Paul Shattack, Assistant Professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, shares memories conjured by Gordon Matta-Clark’s Bronx Floors.

Another month has passed, and it’s time again for Frame of Reference, a regularly scheduled program at the Pulitzer. Since our last exhibition, Ideal (dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer, the Pulitzer has hosted monthly in-gallery discussions, led by individuals with a range of backgrounds, about the artwork on display.

Visitor Services Manager Courtney Henson geared this Saturday to combine the perspectives of those specializing in art and those in social work. Our Senior Curator, Francesca Herndon-Consagra, who is the curator for Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark, will be among the speakers.

You’ll note that the schedule for these 15-minute forums has changed from previous sessions to be all within 1-2:30pm, rather than at the beginning of every hour. This way, we hope you can stay for all of them and give your special viewpoint.

The partnership between the Pulitzer Foundation and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work was established in November of 2007. This past fall, near the second anniversary of the partnership, students at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University (GWB) created a new student group. The Community Arts Initiative, or CAI, was born into a family of a dozen other active student groups. But CAI’s birth could not have occurred at a more appropriate time.

With an influx of admitted students interested in the relationship between arts and social work coupled with the partnership between GWB and the Pulitzer Foundation maturing, CAI’s inception seems to be written in the stars. CAI’s mission explores building awareness of the role of art in social work and public health practice by creating community connections and providing educational opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »

This past December, local architect John Pankey and I led a writing workshop for literary center StudioSTL, using the setting of Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark as our muse. It was the second time the Pulitzer and this Grand Center neighbor have come together.

Over the summer, StudioSTL’s director, Beth Ketcher, read for A Marathon Metamorphoses and wrote on the event’s corresponding blog what she felt the marathon was about. Her attitude reflected a principle StudioSTL and the Pulitzer share: the arts are for everyone.

The goal of December’s workshop was not for the participants to produce refined art reviews but to get them to think comfortably, descriptively, analytically, and creatively by jotting down verbal sketches of what they saw in the galleries. Given optional cues in a worksheet, the young authors were asked to investigate the space, write down what they thought, and read their writing to everyone as a conclusion to the session.

Below, one of StudioSTL’s mentors reflects on the workshop.

Paula Davis is an Engineering student at Washington University and a mentor for StudioSTL.

On the twelfth day of the twelfth month, a few young writers–high school students–and a number of volunteers from StudioSTL, sat holding gray pamphlets, on the gray concrete floor of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, in its gray concrete building, under St. Louis’ cold gray sky. It was quiet. Read the rest of this entry »

Crew members from Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit pose with their produce.

So my personal Detroit visit included conversations with Matt Sikora, head of evaluation at the DIA, and Jennifer Czajkowski, Direct of Interpretive Programs at the DIA. For those of you into evaluation, the DIA conducts what I consider to be an unprecedented amount of formative evaluation, or evaluation that is done during the formation of an exhibition (like market testing), which dovetails nicely with their strong commitment to innovative interpretive strategies, an effort in which Jennifer is highly instrumental. These interpretive strategies, the incorporation of which is based on the theoretical work of Abigail Housen and stages of aesthetic readiness, include thematic curation of exhibitions, specific language in wall text that isn’t necessarily rooted in art history, and other assistive devices, such as “I Spy” plaques and, my personal favorite, the table in their Fashionable Living exhibition that shows pieces on display being used in an 18th century dinner. The truly innovative model of how learning and interpretation (formerly, education) and curatorial interact to create one type of “optimal visitor experience” is somewhat antithetical to our approach, yet both of our institutions are striving toward the common goal of supporting the relevance of art in everyone’s lives. Read the rest of this entry »

Gallery Assistant Kay Renner talks about Conical Intersect and invites you to come to the Pulitzer.

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?

During my first shift as a Gallery Assistant at the Pulitzer, I rotated into the Entrance Gallery and was confronted by Garbage Wall.

After spending the last month and a half collecting this garbage from around St. Louis, I stood there and realized how little time I had spent with the finished piece.

My eyes scanned over the objects in the wall, and I recognized all of them! At the sight of each piece of garbage, I was taken back to a day in the collection process. I spotted the section of a brick wall that students at Wash U found during our neighborhood clean-up, caution tape that was left in a donation box in the art room at Metro High School, and shoes collected from a local thrift store’s dumpster. I remembered touching each object (with gloves of course) as I moved it from a school, curb, or dumpster, into my truck bed, and finally into the workshop where Garbage Wall was constructed. I felt lucky to have had this experience that connected me to the piece in a very unique and exciting way.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

As I’m sure all of you already know (because you follow our blog, facebook and twitter accounts faithfully) our Urban Alchemy / Gordon Matta-Clark exhibition opening took place last Friday from 5pm to 9pm. Admittedly, scheduling a 4 hour opening did seem like a long amount of time and we therefore planned to evaluate the visitor attendance flow every hour to figure out if, for future openings, we should open later or close earlier. Much to our excitement, we found that our 900 visitors came in a steady stream – showing up on their way home from work or arriving after a dinner on the town for a glass of wine on our mezzanine. It certainly didn’t hurt the event when the skies cleared just hours before we were slated to open, giving our guests an amazing view of a setting sun against a St. Louis skyline.

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In June, I nominated Kay Renner for Hospitality Hero. Hospitality Hero is an award for dedicated service “above and beyond” the average daily service and is presented by CVC (Convention and Visitors Commission) every year. Lisa Harper Chang and I feel Renner deserves this award due to her ability to help, always with a smile, and a keen ability to make all feel welcome at the Pulitzer. Here is my interview with Kay via gchat, done at the Pulitzer front desk, about the experience of winning:

me: Ok here we go
Kay: bring it
me: How does it feel to be a Hospitality Hero?

Kay: I think it’s an interesting title, but it feels good to know people care about kind interactions among the community. To be a part of the staff at the PFA and to be recognized for trying to do the best I can here feels great. I think we have many Hospitality Heroes here in our space. Read the rest of this entry »