Philip Forrester is the Assistant to the Senior Curator and to the Community Projects Director at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

By Philip Forrester

Though installation went down to the wire, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts experienced a resounding success for the opening of In the Still Epiphany.

 The blustery, rainy weather broke just in time for the press preview hour with curator Gedi Sibony at 4:00 pm. The walkthrough opened with remarks from Kristina Van Dyke, director of The Pulitzer, who spoke briefly about some of the process behind the installation. Emily Rauh Pulitzer, who graciously donated her precious artwork for this exhibition, waxed eloquently about the more personal and sentimental attributes of the featured works. Gedi, in his humbly quiet tenor, explained the somewhat ethereal process of choosing the placement and scope of the installation. The public opening at 5:00 pm contained many of the same elements, though in a less directed manner. Patrons enjoyed both the remarks by Gedi concerning his vision, and his openness to everyone’s interpretation.

Greeting  visitors as they walk through into the Entrance Gallery is the stern gaze of Joseph Pulitzer, though Vuillard’s enigmatic Woman in a Green Hat shares a private joke with the audience immediately to the right. Gedi explained that the visages of figures such as Cezanne’s Jules Peyron, Helleu’s Kate Davis Pulitzer, and Vuillard himself represented the world of people, the finite, the gaze folding back onto the viewer as they rotated around the “crowded” space. The serene gaze of Mme. Line Aman-Jean points the way to Picasso’s Fireplace—what Gedi described as the fulcrum of the space. Walking through the corridor fronting the watercourt is meant to be a transcendent journey from the world of the known to the realm of the unknown; the infinite.

Above: Paul Cézanne, Jules Peyron, c. 1885–87, Oil on canvas, 18 ¼ x 15 in. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., 1961.144

While the Entrance  Gallery is meant to convey a sense of permanence, the Main Gallery’s cathedral-like space allows the viewer a breath of contemplative air. Domesticity abounds throughout this gallery. Curtained windows, a fireplace, seed jars, and Bonnard’s table of vibrantly colored fruit and ham present a quiet refrain from the “party” of the entryway.

 Patrons who moved along to the Cube Gallery found a darkened space focused on a theatrical display. Visitors described this gallery as both “womb-like” and “tomb-like,” allowing for both perspectives to envelop the “puppet-like figures” fronting the black swath of Fontana’s punctured canvas.

Moving down the broad steps brought patrons past the tenderness of mother and child cast in wax and plaster, continuing the sense of the domestic domain. Guston’s wildly colorful canvas pinned next to an almost austere Peruvian mantle prompted one patron to expound on the “juxtaposition of [Blue Black] from the vertical to the horizontal along the wall.” The lower gallery presents a Malinese power object and Picasso’s Woman in a Red Hat positioned in such a way that they seem to pay homage to Lucia Maholy’s photograph of a woman’s dressing room. Down the long hallway receding from the lower gallery, Benson’s ducks take flight along the wall toward another Vuillard  female figure.

 From stern gazes to wild, abstract colors, visitors to The Pulitzer for the opening of In the Still Epiphany experienced a vast array of masterful art through disparate mediums, all while journeying quite naturally through a docile, contemplative vision of blissful thought.

In the Still Epiphany

On view

April 5 – October 27

http://www.vimeo.com/39664475

David B. Olsen is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of English at Saint Louis University, where he teaches courses in writing and literature. He is a gallery assistant at the Pulitzer and an editor for the website Humor in America.

By David B. Olsen, Gallery Assistant

Within the collective imagination of our culture, one of the stories that we like to hear pretty frequently is about what happens when a familiar space becomes temporarily inaccessible. From the coming alive of everything in Night at the Museum to Charlie Chaplin’s antics as an after-hours watchman in Modern Times, we tend to believe that something special happens at the exact moment that we are not allowed to see it. (I remember knowing instinctively as a young child that the best TV shows always seemed to come on after my bedtime.) And although I would love to dispel this myth here and confirm that “Yeah, the Pulitzer is between shows right now, and it’s really boring because nothing is going on,” the reality is quite the opposite. 

Something is going on. Actually, it’s quite a lot, with only a few more days of preparation for the April 5^th opening of In the Still Epiphany, an exhibition of works from the collection of Emily and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. that is being arranged by guest curator Gedi Sibony, whose own work is known for its poetic fragility. But it takes a lot of work and a lot of noise, hammering, cutting, scaffolding, balancing, and measuring to ensure that when we return to our regularly scheduled programming, so to speak, the works of art on display are once again aligned with the meditative qualities of Tadao Ando’s architecture.

With this show, Sibony’s fluid arrangement of a seemingly unlikely array of works will flow like a breath through the building, while at the same time challenging the way that, in viewing art, we stop ourselves to observe an individual work. The rhythm that emerges is equally dynamic and thoughtful, intellectual and joyful. None of this would be possible, however, without the work of Shane Simmons and his installation crew, who – despite the fact that you’ll never see them – are not only responsible for doing the literal heavy lifting of this exhibition, but are also charged with the seemingly paradoxical task of transforming the Pulitzer without actually changing anything.

In the video, Shane offers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the work that goes into putting a show together – particularly one in which the display of the works, according to Sibony’s vision, is as crucial to the overall impact as the works themselves.

Too often, and for too many of us, we tend take for granted the idea that art has a transformative power. We can see in an installation project the transformation of an otherwise inert space, or we can witness everyday materials transformed into new works of wonder and meaning. But as our own Community Projects Director, Lisa Harper Chang, reminds us in her recent blog entry at The Huffington Post, art may also has the power to transform someone’s life. Writing about the Staging project that she co-created with our former director Matthias Waschek for the Old Masters exhibition in 2009 — and which was revived this year for Reflections of the Buddha – Chang describes the community of former prisoners and veterans that is fostered and sustained by the program.

As these men and women embrace the challenge of becoming actors in a company over the span of several months, we come to see in their performances both the transformative and redemptive powers of art: the occasion to counter stereotypes, break down boundaries, and present a previously unimagined idea of the world. Chang’s piece outlines the success of the program and and features video of one of the performances, but she also calls for a renewed commitment to understanding incarceration and rehabilitation in America.

Read Lisa Harper Chang’s blog entry “Staging Buddha” on The Huffington Post here

Kristina Van Dyke, director of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, challenges the notion that appreciating art requires intellectual mediation and hopes that the complicated issues of cultural patrimony will not dissuade museums from exhibiting objects of cultural and artistic significance.

Interview by Hold That Thought at Washington University St. Louis

By Juan William Chávez

Community artist Juan William Chavez discusses the importance of experiencing creation of art in the making of the lanterns as well as the ceremony in which they were employed and distributed. The following takes us through the lantern ceremony from conception through implementation.

Workshop

Inspired by the Lotus Lantern Festival, The Lantern Project was a series of lantern making workshops with actors from Staging Reflections of the Buddha. The Workshops were led by Bob Hartzell and myself with the goal of creating an installation in the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts’ (PFA) reflection pool.  Light Sculptor, Bob Hartzell, was the perfect collaborator and did an amazing job leading the actors in the construction of the lanterns.

“I’m so grateful to have participated in the lantern project and to witness how the Staging program affected all of its participants; it was a unique experience to be able to share in a small way how the Buddha works affected their viewers. The lantern project was especially gratifying personally – both in the representational interaction and seeing how months of work were disseminated to a community in a perfect moment of construction and communication.” – Bob Hartzell

Reflection

After the workshop concluded, I led several conversations with the actors giving us time as a group to reflect upon the process and journey of the project. Inspired by the Lotus Lantern Festival, the lighting of a lantern symbolizes a devotion to performing good deeds and lighting up the dark parts of the world that are filled with agony. We discussed the studio practice and how meaning begins to develop when making an object. The actors one by one talked about their personal experience in the workshop and the meaning that their own lantern represented. It was a very powerful conversation, a conversation that could not have happened without experiencing these workshops.

“The lanterns represent togetherness, creating something from scratch as a group.  Think positively that we can do something greater, seeing the light and following it into the future.” 

-Lamonte Johnson, Actor

On the last day of the exhibition, seventeen lanterns were installed in the PFA’s reflection pool. Each lantern represented an actor that participated in the workshop and represented our conversations, collaboration, and progress as a group. Through the lanterns, the dark becomes bright, symbolizing the Buddhist belief in the power of enlightenment to dispel human suffering.

Ceremony

Part of this project was to also share the experience with the public. We created the Lantern Ceremony to honor the closing of the Reflections of the Buddha and the Staging. The public congregated inside the exhibition at the PFA with the Mid-America Buddhist Association that led viewers in a chant followed by a cavalcade outside of the building. The procession concluded in the courtyard behind the PFA where audience members were met by 200 glowing lanterns suspended from trees.

The crowd then gave their attention to five Thai monks that recited the Mangala Sutra (The Supreme Blessings) in Pal commencing the Lantern Dedication Ceremony. The dedication refers to both a dedication of merit to recognize all good will and works created by this exhibition, as well as the new relationships that have formed through the Staging process and performances. 

Once the Mangala Sutra ended, actor Darryl Parks took the microphone and announced a moment of shared meditative silence where he invited the audience to think about the significance of the light in the lanterns and the hopes and dreams we share as a community.  After a few minutes passed the mediation came to a conclusion with the sound from Tibetan Singing Bowls. Once the silence was broken, Darryl invited the audience to take home a lantern as a reminder to carry the light forward as a symbol of positive social change.

As an artist and cultural activist, it’s important to take a Zen approach to Socially Engaged Art programming. Being liquid in thought and process allows projects a certain type of freedom to go beyond any preconceived notions that often limit projects. This freedom can have surprising results and can be a powerful vehicle to address cultural and community issues in the city of St. Louis. The Lantern Project was the beginning of this conversation and encourages further discussions on how “we” as a community can create positive changes by working together and being Zen.

Representative Rachel Storch, a member of the Missouri Arts Council, gives tips on grassroots advocacy.

1. Stay Informed on the Issues – The Missouri House and Senate convene for the regular legislative session every year between January and May. During this time, the Legislature is making important decisions on legislation that may have a direct impact on you and your organization. You can’t lobby what you don’t know!  Stay abreast of the issues through the local media.

2. Get Personally Acquainted with Your Legislators – Make it your business to become personally acquainted with your senator and representative. Take a sincere interest in them and get to know their political philosophies.  You should also identify the legislators who may have extra impact on your issues (for arts supporters, this often means the members of the Budget Committee!).  Focus on these legislators and your own legislators first.

3. Get on Your Legislator’s Mailing List – Then you will receive newsletters and other communications from your legislator’s office.

4. Express Yourself – Surprisingly few people ever contact their legislators. This reluctance usually results from the belief that legislators have no time or inclination to answer their phones or read their mail, and that one single contact won’t make any difference anyway. In most cases, these views are wrong. Thoughtful, factual, persuasive contacts can change legislators’ minds and cause them to review their positions. Be sure to have accurate facts and good arguments about any issues you discuss with your legislators. Make sure you understand the particular bill in question.

5. Use the Local Media – Schedule meetings with the editorial board members or staff of your local newspaper to discuss legislative issues and positions. Schedule sessions on local television and radio shows to discuss the legislative issues and the impact to your city. Invite your legislators to participate in this event. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the greatest pleasures of this position is learning more about how other institutions are engaging the community around art, and one of the best ways of engaging is through participatory art installations. As it happens, one of the Pulitzer’s community partners, the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles (which also serves as one of our lamp collection sites), is hosting a prime example participatory art engagement with Project Firefly. Guest blogger, Alex Elmestad, describes Project Firefly in more detail — I plan to be there, collecting fireflies riverside, and I hope to see you there, too! ~ Lisa

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While exploring the minimalist sculptures and colorful installations of Dan Flavin, you might discover a need for more creative light in your life. Well, it just so happens there is another light exhibition happening in the area. The Foundry Art Centre will host Project: Firefly, a free, one night only community project on Wednesday, July 9th. The evening begins at 6pm with Ameren distributing electroluminescent night lights that emit an illuminating glow (Note: the lights never burn out, the light only uses less than a watt of electricity, and costs pennies a year to operate) Ameren will also discuss topics of energy conservation, while making comparisons to the subject of bioluminescence and mankind’s influence from the natural phenomenon. In collaboration with the Butterfly House, stations will be set up for experimentation, interactive learning, and discovery of the link between fireflies and human technology. In partnership with Artlink, a young friends organization, the Foundry will turn into a place of community exploration and participation. As the sun begins to set, anyone who wants to be involved will embark on a short journey along the Katy Trail to Frontier Park alongside the Missouri Riverfront. Armed with plastic magnetic jars and insect nets, the community will be asked to catch as many fireflies as they can within a limited time frame, in hopes of filling each jar provided. In a race to catch the glowing insects before they disappear back into the grass, the community will have the opportunity to experience a nostalgic American tradition, while also engaging directly in a temporary sensory art project. As a group, those involved will haul their findings back to the Foundry and install a “living light” installation in a grid format.

This project stems from youthful summertime practices while also informing us about the processes of community collaboration with a creative goal. Through the public coming together for the purpose of building an aesthetic, yet functional one time installation, they are allowed to imagine and explore the interactive possibilities of art. The fireflies act as symbols of natural light and mankind’s attempt to control and manipulate it in a systematic fashion for aesthetic and functional purposes. Not only does the community catch the “living light” material (firefly insect), but the public utilizes that material for a purpose. As humans, we have always been influenced by nature; this project will enhance that concept by allowing the public direct creative contact with natural organisms. Because of societies’ influence from nature we have adapted and flourished as a species through study, experimentation, and development.

The final action in the project is to gather all of the jars back into the bags and walk outside to release fireflies back into nature. This performative action signifies the cycle of the project. The order of capturing, using, and releasing back to the earth or atmosphere has long been a tradition in spiritual and religious practices. This act of freeing a living illuminating creature back into the environment will be just if not more gratifying than capturing it.