a time capsule of sorts for the month of september

"what's shakin' in sept" door hanger


my september playlist


progress on the gateway @ the end of september

new york and tim gunn

what a weekend. on saturday i went to new york for the first time. it's a four hour bus ride, and you're only there for seven hours, but it's totally worth it. we got dropped off in front of the whitney... and i always feel like any trip is validated when it involves seeing art. only a few floors were open because they were in the process of installing some exhibitions, but there was enough there to occupy a good portion of the day. so much there: an audio tour (love those...) of the "modernisms" exhibition on the fifth floor, mark bradford's "neither new nor correct" exploration of layers and maps, danny lyon's exhibit reflecting a "long term interest in the grouping and sequencing of imagery" (sounds like scrapbooking...) but the main attraction was rudolf stingel. i was so not expecting to step off the elevator and into a gallery completely covered, floor to ceiling, with aluminum covered insulation panels and a classy chandelier in the middle. visitors are invited to leave their mark- carve or write their name, stick something in the walls, even spray paint- whatever they want. all part of stingel's exploration of the definition of painting. he had a few crazy photo-realistic paintings (i didn't believe that they were oil paintings until i got really close.) from my saic eduction i've been weary of painting from photographs, but it was hard not to stand in awe of stingel's massive paintings. i have no clue how he accomplished such a feat... i liked his damask "wallpaper" paintings the most. they were placed in a room with a mirror metal laminate & plywood floor. seeing a piece reflected in the floor blew my mind. it was a whole new dimension of seeing art... calling me to participate and move around and see all the possible angles reflected in the floor. a heightened awareness of the piece on the floor translated to a new consciousness of what was actually on the wall. why wouldn't i investigate that more as well?

being in new york was a little weird. i don't like being in a place and having there be so much i don't know... i don't know if that makes any sense. but there is so much to that city. i could never grasp it all, so it almost made me not want to try. momsie told me to take a lot of pictures... but it was hard to put myself in the tourist category. (i did buy a five dollar "i heart new york" shirt.) i couldn't really get excited about seeing rockefeller plaza or radio city... maybe it was just because i couldn't find a starbucks all morning and i was looking forward to a hard core venti java chip.

i guess when it got darker outside it started to feel like it fit my expectations for the city a little bit more... the bus picked us up in soho, and i wish i had been able to spend more time in that area. it was much more artsy. they have bus trips at least once a month to new york, i'm going back in october with my drawing class... and i'm sure i'll go additional times & take advantage of such a good opportunity to see art.

today we walked down to the baltimore book festival to see the one and only tim gunn. he was there to discuss his book, "a guide to quality, taste, and style." a fitting title for such a classy man. he was very well spoken (even when he mentioned santino...) & i can't wait for the new season of project runway (november 14! tara & i are going to organize a showing in the gatehouse. the must see tv event of the season.)

even though we went for tim gunn, we were suprised to see how cool the rest of the book festival was. lots of fun stuff going on. we got harry potter glasses, chocolate covered strawberries (yum!), tatoos from the walters, and even met papa bear. check us out.

you know you're jealous.

closing thoughts to top off such an all-around fun weekend... the new matt pond pa cd came in the mail (woo hoo!) and tonight was the best coffeehouse ever. (i guess i don't have much to compare it to. but the performing acts were so enjoyable... only at mica do you get break dancers, spoken word, improv, acappella, fake rappers, and a eukele cover of "yoshimi battles the pink robots" together at one venue. must have been the sweet posters advertising for sign up.)

33. take field trips.

my elements of visual thinking teacher, katherine kavanaugh, (check out her website) decided we needed to break from our class structure and do something a little different this week. she arranged for us to travel to the home of al englemann, one of her friends who collects african art. i'm not sure if photos can do this field trip justice. imagine a house filled with hundreds of pieces of african art... three floors, every room (even bedroom & bathroom), floor to ceiling. only 10 people from the class could be there at once, because there just wasn't enough room. according to al, it is "50 years of insanity... a life of its own."

the whole thing was so overwhelming. i didn't like the objects themselves so much, but i could listen to al talk all today. there were so many moments when i wished i was writing it all down... but the environment wasn't conducive to having a sketchbook out. i have so much respect for him, for his vast life experience and knowledge.

here are some things he said that hit home with me...

"you are different than other folks. you're weird. you are forced to confront what is inside through your art. not a lot of people do that."

"stop beating yourself up. there are enough people out there who will do that for you."

"live with your anxiety. it's good for you. so many people lower their standards because of it. or live in denial."

good stuff.

town hall meeting

i went to my first "town hall meeting" today. it's mica's way of giving students an opportunity to learn about various initiatives on campus directly from the people in charge, and an opportunity to drill them with any burning questions or concerns. it takes place in falvey hall about 3 times a year. president fred lazarus, provost ray allen, and vice president dusty porter are the stars of the show... they sit on stage at a table complete with pressed tablecloth, microphones, and water bottles (which really should have been the mica water bottles parkhurst has now...) president lazarus said that he felt like he was on "meet the press." (i love him... he's got such a real, honest outlook on things. and it doesn't hurt that he always wears a bow tie and has a sense of humor.) the three of them truly are here to serve the students. they spend most of the day in an office, so it's obvious that they feed off of student interaction and opinion. the whole forum is as much for them as it is for however many people show up. (which was about 25 today.)

the town hall concept is a simple idea, still in the growing stages (2 years old.) i can't see why more people don't go. i didn't come with a hidden sustainability agenda or complaint about the shuttle services, but it felt good to just sit and listen to all of the things that are going on around me at mica. i took four pages, front and back, of notes. (but i do write pretty big...)

some issues on the docket: tuition increase, enrollment growth impacting space, availability of courses, new faculty, the diversity initiative, a new comprehensive mica website, spirituality at mica, sustainability of the new gateway building, improvements with the bank building, the role of the board of trustees, identifying core values on campus, and mica's place as a leading visual arts institution in the national dialogue.

i learned so much. & everything seemed positive. really moving in a good direction. is there room for improvement? yes. of course. but they recognize that here and are always looking for the next big things. it's good to know more about the big picture here. it gives you such a reassurance, and sense of ownership. if you want to change things... go for it. put things in motion.

brooklyn

my cap class toured brooklyn today. we were instructed to travel in groups of two (less likely to be approached for prostitution) & not to engage people on park benches (probably drug dealers), because, as fletcher put it: "this is not roland park." with that being said, i had a lot of expectations for the experience. i was surprised. (even though i'm finding that i'm not very good at detecting when people around me are under the influence.) it's easy to say that area is depressed and help is needed. but even that conclusion after spending a day there is lacking sensitivity to the people there. that is their life. and with cap you are always an outsider.


being the hopeless optimist i am, i always look for something to grab onto. a glimmer of something good amid a shitty situation. i found that in the elementary school there. they were so welcoming... & so excited to participate in "a neighborhood called baltimore." the staff is fortunate to have what they do. they made the environment a bright, fun safe haven for the kids to grow and learn. the vice principal took us around and showed off every room, every group of kids. i can't wait to go back and actually work with them and see what they create.


the art teacher there was great. (we found out she was a former mica/johns hopkins student... it has got to take a certain kind of motivation to be so young, just out of school, and willing to commit to teaching in baltimore, living off of a teacher's salary.) my favorite thing was her piet mondrian project with the pre-k kids. so cool. it is so important that they are able to have art classes and be creative... that isn't always a standard with inner city schools. the kids may never remember who piet mondrian is or doing a cut paper assignment when they were 6. but maybe when they are 16 they'll remember the power art had to allow them to escape from whatever was going on at home. maybe they'll grab construction paper, glue, and scissors instead of turning to drugs. maybe...

daily intelligence

i've been intrigued by these billboards since i arrived in b-more. my favorite one is: "next time someone asks 'what's up,' tell them." so i finally looked into it & bookmarked the baltimore examiner website. it has pdf archives of all of the newspapers... so cool. i'm making it my own personal campaign, starting now, to read more local news. i don't know yet if i should be worried about reliability in reporting or anything from them... but i figure it's better than nothing.

there is still so much i need to learn. i guess you have to know the whole story before you can begin to rewrite it. (gosh. i can't believe i just wrote that. i am so monumentally corny.)

ahhhhhhhh!

ok. so i know it's late. but i just had to share this.

www.posttypography.com

i love stumbling across stuff like this. i feel like i just hit the jackpot.

warning: do not go to this website until you can spend quality time with it. trust me, you'll never be able to tear yourself away from it...