Congratulations to Alex Elmestad, CAM’s Manager of Public Programs and Interpretive Technology, on the opening of his artist-in-residence exhibition, Institutional Memory, at the Luminary Center for the Arts this past Friday.  Here’s what Alex had to say about his exhibition.

“The main objective of this exhibition will be to produce a memory of past experiences within a publication that will hold not only personal histories within the pages, but the intimate and personal narratives of the community will also become part of the institutional history.

A limited edition book will be produced from the manuscript taken at the opening. As a literary form of expression as well as written documentation of an event, exhibition, or project, this catalog will take the form of a performance first. A stenographer will be hired during an opening. Equipped with a stenotype, the modern shorthand machine, the stenographer will be assigned to a specific gallery and will be instructed to eavesdrop on as many conversations as possible over the course of opening night and the week following. In many ways a museum is a listening tool often asking for feedback from the visitor in order to improve its mission and enhance experiences. Without the social dialogues welcomed and formed within the forum atmosphere of a museum, the public would not feel ownership with the institution. It is exactly the dialogues produced that make the space personally important for members of the community. Through this performance the metaphorical museum ears are literally personified with a living person transcribing and recording the social activity inside the space.

This performance will exceed the boundaries of traditional recording and will somewhat venture into espionage because the stenographer will be obtaining information without permission of those in the space. Thus the issue of private and public space is raised. The fragmented conversational material will then be reviewed by the artist, notes will be made and items will be arranged to create a more cohesive, yet engaging narrative; however, conversations will not bealtered to any degree. The artist will work with an editor to realize the literary vision of the work, and a final manuscript will be approved and the artist will collaborate with a local designer and print shop to produce a visually interesting editioned publication to be sold by the organization. Titled Institutional Memory and produced as a print multiple, the work is intended to be shared with others. As a limited edition, the work will maintain a certain value and have ephemeral qualities, but the main objective will be to produce a memory of past experiences within a publication that will hold not only personal histories within the pages, but the intimate and personal narratives of the community will also become part of the institutional history. As a result the institution truly becomes a place of dialogue consisting of many voices that are listened to and the exchange is materialized in a written form. The publication will include an introduction text written by the director, a short discussion between the artist and stenographer, select typed short hand notes, and the edited conversational narrative.”

Artist and former New Art in the Neighborhood (NAN) student Stan Chisholm recently led a NAN workshop that introduced students to a collaborative project he has been working on for the past year.  Called MoneyBags, the project “re-evaluates wealth, worth and, currency.” Stan was joined by fellow artist and collaborator Lisa Kim, and together they invited NAN students to think about art as currency and create money bags filled with objects of their own making.

Students screenprinted designs, sewed their own bags, and created numerous drawings, art items, and secret messages to include in their money bags. Each bag was designed to be placed in a public space for unsuspecting passersby to discover and keep.

Some students gave their bags to Stan, who found places to leave them; others placed the bags themselves. Those students were asked to take a photos of the bags in their new locations and send them to Stan to post on his MoneyBags website.  You can visit the site to learn more about the project and see pictures of the NAN-made money bags:  http://www.dropmoneybags.blogspot.com/

Keep an eye out for a MoneyBag near you!

Next week the Contemporary will host two events, one to celebrate the holidays, and the other to explore the topic of curiosity and how it relates to a child’s desire for learning. Holiday Open House will take place on Thursday, December 10 from 6:00 – 9:00. There will be light bites and drinks, a chance to walk through the exhibition, For the blind man… and shopping! MUSE gift shop will offer a 25% discount to everyone and a 35% discount to members on all purchases (even sale items!). There will also be an art and craft sale throughout the evening, making for plenty of chances to purchase unique, handmade gifts. Two days later, on Saturday, December 12, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and 1:00 – 3:00 pm, the Contemporary will host Curiosity and Knowledge: the Heart of Learning. This is an event facilitated by The St. Michael School of Clayton, a Reggio-inspired school for preprimary and elementary age children with interactive educational activities for children, adults, and educators. At 2:30 pm, Chief Curator Anthony Huberman and Co-founder of the Cadwell Collaborative Louise Cadwell will end the day with a reflection about “curiosity and knowledge.”

The Contemporary hosted two events this past weekend to kick of the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. Queens of Jazz, featuring Denise Thimes and Ann Hamilton Callaway, took place at the museum on the evening of Friday, October 2. On Saturday, October 3, Anna Zatonskih played five chess games blindfolded and won…all of them at the event Playing in the Dark: A Collision of Art and Chess. There was also hulachess and a bounty blitz tournament. Click below to read articles and see images and click here to link to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis’ website.

KSDK.com
The United States Chess Federation website
Pelopidas.com

On Saturday, October 10 at Chesterfield Arts, the Contemporary, along with other St. Louis institutions, will host booths at a free community unveiling of “The Awakening.” The event will last from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and will include hands-on art activities, food, music, and of course, the unveiling of what is being called “the giant” in Chesterfield. The sculpture, of a man appearing to be waking up and emerging from the ground after being asleep, is 70 feet long and 17 feet tall, and was first cast by Seward Johnson in 1980 in Washington DC. There are some amazing images of the piece, as well as many articles and video clips. Visit chesterfieldarts.org. Click here to read the press release.

And one last thing: Two exhibitions held at the Contemporary were featured in the Riverfront Times annual Best of St. Louis poll. Gedi Sibony: My Arms Are Tied Behind My Other Arms was named ”Best Museum Exhibition” and a Front Room exhibition guest curated by William Gass titled Between Beach Ball and Rubber Raft, was named “Best Installment in an Exhibition Series.” Click here to read more Best of St. Louis.

 
(Top: Gedi Sibony: My Arms Are Tied Behind My Other Arms; Bottom: Between Beach Ball and Rubber Raft)

The show opens tomorrow night (Friday, September 11). The staff, installation crew, and even some artists are all anxiously running around preparing for tomorrow’s Opening Reception. To join in on the chaos, here are some of my quick, sporadic thoughts of today:

1) How intriguing is it that the first piece of work in the show is a cat that isn’t there (the work is a speaker of a cat being “interviewed”)? Next, you walk into a dark room.

2) Everyone seems really excited that we have recently added an After Party to tomorrow night’s festivities. The Opening is from 7:00 to 9:00, and then from 9:00 to 1:00 am, lights go down and music comes on. One of the exhibiting artists in the show, Jimmy Raskin, and 88.1 KDHX will DJ the night.

3) Grand Center will be incredibly vibrant tomorrow (Friday) night. Not only are we opening and hosting the After Party lasting until 1:00 am; Craft Alliance, Bruno David Gallery, PSTL Gallery, and Schmidt Contemporary Art will all be open.

4) You can still vote for this blog (www.2buildings1blog.org) through Riverfront Times: Best of St. Louis poll. Vote for a minimum of six categories in order for your vote to count (fill in the 6 boxes, then hit next until you reach the last page and hit submit), or take a little break in your day and vote for all your favorite St. Louis items…it’s kind of fun to think about …hmm, what is the best sushi place is in the STL? Click here to vote.

As the deadline approaches for the call to artists for the Great Rivers Biennial 2010, now is a good time to talk a little about this program done every two years at the Contemporary. Let me start off by saying how wonderful I think the program is. For the fourth year, the Contemporary gets to work with and promote artists in St. Louis and the surrounding areas. The work of the selected artists makes up the Great Rivers Biennial exhibition at the Contemporary. Each selected artist also receives a $20,000 grant, an award that has increased since previous years. There are applications coming in every day. I am excited to see who is selected, what type of work they produce, and what their show will be like the Contemporary’s space. It is always interesting to see how the exhibition turns out, as the artists practices are so diverse. The show is still a little while away, but the buzz is already beginning.

A new space in downtown St. Louis, called Citygarden, is “immediately taking its place among the great cultural attractions of St. Louis for residents and visitors alike,” as stated by St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. Curatorial intern, Marie, had the opportunity to work with the Contemporary’s Assistant Curator to put together a video installation of nine international video artists for the garden-an exciting way to share Contemporary art with those who may not normally be exposed to it. Click here to read a blog entry on the projected posted by Marie on St. Louis Art Map and here to learn more about Citygarden.

Curatorial intern, Brittni, who worked behind-the-scenes on Open Studios, provides her thoughts on the event. You can also find images of the 4^th Annual City-Wide Open Studios on the St. Louis Post Dispatch website and on the Open Studios website. Enjoy!

Discovering St. Louis Through Art / Brittni Zotos

A young art enthusiast, curious and eager entering my first day of interning at the Contemporary, I was thrilled when I began working on preparation for Open Studios, a fast-expanding event started four years ago to expose the unseen spaces where artists conceive and create their works. 

Celebrating the vibrant local artist culture of St. Louis, Open Studios provides artists an opportunity to present their studios and works to the public, while connecting the community to local artists, allowing them to gain insight into how (and where) an idea in its simplest form materializes into Art.

Behind the scenes, at the intern station of the Contemporary’s upstairs office, I took part in organizing the weeklong event of Open Studios. My role in Open Studios came to fruition when I helped set up the pieces for the Preview Party and witnessed others discover the unique works. The beautiful mélange of works speckling the space and the exciting chatter of visitors that evening made the past month of endlessly streaming emails worthwhile.  The Preview Party, and ultimately Open Studios weekend, allowed me to enjoy one of the many things I’ve come to value about my internship: the ability to interact with local artists and take part in the exchange of artists and community members savoring locally grown contemporary creations. 

Hopping on the Saturday Trolley Tour took me from The Hill to Tower Grove Park to Cherokee Street to South Broadway. With each highly unique space, the tour became more than a discovery of local art; it became a discovery of the distinctive qualities of our city. It was a richer experience when I began to see art in the context of the place in which it was created. Visiting Firecracker Press I saw their posters hanging in windows on Cherokee Street. Overlooking the Mississippi River I entered an aged lair filled with expansive painterly works.  I even visited a small 18^th century cabin brimming with Fluxus mail art. Having memorized nearly all the names of participating artists, I was excited when upon venturing into their studios I was finally able to put a face, as well as particular styles and works, to their names.

After helping organize Open Studios and taking part in Open Studios weekend, I was affirmed of the benefits gained by both artists and community members because of this event. Exploring the white-walled niches filled with sketches, paint cans, even a kinetic apparatus, I began to see St. Louis as a budding artistic community, rivaling the prowess and force of more widely known art centers.

This weekend’s Open Studios event was… Wow. I like to think I’m at least somewhat articulate, yet I can’t seem to come up with a word to adequately describe the event. Amazing? Interesting? Fun? Awesomely fantastic? Nothing does it justice.

This year was my first experience with Open Studios. Since I’ve been interning at the Contemporary, I knew all about the event before heading out to explore, and I was really excited about it. But after visiting about three studios, I realized that my enthusiasm hadn’t been enough – Open Studios turned out to be even better than I had imagined it would be!

I set out on my St. Louis art adventure with two friends. One of them is an art major, so I cheerfully let her make the difficult decisions about which studios to visit; my job was simply to drive and enjoy. And I’m not going to lie: I was completely surprised by just how much I learned from the experience.

My realization started to form at the second studio we visited. After glancing around for about eight seconds, I was ready to move on. It was abstract art, which I’m not really into, personally. But my friends were discussing the various drips and streaks on one of the paintings, so I started talking to the artist, Angela Ament. I asked her which pieces were her personal favorites, we talked about what inspires her, and she explained how she creates some of the interesting effects on the canvas. And despite myself, I was absolutely enthralled.

After leaving that studio with a new bounce in my step, my friends and I continued our exploration, stopping at the Tower Grove East Artists Studios. There, we spent probably 45 minutes talking to Vicki Flier, laughing and learning and discussing not only her art, but also life in general. Throughout the day, I saw more studios, talked to more artists, and enjoyed myself immensely. And I went home that night with an open mind and a new appreciation for artists and their creative processes.

But my adventure didn’t stop there. The next day, I worked at the front table in the Motorworks Building. I turned on some music, poured drinks, answered questions, and spent a lot of time chatting with the artists. Everyone had something different, a new idea to offer. I’m now really excited about an upcoming project of Michael Bolton’s (yet another person that changed my opinion of abstract art), and I promised myself that someday, when I have a house to decorate, I will purchase one of Janice Schoultz Mudd’s paintings.

Not only was Open Studios weekend extremely fun, but I also learned a lot about art, about artists, about imagination, creativity, and appreciation. I never knew there was so much to discover right here in St. Louis, and the experience left my brain stuffed with new thoughts and ideas. I hope you all had the opportunity to explore and learn as well. And if not… there’s always next year! See you there!