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| Earlier this year, we asked 138 nominators—curators, scholars, arts presenters and leaders, artists themselves—to tell us about talented artists whom they thought worthy of a USA Fellowship. These anonymous nominators represent the geographic and ethnic diversity of America. They are chosen from every state, including the US territories and, most importantly, are selected for their expertise in their respective artistic disciplines.
From this nomination process, more than 300 exceptional artists from across the country have applied for the 2010 USA Fellowships. These artists come from 44 states and 2 territories, and work in nearly every artistic practice, from traditional crafts to avant-garde modes.
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| “Quicktake: Rodarte” installation at the Cooper-Hewitt. Photo: Carmel Wilson |
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In February, during the high-style whirlwind known as New York Fashion Week, the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum provided a luxuriously unhurried look at Rodarte, the ingenious and always astonishing California-based label created by Kate and Laura Mulleavy (USA Target Fellows for 2009). For the month long exhibition, curated by artist Gregory Krum, the Cooper-Hewitt’s discerning retail director, 17 looks from recent Rodarte collections were presented as a stunning tableau vivant: the museum’s galleries, housed in a Fifth Avenue mansion, were stripped of Gilded Age ornament, roughly plastered, and reduced to alluring rubble. Amidst these darkling ruins, a group of mannequins, blank-faced sylphs dressed in delicate cascading gowns and intricate lattice work leather jackets, posed dramatically. A soft spotlight illuminates a pair of perilously high-heeled shoes abandoned in the dust and debris piled up between the broken floorboards. The installation design, a collaborative project by Rodarte and the Cooper-Hewitt, delivered a dynamic freeze-framed image: a three-dimensional experience of Rodarte’s exacting art, their innovative use of materials, and remarkable visual inspirations—a wide-ranging list that encompasses wheat fields, horror films, and neo-classical paintings.
Founded in 2005, Rodarte’s first collection—10 exquisitely hand-finished garments—was launched at a runway show held in a neighboring New York mansion. Since then, Rodarte’s work has been enormously celebrated, favored by style icons, acknowledged with fashion industry awards, and acquired by major museums, “The idea of the Quicktake show is to get important work into the museum fast,” explains Gregory Krum. “Rodarte is meticulous, sophisticated, and fearless.”
http://blog.cooperhewitt.org/category/Rodarte/
by Susan Morgan
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In the best of times, air travel is a headache for anyone with all those constantly changing rules about carry-ons and what you can put in a plastic baggie. If you think removing your shoes is a hassle, imagine dragging a cello through security. Travelling with a precious, custom-made instrument is one of the challenges of working as a musician, but last month was particularly complicated. Thousands of travelers were stranded in airports across Europe when the unpronounceable Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in Iceland.
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