"Abstract painting of spoon with a Cheerio on top." Vanessa H. age 4

We had a most excellent response to our “What’s On Your Spoon?” blog!  Kids were asked what they would like to see on the Spoonbridge in place of the cherry while it was removed for repair.  Many of our friends from the highly imaginative and sophisticated 12-and-under scene sent in their suggestions.  Because of the overwhelming response, we regret that we are not able to post all the great ideas here.  After much consideration, we present this selection of drawings and written responses.  Enjoy!

First off, let’s acknowledge some of the written responses:

“A big hunk of ice cream!” –Brandy

“Um, a big Cheerio?  Or maybe some yogurt.” –Vanessa (age 4)

“A birthday cake so everyone can go visit on their birthday” –Hannah, Grade 1

Food-based responses were definately the most popular.  Lots of smart kids immediately recognized the connection between the spoon and eating, and suggested many variations on this theme.  These kind of problem-solving skills will save us all in the future.  Great job, kids!  Keep it up.  Some unique responses worth noting:

“A spoon full of puppies!” –Zachary

“I say nothing goes with a spoon better than a FORK!” –Kim

Intriguing.  See more responses here.  Now, onto our visual learners:

"Pickles are good and green sticks out." Meher Ali

"A snake...I know every kid will like it." Wendy Q.

"They are so prity, soft, cool, small, smart, creatov." Ayana L.

"Lots of people eat cereles." Brisa C.V.

"Frank Gehry's Sculpture" Anonymous *editors note: Spoonbridge and Cherry was designed by Claus Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in 1988.

"It could be the first gold fish sculpture." Charley

 

"...if the Jonas Brothers' pic was on top of the spoon, grownups will maybe think it will be kind of funny for them." Anonymous

 

"Milk for the water...and on the spoon will be Cookie-Crisp cerele." Paris

 

"Monkies are AWSOME!" Zachary

 

"Our state bird...Maybe it could even become a monument." Cailin K.

 

"It will have a good look in replace of the cherry." Islam Z.

 

Much thanks to the Columbia Heights 5th Grade ELL class!  Keep posted for more calls for kids submissions here on the blogs.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m a big fan of Make Magazine (even though I’ve made roughly zero things from the mag). I already had my Twin Cities pride tickled when Make started producing a TV show with TPT here in the Twin Cities. But now they’ve gone and one-upped everything and are having a “Make Day” at the Science Museum of Minnesota. It’s not quite a Maker Faire, but about as good as we’re going to get in Minnesota in March.

Here are the details:

Make: Day celebrates the ingenuity and inventiveness in our community. Building off the success of Maker Faires and the American Maker events, Make: Day will give local engineers, artists, tinkerers and inventors the opportunity to showcase their DIY creations to Science Museum visitors.

Festivities will take place on Saturday, March 14th, from 10 am to 3 pm throughout the Science Museum’s exhibit galleries. The event is included in the regular admission price and free to all members of the museum.

• Here are some of the things you’ll find:
• Dozens of other local talented Makers, several of which appear on the first season of Make: television
• All of the Maker Workshop projects including the Burrito Blaster and the DTV Antenna
• Demonstrations from Makers and musical performances emceed by our very own William Gurstelle

Tons of hands-on activities for people of all ages

I hope to see some mnartists there, too.

Walker alumni were tapped last week to fill key museum posts on both coasts. In L.A., Douglas Fogle has joined the Hammer Museum as its chief curator and deputy director of exhibitions and public programs. Fogle got his start here as a curatorial fellow in 1994 and went on to work as a staff curator until 2005, when he moved on to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh; you probably remember many of the Walker shows Fogle curated, including exhibitions with Catherine Opie and Julie Mehretu, as well as Andy Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters, 1962-1964 (2005) and The Last Picture Show: Artists Using Photography 1960-1982 (2003) (which traveled to the Hammer). (Fogle’s new home and the Walker’s 1970 building also share an architect: Edward Larrabee Barnes.)

And as Fogle arrives in SoCal, veteran curator/director Richard Koshalek is leaving the area for Washington, D.C., where he will fill the director’s post at the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden that was left vacant more than a year ago when Olga Viso joined us here. Wisconsin native Koshalek also began his career at the Walker, working here from 1967 to 1972 after graduating from the University of Minnesota. More recently he was director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles for nearly 20 years (before its recent troubles), and then president of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. The Washington Post’s story has a more detailed overview of Koshalek’s career, as well as noting his bid “to reposition the Hirshhorn as an international leader in its field because the new administration has acknowledged the role of arts and culture.”

Modern Art Notes’ Tyler Green gives a nice shout-out to the Hirschhorn’s choice of Koshalek in his post today, and brings up a couple of other interesting points with a particular relevance to the Walker. Listing a number of new bosses that have set up in the past year at American contemporary art institutions, he speculates that “This will mean something for those museums and how the public interacts with and experiences contemporary art.”

Green didn’t include Viso’s arrival here last January (granted, it’s been a tad more than a year), but I’d add that between Viso and chief curator Darsie Alexander’s arrival last fall, the Walker is indeed well-positioned to offer some fresh thinking in our galleries and public spaces – and not least, with our public and our permanent collection. Just one sign of that is the major re-installation of our collection coming this November, something that many on our staff are excited about.

That leads me to item #2 from Green’s list of “Five things I think I think.” To wit: “When art museums use their collections and their curatorial staffs to intelligently engage with the present, they do something extra-important: They reach beyond the art ghetto to new audiences, they make the case for why art matters, for why art isn’t just a feature story.” Exactly!