Before today when we walked down the green hallway, there was a yellow vertical piece at the end  situated on the corner of the wall in the Entrance Gallery.

This morning, we were met with a new color at the end of the hallway:

You'll have to come by tomorrow night to see what else has changed...

So right now, we're in the midst of re-installing certain works in our exhibition for phase 2 of Dan Flavin: Constructed Light.  It'll open this Friday, during the Grand Center Gallery Walk.  The installation is on hold today because our galleries are open to the public (30 minutes left to see the phase 1 artworks!), but will resume again tomorrow.  I'll try to sneak some photos of the process.  We're also working on scheduling the photography for phase 2 to put in both our print and web catalogues, along with a description about the change and the precedent set by Dan Flavin for doing this.  I'll be posting those as I get them.  Stay tuned.

The Pulitzer's architecture comes up a lot on this blog.  It relates to pretty much everything we do -  art, programming, everything that's planned here has to keep the very specific architecture of our building in mind.  It ranges from the logistics of a film night to the placement of art within an exhibition and everything in between.

Since it's often on our minds here, it was nice to see a feature in the Post-Dispatch this weekend on the architecture of St. Louis as a whole.  I've always loved driving through the city looking at buildings, but it was interesting to learn more about the specific history of those buildings.  It also helped me connect the Pulitzer to the larger context of the history of St. Louis architecture.   Take a look - there's also an interactive timeline (which includes the Pulitzer!).

I'm currently in a self-diagnosed professional existential crisis, which is not surprising given the phase of program we're currently in...sort of like being on a plane in-line to take off after waiting on the tarmac for hours. In the back of my mind, I know that the hands-on work will begin in earnest, but in the meantime, that means I have too much time to think and continue to plan for the next exhibition. A wise man once told me, sometimes, the best thing you can do is sit back and wait, and this is definitely one of those times.So, back to the too much time thinking and the professional existential crisis...I find myself reflecting on the past six months and am realizing that I'm feeling somewhat removed from what originally brought me to this unique position. In a sense, I feel as if I've lost the social work side of the community engagement, so in the next few blogs, I plan to address this point by point in hopes that you might have thoughts, advice, and reflections that will ultimately help me find my way back to my core mission.

Point One: Evaluation.  Are we making an impact with what we do, and how do we measure that impact? One of the primary reasons for the merging of the applied social sciences and the arts is to further develop and refine the use of evaluation in community programs implemented by cultural institutions. There are a few sources out there that provide a framework for the discussion, one of which being Gifts of the Muse, a report released by the Rand Corporation in 2004 that proposes approaching the discussion about the benefits of the arts from a different perspective. The same tools, methods, and challenges are faced by social service providers, as they seek to justify the relevance and effectiveness of their work. While there are easily quantifiable measures of success, the qualitative effects of programs are more difficult to firmly grasp. Add to that the difficulty of proving causality, bias, and other perils of human subjects-based research, it becomes all too easy to lose yourself in a land of meaningless data collected through ineffective measures. I'm sure this won't be the last time I blog about this, and the issues of effective evaluation are weighing heavily upon my mind at the moment. Do you have any ideas on what a good measure of impact of the arts might look like? If so, I'd love to hear them. Then we can get down to a discussion about methodology, instrumentation, and implementation.

Last Thursday - since it was the first Thursday of the month - the Pulitzer was open from 6-9pm so visitors could view the Flavin works at night.  My parents and grandmother came out for dinner (at Hodaks! Another St. Louis must-visit, if you're unfamiliar) and to see the exhibition.

It was really nice outside, so we went out on the watercourt patio to enjoy it for a little bit.  The colors bouncing off the water were so incredible, I had to run to my office and grab the camera and take a picture.  As with most photographs of Flavin, the picture doesn't do it justice - but I wanted to post it anyway:

 This past weekend not only led the way to much discussion and deliberation over the exhibition in our Main Galleries, it also led the way to a great deal of wonderment because of Front Room artist, Ei Arakawa. Arakawa and special guests staged a one-time live performance that lasted the whole evening. At 5:00 pm he began working in The Front Room (a few guests thought maybe we didn’t quite finish on time, others just looked bewildered). Arakawa walked in and out of the museum carrying large pieces of paper and metal, asking guests to help him hold doors open and help him stuff trash in a bag. The remains, his exhibition, were left on display in The Front Room and will remain there for two weeks. This live performance was quite an experience. Click on the videos below to see what the Contemporary’s Curator and the artist had to say about this performance.

Another Opening Weekend is over. There was plenty going on this past weekend for guests to partake in at the Contemporary. During last week's exhibition walk-through staff members, docents and gallery attendants listened as Chief Curator Anthony Huberman shared some thoughts behind this debut exhibition for our new curatorial team. He also talked a little bit about the new curatorial vision: our Main Galleries will often welcome two artists, sometimes paired by a curator, sometimes two artists will be asked to collaborate, and at other times, the artists will be unrelated.  These different circumstances all play into the idea of 1 + 1 = 3. Bring together two artists, sometimes related, sometimes not, and you get something totally new, something you may have never thought of or noticed before.

Tonight is the opening of John Armleder and Olivier Mosset. The public reception starts at 7:00 pm, but there is a Member Preview at 6:00 pm and a Patrons Preview at 5:00 pm. In just a little bit the entire staff and all of the docents and gallery attendants will take a walk through the exhibition with the curator. It is definitely a great experience for guests who come to Opening Nights, because they too will get to experience what the staff does on the walk through - access to the curator, director, staff members and artists...a chance to ask questions and to really get an idea of what the exhibition is all about. I highly recommend Openings!

Opening Night is in two days, and we are still working hard. Yesterday, Olivier Mosset was in the museum all day working on installation and meeting with Chief Curator Anthony Huberman. I stepped out of the office for a few moments to check out the progress of the wall (which I have a perfect view of from the balcony right outside the offices), and I head Mosset say "it's done" as he threw up his hands, then shared a clap with some assistants, then sat on our concrete step for reflection...so "it's done!"

Over the past couple months I've been doing some work on the museum's MySpace page and I have also created a Facebook profile and group. I am finding that there are so many things an organization can do with these two online communication tools. We currently use both to network with other organizations and individuals in the art world or who have interest in art or museums, to spread word to people about upcoming events at the museum (on Facebook we can even create event pages allowing people to write on the discussion board to ask questions or leave comments), and to share photographs and videos from events, programs, and exhibitions. These are also great places for us to compile all of the museums online communication tools in one place. And since the individuals who are signing up to be a part of our network are artists, art organizations, or have interest in art, these pages are also good for artists or event planners to get word out about their art or art happenings. If you'd like to take a look at the pages click here for MySpace or here for Facebook.