Category Archives: Art-Architecture

Kara Walker at the University Museum of Contemporary Art

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I was thrilled to hear that the University Museum of Contemporary Art would be hosting an exhibit of Kara Walker’s work this spring titled Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker’s Tales of Slavery and Power.  I don’t know how I first learned about this artist — maybe because I’ve been a supporter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC since its inception? — but when I heard the news, I understood immediately what an honor it was for UMass to be chosen as a site for this exhibit.

I attended the opening last night, at which event both Chancellor Subbaswamy and collector Jordan Schnitzer spoke, but I wanted to explore the exhibit in more depth, so at 6 pm, I joined a group of about a dozen others at the Museum for a public tour of the exhibition, in collaboration with Amherst Arts Night.  Eva Fierst, Curator of Education, guided us around the exhibit, talked about the artwork, and asked us to participate in a conversation about what we were seeing.  (Ordinarily, a student docent would be leading these tours, but we are in the beginning of the semester, and students are still settling in to their schedules.)

A native of Portland, Oregon, Mr. Schnitzer bought his first painting at age fourteen, and ever since then, he has pursued his passion for art, in particular for contemporary prints.  He says in his collector’s statement:

In 1997, I purchased my first Kara Walker print, and have been steadily adding her work to my collection ever since.  Her work engages me both intellectually and emotionally.  The themes are numerous: race, power, identity, gender, and violence . . . Her work grabs me and shakes me to my inner core, as it should.

I had seen Kara Walker’s work in magazines and such, but viewing it up close is quite a different experience, perhaps because of the physical size of many of the pieces. This exhibition brings together 60 works in a variety of media, from printmaking to wall murals, from metal sculpture to shadow puppetry. The exhibition was curated by Jessi Di Tillio, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon.

Ms. Fierst asked us to view and respond to the following pieces:

  • African/American, 1998, Linocut
  • The Keys to the Coop, 1997, Linoleum block print
  • An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters, 2010, Etching with aquatint, sugar-lift, spit-bite, and dry point
  • Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated), 2005, Offset lithography and silkscreen
  • Emancipation Approximation, 1999-2000, Silkscreen
  • Testimony, 2005, Photogravure

We had a lively discussion, with the gallery visitors offering many different interpretations of and reactions to the pieces.  I myself can’t say that I “liked” a particular piece more or less than another — “like” is not really adequate to convey one’s thoughts and emotions.  I certainly admire Ms. Walker’s technical artistry, and what she has done for the silhouette is remarkable, but I find her images very disturbing, and I don’t see the humor in any of them.  There’s nothing laughable about racism or sexism, or the brutalities inflicted on others by powerful people.

I urge you to see the exhibit yourself.  It will be on display this semester until April 30th.  A number of events are scheduled around the exhibit: tours, lectures, panel discussions, a film screening, and more.

Hart Prairie Day Two

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Protect, Transform, Inspire:  This year, celebrating its 50th year, TNC Arizona looks backward at past accomplishments and forward to the future.  The state chapter is committed to affirming core values and aligning goals with its mission.  In Arizona, protecting water resources is of particular urgency.  Hart Prairie with its riparian willows, high altitude wet meadows, and mixed conifer forests, is a locus of significant forest restoration research, in particular its Ponderosa pine forest functioning as a demonstration plot for the larger Four Forest Restoration project (the Forest Service has committed to clearing 30,000 acres per year for the next decade or so).

What is the ecological purpose of a forest?  For one thing, it functions to protect water sources:  northern Arizona forests supply 30% of the water for more than 2 million citizens.  So how do we ensure we have healthy forests?  While this might be considered a “new forestry school” belief, a healthy Ponderosa pine forest is fire-adapted and has about 15-40 trees per acre (as opposed to many areas, where the density is now more like 500 trees per acre, due to fire suppression and lack of management).  When Ponderosa grows thickly, the forest sucks up groundwater and also becomes a candidate for the intense and dangerous crown fires.  With a grant from the US Forest Service, TNC treated 70 acres at the Prairie by thinning the smaller trees; groundwater levels were measured before and after.

The Preserve’s prize Bebb willows (Salix bebbiana) are not a rare species (supposedly, we have them here in New England), but the Hart Prairie community is unique because it is so large.  Most Bebb willows grow in stands of under 50 trees; here there are more than 1300!  This willow species is not particularly attractive (I totally agree that the trees look gnarled and misshapen), but it is an indicator species for a healthy wet meadow.  The willows, which are dioecious, grow from seed, and TNC has tried planting seeds to keep the population either stable or increasing, and has also tried fencing them in to keep them from being munched on by herbivores.

Locale:  The Museum of Northern Arizona was founded in 1928 by Harold and Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, a wealthy Philadelphia family with a close connection to Dick and Jean Wilson, the benefactors who donated the Hart Prairie Preserve to TNC.  The Museum focuses on the Colorado Plateau: its volcanic geology, its paleontology specimens, and the material remains left by the successive human cultures which inhabited the area.  The collection is also extensive in terms of ethnology, with a focus on the Native American groups who have lived in the area for centuries: the Hopi, Navajo, Zuñi, and some Apache.  Contemporary artisans from these tribes are proud of their traditions, but by incorporating their personal experiences into their work, they enrich their cultures and make them accessible to all; a striking example is the wrap-around mural in the Museum’s Kiva Room.  Being herself an artist and a national leader in arts education, founder Mary Colton clearly understood the value of the arts; thus, the Museum has continued to acquire and exhibit the work of Native American and Anglo-American artists whose work is connected to the Colorado Plateau.  On display this summer are landscape paintings by Curt Walters, beautiful oils of the Grand Canyon and other southwest vistas.  Of course I was mesmerized by the jewelry on display; I am particularly fond of silver and turquoise, and the museum has some outstanding pieces by contemporary Native American artists.

Weather: High 80, Low 54.  Partly cloudy

Creatures: Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), Elk (Cervus canadensis)

Itinerary: FR 151 to US 180 to Flagstaff and return

Excursions:  Hart Preserve Bebb Willows, Museum of Northern Arizona

Speakers:

  • Mark Ryan, TNC, Arizona State Chapter Projects (morning)
  • Phyllis Wolfskill, MNA Docent, Guided Museum Tour (afternoon)
  • George Bain, Rock Climbing in the Grand Canyon (evening)

Reflections:  At the Museum, we were allowed to touch a meteorite, which, when you think about it, is one of the strangest things on earth, because it is truly extra-terrestrial!  I was also delighted to hold a dinosaur thigh bone (huge) and mastodon tooth (huge), and I marveled at the relative weights of the volcanic rocks (pumice is as light as air, almost).  The gift shop at the Museum was particularly enticing, and I ended up buying a pair of turquoise earrings (for myself, because this stone is lovely).

I wish I could have had climbing adventures with George, but I am afraid of heights.  I started to feel dizzy even as I was looking at his slides.

Images:

Stand of Bebb willows

Stand of Bebb willows

Large Bebb Willow

Large Bebb willow

Replica of dinosaur skeleton

Replica of dinosaur skeleton at MNA