#art institute of pittsburgh

[stone-cold-groove]

Art Institute of Pittsburgh... offers a remarkably complete training in either fashion illustration or dress design.

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

My staff pick this week is the trade edition of The Tale of the Shining Princess by Japanese-born writer Hisako Matsubara (b.1935) and Japanese-Canadian artist-printmaker Naoko Matsubara (b.1937), published by Kodansha International LTD. Tokyo, Japan in 1966. 

As a artist-printmaker and bookmaker who makes woodcuts, I am greatly inspired by Naoko’s prints. Naoko Matsubara’s work carries on traditions of Japanese printmaking while having its own contemporary flavor. Her woodcuts are ecstatic, they are vibrating with movement. Her use of bold shapes and the white line of the the carving tool makes the most of what woodcut has to offer. In the book form, the active images carry the reader’s eyes through the book space. Her use of negative space activates the page. Additionally, her woodcuts have translated beautifully to commercial printing. 

The Matsubara sisters are daughters of a senior Shinto priest, and were raised in Kyoto. Both studied, lived, and worked in the United States. Hisako received her Master of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State College, moving to Germany where she continued her studies and became a prominent writer, publishing her work in Japanese, English, and German. In the 1980s she moved back to the United States, this time to California where she worked at Stanford University. 

Naoko received her Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, now Carnegie Mellon University. After her studies she traveled across Europe and Asia. She returned to the United States and became the personal assistant to the artist and wood engraver Fritz Eichenberg, an artist who has been featured many times on our blog. Naoko taught at Pratt University in New York and at the University of Rohde Island. She also lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a time. Naoko is currently living and working in Canada in Oakville, Ontario, where she continues to work and exhibit nationally. 

The work of both Hisako and Naoko have had great influence inside the United States and around the world. So lets celebrate their accomplishments! 

This book has end sheets of mulberry paper with inclusions of Bamboo leaves, the cover is a red textured paper with a gold stamped design by Naoko. 

View some of our other AAPI selections for this month.

View our other Staff Picks.

- Teddy, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[mybeingthere]

George Mauersberger completed the foundations program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 1974. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drawing from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA in 1978, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Ohio University, Athens in 1983. He worked as a Professor of Drawing at Cleveland State University from 1987-2019, while also serving eight years as Art Department Chair. He was named Professor Emeritus in 2019.

After beginning his career as an illustrator with clients including Ketchum, Inc., Industry Week, and The Plain Dealer, Mauersberger began exhibiting drawings and works on paper in 1983.

[littlefeather-wolf]

Mary "Te Ata" Thompson Fisher

1895 - 1995 Lived to be 100 yrs old ...

Te Ata Thompson Fisher, whose name means “Bearer of the Morning,” was born Dec. 3, 1895, near Emet, Oklahoma. A citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Te Ata was an accomplished actor and teller of Native American stories ... She received her early education in Tishomingo, and eventually went to the Oklahoma College for Women. While there, it was evident Te Ata had a natural talent for drama ... Her career as an actor and storyteller spanned more than 60 years. She worked as a storyteller to finance her acting career. She would tell Chickasaw legends, myths and chants, including performing rituals in native regalia ... Te Ata attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for one year. From there, she moved to New York City, where she met and married Clyde Fisher. During the 1930s she performed at summer camps in New York and New England ... In the prime of her career, she performed in England and Scandinavia, at the White House for President Franklin Roosevelt, for the King and Queen of Great Britain, and on stages across the United States ... Although Te Ata worked as an actor and drama instructor, she is best known for her artistic interpretations of Indian folklore, and for her children's book she co-authored on the subject ... Her world-renown talent has won her several honors including induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957, being named The Ladies’ Home Journal Woman of the Year in 1976, being named Oklahoma's Official State Treasure in 1987, and having a lake near Bear Mountain in New York named in her honor ... She is also the subject of a video, God's Drum, the proceeds of which have supported the Te Ata Scholarship Fund for Indian students at her alma mater, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Te Ata died Oct. 26, 1995, in Oklahoma City, though her legacy and influence on the Native American storytelling traditions continues to this day.

[queenlua]

i feel certifiably insane saying this but in a lot of ways i had easier access to "culture" (in the sense of: really good art museums, science museums, history stuff, etc) living in kentucky than i do in seattle

like the eastern us is so scrunched together that even rural KY is weekend-drive-distance to Chicago and Atlanta, a short flight distance to NYC and DC, and all the horrid railroad magnates of eg Nashville and Pittsburgh at least dumped some money into some legit museums

whereas Seattle weekend trips are uhhh. lotta deserts for starters. and also just far, p much have to get on a plane

and local museums try but, alas, haven't had 100+ years of railroad magnate $$$ funding them, so you get, like, the mopop (blech) and other curiosities rather than big institutions

like the tradeoff is worth it for me, most other aspects of west coast living whip ass, but wow is shit spread out out here

[nobrashfestivity]

Photo-Secession, a Collection of American Pictorial Photographs as arranged by the Photo-Secession and exhibited under the auspices of the Camera Club of Pittsburg, at the Art Galleries of the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

Alfred Stieglitz 2/1/1904

[olympic-paris]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

August 10

1881 – Harold Witter Bynner (d.1968) was an American poet, writer and scholar, known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at what is now the Inn of the Turquoise Bear. Best remembered for his classic translation of The Way of Life, according to Lao Tzu (1944). Initially he pursued a career in journalism at McClure's Magazine. Bynner then turned to writing. He was a charter member of the Poetry Society of America and was influential in getting the work of A.E. Housman and Ezra Pound published.

In 1916 he was one of the perpetrators, with Arthur Davison Ficke, a friend from Harvard, of an elaborate literary hoax. It involved a purported 'Spectrist' school of poets, along the lines of the Imagists, based in Pittsburgh. Spectra, a slim collection, was published under the pseudonyms of Anne Knish (Ficke) and Emanuel Morgan (Bynner). Marjorie Allen Seiffert, writing as Elijah Hay, was roped in to bulk out the 'movement'. Spectra received accolades from Edgar Lee Masters and William Carlos Williams who were completely taken in by the ruse. Bynner meant it as a critique of the fashion of "ism" schools in poetry that were ruining poetry in his opinion. The incident, while successful, damaged his reputation in certain circles.

He traveled to China, and studied Chinese literature. He subsequently produced many translations from Chinese. His verse showed both Japanese and Chinese influences, but the latter were major. Bynner became more of a modernist in consequence, where previously he had been inclined to parody Imagism.

Bynner settled in Santa Fe, in a steady and acknowledged 30-year homosexual relationship with Robert Hunt. He became a friend of D. H. Lawrence, whom he hosted on Lawrence's first visit to Amerca, and traveled with him and Frieda von Richthofen in Mexico. He and his partner Willard Johnson are portrayed in Lawrence's The Plumed Serpent. Much later, in 1951, he wrote on Lawrence in Journey With Genius.

Bynner and Hunt had numerous parties at their house, hosting many notable writers, actors, and artists, which guests included Ansel Adams, Willa Cather, Igor Stravinsky, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, W. H. Auden, Aldous Huxley, Clara Bow, Errol Flynn, Rita Hayworth, Christopher Isherwood, Carl Van Vechten, Martha Graham, Georgia O'Keeffe and Thornton Wilder.

On January 18, 1965, Bynner had a severe stroke. He never recovered, and required constant care until he died on June 1, 1968. As of 2008, his house has become the Inn of the Turquoise Bear, a bed and breakfast.

1900 – René Crevel (d.1935), a writer associated with the surrealist movement, was born in Paris to a bourgeois family.

He studied English at the University of Paris, and in 1921 met Andre Breton – the principal founder and theorist of early surrealism - and joined the movement - from which he was excluded in 1925, possibly due to Breton's antipathy towards homosexuality which he believed had corrupted the movement; although many gay artists and writers are associated with surrealism, there was a broad anti-homosexual streak within the Surrealist movement.

During this period, Crevel wrote novels such as Mon corps et moi ("My Body and Me"). Much of Crevel's work deals with his inner turmoil at being bisexual. In 1926, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which made him start using morphine. The 1929 exile of Léon Trotsky persuaded him to rejoin the surrealists. Remaining faithful to André Breton, he struggled to bring communists and surrealists closer together.

Faced with a worsening of his tuberculosis, in 1935 he turned on the gas stove in his Paris apartment and ended his life. He was 35.

Cordier in Paris in 1940

1920 – Daniel Cordier (d.2020) was a French resistance fighter, historian, and art dealer. As a member of the Camelots du Roi, he engaged with Free France in June 1940. He was secretary to Jean Moulin from 1942 to 1943, and his opinions leaned to the left. He was named a Companion of the Resistance in 1944, and, after the war, he became a historian and art dealer. He was an advocate for gay rights.

Daniel Bouyjou was born in Bordeaux. His father, René Bouyjou, worked in the family coffee business, which flourished across Europe. In 1919, René married Jeanne Gauthier, although the couple divorced in 1925. Jeanne remarried in 1927 to Charles Cordier. When Daniel joined the French Resistance in London, he listed his official last name as "Bouyjou-Cordier". With René passing away in 1943, he would officially take the name "Cordier" in 1945.

Throughout his youth, Daniel's father retained custody. He attended various Catholic schools, such as the École Saint-Elme d’Arcachon. Influenced by royalism and Maurrassisme by his stepfather, Cordier joined Action Française at the age of 17 and founded the Cercle Charles-Maurras in Bordeaux. Indeed, Daniel admired Charles Maurras and was anti-Semitic, anti-socialist, anti-communist, anti-democratic, and ultranationalist during this period. However, patriotism for France outlasted his early ideals and he joined the Free French Forces.

In June 1940, while with his family in Bescat, Cordier listened on the radio as Philippe Pétain announced the French surrender to Germany and the armistice. Outraged, he distributed a pamphlet against Pétain. He, along with 16 others, embarked on a Belgian ship headed to Algeria. However, the ship landed in England. He reached Falmouth on 25 June and joined his fellow Frenchmen three days later. He was assigned to the Bataillon de chasseurs de Camberley [fr] to undergo training. Following his training, he was given the rank of Lieutenant.

Entering the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action, Cordier parachuted into Montluçon on 26 July 1942. He quickly reached Lyon and began under the service of Jean Moulin of the French National Committee. He took the pseudonym Alain and began work as Moulin's secretary. He managed mail and radio links to London and created various organs of the Resistance.

Cordier's work led to the foundation of the National Council of the Resistance on 27 May 1943. He stayed with Moulin's successor, Claude Bouchinet-Serreulles until 21 March 1944. He crossed the Pyrenees and entered Pamplona, where he was briefly interned at the Miranda concentration camp. He then joined British forces.

After the end of World War II, Cordier dedicated himself to political activism, having given up his far-right beliefs after becoming acquainted with the radical socialist Jean Moulin. He followed humanist and non-Marxist socialist beliefs.

Cordier became very active in the cause for gay rights, he wrote in his autobiography Alias Caracalla : mémoires, 1940-1943. In it, he revealed his homosexuality, which he had kept a secret due to the fact that "the hatred towards homosexuality was terrible".

In 2013, he announced his support for gay marriage. His diary, Les Feux de Saint-Elme, was published in 2014 while the second volume of his autobiography was in production, though that would never be published. He wrote of his sexual awakening while attending an all-boys boarding school in Arcachon. He was a friend of Roland Barthes, as well as a tutor for Hervé Vilard and inspired him to pursue a singing career.

Cordier died in Cannes on 20 November 2020 at the age of 100.

1946 – Renaud Camus is a French writer.

He was born in Chamalières, Puy-de-Dôme, in the Auvergne region of France. He spent some time studying in England and traveling in the United States, particularly New York and California (he taught for a semester in a college in Arkansas). He quickly began to circulate among writers (Louis Aragon, Roland Barthes, Marguerite Duras, etc.) and visual artists (the Warhol circle, the New York School, Gilbert and George, etc.).

He is openly gay and an outspoken defender of gay rights, although, as with social issues in general, he keeps his distance from doctrinaire positions. One of his first published works (and the only one (partially) translated in English), with a preface by Barthes, is Tricks (1979; enlarged and revised in 1982 and 1988), a “chronicle” consisting of over-detailed descriptions of homosexual encounters in France and elsewhere.

Camus is an exceptionally prolific writer. His work could be divided into four categories: straightforward prose (travel writing, traditional-form novels, polemic, and lengthy yearly journals (diary) published from 1989 to the present; “creative” prose: “experimental” novels and a large and ever-growing, largely unpublished web text, Burnt Boats (Vaisseaux brûlés); writings on painting and culture; and personal essays.

He has also formed a political party, "Le Parti de l’In-nocence" (The Party of Non-Nuisance), continually evolving its platform, a curious blend of traditional leftist/socialist political values and conservative social values. It plays no role in French politics, but Camus seems to take it very seriously, adding position statements to the party’s website on a nearly daily basis.

  John Goldwyn & Michael C. Hall of "Dexter"

1958 – John Goldwyn is an American film producer.

John Goldwyn was born in Los Angeles, the son of producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr., and his wife, film and stage actress Jennifer Howard. He has two brothers: film director and actor Tony Goldwyn and Francis Goldwyn. Goldwyn has produced a total of eight films, according to the Internet Movie Database, and the television series Dexter.

His paternal grandparents were Oscar-winning producer Samuel Goldwyn and actress Frances Howard. His maternal grandparents were Sidney Howard, screenwriter of Gone with the Wind and 70 other films, and Clare Eames, an actress.

Goldwyn and his former wife Colleen Camp have one daughter, Emily Goldwyn, who appeared in the 2005 film Elizabethtown as Star Basketball Player.

On April 30, 2011, Goldwyn and hotelier Jeffrey Michael Klein celebrated their life partnership in a ceremony in Marshall, California. Goldwyn's daughter Emily led the couple in the exchange of vows and rings.

Goldwyn is currently an Executive Producer/Consultant for scripted content at Discovery Channel. In September 2016, Discovery aired the limited series Harley & The Davidsons, which Goldwyn produced in association with RAW UK. He is currently in production on Manhunt: Unabomber, the first installment of Discovery's master criminal anthology series. In 2017, he signed a first look deal with Lionsgate.

1963 – Andrew Sullivan is a British conservative author and political commentator, distinguished by his often personal style of political analysis, and pioneering achievements in the field of blog journalism.

Andrew Michael Sullivan was born in South Godstone, Surrey, England, to a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent, and received a BA in modern history from Oxford University, where in his second year he was elected president of the prestigious Oxford Union. He went on to earn a masters degree in public administration and a Ph.D in government at Harvard University.

In 1986, he began his career with The New Republic magazine, serving as its editor from 1991 to 1996. In that position, he expanded the magazine from its traditional roots in political coverage to cultural politics and the issues around them. This produced some groundbreaking journalism but also courted several high-profile controversies.

Sullivan is known for his unusual personal-political identity (HIV-positive, gay, self-described conservative often at odds with other conservatives, and practising Roman Catholic). He is also the author of three books.

Sullivan is a speaker at major universities, colleges, and civic organisations in the United States, and a frequent guest on many national news and political commentary television shows in the United States and Europe. He has lived in the United States since 1984 and currently resides in Washington, D.C. and Provincetown, MA.

In 2001, Sullivan was at the center of a sex scandal that has, to some extent, damaged his credibility as a spokesperson for conservative values. Village Voice columnist Michael Musto revealed that Sullivan had placed advertisements for "bareback sex" on a sexually oriented website that promoted unprotected sex. Journalist Michelangelo Signorile, who had earlier been attacked by Sullivan for his practice of outing closeted officials, accused Sullivan of rank hypocrisy for engaging in dangerous sexual activity while inveighing against homosexual promiscuity in his writings. More recently, Signorile has accused Sullivan, whom he dubs "Bareback Andy," of extolling "the virtues of having HIV and the wonders of being positive," and thereby encouraging others to practice unsafe sex.

In late 2000, Sullivan began his blog, The Daily Dish. In the wake of September 11 it became one of the most popular political blogs on the Internet. By the middle of 2003, it was receiving about 300,000 unique visits per month. Between starting his blog and ending his New Republic editorship, Sullivan wrote two works on homosexuality, arguing for its social acceptance on libertarian grounds. He was one of the most popular bloggers at Time Magazine. On Jan. 19, 2007, Sullivan announced through his blog that he would be leaving Time to work at the Atlantic Monthly and has since done so. His writing appears in a number of widely-read publications. He currently serves as a columnist for The Sunday Times.

Sullivan believes recognition of same-sex marriage is a civil-rights issue but is willing to promote it on a state by state legislative federalism basis rather than trying to judicially impose the change. Most of Sullivan's disputes with other conservatives have been over social issues such as these and the handling of postwar Iraq.

Andrew Sullivan identifies himself as a member of the bear community. He married his partner Aaron Tone in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 2007.

1970 – Sharon Afek is the current chief military advocate general of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), appointed in October 2015.

Afek graduated cum laude with an LLB degree from Tel Aviv University and completed his master's degree in law, summa cum laude, at Tel Aviv University. Afek also holds a master's degree, cum laude, in national security studies from Haifa University (as a joint program with the IDF's National Security College). Additionally, he attended the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University.

After receiving his law degree from Tel Aviv University School of Law, Afek joined the Military Advocate General Corps, beginning his career in the International Law Department of the unit. He then fulfilled various senior positions in the Military Advocate General Corps, including the deputy head of the International Law Department, the Air Force District Attorney, the legal advisor for Judea and Samaria Area and the deputy military advocate general.

Afterwards, he served as the commander of the interservice “Afek” course of the IDF's Staff and Command College. On October 22, 2015, Afek was promoted to the rank of Aluf (general officer) and appointed chief military advocate general.

On July 12, 2018, Afek was promoted to the rank of major general from IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot.

In an interview to Israel Bar association official magazine, Sharon Afek revealed he is gay, making him the first member of high command and the most senior Israeli military officer to come out.

1983 – Hailing from Marietta, Georgia, reality TV star Davis Mallory was born into a strong conservative Southern Baptist family. Davis attended university from 2002-2006 at Stetson University in Florida studying general business, with the aspirations to become a plastic surgeon. He looks and acts just like any blonde hair, blue eyed frat boy (as he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity) except for the fact that he is openly gay.

Despite his southern conservative Christian upbringing, he is gay, something he first realized in the sixth grade, though his family was not pleased with his coming out.

Davis is known for being cast as the "gay guy acting straight" on The Real World: Denver. He has also been cast in The Real World/Road Rules Challenge in South Africa. After finishing The Real World: Denver, Davis is pursuing a career in modeling and is also traveling to colleges and universities around the United States to offer seminars.

He has a boyfriend named P.J.

2011 – Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie (no last name) are gay and a same-sex couple, right? Didn't you just always think that? After all, they live in the same apartment, share a bedroom (though not a bed,) spend a lot of time together, and are "very good" friends, despite repeated statements from the Sesame Workshop which states emphatically that Bert and Ernie are "just friends." Well, Change?.org wants to change that. Or, specifically, Change?.org wants Sesame Workshop to acknowledge that Bert and Ernie are gay and a same-sex couple.

A petition started in 2011 by Lair Scott at Change?.org, stated,

"It's important for our children to be educated that it's okay to be gay. For over 40 years, our beloved Sesame St. characters, Bert and Ernie, have been living as "roomates"and we would like PBS and Sesame St. to allow them to live as a gay couple and maybe eventually, marry. It would show children and their parents that not only is it acceptable but also teach children that homophobia is wrong, bullying is wrong and that Sesame street should recognize that there are LGBT relationships, families, and include them in their show. We're not here to debate our mission but we are here to educate. Please share our link with other friendly walls and join us in our quest to bring Bert and Ernie to the forefront of educating our children, to say "Gay is okay!!"

In 1997, Ernie said, "All that stuff about me and Bert? It's not true. We're both very happy, but we're not gay." But people in show business have historically denied their sexuality:

"Bert and Ernie, who've been on Sesame Street for 25 years, do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future," stated Sesame Workshop back in 1993. "They are puppets, not humans. Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends.

You can see the now-closed the petition at Out Bert and Ernie @ Change.org

Or a similar closed petition at Let Bert and Ernie Get Married @ Change.org

Today's Gay Wisdom:    Andrew Sullivan:

"Homosexuality is like the weather. It just is." "The most successful marriages, gay or straight, even if they begin in romantic love, often become friendships. It's the ones that become the friendships that last." "My own early crusade for same-sex marriage, for example, is now mainstream gay politics. It wasn't when I started." "There is something about hearing your president affirm your humanity that you don't know what effect it has until you hear it." "When I first started talking about gay marriage, most people in the gay community looked at me as if I was insane or possibly a fascist reactionary

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #222

Do you ever have days where you just don’t do anything? I mean... compared to the lives of ordinary adults my age, that would be most days for me. I have nothing but free time and I'm not exactly skilled at putting it to good use.

Have you ever experienced something paranormal? I firmly believe I have, at the bare minimum of twice. I think an old home of mine was haunted or some shit, weird things happened there.

What’s the longest amount of time you’ve been stuck in traffic? Hell if I know. I'm sure it was while traveling, though.

What museums have you visited, if any? I literally think I've only visited one, the local one in my city... which is abysmally depressing to say. I love the idea of museums, and the one we have here is immensely sub-par. I would love to visit a good one, especially one with fossil displays.

Have you ever dealt with noisy neighbors or roommates? How did that go? No, thankfully. I mean, our current neighbor's dog doesn't shut up half the time, but unless I'm not listening to something in the spare room (the room closest to where she is in the neighbor's [fenced] yard), I don't hear her in here.

Have you ever taken a woodshop class? No.

What area of math are you best at? Worst? I suck at all math. According to the autism eval I took, I apparently need an IEP in mathematics. During my last college attempt, I literally failed ALGEBRA ONE miserably, but I will say I really didn't like how my teacher taught, he was all about weird shortcuts. Even when I tried tutoring though, I was humiliated that just nothing made sense. It's a bit strange, though; up through high school, I could handle math, but it was always my weakest subject. I wasn't an A student in it. I just go so much worse when I left high school. I don't know if it could be the results of overmedication (which I hold responsible for my memory issues), trauma (trauma can have effects you wouldn't guess, and I firmly believe it altered how I process information), or what.

How do you feel when you meet someone with the same music taste as you? I get excited. I love music, so it's something to bond over.

Do you believe in luck? Why or why not? "In a sense. Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time, or "the stars align." But as a force, not really." <<< Literally this.

Do you ever feel self-conscious when you eat around other people? Only if the food is messy, and I don't generally like eating messy food anyway because *I* don't like getting messy.

Have you ever considered going to art school? I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online and got scammedddddd <33333

Is there anyone in your life who consistently angers you? My sister's shitty husband.

Have you ever had problems falling asleep in class? No.

Are your parents supportive of you? Yes. Mom WAY more actively than Dad, but.

How often do you take the train to go places? Never.

Have you ever participated in a mock trial, or a real trial? No.

Do you have the right time set on your microwave? Yes.

Do you have any old newspaper articles? Why? No.

Do you have a flat screen tv or just a regular box? We have a decently large flat-screen. It's not something we could ever afford now; it's as old as when my parents were still together.

Do you have a radar detector for your car? No.

Have you ever been arrested? For what? No.

Do you know how to change the oil in your car? Nope.

Do you like Tootsie Rolls? I don't.

Are you seeing anybody currently? I've been dating the same someone for almost three years now.

Do you like it when it snows? I fucking love when it snows. It doesn't happen often here. It sticks even less often.

Where do you do most of your shopping? Walmart.

Do you have a big yard? Big no, the front and back are very small.

Do you live in the country or the city? A development just outside a city. Still basically city.

At what age did you obtain your driver license? I'm 28 and still don't have it; I probably never will. It is better for me and everyone else on the road. I WISH I could drive, but it's just not a safe option right now.

What are you favorite kind of chips? Hot crunchy Cheetos

Where did you go today? My primary doctor for a check-up. Our car is still toast so we were lucky enough that they offered transportation.

Are you sleepy right now? Extremely. I stayed up way too late last night to have to wake up early like I had to.

What color is your mousepad? Black.

Do you get your eyebrows waxed? No. I don't care enough.

Has anyone given you flowers recently? Not recently.

Has anyone you know been arrested recently? No.

Do you have more than 1 email address? Yes.

Do you have central heating and air? Yes. Especially this time of year, I'd fucking die without it.

Are there any plants in your house? There's a decent amount because of Mom. I think it's mostly pothos.

Do you prefer cold or warm weather? COLD

Do you prefer bar or liquid soap? Liquid, I hate bar soap.

Do you wear any perfumes/colognes on a regular basis? No.

Do you have high or low self-esteem levels? Abysmally low.

When was the last time you listened to a song on repeat? What was the song? Um... I feel like it was a good few days ago. "Zwitter" by Rammstein.

Do you like mint or orange-flavored chocolate? Mint, yes. I don't feel like I've tried orange-flavored chocolate. I can imagine myself not liking the combo, but I can't guarantee that.

When was the last time you burnt your mouth from eating something too hot? Around a week ago when Mom made chicken fried rice.

What is your favorite foreign language to listen to? (In music or speech) I like how German sounds, but I also think I have a bias because when I hear it, I like to see how much I can translate.

Do you prefer instrumental songs or ones with lyrics? Lyrics.

Name something simple that makes you happy. A cold drink when I'm really thirsty. Sunrises and sunsets. The sound of rain. I'm very pleased that I'm pretty good at identifying small happinesses.

What is your favorite instrument to listen to? Electric guitar, violin, harp, piano, lots others.

Pick one: Books, movies or music? Music.

What was the last book you read about? It was a book in the Warriors series, in the "A Vision of Shadows" arc. The books are pretty thick with various events, but the primary plot was the Clans coming together to oust an invasion of murderous rogues that nearly destroyed their way of life.

When was the last time you used a quote from a movie in real life? I don't really do this unless I'm joking and making an obvious reference. I don't remember what it was anyway, though.

Can you put your legs behind your head? Hell no.

Do you forget things easily? You would not BELIEVE how horrendous my memory is. Like it is unfuckingreal. I feel like being overmedicated for so, so long is the reason, it just ate away at my brain.

The last song you listened to: Did it have a male or female vocalist? Male.

Have you ever had braces? Do you need them? I did as a pre-teen/teenager.

What does your voice sound like? (Loud, quiet, high-pitched, etc) I think it's somewhat deep for a woman, but not to where it sounds traditionally masculine. I tend to stutter and I can either talk too quietly or, if I'm excited or in some way passionate or just confident in an explanation, I've had it pointed out I speak too loudly.

What was the last topic you read about on Wikipedia? So I opened the page to Kamala Harris's political policies, but I promptly left it and read on a platform that isn't edited by random-ass people and wouldn't be rife with biases. I feel like in light of... recent events, I need to be more aware than ever of the policies of people who have a chance of having a say in my country's politics. I don't like Biden (But DO NOT BE MISTAKEN, I hate Trump a HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL of a lot more), but I have this hope that maybe Kamala will replace him. How, figure it out yourself.

Have you ever donated money to Wikipedia? No, that would be so low on my priorities of things to donate to if I even had money.

What board games did you play when you were growing up? A lot of Cranium brand games, Candyland, Life (modified rules to be easier for kids), Monopoly (modified rules for same reason), Mouse Trap (ngl we mostly played with the parts than the actual game haha), Operation, Checkers, I had a Crocodile Hunter game I loved, Battleship, lots of others. We had a big stock of board games to choose from.

Do you know any sign language? No.

When was the last time you bought new clothes? What did you get? Holy hell I have no idea.

Do you ever watch streamers on Twitch? Hazelnuttygames, sometimes. She's a WoW streamer.

Has your house ever been broken into? How did you find out? There was an attempt at my childhood home, but they didn't get in.

What do you usually eat for breakfast? Generally cereal.

Are you overwhelmed right now? Ha! Not as bad as I was yesterday. I reached a capacity of stress yesterday that for the vast majority of the day, I completely shut down. I don't remember the last time I was that stressed because of just everything going on in my life and in my country.

Did you share a bedroom with someone when you were growing up? My younger sister Nicole, yes.

How many group chats are you in? Do you participate in them much? I'm in one with Mazzy and Tez, and that's the only group chat I truly contribute to. I'm in the Tumblr community's Rammstein Discord, and I talk only rarely because it's just so busy and overwhelming that I get stressed trying to keep up lol.

Are you still in touch with any of your exes? No.

What do you do for work? I am humiliated to be my age (and not considered properly disabled) and not work. I'm trying my best to build a freelance nature photography career, but... that's a monumental task, if I'm honest. But I'm still trying. Freelance art is FUCKING HARD to make a living with.

Were you upset when you found out certain things weren’t real? (Santa, Tooth Fairy…) No. I was old enough by then to have doubted, so I wasn't surprised.

Name something you’re proud of. Brag a little bit. One of my proudest achievements is getting a Daily Deviation on deviantART. It's the biggest honor you can get on the site and is (generally, especially without connections) very hard to obtain.

Which store would you like to win $1000 for? Rebel's Market.

Do you pay any attention to celebrity drama? No. The only celeb drama I've ever paid attention to was when Till from Rammstein was forced into it by a sexual misconduct accusation. He's fucking innocent btw, this is well-supported, but Germany tends to hate Rammstein for unsound reasons and will NEVER cover the positives of the band. Any time his accuser was revealed to be full of absolute bullshit, their popular media never covered it. I don't want ANY assumptions made about me and my stance on sexual assault involving celebrities, you take EVERY accusation seriously and I kept my mouth shut while the investigation went down, I wanted the facts, and the facts are fucking nothing was found that damned Till. I don't defend him because he's in a band that I love, I defend him because of the absolute fucking lack of evidence and the documented bullshittery of Shelby (accuser). If there was actual evidence that Till was a sexual predator, I would drop my support of him so fuckin' fast, I can stake my life on that. I don't fuck with sexual predators, whether I'd originally liked them or not. I don't play that "but that's my homie!!!" game. WOW this was a ramble but I feel very strongly on this, it was such an ordeal.

What popular food do you dislike? Fried chicken wings. A LOT of things if I think about it for a moment.

Do you have any cats? Yes, Roman.

How many slices of pizza can you eat in 1 sitting? Rarely two; I usually have three. If I'm incredibly hungry, four. Of course, this does depend on the size of the slices.

[fiercynn]

poem: "tall lyric for palestine (or, the harder thinking)" by rickey laurentiis

rickey laurentiis was raised in new orleans, louisiana, to study light. their debut book, Boy with Thorn, won the cave canem poetry prize, the levis reading prize, and was a finalist for the kate tufts discovery award. her other honors include fellowships from the lannan literary foundation, the national endowment for the arts, the poetry foundation, the whiting foundation, and the center for african american poetry and poetics at the university of pittsburgh. in 2022, laurentiis was named a living legends honoree by the marsha p. johnson institute, an organization which celebrates black trans lives. friends call her riis.

[answrs]

Happy Museum Appreciation Day 2024, as the theme this year is that of education (and of dignity) I'd like to share the recent change from mid 2023 at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA).

One of the most famous pieces in its collection, "Lion Attacking a Dromedary" (formerly "Lion Attaquant un Dromadaire"/"Arab Courier Attacked by Lions" from 1867-2016) has been permanently taken off of display as of October 2023, after a reworking of the museum's human remains ethics policy. Human remains were confirmed to be inside during its 2017 restoration, and it was taken off display in 2020 due to Black Lives Matter protests. (Using the terror and death of a brown man as spectacle has not sat well, for good reason, especially after the skull was discovered inside of the sculpt.) However, it was returned in 2021 with the above "Challenging the Art" sign added to the side of the glass case. The new display as-of today has frosted glass covering the whole of the diorama*.

Even back in 1892 when it was purchased by the museum, it was considered "too theatrical", nearly enough to not be worth putting on display for being too sensationalist and not a factional depiction of real life. To quote Wikipedia:

"The diorama is inaccurate both scientifically and anthropologically and is considered to be a work of fiction. Anthropologists, zoologists, and museum studies commentators have been critical of the piece since the 1890s. The Smithsonian Institution questioned the propriety of showing such a sensationalist diorama in 1892. Lion Attacking a Dromedary was removed from the American Museum of Natural History in 1898 and they considered destroying it because the museum felt that the diorama was "too emotional and distracting for educational purposes.""

As of today, the head has been removed from the mannequin inside the case, and it is currently undergoing DNA analysis in hopes of repatriating the remains to their country of origin. While the lions used in the scene are an extinct subspecies, they and the camel will not be put back on display to the general public, though may be used by researchers behind the scenes. The mismatched clothes on the mannequin will also stay in the museum's collection.

CMNH does currently display several life casts and sculpts of humans, particularly in their Hall of American Indians and Hall of Arctic Life. Notably, these have been made with the consent of the person portrayed, and credit of the models is listed on signage.

*As an aside, I think the phone camera lens cancelled out some of the tint(???) because I took a picture and could see SO MUCH more of the display than I feel was supposed to be visible. In person, the front looked much more like the above (very quickly edited for demonstration) - just a vague, blurry silhouette. The effect is visible on the final sign photo above, I so I think it's just a weird quirk of the camera?

[not100bees]

lynda carter tumblr's number 1 celeb and the subject of a very compelling art piece i once saw at the carnagie art institute in pittsburgh

[longlistshort]

The National Museum is a public art project founded and curated by Jon Rubin and presented by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Different artists are invited to change the name of the museum and an essay is written using the title as a jumping off point. The first iteration is by artist and writer Pablo Helguera.

About the project from Jon Rubin’s website–

The National Museum repeatedly asks which stories, histories and futures are deemed worth saving and which are ignored or forgotten. Each month, a different artist is invited to change the name of the museum and a national writer is invited to use that museum title as the jumping off point for an essay. In its first year, the project currently consists of storefront signage, street posters, printed broadsheets, a website and monthly accompanying essays.

When a name starts with “The National Museum” it triggers contentious and political associations with borders, nationhood, even citizenship and belonging. Who gets to determine the belonging of an entire group of people bound only by the fact of their geographical location. There’s something absurd about that, if you think about it. Instead of claiming ownership over a diverse populous or even a disparate set of objects, can the notion of the “national” be rethought as something that is less tangible, less object-oriented?

There is a fundamental hubris and absurdity in calling something, anything, a museum, let alone The National Museum. But, in many ways, it’s really no different than any other museum that someone, usually with far more money, privilege, and power than any of my artist peers or myself, has simply made up. So, in a way, the project functions as a kind of loophole or work-around, a participatory fiction that allows a variety of artists to put forth an ongoing series of grand propositions, a theoretical institution that repeatedly brings into question the certainty and reality of our pre-existing institutions.

The National Museum elucidates how museums, especially national ones, are perhaps no different than the nation-states in which they reside. Each is an imagined political construct, a collective fiction used to collect, categorize, narrativize, and control. Throughout modern history museums have used the collections they steward and the stories they tell to validate extractive legacies of colonialism. And, although our current museums, both national and private, are staffed by people with experience in the arts and humanities, the ultimate decision-makers in many of these institutions are wealthy donors and trustees who derive financial benefits from, and exert ideological control over, the fundamental mission of museums. So, while the general public think museums are nominally for “everyone,” the truth is that they are delimited by economic, geographic, racial, and cultural boundaries that restrict their function, design, and access to select publics.

Pablo Helguera’s essay on building façades as art and metaphor, Creditable Unrealities, is included on the broadsheet for the project (as well as his Substack Beautiful Eccentrics), and is a highly enjoyable read.

It includes this passage on how he came up with his name for the museum-

“Ultimately, I reasoned that façades are  the most direct indicator of the time when they were built:  they are the things that we try to use as visual reference to identify a city we know in a historic photograph; they are time markers. And when it comes to museums, they traditionally seek to project timelessness, especially those august institutions whose neoclassic façades promise a container of art for the ages. So I thought that this façade should be the threshold not of art history but of our own awareness of that history and our minuscule place in it, knowing that the present that we are living so vividly will soon wash away, largely unimportant within the broader scope of human life. In 2001, doing research on people who consumed ecstasy, I was struck by the effect that their drug had in some people’s temporal awareness, and how it resonated with my own  (drug-free) experiences. Thus the phrase “I have nostalgia for the moment I am living”, which gave the inaugural title to the National Museum.”

The next iteration of the museum will feature Edgar Heap of Birds (Hock E Aye Vi). The broadside will be written by poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate Suzan Shown Harjo.

[thenovotnys]

Queer as Folk (US) Locations - Season 4

This part includes places seen on Season 4.

1.

Justin, Melanie, Lindsay and Gus are in front of 542 Church Street. (from episode 401)

2.

Brian persuades a store owner to advertise his business. The store is at 263 Queen Street East. (from episode 402)

3.

The boys walk on Front Street East, near St Lawrence Market. (from episode 403 and 412)

4.

Emmett argues with Michael. They are in front of 3-5 Church Street, across Brian’s loft. (from episode 403)

5.

Justin, Cody and Pink Posse patrol on Front Street East. (from episode 403)

6.

A day with Justin and Cody. They look at used books in Acadia Book Store, 232 Queen Street East. On other scene, Cody shows the boys how to fight in Sully’s Boxing, although I am not sure where the address was. (from episode 404)

7.

Ted walks with Melanie on Norman Jewison Park. It is also where Brian suggests Mr Remson to donate for Liberty Ride. (from episode 405 and 412)

8.

Lindsay runs under the showering rain to meet Sam on Toronto Dominion Centre. (from episode 406)

9.

Blake and Ted are in front of 964 Queen Street West, as seen on the scene. (from episode 406)

10.

Michael and Hunter are on Allan Gardens Park. (from episode 407)

11.

Ted is waiting for Blake on 333 Sherbourne Street. (from episode 407)

12.

Michael, Ben and Hunter ride the bike on Trinity Bellwoods Park. In other moment, Ben and Anthony walk on the same park. (from episode 408 and 410)

13.

The "Pittsburgh Institute of Fine Art" is on Shaw Street. (from episode 408)

14.

Debbie, Michael and Emmett go shopping for tombstone on Portrait Memorials Inc, 1059 Lakeshore Road East. (from episode 408)

15.

Brian tells Debbie about the big C in front of Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street West. (from episode 410)

16.

Emmett and Ted walk on Maitland Street. (from episode 412)

17.

Brian secretly walks to the spinning class, followed by Justin. It is on Gristmill Lane on Distillery District. (from episode 413)

18.

Carl proposes to Debbie on the parking lot across Woody’s on Church Street. (episode 413)

19.

The Liberty Ride participants make a stop at night on St. Joseph of Arimathea Orthodox Church at 510 Whitevale Road. (from episode 414)

20.

Brian and Michael stop in front of Whitevale Cemetery on Whitevale Road. (from episode 414)

21.

Although I cannot locate where Emmett and Ted spend the night, on the next day they are on Meadowvale Road. (from episode 414)

22.

Vic Grassi House is on Madison Avenue. (from episode 414)

Places that I cannot locate

Episode 401, Ben walks on a park calling Michael.

Episode 401, Michael and Hunter in a motel.

Episode 402, Ted says goodbye to Blake then leaves the building.

Episode 402, The Fairy gathering.

Episode 405, Justin and Cody meet Chris Hobbs.

Episode 405, Debbie and Emmett look for perfect gift for Vic and Rodney.

Episode 407, the burial of Vic.

Episode 408, the gallery.

Episode 408, Michael and Justin have lunch with Brett Keller.

Episode 410, Debbie meets Joan in church.

Episode 410, Ben talks to Anthony in library.

Episode 411, Debbie and Emmett meet Carl in the ball.

Episode 411, Sidney Bloom Gallery.

Episode 411, Hunter and Callie make out in the car on a parking lot.

Episode 411, the stadium where Drew has a match.

Episode 413, Brett Keller’s house.

Previous list: Queer as Folk Locations - Season 3

Next list: Queer as Folk Locations - Season 5

[spatheandspadix]

When I first visited the Eden Hall campus in 2018 I was new in town, just under a year past defending and had been out of work the whole time, but they needed somebody to develop and teach the new forestry class and were willing to take a chance on a recent graduate with little teaching experience. I saw the prominent wolf tree art in the hall-an emblem of land-use history and post-agricultural landscapes, a facilitator, a pattern driver, the study system of my first solo project, the reason I stayed in Athens one last summer sleeping on a floor and staying late at the lab instead of doing whatever it is you’re supposed to do when you’re hopelessly unemployed-and hoped it was a good omen.

I just finished teaching the forestry class for the 5th time. I’ve published research with my whole class, hosted four end-of-semester forest feasts, and just finished collecting another dataset, this time with students from two different classes at two different institutions. It’s a one-semester adjunct gig, but has been the most stable thing in my life since I moved here and one of the only aspects of life in Pittsburgh that feels like home.

[mybeingthere]

CLAUDE CONOVER (1907 - 1994)

Born in Pittsburgh and educated at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Conover worked as a commercial designer for over 30 years before turning full-time to ceramics, the techniques of which he taught himself.

The majority of Conover’s works are variations on a single form – a vase or vessel with curved body and narrow neck. He does not throw these pieces on a wheel but constructs them from rolled clay slabs, patted and smoothed into place by hand. Although Conover’s large impressive pots are his best work, he also made other forms, such as bowls, lamps, and ceramic animal sculpture. (Frank Landau).

[abwwia]

Hillary Steel, Tikkun Olam - Repair the World, Handweaving, Ikat Resist Dyeing, Sewing, Cotton 87” x 102” x 1”

Hillary Steel #bornonthisday is a teacher and artist who specializes in weaving and resist dyeing.

www.hillarysteel.com

She incorporates ikat and shibori (jaspe and amarras) into her hand woven wall pieces. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. After graduation, she studied textiles via post-baccalaureate course work at Buffalo State College and the University of Pittsburgh as well as through travel to Cote d’Ivoire, Peru, Chile and Mexico. Hillary received a Masters in Teaching degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. She has worked in public and private schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Washington DC metropolitan area as an artist in residence, creating site-specific collaborative textiles with students. Via art. state .gov

#HillarySteel #artherstory #artbywomen #womensart #palianshow #weaving #textileart