At work we’ve been investing in many projects—some big, some little—that may be assisted by access to a tool such as Google Art Project, the new street-view style gallery tours that allow viewers to virtually walk through an exhibition and look closely, in detail, at works of art.
SOMArts has experienced with other virtual tour tools including Second Life and Google SketchUp, but on first glance this seems superior: instant gratification, easy to navigate, high-res images.
For us, potential uses could be:
-Increased access, particularly for thought-provoking exhibitions by cultural communities who would be censored or unfunded elsewhere
-Better documentation of exhibitions as opposed to individual artworks, enhanced ability to show how works relate to the space and to each other.
-Adding value to the experience of going to an art exhibit by allowing visitors to anticipate/reminisce
These are three of many … but for now, the folks at Google have documented some of the largest worldwide institutions. What would happen if they Google up with someone like the Wallace Foundation to increase access to and appreciation for important exhibitions of, by and for cultural communities?
It’s All A Blur, the current exhibition at SOMArts, is coming to a close. This Friday we are having the closing reception for the show and simultaneously releasing the exhibition catalog. Edited by SOMArts curator and gallery director Justin Hoover, it features writing by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Dale Hoyt , Amelia Jones, Niki Korth and Sandip Roy. All the design work for this project was done by award-winning designer (aka my husband) Dan McKinley , who was recently recognized in Print Magazine’s 2010 Regional Design Annual, and many of the photographs of the installations were shot by Hewitt Photography (aka our wedding photographer), who gave us lots of generous in-kind support that made this possible.
The book is 128 pages, and in keeping with the theme it blurs the lines between a document of the exhibition and a stand-alone curated literary exploration. The retail price is $25 and can be purchased here via EventBrite or anytime from the SOMArts gallery. This is a limited edition print of 500 copies.
The line up for the book release party and closing night promises to be exciting including readings by Dale Hoyt and Niki Korth, live video deejaying from David Lawrence and music by DJ Tom Thump.
Please come to the SOMArts Main Gallery this Friday from 6:00-9:00 pm with readings from 7:00-8:00. The event is free and has a cash bar. Here is a link to the facebook event page.
(blog post text adapted from Justin Hoover’s e-newsletter.)
A coincidence of timing: recent compliments about SOMArts and this interview with Elijah Huge, have me thinking about the subtle beauty of space and how it can effect artists and arts workers. I’ve worked in three inspiring spaces: The O’Neill, with its barn, log-cabin pub, large meadow and secluded beach, was the perfect setting for playwrights. The CFA was a cool, elegant backdrop for the vibrant passion of student work. SOMArts continues to reveal itself as a “queendom of infinite reinvention” (as it was described to me by an artist shortly after my arrival). The Most Inspiring of all Inspiring Places is probably Mass MoCA, and I wish we were able to visit during our trip east for the holidays, but it’s not happening this year.
For Christmas, Dan’s sister gave us a membership to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I’ve been a member of many visual arts organizations in the past (ArtSpace New Haven, Southern Exposure, Wadsworth Atheneum, Real Art Ways, and on and on) but for whatever reason this is the first one that has resulted in participation as I imagine it’s more or less intended. The membership provides us with the ability to spontaneously drop in, look around, enjoy an exhibition without feeling the need to take in the whole building. And, we get to skip the line, which is a nice perk on a rainy Sunday. I’m lovin’ it.
Today, we went to the Luc Tuymans exhibition, which Dan blogged about here.
In addition to the shows, I am also enjoying SFMOMA’s new lineup of bloggers, er, columnists. They just got started and already there’s an interesting post by Renny Pritkin about artists who’ve left town (and those who have stayed). I discovered Pritkin’s Prescription For A Healthy Art Scene on the Open Space blog shortly after moving to San Francisco last year, and it was posted on my office wall for quite a while. Glad to see that he is now an official poster, creating an interactive online space for dialogue.
Speaking of dialogue, there was quite the turnout for SOMArts’s Saturday afternoon talk about politics and printmaking. Sixty-five people showed up to see the work of more than 30 Bay Area artists represented in the exhibition, and to hear the differing opinions of Art Hazelwood, Robert Flynn Johnson, Steve Lopez and Don Farnsworth. Somehow, there is a connection to be made in the tremendous (and growing) local turnout at SOMArts shows, and the response by artists and curators on Pritkin’s blog who are seeking the kind of business, finance and critical rigor that will sustain them here. The lack of posts on my own blog is due partly to a desire not to make this site an annex to my work space … but these artists’ needs, and how to support them with our limited resources, are very much on my mind.
So, over at SOMArts we’ve been doing some advocacy in the face of budget cuts to the cultural centers. We’ve been writing grants. And we have been working damn hard.
And right now, I wish there was another day to this weekend! This one was good, and too short. Thanks San Francisco, for living up to expectations once again.
It is coming up on my one-year anniversary at SOMArts … last year I arrived in San Francisco during our annual Day of the Dead exhibition. This year, there is a big opening party on Friday, October 16 and we will be celebrating! Rene Yanez, Day of the Dead co-curator, is featured in this month’s episode of CultureWire (at 2’49) and I am at the end talking about SOMArts programs and what makes us unique (21’52).
I am back in Massachusetts purging and sorting as we prepare for Dan and Stella’s West Coast migration, but if I were in the Bay Area this week I would attend Joseph Smolinski’s opening at Swarm Gallery in Oakland on May 15. Am very curious to hear other people’s responses to Taking Back the Jetty (2009).
Almost exactly a year ago, Smolinski’s Tree Turbine debuted in the Badlands exhibition at Mass MoCA and I interviewed him for The Art Agenda. In the podcast, Smolinski talks about the work’s origins, and the process of working with students, curators and a fabrication team to realize his vision.
For many of my SF friends, the amazing skateboard artwork of Ian Johnson is probably old news, but I just discovered his jazz portraits this weekend on the blog Hell Yeah Dude. If I had $225 to spare, these would be mine. Too bad that tax refund is already spoken for.
Lex Leifheit is the Executive Director of SOMArts Cultural Center, co-host of Feast of Words: Literary Potluck, and has an insatiable appetite for art. She lives in San Francisco.
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Took a few snaps of the new exhibit at SOMArts, posted them on 
For many of my SF friends, the amazing skateboard artwork of Ian Johnson is probably old news, but I just discovered his jazz portraits this weekend on the blog 
