Colby College Museum of Art, Bob Thompson: This House is Mine

Artpack Services recently had the privilege of working closely with Colby College Museum of Art and local Detroit, Michigan collectors to arrange crating of the local portion of a beautiful Bob Thompson traveling exhibition starting at Colby College in July that will make its way around the country for 2 years.

Bob Thompson, a visionary Black Artist, earned critical acclaim in the late 1950s for his paintings of figurative complexity and chromatic intensity. Has been widely collected by Michigan/Detroit collectors for years. Colby College tapped this collectors market to include these beautiful works in their newest traveling exhibition, the first dedicated to Bob Thompson in over 20 years.  Artpack Services is honored to have been a part of this monumental exhibit.

 

 

 

“An Artful Perch”

Artpack’s Design and Display Department worked closely with Providence Athenaeum and Art History Professor Tripp Evans to create a mount for the bronze medallion “Triumviri Americani” (“American Triumvirate”) in the newly refurbished Art Room at the Library. Acquired by the Athenaeum’s founding members 151 years ago, this is the first time the medallion has been exhibited since 1926.

 

The Providence Athenaeum, established in 1836 as a private lending library, has a long and vital history with the cultural life of the city of Providence. The Art Room, which began its life sixty years later, became the primary public art gallery in the city.

 

In 1870, Philadelphia sculptor William Miller created the Triumviri Americani to celebrate the commencement of Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency. It consists of portraits of   George Washington Abraham Lincoln, and Grant himself.. The Latin inscription at the bottom reads “Pater 1789 / Salvator 1861 / Custos 1869” [Father 1789 / Savior 1861 / Custodian 1869]

 

 

The challenge presented to our Design and Display Department was to install the medallion over an off-center cold air vent located above a seating area. Our team constructed a disc plate to frame the medallion, with a ring of bronze stars emulating those found in the bronze casting. A metal bracket was attached to the wall to allow the flow of air through the duct and to center the medallion over the window for optimum viewing.

 

 

“Howard Ben Tre’ Private Vision, Public Ideals”

Artpack Vice President Wendy MacGaw curated and designed the installation “Howard Ben Tre’ Private Vision, Public Ideals”, a  tribute to the legacy of sculptor Howard Ben Tre’. The exhibition currently on view at the 35,000 square foot Waterfire Event Center in Providence RI consists of large scale sculptures, works on paper, video interviews and models of both public and private commissions that span 40 year of the artist’s career.

A virtual tour of the exhibition and essays can be found here

Also a beautiful write up about the exhibition is linked

 

WSU Art Collection Newsletter

 

 

Art Collection Curator/Coordinator Report

In these very challenging times of Covid-19 and civil unrest due to racial discrimination, all of us at Wayne State and the University Art Collection are sending our wishes of good health and peace to you. We believe in the power of art, and its ability to heal and help us make sense of the world around us. Without question, we know that access to art is more important now than ever before because art challenges the way that we think, helps us look at the world differently and understand different points of view.

Inclusion of art into higher education prepares passionate students with the ability to engage with such an uncertain future. I believe that experiencing and embracing the arts, will help contribute to the better common good and a brighter future.

With this belief, despite the challenges of working remotely, we have found ways to continue to collaborate and work together as a team to have this collection online. Daniel Sperry (collection’s assistant), Chris Scalise and Gary Cendrowski (of the amazing CFPCA’s IT team), Kelly Farrell (arts administration graduate student) and I have been busy working to make the University Art Collection accessible through the Gallery System digital eMuseum software. The first preview of highlights of the collection can be found on our website (by clicking the ‘Online Collection’ link) or accessed directly at: https://artmuseum.wayne.edu/collections.

In the fall, I will be working with students to develop educational programming associated with the collection, that will be available online along with a special online exhibition curated by Samantha Hohmann (undergraduate Art History student).

Our immediate attention is now focused on making the University Art Collection relevant and accessible to our students (both on and off campus) and to anyone in the world with Internet access. We believe that this collection is unique and important, and will provide a wealth of information not found anywhere else “to educate, inspire, foster creative thinking and promote the advancement of social and cultural leadership.”

Stay safe and stay well. Please follow us on social media (see below) for highlights and updates on the University Art Collection.

Grace Serra, July. 2020

Colloquy 2018 From CCS to Centre Pompidou

“In 1968 Gordon Pask’s COLLOQUY OF MOBILES comprised sculptural figures that interacted through light and sound, with each other and with the public. COLLOQUY explored the nature of machine-to-machine and person-to-machine conversations in an immersive environment, the first of its kind. In 2018 we replicated COLLOQUY at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.”

Artpack Services designed and fabricated the crates, and facilitated Colloquy 2018 to travel to exhibition at Centre Pompidou in Paris February 26th- April 20, 2020 and then onto its permanent home at KZM Center for Arts and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Colloquy arrives to Centre Pompidou- Progress Update 2-13-2020

 

Detroit Fox Theater: Cleaning the Moorish Globe Chandelier

The Fox Theater in Detroit was built in the late 1920’s by business man William Fox ( 20th Century Fox) and architect C. Howard Crane. The Art Deco theater interior was designed with Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Persian design motifs over three levels and seated 5,174.. The theater opened in 1928 with silent films and stage productions and remained in operation  until it was restored to it’s original brilliance by Mike and Marian Ilitch in 1988 at a cost of 12 million dollars. The Fox Theater restoration became the cornerstone in reviving the downtown Woodward building corridor and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.  

Artpack was contracted in July 2019  to return the chandelier to a jewel like presence under the blue ceiling canopy.

 

The globe chandelier is of Moorish design of colored glass suspended from a starburst design from the ceiling built to resemble a round tent. The chandelier is 13 ft in diameter, weighs 2,000 lbs and contains 1200 pieces of glass.

Berry Gordy reinvests in Detroit, donates $4 million to Motown Museum expansion

Gordy’s contribution comes as the museum gears up for Motown Weekend, Sept. 21-23, a series of Detroit events tied to the label’s 60th anniversary.

Read Full Detroit Free Press Article Here

NY Times article

Artpack has a long history working with major Detroit and Michigan collectors.

Sandy Schrier, fashion historian, couture collector and a long time client of Artpack is featured on a NY Times article on the upcoming exhibition at the Costume Institute at the Met. Congratulations, Sandy!

“National Council on the Arts to visit Detroit next week”

Next week will be only “the second time in nearly 30 years that the oversight for the National Endowment for the Arts has met out side of Washington DC. Having the NEA in Detroit will attract “a lot of national attention to what is happening here in ways that could spur additional investment and excitement about our creative ecosystem.”

The councils membership, comprised of arts and civic leaders from around the country, will be in town this weekend, June 19-21. Hopefully this trip will bring some exciting energy to the cultural and creative initiatives around the Greater Detroit Metro Area.

Read Full Article Here