Can't Afford to NOT be Creative

When the economy is mentioned, deep sighs can be heard from around the world. Not me, I get a little excited about the new prospects that can only appear when we SLOW DOWN and have to think a little more about what the hell we are doing. And its not only the artists pulling together and getting creative, institutions and businesses are doing so as well.

Just Say No to Mausoleum

Some Museums are denouncing their long overdue "Mausoleum" or "untouchable" status renewing their vows to their community through new creative outreach programs. New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA.org) is taking bold steps in the right direction to reflect contemporary interests and concerns by supporting emerging artists or taking a pedagogical approach to art as a tool rather than merely lucrative relic.

Mnemonic Devices: with emerging artists Rachel Jones and David Webber are scheduled at NOMA June 6th-Aug. 23rd. Both these artists Jones (painter) and Webber (new media) are kick ass Louisiana based artists that show that the south can produce more than swamp paintings yet reflect and respond to the unique southern experience. NOMA's invitation to emerging artists is smart not only because it upholds a museums debt to the community it represents but its also reaching out to a rich community of younger art lovers who DO visit art shows. In a time where museums are hurting more than ever due to lack of government funding and dropping
numbers of visitors, why not support emerging artists? NOTE: emerging artists don't cost as much, they are WAY more appreciative, they work harder to make a better show, and they need representation. In addition, NOMA's creative outreach is going way beyond by hosting Yoga classes on their beautiful grounds formerly reserved as a sculpture garden only. WHY NOT! When just the word museum conjures up images of a cold space with voiceless labels instructing appropriate behavior around decontextualized objects, "Don't Touch", "Whisper Please", and "No Photos", the idea of inviting visitors to use their bodies amongst art (albeit its not inside) is fabulous.Image 1: Art by David Webber Image 2: Front of New Orleans Museum of Art & Sculpture Garden.

Chicago's Hyde Art Center , recently hosted an exhibition that surveys the past 70 yrs of Artist-run spaces in the Chicago area. Curators Allison Peters Quinn and Britton Bertran describe the motive behind the exhibition on Episode #196 of Chicago's awesomepodcasting radio BAD AT SPORTS. Although the interview is lacking in terms of describing the actual exhibition and the artists who participated I still think its a big step that Ms. Quinn and Mr. Bertran took to commemorate artist run spaces. Artists who organize are responsible for keeping art districts alive and above all giving giving cities a "unique" flavor that tourism bureaus and arts councils can so badly try to emulate. I recommend the interview (Episode #195) with Incubate, a creative arts administrator run collective responsible for supporting individual artists and artist discussions called "Soup" .

Snuggling Curators
New Museum "Younger than Jesus" The Generational Triennial
There has been much controversy over the New Museum's new location in downtown Bowery due to the oozing gentrification of SoHo into Lower Manhattan, hell its New York, money over matter, right?, and the museums "new" architecture, designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA with Gensler, New York, as being well....ugly. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com article by Charles Giuliano. The recent New Museum exhibition choosing to go with the new and upcoming hipsters of today is a considerable brave move considering these 50 artists from 25 different countries are younger than Jesus. In addition, to the artists the curators are getting creative with how they are seeking out these fresh pups. As stated on their website, Yes, there are seemingly transparent on this one, curator Laura Cornell (Director of Rhizome) & others write their search was "an open curatorial model". In attempts to reach outside the curator's immediate realm they asked more than "150 other curators, writers, teachers, artists, critics, and bloggers worldwide, who were asked to recommend artists for the exhibition."

Buying Land is SOooo........2007
Rent too much in New York?! Build a Waterpod like artist Mary Mattingly. Although her motive is to create a self-efficient community on the water for an estimated price of $150,000, it sure is a tempting thought of how to stick it to the man. Read more about her project at the New York Times article here.



One of my favorite and more than creative floating collaborative projects was documented by Photographer Tod Seelie (see more photos and words about it www.suckapants.com.) They just sailed into the Venice Biennial. Boats designed by artist SWOON.