A stich in time saves nine....

This poor poor blog. The Gala has recently become a "biggser" deal than my daily entries. Daily art enjoyment will resume promptly on Sunday, May 17th (or perhaps after my trip to Italia the week after! :0) )
Anyhow, over the weekend I was reading Oprah Magazine and at the bottom of the page was a blip titled, "And if you've only got 5 minutes...." I thought to myself, "of course!" My page turning with Ms. Winfrey led me to a simply great web-site called The Phrase Thesaurus. The Phrase Finder is a thesaurus, but for finding phrases, not words. You start with a word, any word, and Phrase Finder will search for phrases related to that word. The phrase matches don't just contain the word, but any phrases related to the word (think search word fish, and phrase would be catch 22 or whipper snapper!) How awesome!

Unfortunately, I neglected to mention that the Phrase Thesaurus has a subscription fee, which is no fun for anyone. However, you can click on over to the Phrase Finder, and find the meanings of phrases from around the world throughout all years. I just found out that the phrase, "Cloud Nine" was defined by the US Weather Bureau in the 1950s, in which 'Cloud Nine' denotes the fluffy cumulonimbus type that are considered so attractive. Fancy that? If you're looking to incorporate the expansion of your phrase knowledge on an ongoing basis, I'd suggest signing up for A Phrase a Week e-mail service. Join over 80,000 subscribers that receive a free email once a week explaining the meaning of a popular phrase. So make "no bones about it" and sign up. You just missed the meaning of "graveyard shift" last week!

Tour de "Stages" with Lance

That Lance Armstrong sure is a marketing genius. The seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor first raised a ridiculous amount of cash for his foundation, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, by selling yellow rubber bracelets with the words, "Live Strong" on them, to support cancer survivors with unmet needs. Now he's moving to the art world to make an even bigger statement than neon yellow bracelets.

Nike and Lance recently held a huge kick-off celebration in LA, launching "Stages," a global art exhibition to raise funds and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The kick-off consisted of a bike ride to the Children's Hospital, where Lance visited patients. “Stages” brings together more than 20 artists throughout the worlds to create original works inspired by Armstrong and his mission to raise cancer awareness and will represent our fight to overcome adversity.

All of these artists will be working on their pieces from now until July, when the exhibition will open at the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris. All of these works will then be auctioned off in October, with all proceeds going directly to the foundation. This project is such a unique collaboration of the world of art, sports and philanthropy.

Even better, Lance is going to up the ante for Stages by riding a large series of special Trek "art bikes" throughout his upcoming races. One of these bikes was made by Damien Hirst. These bikes will also be up for sale in October (wouldn't you be the hit of the trail in one of them?!)

Art does move us, whether it be to a bike down a trail or to overcome adversity and face a life-changing situation. I'm looking forward to see what these artists come up with, and I'm definitely sensing a "yellow" theme.

What a guy that Lance, now if he would only get back with Sheryl Crow, he's be in my good book for eternity.

Paint the Town in Rio

*** Side Note: I've been a very bad blogger and have gone MIA for over a week. Shame on me! I've been working on this little event called the Gala, and the Biggs offices have been transformed into Gala Headquarters until May 16th. Come party and raise money with us!

As for this blog, I came across an article in Marie Claire the other day about an undercover photographer who goes by the name JR. He's French, part activist and part artist and transforms his photographs into large scale posters and pastes them on city walls to create photo galleries in the streets. This is my kind of graffiti. His photos are breathtaking and meaningful, and by transforming urban ghettos her gets his point across.

JR is traveling the globe currently and working on his project, Women Are Heroes. He has traveled to Africa, Brazil, Sudan, and Kenya and soon to India and Asia to take photos of women and highlight their struggles and the violence around them. At the same time his photos acknowledge their strength and value to their communities. Every visit he makes, he blows up his photos to be an enormous sized poster to be hung in a highly public space for everyone to see.

JR is brave for going on this artistic adventure. One phrase that comes to mind is, "in your face!" How can you ignore a photograph of a woman you may have passed by on the street and not feel anguish over the violence and corruption in the community. Visual representation can rule all at times, and JR has hit it right on the wall.

Hoping for the pot of gold at the end...

Friday can be considered the pot of gold at the end of the week, but on this web-site, we're talking ROY G BIV. I always find myself lucky whenever I witness the optical phenomenon that is a rainbow. I mostly see them driving along route one in the summer time after a huge thunderstorm.

Hence to say, there aren't enough chances to see a rainbow. I mean, how are we supposed to know exactly when a spectrum of light will appear in the sky when sunshine and the Earth's moisture meet? Tess Windt thinks everyone deserves a daily dose of rainbow, so she created http://www.rainbowsightings.com/ , a project holding a collection of rainbow images to spark conversation and encourage visitation. Head to the site for real rainbow images and a chance to submit your own rainbow images.

Then after you have been rainbow-fied, you must visit Biggs Shot 2009: On-line, the first on-line exhibition hosted by the Biggs Museum. Biggs Shot 2009: On-Line creates a virtual exhibition experience for members of the public who are unable to visit the Museum during the exhibition. All 80 selected images are available for view in Biggs Shot 2009: On-Line in addition to Q&A sessions with the photographers. Click here to begin your visit to Biggs Shot 2009:On-Line. Happy Clicking!

Denver Says Neigh to Airport Mustang

Snow, mountains, and skiing come to mind when I think of Denver. I've never traveled there due to my lack of appreciation for winter sports, but I'm sure it's lovely for those who love to hit the slopes. And as a TravelZoo subscriber, you can't beat the airfare out there. Denver has become an increasingly popular place to visit and live...one of my dear college roommates just left my girlfriends and I in the East Coast dust to head out there. So why not make a huge statement at the Denver International Airport, for those both coming and going?

Well they certainly had something in mind, for a long time in fact. A 32 Ft Metallic Blue Mustang greets the 28 million travelers at the Denver Airport each year. However, the bright blue face and fire engine red eyes make this mustang unlike your typical fairy tale unicorn you'd like to ride on. Viewed so unfriendly, many Denver residents and visitors have deemed it the Devil Horse or the Satan Stallion. So many Denver resident are turned off by Mustang, they've started a Facebook page petition (Called Bye Bye Blue Mustang), with over 7 thousand fans, to remove it from the airport, saying it isn't what they wish to be the first thing visitors see when they arrive.

If only it'd be so easy to remove it, as Mustang's history spans over 15 years. In 1992, the City of Denver commissioned Luis Jimenez, an award winning artist to create a 32 ft horse sculpture for $300,000 by 1996, to be displayed at the Airport. The City of Denver originally wanted a stampede of buffalo, but because of their near extinction, the plans were changed to a mustang, a wild horse to symbolize the West. The Mustang was an animal that provided long distance travel, similar to airplanes. After several legal battles over the location of Mustang, the sculpture was finally installed in 2008 after being completed by Jimenez's sons, Adan and Orion. Unfortunately, Jimenez did not live to see his Mustang amongst (as he put it), the purple mountain's majesty. Jimenez was killed when a section of the unfinished horse fell from a hoist at his Hondo, New Mexico, studio.

Jimenez has definitely left her legacy/mark in Denver. Although some are outraged, a city policy states that any petition to move the sculpture would not be considered until 2013, giving people a chance to become used to any public art. Either way, people care and they're engaged by this work of art. It's sparked conversation and is evoking feeling, which is what art is all about, isn't it?

Just close little Johnny's and Jane's eyes if they look out the window when you land in Denver. Who wants nightmares on a ski trip, right?

You're a Biggs Shot....In My Opinion

March sure came roaring in with a blizzard, and Biggs Shot is definitely taking storm at the Biggs Museum this week!

The 80 selected works from the Biggs Shot Photography competition are being hung on the walls as we speak (or type and click rather) and our inbox is filled with RSVPs to the First Look party on Friday. Why so popular? It's your community, your region, on the walls! Over 500 works were entered by artists from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Hence to say, there were many that didn't make Stephen Perloff's cut...but we do only have so much wall space to hang on.

I couldn't help but wonder which works weren't selected, so I snuck into our Curator's computer files and clicked around. There were definitely some framers and keepers in my mind! So below, please find my "Close, But No Cigar: Sarah's Almost Biggs Shots 2009" If I had my own Museum with an unlimited amount of walls, you'd be there, smack center.

This girl is just dying to get out into the world....

If hailing from Dover, you should know where this is behind the blur?

Purple reflections of a snowscape...love it.

Ahoy Matey.

We've all had this moment... i did yesterday baking brownies.

Crisp fall afternoon after school.

you can feel the breeze

How could you resist this face?

Splash!

Even bigger splash!

An even harder face to resist.

Smithsonian Makes U.S. A Deal

When all our friends in D.C. (Reps, Sens and Obama, oh my!) were laying out the $800 billion Stimulus a few weeks ago, one of the Amendments proposed by Oklahoma Republican Senator, Tom Coburn, sent the art world up in arms. Mr. Coburn wanted to eliminate the $50 million appropriation for the National Endowment for the Arts, prohibiting stimulus funds going to any museum or cultural center. His amendment lumped us museums and art people in with casinos, golf courses, zoos and aquariums. Now, no offense to casinos, I love a good penny machine every so often, but I don't think I've ever put an art museums on the same level as Caesar's Palace in terms of offerings.

50 Million isn't even a penny when it's split throughout the entire country. We're talking 800 Billion here total. But fortunately, it's better than nothing. On Jan 28th, the House passed the bill, that included the grant to the National Endowment of the Arts.

This march to Washington by members of the art world a few weeks ago (my inbox was flooded with please so sign petitions) has brought up a question that seems to be looming during this time of economic hardship. Are the arts necessary? Why do we need them? The Smithsonian thought, well why not see where the arts were during the Great Depression? Did they help us along? Did they inspire us? Did they contribute to the economic vitality of our country?

Beginning Friday and through January 2010, the Smithsonian will host, 1934: A Deal for Artists, an exhibition featuring a selection of 56 paintings funded by the Public Works of Art Program in the dark days following the great depression. After a year at the Smithsonian, the exhibition will tour the US for three years, giving many the opportunity to see the show. The Public Works of Art Program was established by Franklin Roosevelt and was the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. Federal officials in the 1930s understood how essential art was to sustaining America’s spirit and assisted financially strained artists by commissioning them to create works depicting the "American Scene" for public use and view in schools, libraries and post offices. The artists pained subjects that were recognizable, of landscapes and rural life, that reminded Americans in 1934 the country's beauty and values we cherish this country for.

A New Deal for Artists most certainly underlines how arts can help restore confidence in the country. The Coburn Ammendment doubted the argument that arts and culture can play a positive role in the government's recovery efforts in an economic downturn. Hey, Coburn, we're in a bad state, but nowhere near where we were in 1934...and good ole' Roosevelt still threw us a few bones.

Ok, as Linda Danko, Biggs Museum Director, would say, "I'm getting off my podium now."

But.....go see this exhibition!