What’s up everybody? This morning our beloved CAMSTL was featured on Fox 2 News during a live feed with Tim Ezell. This, of course, meant that a few of us dedicated souls were up in the wee hours of the morning (4:15 myself… well 4:50…) to get here and get the ball rolling. Tim featured on The Light Project collaboration with the Pultizer.  Spencer’s ice cream machine was in full effect, pumping out cones by 7:00 am.  It’s a little too early and chilly for soft serve at 7:00 am, but we do what we gotta do, right? 

Assistant Curator Laura Fried explained the project and twisted up a few cones.  If you happened to catch one of the segments this morning, you might of noticed the turbulent winds and the difficulties our umbrella had at one point. You may have also noticed me jumping in to hold it up.  Laura and Tim went on to chat about our opening on Friday, our 5th Season Anniversary, and the other three Pulitzer Light Project collaboratives.  We also learned that passers-by really like to honk at live broadcasts.  Who knew?

Cole J VonSleeperson

This just in: A gentleman saw the sign for free ice cream and asked the camera man if he could have a cone. It was 8:30 am. How could we say no? 

Check out the video here! 

 
Laura Fried doing… jazz hands

 
channel 2 van

  
Franks says, ‘it’s never too early for ice cream!)

Hey friends, it’s me Crate 4 of 6.  I’m good just livin’ my life.  It’s been an exciting journey all the way here from Lutz’s studio in San Francisco.  I’ve taken the US by storm, friends!  It’s too bad I’ve been in the back of a truck with nothing to see except my crate brethren and sometimes some questionable truck drivers.  Now me and the Crate fam are at CAMSTL just chillin, no literally  ‘chilling.’  Ya’ see I’m like a goldfish, not in the fact that I have a delicious snack named after me that even moms love, but because I have to adapt to my climate before I get opened.  Really I’m like a body guard, just servin’ and protectin’ out here in the rough and tumble world of art shipping.  I even have some new tats to make me look tough and let people know not to mess with me (okay okay, the tattoos are rub-on, but don’t’ tell anyone, I need my street cred).I can’t wait to get opened so I can get all this art work out of me.  It’s hard having to be tough all the time with all this fragile stuff inside.  I feel like Tony Soprano mixed with a fed ex box.  It’s weird being me! Later y’all

Crate (aka Cole, the Registrar)

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of working with a variety of printmakers from all over the United States and even a few internationals.  Prints Gone Wild was a two day event to coincide with Tom Huck’s Outlaw Printmakers show in our new Front Room Gallery.  Dubbed as an “Affordable Print Fair,” all pieces were priced at $50 and under; some venders even dropped more expensive pieces to $50 for the weekend.  Oh wait, there’s more–to add to the excitement of Saturday night we also had live music, a performance by The Amazing Hancock Brothers onsite printmaking by Drive by Press, and enough peanut butter and banana sandwiches to squash even an Elvis-sized appetite.  Of course the weekend wouldn’t of been complete without not one, but two unique performances by Non Grata, an Estonian Performance Art group.  Check out the video from their Saturday Night performance here.

 All-in-all, it was an awesome weekend for everyone, even earning us a mention from my hommies at MATW.

 cjvc signing out- with an extra special  thanks to the folks at Evil Prints and Cannonball Press without which Prints Gone Wild would not have been possible. 

Over the past couple days Maria has been organizing some old files and came across the box of folders for events long past.  My instant thought of course was ‘great what am I gonna do with this?’  but upon opening this box and investigating I see the small multicolored tabs staring at me and  standing at attention.  Like a room full of people that you used to know.  Looking at these folders, and then the neatly organized list of contents taped to the top of the box (which I didn’t do btw) I remember these special moments in peoples lives that I was a part of.  Strangers’ weddings, a board member’s husbands surprise birthday party, and a 210 birthday party (3 people all turning 70).  I remember my status at these, from sales associate in Muse, to gallery assistant, onto a couple different titles containing the word ‘events’.  It’s kinda weird really, how people have all of these non affiliated cast members that orchestrate the biggest moments in their lives, and it’s an insane amount of trust that people give to the professionals in the events field.  The big pay off is when the people love it.  I mean it’s great when they are completely satisfied, but when you have couple who just married and they go on and on about how everything was absolutely perfect and they want to take pictures or do shots (not that I would do something like that)  it’s an awesome feeling.  Now I know some of you are thinking ‘didn’t he just say this same stuff about being a Registrar?’ and yes I did, and no I don’t care, and yes I have two jobs and I really enjoy parts of both of them.  So there. Somewhere in-between the 314 and 618,
Cole

If you have been anywhere near the CAMSTL lately you know that it is one again instillation time.  Install is a time that I hold quite dear.  A time of high stress, tight schedules and now lots of paper work.  Install is a very different kind of busy for me; inventorying all of the works in the outgoing and incoming shows, checking the condition of the works, overseeing the packing and pick up…  That’s me.   Many of you may think that my high stress times are in the midst of outrageous events when the dumpster is full and someone is having a peanut allergy in the lobby, but alas this is only the tip of my stress iceberg. 

While install might be a time of high tension it is also a time of great reward.  Every time it seems as though we have an impossible task ahead or ourselves the way we take the space, completely dismantle it, and then put it all back together in an all new fashion.  It’s a lot of work.  Importing in new works, ideas, medias.  It’s challenging and requires a lot of creative problem solving, but I think we surprise ourselves sometimes with the magic that happens while we are ‘closed’.  Hopefully we keep you surprised too!

Before the registrars start dancing to 2 Live Crew:

Some of you may know that I’ll be out of town this weekend attending the American Association of Museums International Registrars Symposium 2. To most this couldn’t sound more boring, but I’m pretty excited about it. Over 400 registrars from around the world will be attending to meet, discuss, and exchange ideas and methods. I’m pretty stoked about meeting a variety of colleagues, vendors, and shippers from all kinds of different institutions. So that’s cool… Being that I am new to the business of registrar this will be a great time to get out there and see how things are ran elsewhere. Another bonus is that the symposium will be held in Chicago, which I’ve never been to, even though I hail from the land of Lincoln. I hope to check out MCA if I have time, but who knows I could be having too much fun talking about permits, licenses, lender relations, a the complexities of working with Asia. Let me know if you’re going to be in the Chi, and please holler at ur boy, Cole Root

Throughout my 4 year stent at our beloved CAMSTL I’ve been asked to do the blog several times, most of which I’ve pawned-off on Gretchen. After reading her latest I though I might take a moment to address a few topics that come up on the day-to-day. Lets just jump into that shall we?

1. It is not funny to put the admissions sticker on your forehead. Many try, all fail. And I can get it for a second, it’s kinda’ funny for someone that’s never seen it before, but when grown man in his 50s is walking around a museum with a white circle on his forehead he stops making and starts becoming the joke.

2. On the subject of not funny; saying that you are a ‘student of life’ so you can get in for free is not funny. Nor is it an accredited academic institution.

3. Now this one is important, you can use this for the rest of your life. When you see an object or area roped-off (we call them stations) it means that you are not to cross it. Of course this can be tricky in an art museum or gallery because we don’t like to put up barriers that distract from the art work, but we must protect it. So please for you, me, and the art look out for tape lines on the floor, do not touch signs, and the like.

Well friends, I hope this has been as informative and insightful, or at least entertaining. If not I invite you to write to me, or leave comments with any questions that you may have involving the museum.

Until then, keep ya’ head up shawty,

Cole Root

Registrar and Events Operations Manager

So, I was asked today to write my first official blog. So, where do I begin? I guess I couldn’t properly give my perspective of the CAMSTL without telling you who I am or what I do. So… My name is Cole and I’m the Special Events Coordinator/Install crew/front desk/gift shop guy. If you’ve been to the Contemporary, chances are you’ve seen me. Maybe I’ve told you that you can’t have a drink in the galleries, or maybe I’ve shut the lights off on you while you were taking your time leaving after a Select Night. Regardless, I’m usually here. Now I can’t lie and say that I would have attended all of the events that we have here if I didn’t work here, but it’s odd that the events that I don’t really look forward to are often the best. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I get to learn about subjects that aren’t necessarily appealing to me or that I get to meet people from a variety of interests, but I do know that we never run out of things to do here. From openings to lectures, from parties to poetry readings, sometimes it seems like we have something different every night of the week, but really I don’t think we would have it any other way. For us it is all about getting new people and old friends together, sharing art, ideas, and maybe a couple drinks for a good time.