Media
Holiday mART Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Worden
In few words, how would describe the style of the pieces that you will be selling at Holiday Mart?
My pieces lean towards the modern; I’ll have recycled glass table-top trees created for this holiday season, in addition to recycled glass wall art and recycled glass in copper jewelry.
What is your art background?
The only formal training I’ve had was a pottery class in high school. When it comes to my glass work, I’m self taught. I spent more hours that I can recall researching glass techniques in books, manuals, instructional videos – anything I could get my hands on. I took the general concepts I learned about the properties of glass and did a lot of experimentation to develop my own process for fusing recycled glass. I continue to push myself, and the glass, in new ways. Always hoping to create something beautiful.
What inspires your work?
I’m inspired both by basic shapes I see everyday, and also the architectural structures in the seemingly endless varieties of ferns and fungus. I try to bring some of that organic form into the glass.
What sets you apart from other artists?
I would say it’s my medium and how I manipulate it. I’ve met people who work with traditional warm glass that is commercially prepared and I’ve met a few people who work with recycled glass but only in its cold state. I haven’t seen anyone else employing quite the same media and techniques that I work in.
Where can people go to learn more about your work?
www.JenniferLWorden.com has links to Facebook and my Etsy Shop. I update all those portals often, and I love feedback, comments, and plain old salutations. And I cheerfully respond to each and every one.
Countdown to Gift Giving 2011
Why spend hours of your valuable time in malls and busy electronic stores when you can buy unique and inspiring gifts at the Akron Art Museum Store? Not only can you purchase gifts at this year’s Fourth Annual Holiday mART, but you can also stop in the Museum Store. If the galleries are open, so is the Museum Store.
Each day we will be debuting some great gift ideas, so check back daily!
1. Tatebanko
Tatebanko is the forgotten 17th-century Japanese art of creating detailed dioramas from paper. The Tatebanko kits revive this elegant tradition with works of famed Japanese and European artists. Beautifully designed for easy assembly and printed in Japan with attention to detail.
2. Monet Rubber Ducky T-Shirt
We’re just having a little fun here with one of the masters of impressionism. The folks at Fliptomania searched through the archives of many masters, and discovered this extremely rare Monet, featuring a mama rubber ducky and her duckylings floating on one of his spectacular lily ponds. They thought it deserved to be on a T-shirt.
3. Henry Bergeson Kaleidoscopes
All Henry Bergeson Kaleidoscopes are handcrafted of fine hardwoods wityh polished brass fittings and ultra-fine object cases. Each piece offers a unique, unsurpasses visual sensation that will delight both young and old. They are an absolute pleasure to use and are superbly crafted to last a lifetime.
4. Cari Miller’s Akron Art Museum Ornament
Akron artist Cari Miller’s love for the city is evident in her unique, colorful depictions of its iconic symbols. Miller’s other Akron items, including photographs of the city, as well as her wide-ranging other work (many using recycled materials) can be found in her studio and gallery in the Summit Artspace building, 140 E. Market St. For more information, visit www.sunthingspecial.com or find her on Facebook.
You can buy this ornament in the Museum Store during Holiday mART tonight!
5. Fractiles
Fractiles-7 is basically a magnetic puzzle. But it is also more than a puzzle. Fractiles consists of versatile flexible diamond shaped tiles that can be combined and recombined into an infinite number of designs. Great for use on a refrigerator or while traveling.
6. Paddibles- The perfect hostess gift
These beverage-sized napkins are different than any on the market! Why? Because within the gift-boxed package, each edition has 8 assorted designs and 2 of each design! All designs have a variety of beautiful, hand painted original artwork. Paddibles have jokes, conversation starters, games and fun facts to engage the users. They appeal to both young and old and are the perfect hostess gift!
7. CitiBlocs
CitiBlocs are high-quality wooden construction blocks. The secret behind these blocks is that every piece is exactly the same shape and size. Your creations require no glue, snaps, connectors or magnets, just gravity, balance and imagination!
8. Designer Duct Tape
Patterned duct tape takes adhesives to a whole new level. It’s durable, versatile, and, of course, way more attractive than the silver stuff. Release your inner artist with Platypus Designer Duct Tape. Pair favorite colors and patterns to create a unique gift for the crafter in your life. If you’re lucky, you might just receive a designer duct tape masterpiece in return.
9. Calico June Jewelry
Calico June Jewelry by Bonnie Riconda is based on her love of brilliant, bright colors and a feeling of airiness. She doesn’t use any pre-made or fabricated parts and wraps all gemstones and beads by hand. She even makes her own hoops and French wires. Gemstones, crystals and pearls create a wonderful color palette.
Hey Members! Don’t forget to stop by the Museum Store for great discounts for today only and at 3 pm join other members for a first look at the new acquisitions.
10. Artistic Games: Art Ditto, American Art Ditto, Go Fish, Art Shark
Educational, fun, and award winning art games from Birdcage Press. Art Shark is a winner of the iParenting Media Award. American Art Ditto was named Game of The Year by Creative Child Magazine. Modern Artists Go Fish for Art is the latest addition to a line of Go Fish decks that have received Parents’ Choice Gold Medals.
11. Happy December with Sherpa Pens
The Sherpa is a unique pen shell that holds a variety of disposable pens and markers including Sharpie, Pilots and Accent highlighters as its refill. It comes in many different styles for you to enjoy. Each Sherpa is designed with an innovative cap to keep the color of your marker or pen bold and fresh every time.
12.Make Your Own Monster Doll
Create your own monster doll with this kit that doesn’t requires pins or needles. Assorted colored felt and templates let you create personalized features. Instructions and birth certificate included are even included.
13. Morph Pads
Writing notes will become even more fun with these morphable pads. Twist and shape them into fun desktop art.
Each pad includes 1,000 sheets of 100% recycled paper hand made in Canada.
14. Cyber Monday
MoMA Lacing Cards
These unique l cards teach shapes, colors, and textures and develop hand-eye coordination with striking design and photography. Bright, colorful cards with die-cut shapes can be laced alone or laced together into a book.Fundamental concepts have never been so versatile to use or fun to look at! $14.99
Moma Houses
Create a delightfully modern house with this innovative set of modular nesting boxes! Aspiring architects and designers of all ages can create modern spaces, arrange furniture and accessories, and pack it all up to go with this distinctive house!
Moma Towers
Balance these brightly colored and playfully tilted blocks to make towers of fun! Sturdy and lightweight, these 10 vibrant blocks can be arranged in endless combinations for hours of building fun.
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
15. Robert Held Art Glass
Inspired by the famous impressionist painting “Poppy fields” by Claude Monet, the California Poppy line combines stunning poppies with soft muted background tones. Variations in the pattern make each bowl or vase a unique work of art.
16. Calendars
In honor of Small Business Saturday stop by the Museum Store and pick up some amazing and inspiration calendars for the upcoming year.
J.M.W. Turner Calendar
Known for his technical brilliance, J.M.W. Turner is considered a master of landscape painting—his exquisite renderings of the sky and sea exhibit unusual complexity, expressive power, and superb use of light and color.
Paul Cezanne Calendar
A self-taught painter, Paul Cezanne kept abreast of the latest styles and philosophies at a time when Paris was bursting with creative vitality—all while developing his own unique artistic expression. His analytical approach to painting challenged the spontaneity of impressionism and influenced many avant-garde movements, including Cubism and Fauvism.
Paintings of the Hudson River School Calendar
Breaking with the European tradition of serene landscapes, the Hudson River School artists, led by Thomas Cole, presented the American wilderness as a place of rough majesty. Though many of them never met, their works have in common precise brushwork, dramatic light, and landscapes that evoke strong emotions. This calendar includes paintings by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Thomas Doughty, Asher Brown Durand, George Inness, and John Frederick Kensett.
Monet Mini Wall Calendar
In childhood, Monet learned the basics of drawing from a student of the great Neoclassical master Jacques-Louis David. Instead of minutely detailed scenes of Roman drama, he preferred to paint more familiar subjects, such as landscapes, captured with quick, flickering touches of the brush.
Listed calendars are printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based inks.
17. Kittelson Kaleidoscopes
Add some color to Black Friday and purchase an artistic kaleidoscope. These handheld kaleidoscopes are created by Steve and Peggy Kittelson of Woodland Designs.
Read MoreShare Your Landscape
THE DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED! ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 4, 2011!
The impressionists took to the outdoors to show their favorite landscapes with the world. We would like to see your favorite landscapes in our contest open November 7 – 30, 2011. Just follow the guidelines below:
- Share with us your favorite landscape. The medium is up to you, but it must be your original work. Limit to two entries per person.
- Send your landscape, your name, artwork’s title, best form of contact and a brief description of the place and why it is your favorite to Contest@AkronArtMuseum.org.
- NOTE THE NEW DEADLINE! The contest is open through midnight on December 4, 2011. Winners will be selected by Akron Art Museum staff and will be announced on December 7, 2011.
- Grand Prize (1): Two complementary tickets to the Akron Art Museum to be used within a year and choice of landscapes related print from the Museum Store.
- Not open to Akron Art Museum staff.
- By entering the contest you are giving the Akron Art Museum the right to utilize your landscape in social media capacities.
Send any questions to Contest@AkronArtMuseum.org.
Read MorePaul Stankard Glass Sculptures and Documentary
By Betty Wilson, Director of Marketing Communication
Celebrated glass artist Paul Stankard is universally regarded as a master of his art. His paperweights and glass sculptures have appeared in galleries and museums throughout the world, including the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
And now his work is on long term view in Akron. The Akron Art Museum recently opened the world’s largest public collection of Stankard glass. The collection is a gift of Northeast Ohio concert promoter Mike Belkin and his wife Annie, who over a 30 year period amassed the largest holding of Stankard’s work in the world. Their Akron gift of 64 objects is their largest to a public institution. At any one time, about half of the collection will be on view. Objects will be rotated periodically from storage to give visitors a new experience when they return to the museum.
Stankard’s molten glass renditions of plants and insects are stunning simulations, miniaturized and preserved inside crystal-clear glass globes and cubes. Strongly influenced by the poetry of Walt Whitman, Stankard references the continuum of nature by portraying and exploring the mysteries of seeds, fertility and decay.
Through the generosity of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the museum is collaborating with Western Reserve Public Media in Northeast Ohio on a documentary about the artist, the donors and the collection. The documentary will soon air multiple times on the three channels of this PBS company and will be available on their website (http://westernreservepublicmedia.org).
In early September a television production crew visited Stankard in his south New Jersey home and studio. More filming followed when the artist visited Akron September 26-28 for the collection unveiling. The numerously Emmy-nominated production team now has the daunting task of editing days of taping into a 27-minute documentary. It is especially challenging because, as Stankard tells it, he “has the gift of gab.” Quite the story-teller, the artist shares colorful tales of his early years, influences and lampwork/flamework technique.
After the initial PBS airing, museum visitors will also be able to view the documentary. The glass collection is on display in new exhibition space designed especially for the gift and includes a video monitor.
Read MoreAkron Art Museum collection anytime, anywhere
The Akron Art Museum Online Collection is now available to explore. Thanks to generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, we have completed initial design and implementation of our website and launched with approximately 500 objects from the museum’s collection. Since launching last month, the site has already undergone several updates to make more objects available to our virtual visitors, and will continually expand over the next year until our entire 5,000 object collection is represented .
Our Online Collection already contains many objects beyond those on view in our physical galleries and delves deep into the archives to highlight pieces even a faithful visitor might not have seen before. People can access extensive educational material, short essays for major works, exhibition histories, provenances, and biographies of artists. Years of documentation and research have gone into the online content, while work over the past year has paid off in an intuitive and interesting catalog design.
Making the collection available online allows the Akron Art Museum to fulfill our mission of enriching lives through modern art and reach a broader audience to communicate the significance of our holdings. We’re very excited about our new Online Collection website, and can’t wait to continue sharing more wonderful objects from our archives with the world.
Explore and share our collection now at https://akronartmuseum.wpengine.com/collection
Read MoreArt Blooms! Kaleidoscope 2011 Opening Day!
September 22-25, 2011
Akron Art Museum paintings, sculptures and Paula Nadelstern’s kaleidoscope quilts are coming to life in the form of flowers. Akron Garden Club is returning to the museum with Art Blooms! Kaleidoscope 2011, a Garden Club of America (GCA) flower show, with exhibits in floral design, horticulture, photography and botanical jewelry.
• Floral designs inspired by the exhibitions displayed throughout the galleries
• Fine art landscape and horticultural photographs
• Hand-crafted dried botanical jewelry
• And more!
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY!
To see the Photography Division winners check out our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150303166608565.346547.30623723564&type=1
Standard museum admission applies
Read MoreDetroit Disassembled Opening Reception at Queens Museum of Art
Andrew Moore’s photographs of the Motor City are sublime—beautiful, operatic in scale and drama, tragic yet offering a glimmer of hope. They are the subject of Detroit Disassembled, an exhibition organized by the Akron Art Museum and currently on view at the Queens Museum of Art in New York. On Sunday, September 18 the Queens Museum of Art is hosting an opening reception.
Spending three months in Detroit during 2008 and 2009, Moore found its citizens’ mood to be resilient and resourceful rather than tragic. The city is the ultimate case study for urban blight, an affliction that has infected most American cities, and for the survival of an industrial city in a post-industrial age.
Detroit Disassembled: Photographs by Andrew Moore has garnered national attention. In August 2011 Mike Rubin’s “Capturing the Idling of the Motor City” ran in the New York Times. In the preview Rubin wrote, “His large-scale prints—some up to 5 feet by 6 feet – are sumptuous and painterly, rich in texture and color: the emerald carpet of moss growing on the floor of Henry Ford’s office at the Model T plant, the pumpkin-orange walls of a vandalized classroom at Cass Technical High School, the crimson panels of a former F.B.I. shooting range.”
In addition to the national attention the exhibition has received, the exhibition book “Detroit Disassembled” is now in its third printing and essayist Philip Levine was recently named the Poet Laureate of the United States. “Detroit Disassembled” is available for purchase in the Museum Store.
This exhibition is organized by the Akron Art Museum and made possible by a major gift from Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell with additional support from the John A. McAlonan Fund of Akron Community Foundation. The accompanying publication is underwritten by Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell with additional funding from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.
The presentation of this exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art is made possible through the generosity of the Charina Endowment Fund and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
Read MoreMiniMasters
by Gina Thomas McGee, Associate Educator
Aside from working on programs, tours, films, concerts and lectures at the museum, the education department has been spending some time off-site bringing the museum experience to local preschool classrooms through our MiniMasters preschool art education program. The MiniMasters program, funded by PNC Bank’s Grow Up Great initiative, allows our staff to spend time in Summit County Head Start classrooms, teaching three to five year old students about our collection.
The last year of the MiniMasters program has taught us a lot. Who was it that said “We know nothing about children”? Whoever it was knew what he/she was talking about. We have been surprised and amazed nearly every day of this project. What I’ve learned personally is that I think children are the best people in the world. They may also be the smartest.
With that in mind, we decided to take a chance this July and work on an open-ended project with our summer class. If children are the smartest people around, why not let them lead their learning and see what happens?
We began with a loose idea. As the students would not be visiting the museum during our project, we wanted them to get to know the building through photos and then design an installation artwork for the lobby.
After a week of drawing, sharing ideas and creating prototypes, here is what the two separate groups came up with:
This set of drawings was completed by a group of students who thought our elevator shaft looked like a tower (maybe even Rapunzel’s tower). The height of the tower inspired them to create a “tall” artwork for the lobby and hang it from the bridge. We gave each student in the group a roll of register tape and they drew as much and as long as they liked before finishing the pieces with embellishments like colored tape and tissue paper. Their work was successful in drawing the viewer’s eye up to take in the height of the elevator shaft and the ceiling of the lobby in general.
Meanwhile, the other group tackled the space between the columns that support our video box. They thought this part of the lobby needed “color, light and beautifulness”. The group designed prototypes first on paper and then on clear plastic sheeting once they decided they didn’t want to block light from passing through the space. Finally, they combined their ideas to create this mural. The final touch was the addition of battery powered twinkling lights. Their piece really activated this space and provoked viewers to pay attention to an otherwise overlooked area.
So, have we created a new generation of installation artists? Only time will tell. Until then, they have certainly reminded us that children have incredible ideas if you just take the time to listen.
To read more about the MiniMasters check out their blog at http://minimasteraam.blogspot.com/
Read MoreDowntown@Dusk: Robin Stone
By Lindsey Colegrove, Communications Intern
Come see Funk/Pop singer Robin Stone perform live at the Akron Art Museum Thursday from 6:30 – 8:30 pm as part of the museum’s popular Downtown@Dusk concert series.
The Cleveland native voted “Best Vocalist” at the Free Times Music Awards in 2009 almost wasn’t. After being diagnosed with a tumor on her vocal cord in 2008 and a rare auto immune disease in early 2009, Stone battled back to not only release a new record and a live album but start her own record label, She Loves You Records.
The acclaimed singer’s soulful lyrics are drawn from her personal hardships and over 10 years of experience performing. Sample her sound in her new video for “Bad Girl” below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APHvtZiJiSo&feature=related]
For more information on Robin Stone or She Loves You Records, visit her website at www.shelovesyourecords.com/.
During her set at Downtown@Dusk, concert goers may also visit the museum galleries to view The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Ohio, as well as Kaleidoscope Quilts: The Art of Paula Nadelstern and Flora during the evening. Gallery admission is required. For detailed information on this and other museum events, visit the calendar of events at www.AkronArtMuseum.org/calendar.
Read MoreDowntown@Dusk: 15 60 75 The Numbers Band
By Lindsey Colegrove, Communications Intern
Abstract blues group 15 60 75 The Numbers Band will be performing live at the Akron Art Museum Thursday from 6:30 – 8:30 pm as part of the museum’s popular Downtown@Dusk concert series.
Simply called The Numbers Band by their fans, band founder Robert Kidney said the band name is taken from a Numbers Racket, a method of analyzing dreams as number sequences then used to place bets popular in Harlem in the 1950’s, mentioned in Paul Oliver’s book, “The Blues Fell This Morning.”
Much like their unconventional name, The Numbers Band’s music stands outside society’s traditional expectations and definitions of Rock ‘n Roll. The majority of the band records were financed by friends who loved their music. Even after 30 years and eight records, The Numbers Band has never been offered a contract from a recording company.
“The music industry, the media, and the tellsusourvision (TV) are defining for the American public what is good music by only playing and supporting what is profitable. We are taught to disregard everything that is not familiar. We (The Numbers Band) give the people our best. Our effort goes into being creative, unique and original. We define our own sound. There are no rules because we don’t play the game. We are not in it for the game, we’re in it for the music,” Kidney explains.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQZ9jLPt7Kc&feature=related]
For more information on The Numbers Band, check out their official website at www.numbersband.com/.
Concert goers may also visit the museum galleries to view The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Ohio, as well as Kaleidoscope Quilts: The Art of Paula Nadelstern and Flora during the evening. Gallery admission is required. For detailed information on this and other museum events, visit the calendar of events at www.AkronArtMuseum.org/calendar.
Read More