VOL 04 ISSUE
08 
April 20, 2005
BACK ISSUES | ° | ¤ | CURRENT ISSUE
VOL 04 ISSUE
08 BACK ISSUES | ° | ¤ | CURRENT ISSUE |
| ELEMENTARY ASD: MUSEUM HOSTS SCHOOL DISTRICT ARTS | ||||
 AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT of general education,
instruction in the arts begins before grade school and continues into senior year for
students in the Anchorage School District. Representative work from various students and
art classes was presented this month at the Museum, the Library, and several other
locations in an abundance of construction paper and tempera paint. Thirty-six
teachers handle the chores in the elementary schools, and as usual the exuberance and
inclusiveness of this exhibit exceeds the professional adult surveys. Myrna Clark as
school district coordinator of the arts programs has a lot to do with that. In the
photo at right,Let's Do Lunch, by Maya Gauure's class at Bayshore forms a
colorful mass in the foreground while a mural behind it on the back wall features first
letters of the artists' names. The framing requirements are modest as the
projects are ambitious, and for a moment the august museum walls take on the charm of your
refrigerator door at home. |
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DIDGEREDOOS: PACE CHUGIAK
CLASS Using cardboard tubes from carpet rolls, the Chugiak Elementary
class of Rose Ann Pace explored the culture and artistic styles of a faraway place with
their Didgeredoos, shown at left. The Australian aboriginal painters make
marks with the solemnity given to carving masks by Alaskan wood carvers, and there may
well have been an attempt to include this cultural and intellectual pride of ownership as
part of the lessons learned. If so, this is a good example of how lessons in art can
illuminate broader slices of the curriculum. Older students in the Middle and High Schools also represented at the show in another gallery, and individual efforts had a chance to stand out. Dale Cassandra's Wolf Spirit, the index image for this issue, is an example of work done at Chugach High School under the tutelage of Mark Stewart. Stewart got his classes a chance to make pottery, and the resulting case of bottle forms was full of interesting and unusual approaches. Another notable individual effort, (not shown), was Landscape by Matt Cameron of Stellar High. This piece included a life mask incorporated into an out of square substrate with the whole overpainted with a typical snowy mountain scene.. Cameron's piece worked on several levels. Like most work done under instruction, the students' works show mostly the influence of their teachers. It is interesting that most if not all of the elementary teachers are female. Other influences current with the kids are Japanese manga and contemporary native maskmaking. Wildlife continues to be a favorite subject. Although many are encouraged to develop only non-objective skills, one young student, a first grader, precociously delineated a complete human figure at a time when his peers are making stick people. |
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MAYORS AWARDS: ART OVER
HEART The Heart of Anchorage awards were being bestowed at another
banquet downtown, but Anchorage mayor Mark Begich felt he really should attend the Mayor's
Awards in the Arts ceremonies being held at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art on the
same evening. 'After all, my name is on them', he joked to the crowd shown at
left, which was in a good mood following the electoral success of the Ballot Proposition 3
adding a fresh tax to local property owners and appropriating Elmer Rasmusen's $50 million
gift to the Museum Foundation. With fewer than a quarter of Anchorage voters participating
in the spring balloting, a slim majority (52%/48%) approved the circumlocution. The Anchorage Arts Advisory Commission and the Anchorage Cultural Council coordinate with the Mayor and several prominent committees and contributors to produce the awards event, now in its fifth year. In the picture at left, Mistress of Ceremonies Nancy Harbour reads the script while Mayor Begich awards the Individual Artist Award to Sonya Kelliher-Combs who accepted with modesty and brevity. Although the Mayor claimed more than 70 nominees, a list in the program had just over 40 names. Most of these names were of institutions, with a very small number of visual artists considered, including Sonya, Susie Bevins, Perry Eaton, and Chris Kemper. Kelliher -Combs was recognized for her 'cultural background' and because her 'scope of influence has made a significant creative contribution to the Municipality.' Certainly the contribution is mutual, with the Anchorage School District awarding her a large commission, the Airport and the Museum adding works of hers to their public collections, and a solo exhibition hosted by the Anchorage Museum. all within the past year. Other recipients of the Mayoral back-slap included ConocoPhillips Alaska as Champion of the Arts, having contributed nearly one million dollars to every type of organizational art excepting painting and sculpture by living artists. They did contribute to the Fred Machetanz exhibit at the museum and will host the IBEW Wild Salmon on Parade public art rollout next month. They also bought a nice color ad on the back of the awards event program. Volunteer for the Arts award went to Ellen Packey, mainstay of the Anchorage Opera and the Youth Arts award went to Janet Stotts'Alaska Children's Choir, which graced the gathering with a few tunes in response. Poignantly, The Outstanding Arts Organization award was given to Cyrano's Eccentric Theatre Company, recognizing Sandy and Jerry Harper for their lifetime contributions to live theater in Anchorage. Jerry Harper received news of the Award in time to gladden his spirit before he passed away. |
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RADIANCE:ABRAHAM MASKS Carver Jack David Ayap'run Abraham produced five original identical masks for the awards themselves, shown at left. Made of basswood, maple and red cedar, Radiance "expresses the positive energy discernible in a rare individual" coming out from an inner strength. It is not a guy with pencils stuck in his head, and the awards, which are otherwise paper hats, were made more valuable by his contribution. A little cash also goes nicely with an award. | |||
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AMHA GALA:TOO STUFFED TO BID? The Museum Gala also credited ConocoPhillips Alaska in that program, which featured three levels of corporate sponsors, with Neeser Construction among those at the top, platinum level. Oddly, individual artists contributing original works were lumped together alphabetically with commercial contributors and only the few artists whose work was selected for live auction had their works individually identified in the program. Lists of the works were not available at the auction preview, and that was a bad sign. An insult to the generosity of the artists, this glaring omission disadvantaged would-be bidders on the work as well. This unsubtle devaluing of the contributions was reflected in the bargain hunting approach of the Gala crowd which resulted in only a very few works meeting their market prices and most being sold at just over half price, the minimum bid. A painting such as Evening Colors by Lynn Brautigan Boots, which sparked an avid competition which ended above asking price, was among the exceptional. An ad taken by the Museum following the Gala likewise mixed artists and commercial firms together near the bottom of their list of thank yous. | |||
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CATS CRADLE:IT'S
FOR U The live auction, featuring work of nine prominent artists, was
met with apathetic bidding in a room full mostly of observers rather than participants.
Jerry Neeser was generous enough to rescue two artists whose bids were wallowing below
half-price by forcefully outbidding others on pieces by Duke Russell and Katherine Little,
whose poured acrylic abstract was the People's Choice. Museum director Pat Wolf was
actually one of the winning bidders, on a work by Susan Schapira. Local ceramicist Gina
Hollomon won the evening's most contested bid, nearly doubling the asking price on Okvik
Madonna by John Hoover, not shown. Sheila Wyne's Cats Cradle, shown at left,
also exceeded its asking price, as did a Steve Gordon oil, but Kim Marcucci's Red
Symphony, awarded best of show in the NOAPS best in America competition, was slammed
by aloof bidders, one of whom took it home for 70% of the market price. Others whose bids
did not meet expectations included Byron Birdsall, Graham Dane, and Holly Gittlein.
Merely a dozen of the works of over 80 artists included in the silent auction exceeded
their market value. Betty Atkinson, Kathleen Dunphy, Joyce Reynolds, David
Rosenthal, and Sheary Clough Suiter were among the artists receiving bids nearly double
the asking price. A Museum that actively encouraged the generosity of local artists and satisfied the curiosity of local art patrons by inviting the artists to mix with the supporters at the social function would find that keeping its eye on the ball would yield better results. The desultory approach left a majority of Gala attendees still yacking away about non-art subjects at their tables while the auction took place in front of less than a fifth of them in the auditorium. . The administrators of the auction, a committee chaired by Karen Compton, need to be aware of the pernicious effect that their policies can have on the art market and on the artists themselves. At the least, the auctioneer should not begin the live bids at ridiculously low prices and raise by timid increments. Patrons and supporters of the Museum who attend should not encourage themselves by hoping to find a bargain as though they are at an estate sale. An important purpose of art auctions is to establish values of artworks, and astute collectors know that enthusiastic bidding shows confidence in the investment value of their holdings and furthers the careers of those artists that they admire. |
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DEFIANT OBJECTS: FREEMAN
POV One of the things to be credited to the Museum policies and
specifically to Director Wolf are the annual Point of View exhibitions, where the Museum
invites artists to curate an exhibition selected from the collection. This year Asia
Freeman, artist and gallerist (at the Bunnell Street Gallery in Homer), brought her
critical eye to the task and created Defiant Objects, which will be exhibited
throughout the tourist season this summer. In a section of the exhibit devoted to dolls
and fetishes, a peculiar mix of native and contemporary objects engender circles of
meaning. On the back wall, shown at left, Susie Bevins Spirit Woman hangs
opposite the marine object composite Fish Woman by Sheila Wyne. Rachelle Dowdy's Thinker
carries through a common theme of woman pared to the bone. Many of the works selected from contemporary holdings are assemblages or 'paintings' on unconventional substrates (not canvas), including some of the more embarassingly bad works selected for acquisition recently. Freeman has foraged through the Museum's ethnic collection with delight and brings attention to many wonderful ivory carvings, the smallest of which are miniature kitchen sets of plates, bowls, cups the size of a thimble. She perched a handmade wooden folding chair next to two exquisite modern side tables by Mark Wedekind. Their precision craftsmanship was balanced by the helter skelter construction of Bill Sabo's Chairman, not shown. |
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HOW CAN I SHOW MY
HEART: SILAWOOK Freeman is passionately scholarly, and her
enthusiastic explanatory labeling is a welcome feature of the exhibit, giving visitors
without a background in our hermetic culture something to connect with their own
impressions. "Defiant Objects resist categorization", she says in her
statement accompanying the show. Still she overcame their resistance and imbues different
corners of the exhibit with different concepts relating the works to each other.
The bone carving by Susie Silawook is a wonderful example of her Giacometti-like figures
called How Can I Show My Heart. It has the same moon faced personality of Joe
Senungetuk's Inupiaq Rising 1 behind it in the photo at left. Freeman entertained the crowd at the opening with a lecture and answered questions. She spoke of a living dialogue with and between the objects. Her voice filled with conviction as she proclaimed 'out with sentimentality; in with appreciation' and found thrilling relationships between artifacts and art objects. |
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FISHSKIN:PREDECESSOR AND PROGENY A notable artifact acquired in 1984 by the Anchorage Museum from the Museum in Fairbanks turns out to have been the inspiration for a celebrated contemporary craftsperson. Fran Reed, whose Leviathan Drifter is shown at near left paired with a Fishskin Basket by Ed Sam, remembered her first encounter with the artifact in Fairbanks as an epiphany. Generations of Alaskan natives made and used such baskets along the Yukon and the western coast. The dialogue in Alaska is about bone, skin, digestive systems and subsistence from Freeman's Point of View. | |||
- ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES- ALASKA WATERCOLOR SOCIETY 31st annual juried exhibition deadline 5/17/05 MOA SERVICE HIGH SCHOOL panel seeks qualifications and proposals for wall art Budget $100,000 per wing of two wing addition. RFP and contact Jocelyn Young. deadline 5/29/05 STATE AK SOLDOTNA HIGH SCHOOL panel seeks pictures and prices for wall art Budget $9249.00 Contact Dave Spence. deadline 6/1/05 ALASKA NATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION CULTURAL ARTS PROJECT SUPPORT INITIATIVE guidelines and application available. deadline 6/27/05 JAPAN AMERICA FRIENDSHIP COMMISSION CREATIVE ARTISTS PROGRAM supports up to five six month residencies for artists and families.information available. $30,000 to distribute among artists and organizations NATIONAL PARK SERVICE offers a Gates of the Arctic Artist In Residency opportunity to camp out in Coldfoot. Contact Don Pendergrass in Fairbanks, 907-455-0617. "artists must be both physically fit enough to attempt such a journey and possess the skills and experience for extended, rigorous wilderness travel. The artists provide their own food, art supplies, camping and backpacking gear, and transportation to and from Coldfoot, Alaska." Patrol Rangers carry a shotgun, maybe you should too. .
NEXT: MAY BE 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 |
ARCTIC TRANSFORMATIONS: HI
WALLACES Again to the credit of the Anchorage Museum's
efforts to affect the greater world, an exhibit of jewelry by Denise and Samuel
Wallace has been organized and produced locally and is on exhibit at the Museum
before traveling to a series of notable outside institutions such as the Heard Museum in
Phoenix Arizona and the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City. Singers
and Dancers, shown at right, was a unique collaboration showcasing the fine silver
work typical of the more conventional jewelry pieces which make up the majority of this
show. Denise Wallace Chugach ancestory informs her motifs of people, faces and
masks. Each piece is so interesting as to merit intense study, an opportunity here today
and tomorrow available in the handsome catalog.
The Wallaces currently reside and work in the Hawaiian Islands.Sing and dance about your trip to Hawaii in the BACK ISSUE Index.
Floridians were generous with their congratulations to ArtSceneAK's publisher: "Congratulations Don! You are honorary invited for the 2005 Biennale. Please forward my comment and my best regards to Prof. Spike. I appreciate the opportunities that he enthusiastically working on and his comment about my entry of the 1999 on Global Art News, NY. Hope the 2005 Biennale a very successful one for the artists and their artworks and a very influential achievement on world art" --- Gabrielle Wu Lee, Johnson College "Excellent, way to go!! You are taking work over? I am so sorry you missed the apartment in 2003, it was great. We had artists over nightly and some excellent meetings took place.I do not have your fame in Florence so I am taking a tour group of 20 to 25 locals over to see Florence and the Biennale" --- James Langston. This nice surprise from the Director: "DRR, thanks -- you're invited in your indispensable capacity as artist liaison. How'd you like my article in A&A?" ---John Of course I loved his March 2005 article about my 1999 painting Portrait Battle as part of his Closer Look series about contemporary artists in Art & Antiques magazine. How can you not love a critic who says "Ricker's ...all wrong, but that doesn't mean it isn't true". A fair characterisation. ArtSceneAK offers apologies to all who have had difficulties threading their way through our subscription procedures or were bounced off the site during the last few weeks. Tiffany Jenkins wrote an insightful article about Cows on Parade coming to town and Public Art and Cultural Zoning in general for the Scotsman.and includes the thought provoking statement: "Art that is burdened with performing social functions often does not work as good art. Artists should concentrate on the art, not how to be inclusive, or whatever difficult social task that is being required of them. They should refuse funders and politicians who ask them to solve social problems that need social solutions." |
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text & photos © 2005 Donald R Ricker; artist's works pictured ©2005 to artists credited.
ArtSceneAK is published by Donald R Ricker and sponsored by
BETTER LETTERS, PO Box 103554, Anchorage AK 99510-3554
, a partial listing of links to Museums,
Galleries, and individual Artists around the state.
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