Over the past couple months I’ve been doing some work on the museum’s MySpace page and I have also created a Facebook profile and group. I am finding that there are so many things an organization can do with these two online communication tools. We currently use both to network with other organizations and individuals in the art world or who have interest in art or museums, to spread word to people about upcoming events at the museum (on Facebook we can even create event pages allowing people to write on the discussion board to ask questions or leave comments), and to share photographs and videos from events, programs, and exhibitions. These are also great places for us to compile all of the museums online communication tools in one place. And since the individuals who are signing up to be a part of our network are artists, art organizations, or have interest in art, these pages are also good for artists or event planners to get word out about their art or art happenings. If you’d like to take a look at the pages click here for MySpace or here for Facebook.

So if you are caught up on your Contemporary blog reading you are probably aware that we hosted a performance by electronic rocker Silverio this past Thursday. All I am going to say is WOW and let the pictures and videos speak for themselves. If you want to see Silverio’s performance, visit the Contemporary’s YouTube page. Click on our favorites and find four video clips of his performance here.

 
Silverio working crowd

Photo: Georgia Kotretsos, Courtesy: Boots Contemporary Art Space

 
Silverio rocking out

Photo: Georgia Kotretsos, Courtesy: Boots Contemporary Art Space

 
Laura Fried, Silverio, Paul Ha

Photo: Georgia Kotretsos, Courtesy: Boots Contemporary Art Space

The Dada Ball (the Contemporary’s biennial fundraiser) was almost a month ago. Can you believe it? I have some facts/updates about the evening I would like to share. We sold more than 370 seats for the dinner and auction (which constitutes for a sold out event!) and the After-Party gave way to the best attendance thus far. In all, we had more than 700 guests grace us with there presence that evening, helping us to meet our fundraising goal of $200,000. It was a great night and all of the support we received makes it that much easier for us to continue to serve the community!

Dada comes down…back to reality!

Silverio, an electronic rocker and a phenomenon in Mexico City and abroad, is coming to the Contemporary to rock his party music sound and deliver an outrageous live performance. According to his record label’s website, “This electronic party music sounds like it came from the Stone Age with kick ass live shows that are a total blast when compared with the insipid and boring shows of the so called cool electronic music scene.”

In collaboration with Boots Contemporary Art Space, we’re presenting Silverio on Thursday, April, 3. Silverio is represented by artist-run record label Nuevos Ricos which was founded in 2004 by visual artist Carols Amorales, composer Julian Lede, and graphic designer André Pahl. The label has an innovate approach that works as a platform to expose their radical ideas about performance, music, and show business.

The night of the performance will also offer music by MADBLAZIAN and drinks by Rolling Rock.

Tickets are available here.

It should be a wild time…check out the below poster advertising the event and our You Tube page to view a Silverio video clip and you’ll see what I mean. -mrq of camstl

Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve written and delivered a blog.  It’s fun times here at the Contemporary and there is much to talk about.  This week we have been exploring themes of violence with our friend Juan William Chávez who is currently occupying the Front Room with a Boots Substation and his lovely colleague Georgia… (ps - Keep messing with me Chávez and I’ll show you violence!).  Last Saturday night, the Museum was transformed into a hot pink DADA inferno where almost naked people mingled comfortably with the crowd, contortionists climbed the walls surrounded by fire, and many refused to leave.  The overall energy is high and thanks to Anthony, both good and evil people have been moving in to the front of the museum and staying for weeks at a time.  Last month people lined up to be slapped in the face and called it “fun” and giant topless Estonian women with huge wings scared children.  William Burroughs is now mentioned regularly at board meetings, liability waivers have been signed and our insurance policy is in constant review.  Like I said: good times; and there is much more in the pipe people!  Stay tuned.
Shane

First, thank you for all the community support!
And, well it is over (kind of). The Dada Ball and After-Party, the Contemporary’s biennial fundraiser, was this weekend and yes, it was everything it was made out to be. Crazy costumes, tons of people, desserts, drinks, and chaos (but in a good way) were all present. From what I could tell, everyone was having a blast; it really was a night for people to just leave reality and enjoy themselves.

Though it is over for our guests, that is not the case for staff, who were hard at work yesterday and will be hard at work again today in order to tally up our earnings, settle auction items, and CLEAN!!! You can tell how successful a party was by the giant mess it may or may not have left behind…let’s just say ours was a success.

I believe I will soon have updates on the funds raised, which, of course, is another huge factor on how successful Dada was this year. Here are some behind-the-scenes photos and some of the fab décor…-mrq of camstl

Decor!   
 
Behind-the-scenes
  

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. 

Yesterday, at Walk-In Wednesday we hosted a discussion with Jaclyn Jones, a doctorial student at St. Louis University.

Her current research involves disenfranchised groups in the area (in particular the Japanese American Citizens League, JACL), how they participate in the political process, and how they are making themselves heard.  The main focus of our discussions centered on the JACL and its involvement with the creation of the Japanese garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Jaclyn shared a small portion from her larger work regarding the festival, attitudes towards the event, and the JACL’s perception on the authenticity of the Japanese Garden. 

Ms. Jones shared that her research shows that during the 1970s, feelings of resentment and hatred seen during WWII began to resurface in regards to the Japanese.  During this time, the JACL raised funds to gift a large stone Japanese lantern to the Botanical Gardens in order to create diplomacy and positive publicity.  The director of the gardens, at the time, proposed constructing a Japanese garden instead, and so, the funds were used to hire on a garden designer, Koichi Kawana.  Upon completion of the garden, a large-scale festival commemorated the opening.  The festival attracted the largest crowd ever seen at the Botanical Gardens up until that point. During this time, the JACL felt that the festival, centering on a historical and romanticized Japan, did not reflect the modern-day reality of the country and its people.  Since, the JACL no longer participates in the Japanese Festival.

After Jaclyn finished up her talk, everyone was able to openly discuss the opinions and sentiments toward this struggle with what is an “authentic reflection” of a country and its people as times and culture changes.  To our delight, there was a woman in attendance who had actually worked at the Botanical Gardens during this time and was able to share some wonderful insight.  For anyone with continued interest on the subject, please leave your questions or comments here and we will get in touch with Ms. Jones to ask her to reply.  If you are interested in viewing her finished, larger work, please let us know and we will put you in contact with her.

Please check out the post below for photos of this Walk-In Wednesday.

Walk-in Wednesdays truly are a relaxed and enriching way to grab a tasty bite to eat (visit the Tempt Café) and deviate from the typical lunchtime experience.  Next week catch artist and art-therapist Carol Lark for a hands-on exploration of dream imagery.  So skip out on your REM sleep, make sure you’re hungry, and come see what the buzz is about!

Last Night was Slap Happy (Hour). At the event, a guy dropped a huge banner off of our balcony and asked his girlfriend to marry him…she said yes. What a way to propose. 

The event went great. Now what’s next? Tomorrow is Maritz Free Family Day - take a look at this blog post about it - and Sunday is the Public Forum. Did anyone check out that link I posted the other day to the photo of the outside of the building…here it is again. (That was a total side note; just want to make sure you all see it).  

I should also report on another big event we had on Wednesday…Flight (the “salsarific party” as it was being described). We had about 230 guests come for drinks, food, and dancing. We took in $10.00 from each guest (though it was free to ArtLink members) and they each got 2 complimentary drinks (people really like that!). Just in case you are unaware, ArtLink is a WONDERFUL program (I actually just learned how wonderful recently) that allows “young adults in St. Louis to get involved with the arts in an exciting and fun environment, meet other people who share their interests, and learn about the organizations that promote the arts in St. Louis.” The organizations involved include Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Laumeier Sculpture Park, the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, COCA, and the Foundry Art Centre. People who sign up for memberships get up-to-date info on happenings with all these art institutions, get discounted or free tickets to events and programs, and are invited to ArtLink member only events (you can find some examples on the ArtLink website). This is such a nice way for area art organizations to team up and make ART READILY AVAILABLE for all. We had lots of people sign up for ArtLink on Wednesday night (probably cause a year membership is only $20 and admission was $10 for the night…$10 more got them an entire year of free or discounted tickets to the same type of events, plus the stuff I mentioned above - smart folks). I feel like this post is incredibly random…I think that is what I will title it. -mrq of camstl

There are so many events and programs going on in February, and a big bulk of them will happen with in this week. I think some of the staff members are going crazy, but it is all for good reason! Today is the second Walk-In Wednesday. Guests will meet one of the Great Rivers Biennial artists, Michelle Oosterbann…and yes there is another potluck lunch today. Then tonight we have two events, Flight - basically a giant party and the Dada Preview Party. Guests will get to see what people wore to past Dada Balls, view auction items, and have a chance to buy tickets. (The Dada Ball and After-Party is a dinner, auction, then wild party where people dress up in crazy costume, eat & drink a lot, and where there is tons of crazy, incredible décor).Then tomorrow on Valentines Day is Slap Happy (Hour) (when I told my grandma about the event she said “tell them to change the name to Slappy Hour,”…I thought that was a pretty good one…she’s funny).  On Sunday there is a Public Forum…these two events go along with the White Flag Projects (the Front Room occupant) - I mentioned these events in a previous blog.

Saturday is Maritz Free Family Day, which sounds like an awesome event for kids and families. Kids will get to engage in lots of arts activities like design a logo, participate in sing-a-longs, and watch short animated kid videos. From photos I have seen in years past, this event is a big hit.

Next week we have another Walk-In Wednesday, Open Laptop (being described as an ‘open mic’ for visual artists), an artist fitness competition, and a printsale and reception (lots of prints for under $50) -And there are lots more the following week. Crazy, huh? There is more info about all this on our web…or you can ask for more info here. -mrq of camstl