1999 II°

BIENNALE INTERNAZIONALE DELL’ ARTE CONTEMPORANEA 

--- Cittŕ di Firenze ---

I am grateful for the enthusiasm, encouragement and support which I received from people excited about my international opportunity. I would like to thank all of the following as well as any others who may go unmentioned:

Alaska Governor Tony Knowles, Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom, Helen Howarth and Shannon Planchon of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, 'Jay' Jackson of Cultural Affairs at the Mayor's office, Mrs Marjorie B Ricker, Harry and Deborah Ricker, Cliff Stevens, Howard and Diane Stevens,  Richard and Katharine Benoit, Kris Nestor,  George and Patti Heim, Jim Dault and Shala Dobson, Tom and Theresa Newins, Matt and Maureen Johnson, Clai and Marilyn Porter, Nuri and Meagen Missulati, Harold Wallin and Olivia Cornet, Duke Russell, Kay Marshall, David Freeman, John Maltas, Rick Jarvis, Henry Grew.

It is because of  the generosity of my patrons and collectors that this wonderful creative and career opportunity was made possible for me.

BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS:

I  slammed and jammed with efforts to send my paintings to participate in the second FIRENZE  BIENNALE.   Those artists involved this year  carried the expenses of the entire show on their shoulders and those of their supporters. Briefly, here's how it breaks down in US$: ( lira converter)

($ 1300)    Artist fee to organizing body

($ 1300)    AirFare ANC->FLR and return

($ 2600)    Air Freight Paintings ANC->FLR and return

($  800)    Customs clearance and handling from airport to exposition and back to customs afterward

($  600)    Accomodations in Italy fourteen nights one-star

($  700)    Costs of fund-raising efforts

($  300)    Photos, passport, outfitting.

($  800)    Meals, museum tickets, ground transportation in Italy

($  200)   everything else plus whatever I missed (insurances, appraisal, framing and crating)

($ 8700)    TOTAL expenditures at which point one might justifiably pull the plug

                  Except for the encouragement and generous support of the following:

($  800)    Guests at the Dinner/Benefit hosted by Nuré Missalati of the ‘D’ Street Café

($  800)    Alaska State Council on the Arts Career Opportunity travel grant

($  200)    Sales of reproductions

($ 2000)   Personal contributor (my mother, God bless her, on behalf of herself and my dad)

($  1000)    Personal contributions from various individuals.

($ 4800)    TOTAL support at this point, added to which I paid personally for

                    the entry fee, passport, frame & crate in the amount of

($ 1800)    out of pocket  and the balance of costs

($ 2000)    outstanding  will go on to the mountain of DEBT!

which in retrospect turns out to be more like $5000 direct Visa cash draws at 20%

and of course the whole shebang will be added to the base cost on which the value of the paintings is determined.  I know it's ugly, but I am hanging my underwear up here in cyberspace so that if you have this opportunity you will have an idea of what it will cost and what you will have to do. Don't forget you won't be working during the trip but your local bills will continue as usual.  Of course, you may not have to go one half of the way around the world as I did. The people who seemed to know the most about what they were doing brought their pieces as luggage..

The absolute worst is paying to get your own paintings back, which amounted to $2000 to satisfy the ravenous international air freight brokers Panalpina, Inc., and Florence expediting company Universal Express srl, an uncommunicative, inefficient, and avaricious outfit that I would warn the reader to avoid where possible. I was extremely dismayed to have to pay four times what it cost to transport the paintings to Italy to get them back, which happened without my express permission and contrary to the written instructions I submitted. By the way, these two firms are the ones who are the ‘official’ suppliers and recommended to the artists by Artestudio.  I chose to use their services in a naive and trusting manner and it cost me BIG TIME. Universal Express charged me US$200 more than I agreed to in the ‘Technical Regulations’ without explanation.  Panalpina charged me an additional percentage of Univeral Express' fee to pay their fee without my permission.  I cannot recommend these firms to anyone considering participating in this exposition.

I am rapidly approaching having a base cost in these paintings which is higher than the largest price paid for paintings locally, effectively forcing me upward into a different market. Doggone Europeans didn't make any inquiries about buying my paintings, as though they would have the opportunity again in this lifetime...

Review of Florence Show    |    Review of Americanos from Firenze at Orensanz in NYC