I’m back in the office today, but still a little fuzzy from the extended vacation (I think I’m recovering from cookie overload…sugar crash…).   So today, here are a few links I wanted to share: David Bonetti includes us in his year-end best of list (Flavin, The Light Project, and Old Masters all included!) and Seattle’s The Stranger’s Jen Graves gives our Old Masters exhibition a nice shout-out.  Speaking of Seattle, don’t miss this must-read article about the sad state of arts journalism.

Coming this week:  Jason, one of our gallery assistants, wrote a beautiful post about his experience watching the Messiaen concert last month.  Amy will also be writing about a tour Matthias gave to the gallery assistants where they addressed various questions they’ve encountered so far in the galleries.  Stay tuned!

David Bonetti reviewed the Old Masters exhibition in the Post-Dispatch this weekend. Read his review here, what he thought about our experiment with gallery lighting here, and view a slideshow of featured artworks here.

With the Light Project opening last Thursday, you’d think it would be a little calmer around here this week.  Not even close.  We just finished up a two day symposium on Flavin (videos and photos from that coming soon), and work on the Light Project continues – we’re still updating our web catalogue with new information, finalizing a print booklet to accompany the project, and press continues to roll in.  And that’s just in my department.  Speaking of press, the Beacon has some new material up – a wonderful review by Ivy Cooper and an excellent video from the night of the opening.

But for the most part, there’s been a major shift in focus this week towards the next exhibition, Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer.  It opens in a little over a month – here’s what David Bonetti wrote in this week’s Fall Preview in the Post-Dispatch (click here and scroll down).  Stay tuned for much more to come.

Giovanni Andrea de’ Ferrari, Italian, 1598-1669; Abraham and the Three Angels, 1660-69; oil on canvas; 81 x 94 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum Purchase 45:1939

Throughout the last couple of weeks, I have spent my time sifting through and organizing the Pulitzer press archives.  This pleasant task accounts for the buildings construction and exhibition history as well as a plethora of still-healing and fresh paper cuts.  Despite the effects that archiving has borne on me physically, mentally I have never been more aware.  I have read almost every publication within the last eight years that mentions the Foundation, while cultivating my cultural awareness along the way.  Sometime between a few St. Louis Alive magazines, vast amounts of Post Dispatch articles, a bunch of ArtForums, one German Vogue, and countless other local, national and international articles, I managed to determine all the places I want to some day shop, eat, and stay around the world.  When not idling my time away on thoughts of exotic travels and cuisine, I realized that I was as content sitting in the library at the Pulitzer as I would be traveling halfway around the world.  The Foundation has been met with as much, if not more acclaim internationally than locally, and has been featured in Japanese, German, French, Spanish and many more international periodicals.  Heralded by the New Yorker at the museums opening in 2001 as one of the “finest small museums of our time,” the Pulitzer has continued to reinvent itself without straying from its strong “Ando concrete” foundation. 

Here are my top 10 favorite press mentions of the Pulitzer:

1. GQ’s “25 Buildings Every Man Should Know:  GQ’s Guide to the Most Important and Beautiful Structures in America.”  March 2005

2. The Washington Post  “A Blissful Marriage of Art and Architecture” October 20, 2001

3. Riverfront Times “Emmy Award:  Emily Pulitzer’s gift to St. Louis has arrived in a concrete box.  Hidden inside: the portrait of a woman who changed the city.” December 5-11, 2001

4. The New York Times: “A Prize-Winning Japanese Architect Casts a St. Louis Museum in Concrete” October 18, 2001

5. W Magazine:  “Pulitzer’s Prize” November 2001

6. ARTnews: “The New Wave of Art Museums” March 2005

7. German Vogue: “Elite Temple” January 2002

8. Architectural Record: “Ando’s work teaches us not to judge a package by its wrapping.” January 2001

9. The New Yorker: “Art Houses” November 5, 2001

10. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Three top artists talk about their rare collaboration: The trio involved in the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts building also discuss art’s role in troubled times”  October 14, 2001

The Pulitzer’s architecture comes up a lot on this blog.  It relates to pretty much everything we do -  art, programming, everything that’s planned here has to keep the very specific architecture of our building in mind.  It ranges from the logistics of a film night to the placement of art within an exhibition and everything in between.

Since it’s often on our minds here, it was nice to see a feature in the Post-Dispatch this weekend on the architecture of St. Louis as a whole.  I’ve always loved driving through the city looking at buildings, but it was interesting to learn more about the specific history of those buildings.  It also helped me connect the Pulitzer to the larger context of the history of St. Louis architecture.   Take a look – there’s also an interactive timeline (which includes the Pulitzer!).

David Bonetti wrote a great review of our Flavin exhibition in yesterday’s Post-Dispatch.  Click here.

Also – our exhibition print booklets (which complements our website catalogue) were literally JUST delivered to our doorstep.  So be sure to visit Wednesday to pick up your very own copy, and let us know what you think.

David Bonetti’s preview of Flavin came out this morning – and it’s a glowing (no pun intended) review. If you’re in STL, pick up a Post-Dispatch to see it in print – we’re the cover of the Get Out section!

The snow has already started, and I snuck into the galleries to take some photos. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. You can see the glowing green of the hallway on the right:

And here’s one of the works on the mezzanine, with the snow in the background.

And speaking of snow, it’s supposed to stop by tomorrow morning. Which means the opening will still be on for tomorrow night. Stop by from 6-9! I have a feeling the lights at night and in the snow will be even more breathtaking.

With the close of Water fast approaching, thoughts have turned towards the opening of our next exhibition – Dan Flavin: Constructed Light – and what that means for our respective jobs here.  For me, that means lots of press, marketing, and new website sections.  We’re meeting with our design company soon to discuss concepts.  Something I’ve been drawn to lately is non-traditional advertising – not just the typical ads in the typical magazines.  But what exactly does it include?  I’m trying to learn more.  Any suggestions for good sites to research?  Interesting ad campaigns that have really struck you? I’ll keep you posted on anything I find too.

Our discussion with Thomas Crone and Amanda Doyle on KDHX is now online, for your listening pleasure.  Matthias, Chris from Cinema St. Louis, and I discussed last week’s film event and teased the film night coming up in November.   We talked about torrential thunderstorms, how our collaboration came about, what other institutions we find inspiring, learning how to play the water glasses, and Flipper.  Click here to listen, and then click on the stream from September 10th’s show.

I mentioned last week that Matthias and I took a trip to check out a much-admired arts institution, which is now my new favorite place. This institution is always on the cutting-edge with exciting programming, exhibitions, and technology. Any guesses?

Our visit to the Walker was a whirlwind — we arrive in Minneapolis around 8am that morning, had our first meeting at 9am, and met with someone new just about every hour until we left again for the airport at 4pm. We met with a lot of different departments — website, curatorial/directorial, performing arts, pr/marketing, adult programs, and had a great tour of the galleries. Everyone was so nice and accommodating, and gave us lots of great insight. I’m still processing everything I learned, but I’m sure tidbits will surface in blog posts every once in awhile. Now we just need to go back and meet with every department again, in addition to the ones we couldn’t meet with because we ran out of time. Oh yeah, and I also really want to check out the city some more and visit some other locations around town (especially here). I’m thinking the next trip needs to be more like a week, instead of just a day….

In unrelated news: I wanted to let you know that tonight Matthias and Cinema St. Louis’s Chris Clark will be on the radio program The Wire on KDHX. This program is hosted by Amanda Doyle and Thomas Crone and covers a wide range of St. Louis issues and topics. They’ll be talking about our upcoming film program. So tune to 88.1FM (or listen online) tonight at 7:30pm.