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Thrift Mystery Leads Artist To Creation
Several years ago, while living in Dubuque, Iowa, I stumbled upon a small and very beautiful handmade shrine, about a foot tall, in a Goodwill thrift store. This piece of art became one of my most treasured possessions, but I could not find any information about its origins.
Update from the Field: M.T. Liggett
International Artifacts continues to conserve M.T. Liggett’s totems, despite the 100+ degree heat. While Beth Wiza, Preservation Coordinator at Kohler Foundation, was on site, the team installed four conserved pieces, including the snowman-like piece (untitled, November 14, 1994) in the photographs. Conservation on the pieces includes paint restoration, stabilization, re-attachment of damaged parts through welding, treatment to protect the art from the elements, and more.
Art Environments That Almost Weren't... and One That Needs Help!
Art environment builders create works that encompass their entire homes, yards, and even beyond. But what happens when the creator passes away, moves, or loses control of the property? Many times, the in-situ site is dismantled, the original context lost forever. Any remaining works are then acquired by a gallery or museum collection and, in some unfortunate cases, discarded. As Lisa Stone notes “Like the mainstream historic preservation field, the history of the preservation of art environments is replete with heated political struggles, debates over methodologies, funding obstacles, ruinous “acts of God,” marvels of individual commitment and great collaboration, and the challenges of ongoing preservation.” How can you help? Other than financially, these environments thrive on community support. In theory, city officials are beholden to their citizens, and a vocal positive community opinion can make all the difference.
Gregg Blasdel Makes Huge Contribution of Archival Materials to SPACES
SPACES is thrilled to announce the acquisition of artist, curator, and educator Gregg Blasdel’s photography collection and archive resulting from his longstanding commitment to the study of art environments.
Interview with Lisa Stone: SPACES Board Emerita
Almost everyone who knows art environments knows Lisa Stone. Whether through her (and for a long time, Jim Zanzi's) unparalleled class Better Homes & Gardens at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago or her steadfast commitment to the preservation and interpretation of art environments around the world, many who know Lisa have been swiftly convinced that this is the place to be. You will typically find her juggling a million projects–from curating exhibitions to hands-on conservation work, but she always makes time to generously share the vast knowledge she's collected throughout the years, including playing a large role in the creation of the original SPACES website during her tenure on the board. We're so grateful for her continued support of SPACES, and we're thrilled to share this interview with you in hopes of recognizing her extensive contributions to the field of art environments.
Summer 2020 "Audi-tour-y" Road Trip
The open road, windows down, face mask in your pocket (2020, right?) - you're going on a road trip! But where are you headed? No matter where you are in the world, there are art environments to visit and discover. We've picked a few around the United States for you to add to your list and paired some regionally-related podcasts to enjoy while you're on your way, even if it's only to the grocery store for your essentials and not an art environment.
Interview with Narrow Larry Harris: SPACES Contributor
Larry Harris — perhaps better known as Narrow Larry of Narrow Larry's World of the Outstanding — has been a champion of art environments since his discovery of his hometown Houston's The Orange Show in the late 1980s. The website (described as "a very narrow guide to art environments, modern architecture, and travel) that has come out of his many adventures, is well-known and highly regarded by folks traversing the United States seeking the magic of artist-built environments. His actively-maintained website contains documentation of hundreds of sites — both extant and non-extant — and his growing Flickr has more than 12,000 photos featuring architectural wonders and vernacular art from coast to coast.
Interview with Jo Farb Hernández: SPACES Director and Chief Curator Emerita
With the redesigned website officially launched and a new SPACES Archives era underway at the Kohler Foundation, we were inspired to take a deeper look into our history by interviewing the SPACES Board Emeriti to recognize and share their tremendously important work.
Out of Office: Wisconsin to Iowa Road Trip
Though the SPACES team is safely working from home during the current Covid-19 pandemic, when we are able to travel, we often use SPACES to find art environments at or around our destinations. (See the map here!) We'll be sharing highlights of these trips in this new ongoing blog series: Out of Office. For our first installment, our archivist Ann Gappmayer traveled from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to Iowa City, Iowa:
Amazing Art Environments Built by Women
For International Women's Day, we wanted to highlight some of the women artists that are part of the SPACES Archives! From ceramics to fibers, concrete to paint, enjoy these amazing and immersive works of art these women created using the resources available, transforming the environments they inhabited. Though all of these artists have vastly different experiences, they all have one thing in common: they took their dreams and made the time to make them reality.
