The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming!

Last week, one of my favorite morning news programs featured Peter Navarro a business professor at the University of California, Irvine. He spoke about his new documentary, Death by China which examines the economic relationship between the U.S. and China. In his book and in a new documentary, Navarro investigates the trade imbalance between our countries and explains why China has an unfair advantage. I agree we should be seriously concerned about our trade imbalance with China, but I don't want to be fearful and withdrawn in our cultural partnerships and conversations with the Chinese.

In 2010, the Hilliard, presented an exhibition we organized titled East/West: Visually Speaking. Since then the exhibition has traveled to six other university art museums in Florida, Colorado, Oregon; and Montana and it ends the tour this fall at the South Texas Institute for the Arts in Corpus Christi, Texas.

During our opening weekend in Lafayette we were fortunate to host two of the artists from China and it was truly a delight to gain some personal insight into their lives and work.  One afternoon, before a public symposium, I had an opportunity to visit at length with Luo Weidong. Luo creates colorful sculptures out of copper and commercial factory paints that explode with Postmodern lyricism and biting sarcasm.

Luo Weidong posing with one of his sculptures titled Welcome the famous brands to China

I was surprised by what I learned when discussing artistic liberties in China. This reality was reinforce last week during the interview with Peter Navarro. Navarro said that China is not really a Communist state but "more like a Totalitarian Dynasty." In his youth, Lou Weidong was "assigned" by the Communist Party to art school. One doesn't choose a profession, "the People" make that decision for you. Contemporary artist are monitored closely in China. Another artist even told me that the police raided his studio and seized his more poignant and provocative works.

Shi Liang, Human Confusion 4, 2009, Oil on canvas 200 x 180 cm

While many of the objects included in the Hilliard exhibition conveyed negative political and social messages regarding the oppression of artists and intellectuals in China, as a whole this exhibition is more about how these artists view their evolving Dynasty and the West's influence over this new reality. The Russian philosopher and author, Leo Tolstoy, believed that "good" art is basically a reflection of society. If that is true then the exhibition East/West: Visually Speaking is a compelling example of that belief.

The public symposium

The exhibition is not only an important survey of new work by contemporary Chinese artists but it also provides an opportunity to use the proverbial Tolstoy’s mirror examining the United States’ evolving relationship with China. The exhibition Visually Speaking is also reflective of the important role of the 21st century museum as a public gathering place for engaging the people in a compelling dialogue about new art and the ideas behind the creation of provocative imagery.

The exhibition opening September 14th in Corpus Christi, in some way, heralds U.S. political, social and economic relations with China, India and developing nations in South America. A popular notion shared by some geopolitical analysts and scholars is that 19th and 20th century Democracy, enjoyed by a relative minority of the global population, was only a modest beginning of the greater free exchange of ideas and resources that will be indicative of a world where the majority populations of Asia and the nations of the southern hemisphere participate. I believe artists and art museums can serve as important emissaries as we continue to explore our economic challenges with China.

Left to right - Mark Tullos, Miami Gallery Director Virginia Miller, Ma Baozhon, Michelle Yun and Lenny Shaus with China Visual Arts Limited and local physician Jeffery Chen standing in front of a mural by Ma Baozhong titled Flux and Reflux - Story About the Riverside at Qingming Festival, 2009. The painting is 14 feet high and 40 feet long

This exhibition and the subsequent national tour, would not have been possible without the ever responsive staff at China Visual Arts Limited, all of whom patiently and good naturedly responded to our numerous requests. Both the academic essay written by our Curator of Exhibitions, Dr. Lee Gray and the critical essays included the exhibition catalogue provide valuable contextualization  Traveling this exhibition to other museum has not been an easy task. I would like to thank Lee Gray. Her commitment to this project over the past two years has brought to fruition this important and challenging exhibition.

If you're traveling in South Texas this fall, I hope you will plan a visit to the South Texas Institute for the Arts in Corpus Christi.

View the exhibition catalogue HERE

Writing in the Gallery

If you are familiar with the Hilliard Museum you know that some of our greatest strengths are in our campus and community partnerships. One of our partners, the National Writing Project of Acadiana, bring Teacher Consultants to the museum and they utilize our collections and exhibitions as the basis for this powerful writers program. Their Summer Institute toured the museum in June, and I requested excepts from the writing they did in response to our exhibitions. The following three excerpts were based on photographs by Philip Gould included in our exhibition titled Dedans le Sud de la Louisiane: le Retour. The exhibition remains on view through August 25th. I hope you enjoy these contemplative compositions as much as I do.

Pecheurs de Crevettes par Philip Gould

by Katherine F. Schexnayder

Pecheurs de Crevettes par Philip Gould

It is a way of life or a longing in the chest. At least, it used to be. Now it has to be supplemented at the end of a season with some other task which never smells as ripe with satisfaction as this haul does today. Not a word between them, the materials of their labor making the only sounds louder than the shrimp filled waters frothing around them. Each deep in his thoughts about whether this season, this haul, this solitude found in this gulf, will be his last chance to feel the same gravitational pull to these waters as his forefathers felt.

They are brothers in arms. They have chosen the same life, and even though that life was laid out for them by great-great-great grandfathers whose names they can’t remember, that still means something. It means something to withstand the solitude and early morning hauls- to crave it; their bodies syncing with the seasons. It is that certain longing only found in men more comfortable walking on water than on land, which is why the building of a house never quite resonated in them the way catching shrimp did. They are seafaring men.

Braveheart sat matted and framed on his wall like it was already a relic- an outward symbol of a life already lived. I listened to them talk about the season.

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it out this season, man. I can’t cut my expenses enough to make it work. It’s all we can do to keep Daddy and Gene up.”

A salty stinging wave welled up in my heart and made its way to my throat as I stared blankly at the picture of his vessel.

“Guess, I’m gonna lay wire for NASA. I just can’t stand the thought of being inside all day and Braveheart sitting there all by herself out of the water. What am I going to do with her?” is what he said. But that is not what I heard. I heard, “What am I going to do with me?”

What are we all going to do when the shrimp come from the contaminated waters of Thailand or China? What will we tell our kids when we have traded their health and their jobs for a cheaper shrimp cocktail? Who will employ us when our trade is extinct? Who will tell the stories of the life we lived? Who will etch them on cavern walls for the descendents to see: to know these men settled here and worked and fathered sons who also worked these waters and fathered sons. What will we say to our sons when we no longer need to teach them how to cast a net? What will the family do on the first Sunday of the season? Will they still gather the way they are gathered now, waiting for the first catch to come in?

These questions weigh heavily on these brothers as they ready to cast again. The women are waiting and so are their fathers and sons. Tonight, they are warriors welcomed home from battle; their tribal cries between boats will solidify their victories. As their vessels ready to kiss the land that holds their families separate from this maritime life they lead, they will turn their faces to the sun and the shoreline to feel the full grace of a welcome return and the water under their legs for a few moments more. Tonight, they will feast and drink.

 

Still Dancing

by Bonny McDonald, inspired by Philip Gould's photograph Le Bar a Fred, Mamou Louisiana

Gallery view of Le Bar a Fred, Mamou Louisiana by Philip Gould

Stop awhile at this grandmother-face,

open-mouthed, singing.  Note the silken texture

of her fine blouse with its high, ruffled collar.

Behold her best jewelry: big ruby ring, pearls,

and the gold weave bracelet that was her mother's.

Where his hair has thinned, see the delicate make

of his head, the tenderness of his stiff shoulders

in his starched shirt. Though his face is turned away,

pressed against her cheek, imagine he is also singing.

Notice the way her hand clutches without clinging.

Can you hear the melody trembling in her throat,

the Cajun waltz they dance on a good cypress floor?

See their background--a whirl of light and music,

the silt of memory from which their love alone emerges.

See here how they hold each other up.

 

The Dance

by Carmen Bourque, inspired by Philip Gould's photograph Le Bar a’ Fred, Mamou, Louisiane

Gallery view of Philip Gould's Le Bar a’ Fred, Mamou, Louisiane

The colorful neon illuminations set the tone in this dimly lit backwoods bar

Brown glass beer bottles line it

People are gathering, listening, watching, visiting, and laughing

Admiring the beauty of the love seeming to emanate

From an elderly couple swaying in unison on an old rickety dance floor

They hold each other firmly, but ever so gently

Caught in the moment, her body language and facial expression tells a story

Her arms envelope his back and neck

Her eyes – so passionately focused – unsure if it is on the man, song, or dance

It seems as if she still feels a strong love for him after all these years

Butterflies flutter from my heart, to my stomach, to my lower essence and back again

His tight grasp is comforting, yet almost smothering at the same time

I feel so safe and secure out on that dance floor

The bar is hazy because of cigarette smoke, unlike my memory

The lights are dim - allowing for the neon beer signs to stand out

We are lost in the moment as we sway to the slow music

No one is there - yet everyone is there

This was just the beginning – never let go …

She is dressed to impress

Her coarse, white hair stays neatly in place

Her soft, wrinkled ears are adorned with greatly oversized pearls

They match her crisp, white, long-sleeved, buttoned-down, ruffle-collared blouse

I wore a crisp, white, long-sleeved, buttoned-down, ruffle-collared blouse that magical night too

I know how she feels as they waltz across the dance floor cheek to cheek

Gratitude

- thankful for that night

- thankful for that time

- thankful for that dance

- thankful for that man

I know how she feels

- Enjoying the dance

- Enjoying the trance

Never wanting that song to end.

Raising Children in Museums

The chatter sounded like a thousand summer cicadas as the children from Magnolia Park Elementary School gathered in the Ocean Springs Community Center adjoining the new Walter Anderson Museum of Art. The floor to ceiling murals by Mississippi artist Walter Inglis Anderson distinguished the large open room as a magical place.

That day the community center was even more intriguing for the children because a large and mysterious group of adults, all dressed in black and holding musical instruments, were seated at one end of the room. A traveling symphony orchestra from Michigan's upper peninsula had performed the evening before in New Orleans and I had arrange for the group to present a short children's performance in the community center. Ocean Springs was en route to the their next engagement in Mobile.

The sound of hundreds of excited children was a bit overwhelming and I recall thinking that this had been a very bad idea. We didn't have enough chairs so we decided to seat the children on the floor in front of the orchestra. Here were over 200 relatively well behaved, yet rambunctious, children jostling for the floor space closest to the feet of the musicians.  I began to wonder how I would ever get their attention for the introduction. The act would require me to wade gingerly through a sea of little bobbing heads to the front of the room. Then I noticed the conductor had moved to the front of the orchestra and was poised with arms raised and ready to administer the first down beat. The first three bars of Beethoven's Molto vivace (listen) punctured the air - stunning the children into silent amazement. Each measure of music was almost  like a scolding two syllable phrase.  Sit Down!...Be Still!...Listen!

The children were entranced the remainder of the concert and vibrations from timpani, viola and flutes combined with the bright expressionistic images of animals in the mural made that afternoon very special for all of us. That experience reaffirmed for me the profound affect the arts can have on a children.

Raising a child in the museum benefits the whole child. The intellectual challenges, visual stimulation, and the unique vocabulary all contribute to shaping an engaged learner. The experience also teaches them empathy and introspection. Museum educators and docents will tell you that children have conversations in a museum gallery that they may never have anywhere else because the imagery and history behind the creation of an artwork foster new questions and provoke a response.

About a decade after leaving Ocean Springs I found myself leading an Art Center in the heart of West Palm Beach, Florida. Most of the education programming at the Armory Art Center targeted the retired adult population of south Florida and the affluent seasonal residents of Palm Beach. Offerings included all the traditional studio disciplines and the campus boasted a number of 2-D classrooms, a stone sculpture area, jewelry and metal work studio and a state-of-the-art ceramics building and kiln yard.

By the time I assumed the position in Florida, my interest in youth education had become a full-fledged passion. One of the programs we developed was titled "Picturing Success." There was, and still are, large populations of Haitian and Latino families living in the area. We selected promising gifted and talented teens from under-served schools and low income families and placed them in the adult studio class right beside the Palm Beach socialite learning how to paint. The objective was to provide the opportunity and resources for these promising students to develop a portfolio of work that might improve their chances for admission into a college or university visual arts program. I imagined a by-product of this program might be the social exchange between two disparately different worlds.

The experiment was a success. I secure financial support from our major benefactor, attorney Robert Montgomery, one of the most genuine and altruistic people I've ever had the pleasure knowing. The integration of young people into the senior adult classroom culture also went smoothly. I only wish I could have been privy to the conversations that took place in those classes between an ambitious teen and a mature and wise adult.

At the Hilliard we are also dedicated to our educational mission. The photo to the left captures a moment during the Summer Scholars Program, a partnership between the Hilliard and the Center for Gifted Education at UL Lafayette. The residential program was designed to develop the academic, leadership, and creative skills of  7th, 8th, and 9th grade students who have demonstrated high levels of ability in their school work, in the arts, or in their daily lives. Classes integrate Museum collections in the course work and are taught in the galleries and the A. Hays Town Building.

Last spring the Hilliard Museum, in partnership with the UL Lafayette College of Education Teacher Candidates, presented Creative Classroom for Young Learners (image right). Future teachers provided a series of stories, hands-on activities and lessons related to the museum's current exhibitions. The program targeted ages pre-K - 3rd graders.

Julie Fox (left) with the Lafayette Parish School System conducts her annual Art Smart professional development program for teachers utilizing our exhibitions and the museum collection. The program provided teachers training in ways to utilize museum collections as teaching tools.





For the second year the Hilliard Museum joined Episcopal School of Acadiana (ESA) in our partnership titled the International Children’s Museum (ICM). Through volunteer leadership and ESA faculty, this program integrates art and museum science into the school’s daily curriculum through exhibitions, activities and an international art exchange each year. The objectives include teaching students about the role of museums and art in society and to teach pluralism of the arts and creative thinking in the arts. This program is an effective discipline-based art education tool for faculty, students and families. In the photo above our museum preparator and registrar discuss the basic practices of art handling.

Young people across Louisiana will head back to the classroom over the next few weeks. If you are an educator I hope you will keep in mind the unique resource you have in the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum. Within the next few weeks we will post new lesson plans and gallery guides related to our upcoming fall and spring exhibitions. Please visit our new web site hilliardmuseum.org next month for these new resources for teachers and home school parents.