Show #21: The Art of Education

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This month Sidewalk Radio presents both a radio show and an art show that journey along the path to discovery in Atlanta’s arts and culture realm.  The radio show delves into the world of education as told through an arts critic, an arts collector, and an architect who specializes in design for student life.  The art show, by way of The Sidewalk Art Project, is the end product of a creative partnership between Sidewalk Radio and SCAD Atlanta that exhibits student work about our history and culture.  What we learn through our exploration is that education is both in itself an art form and a producer of art, how it is constructed many times parallels the path of the student.

Thornton Dial (b. 1928). In the Roosevelt Time: Penned In. 2003. Pencil, acrylic, and watercolor on paper. 44 X 30 in. Photo credit: Tinwood Media.

Art collector and explorer, Bill Arnett, is Founder and Chief Curator at Tinwood Media.  While extremely accomplished, being perhaps the foremost collector and educator about the art of the southern black slave tradition, Arnett is himself “self-taught”.  Joining Gene in the studio this month to talk about his journey toward knowledge and the unorthodox route he took, Bill enlightens and educates about discovery in the arts and within the individual.  AM 1690 has extensive coverage about Arnett’s work, and can be further enjoyed by listening to an interview done by “The Voice of the Arts” own David Lewis in his interview.

Colorado State University Student Center. Rendering by Perkins+Will.

Jeff Stebar is an architect and student life expert with Perkins+Will.  Jeff joins Gene to talk about the future of education from both the built environment and from life outside the classroom.  Since the students for whom Stebar is now designing are only in the 6th and 7th grade presently, predicting how they will learn and where they will learn when they get to college makes the work he and his team embark upon interesting and a challenge.  What our discussion uncovers is that buildings are being designed not to predict the future, but to adapt to it.  The interests of the students and the advancements in technology are highly considered as is the new reality of having to recruit in higher education.

Guests of The Sidewalk Art Project Gallery Show enjoy art and The Atlanta Preservation Center’s charming appeal.

Cathy Fox is a long-writing Atlanta arts critic and founder of ArtsAtl.  While Cathy does not have a focus on arts education per se, she is certainly one of Atlanta’s top voices when it comes to covering the arts.  Her interview is in part to educate upcoming artists such as those who participated in The Sidewalk Art Project about how to and where to learn, and in another way meant to take a critical eye on education within the arts.

“Miss Winter (Juniper)” by Elizabeth Castaldo. 32 x 25 inches. Silkscreen.

“Knights Armor, Palisade, Lucky Penny” by Nate Kamp. 18 x 17 inches. Photogravure.

And, speaking of arts critique, we must take a moment to recognize our Juror Panel who helped select “Best In Show” for the art show portion of this month’s exploration.  Special thanks to Spalding Nix, Ronnie Land, Bruce McEvoy, and Stuart Horodner.  Each of these individuals are big in Atlanta arts, and dedicated their time and expertise not only to help the SCAD students learn more in the way of exposure to success in the arts, but also to learn themselves about the students and their work.

Congratulations to the two students selected “Best In Show”, Elizabeth Castaldo for “Miss Winter (Juniper)” and to Nate Kamp for “Kights Armor, Palisade, Lucky Penny”.  To see their work and read the artist’s statement visit us on Sidewalk Radio’s Facebook Page.

Show #20: Memorial Days

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Memorials are here to remind us, to motivate us, to inspire us.

This month we explore and remember the leadership, courage and creativity that molded art, music, and educational arenas in Atlanta, and places far beyond. What we find is that memorials are community building, not necessarily isolated to one static place. The most meaningful of them are ideas, omnipresent and affective. Our guides for this journey include a business leader, an author, and a poet. Their stories take us on a journey to discover the legacies who helped shape our community, and in its own collaborative way, create an audible memorial through the context.

The Woodruff Arts Center is a memorial to those who lost their lives following their love of the arts.

Fifty years ago on June 3, 1962, Atlanta lost 106 patrons and loved ones in the most devastating tragedy our art community has ever seen. On takeoff back to Atlanta, after spending three weeks of cultural tourism in Europe, their plane exploded in a fiery crash at Orly field just outside of Paris, France. Orly shook the community to its core, yet in response catalyzed Atlanta’s arts and business communities to create a memorial. That memorial is the Woodruff Arts Center. Joe Bankoff, President and CEO of the Woodruff, joins Gene in the studio this month to discuss the positive impacts of this memorial and the leadership that made it possible.

Pearl Cleage will be reading her poem “Wish You Were Here” on June 3rd as part of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Orly Community Day. Photo credit: Uptown Magazine.

Author, playwright, and poet Pearl Cleage is well accomplished and well known for her work. But the invitation to commemorate Orly through her poetry was a unique challenge. How does a woman – who at one time felt like The Woodruff was not a place for her – speak to the families who’s loved ones are memorialized therein? She does it with kindness, with care, with love and with respect. Pearl takes time to read a part of her poem “Wish You Were Here”, making the listener feel like they were there. It is both sad and satisfying at the same time. Pearl will be reading “Wish You Were Here” in its entirety on June 3rd as part of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Orly Community Day.

Blind Willie McTell provided his own memorial through his music.

Blind Willie McTell, who played in Atlanta and around the South through the 1940′s and 50′s inspired the likes of Bob Dylan and The Allman Brothers with his captivating guitar playing. He also inspired local author David Fulmer to add McTell as a character in novels, as a documentary subject, and in a controversial move, to replace McTell’s tombstone with a memorial Fulmer felt more appropriate to the legacy. Fulmer’s colorful and charismatic story-telling brings a great conversation along with the perspective of music as a memorial.

Of course, this month’s show is also in the honor and spirit of Memorial Day, a day that we remember and celebrate the men and women who have bravely given their lives for our united freedom. This idea of “freedom” is priceless and their sacrifice is the lifeblood of our nation.

ART STROLL: ORLY COMMUNITY DAY

“From the devastation at Orly came a social consciousness intent on creating community. Roy Lichtenstein’s “House III”, a sculpture of optical illusion at the High Museum, must be enjoyed from multiple angles, much like the creation of the Woodruff Arts Center.” – Gene Kansas, Host of Sidewalk Radio & Art Stroll.

50 years ago on June 3, 1962, the single greatest disaster in Atlanta’s art world took place when 122 art patrons lost their lives in a crash at Orly Field in France.  The terrible moment created grief, heartache and sadness.  The silver lining was a catalyzing movement in Atlanta’s arts and business communities to create a memorial.  That memorial is The Woodruff Arts Center.

Pearl Cleage will be reading her poem “Wish You Were Here” at the Woodruff Arts Center’s Orly Community Day on June 3rd. Photo credit: Access Atlanta.

This June 3rd, we remember those who lost their lives and celebrate what they stood for at the Woodruff Arts Center’s Orly Community Day.  There are plenty of fun – and free – activities planned. The Alliance Theatre, High Museum of Art, Young Audiences, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (all part of Woodruff’s offerings) will play a part, but sure to be among the most touching of those activities will be a reading by author, poet, and playwright Pearl Cleage of her poem “Wish You Were Here” written in commemoration of those who perished.

Pearl was kind enough to visit us in the studio to read a segment of her poem and talk to us about what a memorial means to her.

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Show #5: Peachtree Street

Peachtree Street circa 1875

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On Sidewalk Radio’s February show, the phrase “street smart” takes on new meaning as some of Atlanta’s brightest minds share their expertise and insights about our city’s icon, our connective landmark, the history laden, world famous Peachtree Street.

There is Broadway in New York, Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Sunset in LA, and Bourbon in New Orleans, but Peachtree Street is more than famous, it is a living, breathing, archeological diorama of Atlanta’s history told through its transitioning neighborhoods and ascending architecture.

Join host, Gene Kansas, as he explores the history, lore, legacy, culture and character of a street whose name really came from a pine tree.  See, it’s already getting interesting.

To discuss the past, present and future of urban planning, transit and architecture is David Green AIA, LEED AP, and Senior Urban Designer with internationally renowned architecture and design firm, Perkins+Will.  In addition to his applied professional chops, Green also adds a professor’s point of view, gained from more than 20 years of teaching at Georgia Tech, helping to educate us about how cities develop and why Peachtree is so important to Atlanta.

Perkins+Will took extra steps to make 1315 Peachtree not only beautiful and environmentally friendly, but also connected to the street, a move that limited their parking, but added to the appeal for Peachtree and Atlanta.

Preservationist Mark McDonald, President & CEO of The Georgia Trust, enlightens us about the street that boasts such treasures as The Georgian Terrace, The Temple, The High Museum, and The “Fabulous” Fox Theater, saved from certain destruction through a grassroots effort in 1974.  McDonald also discusses important places we’ve lost and “Places in Peril” that we need to protect.

Lowe’s Grand Theater was site of the 1939 premiere of Gone with the Wind. It was built in 1893 and lost to fire in 1978.

Adding some real legs to our tour along this famous route is Atlanta Track Club’s Executive Director, Tracey Russell, in charge of putting on The Peachtree Road Race.  In its first year, 110 runners finished the race.  41 years later, on July 4^th 2011, 60,000 participants will take part in the world’s largest event of its kind, and Russell runs down a long list of impressive stories and statistics that will have you entertained and intrigued from start to finish.

And, very much a place-maker, Shannon Powell, COO of The Midtown Alliance, rounds out the guest list taking us back 15 years to shed light on a neighborhood that at one time was so unsavory you would not have walked down Peachtree at night, but now is thriving with the arts, restaurants, residences, and the promise of incredible street level retail that one day soon will be on par with its Midwestern cousins along “The Magnificent Mile”.

shopSCAD’s “Pop Up” Shop at Atlanta History Center’s 990 Peachtree Street.

Peachtree has come a long way, both literally and figuratively, growing and developing in parallel with the city, and spawning 71 variations of its name along the way.  And, just like in the treaties of the Creek Indians that inhabited our land before Peachtree, the “pitch” still holds us together, symbolizing the vows that we have to history.

AND, A SPECIAL “THANK YOU” TO OUR SPONSOR, PERKINS+WILL.

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Show #3: The Art Show

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How To See Art.

Do you ever look at a painting and wonder if you’re missing something?

Ever consider why the work is even in the place you’re seeing it to begin with?

Can you see art, but can’t see how it can become a career?

What about trying your whole life to create something, and then suddenly, and without explanation, obtain the ability? We’re workin’ on this one too!

If the answer is “yes” to any of the questions above, then YES, “The Art Show” is for you.

Sidewalk Radio’s “The Art Show” considers the question about “how to see art” from four uniquely creative perspectives.  On this show we hear from The Creator, The Curator, The Career Counsler, and The Chainsaw (wait, you’ll see a little later in this post).

The “Creator”: Radcliffe Bailey is one of Atlanta’s most celebrated artists. If you’ve been to the International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, then you’ve seen his incredible mural “Saints” as you head down the escalator to your next destination.  Perhaps this is your first encounter and connection with Atlanta.  This June, many more will be connected and exposed to Bailey’s breadth of work at his upcoming solo show, Memory as Medicine, at The High Museum of Art. Gene and Radcliffe talk about how he sees his art and how others may see it, in an interview that ranges from the artist’s childhood to the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

The High Museum’s curator of African Art, Carol Thompson, was generously in the studio during Bailey’s interview with Gene, and helped give us insight into how the southeast’s premier museum looks at collecting, curating, and cultivating in the art community.  Thompson is a co-curator of Bailey’s upcoming show.

The “Career Counsler”: Robert Brown, Chair of Printmaking at SCAD, joins Sidewalk Radio to discuss SCAD’s incredible contribution to the Atlanta community and how they guide students to a career in the arts.

The “Curator”: Also bringing his perspective and expertise to “The Art Show” is the Artistic Director for the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Stuart Horodner. According to Horodner, “Art is anything that is created with the intention of it being art.”  And, on the show, you’ll hear how he works tirelessly to allow us to see art in an educated and entertaining way.

“Boundary Issues” by Daivd Yocum & Brian Bell. Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

The “Chainsaw”: Lastly, a man, who has never before in his life sculpted with wood, is hired to trim a tree struck by lightening. Using his recently deceased father’s tools, he channels a natural talent to create an absolute work of art. The Washita Tree sculpture. Terry Legge joins Sidewalk Radio for a few words about divine intervention, innate ability, and therapy through art.  NOTE: While we question the former height of the tree, the art is unquestionable in it’s uniqueness and how it transforms space.

So, at the end of the day, hopefully we help answer the question, how to see art.  Join us for a listen, contemplate art, and then decide for yourself. Enjoy.