At this time of year, it’s easy to wax poetic about reconnecting with old friends and family and the joys of the season, but hopefully we can avoid falling into over-sentimentality while still recognizing how important it is to take time to see old friends again and maintain relationships that have made an indelible impact on one’s life. It is in this spirit that we joyously reunited with the actors who participated in Staging Old Masters to see how everyone is faring and to make sure that the bonds of a company that are built through rehearsal and performance aren’t lost in the midst of the trappings of daily living. We were fortunate to be joined by a little more than half of our company last Tuesday evening, and I’m happy to share that all of those in attendance seemed happy, healthy, and doing very well.

One of them, Naheem Houston, is diligently pursuing his dreams of helping youth avoid the path he once followed while finishing up coursework at Florissant Valley Community College. The following are words from Naheem.

Naheem Houston describes what he likes and what he doesn’t really like about Urban Alchemy.

Naheem Houston:

I was looking forward to last Tuesday night since the Pulitzer sent me the invitation. I love and appreciate everybody that had anything to do with the success of the Staging Old Masters ensemble. The experience was truly a blessing that I will forever cherish, and the food was always a plus. I enjoyed meeting up with old friends and conversating about how life has been since we went our separate ways. I wish all the actors and staff could have made it out, just so I could see the look on everyone’s face in unity. We were the first in the pilot program, so we made history.

The last days of an exhibition are always bittersweet, and Old Masters is no different. The memories of the light playing with my perception of the works and the voices of the many who have presented, acted, and read in the exhibition still linger. It’s easy to take an exhibition for granted, especially one that’s been here for a longer period, but when it’s gone, I know I’ll miss the faces, the forms, the landscapes, and all of the stories, including the ones depicted and the ones that were created in the galleries.

This in no way diminishes my excitement about our upcoming exhibition, Urban Alchemy / Gordon Matta-Clark, and the promise of the variety of interactions and opportunities the exhibition inspires. The work for Matta-Clark has already begun, as you’ve been reading about in this blog recently, but now you have a chance to come learn more about our upcoming exhibition, play with building a garbage wall yourself, and see the potential in trash by turning discarded newspaper into fun and functional items.

We will be hosting a table at the Earthways Green Homes Festival in Grand Center this Saturday, September 26. Our table will be open from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (the festival continues through 6:00 p.m.), and we are very excited to share with you information about Gordon Matta-Clark and our plans for the exhibition, including the Garbage Wall. So please come by and see us, say hello, and bring home a handmade kite, paper, or a seed planter as a souvenir and a reminder to come back and see us beginning October 30!

As we usher out the grand ol’ paintings and think forward to Gordon Matta-Clark, the focus of my preparations involves deciding what type of staffing the new exhibition will need. With a new exhibition, everything changes. The way that we discuss the exhibition changes. The approach to visitor education and programming changes. So there’s a lot of flurry of information swirling around me in the office right now, but it won’t be until the works are installed that the true sense of what our Visitor Service roles will be.

Gallery Assistants will be studying up on the artist’s work and biography as well as the sort of ideas present in 1970s New York and how they may or may not relate to our own city in the current time. Gallery Assistants are here for the public, and this won’t change–answers to the questions of visitors will be readily accessible from the gallery staff.

The dialogue between art and architecture will continue, but in what way will the Pulitzer perform social and political roles as Gordon Matta-Clark did? And for that matter, how will someone who visited us for the first time during Ideal (Dis-) Placements now come to understand the work of Matta-Clark in our space?

During last Sunday’s Frame of Reference, interesting dialogues surrounded the works of Old Masters. Five Pulitzer volunteers stepped fearlessly into the gallery for a rare opportunity at public speaking. These docents discussed with viewers what it was that kept them looking at their chosen work. From ideas of love and chivalry to discussions of the emotive side-effects of diagonal lines chosen by Tintoretto, docents explained things from their unique perspectives. (We had in our midst a couple artists, historians, a social worker, an engineer and a police officer.) And so too did our visitors; some already had a keen interest in the subject, while others happened by and caught an earful. Sometimes the earful developed into a paused moment to look again at the paint inside the frame and allow the ideas to dance around outside of it–giving new meanings to the original artist depictions.

We thanked our docents for their time and research, and I was baffled that they kept thanking me. An interested audience, eager to see things from a new perspective, found the Pulitzer this past Sunday. On behalf of ourselves and our docents, we thank those visitors for sharing their ideas and thoughtful conversation.  

Silas Ellis has been a St. Louis police officer for 22 years. He’s worked at the Pulitzer for eight. He’s also a champion bowler and volunteer drug counselor.  

Amy Broadway: You’ve agreed to talk for 15 minutes about Wtewael’s Cephalus and Procris (The Death of Procris) on the Pulitzer’s last open Sunday for the current exhibition. What made you choose that painting?

Silas Ellis: During performances by the company of ex-offenders, who I thought were great, one of the actors lines was to this effect: “That’s why I stay by myself, I don’t get my feelings hurt by nobody and don’t have to worry about nobody but myself.” Another performer asked, “Is that really how you want to live?” That was the end of the skit for Cephalus and Procris. Even with the final question, which didn’t require an answer, I thought how selfish the previous comment was when much of the circumstances of the story involved unselfish acts. So for me, this is a chance to tell another side of the story!  

AB: What is the story behind the painting, and what do you think it underscores about the human experience?

SE: There is the coming together of two people in the name of love. Thereafter is temptation, jealously, infidelity and distrust which culminates in a tragic ending. Human beings are not gods, are not magical, and their unreasonable actions quickly identify their human frailties. Everyday, domestic, heat of passion responses are similar to the story of Cephalus and Procris. It’s an age-old painting with an age-old tale, descriptive of modern day broken relationships.   

AB: You are well-known at the Pulitzer as a superb singer with an extensive mental catalogue of song lyrics. Does Wtewael’s painting remind you of any songs, and if so, which ones?

SE: Three songs come to mind:          

1. “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, with the lines, ”Trust in me like I trust in you,” and “What good is a love affair if we can’t see eye to eye?”           

2. “Against All Odds,” by Phil Collins with, “Take a look at me now, there’s just an empty space.”            

3. “Dream Merchant,” by New Birth. “I didn’t realize our love, now I need her back so much,” and “Hey, hey, Mr. Dream Merchant, bring her back now. I need her, I need her, bring her back to me.”   

AB: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

SE: Human beings make mistakes that are sometimes tragic, but the reality is life is a continuing cycle that offers the opportunity to improve and not make the same mistakes over and over. Cephalus never forgave himself for Procris’ death. Learn to forgive yourself for mistakes. When you do, it’s easier to forgive others and move forward! 

Friday, August 14, I tagged along for the first experimental run of the Pulitzer program Exploring Art: Ideal (Dis-) Placements. Exploring Art takes the idea that people come to art with different personal backgrounds, and placed within a facilitated group setting, their ideas about a work can be brought forth to show its value for them individually. Sometimes within the context of the group’s discussion a work can take on completely new meanings. This is a program that the Pulitzer has tried before but this time is monitoring closely through evaluation and also an added component of facilitation training. 

It’s my duty to schedule group tours, and Exploring Art workshops usually include free cookies, but this was the first time we started with lunch down the street at the Best Steak House, one of Grand Center’s notable eateries. Dining there might be the perfect way to start an Exploring Art session. People in the group were from wide-ranging organizations in St. Louis, and they and their docents for the day, Hannah and Christina, were able to introduce themselves over steak burgers and A1 sauce. It was really an inviting way to begin talking about the Old Masters we would experience next.  Read the rest of this entry »

Every Thursday, 7-8pm, Ann Haubrich and Jane Ellen Ibur give KDHX 88.1FM listeners Literature for the Halibut, an hour of readings, interviews, and discussions on Literature. Last week they read newly-published poems of St. Louis-born poet Frederick Seidel, but this week they’re rewinding a couple millennia for–you guessed it–Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Special guests tonight include our very own Senior Curator Francesca Herndon-Consagra and Kress Interpretive Fellow Hannah Fullgraf as well as St. Louis Poetry Center Consultant Lorin Cuoco. They, along with Haubrich and Ellen Ibur, will read sections of the Classic and talk about next weekend’s A Marathon Metamorphoses. 

Ann Haubrich will be reading at the marathon, so you might think of the show as an auditory preview. If you haven’t checked out the A Marathon Metamorphoses blog lately, read today’s slant on Ovid from St. Louis Magazine’s Culture Editor Stefene Russell, who will also be reading next weekend and has helped host Literature for the Halibut in the past.

Since January, the Pulitzer has been open the first Sunday of each month, 12-5pm, for Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer. September 6 will be our last first Sunday, after which we will go back to having regular hours only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. To commemorate this conclusion, the Pulitzer will have docents present throughout the day, discussing Old Masters in the galleries. So far, our docents are comprised of Security Officer Silas Eillis, Director Matthias Waschek, Kress Fellow Hannah Fullgraf, and St. Louis Art Museum Docent Roman Beuc. Each docent has picked a painting to talk about for 15 minutes at the beginning of a particular hour.

In the text below, Roman Beuc talks about the work he chose for September 6 and what it’s like being a docent.

The Pulitzer requested me, as a museum docent, to provide a personal view of a single work in the exhibition, Ideal (Dis)-Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer. While the Pulitzer currently does not utilize docents, it formerly did, and I was among that group. 

I am still a docent at the St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM). Half of the works in this show are on loan from there, so all of those works are familiar. Museum docents are typically volunteers that function as knowledgeable “tour guides,” leading museum guests through the works on display. They lead one-on-a-few, face-to-face discussions of the works. These discussions use narratives and docent-guest interchanges that enhance the guest’s knowledge of a work. Information exchanged may include the work’s possible meaning or message, its artistic, political, or social context, background of the artist and in some cases the physical processes used in its creation. A key objective is to engage the viewer and initiate a docent-guest dialogue.

The work from the show I chose to discuss is the painting titled The Crucifixion, by Giambattista Tiepolo. Tiepolo (1696-1770), a Venetian, was one of the last great Baroque painters, and is most remembered for this style, even though he was at his artistic peak during the 18th century Rococo period and actually worked into the early neo-classical period. Some considered him the greatest painter of the 18th C. He received major commissions for religious and secular works and painted in both oils and fresco. His theatrical-like style is noted for its dynamism (a trait of the Baroque in art and architecture) and its brightness or luminosity. By 1750, he was recognized as a master throughout Europe. Besides Italy, he Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was the day we published Post 1 and 2 of the A Marathon Metamorphoses blog-have a look please. The notes consist of a welcome from Hannah Fullgraf and, along with a little reiteration on my part, a video of Director Matthias Waschek, explaining the Pulitzer perspective behind the mega-read.

The basic strategy for this blog is to offer some background information and updates related to the event at this month’s conclusion. Throughout August, we’ll sprinkle a few words on Ovid here, some on Wtewael there, and tie everything together with the narration of Hannah, as she’s the event’s manager. But like other aspects of the laboratorial Pulitzer, the blog doesn’t have a cookie-cutter recipe, which makes me, as a web communications assistant using an ever-changing form of documentation, wonder what exactly this web page should be made of.  

The Pulitzer has a few other web sites/blogs with the same layout, such as Let’s Look, Sorrento Springs, the French Program, but if you look at those pages linked to on our Collaborative Programming page, you’ll see that the events or programs are different from one another and have been documented in diverse ways. The French Program, periodic visits from Lindenwood, can be posted about per visit. The Sorrento Springs trip was a one-time occurrence and written about from various witnesses’ perspectives.

Now when it comes to A Marathon Metamorphoses, an event which will last just one weekend but include people from all over St. Louis and span art forms and areas of study, we’re working with a whole other animal. What should be recorded in the event planning? How do we make the page worthy in itself aside from the event? Does that matter? How do we tell people about Ovid et cetera without becoming too “educational” and departing “blog”? What will readers want to know? What will the pace be?

 http://www.vimeo.com/5626446

Emily Hickner, a Pulitzer gallery assistant, talks about two different kinds of saints she sees in Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer.

Emily Hickner, Gallery Assistant, is interviewed by Amy Broadway, Web Communications Assistant:

A: How long have you worked at the Pulitzer, and what exhibitions have you worked?

E: I’ve worked at the Pulitzer for approximately three years now. I started out as a volunteer at the Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition and have since worked Portrait/Homage/Embodiment, Water, Dan Flavin: Constructed Light, and currently, Ideal (Dis-) Placements.

A: How did being a GA change during the different exhibitions?

E: Every week I spend about an hour in each gallery, revisiting the artwork. With exhibits like Portrait/Homage/Embodiment and Water, I found that I discovered more about the artwork over the course of each exhibition. These exhibitions showed works of art that go beyond realism and aesthetics, therefore I spent a lot of time trying to analyze the artist’s intention.

For example, Roni Horn’s Asphere which was on display during the Portrait/Homage/Embodiment exhibition. At first, I saw a dull metallic, misshapen ball on the floor, but after spending more time with it, I contemplated its meaning. Roni Horn called Asphere a self-portrait of sorts. After spending hours in close proximity, I started to understand why. It’s a reflective object, but it lacks sheen. In that sense, Asphere is a muddled reflection of its environment. The object’s shape is slightly warped, hence the name Asphere, displaying imperfection. I feel that Asphere is not just a self-portrait, but a portrayal of what it means to be human. In my opinion, we are distorted versions of our surroundings. Each of us a little misshapen.

To get back to my point, I believe that I fulfilled the intention of the artist by having this conversation with myself. Had I not spent the time in that gallery that I did, I would not have seen beyond what my immediate observation was.

On the other hand, the Dan Flavin did not produce the same results for me. Not only did the lights take a toll on my eyes, but the pieces did not seem to develop for me in the way that Roni Horn’s Asphere did. Flavin’s work has an immediate “wow” factor. I think people are naturally drawn to the colorful, soft electric glow of his works. Beyond my immediate response, I felt that there wasn’t much else to contemplate about his light installations. I enjoyed the way Flavin’s work showcased the building, and as a visitor, it is exciting to see. But as someone who was working around the light installations 5-7 hours a day, it was a little like working at a carnival instead of going to one.

A: What is your favorite station to be at for Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer? Read the rest of this entry »