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Musings from Chile

Merilee Mostov, CMA's Manager for Creative Initiatives, recently spent one week in Chile as part of a cultural arts exchange through the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program. As an arts educator at the Columbus Museum of Art, she was asked to work with the directors and programming staff of Teatro del Lago, a new cultural and educational performing arts center in Frutillar, a lakeside town in southern Chile. She spent one week touring schools, galleries, and libraries in the region to better understand the role of the arts in this region. She and the staff shared ideas and worked to develop arts educational strategies that will be implemented through Teatro del Lago. Merilee shares some thoughts from her trip below:

Always go left and look down. Those are the two most important things I learned while visiting Chile last week during a cultural exchange sponsored by the Ohio Arts Council. My pre-trip Google searches and stacks of guidebooks on Chile did not prepare me for the most important rule in Chile -- the “Go Left Rule”. The “Go Left Rule” goes like this -- when greeting anyone - friend, business acquaintance, or relative -- lean in to your left, brush right cheeks and give a swift air kiss. I knew I was going to like the Chilean people after my first one-sided greeting. In France, I’m never quite sure how many cheeks it will take for a proper and polite greeting. Depending where you are in France it could take 2, 3 or even 4 cheeks before the greeting is over and I have whiplash. In Chile, it is simple and consistent. I like that.

The other thing I didn’t gather from my pre-trip reading was the “Look Down Rule”. The “Look Down Rule” means this -- always look down because you may trip over a stray dog or even worse-- the piles left by stray dogs. Stray dogs are everywhere in Chile – in the newer business districts of Santiago and in the quaint lake side villages of the south. In poor communities and wealthy communities. Stray dogs are curled up by park benches, under parked cars, outside your hotel room and under your table at an outdoor cafe. It is not unusual to see stray dogs walking confidently down city sidewalks. Where are they going? I wonder. The weird part is that the stray dogs are not mangy, undernourished, teeth-barring canines. They are mostly cute, docile and considerably plump. Who is feeding and bathing these creatures, I wonder? I admit that in one week I saw many signs that Chile is on the fast track to economic, political and cultural progress. But I believe that this beautiful country tucked in the Andes has got to clean up its stray dog crisis if it wants to be taken seriously by its neighbors up north. So, if any motivated young college students are looking for an alternative spring break project next year – head down to Chile please, and set up some dog shelters.

Catch the latest CMA video production

CMA is proud to present our second production in the CURRENTS series of documentaries about contemporary artists. CURRENTS: Jason Salavon provides an overview of his work, including the development of his CMA exhibition, on view through May 4.

DVDs of the production, with additional features including an exclusive artist’s video, are available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Columbus Ranked “Top Arts Destination”

Columbus Ranked #10 in the upcoming June issue of American Style Magazine.

Columbus is heralded as the 10th “Top Arts Destination” among big cities in the United States in the upcoming, June issue of AmericanStyle Magazine. The national publication geared to toward art enthusiasts and collectors ranks cities based upon their public art, gallery offerings and institutional arts according to readers polls. Of the top 25 destinations, only Columbus, New York, Chicago, Washington, and Portland were highlighted with an accompanying photo in the article. Columbus’ photo is an image of the “In Dreams Again” public art totem in the Short North’s Poplar Park. The associated caption reads: “Enriching Columbus Ohio: creativity in the Short North Arts District.

The full ranking of the top 25 big cities (populations of 500,000 or greater) after the link:

1. New York, NY
2. Chicago, Ill
3. Washington, D.C.
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Boston, Mass.
6. Seattle, Wash.
7. Albuquerque, N.M.
8. Philadelphia, Pa.
9. Baltimore, Md.
10. Columbus, Ohio
11. Portland, Ore.
12. Los Angeles, Calif.
13. Austin, Texas
14. Phoenix, Ariz.
15. Denver, Colo.
16. Tucson, Ariz.
17. Charlotte, N.C.
18. San Diego, Calif.
19. Las Vegas, Nev.
20. Milwaukee, Wis.
21. San Antonio, Texas
22. Nashville, Tenn.
23. Dallas, Texas
24. Houston, Texas
25. Jacksonville, Fla.

Getting ready for Material Matters

In just a few short months, Material Matters will be opening here at CMA. In the meantime, click here to check out a new blog post by one of the artists in the exhibition.

Everything you want to know about Museums…

In case you missed it, The New York Times ran a special section on Museums last week, lots of great information. Click here to check it out.