Style Spotlight: Book Celebrates 60 Years of Peanuts

August 2010 | BY Sara Baker | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | NO COMMENTS

“I don’t think I will ever be able to attain the stature of an artist like Rembrandt or Picasso—even though more people know Snoopy than anything Picasso and other great painters have done,” Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz once said.

His beloved comic strip celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Since the first strip introduced good ol’ Charlie Brown on Oct. 2, 1950, Peanuts has expanded to more than 2,200 newspapers in 75 countries and 25 languages. To celebrate the milestone, Andrews McMeel Publishing worked with Schulz’s wife Jean and the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., to put together Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years ($75), a 500-page, hardcover heavyweight that chronicles the artist’s life work.

Broken into decades, the book presents more than 50 years of Peanuts strips, some black line, some scanned from newspaper tear sheets, and others in their original Sunday color. From Schulz’s first comic in 1950 to his farewell comic on Feb. 13, 2000, published just hours after his death, you’ll see the evolution of a man and his beloved characters—watch as Snoopy’s face changes from a puppy into the memorable mug we know today, and notice the change in Schulz’s pen line as he battles with trembling hands in later years.

To order a copy of the book, visit www.andrewsmcmeel.com.

Style Spotlight: Dig In to Tasty Art

August 2010 | BY Sara Baker | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | NO COMMENTS

: “Eric Carle: A Feast for the Eyes,” appearing at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Sept. 21-March 20, 2011 as part of “Table for 10,” will include illustrations like “Today is Monday” by Eric Carle. Credit: © 1993 by Eric Carle

Grab a knife and fork and pull up a chair at “Table for 10: The Art, History and Science of Food,” a series of museum exhibitions and special events taking place this fall in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.

The region-wide promotion pairs art and food in a large menu of events, including cooking demonstrations, lectures, tastings and art auctions. It’s all organized by Museums10, a partnership of 10 museums and galleries in the area.

Check out “Wine and Spirit: Rituals, Remedies and Revelry,” an art exhibition exploring the importance of wine in Western culture throughout the ages, at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum through Dec. 12. Or get a taste of “What’s Cooking at the Mead,” a series of Sunday gallery talks in which museum curators and restaurateurs get together to talk about food themes in art, at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College Sept. 12-Nov. 21.

And you won’t want to miss “crEATe: Food as Artistic Inspiration,” a special show and silent auction at the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton Oct. 9-11.

For a full list of events, visit www.museums10.org.

Falling for Festivals- Art Festivals Nationwide

August 2010 | BY Jennifer Clary | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | 1 COMMENT

: Polymer clay jewelry artist Loretta Lam will exhibit at the first annual American Craft Show NYC.

Fine craft shows are buzzing with activity. Not only can you meet new artists and catch up with craftsmen you’ve followed throughout their careers, you can sit back, relax and enjoy the gorgeous fall foliage. Which are our favorites? Take a look at this list:

Eighty-five of the best ceramic artists in North America come together to help celebrate the Northern Clay Center’s 20th anniversary at the American Pottery Festival in Minneapolis, Minn., Sept. 9-12. Enjoy demonstrations, panel discussions and, of course, pottery. www.northernclaycenter.com
The St. James Court Art Show is one of the largest outdoor fine art and craft shows in the country. More than 750 artists will populate historic Louisville, Ky., Oct. 1-3. www.stjamescourtartshow.com
WheatonArts presents its annual Festival of Fine Craft Oct. 2-3 in Millville, N.J. This juried affair will showcase studio art glass, creative jewelry designs, unusual metal sculptures and much, much more from 125 artists. www.wheatonarts.org
Explore more than 300 events at the 11th annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tours Oct. 2-3 and 9-10. The tours are divided geographically between two weekends, and include workshops, exhibitions and demonstrations. www.cfeva.org
Contemporary and traditional craft converge at the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands in Asheville, N.C. More than 200 exhibitors from nine states will display the best of Appalachian crafts Oct. 21-24. http:// southernhighlandguild.org
Presented by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, the aptly named Craft2Wear show features only handcrafted wearable art and jewelry. Approximately 35 exhibitors will fill the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., Oct. 23-24. www.craft2wear.smithsonian.org
If this year’s Can You See What I See: Jewelry Fair at the Walters in Baltimore, Md., is anything like last year’s event, it will be awe inspiring. Twenty exhibitors will feature the very best in jewelry design Nov. 6-9. http://thewalters.org
The first annual American Craft Show NYC will feature four distinct craft shows under one roof: museum salon, contemporary craft, furniture and rustic craft. The juried show at the Javits Center will display the work of 250 artists, Nov. 19-21. http://americancraftshownyc.com
The nation’s capital is the perfect place for the Washington Craft Show, a premier event for American craft. Take in the work of 190 top craft artists Nov. 19-21. www.craftsamericashows.com
At the One of a Kind Show and Sale Chicago, Dec. 2-5, there is truly something for everyone. With 500 exhibitors working in mediums from wood to glass, you will not leave empty handed. www.oneofakindshowchicago.com

Style Spotlight: The Jewels of the Gulf

August 2010 | BY Jennifer Clary | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | NO COMMENTS

: Mary McBride is among the artists who are donating pieces to an online charity auction for oil spill victims.

The oil spill in the Gulf has not only damaged Louisiana’s ecosystem, but also many Gulf Coast residents’ livelihoods. In order to help those affected by the disaster, more than 20 notable jewelry artists, including Mary Timmer, Mary McBride and Chris Hierholzer, have come together to donate their work through the charity website eBay Giving Works.

Throughout September and October, the artists, who call themselves “Jewelers for the Gulf,” will provide unique pieces for auction, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, which has provided food and assistance to almost 20,000 fishermen and their families since early May.

“We designed this event to help shine a light on the fact that many people are now out of work because of the oil spill,” says participating artist Patsy Croft. “This event gives people a way to help their fellow Americans while doing something nice for themselves or a loved one at the same time.”

Beginning Sept. 1, visit www.ebaygivingworks.com and search for “JewelersForTheGulf” to view the available pieces.

Spotlight on American Craft

August 2010 | BY admin | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | 1 COMMENT

: Emily Catherine Johnson, whose “Cell Band Set” is shown, is an artist at the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis, Minn. Credit: Kalin Kauppila

This fall, connect with artists, galleries and museums that focus on fine handmade American craft during American Craft Week, Oct. 1-10. The national roster includes venues like the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and Grovewood Studios in Asheville, N.C. We’ve highlighted events in just a few states below. You’ll find a full list at www.americancraftweek.com.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Organized by Craft Retailers and Artists for Tomorrow and Craft in America, the two-day conference “Crafting a Nation” will convene Oct. 8-9 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum to examine the roots and future of handmade American craft.

MINNESOTA

“On & On,” an exhibition at the Grand Hand Gallery in St. Paul, will explore the work of local painter Ta-coumba Aiken juxtaposed with the work of four ceramic artists Sept. 11-Oct. 10.

“Ceramics Then/Ceramics Now,” an exhibition at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul, will feature regional ceramic work from the 1950s to the present Sept. 30-Oct. 21.

Head to the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis for the First Thursday in the Arts District Oct. 7 to explore the studios of more than 40 artists.

MISSOURI

The Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson celebrates its 50th anniversary with the National Harvest Festival Sept. 11-Oct. 30, which features the work of 50 American artists in a special “Craft in America” exhibition.

NORTH CAROLINA

Wander the streets of downtown Asheville for its monthly Art Walk Oct. 1 to visit more than 20 galleries offering everything from handmade jewelry to art glass.

Visit the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown Oct. 2-3 for its 37th annual Fall Festival to explore the booths of more than 200 artisans.

Head to Asheville’s Grovewood Studios Oct. 9 for a self-guided Open Studio Tour, where you’ll see everything from fiber to garden sculpture by 10 artists.

Wind your way through the back roads of East Asheville, Black Mountain and Swannanoa during the East of Asheville Studio Tour Oct. 9-10, when 30 artists open their studios.

The Southern Highland Craft Guild rings in the week with a variety of Craft Demonstrations at the Asheville Folk Art Center Oct. 1-10.

A Textbook for Craft

August 2010 | BY admin | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | 1 COMMENT

If you can’t crisscross the country touring new museum wings and exhibitions, immerse yourself in Makers: A History of American Studio Craft (University of North Carolina Press, $65). This heavyweight starts with the Industrial Revolution and works its way to personal histories of studio craft artists through the end of the 20th century.

Authors Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf position Makers as a comprehensive review of the history of craft “told in human terms.” The focus is on the artists, not simply criticism of the objects they produce—and covers clay, fiber, glass, metal and wood, with mediums clumped together in each chapter.

“Craft is not a neat package with defined edges,” the authors explain in the preface. “It overlaps with design, fashion, art and industrial and folk practices.” To flesh out the history, short biographies of designers are included among longer treatments for lifetime studio craft artists.

Highlights include the greats like furniture masters George Nakashima and Sam Maloof, glass masters Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino, and ceramists Vivika and Otto Heino and Patti Warashina. But don’t miss the last two chapters—that’s where the authors really dig in with detailed biographies, and where you’ll find the anchors of the craft community we know today.

Art in Situ

August 2010 | BY admin | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | 1 COMMENT

: The west wall in gallery 13 at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa.

If you’re a fan of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, get yourself to the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa. Why now? The foundation is constructing new galleries for its $25 billion collection on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in downtown Philadelphia, set to open late next year. The current Merion galleries will close to the public next July for the big move.

To see the foundation’s original 23 galleries, we suggest you schedule a visit now. Masterworks by Gauguin, Manet, Picasso and van Gogh hang salon style from floor to ceiling in fancifully painted rooms, amid African sculptures and Pennsylvania Dutch decorative arts. Yes, it can be overwhelming, but you can relax mid-visit by walking the foundation’s 12-acre grounds, aptly named the Arboretum. The gardens include a fern collection, lilac groves, trees that date back to the 1880s, and more than 3,000 species of international woody plants.

The new galleries in Philadelphia will replicate the current galleries as closely as possible, and also provide much-needed classroom, conservation and public space. For details, visit www.barnesfoundation.org.

Architecture + Art

August 2010 | BY admin | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | 1 COMMENT

: The new McGlothlin Wing at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond emits an ethereal glow at night. Credit: Travis Fullerton

Talk about innovation. It appears nothing can stop museums when it comes to enlisting world-class architects to redesign their buildings and transform their internationally renowned art collections. This fall, there’s no shortage of mouth-watering museums to visit—and you’ll want to go for the architecture as much as for the art.

First stop? Boston. On Nov. 20, trek to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for its free community day, when the museum unveils its $504 million renovations: the Art of the Americas wing and the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard, which increase the museum’s footprint by a whopping 28 percent.

Stroll through the courtyard on your way to the Art of the Americas wing. It’s billed as a “light-filled gathering place” for good reason: its spacious 12,184 square feet rise to a 63-foot-high ceiling, and the walls of glass let the art out and the light in.
The Foster + Partners-designed Art of the Americas wing is elegantly incorporated into the museum’s original 1909 Beaux Arts building. And don’t miss the views. Two glass-and-granite pavilions flank the central glass building, offering sweeping vistas of the city skyline. Four stories and 53 galleries span three millennia, starting with ancient Native American art on the first level, and ending in 20th-century art upstairs.

For more of “Architecture + Art,” pick up the Fall 2010 issue of AmericanStyle, on newsstands Sept. 7! Subscribe now and never miss an article.

Arts Travel: Art Saddles Up in Kentucky

August 2010 | BY Sara Baker | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | NO COMMENTS

: This Egyptian carved-ivory “Prancing Horse” is part of an exhibition at the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse. Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kentucky isn’t horsing around; they mean business when it comes to hosting this fall’s World Equestrian Games, an event that is estimated to bring 600,000 visitors and an economic impact of $150 million to the area.

And you can’t possibly have an event that large without involving the arts; local galleries and museums are catching horse fever, too. More than 300,000 visitors are expected to head to “A Gift from the Desert: The Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse,” a blockbuster exhibition at the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse in Lexington through Oct. 15. It collects 350 horse-related articles and artworks acquired from 27 international museums and private lenders.

Lexington’s Artique Gallery is getting in on the fun as well. Owner Mike Stutland is transforming the local Hilton hotel into an equine-themed art gallery, and bringing acclaimed sand-sculptor Damon Farmer to town to create a 100-ton piece commemorating the games.

If you’re looking for a place to hang your hat in Lexington, check out the “A Gift from the Desert” package at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa. You’ll get accommodations, breakfast and tickets to the Horse Park and the exhibition, starting at just $199.

For more information on the World Equestrian Games and related events, visit www.alltechfeigames.com.

Arts Travel: Expansions Planned for Museum Hotel

August 2010 | BY Sara Baker | Fall 2010, Issue 73 | NO COMMENTS

: The atrium gallery at the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville displays Cracking Art Group’s “Red Penguins.” Credit: Kenneth Hayden

A new 21c Museum Hotel is in the works for downtown Bentonville, Ark., based on the concept that began with the award-winning hotel in Louisville, Ky. The new location, set to open in 2012, will feature 12,000 square feet of exhibition and event space, curated rotating exhibitions and live art events.

Making the art hotel even more appealing is its location less than a quarter mile from the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, currently under construction, which will display an extensive collection of American art, ranging from colonial to contemporary, in an iconic wood and glass building.

Since it opened in 2006, the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville has organized 30 art exhibitions, featuring everyone from internationally acclaimed artists to local college students. Following this success, similar properties are under development for Cincinnati, Ohio, and Austin, Texas, with plans to develop 15 new locations over the next three to five years.

For more information on all of the locations, visit www.21cmuseumhotel.com

Shaken and Stirred

May 2010 | BY Jennifer Clary | Issue 72, Summer 2010 | 5 COMMENTS

: One of Antony Gormley’s sculptures looks out onto New York City. Credit: © Antony Gormley. A Hayward Gallery Commission. Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York and White Cube, London. Presented by Madison Square Park Conservancy.

A new decade brought new surprises to our 13^th annual Top 25 Arts Destinations readers’ poll. Old favorites were ousted, frontrunners became runners-up, and cities that hadn’t ranked in the past finally made their marks. Each year, it’s impossible to predict how the cities will stack up in each of our three categories, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

New York City. Chicago. Washington, D.C. For the third year in a row, these cities have remained the three best arts destinations in our Big Cities category. With 43 percent of the votes, the Big Apple took a huge bite out of the competition, dwarfing second-place Chicago, which came in with 27 percent, and Washington, D.C., which had 23 percent. Boston kicked Albuquerque, N.M., out of the top five and into the seventh spot this year.

The real upsets came in our Mid-Size Cities category, with three new towns in the top spots. Readers voted St. Petersburg, Fla., from No. 22 last year into the number one position, moving former favorite, Buffalo, N.Y., into fifth place—which was where New Orleans, now in second place, was last year. Even more surprising was Alexandria, Va., formerly in 11th place, which took home bronze after beating Chattanooga, Tenn., by a hair.

Asheville, N.C., finally did it. After years of coming in second in our Small Cities category, it earned 23 percent of readers’ votes, enough to move to the top spot for the first time. Perennial favorite Santa Fe, N.M., fell into the silver position. The small town of Saugatuck, Mich., fifth in 2009, made its way into the third spot, formerly filled by Sedona, Ariz., which did not make the top five this year.