Cliffnotes: One Month Condensed into One Week

I would hate the pressure of having to post a monthly diary of my art activities. But I am going to give you a brief outline of what it is like to be me compressed into 7 days. Excuse my further liberties with the sequence of these events. Hopefully it will be insightful to some of you and it may help me to prioritize my time in the future. Remember that some of these projects might fall through the cracks. But there seem to be a dozen waiting in the wings.

Day 1

Lunch with Julio Orozco where I learned about his exciting art projects including story boards for sleazy movies and I gave advice on galleries and choice of work for the New Contemporaries III at Project X: Art. That night we previewed the new work by David Adey; John Henry at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, which was a stunning “flat” bridge of books. Negotiations were finalized soon after to hold the SD Art Prize shows at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library with the help of Erika Torri the director. Adey’s show is the first, followed by Gail Roberts and in April of 2011, we will collaborate on the Einar and Jamex de la Torre exhibitions. We also found out that Larry Poteet will be manning the Beyond the Borders booth at Art San Diego. All four SD Art Prize artists will be featured in our two booths at the fair which will be next to the BTB Art Gallery booth. It should be a great 4 days of partying at the Hilton Bayfront Sept 2 -5. I finished setting the panel where the nominators will speak on behalf of the artists at Project X on May 15 and the catalog for that show is very near completion and will be posted by the time you read this. We are holding on going discussions with the Omni Hotel to find them a new curator for their exhibition space. We are so thankful to them for hosting the prize for the last three years and want to make sure that space stays one primarily for local artists.

Day 2

We were off in a rain storm to the Mingei International Museum to see Tempering Memory, by Julio Rodríguez, which complements the exhibition ¡VIVA MÉXICO!. ¡VIVA MÉXICO! — Heroes and Artisans. Lovely photos and display of historical artifacts and always a pleasure to be in the beautiful Mingei. We confirmed with Julio and Cecilia that we will try to bring 2-3 bus loads of patrons to the opening of EntijuanaArt at the end of Sept. This is also the opening of the Tijuana Movers and Shakers exhibition that features TJ artists making portraits of TJ VIPs in the art world. Wow, we have gone international.

Day 3

We may have been the oldest folks at the Glashaus but this was our opportunity to see this relatively new space (the party was for the one year anniversary and the dress was mustache masquerade. Device Gallery and Matt Divine both have cornerstone presence in the space and we also loved the work of Michael Mass and discovered many designers including Trista Roland and Allison Neumann. This would make a lovely venue as a hub for the Art Meets Fashion Project. (Launching this week with a meeting for all interested in know more on April 22) We are also considering the new space4Art building and the NTC. We finally launched the application and guidelines for this collaboration after weeks of working on the logo design (stunning even if it was made by committee and not my preferred way of making design decisions.) The visit to the SD Airport with our host Constance White (to see the stunning new works by the de la Torre’s) will result with luck in a further collaboration in their new WestEnd Gallery and maybe even a fashion show in baggage claim in 2011.

Day 4

Lunch with Felicia Shaw of the SD Foundation and Naomi Nussbaum of Synergy Arts Foundation was held in Cardiff to discuss a project to give grants to artists to help them prepare for emergencies. Synergy is the perfect fit for this project and working with Felicia is a joy. We hope to give away Studio Protectors and give a workshop to help artist to apply for the grants and learn some of the things they can do to prepare for the unknown natural or man-made disaster. Lunches like this confirm my belief in the Eat Your Art Out projects which gives artists and art patrons a chance to break bread and get past the starter and into the meat and potatoes of the art world. We have three of these in process for the summer of 2010.

Day 5

Reading the new Public Art Master Plan (Draft) for the Port of San Diego with a bunch of new recommendations for a clearer vision of how all the artwork should work together to build a collection and fulfill their vision was heavy going as it was 74 pages. Comparing it to the beautifully illustrated 28 page master plan for the SD Airport was interesting. The SD Airport plan is full of inventive wishes such as curbside canopies and an observation platform, a performance venue and meditation area and even a chill zone. Even more heavy going was the workshop for the SD Women’s Foundation and then the speech by the new director of the NEA, Rocco Landesman held at the La Jolla Playhouse. Mainly I am just tired of hearing how important art and culture is to the health and vitality of the city. Hell, we all know that. But I never hear any creative and exciting plans that the powers that be have to allow the arts to perform that role to its fullest. There was no explanation why San Diego received only $75,000 out of the $5 million that came to California. The good news is that Rocco is trying hard to raise money for the arts from the budgets for housing, education, transportation and health and environment agencies. By making the arts the fulcrum for getting funds, he hopes his Art Works (triple entendre) campaign produces results. There were some networking opportunities at both. However, I especially enjoyed hearing and meeting Vicki Estrada from Media Arts Center. We hope to expand by using interns into the video world much more in the future especially with the Art Meets Fashion project.

Day 6

We were able to help the Bronowski Art & Science Forum with non-profit status through our fiscal agent program and they will be holding their first panel on Thurs. May 27 at The Neuroscience Institutes auditorium with a Conversations with Roman De Salvo and Dr. V.S. Ramachandran. They will be making lots of improvement to the forum with the help of some wonderful volunteers. Likewise, we hope to assist the Contemporary Art Committee from the San Diego Museum of Art with some strategies for getting new members….maybe in the future a website of their own to high light the excellent programs that they put on with an emphasis on meeting local artists. Their last meeting featured Lea de Witt who gave a marvelous video presentation of her glass process. They will all be treated to a private showing of the New Contemporaries III show in May where I lined up a selection of artist to make presentations.

Day 7

Even my rest day is all art all the time. I was happy to visit Becky Guttin’s studio on Silverton Avenue to see new work before she jets off for her show in Israel. Five other artists have opened their studios in this same location in Mira Mar and we were told that rents are cheap and I can testify that the studios are large and airy. More artists should consider this area. They hope to put on regular open house and this would be a great location for group shows as well. Which reminds me that I finished the power point presentation for my lecture on March 23 at SDAI on how to curate a group show. This is an old soapbox for me as I would like to see more thought put into exhibitions to raise the standard of shows that we see. I also saw a play at the Encinitas Library which was FREE and filled to capacity…very heartening and Jim Gilliam is to be endlessly commended for bringing the arts alive to our community. I was treated by Irene de Watteville to a performance of Aurélia's Oratorio, which was charming if a bit light weight but beautifully performed. I spent time in my own studio working on a new line of sculptures We zipped over to Kansas City for the 125 anniversary of the KC Art Institute and saw the new wing of the Nelson Aitkin Museum. It was the most beautiful landscape and thrilling to see snow falling and white blanketing everything. We visited with Debbie Glassberg , my friend who has just finished building a house out of ship’s containers, which was stunning and environmentally as green as you can get. We dined with Bruce and Cheryl Tall and saw her latest paintings, which are starting to surpass her ceramic sculpture. She is teaching Jean Lowe how to make small ceramic works for the Specimen gift shop at Lux.

I truly believe in the power of art. It fills my life in so many ways. I just hope it doesn’t bury me.