Out of this World: The Art and Artists of NASA - Vero Beach Museum - posted by FFAB

Andy Warhol's "Moonwalk (Pink)," features an astronaut in a pink space suit standing proudly 

on the moon's surface beside an American flag in the artist's trademark style. 

(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART)

NASA artwork lands at Vero Beach Museum of Art June 25
By Amanda Hicks of TCPalm

People on the Treasure Coast will appreciate a new exhibit coming to the Vero Beach Museum of Art this month.

"Out of this World: The Art and Artists of NASA," a collection from the NASA Art Program, will be on display starting June 25.

Chief preparator Matthew Mangold and museum curator Jay Williams chose 71 pieces from more than 300 works of art at the Kennedy Space Center.

The museum staff expects the exhibition to be appealing to Floridians since the Kennedy Space Center has made it possible for many to experience launches first hand.

"I think it will be extremely well received," Williams said. "Most Floridians feel a sense of connection with NASA's space program, I believe. I know it's true for me. The exhibition will appeal to a wide range of ages."

The NASA Art Program started in 1963 when NASA administrator James Webb suggested artists help tell the story of the agency's adventures.

"Important events can be interpreted by artists to give a unique insight into significant aspects of our history-making advances into space," Webb said. "An artistic record of this nation's program of space exploration will have great value for future generations and may make a significant contribution to the history of American art."

The exhibit features different art work from 1963 when the program started to Elizabeth McGrath's wall sculpture "Moon Mission" created in 2008, representing astronaut Alan Sheperd's golf shots on the moon during the Apollo 14 expedition.

Williams said a lot of Floridians feel a sense of pride in NASA's space program.

"We all knew about Cape Canaveral as the place where the Space Race was taking shape," he said.

Several Florida artists who participated in the art program will have their work on display in the upcoming exhibition.

Martin Joseph Hoffman (1935-2013), a Florida native who lived the last years of his life in Vero Beach, will have his painting, "Launch Window" (1981), on display.

Samuel Ward, who lives and works in Sarasota and observed several shuttle launches in the 1980s, will have his painting, "Cathedral" (1985), on display which depicts the inside of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center.The art will be displayed in the Museum's Holmes Gallery for three months and is supported by a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts..

"The National Endowment for the Arts is committed to nurturing artists and the arts in communities across the country," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Supporting projects from organizations like the Vero Beach Museum of Art represents a wise investment in Indian River County and the creative vitality of the nation."

IF YOU GO

What: "Out of this World: The Art and Artists of NASA"
When: June 25-Sept. 25; 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday
Admission: Off-season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), adults $6; seniors $5; students $5 with valid ID; children 17 and younger free; military free with valid ID. Season rates, adults $10, seniors $9
Information: www.verobeachmuseum.org

Stan Stokes' "Ascent of Atlantis" is a dramatic, highly realistic view of the shuttle orbiter, shown at the moment it is clearing the gantry, surrounded by billowing smoke and gases. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART)

Glad to see the Vero Museum exposing the public to part of this important but mostly unknown collection. 

I have been to Cape Canaveral many times and always visit the artwork from the collection that is displayed. The collection is undervalued by NASA in my opinion and not utilized nor displayed as it should be. A traveling show of the best of the collection, with published works, books, posters and educational material should be developed and shared with museums around the country.

Another idea I have is to finally get an artist up to the space station to work from that unique point of view! Maybe a plein air artist who could work while attached to the arm they use for space walks? Why not?!? A guy can dream... Glenn

The new Center for Asian Art at Ringling Museum makes a big impression - posted by FFAB

The new Center for Asian Art at Ringling Museum makes a big impression
Tampa Bay Times
by Lennie Bennett

The Center for Asian Art in the Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt Gallery of Asian Art is a big name for a big project at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.

It opened grandly in May with galleries for its permanent collection and notable loans — a study area that will serve both visiting scholars and a new Asian arts program for students at Florida State University, which owns the museum, and a lecture room that can accommodate an audience of 125.

The art will be of greatest interest to most visitors. Curator Fan Zhang has done a heroic job of compressing thousands of years of history and vast geographic and cultural territory using only about 400 works.

...

The new pavilion, designed by the prestigious Boston-based architectural firm Machado Silvetti, is gorgeous. It is sheathed in 2,736 green-glazed, rippled terra-cotta tiles, all handmade, that cover its cube shape that is elevated on concrete legs. It is done no service by the way it has been connected to the renovated wing. The design would have worked best as a free-standing structure with space around it to lighten its density. Pragmatically, that couldn't have happened because it is only part of the center and needs to be in close proximity to the renovated wing, which houses much of the art. The way they are joined is unfortunate. They seem jammed together with no transition, creating a visually jarring exterior. And without some sort of transition, the vibrant jade of the tiles, so evocative of Asian architecture, fights with the pastel color of the rest of the museum.

Those are aesthetic judgments, however, and the more important point of this new addition is that it broadens the museum's reach into its future and honors its past. John Ringling is best known, rightfully so, for amassing a great collection of Baroque art.

"He wasn't just trying to focus on European art," High said. "He wanted to explore making (his museum) a more encyclopedic institution."

Ringling gathered hundreds of works of Asian art in just a few years. When many people were buying them for decorative purposes, he wanted his to be of museum quality. Many of them are. It's gratifying to see this part of his collection, which had never been properly organized, given its due.

The Center for Asian Art in the Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt Gallery of Asian Art is part of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with extended hours to 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $25 adults, $20 seniors and $5 students with ID and youths 6 to 17. It includes the art museum, circus museum and Ca d'Zan, the Ringlings' historic mansion. Admission to the art museum only is free every Monday. (941) 359-5700 or ringling.org.

Read the Article Here