OnTheCusp.org

I once lived in Texas...

Huntsville, population roughly 35,000. [Trivia via wikipedia, Huntsville also has eight prisons in its area. One most notable being the Huntsville Unit, which has executed more offenders than any other state prison in the United States.] But that is all beside the point.

Texas has a lot to offer art wise. While living there, I certainly did not know of the highlights worth checking out but have since gone back to at least visit the Menil Collection in Houston, along with the Cy Twombly Gallery and the Rothko Chapel. All great. The Fort Worth museum has been redone since last I was there, I hear it is excellent. And I have yet to ever make it to Marfa. Perhaps one day. Maybe an old fashioned road trip, but not until gas prices go way down.

Anyway, I like to keep up with the Texas art scene these days via the Texas based zine/blog Glasstire. I have referenced them on occasion in the past and though I do not keep up to date with them as often as I should, this weekend I found myself reading a number of articles that all touched upon issues and thoughts that I think are relevant to many of the discussions we have been having, should have or have had here at On the Cusp. I hope to use a few of these posts as springboards to some future discussions but rather than wait, I thought I would like to link you to several of their posts for your perusal.

Changes in the El Paso Art Scene This post simply talks about the growing pains of a small arts community with a not so thriving gallery scene. With the recent closings of Galerie Penumbra and Flux (though only temporarily) this rings true here. What can we do to improve this situation? How do you convince local talent to stay in Indy? Would a good MFA program at Herron actually help? Is the lack of a "blue chip" gallery stunt our growth? Is it possible for a number of grassroots venues to lead the way?

Some Advice on Portfolio Management For those of you who are planning on approaching a gallery or are soon to be having someone review or critique your work, please read this post. Some of it may be common sense, some may be in there just for a good laugh, but all of it is relevant to the careers of emerging artists.

CORE 2008 Artists in Residence Exhibition Simply a great review of a show. Questioning the artist audience dynamic. At what point is the artist failing us. Perhaps this reading is more me that the article, but worth a read. We can discuss it later.

Is Blogging Criticism? Is it? I think it certainly can be. Blogging can hold its own to printed press when done right just as printed criticism can fail. It brings up some interesting arguments though I disagree with one point made, that being...

"New Art in Austin – 20 to Watch" at AMOA This post poses some interesting questions concerning the championing of local artists and whether it has an impact on them and their careers. With questions like, "An exhibition of local artists has a built-in base of support, but will the show be able to catch and sustain the attention of the Texas art-viewing public over a period of eighteen months? Will it be able to cast a much needed spotlight on the Austin art scene or possibly even attract nationwide attention? A museum show gives validation to work but, we should ask ourselves, does the work merit that validation? Are these artists really 20 to Watch? And how do we judge the works and the show?" Again it is worth a read.

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