This summer I got an email from Courtney Fink, the Executive Director of Southern Exposure in San Francisco (see more about their program here). Southern Exposure is a great alternative space that has been around since 1974. Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, Southern Exposure is a virbant arts organization presenting exhibition, public programming and even running a great grant program for loacl artists and curators. Their website they state that: “Southern Exposure is dedicated to giving artists—whether they are exhibiting, curating, teaching, or learning—an opportunity to realize ideas for projects that may not otherwise find support.� It’s just my kind of place!

So, Back to that email… Courtney emailed me to see if I wanted to jury this year’s edition of their 20-year old Juried Exhibition. I have juried lots of shows over the years and it is always a great experience. It brings me into a community and I can get an immediate picture of the artists working there. Many times, artists who strike a cord, have ended up in shows I have later curated, or I give suggestions to other curators I know. For instance, I first met Wade Kavanaughwhen I juried the Portland, Maine biennial in 2009. Wade later worked with Stephen Nguyen on an installation in Susan Cross’s exhibition Material World here at MASS MoCA in 2010.

It had been a while since I was in the Bay Area so I thought this would be a great opportunity to see what is going on out there. I also had a chance to visit Dan McKinley MASS MoCA’s former graphic designer who now works at the San Fransciso Museum of Modern Art, and Gian Pablo Villamil who worked with me and Pawel Wojtasik on Below Sea Level the video about New Orleans that was part of the show These Days: Elegies for Modern Times in 2009.

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UNDER THE SEA, the newest exhibit in Kidspace at MASS MoCA, opens this Saturday, October 1! There will be a special opening party this Saturday from 11-4pm, featuring demonstrations from the artists.  Visitors can learn how to create intricate pipe-cleaner weavings, cardboard fish, and even a surfboard!

The artists providing our under-water world are hard at work transforming Kidspace into the ocean.  We checked in on the progress and couldn’t believe our eyes…

Using cardboard, sculptor James Grashow created a rainbow of fish swimming through Kidspace with their mermaid friend (Under the Corrugated Sea). Read the rest of this entry »

A recommendation from director Joe Thompson:

Our friends Wilco have just release an expansive, generous, and beautiful album.

Here’s a great interview with Jeff Tweedy about their newest work.

And here’s where you can buy a deluxe version of the CD directly from the band. When you get the album you’ll recognize some of your favorite spots at MASS MoCA in the band photos many of which were shot here this summer.

Also NPR had a glowing review last night.

Swings have been a part of art for centuries and we’re happy to join the parade with our very own swings,  opened over the weekend as part of Jane Philbrick’s Expanded Field installation. Attached to the overpass, they are a delightful way to spend some time no matter what your age or attire.  Look for them at the end of The Speed Way. The Box Office can point you in the right direction.

Between the bikes and the swings maybe we should become MASS MoR  (Museum of Recreation).

In addition to our regular public hours and programming, we collaborated with the North Adams Public Schools for the second consecutive year to provide 6-weeks of free Summer Science Camp Programming to local students.

Each day of camp began with a yoga and meditation session under one of their favorite spaces at the museum: Natalie Jeremijenko’s Tree Logic. We love teaching children the practice of mindfulness because it gives them an opportunity to ground themselves, decompress and get ready to focus their imagination and creativity.  Often times we forget the stresses and pressure that children face and providing them with this brief opportunity really has an impact on their visit and the rest of their day.

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There is always so much to see in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley region. Here are just a few recent highlights:

NADA HUDSON, a two-day exhibition mounted by the New Art Dealers Alliance at Basilica Hudson on July 30 and 31, has gotten some mixed reviews. But I must have arrived at just the right moment on Saturday afternoon as the space – both inside and out – was bustling with people, dogs, and a lot of energy. The atmosphere was casual and inviting, and the architecture worthy of the visit itself. The gorgeous brick building, right across from the Hudson River, was once a foundry and forge where steel railway wheels were made. Like MASS MoCA’s own historic buildings, it felt like a rather unusual and very welcoming, unintimidating place to see art.

It was difficult to discern what works were by whom and at what point one gallery ended and another started, but in the end, perhaps that wasn’t so important. The set up encouraged people to simply look. And the communal, non-commercial feel was surely intended.

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