10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2012 (from Arts Watch)

This article was posted on Facebook by the Office of Cultural Affairs for the City of Columbia.  I couldn’t help but repost.  How have you helped support the arts in Columbia?

10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2012 (from Arts Watch)

topic: Animating Democracy Arts Education Arts Marketing Emerging Leaders Private Sector Public Art
Posted by Randy Cohen On April – 11 – 2012

Randy Cohen

Almost one year ago, I posted The Top Ten Reasons to Support the Arts in response to a business leader who wanted to make a compelling case for government and corporate contributions to the arts.

Being a busy guy, he didn’t want a lot to read: “Keep it to one page, please.”

With the arts advocacy season once again upon us…(who am I kidding, it’s always upon us!)…here is my updated list for 2012.

10 Reasons to Support the Arts

1. True prosperity. The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. They help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age. When times are tough, the arts are salve for the ache.

2. Improved academic performance. Students with an education rich in the arts have higher GPAs and standardized test scores, lower drop-out rates, and even better attitudes about community service—benefits reaped by students regardless of socioeconomic status. Students with four years of arts or music in high school average 100 points better on their SAT scores than students with one-half year or less.

3. Arts are an industry. Arts organizations are responsible businesses, employers, and consumers. Nonprofit arts organizations generate $166 billion in economic activity annually, supporting 5.7 million jobs and generating nearly $30 billion in government revenue. Investment in the arts supports jobs, generates tax revenues, and advances our creativity-based economy.

4. Arts are good for local merchants. The typical arts attendee spends $27.79 per person, per event, not including the cost of admission on items such as meals, parking, and babysitters. Non-local arts audiences (who live outside the county) spend nearly twice as much as local arts attendees ($40.19 vs. $19.53)—valuable revenue for local businesses and the community.

5. Arts are the cornerstone of tourism. Arts travelers are ideal tourists—they stay longer and spend more. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that the percentage of international travelers including museum visits on their trip has grown annually since 2003 (17 to 24 percent), while the share attending concerts and theater performances increased five of the past seven years (13 to 17 percent since 2003).

6. Arts are an export industry. U.S. exports of arts goods (everything from movies to paintings to jewelry) grew to $64 billion in 2010. With U.S. imports at just $23 billion, the arts achieved a $41 billion trade surplus in 2010.

7. Building the 21st century workforce. Reports by The Conference Board show creativity is among the top-five applied skills sought by business leaders—with 72 percent saying creativity is of high importance when hiring. The biggest creativity indicator? A college arts degree. Their Ready to Innovate report concludes, “…the arts—music, creative writing, drawing, dance—provide skills sought by employers of the 3rd millennium.”

8. Healthcare. Nearly one-half of the nation’s healthcare institutions provide arts programming for patients, families, and even staff. 78 percent deliver these programs because of their healing benefits to patients—shorter hospital stays, better pain management, and less medication.

9. Stronger communities. University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and lower poverty rates. A vibrant arts community ensures that young people are not left to be raised solely in a pop culture and tabloid marketplace.

10. Creative Industries. The Creative Industries are arts businesses that range from nonprofit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies. An analysis of Dun & Bradstreet data counts 904,581 businesses in the U.S. involved in the creation or distribution of the arts that employ 3.3 million people—representing 4.25 percent of all businesses and 2.15 percent of all employees, respectively.

11. What is your #11? Share with us in the comments below…

Want to post these reasons on your wall or take it to a meeting with your mayor? Download these 10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2012 from our main website.

The Artist is Present

An artist that has come up in conversation over the past month, from both fellow art-makers and local movie-goers, is that of Marina Abramovic. As perhaps one of the most influential artists in the realm of performance  and conceptual art for the past three decades, her work inspires and unites fine artists, those interested in the social interaction of cultures, and intellects across the board. She is interested in giving the audience control, allowing them to be main players in performance, and at (most) times, giving them the power to harm her.   

Her work focuses on the human condition, exploring our levels of comfort with ourselves, our  movites for decision-making, and what it is to have a human body in time. She is interested in exploring and pushing  the limits of our physical bodies and mind, usually involving self-mutilation and pain, in order to throw in question the viewers’ level of comfort. Her performances invite viewers to interact with her body and question their reasons for wanting to do so.  Discomfort becomes a device for interaction and primer for deep self- analyzation.

She is in fact one of my favorite artists, for her work makes people question the role of art in society at large and for us personally.   She has gained recent hub in Columbia town due to her appearance in the True/False Film Festival. Come watch a documentary about her work and influence:

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present

Dir. Matthew Akers; 2011; 105 min.

Friday, Mar 2 / 12:00PM / Forrest Theater

Saturday, Mar 3 / 3:00PM / Missouri Theatre

Sunday, Mar 4 / 5:30PM / The Blue Note

In Person: director Matthew Akers

 

This blog post was written by PS:Gallery intern and local artists Leah Bowring

Bloggers Needed

Many of you may have noticed that over the summer our blog has grown.  Certainly the number of posts, but more notably in the quality of posts.  I fully credit that to Shea Boresi.  She came on as our new Associate Curator in June and took over the blog with gusto and I must say skill.  Unfortunately, blogs, at least this blog, does not pay the bills and so Shea has moved on to greener pastures.  We will miss her witty and insightful blogging.

So, your stuck with me.  I will do my best to muddle through.  I am not the brilliant writer that Shea is, but I have something to say.  I will post as often as I can find the time.  I am also going to make Joel Sager and Chris Stevens squeeze an interesting (hopefully) blog post out on occasion.  This brings me to the point of todays blog (finally).  We need you!  If you have something interesting to say, please email me with a blog post.  If I find it appropriate for our blog, I will post it as a guest blogger.  If you have an interesting topic that you would like to banter about via our blog, please contact me with that as well.  I think this blog is an interesting way to communicate about what is going on at PS:Gallery, Columbia, and the art world in general.  I look forward to hearing your feedback.  Oh, and please be kind, I’m doing the best I can.

 

Jennifer Perlow

jennifer@perlow-stevensgallery.com

Art in “The Age of Mass Intelligence”

Photo credit: Mark Prior, from Intelligent Life, Winter 2008

In his article “The Age of Mass Intelligence” (Intelligent Life, Winter 2008), John Parker makes what should be an obvious argument, but is one that runs contrary to popular opinion: that the information age has actually made us more informed.  The tagline reads, “We’ve all heard about dumbing down. But there is plenty of evidence that the opposite is also true. Is this, in fact, the age of mass intelligence?”

Thanks to widely distributed media, and most of all thanks to the internet, “the masses”—that’s you and me—have access to more information than ever before.  Consequently, the distinction between high and popular culture is increasingly artificial.  One can download Bach just as easily as Eminem.  (And many of the same people do both.)  Classic literature, far from being the exclusive province of those who can afford expensive books, is available in cheap hard cover editions and for free download.  (See also: public libraries.)  As a culture, we may kill a lot of time watching Youtube videos of cats, but more and more of us also partake of substantial fare.  While privilege remains a powerful force, and disparities in the US educational system can scarcely be overstated, those of us currently drawing breath are, on the whole, more educated than any prior generation.  Along with the vacuous diversions we create and love, we consume and generate more high art and discourse than our grandparents or theirs.  And we commonly use our access to information to cultivate an eclecticism of aesthetics and ideas that used to be exceedingly uncommon.  In short, this is the best time that has ever existed for ideas.

In case you don’t believe me that more people are taking in more elements of “high culture” than they used to, allow me to quote Parker:

Consider these straws, all blowing in the same direction. In 1999/2000, there were 24m visits to Britain’s biggest museums. In 2007/08, the figure was 40m. Between 1999 and 2001, Britain scrapped entry charges, so the increase is partly attributable to that. Still, it was a lot of people. And another factor is the popularity of blockbuster exhibitions, such as the Terracotta Army show at the British Museum–which are seldom free, so scrapping charges cannot be the sole explanation. In most of the great cities of the West, museums now dominate the lists of most popular tourist attractions. More people go to the Louvre each year than to the Eiffel Tower; in London, three museums–the Tate, the British Museum and the National Gallery–each attract more visitors than the London Eye.

In 2006 the New York Metropolitan Opera started an experiment to reach a new audience. It began transmitting opera performances live to cinemas. In the first year it broadcast six productions to 98 movie houses in America; 325,000 people watched. The second year, it transmitted eight operas to 935,000 people. This year, there will be 11 productions, 850 cinemas in 28 countries and a forecast audience of 1.2m: roughly 100,000 people per show, compared with just 3,700 at the Met itself. A few dress up in finery. Many more stood outside in Times Square, New York, this year staring at the digital displays that usually advertise Panasonic or Disney, watching the Met’s opening-night concert.

In spite of these observable trends, we seem strangely blind to the current naissance.  (To say “renaissance” would be to deny the unprecedented nature of the moment.)  In fact—while in this college town it is also hard to avoid snarky chatter about “overeducated” young people—one hears much about the disintegration of the intellectual fabric of our society: the failing public schools and the prevalence of inane reality television.  Certainly, we need to put more of our resources where our hearts are by increasing funding to schools and arts organizations.  But this bleak attitude is incongruous with other real changes occurring before our eyes.  Even in our moderately sized community of mixed means, and in this economic recession, we can see evidence of increased cultural engagement. 

I should admit that I have a particular perspective on this.  For several years, I have lived and worked in downtown Columbia, which puts me in a position to witness the trends Parker traces in his article.  I have worked at Ragtag Cinema, which is an independent theater and high-meets-popular culture venue if ever there was one.  (Ragtag screened the Met performances mentioned above on the same nights as some very silly pulp horror flicks.)  In recent years, it has grown from a hole in the wall to a bustling complex that has become a downtown staple.  Now I work at PS:Gallery, which occupies a prominent corner of the North Village Arts District—an area that was derelict warehouses a few short years ago.  These institutions did not spring up organically, of course.  They are the result of the vision and persistence of dedicated people.  But they also could not exist without an audience who appreciates art.

I have heard it repeated that a fixed percentage of the population—something like 10 percent—takes an interest in art.  I think that quota is, at worst, based on snobbish assumptions, and is at the very least irrelevant in what Parker has termed “The Age of Mass Intelligence.”  To be clear, it’s not that people are actually smarter than they used to be; it’s that increased access to information is breaking down cultural barriers, resulting in unprecedented cultural heterogeneity. 

This has a few implications for an art gallery and its patrons.  First of all, to anyone who remains on the fence:  Art is not for people with more credentials or cash.  It is for you.  Whatever your perspective, you have something to add to the discourse.  And secondly, this is a really good time to see art.  There is so much generation, and so many fresh combinations of ideas. 

The mixing of high and low, old and new, is prominently on display in the PS: autumn exhibition:  M.W. Mantle’s oil paintings-cum-Polaroid snapshots; Jimmy Dahlquist’s mixed media sculptures created from the refuse of modern life; Joel’s Sager’s collaged interpretations of nostalgic items; Notley Hawkins’ high-art photographs of junk and carnivals.  It’s right here, right now. 

So stop watching those cat videos on Youtube, and join the discussion!

-Shea

For your Delectation and Delight, the Autumn 2012 Exhibit

Almost everything in the gallery is new.   There is a whimsical air to the autumn show: the kitschy, captivating flicker of the false candles on Jimmy Descant’s mixed media sculptures; the carnival theme of Notley Hawkins’ photos; the primary colors and child-like energy of Carlos Michael Finn’s abstract oil paintings. 

Even the PS: hallery exhibit is in on the fun.   The Art for Autism exhibit benefits Friends of the Thompson Center, which provides financial, emotional, and educational support to families coping with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  The cause is serious and worthy, but the art is celebratory–a riot of rainbow colors that testifies to the creativity of adults and children living with ASD.

 And there is new jewelry, including a collection from Casey Sheppard that can only be described as prehistoric-meets-industrial.  Silver and copper grommets and wire embellish worn-down PVC, which bears a striking resemblance to bone.  (You will have the opportunity to talk with her about her work during her trunk show this Friday, October 7, 6-9 pm, as part of Artrageous Weekend.)

In this show, there is never a dull moment.  But there are calm moments—and I would like to direct your attention to them, because it would be a tragedy to miss their charms. 

The first calm moment occurs when you first enter the gallery.  You are greeted by Chris Dahlquist’s “Terra Nullius” (No-man’s-land) collection, which looks like pared-down landscape paintings unified by a hazy blue pallet.  They seem simple enough, but if you give them a minute, they will haunt you.  Upon closer inspection, you will notice their depth and sheen.  If you get close enough, you will realize they aren’t paintings at all, but photographs printed on silver-painted steel.  They will suck you in if you let them.  

The second calm moment comes courtesy of Joel Sager.  After his misty tree-scapes in the spring, and his graphite and watercolor portraits in the summer, his autumn collection is a return to his signature oil paintings, incorporating tar-collaged wallpaper, featuring stylized domestic objects.  This series is remarkable for its depth, as well as the complexity and tailoring of the wallpaper elements.  It evidences his ripening nostalgia, and general maturity.  It’s also just plain pleasant to behold.

I have already developed an obsession with his “Welzschmetz,” a 36”x48” depiction of a metal pail on a ladder, set against patterned, robin’s egg blue wallpaper.  It doesn’t sound compelling, but there is something about it…   Is it the fresh pallet, the triangular composition, the large scale?  Yes.  Here it is, really little.  But, trust me, you want to see it in person:

I hope you are sufficiently tantalized to share our creative bounty this weekend.  Casey Sheppard’s trunk show is Friday, 6-9, and the opening reception for the autumn exhibit is Saturday, 6-9.  Come sip, nosh, and swoon. 

-Shea

Art is Power (to the People)

This is an open letter to the art-loving residents of Columbia, MO. 

Many of you know Kate Gunn, the director of the Artrageous program.  On the program’s blog, she makes a compelling case for the importance of art to a community’s economy.  With formidable citations, she quantifies some of ways in which art spreads prosperity, and why it is therefore a worthy investment even–or especially– in challenging economic times. 

[Check it out here.]

Of course, one would not want to reduce art’s value to its potential to generate money.  Its benefit to the human spirit and the fabric of a culture is ultimately priceless, but this truth sounds like ungrounded idealism during budget talks.  In the context of politics, it is important to note that, contrary to popular perception, art is not a generator of wealth only for an elite group.  A community’s cultural life—its art, music, plays, academic ideas, and the people who make these things—constitutes the community’s voice in wider society.  And this bears directly on the community’s economic strength and autonomy.

To put it on an individual and practical level:  People attending cultural events put money into the local economy, not only by buying tickets and art, but by spending their leisure time and money within the community.  Since Columbia’s locally owned businesses–including art venues, restaurants, and retail stores–are concentrated in the District, this is especially true here.  Visiting a gallery and then going out for dinner is not only a pleasant way to spend the evening, it supports people on all levels of the local economy, from table bussers, to artists, to restaurant and gallery owners.  This creates good jobs, and keeps wealth in the community; it stimulates the economy and helps it rebound in a healthy way.

While it should be apparent that art does not only benefit the set of people who bid on pieces in high-stakes auctions, it remains politically popular to relegate art to status of being a luxury.  True, art cannot be ladled into bowls and fed to hungry people.  But any forward-looking recovery plan must both reduce suffering and bolster the industries that will generate a healthy economy for the future.  Certainly, art is one of those industries. 

Arts advocates had to fight to keep the arts from being excluded from receiving stimulus funding.  In her article, Gunn cites an amendment proposed by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), which would have prevented arts groups from receiving economic recovery funds.  The amendment would have blocked stimulus funds from being applied to “any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theatre, art center, and highway beautification project.”   Initially, the proposal passed by a wide margin—76 to 24—but, in the end, the National Endowment for the Arts won modest funding.  This reflects an ongoing battle.

In her conclusion, Gunn states:

The Art Industry comprises not only of museums, galleries and theatres, but also artists, performers, musicians, and dancers.  The Arts Industry is unique in its ability to impact a wide range of industries, entire societies, and also support schools and governments.  By generating billions of dollars in annual revenue, the Arts are able to provide an economic catalyst on the local, state, and national levels.  Additionally, these economic impacts are felt by restaurants, hotels and retailers who benefit from traffic generated by arts programming.  As studies indicate, areas with prospering art institutions aid an area in becoming, or maintain, an appealing place to live, visit, and conduct business.

Recent economic hardships have impaired the arts industry, slashing funding and forcing some institutions and programming to close entirely.  Declining endowments, the banking crisis, cuts in state and federal funding, and a lowered consumer demand have all impacted the arts leaving many institutions unable to pay staff, continue programming or performances, or even keep their doors open.

It is my own conclusion that art can save us, but first we have to save art.  For it to receive the support it needs, we must defend its value—personally, in the art we generate, in the words we use, and in how we spend our time and money, and also politically.  This is not an abstract idea.  At stake is quality of your own community and your own life.

So go make something, and share it.  Or see what others are making–come to the gallery.  The next Artrageous Weekend is October 7th and 8th–coinciding with the opening of the autumn exhibit at PS:, on Saturday the 8th, 6-9 pm. 

As always, thank you for supporting the arts!

-Shea

North Village News: Matt Ballou at Orr Street Studios

Drawings by Matthew Ballou; Photo by August Kryger for Columbia Daily Tribune

University of Missouri professor, and past PS:Gallery artist, Matt Ballou has an exhibition around the corner at Orr Street Studios.  We were proud to feature his prints, and I recommend that you go check out his latest work, which focuses on his classroom art.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to talk with him about his show for the following story in today’s Sunday edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/sep/25/defying-gravity-with-mud/

-Shea

A Spiritual Journey with William Claassen/ Hallery Exhibition and “Feed your Soul Sunday” Event

 

As you walk down the Hallery, you find yourself transported.  Dervishes whirl; a contemplative young monk bathes a statue’s feet; an elderly ascetic begs; two child-initiates in robes link arms.   This is the exhibition “Pilgrimage: India, Thailand, and Turkey,” by William Claassen.

Claassen, a graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, is a career nomad.  He has traveled to more than forty countries for projects ranging from social activism to journalism, but his special interest in religious diversity has been a thread tying together much of his wide experience.  The images in his current exhibition come from the two and a half years that he was researching his book Alone in Community: Journeys into Monastic Life Around the World.

On September 25^th we will have the opportunity to discuss the images with the artist, and to hear a reading from Alone in Community.  So stock up on local produce and art at the Sunday Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market, and then come to PS: for a journey to more exotic climes. 

2 pm on Sunday, September 25^th, in the Hallery. 

The exhibition is up now through the end of September.

I hope you will join us.

-Shea

n+1: Guidelines for Openings

My friend Elaine tagged me on facebook in the following post.  I love our openings.  I love talking with people.  I enjoy the energy.  I don’t take myself as seriously as this post implies, but it was a really fun read.  Many of the items are spot on.  Our next opening is February 26th.  This will be one of the biggest events in a while as it is our GRAND OPENING of the new PS:Gallery space at 1025 E. Walnut in Columbia Missouri.  Hope to see you there, maybe if I catch your eye I will send you an air kiss.

Jennifer

 

 

n+1: Guidelines for Openings.

 

To celebrate the third printing of I Like Your Work: Art and Etiquette, we’re featuring this excerpt from the book, which previously appeared at Paper Monument.

1. You must attend openings. When you’re Bruce Nauman, you can be a hermit in New Mexico. Until then however, you have to attend openings. Why? If you’re young, it’s important to find out how things work, to meet your colleagues, to find out what’s out there in the world, and ultimately, perhaps, to learn how to behave at openings. If you’re mid-career, you must go out to support the colleagues you met at the earlier stage of your respective careers. If you’re older, it’s important to support colleagues, still, but now also students, and / or other members of the younger generation who will see you as a mentor. Other slightly noble reasons: if you’re obsessed with art and you have to see things as soon as you’re able, and if you really, honestly, love art—talking about it, interacting with it, talking to people responsible for making, distributing, promoting, and critiquing it. If you love it, then it’s not work. Artists, critics, and curators stay vital when they’re interacting with their peers. If you’re young and you hate openings, there’s a noble history of outsider artists living in insane asylums and working as janitors who are discovered long after they’ve died. If you’re old and you hate openings, it’s likely your best years are behind you, and you think all art but the stuff you and your peers made is shit. I hope your few years of past relevance allow you to retire to your television.

2. You must greet and congratulate the dealer and the artist(s) at the opening. All other greetings are situational: a friendly nod if you catch somebody’s eyes is completely acceptable, as are a passing pat, an air kiss, or any preferred method of casual greeting in a crowded opening where you may know half the crowd.

3. The dealer is required to provide alcohol and non-alcohol to all the guests. This can be as simple as a tub of beer and bottled water. It can be fancy wines and freshly squeezed juices, cheese platters, and a bow-tied bartender. There ought to be alcohol for at least the first two hours of a three-hour opening. The last hour is usually best, but not if there’s no alcohol.

4. If the dealer and/or artist(s) ask you how you like the show during the opening, try to find something polite to say. If they insist on a real opinion, they’ve got whatever you have to say coming.

5. Be briefed on at least three recent things that you can be congratulatory about: recent exhibitions seen and enjoyed, exhibitions you would like to see and enjoy but have not been able to make yet for whatever reason, recent successes by colleagues.

6. If you’re an artist, critic, or curator, someone will inevitably ask you what you’re working on. It’s good to have either two projects that can be mentioned briefly, or one project that can be mentioned in more depth—though still kept within the bounds of appropriate party chatter. In different cities, artists, critics, and curators take different tacks on describing their workload. In Los Angeles, artists must always look like they are rested and fresh. In New York, the more haggard and hardworking you look the better. It’s always appropriate to be on your way to or to have just returned from international travel, e.g., “I just got back from being in this biennial in Prague, but I’ve only a couple of weeks to get on my feet before I have to have some meetings in London.”

7. Usually the rapid coming and going of people at an opening allows for quick conversational turnover, but if you get stuck in a bad conversation with someone and you’re outside, say, “I’m just going to pop in and look at the show.” If you’re inside, say, “I’m just going to pop out for some air/a cigarette.” If they’re still following you, go to the bathroom.

8. If you don’t know anyone at an opening, (unlikely after a few years going to openings but nevertheless), then it’s relatively easy to engage with people looking at the work or at the beer bucket. The more people you can attend the opening with, the easier it may be to weave yourself into the social web.

9. Try not to get too drunk on the cheap white wine/cheap beer at the opening: afterwards, at the bar or at dinner, it’s more acceptable. But you still have to be able to walk out of the bar at the end of the evening. Unless, of course, you don’t want to, in which case you can likely get away with being a drunk for many years as long as you don’t punch people too often.

10. The dinner after the opening can only be attended if you’re invited formally, beforehand, or by the dealer or artist during the opening—except if it’s a very wealthy gallery having a very large dinner where no one is sure who’s invited and who isn’t, and you know a few people there. Somebody always doesn’t show, and either way you’re welcome to stay at the bar or smoke outside while things mix up. N.B.: this only works at certain restaurants. In Los Angeles, the best place to crash is Dominic’s.

11. Whoever you sit next to at the dinner determines your rank in the pecking order, according to the gallery. If you sit next to the artist, it’s likely you’re wealthy, the artist’s best friend, or an important curator. If you sit behind the potted plant next to the artist’s third cousin, it’s likely you’re a critic. This can be accepted temporarily—as the dinner breaks up, there is great mobility in seating arrangements. (This is dependent on the size of the dinner and the choreography of the event.)

12. Business can always be discussed at openings and dinners, provided you observe the protocols. Artists can never directly invite dealers to visit their studios, unless a strong rapport has already been established. Artists can, however, talk about what they’re working on, and the excitement that others have for the work, e.g., “I just finished the installation about Hekabe with the really ornate collage. Hans Ulrich stopped by on his way through and said it looked like Vito Acconci on acid.” Curators can corner dealers for specific works. Critics can, and should, get whiskey for free.

SEASONAL NOSTALGIA

Below is a review, published by ereview out of Kansas City, written by our former intern Valeria Turturro.

By Valeria Turturro December 20, 2010

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A review of Fall Exhibit 2010

Jo Stealey, “Napkin Study,” pecan, boxelder and ginko leaves, silk organza, thread, and vintage textiles; 32″ x 33″. Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist 

Perlow-Stevens Gallery
Columbia, Missouri
September 29 — December 30, 2010

Fall is the most nostalgic of seasons. As the year draws to an end, like dusk at the end of the day, fall prepares us for the dark, cold winter ahead. It’s a time of reflection, really. How fitting, then, that the fall exhibition at PS:Gallery is full of just that reflective nostalgia. Here two University of Missouri faculty members, Brett Grill and Jo Stealey, show work that is diverse in media but complementary in tone.

Brett Grill’s paintings are collections of memories and mementos. Seeing Knicknacks and Novocain the viewer loses site of the man, woman, and child in the painting and writes them off as fellow forgotten objects. As the people are presumably asleep on a bench, their laps strewn with a doll, boxes, and playing cards, they blend in with their surrounding.

The painting as a whole is reminiscent of I Spy books. “I spy an old birdcage, a preserved wooden chair, and an old wagon wheel.” The viewer’s eyes never tire from picking out some new detail and wondering about the sentiment behind each item.

Brett Grill, “Knicknacks and Novocain,” oil on linen, 62″ x 67″. Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist 

The old household items and toys lie like pieces of the past, as if they represent the memories of how this family once was, now that the child is grown and no longer the innocent boy asleep on his father’s lap.

In Small Monument, people are absent but photographs take their place. Most of the items are attached with price tags, showing that no matter what personal value they once had, they’ve now been reduced back to what they originally were: another thing to be bought. Each of these things — the globe, the tabletop sculptures from foreign lands, a well-used cake mixer — pay tribute to a certain memory. They’re monuments to years past.

Most of Grill’s paintings are subdued in color, although not monotone in any sense. A murky, hazy quality of light hangs over each of these works like a fading memory.

Jo Stealey’s art seems to be a beautiful ode to fall, fragility, and history. In her fiber art, she threads together leaves and silk into delicate keepsakes that appear to have been handed down from generation to generation. Napkin Study is a beautiful rendition of a traditional heirloom, like a doily made by nature. The faded brown leaves seem to have withstood years of use, like the special textile that sits in a grandparent’s immaculate home.

Jo Stealey, “Seduction,” scrub oak leaves and thread, 17″ x 21″. Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist 

In Seduction and Heirloom, leaves are layered to form a natural fabric; thread is stitched onto the leaves, which would not seem to withstand even the slightest handling, let alone such needlework, and the effect is mesmerizing. With a ribbon sewn at the top, Seduction resembles an apron made of leaves. And with this, Stealey furthers her study of the home and domesticity. Not only is needlework a traditionally female craft, but Stealey’s creations are also comments on the roles women have taken up and continue to examine. The leaves in further remind us that nature cycles yearly. The leaves will always fall and then grow back and then fall once more. They’re transient but dependable. They’re also another connection to history and a heritage.

Henry David Thoreau wrote that we should live in each season as it passes and resign ourselves to the influences of each. In Grill’s artwork, we resign ourselves to the nostalgia of memories and the melancholy tendencies of fall; in Stealey’s, we reconsider our own connection with nature and the lifelong cycles it takes us through.

-re-