Gantt and McColl Centers Unite to Highlight Culture and Diversity Initiatives

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CHARLOTTE, NC.- Through the creation of a shared Creative Director position, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture and McColl Center for Visual Art have taken a historic first step to formalize their relationship. This new partnership unifies and amplifies their voices in the community, while strengthening the organizations’ shared-interest in leading diversity and art education initiatives with an emphasis on community engagement with the arts and artists.

“Art has a natural way of bringing people and ideas together,” says Suzanne Fetscher, President and CEO of McColl Center for Visual Art. “We are proud to be partnering with the Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. This alliance is a natural extension of the educational and programming initiatives that we are both doing – showcasing how art and artists can be used as catalysts for social advancement.”

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture and McColl Center for Visual Art are forging an agreement that will enhance the strengths of both institutions. Starting on July 1, 2010, Ce Scott, presently Director of Residencies and Exhibitions at McColl Center for Visual Art, will become Creative Director for both arts organizations. Scott will lead this endeavor by solidifying the relationship and immediately launching joint programming. “It is an honor for me to share my creative vision and leadership with both organizations,” said Scott.

“This partnership has extraordinary possibilities,” says David Taylor, President and CEO of Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. “We are living in a global community and arts education is a powerful tool that can foster and promote cultural awareness. Our commitment to working with McColl Center will also allow us to leverage the uniqueness of both organizations, create the Gantt Center ’s artists-in-residence program and enhance our education and outreach programs.”

Both organizations are supported by the Arts & Science Council. “The Arts & Science Council is pleased to see these important cultural organizations collaborating to reach a broader audience and serve the community,” said ASC President Scott Provancher.

Scott has been employed at McColl Center for Visual Art since before its opening a decade ago. She is originally from Detroit , Michigan , and has an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is an artist and educator and has exhibited her work regionally and nationally as well as served on local and national cultural arts boards. She joined Fetscher to launch educational programs at the fledgling artist colony envisioned by CEO of Bank of America, Hugh McColl, Jr.

Since those early days, the Center has grown to become nationally renowned for its artist-in-residence and other program offerings. The Center ranks among the top three artist-in-residence programs in the nation according to the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

In October 2009, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-Arts + Culture, named for former Charlotte mayor and business leader Harvey Gantt, opened its new facility at the South Tryon Street Cultural Campus. The Gantt Center has promoted African-American art and its influence on American culture for the past 35 years. They offer a variety of cultural experiences, including visual arts, performance, film, literature and education outreach.

The Gantt Center will welcome their first artist-in-residence, Fahamu Pecou, an Atlanta-based artist whose work seeks to expose stereotypes of African-American masculinity reflected in contemporary media. Pecou will be co-located at the McColl Center for Visual Art this fall.

Another yet-to-be-named Gantt Center artist-in-residence will be selected for McColl Center ’s winter session. Both Pecou and that artist will be featured in a joint exhibition of work created while in residence at McColl Center for Visual Art at the Gantt Center in summer 2011. Both the residencies and exhibitions will be key to education and outreach experiences, including summer children’s camps shared between the organizations.

The organizations have worked together in the past leading up to this formal relationship. Several artists associated with the Gantt Center have been artists-in-residence at McColl Center for Visual Art, including San Francisco artist Willie Little, Chapel Hill’s Juan Logan and Atlanta-based Michael Harris, a professor at Emory University who is presently a curatorial consultant with the Gantt Center . The Gantt Center and McColl Center for Visual Art are also investigating the possibility of developing an artists-in-residence international exchange program to promote African outreach efforts.

Decisions on MLK memorial raise debate

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Decisions on MLK memorial raise debate

By Linda Conley
linda.conley@shj.com

Published: Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 1:06 a.m.

Work progresses on a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., while a Boiling Springs granite sculptor and supporters continue pushing for more American artists and sculptors to be involved.

Clint Button and Georgia artist Gilbert Young hope to persuade members of the National Memorial Project Foundation to get rid of the King sculpture made by an artist in China. They also want all of the granite for the $120 million monument to come from America instead of having pieces shipped from China.

Spartanburg African-American leaders are interested in the campaign because they have a bond with the slain civil rights leader. King preached one of his first sermons at the local Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in the late 1940s, and his uncle, the Rev. Joel L. King, was the pastor of that church.

“There are so many African-American artists who could have done the statue,” said City Councilwoman Linda Dogan. “I think it is absolutely justified to get American artists. When an artist does a work, they have to have an intimate knowledge of the subject. If they don’t, you will see it in the work.”

Dogan, an art major in college, said a good candidate for the project is South Carolina’s Mac Arthur Goodwin, who was instrumental in building the African-American History Monument on the grounds at the Statehouse in Columbia.

“I don’t understand where they (foundation members) are coming from,” Dogan said.

Rep. Harold Mitchell, D-Spartanburg, said the memorial is a worthwhile project, but doesn’t like the idea of sending work outside of the country when thousands of people are looking for work and the national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent.

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Collard Greens Museum explores black history

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BY KATHLEEN PURVIS – The Charlotte Observer

Charlotte — It’s called the Latibah Collard Green Museum. But the small museum on Cullman Avenue isn’t about greens or cooking. It’s about one man’s dream.

Both the dream and the museum are the work ofT’Afo Feimster, an artist, playwright and activist who co-owns The Art-House, a collection of studios and display spaces at the end of a street of warehouses a few blocks from the NoDa gallery district.

In a city that has exploded with new cultural institutions, from the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Feimster’s little museum is something different, a small collection of scenes he created to illustrate black history.

“This is a museum in the making,” Feimster says. “We’re open, we’re running, but we’re adding to.”

But don’t discount the importance of small museums, says Robert Bush, senior vice president of cultural and community investment for the Arts & Science Council. The ASC is evaluating an application for funding from Feimster’s group.

“Every museum, even the Mint, started with one person having an idea,” Bush said.

“Our thrust is to educate the public 399 days a year, 24/8,” he says. “Black History Month [in February] – that’s great, and we’re grateful. But why not more? And why not here? Why go to Atlanta or Charleston to learn about black history? Why not do it right here?”

‘It’s just a passion’

Feimster, 62, is a native of Stony Point, near Statesville. He has loved making art since he was a kid. But when he graduated from high school and headed to college in 1966, an art career wasn’t a serious option for a young black man who was expected to earn a living.

Instead, Feimster majored in business and finance at N.C. Central University in Durham and spent 30 years working for IBM in Charlotte. He had four children, including son Torrey, now the editor of Pride Magazine, and Tye, the magazine’s photographer.

Feimster learned woodworking from his dad and painting on his own. But he kept his wood sculptures and colorful paintings as a hobby until he took an early retirement and bought ArtHouse with partners. It has 13 studio spaces for people he calls “working artists” – artists who have to hold other jobs.

Feimster had his own studio in the back. He also had an abiding interest in black history and the African-American experience. He studied it, thought about it, and made art about it.

Finally, he decided to do something about it.

“It’s just a passion, a way of expressing. It’s me.”

He converted his studio into the museum, illustrated mostly with his own sculptures and paintings and full-size set pieces he built to encapsulate African-American history.

Feimster divided American black history into 14 experiences. For each, he built something to make people think and talk about that experience.

What you’ll see

The hallway leading into the studio is lined with art and sculpture to show the diverse cultures of Western Africa, where most American slaves were captured. In an inner chamber, he built a platform to show the conditions the captives endured in slave ships, using specs he got from the re-creation of the slave ship La Amistad.

There’s a room with log walls, designed to look like a slave cabin, and a corner fixed up to resemble a juke joint, often run by blacks in the early 20th century. There’s a barber shop display to show black entrepreneurialism, the front porch of a shotgun house, and a black-iron cell to illustrate civil rights and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s time in a Birmingham jail.

The studio is too small for Feimster’s complete vision. Only eight of his installations fit. But he’s trying to find a larger, permanent home.

Why collard greens?

There are regular museum events, including a panel discussion on the first Friday of each month – they serve a sampling of collard greens and corn bread afterward – and a black-oriented movie night on the third Friday.

So, what about that name? Latibah is the acronym for “Life and Times in Black American History.”

About the significance of collard greens, Feimster tells this story: Early on, he told a man he knew about his plan to build a museum about black culture.

The man listened to his description and declared, “Why would you want to do that? You don’t want this to become some collard green thing.”

Feimster was taken aback by the use of “collard green” as a negative.

Like stories that were passed down as oral history when slaves weren’t allowed to read, cooking collard greens was something your grandmother taught your mother, who taught you.

He pulled out dictionaries and encyclopedias and read up on collard greens.

“Everything I saw was good stuff,” he says. “It’s one of the most nutritious things out there.” And everything he read about collards seemed to reflect something about the African-American experience: Collards thrive in poor soil. They’re durable and tolerate harsh conditions. And when they get hit by cold, they get sweeter.

“I think about us as a people and the struggles we went through. I just think that, after that frost, we’re going to be sweeter. This bitter thing, after it’s over, we got to be getting better. We can be out in the sun, we can be chained, we can be whipped. But we survive, and we just get better.”

Marina The Poet

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Marina The Poet
Author/Poet/Playwright/Workshop Facilitator/Visionary

Marina has never been one to follow the crowd. Even as a young child, when most girls her age played with dolls, she begged her parents for a typewriter. More than anything in the world, Marina wanted to write.

Marina Thomas was born in Harlem and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, and found herself in and out of trouble in the tough neighborhood during her teen years.

Despite having strong, positive, loving parents that both worked hard to provide for Marina and her sibling, and being an extremely bright student, she continued to rebel through high school, barely graduating. It was not until her freshman year at Norfolk State University that she realized many of her problems stemmed from a childhood traumatic experience.

As a result of a personal commitment to wholeness and healing, and with God’s guidance, Marina decided to take the helm of her life. She succeeded in healing her mind, heart and spirit from the trauma of her childhood experience. It was at this point in her life that she revisited an old friend…writing. Marina wrote poetry sporadically in her teens, and of the past she states, “Once I was able to come to terms with the past, I began to turn off the voice inside my head that was filled with negative ideas about myself, and began to re-write my own script. A script that told me I was worthy of all God promised for me and my life.”

Marina’s journey toward her dreams of writing full-time did not happen overnight, and there were times when she questioned her path, but life circumstances, determination and her faith finally afforded her an opportunity to turn to her passion for writing full-time. Since that time, she has published a book, cut a CD, shared the stage with Nikki Giovanni and Dr. Cornell West, and penned, cast and debuted her first play; Black Diamonds and Pearls…Rise Up and Shine! based on an adaptation of her book of poetry, If I Decide to Fly!, – Collected Poems of Affirmation and Celebration for African-American Men/Boys.

Marina now desires to travel the world sharing her story through her poetry. Marina’s debut book, If I Decide to Fly! – Collected Poems of Affirmation and Celebration for African-American Men/Boys, is her testimony to the power of faith, love, and forgiveness. Her story of triumph over a past that threatened to bind her to anger, resentment, guilt and pain is one that transcends nationality, sexual orientation, age, economic status, gender, race, relationships, etc. It is a universal story, one that could be told by any human being.

Poems from the book, If I Decide to Fly!, – Collected Poems of Affirmation and Celebration for African-American Men/Boys, such as “Hunk of Black Man”, “I’m Not Confused About Life At All!”, and “I’m Your Girl”, tell stories that are woven directly from the fabric of everyday life. Although, If I Decide to Fly!, was written to proudly uplift, affirm and empower African-American Men/Boys, Marina’s poetry reflects the tenacity, fortitude and brilliance that is within us all.

Consequently, Marina’s performances, workshops and lectures have been described as passionate, captivating and inspiring. She has the innate ability to connect with all of humanity, inviting everyone in her presence to experience her poems, not just hear them.

Marina is working on her second book of poems and her first manuscript for a novel. She recently released her first CD which includes fourteen selections from the book If I Decide To Fly!, accompanied by original music. Marina facilitates workshops on self-esteem for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. She holds a BA from Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, NC.

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JORDAN E. BROOKS

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JORDAN E. BROOKS
“I’m so attracted to different ends of art, that some what influence my not yet defined style of art. Just so much is out there that people have no clue about, that would rock your socks off! I try to learn, not preach, and enjoy not categorize the weak. I strive to not know it all but learn from all.”-J.E.B.

Kansas Native Jordan E. Brooks may not be a big name yet, but give it time! Influenced by such a wide variety of art ranging from Fine classical of 1600s to the comic books styling’s greats of the 90’s. Born and raised in Kansas, Jordan spent much of his life between Topeka and Lawrence city. Following his mother, he picked up a pencil at the age 3 and half and never stopped! But art hasn’t always been so clear for him. “It took me awhile to find my heart back to art, at such a young age I was always viewed as an artist or pressured into that field whether or not I really wanted. But I am glad at the age 25 I‘ve fallen back in love. I‘m hard at work on a number of illustration projects, plus a new collection of painting that should be ready for show in early fall 2010.”-Jordan. So stay tuned for what’s to come from this promising indie fine arts student illustrator!

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Leimert Park Village Book Fair

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Leimert Park Village Book Fair Announces 2010 Lineup Of Authors

The Leimert Park Village Book Fair will feature booksignings, writing workshops, panel discussions, poetry readings, stage performances, musical entertainment and a variety of activities for the whole family.

An Actor and a Gentleman by Louis Gossett Jr.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – May 25, 2010 – NEWS RELEASE

LEIMERT PARK VILLAGE BOOK FAIR
ANNOUNCES 2010 LINEUP OF AUTHORS

LOS ANGELES – An Oscar winner. A Pulitzer Prize winner. An Emmy-nominated music director and an award-winning literary giant headline the fourth annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair. The producers of the book fair are excited to bring an interesting mix of authors, poets, spoken-word artists with entertainment and television personalities, merging the two worlds of literary and entertainment to offer an eclectic mix of literature, art, music and fashion.

The Leimert Park Village Book Fair will be held on Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Leimert Park on the Vision Theatre Back lot, located at 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard. The family-oriented event is held in the heart of Leimert Park, which is considered the center of the African American arts/intellectual scene. The event is free and open to the public.

The book fair is produced by Cynthia E. Exum and Associates in partnership with Los Angeles City Councilmember Bernard C. Parks, 8th District in association with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and Eso Won Books. Sponsors include Nestle USA, Sempra Energy – the Gas Company, Time Warner Cable and KABC-TV7 with additional support from community partners – the Leimert Park Village Business Improvement Association, the Leimert Park Village Merchants Association, Community Build, Strategic Counsel PLC, and the United States Postal Service. For more information, visit www.leimertparkbookfestival.com.

This annual book fair has become a much-anticipated cultural tradition in the community. It provides authors an opportunity to promote their newest work and meet some of their fans up close and personal.

“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.”

More than 5,000 enthusiastic book lovers, families and fans will be treated to celebrity readings, booksignings, 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 Preparation Pavilion, sponsored by Sempra Energy, will feature cooking demonstrations and food sampling by chefs Sharon Winbush and Kevin Smith.

The lineup of participants at this year’s book fair include:

ON THE MAIN STAGE | The Headliners
An Actor and a Gentleman: Louis Gossett Jr. – Hollywood royalty and one of the most-respected stage and screen actors of our time, the Oscar- and Emmy-winner is the author of “An Actor and a Gentleman” (Wiley), which recalls his 50+ years in the entertainment business.

Douglas A. Blackmon – A journalist for the Wall Street Journal, Blackmon nabbed a Pulitzer Prize in the General Nonfiction category for his book, “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II,” (Doubleday), a precise and eloquent work that examines a deliberate system of racial suppression and that rescues a multitude of atrocities from virtual obscurity. He calls it the “age of neo-slavery.”

Behind the Music of Rickey Minor – the Emmy-nominated music director of the highly-rated show, “American Idol,” and now the “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” is the author of the book, “There’s No Traffic on the Extra Mile,” (Penguin) sharing his journey from South Central to center stage and spinning stories from his life in the music business into inspirational gold.

Ishmael Reed – a literary giant, Reed is considered one of the most prominent – and yes, controversial – African-American literary figures, since Ralph Ellison. Producing a substantial body of work – fiction, poetry, essays and plays – with the consistent objective of satirizing American political, religious and literary repression, Reed has won numerous awards and prizes. Recently retired from teaching for 35 years at the University of California, Berkeley, his latest offering is “Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the “Nigger Breakers.” (Baraka Books)

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.

The Crowd Pleasers:
Coffee Talk With a Housewife: NeNe Leakes – the reality star from Bravo’s “The Real Houswives of Atlanta” dishes from her book, “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice: Lessons on Love and Life Learned the Hard Way” (Touchstone Hardcover / Simon & Schuster), discussing her fractured childhood, abusive relationship, struggles with being a single mother, landing Mr. Right, and all the messy lessons she’s learned along the way.

A Table Read With Donald Welch — Welch is the author of the hit stage play and novel “The Bachelorette Party” and “In My Sister’s House” (Random House), blazing his own trail to bring “real world” topics to the forefront of today’s audience.

Poetry Slamming With:
Ruth Forman — an award-winning writer and filmmaker who appeared in the PBS series “The United States of Poetry,” brings reflections from her third volume of poetry, called “Prayers Like Shoes.”

Taalam Acey – is one of the most sought-after spoken-word artist in the country. Acey has recorded more than a dozen spoken word CDs, and authored four books, including the award-winning memoir, “Eyes Free: The Memoir.”

CHILDREN’S VILLAGE | Children’s Main Stage

Philana Marie Boles — will deliver the keynote address in the Children’s Village to inspire and uplift our young people. Boles is the author of “Little Divas,” (Harper Trophy) a coming-of-age novel about girls growing up, and how they deal with friendship, family, love and sex.

The Wayans Family (Kim, Shawn … and maybe Marlon) – the Wayans will bring their zany brand of comedy to the Children’s Village. Kim will offer readings from her children’s book series, “Amy Hodgepodge,” about a multiracial girl adjusting to life in public school after years of home schooling. And Shawn will bring to life cartoon characters from the “Boo Crew” series with a celebrity reading and performance.

Go Metro to the fourth annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair. Show your valid Metro pass or Metro rail tickets and get an additional 10 percent discount on merchandise purchased on the Vision Theatre back lot.

CONTACT: Wyllisa Bennett, publicist
wrb public relations

wyllisa@aol.com
310.266.9704 cell

Introducing Collector Hub, A New Name For A Trusted Online Community

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Introducing Collector Hub, A New Name For A Trusted Online Community

Formerly known as BlackshearOnline, Collector Hub continues the same great service of offering collectors and enthusiasts the latest and greatest works of internationally renowned artist, Thomas Blackshear.

Ripon, CA (BlackNews.com) — Blackshear Online, the premier online community of Thomas Blackshear enthusiasts, is changing its name but not its first-class customer service. Collector Hub is the new name for the pre-eminent gathering place of those who appreciate the fine arts and collectibles that Blackshear is known for. The only change is the name-customers can be confident that they are doing business with the same company they have come to respect and trust. At Collector Hub, they will find the same warm and welcoming atmosphere; the same toll-free telephone number and a large selection of Blackshear collectibles, unsurpassed by any other online community.

Staying the same doesn’t mean that this online community isn’t always looking for ways to improve its manner of business. To enhance service and provide additional protection to its customers, Collector Hub is stepping up online security to go green with state-of-the-art encryption-Extended Validation (EV) SSL from VeriSign. Offering the highest safeguards available; Collector Hub has a fresh new perspective in the way of a bright green address bar. Not just for aesthetics, the EV green bar gives visitors the confidence to make purchases online with the most trusted and secure options accessible today. When you visit secure pages on the Collector Hub web site such as your personal account or the shopping cart, you will notice the address bar at the top of the page turns green with Extended Validation SSL. To learn more about the green bar, use this link: www.VeriSign.com.

In the tradition of delivering the latest updates on new releases from Thomas Blackshear, Collector Hub rolls out the red carpet to announce the upcoming release of First Lady, Michelle Obama-a collectible figurine. Part of Thomas Blackshear’s Ebony Visions(TM) Collection, pre-orders for this most anticipated piece will be available online, mid to late June 2010. A striking symbol of strength, wisdom and quiet elegance, Michelle is the perfect companion to the President Barrack Obama limited edition figurine. As with all of Blackshear’s creations, this rendition is expected to capture the essence of the First Lady… her intelligence, her style and her attitude of hope.

In addition to the President Barrack Obama figurine, Collector Hub stocks Blackshear’s copper finished bust of the 44th President of the United States. Poised on a wooden pedestal this sophisticated bust is sure to impress the most discerning customer. From the Presidential Series to the child-like innocence of the Comfort and Joy ornament collection… Collector Hub is the one-stop-shop for those who appreciate the fine art and inspiring pieces of Thomas Blackshear.


ABOUT COLLECTOR HUB
Established in 2001, we are the Internet’s pre-eminent gathering place for fans and collectors of internationally acclaimed African-American artist Thomas Blackshear. Our goal is to continue to be the most comprehensive Thomas Blackshear community by providing the essential link collectors need to interact and share ideas and information, and conveniently and confidently purchase Thomas Blackshear products online. Visit our web site at www.CollectorHub.com or call us at (209) 599-8599. And don’t forget to bookmark our new web site.

All trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.


PRESS CONTACT:
Larraine Covington
Web: www.CollectorHub.com
Email: info@CollectorHub.com
Address: POB 1140, Ripon, CA 95366, USA
Telephone: 209-599-8599
Fax: 209-599-1799

October Gallery’s Premium Collectors Art Auction Series

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Sunday, August 1, 2010 12:30 to 5:30 PM
6353 Greene Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144
267-297-0188

View Art Up for Bid

This is a premiere collectors art AUCTION series featuring some of the following artist….

Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Charles White, Lois Jones, Ernie Barnes, John Biggers, William Tolliver, Ben Britt, Selma Burke, Andrew Turner, Benny Andrews, Allen Crite, Ernest Crichlow, Ellis Wilson, Hale Woodruff, Miles Davis, Doc Thrash, Columbus Knox, Claude Clark, Gordon Parks, James Denmark, Sam Gilliam, Faith Ringgold, George Hunt, Paul Goodnight, Frank Frazier, Joseph Holston, Varnette Honeywood, Betye Saar, Synthia Saint James, Kimmy Cantrell, Annie Lee, Ellen Powell Tiberino, Laurie Cooper, Sam Bryd, Cal Massey, Reba Dickerson Hill, Johnathan Green, Phylis Stevens, Sam Benson, , Jerry and Terry Lynn

The Art of the Steal

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If a major American city wants to be taken seriously as a cultural center, it needs a world-class art museum. Such institutions are a ubiquitous presence everywhere from New York City to Birmingham, Alabama, usually housed in imposing structures that contain thousands of works drawn seemingly from every conceivable era and culture, displayed in precise, carefully calculated ways.
To conceive of them as villainous corporate entities requires a considerable leap of faith. The admirable pursuit of bringing art to the masses, the fundamental aim of any nonprofit cultural institution no matter how large, does not lend itself to the same measures of outrage as the activities of the other money grubbing behemoths that dominate 21st century society.
Yet Don Argott, in his documentary The Art of the Steal, asks his audience to cast aspersions on the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pew Charitable Trusts and just about the entirety of the city’s civic apparatus. That he so ably perpetuates a measure of disgust toward them is a testament to how convincingly he renders the David vs. Goliath element of the story of the struggle over the Barnes Foundation, the private, robust collection of artwork that the Philadelphia intelligentsia aims to move from its home in the suburb of Merion, PA to the city.

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Staging the African American Experience

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By Kola Tubosun
March 6, 2010 03:27PM

Theatre seems always justified by catharsis, as there is nothing as innately fulfilling as the wonderful sense of exhilaration that comes from seeing a wonderful performance of moving art pieces on the live stage. There must also be something close to this in the pleasure of penning said stage work or delivering said lines to an audience of colleagues, friends, visitors, acquaintances and other impressionable young men and women in a packed auditorium in a University campus theatre during Black History month.

On the door into the theatre was the inscription that warned: “There will be a gun shot during this performance”. The University is the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, (in the state of Illinois). It was the night of Friday, February 19, the venue was the Metcalf Theatre, and the event was a Black Theatre Workshop organised by a bunch of talented volunteers of students, faculty and friends.
Themed “The Journey to Freedom,” this cold night of performance felt the warmest in the cheerful ambience of a most attentive and receptive audience from all races. I sat in the front row, camera in hand, as the hours flew past in the face of each beautiful performance. There were about twenty of them, each lasting between ten to fifteen minutes.
They all spoke of race, racism and race relations in the United States. The actors did, as well as each performed piece, be it dance, poetry recitation, short drama sketches, miming, comedy, spoken word, among others.
The drawings on the set background already conditioned the serious mood of the night. Malcolm X is in a corner pointing straight at the camera in bold iconic confrontation. Martin Luther King Jnr stands in an opposite corner, pointing, as he delivered the “I Have A Dream” speech, right on top of the image of the most important white American leader on the subject of slavery, Abraham Lincoln. Images almost fade into each other, and the stage lights dim and morph into each other in the colours of different emotions.

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A year of (possible) firsts at the Oscars

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By Mark BermanSunday,
March 7, 2010

Sunday’s 82nd annual Academy Awards should offer a dazzling combination of excitement (look, a famous person!) and sheer boredom (the front-runners in all the major categories seem so far ahead that the only surprise would be if they use their trophies in a duel to the death). But there’s also history! This is the first telecast of the Oscars with 10 Best Picture nominees, for example, a change the Academy made last year to enable popular crowd-pleasing movies such as “An Education” and “A Serious Man” to join serious art such as “The Blind Side.” And there’s more history that could be made. Let’s take a look at some of the things that could happen for the first time

THE FIRST FEMALE BEST DIRECTOR WINNER
Kathryn Bigelow is the heavy favorite going into the Oscars. If she can best her ex-husband James Cameron and win the award, she’d be the first female winner. If she loses, she’s still just the fourth woman to lose the award. The last woman to be nominated was Sofia Coppola for 2003’s “Lost in Translation.” She lost to Peter Jackson, the director of that year’s big, CGI-heavy spectacle — the third “Lord of the Rings” movie. And no Best Picture winner has been directed by a woman.

THE FIRST BLACK BEST DIRECTOR WINNER
Lee Daniels lives in a world where an African American can do anything, including become president. But apparently there’s still at least one exception: win a Best Director Oscar. He’s already accomplished a lot with “Precious” — he’s just the second black man nominated for Best Director (after John Singleton in 1992) and the first African American to direct a Best Picture nominee. If he pulls off the upset and wins, he’d make history (not sure what happens to Bigelow; does she become the Academy’s secretary of state?).

FORGET THE SCREENPLAY, LET’S JUST MAKE SURE ALL THREE DIMENSIONS ARE PRETTY
If “Avatar” wins Best Picture, it would be the first film in more than a decade to win the award without a screenplay nomination. The last movie to accomplish that feat? “Titanic.” But hey, Cameron is talking about writing an “Avatar” novel. So he’s still got his eye on that PEN/Faulkner award.
THE FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE TO TAKE A MAJOR AWARD
“Up,” nominated for Best Animated Feature, is also up for four other Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay (the sixth of Pixar’s 10 feature films to earn that nomination) and Best Picture (just the second animated film to crack that category, the first since “Beauty and the Beast”).
THE BIGGEST/SMALLEST MOVIE TO WIN BEST PICTURE
If the Best Picture trophy goes to “The Hurt Locker,” which earned $12.6 million in domestic release, it’ll be the smallest box office total for a Best Picture winner since “Annie Hall” in 1978 ($38 million, according to boxofficemojo.com). If “Avatar” ($700 million and counting) wins, the biggest movie of all time becomes the highest-earning Best Picture winner. Historical parallel alert! When the meager-earning “Annie Hall” won the top award, it also overcame the biggest movie in history at that time — “Star Wars.” (Note: If “Inglourious Basterds” pulls off the upset, forget we said anything.)

But there’s also history yet to be made. Some barriers still unbroken. Such as:

A DOCUMENTARY? A FOREIGN FILM?
Despite the expanded Best Picture race, no documentary or foreign-language film made it to the final 10. No doc has ever been nominated, despite Michael Moore’s 2004 attempt to push “Fahrenheit 9/11” into that year’s Best Picture race. In the past 35 years, just three foreign-language movies have been nominated — “Il Postino” in 1996, “Life is Beautiful” in 1999 and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2001. (Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima” was a foreign-language film but was not a foreign flick — hard to be more American than Dirty Harry.)

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Met Guards Are True Artists

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A fair number of the guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are artists themselves, yearning for a little exposure. Now they are stepping into the spotlight with a new art journal called Sw!pe Magazine: Guards’ Matter, and an accompanying exhibition, which runs through March 7 at 25CPW, a gallery at 62nd Street and Central Park West. Many of the works are paintings, like this one by Fabian Barenbaum.

DNA clues hunted in ’90 art theft

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On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the theft of masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the FBI is resubmitting evidence taken from the crime scene for DNA analysis in hope of gaining a long-sought break in the case.

Because of advances in DNA analysis since the 1990 robbery, the lead agent in the case, Geoffrey Kelly, decided to send evidence to the FBI’s scientific laboratory in Quantico, Va., a spokeswoman in the FBI’s Boston office said.
The heist, which included three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, remains the world’s largest art theft in dollar value.

Kelly said he could not disclose the type of evidence to be reviewed, but others familiar with the case said it would probably include long strips of duct tape used to tie up the museum’s two night watchmen, whom the thieves overpowered to get access to the artwork.
“If they left any sweat on that duct tape, a sample could be drawn, and with that sample there’s the possibility of a result,’’ said Dr. Bruce Budowle, former senior scientist of the FBI’s Quantico lab.

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Art, care centers offer promise for black community

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Two institutions, several miles apart – one newly formed and the other 70 years old – held celebrations last week, and both offer greater promise for African-Americans and the broad society.
The University of Illinois and the South Side Community Art Center share an import historic link to the African-American community through the arts and medicine.
On Friday, the Sickle Cell Center at University of Illinois opened an Adult Acute Care Center, at 1740 W. Taylor St. in Chicago, for patients suffering from sickle cell disease.
The Sickle Cell Center is the only one of its kind in Illinois and has nearly 40 years of experience in the management of SCD, providing care to more than 500 adult patients and 250 pediatric patients. The Acute Care Center is set up to provide immediate treatment for pain, a hallmark of SCD, improving pain relief for these individuals.
SCD is an inherited lifelong disease of the red blood cells and is a geographically based disease. It is geographically based as a result of the human body adapting to the prevalence of malaria. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes in warm tropical environments. In the United States, African-Americans are plagued by SCD because of the millions of Africans brought to this part of the world by the slave trade from West Africa.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that more than 80,000 Americans suffer from this devastating disease, with 97 percent of them of African descent. Here in Illinois, 75 percent of residents with SCD live in Cook County and 88 percent in the six-county Chicago metropolitan region.
Sickle cell sufferers are known to be severely hampered by these attacks, commonly known as “pain crisis,” and it is this pain that most often brings them to the emergency room.
Oftentimes these individuals must wait hours before being treated; this delay in treatment results in unrelieved pain and hospitalizations. The Acute Care Center provides immediate treatment for pain and allows them to return home rather than be hospitalized.
The Sickle Cell Center at the University of Illinois is an example of progress in the form of recognizing the needs of African-Americans, but also South Americans and people of Mediterranean descent who suffer from sickle cell anemia.

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