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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > January > 20
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
President Obama and the arts
President Barack Obama was inaugurated today, entering office with arguably the first presidential platform on the arts that was drafted during the presidential campaign.
Obama outlined an eight-point platform that called for, among other things, a public championing of the importance of arts education, the creation of an “Artist Corps” of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities, a support of increase in funding to the National Endowment for the Arts and increased cultural diplomacy both through greater promotion of American cultural leaders sent abroad as well as loosening stringent post-Sept. 11 visa requirements to attract more foreign artist talent.
Obama’s interest in the arts comes from his own first-hand experience, not the least of which are his accomplishments as the author of two best-selling books “Dreams of My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.”
“When I was a kid,” Obama told a crowd in Wallingford, Pa., on April 2, “You always had an art teacher and a music teacher. Even in the poorest school districts, everyone had access to music and other arts.”
You can download a copy of Obama’s platform on the arts here.
The arts, however, don’t make it specifically on to the 23-point agenda list of Obama’s transition team (see change.gov/agenda), instead landing under the sub-heading ‘Additional Issues.’
Still, Obama’s inaugural celebrations included a heady line-up of creative talent such as musical greats Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma, Izthak Perlman along with poet Elizabeth Alexander.
“Our art, our culture,” the president-elect told anchor Tom Brokaw on “Meet the Press,” on Dec. 15, “that’s the essence of what makes America special, and we want to make as much of that as possible in the White House.”
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The Blanton goes blue
The Blanton Museum of Art seems to have found a way to do something with the cavernous lobby of their Michener Gallery Building, thanks to the generosity of far-sighted patrons Jeanne and Michael Klein.
The Kleins have supported a site-specific installation by Teresita Fernandez, a 2005 winner of the MacArthur Fellows Program, a.k.a the MacArthur genius awards. Entitled ‘Stacked Waters,’ the massive piece consists of 3,100 square feet of custom-cast acrylic that covers the atrium walls in a striped blue pattern resembling water. It should be finished Jan. 23 and will be on view long-term, probably three to five years.
The title of the work, Fernandez said last week as she was installing the work, is a nod to Donald Judd’s stack pieces and his exploration of box interiors. And no, it’s not a reference to any particular body of water.
With its changing stripes of shades of blue and white, ‘Stacked Waters’ seems to undulate in the skylit atrium, reflecting the changing light. “I wanted it to be like a portrait of the day and the changing light,” said Fernandez. “I want it to immerse the viewer. Instead of giving visitors an object to look at, I wanted to give them an experience.”
Fernandez said she also wanted to break the stereotype of atrium art — you know, the expected grandiose mobile. Instead, she’s offering visitors to UT’s art museum a tantalizing, beckoning journey, especially as you ascend the 50 steps up to the second floor.
Even seen in mid-installation, “Stacked Waters” looks like a major — and sublime — improvement to the Blanton’s stark atrium — a vexing overly-large space in a building strapped by its conservative, uninspiring architecture.
Michael Klein, for one, has been seeking a way to enliven the Blanton’s architecture since the place opened in 2006. “It’s like the architect forgot the art,” said Klein when he stopped by last week to visit with Fernandez.
Artist Teresita Fernandez and Michael Klein.
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