Louisiana and Indiana Calls for Public Art

Six Exterior Niches Commission $64,000 - Louisiana
Entry Deadline: November 26, 2004

The Percent for Art Program for the state of Louisiana, administered through the Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA) announces two public art projects at two sites at the LaSalle Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are seeking an artist to create site specific works to fit within six existing niches in the building façade of the LaSalle Building located in downtown Baton Rouge. There are three niches above the East entrance to the building, and three niches above the North entrance. Each niche is 5'4" x 5'4", with a uniform top to bottom 12" depth. The sides are 6" deep with a 6" side step. The artist is asked to address each niche, but is not required to do so in the same fashion. For example, one niche may be completely filled with an artwork, while another niche may be occupied by a smaller work. The artist's budget for the commission is $64,000.00, and includes all costs such as travel, material, fabrication and installation, as well as engineering and conservation consultations. Artists are encouraged to visit the site before submitting their application. The physical address is 617 North Third Street. The pieces must be permanent in nature, and require very little long-term maintenance. All appropriate media will be considered for this commission. The fabrication of the artwork will be done off-site by the artist. The artist is also responsible for installing the work in the niches. The Call for Artists as well as images of the building and grounds are accessible for view on the Louisiana Division of the Arts website under the Percent for Art link.

Interior Wall Commission (29' x 10') $30,000
Entry Deadline: November 26, 2004.

The Percent for Art Program for the state of Louisiana, administered through the Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA) announces two public art projects at two sites at the LaSalle Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Seeking an artist to create a site-specific permanent indoor wall piece for the main wall of the café in the LaSalle Building located at 617 North Third Street in downtown Baton Rouge. Because the café has many windows facing Third Street, this piece will be viewable from both the inside and the outside of the café. The total space available for the piece is 29' x 10', but the artist may designate smaller dimensions of the finished work or works. The artist's budget for the commission is $30,000.00, and includes all costs such as travel, material, fabrication, installation, as well as engineering and conservation consultation costs. The work must be permanent in nature, and require very little long-term maintenance. All appropriate media will be considered for this commission (not limited to 2-D). However, 3-D applicants should keep in mind that the wall was not constructed to bear an exceptional amount of weight. Artists are encouraged to visit the site before submitting their application. The fabrication of the work will be done off-site by the artist. The artist will be responsible for installing the work(s) on the wall when completed.The Call for Artists as well as images of the building and grounds are accessible for view on the Louisiana Division of the Arts website under the Percent for Art link.

Indianapolis Airport Authority, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Deadline: December 30, 2004

The Indianapolis Airport Authority, with Blackburn Architects, invites artists to submit their qualifications for design and design/fabrication opportunities at the New Indianapolis Airport. Projects include architectural enhancements and integrated, free-standing or hanging works of art. Artists should submit their qualifications under the RFQ for consideration for future opportunities. Finalists will receive RFPs and will be compensated for any proposal submissions. More than 7 million passengers traveled through the airport last year. The intent of the projects is to combine with services and design to create the most pleasant traveling experience possible. The artwork will also further the city's goals for cultural development and public art. The deadline for receipt of qualification packages is December 30, 2004. To download the RFQ in PDF format visit www.newindianapolisairport.com. For more information call (317) 875-5500 x230.

Software that Authenticates Art

(Thanks AJ). A new set of software tools, developed by a Dartmouth College team seems to be able to "fingerprint" the style of a painter's work and thus be able to detect fakes and imitations.

"There are properties in an artist's pen and brush strokes that aren't visible to the human eye, but that are there nonetheless. And we can find them, through mathematical, statistical analysis," said Dartmouth computer science professor Hany Farid, who developed the algorithms, along with math professor Daniel Rockmore and graduate student Siwei Lyu."

The article warns that:

"Museum curators and statisticians caution that the Dartmouth group's techniques have only begun to be tested. Using algorithms to back up scholars' suspicions is one thing; uncovering a fraud with just a computer, that's completely different. And in the art world, no scientific method is considered as sure as the eye of a seasoned connoisseur.

"This is very unusual," said Nadine Orenstein, the curator of the drawings and prints department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. "We're all a bit skeptical."

Other artworld comments were just as skeptical:

"I’m highly skeptical of using the computer for this kind of approach," said Laurence Kanter, curator in charge of the Robert Lehman collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. "It’s very possible that a program like that could be exploited to great advantage, but I still need to be persuaded."

I suspect that they're all a bit scared actually, because they're about to (a) lose the gig of having the power to be able to authenticate something just by being a "seasoned connoisseur" and (b) about to (possibly) have an avalanche of their past "authenticated works" be reported as fakes.

Funky Furniture Auction

Remember the Funky Furniture controversy that made worldwide news?

Well, here's your chance to own some of the pieces from that newsmaking art exhibit... including one of the most famous paintings in the world.

This painting by our area's own Kayti Didriksen was seen by millions around the world in TV news, Jay Leno, and as part of one of the most downloaded images on the Internet a while back.

I will discuss this painting when I finish my all-comprehensive review of AOM later this week.

On Saturday, December 4th, 2004 at 9pm, all of the Funky Furniture works will be auctioned in a must-attend party/auction to be staged at the Funky Furniture display area at AOM. Admission to the cocktail pre-auction reception is $20 per couple, which also gets you a bidding badge.

Keep an eye on the Artomatic website, as they will soon have a pre-auction bidding website. And Funky Furniture's hardworking leader, Chad Alan sends the following:

"D.C. As It Was, Is, and Could Be

Five months ago a project began with a simple idea to create a modest collection of hand crafted furniture in the spirit of the approaching Artomatic. The exhibition was to take place in the City Museum one month before Artomatic in order to promote not only that event, but also the City Museum itself.

As the project moved forward, the collection grew substantially in size and importance. Artists created pieces that reflected their vision of how the District of Columbia can be seen in three distinct phases. Not everything is pretty or refined, but instead true.

All cities have dark sides that are often difficult to view, but those are some of the core elements that strive to make us become better citizens.

Upon the completion of the installation, it was decided that the collection needed to be removed from the City Museum for reasons varying from labels to suitability issues.

Twenty hours after the installation, the show had been dismantled and placed securely into storage. News of the cancellation hit the Associated Press and spread across the globe.

Many new venues for the show were considered, but it was determined to bring the collection home to reside in the 2004 Artomatic. Here you can view our ideas and concepts. Some of which you may agree, and many with which you may disagree, but that is what makes our city one of the world's greatest cities.

This collection will be put on the auction block on Saturday, December 4th at 9pm at Artomatic."

I hope a lot of people, a lot of artists and a lot of collectors come and see [and buy] these works; the artists will be there, and so will I.

Ann Marchand's Top 10 AOM List

Artist Ann Marchand, who is an exhibiting artist at AOM and has probably walked those dizzying halls many times now, sends in her top ten list:

John Aaron
Chuck Baxter
Frank Day
Lisa Farrell
G. Byron Peck
Betsy Packard
Matt Sesow
Ellyn Weiss
Angela White
Joyce Zipperer

Nevin Kelly, director and owner of the Nevin Kelly Gallery, whose Top 10 AOM list I posted earlier, sends in this thoughtful comment on AOM:

"I was really impressed by Art-o-Matic, awful art and everything. Gopnik clearly missed the point. Kudos to you for your blog. The event was perfect for sparking the discussion over "what is art?" and "what right does an artist (or self-perceived artist) have to exhibit?" The sheer energy of the event was art in itself. For a city that is not known elsewhere for its artistic community, this is truly a spectacular contribution."

Nevin Kelly's Top 10 Artomatic List

Nevin Kelly, director and owner of the Nevin Kelly Gallery walks Art-O-Matic and sends in a AOM Top 10 List. For disclosure purposes, Kelly states that the gallery currently represents Allison B. Miner and Sondra N. Arkin, and that Dylan Scholinski and Kelly have plans to cooperate in a 2005 exhibition.

Nevin Kelly Gallery Art-O-Matic Top 10 Picks

Sondra N. Arkin
Allison B. Miner
Dylan Scholinski
Ellyn Weiss
Christopher Edmunds
Michal Hunter
Kathryn Cornelius
Mary Beth Ramsey
Joyce Zipperer
Robert Cole

Honorable Mention

Scott Brooks
Will Winton
Joroko
Dns Ynko
Tom Wells
Lisa Shumaeir
Abby Freeman
Louise Kennelley
John Adams
Inga McCaslin Frick

Opportunities from WPA/C

The WPA/C has a couple of events coming up that should be of interest.

First of all, the WPA/C concept of ANONYMOUS returns with an opening preview reception on Thursday, Dec. 9, 6:30-8:30pm and the first day to purchase artwork is Friday, Dec. 10, 6-8pm.

This is a second installment of this popular show concept featuring all new artists and curators. 100 artists create two feet by two feet works of art to be sold for $500 each. Buyers will not know the artist until the work has been purchased. No works will be sold at the preview reception and only one piece is allowed per patron. Curated by: John Aaron, K.B. Basseches, Mary Del Popolo, Djakarta, Chawky Frenn, David Jung, Prescott Moore Lassman, Anne Marchand, Marie Ringwald and Alan Simensky.

Location: 1027 33rd Street, NW (Georgetown)
Times: Thursday & Friday 12pm-8pm
Saturday & Sunday 12pm-6pm

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WPA/C OPTIONS 2005 Call for Artists

The WPA/C has the website for submitting works to be considered for OPTIONS 2005 ready. Visit the website here. The deadline is January 14, 2005.