Newstimes.com: Gov.'s arts veto pushes Kan. into national debate
JOHN HANNA, AP Political Writer
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is defending his veto of all funding for the Kansas Arts Commission, predicting other states will follow the lead of Kansas is shutting down government arts agencies.
.TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback pushed Kansas into a national debate over the scope of government by making his state the first to shut down its arts agency and eliminate funding for arts programs, leading one group Tuesday to call the state "a huge outlier" in how it treats the arts.
But Brownback predicted other states will follow Kansas' lead.
"While we may be a trend-setter now in the area, I think you're going to see a number of states pursue this very same avenue," Brownback told reporters. "This is a good trend. It's so that you focus your budget items in core areas more so than in areas that we can afford to pay for off the private side."
The chief executive officer of Americans for the Arts, based in Washington, said Brownback's decision last week to veto the entire Kansas Arts Commission budget goes against "a half-century understanding" in the U.S. that government has a role in promoting the arts. He also suggested the Republican governor's actions violate pledges from his campaign last year to improve the economy.
"It's a huge outlier," Robert Lynch, CEO of Americans for the Arts, said during an interview with The Associated Press. "It's the only such decision made this year or in the past 50 years."
Some fiscal conservatives contend Americans, concerned about spending, are rethinking whether taxpayer dollars should support the arts. Alan Cobb, director of state operations for the small-government group Americans for Prosperity, said criticism of Brownback's actions is overheated.
"If this happened across the country, we will still have great art museums and symphony orchestras," Cobb said. "We can't do everything, so let's figure out what we really need to do, and what are we good at."
Proposals to eliminate state councils or dramatically cut funding have been pursued in several states, including New Hampshire, Texas and Washington, but Kansas is the first where such an effort has come to fruition. Vermont has a private, nonprofit arts council, but it relies heavily on state funding.
Brownback has argued that the arts will still flourish in Kansas with private funding and that the state must set priorities in using limited tax dollars in tough financial times.
"I'll be working to raise private moneys for the arts in this state," Brownback said.
He sought to replace the Kansas Arts Commission with a private nonprofit foundation, which formed in February. The governor used his power to individual budget items to strike $689,000 that legislators set aside for the Arts Commission in a $13.8 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Brownback also struck the line authorizing the commission's small staff. Even before he acted, his administration told the commission's five employees they'd be laid off June 10.
"The private sector — both nonprofit and for-profit — are providing all kinds of outlets for the arts," Cobb said. "Here's what's changed: People in the middle are saying, 'I'm not really sure this is a proper role of government."
Arts advocates have warned that eliminating the commission could cost the state as much as $1.2 million in federal funds. Brownback had proposed setting aside a $200,000 subsidy for the new foundation in the state historical society's budget, but the Legislature put all arts funding in the Arts Commission's budget — meaning none survived the governor's actions.
Arts advocates argued that Brownback's actions jeopardize several thousand jobs tied directly to arts programs and others supported by the spending of arts patrons.
Jonathan Katz, chief executive officer of the Washington-based National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, said Brownback's actions will likely lead to fewer performances, fewer art exhibits and fewer touring company visits to small towns.
"There is no comparable example of a state government walking away from supporting a public arts agency," said Katz, who served as the Kansas commission's executive director in the 1970s. "It's an extreme measure."
Officials at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington weren't commenting Tuesday about Brownback's action or whether it will cost Kansas federal arts dollars. But arts advocates see that outcome as inevitable because Kansas won't be funding a government arts agency.
Lynch and Katz said Brownback's actions also are significant because Kansas has been a leader in developing local arts councils and making sure such funding is available even in small communities.
"To have that be the kind of place that dropped to zero is kind of a surprise," Lynch said.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
NASA Art: 50 Years of Exploration Opens at the National Air and Space Museum
ArtDaily.com: NASA Art: 50 Years of Exploration Opens at the National Air and Space Museum
WASHINGTON, D.C.- You don't have to be a rocket scientist or an astronaut to work for NASA. Engineers, pilots, physicists, astrobiologists, and, yes, artists, too, have helped further the mission of the space agency. In 1962, NASA administrator James E. Webb invited a group of artists to illustrate and interpret the agency’s missions and projects. Artists, participating in the NASA art program, many of them renowned, have been documenting the extraordinary adventure of spaceflight ever since. Granted special access to historic moments, they have offered their perspectives on what they have witnessed.
"NASA | ART," on view from May 28 to Oct. 9, features works by artists as diverse as Annie Leibovitz, Alexander Calder, Nam June Paik, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol and William Wegman. The exhibition includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and other art forms and media from the collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum. These more than 70 works—ranging from the illustrative to the abstract—present a different view of NASA than the one in history books or news shows.
Several of the artists have captured the faces and personalities of the men and women who have flown in space. Other members of the team—scientists, engineers, technicians, managers and thousands of others who made the space program possible—are also portrayed. Bunkers, gantries, radio dishes and the towering Vehicle Assembly Building of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida attracted other program artists, some of whom were struck by the co-existence of the space-age architecture of the Cape with the beaches, swamps, birds and animals that surround the space-age facility.
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 50 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are available at www.sites.si.edu
WASHINGTON, D.C.- You don't have to be a rocket scientist or an astronaut to work for NASA. Engineers, pilots, physicists, astrobiologists, and, yes, artists, too, have helped further the mission of the space agency. In 1962, NASA administrator James E. Webb invited a group of artists to illustrate and interpret the agency’s missions and projects. Artists, participating in the NASA art program, many of them renowned, have been documenting the extraordinary adventure of spaceflight ever since. Granted special access to historic moments, they have offered their perspectives on what they have witnessed.
"NASA | ART," on view from May 28 to Oct. 9, features works by artists as diverse as Annie Leibovitz, Alexander Calder, Nam June Paik, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol and William Wegman. The exhibition includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and other art forms and media from the collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum. These more than 70 works—ranging from the illustrative to the abstract—present a different view of NASA than the one in history books or news shows.
Several of the artists have captured the faces and personalities of the men and women who have flown in space. Other members of the team—scientists, engineers, technicians, managers and thousands of others who made the space program possible—are also portrayed. Bunkers, gantries, radio dishes and the towering Vehicle Assembly Building of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida attracted other program artists, some of whom were struck by the co-existence of the space-age architecture of the Cape with the beaches, swamps, birds and animals that surround the space-age facility.
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 50 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are available at www.sites.si.edu
Sunday, May 22, 2011
UK: Thief steals £3,000 worth of art from Brighton gallery
The Argus: Thief steals £3,000 worth of art from Brighton gallery
A brazen art thief walked into a gallery off the street and stole work worth thousands of pounds.
The offender struck in the middle of day while staff and members of the public milled around the artwork.
Valuable items - including one-of-a-kind sculptures - were piled into a bag before the crook raced out.
It was not noticed how much had been stolen until the thief was long gone. Items which were taken were due to be part of forthcoming exhibitions.
The theft took place in the Ink_d Gallery in North Road, Brighton, on Monday.
Dan Baldwin, from the gallery in North Laine, said: “£3,000 of original artwork was stolen from the gallery in one go.
“Alongside some wonderful pieces the perpetrator also stole many smaller items from books to postcard packs to plate stands.
“We have reported it to the police and are currently talking with them about the missing work and those people involved.”
One of Mr Baldwin's greatest fears is that the work will be sold on for scrap.
A brazen art thief walked into a gallery off the street and stole work worth thousands of pounds.
The offender struck in the middle of day while staff and members of the public milled around the artwork.
Valuable items - including one-of-a-kind sculptures - were piled into a bag before the crook raced out.
It was not noticed how much had been stolen until the thief was long gone. Items which were taken were due to be part of forthcoming exhibitions.
The theft took place in the Ink_d Gallery in North Road, Brighton, on Monday.
Dan Baldwin, from the gallery in North Laine, said: “£3,000 of original artwork was stolen from the gallery in one go.
“Alongside some wonderful pieces the perpetrator also stole many smaller items from books to postcard packs to plate stands.
“We have reported it to the police and are currently talking with them about the missing work and those people involved.”
One of Mr Baldwin's greatest fears is that the work will be sold on for scrap.
Suspect of Palace Museum theft caught by police
Also May 12:
Suspect of Palace Museum theft caught by police
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Beijing police said Wednesday night that they have apprehended a person who is suspected of stealing several art pieces from the Palace Museum in Beijing's heavily-guarded Forbidden City.
The suspect, named Shi Baikui, male, 28, from east China's Shandong Province, was caught by police at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday in Fengtai District in Beijing, 58 hours after the relics were stolen, police said.
The missing items were on loan from the Hong Kong-based Liang Yi Museum and were discovered missing at 8:20 a.m Monday. They include small Western-style make-up cases encrusted with jewels.
As of now, Shi confessed he had stolen the relics in the Palace Museum and he has been detained, police said, revealing no more details about the man.
Police said some of the stolen items have been recovered. An investigation into the theft is still underway.
According to the police, a museum staff member found and questioned a "suspicious" man in the museum at 10:30 p.m. Sunday night. The man fled when the worker called museum authorities to report the man's presence.
Several pieces of art were later found missing from a temporary exhibition in the museum
Suspect of Palace Museum theft caught by police
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Beijing police said Wednesday night that they have apprehended a person who is suspected of stealing several art pieces from the Palace Museum in Beijing's heavily-guarded Forbidden City.
The suspect, named Shi Baikui, male, 28, from east China's Shandong Province, was caught by police at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday in Fengtai District in Beijing, 58 hours after the relics were stolen, police said.
The missing items were on loan from the Hong Kong-based Liang Yi Museum and were discovered missing at 8:20 a.m Monday. They include small Western-style make-up cases encrusted with jewels.
As of now, Shi confessed he had stolen the relics in the Palace Museum and he has been detained, police said, revealing no more details about the man.
Police said some of the stolen items have been recovered. An investigation into the theft is still underway.
According to the police, a museum staff member found and questioned a "suspicious" man in the museum at 10:30 p.m. Sunday night. The man fled when the worker called museum authorities to report the man's presence.
Several pieces of art were later found missing from a temporary exhibition in the museum
Forbidden City Museum apologizes for million dollar art theft
From May 12:
English.news.cn (Xinhuanet): Forbidden City Museum apologizes for million dollar art theft
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Despite its heavy guard, a theft took place at the Forbidden city in Beijing on May the 8th. Seven items have been stolen and spokesman for the tourist attraction, Feng Nai'en apologized Wednesday morning to the public and made a commitment to beefing up security.
Feng Nai'en, spokesperson of Forbidden city Museum said, "First, I, on behalf of the forbidden city museum, would like to apologize to those who care about the forbidden city museum..."
"Also, I, on behalf of the forbidden city museum, would like to apologize to Madam Liang Yi Cang Museum and its sponsor Mr. Feng. Sorry..."
Apologies cannot retrieve the lost treasures.
Those 7 pieces of stolen exhibits were lent from a Hong Kong private museum in an exhibition cooperated with Beijing Forbidden City, displayed 130 pieces of exhibits.
And among the stolen pieces are early twentieth century Western-style dressing cases and diamond handbags, all from the hands of the world’s top jewelry masters.
And the curator of Liang Yi Cang Museum, Wang Xiahong said that she felt sorry for the loss, but they will continue the exhibition and add more pieces for the show.
Wang Xiahong, curator of Liang Yi Gang Museum said, "Both Mr. Feng and I myself have faith in the public security department. We are confident that the art pieces will return to the forbidden city and Liang Yi Cang museum."
The stolen pieces are said to be worth over ten million yuan. If they can't be found, both the Forbidden city and Liang Yi Cang museum will incur tremendous losses.
Ma Jige, director of Forbidden City Museum, said, "7 art pieces were lost, there are estimations on the Internet about their value. But I want to emphasize that due to the confidence of Liang Yi Cang museum, these art pieces are not declared according to their market prices. The incident happened unexpectedly, we....."
Beijing police had already taken over the investigation, declaring that a suspect is confirmed, but no one was arrested yet. And lots of tourists to the Forbidden City expressed their curiosity about this incident because in their minds, the security in Beijing is very tight, and things like this should not happen.
English.news.cn (Xinhuanet): Forbidden City Museum apologizes for million dollar art theft
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Despite its heavy guard, a theft took place at the Forbidden city in Beijing on May the 8th. Seven items have been stolen and spokesman for the tourist attraction, Feng Nai'en apologized Wednesday morning to the public and made a commitment to beefing up security.
Feng Nai'en, spokesperson of Forbidden city Museum said, "First, I, on behalf of the forbidden city museum, would like to apologize to those who care about the forbidden city museum..."
"Also, I, on behalf of the forbidden city museum, would like to apologize to Madam Liang Yi Cang Museum and its sponsor Mr. Feng. Sorry..."
Apologies cannot retrieve the lost treasures.
Those 7 pieces of stolen exhibits were lent from a Hong Kong private museum in an exhibition cooperated with Beijing Forbidden City, displayed 130 pieces of exhibits.
And among the stolen pieces are early twentieth century Western-style dressing cases and diamond handbags, all from the hands of the world’s top jewelry masters.
And the curator of Liang Yi Cang Museum, Wang Xiahong said that she felt sorry for the loss, but they will continue the exhibition and add more pieces for the show.
Wang Xiahong, curator of Liang Yi Gang Museum said, "Both Mr. Feng and I myself have faith in the public security department. We are confident that the art pieces will return to the forbidden city and Liang Yi Cang museum."
The stolen pieces are said to be worth over ten million yuan. If they can't be found, both the Forbidden city and Liang Yi Cang museum will incur tremendous losses.
Ma Jige, director of Forbidden City Museum, said, "7 art pieces were lost, there are estimations on the Internet about their value. But I want to emphasize that due to the confidence of Liang Yi Cang museum, these art pieces are not declared according to their market prices. The incident happened unexpectedly, we....."
Beijing police had already taken over the investigation, declaring that a suspect is confirmed, but no one was arrested yet. And lots of tourists to the Forbidden City expressed their curiosity about this incident because in their minds, the security in Beijing is very tight, and things like this should not happen.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Secrets of Monet's Garden, by Derek Fell
Secrets of Monet's Garden: Bringing The Beauty of Monet's Style to Your Own Garden, by Derek Fell
MetroBooks, 1997/2001
141 pages, chock full of color photos, plus index
Library: 712.6094424 FEL
Description
Monet planted his garden to paint, using plants like brushstrokes, and he declared himself good for only two things in life-painting and gardening. As the garden at Giverny was brought to perfection, its fame spread throughout the art world. The allure of Monet's garden is not only its extraordinary beauty, but also the historical significance of the garden in the world of art, the enigma of Monet himself, and the universal popularity of his glorious paintings.
Premier garden writer and photographer Derek Fell has carefully studied Monet's planting philosophies and practices, and in Secrets of Monet's Garden Fell shares his conclusions, offering insights into the painter's use of color, sense of structure, combinations of form and texture, and favorite flowers. Fell here unveils the mysteries behind Monet's famous water lily platings, cottage garden, vegetable garden, and more, interpreting Monet's distinctive style for the home gardener.
While the scale of Monet's gardens is rather daunting, his favorite themes, garden accents, and flowers can all be adapted to create a lush, imaginative garden that you can easily maintain.
In addition to hundreds of ideas for borrowing Monet's favorite effects, you'll find special boxes labeled Perfect Partners, which suggest Giverny-style plant combinations for the backyard, using just two or three different plants or elements.
With hundreds of full-color photographs of the Giverny gardens, as well as reproductions of many of Monet's garden paintings, Secrets of Monet's Garden is a fascinating look at one of the world's most inspiring gardens as well as a practical guide for bringing the romance of an Impressionist garden to your own backyard.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
1. Borrowing Monet's Garden Style
2. Monet's Color Harmonies
3. Monet's Favorite Structures
4. The WAter Garden
5. The Clos Normand
6. The Vegetable Garden
7. Trees, Shrubs and Vines
8. Monet's Plant Palette
Conclusion
Visiting Monet's Garden
About the Author
Sources
Index
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Art Book Monet, edited by Louise Candlish and Fergus Day
Do not confuse Claude Monet with Édouard Manet!
Art Book Monet: The father of Impressionism-his life in paintings, edited by edited by Louise Candlish and Fergus Day. Translated by Anna Bennett.
DK (Dorling Kindersley) 1999
131 pages chock full of color and b&w photos, plus index of places (where Monet's works are to be found) and index of names (with brief bios).
Library: 759.4 MON
Description
Monet's luminous work was central to the Impressionist movement and includes some of the Western world's most popular paintings. Experience this celebrated French artist's mastery of light and color, and learn how he continued to develop his extraordinary perception despite the onset of blindness in later life.
-Includes over 300 full color paintings
-Surveys the artist's life and works
-Analyzes the masterpieces
-Explains the historical and social context
Table of Contents
1840-1858: In search of a style
-The young caricaturist
-A new freedom of expression
-Caricatures
-New ideas in an industrial Europe
1859-1871: Monet's influences
-The young artist
-Conflicting ideas
-Studio Corner
-The scandalous Manet
-From Gleyre to the Salon
-A tumultuous decade
-Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe
-Mixed fortunes
-Innovations and exhibitions
-Women in the Garden
-The daily pursuit of perfection
-War and revolt
-Le Grenouillere
1872-1883: The Argenteuil Years
-Stability and harmony
-The cities change
-Impression, Sunrise
-The birth of Impressionism
-The Impressionist Group
-Bridge at Argenteuil, Grey Day
-Success in Adversity
-An era of change
-The Gare Saint-Lazare
-Sadness at Vetheuil
-"La Vie Moderne"
1884-1899: The Giverny years
-New travels
-A progressive spirit
-Three Fishing Boats
-Beloved nature
-The end of the 1880s
-Painting at Antibes
-Poplars and haystacks
-A new sensibility
-The northern light
-People and ideas of the 1890s
-Rouen Cathedral
-A new obsession
-The century closes
-Water Lily Pond, Harmony in Green
1900-1912: New challenges
-The magic of Giverny
-The turn of the century
-Vetheuil
-Paintings of Venice
--The avant-garde beckons
--The Water Lily Pond
-Success and disappointment
-A frenzied new century
1913-1926
-A boundless energy
-War and change
-A stubborn old man
-Bauhaus and Art Deco
-The last works
-Milestones and frivolities
-Monet's legacy
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Photos: World's Richest Man Opens World's Flashiest Museum
The Atlantic Wire: World's Richest Man Opens World's Flashiest Museum
In Mexico City, telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim, widely cited as the world's richest man, recently opened a new museum to showcase his extensive collection of over 60,000 works of art from all over the world. As NPR reports, Slim calls the museum a gift to his country; others call it an eyesore, "the pet project of a man who knows more about business than art."
Kate Delmling at ArtInfo rounded up the reviews of the museum, which has an investment of more than $800 million, finding: "critics deeming it eclectic at best, and, at worst, a totally incoherent grab bag of stuff a la William Randolph Hearst's notorious Xanadu."
The outside of the museum is a windowless, metallic, six-story structure shaped like a surrealist hourglass. Despite being designed by Slim's son-in-law, it drew some of the better reviews: Art + Auction's Benjamin Genocchio called it, "really spectacular... a cross between a spaceship, a mushroom, and a futuristic Mariko Mori installation." However, he found it derivative of the Guggenheim on the inside, down to the spiral ramp.
The Los Angeles Times' Christopher Knight wrote, "If you love Salvador Dalí's cheesy Surrealist bronze sculptures of the 1970s and 1980s, churned out for moneyed provincial buyers; posthumous (if authorized) casts of Auguste Rodin masterworks; or sentimental Victorian odes to childhood innocence, carved in marble, this is the place for you."
In positive reviews, The Wall Street Journal's Nicholas Casey was wowed by the architecture: "a few steps into the narrow entrance, the museum unfolds as an airy white gallery — a trick an architect tells me was used by Baroque builders to convey a sense of grandeur."
And back to the snarky: German newspaper Die Zeit brought up criticisms of Slim as an uninformed nouveau riche, along with "a persistent rumor that he has paintings hanging in his house with Sotheby's labels still on them."
In Mexico City, telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim, widely cited as the world's richest man, recently opened a new museum to showcase his extensive collection of over 60,000 works of art from all over the world. As NPR reports, Slim calls the museum a gift to his country; others call it an eyesore, "the pet project of a man who knows more about business than art."
Kate Delmling at ArtInfo rounded up the reviews of the museum, which has an investment of more than $800 million, finding: "critics deeming it eclectic at best, and, at worst, a totally incoherent grab bag of stuff a la William Randolph Hearst's notorious Xanadu."
The outside of the museum is a windowless, metallic, six-story structure shaped like a surrealist hourglass. Despite being designed by Slim's son-in-law, it drew some of the better reviews: Art + Auction's Benjamin Genocchio called it, "really spectacular... a cross between a spaceship, a mushroom, and a futuristic Mariko Mori installation." However, he found it derivative of the Guggenheim on the inside, down to the spiral ramp.
The Los Angeles Times' Christopher Knight wrote, "If you love Salvador Dalí's cheesy Surrealist bronze sculptures of the 1970s and 1980s, churned out for moneyed provincial buyers; posthumous (if authorized) casts of Auguste Rodin masterworks; or sentimental Victorian odes to childhood innocence, carved in marble, this is the place for you."
In positive reviews, The Wall Street Journal's Nicholas Casey was wowed by the architecture: "a few steps into the narrow entrance, the museum unfolds as an airy white gallery — a trick an architect tells me was used by Baroque builders to convey a sense of grandeur."
And back to the snarky: German newspaper Die Zeit brought up criticisms of Slim as an uninformed nouveau riche, along with "a persistent rumor that he has paintings hanging in his house with Sotheby's labels still on them."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)