Don’t you believe everything you read….nothing is closed, things are just going to switch to travel mode. I will be reporting from the road, intermittently first, then hopefully on a more regular schedule again.
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In the meantime you have several cultural riches to choose from in March:
Do NOT miss the special showing of our newest documentary at Cinema 21:
WHEN: March 12, 2023 at 3-5 p.m. Informational tables start at 2:30 p.m., film starts at 3 p.m.
WHERE: Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97209
I had written about the project and shown part of my set photography here along the Hanford site at the Columbia River earlier. Below is the official description from the film makers:
ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE is a feature-length documentary which exposes the claims of the nuclear energy industry to be a cure for the climate crisis.
This film grew out of the NECESSITY project @necessitythemovie as tribal communities raised concerns over false solutions to the climate crisis being presented in the form of small-modular reactors and a renaissance of nuclear power. Members of the core NECESSITY team found a need to share the story of nuclear resistance in the Northwest and chronicle the development of advertising aimed at convincing the public to trust nuclear power.
We are pleased to bring this story to the big screen with the premiere of ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE at @cinema21_portland. Join us for the premiere which will include a screening of a short film by Vanessa Renwicke, as well as a panel discussion to follow.
These are the slated speakers:
Jan Haaken, director, professor emeritus of psychology at Portland State University, a clinical psychologist, and documentary filmmaker
Lauren Goldberg, executive director for Columbia Riverkeeper with over a decade of experience advocating for Hanford Nuclear Site cleanup
Lloyd Marbet, executive director Oregon Conservancy Foundation and longtime anti-nuclear activist
Cathy Sampson-Kruse, associate producer, enrolled member of the Waluulapum Tribe of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, retired social worker, and a champion in protecting clean water from fossil fuels and nuclear waste
Greg Kafoury, attorney in private practice with Kafoury & McDoougal Attorneys, served as Co-Director of Don’t Waste Oregon
Moderated by Dr. Patricia Kullberg, former medical director of Multnomah County Health Department and member of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Also in March you can visit Bonnie Meltzer’s newest show tied to water and land, providing a retrospective of 15 years of work.
And if you happen to live in the NorthEast: God made my Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin would be my first choice of all there is to explore:
“This group exhibition is a special iteration of God Made My Face, originally organized by Hilton Als for David Zwirner Gallery in 2019. It presents works from iconic artists such as Richard Avedon, Marlene Dumas, and Kara Walker alongside archival materials in order to explore the life, work, and legacy of James Baldwin (1924–1987). Baldwin’s ways of seeing and being evolved through his relationships and exposure to the work of visual artists, during an era when the harsh realities of racial oppression were confronted with aesthetics emphasizing self-love, pride, and validation. God Made My Face explores Baldwin through his words, relationships, and the works of other artists produced during his own lifetime and today.
Unbeknownst to many, Baldwin served as professor and Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities at UMass Amherst from 1983-86, finding a home within the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies and teaching students from across the Five Colleges. This period of Baldwin’s life highlights how far his reach extended beyond the cultural capitals of Paris and New York, where he resided for much of his life, as a writer. Baldwin’s engagements as an educator convey his legacy as a mentor to generations of intellectual and creative communities.”
In the meantime, I’ll be sending dispatches from the road, and eventually L.A. if all goes according to plan. Stay tuned!
Music appropriately Mahler’s songs of a wayfarer (one of my favorite song cycles of all time.)
It is always bittersweet when a project ends that involved a long-time investment and connected you to many different artists, art works and unusual experiences. I have been following most of the 13 fiber artists of Maryhill Museum’s 2022 Exquisite Gorge II project for almost a year, traveling to their studios and residencies from Ashland to Kennewick, and many places in-between. (Here are all of the profiles that I ended up writing, all in one place.)
Tammy Jo Wilson, Owen Premore, Amanda Triplett with student collaborator.
Bonnie Meltzer, Lynn Deal.
Chloë Hight, Xavier Griffith, Carolyn Hazel Drake and Husband.
Magda Nica, Ophir El-Boher.
Kristy Kún, Francisco and Laura Bautista.
I’ve gotten to know them, admire them, envy them – and most of all I got to think about diverse approaches to create artistic representations of sections of the Columbia River and the Gorge. They were at the heart of the project that connected 11 installations of enormous creative range along the Maryhill Museum Driveway this weekend, a festive celebration by and of community, the many involved area partners to the artists who contributed selflessly and substantially, and the many visitors who came to admire the work.
I also realized how much work is involved behind the scenes, the sweat and labor we never get to experience when we just go and visit an exhibition. There are practical challenges, strokes of bad luck when people are forced to drop out, or promised help fails to materialize. We also do not get to see all the time invested in travel to and from the community partners, the extra cost required by tricky materials, or the realization that some design ideas are brilliant but not able to withstand the weather elements, notoriously fickle in the Gorge.
My fears that the final event after such a long, interesting and difficult run might be anti-climactic were unfounded. It all came together with visible joy and enthusiasm – I will let the photographs (mostly) speak for themselves.
Louise A. Palermo, Curator of Education, was a driving force, in more ways than one. Her connection to and support of the artists and her involvement with the community partners, let alone organizing the technical specs and details of the final event, were moving the project forwards. There was literal driving as well – long stretches to facilitate my visits with the artists, hauling the frames for the installations to and fro, and eventually driving the forklift that brought the finished art works out onto the museum drive.
Multiple volunteers helped in ever so many ways, sustaining the yarn bombing, the poppy project, manning the various booths that helped introduce visitors to different ways of manipulating fibers. At the day of the event, many helpers managed to set the frames in place and secure them on rails that had also been built by friends of the museum.
Cindy Marasco, who saved me from starvation with an ice chest full of goodies, guarded my gear and was all around wonderful to talk to when we hung out in the shade when I had to rest, and her husband Ryan Mooney, who built the tracks.
Chris Pothier and Dylan McManus.
Visitors enjoyed the activities on hand, including a sheep shearing demonstration by M&P Ranches,
Merrit and Pierre Monnat of M&P Ranches
and a story walk created by the Fort Vancouver Regional library and the Klickitat County Book Mobile.
Here are some of the other activities on offer:
Judy learned felting!
Most of all, however, visitors congregated around the finished installations, admired the incredible range of what was shown, and listened to the individual artists giving short talks explaining their process.
They eagerly photographed the QR Code that linked to detailed information for each piece, clearly engaged.
Many visited the museum itself, at one point in time registering over 350 visitors simultaneously, approaching limitations.
Wilson and Premore Frontispiece, seven crocheted mountains on top of the sturgeon, aquatic plants printed, and quilted fabric from Premore’s grandmothers who lived in the region.
Here are some details from the installations – to experience the full beauty you have to visit yourself – they will be in display for over a month starting now. Or you can take a virtual tour here with a short video produced with the help of canine Daisy…
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A parade of hats was a feast for the eyes, elegant protection from an increasingly hot sun – remind me to get one of those for future occasions!
with people seeking shade for picnics or the delicious food sold by a Mexican caterer,
and dogs happy when they eventually found some shade as well.
In other words, a great success, for the museum, for the artists, for the many in the community who contributed in so many ways.
It all goes back to the river. The land that has seen hope and heartbreak, new opportunities at the cost of displacement of those long here before colonial settlers arrived. It struggles with fires and floods, with economic inequality, competition for access to ever diminishing resources of water and fish, with questions of what a future might hold and who will be privileged to enjoy that future without having to leave home or traditional vocations. The art installations reminded us of much of that.
Equally so, Saturday’s celebration showed the resilient spirit that unites many of the people of the region: a pride in and connectedness to the river, well aware what an incredible resource it is and how it deserves protection. May art be a guardian of that mission.
Details of work by Meltzer (front) and Kún (back felting.)
Three cheers for an institution – the museum – to help us remember all this through the Exquisite Gorge Projects.
Cant’ wait to see what Exquisite Gorge III will hold.
“…a collaborative fiber arts project featuring 13 artists working with communities along a 220-mile stretch of the Columbia River from the Willamette River confluence to the Snake River confluence. The project, again initiated by Maryhill Museum of Art and following the original one by printmakers in 2019, takes inspiration from the Surrealist art practice known as exquisite corpse. In the most well-known exquisite corpse drawing game, participants took turns creating sections of a body on a piece of paper folded to hide each successive contribution. When unfolded, the whole body is revealed. In the case of The Exquisite Gorge Project II, the Columbia River will become the ‘body’ that unifies the collaboration between artists and communities, revealing a flowing 66-foot work that tells 10 conceptual stories of the Columbia River and its people.”
Section One: Oregon Society of Artists–Artist: Lynn Deal Section Two: Lewis and Clark College–Artist: Amanda Triplett Section Three: Columbia Center for the Arts, The History Museum of Hood River County and Arts in Education of the Gorge–Artist: Chloë Hight Section Four: White Salmon Arts Council and Fort Vancouver Regional Library–Artist: Xavier Griffith Section Five: The Dalles Arts Center and The Dalles-Wasco County Library–Artists: Francisco and Laura Bautista Section Six: The Fort Vancouver Regional Library at Goldendale Community Library–Artist: Carolyn Hazel Drake Section Seven: The American-Romanian Cultural Society and Maryhill Museum of Art–Artist: Magda Nica Section Eight: Desert Fiber Arts–Artist: Ophir El-Boher Section Nine: The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation–Artist: Bonnie Meltzer Section Ten: ArtWalla–Artist: Kristy Kún Frontispiece: Tammy Jo Wilson (project artistic director) and Owen Premore
You cannot define electricity. The same can be said of art. It is a kind of inner current in a human being, or something which needs no definition. – Marcel Duchamp
HYDROPOWER. WIND POWER. SOLAR POWER. WILLPOWER. – All of these topics loomed large when talking to Bonnie Meltzer, the last artist I visited in the context of Maryhill Museum’s 2022 Exquisite Gorge II project. She chose to focus on power generation and transmission, a creative move that captures a defining element of the Columbia Gorge landscape and the river as a whole, both visually and economically. It is also a timely topic in an era when calls for renewable energy have become more urgent in light of the impending climate catastrophe. And a potential reference to the obstruction from the fossil fuel industry that is not willing to yield profits regardless of scientific data pointing to the damage wrought on the planet. In the line-up of 11 works by different fiber artists, Meltzer’s sculpture features Section 9, located close to Pendleton with The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation as her community partner.
Bonnie Meltzer with EG II sculpture and community members who helped with beading – 3 photographs courtesy of the artist
The installation consists of crocheted, fabricated and collaged representations of wind turbines and pylons towering over the river, lined by tumbleweed. The towers command visual attention, directing our focus to power lines feeding our incessant demand for electricity.
It is surely no coincidence that electric power and art have often been metaphorically entwined. Most of us cannot claim to fully understand art and electricity’s unpredictable ways, their danger, their ability to illuminate and, yes, to electrify. Clearly they are about transformation, but the details remain a mystery to most. OK, they mystify me. Wired currents, inner currents – I am with Duchamps here, at a loss for a definition, though I am sure a decent engineering or physics education could fix that at least for half of the pair.
Bonnie Meltzer
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN electrical power and art is in some strange ways also embodied in the various art museums, galleries and Kunsthallen that used to be power plants and are now housing art, often art directly related to electricity either as subject matter or to the use of electric devices in the areas of light art, some even producing electricity as well. The most famous ones are probably the TATE MODERN,
which was the former Bankside Power Station in London, England and the Nanshi Power Plant that was subsequently renovated to house the “Pavilion of the Future,” which opened to the public in 2010 for the Shanghai World Expo.
Germany has at least two such museums, ZOLLVEREIN KOHLENWÄSCHE(Former Zollverein Coal Mine) in Essen,
andE-Werk Luckenwalde, outside of Berlin, which actually still generates power and claims self-sufficiency,
The newest of the bunch of converted power plants, which I would love to see if travel is ever again a possibility for me, is the Kunsthalle Prahawhich opened in Prague this year with – who’d guessed it –a show about electricity, Kinetismus: 100 Years of Electricity in Art, tracing the history of electricity in art over the past century, to rave reviews.
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MELTZER AND HER FASCINATION with electric power fits right in then. She surely has the creative spark of defining some of the symbols associated with power in interesting ways, having them pulse enough in crocheted constructions of metallic wire, plastic strands, reflective beads and luminous odds and ends that the resulting landscape becomes electrifying.
The issues of environmental impact, pollution and heritage protection are also not new to her, she’s been long ahead of the curve. There is a substantive thread across her entire body of work that shows her concern, but also her humorous ways of tackling issues in non-combative, and, importantly, non-didactic ways.
She has assessed various aspects of pollution in her Fossil Fuel series which dealt with coal terminals and transport,
COAL TRAIN: Who Pays crocheted wire and magnetic tape, found objects, paint, collage.
Coal — Not In Any Backyard crocheted wire and fishingline, found objects, paint, collage
the dangers of particular matter and coal dust to both environment and human lungs, a beautiful, delicate installation,
Particulate Matter crocheted fishingline, beads, shells stretched on metal frame
and the issues of greenwashing – “the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly.” (Ref.)
Clean Coal window screen, net, beads, clothespins
Use of atypical materials, creative juxtaposition and unusual textures abound. For me the most interesting aspect of the work, though, is the use of a traditional feminine craft, crocheting, and objects like beads, associated with women’s jewelry or finery, to communicate political ideas and offer social critique. Take this cape, for example, that the artist modeled with gusto and graceful movement, that looks at the many layers of interactions in riparian zones, at the water’s edge. Pollute one, endanger them all. It was originally crocheted for a performance at Cascadia Composers, Our Waters: Big River to the Pacific.
the combination of her interests and her craft reminded me of the work of the artists and architectural team Jin Choi and Thomas Shine. They have worked with pylons, wind turbines and transformers in their actual dimensions, seeing beauty where others see ugliness in the newly defined landscape. They connect the wind turbines to us by use of the human figures, giants that stand in those nordic landscapes as a reminder that humanity is served by renewable power.
The architects also turned to crocheting for huge environmental installations, so of course I was reminded of Meltzer who has also escaped the realm of pot holders and doilies traditionally associated with that ancient craft, exploring political storytelling with chains crocheted from fishing line or wire, looped, doubled, arranged in the most intriguing ways.
All photocredits: Choi/Shine Architects. This project, Arizona!, was erected in 2019 in Scottsdale, AZ.
Just imagine Meltzer would have the support to work on that scale!
BONNIE MELTZER WAS CLOSE to her beloved grandmother and appreciates the skills she inherited from this gifted fiber worker. Born into an orthodox Jewish family in New Jersey, she practically grew up with a crochet hook in one hand and a crayon in the other, (I quote.) For a girl born in the 1940s into such a traditional community, with parents who did not even have a chance to finish school, it must have been an act of incredible willpower to disentangle oneself and find a personal path that potentially defied norms and expectations. Or so is my guess based on reports of women of similar backgrounds who I met when living in New York City. Meltzer and I did talk about her love for her grandmother, encapsulated in the sculpture shown below, but I was too immersed in listening and simultaneously taking in the visual riches around me to ask a lot of follow up questions.
Sculptural Collage that includes images of her grandmother and another mentor. wire crochet, digital photographs.
Meltzer received a fellowship to the University of Washington, Seattle, WA and earned her MFA in 1971. Her work has been widely shown, throughout the Northwest and beyond, for example at the Hallie Ford Museum and Columbia Center for the Arts. Works are in collections at the University of Washington, Baylor University, National Science Foundation and the City of Portland. Most recently she had a well received installation at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE,) Mending the Social Fabric (link to Beth Sorensen’s review at OregonArtsWatch here.)
Mending the Social Fabric
The project, with themes related to immigration, voting, Covid-19, social justice and safety nets, had
“… at its core a parachute with a 314-foot circumference that is encircled by 75 handkerchiefs embroidered with text that amplifies the mending motif. Mounted behind the parachute are textiles from across the globe. The parachute, a symbol of safety, has rips and tears and over the course of the exhibition interactive community building happens as visitors sit and mend the damage.”
The devotion to working with the community is repeated in the current fiber art project, sewing circles of old evolving into collectives giving voice to their environmental concerns.
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MEANWHILE BACK IN THE STUDIO, there is still much to be explored.
Crocheted sculptural work on the studio wall
Golden hands, indeed, given the countless stitching sessions and the work with materials that are pliable, but certainly not as easy as traditional thread. Green thumbs, by the way, as well. Her organic vegetable garden surrounding her cottage is quite productive.
Not the only traits associated with this artist, though. Her desire to build and maintain community is reflected in the many occasions where she works with others, both teaching and accepting help, like for the EG II project on hand. Meltzer jumped in when a previously assigned artist had to drop out of the process for unforeseeable reasons. Rather than having a year or more preparation time, she had a total of 6 weeks to conceive of a design and do the work to have it materialize. Some 20 people of all ages helped, recruited via Facebook and word of mouth, but the bulk of the task rested of course on her, making for sometimes 12-16 hour work days, for a woman who is approaching her 80ies. Talk about willpower! And Sitzfleisch, to use another German/Yiddish term, the capability to stay on task with grit, patience and determination. Seated on your tush.
Her sense of beauty and whimsey is reflected inside and outside house and studio, with small and large discoveries to be made around each corner.
Notable, however, is a curiosity about the world, and openness to look closely and dare to comment without hesitation. The world is often represented by means of various altered globes throughout the artist’s studio and with themes that react to each political moment, from elections to war.
The world might be about to crack –
but the artist is still on top of it all!
You will meet Bonnie Meltzer and all of the other participants in this adventure on August 6th, at Maryhill Museum. There will be plenty of activities, you can watch the sculptures being installed on top of the bluff, help shear sheep, engage in fiber crafts of various kinds. You can talk to the artists and visit the museum that has a lot of other things to offer.
35 Maryhill Museum of Art Drive, Goldendale, WA 98620 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. DAILY
See flyer below for specifics for the festival.
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THE EXQUISITE GORGE PROJECTII
“…a collaborative fiber arts project featuring 13 artists working with communities along a 220-mile stretch of the Columbia River from the Willamette River confluence to the Snake River confluence. The project, again initiated by Maryhill Museum of Art and following the original one by printmakers in 2019, takes inspiration from the Surrealist art practice known as exquisite corpse. In the most well-known exquisite corpse drawing game, participants took turns creating sections of a body on a piece of paper folded to hide each successive contribution. When unfolded, the whole body is revealed. In the case of The Exquisite Gorge Project II, the Columbia River will become the ‘body’ that unifies the collaboration between artists and communities, revealing a flowing 66-foot work that tells 10 conceptual stories of the Columbia River and its people.”
Artists and Community Partners:
Section One: Oregon Society of Artists–Artist: Lynn Deal Section Two: Lewis and Clark University–Artist: Amanda Triplett Section Three: Columbia Center for the Arts, The History Museum of Hood River County and Arts in Education of the Gorge–Artist: Chloë Hight Section Four: White Salmon Arts Council and Fort Vancouver Regional Library–Artist: Xavier Griffith Section Five: The Dalles Arts Center and The Dalles-Wasco County Library–Artists: Francisco and Laura Bautista Section Six: The Fort Vancouver Regional Library at Goldendale Community Library–Artist: Carolyn Hazel Drake Section Seven: The American-Romanian Cultural Society and Maryhill Museum of Art–Artist: Magda Nica Section Eight: Desert Fiber Arts & REACH Museum–Artist: Ophir El-Boher Section Nine: The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation–Artist: Bonnie Meltzer Section Ten: ArtWalla–Artist: Kristy Kún Frontispiece: Tammy Jo Wilson and Owe
