VOL 03 ISSUE
14 
July 24, 2004
VOL 03 ISSUE
14 |
| LOUSSAC COLLECTION: ASSESSING A DE-ACCESSION | ||||
 ZACHARIA J LOUSSAC hung with
Sidney Laurence and Eustace Zeigler and helped keep them alive by purchasing a painting
from his friends now and then. A two term mayor of Anchorage, he established the
foundation which supported the building of its first municipal library in 1955. He made
provisions for his collection to be a part of the assets of the Anchorage Library, and the
paintings, presented by Jerry Harper on behalf of the family, have pride of place in a
fine glass cabinet outside the Ann Stevens reading room. Outside on the
north lawn is the bust of John Franklin shown at right. Presented to the Library by BP, the
intrepid unluckiest explorer's fixed gaze belies his incorporeality. Franklin's
bald head tops a 5' obelisk between two large rocks, but that shouldn't necessarily
suggest anything. |
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PIPELINE TRIPTYCH: CIRCU-LATER
Franklin's failed effort to effect a Northwest Passage may soon be a
possibility for modern day explorers with pack ice being reported farther and farther away
from land.The bronze bust is unattributed, and not a direct copy of the marble one his
widow Jane commissioned for Westminster Abbey nor of the Lucchesi bronze in the National
Portrait Gallery. It would also benefit from a cleaning and waxing; one concerned fan has
used lipstick to bring a little color to the poor frozen head. Since the Loussac's move to midtown in 1981, the Library has offered in circulation a set of close to 200 framed prints by Alaskan artists. The unique program was made possible with money set aside for colletions, according to Colleen McDonald at the reference desk. She pointed out that no final decision had been made about how or when to dispose of the prints, but the June 1st date ending circulation of the prints was certain. The photo at left shows Byron Birdsall's colorful Pipeline Triptych (1977) in the lobby of the fourth floor, and the index image for this issue is from a William Kimura print from the same time period. Some thought is being given to an auction to de-accession some of the prints, an appraisal of the value of the collection is being considered. |
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ROBERT FROST: GALE BUSTS A value would be difficult to place on the Library's collection of terracotta busts of American literary figures. The familiar features of New England poet Robert Frost, shown at left, is familiar to those who knew him as President Kennedy's poet laureate. A bust of Jack London is also among the twenty characters, and some are not actually American, but a library needs busts of the Brothers Grimm and William Shakespeare as well. McDonald described the acquisition of the unattributed busts as a benefit of purchasing reference books from a Gale Publishing Company | |||
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SEDNA:REGAT BUILDING PARTS The library's Knowle's administration era brochure on the Loussac Collection shows these bronzes by Jacques and Marie Regat mounted on double doors, as though they were meant to be door pulls. The brochure gives the title "Legend of the Whales" to this piece donated by Muriel Hermes. The subject is clearly that of Sedna, and the whales are included as elements of Sedna's miraculous creation myth. Born a gigantomorphic child who hungrily nearly consumed her aged parents, Sedna had her fingers chopped off and thrown into the sea and the rest of her followed directly. Years later, she made herself known to her grieving family as the progenitor of all of the mammals who lived in the sea, and she herself was an underwater goddess. Her name was recently honored again in naming an outer planetoid in Earth's Solar system. | |||
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SALMON DISPUTE:HANSON 3-PC The former Kobuk Inn, now a part of the nationwide Red Roof chain, has added authenticity to their hospitality with several chainsaw sculptures by Soldotna's Scott Hanson, shown at far and near left in detail and in situ. Salmon Dispute is a master carving showing a bald eagle teasing a brown bear with a salmon. Feathers, fur, and scales are all picked out with the power saw, and this polychrome sculpture is a tour-de-force worth a second look left at the bend in Sixth Avenue just before it becomes the Glenn Highway at Alaska Sales and Service. The Red Roof lobby has a simpler eagle by Hanson, and a humorous Mariner outside has already been vandalized by the theft of a lantern he was holding as a signal to his pals out to sea. | |||
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DOWNTOWN MURALS: ZEIGLER ZIG Richard Zeigler, who signs his works 'Ziggy', describes his trade on his cards as Shoe Shining, and Jack of All Trades. Using spray cans, magic marker, acrylics, latex, or whatever lies at hand, his regional themes and modest financial requirements have made him a favorite of downtown businessmen. Ziggy doesn't price like a wall dog ($5-10/square foot depending on total area). His Alaskan Murals are prominent on many a cinderblock expanse, including this one on the west wall of the one story Alaska Fur Gallery building on 4th Avenue, shown as a detail at left. One of a bevy of cheeky critters sunbathing on a rocky beach, this matron has had the words 'NATIVE REVOLUTION' stenciled on it by an admirer. Zeigler's mural skills were exploited by David Green on his furrier building further east as well. (cf Issue #110 ).. | |||
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SOURCE SHAMAN: SOFT EDGES One of Zeigler's early works is on the east wall of the Black Market / Source on 5th Avenue. Here his imagination presents a white haired shaman as the source, suspending a watery globe between clumsy hands and spinning off feathers into the vast landscape behind him. Zeigler is untutored but undaunted. His courage is sturdy enough to have impelled him to make a run at a Mayoral campaign last go-round. Yet courage alone won't dispel the naiveté of his drawing skills, although his attention to detail adds interest on closer inspection. | |||
  -OPPORTUNITIES- 7/28/04 deadline ACVB & 8th WORLD WILDERNESS CONGRESS seeks concept proposals for exterior plaza at 601 W5th Ave Anchorage. Budget $22,000. Contact Janine Amon 907 257 2315. 8/1/04 deadline NOMINATIONS FOR GOVERNOR"S AWARDS IN ARTS & HUMANITIES including best individual artist and arts advocacy recognitions. If more visual artists are nominated, maybe they will also be considered, but awards in the past have gone mainly to the other 'arts'. ASCA nomination form online, multiple submissions required individually for 11 categories. 8/15/04 deadline WELLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in Maine seeks metal or stone
artwork, $16,000 budget. contact Donna McNeil 8/15/04 deadline MOA PUBLIC ART REGISTRY seeks to renew or remove relevant artist information, including slides, slide identification, current resumes, published materials, and SASE.. Contact Katie Bell, Public Art Program Assistant at 907-343-6473 with questions and to take part in a current survey regarding artists. 8/17/04 deadline OAC SALEM PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING ACADEMY budgeting $180,000 for two art zones on large campus. Program guidelines. Contact Meagan Atiyeh 9/30/04 deadline INDIAN ARTS & CRAFTS BOARD of DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR seeks listings for a nationwide directory. Copies of tribal documentation required. Info. Contact 1849 C St., NW, MS 2058-MIB, Washington, DC 20240 or call toll-free 888.278.3253 for application 10/1/04 deadline HOMER COUNCIL ON THE ARTS seeks participation in ”Heroes, Saints, and Sages” Mail Arts Show, PO Box 2318, Homer AK 99603 contact 907-235-5966 11/1/04 ALASKA STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS ARTISTS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM is accepting applications from artists with something to teach. $1000/week. Contact 907-269-6682 or use online form.
NEXT: AWE GUST FEEDBACK Aggravated again?! Get a NO Prize for proving us wrong. Let us know you love us or hate us and tell us about your upcoming event or opportunity and get a No, Thank YOU. Help correct attribution errors you suspect. SHORTCUTS: When we use your 100 word reviews of any show you've seen recently, sweet and sour, you'll earn a free limo ride some First Friday. Form makes it easy. cf also ART IN ALASKA
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.BAYLES
WAY:SHIP CREEK MALL The 'Post Office Mall'
downtown is under new management and they are trying to fill the many small spaces
upstairs. Zeigler's floral portraits and landscapes continue into the indoor hallways.
ArtSceneAK passes along this word from Allison O'Donell: " My name is
Allison and I work over at the old Post Office Mall, now formally known as Ship Creek
Center. I am trying to find an artist that is interested in utilizing our space, to
display their art work. We are only asking 15% of what they sell, no rent. I would
love to utilize our local artists and would love your help. The art itself doesn’t
matter, we do have Alaska made shops throughout the store, but the media doesn’t have
to be related to Alaska. The art would have to be appropriate for visitors of all ages,
use your own discretion; the main audiences are from upper 20 to older retired couples. We
would love to have rotating displays and various artists. We have a co-op that might sell
your art but we are looking for an individual or individuals that would use the space. It
would be up to the artist to sell his or her own work." O'Donnell can be
contacted at 278-3263. Outside the Mall, Zeigler has mapped out the Iditarod trail on a
huge map of Alaska and included several vignettes such as the dog team shown at left. His
lexographical style is unique to say the least, as can be seen in his interpretation of
Alaska Fur Gallery's logo done large on a wall now accessible only from the alley between
4th and 5th. Further down that alley, a verandah from a 4th street establishment sports a
Zeigler mural behind a fence. POLAR
BEAR: TRADER DALE ArtSceneAK Issue #313 roiled the waters with it's warning about Ice Walls, the fountain in the Museum atrium. Artist Athena Tacha responded first: "I just returned from three weeks in Europe and found your letter and article re. my Ice Walls. I appreciate very much your concern and support, and your taking the time to point out to me the danger. Your column does service to public art. One little "correction": I am not quite septuagenarian yet! Only 68, and very active and in good shape for my age." (Tacha was born in 1936.) ArtSceneAK apologizes for its Artists' Math and has already changed septuagenarian to redoubtable. Museum Director Pat Wolf was a bit less indulgent: "To alarm an artist that their work is going to be destroyed is unfair to the artist and to the Museum, particularly since no decision has been reached in that regard. When a decision is made, it is the job of the Curator of the 1% for Art Program to let the artist know their work is changed, relocated or removed." She winds up for the pitch: "By pre-empting us in contacting Ms Tacha, I believe that you subverted the process. I recognize your right to freedom of speech and your right to have an opinion, but along with those rights, I believe you also have some responsibilities ... to listen thoughtfully and carefully, ask questions, and then use discretion when publishing." Obviously, Ms Wolf is new to the concept of Zines. Roil your own waters in the BACK ISSUE Index.
Thank you to would-be reader in Spenard who rewrote our notification e-mails instructions for Issue #312: "Simply (ha!) log in with the Username 'guest'and grumbled that "don nothing happens when you click on back issues . type anything into register and there is no way to send it" What a burn since the issue was all about Duke Russell, using Safari on a Mac, maybe? Programmers have been chastised severely.. My niece the Stanford grad writes:: "Stanford University pays the full cost of tuition for its MFA students, as well as providing a stipend: that may actually be right. I'm assuming you'd be interested in the painting MFA, rather than the design one. The site has all the details and contact info" --- Brooke Ricker. Thanks, dear.. Michèle Spike's new book Tuscan Countess: Matilda of Canossa set ArtSceneAK to dreaming about meeting a modern day Countess (single) in Italy: "Just so you get your day dreams straight, Matilda was among the most beautiful women of her day -- petite, with reddish blond hair and deep blue eyes -- and the daughter of the richest man in their world. She loved and was loved by Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII -- their affair cost him the papacy, and her love for him created the modern Roman Catholic Church. Tough as nails, most men who knew her considered Matilda a bit of a ball breaker -- she is rumored to have murdered her first husband with a sword up his ass (when he threatened her and her lover's control of northern Italy) and fear of her rendered her second husband (who was thirty years her junior) impotent -- ultimately his terror sent him fleeing across the Alps." In short: "She was magnificent, if you like strong women." --- Michèle Bruce Farnsworth writes: "Time changes followers, SATURDAY, AUGUST 21st is PHILO day! yes it's my favorite great, great uncle's birthday and we've chosen HIM and his dubious invention, the television, as the theme for this year's annual studio party/fundraiser. We need 25 old TV's, working or non working, to create this year's trebuchet target and MAXIMUM fund raising tour de force. Bring them to sheila wyne's studio (2911 willow street) or call (227-7546) or email me for pick-up or directions. scavenge, buy, root out of the garage, as many TV's as you can muster." Blow up his TV's? Philo T Farnsworth might have just shook his head approvingly. He wasn't always big on TV's content. |
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text & photos © 2004 Exegy.com; artist's works pictured ©2004 to artists credited.
ArtSceneAK is published by Donald R Ricker and sponsored by
The bear is a popular folk image both with artists and businessmen
in Alaska, and Trader Dale on 5th street commissioned this big Polar Bear
shown at right from Donald R Ricker to point visitors to his carving shop. Dale deals in
ivory carvings and Native trade items and 'wrote the book' on the subject. 
