#event › art institute grand reopening.

[promarkitbusiness]

London Celebrates Grand Reopening as City Emerges Stronger Than Ever

London, the iconic capital city of the United Kingdom, is buzzing with excitement and anticipation as it celebrates its grand reopening today. After facing unprecedented challenges over the past two years, the city is ready to showcase its resilience and bounce back stronger than ever.

With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the successful rollout of vaccination programs pro markit business, London is finally able to embrace a sense of normalcy. As residents and visitors alike step foot on the vibrant streets, there is an air of joy and relief, knowing that the worst is behind them.

The city's famous landmarks, such as the majestic Big Ben, the historic Tower Bridge, and the world-renowned Buckingham Palace, are once again welcoming tourists from around the globe. The familiar sight of double-decker red buses traversing the streets and black cabs gracefully navigating the city's roads signals a return to the vibrant energy that London is known for.

Cultural institutions are also reopening their doors to the public, eager to showcase their art, history, and creativity. Museums like the British Museum, Tate Modern, and the National Gallery are ready to delight visitors with their impressive collections, while theaters in the West End are preparing to stage captivating performances that will once again enchant audiences.

London's thriving hospitality industry is experiencing a revival, with restaurants, cafes, and pubs excitedly serving patrons indoors. Food enthusiasts can savor a diverse range of cuisines, from traditional fish and chips to international culinary delights, while enjoying the unique atmosphere that only London can offer.

The reopening of London also brings a renewed focus on sustainability and green initiatives. The city's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint is evident through the increased presence of electric vehicles, the expansion of cycling lanes, and the development of green spaces within the urban landscape. Londoners and visitors alike can now explore the city with a cleaner and greener conscience.

As the city welcomes the world once again, Londoners are taking this opportunity to celebrate their unity and diversity. Festivals, parades, and community events are being organized to commemorate the city's resilience and to honor the tireless efforts of healthcare workers, frontline heroes, and the local community in overcoming the challenges of the past years.

London's grand reopening signifies a new chapter, where the city emerges from the darkness of the pandemic with a renewed sense of purpose and determination. The spirit of London, known for its indomitable resilience, is shining through as it stands tall as a symbol of hope and recovery.

As visitors and residents soak up the vibrant atmosphere, explore the city's rich heritage, and enjoy the warm hospitality, London is reminding the world that it is a destination like no other—a city that has weathered storms throughout history and continues to be an inspiring beacon of strength and unity.

So, as London reopens its doors to the world, let us celebrate the triumph of this remarkable city and embrace the opportunity to experience the magic of London once again.

[sinfvlsovls]

LOCATION.  art institute of chicago.

STATUS.  open to anyone !   (  @crimsonstarters​  )

GOD KNOWS WHY HE'D CHOSEN this particular painting to idle at, wasting away precious seconds of his time examining the ghastly art piece. of course, stefano knew that art was subjective—merely a matter of what conjured up certain emotions within a person. but, right now, all the old couple with the pitchfork were making him feel was unsettled. there's a faint crease along his forehead and he's wearing a frown that he's sure is visible from the other side of the room. it takes him a moment but when a shadowed figure ghosts in his peripheral, he finds himself unable to suppress the thoughts orbiting his brain. “ it's just so ... grim, isn't it? ” he poses the question to his newfound companion, green-flecked eyes still glued to the painting. “ i mean, sure, it's impressive in its own right but, there's just something so fucking creepy about it. ” it's then that stefano turns his attention toward the other. “ you ever saw the halloween parody of it? nothing disturbed my childhood like it. ”

[rosesjustdie]

event starter: open to everyone location: art institute, grand reopening

gods rosie had always loved this place, the paintings telling their own stories and the vivid memories of her mother taking her to see them when she was little. of course she’d had no idea that her daughter would fall in love with the stuff and that she would make a career out of art, but it was nice to at least get to think of the good times. standing in front of a painting she could only smile as she felt someone stand next to her, “did you know this actually used to be an olympic sport? they really used to consider being a talented artist to the same level as being an accomplished sportsman.”

[crimsoncityhq]

The night is long awaited not just by the poets and artists of Chicago, but by the tourists and the show boaters with their glistening watches and red bottomed pumps, as well. It’s been about a year and a half since the art museum looked this immaculate, unwavering despite a violent past of explosions and gunfire that once brought the landmark crumbling to its foundation. the lives and priceless artifacts lost not so long ago are honored tonight through the grand reopening of the Art Institute of Chicago ! 

Anyone who’s anyone around Chicago make their way to the museum, all dolled up in their finest gowns and black-tie apparel, this time sans the masks that came with the tragedy of that Halloween ordeal. As far as the papers know, it was the O’Sheas who destroyed the museum, so it only makes sense the Walshes boast their ever-so-charitable donation to the reconstruction efforts. That’s why they’re here tonight, actually—to be celebrated for their contribution while the guests indulge in wine tastings, an open bar, reproduction art and live music provided by local Chicago artists. 

Of course, a place cursed with so much bad history won’t be without its troubles. The rest of the families are bound to turn up as well, and with the Walshes identified as the greed-hungry harvesters who robbed innocents of their peace of mind, they’re angry. For the time being, the night stays peaceful, but they’re on the hunt for Walsh faces in the crowd. 

Let’s hope yours isn’t one of them.

The Grand Reopening of the Art Institute of Chicago event has begun ! Starting NOW, 7:00 P.M. EST, your characters are the esteemed guests of the art museum. This part of the event will conclude on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 at 9:00 P.M. EST. 

[ultraheydudemestuff]

Cedarville Opera House

78 N. Main St.

Cedarville, Ohio

The Cedarville Opera House is a historic theater in the village of Cedarville, Ohio. Erected in 1888 on Main Street in downtown Cedarville, it has been a premier part of community life since its construction. The original frame of the Cedarville Opera House was constructed in 1886 only to be destroyed by fire within the year. The architectural plans for the current brick Opera House, built in 1888, were brought to Cedarville from England by Cedarville native Whitelaw Reid. Whitelaw Reid was a noted publisher and US Ambassador to England and France and his portrait hangs above the Opera House stage. The design of the Opera House is a 1/3 scale model of the Royal Albert Hall in London. John W. McLean of Cedarville built the structure.

Built of brick with elements of stone, the opera house is a Romanesque Revival structure that has served a wide range of purposes in the community. Besides its primary function as a home for the performing arts, the two-and-a-half-story building has housed the offices of Cedarville's mayor and village council, its jail, its fire and police departments, its waterworks, as well as the township trustees' office for Cedarville Township. When Cedarville's was built, the opera house as an institution was a center of social life in rural Ohio. The public sphere was nearly nonexistent except for the village opera house, which typically served as a meeting place for travelling vaudeville acts, political events, musical performances, and graduation ceremonies. Because the first floor has always been used as offices for the various organizations that used the building, public events were typically held on the second floor, which has been little modified by the years. It is one of Ohio's least changed historic performance halls.

In the late 1800s, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which ran through Cedarville, made the construction of an Opera House a logical step for a growing town. Over the next 60 years, the Cedarville Opera House became the center of community life, opening its doors to minstrel and medicine shows, touring drama groups, orators, political rallies, magic lantern shows, and high school and college graduations, and other programs. Due to the advances in transportation and greater accessibility to outside entertainment, the Opera House closed its doors in 1956 and remained unused except by bats and pigeons for the next nearly 30 years. When it was discovered that one of the main beams was deteriorating and demolition became a possibility, a new interest in the old structure began to emerge.

Thus, in the early 1980s, concerned citizens took a revived interest in the opera house and banded together, and the Historic Preservation Commission of Cedarville, Inc. (HPCC) was born. Through the concerted efforts of the HPCC and the Cedarville Township Trustees, a levy for the restoration of the opera house was placed on the ballot. With the passage of this levy, restoration began. The first step of the cleaning and repairing process was to remove tons of droppings. Holes in the ceiling were then repaired, the ceiling beam reinforced, the slate roof restored, and the chimney and bell tower repaired. In 1984, the Opera House was placed on the Historic Preservation Commission of Cedarville, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its historically significant architecture and because of its place in local history. It is one of two National Register-listed properties in Cedarville and one of two National Register-listed opera houses in Greene County, along with the Harper Mausoleum and George W. Harper Memorial Entrance and the Jamestown Opera House respectively.

Citizens helped restore and rebuild the building, and in 1994, the Cedarville Opera House reopened. The grand re-opening of the Cedarville Opera House took place on Labor Day 1994 with the enactment of Oh, Cedarville, a play written and produced by a member of the Society depicting the history of the town. The play was presented by members of the community and included segments about noted personalities from Cedarville. In October 1994, the Historic Preservation Commission of Cedarville extended an invitation to other interested citizens to form a new organization which would continue restoration and oversee future operations of the Opera House. The following year, in January 1995, the Opera House, with a newly organized committee, was incorporated as the Cedarville Opera House Society, Inc. (aka COHS). By-laws were adopted, Board of Directors officers elected, and monthly and annual meetings were established. Since then, a full array of programs including music, theater, movies, and literary recitals have been held for public enjoyment to provide quality entertainment and programs with as much "local" talent as possible. In 2013, the Cedarville Opera House celebrated its 125th Anniversary.

[architectnews]

Mingei International Museum San Diego

Mingei International Museum San Diego Building, New California Architecture Photos

Mingei International Museum in San Diego

September 3, 2021

Design: LUCE et studio / Inside Outside | Petra Blaisse

Location: Mingei International Museum, Plaza de Panama, Balboa Park, San Diego, California, USA

photo Courtesy of Mingei International Museum

– Mingei Partners with San Diego Favorite Urban Kitchen Group for Innovative On-Site Dining Experience

– Renovated and Reimagined Mingei International Museum Reopens with Folk Art, Craft and Design Infused into Every Element

– Mingei International Museum Grand Reopening Set for September 3, 2021

The Museum will reopen to the public on September 3, 2021, exactly three years after closing for a transformative construction project. Entry into the Museum Labor Day weekend, Friday, September 3 through Monday, September 6, will be free for all as a gift to San Diego. The Museum will be open 10am-5pm, seven days a week, with expanded evening hours until 8pm on Thursdays and Fridays.

Mingei International Museum in San Diego

Reopening of Mingei International Museum in San Diego

Great spaces inspire great exchanges.

Mingei International Museum has embarked on a major transformation of its facility on the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park, one that redefines its relationship to the Park, the San Diego region and the world. The plan expresses a dynamically renewed commitment to the Museum’s vision and the community it serves.

photo Courtesy of Mingei International Museum

“It’s an important moment to aspire to a big gesture of change. This project with Mingei is a perfect confluence—it’s about the Park, the craft of fine art, and good design. And it’s one of the most authentic and humble institutions in the city that I believe in. It couldn’t be a better fit.” – Jennifer Luce Founder and Principal, LUCE et studio

Through a series of visitor surveys, stakeholder interviews and tours of other museums, Mingei reaffirmed its mission to open up the Museum space for maximum engagement and collaboration and expand access to collections, exhibitions and educational programming.

A free plaza level places visitors at the center.

Architect Jennifer Luce, Founder & Principal, LUCE et studio: photo Courtesy of LUCE et studio

Art belongs to everyone. With a gallery, store, restaurant and center for learning, the free plaza level features multiple public entries on east and west, opening the Museum to expansive meeting, making and learning opportunities:

– lively new civic space to gather on the Plaza Level, with free admission for everyone – inviting courtyard next to the Plaza de Panama and upper-level terraces with breathtaking views – dedicated education center for K-12 students and for people of all ages to engage in hands-on artmaking – beautiful theater for performances, lectures and demonstrations – stunning galleries and library upstairs, with access to the House of Charm’s iconic tower – inspired shopping and dining

Theater – The second level is devoted to exhibitions and research, with its main galleries and art and media library. Mingei is also giving back to the City of San Diego through the addition of open space and restoration of its historic home, The House of Charm: photo Courtesy of Mingei International Museum

The plan will transform the non-functional loading dock into a new Theater for lectures, concerts, films, dinners and other events. The Theater opens directly to the landscape and to Palm Canyon beyond.

Theater building in the evening:

photos Courtesy of Mingei International Museum

Inside Outside | Petra Blaisse Delivers a Sitespecific Intervention

Inside Outside Contributes To Commissions Featuring Acclaimed Women Artists

A Reimagined Museum

On September 3, 2021, Mingei International Museum will reap the fruits of a transformative period, topping off a three-year hiatus with newly commissioned artworks, dynamic exhibitions and a program tending to increased accessibility and inclusivity. As an acclaimed institution that prides itself on a commitment to art, craft and design that is by and for the people, the reopening marks a peak in its civic and functional engagement. Inside Outside | Petra Blaisse has joined an inspirational collaboration initiated by LUCE et Studio for a new wing, to ensure that the museum’s ethos of merging craftsmanship with the community is infused throughout the very building.

Mingei International Museum San Diego courtyard:

A lineup of five acclaimed, female artists – Petra Blaisse, Claudy Jongstra, Christina Kim, Jennifer Luce, Sharon Stampfer and Billie Tsien – have installed a series of interventions in the building that enrich the formal and conceptual dialogue with the architecture and collection. Each of the commissions serves as a stand-alone creation while simultaneously functioning as elements that are imaginatively and technically woven into the building’s public spaces.

Mingei International Museum courtyard furniture: photograph Courtesy of Mingei International Museum

Intersecting Art and Architecture

As a studio devoted to resisting prescriptive environments, Inside Outside has become wellversed in making the conversation between a building and its temporary inhabitants matter. With this approach, Inside Outside has aligned with LUCE et Studio and the Mingei International Museum’s mission to deepen the connection between the building’s art and architecture, underpinned by the broadened scope of the user’s psychological, cultural, visual and auditory relation to the space.

Inside Outside’s contribution is Sessions – a billowing, layered curtain installation that flows from a point in the concrete side wall along the entire length of the 40-foot retractable glass wall in the new, multipurpose theater. The doublesided felt and voile textile produces different optic effects, when seen from either inside the auditorium or from the adjacent garden, creating an enticing liminality between the inside and outside. The outer environment also comes into play in the curtain’s abstracted pattern, which draws inspiration from the jacaranda tree leaf that was first introduced to Balboa Park, home to the Mingei Museum, by the botanist Kate Sessions.

The piece is a direct nod to a long legacy of community engagement that this jacarandadevotee brought to the city of San Diego. The curtain acts as a filter for acoustics and light, grounding performers and guests into a soothing atmosphere. But as the pattern is punctuated by irregularities, light seeps through in different intensities and brings a playful expectancy in accordance with the theater’s spectacles-to-come – placing the commission on the cusp of settling and surprising visitors.

Address: Plaza de Panama, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, United States of America

San Diego Buildings

San Diego Buildings

Contemporary San Diego Buildings – recent selection:

Formation Installations, San Diego, CA, USA Artist Mark Reigelman photography : Pablo Mason / Mark Reigelman II Formation Installations at San Diego International Airport

The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, Embarcadero, San Diego waterfront Design: Tucker Sadler Architects ; performance shell design: Soundforms image courtesy of architects practice The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

Del Mar Civic Center, Del Mar, California, USA Architects: Miller Hull Partnership photography © Chipper Hatter Del Mar Civic Center in San Diego County, California

ADU – Garage Conversion Architects: Losada Garcia Architects picture courtesy of architects office San Diego Garage Remodel

US Fish and Wildlife Service Administrative Headquarters Design: Line and Space photo : Mike Torrey San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Building

Architecture in California

Californian Architects

Los Angeles Architecture News

Contemporary California Buildings

Orum Residence, Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, USA Design: SPF:architects photo © Matthew Momberger New Residence in Bel-Air

American Architecture Studios

Comments / photos for the Mingei International Museum, Plaza de Panama, Balboa Park, San Diego, California page welcome

The post Mingei International Museum San Diego appeared first on e-architect.

[armeniaitn]

Virtual Exhibition Highlighting Diasporan Armenian Responses to Occupied Artsakh Launched in April

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/culture/virtual-exhibition-highlighting-diasporan-armenian-responses-to-occupied-artsakh-launched-in-april-72970-04-05-2021/

Virtual Exhibition Highlighting Diasporan Armenian Responses to Occupied Artsakh Launched in April

“Sites of Fracture: Diasporic “Imaginings of Occupied Artsakh” exhibition launched on April 19

GLENDALE—Glendale Library Arts & Culture and ReflectSpace Gallery present “Sites of Fracture: Diasporic Imaginings of Occupied Artsakh,” a virtual exhibition that brings together diasporan Armenian artists—from the United States, Canada, and Germany—to build collective counter-narratives to the forces of occupation and cultural erasure in the Republic of Artsakh. The exhibition launched on April 19.

In September 2020, the autocratic state of Azerbaijan invaded the Republic of Artsakh and initiated an campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting its Indigenous Armenian population. With a vastly out-financed military and direct support from Turkey, Azerbaijan succeeded in occupying large swaths of Artsakh. In the process, thousands lost their lives and 100,000 Armenians were displaced from their ancestral homes.

The global Armenian diaspora was gripped by the collective trauma of watching a campaign of ethnic cleansing unfold via digital screens and televisual transmissions. As Indigenous Armenian heritage faced systematic destruction, a cadre of diasporan Armenian artists responded with projects that counter the attempted erasure of Armenian identities, histories, and cultural artifacts.

Artists and cultural workers in the exhibit include Kamee Abrahamian, Ali Cat/Entangled Roots Press, Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Naré Mkrtchyan, Nelli Sargsyan, She Loves Collective, Scout Tufankjian, Anahid Yahjian and Yerazad Coalition.

“Sites of Fracture” also gestures towards the repatriation of ancestral lands. The virtual exhibition takes place in the photographically reconstructed fortress of the city of Shushi—Artsakh’s historical cultural capital, now occupied by Azerbaijan. In the process, “Sites of Fracture” imagines decolonized futures for Shushi, envisioning an independent Republic of Artsakh wherein Indigenous communities exercise the right to have been granted the right to self-governance and cultural autonomy.

“Sites of Fracture: Diasporic Imaginings of Occupied Artsakh” is co-curated by Mashinka Firunts Hakopian, Ara Oshagan, and Anahid Oshagan and is part of the Glendale Library Arts & Culture’s Armenian Genocide Remembrance Month. The exhibition launches on April 19 in a 3D virtual gallery accessible through the ReflectSpace Gallery website: www.reflectspace.org.

“Sites of Fracture” is also part of the Glendale Library Arts & Culture’s “Be the Change” series focuses on: Inclusion – Diversity – Equity – Antiracism. “Be The Change” events will build collective understanding of systemic racism, elevate the voices and stories of BIPOC, and inspire our community to be the change. “Be The Change” is sponsored by the City of Glendale, California Arts and Culture Commission, with funding from the City of Glendale Urban Art Fund.

ReflectSpace Gallery at the Glendale Central Library opened in 2017 when the library reopened after a major renovation. It came at the behest of The Glendale City Council for a city space to address the Armenian Genocide and other human atrocities. ReflectSpace is an exhibition space designed to explore and reflect on genocides, human and civil rights violations. Immersive in conception, ReflectSpace is a hybrid space that exhibits contemporary art as well as archives, employing installation, technology and interactive media to engage viewers on an emotional and personal level. ReflectSpace strives to reflect the past and present of Glendale’s communal fabric and interrogate current-day global human rights issues.

Kamee Abrahamian is a supreme hyphenate who arrives in the world today as an interdisciplinary writer-artist-producer-performer-organizer and a non-binary, queer-feminist caregiver. They grew up in an immigrant suburb of Toronto and was born into an Armenian family displaced from the SWANA region. Kamee’s work is steeped with relational and generative practices oriented towards ancestral reclamation, visionary fiction, and diasporic futurism. They hold a BFA/BA in film and political science (Concordia University), an MA in expressive art therapy (European Graduate Institute), and a PhD (ABD) in community liberation, indigenous and eco psychologies (Pacifica Graduate Institute). Kamee has published plays, literary and academic writing, while organizing and presenting films, artwork, staged performances and workshops internationally. Recent projects worth mention are “Ensouled,” “Hok Danil,” “Transmission,” and “Dear Armen.”

Ali Cat/Entangled Roots Press is an artist and print maker living on unceded Cowlitz, Multnomah and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde land at the confluence of two rivers, also known as Portland, Oregon. She produces her work under the name Entangled Roots Press. Her prints mingle the literal and metaphorical to illuminate and comment upon the world around us. Relief, screen, and letterpress prints span from the carnage of clear-cuts to the beauty of peoples movements. Ali’s prints pull from ancestral herstories and push towards liberatory futures; entangling lessons from gardens, symbols in coffee cups, woven threads from Armenia and Euskal Herria, to the printed page. Ali received her BFA at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland. She completed an artist-residency at Proyecto’ace in Buenos Aires in 2014, and was a member of Flight 64, a member-run, nonprofit print studio, from 2015 to 2018. Ali currently works as the Print Studio Technician at PNCA.

Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, born in Buenos Aires, lives and works in Berlin. Her work explores themes of belonging, the role of minorities in society, and the potential of an “in-between” space. Memory and working with archives are the focus of her artistic exploration. She is the artistic director of the Houshamadyan project, a multimedia memory book for Armenian Ottoman history. Silvina Der-Meguerditchian was a fellow at the Tarabya Academy of Culture in 2014/15. In the summer of 2015, she participated in Armenity, the Armenian pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, which was awarded the Golden Lion for the best national representation. In the fall of 2015, she curated the exhibition “ENKEL, new geographies of belonging” in Istanbul. Since 2014, she has worked with “Women mobilizing memory,” a group of artists, writers, museologists, social activists, and memory and memorial scholars working internationally. In 2020, her film “The Wishing Tree” was awarded with a Special Mention at the Sharjah Film Platform. Her first personal catalog with VFMK (Verlag für Moderne Kunst) has just been published in January 2021.

Naré Mkrtchyan was born in Armenia and raised in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. She has written, directed and produced over sixty projects, including her latest which was a Netflix original. Her documentary The Other Side of Home remains the only Armenian Genocide film to be shortlisted for Oscar. Her passion is telling unique human stories that connect people and move beyond the boundaries of nationality, gender, and religion.

Nelli Sargsyan is an associate professor of anthropology at Emerson College, Boston, MA. As a feminist, Sargsyan situates herself at the disciplinary intersections of political anthropology, queer studies, and critical race studies, among others. In her scholarly-poetic work and teaching Sargsyan is interested in stretching disciplinary and genre boundaries to explore the multi-sensory possibilities of feminist world-making. Most recently she has been interested in political work that cultivates feminist consciousness and collective care, whether it be through direct street action, public performance, or feminist fabulation. Sargsyan’s work has appeared in academic journals such as “Feminist Formations, History and Anthropology,” and “Feminist Anthropology,” as well as on online platforms such as “ARTMargins,” “Public Seminar,” and “Socioscope.”

SheLovesCollective is an alliance of women artists who share a strong belief in the power of creating social change through art. On October 11th, 2020 the collective launched a performance art piece entitled, The Rifles Our Ancestors Didn’t Have in response to the war that reignited on September 27, 2020 in the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.

Scout Tufankjian has spent the bulk of her career working in the Middle East, but is best known for her work documenting both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Her book on the 2007 to 2008 campaign, “Yes We Can: Barack Obama’s History-Making Presidential Campaign” was a New York Times and LA Times bestseller. Her second book, “There is Only the Earth: Images from the Armenian Diaspora Project,” is the culmination of six years documenting Armenian communities in over 20 different countries. More recently, she has worked for the HALO Trust in Nagorno-Karabakh and Angola, and has served as a temporary acting director of Committee to Protect Journalists’s Emergency Response Team. She is a two-time TUMO Workshop leader, in Yerevan and Stepanakert, and continues to work as a freelance photographer and as a consultant for both RISC Training and Committee to Protect Journalists. More of her work can be seen on her website.

Anahid Yahjian is an independent writer, director and producer of experimental, documentary and narrative cinema. Her commitment to telling true stories (even if they come from her imagination) was shaped by an early love for visual storytelling that was formalized in college and took flight during her coming of age in Armenia. There, she produced the internationally-awarded narrative short 140 Drams (Camerimage, Clermont-Ferrand 2013), laid the creative groundwork for the feature documentary Spiral (IDFA Bertha Fund 2015, Golden Apricot 2017) and shot and directed the viral digital documentary LEVON: A Wondrous Life (2013). Since returning to her native Los Angeles, she shot and directed the experimental cine-triptych, Corpus Callosum (2014-2016) and directed the narrative science-fiction short Transmission (BFI Flare, Vancouver QFF 2019). She splits her time between Yerevan, Sofia (her birthplace), Los Angeles (her home), and New York City.

Yerazad Coalition is an action coalition dedicated to Armenian liberation and building transnational solidarity. Yerazad’s work encompasses policy action, coalition building, and environmental justice. Its core members include Carene Rose Mekertichyan, Joel Mardirossian, Joy Mardirossian, Brian Damerau, and Arya Jamal.

Read original article here.

[wallpaperpainting]

12 Ways On How To Prepare For Room Painting Designs | room painting designs

Art Industry Account is a circadian abstract of the best consequential developments advancing out of the art apple and art market. Here’s what you charge to apperceive on this Monday, May 11.

Milan Asks Architects for Advice Administration Amusing Distancing – As Milan—one of the cities hardest hit by the COVID-19 beginning in Europe—prepares to access appearance two of its reopening process, bounded leaders are allurement its abounding architecture experts and architects for help. Authorities accept issued a alarm for applied proposals that will acquiesce businesses like restaurants to accessible while administration social-distancing measures through artistic attic affairs and partitions. All proposals will be fabricated about available. (designboom)

Will Coronavirus Change the Chemical Composition of Artworks Forever? – According to Francesca Casadio, administrator of absorption and science at the Art Institute of Chicago, the acknowledgment is yes. She and her aeon accept formed adamantine to clue bottomward a antibacterial that can accumulate the building ambiance safe for visitors afterwards harming the art. And akin admitting she’s begin one (it’s alleged Thymol, if you’re curious), she envisions a approaching in which conservators are acceptable to acquisition aerosol of this or added charwoman agents on artworks—a diminutive admonition of the coronavirus era. (ARTnews)

Gagosian Sells a Above Cecily Brown Online – The mega-gallery auspiciously awash the British painter’s 2001 assignment Figures in a Landscape 1, which was priced at $5.5 actor (about $1 actor beneath than the artist’s accepted bargain record). The auction was accomplished on the aftermost day of a committed examination allowance set up by the gallery, which ran from May 4 to 10. Coinciding with Frieze Week, the online aperture was brimming abounding of video content, art-market research, and added accretion and whistles advised to accomplish the Brown auction feel like a bazaar event. This is Gagosian’s priciest basic auction aback Albert Oehlen’s Untitled (1988), which awash for $6 actor aftermost March from a examination allowance that coincided with Art Basel Hong Kong. (Press release)

Upstate New York Museums Prepare (Cautiously) to Reopen – Under New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s latest rules, upstate museums will get the blooming ablaze to accessible able-bodied afore art institutions in New York City. And while arts institutions are currently listed as appearance four of the reopening plan, some upstate arts leaders are lobbying to be included in appearance three, alienated that they can appropriately amusing ambit at ample venues like Dia:Beacon. (New York Times)

La Biennale Paris Cancels 2020 Archetype – The latest accident to alarm off its 2020 archetype is La Biennale Paris, one of the world’s best arresting art and antiques fairs. The fair was due to be captivated at the Grand Palais from September 18 through

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[tsgneworleanslouisiana]

The Scouted Calendar: November 13th - 19th

NOLA is a buzz because holiday shopping season is here. Here is a list of events we have scouted to help you kick off the season in style!

Wednesday, November 15th

Fairfax Fabric Company welcomes New Orleans artist By Smith for a trunk show on Wednesday, November 15th from 1 pm - 6 pm. 

Neal Auction’s Evening Preview Reception for the Louisiana Purchase Auction is from 5-8 pm. Enjoy cocktails while previewing the collection set to auction on Friday, November 17th, Saturday, November 18th and Sunday, November 19th. More details here. 

NOLA Couture moved its flagship location to 3308 Magazine Street and they’re celebrating with a grand reopening party on Wednesday, November 15th from 5-8 pm. Enjoy mini poke bowls from Poke Loa, cocktails, sales and gift card giveaways every hour. 

Join Peony after hours with champagne to start your holiday shopping. Party begins at 5 pm. 

Thursday, November 16th

Join Romney Studios every Thursday in November for a community class at The Shops at Canal Place on November 16th and November 30th.  There will be giveaways and special discounts for participants. Sign up here and make your health a priority this holiday season!

Friday, November 17th

Neal Auction’s The Louisiana Purchase Auction will feature 18th and 19th c. American, French and English antiques, important paintings, historical material and decorative arts especially consigned by discerning collectors, estates and institutions. For more information on the schedule, click here. 

Saturday, November 18th

T-Ray the Violinist joins Erin Romney at Romney Studios for Romney Ride class at 9:45 am and 10:45 am. Book your bike here and don’t miss their membership sale happening November 16th - 19th only. 

Sunday, November 19th

Neal Auction’s The Louisiana Purchase Auction will feature 18th and 19th c. American, French and English antiques, important paintings, historical material and decorative arts especially consigned by discerning collectors, estates and institutions. For more information on the schedule, click here. 

Sunday, November 19th

Neal Auction’s The Louisiana Purchase Auction will feature 18th and 19th c. American, French and English antiques, important paintings, historical material and decorative arts especially consigned by discerning collectors, estates and institutions. For more information on the schedule, click here. 

TELL THEM SCOUT SENT YOU!

—TAYLOR

[tsgjacksonholewyoming]

CITY CHEAT SHEET: A SUMMER TRAVEL GUIDE FOR JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING

Every summer, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, grows from a small Western frontier town of locals to a worldwide tourist destination for 3 million visitors. According to The Scout Guide Jackson Hole editor Jill King, the draw is easy to explain—as she puts it, “What’s prettier than the Tetons?” Thanks to endless vistas, frequent wildlife settings, down-home Western vibes, and plenty of alluring accommodations, restaurants, and shops to keep visitors happy, the town is an ideal place for a summer getaway (and a popular locale for couples tying the knot). Here, Jill, who is also the owner of staging and styling company Styling the New West, shares insider tips for enjoying her mountain city like a local in the summertime.

WHERE TO HAVE AN OUTDOOR ADVENTURE // With so many visitors flocking to Jackson Hole in the summer months, figuring out how to beat the crowds to the best hiking spots is a factor to consider when preparing for an outdoor excursion. Jill recommends getting up early to get a parking spot at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, where you can take a moderate hike to Phelps Lake. Or, get your heart rate going during a trek up Snow King, which includes 1.571 vertical feet of a 1.8-mile trail leading to the best views of downtown (don’t worry, for $5, you can ride the chairlift down). Jill also recommends seeing Grand Teton National Park from the water and the trails, or taking the scenic ferry ride across Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls or Inspiration Point.

Practically every local recommends that out-of-towners experience the Yellowstone Wildlife Safari from Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris, Jill says. “A day with an experienced naturalist exploring geology, wildlife, natural history, and our beautiful Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks viewing moose, elk, deer, bison, fox, coyote, bald eagles, wolves, and even black and grizzly bears is a must,” she advises.

If you’re looking for adventure on the water, Jill suggests renting a paddle board or inner tube from Rendezvous River Sports (945 West Broadway Street) and heading out early to String Lake for a day of sun, making sure to pack sandwiches from Pearl Street Bagel (145 West Pearl Avenue)or New York City Sub Shop (20 North Jackson Street) for lunch. “For a real local thrill, jump from the infamous rock in the middle of String Lake,” Jill adds.

While all of these outdoor excursions will be Instagram-worthy, Jill and many locals ask that you skip adding a location tag when posting on social media, in an effort to keep the trails and other favorite destinations uncrowded (those in-the-know use the hashtag #tagresponsiblykeepjackonwild). Another local tip: don’t forget to clip your bear spray onto your belt loop. Last but not least, Jill recommends using locally made, high-altitude sunscreen by Trilipiderm to protect your skin while you’re out and about.

WHERE TO DINE AND DRINK // For early-morning fare, Jill recommends heading to Healthy Being Juicery (165 East Broadway), where her favorite juice blends are the Kale Yeah or Sexy Maca. After a morning of hiking, refuel with pizza at local favorite Pinky Gs (50 West Broadway)—Jill says their gluten-free veggie pie is must-try. If you’re in need of an afternoon pick-me-up, indulge in the perfect European coffee, gelato, or a handcrafted Florentine at CocoLove (115 West Broadway) near the Wort Hotel.

Wind down after a day spent outdoors at Picas Mexican Restaurant (1160 Alpine Lane), where Jill likes to sit outside and sip one of the best and (cheapest) Margaritas in town with a side of warm, salty chips, authentic guacamole, and fresh salsa.

If you’re craving Italian for dinner, Jill suggests heading to Orsetto (161 North Center Street), where she recommends starting your meal with the housemade meatballs at the bar, followed by delicious Italian-American classics.

For a true Jackson Hole dinner experience, pay a visit to the old-fashioned soda fountain at the recently reopened institution Jackson Drug (15 East Deloney Avenue), known for its local beef and homemade ice cream. If you’re feeling up for the challenge, order “The Ralph Burger,” a three-pound organic beef hamburger with meat sourced from local legend Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch. If you can finish it by yourself in under an hour, your meal is free—plus you’ll get your photo on the wall.

If you’re seeking a great watering hole, you’re in luck. Jackson Hole is home to many iconic bars, including the famous Silver Dollar Bar at the Wort Hotel (50 Glenwood Street) and the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar (25 North Cache Street), where visitors can sit on a saddle and revisit the old west.

WHERE TO TAKE IN THE LOCAL ATTRACTIONS // The mountains aren’t Jackson Hole’s only claim to fame. Jill suggests grabbing a Start Bike and wheeling around town to see the famous Antler Arches (2-60 North Cache Street) and “Howdy, Stranger” sign at the top of Grand Teton Pass. She also recommends finding a spot to dip your toe in the Snake River, a local rite of passage.

For a touristy but picture-perfect vantage point, catch a ride in the old-fashioned Stagecoach at the Wooden Shack on Town Square (located at the corner of Broadway and Cache), and then grab some taffy from Yippy I-O Candy (84 East Broadway Avenue).

WHERE TO SHOP // Want to dress like a local? Jill has you covered. First stop: go to HideOut Leathers (40 Center Street) for the leather coat of a lifetime. Then, grab a Copperdot Leather Goods cowhide clutch from BelleCose (48 East Broadway Avenue). Pick up some new Levi’s and a custom pearl shirt from Western Range (36 East Broadway Avenue) and a new pair of cowboy boots from Wyoming Outfitters (12 Center Street). Last but not least, add a custom hat from Christy at Sing Hat Co. or from Sarah at Crown & Brim.

If you’re looking for a keepsake to commemorate the trip or simply seeking out a unique find, there are a variety of retailers to visit during an afternoon shopping excursion. Locals love to find vintage bargains at Womenfolk (140 East Broadway). Headwall Sports (520 U.S. 89) is the perfect place to find a backpack. Pick up a locally-inspired piece, like an antler bowl from Shawn Rivett Designs, at Twenty Two Home (45 East Deloney Avenue). Visit Altitude (48 East Broadway) and shop for a chic new sweater to keep you warm during cool mountain nights. Invest in a pair of Marsell boots from HABITS (35 West Deloney Avenue). Browse the western-chic attire at Rodeo at Teton Village. Or, if you prefer a sparkly souvenir, Jill recommends checking out the Teton Silhouette Ring or Snake River bangles from JC Jewelers Jackson Hole(132 North Cache Street).

WHAT NOT TO MISS // Experience the Jackson Hole Shootout every Monday through Saturday on the town square at 5:45. Saturdays, you’ll want to head to the Farmers Market in Town Square early in the morning and fill your basket with fresh cut flowers from Heides and feast on a breakfast of baked goods and fruit.

On Sundays, Jill loves to grab some charcuterie and a bottle of Prosecco  from Bin 22 (200 West Broadway) and head to “The Vill”—what locals call Teton Village—for Concerts on the Commons. Also on Sunday nights, you can experience cowboy “church” by dancing it up at The Stagecoach Bar (5755 West WY-22), where Jill recommends treating yourself to the truffle fries and a longneck.

Wednesday evenings, stop by the People’s Market, a zero-waste, family-friendly event with local food and live music at the base of Snow King, for a local craft beer and pub fare from Roadhouse—or, any day of the week, pick up a six pack from the brewery, head up to Snow King, and crush cans on the summit.

Wednesdays and Saturdays between Memorial Day and Labor Day (plus a few additional dates in July), go full wild west at the Jackson Hole Rodeo (447 Snow King Avenue), a tradition since the first cowboy settlers came to town more than a century ago. Jill is married to a cowboy rancher, and she loves that the Jackson Hole Rodeo delights tourists while also retaining an authentic local appeal. The views of the sun setting over the mountains from the Rodeo Grounds are pretty spectacular, too.

To learn about additional events in Jackson Hole, Jill recommends visiting the Center for the Arts website, as well as the events calendar maintained by nonprofit Center of Wonder. And, of course, follow The Scout Guide Jackson Hole for more insider information.

Photography by Sarah Averill Photography. Find more information about what to do and see in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, here.

[sinfvlsovls]

LOCATION.  art institute of chicago.

STATUS.  open to anyone !   (  @crimsonstarters​  )

VIBRANT BLUES DRINK IN THE sight before her, scrutinising every square inch of the canvas that hung on the wall in front of her, silently wondering about the unspoken tragedy that bled into each paint stroke. monika has never been one to stop and take a genuine interest in art but when faced with nothing but art, she did find herself somewhat fascinated by it. a figure glimmers in the corner of her eye and she manages to tear her attention away long enough to throw the other a fleeting glance. “ i've never really understood all the hype around van gogh. not with the likes of monet and da vinci out there. but every time i see this, the one thing i always come back to is that he cut off his own ear. never mind the fact he apparently gave it to a woman afterwards. ” at that, sculpted brows knit together in an expression closely resembling stupefaction. “ the poor fool. what a waste it is to have talent only for it to consume you to the point you shoot yourself dead. ”

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/travel/the-top-nine-reasons-to-visit-houston-in-2019/

The top nine reasons to visit Houston in 2019

(CNN) — From its integral role in the world’s first moon landing 50 years ago this July to a new lineup of appealing options in the arts and culinary scenes, Houston has never been more ripe for exploration.

It wins in the aesthetics department, too: The much-photographed skyline is dotted with skyscrapers in architectural styles ranging from Art Deco to minimalist, and this city of more than 2.3 million residents — the country’s fourth largest — has countless green spaces and parks for running, biking or simply unwinding under the big Texas sky.

The downtown Houston skyline is dotted with skyscrapers in a variety of architectural styles.

Visit Houston

While the greater Houston area is sprawling, many of the top travel attractions are concentrated in downtown. Tourists can get around this part of town by relying on the efficient Metro Rail system, but they’ll need a car to venture farther afield.

Coupled with its remarkable turnaround from 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, which caused an estimated $1.5 billion worth of damage to the city and forced thousands to be evacuated, Houston is hands down a must-visit destination this year.

Here’s what to do when you go to Houston with nine of its biggest travel draws:

Space

Space Center Houston

Situated in the Greater Houston area, this 250,000-square-foot homage to all things space should be at the top of the list for every tourist. “Visit Space Center Houston to experience the heart of human space exploration,” says William T. Harris, its president and CEO.

Space Center Houston is one of the city’s premier attractions. Visitors can easily spend half a day exploring the space-related artifacts and more.

Courtesy Space Center Houston

The Space Center Houston is also the official visitor’s center for the NASA Johnson Space Center, located across the street and home to the Mission Control Room, from which Apollo 11 — that incredible moon landing — and other missions were monitored.

Space Center Houston admission is $29.95 and includes a tram tour to see Johnson Space Center. It’s easy to pass a half day or more here. Space Center Houston has an impressive collection of space-related artifacts including multiple flown spacecrafts such as the Apollo 17 command module, used in the last manned mission to the moon in 1972. The center also has the world’s largest collection of moon rocks on public display.

Johnson’s Space Center Mission Control Room is being restored and wil be open to the public in July 2019.

NASA

Johnson Space Center, a National Historic Landmark, is undergoing a restoration of the Mission Control Room. When the restored room reopens in July, visitors will be able to see the room exactly as it was during Apollo 11, complete with the illuminated black-and-white screens on the control room consoles displaying video from the world-famous mission. On display will be the actual consoles that flight controllers used to monitor the moon landing.

Space City Month

In July, Houston will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 with a series of events around town. Space Center Houston is hosting a variety of Apollo-themed events, including a Thought Leader Series where NASA experts will talk about the historic feats of the Apollo era and the future of human space exploration. The Space Center will also host a “Space On-Screen” film series showing space-related films.

On July 20, the day of the actual moon landing, the center will be open for extended hours and have a packed schedule of events during the day and throughout the evening.

While details are still being worked out, various venues in the city are also hosting events for Space City Month, according to Leah Shah, a representative from Visit Houston. A few restaurants and bars are expected to offer space-themed cocktails and food menus.

The arts

The recently opened Menil Drawing Insitute claims to be the world’s first freestanding building dedicated to modern and contemporary drawings.

Richard Barnes/Menil Collection Houston

Menil Drawing Institute

Part of The Menil Collection, a 30-acre microneighborhood of art within the Montrose neighborhood, Menil Drawing Institute opened in November to much fanfare and has since gotten international acclaim from art world critics and heavy hitters.

It claims to be the world’s first freestanding building dedicated to modern and contemporary drawings, and according to spokesman Tommy Napier, was built for their acquisition, study, exhibition, conservation and storage.

The 30,000-square-foot institute hosts rotating drawing exhibitions, which change every three to four months. Its second exhibition opens February 15 and is dedicated to drawings by Roni Horn, a renowned visual artist who resides and works in New York and Iceland.

Also, the building is as notable as the art inside: Designed by Los Angeles-based architect Johnston Marklee, it’s constructed of white steel and is covered in some parts by cypress trees, giving it an outdoorsy feel. Built around three courtyards lined with lush magnolia and oak trees, it’s not a bad place to while away a couple of hours.

The Menil Collection itself is comprised of a main building with special exhibitions and a diverse permanent collection that includes works by Matisse and Picasso and three other museum buildings: one dedicated to the artist Cy Twombly, another to the artist Dan Flavin and the third to year-long installation works.

Museum of Fine Arts Houston

At a sprawling 14 acres, this museum is the largest cultural institution in the Southwest. Thanks to a $450 million expansion, which will be completed sometime in 2020, it’s going to get even bigger and will include a 164,000-square-foot building for modern and contemporary art.

But travelers don’t need to wait for this project to be finished to make a visit because there’s already plenty of renowned art to see.

The museum’s collection of more than 70,000 objects comes from all world cultures, dating from antiquity to present. It includes notable American art such as Georgia O’Keefe paintings, European paintings including works by Rembrandt and Goya, Pre-Columbian and African gold, photography, prints and drawings, 20th- and 21st-century paintings and sculptures and Latin American art. General admission is $17.

There’s plenty of art on display outside of Houston’s museums, too. Case in point is this large mural by graffiti artist GONZO247. Located in downtown Houston, it showcases a few of the things Houston is best known for.

Visit Houston

Holocaust Museum Houston

The nation’s fourth largest Holocaust Museum will more than double in size from, 21,000 to 57,000 square feet, when it reopens on June 22, following a nearly $50 million expansion. It’s going to be the country’s first fully bilingual English and Spanish Holocaust museum and will grow from one to four permanent galleries.

In addition to its already existing Bearing Witness Holocaust gallery, which is full of artifacts from before, during and after the Holocaust (a 1942 railcar that transported Jewish people to concentration camps in Germany is a highlight), a new human rights gallery will have displays of all UN-recognized genocides.

Following its expansion, the Holocaust Museum Houston will be the country’s fourth-largest Holocaust Museum.

Courtesy Holocaust Museum Houston

The second new gallery will display artwork by the Holocaust child survivor and painter Samuel Bak, and the third will focus on the writings of 18 young diarists, including Anne Frank, who died in genocides around the world. The museum will also host traveling exhibitions. General admission is $15, but free admission is extended to children and students.

Theater District

This 17-block district in downtown Houston saw heavy flooding from Hurricane Harvey but is now back to its former glory. There are more than a dozen theaters here, ranging from small, independent houses to grand stages. The Wortham Theater Center, home to the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet, is the largest and has two performing halls: the 2,400-seat Brown Theater and the 1,000-seat Cullen Theater.

No matter the season, the Wortham hosts performances almost daily. One of the most highly anticipated shows this year, held from April 20 to May 5, is Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” which is a co-production with the prestigious Royal Opera House in London.

Eating and drinking

Dish Society in the recently opened Finn Hall serves hearty, comfort fare such as chicken and biscuits with gravy.

Courtesy Dish Society Chicken and Biscuits

Food halls

Food halls are all the rage in Houston. Three are opening this year alone, while a fourth, Finn Hall, opened in December 2018. At 20,000-square-feet, it sits in downtown Houston and is home to 10 restaurants and two bars. All the vendors are locally based, and the choices are diverse. Dish Society, for example, serves farm-to-table American cuisine, such as chicken and biscuits, while Yong serves classic Korean dishes.

Lyric Market, slated for a fall opening, is in Houston’s Theater District and will have restaurants, specialty food purveyors, al fresco dining terraces, a 4,000- square-foot rooftop deck and an underground speakeasy.

Luis Ayala/Ayala Vargas Photography

Bravery Hall, scheduled to open in February in downtown Houston, will house five chef-driven restaurants and feature a molecular cocktail bar and a spacious patio. Lyric Market, slated for a fall opening, is in Houston’s Theater District and will have restaurants, specialty food purveyors, al fresco dining terraces, a 4,000-square-foot rooftop deck and an underground speakeasy.

Understory at Capitol Tower, a 35,000-square-foot project inside Capitol Tower’s two-story atrium in downtown, is the largest of the food halls and opening this summer. It will house a full-service restaurant, seven chef-driven fast casual spots and a cocktail bar. The hall is connected to the city’s seven-mile underground tunnel system and is expected to be an aesthetic showpiece that has white marble and copper finishes as well as walls with murals painted by local artists.

The Gas station cuisine

Houston’s gas stations aren’t just for fueling up. Many, such as Sunrise Taquito, are actually dining destinations in their own right.

Adrian Samano/Visit Houston

No, we’re not joking here: Houston gets bragging rights for having top-brass gas station cuisine, and more and more notable eateries at gas stations continue to open. While the gas station joint culture has been around for several years, it’s only now getting some national fame. The food is ridiculously tasty and incredibly inexpensive. Don’t try to compare it to standard fast food because the quality is incomparable. On top of which, the portions are huge.

Some highlights include:

— The family-run Sunrise Taquito at a Shell station in Washington Corridor. It serves fresh, made-to-order breakfasts. The chorizo and eggs taquitos, and the various breakfast plates with flour tortillas, refried beans and fried potatoes, are favorites.

Serving up made-to-order breakfasts (try the chorizo and egg taquitos), Sunrise Taquito is much, much more than a last resort gas station meal.

Adrian Samano/Visit Houston

— Ekko’s Greek Deli at a Valero station in Uptown is a staple for Houston’s Greek immigrants and is known for its gyros, hummus and baklava.

— The Shawarma Stop at a Shell station in the Museum District turns out delicious chicken and beef shawarma stuffed inside a pita and a variety of tender kebabs including ground beef and beef chunks.

The 12 James Beard Award-nominated restaurants

The James Beard awards are the Oscars of the culinary world, and Houston snagged an eyebrow-raising dozen nominations last year.

Travelers should check out at least one of these nationally recognized restaurants when they’re in town, and they’re spoiled for choices.

There’s Xochi, an airy spot in downtown that turns out Oaxacan inspired dishes and was nominated for Best New Restaurant (its chef, Hugo Ortega, won the James Beard for Best Chef in the Southwest in 2017).

For food with an ethnic flair, check out Crawfish & Noodles, serving Cajun and Vietnamese dishes; chef Trong Nguyen was nominated for Best Chef in the Southwest.

If you go:

Although the Greater Houston area has nearly 900 hotels, travelers will have the best access to the city’s highlights by choosing accommodations in one of three main neighborhoods: the Museum District, ideal for culture seekers; downtown, home to top restaurants and nightlife; and the Galleria area, which is a prime shopping destination.

These are only nine of the many reasons to plan a trip to Houston now. Once there, travelers will undoubtedly discover many more to add to the list.

Shivani Vora is a New York City-based writer who travels as often as she can, whether that means going on a walking safari in Tanzania, a mother-daughter trip with her 10-year-old in Istanbul or surfing in northern Portugal.

[crimsoncityhq]

CONCLUSION

They say history is bound to repeat itself, and the sentiment rings just as true tonight. Ash and embers disperse from the burning from of the Art Institute while its patrons scramble to escape through broken windows and a front door packed with too many bodies. Those who manage to breach the crowded threshold sprawl across the lawn, some dragging their wounded dates to the line of first responders clogging the street and others snapping at the opportunity to collapse into the grass and catch their breath. Paramedics and firemen rush the crowd, loading the critically injured onto gurneys and fitting others with oxygen masks. 

While the crowd recollects itself on the lawn, the Fausts concern themselves with a discreet exit. A slip of paper and a nod to the police officers who swarm the scene promises a way out, and the street, while already packed shoulder to shoulder with the injured and uninjured alike, is closed off by the placement of their flashing cruisers. It’s as clean of an escape as they can manage given the circumstances, but the victories don’t end there—a rumor is leaked that the Walshes, who gave the heftiest donation of the night, were responsible for the carnage that engulfed the Art Institute. All eyes turn toward the Irish family, and the tension rises impossibly higher not just among their industry rivals, but among the citizens who suffer at “their” hands. 

A deal has been made, and the night has been won for the Fausts.

The Grand Reopening of the Art Institute of Chicago Event has concluded ! You may continue or finish your threads as you see fit, but please prioritize regular threads for now. 

The Fausts and the Chicago Police Department have joined forces after, uh, overcoming their differences. Not only does this mean the CPD is now considered an ally to the Fausts, but it also means we are introducing ROLES to the CPD ! You can take a look at the roles here—we could always use a few more uniforms working under the table, eh ? 

Faust affiliated characters that actively participated in the event can add 40 points to their character. All other family & family affiliate characters can add 30 points if they actively participated in this event!

Summary & plot slots are under the cut!

SUMMARY

CYRUS ROUSSEAU has gone missing.  ANATALYA VASILE is being hospitalized with a concussion and a broken ankle. SERAFINA EATON is in the hospital a minor head wound and a possible concussion. 

PLOT SLOTS

BIRDIE MENDOZA has caught their gown  in the rotating door whilst trying to make their escape, and TORI MASSARO has to decide whether they want to risk their own skin and help or chalk it up the BIRDIE MENDOZA’s bad luck.

JIN-AE ‘JJ’ RAU-BYRNE is engaged in a conversation with the bartender & JESSE VALENCIA, but that conversation is cut short when the bartender catches an unfortunate stray bullet in the face. It’s up to save themselves or help each other get shelter.

ZAKIYA AL KHATIB & OLIVER FAUST detonate the bomb underneath the elevator that traps WYATT LEON, ISABELLA FAUST, AND RAFFERTY DOYLE inside and they have to work together to get out.

NPC strikes a deal with NPC to use this opportunity to steal the most prized piece of artwork in the Art Institute. It almost goes perfectly, until they launch it out a window that’s not illuminated by flames. However, when they finally make it out to collect their prize ▬ EVELINA VASILE is holding it and also brandishing a weapon.

DIAMOND WASHINGTON who not-so-cautiously accepted a colorful pill from a stranger earlier in the night, is convinced the eyes of the painting are moving, suggesting someone may be trapped inside. NPC and NPC notice DIAMOND WASHINGTON dashing further into the flames and take it upon themselves to help, but that means they’ll have to handle the chaos of whatever DIAMOND WASHINGTON is hallucinating.

AMADEUS JUDE CASTELLANOS completely giving no fucks whatsoever picks up a glass of what they assumed was water from the bar to douse a lick of flames that got too close. The problem was it was vodka that fuels the fire, and starts to cover ZOE WASHINGTON. They can either run or stay behind, but ZOE WASHINGTON is 100% able to ID them.

AUDREY ROUSSEAU was in the restroom when the explosion occurred, and a large chunk of the balcony has blocked the door. Smoke is filtering through the cracks in the threshold, and AUDREY ROUSSEAUcalls frantically for help. EZEKIEL “ZEKE” HALLIDAY hears their cries and opts to help, but the flames are moving closer by the second, and the smoke is getting heavier. EZEKIEL “ZEKE” HALLIDAYhas to move fast or they will suffer the same fate as AUDREY ROUSSEAU .

ABRAHAM SWEETWINE helps others to safety using a nearby window, but another explosion leaves them burned and trapped under a large piece of the ceiling. JULIA FAUST bolts to their aid and carries ABRAHAM SWEETWINE to safety. Once outside in the lawn, JULIA FAUST must keep ABRAHAM SWEETWINE awake long enough for medical personnel to arrive.

SERAFINA EATON  is able to convince WIKIMAK CLARKE to assist in rescuing the artwork from the chaotic flames. However, after they’re injured in the process SERAFINA EATON realizes the artwork they’re trying to save is falsified. Almost as if the original artwork had been swapped.

ANYA VOLKOVA uses the opportunity to pickpocket abandoned purses scattered around the main hall. They find a loaded pistol in MARKIE “PAIGE” KRAVTSOV ’s purse right as MARKIE “PAIGE” KRAVTSOV comes to collect it and whatever else ANYA VOLKOVA has taken. It’s up to ANYA VOLKOVA to figure out whether or not a purse is worth killing over, but be warned—the flames are moving fast.

TARON LYNCH is outside enjoying a cigarette when the explosion rocks the foundation of the Art Institute, and the law enforcement immediately think they’re a suspect along with IAN LOCKE  that had ducked out for a breath of fresh air. They’re taken into custody for questioning.

JAMESON ROBERTS ( WALSH ) narrowly escapes to the lawn, but CONRAD ODAIR( FAUST ) is only a pace behind with a weapon in hand. CONRAD ODAIR fires and barely misses JAMESON ROBERTS, who realizes if they don’t retaliate, there’s no getting out of the art museum alive.

[caveartfair]

The Buzziest and Most Beautiful Museums Opening in 2019

The museum building boom shows no signs of slowing down in 2019. In the coming year, institutions around the world are scheduled to either throw open their doors for the first time, or unveil spruced-up and expanded facilities. While some of these projects involve global institutions—like the Museum of Modern Art, or a grand plan for a replacement for Cairo’s Egyptian Museum—others will have a more regional impact.

Here’s a look ahead at the museum construction projects that will have the art world buzzing in the months to come.

Ruby City

Architect: David Adjaye

Budget: $16 million

Total space: 14,000 square feet

Planned opening: October 2019

The Linda Pace Foundation/Ruby City. Courtesy of the Linda Pace Foundation and Adjaye Associates.

The new home of San Antonio’s Linda Pace Foundation is an irregularly shaped, tapering, cantilevering, bright-red building designed by David Adjaye and aptly named Ruby City. It may seem small at just 14,000 square feet, but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in character, with its dramatic lines and subtly shifting planes of red rippling over the building’s exterior and into the adjacent plaza. It’s sure to not only provide a beautiful home for the foundation’s robust, 800-work-strong collection of contemporary art, but also help cement San Antonio’s place on the art world’s map.

Museum of Modern Art expansion

Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with Gensler

Budget: $450 million

Additional space: 107,600 square feet

Planned opening: 2019

MoMA expansion rendering. © 2017 Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

As the Museum of Modern Art enters its 90th year, it is also in the home stretch of its second major expansion in as many decades. This one, masterminded by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, involves not only overhauling many of the institution’s existing exhibition spaces, but also extending the galleries on its second, fourth, and fifth floors into the Jean Nouvel–designed skyscraper that is nearing completion next-door. The expansion will also add new public galleries on the museum’s ground floor. However, the true test of the expansion’s success will be whether or not it eases the institution’s near-constant overcrowding problem.

National Museum of Qatar

Architect: Jean Nouvel

Budget: $434 million

Total space: 560,000 square feet

Planned opening: March 28, 2019

Aerial view of the upcoming National Museum of Qatar designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Jean Nouvel will continue to put his stamp on the Arabian peninsula’s art scene this year. After the opening of his Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017, the UAE’s Qatari neighbors are set to inaugurate the French architect’s latest, the National Museum of Qatar, in March. The sprawling complex wraps around the historic Palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani (the son of the founder of modern Qatar), which was restored as part of the project, leading visitors on a nearly mile-long trajectory through the region’s history. The museum will include newly commissioned works by Qatari painter Ali Hassan, Iraqi sculptor Ahmed Al Bahrani, Syrian sculptor Simone Fattal, and others. Its distinctive form, with interlocking disks clad in sand-colored concrete, takes inspiration from the shape of crystal clusters known as “desert roses.”

The Shed

Architect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with collaborating architect Rockwell Group

Budget: $550 million

Total space: 200,000 square feet

Planned opening: April 5, 2019

The Shed under construction, as seen from the High Line, 2018. Photo by Brett Beyer. Courtesy of The Shed.

Retractable roofs have been a prevalent design feature of sport stadiums for some time now, but The Shed is perhaps the first cultural space to incorporate such whiz-bang engineering. Its movable shell can be rolled out to create a 17,000-square-foot interior performance and event space, or retracted to fit snugly over the institution’s six-story building, transforming the enclosed atrium back into an outdoor plaza. That main building will also contain a performance space and two large galleries totaling 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, which will open with a show from Trisha Donnelly. Other inaugural commissions include a theatrical concert developed by Icelandic singer and songwriter Björk, a kung-fu musical, and a five-night tribute to African-American music conceived by Turner Prize–winning filmmaker Steve McQueen. Situated alongside the High Line and Thomas Heatherwick’s stepped whatsit, The Shed promises to bring some culture to the Hudson Yards mega-development transforming Manhattan’s west side.

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, with contribution by Studio Pali Fekete architects

Budget: $388 million

Total space: 300,000 square feet

Planned opening: Late 2019

The Academy of Motion Pictures. Courtesy of The Academy of Motion Pictures.

It’s somewhat shocking that Los Angeles doesn’t already have a major museum devoted to the art form it revolutionized. The body that gives out the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is making up for that with what’s shaping up to be an otherworldly Renzo Piano–designed complex right next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will span the historic Saban Building—a former department store in the Streamline Moderne style that is getting a full restoration—and a dramatic, spherical building sprouting out its back. The complex will house two cinemas, as well as 50,000 square feet of exhibition space that will show off items including Dorothy’s ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz (1939), the typewriter used to write the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), and an 1887 collotype plate of a galloping horse by Eadweard Muybridge. Fans of animation are also in for a treat: The Academy Museum’s inaugural special exhibition is a Hayao Miyazaki retrospective.

Grand Egyptian Museum

Architect: Heneghan Peng Architects

Budget: $810 million

Total space: About 1.4 million square feet

Planned opening: First quarter of 2019 (partial opening)

Aerial view of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). Courtesy the Ministry of Antiquities of Egypt.

Putting “grand” in a museum’s name may seem a bit, well, grandiose, but there’s nothing restrained about this project. Intended as a replacement for the overcrowded Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, the Grand Egyptian Museum is situated less than two miles from the Giza Pyramids, and, when completed, will span an astounding 1.4 million square feet (for comparison, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is 2 million square feet). The museum’s construction timeline has been quite grand, too—its foundation stone was laid in 2002—but the build-out is finally in the home stretch, and is slated for a partial opening in the first quarter of 2019. Once the whole complex is up and running, it will be able to accomodate 15,000 daily visitors, who will enter its exhibition spaces through the “grand staircase,” a chronological encapsulation of ancient Egyptian history populated with 87 statues and architectural elements.

Peabody Essex Museum expansion

Architect: Ennead Architects

Budget: $200 million

Additional space: 40,000 square feet

Planned opening: Mid-2019

The Peabody Essex Museum's expansion rendering. Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM).

Located alongside the historic East India Marine Hall (dedicated in 1825) in Salem, Massachusetts, the Peabody Essex Museum’s new wing will add 15,000 square feet of galleries and a new museum garden, while a new sun-splashed atrium will connect the old and new buildings. The $200 million expansion project is just one element of a $650 million capital campaign that also involved building a 120,000-square-foot offsite facility, which opened in July 2018, to store and study the museum’s 1.8 million-piece collection.

Norton Museum of Art expansion

Architect: Norman Foster

Budget: $100 million

Additional space: 12,700 square feet

Planned opening: February 9, 2019

The Norton Museum of Art's new Heyman Plaza designed by Foster + Partners. Image courtesy of Foster + Partners.

While an additional 12,700 square feet may not sound like a big deal, especially considering the $100 million price tag of the Norton Museum of Art’s new Norman Foster–designed building, the project involved overhauling much of the West Palm Beach, Florida, institution’s existing spaces, too. All told, when it reopens next month, the Norton will have its education facilities expanded by 50 percent, along with 35 percent more exhibition space—making it easier to put on view some of the new 100 works in its holdings donated by local collectors Howard L. and Judie Ganek. In addition to the revamped interior, visitors to the Norton will now enter under a dramatically cantilevering canopy and be able to stroll in a new sculpture garden.

Hood Museum of Art expansion

Architect: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Budget: $50 million

Additional space: 22,400 square feet

Planned opening: January 26, 2019

Artist rendering of the north facade of the expanded Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. Rendering by MARCH. Image courtesy of the Hood Museum.

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale may have world-renowned museums, but one of the smaller Ivies, Dartmouth College, also has an impressively rich collection at its Hood Museum of Art. That building is about to unveil a much-needed expansion and renovation project, courtesy of Barnes Foundation architects Tod Williams Billie Tsien. The firm’s overhaul of Charles Moore’s postmodern 1985 building will add six more galleries, or an increase of 42 percent in exhibition space, plus a new lobby, three new study galleries, and a huge vitrine window facing the campus green, offering students a glimpse into the museum as they walk between classes.

New Orleans Museum of Art sculpture park expansion

Architect: Lee Ledbetter Architects and Sawyer/Berson Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Budget: $15 million

Additional space: 6 acres

Planned opening: May 15, 2019

Rendering of the expanded Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of A

The New Orleans Museum of Art’s picturesque sculpture garden, which connects the museum to the historic City Park surrounding it, is one of the institution’s star attractions. For years, the 5-acre park has displayed works by Coosje van Bruggen & Claes Oldenburg, Arman, Isamu Noguchi, René Magritte, Barbara Hepworth, and others amid lagoons, canals, and oak and cypress trees laden with Spanish moss. Now the park is set to more than double in size, as it expands to a lagoon just north of the museum. In addition to plenty more sculptures, the new stretch of park will boast an outdoor amphitheater and a small gallery building.

from Artsy News

[creativinn]

Morning Links: Wes Anderson's Curatorial Gig Edition -ARTnews

Wes Anderson.

JOHN RASIMUS/VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Talent

Call it the life curatorial with Wes Anderson. The acclaimed director and his partner, the illustrator Juman Malouf, will organize a show at Vienna’s Kunsthistoriches Museum this November featuring objects culled from the institution’s holdings. [Indiewire]

Pace Gallery has brought on Whitney Ferrare, who previously worked at Gagosian gallery, as the new senior director for its Hong Kong location. [ARTnews]

Alma Thomas

The Archives of American Art has made available the late painter Alma Thomas’s papers in their entirety. Well, we know what we’ll be doing with our morning. [Archives of American Art]

Around Europe

Berlin’s Exile gallery has exiled itself to Vienna, where it will reopen next month. “I am mostly trying to find a sustainable model on a scale that maintains the independence that I think I’ve given up for a while by playing too much into this idea of an art gallery that finances itself through sales,” the gallery’s founder, Christian Siekmeier, said of the move. [Artnet News]

London’s Royal Academy of Art will host a Bill Viola show that will feature 12 installations by the acclaimed video artist. Alongside them will be pieces by Michelangelo. [The Guardian]

Negative Consequences

After it received threats on Facebook, Portland’s One Grand Gallery has removed an illustration that featured Donald Trump’s throat being slit. [The Oregonian]

The Association of Art Museum Directors has released a statement decrying Representative Glenn Grothman’s proposal to decrease funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, noting that doing as much would have “negative consequences.” [Twitter]

Architecture

With the Los Angeles Times departing its storied digs for a new home in the city’s El Segundo neighborhood, Carolina A. Miranda considers the architecture of her publication’s building complex. Walking through the complex, she writes, is “like entering an architectural time machine into several decades of 20th century Los Angeles.” [Los Angeles Times]

In Kansas City, there’s now a 21c Museum Hotel, which, in addition to luxury suites, offers a 6,200-square-foot exhibition space. The hotel’s galleries are open to the public 24/7, and the art can be viewed free of charge. [Condé Nast Traveler]

Detroit

Starting on Friday, Detroit is hosting its first Art Week, courtesy of the art publicist Amani Olu. “I felt like it’s important that we celebrate the people who have been living and working in this community for a long time, not just like newer, trendier, flashier things that are happening,” Olu said of the event’s programming. [Detroit Metro Times]

Source

http://www.artnews.com/2018/07/18/morning-links-wes-andersons-curatorial-gig-edition/

[legendary]

From Renegade to Revered: How Zhang Yimou Became China’s Biggest Director

Written by Dan Casey, Nerdist

Written by Dan Casey, Nerdist

You might not know the name Zhang Yimou, but chances are that you know his work. At age 66, Zhang Yimou occupies a rarified space as one of China’s most celebrated filmmakers, metamorphosing from arthouse darling to blockbuster mastermind. He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards; he has won the prestigious Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival; he made one of the few foreign films to open at #1 at the U.S. box office; and he famously directed the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which was watched by an estimated 4 billion people worldwide. Now, Zhang is facing what is possibly his biggest challenge yet: making the most expensive film ever shot in China, and shooting it completely in English for a global audience. That film, The Great Wall, represents the culmination of a tumultuous and celebrated career that took Zhang from the farms and factories of China to the upper echelons of its creative elite. It wasn’t an easy path—far from it—and that is precisely what makes Zhang’s story so compelling.

Long before Zhang Yimou was directing $150 million blockbusters starring Matt Damon and China’s biggest stars, he endured what has been described as a “miserable childhood.” When the Cultural Revolution broke out in China, Mao Zedong and the Communist Party brought sweeping changes to the country, shuttering institutions deemed to be out of ideological lockstep with the party line. His father was a Nationalist officer and his mother was a medical doctor, two professions that were deemed “bad elements” by the newly instated regime. As a result, Zhang was taken from his home and shipped out to the countryside to be “reeducated” by peasants. It was, perhaps, a rude awakening for young Zhang, who toiled on farms and worked in cotton textile mills for the better part of a decade, but it ultimately imbued him with an understanding and appreciation for the hardscrabble existence of working class Chinese people. Although artistic pursuits were discouraged during the Cultural Revolution, filmmaking was something that was in Zhang’s blood – quite literally if some anecdotes are to be believed. It is said that Zhang sold his blood over the course of many months in order to buy his first camera. It was that same camera that would prove to be his way out of a life slaving away in the factories. In 1978, Zhang was 27 years old and he applied to study at the Beijing Film Academy, which had just reopened after shuttering its doors during the height of the Cultural Revolution. The Academy sought to bar Zhang’s entry, citing his advanced age, but he appealed the decision. Fortunately, his keen aesthetic instincts could not be denied, and the pictures he took with his camera, primarily of working class Chinese people, earned him a spot in the Academy’s ranks. Much like The Dirty Dozen, the clique of USC film students in the mid-1960s that included the likes of George Lucas, John Milius, and Howard Kazanjian, Zhang’s graduating class was similarly auspicious. Dubbed “The Fifth Generation,” the Beijing Film Academy class of 1982 would go on to change the face of Chinese cinema. While the Fifth Generation’s oeuvre was largely concerned with the nation of China itself, these new filmmakers sought to deconstructing the national myths of their home country, going against the grain of the intensely nationalistic cinema of the past half century. But before he could change the world’s conversation about Chinese cinema, Zhang had to cut his teeth behind the camera. Fresh out of college, he was assigned to work as a cinematographer at Guangxi Film Studio, a small local studio located in inland China. It was a newly established studio and a far cry from the comparatively cosmopolitan studios of Beijing, but it wasn’t without its advantages. Unlike the Beijing Studios, which had rigid apprenticeship programs that would see prospective directors toil away in assistant positions for nearly a decade, Guangxi allowed its creatives greater opportunities for growth. In 1984, Zhang worked as director of photography on Zhang Junzhao’s One and Eight and Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth, which both went on to achieve success on the international stage, signaling a tonal shift in the types of movies being produced in China. Today is widely accepted that Yellow Earth is the opening salvo in the barrage of films that the Fifth Generation would produce in the years ahead. In 1985, Zhang moved back to his hometown of Xi’an, and began working at Xi'an Film Studio where he would make the transition from cinematographer to director. At Xi’an Film Studio, Zhang proved his prowess both behind the camera and in front of it, serving as cinematographer and lead actor in Wu Tianming’s Old Well, a film about a man trying to dig a well in his drought-addled hometown. Released in 1987, Zhang would go on to win the Best Actor award at the Tokyo International Film Festival for his efforts. That wasn’t the only major thing to happen to Zhang in 1987; that year also saw the release of his directorial debut, Red Sorghum, a film based on Nobel laureate Mo Yan's eponymous novel about a young woman working at a sorghum liquor distillery.

Red Sorghum dazzled international audiences with the simplicity of its storytelling, the vibrancy of its color palette (something that would become a hallmark of Zhang’s work), and what Roger Ebert called “the almost fairy-tale quality of its images and the shocking suddenness of its violence, that Hollywood in its sophistication has lost.” The film catapulted both Zhang and its star, Gong Li, to international stardom, and went on to win the coveted Golden Bear award at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in 1988. More importantly, it established Zhang as one of the most dynamic and sought after voices in Chinese cinema, earning him financing for two follow-up films, Judou (1990) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991). While Zhang’s star continued to rise on the international stage, domestically it was another story. The Communist party banned Judou and Raise the Red Lantern from release in China, not because they were especially subversive but as a form of artistic extortion. They refused to screen the films in China until Zhang agreed to make a film that was more in line with the party’s ideals. Zhang played ball with the Communist censors, directing the The Story of Qiu Ju in 1992, which went on to win the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, which is the highest honor the festival can confer and an extremely prestigious accolade. Those who saw Zhang’s cooperation as a sign of surrender likely ate their words when they saw Zhang’s 1994 film To Live. The historical epic was deeply critical of the Communist Party’s policies and programs, and it rankled party leadership, leading to a two a two-year ban from filmmaking for both Zhang and star Gong Li. Although To Live went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as a Best Actor award for Ge You, Zhang was forbidden from attending. Considering that this film was made just 5 years after the brutal events of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, it was bold of Zhang to put his career on the line like that. Yet not even the threat of government censorship could prevent Zhang from pursuing his passion. He continued making films at a steady pace, and began shifting his gaze from the past the present, eschewing early 20th century Chinese settings to tell stories set in modern-day China. Zhang continued honing his craft throughout the 1990s, racking up awards, and using the lens of female sexuality to subvert the patriarchal paradigm that dominated Chinese society at the time. Never content to rest on his laurels, Zhang began making a name for himself as a preeminent action director thanks to the 2002 wuxia epic Hero. Filled with assassins, swordplay, and a murderer’s row of top Chinese talent—including Donnie Yen, Jet Li, and Maggie Cheung—the film not only became the highest-grossing film in China of all time (at the time), but also one of the most profitable foreign language films in North American box office history. It opened at #1 at the U.S. box office (in 2004 after a lengthy delay), grossing $18 million in its opening weekend, a figure which gives it the second highest opening weekend for a foreign language film ever, right behind Passion of the Christ. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the film earned a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, to boot.

Zhang followed the success of Hero with another martial arts epic, House of Flying Daggers. This film feels particularly auspicious in Zhang’s filmography as it united his more modern, kinetically charged, action-oriented style of dramatic storytelling with his penchant for vibrant colors. When it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, audiences reportedly gave it a standing ovation lasting between 20 and 60 minutes, led by none other than director Quentin Tarantino. It was a moment that finalized Zhang’s transition from the world of arthouse film to big-budget blockbusters. It also cemented, in the eyes of some viewers, that Zhang had somehow “sold out,” opting to work in tandem with the Chinese government rather than at cross-purposes with it. “China has stepped into a new era, an era of consumption and entertainment,” Zhang said in a 2007 interview, “You can condemn it if you like, but it is a trend of globalization.” “He went from being this renegade making films that were banned and an eyesore for the Chinese government to kind of being the pet of the government, in some people’s eyes,” said Michael Berry, a professor of Chinese culture at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in an interview with The New York Times. Despite Zhang’s claims to the contrary that he never intended to be political, his filmography is full of stark, honest, gritty examinations of Chinese life that refused to toe the party line. Although they had the perhaps unintended effect of putting some of the Communist party’s policies under the microscope, Zhang’s films were born from the director’s deep-seated love of his country. Nowhere was that love and passion for his homeland on display more than when Zhang directed the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Zhang spent more than two years designing and rehearsing the show, often while sequestered in a secret Olympics compound, far away from prying eyes. The 2008 Olympic opening ceremony is widely regarded as the greatest of all time, involving more than 14,000 performers, 15,153 costumes, 30,000 fireworks, and 40 tons of wire that was used to suspend both people and objects from the air.

During NBC’s coverage of the event, a deep male voice bellowed, “The footprints in their history stretch back 5,000 years, but for the world's greatest wall builders, makers of a Forbidden City, what happens tonight is not merely a small step, but a great leap." Watched by more than 1 billion people around the world, the opening ceremony lived up to the Neil Armstrong quote its narrator used. It was a quote that also invoked the Great Leap Forward, the ironically named and ultimately disastrous policy of rapid industrialization that culminated in the Cultural Revolution. Yet this opening ceremony was no mere piece of entertainment; it was a way for Zhang and the Chinese government to reintroduce China to the world, to attempt to dispel misconceptions and preconceived notions about the nation. The results were a resounding success, earning Zhang a Peabody Award and finally making him a megastar in China. “Before the Olympics, Zhang was a trailblazer for an elite minority of culture lovers,” said Fudan University professor Yang Junlei in a 2010 interview with NPR. “But afterward, because of the success of the opening ceremony, he's become a national cultural hero who is widely approved of by ordinary Chinese people." Zhang continued to parlay his cultural cache into opportunities to tell Chinese stories to international audiences. In 2011, Zhang made what was then China’s most expensive film to date, Flowers of War. The film starred Christian Bale as an American mortician who journeyed to the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937 to make his fortune, only to get caught up in the brutal invasion by Japanese forces. While the film opened to mixed reviews, it served as an all-important opening salvo in the next wave of Chinese-American co-productions, and laid the groundwork necessary for Zhang to take on what could be described as his most ambitious project to date, The Great Wall. As the Chinese film industry continues to grow, directors like Zhang are faced with the unique challenge of bringing Chinese stories not only to Chinese audiences, but to global audiences. “A good film should do more than just cater to local audiences; it should also help to shape their tastes,” Zhang remarked in a 2014 interview with The Wall Street Journal. It is a telling statement for the master filmmaker who stands at the vanguard of the Chinese film industry, which is poised to break out of its domestic confines on to the international stage.

While The Great Wall isn’t the first internationally-focused co-production between China and Hollywood, it is certainly is the most ambitious. Perhaps more importantly, it is a project which Hollywood brought to China with the intent of making something for a global audience rather than trying to adapt a purely American or purely Chinese film for another market. Conceived of by Legendary Pictures founder Thomas Tull in the wake of a trip to China, Legendary East began courting Zhang Yimou because of his prestigious pedigree and his proven ability to handle large-scale action cinema. More importantly, they wanted a filmmaker like Zhang because of his deep-seated passion for bringing authentic Chinese stories to the big screen. "They were worried that I might laugh at the script," Zhang said of his initial talks to direct The Great Wall, "but I accepted their offer. They were thrilled." Zhang also understood what The Great Wall means in terms of the changing tides of cultural influence and the growing importance of China’s soft power. With its massive budget, a murderer’s row of A-list talent from both the United States (Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe) and China (Andy Lau, Jing Tian), and a story deeply steeped in Chinese folklore, The Great Wall seems perfectly poised for not only Zhang, but Chinese-made blockbusters to make a dent in the global marketplace. “They came to me, which indicates the power shift in the world,” Zhang said in an interview with China.org.cn. “China's national power and market have greatly improved so they have to pay attention. The world has changed. If it were 10 years ago, no way they would come to me. At the same time, Hollywood is drying up in originality; they need to explore new stories and new markets.” Zhang will be the first to admit that he doesn’t think The Great Wall is going to be the film that will single-handedly alter the international cinematic landscape. However, the veteran director also thinks audiences will sense that there’s something unique in this film’s DNA. "But they can also feel it has something different, something China,” Zhang said he hopes of viewers who might see it as just another Hollywood movie. “That's what I want to achieve." With the film poised to hit American theaters later this month, Zhang is cautiously optimistic, not only about the film’s box office prospects, but what it means for the future of Chinese film abroad. "That is my ultimate hope, a Chinese film can be as profitable as the Transformers franchise, and can be as influential as Star Wars. World audiences are dying to see it. That is when Chinese films will really go out to the world. But, there's a long way to go. Indeed, there may be a long way to go, but if there’s anyone who can help lead the charge, it is Zhang Yimou. The Great Wall opens on February 17, 2017.

Find out more about The Great Wall on Legendary’s main website.