ArtPourri

Honorees Named – The Bard Graduate Center has announced the recipients of the Eleventh Annual Iris Foundation Awards:  Liliane H. Stewart, Henry Hawley, Barry Bergdoll, and Eric N. Shrubsole.  The awards were created in 1997 to recognize scholars, patrons and professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the study and appreciation of the decorative arts as expressions of taste, ideology and cultural aspirations.

New Galleries Opened – The opening of a new complex of Hellenistic, South Italian, Etruscan and Roman galleries completes the reinstallation of the permanent galleries of the Dept. of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.  This new wing houses some 5,300 objects in more than 30,000 square feet and concludes a 15-year project for the complete redesign and reinstallation of the Museum’s extraordinary collection of classical art.

NEA News – The NEA has announced grant awards totaling $1,360,000 through the Challenge America Reaching Every Community Fast-track grant program.  One hundred thirty-six grants of $10,000 each will be given to primarily small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations.  Visit www.nea.gov for details.

Forces Unite – On March 16 about 400 fully functional USPS mail collection boxes decorated as the beloved Star Wars character R2-D2 appeared on street corners from coast to coast.  This was just the beginning of a campaign to honor the 30^th anniversary of Star Wars.  A commemorative sheet of 15 new 41-cent postage stamps featuring images from all six movies in the saga will be released on May 25 at the 30^th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration IV at the Los Angeles Convention Center (May 24-27). Vote for your favorite image (only through May 23) online at www.uspsjedimaster.com; the winning stamp will be issued as a single stamp to go on sale later this summer.  Renowned artist Drew Struzan designed the Star Wars series.  May the force be with you!

New Work Acquired – The Hirshhorn Museum has acquired a new work by Yoko Ono, Wish Tree for Washington D.C.  During the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, visitors were asked to write down wishes and tie them to one of 10 trees in the area.  The museum’s tree, a white Japanese flowering dogwood, will be the only one to remain in Washington as a permanent installation, a gift from the artist.  Wishes from trees around the world will be gathered to create Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower, to be inaugurated in October in Iceland.

Exhibitions:

Stockbridge, MA – Norman Rockwell Museum – Picturing Health:  Norman Rockwell and the Art of Illustration offers a rare glimpse at paintings by Rockwell from the Pfizer Collection that are among the finest examples of the artist’s imagery for advertising.  These explore the subjects of the doctor/patient relationship, physical fitness, and health and healing across the generations; and are accompanied by original works exploring similar themes by today’s most prominent visual commentators.  Through May 28.

Phoenix, AZ – Phoenix Art Museum – Curves of Steel:  Streamlined Automobile Design is the first exhibit in an art museum to present and explore the impact and influence of streamlining and the science of aerodynamics on automobile design. Approximately 22 spectacular classic automobiles exemplify the elegant designs created from the 1930’s through the end of the 20^th century in both America and Europe.  Special admission fee.  Through June 3.

Saint Petersburg, FL – Salvador Dali Museum – Dali & the Spanish Baroque presents Spanish master paintings alongside works by Dali from the Museum’s permanent collection.  The exhibit seeks to demonstrate an important aspect of Dali’s approach to painting and its pictorial language, which is the incorporation of elements from Baroque painting.  Through June 24.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 17 No. 7 — May 2007