Monument/Anti-Monument

A convener is an individual or group responsible for bringing people together to address an issue, problem, or opportunity. Co-conveners Marilu Knode and Meridith McKinley did just that to expand the conversation about the role of sculpture, public art and monuments in a context of communities. The three-day event in St. Louis engaged 300 participants in a dialogue. Along the way the region found itself proudly showcasing its own unique and powerful commitment to art as it relates to our civilization.

Marilu is executive director of the Laumeier Sculpture Park and Meridith runs Via Partnership, a firm that facilitates planning and management of public art. So they are stakeholders in such an exchange. To their credit, this meeting of minds was not at all parochial. However, they are careful to leverage the assets of this region from the Saint Louis Art Museum, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, The Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), Forest Park and the nearby Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois.

“Saint Louis has the nickname ‘mound city’ precisely because this region was home to a civilization archeologists refer to as ‘Mississippians’ more than one thousand years ago. The mounds preserved here are part of that,” advises Bill Iseminger atop Monk’s Mound as he guides a group of conference participants. The Gateway Arch at Jefferson National Expansion Memorial can be seen on the horizon on this clear day as the visitors marvel at the remnants of an ancient civilization. This reference point and indeed the Arch itself serve a powerful reminder of what Marilu Knode refers to as “the archeology of place,” as the Laumeier Sculpture Park opens its Mound City exhibition with commissioned installations by artists Sam Durant, Marie Watt, Juan William Chavez, Geoffrey Krawczyk and others.     

The conference wraps up with a keynote address by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. His work embraces a sense of space with light, sound, technology. He has had exhibitions around the world from San Francisco, Sydney, Buenos Aires and Singapore. He inspires the artists and academics in the room. He demonstrates how public space can be energized. "My work lives at the intersection of architecture and performance art" says Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. “It is just like a club: you set things up and hope people will come in and make it a scene. If they don’t, it’s okay. You move on and do something else.”

At the Chase Park Plaza hotel in the Central West End of Saint Louis on Sunday morning the remaining out-of-towners make arrangements for transportation back to their respective cities. They are, like everyone else who engaged in this comprehensive discussion, processing what it all means in the context of art, of history, and how they might apply principals to their respective   places as artists, as academics and as citizens.  

       

Archeologist Bill Iseminger guides visitors atop Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois. The group exits Monks Mound.

A Mud Hut at Laumeier Sculpture Park (below) pays homage to ancient cultures of Mound City.

Parker, Michael and Daniel at the Old Rock House

Michael Rose (Bass), Parker Millsap, Daniel Foulks (Fiddle) in front of the Old Rock House in St. Louis April 2, 2014. 

If you live long enough, you will see some incredible things. If you are talented and ambitious enough, some of those things you will see will be early in your life.  Chances are, however, they will be out of the context of the rest of your time on this earth. Parker Millsap and his band are aware and gearing up for their performance at the Old Rock House in Saint Louis. These three musicians share a passion for performance. Out of context but in the moment.   

A true artist recognizes context, maybe instinctively, maybe with a bit of spirituality and captures it with something that resonates with an audience. The band agrees to pose in front of the venue just 20 minutes before show time. It was long enough to glean the bonds between band mates. Michael and Parker have been musical partners since ninth grade. That means they have been together maybe seven years. Daniel says he joined Parker Millsap a couple years ago. His beard is a symbol of the wisdom. He is grateful in their good fortune. “2014 has been very good to us. Things are falling into place and here we are in St. Louis.” Daniel says even as the trio can see the Gateway Arch. “Hey, can you climb up that thing?” asks Michael. The band mate joking laments life on the road leaves little time for national monuments and tourism. Scaling the Arch makes its way to the stage as part of the banter between Parker and Daniel. Parker also apologizes for the weather pattern that seems to be following them from Oklahoma this rainy night with hail and tornado watches in the forecast.

Opening Day Cardinals Baseball in St. Louis is just a few days away but the Parker Millsap band will be long gone. They may not make it to the top of the St. Louis Arch but they are on the rise. Michael, Daniel and Parker are happy to sign merchandise. They know this is part of building a brand. They do it with pleasure. Somehow they have a sense of the context by which they sign CDs and posters.

Parker says, “this is a song about junkies.” He laughs because it is rather a song about nursery rymes put into another sort of different context. Artists can do that sort of thing. Thanks to Parker, Michael and Daniel for bringing it to our town.

“Mary Mary quite contrary/How’d you get your eyes so scary/Lost your pocket full of posies /Pawned your rings and cut your roses/Now I see you out struttin’ on the corner/Working for a man named little Jack Horner”

For more information www.parkermillsap.com For Bookings  Davis McLarty - Atomic Music Group - 512- 444-8750 - davis@atomicmusicgroup.com 

Teach Your Children Well

ShareFair, Experience the STEMosphere is a FREE one-day event where students, parents, educators and lifelong learners of all ages can join us for a public exhibition of fun, interactive, STEM-inspired activities at the University of Missouri - St Louis. It took place on March 29, 2014. The event was made possible through the generosity of the Morgridge Family Foundation, a private family foundation that invests in the transformation of education for both students and educators. A leader in educational philanthropy throughout the nation, the Morgridge Family Foundation supports educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), environmental stewardship, broadband access, educational inclusion for hospitalized children, innovative instructional practices and educator development. 

 

 

EXHIBITORS included:  Academy of Science - St. Louis, Anatomy in Clay, The Boeing Company, Center for Nanoscience/Chemistry Dept. UMSL, Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis, Code Red Education, Custom K-12 Engineering, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, E Desmond Lee Fine Arts Education Collaborative at UMSL, Endangered Wolf Center, Gateway Greening Inc, Humane Society of Missouri, Illinois Mathematics & Science Academy (IMSA), Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots, The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, Monsanto Science Education Outreach, The Nature Conservancy, Republic Services, Saint Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Zoo, Schwartz & Associates Creative, Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House, UMSL CoE Technology Learning Center, University of Missouri - St. Louis, UMSL College of Nursing, UMSL/Washington University Joint Engineering Program, US Army Corps of Engineers, Washington University, World Chess Hall of Fame and YMCA.

The Saturday included 20+ classroom intensive presentations of which I attended four: Anatomy in Clay: Experience the first interactive tool: the hand (Jon Zahourek); Khan Academy: Building Khan Artists: Developing Support Structures to Facilitate Differentiation of Instruction (Brad Avery, Wayne Thornes); Red & Black Books: Preparing Students for Life, a Funny Thing Happened on the way to Hollywood (Tina Pennington, Mandy Williams); Smart solutions in STEM Education (Ian Belanger).

That’s a lot to take in on a Saturday. That being said, like any learning experience: When approached in earnest, there are net take-aways. Here are mine: 1. Educators are passionate

2. Technology is transforming Education 3. Smart people will find ways to merge creativity and content.

P.S. -  Carrie A. Morbridge, Vice President of the Morgridge Family Foundation followed Carole G. Basile, Dean of UMSL College of Education in the kick-off of the event with the analogy of giving teachers something better than a one speed bike to climb the continental divide.

Snarky P.P.S. Carrie Morgridge inadvertently refereed to UMSL as the “University of Saint Louis” in her opening remarks. She also mentioned Lance Armstrong better bicycle as analogy for transformative tools for teachers. (I’m pretty sure teachers want NOT to be associated with any form of cheating). But you gotta love it if it was her idea to take this show on the road to St. Louis. 

SIUE Thad Duhigg and LSP Docents

Thad Duhigg (in red) flanked by visitors to SIUE from the Laumeier Sculpture Park

Thad Duhigg is a sculptor, artist, and a friend of the Laumeier Sculpture Park. He is a friend in a different way than the euphemism that implies a person who is a magnanimous patron who writes checks in support of the arts. This friend is a guy who has helped repair sculpture, produced castings that are part the maquettes for visually impaired visitors and even delivered two bronze busts for last Summer’s exhibition The River Between Us. It wasn’t long ago that he was a featured artist at Laumeier Scuplture Park himself.  

Thad is professor of sculpture at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE) and on this early Spring day he is host to a dozen docents from Laumeier. This peak inside the SIUE sculpture department shows students eager to make art, but perhaps more importantly, learn the craft of creating sculpture. The docents are listening carefully as Thad reinforces the steps necessary for the lost wax method of casting in bronze. “There are a lot of opportunities to experience failure and when every piece is unique there are different challenges,” says Duhigg.

The nature of this lesson is far reaching. It isn’t only about manufacturing in a laboratory. It is about the commitment and attention to detail from temperatures, the “investment” and allowances you make for metal to form and air to escape. The specification covers a group of requirements that are mandatory for castings produced by the investment casting process to meet the metallurgical requirements: chemical, heat, and product analyses performed wherein the material shall meets the specified composition limits for carbon, manganese, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten, copper, and aluminum. It isn’t just art for art’s sake.

Meanwhile “let sleeping dogs lie,” is a theme that seems to creeps into the tour of sculpture and the adjacent departments at SIUE. Thad Duhigg is not satisfied to leave things as status quo. Even though recently he has “sleeping dogs” appearing in sculpture he not about to go without stirring things up. Status Quo is not his style. So when you see a pit bull on a pedestal on the campus of SIUE it is not because the artist is asleep.

Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE )is a nationally recognized university educating and developing professional and community leaders through excellent faculty and programs. For more information www.siue.edu

Barb Wired

Barb Flunker was indeed wired for her opening at the architecture and design firm in the Grove neighborhood on Manchester Road in St. Louis on March 7, 2014. She greets everyone as they enter. She helps create excitement around her work on display. She is brave, expressionistic, contemporary and unafraid of talking about her process that includes found and re-purposed materials such as fabric, chicken wire, wire window screens and paint. “I love to recycle materials but that isn’t what I’m about. I’m not saying my work is about recycling…”

SPACE is in the business of architecture and design. Their story is chronicled in a blog series that illustrates in dramatic fashion the old fashioned ideal called stick-to-it-ive-ness. As it happens, Tom Niemeier the writer of that blog is a friend of mine and the founder of that firm. And so it goes with artists like my friend Barb Flunker. She is creating art over a period of time and at this very point in time she is showing at Space.

So it goes in St. Louis, when you have lived here long enough, your worlds collide. Tom is happy to have the traffic in his Space. Barb is happy to be showing in this Space. It is a win-win when Barb’s fans show up and are buying. Red Dots are telling the guests that the work is selling – at least six works sold in the first hour. Her friends include the docent volunteers at the Laumeier Sculpture Park where she is a charter member.

There is wine and a spirit in the space that is Space. Artists, art fans, friends of Barb and Ray Flunker, young architects, designers and people out on a Friday night in St. Louis. It is a moment in time. This is when you see that being an artist today is as much about today as it is about what you are doing now as it is about what is next. You look and you see that Barb sees things in unique and wonderful ways. Go to this space called Space because Barb will be moving on this Spring to whatever is next.

About SPACE Architecture + Design Studio…
An AIA award-winning design-build firm in St. Louis, Missouri, SPACE was launched in 2005 by St. Louis native Tom Niemeier (Tom is first on left in group shot above). SPACE’s collaborative team of talented architects and interior designers give clients inspiring commercial office, retail, schools, medical facilities, restaurants and churches to enhance the most important moments of life. As proud residents of St. Louis’ up-and-coming Grove neighborhood, SPACE participates in Public Architecture’s 1% Program, in which the firm donates 1% of its hours back to local nonprofits each year. SPACE’s community participation was recognized by St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, who awarded them the Spirit of St. Louis Award in 2010. For more information, visit www.spacestl.com, get up to the minute news on their blog at spacestl.wordpress.com, or follow along on Twitter at @spacearchitects.

       

Lindsey's Post on the passing of my Mom

on family, my name and getting it...kinda...

post by Lindsey Morgan

It has been a really long time since I have attended a Morgan Family gathering, the extended Morgan Family that is…so long, I am sad to report I don’t think I can even recall the last time more than 2 or 3 of us were together. 

I know Uncle Greg stopped just a few months ago when he saw me in the parking lot at work, and  his son Wes is friends with the brothers of one of my youth groupers.  I might cross paths with Wes or Matthew 5 or 10 times a week in our small South Tampa community.  For all I know Wes and I could be standing at the same bar ordering drinks every now and then…

I remember a visit from Uncle Sundance to St. Louis, maybe, when I was in high school?  That was at least 12 or 13 years ago now.

I think the last time I saw Jim, we were living in Miami and we had Thanksgiving on Key Biscane…we beat Kunkle butt playing street football and Mary made Stouffers mac and cheese for Ben…because he was still an incredibly picky eater those days…not much has changed.

I honestly though don’t remember the last time I saw most of The Morgan Family. 

I remember when I was in preschool or early elementary school my dad teaching me the names of all of his siblings and memorizing them in age order…I guess the way he ran through them in his head as well.

Jimmy, Lynn, Wes, Greg, Dan, Rob

I had to include my dad in that list to remember everyone.

But…then I had to learn that Jimmy was really Sundance and Lynn was really Mary Lynn and Wes and Greg, though a year apart graduated together, and Dan took pictures and Rob would always be the youngest, no matter how old they all got.  AND THEN look at the baby and childhood pictures—they all looked the same with those HUGE coke bottle glasses!

I can give you the names…

Sundance and Iris have no kids (he was married once before her I think and Iris is a twin, something I always thought was kinda cool!)

Lynn has two sons Jimmy and Philip (both older than me)  Jimmy is now married with a beautiful daughter.  My dad, it seems, has always been close to Jimmy.

Wes, my dad is still married to my mom and my brother and I continue to plug along in our own little bubbles.  My little brother is engaged to be married sometime soon-ish…

Greg was married to Donda and had two sons, Wesley (named after my dad ) and Matthew (born on my dad’s birthday) but he is now remarried to Ellen and has 2 step-kids too…

Dan has now married his second wife Annette (no kids)

Rob has been married to Joy for almost as long as my parents have been married and they have 3 kids.  Megan, Tara and Kevin…I don’t know if I have ever met any of them.

You know what, come to think of it…I don’t think I have ever been in a situation where I was in the same place as my dad and his 5 siblings.  If I was, I certainly don’t remember it.  I only have fuzzy memories of my one visit to that stately home on Lake Eerie where my dad grew up.  I only know that place in pictures.  I remember playing with a red and blue electronic toy in a room upstairs.  I think the toy looked like a nutcracker.  I only vaguely remember visiting the house on Key Biscane with my family and Greg’s.  I remember spending more time swimming that visit than anything else.  I think most of those memories are from pictures though.

I don’t have lots of memories of The Morgan Family from growing up.  I remember a lot of everything…so I remember the stories my dad has told me…but it seems almost trivial now.

My dad saw all of his siblings last week.  I don’t know if he remembers the last time that happened.  When I saw the picture, ironically posted on facebook, I was honestly taken aback to see all 6 siblings standing there smiling with their father just in front.

Kevin, the youngest cousin on our dad’s side graduated from high school last week…but that is not what brought the masses together.

My dad’s mom died last week and it hurts a lot that it doesn’t really hurt.  I mean, that sounds wrong…and really is wrong…it hurts, but not the way I think it should.  I don’t feel like I lost something in my life.  Mary Francis Lawton Morgan did not play a big role in my life, but regardless of that—she was a huge part of my life. 

My heart hurt and my stomach churned 15 months ago when I found out two women I had grown up with, friends of my grandmother, parents of my mom’s friends passed away those cold February days…just hours apart.

When I woke to an email obituary from my dad announcing his 89 year old mother had passed away I surmised that was the cause for 3 early-morning missed calls on my cell from my mom.  I called her casually.  She confirmed her reason for calling.  I was not upset…not until I thought about the prospect of not being there for my dad.

This was in fact his mother…his one and only mother…and despite or maybe more accurately in spite of our non-existent relationship, it is because of her my dad is the man he is, why I am inherently the person I have become.

I have learned more about Mary Morgan in her death than I think I knew of her in life.

My dad is a great, succinct writer.  I am not.  I write where my head goes.  I use ellipses, unnecessary commas and strange punctuation.  Sometimes when I start writing I have no idea where I am going to end up.  Sometimes I start with one intention in mind and end up elsewhere entirely.  Most of the time I write with meaning, I don’t know why I feel the need to write.  I just do.

I don’t feel like I should be writing any great epic story of why family is important or how I can love my dad’s mom in spite of her seeming lack of care for me (or my brother—but my feelings are mine and not to be displaced on to him) my life, my successes, my growth, my achievements…I can’t say any of that because it is not true.  I didn’t know the woman to love her.

What I CAN share is what has been ruminating in my head and my heart since I read that email just over one week ago.

MANY years ago I sat in a session with one of my favorite teachers (MAF) and was walked through a process that left us discussing THE VALUE OF OUR NAMES.  In Judaism traditionally you name your children after someone that has passed away as an honor to their memory.  You hope that child will possess the qualities and characteristics so many loved about the person or people that have passed away.   I always got uncomfortable talking about my name.  Lindsey Lawton Morgan…well Lindsey is after my great grandfather Lou, but also a combination of Lynn and Wesley, my parents…Lawton was always a challenge for me though.  First off…when I was younger we lived in the northeast and all of my friends had middle names like Sarah and Rachel and Marissa and Beth…Nobody had “weird” maiden name middle names. “ Lawton is the maiden name of my dad’s mother,” I would always say.  “Your grandmother, you mean…” people would reply.  This would invite a conversation about how yes Mary was my grandmother…but I never really did those grandmotherly things with her…I don’t think I ever thought about calling Mary grandma vs. granny vs. grandmother…I mean, Jim and Mary were always just Jim and Mary.

I didn’t think about any of this really until I thought about this all through the lens of my dad.  No matter how I felt about her or our relationship…this woman was still my dad’s one and only mom.

She worked hard to raise 6 kids.

She earned a masters degree after 40.

She was active in the community.

She loved theater.

She encouraged my dad and his siblings to try new things.

            They played sports like hockey and football

                        Even though my dad was the runt!

            They explored different art expressions

                        Like painting

                        Like writing

                        Like photography.

                        Like music.

            They all ventured to different places in search of continuing education

                        My dad to Miami, Sundance to the military and “real world”

She made religious education a priority.

            Even if the nuns made my dad pee his pants…

I, for the first time see the things I love most about my dad and the relationship I have with him as a direct reflection of her.

I grew up listening to Broadway Showtunes...not on the family piano…but on the record player.

I begged for technique of the week all day Saturday and Sunday.

I thank God ALL the time for the cute little Irish nose and the genes that made it so.

My parents met because my dad went to Miami.

I know my parents love each other…through thick and thin…they WERE tested from the beginning…

I don’t know…I am who I am because he is who he is…and he is that way because she was who she was…

So I think now for the first time I can appreciate it….

I think more now than ever before I am proud to carry on the name…

Maybe I didn’t know her in life, but maybe this was meant to open our eyes and encourage us to take advantage of the time we do have…spend more time together….embrace the now…don’t sweat the small stuff…all those cliché’s.

It is what it is.

Posted by LM at 7:39 AM

Sent to me via e-mail June 2011 

LSP Docents go to KC

Laumeier Sculpture Park Docents trip to KC - February 14-15, 2014 (l to r - Maureen Jennings, Clara Coleman, Ray Flunker, Mary Brauch, Janet Petersobn, Holly Goldfarb, Jeanette Wamser) 

On the heels of our successful trip to Chrystal Bridges (November 2012) and with a new 2014 season approaching, LSP docent co-chairs Maureen Jennings and Wes Morgan, with the guidance of the park’s director of interpretation, Clara Coleman, decided to orchestrate a trip to Kansas City for Valentine’s Day, a Friday and the following Saturday. The trip by way of Amtrak train service on the River Runner Line to and from would allow for a civilized and cost-effective overnight from the Kirkwood Train Station.

We pulled into Kansas City on time at 2:55 and our complimentary shuttle from the Best Western Seville was waiting. A quick check in at the hotel and by 4:00 we were at the information desk in the new Bloch Building addition to the Nelson Atkins Museum. Taking advantage of the remaining sunlight in the day we ventured into the frozen snow and ice that covered the 22 acre Donald Hall Sculpture Garden. The heartiest of us managed to traverse the challenging terrain to get up close to 2 of the four shuttlecock sculptures by Claes Oldenburg, and several of the 13 Henry Moore sculptures strategically on display. Of course, all of us appreciated seeing Mark Di Suvero and Judith Shea works that seem like new looks at old friends since we are accustomed to talking about the works on display at our Laumeier Sculpture Park.

Our crew is well represented with June Shaw, Mary Brauch, Barb Flunker (and her husband Ray), Jeanette Wamser, Maureen Jennings, Wes Morgan and Clara Coleman. We’ll be catching up with Janet Peterson who opted to travel by car. Her sister is a docent at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.

We scheduled a docent tour with an emphasis on the sculpture collection and with that starting point we were given an overview of the park, sculpture, contemporary art and more – all in the context of the bigger picture. Misty, our docent understood immediately that our group of art lovers will be easy to engage yet a challenge to serve in only 90 minutes. She did this expertly. She managed to take our group, starting with the peace and calm of the space devoted to Isamu Naguchi to the upstairs balcony where we could see Aguste Rodin studies for the Gates of Hell and Balzac. We dined at the museum to a violinist along with couples celebrating a special setting for a Friday night Valentine.

The Kansas City Art Institute professor of sculpture Michael Wickerson was an awesome boost of energy for our Saturday morning visit to the KCAI campus. Michael had several students on hand to share what it is like to pour aluminum into sand casts but he is quick to point out that the studio and the furnaces need to be approached with careful planning and safety in mind. He and his students cannot hide their enthusiasm for art. Our group is thrilled to see emerging artists being nurtured by such a capable instructor.

The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is just a short walk down the street from KCAI and we manage to get a bite to eat before our final scheduled docent tour treat. Chijuly, Stella, Louise Nevelson, another Claes Oldenburg. We managed our time well and got to see a lot. Kansas City is a great Art destination (due in no small part to the Halls, Blochs, Kempers and the Ford Foundation).

This account does not do justice to the amount we were able to see but maybe it provides some insight into the spirit of our team and the passion of art lovers everywhere. Thank You KC!

Rodin's Thinker at Nelson Atkins Museum - KC 

Claes Oldenburg Shuttlecock at Nelson Atkins Museum KC

Michael Wickerson and Student at KCAI pouring aluminium mold at foundry

 

Holly Goldfarb and Maureen Jennings; June Shaw and Wes Morgan; Ends by Isamu Naguchi 1985

 

Barb Flunker and Wes Morgan at Nelson-Atkins Museum (KC) 

in front of George Rickey's Two Planes - Vertical/Horizontal