December 2006 Page 22

> LEGENDARY ART DEALER PASSES

Allan Stone is gone. Of all the dealers I met or came to know, he was, without doubt, the finest in every sense. His legacy will continue to unfold in coming decades.
-------------
From: artnet.com Magazine

ALLAN STONE, 1932-2006
by Oriane Stender

When Allan Stone died at 74 on Dec. 15, 2006, the art world lost a passionate, funny and big-hearted collector, as well as an art dealer with a discerning eye and a long-standing enthusiasm for the work of emerging artists. I know this from personal experience. Allan was the first person to buy my own work, about 10 years ago, purchasing not one but six pieces of mine -- he liked to get in on the ground floor and buy in volume! The support, encouragement and validation that I got from that first sale to a man who was a serious art-world collector have stayed with me to this day.

Many other young artists got their first break thanks to Allan Stone. He was instrumental in the early career of Eva Hesse, showing her drawings in the U.S. for the first time in 1963, and was an early supporter and collector of the work of Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Joseph Cornell and John Graham, among others. Allan’s tastes were famously eclectic and wide-ranging. An acknowledged expert on Abstract Expressionism, he also gave Wayne Thiebaud and Richard Estes their first New York shows and represented them for many years.

A grandson of Sam Klein (of the now-defunct landmark Union Square department store "S. Klein’s on the Square"), Allan was a collector who entered the gallery business to support his collecting habit. In addition to modern and contemporary art, he was a voracious collector of African, tribal and folk art. Many knew him as a maverick dealer with an unorthodox but unerring eye, but I remember Allan as a warm, down-to-earth, unpretentious and generous man who lived large and had large appetites. He loved playing tennis, meeting interesting people, telling a good story, hearing a good joke, making large informal dinners with friends and family, and seeking out sweets of all kinds.

He was not ill before he died in his sleep last week. On the contrary, he had just returned from Miami, where his gallery participated in Art Basel Miami Beach, full of energy and optimism for the future. He is survived by his wife Clare; daughters Allison, Jeremy, Claudia, Heather, Jessie and Olympia; brother Richard and sister Marilyn Siegel; and many friends in New York, San Francisco and Maine and around the world. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.


ORIANE STENDER is a Brooklyn-based artist and writer.

December 2006 Page 21

> DANGEROUS VENTURES IN THE BATTLE FOR CULTURAL GENDER EQUITY

Suggested reading list for 2007:

"Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson"
By: Camille Paglia

"Sex, Art and American Culture: Essays"
By: Camille Paglia

"The War Against Boys"
By: Christina Hoff Sommers

"Manliness"
By: Harvey C. Mansfield

"Taking Sex Differences Seriously"
By: Steven Rose

December 2006 Page 20

> POLLOCK-KRASNER GRANTS ANNOUNCED

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation has announced the winners of fellowships for 2005-06, a total of 185 grantees who receive a total of $3,216,400 (an average of about $17,386), designed to cover the "personal and/or professional expenses" of each recipient for one year. Congratulations are in order for Judy Abbott, Hans Accola, Malgorzata Adamczak, Jan Albers, Steven Albert, Franklin Alvarez, Alzaruba, Eric Amouyal, Anne Appleby, Michel Archambault, Timothy Arzt, Shimon Attie, Carl Auge, Lucia Autorino-Salemme, Xenobia Bailey, James Barsness, David Baskin, Gary Batty, John Beard, Grzegorz Bienias, Willie Birch, Benedikt Birckenbach, Anna Campbell Bliss, Ada Bobonis, Barbara Brainard, Eric Bransby, Susan Brenner, David Brewster, Andrew Brott, Aaron Brown, Richard Brunner, Leonard Storey Bullock, Benjamin J. Butler, Theresa Byrnes, Yoan Capote, Stevens Jay Carter, Nicole Charbonnet, William A. Childress, Sonya Clark, Antonio Coro, Ivone Couto, Jamie Dalglish, Jack Daws, Stephen Paul Day, Ronald De Bloeme, Adrian Deckbar, Philip Delisle, James Descant, George Dombek, Peter Edlund, Christopher Evans, Rashida Ferdinand, Demian Flores, Peter Forbes, Bernadette Fox, Ivana Franke, Charles Frazier, Warner Friedman, Joe Fyfe, Frank Gaard, Christopher Gallego, Nicora Gangi, Aleksandar Garbin, Mitchell Gaudet, Justin Gibbens, Jan Gilbert, Lori Gordon Bay, Elliott Green, Vince Grimaldi, Katie Grinnan, Iva Gueorguieva, Fernando Gutierrez Cassinelli, Fred Gutzeit, Matthew Hagemann, Patrick Hall, Carol Hamoy, Cynthia Harper, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Jean-Pierre Hebert, Shigeko Hirakawa, Nicholas Hondrogen, Eric Hongisto, Moses Hoskins, Scott Hunt, Chris Jahncke, Patrick Johnson, Leeah Joo, Eric Paul Julien, Jenny Kahn, Rebecca Kamen, Young-Min Kang, Suparirk Kanitwaranun, Vadim Katznelson, Kurt Kauper, Tamiko Kawata, Elanit Kayne, Catherine Kehoe, Lori Kent, Kathryn Kenworth, Joseph Kight, Haegeen Kim, Andreas Kocks, Michele Kong, Igor Kozlovsky and Marina Sharapova, Catherine Kozyra, Anthony Krauss, Dominika Krechowicz, Gudrun Kristjansdottir, Zbigniew Kucia, Sun Kwak, Zoe Leonard, Willie Little, A. Mitchell Long, Fergus Martin, Miroslaw Maszlanka, Wolfgang Mayer, George McClements, David McDonald, John McDonald, Jane McNichol, Michael Meads, Tracy Miller, Heidi Mills, Anthony Mitri, Jaye Moon, Gordon Moore, Pamela Moore, Toby Mussman, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Eamon O'Kane, Elizabeth Olbert, Renato Orara, Deborah Oropallo, George Ortman, Ga Hae Park, Joseph Pearson, Junia Penna Belo, Sibylle Peretti, Mario Petrirena, Dorothy Powers, Shelley Reed, Lee Renninger, Velebit Restovic, Jim Richard, Charlotte Riley-Webb, Lydia Rubio, Kazz Sasaguchi, Karoline Schleh, Jeff Schmuki, Alice Schorbach, Holli Schorno, Gil Shachar, George Siejka, Howard Silverman, Geoffrey Smedley, Melissa Smith, Brian St. Cyr, Taro Suzuki, Ann Toebbe, Kyoko Tokumaru, Ted Vasin, Mark Dean Veca, Robert Warrens, John Willenbecher, Carl Joe Williams, Warner Williams, Michael Wyshock, Robert Yarber, Arngunnur Yr, Hong Zhang and Xiaodong Zhang.

December 2006 Page 19

> FINANCIAL ADVICE

"I wish I could manage to make you really understand that when
you give money to artists, you are yourself doing an artist's work,
and that I only want my pictures to be of such a quality that you
will not be too dissatisfied with your work."
::: Vincent van Gogh :::

December 2006 Page 18

> GOT TAXES?

American artists seeking competent assistance with filing of business or
personal income taxes might consider retaining the services of Wyolah
Garden, of Kreger & Garden, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ms. Garden has
many years experience specializing in tax matters related to artists.

She has handled VISUAL ART ACCESS taxes for twenty years, usually by long-distance.

Excellent problem solver, and planner.


Wyolah Garden, EA
Kreger & Garden
100 Tamal Plaza #106
Corte Madera, CA 94925
415-927-2100
wgarden@ix.netcom.com

December 2006 Page 17

> WEB CHANGES ART WORLD

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Collector Charles Saatchi has launched a Web site for art students and a handful have already sold works online as the Internet begins to change the way the art world works.

With prices for contemporary art soaring, collectors say they have less time to travel to galleries and shows to see new works for themselves, while aspiring painters and sculptors find it hard to get noticed amid the pressure to find the next hot young stars.

For many, the Internet is the answer, offering low-cost access for thousands of painters, sculptors and buyers and, at the same time, providing a Myspace-style social networking site for artists the world over.

Saatchi, one of art's most powerful figures who helped establish such stars as Damien Hirst, has attracted more than 2,000 art students to his new Web site, a follow-up to an earlier venture for artists that boasts 20,000 contributors.

"There is something thrilling about seeing the work of young artists for the first time even before their school shows," the reclusive collector said in a statement.

The site called "STUART" (standing for "student art") is a link from his main gallery address (www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk). Saatchi has promised not to buy any art from the site for at least a year to try to make the site more independent.

For some student artists scraping a living from their work, STUART is a way of being noticed and making money.

"I am on the site because I want to sell my work," said Ben Young, a 33-year-old at the Central Saint Martins College in London. "And, obviously, you hope Charles Saatchi is watching and will magically pick up the phone and buy all your work."

While the reality for Young has been less sensational, he sold a painting within two weeks of posting his personal details and art work on the site.

"I've had my own Web site for about 18 months and hadn't sold anything through that," he said, adding that he then tried STUART after reading about it in a newspaper.

"It worked out great for me. I was on there for less than two weeks and was contacted by (collector) Bernard Jacobson and sold him a piece. It was the quickest business in my life."

Young also said he would use STUART to contact other artists who may be interested in working with him on an exhibition.

Jacobson bought the painting without having seen the real thing, only an image of it on the site.

"It's not normal for me," he told Reuters. "As I've got busier I just don't have time to go around the art schools, which I do much less than I used to.

"I thought this was a very good way of doing that."

Olivier Varenne, art adviser for an Australian museum, said he often used the Internet for research, but would not buy a work without seeing it first hand.

"I'm not very keen on buying art online, but I am using the Web for research," he explained.

"It's a great tool to look at artists and a great tool to discover new artists. But when you want to buy a piece you want to see it in the flesh."

Based on what he saw on STUART, Varenne contacted an artist while on a trip to New York and bought four works from him.

The Saatchi gallery said that interest in STUART has been so high that its Web site crashed this week after attracting more than six million hits in one day.

Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

December 2006 Page 16

> NATIONAL PHOTO COMPETITION

photoSPIVA 2007

"Oldest continuous U.S. National Photographic Competition"

Juror: John Paul Caponigro
Entry deadline: February 13, 2007
Exhibition: April 27 - June 22, 2007
Awards: $750, $500, $300, $100 x3 , $50 x3
Eligibility: Any US photographer whose work has never been exhibited at Spiva Art Center
Fees: 1-5 prints for $40

Contact www.spivaarts.org for prospectus

December 2006 Page 15

> SPIVA HOLIDAY GIFT BAZAAR

Last minute shopping to do this week? Think Spiva‘s Great Holiday Gift Bazaar, with… jewelry by Jessica Sellers, Connie Knudtson, Marv Dahmen, Laura Van Buren….beautifully crafted cutting boards by Howard Thompson… handpainted gourds by Lis McCool…Folk Art items by Joan Allen…pottery by Daria Claiborne, Brad Kleindl, Connie Knudtson, and Gregory Krepps…hand printed holiday cards by Fred Mintert…handwoven scarves by Jean Jack and handmade handbags by Kelly Moreland…hand dyed silk scarves and Silly Sock Creatures by Connie Knudtson…original artwork, photographs, giclees, & prints priced from $25 - $650 by Dan McWilliams, Theresa Rankin, Debbie Reed, Kelly Moreland, Hubert Willems, Jeff Youngblood, Becky Golubski, Mary Ann Soerries, Linda Teeters, Jerald Wilson, Lari Clark, John Fitzgibbon…carved walking sticks by Rick Spicer…tie-dyed baby outfits…and the hottest collectible Painted Ponies, and so much more!

OPEN Tues-Saturday 10am-5pm thru January 12, 2007
Come by this week and find just the right gift for that special someone!
(Closed Sunday & Monday, Dec 24, 25, 31, & Jan 1)

December 2006 Page 14

> FROM NY TIMES

December 19, 2006

G.I. Joes to the Rescue of Rembrandts and Raphaels

By RANDY KENNEDY
Through the centuries many people have been haunted by the work of Raphael, but probably few have been haunted in quite the same way as Bernard Taper.

Even now, at 88, he says he finds a certain painting continuing to surface in his memory. It is an elegant portrait of a young man that Mr. Taper knew in 1947 only from a black-and-white photograph he had been given, much in the way a detective is handed a snapshot of a missing person.

At that time, in the ruinous aftermath of World War II in Europe , the Raphael portrait was one of the most prominent masterpieces to have disappeared, but it had considerable company. Thousands of paintings, sculptures and artifacts that had been looted by the Nazis — many of them bound for Hitler’s long-envisioned Führer Museum in Linz, Austria, his boyhood home, or confiscated for the collection of Hermann Goering, Hitler’s chief art-looting rival — remained missing at war’s end.

Mr. Taper, then an Army lieutenant charged with tracking down the Raphael, spent months interrogating jailed Nazis and trying to connect the dots, but he never found the painting, which had been taken from a family museum in Krakow , Poland .

“I still dream about it sometimes,” he said in a recent interview. “I wonder if it’s out there.”

The story might sound like grist for a Dan Brown novel or a Steven Spielberg treatment. But the efforts of Allied officers and soldiers like Mr. Taper to save and repatriate stolen treasures during and after the war is a chapter of World War II history still not particularly well known. Even during the war their work — when compared with saving lives and preserving ways of life — was sometimes discounted. Some members of the military referred to these soldiers as “Venus fixers,” a term with more than a hint of the effete.

But the accomplishments of these soldiers, better known as the Monuments Men, are finally starting to come into sharper focus. “Rescuing Da Vinci,” a lavishly illustrated book devoted to them, with dozens of pictures newly unearthed from archives, has just been published by Robert M. Edsel, a retired Texas oilman. Mr. Edsel, 49, became obsessed with the story several years ago and even established a research office in Dallas , his hometown, with the goal of telling it better.

This month, in large part because of his work, Congress passed a resolution honoring the Monuments Men (whose number also included some women and civilians), saying that the value of their work “cannot be overstated and set a moral precedent” for the preservation of culture.

Mr. Edsel, who came late to an appreciation of art history, said in a recent interview that he became aware of the vast art-rescue story when he was living in Florence in the late 1990s and read “The Rape of Europa,” an award-winning book by Lynn H. Nicholas that chronicles the Third Reich’s pillaging of museums, churches and private collections.

The book goes into considerable detail about the formation and work of what became the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the United States military, some of whose members had art backgrounds and would go on to become civilian art-world luminaries, like James J. Rorimer, a future director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Lincoln Kirstein, then a lowly private but later a founder of the New York City Ballet. Most of the recovery effort was American, but soldiers from more than a dozen countries also participated.

Mr. Edsel quickly became frustrated, he said, as he combed through other World War II history books and found surprisingly little about what he thought was a gripping story of high-culture derring-do. “To me,” he said, “it was like, wow, you wrote a western and left out John Wayne. I couldn’t believe it.”

Armed with the kind of bluster and directness that made him wealthy in the oil business, Mr. Edsel sought out Ms. Nicholas “pretty much cold, ” he recalls. He asked for her guidance in putting together a book devoted exclusively to the Monuments Men, a book he eventually published himself, he said, because he got “absolutely no interest” from commercial publishers.

He paid researchers who set to work in Washington , Moscow , Munich and other cities. Even as this work was under way, he said, he knew that professionals in the art world like Nancy Yeide, curator of records at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, whom he approached about finding pictures, wondered whether he was just a well-meaning dilettante.

“I could tell that she didn’t know whether to trust me, whether to think I was a kook, whether it was like some vanity project,” he said.

But Mr. Edsel kept at it, putting $2.5 million of his own money toward the project. Over time he also became a co-producer of a documentary based on Ms. Nicholas’s book, which is now making the rounds of film festivals. He is planning exhibitions of the photographs and archival material featured in the book and is now crisscrossing the country trying to find and interviewing the few living members of the Monuments Men squad, like Mr. Taper.

“The problem is, we’re in a race with time now,” Mr. Edsel said in a recent interview in New York .

The urgency of that race was underlined last month by the death of S. Lane Faison Jr., 98, an art-rescue officer who worked for the Office of Strategic Services, which helped the Monuments Men. Mr. Faison later became a renowned art professor at Williams College whose students went on to become directors and curators at many prominent American museums.

Mr. Edsel interviewed Mr. Faison before his death and tracked down several other former officers who helped recover thousands of paintings and artifacts. One, Harry Ettlinger, now 80, joined the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives in 1945 and was assigned to sort out the contents of a vast makeshift storehouse in Heilbronn , Germany . It was a salt mine where the Nazis had hidden thousands of crates of loot, including all the stained glass removed from the Strasbourg Cathedral in France, which Mr. Ettlinger helped return.

In Mr. Edsel’s book Mr. Ettlinger can be seen in a crisp black-and-white photograph that could serve as the inspiration for a climactic movie scene: he and an officer are standing deep in the mine, staring in awe at a Rembrandt self-portrait that has just been raised from its crate.

But in a telephone interview Mr. Ettlinger said that much of the work done by the Monuments Men was not particularly cinematic. It was the tedious but immense job of archiving, translating documents, collating records and extracting needles from thousands of haystacks to ensure that works returned to their rightful homes. And it was frustrating: for every paper trail that led to a restitution, there were many more that led nowhere, and priceless works that were never found.

Of course, in the midst of the paperwork, there was a little wartime drama every so often down in the mine shafts, Mr. Ettlinger recalled.

“I remember once in a hallway I saw a doorway that was bricked in and no one knew what was behind it,” he said. He ordered someone to find out. “And lo and behold it was nitroglycerin, which was about to come along and blow us all to kingdom come, never mind the art.”

Mr. Edsel said the more he delved into the stories of the men, the more amazed he became at how little Americans seem to know about it, especially in an era with a newfound devotion to the Greatest Generation.

So, he was asked, is a feature film somewhere down the road?

He smiled and, in his best Texas dare-me voice, said not to rule it out.

“This has got heroes,” he said. “It’s got buried treasure. It’s got untold stories. It’s got everything. You want excitement? We’ve got it in spades right here.”

>NATIONAL ARTS ADVOCACY DAY

National Arts Advocacy Day
Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
March 12–13, 2007

Congressional Arts Breakfast
Arts Advocacy Training
Meet with Your Members of Congress
20th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture
on the Arts and Public Policy
Featuring:
Robert MacNeil
Chairman of the Board of The MacDowell Colony
Previously the Executive Editor and Co-Anchor of
The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour on PBS

REGISTER NOW!

Registration is now open! Three easy ways to register:

Register online
Register by mail
Download our printable PDF registration form and mail to:
Americans for the Arts
PO Box 91261
Washington, DC 20090-1261
Register by fax
Download our printable PDF registration form and fax to:
F 202.371.0424
Attn: Meetings and Events
Reserve your hotel room at the discounted rate by February 23, 2007.

> ALCOHOL SALES FUEL ART NON-PROFIT EARNED INCOME/FUND RAISING

SPECIAL BULLETIN
ArtServe Michigan
GRAAND
GrassRoots Arts Advocacy Network Distribution
Editor: Drew Buchholz
2006 Issue 21

House Bill 5853

"This bill amended the Michigan Liquor Control Code to allow the Liquor Control Commission to grant up to 12, rather than five, special licenses to a nonprofit organization in a calendar year.

The Code defines "special license" as a contract between the Liquor Control Commission and the licensee to sell beer, wine, or spirits for a one day event. The fee for a special license is $50 per day for nonprofit organizations established for less than one year, or $25 per day for nonprofit organizations established for one year or more.

Previously not more than five special licenses could be granted to any one organization in a calendar year. The bill increases that number to 12."

December 2006 Page 13

> 20TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION PARTY - VISUAL ART ACCESS

You and friends of VAA or AMERICAN SURREALIST INITIATIVE are invited...

Sunday
January 28th
3-5PM
801 25th St. (Corner of Illinois)
San Francisco

Jerry Barrish studio (2 story building, good parking)

Bring snack food or beverages, portfolio, photographs, camera

See you there, everyone welcome!

December 2006 Page 12

> $$$ VALUING YOUR ART

Hurrah!

In THE ARTIST'S MAGAZINE issue of January/February 2007 (page 29), author Jill Snyder rightly confirmed the proper pricing of studio art by writing, "The insurance value of a work of art in an artist's studio is usually established according to net value, or the percentage that the artist would receive if the work were sold through a gallery."

Her statement bolsters my long-held and taught advice that artists MUST represent their values at, and ONLY at, wholesale in the absence of an Exclusive contract with any seller.

Why?

- Work sold in a gallery, of any kind, will be sold (i.e. "retailed") at added percentages (i.e. "commissions") of anywhere from 5-60% over and above wholesale. So, it is all but impossible to KNOW in advance what percentage the artist would receive if/when the work sold there!

Protect yourself, and your family.

Price your art at wholesale, in writing, at ALL times!

December 2006 Page 11

> WALT DISNEY IN MISSOURI

Walt Disney moved to Marceline, Missouri from his birthplace, Chicago, at age 4 and lived on a farm there until 1911, when the family moved to Kansas City where they remained until 1917. Marceline is in the north central portion of Missouri, and the town still claims part of the great artist's legacy.

> JASPER JOHNS AND MARCEL DUCHAMP

Interesting anecdote about Duchamp by Johns, quoted in December 11th issue of NEW YORKER magazine (page 85):

Johns and Rauschenberg were having a Christmas dinner together with MD and "Teeny" (his wife, Alexina) in 1959 in Chinatown, NYC. When an interviewer had recently asked why he (Duchamp) had quit painting in 1918, he'd answered that it was "... because of dealers and money and various reasons. Largely moralistic reasons."

During the dinner, MD corrected himself by saying, "But you know, it wasn't like that. It's like you break a leg - you didn't mean to do it."

December 2006 Page 10

> ANN HATCH

The 2006 ArtTable Visual Arts Award has been given to the generous and dedicated Ann Hatch... founder of Capp Street Project, and major player in the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, Oxbow School and a number of other very significant visual art endeavors since 1973.

Excellent choice.

December 2006 Page 9

> PORTRAIT OF "TRAVELLER"

CSA General Robert E. Lee's personal and affectionate relationships with his horses (Richmond, Brown Roan, Ajax, Lucy Long and Traveller) is legendary. Following the war, an artist approached his daughter, Agnes, desiring to paint a portrait of "Traveller", the General's best-known cavalry mount.

Here is a portion of Lee's written description of Traveller (from a book by Ben Wynne, Florida State University), intended to assist the artist in rendering a portrait:

"If I were an artist like you I would draw a true picture of Traveller - representing his fine proportions, muscular figure, deep chest and short back, strong haunches, flat legs, small head, broad forehead, delicate ears, quick eye, small feet, and black mane and tail. Such a picture would inspire a poet, whose genius could then depict his worth and describe his endurance of toil, hunger, thirst, heat, cold, and the dangers and sufferings through which he passed... But I am no artist; I can only say he is a Confederate gray. I purchased him in the mountains of Virginia in the autumn of 1861, and he has been my patient follower ever since... You must know the comfort he is to me in my present retirement... You can, I am sure, from what I have said, paint his portrait."

December 2006 Page 8

> ART, BY MARIU SUAREZ

"Art has always been an integral part of humanity's great quest for knowledge. The interchange of knowledge between artists and scientists has led to many of our most important advances. For example:

It was artists' zeal to perfect their craft that led to a better understanding of human anatomy. Masters of the human form, such as Michelangelo, broke social taboos and laws in order to study the human body through the dissection of corpses. Their anatomical research later became a vital part of medical knowledge.

Get your 2007 calendar of Mariu's artwork now! Visit Mariu's online store.
Geographers and map makers created mathematical grids to make accurate maps. Artists used that innovation to translate three dimensions into two dimensions.
It was painters who discovered the principles of optics while examining how the eye sees in order to better "trick" the eye with their images.
Around the beginning of 20th Century, another important interaction between the arts and science began. A medical doctor, Sigmund Freud, discovered the "psyche" or "soul," while trying to find the cause of his patients' unusual symptoms. Psyche is the Greek equivalent for Anima, the Latin word for soul. Both refer to something metaphysical–beyond the physical, invisible to our eyes.
In this way, Freud unwittingly rekindled an interest in the metaphysical realm, which science had shunned in its quest for knowledge. He then endeavored to study it in the same way the physical level had been: By applying reason. One of Freud's most prominent disciples, Dr. Carl Jung, further developed the field of psychology and the understanding of the psyche.

Freud and Jung began a whole new era for mankind by mapping the threefold constitution of man: the Spiritual, the psychic, and the material. They brought to the forefront the contents of the psyche as represented in ancient mythology and symbolism and taught us that the psyche can be understood through reason.

While Freud laid the scientific groundwork, Jung leaped forward in his exploration of how the unconscious reveals itself though symbols. In this respect, artists once again were needed to join the quest for knowledge. Jung himself painted and sculpted his dreams and visions so that he could better understand them.


Dissecting the Psyche

Jung's theory of the human psyche is that it is made up of three parts: the ego (conscious mind), the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. As C. George Boeree, Ph.D., explains it, the collective unconscious is "the reservoir of our experiences as a species, a kind of knowledge we are all born with. And yet we can never be directly conscious of it. It influences all of our experiences and behaviors, most especially the emotional ones, but we only know about it indirectly, by looking at those influences. The contents of the collective unconscious are called archetypes.

"An archetype is an unlearned tendency to experience things in a certain way. The archetype has no form of its own, but it acts as an 'organizing principle' on the things we see or do. The archetype is like a black hole in space: You only know it's there by how it draws matter and light to itself."


Self Discovery Through Art

For the purpose of personal analysis, Jung had talked about not judging the images of the subconscious, but simply accepting them as they came into consciousness so they could be analyzed. This was termed Automatism.

Artists were fascinated by the implications of these new psychological theories. They understood from them that the unconscious has important messages for the conscious mind, but the former communicates through images (symbols and archetypes) while the latter communicates through language.


Supraconsciousness, By Mariu Suarez, 62"x22", Oil and egg-tempera on canvas

Surrealist artists wanted their work to be a link between the abstract spiritual realities and the real forms of the material world. To them, the object stood as a metaphor for an inner reality. Through their craft, whether it be painting, sculpting or drawing, artists could bring the inner realities of the subconscious to the conscious mind, so that their meaning could be deciphered through analysis. Just as Michelangelo and Leonardo advanced the knowledge of the body's anatomy, surralist artists strive to chart the anatomy of the psyche.

Every individual can, as Jung did, use art to bring forward messages from his or her own personal unconscious. But the vital role of the artist is to help us all see the messages that emanate from the collective unconscious. As Carl Jung put it:

"Therein lies the social significance of art: It is constantly at work educating the spirit of the age, conjuring up the forms in which the age is more lacking. The unsatisfied yearning of the artist reaches back to the primordial image in the unconscious, which is best fitted to compensate the inadequacy and one-sidedness of the present. The artist seizes on this image and, in raising it from deepest unconsciousness, he brings it into relation with conscious values, thereby transforming it until it can be accepted by the minds of his contemporaries according to their powers."

December 2006 Page 7

> ART SHOW ANONYMOUS

(From Jo Mueller at Spiva Art Center)

Several artists asked about Art Show Anonymous at the Foundry in Joplin next Friday. The exhibit it open to all who'd like to participate! "Art Show Anonymous" is an all ages, multi-medium art show designed to give artists exposure to the community and to utilize art as a means of creating a limitless, unified, and expressive environment. Jeff Youngblood, artist & weekend Spiva docent, will be there to represent Spiva. Stop by & say hello!

Info:
Maximum of 5 pieces per artist depending on size... No charge to enter work... The Foundry will retain 15% of artist's retail price on all artwork sold during the show... Forms (available by emailing christina@thebridgejoplin.com or donnie@thebridgejoplin.com, or by calling 417-206-6886) are due Monday December 11th!... Artwork to be delivered to the Foundry (at the Bridge, 3405 S. Hammons Blvd., Joplin) by December 14.

December 2006 Page 6

> SPIVA CENTER FOR THE ARTS - 12X12 AUCTION AND ANNUAL MEMBERS SHOW

Another Reminder!!

Last chance to bid in the 2006 12 x 12 Auction is this Friday, December 8th at the opening reception of the 59th Annual Membership Show! Online bidding at www.spivaarts.org ends at 4pm on Friday, so be sure to bid high or be at Spiva for the auction! The bidding closes live at Spiva when the bell rings around 7:30 p.m.

68 originals await your winning bids!
Come early, bid early, bid often on your favorite 12 x 12 artwork. Look over the list below to find your favorite artists and bid, bid, bid! Thanks again to all the Spiva artists who contributed their work for the auction. All proceeds from the show benefit Spiva. MasterCard, Visa, cash & checks gladly accepted!

See you all at the opening reception, 5:30-7:30pm It's a dynamite show, largest ever!

List of 12 x 12 Silent Auction Artists

First Name
Last Name
Number





Carol
Adamec
18

Steve
Binam
33

Rachel Renee
Brown
40

Lori
Buntin
2

Marilyn
Carnell Williams
68

Drew
Caruthers
15

Daria
Clairborne
26

Maura
Cluthe
3

Barbara
Courtney
51

Tricia
Courtney
42

Camille
Cragin
32

Michele
DeSutter
22

John
Fitzgibbon
20

Bryan
Flock
31

Bill
Fowks
64

Gail
Francis
63

M. Justin
Hale
8

Joy
Hensley
10

Corey
Hine
61

Kelly
Buntin Johnson
4

Linda
Kay
5

Brad
Kleindl
25

Jane
Kleindl
23

Peter
Kleindl
45

Jennifer
Konstanzer
24

Linda
Kyger
66

Nick
Kyle
41

Ann
Leach
13

April
Leiter
52

Josie
Mai
39

Dorothy
McCormick
27

Jesse
McCormick
49

Vicki
McKibben
28

Patrick
McPheron
9

Dan
McWilliams
50

Amber
Mintert
38

Fred
Mintert
11

Patricia
Moline
65

Jim
Moreland
6

Kelly
Moreland
46

Jo
Mueller
59

Mark
Norris
54

Andrea
Osiek
53

Michael
Parrot
17

Bill
Perry
62

Rebecca
Perry
48

Sheryl
Pierson
1

Donna
Pooley
57

Theresa
Rankin
58

Ashley
Roberts
60

Blake
Roberts
35

Donna
Roberts
19

Verneil
Roper
37

Graham M.
Ryan
16

Helen J
Ryan
12

Carol
Shipman
55

Carol
Smith
29

Mary Ann
Soerries
47

Rick
Spicer
7

Ry Lee
Stovern
43

Linda
Teeter
30

Andy
Thomas
56

John
Van Beekum
14

Stan
Weaver
34

Clifford
West
67

Randy
Wright
36

Marilyn
York
21

Jeff
Youngblood
44

December 2006 Page 5

> COMPUTER TECH ASSISTANCE FOR ART NON-PROFITS

TECHSOUP STOCK

A New Approach to Product Philanthropy

"Nonprofits today are faced with significant funding challenges and operating challenges. We have been working with thousands of organizations to ensure that they have the ability to obtain technology product donations and implement them successfully with minimum cost. The intelligent use of technology is helping these organizations better accomplish their missions by serving more of their target populations or furthering their educational missions. We hear every day from nonprofits in towns large and small across the United States and Canada, about how their ability to easily obtain donated technology products has made a difference in the most fundamental sense. These stories motivate us all to help the sector achieve even more. To date, our donors have made over $160M in technology product donations available to the sector through this service at a fraction of their cost. These donations have been coupled with over 70,000 pages of relevant Web content and the personal assistance of our knowledgeable and experienced staff. We know that the sector will take the funds that they were able to save on technology as well as the technology improvements themselves to make a better tomorrow for us all."

Rebecca Masisak
Director and General Manager
TechSoup Stock

TechSoup Stock is the technology product philanthropy service just for nonprofits. Launched in January 2002 (as DiscounTech), this service is a unique collaboration with corporate and nonprofit technology providers. Thanks to our partners' generous product donations and discounts, TechSoup Stock is able to facilitate and distribute multiple product philanthropy programs in a centralized, Web-based platform.

Our mission is to foster social change in two ways: by helping nonprofits to save money for mission-critical work when acquiring technology, and by helping nonprofits use this technology even more effectively.

TechSoup Stock was created by the people at TechSoup, a trusted and popular technology resource for the nonprofit sector. TechSoup and TechSoup Stock are projects of CompuMentor, a San Francisco technology support organization for nonprofits founded in 1987.

Benefit to Nonprofits


TechSoup Stock helps nonprofits:
Increase capacity and efficiency through the proper use of technology products.
Substantially shorten the time it would normally take to obtain a corporate donation thanks to a Web-based order and fulfillment process.
Gain access to multiple product philanthropy programs in one place. There are currently 240 products from 25 providers. TechSoup Stock is the exclusive distributor for Microsoft product donations in the U. S.
Make informed decisions about products by utilizing product and provider information, customer service assistance by phone and e-mail, and TechSoup's educational resources.
Reduce line items for technology products. Our administrative fees, set to cover the costs of administering the donation programs, are as low as 4% of retail value. There is no membership fee to use the service.
Devote their funding to direct service. This means more beds can be purchased for homeless shelters, more tutors can be hired for after school programs, and more meals can be prepared in soup kitchens.


Want to Donate Products?


"Symantec is excited to be a part of the launch of TechSoup Stock. By better communicating the link between CompuMentor's technology donation portal and the educational opportunities offered through TechSoup, nonprofits will be better prepared to implement the Internet security measures that make us all free to work and play in a connected world."

Lora Welch Phillips
Corporate Giving Program
Symantec Corporation

TechSoup Stock welcomes corporate and nonprofit technology providers that are interested in donating or distributing their products or services to the nonprofit community.

Benefits to Providers:
Gain access to a central resource that connects nonprofits nationwide to succinct information about their donated products and services.
Be part of a national platform for product philanthropy.
Gain opportunities to maintain, grow, and promote their corporation's giving program.
Save budgets and staff time by outsourcing their product donation programs.
TechSoup Stock currently works with 25 corporate and nonprofit technology partners. Since our launch in January 2002, TechSoup Stock has served about 20,000 nonprofits organizations, and saved the sector close to $160 million.

Note: This service is not a traditional store or a reseller of products. Our service is a national distribution platform for technology product philanthropy. We charge a small administrative fee for our services to the nonprofits we serve through the program.

If you'd like to discuss contributing technology products to TechSoup Stock, please contact:

Gayle Samuelson Carpentier
Business Development Director
Voice: 415.633.9344
Fax: 415.512.9629
Email: gaylec@compumentor.org

If you would like to make a financial contribution to this service, a project of CompuMentor, please visit the CompuMentor Web site.

CompuMentor is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization specializing in technology assistance for community-based organizations. CompuMentor is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and any contribution is tax deductible."

December 2006 Page 4

> ORAL HISTORIES OF CONTEMPORARY TATOO

By: Keith Price

http://www.pricedesignstudio.com/tattoo/

December 2006 Page 3

> SPIVA NEWS

Deadline EXTENSION
for Membership Show ENTRIES:
Spiva is accepting entries for the 59th Annual Membership Show until 5pm, MONDAY, December 4. The exhibit opens Friday, December 8, 5:30-7:30pm.

Class RESCHEDULED
Secret Gift Making for Kids will take place Saturday, December 9: 10am-noon. Kids ages 8 & up can make a special gift for Mom, Dad, Grandma, or Grandpa, just in time for the holidays. No parents allowed! Taught by Connie Knudtson. Cost: $15 includes supplies. Please call Spiva 417.623.0183 to register.

A Reminder for 12x12 Bidders:
The annual Spiva 12 x 12 Auction will end when the bell rings (around 7:30pm) next Friday evening at the opening reception of the 59th Annual Membership Show. Please note that online bidding ends at 4pm that day. So, bid early, bid often, bid high enough to win the original 12x12 artwork of your choice, in person at Spiva or online at www.spivaarts.org. Thanks to all the 12 x 12 Artists, all proceeds benefit the Art Center.

See you at Spiva!

December 2006 Page 2

> ART SHOW ANONYMOUS

December 15, 2006
6PM In The Foundry
3405 S. Hammons Blvd.
Joplin, MO 64804

#417.206.6886

- "The best" local art
- Live Music
- Coffee Bar & refreshments
- $5 Admission

http://www.thefoundrymusic.com

> THE COUSE FOUNDATION

E.I. Couse Historic Home and Studio
"...preserving the past for the future"

In 2001 The Couse Foundation was formed to preserve the home and studio in Taos, New Mexico, of Eanger Irving Couse, the prominent early 20th century painter of American Indian subjects. Couse was one of the founders of the Taos Art Colony and first president of the Taos Society of Artists. The mission of The Couse Foundation is to preserve the Eanger Irving Couse home and studio, along with its contents and archive, as well as two studio buildings owned and used by Joseph Henry Sharp, in order to give the public an authentic window into the past and to stimulate scholarly research and training in the fields of historic preservation and Southwest art history.

The E.I. Couse Historic Home and Studio is a National Trust Associate Site.

Color Photographs: George S. Marcek, Virginia Pringle
Vintage Photographs: Couse Family Archive

Volume 6 Number 6 December 2006

> SPECIAL BULLETIN

ArtServe Michigan
GRAAND
GrassRoots Arts Advocacy Network Distribution
Editor: Drew Buchholz
2006 Issue 20

Just in case you haven't heard...

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm unveiled details of the Michigan Business Tax (MBT), her new plan to replace the out-going Single Business Tax (SBT). Michigan's proposed new business tax will allow the state to compete more effectively with other states, Governor Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday, due to a rate that is among the lowest in the nation and preservation of incentives. In submitting the $2.4 billion plan to the Legislature, the Governor continued to draw a hard line on keeping it revenue-neutral and not letting it get caught in negotiations on other issues.

Granholm is recommending a new business tax based on three factors - gross receipts at .125 percent, assets at .125 percent and profits at 1.875. Granholm said the first two rates are the lowest in the nation.

The proposal, now embodied in a five-bill package slated to be introduced by Senate Minority Leader Bob Emerson (D-Flint) and House Minority Leader Dianne Byrum (D-Onondaga), exempts commercial and industrial users from the 6-mill state education tax and the 18-mill school operating tax, amounting to a 46 percent personal property tax cut statewide.

Small businesses that make less than $350,000 a year would still not be required to pay the MBT. Currently, these small businesses are not required to pay the SBT either. But for those small businesses that make between $350,000 and $700,000, the tax liability is phased-in, eliminating what Granholm called the "cliff effect."

Michigan-based insurance companies would see their gross receipts tax of 1.07 percent raise to 1.25 percent, which is less than the 2.0 percent Granholm wanted to tax insurers in 2005. She said that even with this increase, Michigan's insurance tax rates would still be the sixth lowest in the country. However, the insurance company's tax credits would be eliminated. The industry argues this will hurt its ability to give discounts to good drivers. The tax increase would make Michigan look less attractive to companies and likely increase rates.

Other economic development credits such as MEGA, Brownfield, Renaissance Zones and Historic Preservation credits would be preserved in MBT. A new $500,000-per company research innovation credit would be established. It also cuts taxes for knowledge-based industries by $125 million.

Overall, the Governor's proposal is projected to collect $2.53 billion in 2008 ($2.445 billion from the MBT and $90 million from the higher insurance company rate), but $600 million would be giving back to local schools through the School Aid Fund to compensate for the 24-mill personal property tax cut.

Under the SBT, the tax base is made up with 73 percent by compensation, 7 percent by income and 20 percent through other factors. The MBT is made up of 45 percent assets, 36 percent sales and 21 percent income, according to the Department of Treasury.

Click Here for a copy of the Michigan Business Tax PowerPoint presentation presented on November 29, 2006.

November 2006 Page 13

> FINE ARTS MUSINGS

PLEASE POST OR CIRCULATE

Ruth Ann Knapp, Fine Arts Coordinator DECEMBER 2006


CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

Saturday, December 2
• Saginaw High Band performs at Black Arts Festival Bazaar, 10:00-10:30 am, CAC

Tuesday, December 5
• AHHS Children's play "Cinderella Confidential", matinee performances for 3rd grade, Auditorium
• Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra concert with All-Star Youth Chorus including students from AHHS, SHS & SASA, Temple Theatre, 7:30 pm

Wednesday, December 6
• Kempton's Tree Decorating Carol Sing in the Courtyard, during the day
• AHHS Children's play "Cinderella Confidential", Auditorium, matinee performances for 3rd grade and
6:00 pm for general public
• South Middle School 8th grade Spanish class will perform Christmas carols in Spanish and do Latin dancing, St. Joseph Novena, 7:30 pm

Thursday, December 7
• SASA V/K PM class performs for Communications Workers Retirees at Horizons Conference Center, 2 pm
• AHHS Children's play "Cinderella Confidential", Auditorium, matinee performance for 3rd grade and 6 pm for general public

Friday, December 8
• AHHS Children's play "Cinderella Confidential", matinee performances for 3rd grade, Auditorium
• SASA V/K PM class performs at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 2110 Brockway, 1:00 pm

Saturday, December 9
• Saginaw High Drum Line performs at Competition in Southfield, MI

Sunday, December 10
• South Middle School 8th grade choir performs at the Saginaw Children's Zoo, 2:00 pm

Monday, December 11
• Zilwaukee Holiday Program, 6:00 pm, Gym [K-5, 6/7/8 choir, Beginning and Advanced bands (5-8)]
• Saginaw High Vocal Holiday Concert, 6:30 pm, SHS Auditorium. Admission $4.00
• Holiday Music Concert at the White Crow Conservatory of Music on Monday, December 11th from 7:00-9:00 pm (Donations encouraged)

Tuesday, December 12
• South Middle School choir performs at Edgewood Assisted Living Center, 10:00 am

Wednesday, December 13
• Saginaw High Concert Choir will perform at the Heartland Nursing Home, 10:30 am
• Kempton AM Pre-K, Kdg, 1st, 3rd and 5th grades present December Lights/December Nights, Cafetorium, 1:30 pm





Thursday, December 14
• SASA V/K and Dance Living Arts/ Elementary Concert, Temple Theatre, 12:45 pm
• Stone Holiday Program, Gym, 6 pm
• SASA V/K and Dance presents “WINTERLUDE” Concert, Temple Theatre, 7:00 pm
• Arthur Hill Vocal Holiday Program, Auditorium, 7:00 pm

Friday, December 15
• South Middle School choir performs at Healthsource, 11:30 am and at Community Village at 1:30 pm
• Herig Holiday Program, Gym, 1:30 pm
• Arthur Eddy Academy K-5 Holiday Prog., 1:00 pm, Gym

Monday, December 18
• Houghton Elementary presents "A Traditional Christmas", 1:30 pm, Gym
• Webber Elementary Holiday Program, 1:30 pm, Gym

Tuesday, December 19
• Saginaw High Choir Students will perform at Central Middle School, Auditorium, 1:00 pm
• Jessie Rouse Holiday Program, 1:30 pm, Gym
• Loomis' Program is December 19th
• Nelle Haley Holiday Program, 1:30 pm, Gym
• "A Holiday Celebration" featuring all SASA bands, 7:00 pm, Dow Event Center

Wednesday, December 20
• Kempton PM Pre-K, Kdg, 2nd and 4th grades present December Lights/December Nights, Cafetorium, 1:30 pm
• SASA V/K and Dance students see White Christmas at the Fox Theatre, Detroit
• Coulter Holiday Program, 2:00 pm, Gym
• Webber Middle School choir and band Holiday Concert, Auditorium, 2:00 pm
• Handley Holiday Walk-thru, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
• South Middle School Band and Choir Winter Holiday Concert, 6:00 pm, South Auditorium
• AHHS Holiday Band Concert, Auditorium, 7:00 pm
• Saginaw High Bands perform at "Holiday Celebration", 6:30 pm, Auditorium
Thursday, December 21
• Heavenrich Holiday Program, 10:30 am & 1:30 pm, Gym
• Jerome Holiday Program, 1:30 pm, Gym
• SASA V/K PM Bravo Group performs at Horizons Con-ference Center, 1:00 pm
• SASA V/K PM students perform for Field Neurological Institute Christmas Party, Bay City Country Club, 7:30 pm

Friday, December 22
• Merrill Park Holiday Program, 1:30 pm, Gym






A-Musings – “Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” -- Robert Frost



> SHAMELESS PLUG

³Poems and Pictures From the Natural World² is the topic of the final 2006
³Nurturing Nature² presentation Wednesday at the Green Point Environmental
Learning Center, 3010 Maple.
Roz Berlin, Marion Tincknell, Pat McNair and Ramona Dente, all members of
the River Junction Poets, will read their own poems about the natural world
as well as nature poems written by Henry David Thoreau, William Blake,
Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, Saginaw¹s own Theodore M. Roethke and others.
And nature photographer Janet I. Martineau will show slides she has taken of
flowers, birds, insects, New Mexico and Michigan landscapes, and animals
ranging in size from a chipmunk to a lion.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, the
program begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Cookies and cocoa are complimentary.
Admission $2.

November 2006 Page 12

> 20TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION PARTY

You are cordially invited...

> Who:
You, and friends of VISUAL ART ACCESS or the AMERICAN SURREALIST INITIATIVE are invited to attend the 20TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION of VAA.

> When:
January 28, 2007 @ 3-5:00 PM

> Where:
801 25th St. (Sculpture studio of Jerry Barrish)*
San Francisco, CA
(415) 641-8100

*[Just south of China Basin district, on corner of Illinois and 25th St., 2-story green structure, NO STREET ADDRESS ON BLDG. Good parking.]

> What:
Bring snack food (nothing needing heating) and beverages, and portfolio, photos etc.

> Why:
To visit with old friends and colleagues

Please fwd, help spread the word as widely as possible. VAA has served more than 1250 artists and other clients since 1987.

I hope to see you and yours there,

November 2006 Page 11

> HELP ART IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

Astoundingly, given all the money spent on public education, precious little is spent on art and, among the 7 fine arts, the LEAST amount is devoted to visual arts.

You can do something about that.

A website exists where teachers post a "Wish List" (e.g. a digital camera, paint brushes, art history books etc.) for supplies and materials to help them teach art. MOST, by FAR, of the listings are for performing arts classes of one kind and another. However, there are some visual art needs out there which we can, perhaps, help with.

In fact, there are 1309 total pages of Wish List!

Go to:

http://www.donorschoose.org

Select "Art"

Help, if you can.

November 2006 Page 10

> !!!

"It's hard to get noticed."

Brice Marden
Interview with Charlie Rose at MOMA
November 22, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 2006 Page 9

> VISUAL ART ACCESS - 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Sunday, January 28, 2007, 3-5PM, at the San Francisco studio of sculptor Jerry Barrish.

Stay tuned for further details.

Time, flies.

November 2006 Page 8

> ART, TRUSTS & ESTATES: PLANNED GIVING FOR ARTISTS AND COLLECTORS

Last evening at Joplin's Spiva Center for the Arts was given a workshop on the above topic. Panelists included Lori Smith, Financial Consultant, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.; Sharrock Dermott, Attorney at Law, Blanchard, Robertson, Mitchell & Carter, P.C.; and myself.

We are born. We live. We create, We die.

What then?

November 2006 Page 7

> FREE ONLINE "GALLERIES"

I don't usually recommend those "free online galleries"... sites where any artist can put some images of their work and info about themselves... there are too many of them and I haven't heard anything, yet, about positive results coming from posting on them.

However, a trusted colleague, Phillip Rubinov Jacobsen, brought one to my attention that may have some merit. The cost of advertising being what it is, it cannot hurt to participate in something of quality that is free.

"new on-line gallery: THE SAATCHI GALLERY

This new on-line gallery was brought to my attention by De Es Schwertberger. The site originates out of the UK and is a great avenue to showcase artists from any location while offering the latest news from Britain. You can see my page at the addres below and sign up yourself on the homepage:

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist/details.php?id=15727 "

Needless to say, anything having the Saatchi name associated with it makes me, for one, take notice.

November 2006 Page 6

> SAN ANGELO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Under auspices of the American Assoc. of Museums MAP program, I was honored to provide a collections management survey in San Angelo, TX late last week. Their museum is wonderful architecturally. The collection, especially in ceramics, is outstanding. The staff could not possibly have been more gracious or generous. I gave a brief presentation on the interface of art and militaria as well. San Angelo is a town of ca. 90,000 souls, bringing its downtown back to life... not in small measure due to the pioneering valor of this museum. I was also able to see the collection in storage of Fort Concho there, established in 1867 by the United States Army 16th Inf Reg.

> ART OUTFALL FROM RECENT ELECTION

November 8, 2006
Dear Michael S. Bell:

Americans across the country overwhelmingly approved arts and arts education ballot measures and elected pro-arts candidates at the local, state, and federal levels.

The Federal Outlook:
Funding prospects for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and for arts education improve significantly with the replacement of current Republican House leaders, who received grades of D and F on Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC's 2006 Congressional Arts Report Card. Top Democratic House leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) each received a grade of A.

We will also see dramatic changes in the chairmanships of both the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees, which exercise funding jurisdiction over NEA. Both Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) were defeated in their bids for re-election. Neither had ever proposed a funding increase for the NEA. By contrast, longtime House Subcommittee Ranking Member Norm Dicks (D-WA) received an A on the 2006 report card and has consistently pledged significant increases for the NEA if he ever became chairman. Burns's victorious challenger Jon Tester (D-MT) is a former music teacher who responded favorably to the Arts Action Fund PAC's candidate survey.

The State and Local Outlook:
While the 2006 mid-term elections predominantly attracted voters who were interested in voicing their concerns about national issues, thousands of voters turned out to support critical local ballot measures that had a direct impact on the arts. All ten of the local ballot measures tracked and supported by Americans for the Arts Action Fund passed overwhelmingly, as did a state ballot measure on the arts in Louisiana. The cities and counties with local arts ballot measures include Akron (OH); Alameda County/San Leandro (CA); Alameda County/Berkeley (CA); Austin (TX); Cuyahoga County/Cleveland (OH); Marin County (CA); Portland (OR); Salt Lake County (UT); San Francisco (CA); and Santa Clara County (CA). These local and state measures will infuse millions of dollars for arts education programs in local schools and increased funding for cultural facilities and general operating support for nonprofit arts organizations.

Next Steps:
Americans for the Arts and its Arts Action Fund will be implementing a comprehensive initiative to welcome and educate new members of the House and Senate. But we can't do this without you. We will be contacting you soon with information on how you can actively participate in this important grassroots initiative and make sure that campaign pledges for the arts are fulfilled.

> BROOKLYN ART MUSEUM KILLING ITSELF AND CURATORS

At his peril, and to his temporary discredit, the current Director of the Brooklyn Art Museum has "reorganized" the staff... the upshot of which is that the "education" department will now be originating and initiating exhibitions, whilst their curators serve in "support" roles.

THAT FREAKIN' DOES IT! The proverbial 'LAST STRAW" has been added to the decrepit camel's back.

All the little butt kissing brown nosing mercenary politically correct wannabee teachers who found jobs in art museums have gone too far.

November 2006 Page 5

> JOPLIN HOLIDAY ART SALES OPPORTUNITY

A call to all Spiva artists and artisans!

Seeking one-of-a-kind fine art and finely crafted items for

Spiva’s 2006 Holiday Bazaar!

Spiva’s new Regional Focus Gallery is now open on the first floor.
However, the new gift shop is not quite ready for occupancy.

Because Spiva’s public shouldn’t have to wait, and the staff has too much fun selling your work to delighted customers, merchandising committee volunteers are creating a

Holiday Bazaar!

Located on the 2nd floor in the former Regional Gallery, the space is almost

3 times the size of the current 2nd floor gift shop!



The Holiday Bazaar!

will open Saturday, November 25, 2006, and remain open during gallery hours

(10 to 5, Tues–Sat; and 1 to 5 on Sundays)

through Friday, January 12, 2007.



Your splendid, fun, useful, eclectic, high quality work will make the Bazaar

the source for unique and exceptional gifts this holiday seasoN!

Here’s how to participate…

Review & complete the “Holiday Bazaar Agreement”
Label your work & complete the Holiday Bazaar “Item List”
Deliver your work (and paperwork) to Spiva during gallery hours November 14–19, 2006.
DOWNLOAD FORMS at

www.spivaarts.org

click on Holiday Bazaar

Questions? Please contact Carol Adamec or Jo Mueller at Spiva: 417.623.0183.

November 2006 Page 4

> MIDWEST CLAY ARTISTS - HOLIDAY SALE

This just in from Jo Mueller, Director, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin

Midwest Clay Artists, many of whom are Spiva members, are gearing up for their annual holiday sale this Saturday. You'll find them at the Fountain Plaza, 32nd & Connecticut in Joplin, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. November 11. With 19 clay artists selling decorative and functional pieces, finding terrific gifts should be a snap! You can even try your hand at throwing! Talk about a fun time--shopping, mud, and refreshments. Check out the following link and enjoy!

http://www.4statearts.com/art/story/?id=673&c=1

November 2006 Page 3

> TRAIL OF TEARS

A nice art passage from a book I'm reading now, WALKING THE TRAIL: ONE MAN'S JOURNEY ALONG THE CHEROKEE TRAIL OF TEARS, by: Jerry Ellis, Delta Books, 1991, page 127:

"... Every wall is bursting with paintings so rich in color and composition that they seem inspired. One shows two Indians on horses as they overlook a great valley. Another offers a family walking among bears and lions and lambs. A boy plays in the grass with a snake while a nearby garden prospers with vegetables and fruit trees. My favorite captures another family awed by a shower of shooting stars over a desert of camels."

November 2006 Page 2

> INTERESTING CONGRESSIONAL ART VOTING RECORD

Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC has released the 2006 Congressional Arts Report Card. This guide can help voters make an informed decision about those Members of Congress running for re-election next Tuesday, November 7, 2006. You can read additional analysis of Congressional arts votes, including state rankings and trends in our press release. The Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, published a lead article this week about the release of this timely report.

Volume 6 Number 5 November 2006

> ART & POLITICS

I don't like having to write this, or think it, but... VAA has "lost" more clients over the past 20 years due to what are perceived by some as being my "right wing" political positions (versus "beliefs") than from any other cause.

It is as if when I do not absolutely cling to the precise orthodoxy of the American Left or Democrat party, then, somehow, my professional judgement is automatically called into question.

It also is, as if, to be in the art profession one MUST not be what I am perceived to be!

I even had one client withdraw from VAA services because, in his words, "You allowed yourself to be baptized!"

I have also had a museum Director inform me that because I would not, as a curator, countenance ANY defilement of the American flag in a gallery display, my "objectivity" was in question.

When with those whom I had thought were "friends", they speak of most social matters in hushed tones, if at all, when I am near.

Thank heaven I never take a similar approach in judging whether or not I wish to work with a client.

How sad... how terribly, terribly, sad.

October 2006 Page 12

> ART&AFFLUENCE

Beginning November 6th, JOPLIN TRI-STATE BUSINESS, will publish a special section of their periodical, entitled "Art&Affluence"

I am, thusfar, the contributing columnist... albeit in NO way a journalist.

joplinnews@joplintsb.com

They have set a goal of having a website by January, 2007.

I believe in them.

So should you.

> SHOWME THE OZARKS MAGAZINE

Missourah, is the "Show Me" state. That's my story, and I've stuck to it. Lord knows.

http://www.showmetheozarks.com

This morning I committed to one article monthly featuring an Ozark artist not of MY personal or professional choice... in exchange for a squib.

What they want to do is to feature a monthly artist, in accord with the passing of the seasons.

I like that idea, very much. It fits with our regional Ozark ways.

KEEP the home fires burnin'

I believe in them.

So should you.

October 2006 Page 11

> ARTLETTER

Check this out...

http://www.artletter.com

> ACADEMIC CHARISMA

According to a NEW YORKER article limned by Anthony Grafton, on page 86 (10.23.06 issue) it was stated that, in ca. late 1700s:

"Christian Gottlob Heyne, who integrated the visual arts into the formal study of antiquity, also ran Gottingen's university library - one of the largest and best organized in Europe - and published reviews of some eight thousand of the books that he obtained and catalogued for the university's collection."

So, in the whole of academic history, Mr. Grafton has asserted that it was Mr. Heyne, "... who integrated the visual arts into the formal study of antiquity..."

If so, thanks?

It was Heyne, then... who, singlehandely "integrated the visual arts..." ?

I respectfully ask to see proof of that assertion.

Heyne might have, or did, well do a lot of cataloguing and so forth. Nevertheless, anytime I read or hear the word "integration", my hackles get up... due to how that word has been so tragically abused.

> HIGH LOUVRE

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has, by whatever means, and for whatever reasons, achieved a mighty cultural coup... by somehow persuading the Louvre to lend them a number of undoubtable art masterpieces for exhibition... at NO small cost BTW.

The Louvre collection does not extend beyond the year ca. 1850.

On the "Charlie Rose" PBS show last evening, I heard the current Louvre Director state that it is his sincere wish to include in their collection more work by American artists.

Damn so, dude!

October 2006 Page 10

> STRETCHING CREDULITY

I received the following as part of an Email, from a trusted friend. I have no idea whether it is mythological or truthful... but, I do find it interesting, either way.

Apparently, the Congressional Record reflects that in 1963 a member of Congress (A.S. Herlong) included a list of 47 "Current Communist Goals" in testimony.

#23 caught my attention, as it may well yours.

http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm

"Communist Goals (1963)
Documention below
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963

[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

...23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to
promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

October 2006 Page 9

> ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH

"As part of the celebrations being held during National Arts and Humanities Month this October, Americans for the Arts is auctioning a Gibson/Epiphone Dove acoustic guitar signed by an eclectic group of more than 20 celebrity arts supporters, ranging from the Dixie Chicks and Renee Fleming to Wayne Newton and Leonard Nimoy.

This is Americans for the Arts’ first ever online auction and all proceeds will benefit our advocacy efforts on behalf of the arts and arts education. The auction, which is being presented through eBay’s charitable program Giving Works, will conclude this Thursday, October 26 at 9:00 a.m. ET. To place a bid, please visit Americans for the Arts' eBay auction page.

The following celebrities have graciously signed the donated Gibson/Epiphone Dove acoustic guitar:

Alan Alda, actor, author
Alec Baldwin, actor
John Corbett, actor, musician
Jamie Lee Curtis, actress, author
The Dixie Chicks, platinum-selling musicians
Pierre Dulaine, dancer, subject of the films Mad Hot Ballroom and Take the Lead
Melissa Etheridge, musician
Renee Fleming, opera star
The Indigo Girls, musicians
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Broadway star
Wayne Newton, legendary performer
Leonard Nimoy, actor
Peter, Paul, and Mary, musicians
Lisa Marie Presley, musician
Harry Shearer, actor
Pete Yorn, musician
Dan Zanes, musician

Winner of the auction will also receive a brand new Epiphone hard shell case as well as the black Sharpie used to sign the instrument by all of the celebrities.
Thank you for your continued support of the arts, and happy bidding!"

October 2006 Page 8

> SURREALISM

Keith Wigdor and Gregg Simpson present:

THE INTERNATIONAL SURREALIST SHOW 2006 on SURREALISM NOW!
The Gallery is an On line Show and now LIVE!!! Go to:

http://www.surrealismnow.com

> DECIDE FOR YOURSELF

CALL TO ARTISTS, ART ORGANIZATIONS, BOUTIQUES AND CULTURAL BUSINESSES!

Missouri Art & Cultural Winter Festival
Event Dates: Friday, February 9, 2007 and Saturday February 10, 2007.
Hours: 10am to 9:30pm
Location: Westfield Shopping Center, Clarkson/Olive Blvd/Hwy 40, Chesterfield
MO
Deadline for Entry: December 29, 2006, 8pm
Enter by Mail
Entry form online:
www.optimaxdesign.com

This event is being promoted by OptiMax LC in partnership with Westfield
Shopping Center in Chesterfield. The goal of this event is to expose the general
public to and promote Missouri Art and Cultural businesses. There will be
music schools and studios providing additional entertainment and attraction.
It will be a highly promoted event with advertising by radio, press,
internet, banners, signage and many other highly effective forms of promotion.
Sponsoring establishments will receive spotlighting in all forms of advertising and
promotion!
Statistics for the month of February, on weekends with no promoted event, are
approximately 20,000 to 35,000 customers per day. This will be a great venue
for your artwork or cultural business. The negotiated rates are far below
regular rates for individual display and sale contracts!
This event is open to any high quality developed art form in any category.
Any low-end craft or undeveloped art form will NOT be accepted and fees will be
returned with our apologies. This will be decided at the promoters discretion.
Open to Artists (any medium) Boutiques, Galleries, Wineries and similar
establishments. Accepted entries will be informed immediately upon receipt of
application. (Semi-juried event- you will have to send 1 photo of work or shop).
SPACES ARE 5’ X 8’ (+), (Sponsoring: 6’ x 10’)
Individual Artist: $195
Boutique & Gallery: $295
Sponsor: $695
Multiple Spaces (up to 3) allowed. Electric provided. Phone lines available.
Table & skirting rental available.
For more information, contact D.C. Smith: optimaxart@aol.com
Entry forms online:
www.optimaxdesign.com Click on "Missouri Art & Cultural Winter Festival"

October 2006 Page 7

> AUCTION BENEFIT FOR CHIORI SANTIAGO

Chiori is a wondertful person, someone whom I personally and professionally respect and honor in every possible sense. Donate to their auction, or attend the event and spend money to help her, please.
-----------------------------

A Celebration & BENEFIT for Writer Chiori Santiago

An Evening of Music, Art and Silent Auction to help defray medical expenses related to kidney cancer October 22nd at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, CALIFORNIA.

MORE INFORMATION: Contact Isidra Mencos at isidram@sbcglobal.net or 510-530-7542.

October 2006 Page 7

> AUCTION BENEFIT FOR CHIORI SANTIAGO

Chiori is a wondertful person, someone I respect and honorn in every possible sense. Donate to their auction, or attend the event and spend money to help her, please.
-----------------------------

A Celebration & BENEFIT for Writer Chiori Santiago

An Evening of Music, Art and Silent Auction to help defray medical expenses related to kidney cancer October 22nd at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, CALIFORNIA.

MORE INFORMATION: Contact Isidra Mencos at isidram@sbcglobal.net or 510-530-7542.

October 2006 Page 6

> RUDYARD KIPLING

An excerpt from his important poem, TOMMY:

"... I went into a theatre as sober as could be,

They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;

They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,

But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";

But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,

The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,

O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide."

October 2006 Page 5

> BODE MUSEUM - BERLIN

This seemed worth publishing in its entirety:

By Tony Paterson in Berlin
Published: 18 October 2006


"Berlin's ambition to host a permanent exhibition of priceless artefacts rivalling the Louvre has taken a major step forward with the reopening of the city's neo-Baroque Bode museum which houses a dazzling collections of antique and Byzantine sculptures.

The imposing domed building, which straddles an island in the city's river Spree like the bow of a ship, was formally opened after a €152m (£102m) renovation which has restored the museum to its original, immaculate condition. It had been slowly decaying for 67 years.

Shattered by Allied bombs during the Second World War and neglected during East Berlin's communist era, the museum has not only been structurally revamped.

Hundreds of works that were removed during the war and stored on opposite sides of the city's infamous Wall during the Cold War were finally reunited under one roof.

"Visitors will see that the Bode museum contains one of the most beautiful, largest and most significant collections of sculptures dating from late antiquity [Greek and Roman culture] until around 1800," Arne Effenberger, the museum director, said.

The 1,700 sculptures were brought together originally by Wilhelm von Bode, the museum's turn-of-the-century founding director and were intended as a triumphant demonstration of Prussian cultural enlightenment and prowess. Yet it fell to Kaiser Wilhelm II, who would plunge Germany into the maelstrom of the First World War, to inaugurate the museum in 1904. After 1918, and for much of the Cold War, the building was, as a result, dismissed as a vestige of despised Prussian imperialism.

Yesterday, the museum's complete collection, which includes lavishly ornate door-frames from Venetian palaces, 15th-century Dutch, Flemish and German masterpieces and Baroque and Byzantine sculptures and murals, was open to view for the first time since 1939.

In 60 vast, wood-ceilinged halls floored with terracotta tiles, the amount of space allocated to each exhibit allowed visitors to view each breathtaking artefact in extraordinary close up.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a 15th-century Madonna and child by the Dutch master Niclaus Gerhaert von Leyden. After The Second World War and throughout the Cold War, the Madonna stood alone in the Bode Museum while the child remained on display in a museum in capitalist West Berlin. Yesterday the two figures were finally to be seen reunited.

The Bode museum's lavish restoration is part of Berlin's plans to re-establish the city as one of Europe's most significant cultural centres with a choice of museums to rival Paris.

The process began shortly after German reunification in 1990, when Unesco awarded world cultural heritage status to the city's "museum island", the site of the Bode, National Gallery and Pergamon museum. The century-old National Gallery has been restored and there are plans to start rebuilding the Pergamon by the end of the decade.

But the costs of restoring museums, many of which have remained almost untouched since 1945, have been grossly underestimated. Months ago, Germany's Federal Accounts Bureau admitted that the €500m originally earmarked for the rebuilding programme, would have to be trebled if the project were to be completed by the target date of 2015. David Chipperfield, the architect masterminding the museum island project, said: "It may take till 2050 until the project is finished."

Berlin's ambition to host a permanent exhibition of priceless artefacts rivalling the Louvre has taken a major step forward with the reopening of the city's neo-Baroque Bode museum which houses a dazzling collections of antique and Byzantine sculptures.

The imposing domed building, which straddles an island in the city's river Spree like the bow of a ship, was formally opened after a €152m (£102m) renovation which has restored the museum to its original, immaculate condition. It had been slowly decaying for 67 years.

Shattered by Allied bombs during the Second World War and neglected during East Berlin's communist era, the museum has not only been structurally revamped.

Hundreds of works that were removed during the war and stored on opposite sides of the city's infamous Wall during the Cold War were finally reunited under one roof.

"Visitors will see that the Bode museum contains one of the most beautiful, largest and most significant collections of sculptures dating from late antiquity [Greek and Roman culture] until around 1800," Arne Effenberger, the museum director, said.

The 1,700 sculptures were brought together originally by Wilhelm von Bode, the museum's turn-of-the-century founding director and were intended as a triumphant demonstration of Prussian cultural enlightenment and prowess. Yet it fell to Kaiser Wilhelm II, who would plunge Germany into the maelstrom of the First World War, to inaugurate the museum in 1904. After 1918, and for much of the Cold War, the building was, as a result, dismissed as a vestige of despised Prussian imperialism.

Yesterday, the museum's complete collection, which includes lavishly ornate door-frames from Venetian palaces, 15th-century Dutch, Flemish and German masterpieces and Baroque and Byzantine sculptures and murals, was open to view for the first time since 1939.
In 60 vast, wood-ceilinged halls floored with terracotta tiles, the amount of space allocated to each exhibit allowed visitors to view each breathtaking artefact in extraordinary close up.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a 15th-century Madonna and child by the Dutch master Niclaus Gerhaert von Leyden. After The Second World War and throughout the Cold War, the Madonna stood alone in the Bode Museum while the child remained on display in a museum in capitalist West Berlin. Yesterday the two figures were finally to be seen reunited.

The Bode museum's lavish restoration is part of Berlin's plans to re-establish the city as one of Europe's most significant cultural centres with a choice of museums to rival Paris.

The process began shortly after German reunification in 1990, when Unesco awarded world cultural heritage status to the city's "museum island", the site of the Bode, National Gallery and Pergamon museum. The century-old National Gallery has been restored and there are plans to start rebuilding the Pergamon by the end of the decade.

But the costs of restoring museums, many of which have remained almost untouched since 1945, have been grossly underestimated. Months ago, Germany's Federal Accounts Bureau admitted that the €500m originally earmarked for the rebuilding programme, would have to be trebled if the project were to be completed by the target date of 2015. David Chipperfield, the architect masterminding the museum island project, said: "It may take till 2050 until the project is finished."

October 2006 Page 4

> PRIORITIES

At the moment, and of late, I am not much inclined to wax "eloquent" on matters of art and culture...

The world as we knew it is in precarious balance politically, militarily, economically, religiously and... morally. We have gotten ourselves or have been lead into, on purpose and by negligence on ALL sides, a situation the outcome of which is far from being as certain as ANYONE is suggesting.

Jihadist Islamic Fascism has become, and been allowed to remain for not less than 50 years, the dominant threat to world peace... a threat hitherto unknown in the history of civilization; by far surpassing anything Nazis ever dreamt possible in their most extreme sadistic delusional reveries of greed and brutality.

Few artists will, if our collective society survives, visually record and comment upon current events.

However, at the present place in time, world survival of the human species now depends mainly upon (in my opinion) doing all possible things, in word and deed, to perform NO action which in any way discourages, minimizes or harms the effectiveness or morale of American and allied fighting forces who have been sent to do battle against a suicidal fanatic enemy.

To state that one "supports the troops"... and then immediately add the word, "But..." will not cut the mustard anymore.

As we learned from some of those who were sent to Death Camps during WW II, the spirit of art prevails... drawings were made in the worst of conditions.

I sincerely believe that, if we fail now, right NOW, to stand up against religious and political tyranny, all will be lost. The chaos into which the world seems doomed to descend will not match anything any of us has ever imagined possible.

If our museums survive, then there will be the hope that humanity will have a chance, one day, to recollect what life once meant.

> MUSEUM ACCREDITATION

There are roughly 9000 museums in the USA. Of that total number, 775 are accredited by the American Association of Museums. Of the 775, 40% are art museums.

October 2006 Page 3

> ARTIST TECHNICAL SOURCES

www.goldenpaints.com

www.utrechtart.com

www.richesonart.com

www.winsornewton.com

www.holbeinhk.com

www.fabercastell.com

www.danielsmith.com

www.northlightbookclub.com

www.gamblincolors.com

www.artinfonet.com

www.learningproductexpo.com

October 2006 Page 2

> SLOG BLOG

I am a pooter slog, blogging.

> VAA ARTISTS

I was proud to learn (from ART IN AMERICA Sept 2006) that former VAA artists Flo Oy Wong (at Flomenhaft Gallery) and Louisa McElwain (at Armory Art Center, Florida) are still in the hunt.

> STEVEN KENNY

Looks like some decent art of his at Trinity Gallery in Atlanta.

> $135,000,000 PAID

For one work of art... one, by Gustav Klimt; an artist derided until recently by Modernist formalists.

Let me put this another way.

One hundred and thirty five MILLION dollars.

Oh, BTW... Neue Gallerie would charge non-members, an additional $50 per person to see that painting (and 4 other Klimts).

NYMOMA is now charging $20 to get in their door.

Volume 6 Number 4 - October 2006

> POOTERISM

For the past month or so I have not had my own "computer." due to my poking the keys of the one I had too hard.

When/if I get it back, I will be back online with the usual regularity.

Until then, if need be, phone #417.621.8577

> FR0M A FRIEND, AND THE NEW YORK TIMES

FRISCO, Tex., Sept. 28. 2006

“Keep the ‘Art’ in ‘Smart’ and ‘Heart,’ ”

Sydney McGee had posted on her Web site at Wilma Fisher Elementary School in this moneyed boomtown that is gobbling up the farm fields north of Dallas.

But Ms. McGee, 51, a popular art teacher with 28 years in the classroom, is out of a job after leading her fifth-grade classes last April through the Dallas Museum of Art. One of her students saw nude art in the museum, and after the child’s parent complained, the teacher was suspended.

Although the tour had been approved by the principal, and the 89 students were accompanied by 4 other teachers, at least 12 parents and a museum docent, Ms. McGee said, she was called to the principal the next day and “bashed.”

She later received a memorandum in which the principal, Nancy Lawson, wrote: “During a study trip that you planned for fifth graders, students were exposed to nude statues and other nude art representations.” It cited additional complaints, which Ms. McGee has challenged.

The school board suspended her with pay on Sept. 22.

In a newsletter e-mailed to parents this week, the principal and Rick Reedy, superintendent of the Frisco Independent School District, said that Ms. McGee had been denied transfer to another school in the district, that her annual contract would not be renewed and that a replacement had been interviewed.

The episode has dumbfounded and exasperated many in and out of this mushrooming exurb, where nearly two dozen new schools have been built in the last decade and computers outnumber students three to one.

A representative of the Texas State Teachers Association, which has sprung to Ms. McGee’s defense, calls it “the first ‘nudity-in-a-museum case’ we have seen.”

“Teachers get in trouble for a variety of reasons,” said the association’s general counsel, Kevin Lungwitz, “but I’ve never heard of a teacher getting in trouble for taking her kiddoes on an approved trip to an art museum.”

John R. Lane, director of the museum, said he had no information on why Ms. McGee had been disciplined.

“I think you can walk into the Dallas Museum of Art and see nothing that would cause concern,” Mr. Lane said.

Over the past decade, more than half a million students, including about a thousand from other Frisco schools, have toured the museum’s collection of 26,000 works spanning 5,000 years, he said, “without a single complaint.” One school recently did cancel a scheduled visit, he said. He did not have its name.

The uproar has swamped Frisco school switchboards and prompted some Dallas-area television stations to broadcast images of statues from the museum with areas of the anatomy blacked out.

Ms. Lawson and Mr. Reedy did not return calls. A spokeswoman for the school district referred questions to the school board’s lawyer, Randy Gibbs. Mr. Gibbs said, “there was a parent who complained, relating the complaint of a child,” but he said he did not know details.

In the May 18 memorandum to Ms. McGee, Ms. Lawson faulted her for not displaying enough student art and for “wearing flip-flops” to work; Ms. McGee said she was wearing Via Spiga brand sandals. In citing the students’ exposure to nude art, Ms. Lawson also said “time was not used wisely for learning during the trip,” adding that parents and teachers had complained and that Ms. McGee should have toured the route by herself first. But Ms. McGee said she did exactly that.

In the latest of several statements, the district contended that the trip had been poorly planned. But Mr. Gibbs, the district’s lawyer, acknowledged that Ms. Lawson had approved it.

“This is not about a field trip to a museum,” the principal and superintendent told parents in their e-mail message Wednesday, citing “performance concerns” and other criticisms of Ms. McGee’s work, which she disputes. “The timing of circumstances has allowed the teacher to wave that banner and it has played well in the media,” they wrote.

They took issue with Ms. McGee’s planning of the outing. “No teacher’s job status, however, would be jeopardized based on students’ incidental viewing of nude art,” they wrote.

Ms. McGee and her lawyer, Rogge Dunn, who are exploring legal action, say that her past job evaluations had been consistently superior until the museum trip and only turned negative afterward. They have copies of evaluations that bear out the assertion.

Retracing her route this week through the museum’s European and contemporary galleries, Ms. McGee passed the marble torso of a Greek youth from a funerary relief, circa 330 B.C.; its label reads, “his nude body has the radiant purity of an athlete in his prime.” She passed sculptor Auguste Rodin’s tormented “Shade;” Aristide Maillol’s “Flora,” with her clingy sheer garment; and Jean Arp’s “Star in a Dream.”

None, Ms. McGee said, seemed offensive.

“This is very painful and getting more so,” she said, her eyes moistening. “I’m so into art. I look at it for its value, what each civilization has left behind.”

School officials have not named the child who complained or any particular artwork at issue, although Ms. McGee said her puzzlement was compounded when Ms. Lawson referred at times to “an abstract nude sculpture.”

Ms. McGee, a fifth-generation Texan who has a grown daughter, won a monthly teacher award in 2004 from a local newspaper. She said the loss of her $57,600-a-year job could jeopardize her mortgage and compound her health problems, including a heart ailment.

Some parents have come to Ms. McGee’s defense. Joan Grande said her 11-year-old daughter, Olivia, attended the museum tour.

“She enjoyed the day very much,” Ms. Grande said. “She did mention some nude art but she didn’t make a big deal of it and neither did I.” She said that if Ms. McGee’s job ratings were high before the incident, “something isn’t right” about the suspension.

Another parent, Maijken Kozcara, said Ms. McGee had taught her children effectively.

“I thought she was the greatest,” Ms. Kozcara said. But “knowing Texas, the way things work here” she said of the teacher’s suspension, “I wasn’t really amazed. I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ ”

BTW, John Lane was the Director in charge when SFMOMA departed its domicile in Civic Center Plaza for the SOMA district of town. Didn't like him then, still don't like him. :-)

September 2006 Page 10

> LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - ART ACCESSIBILITY

Check out our cool poster for Accessibility Awareness Day!
http://www.cricket-press.com/access.html
-------------------
Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG)
Proclamation
Lexington Accessibility Awareness Day

Whereas More than 635,000 individuals in the state of Kentucky have a sensory, physical or cognitive disability; more locally, approximately 36,000 individuals within Fayette County have a sensory, physical or cognitive disability.

Whereas The remaining population within the state may also benefit from accessible and universally-designed environments, including homes, buildings, restrooms, streets, roads etc., as our population ages.

Whereas Technological advances in medicine and also engineering have allowed not only Kentuckians, but also individuals with disabilities to live longer, more prosperous lives and become more integrated within the community.

Whereas Support Groups and Organizations, such as Latitude Artist Community, Project Easy Access Lexington, and the The Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky have dedicated years of service in their ongoing efforts to advocate regionally for appropriate education of and adherence to the principles for accessible communities as outlined within the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Whereas these groups remain committed to their cause and to educating their community in the principles of universal- design and and ADA compliance.

Whereas access for all people throughout Lexington requires more education and understanding of the difficulties encountered by many of it's citizens.

Now, Therefore, I, Teresa Ann Isaac, Mayor of LFUCG, do hereby proclaim September 28, 2006 as Accessibility Awareness Day for the City of Lexington, Fayette County Urban Government.
------------------
Latitude Artist Community serves all people -- with an emphasis on those thought by some to have a disability -- by creating meaningful, inclusive community interactions which allow participating artists to contribute culturally and politically to the life of their city.

Visit Latitude's website: www.latitudearts.org

September 2006 Page 9

> MUSEUM OF IMAGINARY ART

Situé au deuxième étage du château de Ferrières, " Le Musée de l’Imaginaire est constitué de10 salles - 9 d'entre elles étant réservées à la peinture et une à la sculpture.
Ces 12 artistes travaillant à la façon des maîtres anciens ont une production confidentielle : de 5 à 15 oeuvres par an.
Acheté par des collectionneurs et mécènes, ce travail est peu médiatisé d'où l'intérêt de ce musée dont la vocation est de faire connaître cette forme d'art intitulé " réalisme Fantastique " par les médias. Chaque salle ayant été attribué à un artiste, celui-ci se propose d'exposer son ouvrage pendant quelques mois avant de le faire entrer dans le système commercial des galeries et des salons. Cette forme d'exposition a l'avantage de créer un musée en constante évolution permettant des visites successives sans retrouver les mêmes oeuvres.
Le château de Ferrières, situé dans un cadre de verdure, forme un ensemble visionnaire en parfaite harmonie avec le monde introspectif des exposants. Ce lieu magique où l'on trouve fées, trolls, monstres et visions oniriques entre en contrepoint avec les statues, plafonds et colonnes de l'édifice.
Cet ensemble étant une vitrine de l'Art Fantastique régis par une association à but non lucratif (loi de 1901), toute forme de transaction commerciale est exclue dans l'enceinte du château.
Ce musée, situé dans le cadre de la " Fondation Marie-Hélène et Guy de Rothschild ", a pu être réalisé grâce au concours de la chancellerie des Universités de Paris.

September 2006 Page 8

> BURNING MAN

Evidently, Ms. Katie Couric (of late the first female solo news anchor on television), delivered her debut broadcast live from the Burning Man festival.

In the late 1980s, BURNING MAN was among the clients of Visual Art Access. We assisted them in obtaining an exhibition of their very interesting conceptual art at Capp Street Project in San Francisco.

> WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON

For reasons of their (or someone's) own the NEW YORKER magazine dated September 18, 2006 saw fit to devote pages 42-67 (we're talkin' 25 pages here people!) solely to an article, by David Remnick, about our former President, entitled "The Wanderer: Bill Clinton's quest to save the world, reclaim his legacy - and elect his wife."

Bear in mind, please... if an artist wishes to have one 1" ad in that magazine, the cost will be something like $2000 (plus design fees etc.) per insertion.

I did manage to find two art quotes worth mentioning:

Page 44
"I saw some of Clinton's aides slouched in their seats in the rear of the plane, their eyes shut, their mouths agape like murder victims in a Weegee photograph."

Page 47
"... Podesta said. 'It didn't seem, to the extent I saw him, that he was talking to the paintings in his house, but it was an understandable letdown.' "

> OPTIMAX DESIGN (From the Department of "Nice Try," extreme optimism and naivete)

"Dear fellow artist or craftsperson:

I would like to invite you to be part of a mentoring program sponsored
by www.optimaxdesign.com.

This site currently features an Artist Gallery and a Resource Center to
promote fine artists and craftspeople in Missouri. But I would like to
take that concept further.

Many of my graphics and giclee print clients are educators in our
community. Frequently I have heard from them the comment that there were very few
resources for their students to find artists who demonstrate their
processes so that they could be exposed to the different artistic mediums and
techniques…to take their own work further.

www.optimaxdesign.com would like to sponsor a location where students
and aspiring artists can go to get inspiration and to learn about how
working artists have gone about creating their "masterpieces".

My invitation to you is to privide a small visual demonstration of your
artwork in photo and narative text. Although I don't consider my
artwork to be the best out there in Missouri, I decided to start with my own as an
example (
www.optimaxdesign.com/workinprogress.html). I will add a few more in the other mediums I work in, however, I did not want this to be just about me or just what I have done.

I am creating a new section that will branch off of the Resource Center
section for these demonstrations.

What you will get back:
If you decide that you want to participate, I will provide you with a
page in my Artist Gallery section for at least 1 year FREE. (HREF="http://www.optimaxdesign.com/artistlisting.html">Artist Gallery). There I will provide you with links to your own site, or you can add onto it in the future
to make it a showplace for your artwork as many have done in this section of the
site.

You will also get a link from your page to your demonstration. I will
send out press releases to pertinent online sites and also to Missouri press
sources.The site is receiving over 10,000 hits per month (and growing), so it
will be good exposure for your work. There have been viewers from as many as 18
countries (and hopefully that will also grow!) An average of 43% of the
visitors to www.optimaxdesign.com follow the links to other sites!

The Fine Print:
I will begin with the first that reply. I will retain the right to
decline sub-standard workmanship or objectionable subject-form. I will not be
responsible for percieved harm in any way. Any medium: pottery, glass,
paintings of any kind, woodworking, (etc.) are acceptable - As long as it is some sort of recognized art-form. No plagiarized material or copyright violations
allowed. I will not be liable for any infringement and that will be the sole
responsibility of the artist submitting material. All artwork is © the artist and
that is stated on each page as protection.

I would like to maintain a balance, so I will only accept a limited
number in some mediums. Additional artists in those mediums will be put on a
waiting list and added in the near future.

These demo's will remain up on the site for at least 6 months.

To be part of this new project:
Please send me at least 4 photos of a project or painting in it's
progression from start to finish (see below email instructions). Explain your
inspiration (and show it if you can) and provide just a few notes on each stage of
the project you are showing.

See:
www.optimaxdesign.com/workinprogress.html for the example I spoke
of above. It does not have to be superb photography - just clear. (I scanned mine at
different stages to show progression - if you have 2D artwork small enough to fit
on a standard scanner, that would be great!). If it's a 3D process, close-ups would be required. A completed project will be required in at least 4 stages of
process.

I take no commission from the artists in the Artist Gallery, and I also
do not process transactions at this time for them. If I am emailed, I
direct the request to the artist themselves. Check out some of the artist pages in
the Artist Gallery for
examples.

Submission:
Email medium to low resolution jpg's of work and text for demonstration
to:
optimaxart@aol.com. I will respond soon to tell you what format to send final
photos to be placed online.

Deadline to submit: As I would like to begin this project as soon as
possible, Please respond before November 15th, 2006.

Please feel free to browse the Artist
Gallery while you are there and see some of the outstanding artwork Missouri has to offer the community. This area is constantly growing, so there are new works added continually.

Also visit the HREF="http://www.optimaxdesign.com/resource.html">Resource Center
area for FREE DOWNLOADS of articles on marketing artwork. New articles are added
frequently, so check back often for new information. Or visit the HREF="http://www.optimaxdesign.com/dcsmithgraphics.html">
Graphic Services area to find out about OptiMax Design Graphics, Large Format
Scanning and Giclee Printing.OptiMax also welcomes the opportunity to share links with other art related sites.

(If these links do not work on your system, just go to:
www.optimaxdesign.com
. Links to these areas are on the welcome page.)

I sincerely thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon.

Denise C. Smith,
OptiMax Design LC/Fine Art by D.C. Smith"