On January 31st 2010, William Baczek Fine Arts will be hosting a silent auction of 50-75 pieces of artwork donated to benefit the victims of the Northampton fires. This will be a one day event, held from 1-4pm with 100% of the money made during the show going directly to the people affected by the fires.

This is a professional gallery show, and as such all works should be suitable for display (wired, framed, etc). Artists wishing to donate work should contact Rick Beaupre at rick3po@aim.com. Please attach images of work to be submitted for consideration.

Deadline for delivery of works is Jan 22, 2010.

Parkhurst was an art historian who held many distinguished positions throughout his long lifetime: including numerous curatorships, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, assistant director of the National Gallery, taught at Princeton, Oberlin, Williams, and Smith. Perhaps his most important contribution to the art world was as one of the “Monument Men” during World War Two; a group that helped save great works of art, and architecture, from destruction from bombing and Nazi looting. From the Monuments Men Foundation website:

The “Monuments Men” were a group of approximately 345 men and women from thirteen nations who comprised the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section during World War II. Many were museum directors, curators, art historians, and educators. Together they worked to protect monuments and other cultural treasures from the destruction of World War II. In the last year of the war, they tracked, located, and ultimately returned more than 5 million artistic and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. Their role in preserving cultural treasures was without precedent.

Their efforts were indeed monumental: one feat involved secretly moving the entire contents of the Louvre, and hiding them in a salt mine, protecting the artworks from Nazi looting during the occupation of France. For his part, the French government awarded Parkhurst the Legion of Honor, Chevalier, an honor rarely bestowed on a non-French citizen.

The work of the Monuments Men was recently part of the excellent documentary, The Rape of Europa. The documentary includes interviews with Parkhurst.

A better obituary for Parkhurst in the New York Times described his undiminished curiousity and fascination with art history:

A few years ago, while looking at Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Mr. Parkhurst became intrigued by the possible influence of the theater on Giotto’s art. … the idea gripped him, and he pursued it doggedly. Well into his 90s, he was still chasing after art.

Parkhurst died at his home in Amherst, MA, June 25, 2008.

It is tragic that the arts are usually the first things to be cut from public school curriculum, especially in an area like the Pioneer Valley, where so much of our local economy is dependent on the arts.

Coincidentally, news of these cuts arrive with the news that Northampton, once again, has been voted one of the “Top 25 Arts Destinations” in the country by American Style magazine.

We are pleased to announce the first annual Easthampton “Paint Out” to be held May 8 – 10, 2008. The event is sponsored by Easthampton Savings Bank, Nashawannuck Gallery and Art Walk Easthampton

The two-day event that culminates in a gallery show and judging at Nashawannuck Gallery during the popular Art Walk. Oils, acrylic, watercolor and mixed media/painting works are accepted. Participating artists must paint within the city limits of Easthampton from May 8-10, at an outdoor location and not from a photograph.

And there will be a grand prize, and reception:

The exhibition will include a grand prize selection by the show juror as well as a “people’s choice” award where Art Walk attendees vote for a favorite work. Winners will be announced at 7:30 PM during the opening reception. The grand prize winner and the People Choice award winners have their painting purchased by Easthampton Savings Bank for $300 each.

We are really excited about this city-wide art event in Easthampton. More information is available at www.ArtWalkEasthampton.org (and sign up for their excellent weekly arts newsletter while you’re there).

From the website:

The Mount has secured a pledge of matching funds, which will be made available to supplement funds raised under Save The Mount, if The Mount is able to reach a successful restructuring with its principal creditors. Your contribution today will bring us closer to survival and success.

All donations will be processed only if The Mount meets its fundraising goal. In the event that the campaign is unsuccessful, The Mount will destroy all checks and credit card forms and post a notice thereof on this website.

Time is short, but a dramatic show of support will keep Edith Wharton’s house and gardens open. We urge you to make a generous donation without delay. Thank you.

The Mount was the home of writer and socialite Edith Wharton (1862-1937). She designed and built the house in 1902 as a summer home and writer’s retreat.

It is historically important and a beautiful place with majestic views of the Berkshires. It is also, according the the website, “…one of the mere 5% of National Historic Landmarks dedicated to women.”  Wharton is such an important figure in American literature (e.g. she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer prize), and The Mount is part of her legacy, for us to learn from and enjoy, and an architectural gem in western Massachusetts.

After Wharton’s death, the house had a succession of owners, and eventually fell into a terrible state of disrepair. In the 1980’s a group formed as The Edith Wharton Restoration purchased the property and has been preserving and restoring it since. It is open to the public May to December.

Please donate whatever amount you can to help save The Mount at their Emergency Campaign page. More information can also be found on the blog, “Help Save The Mount!“

The Pioneer Valley History Network is a new organization that helps link these historical museums and sites. They have a listserv … and soon will have a website. It can be a great source of information for anyone seeking to explore historical resources in the area.

They have a Yahoo Group, and we’ll post info about their new website when it launches.

We’ve also added a new list of links to our sidebar, “Local Historical Museums.” These little museums are fascinating places. Many are admission-free, but please consider a donation when visiting to help support them.

One of our favorites is the Skinner Museum in South Hadley, which was a pet hobby of its founder, Joseph Allen Skinner (who bequeathed it to Mount Holyoke College). Not only is it full chock-a-block with local artifacts and curiosities from all over the world, the building itself has an interesting history: it was moved from one of the towns that is now submerged beneath the Quabbin Reservoir.

Local trivia: Joseph Skinner was part of the Skinner family who made their enormous wealth via the Skinner Mills in Holyoke in the early part of the 20th-century. Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke was the family home of Belle Skinner, Joseph’s sister.

They’ve really embraced online technology: a nicely-designed website, a blog, live webcams, podcasts, and now a YouTube page. We wonder what’s next: MySpace, or Facebook?

If you haven’t been to MassMOCA, we highly recommend a visit. The museum is in an enormous 19th-century mill complex, and has some stunningly large exhibition spaces. So large, they can show work that simply can’t fit anywhere else. The current exhibition in the largest gallery is Jenny Holzer’s Projections.

The particular graphic design seems more suited to be shown on a smaller scale–perhaps on the cover of a brochure for Easthampton. These large jumbled letters will be mostly meaningless and confusing to drivers-by. I think that to please the majorityin a fairly traditional New England community like Easthampton, a design that is in keeping with the traditional tone of the town would be more accepted and appropriate. (post 4322)

 It seems like it is more inner city 1960’s urban renewal, than small “town” mural. (post 4322.3)

I think the mural will look nice. I live in that part of town & am delighted at how nice the Cottage St area has become. I love that’s it becoming such a creative and funky street with great little independent shops, and hope this trend continues. Public art will make it an even more intersting area. (post 4320.5.2.1.)

I know what is appealing to some isn’t appealing to all, but in my opinion, the proposed artwork (?) that is going to be displayed on the side of Wiskerz Pub will be an eyesore. (post 4318)

I lke it and I think it meshes well with the art atmosphere. (post 4318.4)

What do you think of the proposed mural? Post your comments below…

There’s already one mural on Cottage Street, on the side of Off The Map Tattoo – an awesome fantasy sea-monster scene, and another on Union Street, on the side of Movie Gallery. We hope murals will become a new trend downtown.

Art note: Pappalardo works as a designer under the name Standard Design. You may recognize his work in the excellent ads for Turn It Up!, and some of the coolest local band posters around. Especially this classic for Pop-a-Wheelie.

From the Foundation’s October press release:

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts today announced an unprecedented gift of Warhol art to 183 college and university art museums across the U.S.  The gift, made through the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program in honor of the foundation’s 20^th anniversary, consists of 28,543 original Warhol photographs valued in excess of $28 million.

No news yet of any exhibition plans at Smith, Mount Holyoke, or UMASS.