International Deadline: November 10, 2022 – The HolyArt Gallery is now accepting submissions for ‘Art On Loop”. Our London, UK gallery is the only fully digital art gallery in the country showcasing art from…
Unfortunately, there is no safeguarding the artistic icons of our planet from accidents or human malice, no matter the stature. A fire occurring on October 3rd has resulted in what has been described as “irreparable damage” to the moai statues of Easter Island. While none seem to have been destroyed in the blaze, the incident has certainly left its mark on the faces of some—with more damage than the eye can see.
The wildfire began near the island’s Rano Raraku volcano before spreading down to the surrounding areas. The fire ended up covering 148 acres of land (approximately 148 football fields worth of space to contextualize), charring much of the island’s face and endangering the Unesco World Heritage Site the moai are situated upon. While the area has been cordoned off and is still being inspected for the extent of the damage, it is apparently believed that this may well be a purposeful act of arson.
Though at first glance the damage to the moai appear to be surface level through charring and accumulation of soot, experts say it could be much worse than it seems for the iconic statues. With their exposure to such high heat, it is likely that there could’ve formed cracks on their interior from the temperature change. This would severely endanger the stability of the moai with little to be done to rectify it.
The moai, often referred to as the Easter Island heads, were created by the indigenous Polynesian tribe of the Rapa Nui over five centuries ago. While their purpose was unknown to modern historians for many years, it is now believed that they were created and positioned in relation to the presence of freshwater springs across the island. Standing as high as ten metres tall—with unfinished ones that aimed to be twice as tall—these strikingly stoic figures represent deified ancestors of the Rapa Nui and, despite many only being aware of the heads, represent whole bodies created from solidified volcanic ash.
Time will tell what the extent of the damages will be to the moai. We’ve certainly seen miracles happen through concerted effort and funding from the world to maintain global historical sites in the wake of disasters. What also remains is whether this action was intentional, and if so, to what aim.
International Deadline: October 31, 2022 – The Arte Laguna Prize International Award, one of the world’s most influential competition for artists and designers, is now accepting entries. Numerous awards, exhibitions…
The tradition of Nuit Blanche—or whatever your particular area may call the events—across cities is always one of buzz and mystique. Long gone are the days when the majority of holidays themselves were dusk to dawn affairs of celebration, entertainment, and spectacle. But in this particular way, art is given this deep and focused honour. After three years of absence, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche returned to the city at its largest scope to date.
For the uninitiated, Nuit Blanche (French for “white night”) is a form of annual nighttime art festival. It sees city streets themselves turn into veritable galleries by hosting a plethora of installation pieces—sculpture, performance art, anything truly—as well as many of the city’s arts institutions having free admission throughout the night. It’s an interesting way to bring art and the public closer, removing some of the many modern barriers between the two.
Led by artistic director Dr. Julie Nagam, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche held the conceptual theme of “The Space Between Us” this year. The festival’s statement explains:
“People are the heart of their communities. This curatorial theme focuses on the connections to urban, polar and Pacific landscapes, revealing the space between us as a potential site for sharing knowledge. People have always commingled with different communities and nations – to build new spaces and families that shift their relationships and connections to each other and to place.
People disrupt and transform space, making meaningful connections with communities and places. The global crisis of displaced people brings communities together to stand up for humanity and support each other. Now, more than ever, it reminds us of our willingness to connect when our future is linked to the collaboration between cultures, knowledge, nations and practices.”
With over 150 projects spread out across the Greater Toronto Area, it was the most extensive Nuit Blanche for the city to date. From Eugene Paunil’s eerie A God Amongst Us, depicting an avian-human deity casually holding space amongst civilians, to Nike Onile’s The Dinner Table, an expansive and ethereal take on the communal eating space, the perspectives on space are varied and surprising. What does seem to ring true across many of the works is the refocus we have on shared space in our new context, and both the exaltation of that relationship with each other and what lay between us.
Nuit Blanche is a valuable tradition in urban environments. With such a distinct lack of artfulness in many of our public spaces, it’s hard sometimes to remember that our cities hold the potential for beauty and connection. Toronto’s Nuit Blanche has returned with a keen focus on this fact and has even begun an online archive as a reminder of all the beauty that has been brought to its city streets, and is keeping its presence felt with over thirty-five projects extended for viewing.
Submitted by Jaime Sharp on October 4, 2022
“On the evening of Thursday, September 28, dozens of Brooklyn Museum union workers lined the institution’s grand entrance, chanting ‘overworked and underpaid’ and ‘ancient art, not ancient wages.’ Visitors to the museum’s Open House, an event celebrating the revamped Asian and Islamic art galleries, streamed in through different entrances in an attempt to circumvent the protestors,” said Elaine Velie for Hyperallergic.
“Employees at the Brooklyn Museum officially unionized in August 2021 and began contract negotiations with museum leadership in January of this year. While the two parties have reached tentative agreements on some non-economic issues, they have yet to come to terms on healthcare and wages.”
“The day before their protest, the union announced that they had filed an Unfair Labor Practices charge against the museum with the National Board of Labor Relations, which oversaw their 2021 election into United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110. UAW Local 2110 represents employees at a score of other other cultural institutions, including the Whitney, the Dia Art Foundation, and the New Museum.”
“A museum spokesperson told Hyperallergic that although they cannot comment on the specifics of the ongoing negotiations, the museum has proposed a 9% average wage increase. UAW emphasized that this 9% figure is an average and would leave more than half of the union’s workers with only a 3% raise. This increase would fall far below the sky-high inflation rate — calculated at 8.3% from August 2021 to August 2022.
“‘We remain committed to partnering with our staff to achieve an agreement that advances our commitments to wage equity,’ a Brooklyn Museum spokesperson said in a statement. ‘The museum recently approved a FY2023 operating budget that dedicates nearly $4M in new investments in wage and benefit improvements for all employees,’ they added, a result of a ‘comprehensive wage equity project.'”
Submitted by Jaime Sharp on October 4, 2022
“On July 21, 2022, NPN’s Board of Directors voted to support the launch and an initial three years of the Department of Racial Justice and Movement Building: a new programmatic arc of work for NPN. Sage Crump, who has led NPN’s Leveraging a Network for Equity (LANE) initiative, will become the department’s first director. Under her guidance, NPN will work intentionally in the realm of systemic change and movement building by engaging the question ‘What’s possible in our sector when we are in ideological alignment, deep learning, relationship building, and practice together?'”
“This department continues and expands the work started within LANE, which focused on the development and wellbeing of arts organizations of color and rural arts organizations to build healthy, self-determined infrastructure. Engaging this work for nearly a decade has helped us understand the insidious ways racial capitalism and white supremacy infiltrates even the most intimate spaces of our institutions and has produced an incredible amount of learning through lived experience. The Department of Racial Justice and Movement Building will work to integrate this learning throughout NPN’s staff, Network, aligned artists, Board, and strategic partnerships both within the arts sectors and within the larger movement for racial justice.”
“If you are reading this, you are likely part of a circle of humans trying to figure out the levers that will transform society through our work as artists and cultural workers in every part of our ecosystem. This new department is NPN’s way of inviting us all to do this with deeper intention and interconnectedness.”
Submitted by Jaime Sharp on October 3, 2022
“Today, September 30, President Biden issued a proclamation designating October 2022 as National Arts and Humanities Month in celebration of the significance of the arts, humanities, and museum and library services to our nation.”
“The Proclamation includes the announcement of a new Executive Order which seeks to integrate the arts, humanities, and museum and library services into policies, programs, and partnerships throughout the Federal government to tackle the greatest challenges of our time. It also includes a directive to reestablish the President’s Committee for the Arts and the Humanities, which is planned for the coming months.”
“This year the nation’s cultural agencies—the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH)—are joining together to celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month.”
“We take inspiration from the contributions of artists, historians, authors, entertainers, designers, philosophers, curators, scholars, filmmakers, archivists, librarians, administrators, and others who make up our creative sector and document and preserve our history. Their efforts help lift up new voices and shine a light on previously untold stories.”
“Artists and thinkers enrich our experiences by encouraging us to live artful lives, find and create pathways to connection and empathy, improve our well-being, and create and maintain the balance and beauty of the world around us.”
Submitted by admin on October 1, 2022
Creatives Rebuild New York, a GIA member since 2021, is a three year, $125 million investment in the financial stability of New York State Artists and the organizations that employ them. CRNY aims to catalyze systemic change in the arts and cultural economy, recognize the value of artists’ contributions, and reshape society’s understanding of artists as workers who are vital to the health of our communities. Simply put, CRNY believes that we must move beyond valuing the artistic product and begin to value the humanity of the artist. Artists need and deserve to be paid predictable and regular incomes, and local organizations likewise deserve support to employ artists within their communities.
To that end, CRNY has supported artists and community based organizations in two ways: Guaranteed Income for Artists, providing 2,400 artists with no strings, $1,000 monthly payments for 18 consecutive months; and our Artist Employment Program, supporting artists, culture bearers, and culture makers with $65,000/year salaries and benefits for two years in partnership with community based organizations across New York State. These 2,700 artists represent a diverse array of artistic and cultural practices ranging from the performing and visual arts to oral traditions, craft, literature, and social practice and myriad approaches to collaboration.
We have also launched an ambitious data collection initiative, A Portrait of New York State Artists, to develop key research and advocacy tools. We look forward to announcing the details of our Guaranteed Income for Artists work in late October, and we encourage you to learn more about our Artist Employment Program.
You can also visit the Creatives Rebuild New York photo gallery on GIA’s Photo Credits page
Working on a custom fire pit for a customer. This one will have a large opening in the front, a smaller opening in the back, and will then be covered in stars, moons, and circles. #firepit #metalart
Here is a great shot of most of the crew just before we did our Giant Butterfly and Caterpillar production at the Northwest String Summit! Photo by Jason Charme – he always gets such great photos!