Month: April 2021

Enjoying the Cultural Lifestyle of Miami

Miami is a city full of inspiration, and is appropriately home to numerous entertainment venues, theaters, museums, parks and performing arts centers. With world-renowned venues just outside your door, there is no excuse for residents to lead anything less than a culturally dynamic lifestyle.

New World Symphony

Established in 1987 under the artistic direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, this unique educational environment prepares graduates of distinguished music programs for leadership positions in orchestras and ensembles around the world. Miami’s New World Symphony has performed in such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, London’s Barbican Centre, Paris’s Bastille Opera and Argentina’s Teatro Colon. What’s more, the New World Center is less than 10 minutes from exciting apartments and condominiums in downtown Miami and Brickell, giving residents an opportunity to attend concert series, unique WALLCASTA� experiences, as well as family-friendly performances.

Miami Art Museum

The city’s thriving community of artists, designers, and collectors, as well as an ever-expanding culturally aware population, has driven Miami’s demand for a world-class museum. Currently located in downtown Miami’s cultural plaza, The Miami Art Museum (MAM) serves one of the most diverse and vibrant regions of the country, and dedicates itself to contemporary art. The new Miami Art Museum, scheduled to open in 2012, will serve as an anchor for the 29-acre Museum Park. A Science Museum is scheduled to open the following year in what is sure to become the city’s cultural hub. Museum Park will overlook Biscayne Bay and include landscaped public gardens and sculpture installations. The museum hosts docent-led tours, educational programs for both adults and children, as well as social cocktail hours and events.

Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts

The Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts is headquarters and home to the Miami City Ballet and the Florida Grand Opera, as well as the second-largest performing arts center in the United States. The Adrienne Arsht Center enlightens, educates and entertains the Greater Miami-Dade community’s cultural life through transformational arts and cultural experiences. PRELUDE by Barton G., a contemporary American cuisine restaurant located inside the Center, provides an inspiring pre-show dinner or cocktail. The new culinary hotspot is receiving rave reviews for its wine list and inspired dishes, including a Madeira glazed duck confit and an almond-crusted rainbow trout.

AmericanAirlines Arena

Don’t forget to catch a Miami Heat game with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. AmericanAirlines Arena is located just a couple blocks south of The Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts.…

An Introduction to the National Art Museum of China

The National Art Museum of China is located at 1, Wusi Avenue, Dongcheng District of Beijing with Longfu Temple to the west, the Imperial Palace Wall Relics Park to the east and Wangfujing Avenue to the south, and it dedicates itself to collecting, researching and exhibiting Chinese modern artistic works. As an imitated attic-style architecture, the museum is surrounded by winding corridors with a yellow glazed roof, which is of distinctive national characteristics.

The five-storied National Art Museum of China occupies an area of 22,379 square meters with an exhibition area of 7,000 square meters, boasting 20 exhibiting halls in total, 9 of which are available on the first story. There are three small exhibit halls on the interlayer (between the first story and the second story) with a total exhibit area of 4,305 square meters. The third story holds three exhibit halls with a total exhibit area of 863 square meters.

More than 100,000 pieces of works of art are collected in the museum, most of which were created by famous artists who were born after the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, and some works were created by the renowned artists from the Ming, the Qing dynasties and Republic of China period, including Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo, Huang Binhong, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Jiang Zhaohe, Situ Qiao, Li Keran, Wu Zuoren, Ye Qianyu, Luo Gongliu and Wu Guanzhong. The collections in the museum are rich and colorful, including painting works, painted sculptures, porcelains, new-year pictures, paper-cuttings, toys, shadow figures, puppets, kites, embroideries and show props. There are 117 pieces of western works of art donated by German collectors in the museum, 4 of which were drawn by Picasso, and over 100 African wood sculptures are well preserved in the museum.

Besides domestic art exhibitions, over 1,000 international art exhibitions have been successfully held in the National Art Museum of China, including the 19th Century France Rural Landscape Picture Exhibition, the Original Painting Works of Picasso, German Expressionistic Printing Works Exhibition, Marc Chagall’s (a Russian-born French Painter and Stained Glass Artist) Art Exhibition, the French Impressionist Painting Works Exhibition and African Art Exhibition. In addition, a number of works written by the museum staff have been successively published in recent years, including the Collection Set of the National Art Museum of China, the Ren Bonian’s Collection of Works, Qi Baishi’s Collection of Works, Huang Binhong’s Collection of Works and the Fifty-Year of Chinese Arts and Chinese Art Yearbook.…

Nine Mile Canyon – Utah’s Amazing Outdoor Art Gallery

Nine Mile Canyon in central Utah is an outdoor art gallery. It holds quite possibly the largest concentration of Native American rock art in the world. A well-maintained dirt road. And yes, it can be very dirty. It covers the 80 miles between Myton on Highway 40 to Wellington just a little south of Price on Highway 6. Actually, the entire route is 80 miles long. But Nine Mile Canyon – the road’s namesake – covers about half the distance. Nine Mile Canyon was declared a part of the National Back Country Byway system by the Bureau of Land Management in 1990. It also contains the remains of Fremont Indian dwellings as well as long-abandoned settlements and ranches.

The Nine Mile Canyon road was built by the all-black Ninth U.S. Cavalry in 1886. It linked Fort Duchesne with the nearest railhead and telegraph line at Price. And served as a principal stagecoach and mail route. But, as mentioned above, Nine Mile Canyon is the home of a rather remarkable collection of Indian rock art and dwellings. Most of which have remained relatively undisturbed for centuries. But how have they survived in such great shape? Well, two things mainly. The dry climate has done an amazing job of preserving the art. And the isolation, aided by the unpaved road, has kept the area relatively undiscovered and off the beaten path.

These amazing rock art panels have been featured in National Geographic and other publications due to their unique beauty and amazing quality. It is a drive well worth taking. But plan ahead. There are no services along the Nine Mile Canyon route. Make sure your gas tank is full. Bring plenty of food and water. Insect repellant. Binoculars and, of course, a camera.

Plan extra time. For a little hiking to see of the art up close. But, Do Not Touch. The canyon is protected by the Antiquities Act. Look all you want. Take all the pictures you want. But take nothing else.

A good rule of thumb is to plan about six hours for this drive allowing for frequent stops and some hiking.

Paving To Protect Nine Mile Canyon?

One of the main reasons Nine Mile Canyon has remained so uniquely undisturbed and undiscovered is that the road is dirt. This has kept traffic to a minimum. But not too many years ago, immense stores of underground natural gas and oil were found on the West Tavaputs Plateau. The big trucks rumbling up and down Nine Mile Canyon since this discovery have created a storm. Of dust and controversy.

The dust kicked up by these trucks is beginning to cover some of the ancient rock art. And very well could damage it. The consensus now seems to be that the amount of dust being kicked up is unacceptable.

So the latest plan? To pave the road. Various ideas have been proposed. Archaeologists and lovers of the canyon find all these changes disturbing. They believe the route can only be enjoyed by driving it slowly. And spending some time hiking to the sites along the way. They’re also worried that the paving will disturb sites. And even cause the excavation of sites close to the road.

Decide for yourself. The choices? Leave it unpaved. Have the trucks continue to kick up dust which may well contribute to the demise of the amazing rock art. Or pave the road. Allowing higher speed traffic, more traffic, and possibly a different kind of destruction.…

How to Get Your Fine Art Into a Gallery

If you are an emerging fine artist, you may be agonizing over how to approach a gallery with your work. It can be intimidating to even the most outgoing person.

There are some general steps you should follow before approaching a gallery. They are:

Have a solid body of finished work available in a similar theme or style.

Prepare a portfolio complete with your Biography and your Artist Statement.

Have your website up and running (gallerists want to see an updated, fresh website).

Research galleries that would be the best fit for your artwork.

Make a list of the galleries you wish to approach, based on your research. Then get familiar with the artists that are represented by those galleries. You want to be able to intelligently discuss the art that the gallery is showing when you do finally meet with them.

Don’t cold call or just drop in on a gallery. Use snail mail, a non-intrusive form of contact, to send them postcards of your newest works, and printed newsletters if you have one, until you’ve built up their knowledge of your work. Attend their shows, take time to support what they are doing with other artists before you ask for a meeting to consider representing you. One artist I know built up a gallery’s familiarity with her by mailing postcards of new artwork she created every 2 months. Over the course of a year, the gallery knew her name and work and eventually brought her in.

Understand that there are over 200,000 fine artists in the U.S. – and there are not enough galleries! You’ll have to be patient, take your time developing relationships, and not take rejection personally.

After you’ve become familiar with a gallery and their artists, call and ask for an appointment to show your portfolio. You may get turned down – galleries get called on by artists every day – but don’t despair. Continue to send postcards of your work. Keep them on your mailing list. And move onto the next gallery.

When you do get a meeting, be as professional as possible. Have your portfolio, website and business cards in tip top shape. Arrive to the meeting on time.

Sometimes it takes a few years for a gallery to finally represent you. So when you are told “no, not right now” keep in mind that it doesn’t mean “no” forever. Keep the relationship cordial and friendly. And stay in touch.

Not all artists need galleries. Actually, most do not now that we have the internet. But there is some value to having your art represented; it gives you credibility, helps you reach new collectors, and allows you to have a professional location to show your work.

It takes time to find the right match in a gallery. Sometimes it can take a few years. But remember, truly successful art careers not only last a long time, they take a long time to get going. Be patient, keep creating new artwork, and you’ll find a good home for your art.…

Santiago Calatrava – Master of Design

The very name – Santiago Calatrava – brings thoughts of things exotic to mind. Indeed, Mr. Calatrava’s architectural masterpieces could well be described as exotic in the extreme.

He designs with flair and verve, producing structures which seem to defy gravity itself. Truly a new breed of designer, Santiago Calatrava is a magnificent blend of artist, engineer and architect. If you have ever had the pleasure of listing to him talk, you will understand what I am saying.

But the real joy of Santiago Calatrava is having the even greater pleasure of seeing his incredible structures.

There is nothing ordinary about his design abilities. Nothing ordinary about his buildings. Nothing ordinary about his expansive imagination – for one has to imagine such structures before the design turns into reality.

His Milwaukee Art Museum is an excellent case in point.

Who but Santiago, would have the audacity to design such a building? Not only is the building stunning in appearance, but then we discover that the roof itself seems to be capable of flight!

This was not an inexpensive building to erect. In fact, Santiago was somewhat disappointed when the cost of the wings very nearly scuttled that part of the design. Surely, the building would not have been the same without those huge wings.

Originally, the box structures in the wings were to be made from carbon fibre. An extremely strong yet light weight material, which possesses steel like strength qualities. The downside to this material is twofold. It is both difficult to work with and it is very expensive.

In order to fabricate the components for the massive wings, a huge autoclave would be needed. Such pieces of equipment are used to manufacture items like masts for high end sailboats, world class yachts where no expense is spared. Just a single mast can cost more than some homes!

With some 36 boxes required on each side of the wing assembly, the cost proved to be too great. Even with Mr. Calatrava’s considerable charm exerted toward the fund raising efforts.

Refusing to accept defeat, Santiago adapted the design to use steel tubes. A far less costly avenue, but one which would add weight to the roof structure. This proved to be the saving grace for this unquestionably important part of the building. The wings were saved.

I sincerely hope that I can entice you to read more about Santiago – only this time with pictures. Find out more about this amazing fellow by visiting here now.…