VOL 03 ISSUE 18   September 22, 2004  

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-OPPORTUNITIES- 

9/24/04 deadline KING COUNTY COURTHOUSE seeks portable works of art (excepting videos) for purchase program.

9/24 deadline SNOW CITY CAFE seeks exhibit proposals contact online.

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 MAYOR'S DIVERSITY APPRECIATION AND AWARDS DINNER SILENT ART AUCTION seeks submittals of donated artworks from artists before 9/24. 'All proceeds will be used to actively promote diversity projects throughout the community'. No apparent benefit to artists except as philanthropists. Contact Mayor Begich, 632 West 6th Avenue, or go to the Dinner.

10/01/04 deadline RASMUSON FOUNDATION ARTIST GRANTS applications accepted for $25,000 Distinguished Artist, $12,000 Mid-Career, and $5000 Project Awards. Contact Helen Howarth for the scoop

10/1/04 deadline CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO CENTRAL SUBWAY seeks artists RFQ Budget exceeding $2,000,000.

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

10/8/04 deadline ALASKA STATE MUSEUM SOLO EXHIBITION open to proposals Prospectus to 395 Whittier Street, Juneau AK 99801

10/15/04 deadline 19th ANNUAL NO BIG HEADS AT UAA Jurored Self-Portrait show slide entries due, open nationwide. Size limit 12"cube. Juror is University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee professor Leslie Vansen. Contact 907-786-1219 for Prospectus.

10/15/04 AMHA EARTH FIRE AND FIBRE EXHIBITION solicits artist submissions. Juror David Revere McFadden, chief curator at the Museum of Arts and Design $4000 awards, $20 entry fee. Prospectus.

10/29/04 ASCA FAIRBANKS YOUTH FACILITY requests proposals for pieces that 'inspire idealism ... and consider the safety' of detainees. Contact ASCA or DOT.

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.

11/16/04 MOA EAGLE RIVER HIGH SCHOOL open to proposals. $300,000 budget for three areas Details contact Jocelyn Young 907-343-6473

11/19/04 deadline ANCHORAGE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ART CHILDRENS GALLERY exhibit organizers seek submissions on the subject of DOGS from artists nationwide. No fees, yearlong exhibit, contact Julie Decker, P.O. Box 101403 Anchorage, AK 99510 for prospectus.

LANDSCAPE NARRATIVES: DESIGN PRACTIECES FOR TELLING STORIES by Matthew Potteiger & Jamie Purinton Museum expansion planners are bragging about the proposed 'Urban Forest Plaza' but is Anchorage getting an example of postmodern landscape  or one that is more European? These issues are the kind discussed by these gardening eggheads. ArtSceneAK recommends that AMHA designers consult this book and rethink the math: urban=city, forest=wilderness, plaza=open courtyard. 

NEXT:   PFD ON RYE

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 , a partial listing of links to Museums, Galleries, and individual Artists around the state.

BAETIS RHODANI:BLANKENSHIP The Baetis Rhodani is a popular mayfly often imitated by fly fishermen. This delicate wire and bead lacy winged insect looks more like a Dragonfly, so maybe ArtSceneAK misattributed something here. Blankenship's piece, a basket made of hand made paper with the bug mounted gracefully as though about to fly off, was for sale, as were most of the pieces in the show. Prices are posted near the entrance, inquiries can be made inside the adjacent administrative building in the office of the President.   Curiously, APU does not schedule any classes in the fine arts at this time, but they have shown the commitment to continue the Gallery program to benefit their students through exposure to 'different ideas'. Like that bugs are art!

TRANSFIXED:ZERCHER FELT ITCH Lowell Zercher works a day job assisting the blind and his commitment to sculpturing jewel-like objects of unexpected juxtaposition (cf Issue #203) continues in the pieces he contributed to his fun show. His wife Lucy Zercher also submitted several pieces, including Transfixed, the charming felt cape shown at left. Zercher is a gal who might wear her bug on her chest and still look good doing it. Her experience shaping and coloring felt and her freeform sense of style show in the reversed scallop collar detail.  She is one of Anchorage's leaders in creating wearable art, or fabric art. Another artist prepared a dress crawling with rubbery cockroaches. It was not nearly as approachable as Zercher's googly eyed, cow-licked antenae critter.

Cockroaches played an abhorrent part in other pieces as well, including UAA professor Mariano Gonzales'  paper mask of President Bush, with a verminous bug shoved into his nostril, titled What Insect?, not shown. Disrespectful but harmless, this piece is not among  Gonzales' best efforts. Neither is UAA professor Garry Kaulitz's textual fiasco at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art, using blood to make hash marks on the Koran and Brush Script font to present political arguments against the war in an unbalanced manner. The professors are restless this month. Their idealism is a blessing.

BUGGY:DECKER PLAYFULNESS One professor shies clear of the politics in his own work, which is more a mirror of his own personal joy in his new grandchild. Gallerist and artist Don Decker took the show title as his theme and came up with the delightful Buggy. A big nosed, ball-headed parent pushes a cardboard baby buggy with a little larvae inside. Built at the point of inspiration not far from the kitchen trash can, Buggy could make a grouchy person chuckle, and it is obvious Decker had fun making this piece.

Zercher and Atkins speculated about continuing into the future with the bug theme. While there is no grand purpose served, the opportunity for creativity is enhanced by the scientific approach to subject matter and sculpturally, the use of six (or more) legs for support offers new insights.  During the opening Atkins mentioned that the Alaska State Council on the Arts discontinued funding for the part time position she has filled for five years administering the State Art Bank. During her tenure in this position, she worked on improving the data base connected with the State's collection. She also oversaw two rounds of purchases made by the State during that time.

THE DOOR IS OPEN:KAPLUN In the Carr-Gottstein Gallery at APU, a unique show by one of Alaska's art matriarchs is being shown this month. Betty Kaplun was born in the year 1900 and lived into the year 2001. Kaplun is the mother of Carla and grandmother of Asia Freeman, both leaders in Homer art circles for years. In the 1990's, when she was in her nineties, she returned to painting after a 20 year hiatus. The works now shine with accumulated wisdom and spiritual insight. The Door is Open is terrifying, resigned, knowing and cheerful all at once with its unsparing self-portrait and the image of the open bird cage.  The 90's paintings were completed swiftly. Because Kaplun put the month and day as well as the year with her signature, a viewer is tempted to believe the 30"x40" canvases were covered in a day. Kaplun's energy and joy of living are evident& in her color handling and swift execution, scrambling to get her visions out of her head and on to the canvas.

ADAM MEETS EVE:MULTIPLICITY Biblical Old Testament subjects and classical references become the subject material Kaplun found most interesting in her later years. The painting Adam Meets Eve concerns a nude excuse subject since Creation and Kaplun's chaste depiction is characterized by multiple impressions of the original couple and their garden paradise. Rife with hermetical symbols like the sun, the moon, and the stars, Adam Meets Eve seems to emphasize the closeness of the two sexes rather than the traditional image of betrayal. Both figures gaze narcissistically into their reflection to symbolize the reward for eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

Kaplun's drawing style reflects the flattening effect influenced by international muralists and by her contemporaries in the New York School of Painting championed by the critic Harold Rosenburg. She was among the artists involved with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) public art works in the late 30's. Expect to be intrigued by the mysteries and excited by the revelations in this memorial show of works by an artist who knew the world well and kept the door open.

THE NAZARENE:MAT-SU MISSES MAHARThe University of Alaska Mat-Su Campus hosts a number of educators in their art department and Art Department head Susanne Bach invites artists from the adjunct faculty and the Wasilla/Palmer hinterland to an opening exhibition in a closet-like second floor gallery. A larger room next door held folding tables with reproductions of work available for sale during the opening reception and one other day, and for the duration visitors can view the work by appointment. Works by Bach, Shane Lamb, and Judie Rideout stood out among the enjoyable variety, which included some jewelry, small sculptures, photos, paintings, and drawings. Don Decker and Keren Lowell are among Anchorage artists scheduled to teach classes at the College and their influences will no doubt be seen in next fall's selections. 

Ms Bach noted sadly the passing of her husband and former professor, Robert Mahar, whose clay image of Jesus Christ, The Nazarene, is seen at left. Another piece from a sculptural edition Mahar made, Wolf Song, was also included in the show. (cf Issue #205). Mahar was a gentle, thoughtful artist and Bach's loss will be felt widely.

WILD SALMON PARADE:AUCTION GALA Patrons and art enthusiasts responded warmly to the sculptured salmon featured in this summer's public art events downtown in Anchorage when they were offered at a $75/ticket dinner auction at the Alaska Ballroom in the Westward Hilton. More than $23,000 was brought in under the auctioneers hammer and nearly  $15,000  was spent at silent auction by eager bidders with competitive interests, with proceeds benefitting the Foster Grandparents, Campfire Girls, Anchorage Cultural Council, and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art.  Several politicians including the Mayor participated in raising the crowd's enthusiasm.

Just one collector for each piece, and at the end of the night a sigh of release from Melinda Taylor and Chris Kemper, and a good time had by all 'for a good cause'. . Bring your SUV to next year's gala auction if you want in on the action. These suckers (and their steel stands) are BIG when you go to take them home afterward.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST GRANT:RASMUSON Some of the Alaskan resident artists aware of the approaching deadline for Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award applications were hosted by Sheila Wyne at her Spenard studio in mid September, and heard encouraging words from Helen Howarth, Program Officer for the Arts and Culture Initiative. Howarth said that interest in the grants had been strong, she was keeping track of the questions, and that she expected the various incoming proposals to be creative in nature. "No JPGs." She suggested grouping slides in threes, and the guidlines allow up to three views of each 'work sample' (painting or sculpture, etc). The separate Work Sample description page was required for each artwork, but not for every view; three slides of a single object could all be described on the same page.   Her remarks seemed to indicate that the $5000 (and under) Project proposals might budget funds to help artists make time for new work. Specifics in the proposals grow less important with the size of the proposal. The $12,000 Fellowships do not require a budget, nor does the single $25,000 Distinguished opportunity. Although the latter would seem to be more suitable to selection from nominations, this year artists will have to have the chutzpah to nominate themselves for the top recognition. Howarth said later, "It's not a prize. It is one larger fellowship." She mentioned the Pew Charitable Trust Fellowships, which are $50,000, by comparison. Wyne had printed some tracts on general arts grant writing tips for just over 20 attendees at the  soirée, and more helpful info is available at the New Hampshire State Arts Council Grants tips linkpage. Creative Capital also has a thought provoking interview with their Associate Director Alyson Pou about how to approach individual fundraising.

NoThank You for a reality check from an invited guest who wrote: "I'm not sure how I got on your mailing list, but I am not interested in back issues of anything!" ArtSceneAK was happy to remove her name.