Coming up on Ah, Rox, Baton Rouge, philanthropists give a local art institution a major shot in the arm and the fiber is gathering fans.

one silkscreen at a time.

These stories are up next on art rocks.

Art rocks is made possible by the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana, public broadcasting and by viewers like you.

Hello.

Thank you for being here for a special edition of Art Rocks With Me.

James Fox Smith from Country Roads Magazine.

Today we are coming to you from the LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown Baton Rouge.

LSU Museum of Art has been promised a major gift to diversify its collection and to support structural change within the institution.

The 500,000 dollar gift is part of an initiative by Winifred and Kevin P Riley.

And joining us now to talk about how this money is being spent are Courtney Taylor, the museum's curator and director of public programs, and Clark Brown, a curatorial fellow who's been brought in to support the initiative.

Courtney, let's start with you.

Can you please tell us more about how this initiative came about in early 2020, when it first reached out and really was interested in helping support change at the museum?

And so we just started sharing ideas about how that could happen.

She was really interested in acquisitions.

After our discussions, we talked about things we could add into that to make it an initiative that is acquisitions for change, but also to find a cure or royal fellowship and to fund staff training.

The staff joined this network, called up for all change network that really kind of teaches staff to work and more of a community organizing model so we can make change in our practice kind of across the museum, up and down and integrate into all aspects of our work, not just collections, not just exhibitions, and not just public programs to help us to understand how new acquisitions and the goals and objectives of the effort can help the LSU Museum of Art to evolve.

The Museum of Art has been evolving like all institutions for some time.

It actually began as the Anglo-American Museum of Art and was a period where museum on LSU's campus, and then it moved here in 25.

And since then, those collections that were the core of the Anglo-American art, of course, were very limited in scope.

And so the museum has been working to broaden its focus, be more contemporary and be more representative of our community.

But we haven't necessarily had the funds to kind of back up those plans.

And so that's the great thing.

When Winifred and Kevin Riley came and said, We can match your intention with dollars, then there's real movement for a long lasting change because once we acquire work, we care for it in perpetuity.

So we are looking to care for it as long as we can preserve it and have a real focus on showing the work, rotating it through the galleries so that there's always a piece on view.

It's our goal that people see themselves in the gallery, but then we also take works off you so that we can keep rotating those works for the long term future clock.

That the Riley specifically requested that the museum bring on a curator with expertize in African-American art to assist in identifying works for this collection.

But they also wanted someone whose knowledge and experience could increase the museum's reach and its educational influence.

Can you tell us a little about your background and the journey that brought you here?

I started my journey at Spelman College, where I received my B.A.

in history, and while I was there, I joined a program with the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art specifically to increase the number of curators of color within the museum community .

So we were able to take courses within the art history department.

I took a couple of courses on African-American art curatorial practice.

From there, I decided that I would like to make a career out of that.

And so I took it even further and went and got my master's at New York University and Museum Studies.

And there I expanded a little bit and not just focus on curatorial practice, but I also developed an interest in contemporary art and also diversity, equity, access and inclusion initiatives.

And so that was one thing that was a concentration for me and something that the Museum of Art wants to work on here.

So that's also something that I'll be working on.

The museum recently acquired a quilt of particular significance.

Can you tell us a little about that?

Yes, so the museum recently acquired a quilt by Mary Lee Bendall.

She's a member of the Gee's Bend Quilters from Alabama.

It's a very rural part of Alabama, and this work will be classified as either folk art or African-American vernacular art.

We were kind of surprised that we were able to acquire this piece.

And actually, our director, Daniel, it came to his attention through Instagram.

So the power of social media is alive and well.

How does this acquisition add a new dimension?

Do you feel to the museum's collection that it brings in a different conversation?

We're talking about southern art.

Folt are self-taught artists and also textiles.

Just adding to that, we have a couple of other textile pieces within the collection, like our Sonia Clark piece, which is.

Behind me, it adds to the history of African-American cultures.

That's exciting.

What do you keep in mind when you proposed potential acquisitions?

This initiative is for underrepresented artists, so my goal is to seek out minorities specifically if you are a person of color from the LGBTQ plus community.

If you're a woman artist, artists that have subject matter, that really adds to the conversations that we already have here.

For example, if we have peace from our Anglo-Saxon collection of portraiture that maybe we bring in something that's more contemporary that adds to that conversation, something that we can juxtapose and bring in a deeper level of understanding for our visitors.

Can you talk to us a little about your process?

How do you go about researching artists and works of significance?

And also are there particular collections or resources or bodies of research even that guide your efforts?

Normally I start with kind of looking at the collection here and what we already have and seeing how we can add to it, trying to find artists that are not here.

And maybe if there's some that we may like seeing what we can find from them.

Also talking to our curator here and the director and kind of seeing what some of their preferences may be, what kind of directions they would like to go in.

Sometimes I use some old references from old textbooks if they're about African-American art or contemporary art websites such as art, news, art form, artnet and also you can go to auction house sites like Sotheby's or Christie's or Black owned galleries.

So trying to?

Focus our efforts on not just supporting the overall process, but trying to make sure that the money that we spend definitely goes toward directly benefiting the artists.

Courtney, your question for you.

Can you tell us about some of the pieces you're particularly excited to have seen added to the collection so far?

Yeah, the the karimov's piece that I think kind of planted the seed for four when a friend, Kevin Reilly from 2018 was a real game changer, I think, for the museum because it directly kind of confronts the colonial and plantation histories here in Louisiana.

Very mean, we just sitting in a plantation home in New Orleans.

And then the text says that she's pondering the course of history upon the remains.

So it was a really beautiful and poetic and deep, deep reflection on the history of Louisiana when asserting that in our galleries was huge, and I've been really proud of that piece this year.

Clarke piece was one that I had hoped to bring in from the beginning when I introduced that work to Winifred Riley because we really didn't have kind of textile based pieces.

And to add on to what Clark was saying about quilts and these textile traditions is that those are really rooted in kind of feminine history passed on from grandmothers to mothers to daughters, an artistic tradition, but then just everyday life.

So those, I think, really resonate more broadly and kind of tap into kind of a community.

We had a Leticia Huckabee show here, and so many people connected.

Everyone has those in their lives, so those have been really great additions for us.

Clark, are there any particular pieces that have come about as part of this initiative that you're particularly excited about?

Yes.

Recently, I had the opportunity to do a artist talk with the artist Madeline Sneed Grace, who's originally from Texas.

We acquired the piece with the Riley initiative called two Strikes and It's a Self-Portrait of Hers.

I found it really interesting to speak to her about her experiences and the two strikes is really just the meaning of her trying to be successful as an artist, but also encountering the obstacles of being a woman and a black woman within the art world, which is really a male dominated field.

Even still, it's still growing and diversifying.

I think that really was relatable, not just for artists, but I think especially for women who work in the art world in general.

Louisiana's produced some influential artists, of course, whose work have matches the objectives of this effort.

Have you brought in or are you targeting works by any particular Louisiana artists that we can look forward to seeing here in the future?

Winifred and Kevin Riley really hope that their gift kind of spurs other people to jump on board and join them.

Their hope is to bring in what we call showstoppers or pieces that we wouldn't otherwise be able to get in Louisiana.

So a lot of our kind of more traditional collecting donors who live here working with galleries.

Here we get gifts from galleries such as Arthur Rodger Gallery.

Those processes can bring us Louisiana artists.

So one friend, Kevin Riley, are kind of looking abroad to help us acquire the pieces that we wouldn't otherwise be able to acquire.

Is there any preference given to light artists as opposed to contemporary or is it focused across the the The Times-Picayune?

We've actually gone back and forth about that.

We are focused more on contemporary art.

But then there were a few pieces that we felt a lot of.

This is like what becomes available on the secondary market.

And then you kind of want to jump on that.

So and Elizabeth Catlett piece came up for auction and then also a piece by John Biggers, who of course, is just amazing American nationally known artists, but also really important regionally to the south.

And so we jumped on those opportunities.

But I think generally we are leaning toward living artist because part of it too is supporting those artists while they're alive.

Can you help us to understand a little about the acquisition process?

Oh yeah, the acquisition process is long so it starts with a conversation.

Clark just gave a list of places that you're looking all the time and you just make notes of artists and then something pops up or an opportunity arises.

And so then we discuss as a staff and when we decide that we think that we can align the dollars potentially with this moment, then we take it to the collections committee and it's considered.

So we're considering, does it feel collecting gaps in terms of position, ality or content?

We're thinking about the content.

Will it resonate with this community?

And also thinking about the long term care.

Can this staff size?

Can this museum care for the piece of this scale or of this fragility level?

Because we want pieces that can last long into the future for our visitors to enjoy and kind of make meaning in their lives around?

So there's a lot.

And so even when it gets voted on by the collections committee, it then has to go to the advisory board before they take on kind of fiduciary responsibility.

So we really are thinking long.

Term and these decisions aren't made quickly or lightly.

So, Clark, the position involves the opportunity, I think, to curate a solo exhibition of your own.

Is that right?

I'm sure you're already thinking about what that looks like.

Can you tell us a little about the thoughts that does involve me being able to do a solo exhibition?

Probably not until closer to the end of the fellowship.

So right now, this has been very much an experiential learning process for me, just getting my hands on the ground and really learning from Courtney and really just observing at this point and getting the opportunity to give my opinions and to help sometimes with hanging artworks or of course, helping in the acquisition process and seeing how an exhibition is run from start to finish.

But probably around this time next year, we'll be formulating that that solo exhibition.

It's exciting.

You've already presented at least one exhibit.

I think that features some of the pieces that came out of the Rileys donation.

Yeah.

Can you tell us a little about that?

Some of those you can kind of see behind me include a piece by Sonya Clark.

What?

Phil Lavelle's Madeline Steed Grace, who I did an artist's talk with Carrie Mae Weems.

You've got to have those on display for everyone to see, and I think it's important that our audience does see them.

So they know the kind of progress that we're making here at the museum and what to look forward to in the future.

I'm Courtney.

It's a two year project, correct?

Yes.

So how does the museum and the community it serves, do you think, benefit from having the perspective of curator with experience in African-American art and also the study of diversity and inclusion in museum collections?

Well, I think Clark is going to bring a lot to the table, and I really look forward to the future acquisitions.

A lot of these were made before she came on board, so I think that the next year is going to be incredibly exciting.

And one of the things that made Clark such an attractive candidate is her interest in diversity and inclusion.

So when she joins us kind of buy for all network team that we have on staff, she's going to help us think about how to program in the community and program here at the museum.

In addition to identifying and reinterpreting existing collections, because this is a new perspective, a way to acquire works, we've talked about collection responsive works that can kind of really confront works that have difficult histories in our collections and think about commissioning those straight from artists.

This is a really exciting time.

I can only imagine what's going to happen in the future.

And the great thing about Clark is that she is a really great mix from Texas, went to Spelman, so has kind of regional knowledge, but also has a really national perspective from her training.

Thank you.

It's sometimes assumed that minorities are less frequent visitors to art museum because they rarely see themselves in the exhibits that are presented there that really reflect their life experiences.

Does that square at all with what you have seen at LSU Museum of Art and do you think that's something that's changing?

Since I've been here, I've heard from others, long term staff and the community that the museum has never been more representative of the community than now, but I think we still have a long, long way to go.

I think sometimes people are confused.

Exhibitions are decoupled from collections, so our exhibitions have been diverse for a while.

And I can say since I've been here for five years and nine solo shows that I've done, five of those shows have been artists of color.

Actually, only two of those have been white men, which is typically they get all the solo shows.

So I do think that's been a game changer for us, and we have seen change in the way we're responded to.

But it's really a long term process to kind of build trust and not be seen as this elitist institution.

We're on the fifth floor of this downtown beautiful building, so that sometimes is even a barrier.

But I do think things are changing and having these acquisitions on rotation on view all the time is going to be.

Part of a major step toward that change.

Courtney Clark, thanks again for having us at the museum today.

As you can see from the pieces all around us, life can be tremendously enriched by the creative efforts of others.

So here are some of our picks for exhibits and events worth considering happening at museums and galleries in our part of the world.

And.

For more about these and loads more events in the creative space, visit LTV dot org slash across there, you'll find links to each episode of the program, so to see or share any segment again.

Visit LP or Slash.

Residents in Columbus, Ohio, mark their calendars for an event named the Columbus Open Studio and Stage during one epic weekend.

Dozens of artists and performance venues open up their studios to visitors, allowing the general public to see up close and personal the creative process in action.

We visited one gallery that showcases works from all the participating artists in one group shop.

We are currently in the main library downtown in Columbus, Ohio, in the Carnegie Gallery, which shows the Columbus Open studio and stage a preview show.

The purpose was to to exhibit the work of all of the costs artists that are participating in the tour this year.

We have everything from metal sculpture to ceramics, painting, photography, sculpture.

There is a piece in this exhibit that that I just absolutely love, it's by Laura Alexander and it is hand cut paper.

It looks like it could be laser cut, but it's not.

It's all hand cut and it's layers upon layers of paper.

And what she does is she before she cuts it, she paints the back of the paper with acrylic, bright acrylic paint and in this case, in this particular piece.

In this exhibit, it's pink paint and green paint.

So what happens is when you look at the paper all layered together, there's a reflection of the paint on the backside of the paper, and it makes the whole piece glow.

And it's just absolutely brilliant.

And I actually found this out figured out what her process was on last year's tour.

So these are the things that you're going to find out.

If you go on the tour, you're going to learn all about the creative process.

one of the pieces that I'm really fond of is a piece by Chris Tennant.

The composition is kind of dark, but then there's these beautiful yellow dandelion flowers in the center, and it reminds me of my childhood when adults would say, Oh, dandelions, they're weeds.

And I thought they were the most beautiful flowers and they were bright yellow and you could paint your skin with them.

So it brought me back to my childhood when I saw that piece.

He uses a lot of rugged materials, so he'll begin with burlap and wood, and he'll chisel that all down.

And then he takes oil paints, which is this really fine medium and puts that over top of this, you know, rugged wood.

I love this event.

The concept of this event, because it brings together well for the unifies our city, and I feel like it gives a good overview to what Columbus is and is an art community .

So for the 2017 tour, we have 50 artists at 32 unique locations where artist studios, select artist studios open their doors to the public and select performance venues open their back stages to the public as well.

But the cool thing about it is most of the studios on the tour are are are in are in folks homes .

So these are spaces that you may not ever get to see.

Definitely do not plan to get to all of them.

We have a great website and use that as a resource.

Also the exhibit here at the Carnegie Gallery.

So we recommend you investigate the artists, look at their work, check out their websites and then create your plan of action because you can't possibly see all the artists at one time on the tour.

two days is not enough.

Now, meet a textile artist from Dayton, Ohio.

Jackie Weatherly creates one of a kind pieces using silk and dye.

Watch her story unfold.

I went to school at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and did studio art.

one of the classes there was this oil painting class that they offered, and I was hooked at that point.

Textile art for me is it's all about the visual heart, as well as the tactile part being able to actually feel the material in the cloth and painting with dye on silk and watching it travel across the material is very fascinating for me.

You can add salt for texture you can use.

Resist.

Make it tight line.

You can use all kinds of different diffusin so it can either travel or not travel.

And it's just it's a versatile material, and it's just a lot of fun to work with.

It can be very challenging if you're looking to do something perfect, like with oil painting or acrylic.

You're not going to get that would die because dye tends to travel all over the material.

And if you use a resist, which is a kind of a gouda type of thing where you draw on the silk to keep the dye from flowing, then you can do a little more with that.

Otherwise, it's it's its own animal.

Usually, I have an idea in mind what I want to paint.

I'll have my own photograph of a flower or an animal or something, and I'll transfer that by drawing it on with a resist and then painting with the dye in.

If you put salt on for texture effect and then same for the resist, you have to wait for that to dry or you can Iron said it.

The dyes that I use are Jakande red labeled dyes, and they require to be steam set so that they don't run when they get wet and that type of thing .

You wrap it up in newsprint and stick it in a steamer for about an hour and 45 minutes and then pull it out and then rinse it.

And then Heat said it with an iron after that, and it should be good for wearable art.

I do make scarves and ties and hand-painted silk that I make into a pendant or a pin.

My favorite piece was the green sea turtles that I had made for a show at Meredith College.

We used to live at the beach back in the nineties in the sea.

Art is a lot of what I focus on are nature, flowers and just the outdoors mother nature.

Mostly, I do some photography on the side and I'll oftentimes I'll take some photographs of my own flowers and I'll take them to a website called Spoon Flower Dot Com and upload the imagery to that and do some mirror imaging and printing on either cotton or silk or linen and make yardage from that.

I do some freehand machine embroidery, nontraditional quilting with those fabrics, and I've also made handbags.

There was a piece that I had down at the date Visual Arts Center, and it was a silk piece that was attached to the top of the frame.

But the sides in the bottom were loose so that when people walked by, the error tend to pick it up and pull it away from the actual frame.

And people stopped and turned around and looked at that, and they weren't quite sure what to make of it.

one gentleman actually walked up and pulled the corner up and looked underneath it to see what was going on underneath the piece.

And he was like, OK, nothing there and walked away.

I wanted to be different from everybody else, and a lot of people do watercolor or oil painting or acrylics, so fiber arts is just a different art form.

And that is that for our show from here at the LSU Museum of Art, but never mind because next time you are in Baton Rouge, you can come and visit for yourself.

You can also find, watch and share episodes of the show at LPI Be Daugaard Rocks.

And if you are curious to know more about the culture that surrounds you, Country Roads magazine is a rich resource for finding out what's going on in the arts and culture all across the state.

So until next week, I've been James Fox Smith and thanks to you for watching.

Art Rocks is made possible by the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and by viewers like you.