Visual Art Opportunities

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rosie Rauer on September 21, 2011 at 12:00pm

Thanks for this tip, Michele. Friend in town this weekend who needs art for his new apartment; maybe we'll find something at this fair!

Permalink Reply by Kevin Krapf on November 15, 2011 at 4:16pm

There are some good galleries in DC, such as Conner Contemporary, Transformer, and The Curator's Office. Also there is a good contemporary culture hub called Provisions Library. DC has some pop-up spaces too, like The Fridge, and the Hirshhorn Museum has some cutting edge exhibits in their "Black Box" gallery. Rosslyn also has a cultural center called Artisphere. To stay up on current events in DC, there's a website calendar called the pinklineproject.com.

Permalink Reply by Michele on November 16, 2011 at 9:40am

Thanks Kevin! Conner Contemporary was at the (e)merge art fair, but I will have to check out the others! Has anyone been to Art Basel (Miami)? That's coming up in a couple of weeks already and looks like there are some cool public panels!

Permalink Reply by Kevin Krapf on November 17, 2011 at 12:30pm

I haven't been to the Miami Basel Art Fair, but I've heard great things about it. It is probably the largest, most connected contemporary art fair in the US - tied to the important Basel Art Fair. It's sure to have great projects, great events, and crazy parties. There's a list of projects to see, notable ones being Andrea Bowers, Eduardo Sarabia, Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst.

http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/go/id/eof/

Permalink Reply by Laura Modahl on January 31, 2012 at 9:16pm

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA U.S.A. is a unique place to check out contemporary art.  There is a fair that happens here once a year in June, too.  The outdoor sculptures are wonderful to explore, and it is a great way to introduce young ones to art. Here is an example of the work there. The information and picture were taken from the DeCordova website:

Paul

Matisse

1980

6' 6" x 1 1/2" x 20'

Aluminum sounding bars and reinforced concrete

Commissioned for the City of Cambridge by the Cambridge Arts Council, on loan to deCordova

Born 1933, New York, NY
Works in Groton, MA

The Musical Fence, an interactive public artwork, is a combined sculpture and musical instrument created by artist and inventor Paul Matisse. Its vertical aluminum pipes are tuned not to a standard musical scale, but to create a pleasant tune when struck gently with wooden sticks. The undulating profile of the sculpture was determined as much by the desired sound sequence as by visual concerns. According to the artist, whose main interest lies in the interaction of humans and art, "The Musical Fence came out of my enthusiasm for being able to make music without having to know exactly how to do it."

The Musical Fence was originally installed with a sister sculpture, tuned somewhat differently, as a public art piece in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its immense popularity proved problematic, however, in the urban environment. Passers-by played the fence at all hours, causing its relocation to the less residential environment of the DeCordova Sculpture Park. Paul Matisse has created other public sound sculptures, most notably an installation for the Kendall Square mass transit station in Cambridge in 1987.

Location: 

Sculpture Park

DeCordova

Permalink Reply by Liz Murphy on February 3, 2012 at 9:22am

Laura, what a great tip, thanks so much for listing.  I'm going to post this on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/CulturalCrossroadsUSA) - we've got a lot of new friends over there and I want to make sure they all see this too. 

Permalink Reply by Laura Modahl on February 3, 2012 at 5:54pm

I am glad to be of help.  There are many great cultural opportunities in this area.  The DeCordova is lesser known of them and is one of my favorites.