Monet's Water Lilies triptych at the Nelson-Atkins

Brought to New York in the 1950's Claude Monet's Water Lilies triptych was separated, and the individual panels were sold to the St. Louis Art Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum. The last time that these panels were exhibited together as they were meant to seen was in 1979, and now in collaboration with the other two museums, the Nelson-Atkins reunites the right-hand panel from its collection with the other ones, making this a rare opportunity to observe one of the most famous works of who is considered the most important Impressionist painter.

Each panel measures 6-feet tall by 14-feet wide and is believed that Monet started working on these in 1915, then continuosly reworking them in his studio at Giverny until the year of his death in 1926, according to Nicole Myers, Associate Curator at the Nelson-Atkins. This is most evident due to the fact that through x-ray imaging, light boxes, and computerized cross-sections, conservators have discovered the artist obsessively changed the composition over the years. For example, beneath a cluster of water lilies on the Nelson-Atkins canvas, conservators found the image of an agapanthus plant that Monet suppressed halfway through painting it. An x-ray of the agapanthus will be part of the exhibition. "We don’t even know for sure whether he considered them finished," said Simon Kelly, who, as curator of modern and contemporary art at the Saint Louis Art Museum and former associate curator of European painting and sculpture at the Nelson-Atkins, has been working on this exhibition for more than three years.

Through a range of archival photographs and a rarely seen film from 1915, showing Monet painting in his garden, wearing a white suit and a straw hat, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the exhibition will bring to life the beauty of the garden and his passion for it.

Visitors will be able to use touch screens to "make your own Monet", which can be displayed on the museum's website, while another permits a close-up observation of the artist's loose and short brush strokes. Another panel can be used by visitors to describe their experience, description that will then be projected in light on the walls of that room.

In a separate, dedicated space, the paintings themselves will be displayed with side panels at slight angles to recreate something of the panoramic experience of the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris where several of Monet’s water lily triptychs are mounted.

The Water Lilies triptych will be on view, from April 9 to Aug. 7, 2011 at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City (MO, USA), after which it will travel to the Saint Louis Art Museum in the fall of 2011, before showing at the Cleveland Museum of Art at a date to be confirmed.

With the exception of a triptych in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, this is the only Monet triptych in the United States.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. In Kansas City the exhibition is supported by the Hartley Family Foundation, Carol and Fred Logan and the Campbell-Calvin Fund and Elizabeth C. Bonner Charitable Trust for exhibitions. Frontier Airlines is the official airline sponsor.

This article contains excerpts from the museum's press release

Put Your Art on the map with The Arts Map

Google permits publishers to add their business to their Google Maps and define search parameters such as keywords.

On a similar basis was created a service that intends to make easier to find arts sources and resources on a geographical basis, providing an interface which will benefit artists, galleries, collectors, museums, art schools and services, in short everyone related to art who wishes to connect. When joining the service, users can specify the search terms for their presence within the map, add an image, make the necessary changes in the future, etc.

Because many artists are not gallery represented and only show their work via a website or blog, this service is a tool that can bring more confidence to potential buyers buy stating that the artist has a physical adress; of course that misleading information can be provide by its users, but is up to artists, galleries and collectors to take the usual precautions when doing business.

Created a couple of years ago, The Arts Map is a free (exceptions may apply), straightforward and useful service.

"Olha Por Mim" a multisensory exhibition

The City Hall of Lisbon in partnership with its Social Services Department will present the exhibition "Olha Por Mim", featuring the artworkd of Tânia Bailão Lopes, a multisensory project born in the Instituto Politécnico de Leiria in 2009 with the collaboration of Josélia Neves, Clara Mineiro, expert of the Accrediting Department and Museums Qualification and twenty one experts from several museums.

After being exhibited from North to South of Portugal, the exhibition will include soundpainting for the first time, where music, poetry and sound effects will transmit subjective messages to the visitors. Walter Marcos, responsible for the sound area, has come up with specific sounds, while using an original theme by a former Sting's group keyboard player for one of the works.

In poetry, Josélia Neves used metafors such as "chocolate face" for describing a black character or "cherry face" to describe the countours of another character.

The soundpainting initiative was developed in collaboration with visual and hearing impaired people who guided the authors through its process by indicating what would work and what would not. It was noticed that even conditioning the perception through sounds, the interpretations of the artwork would differ.

"Olha Por Mim" is also a tactile experience with the objective of reaching all audiences, but especially catered for those with visual and hearing problems.

With the works of Mirtilo Gomes (Tânia's homonym), the "Olha Por Mim" exhibition will be inaugurated this March 15 (15h00) at the Social Services building of the City Hall of Lisbon (Edifício dos Serviços Sociais da CML), located in the Av. Afonso Costa, 41 - Olaias, and will include the lecture “Comunicar a arte trocando os sentidos: acessibilidade e inclusão”, presented by Josélia Neves and Walter Marcos. The artist will also be present, as well as Deodato Guerreiro PhD, a blindness and low vision specialist.

Watch the videos about the exhibition and visitors statements on this page .

The exhibition can be visited until April 15, 2011.

Interview With Bronze Sculptor Scott Nelles

Scott Nelles grew up in SE lower Michigan, where his father, a manufacturers representative in the steel business, would take him on tours to visit steel mills and foundries.
His mother was a bit of an artist and his great grandfather was a professional wood carver from Bern, Switzerland.
At an early age, he would build things out of clay and wood and whatever he could get his hands on.

In 1974 Scott began his career in the foundry at the Fraser bronze of Seattle, there he started making patterns for buckles influenced by his experience in the leather business where bought and sold a lot of belt buckles. The buckles were then cast by John Fraser who also helped him to improve his methods.

With some years of practice and observation Scott moved to Michigan and opened his own foundry where between the years of 1978 and 2000 he built and grew the business to the point of employing four full time people and selling his sculptures nationwide. In 2000 he placed a small classified add in a foundry trade magazine to sell the patterns and the rights to make his line of products. A large foundry owner purchased the line and began producing it under the name Nelles Bronze Sculpture, up to our days.




The Art Inquirer contacted Scott Nelles who promptly agreed to dedicate part of his valuable time to answer some questions about his art and provide this blog's readers with an insightful interview.


TAI What part of your historical background led you to pursue an artistic career ?

SN As a boy growing up in SE lower Michigan I was exposed to industry through my father, a manufacturers rep in the steel business. He would sometimes take me on tours of steel mills and foundries and I believe the heat and flame got into my blood. As a kid I was always making things out of clay and wood and whatever I could get my hands on. My mother was a bit of an artist and my great grandfather was a professional wood carver from Bern Switzerland. I ,in fact still use many of his hand tools when I am working with wood to make patterns for castings.

TAI When did you decided that bronze would be your medium of election for you to pass your message and demonstrate your creativity ?

SN Early on I realized that clay was just not rugged enough to do the things I wanted to do. So I knew that cast metal was the way to go. However it's no small thing to set up a bronze foundry and I had no training anyway. It has taken many years to develop my skills through observation, trial and error and working with other foundries.

TAI What are your favourite themes and subjects, and why ?

SN Currently I have been concentrating on a line of cast toys. I love the art deco period and I believe my toy cars and such reflect that love. Like most artists my interests change and evolve.

TAI Please resume to us the development of a sculpture, from its conception to its finish.

SN I generally develop my works with some rough paper sketches or create them directly in three dimensions. Though I have utilized different techniques of casting such as the ,“lost was method”, I generally work in the ,“sand casting method”, which I believe has advantages in some areas. It is the sand casting method which I will describe here. To be a sculptor and founder of bronze entails many skills and the use of many materials. Some people work only in wood, others, clay or glass. I work in a variety of materials to develop a pattern or model of my sculpture to be. I might make this model with water based or oil based clays, some very soft and some very hard. I work in a variety of waxes to sculpt and cast. Other materials important in, "the pattern making stage", are wood, plastics and resins of all kinds, sheet metal and fabrication, welding and forging all come into play. When a concept is created in one of my materials or combination of materials I then need to make a series of molds of the original model. These molds can be made in plaster, various poured resin materials, or sand. Eventually I will have a final pattern made in a rigid material like polyurethane plastic or cast aluminum. Using this pattern which represents my original form ,I can make rammed sand molds in the foundry. It is these sand molds into which I cast the bronze or other metal. When the metal cools I shake the sand away and a rough casting of my original sculpture emerges. Many types of finishing operations follow including, cutting, belt sanding, die grinding, sand blasting, tumbling, oxidizing, polishing and lacquering.





TAI Which are the most commmon technical pitfalls that a beginner working in the same art is more likely to commit ?

SN Where could I start to answer other than to say, do not enter into this craft lightly. The foundry process is without question the most technically demanding craft there is. This is not like throwing a pot and sticking it into a kiln while you drink cappuccino. It involve a multiplicity of disciplines and it could be a very long time before you succeed. Having said all this though I would never discourage a truly ambitious person from actually doing it. I have devoted my life to this thing and I have met and been mentored by many very interesting and talented people. Our community of foundry folk is very small and I would be glad to help anyone I could in there quest. I would say start small, visit some foundries read some books get some equipment together and give it a go.

TAI You accept custom orders. Which themes are most the requested ?

SN I will accept custom orders but usually when they hear the price for a one of a kind bronze the phone goes dead. Where my process shines is in making multiple pieces ,where the development costs can be amortized over the whole job. So if we can make you a hundred sculptures I might be your man.

TAI Can you be contacted to provide workshops or personal instruction ?

SN I would be happy to provide instruction but, I am a full time working artist trying to make a living at my craft. I have no interest in wasting my valuable time with dilettantes or prima donnas.

TAI What kind of major work would you like to embrace and what are your projects for the near future ?

SN I would love to do large wall installation of my cityscape work, either cast aluminum or resin. I will also continue to create my cast metal toys for the near future.

TAI Are you artworks available for personal viewing ?

SN My art works are available for personal viewing in my studio gallery, art shows, or by viewing my web-site.

TAI What advices can you give to owners of bronze objects to maintain them in good conditions ?
SN Dust them, wax them, enjoy them.


Scott Nelles keeps developing an entirely new line of pieces showcased by the toy cars, boats, candlesticks and small animals that he now makes in his studio. This line of works as well as those created over the years are available for purchase from him and in galleries nationwide, and can be viewed at the Nelles Studios website.

The Bronx Museum of the Arts: smARTpower

Administered by The Bronx Museum of the Arts, with the purpose of increasing the mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through social and cultural values, smARTpower will send fifteen American artists abroad to work with local artists and young people around the world to create community-based art projects and develop programs in cooperation with local arts organizations in host countries including China, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Venezuela.

The selected artists are required to address a full range of relevant subjects such as women’s empowerment, the environment, health, education, and civic engagement, which may be represented through several visual arts media, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, drawing, video, installation, photo-based work, public art, and interdisciplinary projects.
Artists are encouraged to work in group.

Among other requirements, the participating artists will be asked to establish professional working relationships with partner organizations, provide workshops and other outreach activities, facilitate the sustainability of the program's core concepts beyond the project, and communicate the development of their activities through blogging and other social media resources.

Each recipient will be provided with an honorarium of up to $11,000.00, travel funding, a budget for materials of up to $10,000.00, resources for documentation (including photography, video, and web posting), and on-site logistical support.

The smARTpower project is only open to professional artists who are not part of the Bronx Museum of the Arts staff, nor students currently enrolled in a BFA or MFA studio art program.
Entrants must also be United States citizens with at least 18 years of age, having resided in the U.S. within the last year. Residents and Green Card holders without citizenship are not eligible.

Owning experience in working with youth, engaging with other artists, art educators, and other community members, as well as being able to demonstrate high standards of quality and records of accomplishment, are of significant relevancy for being selected.

All applications and application materials must be received via the smARTpower website by midnight Eastern Standard Time, February 28, 2011.
Before sending their applications, the artists are advised to carefuly read all the participating requirements, including the submission process.

smARTpower is an initative of the Department of the State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with the participation of The Bronx Museum of the Arts.

The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854- 1918

From February 19 throughout July 17, 2011, the Mississipi Museum of Art will present the exhibition "The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918", the eleventh in The Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition Series.

Comprising more than 200, The Orient Expressed will show works of art from the 19th and early 20th centuries, lent by some of the most prestigious collections, including: Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana; Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi; and the Mississippi Museum of Art’s own collection.

The exhibition will instruct visitors upon the cultural phenomenon known as Japonisme, first identified by French art critic Philippe Burty in 1872, and its influence up to our days in visual and decorative arts, architecture, fashion, graphic design, literature, music and theater.

Through decorative arts, graphic design, paintings, printmaking, and other media, the public will have the opportunity to aknowledge the impact of Japan on the West prior to World War I. In addition to the exemplary Western objects that will be showcased in The Orient Expressed, a select group of works from the Japanese art tradition will be incorporated to clarify specific influences. Dan Piersol, the Mississippi Museum of Art’s Deputy Director for Programs, states, “All of these aspects will elucidate the impact of Japonisme, and how it hastened the development of art nouveau and symbolism during the 1890s, and the advent of modernism.”

Visitors will be able to appreciate the works from noted artists and manufacturers such as Robert Frederick Blum, Pierre Bonnard, Félix Buhot, Felix Bracquemond, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Charles Caryl Coleman, James Sidney Ensor, Paul Gauguin, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Childe Hassam, Utagawa Hiroshige, Helen Hyde, Georges Lacombe, John La Farge, Bertha Boynton Lum, Minton and Company, Charles Sprague Pearce, Rookwood Pottery, Henry Somm, James McNeill Whistler, Alfred Stevens, Theodore Wores, Tiffany & Co., and many more.

Found within the exhibition itself, two Family Corners and a Closer Look Gallery will offer educational components related to The Orient Expressed, and will include interactive areas, art activities, and reading materials to engage visitors with the works of art on display.

A host of special events, educational programs, and other activities with a Japanese influence will also help to enhance the visitor's experience.

With the participation of guest curator and scholar Gabriel P. Weisberg, "The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918" is expected to expect to host more visitors than any other exhibition the Museum has had previously, according to Mississippi Museum of Art Director Betsy Bradley.

Following its presentation in Jackson, The Orient Expressed will be on view at the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, from October 5, 2011 through January 15, 2012.

VIP Art Fair - Exclusively Online

In recent years the art market witnessed the emerge of online venues with the purpose of permiting new artists to show and sell their works without passing through the traditional galleries.
Now a project catered for the major traditional galleries has been created, which will allow them to show their artworks online and fully interact with the public and especially with art collectors.

Conceived by James Cohan, active in the contemporary art world for more than 25 years as a dealer and founder of the James Cohan Gallery in New York in 1999, between other activities, the VIP Art Fair will, in similarity to its traditional counterparts, be open during one week, with the main difference of happening exclusively online and permiting less expenses to exhibitors and visitors.

Gathering some of the best world renowned art galleries, including Almine Rech, Anna Schwartz, David Zwirner, Emmanuel Perrotin, Fraenkel, Hauser & Wirth, Hyundai, James Cohan, Larry Gagosian, Luisa Strina, Koyanagi, Marlborough, Max Hetzler, Sadie Cole HQ, ShangART, Sommer Contemporary Art, White Cube, Yvon Lambert, and Xavier Hufkens, among others, in a total of 139 galleries from 30 countries, this online event is bound to become a case study in the art market and which paths it may take from now on, especially when such influent names are involved.

Featuring a revolutionary design, VIP Art Fair will offer art collectors the opportunity to view artwork through an innovative technology that presents artworks in relation to other works of art and to the human figure. Inquisitive visitors will be able to zoom in to examine details of a painting’s surface, get multiple views of a three-dimensional work, and watch videos of a multimedia piece. Galleries will provide comprehensive details on artworks and artists, including biographies, catalogue essays, artist films and interviews, and in-depth information that will empower collectors.

An important aspect of this online international contemporary art fair is going to be the interactivity between dealer and collector. Each dealer will have the ability to hold conversations with collectors via instant messaging, Skype, and telephone to discuss works on offer in the virtual booth (10 to 20 works).
Specially-created Private Rooms will permit dealers to share works from their gallery's backroom inventory (between 40 and 70 works) in real time with their clients.
Online payments will not be offered through this platform during this art fair.

The VIP Art Fair can be explored through different perspectives, including the obvious online tours, which can be based on featured works, tours created by collectors, critics, or even by curators from participating museums. Visitors will be able to build their own personalized tours of the Fair that showcase their favourite works and share with friends or post them in the VIP Lounge. Other ways to navigate the site wil include the Fair Map and advanced searches based on criteria of interest, such as artist’s name, medium, or price range.

The Fair will open on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. EST and conclude on Sunday, January 30, 2011, at 7:59 a.m. EST. Browsing the Fair is free of charge. To access interactive capabilities, visitors must have a VIP Ticket, which on January 22 and 23 will cost $100 and thereafter will cost $20. You can request an invitation here.

VIP Art Fair was founded by James Cohan, founder of the James Cohan Gallery in New York in 1999 and board of directors of the Art Dealers Association of America, Art 21 and Independent Curators International; Jane Cohan, industrial designer by training and partner at James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai, where she manages press relations and acts as artist liaison; Jonas Almgren, involved in the launch of Vantive (IPO 1995), InterWeave (sold 1997), E.piphany (IPO 1999), PremierGuide (sold 2007), and One Art World (2005); and Alessandra Almgren, starter of the Home Theater Research Group in 1998 and co-founder of One Art World.
Its directors are Noah Horowitz, Adjunct Professor of Art Business at the Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York, and author of "Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market", and Stephanie Schumann, who brings her experience from The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Drawing Center, and The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, where she is a founding patron and chair of the museum’s young benefactors group.
Other names include Sidney Blank, Marco Raab and Olaf Kreitz, all from Supermetric.

The promotional video for VIP Art Fair was created by When in Doubt Productions in collaboration with Force of Feather

Designs Unveiled for The Broad Museum

The designs of The Broad Art Foundation (The Broad), a contemporary art museum to be built on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, were revealed by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad and architect Elizabeth Diller.
Dubbed “the veil and the vault,” and designed by world-renowned architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the three-story museum will feature a unique porous honeycomb “veil” that wraps the building and is visible through an expansive, top floor sky-lit gallery that will be home to great works of contemporary art drawn from the 2,000-piece Broad Collections assembled over the past 40 years.

The 120,000-square-foot project will feature almost an acre of column-free gallery space, a lecture hall for up to 200 people, a ground floor multimedia gallery, a public lobby with display space and a museum shop. Also to be included is a state-of-the-art archive, with study and art storage space that will be available to scholars and curators who want to research works in the collection and borrow artworks for their institutions through The Broad Art Foundation.
The public entry to the museum will complement the landscaped plaza to the south that is part of the Grand Avenue Project’s master plan. Its lobby will include a bookshop and espresso bar. Visitors will then journey upwards via an escalator, tunneling through the archive, arriving onto 40,000 square feet of column-free exhibition space bathed in diffuse light.
Presenting a 24-foot-high space, the area will be fully adaptable according to the curatorial needs.
The exhibition exit will be made through a winding stair through the vault, offering behind-the-scenes glimpses into the vast holdings of the Broad Collections and the foundation’s lending library operations, leading visitors back to the lobby.

With its construction predicted to begin in late summer and to be completed in two years, The Broad's inaugural exhibition will feature 200 of the most iconic works from the Broad Collections, including many recent additions to the collection and works never seen before in Los Angeles.
The exhibition show the artworks of Doug Aitken, El Anatsui, John Baldessari, Jean Michel Basquiat, Mark Bradford, Joseph Beuys, Chuck Close, Marlene Dumas, Sam Francis, Ellen Gallagher, Mark Grotjahn, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Glenn Ligon, Sharon Lockhart, Takashi Murakami, Shirin Neshat, Cady Noland, Lari Pittman, Neo Rauch, Robert Rauschenberg, Charles Ray, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Struth, Robert Therrien, Cy Twombly, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol and Christopher Wool, among many others.

For three years after the inaugural exhibition, The Broad will feature rotating exhibitions every four months, focusing on artists represented in distinctive depth in the collection, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol and Christopher Wool.
During exhibitions, curators will be able to include lent works that will enhance the exhibition's theme, the perspetive about the artist, etc.

Founders of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and The Broad Art Foundation, which they established to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts, as well as supporting other areas such as scientific and medical research, Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, are devoted to philanthropy.

Portuguese Artist and Fine Art Collector buys "NightLight Please" by Kathie Papasso

The painting "NighLight Please", acrylic on board by the american artist Kathie Papasso, was acquired by the portuguese artist and fine art collector José Carrilho.

Kathie has won several art awards, including two first places (coloured pencil and watercolour) in the "2010 Annual Okeechobee County Fair" and second place in the "Taylor Creek Riverbank."

The Uncovered Artistry Project - Empowering Domestic Abuse Survivors

Created by Angela Spoto together with her sister Sarah, the Uncovered Artistry project intends to provide domestic abuse victims with means to improve their financial situation and express their creativity, as well as to share their experiences with others in the same situation.

Operating out of Seacoast New Hampshire, the project is a nonprofit online boutique that provides an outlet to the finely crafted work of domestic abuse survivors and non-survivors in America and Canada who support abuse awareness. Uncovered Artistry also educates its customers about domestic abuse in order to raise awareness and eliminate stereotypes.

In order to give a general idea of how things work and answer a few doubts that may raise from those interested in participating, either as artisans or as sponsors, The Art Inquirer has conducted an interview with the authors of the project.

TAI When did you come up with the idea for this project ?

UA We thought of Uncovered Artistry last winter when we heard about the Projects for Peace grant, which gives select students $10,000 to start a project that promotes peace. We knew we wanted to empower women in some way, and since we had previously owned a jewelry shop on Etsy, we deiced to take our skills and start a nonprofit boutique that sells the work of domestic and sexual abuse survivors. Luckily, we got the grant!

TAI Why did you decided to make this project ?

UA We believe in the empowering effects of entrepreneurship and art and wanted to give others the opportunity to expand their businesses.

TAI Where has this project started and if it's still on the same venue ?

UA Currently, we sell exclusively online at Uncoveredartistry.com. We operate out of two locations: Seacoast New Hampshire in the summer and Chicago during the school year while we are at college.

TAI Do you have plans to expand this project ?

UA Yes, definitely. We are currently exploring other grant possibilities. We'd like to have many more artisans, a larger website, and more employees. We intend to reach out to the community and host community events. Also, we hope to raise $10,000 for domestic abuse shelters.

TAI Why did you think that this specific project would be a successful option ?

UA We believe that taking a for-profit business model and creating a nonprofit will enable us to become self-sustaining and reach more individuals.

TAI According to the artists/crafters, how has this project improved their lives ?

UA Here are some quotations from several of our artisans:

"When I work on my jewelry, I feel peaceful. I'm so focused on the project that I am able to momentarily "forget" those bad experiences. And I feel good about myself when I'm done with a pair. Some of my self-worth and confidence has returned."

"Creating has always been a way to get away from reality. As well as show that you are worthwhile and talented which I heard over and over I wasn't. It gives me self confidence I don't think I could have gotten elsewhere.Creating has always been a way to get away from reality. As well as show that you are worthwhile and talented which I heard over and over I wasn't. It gives me self confidence I don't think I could have gotten elsewhere."

"It helps me focus more on beauty and seeing the beauty inside myself. It's helped me accept myself more and actually love myself more because I have the ability to highlight the beauty of others. I can make others smile with it and that is worth everything to me. To have contemplated suicide many times and then to be able to help others showcase their own beauty means the world to me. I not only survived, but I've overcome, I've learned to forgive, and I've learned patience."

TAI From which areas do you accept works ?

UA Our artisans are from all over the country, and we do accept artisan applications from Canada.

TAI How can people contribute for this project ?

UA We take donations, both monetary and artistic donations. For instance, students at Lake Forest College donated a number of jewelry pieces. We accept most types of items, including artwork, jewelry, accessories, and home decor. If you are interested in donating, please contact Sarah at sarah(at)uncoveredartistry.com.

TAI What kind of art/craft is more common ?

UA Most of our artisans create jewelry, but we also sell artwork, accessories, and home decor. Our most popular sellers are necklaces, sculptures, and earrings.

TAI For those who don't have any means to buy materials to start, can you provide them with any kind of help ?

UA Yes, Uncovered Artistry has set aside a microloan fund for the purpose of providing artisans who may not have the current financial means to start their business with a small loan ranging from $25 to $100.

TAI Do you think that besides its main function, this project is also a vehicle for its users to share their experiences with each other ?

UA We hope that our artisans feel a connection with other artisans who have gone through similar experiences. We hope to start an artisan newsletter through which UA artisans can get to know one another.

TAI Have you ever felt when gathering information and promoting this project, that the tabu of not interfering in a couple's life is still implated in our society when talking of domestic violence ?

UA We think that many times people chose to ignore domestic abuse when it is happening. We believe this is unacceptable. Domestic abuse and sexual abuse should not exist, and we hope to promote awareness.Domestic violence is certainly a touchy issue. We are always mindful of the comfort level of our artisans when talking about this issue. Some artisans don't mind discussing it, while others would like to avoid the issue.

TAI How are you advertising this project to reach the maximum number of people ? Have you gotten interested sponsors ?

UA We currently advertise online at craftcult.com, greatgreengods.com, and modishblog.com. We also write a weekly column for our college's newspaper.

The Uncovered Artistry project was made possible by a grant from Projects for Peace established by the international philantropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis, upon the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2007.

Cinthia Marcelle (Brazil) is the Main Prize winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2010

Born in Brazil in 1974, Cinthia Marcelle, a graduated in fine arts from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, is the Main Prize winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2010.

Recurring to video and photography, Cinthia Marcelle documents the effects that her interventions have on the usual order of things. Her actions, often conceived as useless or absurd repetitions, create situations that challenge our notions of conventional behaviour by introducing often humorous coincidences and connections.

Daniel Birnbaum, the Chairman of the Jury stated: “With a keen sense of scale and sculpture impact Cinthia Marcelle beautifully composed films captures the viewer immediately. Her visually powerful works in the exhibition impressed the jury through their visual economy and rigorous form. We congratulate her to her successful synthesis of choreography landscape and performance”.

The winner of the Main Prize ($60,000 in cash and $40,000 to be invested in the production of new work), Cinthia Marcelle intends to keep researching, experimenting and developing new projects.

Cinthia currently lives and works in Belo Horizonte. Her work has been commissioned for significant group exhibitions including the Biennal de la Habana, Cuba (2006), Biennale de Lyon (2007), Panorama da Arte Brasileira in São Paulo (2007) and Madrid (2008). She was awarded the International Prize for Performance in Trento, Italy (2006), and the annual TrAIN artist in residency award at Gasworks, London (2009).

Mircea Nicolae, born in Romania in 1980, received the Special Prize valued in $20,000 from the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, which will be used to fund Nicolae's stay at the artist-in-residency program, supporting the further development of the artist.

Robert Storr stated: “With disarming even deceptive simplicity Mircea Nicolae tells a complex multi-leveled tale of the coming together and coming apart of his family against the background of the coming together and coming apart of socialism in Romania after the second world war. Using documentary film footage, snapshots, architectural photos, his mother’s shoes and pictures and models of vernacular kiosks of modernist design, he gives us moving as well as critical images and symbols of the interweaving or private life and history, the personal and political”.

Mircea Nicolae studied at the University of Bucharest, where he earned a degree in European Cultural Studies from the Department of Literature, with a final thesis on the House of the People. Afterwards, he enrolled into an MA on the Anthropology of Space within the Ion Mincu Institute for Architecture, Bucharest. Nicolae currently lives and works in Bucharest.

The group show of the 21 nominees for the Future Generation Art Prize 2010 is open till January 9, 2011 in the PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Ukraine). The shortlist includes: Ziad Antar, Lebanon; Fikret Atay, Turkey; Fei Cao, China; Keren Cytter, Israel; Nathalie Djurberg, Sweden; Simon Fujiwara, United Kingdom; Nicholas Hlobo, South Africa; Clemens Hollerer, Austria; Runo Lagomarsino, Sweden; Cinthia Marcelle, Brazil; Gareth Moore, born in Canada; Mircea Nicolae, Romania; Ruben Ochoa, United States; Wilfredo Prieto Garcia, Cuba; Katerina Seda, Czech Republic; Guido van der Werve, Netherlands; Nico Vascellari, Italy, Jorinde Voigt, Germany; Artem Volokytin, Ukraine; Emily Wardill, United Kingdom; Hector Zamora, Mexico.

Artist Paula Rego Distinguished as Portuguese Personality of the Year 2009

At the age of 75, the portuguese artist Paula Rego was distinguished with the prize Portuguese Personality of the Year 2009 (Prémio Personalidade Portuguesa do Ano 2009) attributed by the AIEP - Associação da Imprensa Estrangeira em Portugal (Foreign Press Association in Portugal)

The ceremony took place on September 8 in the Art Gallery of the Casino Estoril, where the Minister of Culture, Gabriela Canavilhas, together with the President of the AIEP, Adriana Niemeyer, handed the prize to the artist.
The event was also attended by the Secretary of Culture, Elísio Summavielle, and by the President (Mayor) of the City Hall of Cascais, António Capucho.

Living in England since 1976 and with an artistic career of near 50 years, Paula Rego has received ongoing recognition abroad and in the last year her art has finally found an exhibition place in Portugal with the inauguration of the Casa das Histórias, now showing retrospective of paintings by her late husband Victor Willing.

Created in 1990, the prize has in its purpose to distinguish the portuguese individual or entity that better reveals the name of Portugal in the world.