As the opening date for our Light Project grows nearer, excitement continues to build among the staff and other participants. In fact, there seem to be a rather large number of participants as we’ve not been shy in recruiting help for this effort from many community organizations. It’s really amazing to witness how all the loose ends continue to be woven together for the creation of each of the outdoor installations. All to culminate on September 4th with a grand opening celebration.

The collecting of lamps, donated for Rainer Kehres’ and Sebastian Hungerer’s work has been especially fun. People who have a lamp to give, stop at the Pulitzer during public hours and tell the stories of how they got this lamp and why they are now donating it. When their lamp becomes a part of the new roof line for the Spring Avenue Church, the stories connect and expose the diverse human experiences of this particular part of the world.

From my position, the other artworks are now down to the physical issues of installation. The difficulties of such undertakings become predominate in the conversations of staff members as the clock ticks away. When hurdles are successfully surmounted, cheers followed by exuberant applause carry through the office. Victory lunches sometimes follow the breaking of a particularly stressful roadblock. The sheer magnitude of this effort begins to hit home as I’m finally getting my head around just how much these pieces will affect this neighborhood. Not only the lights changing the nighttime sky, but how the experience of making this happen has changed the way we will all feel when we view them……..together.

The other day a boy I’d guess to be 7 or 8 burst through the front doors, scanned the Entrance Gallery carefully and loudly questioned, ” Where’s the art ?” Laughter followed from several areas in the building where his statement of astonishment had been heard. Where indeed was the art?
The boy’s question is at the center of why I enjoy coming to work. While the PFA naturally draws a distinct clientele from the worlds of art and architecture, it’s the reaction of visitors who are truly exploring a new world that I enjoy the most. Whatever expectations they had upon arrival are quickly overtaken by the sheer experiential nature of this building and the works displayed herein. True, some don’t allow themselves the vulnerability of being open to a new experience, but they seem to be in the minority as most are intrigued enough to look futher.

Few installations, it seems, could illustrate this point more completely than our current one. Dan Flavin’s fluorescent works are of commercially mass produced materials and create such a seamless interaction with the space, that they can easily be perceived as simply a lighting choice…….maybe an odd lighting choice when considering their placement and colors, but not necessarily in the realm of works of art.

We’ve had other installations and works that tested these boundaries for visitors. Roni Horn’s Asphere caught many off guard when the possibility was raised that a 300 lb. stainless steel ball, resting starkly on the floor, could be considered a self portrait. Even Serra’s massive torqued spiral Joe, which resides in our courtyard, has the ability to be much more of an experience than might be expected when first seen.

It’s this element of surprise and unexpected impact that helps to give our not-so-art-savvy visitors an experience they will remember. I hope it encourages them to take another try to find the art.

The Pulitzer has begun another experiment in the ways visitors can experience our building and installations. Beginning last Saturday, and continuing every Saturday through the end of the “Water” exhibition, we are offering a new kind of tour. Visitors, accompanied by 2 docents, explore the Pulitzer developing their own impressions of what they see. We then discuss what was found to be easy to relate to and what was not so easy. Connections between works, such as symbolism, are looked for as well as the impact of juxtaposing certain pieces with others. The entire group then travels to the Saint Louis Art Museum where works are selected and viewed to further the interests brought out at the Pulitzer. One of the most exciting aspects of this touring style is that every tour is different; not being scripted, but driven by the discussions that evolve from the group’s exploration.

We hope to continue this program with subsequent installations and to branch into other venues as well.

If this sounds like a way in which you and your friends or just you would like to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, contact Courtney at chenson@pulitzerarts.org   Tell her you want to explore art.

As promised, here’s Tim’s entry on the Cindy Sherman portrait session with Shaw….(Rachel):

We wrapped up this year’s collaboration with Shaw Elementary V.P.A. with a final project. Historical portraits a la Cindy Sherman. Each student had selected a portrait from art history texts that they decided they wanted to emulate and we assisted them in finding appropriate costuming and props (the St. Louis Repertory Theater helped greatly with this). The photo shoot was done at the building Shaw is using during renovations of their school. We attempted to approximate the backgrounds in the original paintings, at least in style, applied make-up and manipulated lighting to aid in the illusions. What a huge amount of fun this turned out to be.

Our gallery assistants, Courtney, Amy, and Katy did amazing things with the costuming, hair and make-up while Natalee created magic with her camera. Special kudos must be given to Reba from the Rep’s costume rental facility, she not only used an expert eye to find just the right clothes, wigs, jewelry, etc. but also brought her make-up kit and formidable abilities that were invaluable. Another assisting in this team effort was Gavin who “made-do” with whatever was at hand to create sets and assist Natalee’s efforts.There was a feeling that we were doing something amazing the entire time. Even the channel 9 film crew were swept up into the theatrical nature of this activity, staying much longer than originally planned.

These portraits along with other student projects from both St. Michaels’ School and Shaw V.P.A. will be on display for a one night gala opening at the Bruno David Gallery on Tuesday, May 22nd from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. You’ll have to come to the event to see the final product, but here’s a photo of the one of the portraits being taken and the set-up….

Tim, the Visitors Services Manager at the Pulitzer, wrote today’s post about our recent staff “Holiday” party…

Well the holidays are upon us again…………what holidays you ask? Why whatever holidays you like, this is simply an excuse for a party Pulitzer style. It never seems possible to assemble enough of us at one time; Pulitzer people lead complex lives and rarely have schedules that interface. Since we weren’t able to all get together around the holidays and when I discovered that a great many of us had the evening of March 29th open, I leapt on the opportunity as the time for our annual holiday gathering.

We met at the Schlafly Tap Room and took over the little, somewhat private area just off the bar so as not to involve too many innocent customers in our chicanery. The early group arrived about 5:15 and immediately set the tone for the evening, partaking of the fine Schafly brews and appetizer offerings.

As more and more of us arrived, we managed to fill the space nicely. One table of gentlemen were the only interlopers, but I think they really just wanted to be a part of the highly spirited get-together. Eventually, the merriment drove even these kibitzers away. I suspect it was the singing.

The emotionally charged and spontaneous rendition of Gwen Stefani’s “Sweet Escape” resounded throughout the bar while Sila’s soulful version of the Carpenters “Close to You” brought a moment of sweet reflection (especially for Elise).

The party continued with people coming and going, eating and drinking, until just after 9 p.m. when choices had to be made. Some went off to other venues, some went home for much needed rest, but about 6 of us went to The Way Out Club to hear one of our gallery assistants, Lindsay, and her group ” That’s My Daughter” perform. The club was sparsely populated on this Thursday evening, but when the group began to play, the energy changed completely. We danced and yelled and screamed and had a rock and roll time. Lindsay’s drumming powered it all.

Seems the only negative aspect has been that it’s over and that it will be a whole year until we do this again……. maybe it’s time to get back to the cultural enrichment program of last year where we “experienced” different venues around town. Hmm, the kickball season is fast approaching, maybe CAMSTL still thinks they could actually take us.

As I previously mentioned, the Pulitzer has started to provide gallery assistants with further information on the exhibition and give the same type of training classes that our docents receive. Here’s Tim, our visitors services manager, with more on that:With every new installation comes thoughts of how our visitors will perceive what we have on view. Continuing our experimentation, we have made a new effort of training for our gallery assistants. This includes walk through discussions presented by Matthias,our fearless director and Camran, his research assistant. This has been a training technique we have reserved for our docents in the past.

Information compiled first by Amy and then by Camran, was provided as well. These texts primarily utilize quotes from artists, art historians, even at times those sitting for this portraiture.

Our focus will be enabling gallery assistants to discuss the works casually and as requested by our guests. Emphasis should be placed on “as requested” for we want this experience to be, as always, driven by the visitor. We intend never to lecture or simply recite memorized statements, but rather to enhance the personal experience an individual finds when exploring these works in this space.

For today’s post, our Visitors Services Manager Tim weighs in some more on the idea of gentle intervention while protecting art in the galleries:

The recent New York Times article regarding Gallery Assistants at the Guggenheim has sparked some interesting discussion. Our own GAs are telling experiences they’ve had which seem to support the idea of the gentle interjection of information as a means to “divert disaster”.

I recalled an instance myself in which a woman, during the Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue exhibition, was unable to restrict her experiences to simply viewing the work and seemed determined to try and touch each object as she toured the galleries. While she never actually achieved contact, the attempt was made each time she confronted another work. After the third caution alarm had sounded, I approached her and began a conversation about how unfortunate it was that touching these objects had to be forbidden. She took the bait and we continued the conversation discussing the problems of showing extremely valuable and irreplaceable art in such intimate circumstances. Through the rest of the installation she never again got too close to an object, but made a point of stopping at the front desk on the way out to say what an incredible experience it had been, and that it, ironically, had “touched her deeply”.

As Rachel is currently on vacation in Montana and Utah (she promised to take some pictures of Smithson’s Spiral Jetty!), I am taking over the blog for the day. I thought you might be interested in a discussion concerning docenting that took place in the galleries yesterday afternoon with several of our student volunteers.

Those of you who have visited the Pulitzer might agree: what is so special about the architecture and each of the exhibitions is the actual personal experience of the visitor. There are no labels, there is no imposing of knowledge in a traditional manner: everything is about the experience. Some visitors, however, feel more comfortable when they have written material (such as our exhibition handouts) or, even better, docents to introduce them to the space and the artworks. The danger in both cases is that the personal experience can be overshadowed through a more traditional lesson format. So, how do our docents deal with the question of personal experience? Obviously, there is no magic recipe, as each situation is specific, according to the persona of the docent, the response and expectation of the group, etc. Suffice to say that sometimes, in docenting, “less is more,” and permitting visitors to adjust to the space and to the work on their own terms is what is most important to their experience.

Visitors do not generally view both art and architecture as a unified experience. What usually happens is that the architecture makes the first impression, and the artworks (at first sight) seem secondary. It is only when the space has been explored that visitors begin to concentrate on the works and their relationship to the architecture. In the case of the current installation, Hiroshi Sugimoto: Photographs of “Joe,” as well as the recent Minimalism and Beyond, it seems as though the works and architecture were made for one another. While this may cause visitors to take even longer to really focus on the photographs, it provides strong support for the unified experience.

The rhythm could work like this: visitors would first be given an idea about Ando’s architecture — for example, that space can be perceived as fluid (as opposed to the Western concept of space simply being defined by walls). Once visitors have become comfortable with this notion, they could be encouraged to perceive the installation of the photographs within the context of this new approach to Ando’s space. Docents might then explore the nature of the works installed in a more individual manner (such as the Entrance Gallery) versus that of works installed in a series (as in the Main Gallery). The next step could be the relationship between Serra’s Joe in the courtyard and Sugimoto’s photographs. The visitors need to perceive the sculpture both independently and with the photographs in mind in order to think about this relationship. What is particularly striking, at least for me, is the fact that it is never possible to visually grasp the sculpture in one view; it is always the sum of impressions, some of which involve physical (balance), acoustical (echo), and thermal (the heat exuded from the walls) elements, as well as the visual aspect.

The student docents will be testing these ideas for themselves at our Art Night event on September 21st. Come and see what you discover.

Tim, our Visitor Services Manager and seasoned docent, writes about a new and evolving program:

The Saigh program (which is named after the company that has generously provided funding) was introduced to the Contemporary Art Partnership early this year. As first presented, it contained a basic premise that was sure to interest even the most skeptical docent. The idea was that the docents would be involved with a specific group of students in an ongoing manner. Two docents would be assigned to each of four high school classes and would speak, in the schoolroom, about current exhibitions prior to visiting each facility; the Pulitzer and Contemporary. Added to this would be a student project based on elements of the exhibitions and facilitated through a visiting artist.

This concept deals directly with a major issue for those who give tours; i.e. the limitations brought about by the time constraints of a typical tour. Usually, a docent has just a few minutes at the outset of a tour to gain the attention, curiosity, interest, focus and respect of the group. A tone and flavor is set very quickly and will pervade the entire experience. This is tricky enough when the group is a casual one, just exploring the exhibition for fun or out of personal interest. But students who are required to be involved are already seeking (even if unconsciously) an escape from anyone attempting to control their experience. So, this idea of becoming better known, even familiar to the class, by coming into their space (on their turf, so to speak), seemed a definite step in the right direction. Of course, all of this musing was revolving around one side of the encounter. I was looking only at the effect I would have on the students…not the effect they might have on me.