Art is a Journey

Ok, I can’t help myself; I have to start this post with the punch line, spoken by one of the principals at a Westlake framing shop when she said: “this will be a real treat; I’ve never framed a Warhol before.”

This is the second half of my little story about some recent artwork acquisitions. Last time, I told the story of MJ McCabe and her gift. This time, I have the brief stories of the Warhol shopping bag and the museum in a book.

Warhol. Who doesn’t know him? (This photo was taken at the Modern in Ft. Worth.)

The man was the prototype for a new era of celebrity, famous for being famous.

He was an absolute creature of his time and, like him or not, his body of work is an essential part of the post-modern period in which he lived and created.

So, here’s the story. My wife and I were at a pre-Christmas holiday gala for Eremos, a small spirituality-focused non-profit with an intensely loyal group of friends and supporters. Like many such events, Eremos had a silent auction to raise money for the organization, with a generous array of donated personal services, books, travel vouchers, household furnishings, jewelry, and more.

Perhaps because of the unique nature of Eremos itself, I noticed several of the donated items were equally unique, as I browsed around from table to table. There were some interesting mixed media lamps, some unusually shaped, handmade tea sets, and then there was this unassuming shopping bag lying on a table off by itself, with a note placed beside it.

I was intrigued. The design on the bag was plainly one of the Campbell’s soup can images by Warhol – the everyday and mundane, celebrated as art and now recognizable worldwide, likely for eternity.

Here’s what the note beside it said: “For a Warhol exhibition in October 1966 at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, a number of these shopping bags were printed. The number of prints in the edition is unknown. This particular bag was given to me as a Christmas present in 1969 or 1970. The bag has experienced some modest wear and tear over the years. I’m hopeful it will find a good appreciative home.”

Sold! (For $200, no less.) Ironically, we paid fifty percent more for the framing, than we did for the bag. Somehow, I think Warhol would have liked that.

The second story is much less impressive than the actual object itself. While browsing one of my daily, somewhat eclectic RSS feeds, I ran across a listing for a book called, simply, “The Art Museum.” What caught my attention was its description as the literal “museum in a book.”

At first, as I read the description, I thought they were talking about a unique, adult-targeted pop-up book. I imagined one of those children’s pop-up books, but with different museum galleries composing the pop-up pages, with tiny versions of the great masters, adorning the pop-up walls.

As I searched for it on Amazon, I learned from the reviews that it wasn’t a pop-up. Instead, the “museum in a book” billing came from the fact that it is quite literally the largest, commercial fine art book produced.

An ambitious project, it was intended to provide high quality images of every type of art from every period of history, ever. The end result is massive – the book weighs 17 pounds and is 1′ x 1’4″ and 3″ deep. It is akin to the champion, oversized pumpkin in the county fair, dwarfing the other pumpkins by 5-10 times in size.

It’s not for everyone. Homes with little kids would end up with lots of torn and smudged pages in no time – which might be fine, if your family is okay with that.

My attitude is that art, contrary to the impression that some museums project, doesn’t have to be some kind of vacuum-packed, sterilized set of visual and sculpted relics that are unapproachable.

So, in that spirit, the museum-in-a-book now lies open on a table that is one of the first things you see when you walk into our home. We want everyone – young and old – to enjoy it, linger over it, and find something that makes a lasting connection with them.

Turns out, art is as much about the process of connecting as it is anything else. That’s one of the things I’ve come to find, as we’ve acquired these few art works. Art is as much a journey as it is a destination – just like most everything else in life.

There’s the “thing” – the end creation, the painting, the tapestry, the musical score, the play. Then, there’s the story behind the thing – how it came into being as it took shape in the artist’s hands, what was happening when it was created, who the people were that influenced and supported the artist, and finally how the work itself came to arrive where it is now…in front of you. Just like this blog.

Art is a Gift

Let me begin by saying I’ve never been an art collector. An admirer, yes. In fact, it was my admiration that compelled me to jump into the world of creative arts non-profit boards over a year ago.

I had decided to take some time off from work and get reconnected in the community. An area that I’d never served was the arts and, fortunately, the chance presented itself for me to join the board of governors of the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA).

Serving on the Board was a thrill, even during a turbulent time in late 2010. I completed an unexpired term, during a time that immediately preceded AMOA’s change in leadership in the spring of 2011 and eventual merger with Arthouse, punctuated by executive director & CEO Dana Friis-Hansen’s resignation.

But, as so often happens, when one door closes, another opens. And, with my AMOA Board tenure, the door that opened was the introduction to Dana, his partner Mark, and a great many fantastic people who are engaged in creating and supporting art in Austin and around the world.

If you’ve followed my writing, then you’ve read my reviews of ArtPrize. It’s as impressive an example of the depth of artistic energy and breadth of contemporary art as one could find anywhere in the world. And it’s all staged, believe it or not, in the modest, Midwest town of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Which brings me back my opening statement about collecting. Because, during the long weekend adventure to the 2011 ArtPrize, I took an oh-so-modest first step towards collecting art. ArtPrize was the source of the first of three recent acquisitions, whose stories I want to briefly share.

During the many walking and driving tours we took at ArtPrize of personal collections in homes, museum exhibits, and overflow venues brimming with original works, we made a stop at the studio of Chris Laporte and MJ McCabe.

Chris’s work, “Cavalry, American Officers, 1921,” was the 2010 ArtPrize grand prize winner. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more modest, welcoming man than Chris…in some ways the epitome of the iconic, understated Midwesterner.

Yet, hearing him describe his art, what quickly emerges from beneath that Midwest demeanor is a passionate, burning spirit for exploring the soul of his subjects, as well as a beguiling, boyish charm that infuses each of his characters. Chris’s description of his creative process for his works was fascinating.

The bonus? Meeting his partner MJ! I can only describe her art as a powerful, beautiful combination of innocence and terror that I absolutely loved. MJ herself hits you as a rare mix of sweetness and power that is 100% authentic – she’s like a female Sugar Ray Leonard of painting.

Her subjects were vivid, rough, sensual, colorful, and damaged – damaged as in children, men, and women projecting hurt, bewilderment, rejection, and an impoverishment of hope that strips them bare to the observer. Yet, through that stripping away, MJ manages to show the dignity of humanity in us all, with brush strokes and perspective.

Needless to say, we became immediately fond of the two of them. Delightfully, as it turned out, Chris and MJ had planned to travel to Austin within weeks and we quickly made plans to go out one evening.

When they made it to Austin, with Chris being a big-time sushi fan, we of course made our way to Uchi. It was a marvelous evening! We let Chris order and it was like having a kid in a candy store. Between him and the always awesome Uchi wait staff, we enjoyed a bountiful series of creations that were their own form of art – it was a real celebration.

It was hard to break up the party, but after goodbyes and hugs, we wished them well to enjoy a few more days of Hill Country touring, before they headed home to Michigan

A couple of weeks later, we received a “thank you” email from MJ and a mysterious warning “to keep an eye out for a package” coming in the mail.

The inset photo, my friends, is what showed up. Just as the pictures in the highest quality art books or displays on the highest resolution monitors can never replace the experience of standing before a great work of art, likewise my little iPhone photo doesn’t nearly do justice to the work that MJ sent.

What a gift! It’s a real treasure, as much because of the story and people behind it, as it is because of its beauty. We’re happy to have it as an enduring presence in our household that we hope many will have a chance to see.

Next time, I’ll share a couple of shorter, fun stories about two other art items recently acquired.

The People of ArtPrize

Last week, I wrote about our “art adventure” weekend at ArtPrize 2011 (www.artprize.org) and how terrific our time was. However, upon re-reading my post, I noticed that the qualities I wrote about were about my experience interacting with the art. But, if I left it at that, I’d only be sharing half of the experience.

Because, fully half of the experience was interacting with the people – the artists, the patrons, the gallery owners, the museum staff, the non-profit volunteers, the general public, the supporting business owners, our fellow art adventurers (several in puppet hand photo, at Calder sculpture), and many many more.

Here are a few qualities that captured the spirit of the people of ArtPrize:

Zest – the members of the adventure group we toured with during the week had such a wonderful zest for art and life. They included several of the artists with the Mona Lisa project (in photo, right), and numerous others with whom we struck wonderful friendships – Jose’ and Carmen, Effrain, Craig and Sally, and more!

Nowhere was the zest better captured than a magnificent dinner at Café Tre’ Cugini, where the party closed the place down with dancing among the tables accompanied by the house accordionist.

Hospitality – there were so many examples of hospitality: Dana and Mark our tour hosts, who opened their homes and lives to us; Jeff at the UICA (photo, gray sweater), who toured us throughout the building complex and spent enormous amounts of time with us during an unbelievably busy time for him; the hotel staff at the City Flats, where we stayed.

Then, there was the director, staff and volunteers at Meijer Gardens who were just fantastic; and, not to forget, the chairman of the board of the GRAM, Sam Cummings and wife, who hosted a reception for our group at his home that was a real treat!

Passion – when surrounded by art, one can’t help but be struck by the passion of the artists. Two examples that have especially stayed with me symbolizing this passion were Ezra and Jen of the Grand Rapids artist’s coop, and Philip and Mark of SiTE: LAB.

Ezra gave us an amazing, first-person tour of the city’s revitalization of its artist’s district, all the while describing the myriad programs that artists, businesspeople and organizations, the local universities, and civic leaders were devising to make Grand Rapids a strong attractor for the arts.

Jen, who managed the coop store (photo, on r), was the acknowledged force behind the fight that won many of the gains that artists had made. Ezra’s passion and Jen’s strength of conviction for the economic rights for artists to have a place to work, live and prosper were very inspiring.

Philip and Mark (center, in photo below) treated us, quite literally, to a nearly hour-long VIP tour of their SiTE:LAB installation – big art with an even bigger impact, over-taking a 3 story building, from basement through to roof – which I thought was spectacular, provocative, breath-taking, punk, joyful, enigmatic, and beautiful all in one.  (SiTE:LAB was my favorite of the week.)

They worked their asses off for weeks, prepping the site, then working with the artists, then managing the facility during the ArtPrize run. When we were with them, you could tell they were tired, about spent in fact.

But, once they started talking about their vision and, in particular, the artists’ works, you could just see them become re-energized, the passion for the art just shining through – it was so great!

Generosity – lastly, I’d be remiss without a word of tribute to the individuals, families, and companies that have made generous gifts and investments in the promotion of natural and man-made works of art in the greater Grand Rapids area.

There are many, but just a few of the cornerstone names we came to know during our trip were the Wege family (key patrons of the GRAM), the Meijer family (key patrons of the gardens), Rick Devos and his extended family (sponsoring patrons of the ArtPrize),  and Steelcase corporation, whose faithful restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright house is an important and graceful contribution to American art and architecture.

But, there was another kind of generosity worth note as well.  One of spirit, perhaps best captured by the dynamic duo of Chris Laporte and MJ McCabe. Chris won the ArtPrize in 2010 and he, and his partner, MJ, have made a point of paying forward their acclaim, by generously spending time with others.

They opened their studio to our group, they accompanied us on some of our touring, and Chris also met with us to talk about the process and background of his winning piece, which you see in the picture. (I’ll talk more about MJ and Chris in a future post.)

So, there you have it…that’s the “other half” of ArtPrize – the people. In some cases, people with means; in other cases, people with motive; but, in every case, people with much to be both proud of and thankful for in terms of a uniquely public explosion of art that I hope survives and thrives for many years to come!

If you’d like to see more, then please browse my ArtPrize 2011 photo set on Flickr!

Scenes from ArtPrize 2011

It’s been three months since my wife Rebecca and I returned from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where we spent a long, late September weekend experiencing firsthand the ArtPrize competition.

We were guests of Mark Holzbach and Dana Friis-Hansen, the new CEO of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, or GRAM as it’s known locally. (That’s Rebecca on the left and Mark, right.)

Dana accepted the top job at GRAM earlier this year, after leaving the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) where he served in leadership roles including CEO for more than a decade.

The trip to ArtPrize was one in a series of art adventures that Dana and Mark have organized and led over the years. Although this was our first adventure, we certainly hope it won’t be our last. It was a terrific experience for many reasons, a few of which I’ll highlight here:

Community – To attend the ArtPrize is to see what it looks like when a local community rallies around the visual arts. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that the entire 400,000 person population of Grand Rapids turned out for ArtPrize.

Just watch the video I took at one large exhibit space to get an idea of what it was like everywhere! It was both inspiring and aspirational, in terms of setting a mark for what Austin’s visual arts community could achieve if it sets its mind to it.

Discernment – So much of life seems to be a mad dash from one milestone to the next. At least two moments during the trip reminded me of the treasure that patience, stillness, and simply ‘being’ were equally important in discernment as is activity, motion, and speedy progress.

First, was the special preview that Dana gave us of a Director’s Choice exhibit he was developing in his ‘spare time’ involving works from the GRAM’s permanent collection. I captured a short video of him describing just some of the thematic influences shaping his assembly of the exhibit.

Second, was the description of the manner in which the Japanese artist, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, imagined the execution of his work DISAPPEARANCES – an eternal journey.

Weeks in advance, as the property was still essentially empty, he took a chair early one morning, positioned it at the end of the long upper floor, and simply sat for six hours straight watching the sunlight shine into and through the space.

The work reflects his interpretation of the light as it brightened, moved, and stretched its way through the space.

Experimentation – ArtPrize is truly an experiment in venture philanthropy. We had the pleasure of spending time with ArtPrize founder and creative force, Rick Devos, who spoke about the journey of the competition. Rick talked about what they have learned (e.g., let the money do the marketing) and what remains unclear (e.g. how to ensure a meaningful value proposition for all participating artists).

I see the value proposition and an equitable outcome for artists to be among the greater near-term challenges to ArtPrize for building a sustainable venture, especially for attracting professional artists who invest a great deal of time and energy in their entries.

I suggested that the ArtPrize team connect with the Southby team, whom I admire for their dedication to what appears to be a deep, comprehensive review of the festival every year, in order to make it the best that it can be.

As a side note, I told Rick that I appreciated his advocacy of simple, open source principles guiding the ArtPrize competition. His personal view was that by adhering to them, it’s produced a level of community ownership and engagement that would be hard, if not impossible, to reproduce otherwise.

Proximity –Speaking of principles, one of the 3 core principles of ArtPrize artist participation is that the artists ‘show up.’ In other words, they aren’t allowed to simply have a piece shipped to Grand Rapids – they have to come. The beauty, of course is that a vast majority stay for some, if not all, of the competition’s three weeks.

This offers a unique opportunity for the public to visit with artists face-to-face, casually, learning firsthand what inspired an artist’s choice about materials, subject, size, etc. Over and over again, one has close encounters with creatives, as well as with the art itself.

Other elements of proximity included: the city of Grand Rapid’s arrangement itself – everything is in walking distance creating a magnificent city center bursting with people and art; and, one more example, the drawings room at the GRAM where they house a remarkable collection of drawings by masters that, by appointment, is available to members of the public to study up-close-and-personal.

ArtPrize 2012 will be September 19 to October 7. Put it on your calendar now, because you’ve got to experience it to really appreciate it…and you’ll be glad you did!

Are you my Sphero?

I hosted the Sphero team at a Robot Meet-up at SXSW Interactive 2011.

Sphero is a cool little robotic ball that you can control with your iPhone.

I would have bought one then, but they were still under development.

I understand.  Making great products can be hard.

["Are you my Sphero?"  "No," said the little blue squeezy ball.  "I am not your Sphero."]

But then, I got an email saying that the website was online.  On it, you could provide your email to be first in line to pre-order a Sphero.

So I did.

Then I waited to get the chance to actually place an order.  Then I got an email saying I could.

So, I did.

["Are you my Sphero?"  "No," said the big blue exercise ball.  "I am not your Sphero."]

Cool, I thought.  I’ll get the Sphero well ahead of Christmas time.  It’ll make a great gift.

So, I waited.

Then, I got an email in December saying that I wouldn’t get my Sphero by Christmas.

And that they were really sorry.

But I would get a t-shirt.  (I got it yesterday…it’s dark grey.)

["Are you my Sphero?"  "No," said the whiteboard thought bubble.  "I am not your Sphero."]

I saw a tweet yesterday saying Sphero was shipping.  Today is December 22.  I hope I get it tomorrow – that would be great!

Until then, I’m still waiting for my Sphero.

…To be continued.