The Conversation Comes to a Halt, Rather Than an End by Elizabeth Machmeier

In just a week, my summer will be over—and with that, I will be done with my internship at the ASK Gallery. I wanted to write a final blog to say my goodbyes as I head off to school. I know that my time at the gallery will remain with me, as a fond memory, and as a unique experience. When the summer began, I was without an internship, and without an idea of what I would want to do with my time. As an English Literature major, I am not set on a direct path to any one career. I clearly enjoy writing, but with the way I work, I couldn’t allot hours and hours to sitting in front of a computer. When the field of marketing was proposed, I didn’t know enough about it to decide if it was right for me. I needed something that already interested me to compliment the unknown—my love of the art world was the perfect solution. I figured even if marketing turned out to be nothing like what I expected, I knew that the art I was surrounded by would be enough to keep me engaged throughout the summer. Luckily, the marketing of an art gallery turned out to be very interesting, especially when I worked with Anita and Patrick. They never failed to amuse me with talks of kitchen carts, knitting myths, and everything in between—including their love of art, of course. Although Anita and Patrick have different backgrounds in regards to art, their passion for connecting art lovers to the art of the gallery, as well as the artists, is reflected by everything they do for the gallery. I was lucky enough to help out at the gallery and to work in a space that thrives on creative and original ideas. I thank Anita and Patrick for letting me be part of the gallery, and for being such wonderful mentors, as well as friends. I hope that this blog has been an enjoyable addition to the gallery, and I will miss working at the gallery!

Summer Salon and Bizarre Connections to the Past by Elizabeth Machmeier

Another Anita Sue Kolman Gallery Summer Salon event has come and gone.  What an incredible time we had with the performance by Chris Koza and Linnea (a band mate from Rogue Valley). The first time I ever heard Chris’s music was over 5 years ago. When I was just starting high school, I purchased my first iPod. ITunes was a new and fascinating concept, and I used the “iTunes recommends…” feature all the time. This feature would list other songs from a variety of artists around iTunes, based off of the music that was already in your library. I used this to find many new songs and artists, without having to weed through all the music on iTunes myself. “ITunes recommends” located “Pilot Light” by Chris Koza, and I listened to the thirty-second preview. His style was similar like the other songs I had in my library, but at the same time unique. “(Chris’s) song-writing carries a strong emphasis on the lyrical and poetic elements, with styling and textures rooted in folk and Americana traditions”. At Saturday night’s concert, Chris took a moment before each song to explain the place, feeling, time or moment that inspired the lyrics. This connection between the musical artist and the audience held true to the tradition of the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery. The audience was there to hear the music, but the surrounding pieces of artwork from the Summer Salon created the perfect setting for the evening. Fans were able to speak to Chris and Linnea after the show, and I even found a moment to have the two of them sign my “The Dark and Delirious Morning” and Rogue Valley CDs. Once again, the evening of music paired perfectly with the beautiful pieces on display around the gallery. I was even fortunate enough to meet Kate Casanova and Betsy Ruth Byers for the first time! In one short evening, my experiences reminded how lucky I am to be interning at a one-of-a kind gallery (and that I am not quite ready to head back for senior year—not yet!).

2/3 in the Summer Salon by Elizabeth Machmeier

It’s hard to believe that August is almost here, and that I will be headed back to DePauw to start my senior year in less than eighteen days. This summer has gone by quicker than summers past, as a result of the exciting events that have established a timeline for me from beginning to end. But it isn’t time to reminisce yet—another exciting music event in the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery’s Summer Salon series has yet to take place (in addition to a First Thursday, two more Saturdays, and the task of planning a fall gallery opening: plenty of fun ahead in August!) But before this Saturday’s concert leaves a mark on my summer timeline, I wanted to highlight some moments from the gallery’s two Summer Salon events. The events of 2012’s Summer Salon: The film, “Grandma Pushed the Button,” by Waschering Maschine, Cello/Veena concert by Michelle Kinney and Nirmala Rajasekar, and music performance by Chris Koza present three wonderfully unique approaches to music/performance.

At the screening of “Grandma Pushed the Button,” I had no idea what to expect. Prior to the show, I met one of the members of Waschering Maschine, Reid, and he summarized the film for me to some degree. He said the film was based around the invention of the washing machine, and is set to an original score by his group “Waschering Maschine”. The music flowed beautifully with all the tempo and mood changes throughout the film, reassigning meaning to a variety of film clips and images, while emphasizing the instrumentals of the group. If it weren’t for the variety of mediums that Anita brings to the gallery, I may not have seen this intricate and collaborative artistic compilation. The Q & A at the end of the film clarified the process that went into “Grandma Pushed the Button,” and revealed the improvisational talents of Waschering Machine’s three members.

As Anita mentioned on the gallery’s Facebook wall, the concert put on by Nirmala and Michelle was truly entrancing. I had never heard a veena played before, and was pleasantly surprised by how perfectly the cello and veena paired together, accompanied by an Indian drum. I even ended the night by purchasing a CD by Nirmala and Michelle. The music was simply beautiful, and fit well with my love of stringed instrumental music. The difference between a performance of a new age film like “Grandma Pushed the Button” and a concert of traditional instruments seems drastic, but they each represent the gallery perfectly: the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery has more traditional works of art, such as Patrick Kemal Pryor’s or Betsy Ruth Byer’s work, but the gallery also holds the golems by Karl Unnasch, and the modern lamps by Atom Pechman. It is the unique personality of the gallery that makes it such a delight to visit, work at, and enjoy the events that occur throughout the year. I can’t wait until I can add a bit about Chris Koza’s August 4th performance—it’s sure to be another excellent addition to the Summer Salon.

A Conversation in the Gallery by Elizabeth Machmeier

"Number One Spot" by Patrick Kemal Pryor

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that one of my favorite parts of being in a gallery is the way that each person brings a different perspective when discussing a work of art. The first Thursday of July brought another unique experience, and a conversation between myself, an artist who wandered into the Northrup King Building, and Patrick Kemal Pryor. The artist who came to the ASK Gallery looked determined to find something. I asked him what he was looking for today, and he told me that he didn’t know what he was looking for, but he would know when he found it. I was curious to know if this meant he was browsing through the gallery with the hopes of buying a piece of work, but told me “no, I never buy art. I’m an artist myself, and whenever I get stuck on an idea or artistic concept, I come to galleries to find inspiration”. Although I’m not an artist who sells work, I am an artist in my own regards: I love drawing with graphite, conte crayon, willow charcoal, compressed charcoal, and pastels. This being said, I understand what it feels like to find yourself caught in a rut, unsure of the next step in your artistic process. I’m always inspired by the work of others, often in ways that I realize after I begin to try new methods. The artist then began to explain what he had recently been trying to do with his work. His technique had involved almost a type of splatter, complimented by a bright and bold palette of color. He mentioned that this style defined a lot of his work right now, but he was looking into encaustic art, which I shortly discovered involved melting wax. He said it was an entirely new endeavor, but he wasn’t feeling as connected to the work he was currently producing. 

At this point in the conversation, Patrick had wandered over, when the man began to look at the works by Patrick, that are displayed on the wall partition out on the gallery floor. He was drawn to the abstraction of Patrick’s paintings, and loved the color palette as well. He turned to, “Number One Spot” and commented that although he loved the work, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the vertical goldenrod stripe. I interjected that the stripe was necessary for the balance of the painting. Although it isn’t centered, the left side of the painting is “louder” than the right side would be without the stripe. Patrick nodded in agreement, mentioning that the palette and style of this painting was a newer technique of which he had grown fond. His older work no longer excited him the way that it used to, which was similar to the purpose of the man’s visit to the gallery. I could tell that this man was drawn to works of art that involved color blocking, and my assumption was confirmed when he showed me a piece of work in a gallery down the hall, which involved pure color blocking. 

Each of our opinions about a piece of work, such as “Number One Spot” is built upon one another. One comment isn’t necessarily “correct,” which distinguishes the beauty of discussing art. We each have preferences, but art allows us to mold these preferences into works of art that we can call our own, or they can allow us to discuss the many elements that make up a painting, sculpture, or any genre of art. It is conversations such as the one between Patrick, the artist, and myself, that truly defines the joy of working in an art gallery.

Energy and Perspective by Elizabeth Machmeier

July’s First Thursday event was unbearably warm, and Anita and I were worried about the flow of traffic for the evening. Anita, Patrick, and myself called the air conditioner our home base from 5-9pm. We even managed to blow a fuse, no doubt due to the number of fans and the air being set on full blast at 60 degrees. Our neighbors, Eric, Jim, and Michelle blew a fuse every twenty minutes or so: it was a constant battle with the dog days of summer. Us Minnesotans get credit for braving the insane cold, but are also survivors of the intolerable summer heat. However, the number of dedicated First Thursday visitors made the evening very much worth enduring.

A moment of the evening that made me truly appreciate the connections made in a gallery took place about halfway through the night. A woman, her daughter, and a family friend stopped by the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery. The three ladies did the usual lap around the perimeter of the space, stopping to discuss the various pieces as they made their way around the room. They ended their loop by Josephine’s stained glass pieces, and the pedestals that hold Dan Mather’s snow globes. The woman picked up the pyramid, shook it with vigor, stated it was a “beautiful half polyhedron,” and that she would take it, just like that. When we tried to give her one from the back room that hadn’t been handled as much as the display pyramid, she had her daughter decide which one had a better energy. After holding both pyramids, the daughter declared the first pyramid had the better energy, and that was the one they bought. It fascinated me to see a decision based on the energy of an object, because I personally have never bought something based on its energy.

While the transaction was taking place, I was standing in front of the stained glass with the family friend. She started to explain to me that these glass pieces were especially beautiful to her, because she used to see landscapes in a similar way before she had corrective eye surgery. She said that although 20/20 vision was a gift, the way the lights played on objects, (such as the strands of Christmas lights on a tree), was 100x more beautiful when her eyesight was poor. She stood in front of the stained glass pieces, and smiled, clearly recalling another time in her life when her vision created works of art right in front of her. It intrigues me that art can make you see a landscape or an image in an entirely different way, based on the manipulation and morphing of shapes and color. My conversation with this woman about the stained glass, and the energy that a piece of art work can hold and emanate, reminds me how each viewer brings their own memory and past to the artwork they encounter.

Observations About Art, by Elizabeth Machmeier, Intern, Anita Sue Kolman Gallery

The Art Department at DePauw University, where I am a student, includes studio art and art history. A huge emphasis is placed on what the department calls “punch card” events that occur almost weekly throughout each semester. Four events are required, but students often attend more. Events include gallery openings with artist talks, lectures, student exhibitions, and receptions for the students, professors, and visiting artists. The intimacy of the setting, as well as the interactions between the artists and the students isn’t readily available in larger gallery spaces. Listening to an artist explain their inspiration, statement, or what the work means to them personally in their development as an artist helps give new meaning and life to any work of art. My personal interpretation or opinion of a work of art may stem from a personal experience, or exposure to past works I’ve seen throughout my years in galleries. This blend of backgrounds, opinions, and conversation that emerges between two or more people in an effort to better understand a work of art, results in an interaction that would not occur if we simply viewed a piece of art and moved forward. Art should be discussed and observed in more than one way.

Since the start of my internship, I have met three of the nine artists who show their work in the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery, Patrick Kemal Pryor, Josephine A. Geiger, and Atom Pechman. It is a different experience getting a chance to learn about the artists beyond the incredible work they show in the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery. I have gotten to know a lot about Patrick, since he is at the gallery the majority of the times I am working. There is not a dull moment when he is around, and the way he talks about his art makes you want to pick up a paintbrush and attempt to create something unique. Josephine explained the unique situation of an artist like herself showing work in a gallery with painters. I was unaware of the fact that it is rare for a glass artist to work with painters and vice versa. I have studied different genres of painting, but never stained glass or textiles. Her ability to create landscapes and trees that look like pines or birches based on the surface of the glass is unlike any other stained glass windows I have seen. Finally, my discussion with Atom about the furniture design work he did with the Barrio restaurants, as well as Red Bull and other big name companies reminded me how lucky I am to meet these talented artists, and expand my understanding of the art world overall. My experience in the gallery thus far has exposed me to art beyond the traditional art I have studied in my courses throughout college, and introduced me to the artists who make up the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery.

Meet Our Summer Intern

We are very excited to have Elizabeth Marchmeier as our summer intern. She will be writing blogs about her experiences in the gallery. Here is Elizabeth’s first blog:

First of all, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth Machmeier, and I’m a senior at DePauw University in the small city of Greencastle, Indiana. I’m studying English Literature and Art History, with a minor in Spanish. My experience throughout college with art is the foundation of why I was drawn to the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery. I was introduced to Anita through my mom, who shares a mutual friend with Anita. I was seeking a summer marketing internship, even though I hadn’t done much work with marketing in the past. Anita’s gallery was a perfect fit, because I wouldn’t be confined to helping out in just one specific area. Working with a small gallery that does all of its own marketing, financing, and sales has already been a great experience, (and I’ve only been working with the gallery for about 3 weeks!) Throughout the summer, I hope to gain a better understanding of what marketing an art gallery entails in order to build relationships and create a customer base. I’ll be writing posts on the gallery’s facebook page and am helping Anita plan upcoming events. Please come and visit the gallery on Saturdays from 12-4 and the first Thursday of each month, and keep an eye on the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery facebook page for upcoming events in the Summer Salon. I’ve already learned a lot about how a gallery works and am greatly looking forward to learning more!