News, and More News
A magazine I've never heard of (American Style) has voted Seattle the sixth-best arts destination in the country. Frankly, I have no idea what this means, but this week's arts news suggests recognition, movement, and, lastly, a total disregard for art.
Artist Trust has announced 56 recipients of this year's GAP (Grants for Artist Projects) grants--grants of up to $1,400 to support any aspect of development or creation or even administration of artists' work. I heartily salute Artist Trust's ongoing efforts to put the money where it matters (in the hands of artists) when it matters (before the work is made). A record-setting 645 artists in all genres applied this year, suggesting either that there are more artists than ever in Washington state, or that they're just getting poorer and poorer.
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I also salute Donnabelle Casis, this year's recipient of the Neddy Artist Fellowship in painting (apparently she was nominated by some hack writer, but this doesn't diminish the prestige of the award) and Dionne Haroutunian, the winner in printmaking. The honors were doled out this year on a quiet Wednesday afternoon at the Henry, since the traditional venue for the Neddy--the Bank of America Gallery--has gone the way of all flesh.... You probably know this already, but Cornish College is moving downtown into the Denny Triangle area in the fall of 2003. One of the main properties Cornish bought is the Sons of Norway Hall, better known as the home of gay line dancing, the Timberline. All that remains is for the college to raise about $35 million more.
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On a local activism note, SCCC art teacher Greg Bachar has thrown himself behind an effort to save the city-skyline mural inside the movie theater at the Broadway Market. It turns out that the new Gold's Gym, opening this fall in the former Broadway Market Cinema space, had no plans to retain the mural, which was painted by Bachar's fellow instructor Don Barrie in 1988. Bachar and Barrie are working together to get the gym owners either to leave the mural where it is, or to remove it without destroying it. Now, let's be realistic--this is not a masterpiece--but there's still a discomfiting issue here. It may very simply be a cautionary tale about what happens when you tie art to commerce, but I'd like to see art prevail once in a while.
