Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art plans a ‘jazzy’ summer

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Bye-bye, Andy Warhol. Sayonara, Jun Kaneko. Farewell, Richmond Barthé and Helene Fielder.

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art (www.georgeohr.org) set the bar awfully high with its opening exhibits, which until recently occupied the galleries since the grand opening of Phase I of the $35 million museum in November 2010: prints by Pop artist Andy Warhol; enormous ceramic heads by Kaneko; sculptures by Barthé, a native of Bay St. Louis, Miss.; and abstract ceramic artwork by Mississippi artist Helene Fielder.

Seven months and more than 16,000 visitors later, the museum took those exhibits down and packed them for shipping. Thus began the process of bringing three compelling new exhibits to the museum. (See information box.)

“Above All, Enjoy the Music: Jazz Photography by Herman Leonard” will remain on view through Nov. 27 in the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino Gallery/Gallery of African-American Art. The show features 40 images by Leonard, whose photographs include jazz icons like Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and many more.

Edgy and provocative describe the work of “William Dunlap: Look At It . . . Think About It,” which will be up through Dec. 4 in the IP Casino Resort Spa Exhibitions Gallery. “Brian Nettles: Design in Three Dimensions,” will be on exhibit through Nov. 27 in the Mississippi Sound Welcome Center, a space dedicated to artwork by Mississippi artists.

Nettles’ ceramic art “is influenced by nature’s shapes, forms, textures and rich organic colors,” according to OOMA press material. “From his 28 acres in Pass Christian, Miss., along the banks of the winding Wolf River, the nearby bayous, creeks and cypress swamps provide inspiration for his pottery.”

Brian Nettles is a native of Ocean Springs, Miss., and during the late 1990s he was studio director of ceramics at the old Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi. He worked with design architect Frank Gehry on plans for the ceramics studio for the newly opened museum.

the Star Gallery/Gallery of African-American Art. The saga of emancipated slave Pleasant Reed can be found in the Pleasant Reed Interpretive Center.

The George E. Ohr exhibition still occupies

An opening reception and birthday party for George E. Ohr and Jerry O’Keefe will be from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. July 15 at the museum.

Leonard (1923-2010) was a respected photographer and lifelong jazz aficionado who created an impressive and voluminous collection of the world in which he moved.

“The exhibition honors jazz as an American art form with roots that began in the African-American community of New Orleans in the 1890s and exploded on the New York club scene in the 1940s,” according to a museum news release.

Barbara Ross, curator of collections for the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, first saw Leonard’s work at the Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans. She later met him briefly 11 years ago in Baton Rouge, where he autographed her copy of his book, “Jazz Memories.”

“I just had a dream to have an exhibit of his work here for quite a while,” Ross says.

Only one of the 40 images here is not black-and-white. Most of Leonard’s 16-by-20 portraits are not posed, and they capture the human qualities of the musicians, according to Ross. The photographer was renowned for his distinctive style that feature moody back-lighting and plumes of cigarette smoke,

One of his favorite subjects was the enigmatic and photogenic Miles Davis. There are four images of Davis in this collection, Ross says. One is a huge image of his face at Montreux, which she describes as “rather spooky but eerily beautiful.” Two photographs show Davis in Malibu, Calif., where the musician/artist is shown drawing.

Other jazz greats shown here are the brilliant but haunted trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker and the great tenor sax-man (and Oscar-nominated actor) Dexter Gordon, whose image — used for one of Gordon’s most popular albums —can be seen in the background of Douglas Kirkland’s photo of Herman Leonard.

The exhibit includes photographs of two contemporary musicians from New Orleans: Irvin Mayfield, the thirtysomething cultural ambassador for New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, shown head bowed, holding his trumpet; and 25-year-old Troy Andrews, known as “Trombone Shorty.”

Leonard, a native of Allentown, Pa., began showing an interest in photography at age 11 and attended Ohio University before leaving college to join the Army in World War II, according to a monograph on the exhibit. After the war he earned his bachelor’s degree. He studied under Canadian portrait artist Yousuf Karsh and assisted his mentor in shoots with Albert Einstein, Clark Gable and Harry S. Truman.

In the 1950s, Leonard was personal photographer to Marlon Brando, moved to Paris to work in advertising and fashion, and was featured in Time, Life and Playboy magazines; after two decades in Europe he returned to the United States and began printing his jazz negatives.

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High begins exhibit from Atlanta-based artist

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Atlanta-based artist Radcliffe Bailey will be exhibiting 37 works including paintings, sculptures, mixed media, photos on metal and others at the High Museum of Art through September 11.

Bailey is a renouned African American artist whose works are represented in major collections around the nation including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Bailey was born in 1968 in Bridgeton, NJ, before his family moved to Atlanta when he was 4-years-old. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991. In 2009, he married television actress Victoria Rowell.

Bailey’s exhibit, Memory As Medicine, is the most comprehensive study of Bailey’s work to date. It includes new works as well as others that have not previously been presented in public. Three themes surround the work — “Water” deals with the historic Middle Passage of the transport of slaves across the Atlantic Ocean; “Blues” ties to music as an overarching art form, while “Blood” looks at concepts tied to ancestry, race, memory, struggle and sacrifice.

The exhibition was organized by the High, and made possible through the National Endowment For The Arts as part of their American Masterpieces series. Additional support comes from the Ed Bradley Family Foundation, the Lubo Fund, Jack Shainman Gallery, Vicki and John Palmer, Marjorie and Steve Harvey and members of the Radcliffe Bailey Guild.

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MODERN SLAVE

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JD Dragan has been photographing men of color for more than 30 years. This Friday, June 24, his new exhibition “Modern Slave” opens at Philly’s AxD Gallery with an artist’s reception (5-8 p.m.).

His silver gelatin photographs have been praised for their brave commentary about race and eroticism – they’ve also been feared for their sometimes brute reflection on history.

What sometimes sparks even more controversy is the fact that Dragan – who lives and works in Philadelphia – is white. He talks to us about why the 10-piece installation is anything but objectification and what role race really plays in some of the more controversial images in the show – Confederate Flags and all.

How long have you been photographing men?

I took my first male nude photograph in black and white way back in 1973. I have photographed many other sorts of subjects since then, but the male nude always had a magnetic draw. Beginning in the late 1990s, I abandoned photographing Caucasian male nudes and focused exclusively on men of color, primarily African-American men.

The male nude has an important place in art history. As a photographer, what do you bring to the genre today?

When I returned to art school in the 90s, I looked at how my predecessors and contemporaries handled the male nude as an art subject. I saw that white models were photographed in a variety of styles and attitudes – from subtly shadowed to sculptural to erotic to straight up pornographic. But black men were almost always shot from the front or rear, from the navel to mid-thigh. I found this objectified point of view insulting! To reduce them down to genitals and buttocks demeaned their individuality, their ancestry and their intellect. Even when I photograph these body sections, I try to do so in a way that does not divorce the image from the man who is the subject.

What inspired “Modern Slave?”

The current exhibition is the first time a show will be dedicated to my more political works. The show is not solely to spark controversy, but rather to voice my personal opinions on the state of black men’s cultural identity in the United States.

What does the title refer to exactly?

The title refers to the cultural and historic baggage so often inherited by African-Americans and their continuing discriminatory treatment in our society. Whether by institution or outside influence, in many ways the oppression of slavery still bares down on these resilient people – and in particular – black men.

How does your own race inform the work?

Not being black, I can step outside the immediate ethnic sphere and hopefully see a more holistic composition. Naturally, not being a black male has distinct disadvantages. But I embrace the biological concept of “race.” There is only one human race or else we would not be able to easily and successfully mate. Africans and their immediate African-American ancestors are the original humans. All of our ancestors came from Africa. These people should be celebrated, for without them, none of us would be here.

What do you hope to express about black men in our culture?

It is my hope that the honesty I portray in my imagery will support discussion. I hope that these photographs will show these men as beautiful, smart and complete. I hope that viewers can gaze upon my imagery without fear or trepidation.

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August Wilson Center shifting focus to local artists

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By Sara Bauknecht, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture will shift from focusing on presenting out-of-town artists to producing more of its own programming next season in an attempt to brighten the spotlight on local talent and provide more opportunities for the city’s dancers, actors, musicians and visual artists.

President and CEO Andre Kimo Stone Guess announced at a press conference today that the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble led by Greer Reed-Jones, Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra directed by Sean Jones and the newly formed August Wilson Center Theater Ensemble headed by Mark Clayton Southers will make up the crux of the center’s 2011-12 lineup.

Visual art exhibits, under the direction of curator Cecile Shellman, also will seek submissions from regional artists.

The August Wilson Center, located on Liberty Avenue, Downtown, also will launch this fall an online literary magazine — tentatively dubbed The Hill — that will feature writings with a New Yorker magazine-feel that pay special attention to African American culture. Highmark will be the August Wilson Center’s premier sponsor for the next three seasons.

The center will continue to bring in talent from outside the region to complement work the resident companies are presenting, Mr. Guess said.

Sara Bauknecht: sbauknecht@post-gazette.com .


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Dayton Art Institute Director Janice Driesbach to Retire, Interim Director Appointed

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The Dayton Art Institute’s (DAI) Director and CEO, Janice Driesbach, announced that she will retire at the end of July.

Driesbach, who was hired in November 2007 and began her tenure in January 2008, came to Dayton from Lincoln, Nebraska, where she headed the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. During her tenure at DAI, Driesbach oversaw the development of the museum’s new strategic plan and brought important exhibitions to Dayton, including William Morris glass, California Impressionism and African-American art. Most recently Driesbach was responsible for organizing Creating the New Century: Contemporary Art from the Dicke Collection, which is on view through July 10. Driesbach commented that she takes pride in advancing DAI’s fiscal stability and the museum’s community partnerships. “The Dayton Art Institute continues to face challenges and, like many of its peers across the country, must continue to examine new ways of operating that assure it is financially stable and responsive to the needs and interests of its changing audiences,” Driesbach said. “These are exciting opportunities for The Dayton Art Institute that will require energetic leadership devoted to fundraising in a competitive climate and committed to seeing new initiatives through to completion. Having realized significant accomplishments at DAI, I look forward to having time to pursue other interests, including special arts projects and community service.” DAI board chairman Rob Connelly said of Driesbach: “Jan came to our museum at a time when we were in need of someone to make tough decisions. The museum found itself facing increasing financial demands, which were multiplied when the local and national economy declined. Jan tackled the job of bringing financial discipline to the organization while delivering high-quality exhibitions, programming and community outreach. She achieved real progress and delivered ahead of plan for 2010.”The Art Institute’s board of trustees has appointed board vice-chairperson, Linda Lombard, to serve as interim director. Lombard, who will take a leave of absence from the board and is not accepting any financial compensation, has been actively involved with DAI since the mid-1970s. She served as development director during the Art Institute’s first capital campaign in the late 1970s. Later, she chaired the Jefferson Patterson Society and doubled its membership. Lombard currently serves as the board’s development chair. She was named 2002 AFP Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year and 2009 YWCA Woman of Influence, among other awards. Lombard and her husband John were nominated for the 2011 Ohio Arts Council’s Governor’s Award for Outstanding Arts Patron. “I am pleased and excited to have been named interim director,” Lombard said. “I hope to guide the museum through a smooth transition toward a brighter future. The Dayton Art Institute is a cultural cornerstone of the Dayton region, with its wonderful collections, strong, dedicated staff and broad community outreach. Yes, we are facing challenges, but we have a strong base upon which to build.” “We are so grateful Linda has agreed to take on this critical role,” Connelly added. “She has a deep understanding of the museum, and she has our full confidence and support. We feel very fortunate.” Connelly is assembling a team to map out the transition process and assess the job requirements for the next director

Prolific East-side teen has an eye for art

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East-sider Jama Clayton has found that painting and drawing human portraits brings her joy and helps her explore her African-American heritage.

Jama, 17, lives with her mother, Vicki Clayton. The busy teen checks her worries at the door when she picks up a sketch pad.

“Drawing calms me down and gives me time to think,” she said. “I love drawing people. I like it if the eyes can draw you in.”

Jama’s home is practically bursting with her art – paintings and drawings that depict herself and her family, particularly female role models such as her mother. Jama, who will be a senior at East in the fall, said she likes concentrating on African-American culture because it represents a personal interest.

“I like (my art) to be personal. I want someone to look at it and think about it,” she said.

Jama has created so much art – about 60 drawings and paintings during the last school year that she astounds teachers and fellow classmates alike, said her former art teacher, Shirley Gooch, who retired this year from East High School.

Gooch, who taught art for 27 years, has high hopes for Jama and praises her for her hard work.

“She is very productive,” Gooch said. “What sets her apart is she has such an incredible work ethic. When she gets an idea, she’s not distracted by her surroundings. She puts her mind to her work and she amazes all the kids around her. I called her an art-making machine. She produces so much high quality work.”

Gooch said she and Jama “hit it off from the beginning.”

Jama took her first drawing and painting class from Gooch when she was a sophomore. This past school year, she took an advanced placement class with Gooch to earn college credit.


“That really challenged her,” Gooch said. “She was totally in her element.”

Gooch praised Jama for focusing on African-American culture for her AP class work.
“I love it that she chose something so dear to her heart,” she said. “They are required to complete 12 finished artworks, and Jama finished 32. I told her, ‘You will do magnificently in college.’ She is motivated, does the sketchbook work; she is very driven.”

When she’s not making art, Jama spends time singing in the choir and serving as an usher at Mount Olive Baptist Church, where she also cleans on Saturdays. She’s a member of her school swim team and the local chapter of the NAACP, for which she’s done some volunteer work.


She hopes to attend either Grand View University or Iowa State University, where she’ll take art and education classes. She said Gooch has inspired her to be an art teacher.“At first I was just drawing to draw,” Jama said. “But in 10th grade I really started to like art. When I got into it, I didn’t want to stop.”

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Explore the quintessence of American contemporary art from New York Dada to pop art and postmodernism at “The American Art: Masterpie

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By Kwon Mee-yoo

Explore the quintessence of American contemporary art from New York Dada to pop art and postmodernism at “The American Art: Masterpieces of Everyday Life from the Whitney Museum of American Art,” which is underway at the National Museum of Art in Deoksugung, a branch of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (MOCA), in central Seoul.

As American art is not so familiar to the Korean audience, the exhibition is designed to introduce not only American art but American culture in general.

Bringing in the masterpieces

The Whitney Museum of American Art provided 87 works by 47 artists, including Man Ray, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein and Dan Flavin, for this exhibition. Established in 1931, the Whitney is dedicated to American art. Unlike other celebrated contemporary art museums like The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney has a broad collection of works only by American artists in any form and produced after the 20th century.

It took some five days to bring in the artworks and install them in the Seoul museum. Around 20 people worked during the installation, including a curator, a registrar, an art handler and a coordinator from the Whitney, five staff members from MOCA and experts from a fine art transportation company.

The pieces were put into 50 crates and arrived in two separate shipments to prevent loss of all the works together in case of unexpected events such as a plane crash. The crates were opened in two days. Officials from the Whitney and MOCA inspected and photographed each piece after unpacking them. The works were then brought to the designated spots and laid on soft blankets.

Where the works will be displayed is usually decided before the pieces arrive, but some changes can be made on-site according to the decision of curators.

For instance, the curator can decide how to arrange “Giant Fagends” of Oldenburg, which is composed of an enlarged ashtray and several cigarette butts.

“They can be placed in various ways as long as they stay in the room. This is a long space and I want visitors to go through the butts,” Whitney curator Carter Foster said.

The American Art

The exhibition presents the American masterpieces in three sections — “American Icon and Everyday Life,” “Object and Identity” and “Object and Perception.” There was no such distinction in the original collection, but Park Young-ran, senior curator of MOCA, came up with the division to provide a better understanding for Korean visitors.

“These objects are used by Americans everyday and we can peek into their lives through the artworks,” Park said.

The first section, “American Icon and Everyday Life,” views the capitalist consumer culture through artworks overwhelming with products and logos of American products.

Warhol’s “Green Coca-Cola Bottles” and “Brillo Box” captures a side of consumerism with repetitive images, while Lichtenstein reproduces Henri Matisse’s “Goldfish and Sculpture” in his own way.

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Todd Bridges, Sugar Ray to Attend Leimert Village Park Book Fair

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*The fifth annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair (LPVBF) will take place in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Leimert Park on the Vision Theatre Back lot, located at 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard.

A mix of authors, scholars, poets, spoken-word artists, entertainment and television personalities will be on hand for the event, including EUR’s Lee Bailey conducting a Q&A with actor Todd Bridges and providing the introduction for special guest Sugar Ray Leonard.

More than 5,000 enthusiastic book lovers, families and fans will be treated to celebrity readings, book-signings, writing workshops, panel discussions, poetry readings, stage performances, and musical entertainment for the whole family – all encouraging reading, writing and literacy in the African American community.

Plus, in the Children’s Village, sponsored by Nestle USA, kids will enjoy a crafts pavilion, celebrity storytelling, face-painting, book give-aways and more. A Healthy Food culinary stage sponsored by the Gas Company will feature cooking demonstrations as well as an appearance by celebrity chef Govind Armstrong, the visionary behind the Table 8 restaurants in Los Angeles and Miami,

“We are pleased to welcome back this wonderful literary event,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Bernard C. Parks, 8th District. “Each year the fair continues to bring together great writers in the community, as well as attract some of the nation’s most pre-eminent and highly-regarded authors, poets, and spoken word artists — all for the celebration and love of books and reading. And just like last year — this will be another great opportunity to meet some of your favorite authors as well as discover new ones.”

Below is the lineup:

ON THE MAIN STAGE

The Intelligentsia

• In the Spirit With Susan L. Taylor – Taylor’s name is synonymous with Essence magazine, the brand she built — first, as its fashion and beauty editor to editor-in-chief in 1981 and the publications director in 2000, a position she held until her departure in 2008. As editor-in-chief of Essence magazine, Taylor penned a monthly inspirational column called, In the Spirit, a popular feature of the magazine. In 1993, a collection of her columns was published for her first book, In the Spirit. Today, she is the force behind the National Cares Mentoring Movement, a mentoring movement to recruit one million able adults to help secure African American children who are in peril and losing ground.

• Dr. Julianne Malveaux – Dr. Malveaux is the 15th president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC. Recognized for her progressive and insightful observations, Dr. Malveaux is also an economist, author and commentator, and has been described by Dr. Cornel West as “the most iconoclastic public intellectual in the country.” Her contributions to the public dialogue on issues such as race, culture, gender, and its economic impacts, are shaping public opinion in 21st century America. She is the author of “Striving and Surviving: 365 Days in Black Economic History” (Last Word Productions).

• Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley – Dr. Kelley is the newly-appointed Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His books include the prize-winning, “Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original,” “Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression,” and “Race Rebels: Culture Politics and the Black Working Class.” For his most recent book, “Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original” (Free Press), Kelley received several honors, including Best Book on Jazz from the Jazz Journalists Association and the Ambassador Award for Book of Special Distinction from the English Speaking Union. It was a finalist for PEN USA Literary Award. The Monk family, notably Thelonious Monk Jr., granted Kelley access to rare historical documents for his biography. No other scholar has ever had such access and support from the Monk family.

• Dr. Maulana Karenga –Dr. Maulana Karenga is professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach. An activist-scholar of national and international recognition, Dr. Karenga has played a major role in Black intellectual and political culture since the 60’s, especially in Black Studies and social movements, and as executive director of the African American Cultural Center (Us) and Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies. Also, he is the creator of the pan-African cultural holiday Kwanzaa and author of numerous scholarly articles and books, including: “Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture;” “Introduction to Black Studies;” “Odu Ifa: The Ethical Teachings;” “Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics,” and “Kawaida and Questions of Life and Struggle.” Currently he is writing a book on the social and ethical philosophy of Malcolm X titled, “The Liberation Ethics of Malcolm X: Consciousness, Cultural Grounding and Struggle.”

• The Kinseys – Married for more than 40 years, Bernard and Shirley Kinsey are known for their incredible collection of African-American art, books and manuscripts that document and tell the remarkable story of African Americans triumphs and struggles from 1632 to the present. They are the authors of “The Kinsey Collection,” a 155-page coffee-table book that showcases the couple’s incredible art collection, reflecting a rich cultural and historical heritage.

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Montclair Art Museum publications win graphic design awards

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Last month, Graphic Design USA, a monthly news and information magazine for and about the professional design community, honored the Montclair Art Museum with American Inhouse Design Awards for excellence for two recent publications: “Inspiring Greatness: The Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund” and the Andy Warhol Factory Party invitation.

Both pieces were designed by MAM Graphic Designer Oksana Ercolani, who has been on staff for almost two years.

Funds to produce these pieces were made available by the Vance Wall Foundation.

“Inspiring Greatness” was created by MAM’s marketing and communications department to tell the story of the significance of the exhibition “A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund,” which was on view at MAM from February through July 2010.

The invitation to the Andy Warhol Factory Party gala is in conjunction with the current exhibition “Warhol and Cars: American Icons,” on view through June 19.

The party was held on held on May 14 and was the culmination of MAM’s Art in Bloom celebration.

The full-color invitation includes a complex application of multiple varnishes and has, as its cover image, a photograph, Air Lingus, by the photographer and filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg.

For nearly five decades, Graphic Design USA has sponsored design competitions.

The American Inhouse Design Awards showcases outstanding work by in-house designers and provides an opportunity for them to be recognized for their talent, for the special challenges they face, and for their contributions to their businesses and institutions. The Montclair Art Museum is at 3 South Mountain Ave.

For information, go to montclairartmuseum.org, or call 973-746-5555.

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Borrowed works of art

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Art is meant to be enjoyed, not stored away. That was the thinking behind Electrolux and Fifth Third Bank’s decision to loan nearly 140 works by Carolinas artists to area nonprofits.

One of the biggest exhibitions will be on public display at CMC-Pineville. One of the most distinctive pieces is Tom Stanley’s “en route to hamlet” near the elevators on the main floor.

The 20-panel work recalls Stanley’s boyhood drives to the Carolina coast.

First Charter Bank commissioned the paintings by Stanley.

“Now it’s become owned, in a sense, by the patients and the staff and a larger group of people,” he said. “(Art) livens the space, makes it more human.”

Hospital President Chris Hummer said the 50 pieces displayed in prominent places at the hospital will help relieve anxiety and make patients feel at home.

“I think primarily what takes place between our caregivers and our patients will ultimately transcend the buildings and the artwork,” he said. “But you can’t discount the physical environment.”

The art collection went on a long journey before it reached the public.

The art came together a decade ago when First Charter Bank, the original owners, contacted Hodges Taylor Gallery to create a collection that reflected the company’s local roots. Owner Christie Taylor worked with the bank to acquire and commission an array of paintings, pottery and ceramics “to celebrate the best and brightest in the North Carolina region.”

Fifth Third acquired First Charter and the collection in 2007. Last summer, Electrolux relocated its North American headquarters to the bank’s old complex in University Research Park. The art came too.

But renovations left room for only 19 pieces. Electrolux and Fifth Third were left to decide whether to store or lend the rest of the collection. The latter won out.

“Both institutions saw the opportunity to be generous,” said Taylor. “It’s not a common practice to have art to loan. And that’s what I think is remarkable about Electrolux and Fifth Third – they see the value in that.”

Bank of America owns thousands of paintings, sculptures and textiles. In 2009 the bank launched the Art in Our Communities program to lend exhibitions at no cost to museums and nonprofits around the world. The bank loaned about 60 pieces of modern art to the Mint Museum Uptown’s opening in October 2010.

Other pieces of the Electrolux/Fifth Third collection are displayed in the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture and the Foundation for the Carolinas.

“Charlotte and the whole North Carolina area have been so wonderful to us, so welcoming, that we sort of feel that we owe something back to the community,” said Electrolux Vice President Marty O’Gorman. “It’s just a perfect match to say, ‘Let’s make this local art available to the community so people can enjoy it.'”

33rd Annual Museum Mile Festival Offers Free Museum Admission and Outdoor Art Activites

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Now celebrating its 33rd year, the annual Museum Mile Festival takes place rain or shine on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Over 1.5 million people have taken part in this annual celebration since its inception. Festival attendees can walk the Mile between 82nd Street and 105th Street while visiting nine of New York City’s finest cultural institutions open free to the public throughout the evening. In addition, several of the participating museums offer outdoor art activities for children.

The Museum Mile Festival’s opening ceremony takes place at 5:45 pm at Neue Galerie New York (Fifth Avenue at 86th Street). Traditionally, the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs and other city and state dignitaries open the Festival. El Museo del Barrio; The Museum of the City of New York; The Jewish Museum; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; National Academy Museum & School; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Neue Galerie New York; Goethe-Institut New York/German Cultural Center; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art are the nine institutions participating in this highly successful collaboration. (The Goethe-Institut New York has moved to an interim location.) The Museum for African Art, opening soon on Fifth Avenue at 110th Street, is joining the Museum Mile Festival as its newest member. Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic and becomes a strollers’ haven. Special exhibitions and works from permanent collections are on view inside the museums’ galleries and live music from jazz to Broadway tunes to string quartets is featured in front of several of the museums. Additional street entertainers perform along Fifth Avenue all evening. Festival attendees will be among the first to see El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 2011, El Museo del Barrio’s biennial focusing on cutting edge street art, and The American Style: Colonial Revival and the Modern Metropolis, at The Museum of the City of New York, both opening on June 14. Other exhibitions on view include Joel Grey/A New York Life, a visual retrospective exploring the impact the artist and his adopted city have had on each other through rare artifacts related to his career and objects from his personal collections, at The Museum of the City of New York; Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore, focusing on the vision of two Jewish sisters, their extraordinary art collection, and their personal relationships with artists such as Matisse and Picasso, at The Jewish Museum; Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels, examining VC&A’s innovative use of materials, production methods, and interpretations of trends over a century of creativity, at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; Vienna 1900: Style and Identity, examining the emergence of the modern concept of individual identity in turn-of-the-century Vienna as expressed in the art of the period, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, jewelry, furniture, music, and fashion, at Neue Galerie New York; and Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, celebrating the innovative work of the late fashion designer through 100 iconic examples from his prolific 19-year career, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions and promote public support of the arts, the Museum Mile Festival serves as a model for similar events across the country. For further information, the public may call 212-606-2296.


Never still for long

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Bettye Stull can’t seem to stay retired.

She has tried twice, yet she remains a fixture at the King Arts Complex and on the Columbus arts scene in general.

Stull, who turns 80 today, has curated exhibits and opened the eyes of children to the joys of creativity since the 1950s. She knew many of the artists and performers – Elijah Pierce, Hank Marr, Rusty Bryant – whose work is celebrated at the complex. And she has forged connections that make her a walking catalog of artistic resources.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the city who does it better than she does,” said Sheryle Powell, executive director of the complex.

Stull works as a curatorial consultant at the complex, pulling together shows such as the recently departed “Jazz Quilts” and the “COMnGRAF 3” exhibit on graffiti and hip-hop art that opened June 4. (It was an idea from nephew Rob Stull, a comic-book artist who lives in Boston.)

Her extensive connections in the world of art, and African-American art in particular, have enabled her to plan ambitious exhibits that attract top artists.

“I just hold up my hand and say, ‘Help,’ and I’ve had artists come and do these wonderful exhibitions,” Stull said.

She was born in Wheeling, W.Va. Both her parents had died by the time she was 6, so she was raised largely by her grandparents. At age 17, she moved to Columbus to live with a great-aunt on Atcheson Street – not far from where the complex was eventually built on Mount Vernon Avenue.

Stull, a jewelry-maker who has exhibited her work, has been interested in art since grade school. (The unusual spelling of her first name came from a teacher who said she was too special to spell it the regular way.)

She went on to work as an arts specialist and later an administrative coordinator for the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department in 1956. She worked frequently with children, a subject that comes up often when she discusses her career.

In 1971, she married Robert Stull, a ceramic artist who would go on to become chairman of the Art Department at Ohio State University and later a dean. Stull credits her husband, who died in 1994, with providing her an entry into the wider art world.

“We traveled a lot to art institutions, to universities. I learned a lot and met a lot of artists.”

Stull retired from Recreation and Parks in 1986 after 30 years. But she went back to work almost immediately, administering a youth program at Broad Street Presbyterian Church.

“That was a good program,” she said. “It prepared the kids for jobs, and I would bring in speakers to help them with their self-esteem.”

She went to work for the King Arts Complex when it opened in 1987, creating many educational and cultural programs.

Stull also had a hand in the creation of a permanent exhibit celebrating the history and culture of Mount Vernon Avenue, a center of black community life in the early to mid-20th century. It was home to her, too, and she can speak of personal acquaintances with people such as Pierce, the woodcarver with a national reputation.

“We never called him Elijah,” she said. “He was always Mr. Pierce.”

Her second retirement came in 2004. But, again, Stull didn’t stop working. She returned to the complex in her current role as a consultant. In 2005, she curated “Columbus Collects,” an exhibit of works from 12 collectors.

She is an expert on black artists and black history. Among the exhibits she has curated are “Roots and Legacies,” featuring the work of 17 deceased Columbus artists (many of whom she knew) and “Echoes of Our Ancestors,” featuring rising and established black artists.

“She’s very knowledgeable,” said art broker David Barker, who has worked with her on exhibits. “She lives it and sleeps it.”

Stull said what keeps her involved is her belief in the power of art to educate and motivate, particularly children.

“When they come here, they know very little about African art or about art period. To be able to see how they grow, I think that’s a highlight. … A young lady told me that the experience here was the most memorable experience she’d ever had.”

Such testimonials are particularly significant to her because she has no children of her own.

“And so I think that’s why it’s all so important to me that I’ve had all of these thousands of children that I’ve worked with over the years. … I love what I do.”

It’s reflected in how she works, said Dennison Griffith, president of the Columbus College of Art & Design and a longtime friend.

“She’s neck-deep in empathy for other people, and she’s been around the block long enough that she can afford to consider herself really accomplished. You just want to hug her. In fact, I do hug her every time I see her. You just cannot.”

Because her parents died young, and she lost a brother when he was in his 30s, Stull never expected a long life, she said. But she’s been given one and intends to keep making the most of it. If there’s a third retirement looming, she isn’t saying so.

“I go off a board and someone will have another board. And I’ll say, ‘No, I won’t do it.’ But, of course, I do.”

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The 20 Best Movies About Money

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Money, even for those who don’t work in finance, is still a part of everyday life. Every time we buy food, pay bills or go to work, we deal with it. Because money permeates so much of what we do and what motivates us to be both very good and sometimes very bad, it makes a great movie subject. Here are some of our favorite films about the supposed root of all evil, taking a look at greed, generosity and everything in between.

Serious Films

Addressing greed, crime and business, these films take a hard look at how humans interact with money.

  1. Wall Street (1987): This Oliver Stone classic comes with the tag line, “greed is good” and that’s just what values the film reflects with its corrupt, money-hungry characters caught up in the 80’s ideal excesses.
  2. Boiler Room (2000): This modern twist on a film noir follows Seth Davis as he attempts to get a legitimate job and please his father after dropping out of college and running an illegal casino. What he doesn’t realize is that the stock brokerage where he finds work is far from legal and may just ruin his life.
  3. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992): This feature film adaptation of a David Mamet play documents the lives of four desperate Chicago agents who will do anything to sell some less-than-desirable real estate to prospective buyers.
  4. There Will Be Blood (2007): Daniel Day Lewis’ portrayal of the ruthless oil baron Daniel Plainview won him an Oscar (among numerous other awards), and there perhaps hasn’t been a better or colder portrayal of a driven businessman on film. Despite the character’s success in the film, he remains lonely and isolated from all those around him, even his adopted son, showing that money truly can’t buy happiness.
  5. Barbarians at the Gate (1993): Based on the book of the same name, this movie takes a look at the real life events that occurred during the buyout of Nabisco. Viewers will see businessmen fight it out for the rights to the company, slowly bidding up into the billions, creating a large shadow of debt for whomever ends up with the company.
  6. American Psycho (2000): American Psycho isn’t about money per se, but the serial killer at the center, Patrick Bateman, will go to any ends to maintain his yuppie Wall Street lifestyle – even murdering business rivals. The film skewers materialism, narcissism, greed and the often shallow nature of American consumerism.
  7. Pi (1998): Pi follows a brilliant young mathematician who is working on a formula that would help him to understand the natural world. While making stock predictions, he stumbles upon a mysterious 216 digit number that could be the answer he’s looking for, but other groups, stockbrokers and religious theorists want the discovery — and are willing to do anything to get it.
  8. Indecent Proposal (1993): What would you do for money? That’s the question this classic film asks, as a man offers a married couple one million dollars for just one night with the wife. While they need the money, the realities of getting it may just drive them apart.
  9. Casino (1995): Where there is money, there is crime and that’s just what viewers will find in this gangster film from Martin Scorsese. Enforcers help make sure that the mafia gets its cut of casino profits.

  10. Lighthearted Films

    Money can sometimes make us act foolishly and these movies explore its comic side in society.

    1. The Money Pit (1986): If you’ve ever purchased real estate, you know how much money needs gets poured into a home to keep it looking nice. In this film, a young couple finds a home they love but that happens to be in great need of repair. They sink every last penny into the project, which presents them with disaster after disaster in this humorous take on homeownership.
    2. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): This uplifting Christmas classic starts off sad with a downtrodden George Bailey wanting to kill himself over the failure of his bank and loan caused by misplaced money stolen by greedy, cold businessman Henry Potter. Yet with the help of a guardian angel, he learns powerful lessons about friendship, generosity and the value of life.
    3. Trading Places (1983): When a homeless man and a Wall Street power broker change places (unwillingly) hijinks ensue. While the film takes a humorous look at how each is ill-equipped to live the life of the other, it also offers real lessons on the value of life over that of money.
    4. Brewster’s Millions (1985): When a young man inherits millions from a rich uncle, he is required to spend $30 million in 30 days to inherit the full fortune. The catch is that he can’t spend anything on himself, must help others and gain nothing from every penny he spends.
    5. Jerry McGuire (1996): Sports agents are pretty money-driven in their profession — and they have to be — but in this film we see one who has grown tired of the drama. After suffering a nervous breakdown, Jerry McGuire writes a memo detailing how dishonest he finds the industry, causing him to lose him job and follow a path that ultimately leads to a much more fulfilling career.
    6. Other People’s Money (1991): Starring Danny DeVito as a corporate liquidator who sets his sights on a wire and cable company run by a straight shooting, old-fashioned businessman played by Gregory Peck. In the end, DeVito’s character has to decide which he loves more, the businessman’s daughter whom he has fallen for, or money

A Celebration of African American Theatre With Reading of Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress

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The Ensemble Theatre is one of seventeen African American theatres to participate in a national benefit staged play reading of Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind, Monday, June 20, 2011.

“This is a great opportunity to unite a national community of theatres in support of one another,” says Eileen J. Morris, Ensemble Theatre Artistic Director. “It reminds us that we are all part of a greater artistic collaborative outside the walls of our individual institutions.”

The Ensemble Theatre’s reading of Trouble in Mind
Monday, June 20, 2011, 5:30PM
The Ensemble Performance Centre – Fannin and Berry St. Entrance
3535 Main St. Houston, TX 77002
For information visit: www.ensemblehouston.com/programs/workshops
A donation of $10 to the theatre is encouraged for admission

Actor/ Director Wayne DeHart will direct The Ensemble Theatre’s presentation of the play. Featured cast members include: Julie Boneau, Cynthia Brown, Kendrick Brown, Paul Drake, Wayne DeHart, Kit Fordyce, Ron Jones, Bob Morgan, and Bebe Wilson.

PROJECT1VOICE, a newly established organization founded by New York-based actor/producer Erich McMillan-McCall (Chicago, The Who’s Tommy) to preserve the legacy of African American theatre and playwrights, announced its inaugural event: 1VOICE, 1 PLAY, 1 DAY. African American theatres across the country have been invited to participate in this one day event that serves as both an awareness campaign and fundraising endeavor.

“This national day of celebration not only honors the late Alice Childress’ seminal work, but it seeks to highlight the African-American theatre companies who are struggling for their very existence,” PROJECT1VOICE Founder Erich McMillan-McCall said. “It is imperative that our community spark renewed interest in the art, the artists and the organizations which nurture them. PROJECT1VOICE is proud to take on the challenge of trumpeting our artistic resources so that they can sustain themselves now and into the future.”

For more information about PROJECT1VOICE, and to see interviews with theater luminaries such as prolific producer Woodie King, Jr., Tony-Award winner Adriane Lenox, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, visit: www.project1voice.org

About Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress

Trouble in Mind is a powerfully incendiary and satiric drama based on the conflict of not compromising one’s artistic integrity. This play within a play follows the journey of a mixed-raced cast in 1957 as they embark upon rehearsals for a racially-charged play. Childress shows the actors’ complaints, directors’ frustration and the well-meaning efforts of theater professionals to overcome their racial feelings. As the play unfolds each character is revealed, along with their cavalier approach to the scripts they hold. There is so much humor that the playwright’s theme within the theme will leave today’s modern audience marveling at how insightful and fresh the play feels today.

* Trouble in Mind Permission granted by Flora Roberts, Inc. 275 Seventh Ave. New York, NY 10001

BIOS

Alice Childress (playwright) has been described as a distinguished woman of her time, a literary genius, a great collaborator and an inspiration for African American women in drama.

In 1939, Childress joined the American Negro Theatre (ANT) in Harlem. After appearing in the play,Anna Lucasta, Childress decided to become a playwright. By 1949, she had completed her first play, Florence, which launched her writing career. Childress was the first black woman to get her plays professionally produced on stage in New York. For all of her accomplishments as a black woman, her efforts went largely unnoticed.

When Trouble In Mind was scheduled to open on Broadway, the producers felt that the show needed more of an uplifting ending as well as a new title. Childress refused to make the ending more happy and palatable to white audiences so the show never made it to Broadway. The same year the show was scheduled to open, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun opened and became the popular choice for critics.

Childress’ writing did not follow in the shadow of the typical dramatist; she had her own agenda with her writing. Her main focus was to combine her gender with her art. She shocked her audiences and critics with her skilled characterization of African Americans and females, and also dramatized issues she saw in society, including segregation. She lived in a society where blacks were not allowed to share white space. They were not allowed to enter through the same door as white people, drink from the same fountains, or even ride on the same bus. This type of inhumane treatment fueled her writings. Her plays include Florence, Gold Through The Trees, Wine in the Wilderness, Trouble In Mind, Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story In Black And White and Let’s Hear It For The Queen.

For a brief period Childress expanded her writing from plays to novels. She wrote three children’s novels, A Hero Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich, which was made into a film in 1978, Rainbow Jordanand Those other People. Alice Childress died of cancer in 1994.

Erich McMillan-McCall (Founder, PROJECT1VOICE) A native of Birmingham, AL, Erich McMillan-McCall received a BFA from Birmingham-Southern College. His Broadway credits include The Who’s Tommy and Chicago. He was part of the national tours of Dreamgirls, Ragtime, Chicago, Sunset Boulevard, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Dirty Dancin’. His television appearances include roles on “30 Rock,” “One Live to Live,” “All My Children” and “Guiding Light.” He has also worked in editorial fashion at Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair and Glamour Magazines.

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain and enrich a diverse community. This theatre is known as the only professional theatre in its region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African-American experience. In addition to being the oldest and largest professional African-American theatre in the Southwest, it also holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African-American theatres that owns and operates its facility with an in-house production team. Board President Emeritus Audrey Lawson led the capital campaign for The Ensemble’s $4.5 million building renovations that concluded in 1997.

The Ensemble Theatre produces a main stage season of contemporary and classic works devoted to the portrayal of the African American experience by local and national playwrights and artists. The theatre’s Performing Arts Education program provides educational workshops, Artist-in-Residence experiences and live performances for students both off-site and at the theatre; and the Young Performers Program offers intensive summer training for youth ages six to 17 encompassing instruction in all disciplines of the theatre arts. Through its varied programs, The Ensemble Theatre benefits an audience and artistic constituency of approximately 65,000 people annually.

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