Monks from the Mid-American Buddhist Association chant on Vesak Day. Listen to them and members of other Buddhist temples at the Reflections of the Buddha opening reception.

As you readers may have noticed, there hasn’t been much to read here recently, but I assure you the Pulitzer staff and its partners have been busy the past three weeks. Much has happened since Dreamscapes concluded with KDHX DJs emitting dreamy sounds throughout the galleries. Everyone has been developing programs, events, catalogues, docent trainings, and community connections as part of our next exhibition, Reflections of the Buddha.

As I write this, senior curator Francesca Herndon-Consagra is working with art handlers and registrars to configure awe-inspiring statues and thangkas in relation to the Ando building (quite a humbling experience, they might say). These works date from the second to the twentieth century and were created in Afghanistan, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet. If you would like a sneak peek, visit the Reflections of the Buddha web catalogue holding page and download the gallery guide. Witness the works in person by attending our opening reception next Friday, September 9, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Since Reflections of the Buddha showcases  works born from the culture and philosophy of Buddhism, the Pulitzer decided to partner with Buddhism specialists in the St. Louis community and beyond for several programs and events. As a complement to the opening festivities, at 6 p.m., members of the Buddhist Council of Greater St. Louis will share an opening chant, featuring examples of Buddhist traditions living in the St. Louis area.

Donald Sloane, a member of the Mid-American Buddhist Associate explains, “The monks from the Thai Temple will begin with the opening lines of a blessing of the Buddha in Pali, the language closest to that of Gotama Buddha. The Thai monks represent the original tradition of Theravada. The monks will continue the chanting in English. Next the Heart Sutra will be chanted, first in English, led by the community from MABA, and then in Chinese, led by those from Fo Guang Shan. The Heart Sutra is from the Mahayana tradition and a teaching from Guanyin, who is represented in the exhibition.”

Members of the Buddhist Council of Greater St. Louis will also lead meditation workshops at the Pulitzer and be available on the third Saturdays of the month along with docents to discuss works from the perspective of Buddhism. There will be information about these and all of our programs at the opening and on our website by next Friday.

Kristina Van Dyke,  Photo by George Hixson | Courtesy of The Menil Collection

KRISTINA VAN DYKE APPOINTED AS NEW DIRECTOR OF THE PULITZER FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
 
August 5, 2011, St. Louis, MO — The Board of Trustees of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts today announced its unanimous decision to appoint Kristina Van Dyke as Director, following an intensive international search.  Ms. Van Dyke, currently the Curator for Collections and Research at The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, will begin working full-time at the Foundation on November 7.  Joining the Pulitzer as it prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary, she will work closely with Trustees and staff to oversee the exhibitions program, as well as other scholarly, artistic and community-related programming, including the contemporary chamber music series.  Ms. Van Dyke succeeds Matthias Waschek, who served as Director of the Foundation for more than seven years.
Read more

Robert W. Duffy, associate editor at St. Louis Beacon, introduces Kristina Van Dyke and offers a look at the history of the Pulitzer:  ”Pulitzer Foundation names new director“

As we’ve said before, part of the Pulitzer’s identity is that it doesn’t have labels for the artwork, however for the next three weeks, the Ando building will boldly declare its address in neon, as part of 2010 Whitney Biennial winner Theaster Gates’ exhibition Dry Bones and Other Parables from the North.

Dry Bones will open this Saturday along with three projects during the Transformation Project Walk. In case you haven’t been reading the news or listening to St. Louis Public Radio, the Walk will be a big bash that concludes all of the community programming we’ve worked on throughout the Matta-Clark exhibition. Similar in scope to The Light Project, the Walk will be one of those special events that encourages all of St. Louis to explore the Grand Center neighborhood and experience each unique project site.

This Saturday, May 15, from 3-7pm, the Pulitzer will provide a shuttle and trolley service to those who want to see what Transformation has accomplished this spring. Each stop will exhibit inspired works by program participants, which are sure to demonstrate how art can affect social change and further conversation on the St. Louis urban landscape. For a full description of the event and programs, visit this page.

Robert Longyear talks about the chairs in his installation and how they relate to the theme of “congregation.” Like Gordon Matta-Clark, who used titles like “A W-Hole House” and “Reality Properties / Fake Estates,” Robert also incorporates word play into his artwork. For more information on his project visit the Urban Evolution blog.

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.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nicole Stevens, Gallery Assistant, talks about Gordon Matta-Clark’s Splitting.

Wednesday afternoon, I borrowed Gallery Assistant Nicole Stevens, last on our blog with Cephalus and Procris, to continue “From the Galleries” with Urban Alchemy. In the video above, Nicole talks about Splitting on the Mezzanine while referencing two documentary photographs of the monumental piece. (Do the images seem familiar to you?) In the Pulitzer’s Cube Gallery, you’ll find Splitting: Four Corners and a print, Splitting, which artfully reveals the interior of half the house that Matta-Clark bisected and that Four Corners was taken from.

For me, this vista really emphasized an important aspect of this exhibition: the correlation between the architecture of Gordon’s work, the Pulitzer building and the surrounding city. Jane Crawford, Gordon Matta-Clark’s widow, was present for the event and gave a poignant speech, saying she thought that Gordon would have been especially touched with this exhibition because of its corresponding community outreach programs, which is not something other galleries and museums have done in the past with his work.

All in all, an auspicious beginning to what will surely be a successful and unique exhibition!

The next event being planned is a Symphony Concert on November 18^th, where we will be featuring the work of György Kurtág (Wind Quintet, op. 2 -1959), Bartók (Sonata for solo violin – 1944) and Ligeti (Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet – 1968) – buy your tickets here!

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the video above, Director Matthias Waschek describes how community engagement is incorporated into the Pulitzer’s primary identity as an arts institution. This is the first in what we plan to be a series of “From the Director” clips in which Matthias presents topics unique to the Pulitzer.

If you have a question, please feel free to leave it in a reply. We want to know what you want to know.

Early last Friday, Facilities Manager Steve Morby explained to me what makes the concrete here special. He became acquainted with it when he worked on Ando’s first project in the United States, the Eychaner Residence in Chicago, completed in 1998. Steve had been working with concrete for 25 years, but in his paper “Constructing Concrete as an Art Form,” he explained that he had “never seen such exacting details, and the expectations of such high levels of wall quality were amazing.”

Although Ando is not the first to use exposed concrete in the way he does, as architect Thomas Daniell pointed out in 2007, the process for making an Ando wall is still unusual, and because Ando uses it consistently to affect a building’s overall environment, it has become his trademark. In the following video, Steve describes the procedures for making concrete and how his construction team altered them to create the Ando quality.

Generally, when I see things, such as Facilities Manager Steve Morby carrying a big bucket of something through the hallway, or Assistant Facilities Manager Shane Simmons sloshing through the Water Court in galoshes, or a pair of pink, man-size latex gloves (which must be theirs, right?) near my desk, I don’t ask questions. If I did, I’d be asking for shop class every day, since these guys have a big job every day.

“Can you tell me about how you’re cleaning the Water Court?” I asked Steve today.

“Well, actually we’re not cleaning the Water Court. We drained it to get the scaffolding in it.”

Besides explaining the Pulitzer’s intricate air system, when I asked him about the grates in the galleries, Steve told me today about a job they’ve been working on for a month. Throughout the year, a sealant on the building becomes damaged by UV rays. Besides that, the walls can become stained with dirt and acid rain, so to preserve the building as best they can, the facilities department cleans and re-seals the outside cement once a year.

This year, Craig Courtney was assigned the task of cleaning the walls of dirt, old sealant, and sulfuric acid stains-using a Scotch-Brite on a pole and industrial detergent. He pointed out that the building will always be fighting the elements, and it’s impossible to keep it as it was when first built, but he joked, “I think it’s still a high A.”

Craig said the wall in the photo of him below took about three days work. He appreciates the exercise in perseverance, although it appears to have affected his life outside of work.

“At the beginning of this project, I had this dream that I was working, and Ando and his interpreter came up to me and said, ‘You missed a spot,’ and I had to start over.”

Craig cleans.

Doug seals.

You can now get a little introduction to this team online. For the past few weeks, we’ve been collecting short biographical paragraphs from them for a Flickr album, “Meet the Gallery Assistants.” You can also see the GAs’ web contributions in their blog posts on our various pages, or in videos, such as those in the “From the Galleries” posts.

Gallery Assistant head shots, used in Flickr set “Meet the Gallery Assistants”