated Pollocks.
The pigment collection holds other scandalous stories. One researcher found Indian Yellow in Seurat's 1879 Vase of Flowers, a pigment outlawed in 1908 on grounds of inhumanity—the color was made from the urine of cows that had been fed nothing but mango leaves.
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And if that seems awful, just wait until you hear about Mummy Brown, a pigment made from the ground‐up remains of Egyptian mummies.
In a quest to conserve a beloved personal collection, Forbes began a decades‐long exploration into color. In contrast, the Metropolitan Museum of Art didn't create a conservation department of their own until 1942—and it was a Fogg alum who established it. artnet news: http://artnt.cm/28C31Kf
Art a Life‐Long Passion for Margo Sety
CHEWELAH, WA: Margo Sety has always had art on the mind.
When Margo was a kid, her mother would also make sure the household was stocked with art supplies, her father always made sure there were tools around for her to use on projects. It’s no suprise the Chewelah‐native was always doing one creative thing or another.
“I remember one time I frosted the edge of a table while making a cake,” Sety said. “While I was in elementary school, my teachers would give me a lot of attention with my art. I think when people give you encouragement, your desire to do art really grows.”
That encouragement from the teachers continued through middle and high school. She was also an art minor in college with a teaching endorsement from EWU.
Sety is now a third grade teacher at Gess Elementary — and a simple walk around the town of Chewelah will reveal that she’s an accomplished artist as well. Her watercolor paintings adorn several local businesses and will be on full display when the Chewelah Arts Guild host their Taste of Chewelah event.
The paintings aren’t just a testament to Sety’s artistic ability but also to her persistence. For years, watercolor paintings weren’t her cup of tea.
“I just had not been successful with them and then Gail Johannes began offering classes in them and they became really rewarding,” Sety said.
Rewarding to the tune of over 30 paintings and many of them being displayed for everyone to see. The most she’s shown is 19, and Sety admits she’s ecstatic and amazed that she’s been able to have three shows for her work.
Margo said that most of her paintings are of birds, which provide an amount of intrigue for her.
“I’ll find a cool bird and then after painting it, I’ll have to ask what it is and before long I’m doing a bunch of research on the bird,” Sety said. “It’s funny how art works like that.”
Watercolor has provided Sety with a “green medium.” Not requiring a ton of supplies, Margo can put her paints in a backpack and go into a field and paint it. Sety said she’s inspired by the local area’s landscapes.
“I want to do more local landscapes,” Sety said. “Quartzite is right there and we have our little barn and meadow scenes that are wonderful. You also have four seasons that change those scenes throughout the year.”
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Sety added she’d also like to paint more of downtown. After getting comfortable with the art, it’s still not an easy thing to do as watercolor can sometimes be unforgiving.
“Other painting styles you can add white to a scene,” Sety said. “But in watercolor painting, with white you always have to think about how to save it on the painting. It’s a challenge and there are ways to undo things but it’s still tough.”
Having taught at Gess Elementary since the mid‐90s, Sety has also helped out with the Chewelah Community Float, murals around town and various art projects.
She tries to get as much art as possible into her classroom while meeting state learning standards for art and addressing other learning goals. Sety, first hand, knows how art can become a child’s “thing.”
“My mind isn’t cluttered with all the stuff flying around in life when I’m doing art,” Sety said. “It’s concentrating on creating pieces and doing problem solving at once. Musicians and chefs say the same thing.”
You can see Sety’s work at the Flowery Trail Coffeehouse. The work will be part of the Taste of Chewelah on June 16 in downtown. The Independent: http://bit.ly/1tupzNc
Spain Police Nab 7 Suspects of Large Francis Bacon Art Heist
MADRID, SPAIN: Seven people suspected of being involved in stealing five paintings by the Irish‐born painter Francis Bacon worth more than 25 million euros ($27.8 million) have been arrested, Spanish police said Saturday.
The owner of the artworks reported the thefts of the paintings and other valuables in July after returning from a visit to London, police said. None of the paintings had been recovered and the investigation was continuing, police said.
A breakthrough came in February, when investigators received an email from a British firm specializing in art that had received a request for it to verify the provenance of some art.
The person who contacted the firm lived in the northern seaside city of Sitges, police said, and had included photographs of canvases purporting to be by Bacon. The person asked the experts if the works were listed as stolen.
Signatures that looked like Bacon's appeared on the reverse of the paintings, which made the experts suspect they could have been added, the statement said.
An examination of the photographs' metadata revealed the type of camera used and that it was rented, clues that enabled police to identify the sender and uncover links to a Madrid‐based art dealer and the dealer's son. The other suspects also received the photographs and were arrested on suspicion of being accomplices and of conspiring to conceal the facts, police said.
Saturday's statement did not say when the arrests were made and did not disclose the names of the suspects.
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The heist appears to have been professionally planned. The paintings were part of a collection owned by a close friend of Bacon who lived in an apartment close to Spain's Senate, a heavily policed neighborhood, the Spanish newspaper El Pais said, citing unidentified sources close to the investigation.
Bacon often visited Madrid, where he spent time studying old master paintings in the Prado Museum. He died in the city in 1992 at age 82. Houston Chronicle: http://bit.ly/1Prm9P7
Pick up a Paintbrush, Head Outdoors for Inspiration
What draws you outside? Is it the sense of adventure, an attraction to nature’s awesome beauty or the desire to escape our technology‐dependent world?
For those of us who enjoy art, the great outdoors holds infinite creative possibilities — from incredible scenery for landscape paintings to natural materials for craft projects. Best of all, you can practice your art while being surrounded by the Hudson Valley’s stunning flora and fauna, fresh breezes and flowing streams. No wonder painting outdoors — called “en plein air” (in the open air) — has been popular since French impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Pierre‐Auguste Renoir embraced it in the late nineteenth century.
Regardless of whether you’ve dabbled in art or not, there are plenty of ways to explore nature’s artistry. Let me provide a few helpful tips and ideas to get you (and the kids!) started:
•Research local places that showcase nature. Visit scenichudson.org for a list of parks and other outdoor spots. Interestingly, this picturesque region is home to the famous Hudson River School of painting — imagine practicing plein air painting on the same land that once inspired notable artists such as Thomas Cole and Frederic Church!
•A simple activity for creative newbies is to take a nature walk with camera in hand. Look for unique perspectives, such as a breathtaking expanse of forest viewed from a high cliff or a close‐up shot of the smallest details in a rock formation. Print the photos to create a lovely collage or scrapbook of your experience.
•Pack smart, not heavy. If you’re painting outdoors, you need to plan what to bring. Here are my suggestions: Backpack; tubes of paint; three or four paintbrushes; art canvas; portable artist easel or pochade box; sketchbook; permanent marker; paper towels; trash bags; bug spray; water bottle; umbrella; blanket; first‐aid kit; and sunblock.
•Find your art supplies in nature! Even preschoolers can make paintbrushes from forest finds. All you need to do is collect twigs for the handle end and leaves or wildflowers for the brush end. Tie them together with a twisty‐tie and voila! — You have “nature paintbrushes.” It’s also fun to collect smooth stones or leaves to paint. For leaf rubbings, cover a leaf with paper and run a crayon over the top. The shape and texture of the leaves make fascinating designs. Or, place the leaves on a plain white T‐shirt. With fabric paint and a roller, you can paint the leaf designs onto the shirt. Poughkeepsie Journal: http://pojonews.co/1YpL1y5
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Splash Mob Pairs Painting and Dance
PENFIELD, NY: Paint parties are all the rage lately. But paint and dance or paint and meditation? Now that’s a stroke of a different color.
Local marketing representative and art teacher Gloria Kreitzberg has been teaching painting classes for years in the Rochester region, and last year decided to mix it up and set herself apart from the scrum of painting party businesses in the area.
So she started Splash Mob Painting Parties — “a combination of a little bit of dance and professional painting instruction,” she said.
She’s starting Splash Mob classes at Irondequoit and Penfield recreation departments in June, and has been teaching at Broccolo Garden Center in Penfield since April. Also, she’s held painting parties at private homes and restaurants in Rochester since November.
The paintings used at Splash Mob are created by Kreitzberg and are meant to have flexibility in color and shapes, so the painter can inject their own creativity into the piece.
“Art should come from a place of expression, as opposed to trying to copy something else,” she said.
Kreitzberg starts her classes off with pumping music and some easy creative movement. New painters tend to paint very stiffly and may hold tension in their muscles, she said, “so the dance really helps to loosen everyone up.”
The dance movements usually mirror party dancing, or might involve stretching out the arms and hands.
If a good sing‐along song comes on, she’ll get the whole room bellowing out the lyrics. She’ll supply all of the art supplies and, depending on the event, Kreitzberg or the venue may supply hors d’oeuvres. Some venues allow participants to bring their own wine.
“I wanted something that was bigger, better and more unique than anything else,” she said.
The parties broke new ground for Brian DiBona of Webster, who never thought he’d find himself in charge of a paintbrush and canvas, let alone in a party setting.
“You see the painting parties around and I never would have considered myself a painter,” said DiBona. “But I was willing to try anything.”
One Splash Mob party later, he was a believer and one of Kreitzberg’s biggest fans. He thought he’d be silently concentrating on matching his painting to the instructors’ work, but instead he was disco dancing with a group of new friends.
“We were having a ball before anybody picked up the paintbrush,” he said.
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On the flip side, Kreitzberg holds spa painting classes, where she leads groups in breathing exercises for a relaxing experience. She took courses in meditation and taught dance at a dance education center in the past, she said.
She’s expanding this summer to painting events at Finger Lakes Gallery and Frame in Canandaigua, where food will be provided and attendees can bring their own wine. She’s held private parties everywhere from Keenan’s to Webster Golf Club, and for groups of corporate workers or giddy teenagers.
She teaches classes at Broccolo twice a month as part of the Petals and Paint Club, where she sticks only to nature and flower depictions. The next event at Broccolo is on June 11. Painters can sign up for four classes at a time for $130, or can try it out by taking a single class for $35.
Her first class at Finger Lakes Gallery and Frame is on June 10 — a single class is $45.
Private parties can range from $30 to $45 per person depending on the length and intensity of the class, with a minimum of 10 people. For more information, go to Splashmobpaintingparties.com. Democrat & Chronicle: http://on.rocne.ws/25Vgz4u
Guccifer, Who Revealed George W. Bush's Secret Life as a Painter, Pleads Guilty to Hacking
The Romanian hacker Marcel Lehel Lazar, aka Guccifer, pleaded guilty Wednesday to hacking the email and social media accounts of the Bush family, along with other Americans, AP reports. It was Guccifer's hacking skills that uncovered the fact that former President George W. Bush had taken up painting in his retirement.
Lazar, 44, entered his plea in Virginia court. He had been charged with identity theft and unauthorized access to protected computers. He faces between two and seven years in prison when sentenced in September, according to the AP.
Lazar also hacked about a hundred others, prosecutor Ryan Dickey told the court on Wednesday. While they were identified only by number in court, AP points out that former Secretary of State Colin Powell was also hacked, resulting in Facebook posts under his name, reading "You will burn in hell, Bush!" and "Kill the Illuminati!"Bush's paintings went on view in Dallas in 2014, at his presidential library.
While it might be easy to snicker, Art in America's Cathy Lebowitz wrote at the time, "These could be shown in a gallery and taken seriously in a number of contexts," citing stylistic comparisons like Sylvia Sleigh and Lois Dodd. She continued, "What is so striking is that they are not particularly illustrational but have an abstract sense of space and form that reminds me of Fairfield Porter and his milieu."
New York magazine critic Jerry Saltz went so far as to say, "OMG! Pigs fly. I like something about George W. Bush. A lot."
As for Lazar, he may be able to serve some time in Romania, as part of his plea bargain. artnet news: http://artnt.cm/1tursJv
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Melbourne Artists' Supplies is a Mecca for City Creatives
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Hidden away down Little La Trobe Street, this mecca for artists and hobbyists is distinctive for its hand‐painted mural shopfront and industrial warehouse interior that harkens to the city’s past.
Sales pitch
“Our goal is to provide you with high‐quality art materials in a friendly and helpful environment.”
Who’s behind the counter?
Husband‐and‐wife duo Wayne and Jan Gardner, who started the business in 1985. In 1999, they relocated to the city, after coveting the spot for some time.
“I always liked the position and that particular building, and we waited for 10 years for the lease to come up,” Wayne says.
The pair employs a small army of Victorian College of the Arts and RMIT graduate artists to help them run the store from day to day.
“Out of 15 people here I’m the only one who isn’t an artist,” Wayne laughs.
What’s in store?
Everything you need to express your creativity, whether you’re crafting, drawing, painting or print‐making.
Melbourne Artists’ Supplies also offers useful services such as custom canvas stretching and paper and board cutting.
The store’s range has broadened “quite dramatically” over the years, with artists looking for specialty products and brands they’ve come across on the internet.
“We try very hard to listen to what our customer base wants us to get,” Wayne says.
Who’s buying?
Young art students at the various nearby universities and TAFEs make up the bulk of the store’s clientele. Many of the city’s professional artists also frequent the store.
Our pick
Whether you’re a working artist, buying a gift for a favourite niece or nephew, or decompressing with your adult colouring book, it’s hard to go past this beautiful box of pencils by UK brand Derwent.
This colourful collection features 120 artists’ pencils in a beautiful wooden box. $299. The Weekly Review: http://bit.ly/1URx6eu
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Donors Should Give to Art Education, Not Just Fine‐Art Collections
The new, improved San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is super‐big, super‐expensive and a major achievement of civic energy and private philanthropy. Isn’t this stunning evidence that Northern California deserves gold stars for its support of fine arts?
Not quite. A wonderful art museum is a major benefit to people who like to see and appreciate great paintings, and also a source of competitive civic pride. Rich folk purchase, collect and donate art to museums that proudly display the art and include brass plaques congratulating the benefactors next to “their” paintings. So these works of art on public display are not just tributes to Picasso and Monet but also to Mr. and Mrs. Smith who donated or loaned them.
So if modern and contemporary art is important to communities such as San Francisco, shouldn’t we also concentrate resources on increasing the quality and the quantity of art produced in the community?
There is a substantial public benefit in having a great art collection for middle‐class folk like the Zimrings to experience masterpieces firsthand, and it is also a not unimportant civic status symbol. The head of our new museum proclaimed it “a game changer” in May. “It lifts us to the top ranks for museums” said Neal Benezra. So a first‐class art museum makes for a first‐class city.
Trickle‐down deception
The museum cost more than $300 million to construct, and there is almost an equivalent amount to be dedicated to art acquisition. I can’t wait to see the new space and the hundreds of paintings that now can be shown in the expanded facilities. The Left Coast will now have the largest museum of modern and contemporary art in the country.
But does this kind of institution‐building also increase either the quality or the quantity of art made in a community? Let’s take a hypothetical example of the limits of buying great art as a civic improvement. Assume some rich folks, say, in Houston outbid some rich folks in Dallas for a well‐regarded Matisse. The multimillion‐dollar acquisition is good news for Houston, but how will this civic achievement benefit fine art? Matisse can’t paint any more pictures next year and it takes a deep faith in trickle‐down economics to suppose that the extra $10 million paid by Houston will end up helping Houston’s art students and struggling artists.
Huge prices for the work of dead artists probably do increase the prices for the works of prominent living artists, so American painter Jeff Koons will rejoice when folks pay super prices for Andy Warhol. But will Koons paint or construct any more of whatever it is he makes? Should he? And how will the extra millions of dollars trickle further down the artistic food chain?
Artists enrich the community
So high‐flying prices for master paintings have little to promise most people who try to paint for a living. There are few industries on the planet where the economic rewards are as skewed as in the practice of fine arts. Most people who see June 15, 2016
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So if modern and contemporary art is important to communities like San Francisco, shouldn’t we concentrate more resources on increasing the quality and the quantity of art produced in the community? The mechanisms to facilitate what I want to call “supply‐side arts philanthropy” are scholarships to good fine arts training, fellowships for young practicing artists, and grants to support galleries devoted to promoting unrecognized artists of ability. All of these strategies should be priority concerns for private funding.
Critical first step to creativity
But how will the young painters and photographers of the next generation discover their interests and abilities? Here, good art and music education in the public schools is the critical first step. But haven’t I changed the subject by bringing this up? After all, these critical first steps in arts education should be the responsibility of state and local governments, not private donors. That, of course, is in an ideal world. But private support for art and music education in public schools is a necessary 21st century investment in California — and not instead of the new museum of modern art but in addition to it. Perhaps we can provide plaques of recognition for generous private donors outside the third‐grade classrooms where their support will be vital to the future of the arts in our communities.
If our game‐changing new museum is going to thrive in an art‐rich metropolis, then the real challenge is providing the means for the best of our young artists and art students to fulfill their ambitions. We can’t nail brass thank‐you plaques on the shirtsleeves of young artists (perhaps instead a strategic thank‐you tattoo?), but supporting artists must be an important element in a balanced program of private support for the arts. San Francisco Chronicle: http://bit.ly/1U71HFe
This Houston Artist Expresses Powerful Emotion With Every Brushstroke
HOUSTON, TX: Marthann Masterson proves that it’s never too late to follow your passion. The artist first built up a successful catering career before tapping into a previously unknown passion for painting, and now she expresses her stories and emotions through brushstrokes.
Her paintings evoke deep feelings of past experiences of loss, rejection, and alcoholism. She believes it was divine intervention that lead her to a path into recovery; she’s been sober for 26 years. Now she uses representational art and paintings of chairs to explore human behavior.
“My art reflects feelings I have experienced in the past,” Masterson says, “and although some of the paintings evoke a serious topic, they tell a story about achieving happiness.”
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Her first painting was about the vulnerabilities felt growing up as the middle child. The reactions from others showed Masterson that not only can many people relate, but also that recognizing those feelings and finding humor in them is powerful.
The painting was one winner in an international competition sponsored through the nonprofit organization Embracing Our Differences, having been viewed by 50,000 people.
However, Masterson’s passion for cooking and entertaining lead her first to a career in catering. Training under an accomplished French chef, Masterson learned the business before returning to Houston and forming her own catering business.
“I think cooking is art,” Masterson says. “Presentation is everything. To evolve into art, I really didn’t change careers.”
Though her catering business was thriving — she cooked for Mick Jagger, kings, and presidents, and hosted a popular cooking segment on television for a decade — Masterson couldn’t ignore her yearning for something different.
Four years of classes at Glassell School of Art later and Masterson struck out on her own. She paints every day in her studio at Winter Street Studios, telling her stories through representational pieces. The abstracts she paints are an expression of brilliant colors mixed together. They are big and beautiful, full of life. A stack of chairs evokes people interacting; a blast of color can express ultimate joy.
Masterson’s paintings have been exhibited in several spaces, and one of her paintings inspired a ballet in Sarasota, Florida. The colors and energy of Rothko and Pollock inspire her to explore similar vibrancy and freedom in her work, which is truly about sharing feelings and inspiration with others.
“I believe good art should tell a story,” Masterson says. “Mine does.” CultureMap: http://bit.ly/1ZOx5MH
You Can Relax Now, Because Netflix Is Streaming Bob Ross The painting icon’s other show, “Beauty is Everywhere,” is ready and waiting.
“His teachings are eternal. His hair is immovable. He is Bob Ross.”
Netflix tweeted the tagline earlier this week to announce that the streaming service is bringing Bob Ross (aka the nicest painter ever) and his lesser known show “Beauty is Everywhere” to its platform.
Bob Ross, who died in 1995, hosted the “The Joy of Painting” on PBS from 1983 to 1994. It was technically an instructional program, but let’s be real. Ross’s pearls of wisdom and gentle voice were what made the show worth watching.
Starting this month, fans can watch his other series, the 1991 “Beauty Is Everywhere,” on Netflix. Don’t worry, it’s very similar to the more famous “Joy of Painting” (which is available to watch on YouTube and Hulu).
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Moral of the story: Bob is truly back and he’s going to make everything better. The Huffington Post: http://huff.to/1WMMleU
The Louvre and Musée d’Orsay Shut Down as Seine River Floods
PARIS, FRANCE: Record rainfall in Paris has caused intense and dangerous flooding of the Seine River to the extent that the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay are closing temporarily to safeguard their collections. In a press release, the Louvre announced that it will be closed tomorrow, Friday June 3, so museum employees can move artworks located in flood‐ prone areas of its buildings to higher floors. Tens of thousands of “reserve” paintings and sculptures currently reside in the museum’s underground vaults, as the Independent reported. Since 2002, Louvre staffers have been required to undergo evacuation training in the event of flooding.
The Musée d’Orsay shuttered early on Thursday due to the still‐rising water — which officials say has exceeded normal levels by 16 feet. Like the Louvre, the institution also has flood emergency plans in place; both buildings will remain closed until officials lift the flood alert, currently at “orange,” its second‐highest level.
According to the Telegraph, this is the second time flooding has forced the Louvre to close its doors, with the first incident dating to the time of the Second World War. Museum staffers have been well aware that the building’s subterranean collection is vulnerable to deluges: the Art Newspaper reported in 2013 that Louvre officials had wanted to establish an off‐site storage facility for the very purpose of avoiding damages from flooding, but plans allegedly never took off due to financial uncertainties.
As of press time, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay are the only two Parisian museums to shut down; other riverside institutions such as the Musée de l’Orangerie, Palais de Tokyo, Grand Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville De Paris, and the Musée du Quai Branly have not announced interruptions to their schedules. Hyperallergic: http://bit.ly/1VXz81Q
Art Supply Store Closing This Month
WILMINGTON, NC: An independently owned art supply store in Wilmington is closing for good this month.
Linda Arrow, owner of Arrow Fine Art Supplies, said she is not renewing the lease for the 1,500 square feet of space her store has occupied since 2012 in the South Kerr Village strip center, 1045 S. Kerr Ave.
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“I’ve had tons of support from UNCW, Cape Fear Community College, the Cameron Art Museum and Screen Gems and a lot of professional local artists – that’s how I’ve managed to stay and build and grow over the past five years,” Arrow said Friday.
But she’s never enjoyed the business side of her art business, Arrow said.
“I want a life, and I want to create my own art,” she said.
Arrow’s family opened a framing and art supply store in upstate New York in 1977, moving to Wilmington in 1992. Townhouse Art & Frame Center at 730 St. James Drive in Wilmington, the framing store owned by Linda’s sister, Lisa Kazantzis, and Lisa’s husband, Doug, will remain open.
“It’s a family tradition that’s been going for a good long time,” Arrow said.
Arrow moved the art supply side of Townhouse Art & Frame Center into space on Castle Street in 2011, but a lack of foot traffic and concerns about personal safety led her to choose the South Kerr location the following year, she said.
“I saw a big boost in business when I moved here,” she said.
Lisa Kazantzis was helping Arrow on Friday to ring up customers at Arrow Fine Art Supplies, where a 45 percent off sale was in effect. The store’s fixtures are also for sale, and the discount on supplies will increase weekly until the store’s expected closing around the third week of June, Arrow said.
Unless she runs out of inventory before then. If not, Arrow said, that’s OK too.
“I’ll have a lot of art supplies to create my own stuff with,” she said. WilmingtonBiz: http://bit.ly/1roeLhE
Quiet Hero Turns Lives Around With Paintbrushes
CHICAGO, IL: Some students arrive at Jose de Diego Elementary Community Academy having never held a paintbrush.
The Chicago public school on the western edge of trendy Wicker Park serves close to 700 kids, 92 percent of whom come from low‐income homes.
"Their families are working at survival level," Ruth Evermann, de Diego's art therapist, told me. "Our kids carry an anger with them that takes your breath away."
Evermann channels their anger into art, working with groups of students to create mosaics, murals and whimsical paintings that spill onto the walls of the four‐story building — lining the stairwells, framing the water fountains, illuminating the hallways.
Evermann has worked at de Diego for 30 years. She began as a kindergarten teacher, but her role evolved as the students' needs changed. Even as budgets have been slashed and schools have been forced to make do with less, she has secured grants year after year from the Oppenheimer Family Foundation to purchase art supplies, greatly increasing the breadth of the projects she and her students can tackle. June 15, 2016
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A kaleidoscope of tiles, jewels and aquarium stones covers the school's inside entrance. Preschool self‐portraits line the basement walls. A few stories up, hand‐painted dinosaurs populate the otherwise drab, gray walls.
"Our children need a voice," Evermann said. "This gives them a voice. It says, 'We're here. We're important.'"
Evermann's work is the sort of quiet heroism that too often escapes notice.
Day after day, year after year, she teaches children, prekindergarten through eighth grade, to create beauty. In so doing, she gives them a new lens through which to see themselves and their place in the world.
Some of the projects take months to complete, and there is beauty, also, in that.
"We talk and work at the same time, and it teaches them about cohesiveness," Evermann said. "A lot of the students are already friends, but they've taught each other disrespect. This teaches them another way to be friends."
As you descend the steps in one wing of the school, 10 characteristics of student learners are spelled out in colorful glass: honest, knowledgeable, risk‐taker, inquirer, reflective, caring, communicator, thinker, open‐minded, principled.
Each word is written in English and a second language: Japanese, Russian, Greek, Hindi, Spanish and so on.
"There's a richness to what they're learning," Evermann said. "We don't always get that just from academics. What they're learning is architectural, sculptural, technical, spatial. Our children are growing because of this."
Jackie Menoni, principal at de Diego, said it's not unusual for students to lash out at teachers. Evermann, she said, finds a way to soothe them.
"She is so kind and calm and emotionally connected to what's happening in the building — how parents are feeling, how kids are feeling," Menoni said. "I've never met anyone like her."
Evermann is 76 years old. She doesn't know how many more years she'll work, but she can't imagine doing anything else.
"This is who I am," she said. "I didn't recognize it when I was younger, when I was trying to fit into the world around me."
Evermann said she grew up in a mostly Spanish‐speaking home in Southern California.
"I didn't learn the regular way," she said. "I wasn't reading. I wasn't doing math. I wasn't speaking very much at all. But I constantly taught myself how to do different things with newspaper, rocks, sticks, stones, glass, beads. This has been a piece of me all along."
She identifies with her students' frustrations, that sense of sorrow that comes from not yet knowing your place.
But here, at school, she's creating one for them.
"The thing I've noticed more than anything is the community that this has created," Evermann said. "When parents first started coming in, they'd be on their phones. They'd sit down on the stairs. Now kids will say, 'Look, Mom! I did this!' The parents have started taking pictures. The grandparents have started taking pictures. It's a whole different feeling because they see what their children created." Chicago Tribune: http://trib.in/1WMThIY
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$80 Million Andy Warhol Elvis Painting Elbowed at SFMOMA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The new SFMOMA, with its ambitious $300 million expansion, has been open for barely two weeks, but apparently that's long enough to fall victim to a freak accident. A museumgoer tripped and hit the surface of Andy Warhol's 1963 Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] painting on June 2 while visiting the new San Francisco museum.
Kron4 reports that the painting was removed from the gallery on Friday morning, and it is currently in the museum's conservation studio, where it is being thoroughly evaluated.
The painting—one in a series of 22 silkscreens that Warhol did in the 1960s depicting Elvis Presley as a cowboy—belongs to the collection of Doris and Donald Fisher, whose donation of their massive art collection inspired SFMOMA to expand in order to be able accommodate and display the artworks from their trove properly.
The museum stated it wouldn't be issuing a press release regarding the incident, but according to Kron4, conservators think the contact between the elbow of the museum goer and the painting was “minimal."
The work is similar to one that sold in November 2014 at Christie's New York for $81.9 million, according to the artnet Price Database. That work came from the state funded collection of North Rhine‐Westphalia, and was owned by the German casino conglomerate WestSpiel, a subsidiary of the state bank of North Rhine‐Westphalia (NRW Bank), which has been accruing losses for years.
News of the plans to sell this and another work by Warhol sparked a huge backlash in Germany, with 26 German museum directors launching a petition to halt the sale, calling it a “controversial political issue with considerable ripple effect."
German culture minister, Monika Grütters, replied to the outcry at the time, saying that the works would not be used to pay off the casino's debt. However, an investigation by the German paper FAZ showed that the proceeds were in fact used to pay off the state‐owned casino's considerable debt despite previous denials. artnet news: http://artnt.cm/1URWtwH
Aboriginal Art Centres: Acker Report Shows Many Losing Money
Aboriginal art centres are facing an uphill battle for sustainability, according to a report that found the majority of centres in remote communities have been losing money over a decade to 2013, with signs of uneven recovery and smaller loss‐making by some centres in only the past two years.
The Art Economies Value Chain research, whose complete findings will be published later this month,
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16 ______surveyed 87 art centres across Australia to establish facts in the ongoing debate about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art production. That debate, it says, has until now “generated more heat than light”.
Curator and industry analyst Tim Acker, a former art centre manager who led the research team, says the idea was launched after a 2007 Senate inquiry into the Aboriginal art sector identified a chronic lack of data on the scope and scale of art production.
He says data was collected from 87 art centres and 136 art businesses across Australia, “focusing on economic, social and trade issues in the art value chain”.
It found that earnings in 73 art centres dropped by 126 per cent over a 12‐year period, based on comparing figures from 1990‐91 to 2012‐13. The centres recorded a net loss for the first time in the 2012‐13 financial year. In the decade to 2013, commonwealth funding to art centres was $160.3 million. Larger art centres with sales of $500,000 or above dominate the figures, with 28 per cent of centres claiming 70 per cent of sales though making up only 28 per cent. A dozen large centres, such as those at Yirrkala and Yuendemu, accounted for about three quarters of total sales.
The highest producing region by number of products and value was the Western Desert, followed by the Kimberley. More than 80 per cent of all sales were concentrated in the four major art regions — Western Desert, Arnhem Land, the Kimberley, and the APY Lands. Art centres in those four regions service 75 per cent of registered artists, and receive half of all relevant funding.
Half of Australia’s art centres, representing almost 4000 artists, produce less than 20 per cent of sales. More than half were not profitable, which raised questions about their long‐term viability.
One reason appeared to be too many paintings being produced. “There’s been ‘if a little bit is good, a lot must be better’ thinking,” Acker says. “More art centres have been encouraged (to emerge), but art relies on a notion of rarity. The reality is that less than (0.5 per cent) of artists make serious money, contrary to some assumptions.
“Many artists are hobbyists who make less than $10,000 over their whole career. It’s not an economic panacea or an easy way for communities to make money.”
Almost one‐third of artists are in the 30 to 42‐year‐old age bracket, and one‐third are over 55. Artists in this older age bracket are the most valuable, producing 55 per cent of all the artworks by value between 2003 to 2012. The mean sale value of art products fell for all age groups in that time.
The research project, commissioned by the Co‐operative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation, found that even healthy centres were being skewed by policies that redirect funds toward youth engagement and employment programs. Since 2009‐10, the Indigenous Employment Initiative fund has changed from supporting art production directly to supporting the employment of artists and arts workers, which has served to reduce actual art‐making.
The report notes: “What used to be a straightforward proposition of producing the best possible art and selling it to the world is now a more complicated picture.”
It argues art centres should remain committed to producing culturally important and excellent art. Says Acker: “It’s as important now as it ever was, but the fact that youth engagement and employment have ended up at the door of art centres is problematic.”
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He urges governments to keep funding art activity “because it has operated well since 1989, and supports 90 per cent of practising artists. It’s probably the single most stable indigenous policy there is around,” he says. “This is the first time we have a holistic picture of the sector, so we hope the federal government — which puts 80 per cent of funding into the sector — will use it in making any changes.”
In a study of the two most recent years, the researchers say art centre finances are recovering; losses are smaller, and the number of centres making a profit is rising.
Wages are now the largest single expense for art centres, outstripping artist payments and the purchase of art materials — which may indicate a drop in art produced. “But we still have more than half the art centres not making a profit,” says Acker, “and that raises questions about viability in five to 10 years from now.” The Australian: http://bit.ly/1XnLh1c
Banksy Surprises British School Children With Playground Mural “If you don’t like it feel free to add stuff, I’m sure the teachers won’t mind.”
BRISTOL, ENGLAND: A group of British children returned to school Monday to find an original Banksy mural spray‐ painted outside after they named a team house after him.
The artwork, featuring a stick figure pushing a burning tire with a stick, appeared outside of Bristol’s Bridge Farm School following a half‐term break.
It included a handwritten note from the elusive artist, thanking them for recognizing him.
The letter said: “Please have a picture. If you don’t like it feel free to add stuff, I’m sure the teachers won’t mind. Remember — it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love.”
Geoff Mason, head teacher at the school, told the Bristol Post the school had named its buildings after prominent local figures, and Banksy is believed to be from the southwest England city.
“It was done after we ran a competition to change the house names, and we decided to name them after Bristol legends. We had to include Banksy,” Mason said.
A BBC reporter tweeted that a caretaker initially wanted to clean the paint off when he first saw it, thinking that vandals had left it.
Fortunately, they found the letter in time.
A Banksy spokesperson reportedly confirmed the mural’s authenticity to the BBC. Mason, speaking to the news network, said the school will preserve the artwork. They also have “no plans to sell it.”
Banksy’s work can fetch quite a high price: In 2013, small Banksy canvases that were sold on the streets of New York City were valued at more than $200,000, Forbes reported. In 2007, Sotheby’s London auctioned off three of his pieces which also sold in the six figures. The Huffington Post: http://huff.to/1URW4dz
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C.C Lowell Is On The Move
WORCESTER, MA: Beloved arts supply store C.C. Lowell Art Supply Co. — the oldest store of its kind in the country — will be moving from its 258 Park Ave. location just a short distance away, to 453 Pleasant St., the former home of Johnny Mac’s Bar.
The move is planned for the end of June, and the new space should provide a number of benefits to both the business and its customers.
C.C. Lowell owner Kristen Sciascia started working for the company back in 1995, and bought it outright in 2012.
“I’ve grown with the store,” said Sciascia. “I was actually at the old location, at 500 Park Ave. The year I started working in the old store, we moved to 258 Park. Ave. I grew with it. When I bought the business in 2012, I knew that we had to make some changes. People were asking for classes. They wanted more art supplies. We needed better parking if we were going to offer classes and an easier space for people to find us.
“I think we were missing that piece. We have a really good custom framing business and we really don’t have the space to support it. The new custom frame shop will be so much better and the design center will be so nice.”
The current location of C.C. Lowell on Park Ave., just before Pleasant Street, has served the art supply store well for years. The time has come, however, for an increased interior layout, more ample parking and easier in‐and‐out traffic capability.
“The layout puts us back a little bit,” said Sciascia of the current spot. “At the time, it was what we could get and what we could afford. That is true for most small business, I believe. You have to be able to afford it and handle it, but the arts scene is growing in Worcester. We’re really feeling it, [especially with] mural art [and] with Pow Wow coming. People are buying supplies, we want to be able to service everyone and to do it, we need a better space for that.”
The new space will be shared with Edible Arrangements, and is a short distance from stores such as Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Market, 408 Pleasant St. It should add to increased foot traffic.
“We like that neighborhood,” said Sciascia. ”We have Ed Hyder’s right there. It affords us a lot more parking spaces. It’s very ‘neighborhood.’ It’s a little off of the main road, which gives the customers an easy way to get in and out. Right now, taking a left on Park Avenue can be a bit of a struggle.”
The upcoming move was made possible with help from the city, according to Sciascia, whose quest for a new location began in earnest several years ago – complete with both mental and on‐paper layout designs. The city’s Office of Economic Development lent a hand.
“It’s a stone’s throw away,” said Peter Dunn, business programs manager from the Office of Economic Development. “I think that was an important part of Kristen’s search, not alienating the people that know the spot. They [453 Pleasant St. property owner Aramis Jordan] said there was another unit available in this building and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be a great fit for C.C. Lowell.”
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According to Sciascia, without the city’s help, the move may have never happened.
“The city really facilitated a lot of this,” said Sciascia. “I thank these guys so much. For three years we’ve been walking the streets of Worcester looking for a place to live. I’ve been through three other spaces, which I’ve mentally and on‐ paper outfitted. We had to go through all that to get here. From the grants, to the façade program, to the micro loan program, the city has helped me. Without them, I couldn’t have done it.”
Staying in Worcester, C.C. Lowell’s original home since first opening in 1852, was important to Sciascia and her team. Of course, the momentum happening in the city — particularly within the arts community — was not lost.
“I love Worcester, I do,” said Sciascia. “I think it’s interesting. It’s an interesting city. It’s not too big. People always say it’s up and coming, but it’s really happening now. I’ve been saying that for a long time, and people say I’m just a cheerleader, but I really see it happening.
“There is something happening, especially grassroots and especially art‐related. There’s a lot going on. Any given night, you can find something to do now. There’s never nothing to do. There’s so much happening, shows and galleries like Nine Dot. There’s always something to do here.”
Part of being an “interesting” city is having a thriving local business economy, a fact not lost on either Sciascia or Dunn.
“Small businesses are the backbone of any local economy,” said Dunn. “Any time we can help them out, we will. Many times small businesses are the ones that need the most help. They don’t have the teams of people dedicated to human resources or accounting. Sometimes they need that extra support system.”
In turn, small businesses like C.C. Lowell offer something a bit beyond being a simple supply store.
“We don’t just look at it as a retail store at all,” said Sciascia. “It’s like a mission. It’s a community. It’s like a community center for art, plus we sell art supplies and custom frames.”
While the date isn’t set in stone, the move from 258 Park Ave. to 453 Pleasant St. is planned for some time in late June. You can find out more information on C.C. Lowell Art Supply Co. and Custom Framing – including classes, events and hours – online at cclowell.com. Worcester Magazine: http://bit.ly/237WnHr
How Can I Get My Kids Interested in Art? Six things parents can do with their kids to get the children interested in art.
Start early: For years, experts have said that creativity and an appreciation for the arts aids in a child’s development of motor skills, language, decision‐making, visual learning, inventiveness, cultural awareness, and improved academic performance. Fostering your child’s self‐expression at an early age is the beginning of their life‐long evolution.
Create: Even if it’s just a few scribbles, babies and toddlers can start with supervised coloring and finger painting. As they grow, they’ll be comfortable with materials and continue their creative journey into more advanced pursuits. Always
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20 ______keep art supplies handy so creating art becomes a familiar pastime.
Experiment: When it comes to art, the possibilities are endless. Let your kids make pictures and cards with paints, colored pencils, crayons, or markers. They can also make play dough sculptures, build with building blocks, or create collages with magazines and glue. If you’re looking for new ideas, check Pinterest for thousands of step‐by‐step guides. Don’t rely heavily on the images provided. Your child’s work of art doesn’t need to match and it’s not about perfection. Just take the ideas and let their imaginations do the rest.
Praise their art: While your child is working on art, ask them questions about it. What were they thinking? What is the story they are telling? How does it make them feel? For more advanced artists, connect their creations to art they have viewed. And once they’ve finished, frame it, hang it, display it. Their confidence will soar and they will want to create and learn more.
Visit museums: New York has some of the best art museums in the world. Don’t be intimidated. Museums are child‐ friendly and many offer programs for kids at every age. Take the same approach as with creating art and start early. Kids who visit museums as babies and toddlers will feel right at home for the rest of their lives. Make sure to participate in age‐appropriate activities provided by the museum or create your own. One suggestion is to start at the gift shop and let your child buy a souvenir, then spend some time searching the galleries for that piece. Make it fun and they will begin their life‐long love of art and museums.
Take classes: Find after‐school art classes for kids in your area. Art classes can nurture creativity, develop skills, and sharpen the imagination. NY Metro Parents: http://bit.ly/1VXNoaI
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