| St. Louis
Art Makes News
With the fall
opening of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, this new building
and many other St. Louis art organizations have been making headlines.
New York Times Anticipates Opening of Pulitzer Foundation
The geometric,
low-rise Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts was a lead story in
“The Living Arts” section of The New York Times earlier
this year. Not only will it house the modern and contemporary
art collection of the late Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., the $17 million,
25,600-square-foot facility is the first public building in the
U.S. by world-reknown Japanese architect Tadao Ando who won the
1995 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Curator and founder is Emily Rauh Pulitzer, former curator of
the Saint Louis Art Museum and widow of Pulitzer who died in 1993.
The center already had its first new piece before completion,
a commissioned Torqued Ellipse by Richard Serra, titled “Joe”
in honor of Mr. Pulitzer. The facility is described both as an
alternative viewing environment and an educational center for
art professionals. The new Pulitzer Center for the Arts will raise
awareness for both the arts and architecture in St. Louis.
St. Louis People Project Part of Summer Art in the Streets
Across the U.S.
The People
Project was not simply part of the St. Louis art scene; it was
part of the scenery during this past summer. In a round-up story
of “art in the streets” projects across the country, USA Today
highlighted St. Louis’ The People Project. Other cities’ street
art exhibits mentioned in the story include: Chicago, Lindsborg,
Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Toledo, Ohio; Salt Lake City; Seattle; Raleigh,
N.C.; and Sun Valley, Idaho.
A joint effort of the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission and FOCUS
St. Louis, The People Project featured more than 200 unique, human
figures that populated a 12-county area of the bi-state region
for a temporary display. Local artists, students and citizens
transformed the “People Figures” in a variety of themes, colors
and expressions. Area sponsors then “adopted” the figures, which
were displayed throughout the region in parks, in shopping malls,
on street corners and in front of businesses or other public buildings.
“This can bring support and awareness to the arts,” said Porter
Arneill, The People Project director, in a conversation with USA
Today. “It’s also a way to have some fun.”
The figures were on public display in their temporary locations
from April through September. Selected figures will be available
at The People Project Charity Auction on October 20 at Phillips
Selkirk Auctioneers and via the Internet. Net proceeds will benefit
public art and art education programs as well as sponsor-designated
charities. For more information, contact The People Project at
314/531-5150 or www.thepeopleproject.com.
Art in America Highlights Entire St. Louis Art Scene
The July issue of Art in America, a leading national art
magazine, focused on the St. Louis art scene covering the Grand
Center Arts District, the Saint Louis Art Museum, Laumeier Sculpture
Park, and the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, as well as
the anticipated opening of Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.
Along Grand in Midtown, writer Ann Wilson Lloyd mentions all the
landmarks in the area including St. Louis Symphony’s Powell Hall,
Sheldon Concert Hall, the Grandel Theater, home of the St. Louis
Black Repertory company and Fox Theater. She writes extensively
about the Forum for Contemporary Art, which broke ground in April
for a new 26,000-square-foot building opening in 2002. Another
arts neighbor getting attention on Grand is the soon-to-open Pulitzer
Foundation for the Arts, expected to display portions of Joseph
Pulitzer, Jr.’s renowned modern art collection. Adding the art-viewing
facilities should increase daytime traffic to the area, now frequented
mostly for evening performances.
Moving on to the Saint Louis Art Museum, Lloyd mentions SLAM’s
strong collection of works by Max Beckmann, who lived in St. Louis
and taught at Washington University during the 1940s. She gave
kudos to SLAM’s exhibition last summer entitled “Wonderland,”
large contemporary pieces designed by 10 international artists.
Laumeier Sculpture Park, celebrating its 25th anniversary, is
in a transition phase. Home to 60 sculptures, the area is both
a St. Louis County park and an outdoor gallery. Another interesting
art site in the area is the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art,
opened only eight years ago on the campus of Saint Louis University.
At Washington University, construction is underway on the Visual
Arts and Design Center, scheduled for completion near the end
of 2003.
The Art in America article moves on to news about artists
in St. Louis and programs like the Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund
Fellowship, which brings nationally known artists to the area
to exhibit and teach. Arts in Transit, the fine arts programs
at Webster, Washington University and Saint Louis University are
all mentioned.
The writer wraps up her story with a tour of the gallery districts
in the Central West End and Clayton. She visits the William Shearburn
Gallery, Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, the Locus Gallery and
the R. Duane Reed Gallery.
Graybar and Reynolds listed in Business Week as a Top
Private Info Tech Company
Above:
Business Weeks’ June 18, 2001 issue featured Graybar Electric
as one of the nation’s top private “Info Tech” companies
The Business Week “Annual Report” issue in June listed
its top 100 Info Tech companies and a companion story listed the
leading private firms in the U.S. Number four on the list of top
private Info Tech Companies is Graybar Electric of Clayton, Mo.
The 132-year-old Graybar is a leading supplier of cable, connectors
and other communications-related equipment. The Business Week
story mentions Graybar’s growth in sales and a recent reorganization,
which focused on quick efficient product delivery. Leading the
challenge for customer efficiency and increasing sales is Graybar
CEO Robert Reynolds. He has been with the company since he graduated
from college in 1972 and accustomed to the Graybar culture. This
put him in the right perspective to persuade managers to make
changes. According to the Business Week story, customers
are showing their appreciation with increased sales last year
of $5.2 billion, a 21 percent jump.
Inland Diving at Bonne Terre Mine Listed as Popular Recreation
Above:
Bonne Terre mine is the largest subterranean lake in the world
and one of the best inland diving adventures.
Bonne Terre Mine, the world’s largest man-made underground cavern
and largest inland scuba diving facility, was in the news again
in a July issue of Newsweek. The mine was one of only four
inland diving sites highlighted. A color photo, captioned “Picking
a winner: Bonne Terre Mine,” accompanies the story. Mine owner
Doug Goergens is quoted in the magazine, ”It’s like diving through
mining history.”
Located 150 feet beneath Bonne Terre, Mo., the mine covers about
80 square miles and received nearly 15,000 divers each year. The
clear water offers 100-foot visibility and hosts more than 24
different scuba tours. Plus, constant water temperatures allow
for year-round diving.
The St. Joseph Lead Co. started mining near Bonne Terre in 1869.
The mine was the world’s largest producer of lead until the supply
diminished in 1961. Twenty years later, Doug and Cathy Goergens,
owners of the West End Diving Center in St. Louis, rediscovered
the mine. They turned the mine, which had three levels filled
with water, into a unique diving experience. In addition, non-divers
can enjoy boat and walking tours through the mine.
The Newsweek story is one of several honors received by
Diving at Bonne Terre Mine in recent years. The site was featured
in the top 10 of National Geographic Adventure magazine’s
favorite outdoor experiences. Diving Bonne Terre Mine also has
been featured on The Family Channel, “Good Morning, America” and
the Discovery Channel.
NPR’s Talk of the Nation Broadcasts Live from St. Louis on
90.7 KWMU
Talk of the Nation, a news-talk radio program from National Public
Radio News, broadcast live from St. Louis on Thursday, July 26,
from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Saint Louis Art Museum auditorium. Talk
of the Nation is hosted by Juan Williams and is heard Monday through
Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. on 90.7 KWMU.
The St. Louis broadcast was the final show in the “Changing Face
of America” program, an 18-part town-hall series on our changing
society in the 21st century. The show included guests’ questions
from the St. Louis audience, and phone calls from around the country.
The first hour featured a discussion on demographic shifts, including
the retirement of baby boomers and increases in Latino and Asian
American populations, and economic changes, including the effects
of recent layoffs in the “digital economy.” Guests in the first
hour were Joel Kotkin, author of “The New Geography: How the Digital
Revolution is Reshaping the American Landscape” and a Senior Fellow
at the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University
and at the Milken Institute; William Frey, a demographer, sociologist
and research scientist at the University of Michigan Population
Studies Center and a Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute; and
Jack Beatty, senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly and
editor of “Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America.”
The second hour of the broadcast included a discussion on the
American community in the 21st century, asking whether our nation
is becoming increasingly isolated and fragmented. Guests in the
second hour were Michael Barone, author of “The New Americans:
How the Melting Pot Can Work Again” and co-author for the last
30 years of “The Almanac of American Politics” and Wayne Fields,
professor of American Literature in the American Cultural Studies
Department at Washington University.
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