Fisk University's decade-long quest to generate cash from a 101-piece art collection donated by the late painter Georgia O'Keeffe is one step closer to fruition.
But it is unclear how quickly the historically black university in Nashville will be able to complete a $30 million deal to sell a 50 percent stake in the collection to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark.
Under the agreement, the artworks including O'Keefe's own 1927 oil painting "Radiator Building — Night, New York — would move between Fisk and the Arkansas museum every two years.
A state appeals court ruling Tuesday threw out a judge's requirement for Fisk to reserve two-thirds of the proceeds to ensure future upkeep of the collection amid the university's shaky financial circumstances.
Fisk officials argued at last year's trial that the school had mortgaged all of its buildings, was running a $2 million annual deficit and had no unrestricted endowment available. The opinion notes that when President Hazel O'Leary was asked whether Fisk was "viable" given the scope of its financial challenges, she responded, "No, not at all."
The 2-1 decision found the lower court didn't have the authority to require the creation of the $20 million endowment to guard against creditors should Fisk declare bankruptcy.
"The record clearly reveals that that Ms. O'Keeffe never intended for the Collection to be sold or otherwise monetized in order for Fisk University to pay its general operating expenses," Clement wrote in his dissent.
Even with the endowment in place, Fisk would be able to use $10 million to "rise above its current financial predicament," while staying closer to O'Keeffe's original charitable intent, Clement said.
The Crystal Bridges Museum features artwork amassed by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, including Asher Durand's landscape painting "Kindred Spirits" and Norman Rockwell's "Rosie the Riveter."
While the majority opinion rules out the judge establishing an endowment requirement, it does not preclude the court from approving one or another "dedicated source of support" for the collection. It also calls on Fisk to lay out how it will use a $1 million pledge from Walton to upgrade the display space and outline how it plans to spend the $30 million from the deal.
The state attorney general's office, which has fought to keep the collection from leaving Nashville, has not yet decided whether to seek an appeal to the state Supreme Court. A Fisk spokesman did not return a message seeking comment.
In 1949, O'Keefe donated 97 pieces to Fisk from the estate of her late husband, the photographer Alfred Stieglitz. They include works by Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, Marsden Hartley, Alfred Maurer and Charles Demuth, among others.
O'Keeffe, who died in 1986, also gave the school four of her own paintings as part of the gift, which was made to Fisk because the school educated blacks at a time when the South was segregated.
The gift carried the stipulation that it could not be sold or broken up. But Fisk has argued that it can't afford even the $131,000 it currently spends to display the collection each year.
The school in 2002 sought to send the collection on a foreign tour to raise money for the school. Three years later, Fisk announced plans to sell O'Keeffe's "Radiator Building" and Hartley's "Painting No. 3."
That move was blocked by the state attorney general, whose office is responsible for overseeing charitable giving in Tennessee. The current case is the result of protracted legal fights over the collection.
2011年11月30日星期三
2011年11月6日星期日
Annual event showcases artists, kicks off holiday shopping
Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Waterloo Center for the Arts staff and volunteers are knee-deep in glitter and garland, setting the stage for the annual Holiday Arts Festival, Saturday and next Sunday (Nov. 12-13). Artists from nine Midwestern states soon will roll up in their sleighs and unload paintings, pottery, jewelry and other artwork for sale at the annual juried event.
Shopping hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The festival is free and open to the public.
"It's so exciting," says Jacqui Komschlies from Appleton, Wis. Komschlies and her daughter, Chelsea Reisner, a student at Wartburg College in Waverly, are jewelry makers participating in their first Holiday Arts Show. "You should see my Facebook page --- 'we got into an art show!' For Chelsea and I, it gives us so much to be able to come home and make pretty things, then go someplace where people are coming because it's art," she says.
Komschlies describes her intricately woven, multistrand necklaces as "painting with beads. I take a picture and try to re-create that feeling and colors and the essence of the picture in beads." Her pieces have names like "Midnight Sky," "Seashore Christmas" and "Christmas Treasure." Daughter Chelsea works with polymer clay and other elements to create unique and fanciful jewelry.
The festival will feature 67 artists from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Chad Forbis, a painter from St. Louis, will be returning for his second show. "I was impressed last year. I liked the feel of the show and there was a good crowd both days. The volunteers did an awesome job and the quality of the work is high, so I'm looking forward to it," he says.
Forbis' most recent pieces are 12-by-12-inch paintings of birds in oil, acrylics, spray paint, pen and raw pigments on veneer plywood. He contrasts their natural shapes against often rough-hewn objects. Some paintings are humorous, such as "Weight of the World," featuring a large bird perched on the shoulders of a small bird, and are visual metaphors for real life situations and sentiment, he explains.
This year's event will celebrate the legacy of Clarence Alling, the late former WCA director, who began the arts festival tradition more than 40 years ago.
"He was way ahead of his time in doing this sort of thing," says Maureen Newbill, WCA visitor services manager and festival organizer. "He thought art should be accessible, and he was an artist in his own right."
Alling died last year, but left a large collection of his own pottery to the center, some pieces for the permanent collection as well as pieces that will be sold at the festival through Friends of the Center, a group he founded.
Other activities include a ceramics studio pottery sale and fundraiser, featuring work by dozens of students and instructors priced from $1 to about $ 10. Proceeds will support the WCA Ceramics Studio.
Scott Cawelti will be signing copies of his new book, "Brother's Blood: The True Story of the Mark Family Murders" at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and Brandon Brockway will sign copies of "Waterloo Postcard History Series" at 1:30 p.m. next Sunday.
The ArtHouse Cafe will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Phelps Youth Pavilion will offer half-price admission both days.
Waterloo Center for the Arts staff and volunteers are knee-deep in glitter and garland, setting the stage for the annual Holiday Arts Festival, Saturday and next Sunday (Nov. 12-13). Artists from nine Midwestern states soon will roll up in their sleighs and unload paintings, pottery, jewelry and other artwork for sale at the annual juried event.
Shopping hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The festival is free and open to the public.
"It's so exciting," says Jacqui Komschlies from Appleton, Wis. Komschlies and her daughter, Chelsea Reisner, a student at Wartburg College in Waverly, are jewelry makers participating in their first Holiday Arts Show. "You should see my Facebook page --- 'we got into an art show!' For Chelsea and I, it gives us so much to be able to come home and make pretty things, then go someplace where people are coming because it's art," she says.
Komschlies describes her intricately woven, multistrand necklaces as "painting with beads. I take a picture and try to re-create that feeling and colors and the essence of the picture in beads." Her pieces have names like "Midnight Sky," "Seashore Christmas" and "Christmas Treasure." Daughter Chelsea works with polymer clay and other elements to create unique and fanciful jewelry.
The festival will feature 67 artists from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Chad Forbis, a painter from St. Louis, will be returning for his second show. "I was impressed last year. I liked the feel of the show and there was a good crowd both days. The volunteers did an awesome job and the quality of the work is high, so I'm looking forward to it," he says.
Forbis' most recent pieces are 12-by-12-inch paintings of birds in oil, acrylics, spray paint, pen and raw pigments on veneer plywood. He contrasts their natural shapes against often rough-hewn objects. Some paintings are humorous, such as "Weight of the World," featuring a large bird perched on the shoulders of a small bird, and are visual metaphors for real life situations and sentiment, he explains.
This year's event will celebrate the legacy of Clarence Alling, the late former WCA director, who began the arts festival tradition more than 40 years ago.
"He was way ahead of his time in doing this sort of thing," says Maureen Newbill, WCA visitor services manager and festival organizer. "He thought art should be accessible, and he was an artist in his own right."
Alling died last year, but left a large collection of his own pottery to the center, some pieces for the permanent collection as well as pieces that will be sold at the festival through Friends of the Center, a group he founded.
Other activities include a ceramics studio pottery sale and fundraiser, featuring work by dozens of students and instructors priced from $1 to about $ 10. Proceeds will support the WCA Ceramics Studio.
Scott Cawelti will be signing copies of his new book, "Brother's Blood: The True Story of the Mark Family Murders" at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and Brandon Brockway will sign copies of "Waterloo Postcard History Series" at 1:30 p.m. next Sunday.
The ArtHouse Cafe will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Phelps Youth Pavilion will offer half-price admission both days.
2011年9月28日星期三
British home gets Sistine Chapel makeover
A retired British decorator has transformed his home by covering its interior in renaissance-style murals to emulate the Sistine Chapel after being inspired by a book about the Vatican.
Robert W. Burns, 64, swapped his roller for a more delicate paintbrush after buying the book from a car boot sale.
"I'd never painted anything, I mean other than I was a decorator," Burns said. "With a bit of sort of trial and error, I surprised myself that I can actually paint a renaissance picture."
He began the ambitious redecoration of his council-owned home in 2003.
Eight years later, nearly every surface in his state-owned two-bedroom house in Brighton, on Britain's south coast, is covered in intricate paintings in the style of famous masters such as Michelangelo.
Unlike the artists who inspired his work, Burns paints in watercolour, not oil.
He also allowed himself some modern touches including a portrait of his wife and another of controversial British actor Russell Brand as Jesus.
During the transformation, Burns questioned whether he had gone too far, but his wife urged him to see it through.
"I had to say to her, at one stage, is this a bit over the top, because the house was sort of slowly morphing into the Vatican, and she said, 'No, you've started, carry on!'"
Now it's complete, Burns is delighted with the outcome.
"I'm very proud of it, I'd show anybody around the house, which I do, even when workmen come in, I always do the tour. They're actually blown away!"
Burns is worried his hard work may be erased should he and his wife move out of their home.
"Obviously, you have to leave the house in the condition that you found it, so I'll probably have to paint it out, just white ceilings and magnolia walls," Burns said.
He is now painting on canvasses so he will have something to take away if they choose to relocate.
But the council say they will not ask Burns to repaint for new tenants.
A council spokeswoman said: "Mr Burns' decoration would not be painted over if and when the property became available to be re-let.
"However, in such exceptional circumstances as these, if the incoming tenant objected to the designs, the council could offer some assistance with the cost of redecorating."
Until then Burns is looking for a way to keep his precious paintwork in place permanently.
"I'd like to try and get the national newspapers in to buy it for the nation," he said.
Robert W. Burns, 64, swapped his roller for a more delicate paintbrush after buying the book from a car boot sale.
"I'd never painted anything, I mean other than I was a decorator," Burns said. "With a bit of sort of trial and error, I surprised myself that I can actually paint a renaissance picture."
He began the ambitious redecoration of his council-owned home in 2003.
Eight years later, nearly every surface in his state-owned two-bedroom house in Brighton, on Britain's south coast, is covered in intricate paintings in the style of famous masters such as Michelangelo.
Unlike the artists who inspired his work, Burns paints in watercolour, not oil.
He also allowed himself some modern touches including a portrait of his wife and another of controversial British actor Russell Brand as Jesus.
During the transformation, Burns questioned whether he had gone too far, but his wife urged him to see it through.
"I had to say to her, at one stage, is this a bit over the top, because the house was sort of slowly morphing into the Vatican, and she said, 'No, you've started, carry on!'"
Now it's complete, Burns is delighted with the outcome.
"I'm very proud of it, I'd show anybody around the house, which I do, even when workmen come in, I always do the tour. They're actually blown away!"
Burns is worried his hard work may be erased should he and his wife move out of their home.
"Obviously, you have to leave the house in the condition that you found it, so I'll probably have to paint it out, just white ceilings and magnolia walls," Burns said.
He is now painting on canvasses so he will have something to take away if they choose to relocate.
But the council say they will not ask Burns to repaint for new tenants.
A council spokeswoman said: "Mr Burns' decoration would not be painted over if and when the property became available to be re-let.
"However, in such exceptional circumstances as these, if the incoming tenant objected to the designs, the council could offer some assistance with the cost of redecorating."
Until then Burns is looking for a way to keep his precious paintwork in place permanently.
"I'd like to try and get the national newspapers in to buy it for the nation," he said.
2011年8月14日星期日
San Elizario blossoms into arts haven
SAN ELIZARIO -- Historic San Elizario is gradually evolving into a respected art district.
In just three years, San Elizario has witnessed an explosion of art galleries and studios.
Artists organize two major events each month, including an increasingly popular art market in this small town 22 miles east of Downtown El Paso.
Everywhere, you see young emerging artists, intermediate artists and veteran artists creating and selling a diverse palette of art, including oil paintings, Native American and Chicano art, custom-made leather products, and sculpted wooden art works.
One gallery specializes in the work of widely known Southwestern artist Amado Peña who pays tribute to Native American cultures in his paintings and murals.
El Paso Community College is working with artists based in San Elizario to train docents for art galleries and museums.
Just recently, 23 Juárez artists opened exhibitions at various galleries in San Elizario.
All this is happening in the unincorporated community that traces its roots to the Spanish explorer Juan De Oñate in the late 1500s.
Al Borrego reels off the numbers -- more than 300 artists have shown their art in San Elizario art shows since 2009.
At least 22 artists have working studios
in the district and the work of more than 90 artists is represented in various galleries and wall space.
Borrego is credited with getting the ball rolling in 2009 on making San Elizario an arts destination.
Borrego first exhibited his own work and the work of other artists at a farmer's market sponsored by the Mission Trail Association. He expanded into what was called the Main Street Gallery near the San Elizario Plaza. He later remodeled his own space and invited other artists to embrace his vision.
Borrego describes San Elizario as the only art district in El Paso County, a pool of artists promoting and investing in the arts without any public money. "Nowhere in El Paso compares to us," Borrego said. "We've got history, working studios and entrepreneurs."
Most studios and galleries are housed in restored, historic buildings. Harvey Johnson pitched in and opened a small restaurant near the galleries.
"We're a destination," Borrego said. "We've surpassed Mesilla already as far as art goes."
He is referring to the historic town near Las Cruces, often billed as a tourist destination.
Borrego pointed out that other artists on a waiting list want to be part of the evolving arts scene in San Elizario.
"We have a lot of artists that believe in the vision," he said.
The vision may be paying off.
Jennifer Ernest, a visitor from Virginia, recently strolled outside the galleries. She said she became curious about what else San Elizario offered after hearing about its historic mission.
El Paso arts advocate Adair Margo often escorts visitors to San Elizario.
"There's organization to draw people down there," Margo said. "San Elizario is so historic and has beautiful architecture that's being restored. They have these periodic art fairs. So it's a very exciting place to be right now."
Gaspar Enriquez, a prominent Chicano artist who lives in San Elizario, started remodeling a historic building into art space long before others started promoting art in San Elizario. He is also restoring another historic building that once served as the first county seat.
"There is a lot of faith. Whether it comes true or not, that's a question to be answered in the future," Enriquez said.
Enriquez suggests that San Elizario's success as a place where the arts and artists can prosper may depend on the cooperation of El Paso County government and other entities.
"Since this place has a lot of history, I thought, 'Usually the arts bring in economic development,' " he said. "So I think San Elizario has a lot of potential."
Artist Albert Escamilla emerged out of Sanderson, a tiny railroading town in far West Texas best known for a devastating flood in 1965. He has been a professional artist for 35 years.
Escamilla's art studio and gallery is one of the main anchors in what's being called the San Elizario Art District. He does impressionist-style oil paintings.
"It's been a goal for all of us to bring art to the people," he said. "I grew up at a time when an art gallery or a museum was beyond our reach."
Escamilla recalls the lean times when he was literally a starving artist living out of a station wagon. Now, his wife, Rachel, manages the business while he creates more art.
"Business is the key behind this. You have to be committed," Escamilla said. "For me, it's a blessing to be here."
Escamilla is convinced artists in San Elizario are getting noticed. A couple of months ago, a city bus pulled up with El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson and the El Paso City Council. Univision affiliate Channel 26-KINT recently produced its newscast from the San Elizario placita, with an emphasis on the arts.
Artist Maria Branch has a working studio and art gallery in San Elizario. She also teaches art in her studio.
"I love the people out here and love being here," Branch said. "I've done well in the year and a half that I've been here."
Sam Gutierrez, 35, learned to make jewelry, leather work, dream catchers, war shields, medicine wheels and other traditional Native American art from his grandfather and other relatives at the Tiguas' Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.
"Hopefully within the next couple of years we'll be as big as Santa Fe, Albuquerque or Old Mesilla." he said.
Sergio Acosta, 26, born and raised in a nearby barrio known as Campestre, is creating his own vision of the Virgen de Guadalupe in an oil paintings for sale he titled "The Fountain of Faith."
"I never knew I had this talent until I was in the prison system," Acosta said. "Thanks to God, prison gave me hope."
He was painting next to spaces where other artists display metal sculptures, boots and other leather products.
El Paso artist Manuel Alvarado, a Vietnam War veteran in his late 60s, dedicated himself to painting after he retired in 2005 as a refrigeration mechanic. Alvarado loves San Elizario's tranquil pace.
Alvarado had a heart attack a year ago and almost died.
"God gave me another chance," Alvarado said. "I'm not very good at this. I just do it 'cause I like it."
Borrego looks at all the art around him and imagines that someday the art scene in San Elizario will grow even bigger.
"Artists come and go. We're all starving at one point or another," he said. "Everything happens with art. I love watching this blossom."
In just three years, San Elizario has witnessed an explosion of art galleries and studios.
Artists organize two major events each month, including an increasingly popular art market in this small town 22 miles east of Downtown El Paso.
Everywhere, you see young emerging artists, intermediate artists and veteran artists creating and selling a diverse palette of art, including oil paintings, Native American and Chicano art, custom-made leather products, and sculpted wooden art works.
One gallery specializes in the work of widely known Southwestern artist Amado Peña who pays tribute to Native American cultures in his paintings and murals.
El Paso Community College is working with artists based in San Elizario to train docents for art galleries and museums.
Just recently, 23 Juárez artists opened exhibitions at various galleries in San Elizario.
All this is happening in the unincorporated community that traces its roots to the Spanish explorer Juan De Oñate in the late 1500s.
Al Borrego reels off the numbers -- more than 300 artists have shown their art in San Elizario art shows since 2009.
At least 22 artists have working studios
in the district and the work of more than 90 artists is represented in various galleries and wall space.
Borrego is credited with getting the ball rolling in 2009 on making San Elizario an arts destination.
Borrego first exhibited his own work and the work of other artists at a farmer's market sponsored by the Mission Trail Association. He expanded into what was called the Main Street Gallery near the San Elizario Plaza. He later remodeled his own space and invited other artists to embrace his vision.
Borrego describes San Elizario as the only art district in El Paso County, a pool of artists promoting and investing in the arts without any public money. "Nowhere in El Paso compares to us," Borrego said. "We've got history, working studios and entrepreneurs."
Most studios and galleries are housed in restored, historic buildings. Harvey Johnson pitched in and opened a small restaurant near the galleries.
"We're a destination," Borrego said. "We've surpassed Mesilla already as far as art goes."
He is referring to the historic town near Las Cruces, often billed as a tourist destination.
Borrego pointed out that other artists on a waiting list want to be part of the evolving arts scene in San Elizario.
"We have a lot of artists that believe in the vision," he said.
The vision may be paying off.
Jennifer Ernest, a visitor from Virginia, recently strolled outside the galleries. She said she became curious about what else San Elizario offered after hearing about its historic mission.
El Paso arts advocate Adair Margo often escorts visitors to San Elizario.
"There's organization to draw people down there," Margo said. "San Elizario is so historic and has beautiful architecture that's being restored. They have these periodic art fairs. So it's a very exciting place to be right now."
Gaspar Enriquez, a prominent Chicano artist who lives in San Elizario, started remodeling a historic building into art space long before others started promoting art in San Elizario. He is also restoring another historic building that once served as the first county seat.
"There is a lot of faith. Whether it comes true or not, that's a question to be answered in the future," Enriquez said.
Enriquez suggests that San Elizario's success as a place where the arts and artists can prosper may depend on the cooperation of El Paso County government and other entities.
"Since this place has a lot of history, I thought, 'Usually the arts bring in economic development,' " he said. "So I think San Elizario has a lot of potential."
Artist Albert Escamilla emerged out of Sanderson, a tiny railroading town in far West Texas best known for a devastating flood in 1965. He has been a professional artist for 35 years.
Escamilla's art studio and gallery is one of the main anchors in what's being called the San Elizario Art District. He does impressionist-style oil paintings.
"It's been a goal for all of us to bring art to the people," he said. "I grew up at a time when an art gallery or a museum was beyond our reach."
Escamilla recalls the lean times when he was literally a starving artist living out of a station wagon. Now, his wife, Rachel, manages the business while he creates more art.
"Business is the key behind this. You have to be committed," Escamilla said. "For me, it's a blessing to be here."
Escamilla is convinced artists in San Elizario are getting noticed. A couple of months ago, a city bus pulled up with El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson and the El Paso City Council. Univision affiliate Channel 26-KINT recently produced its newscast from the San Elizario placita, with an emphasis on the arts.
Artist Maria Branch has a working studio and art gallery in San Elizario. She also teaches art in her studio.
"I love the people out here and love being here," Branch said. "I've done well in the year and a half that I've been here."
Sam Gutierrez, 35, learned to make jewelry, leather work, dream catchers, war shields, medicine wheels and other traditional Native American art from his grandfather and other relatives at the Tiguas' Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.
"Hopefully within the next couple of years we'll be as big as Santa Fe, Albuquerque or Old Mesilla." he said.
Sergio Acosta, 26, born and raised in a nearby barrio known as Campestre, is creating his own vision of the Virgen de Guadalupe in an oil paintings for sale he titled "The Fountain of Faith."
"I never knew I had this talent until I was in the prison system," Acosta said. "Thanks to God, prison gave me hope."
He was painting next to spaces where other artists display metal sculptures, boots and other leather products.
El Paso artist Manuel Alvarado, a Vietnam War veteran in his late 60s, dedicated himself to painting after he retired in 2005 as a refrigeration mechanic. Alvarado loves San Elizario's tranquil pace.
Alvarado had a heart attack a year ago and almost died.
"God gave me another chance," Alvarado said. "I'm not very good at this. I just do it 'cause I like it."
Borrego looks at all the art around him and imagines that someday the art scene in San Elizario will grow even bigger.
"Artists come and go. We're all starving at one point or another," he said. "Everything happens with art. I love watching this blossom."
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