Theaster Gates and his students talk about Gate’s summer course through Washington University in St. Louis. During the class, students worked with Gates to rehab a house in Hyde Park and devise ways in which the house can be used as an arts hub for the neighborhood.

Community projects at the Pulitzer have always raised questions of sustainability. In understanding our institution’s ever-evolving role within the community arts of St. Louis, we are a catalyst, incubator, and (at our best moments) innovator. We work to enhance the already-impressive, effective, and inspiring work of our colleagues by bringing both the strengths of a cutting-edge arts institution dedicated to promoting the personal experience with all arts and social work practice. This means, however, that we are at risk of violating one of the founding principles of community practice by parachuting into a community then exiting quickly, without sustaining commitment to the communities with whom we worked. In principle, we are keenly aware of this and have attempted to balance our institutional identity with ethical community practice by forging partnerships with institutions that have the potential to carry the innovation forward. As this department is coming upon its fourth year, we are still in the process of learning what it means to “carry the innovation forward” and just how much continued support and involvement it might take from the “catalyst”.

Take Theaster Gates in Hyde Park for example. Theaster entered this community through our project, which was a collaboration between Holy Trinity Academy and Succeeding with Reading, a program that had existed at Holy Trinity Academy for a few years preceding Urban Expression, the Pulitzer-catalyzed program inspired by our exhibition, Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark. He was captured by the community—particularly, the kids—and became committed to arts-infused community development in the neighborhood. While our exhibitions changed (and the programs with it), we were able to stay involved by co-sponsoring the CityStudioSTL (Somethingness: Ways of Seeing and Building) with the Sam Fox School of Visual Art and Design at Washington University in St. Louis. In so doing, we are figuring out our institution’s role in ensuring that Theaster’s commitment to Hyde Park (through Rebuild Foundation) has a better chance at success. It’s a work in progress, but the brilliant work of Theaster, his employees, and the students of this summer class have provided another huge step toward fulfilling the potential of a beautiful, if neglected neighborhood and doing so by forging partnerships between existing community members and those from the outside. We’ll keep you posted as his work evolves.

South African artist William Kentridge talks about Max Beckmann’s manipulation of physical space and its influence on his work. Max Beckmann’s The Dream is on view in the exhibition Dreamscapes.

On March 2, in the Pulitzer galleries, the Pulitzer and Washington University hosted a panel discussion for graduate students on the artistic practice of William Kentridge. Panelists included: William Kentridge, Artist; John Hoal, Chair of the Urban Design Program and Associate Professor at Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts; Sabine Eckmann, William T. Kemper Director and Chief Curator at Kemper Art Museum; and Francesca Herndon-Consagra, Senior Curator at the Pulitzer. 

If you view some of Kentridge’s animated films, you can see how fitting it was to discuss his art amidst Dreamscapes, which is filled with recurring dreamlike and hallucinatory imagery. In an Art21 video, Kentridge explains that his characters Felix and Soho came to him in a dream and he later found that they were actually self-portraits, as if not he but his distinct dreaming-self had planned it that way. Most of Kentridge’s works are not intentionally connected to dreaming, though they lend themselves to conversations about topics, such as trauma, memory and the ephemeral, which arise in the current exhibition.

Listen to the rest of this fascinating panel discussion on the Pulitzer’s YouTube channel. 

This Saturday at 1pm, Bill Wischmeyer, Architect of Record for the Pulitzer building, will share his personal knowledge of Tadao Ando’s St. Louis achievement for the second Exploring Art: Dreamscapes and Ando’s Architecture. Last month, Emily Pulitzer explained her vision of the building and the realization of that dream. Pulitzer docent Francesca Wilmott recaps that discussion here:

Speaking in front of the reflecting pool, Emily Rauh Pulitzer shared the lively deliberations that occurred between her and Tadao Ando, as well as artists Richard Serra and Ellsworth Kelly, whose work was commissioned for the building. Unlike the commissioning process in the United States, Mrs. Pulitzer explained, Japanese architects do not traditionally involve clients in each stage of their planning. However, Mrs. Pulitzer held to her vision, and together, she and Ando developed an art sanctuary that fulfilled both their aesthetic and practical needs.

Tadao Ando has discussed the tensions that often accompany a collaborative process, noting that: “Working collaboratively with such uncompromising artists was incredibly demanding. However, the numerous changes and modifications made with each visit to the construction site have given the works a vitality and reality unique to this place. For me, the exciting collaboration with these artists has provided a rare and stimulating opportunity to reconsider the architecture and to rethink what it means to create.” Ando made one such modification upon viewing Richard Serra’s plan for Joe, the enormous Corten-steel sculpture that occupies the outdoor courtyard. Rather than constructing wide vertical windows along the wall that looks onto Joe, as initially planned, Ando felt that narrow horizontal windows would better frame the sculpture from within the building.

Not only is the Pulitzer Foundation a product of Emily Pulitzer and Tadao Ando’s visions, but each exhibition at the Pulitzer also poses a new opportunity for the curator to collaborate with the building itself. Senior curator Francesca Herndon-Consagra directly responded to the building when conceiving Dreamscapes. As viewers make their way through the exhibition, a number of images–boulders, telephones, stairways–pop up in unexpected places, just as familiar themes frequently appear in one’s dreams. In the entrance gallery, for instance, the large concrete column that supports the weight of the building, visually relates to the boulder that appears in René Magritte’s paintings, The Active Voice (1951) and The Invisible World (1954), and that reappears in Scott Burton’s Rock Settee (1988-1990) and Georg Baselitz’s painting, Landscape with Pathos (1970).

In Dreamscapes, Francesca Herndon-Consagra further punctuates spaces in the building that would typically serve as transitional zones. Citing Gertrude Stein’s notable quotation, Mrs. Pulitzer explained that unlike many buildings where “there’s no there there,” each space within the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts–whether a vestibule, corridor, or gallery–has a distinct character that directly relates to the overall design scheme of the building. Just as the grand staircase and the adjacent water pool conjure notions of a cascading waterfall, Kiki Smith’s sculpture, Pee Body (1992), on the landing of the staircase, evokes humiliating nightmares of finding oneself nude and incontinent in a public place. Furthermore, Janet Cardiff and Wolfgang Tillmans’s works are enhanced by their placement in the long ground-floor corridor. Isolating individuals from the activity of the central galleries, Herndon-Consagra utilizes the architecture of the narrow corridor to further accentuate foreboding sentiments already existent in the works. Throughout Dreamscapes, Herndon-Consagra plays upon Emily Pulitzer and Tadao Ando’s distinct visions, demonstrating the dynamic relationship between architecture and contemporary art today.

Mrs. Pulitzer’s presentation transported visitors through the past two decades, revealing how a dream that she shared with her late husband, Joseph Pulitzer III, has materialized and evolved since its early inception. Her discussion kicked off this season of the Pulitzer Foundation’s Exploring Art program. Usually led by docents, Exploring Art takes place on the third Saturday of each month at 1pm, pairing exhibition tours with a unique–and often offsite–program that expands upon the ideas of the exhibition. This season, Exploring Art has adopted a slightly different format. Rather than taking visitors beyond the perimeters of the Pulitzer Foundation, the tours explore how Ando’s building itself serves as a lens through which to interpret the themes in Dreamscapes.

Francesca Wilmott co-founded Los Caminos, an apartment gallery in St.
Louis’s Cherokee Street neighborhood. In May 2010, she earned a dual-masters degree in Modern Art History, Criticism and Theory, and Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to Los Caminos, she co-directed Concertina Gallery in Chicago and has organized exhibitions for the Hyde Park Art Center, Art on Track, and the GOFFO Art Fair.

Visitors at the Dreamscapes opening reception share their thoughts on the exhibition. Artworks they refer to include Do Ho Suh’s Staircase–Pulitzer Version, Kiki Smith’s Pee Body, Wolfgang Tillmans’s Forest (Briol II), Philip Guston’s Dark Room and Edge and Max Klinger’s A Glove.

Last Friday’s opening reception for Dreamscapes was an all-out success. I know we always say that, but it’s always true in my opinion. Hundreds of art enthusiasts roamed the galleries from five to nine, and the gallery assistants actually had to invite many to leave so they could close for the evening.

While there, I took a few videos of visitors sharing their thoughts so far on the exhibition. We’ve done these “In Your Own Words” clips for the last two openings, and it’s been eye-opening to hear what people see on their first visit.

A particular comment from last week, which highlights the Pulitzer experience, involves one visitor’s walk down the hallway on the lower level to discover at the end of it Wolfgang Tillmans’s Forest (Briol II). This print depicts a man with his back to you, walking down a path in the forest. Like him, you discover a path, the hallway, which seems to lead you into unknown territory. When I dream, there’s always the feeling of “what happens next?” and I love how the placement of this piece leaves you with that feeling. The Pulitzer’s architecture is also known to do that.

So what happens next with this exhibition? As always, the Pulitzer will be offering public programming in conjunction with the exhibition and the themes it encapsulates. We will have a Dreamscapes Concert Series and every Saturday at 1pm offer regular programs, including Frame of Reference, Exploring Art and Dreamtime Storytime, a kid-friendly series in which special guests tell stories related to–you guessed it–dreaming.

We’ll also be asking you to share your dreams. As our senior curator Francesca Consagra said in her video introduction, “This exhibition privileges the idea that art and dreaming does serve a purpose. By engaging with a painting, by trying to recall a dream, you may learn a little bit more about yourself.” We hope that you will join us in exploring concepts around dreaming and the artworks on view and, at the same time, learn about what dreams your mind has to offer.

Last Thursday evening marked the first time that contemporary dance has been featured within the walls of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Four Webster University dancers—Hope Harl, Julie Opiel, Matthew Schmitz, and Audrey Simes—activated Ann Hamilton’s stylus and the building’s architectural features through improvisational movement.

The performers moved in dialogue with the live percussion of local composer/musician Scott Rice, who, dressed in black, drummed mostly at the north end of the Main Gallery, but occasionally made his way through the gallery space playing on a portable drum.

The dancers, barefoot and clad in comfortable white clothing, transformed themselves into moving projections of stylus. Throughout the evening they moved freely about the galleries, dancing at different tempi and in a variety of configurations: as an ensemble of four, in solo, in trio, or as a duet.

Each performer identified a different source of inspiration within the installation.

“Working with the hands was a lot of fun for me,” Julie Opiel said. “I used them as props for movement, but also as a costume.”

For dancer Matthew Schmitz, the most inspirational elements were the projections across the walls and ceiling combined with the architectural structure of the stairs.

“I found the movement of these projections to be helpful in developing directional focus,” Schmitt said. “The video content—the moving stylus and shifting images of letters and words—helped me create a vocabulary of movement.”

All of the performers incorporated facets of the installation and building—newspapers, hands, a neglected wall or corridor—into their dancing, thereby illuminating details of the Pulitzer environment that might have, otherwise, been overlooked.

The mood was both low-key and friendly. Visitors sat on chairs in the main gallery, stood, and walked about the building, absorbing at an easy pace the sights, sounds, and movements that the evening had to offer.

For more photos of this event, please visit our Flickr slideshow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

sound waves interacts with stylus; DJ John Uhlemann, host of “Music from the Hills,” talks about Balkan music and what it’s like to play at the Pulitzer.

sound waves: Balkan took place last Thursday evening. Every “Third Thursday” of the month, for the duration of the exhibition stylus, the Pulitzer, in collaboration with 88.1 KDHX, is hosting sound waves from 6-9pm. For information on the upcoming sound waves: Jazz, visit our events page.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Director Matthias Waschek explains why the Pulitzer doesn’t label the artwork in its galleries.

The Pulitzer’s assistant registrar stands in the center of Richard Serra’s Joe.

Even with Urban Alchemy gaining momentum as we prepare for spring’s programming, Serra’s Joe is never far from the spotlight on Washington Blvd. Particularly after a marked weather change, as in today’s snow blanket, someone is likely to say, “Joe looks beautiful; someone should take photos.” So Elise and I trekked into the courtyard this afternoon, looking for ways to digitally translate beauty.

For more of the encore presentation of  “Snowy Joe,“ and for images of Joe’s 2001 installation, visit our Flickr collection “The Building and Beyond.”

Andrew Raimist, an architect, talks about Bingo for Frame of Reference. To watch video of part of his talk, and to read his thoughts on the Pulitzer and Gordon Matta-Clark, visit Architectural Ruminations.

On the first Saturdays of every month, the Pulitzer hosts Frame of Reference, discussions lead by special guests about specific artworks on display. It’s a wonderful opportunity to gain insight on the art and artist, as well as the chance to ask questions and engage in invigorating conversations.

A couple Saturdays ago, I listened to our Senior Curator, Francesca Herndon-Consagra talk in the Cube Gallery about the Matta-Clark piece Four Corners. About ten other people were  in the room, walking in and around the objects as we discussed and learned what these four corners of a now demolished house meant as a physical document and how we can mentally interpret this work in the present day.

Frame of Reference Saturdays are a great way to further explore the Pulitzer space and visual art.  It welcomes anyone and everyone to participate in a fun and interesting discussions about art, without making you feel like your in a class lecture. It’s great to see familiar faces in the art community and to share a viewing experience with a group of people.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Pulitzer’s facilities management gives insight into our Tadao Ando building in the video series The Ando Building. In this video, Facilities Manager Steve Morby answers the question: Where does the water from the reflecting pool go?

What questions do you have about the Pulitzer’s building?