This, from the Missoula Cultural Council newsletter…

The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula is working with Macy’s to save many of the artifacts of “The Merc”, some dating to the 19th century.  The Museum is asking the community for its memories, its photographs, its memorabilia, and its stories of “The Merc.” Anyone who has been a longtime resident of Missoula either worked at The Merc, The Bon, The Bon-Macy’s, or Macy’s, or had a family member or friend work there – it was virtually a right-of-passage for many Missoulians.  If you’d like to share your memories, the Historical Museum will preserve them for generations of Missoulians to come.  Please contact Curator of Collections Jason Bain at 728-3476, extension 2., or e-mail ftmslamuseum@montana.com

Recently, I hastily wrote about my experience

with the Misosula Art Museum and the process and aftermath of submitting to their 2010 art auction.  My intention in writing was to criticize the coolness with which the museum notifies hopeful artists who are not chosen for the auction.  I should have stated that in a paragraph and called it good.

Instead, I allowed my disapointment at not being chosen to flavor my words, and for that I am sorry.

I know that the jury labored and deliberated passionately over the many submissions and it could be, had I been on the jury, that I would have made the same decisions that they did. Without having been there, I won’t know until February when the acution happens.

And I’m looking forward to it.

Missoula Art Museum serves the public by engaging audiences and artists in the exploration of contemporary art relevant to the community, state and region.

- Adopted, Board of Directors, December 2008

The Missoula Art Museum is located at 335 North Pattee, Missoula, MT 59802 and can be reached at 406.728.0447

http://www.missoulaartmuseum.org

Play, Frolic, Laugh

Many artists I respect in Missoula encouraged me this year

to submit work for consideration to be included in The Yellowstone Art Museum’s art auction.  The YAM is in Billings, and I have visited it before.  It is a wonderful museum.

The submission process was a little more hands-on than the MAM’s, as I had to actually burn a CD of the works I intended to submit, put them in an envelope and mail them off.  This probably cost me about $2 in materials/postage and about an hour of my time, compared to the $5 and three hours of my time it took to submit  to the MAM’s art auction using their online process.

Not knowing anyone in Billings or at the YAM, I had low expectations for acceptance.  I elected to submit the very first piece I did in the newest incarnation of The Leaving and the Left series, as well as the very last piece I did in the series.

I was not surprised when I received my self-addressed stamped envelope with the Billings postmark in the mail last week.  I opened it with hopeful hands. Admittedly, I was disappointed to not have been chosen, but the way in which the news was delivered softened the blow, made me feel appreciated and made me want to apply again next year.

As you’ll see, their letter comes across as heartfelt, genuine and honest. (Even signed with real ink!) They included complimentary passes for admission to the museum, good for a year. Letter after the jump.

Granted, the MAM does not charge admission to the museum, which is amazing and very much appreciated by the Missoula community. How could they have compensated rejected artists for their time and effort? A ticket for a free glass of wine at one of their events? (No, wine/beer/liquor are not free at the MAM, unless you are a member, and even then, only the first one is free.) An invitation/pass to be included in a “special event” that may be scheduled some time in the future? Something else? I don’t know.

What I do know is that the Yellowstone Art Museum gets it right.  Thank you, YAM.

My Heaven Sent Lover

With All My Heart

Originally uploaded by love not fear

Recently, I submitted this piece and this piece to the Missoula Art Museum’s art auction.

I’m not a very well known artist among “serious” art collectors in Missoula. I don’t expect my name will draw huge dollars in an auction. But, I think the work is good work, so, I submitted it. I paid the entrance fee, I spent several hours with the online entrance process.

I like a lot of the work the museum brings to Missoula, and I want to support the organization. I opted to donate 100% of the proceeds of the sale of my work to the museum, should my work be chosen for inclusion in the auction & then sell.

So, let’s say I got accepted. Let’s say the work sold for $500. Not unreasonable, I’ve sold work for more before, but these pieces are going for between $300- $500.

OK. So let’s say some other, more well-known artist gets his work accepted. His piece sells for $1,000. But he opts to donate only 50% of the proceeds of the sale to the museum.

Isn’t $500 five hundred bucks, no matter who it’s from?

Right.

Still, I didn’t expect to get in, because I know that “names” sell more than “art” sometimes, and I don’t have a “name” in the Missoula Art Scene.

All of that said, it was with great surprise that I read the form rejection letter, sent by email, without so much as a subject line. Seriously. No subject line.

And the letter didn’t tell me anything I could not discern from the artist call website. Was my quoted price too much? Too little? What can you specifically point to, John, that prevents the MAM from accepting my submission?

The snobbery of the Missoula Art Museum is sickening.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Marc,

Thank you for submitting to the Missoula Art Museum’s 38th Benefit Art Auction. Regretfully, your work was not accepted. The 2010 art auction will be held at MAM. While we are excited to present our annual fundraiser in our home, we cannot accommodate the same volume of guest as in the past. Due to this change we scaled back the number of art works accepted. This year was extremely competitive; the MAM Auction Jury reviewed over 200 works and selected 56 pieces for the live auction. We are humbled by the outpouring of support from artists such as yourself, and hope that the difficult choices that the jury made do not discourage you from supporting us in the future.

The Jury took into consideration a variety of factors in selecting art works including value of work, number of works required for auction, and variety of media. Every year has its own unique set of circumstances and we hope you will consider submitting again to this important fundraiser.

The auction exhibition is open from January 13 – February 25, 2009 with the Artini Auction on February 18 and the Gala Auction on February 27. Additionally, all auction works will be available online at www.missoulaartmuseum.org. We hope you will join us for these festivities! Once again, thank you for your submission, Marc.

On Behalf of the MAM staff and Board of Directors,

John Calsbeek
MAM Assistant Curator & Preparator
Auction Committee Co-Chair

Be With You

Every Year, Home Resource Celebrates Art and Community at their Spontaneous Construction Event

…and this year was no different.  The pieces created on the day of SponCon 2009 were as diverse as those who created them.  Beautiful coffeetables, chicken coops, a couple of kaleidoscopes, a working Dobro and a waterfall powered composter just to name a few.  As in years past, many local artists (including me!) donated works to Home Resource for inclusion in a silent auction.

This year, the auctions run a little differently.  The silent auction is running online through the 15th, and will culminate at the live auction Friday, October 15 at The Elks Lodge here in Missoula. All of the silent auction items will be up for bid, as well as the best of the best in the live auction featuring the pieces created the day of Spon Con.

Spon Con is a celebration of art and community that benefits the non-profit Home Resource, a building reuse and recycling center in Missoula, Montana. I volunteer there every year and every year there are lots of surprises.  This year one of the surprises happened after the event itself, and that is the live auction.

Head over to the Home Resource site to view all of the items in the silent auction and begin bidding.

BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS
Please bid by emailing abe@homeresource.org. Please submit your bid in the following format:
a) Title of Piece
b) Your bid amount
c) Bidder number

FINAL BIDDING WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE SPONCON AUCTION AND AWARDS GALA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, AT THE ELKS LODGE. Mayor John Engen is gonna auctioneer/MC, and we’ll have live music by Cash for Junkers! Not only is it gonna be a super fun party, but it’s the only way to guarantee that you’ll get the final bid! Tickets to the auction are free to all contest participants and volunteers, and for sale to the general public for $10 in advance (available at Home Resource), and $15 at the door. Hope to see you there!

This year I donated three pieces to the silent auction.  All three pieces are from my recent series The Leaving and the Left.  The photos on the site are not very detailed.  You can see which pieces I donated to the auction below, (and above) and if you’re interested, clicking them will take you to the Flickr site where you can view more from The Leaving and the Left series.

The pieces I have sold from The Leaving and the Left series have been going for upwards of $300.  The opening bid on two of the pieces in the Spon Con auction is $100, and one is $200.  The entire proceeds of the sale of the art go to Home Resource, so get clicking!

Magic Love

Let Yourself be Fooled by Love

Looking forward to seeing you at the auction on Friday @ the Elk’s Lodge.  Happy bidding!

Back in May, I was paralyzed in fear about my next creative endeavor. I was so pleased with the first iteration of The Leaving and the Left – A Celebration of Love and Loss, that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make anything else as good as that collection. I was avoiding the studio, avoiding thinking about it, avoiding doing any work on any of the backend stuff.

Then, I got a call from Misty, a journalism student who had seen my show back in February and liked it. She wanted to do a documentary on me and the philosophy of the project. She wanted to film me creating a piece start to finish.

O. my. God.

I told her I would do it.

And that forced me back into the studio.

And I did it.

I was working with different materials. Similar materials, but different than the ones I used in the first series of this project. There was a learning curve.

And I pulled it off. I got in there and created. I took new photographs of a new (gorgeous) model and played around with cutting those up and collaging those in a fashion. I figured out how to display the work that uses flimsy metal as its canvas, and cranked out nine new pieces in a little over three months.

It was highly rewarding, very exhausting and truly cleansing for me and for the people who contributed letters to the project. The resulting show, The Leaving and the Left – Teardrop on the Fire, opened August 7th.

And now I think that I’m finished with it. I don’t know. I said that if the donated love letters and post breakup emails didn’t come in, the project would die. And the letters and emails aren’t really coming in. I’ve tried a donation center at the show, I’ve tried Craigslist postings, I’ve Facebooked it and Twittered about it trying to solicit letters for the project. All failed.

So I think it’s over. I really enjoy working in this medium, and I want to continue in this vein, but I don’t know what direction to take it. There are still some behind the scenes things I’d like to accomplish with this project, and there are other (more glorious) reasons that I may abandon it.

People who want to see me continuing on with this project, though, need to submit some letters. Send yours, or tell your friends to submit theirs. Spread the word.

If you haven’t seen the new show, and you live in Missoula, you only have three more days to check it out. It’s at Noteworthy* Paper&Press (near The Wilma, on Higgins) until Thursday afternoon.

The Leaving and the Left – Teardrop on the Fire

Opening Exhibition 08.07.09 • Noteworthy* Paper&Press

For immediate release: June 24, 2009
CONTACT: Joan Jonkel, City of Missoula Public Art Committee
PHONE: 728-0345 or 721-1835
EMAIL: jonkel@bigsky.net
CALL FOR ARTISTS – Traffic Signal Box Project
The City of Missoula Public Art Committee invites artists residing in Missoula County to apply for a public art project to create art on traffic signal boxes (TSB) located throughout Missoula. The goal of the project is to use local traffic signal boxes as canvases. The Missoula TSB project has been patterned after those implemented with great success by communities throughout the United States and around the world. Artists have colorfully and creatively transformed signal boxes, usually painted gray, in cities ranging from Dublin, Ireland, to Columbia, Missouri.

The Missoula Traffic Signal Box Art Project is designed to enhance the city by adding works of art to streetscapes on surfaces that are often targeted by graffiti vandals. Artwork on TSBs functions as a form of communication to a moving audience with the goal of creating a safe, inclusive and interesting environment. Successful proposals will foster community pride and convey the sense of community. Selected designs will also consider the relevance of the image to the project site and consider what makes Missoula unique in its arts, history, music, recreational opportunities, and special attractions.

In conjunction with the City of Missoula Public Works Department, the State of Montana Department of Transportation, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, the Missoula Downtown Association, the Missoula Downtown Business Improvement District, and private donors, at least 10 signal boxes will be selected each year for this multiyear project. The 2009 signal boxes are centered in the Higgins, Broadway, and Brooks areas, each in a location that provides a safe environment for artists to work and maximum visibility for pedestrians and drivers.

The total budget for each traffic signal box is $1,000 and includes materials and artist labor. The boxes will be prepared for artists’ applications, and the Missoula Public Art Committee has specified a latex primer, paint, and clear coat with an approximate 25-year lifespan.

Artwork to be selected will be major public art commissions. Designs may be executed in paint or applied vinyl. Applications will be evaluated on the basis of artistic and technical merit as well as relevance of proposed design.

Applications must be received by July 24, 2009. Commissions will be awarded August 7, 2009. All selected artists will install their works at the same time, on the weekend of August 29-30, 2009.

All information, including application materials, park schematics, etc., is available on the City Web site [link]
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