It is common to think of visiting an art museum as a solitary activity. And it can be conducive to quiet contemplation. However, as I found out a couple of days ago, viewing art with a group can focus your attention on things you might overlook on your own. For this months American Art 101 [...]
Author Archive > petrulis
hard work
Two days ago, when I was talking, or rather trying to talk, to a group of theater students, words just leaked out of my ears before they could reach my tongue. Talking and writing is hard work. At least for me. That reminds me of what Terre Haute sculptor, Janet Scudder, said about the job [...]
no favorites?
I often get the question- “What is your favorite work in the collection?” or people ask me to make a value judgment on a work. It is awkward and I usually come up with a lame and boring answer like “I love all my children equally.” It would be disingenuous to say I am [...]
Interview with Ismael Muhammad Nieves on Graffiti
Ismael Muhammad Nieves (Ish) is the guest curator for “Heartland Graffiti: writers from the Midwest” on view at the Swope October 2, 2009-January 2, 2010. This is an interview conducted by Swope Curator Lisa Petrulis. The exhibition opens as part of October’s first Friday events and Ish will be on hand to talk about the [...]
Talking about art
I can’t believe May is almost over and no one has posted this month. I was giddy when I saw the comments to my last post. I hope we can keep the conversation going. (Well, OK, so its not a conventional conversation - more a series of responsive monologues.)
Related to that discussion- the Swope Docent [...]
Hey, I’m back to the blog.
Here is the peculiar situation I find myself in, it is quite a conundrum:
I am tasked to write and talk about visual art.
Sounds simple enough doesn’t it?
But if, as I believe, the arts are each a unique language,
each providing an experience unlike the others,
then how does one interpret unique visual [...]
a walk in difused light
Last night, walking the dogs again, the moon was nearly full but behind a cloudy-almost-overcast sky. There was enough light to discern rudimentary shapes but it was diffused and projected no shadows. I began to feel a familiar sensation.
I’m often struck by how a painting, that first seemed foreign to me, slaps back into my [...]
more thoughts on “Blink”
Last night as I walked the dogs in the dark I thought about the book “Blink” again. Yes now that the time has changed again, it is dark by the time I get home and change into my grubby dog /woods walking cloths. I don’t mind too much, things appear different in the dark. [...]
Driving & reading
I just finished reading, or rather listening to, “Blink: the power of thinking without thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell. I’ve been driving 45 minutes each way to and from work for about ten years but I just now discovered audio books. They are great, but I do find that my mind wanders , on occasion, and [...]
Interview with Bill Elmore
Bill and I discussed his ongoing Terre Haute Heroes Project on July 3rd, 2008. The work discussed in the interview will be featured in the Swope’s fall exhibit: Terre Haute Heroes Project: photographs by Bill Elmore, (education gallery) October 17, 2008- January 3, 2009.
LP. Bill, I know you have done combat photography. How did that [...]
