Blog

Giving the Gift of Art & Food?

I have been at CMA a little over a year now.  In that time I have discovered how many people close to me adore the museum for its' art, education, and/or family programming.  Yet, I continue to struggle to get the message out at the holidays to give the gift of art. 

 Think about it... you probably know family and friends that would get a lot of enjoyment out of a year long membership to CMA. 

This year we have even partnered with Barcelona Restaurant and Bar!  With each membership that you purchase, we will include a $20 gift certificate toward the purchase of two dinner entrees at Barcelona.

If you want... you can keep the certificate for yourself and give the membership..lol... we won't tell ;-)

Kristy Emch
Member Relations Manager

Studio Visit

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Melissa Vogley Woods' studio.  I first saw her work at the HERE and Beyond exhibition at the Riffe Gallery this Summer.  Over the past several years her work has largely focused on the image of Sun Bonnet Sue, albeit with Melissa's own contemporary and whimsical twists.  In Melissa's world, Sun Bonnet Sue no longer stands by politely but participates in the actions and arguments of her time.  She has taken an iconic image from the history of quiltmaking and turned it on it's head, creating mixed media drawings, sculptures and photographs.

Melissa will be at the Riffe Gallery again on Sunday, November 13 from 2-4pm as part of the Quilt National '09 exhibition programming.   She will be teaching some basic quilting techniques to children rather than speaking about her work, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few questions!  Take the opportunity to meet this young, local artist if you can.

Lisa Dent
-Associate Curator of Contemporary Art

Passport to History

I have to admit that, at heart, I remain a historian. I revel in the power of history to teach us and in many cases, bring us together. There is a fantastic program happening this Sunday, November 1 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm (registration starts at 1:30) at the Columbus Metropolitan Library that really delves into the ways that a shared history can bring generations together.

Passport to HIstory: Sharing Family Memoris encourages parents and grandparents to bring their school age chinldren that offers an opportunity fo the two generations to talk with one another about aspects of their past and present as they create a small "passport booklet" for the child to take home.

Our own Carole Genshaft will speak about how older family members helped Aminah Robinson create some of her best known paintings and collages. Russ Pollitt will discuss how famiy trees are constructed to preserve family history. John Lee will share his knowledge of how to make bows and arrows in order to deomstrate the changing nature of important tools in our daily lives.

You'll have to register (you can email reservations@columbushistory.org), but it's free to attend.

Art Speaks. Join the Conversation.
Nannette Maciejunes

Inspiration

Some of you may have read one of the many recent stories about artist Shephard Fairey.  Fairey recently admitted to lying to investigators regarding the use of an Associated Press image in his artwork and in doing so has once again ignited conversations around inspiration, appropriation and fair use.

On the exact same weekend, artist Stephanie Syjuco set up her project, "Copystand: an autonomous manufacturing zone," at the Frieze Art Fair.  In what she calls a "counterfeiting event," Syjuco and a team of artists took over a booth at the prestigious, international art fair.  Over the course of the 4 day event the artists re-created other artworks found within the fair and displayed them as they were completed.  All of the"copies" were for sale, and for a fraction of the price of the original.

As someone who grew up in the age of hip-hop, and later became educated in the ideas of conceptual art practice, pulling inspiration from other sources sometimes feels as natural as sleeping.  And when you hear Syjuco talk about the project, she is clearly aware of the historical, artistic and economic forces around her.  It's the lie that Fairey told that seems to get to people.  Syjuco, on the other hand, puts it out there for all to know and see.

I'm curious to see where all this will lead.  Are you?

-Lisa Dent, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art

art:21 and CMA Top 5

Come to the museum this Thursday, October 8 for two special events:

6:00 PM Special Screening of new episode of PBS series art:21
7:00 PM CMA Top 5 presentation by Curator for Contemporary Art Lisa Dent

We're participating in ART:21 Access '09, a celebration of contemporary art and Season 5 of Art:21 - Art in the 21st Century. We'll present a special screening of an episode from the new season of the PBS television series about contemporary artists. The episode features artists Carrie Mae Weems and William Kentridge, both of whom are represented with artworks in the CMA collection.

The 60-minute episode will be followed by a presentation from CMA Associate Curator of Contemporary Art Lisa Dent. She will present the third program in the CMA Top 5 series. This one is, of course, about contemporary art in our permanent collection.

-Jeff Sims, Educator for Adult Programs/Multimedia Producer