University Daily Kansan / Thursday, August 27, 1987
Arts/Entertainment
7
Using knowledge and experience for young artists
Carlson pushes for recognition of contemporary art in Kansas City
By VALOREE ARMSTRONG Staff writer
Amid a diminishing number of art galleries in the Kansas City area, the new exhibits coordinator at the University of Kansas Medical Center's Gallery of Art hopes to give young artists' work the exposure it needs and deserves.
Bob Carlson, a Leawood contemporary art dealer and collector, recently was appointed to the gallery position in the Med Center's Archie R. Dykes Library, 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard.
Bob Carlson, exhibits coordinator for the University of Kansas Medical Center Gallery of Art, stands in front of a wood sculpture in the library.
"Four to six art galleries aren't here that were here a year ago." Carlson said Sunday, including his own Gallery Karl Oskar in the tally. But he said the financial overhead involved in such private ventures would not be a problem at the Med Center gallery.
He said he was enthusiastic about using his knowledge and experience in the art world to promote high-quality vaudevil artists.
his connections in the visual arts community, including his position as president of the Kansas City Art Gallery Association.
Carlson blamed Kansas Citizens for not having the guts and individualism to buy contemporary art. He said that although they liked a piece of art, they were often negatively influenced by others' opinions.
"I've known the fun and excitement of collecting," Carlson said. "And I know what an opening in that domain can mean for young people."
"There's an abundance of younger artists needing exposure."
Jim Bingham, director of the Dykes Library, said he appointed Carlson to succeed Wilfrid Arnold as exhibits coordinator because of Carlson's years of gallery experience and
Others don't realize the intelligence it takes to create and to view
I've known the fun and excitement of collecting. And I know what an opening in that domain can mean for young people. There's an abundance of younger artists needing exposure.'
Bob Carlson.
Bob Carlson, exhibits coordinator at the University of Kansas Medical Center's Gallery of Art
contemporary art, he said.
"People have a mind—set, expecting to see something they've seen before." Carlson said, calling the impediment a "visual blindness."
Carlson said it was his responsibility to keep his eyes open and to encourage talented artists to work through himself and Bingham.
A promising artist is one who shows strength in both the ideas and the technique, Carlson said. He described the waste of technically proficient artists who had nothing profound to say.
I look to a work of art that keeps speaking to me after the initial buzz is over," he said, comparing art to people he had grown bored with in time.
The Med Center gallery is now the home of an assortment from Carlson's personal collection of young and seasoned artists' works.
The gallery will display the works of Susan McCarthy in September and
October, Bingham said. McCarthy is a Winchester resident who often depicts scenes from rural Kansas. The northern California landscapes of Willa Smith of Hermitage, Mo., will be featured in November and December, Bingham said.
The Med Center gallery, established in 1985, is dedicated to Richard C. Cotton, who was killed in a 1980 car accident, Med Center officals said.
Carlson said his position as president of the Kansas City Art Gallery Association allowed him to monitor other galleries in the Kansas City area for future Med Center gallery shows.
As an art dealer, the Kansas City-area native said he dealt with people all over the world by telephone and with people within a 500-mile radius of the Kansas City area on business trips. He said he often traveled with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of prints in his back seat.
Carlson also has been working for eight months to open a new contemporary art museum at 20th and Baltimore streets in Kansas City, Kan.
After graduating from Bethany College in Lindsborg, where he was a painting major, he worked as an artist for several years. But the
tough life of a young artist discouraged him, and he started working at a Kansas City-area art shop, which he later bought. In 1983 he opened Gallery Karl Oskar in his home but closed it three years later. He said he'd been spending thousands every month while only two of his 30 shows broke even.
Although the atmosphere is better here for artists compared to more stressful and competitive cities such as New York, he said the Kansas City area didn't have enough galleries to show young artists' work.
Architectural details on campus buildings and people depicted in artwork displayed at the University will be the focus of a contest this fall. The contest involves trying to identify 80 KU tidbits pictured on a poster.
Poster contest features campus
By JULIE McMAHON
Staff writer
The faces and places of the University of Kansas are part of a contest designed to promote the Lawrence campus this fall.
The contest, called "Great Faces,
Great Places,"" involves the distribution of a poster with 80 photographs of architectural details of KU buildings and famous people depicted in artwork on campus. The objective is to identify the landmarks and people. Anybody may participate in the contest, which will begin Sept. 1.
"Great Faces, Great Places," also is the theme for KU's 1987 Homecoming Day on Oct. 24. The contest and homecoming are tied together to show newcomers and remind alumni of KU's beauty and resources, said Karla Carney, associate director of communication services for University Relations.
Museums and exhibits are a main part of the contest. University Relations, the Museum of Anthropology, the Museum of Natural History, the Spencer Museum of Art and sports information decided what was to be on the poster, Carney said. Campus tours to be held on Parents' Day, Sept. 19, will be designed to help contest participants.
concept picture. Jeannot Seymour, art director for University Relations, thought of the idea for the contest. She designed the poster in the winter, and photographers took the pictures in the spring.
piers took the ball. Carney said, "The more we thought about it, the more we realized that the fall is the perfect time to use it because of people coming back for football games."
She said the photographers took 150 pictures, and 80 were chosen.
Four prizes will be awarded in each of seven categories, which include alumni, students and an open category. First prize is a framed "Campus Skyline" print donated by the University of Kansas Alumni Association. Second prize is a $25 gift certificate from the Kansas and Burge Urions. Third prize is a $15 gift certificate from the KU museums. Fourth prize is two tickets to a KU football or basketball game
"There was enough for two postres. There's still a lot of beautiful faces, and places," Carney said.
The posters and entry forms will be available starting Sept. 1 at the museums of anthropology, natural history and art and at the Kansas and Burge Unions. The deadline for entry is Oct. 12. The winners will be announced on Homecoming Day during pregame ceremonies.
Members of the Imagination Workshop rehearse a play. They are, from left, Richard Skoonberg, Richard Gorell and Gene Alan Carr. They and two other members, Ann Sargent and Rick Temblyn, will perform Saturday.
Variety comes to life
'Goodtime Radio Revue' to feature local artists
By VIRGINIA McGRATH Staff writer
Where can you find original rhythm and blues, opera, classical and folk music, and live radio comedy all in one place?
At the "Goodtime Radio Revue" on Aug. 29 at Liberty Hall, or on the radio.
That's because KANU-91.5 FM will broadcast this live radio variety show as it is performed at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St. Aired for the first time in January, it has been a sell-out success ever since.
the revue will feature KU associate professor of piano Alice Downs and professional concert pianist Rita Sloan on dueling grand pianos. A local band, the Mackender-Hunt Band, will perform its own brand of rhythm and blues and early rock 'n' roll.
Dick Wright, host of "The Jazz Scene" on KANU, will sing an operatic aria by Puccini, pop and show tunes and an unaccompanied folk song medley.
Bluestem, a bluegrass and gospel band and a regular act on the Revue, will appear. Pianist Bill Crahan also will perform.
will perform it.
In addition, KANU's regular theater troupe, the Imagination Workshop, will perform several comedy routines. The troupe will use sound effects like those used in 1930s radio shows. For example, coconut shells pressed on gravel will be used for the sound of a horses' hooves; glass will be shattered for crashing sounds; and the old staple, a slamming door, also will be used. The audience will be able to see what the radio listener will be hearing.
Wright said that live radio, like that from the '30s, appealed to people.
"It's kind of a lost art," he said.
Downs also said she liked the idea of a live show.
"I think performing in a studio can be really sterile," she said. "It's hard to get up for that."
Darrell Brogdon, KANU program director, says that although the style of the show is reminiscent of the radio shows of the '30s, it is a contemporary show.
contemporary show.
"I'm a fan of old radio, but these don't only harken back to that era," he said.
He said the Imagination Workshop would use a style of comedy comparable to that of NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live."
Rachel Hunter, the show's host, attributes its success to the diversity of entertainers and to its light atmosphere.
"A mixture of music brings a mixture of people," she said. "People just come to have a good time, because there's nothing serious about it."
Hunter said the revue gave local musicians a chance to perform before a radio audience.
The Revue is one of the only shows of its kind in the country. A similar show, titled the Prairie Home Company, is broadcast on public radio from Minnesota, but only the taped versions are now being broadcast.
Hunter said she used to do a similar show in Kentucky on a smaller scale and liked the idea of doing the same thing in Lawrence.
Hunter said she and Brogdon talked about the idea for about a year before deciding to go ahead with the show. Four live versions of the "Goodtime Radio Revue" were broadcast last spring, and two more will be broadcast this fall, at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 and Dec. 19 at Liberty Hall.