Lux Art Institute, closed for the month of August, is poised to enter its seventh season of welcoming selected artists from around the world to spend a month in residence, creating new work and interacting with visitors of all ages.The 2013-14 season will open Sept. 5 with Matthew Cusick, a native New Yorker, currently based in Texas, who makes haunting collages out of fragments of maps inlaid in acrylic.
“Through a process of cutting up and reassembling fragments of maps from different places and times, I am attempting a more complete representation of an existence,” he writes on his website. In honor of his first long-term stay near the Pacific, he will create a large-scale ocean collage.
Nov. 5 will bring Melora Kuhn, a painter who draws her themes from history and myth. Born in Boston and educated at the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of Lorenzo di Medici in Florence, Italy, she lives in Brooklyn, and her work reveals a world where classical and contemporary elements coexist. The piece she creates at Lux will be a response to the history of the American West, and the extermination of the buffalo.
Three more resident artists will round out the season in 2014: Multimedia artist Marcus Kenney, from Savannah, Ga., is known for his “reclaimed taxidermy,” a backhand homage to the family of hunters he grew up in, and his whimsically macabre Southern Gothic pieces. At Lux, he will be working on his version of Bruegel’s Tower of oil painting reproduction.
Jarmo Makila, an artist from Finland who explores disturbing memories of his boyhood experiences, will create a series of clay sculptures of boys, one for each day of his stay that Lux is open to the public.
Beverly Penn, from Austin, Texas, finds inspiration in nature, interpreting delicate flora in durable bronze. She will collect and cast some of San Diego’s native plants, a number of which can be found in Lux’s own native gardens.
The plan was to meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at a coffee shop at Fourth and Gaskill, where Kelly likes to read. But it was pouring rain. So Miller called Kelly on her cellphone - yes, she has a phone - and they agreed to meet at Kelly's current residence, under the canopy at Headhouse Square. Kelly went over to Xochitl, a Mexican restaurant, grabbed a cardboard box from the trash, and folded it nicely as a seat for her guest. Miller, a retired English teacher at Edison High in Philadelphia who lives in Society Hill Towers, took up painting eight years ago.
She sees beauty in the most unfortunate and met Kelly this winter, when Kelly moved back from Boston after nine years. Kelly, who modeled in the nude for many years for art students at the University of Pennsylvania, is quite proud of her appearance. She's trim, clean, with clear skin. She eats no meat or dairy. "I can't keep my sanity unless I have my nutrition," she says. Were it not for her red and blue shopping carts spilling over with plastic bags holding all her worldly possessions, Kelly might resemble any of the other women of Society Hill, right down to the Crocs on her feet, though, she says, "I prefer Benjamin Lovell."
He also demonstrated his artistic prowess by finishing a small painting in front of the guests. The piece was then auctioned off.Describing his art as more expressionist than abstract, Quah said he painted intuitively without any pre-conceived notion of how the final product would turn out.He said his style was influenced by Van Gogh, De Kooning, Zou Wai Ki and other artists."My work depends on my mood. Most of the time, I paint in a happy mood as I always keep myself happy," said Quah, who was born in Taiping, Perak, but moved to Penang when he was 17.
He has written articles for international publications and been interviewed and featured on radio, television and in the print media many times.He said his Retrospective exhibition at the Penang State Art Gallery in November 2011 was one of the highlights of his career.
While enjoying his time back in Penang, spending time with his family, meeting old friends and making new ones, he said he was still painting in his studio, looking over the horizon for more challenges and new ground to cover.
Read the full products at http://artsunlight.com/.
2013年8月14日星期三
2013年5月30日星期四
Five keys to its success
Acquisitions are a risky business. It’s often hard for a big company to make an acquisition create value, especially in the short term. But Wesfarmers has had a number of transformative acquisitions, most notably the $19 billion Coles buyout. Others that come to mind are Bunnings, Westerns Collieries and Howard Smith. Return on equity has risen after every one of them.
Coles and Bunnings in particular are regarded by many analysts to have fuelled strong growth in a tough environment.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s David Errington says, “Bunnings is a standout business for Wesfarmers in terms of expected future growth in sales and earnings.” He notes the aggressive store rollout program, which will see trading space increase by more than 40 per cent over the next four years.
Errington also says he expects Coles to have double-digit earnings growth for at least the next three years.
The use of the company’s surplus capital is likely to be directed towards further acquisition, judging by the company’s strategy day on Wednesday. Wesfarmers has set up a business development office in Hong Kong, fuelling expectations that the company may look offshore for new growth opportunities.
Goyder has taken a leaf from the growth book of the People’s Republic of China. He had a five-year plan for Coles post the 2008 acquisition. With that period now finished and successful, he has moved on to the second five-year plan, according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Andrew McLennan.
“The focus this time is more towards retailing best practice, however from our perspective, new store expansion plans and further progression on sustainable margin expansion are just as compelling as the technology, channel and efficiency focus,” McLennan says.
As part of Coles’ huge FlyBuys campaign last year, they were reported as sending a card to almost every home in Australia – with the bait of a 10 per cent discount on a customer’s top five grocery products.
It was a smart move because big data is the future of commerce. Those cards give Coles huge insight into customer information and data. Big data is a new front in the battle for market share between the big retailers, such as between Coles and its competitor Woolworths.
Coles has used big data to pick the best locations to build expensive supermarkets but also to better guide their marketing campaigns so that are more specific. According to Deloitte, about a third of companies get the market advantage of using big data, the other two-thirds either don’t know where to start or are completely unaware.
Charles Duhigg’s book “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” explains how Target in the US is using big data.
Target’s analysts worked out 25 products, such as calcium, that give them the clue one of their shoppers is pregnant. They then send coupons and deal offers before the baby is born to try and change the shopping habits of that new mother into a customer for life.
As flagged in The Australian Financial Review’s StreetTalk column, Wesfarmers is believed to be considering the divestment of some of its property assets.
Deutsche Bank’s Michael Simotas notes: “Management highlighted that it intends to continue using innovative structures to support the sale and leaseback of property in order to focus on driving return on capital.”
All that said, Wesfarmers also faces difficulty, particularly on the mining side of the business which is a drag on the good news from the retail side of the business.
That means it is now be up to the authority for ensuring the on-street parking regulations are adhered to and the council's civil enforcement officers will issue penalty charge notices for breaches.
The authority has also used the changes to remind blue badge holders they can get an extra hour's parking for free in the town's car parks.
In the pay and display car parks, disabled drivers get the added 60 minutes on top of their ticket expiry time and can receive the same benefit in the pay on foot areas if they obtain a free smartcard by registering at the Customer Service Centre, School Drive.
Reminders of the free hour have been put on the new signs which detail the change in parking enforcement and it has been highlighted on the council's website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and in the summer edition of the authority's publication Together Bromsgrove.
“We want to make sure they are doing this to ensure there is a quick turnover of parking spaces and bays including those for taxis and people with disabilities.
“We have also taken the chance to include details about the town’s Blue Badge scheme so our residents, and visitors to the town, will know they get an hour's free parking on top of what they pay for.”
But Bromsgrove District Council has come under fire in the past for not making its car parks free to blue badge holders.
Labour leader, Coun Luke Mallett said: "The move to civil enforcement against illegal parking could improve problem parking in the town but it must be fairly and proportionately applied and will only ever be a part of solving our parking problems locally.
"A bigger issue that contributes to parking issues as well damaging our town centre economy is the cost of parking in Bromsgrove and the charging hours.Click on their website www.artsunlight.com for more information.
Coles and Bunnings in particular are regarded by many analysts to have fuelled strong growth in a tough environment.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s David Errington says, “Bunnings is a standout business for Wesfarmers in terms of expected future growth in sales and earnings.” He notes the aggressive store rollout program, which will see trading space increase by more than 40 per cent over the next four years.
Errington also says he expects Coles to have double-digit earnings growth for at least the next three years.
The use of the company’s surplus capital is likely to be directed towards further acquisition, judging by the company’s strategy day on Wednesday. Wesfarmers has set up a business development office in Hong Kong, fuelling expectations that the company may look offshore for new growth opportunities.
Goyder has taken a leaf from the growth book of the People’s Republic of China. He had a five-year plan for Coles post the 2008 acquisition. With that period now finished and successful, he has moved on to the second five-year plan, according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Andrew McLennan.
“The focus this time is more towards retailing best practice, however from our perspective, new store expansion plans and further progression on sustainable margin expansion are just as compelling as the technology, channel and efficiency focus,” McLennan says.
As part of Coles’ huge FlyBuys campaign last year, they were reported as sending a card to almost every home in Australia – with the bait of a 10 per cent discount on a customer’s top five grocery products.
It was a smart move because big data is the future of commerce. Those cards give Coles huge insight into customer information and data. Big data is a new front in the battle for market share between the big retailers, such as between Coles and its competitor Woolworths.
Coles has used big data to pick the best locations to build expensive supermarkets but also to better guide their marketing campaigns so that are more specific. According to Deloitte, about a third of companies get the market advantage of using big data, the other two-thirds either don’t know where to start or are completely unaware.
Charles Duhigg’s book “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” explains how Target in the US is using big data.
Target’s analysts worked out 25 products, such as calcium, that give them the clue one of their shoppers is pregnant. They then send coupons and deal offers before the baby is born to try and change the shopping habits of that new mother into a customer for life.
As flagged in The Australian Financial Review’s StreetTalk column, Wesfarmers is believed to be considering the divestment of some of its property assets.
Deutsche Bank’s Michael Simotas notes: “Management highlighted that it intends to continue using innovative structures to support the sale and leaseback of property in order to focus on driving return on capital.”
All that said, Wesfarmers also faces difficulty, particularly on the mining side of the business which is a drag on the good news from the retail side of the business.
That means it is now be up to the authority for ensuring the on-street parking regulations are adhered to and the council's civil enforcement officers will issue penalty charge notices for breaches.
The authority has also used the changes to remind blue badge holders they can get an extra hour's parking for free in the town's car parks.
In the pay and display car parks, disabled drivers get the added 60 minutes on top of their ticket expiry time and can receive the same benefit in the pay on foot areas if they obtain a free smartcard by registering at the Customer Service Centre, School Drive.
Reminders of the free hour have been put on the new signs which detail the change in parking enforcement and it has been highlighted on the council's website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and in the summer edition of the authority's publication Together Bromsgrove.
“We want to make sure they are doing this to ensure there is a quick turnover of parking spaces and bays including those for taxis and people with disabilities.
“We have also taken the chance to include details about the town’s Blue Badge scheme so our residents, and visitors to the town, will know they get an hour's free parking on top of what they pay for.”
But Bromsgrove District Council has come under fire in the past for not making its car parks free to blue badge holders.
Labour leader, Coun Luke Mallett said: "The move to civil enforcement against illegal parking could improve problem parking in the town but it must be fairly and proportionately applied and will only ever be a part of solving our parking problems locally.
"A bigger issue that contributes to parking issues as well damaging our town centre economy is the cost of parking in Bromsgrove and the charging hours.Click on their website www.artsunlight.com for more information.
2011年5月18日星期三
Plein Air Festival Returns to Wayne Art Center
Beginning Tuesday, May 17th and running until May 21, the Wayne Art Center will be hosting 32 artists from around the country for its 5th annual Plein Air Festival. Artists will travel from as far as Tennessee and Indiana to paint local landscapes.
Plein Air, which means “in the open air,” originated in Laguna Beach, California about fifteen years ago. In Plein Air festivals, artists have two to four days to paint as many on location landscapes as they can. Each painting takes two to three hours—a nonnegotiable time frame, since an artist can only paint a scene for as long as the light stays the same.
This year, artists will spend the first two days painting within a 15-mile radius of Wayne. The next day they will expand to Philadelphia, and on the final day, they will all paint in central Wayne. When they finish painting in Wayne at 1 p.m. on Saturday, they bring the paintings (some still wet, all already framed) to the Wayne Art Center.
“It’s like a triathlon of painting,” said Patti Hallowell, program coordinator at the Wayne Art Center. “It’s very rich and stimulating.”
Artists are required to produce at least two paintings, with some finishing with as many as fifteen. All in all, the Art Center hangs about 200 paintings. This is one of its two major fundraisers and one of the top selling exhibitions. Karen Louise Fay, director of special programs, cites familiarity and accessibility as the reason for the exhibit’s popularity. “People understand the subject matter,” she said.
The paintings, including those that have been sold, will be on display for the public until June 24 at the Davenport Gallery.
Although producing a large volume of paintings in a short time can be exhausting, many artists are trained in Plein Air techniques.
“These are people who seek challenge,” said Hallowell. Many painters enjoy the experience of painting from nature, where they can “hear the birds chirping.” Artists have their own styles and color palettes, and as Fay pointed out, even “clouds are interpreted differently.”
Local artist and participant Valerie Craig said that there is a “great spirit and energy” surrounding the festival. Craig, who helped found the festival, has painted at Androssan Farm and the Daylesford train station. Although she has painted since she was eight, Craig was originally a nurse.
The artists were chosen from an applicant pool of 80 by Billy O’Donnell. O’Donnell, a lifelong resident of Missouri, is a nationally recognized landscape painter. His other duties in the festival include deciding on the recipients of $4,000 of prize money and conducting a Plein Air demo and a Plein Air painting workshop.
The festival is made possible by contributions of business sponsors, patrons, and 43 committee members. The committee is chaired by Barbara Berry.
In an area where trees line the sides of the road and parks are plentiful, the community often overlooks the area’s landscapes and greenery. The Plein Air festival draws attention back to Radnor’s surroundings. “It highlights the beauty of the area,” Craig said of why she loves the festival. “I feel like a guest in my own hometown.”
Plein Air, which means “in the open air,” originated in Laguna Beach, California about fifteen years ago. In Plein Air festivals, artists have two to four days to paint as many on location landscapes as they can. Each painting takes two to three hours—a nonnegotiable time frame, since an artist can only paint a scene for as long as the light stays the same.
This year, artists will spend the first two days painting within a 15-mile radius of Wayne. The next day they will expand to Philadelphia, and on the final day, they will all paint in central Wayne. When they finish painting in Wayne at 1 p.m. on Saturday, they bring the paintings (some still wet, all already framed) to the Wayne Art Center.
“It’s like a triathlon of painting,” said Patti Hallowell, program coordinator at the Wayne Art Center. “It’s very rich and stimulating.”
Artists are required to produce at least two paintings, with some finishing with as many as fifteen. All in all, the Art Center hangs about 200 paintings. This is one of its two major fundraisers and one of the top selling exhibitions. Karen Louise Fay, director of special programs, cites familiarity and accessibility as the reason for the exhibit’s popularity. “People understand the subject matter,” she said.
The paintings, including those that have been sold, will be on display for the public until June 24 at the Davenport Gallery.
Although producing a large volume of paintings in a short time can be exhausting, many artists are trained in Plein Air techniques.
“These are people who seek challenge,” said Hallowell. Many painters enjoy the experience of painting from nature, where they can “hear the birds chirping.” Artists have their own styles and color palettes, and as Fay pointed out, even “clouds are interpreted differently.”
Local artist and participant Valerie Craig said that there is a “great spirit and energy” surrounding the festival. Craig, who helped found the festival, has painted at Androssan Farm and the Daylesford train station. Although she has painted since she was eight, Craig was originally a nurse.
The artists were chosen from an applicant pool of 80 by Billy O’Donnell. O’Donnell, a lifelong resident of Missouri, is a nationally recognized landscape painter. His other duties in the festival include deciding on the recipients of $4,000 of prize money and conducting a Plein Air demo and a Plein Air painting workshop.
The festival is made possible by contributions of business sponsors, patrons, and 43 committee members. The committee is chaired by Barbara Berry.
In an area where trees line the sides of the road and parks are plentiful, the community often overlooks the area’s landscapes and greenery. The Plein Air festival draws attention back to Radnor’s surroundings. “It highlights the beauty of the area,” Craig said of why she loves the festival. “I feel like a guest in my own hometown.”
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