the Art MuseuM of the university of houston

n e W s L i n eWinter/spring 2009

As I write this, the staff is in the process of dismantling the exhibition Damaged romanticism: A Mirror of Modern emotion and preparing to ship its works to The Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, N.Y., and the Grey Art Gallery in New York City. Damaged romanticism was one of the most visu-

ally appealing and intellectually stimulating exhibitions that I have worked with. As evidenced by a steady stream of visitors, the show was enormously popular in spite of a rough start that was beyond our control—it was sched-uled to open the weekend that Hurricane Ike hit Houston. Blaffer Gallery was fortunate in that the building received no damage and never lost electrical power. Like most Houston arts organizations, we scrambled to reschedule our fall programming. I extend my sincere appreciation to all of our supporters during this challenging time, and I tip my hat to the staff for their hasty reopening of the museum doors.

Speaking of staffing, many have asked me about our progress in finding a new executive director. The search committee, which was formed in late March, conducted a national search and interviewed several highly qualified candidates. In mid-November the committee made its rec-ommendation to Dean John Antel, and he is currently in contact with the selected candidate. I am pleased to say that we will be making an official announcement shortly after the publication of this newsletter. Blaffer Gallery an-ticipates having the new executive director installed soon after the first of the year. Be on the lookout for a special e-mail blast with the announcement.

This is indeed an exciting time for Blaffer Gallery!

David L. Vollmer Interim Director

friday, January 166 – 8 p.m. Opening Reception for electric Mud and texas oil: Landscape of an industry

saturday, January 1712 p.m.Roundtable Discussion and Luncheon forelectric MudFeaturing Sara Cochran, David Pagel, Michael Reafsnyder, Claudia Schmuckli, and Patrick Wilson

saturday, January 24Blaffer Membership eventHouston Heights Gallery Crawl and Private Home Tour

Wednesday, february 412 p.m. Brown Bag Gallery Tour for texas oil: Landscape of an industry

Wednesday, february 1812 p.m. Brown Bag Gallery Tour for electric Mud

Wednesday, March 116 p.m.Contemporary Salon fortexas oil: Landscape of an industry

friday, March 135:30 – 7:30 p.m.Opening Reception for young Artist Apprenticeship program exhibition

friday, March 27 – sunday, March 29Blaffer Gallery/Mitchell Center Symposiumsystems of sustainability: Art, innovation, ActionMuseum open Sunday

saturday, March 2812 p.m.Artist’s Talk with Matthew Coolidge

friday, April 106 – 8 p.m. Opening Reception for 2009 school of Art Masters thesis exhibition

tuesday, April 144 – 7 p.m. Blaffer Student Association red Block Bash

Wednesdays, April 15 and 22 thursday, April 2312 p.m. Brown Bag Gallery Tour for 2009 school of Art Masters thesis exhibition

friday, May 156 – 8 p.m.Opening Reception for existed: Leonardo Drew

friday, May 158 p.m. – 12 a.m.2009 Blaffer gallery gala

froM the Director

upcoMing events

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the scene At BLAffer

1. William Betts (left) and John Devine (right) at the Damaged romanticism closing reception.

2. DiverseWorks Public Relations and Marketing Manager shawna forney creates a silkscreen printed T-shirt during the fall red Block Bash.

3. Damaged romanticism organizer terrie sultan (left) with Michael clark and his wife sallie Morian (right) at the Damaged romanticism closing reception.

4. Blaffer Registrar youngmin chung watches as Damaged romanticism co-curator David pagel autographs exhibition catalogues.

5. David pagel and terrie sultan lead a tour of Damaged romanticism.

6. A jazz band performs at the fall red Block Bash.

7. Blaffer Gallery’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Curatorial Fellow rachel hooper provides her insights during the celebutants, groupies, and friends Brown Bag Gallery Tour.

8. Damaged romanticism contributing artist Mary Mccleary (left) with Blaffer Curator of Education Katherine veneman (right).

9. gretchen and Andrew Mcfarland at the closing reception for Damaged romanticism.

10. UH students at the fall red Block Bash.

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TEXAS OIL: LANDSCAPE OF AN INDUSTRYJanuary 17 – March 29, 2009

The Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) debuts texas oil: Landscape of an industry at Blaffer Gallery on January 17; the exhibition runs through March 29. Exhibition curator Rachel Hooper sat down with Matthew Coolidge, founder and director of the CLUI, to discuss what he has been work-ing on for Blaffer.

rachel hooper: The CLUI’s strangely beautiful exhibitions are designed primarily to get us thinking about the Ameri-can landscape, and your organization takes its educational mission very seriously. You have chosen the oil industry in Texas as the subject of your study over the past year. What do you hope visitors will walk away with after seeing your exhibition? What sort of effect do you anticipate it will have?

Matthew coolidge: We do not set out for a specific effect, at least not one that is describable. In general, I suppose, if people are surprised, amazed, confused, astounded, inspired, overwhelmed, flabbergasted, blown away, in-trigued, amused, bewildered, shocked, startled, encour-aged, excited, or aroused, then we’ll be happy.

rh: The galleries will be filled with photographs, maps, and writings you have gathered as part of your research. But there will also be a video installation near the entrance to the exhibition. Can you give us a preview and describe this video?

Mc: It is an aerial shot, what we call a “landscan” video. It was taken using a helicopter with a gyro-stabilized high- definition camera. The angle is oblique, so you see what’s coming and have enough time to follow the objects and watch them as they come in and leave the frame. It’s a way of presenting a landscape exactly as it is over a wide area, to give a local and a regional view. Though we do a lot of

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Top: Freeway flyovers and Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston. Photo courtesy of the CLUI Photographic Archive.

A pair of arched pipelines designed to help regulate product flow at Rohm & Haas’s Deer Park plant. This piece of land was once part of Dr. George Patrick’s Deepwater Farm, a historically significant place that briefly served as the seat of power of the Texas Republic immediately after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Photo courtesy of the CLUI Photographic Archive.

still aerial photography, and have done some short aerial video shots in the past, this is the first time we have done something like this, with a sustained, forward-looking view. It's around ten minutes as one unedited scan. The stable platform of the gyro-mounted camera controls the point of view, allowing just the vista ahead to come forward. It seemed like the only way to show the remarkable scale of the industrial oil landscape in the Houston area.

rh: Where have you traveled in the course of your research for texas oil? Is there a place that you found particularly compelling?

Mc: We have been all over the state, from El Paso to Brownsville to Amarillo to Dallas, and everywhere in between. From West Texas oil towns, like Odessa, Kermit, Andrews, Denver City, and Iraan, to the petrochemical processing centers of the Gulf Coast, like Freeport, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur, and Pasadena. We have scoured the state as much as we can. There’s no way to choose favor-ites, but some of the great oil-related places include the four-mile wide refinery complex at Texas City and ExxonMobil’s stealth headquarters building in Irving. The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Odessa is one of the most interest-ing museums in America. The outdoor display of twenty or so different oil pump jacks is sublime. And the Ocean Star

Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum in Galveston is fantastic, too. As is the Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont, where they have things like an immersive display where you are reduced to four inches in size to travel through the refin-ing process. And the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum has a recreated gusher that operates on demand. Can’t beat that!

rh: We’ve been hearing a lot these days about ending our dependence on oil and finding alternative energy sources. Do you feel at all as if you are documenting the end of an era—the twilight of the age of oil?

Mc: Not the end by any means, but the apogee perhaps. This may be as big as it gets, but I believe the end is a long way off. I think we will continue to use petrochemicals for a long time, as there is still a lot of oil and the range of products made from it is pervasive. If we use less oil in vehicles, which I think most people agree is a good thing, then there is more oil to use in other things. Who knows what sorts of uses and materials are left to dream up? I don’t need to tell you the industry is huge, and very profit-able. It will adapt. Like most of us do.

The Center for Land Use Interpretation’s exhibition texas oil: Landscape of an industry is organized by Rachel Hooper, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Curatorial Fellow at Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition and publication are presented in partner-ship with the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, with additional generous support from Baker Hughes Foundation and Marita and JB Fairbanks, and in-kind support from PennWell MAPSearch.

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Disused pump jack and oilfield on Spindletop hill, Beaumont. Photo courtesy of the CLUI Photographic Archive.

Infrastructure detail and public service signage at the Lyondell-Citgo refinery, Pasadena. Photo courtesy of the CLUI Photographic Archive.

Power and communications lines, along with product pipelines (buried and exposed), form the linear infrastructure—the connective tissue—of the Houston petrochemical landscape. Photo courtesy of the CLUI Photographic Archive.

ELECTRIC MUD January 17 – March 29, 2009

This January Blaffer Gallery pres-ents electric Mud, guest-curated by David Pagel, art critic for the Los Angeles Times and Associate Professor of Art Theory and History at Claremont Graduate University. Featuring the work of Californians Brian Calvin, Ron Nagle, Michael Reafsnyder, James Richards, Anna Sew Hoy, and Patrick Wilson, electric Mud explores the physical similarities and fluid boundaries between clay and paint. By highlighting the basic properties of these crude, gooey substances, the ex-hibition turns conventional ideas on their ears, confounding preconceived differences between art and craft, painting

and ceramics, form and function, leisure and labor, still life and real life. The six artists in this exhibition suggest that the history of art in California is a history of misfits, renegade artists whose ideas about how things work in the world are so far out of step with the status quo that they make their own poetic sense—and they do it so well you can’t help but agree with their propositions about how things should be, right here and right now.

Excerpt from the Exhibition Catalogue:

The noun part of the title—“Mud”—emphasiz-es the utter ordinariness of what literally goes into these works, the fact that they are made out of simple stuff, primarily clay and paint, but also string, lumber, leftover electri-cal cords, glazes, a bit of costume jewelry, and a brand-new bath towel. Nothing special and noth-ing precious has been

used in any of these paintings and sculptures. All steer clear of the musty sentimentality of much found object art (whose meaning primarily resides in the faded memories and vanishing atmospheres of the long-lost times and far-away places it evokes). They also avoid the naïve earnest-ness of objects collaged together from recycled castoffs (which can turn art into a sort of symbolic environmental activism). Instead the materially humble works in electric Mud start with substances—tinted liquids and malleable solids not all that different from dirt—whose intrinsic sig-nificance is so ridiculously overshadowed by the things that have been done with them by other artists since Altamira and Lascaux that it is difficult to imagine anyone doing anything original or significant with them now. Yet these

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James RichardsUntitled (#225), 2008Acrylic nylon string, yarn, wood45 x 42 inchesCourtesy Shoshana Wayne Gallery

Anna Sew HoyMask, 2007Glazed ceramic, dyed fabric, necklace, resin, screwCourtesy Karyn Lovegrove Gallery

pieces’ down-to-earth humility and characteristically Ameri-can pragmatism are laced with the derring-do of incorrigible thrill-seekers—the fearlessness or the foolhardiness or the flat-out desperation of folks who can’t help but try to do something fabulous when the deck is so stacked against them that no right-minded person would bet on their suc-cess. At the same time, it’s difficult to resist rooting for them. Their underdog charm appeals.

The adjective part of the title—“Electric”—emphasizes the energy that is embodied, concentrated, and conveyed by these works, a force that is all the more potent and thrilling because of their rudimentary materials. The reference to electricity focuses on the transformations that have taken place in the studio, the sparked moment when each of the artists turned mute goo into singular objects of mind-blow-ing beauty, surprising excitement, and unsettling verve. This half of the title is meant to get at the intangible magic of art that makes supposedly materialist critics cringe, in the process abandoning a good part of the real world and its history to the province of spiritualists, dimwitted transcendentalists, and half-baked mystics, all of whom are happy to jettison the quotidian vicissitudes of the everyday in favor of the treacly platitudes of their idealisms. electric Mud aims to take back art’s mystery, to bring down to earth and into the realm of criticism the dazzle and delight of beholding something you have never seen before or even imagined and cannot fully fathom. Yet you are as certain as you have been about anything that this is something you need to know fully—physically and intimately and to the best of your abilities, which, despite the application of all your faculties, are never quite enough to exhaust the works’ fascination or to quench your interest in it.

David Pagel electric Mud Curator

electric Mud is organized for Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, by David Pagel, Associate Professor of Art Theory and History at Claremont Graduate University. The exhibition and publication are made possible, in part, by The Cecil Amelia Blaffer von Furstenberg Endowment for Exhibitions and Programs and Houston Endowment, Inc.

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Top:April Juice, 2008 (detail)Acrylic on linen 60 x 72 inchesCourtesy the artist and Western Project

Middle:Patrick WilsonGreen Bean, 2008Acrylic on canvas15 x 36 inchesCourtesy Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects

Bottom:Ron NagleSonny Boy’s Fifth, 2001Earthenware6 1/2 x 6 1/4 x 4 inchesCollection Maxine and Stuart Frankel

EXISTED: LEONARDO DREwMay 16 – August 1, 2009

In summer 2009, Blaffer Gallery hosts Leonardo Drew's first mid-career survey in the United States. Throughout his career, Leonardo Drew has been continuously engaged with the cyclical nature of existence. Made to resemble the detritus of everyday life, his formally abstract but emotion-ally charged compositions have an aesthetic authority and metaphorical weight that is as unique as it is symbolic, transcending time and place in favor of a celebration of things eternal. These works range from the intense drama of his sculptures and installations of the 1980s, to the epic sweep of his massive wall-bound tableaux in the 1990s, to the ethereal language of his paper casts of the early 2000s. Add the poetic intimacy of his recent works on paper, and Drew’s practice can be described as a journey toward enlightenment, full of reprises and returns as well as new beginnings.

In 2000 Drew began to create sculptures using paper replicas of his ongoing collection of cast-off items that have constituted the material source for his works. Presented on their own or in encasings of the artist’s making, they introduced a new presence into the art-ist’s work, a ghostlike immateriality and a sense of mediation that counter the visceral weight and physi-cal immediacy of his earlier tableaux. Ever since then,

even when working with actual objects, a new econo-my of means has driven Drew toward a visual poetry of lightness and simplicity, culminating most recently in his installation Number 123 (2007). With this new development also has come a newfound emphasis on drawing—a practice that Drew suppressed for nearly twenty years because his extraordinary natural talent with the medium made it insufficiently challenging.

The installation conceived for this exhibition is his grandest and most ambitious to date. Its composition from many individual material elements connected through an intricate web of drawings applied directly to the walls, its flexible format, and its variable dimen-sions allow its adaptation to any space. This new in-stallation will be complemented by a selection of four-teen major pieces realized between 1991 and 2005, and twelve works on paper made between 2005 and 2008, which together offer a representative survey of Drew’s artistic development as well as speak to the relevance of the direction the work is taking today. The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehen-sive monograph, the first on this artist, published by Giles Ltd., London, featuring essays by Acting Chief Curator Claudia Schmuckli and Allen S. Weiss, Associate Adjunct Professor, Performance and Cinema Studies, New York University.

Following its Blaffer debut, existed: Leonardo Drew will travel to the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, N.C., from January 31 through May 30, 2010.

existed: Leonardo Drew is organized by Claudia Schmuckli, Acting Chief Curator, Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation, the Harpo Foundation, the Linda Pace Foundation, and The Fifth Floor Foundation. Support for the catalogue is provided by Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Background: Leonardo DrewNumber 123, 2007Cardboard, cast Elmer's glue, feathers, paint, paper, plastic, rope, string, wood Dimensions variableCourtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co.© Photo: Luciano Fileti

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Leonardo DrewNumber 28, 1992Canvas, rust132 x 256 x 156 inchesMarc and Livia Straus Family Collection

Leonardo DrewNumber 23, 1992Cotton, canvas, nails, wood96 x 120 x 8 inchesCourtesy of Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York

Leonardo DrewNumber 43, 1994 (detail)Fabric, plastic, rust, string, wood 138 x 288 x 12 inches Marc and Livia Straus Family Collection and the Saint Louis Art Museum © Photo: Dorothy Zeidman

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MODULATIONFrom 1994 through 2008, Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schechter, a collaborative duo based in Boston, have created astounding public art throughout the United States. Helmick, an accomplished sculptor, and Schechter, an MIT-educated rocket scientist with a passion for art, merged talents to imagine, design, and realize a number of creative artworks that are also engineering marvels. Well known for suspended pieces made up of hundreds of individual parts that create bird, boat, and human forms, they have installed their sculptures at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Salt Lake City Public Library, and the Federal Courthouse in St. Louis. They’ve also created mechanical and kinetic pieces for the Dallas South Central Police Substation and for Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut.

The University of Houston is fortunate to have worked with these two remarkable artists during their heyday. In 2000 they created Modulation, an enormous head suspended in the three-story atrium lobby of the Leroy and Lucille Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting, home of KUHF 88.7 FM and HoustonPBS. It’s composed

of hundreds of discarded and antiquated electronic parts, like circuit boards, video monitors, wires, cables, radio tubes, and speakers, all attached to a steel armature. The piece is active as well: speakers transmit KUHF radio programs, a halo of functioning computer fans encircles the head, and the figure’s eyes contain working video monitors, one displaying HoustonPBS television broadcasting and the other playing a live feed from a security camera located in the building’s entry hall. The interior of the head, which can be viewed by standing underneath it, features an LED map of the Houston area. The face of Modulation has no specific gender or ethnicity; it is instead an amalgamation of multiple ethnic groups. If you ever find yourself near the Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting, be sure to stop in to take a look at Modulation.

To learn more about Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schechter and their public art works, visit www.handsart.net.

Michael Guidry Curator, University of Houston Public Art Collection

speciAL feAture

Top left and detail: Ralph Helmick and Stuart SchechterModulation, 2000Mixed mediaCollection University of Houston

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SYSTEMS OF SUSTAINAbILITY: ART, INNOvATION, ACTIONMarch 27 – 29, 2009

systems of sustainability: Art, innovation, Action, or s.o.s., is a three-day event organized by Blaffer Gallery and the University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. Part arts festival, part academic symposium, s.o.s. explores how creative enterprise can be an integral tool for cultural growth and social change. The program will present a range of innovative practices demonstrated by a roster of local, national, and international participants, including prominent artists, scientists, business leaders, activists, and scholars. Events will include site-specific projects, participatory activities, lectures, scholarly panels, and many opportunities for dialogue.

What do we mean by “sustainability in the arts?”

Media outlets, political leaders, and corporations alike have proclaimed that today’s most complex global challenges can be addressed with a single term: sustainability. This inherently optimistic concept attempts to combat some of the biggest and most fearsome problems worldwide—global warming; natural, economic, and political disrup-tions; and social discord. As a result of its widespread application, sustainability permeates our everyday life.

Visual, performing, and literary arts, and creative enterprise and intellectual thought in general, can be extraordinarily effective in posing solutions to such global challenges. s.o.s. invites participants to take the conversation about sustainability one step further, charting new pathways towards the future.

All events are open to the entire UH community as well as the public. For more information about the program and registration, visit www.blaffergallery.org or contact Curator of Education Katherine Veneman at 713.743.9526.

systems of sustainability is presented by the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. It is developed in close consultation with Dr. Robert Harriss, President of the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), and Liz Lerman, Founder of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

robert harriss is President and CEO of the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), an institution devoted to sustainability science, engineering, and education. He is an educator and re-searcher with a passion for creating collaborative and interdisci-plinary environments that aim to inspire people to engage in the grand sustainability challenges of the twenty-first century. HARC is dedicated to facilitating and participating in collaborative networks that focus on creating sustainable futures. Bob has spent much of his career working with students and colleagues in studying the Florida Everglades, the coastal ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico, the freshwater wetlands of the world, and the roles of the Amazon Basin of Brazil and the North American Arctic in global climate change. He received a B.S. in Geological Sciences from Florida State University, and M.A. and Ph.D. de-grees in Earth Science (Geochemistry) from Rice University.

Liz Lerman, Founding Artistic Director of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator, and speaker. Described by the Washington Post as “the source of an epochal revolution in the scope and purposes of dance art,” her dance/theater works have been seen throughout the United States and abroad. Her aesthetic approach spans the range from abstract to personal to political, while her working process empha-sizes research, translation between artistic media, and intensive collaboration with dancers and communities. She founded Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and has cultivated the company’s unique multigenerational ensemble into a leading force in contemporary dance. Liz has been the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2002 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.

syMposiuM

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visiting Artists Light up the MuseuM This fall Blaffer lined up an impressive array of visiting artists and speakers to host a series of events and work-shops. francoise McAree (Rhode Island School of Design) kicked off the schedule by leading the “Mapping Texture” drawing workshop. Students learned how to find texture in their everyday environments and completed a collaborative project that will be presented in the MD Anderson Library Student Show this spring. Dr. Bradford collins (University of South Carolina) presented a lecture on the life and death of Andy Warhol, whose estate recently donated a selection of his photographs to the University of Houston. These events, always free to the public, provide a unique opportunity to learn from experts outside our area. Be sure to check out our calendar for future events in our visiting artist program.

suMMer Arts registrAtion Begins soon One of our most popular children’s programs will begin registration on April 1. summer Arts gives children ages six to twelve hands-on art experience through a series of fun activities and lessons. In six sessions led by two professional art teachers, students receive one-on-one

attention as they learn to express themselves and become unique artists. Class size is limited, and registration is filled on a first come, first served basis. Please visit www.blaffergallery.org/youth_programs.html for more information, or contact Katy Lopez at 713.743.9971 or klopez@uh.edu.

coMMunity MeMBers AnD corporAtions BAcK BLAffer eXhiBitions AnD progrAMs Blaffer Gallery is proud to announce recent

generous grants from the Baker hughes foundation and Marita and JB fairbanks in support of texas oil: Landscape of an industry; from the harpo foundation and Linda pace foundation in support of existed: Leonardo Drew; and from the travelers foundation in support of the 2009 Young Artist Apprenticeship Program. We are deeply appreciative and extend our thanks to all for recognizing the importance of exhibitions and programs dedicated to original scholarship in the arts.

guiDeD tours noW one step eAsier Our audio tour, accessible at 713.481.2811, provides an insightful, behind-the-scenes look at the current

Rhode Island School of Design instructor francoise McAree leads the “Mapping Texture” workshop.

Joel orr from Bobbindoctrin puppet theatre performs a one-man puppet show during the fall red Block Bash.

S AV E T H E D AT Efor the New-and-Improved

2009 ANNUAL GALA! FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009

8 P.M. – 12 A.M.NEW WORLD MUSEUM5230 CENTER STREET

TICKETS Individuals $250 Underwriters $1,000Details: 713.743.9537 or seconaway@uh.edu

YOUR HOSTSKaren and Steve FarberJudy and Scott Nyquist

José Solis… and more

exhibitions, perfect for both groups and individual guests. Want to use the museum as a class assignment? Our system can record your stu-dents’ comments, then share them with you at the touch of a button. Traditional tours are still available at the click of a mouse, using our online request form at www.blaffer-gallery.org. Our friendly, highly trained docents are on hand to provide your group with an invaluable experience.

BLAffer MeMBership trips In October Blaffer Gallery took members on a successful trip to Fort Worth for a guided tour of the Kara Walker exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and a viewing of the impressionists at the Kimbell Art Museum. On Saturday, January 24, Blaffer is pleased to once again host an exciting mem-bers-only event, this time an intimate afternoon of cock-tails, private collections, and gallery tours in the Houston Heights district. To ensure your membership is current and you don’t miss this exclu-sive opportunity, contact Jeff Bowen at 713.743.9528 or jbowen2@uh.edu.

support the 2008/2009 AnnuAL funD Did you know that Blaffer Gallery receives no funding for its programs from the University of Houston, and that it must independently raise funds to continue presenting its exhibitions of regional, national, and international contemporary art?

Here’s how you can help:

$35 sends a camper to Summer Arts

$100 provides two docent-led group tours

$250 supplies lunch for our Brown Bag Gallery Tour guests

$500 provides guest artist hospitality

$1,000 supports a Young Artist Apprenticeship Program student scholar

$2,500 sponsors an issue of Newsline

$5,000 subsidizes the 2009 school of Art Masters thesis exhibition catalogue

$10,000 sponsors student gallery attendants for nearly three months

…and so much more.

Want to see your gift go further? Any new or increased annual fund gifts from the previous year will be matched dollar-for-dollar by an anonymous donor.

Please see the enclosed insert in the center spread of this magazine to make your gift today. You may also contribute online through the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences’ giving website at https://giving.uh.edu/class. For more information contact Susan Conaway at 713.743.9537 or seconaway@uh.edu.

eDucAtion/DeveLopMent

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Debbie green, Fine Arts Department chair at Cesar Chavez High School, analyzes partici-pants’ work during last fall’s studio saturday.

Joel orr from Bobbindoctrin puppet theatre performs a one-man puppet show during the fall red Block Bash.

young Artist Apprenticeship program students pose in front of Exquisite Corpse, a collabora-tive mural permanently installed in the Graduate College of Social Work foyer. Present at the installation were nobel peace prize Laureate Jody Williams and Dean ira colby.

Blaffer gallery members enjoy an exciting day of art in Fort Worth in October.

Visit us at www.uh.edu/plannedgiving

Is Blaffer in your will?

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BLAffer pArtners

LEAD SPONSORSGeorge and Mary Josephine Hamman FoundationHouston Endowment, Inc.

MAJOR CONTRIbUTORSThe City of Houston through the Houston Arts AllianceJane Blaffer OwenSikkema Jenkins & Co.Joanne and Derby Wilson

PROGRAM PARTNERSBaker Hughes FoundationThe Barbro Osher Pro Suecia FoundationThe Eleanor and Frank Freed FoundationElizabeth Firestone Graham FoundationMarita and JB FairbanksHarpo FoundationInstitute of Museum and Library ServicesJohn P. McGovern FoundationThe National Endowment for the Arts Occidental Energy Marketing, Inc.Louisa Stude SarofimDorothy Carsey SumnerEllen and Steve SusmanTravelers FoundationThe Visionary Initiatives Fund Vicky and Don Eastveld, Miranda and Dan Wainberg, Founding Members

DIRECTOR’S COUNCILMarita and JB FairbanksGretchen and Andrew McFarlandLisa and Russell Sherrill

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLELinda and Simon EylesJo and Jim Furr/GenslerThe Michael & Rebecca Cemo FoundationRed Claw LLCShirley and Don RoseChris and Don SandersTexan-French Alliance for the Arts/ Levant Foundation

DIRECTOR’S PARTNERSNancy C. AllenAndrews Kurth LLPRaymona and William BomarKaty and Michael CaseyMary Kay and Robert Casey, Jr.Consulate General of FranceKaren and Stephan FarberGastonia and Gordon GoodmanRyan GordonClaudia and David HatcherKaren and Eric Pulaski Philanthropic Fund

Cornelia and Meredith LongNancy and Robert MartinMeg and Nelson Murray Judy and Scott NyquistJane Dale OwenJennifer Smith and Peter RagaussRichard Stodder Charitable FoundationMinnette and Jerome RobinsonStephen W. and Marilyn R. Miles FoundationTexas Commission on the ArtsVinson & Elkins LLP

vISIONARY PARTNERSAnonymous DonorChinhui and Eddie AllenEmily Baker and Gerardo AmelioMary Criner BlakeThe Brown FoundationBuck Family FoundationKristen and David BuckDr. Fran Sicola CardwellTammy and Bob Casey, IIIJereann Chaney, in honor of the late Robert ChaneySallie Morian and Michael ClarkConsulate General of the Federal Republic of GermanyCrescent Real Estate Equities LimitedRania and Jamal DanielTerrie Sultan and Christopher FrenchAnn and Jim HarithasPablo and Maria Cristina HenningDorene and Frank HerzogAnn JacksonMary JohnstonJoan and Marvin KaplanMr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner, IIIGretchen and Andrew McFarlandLester Marks and Penelope Gonzalez MarksMitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.The Mitsui USA FoundationMoody GalleryMorgan Family FundMr. and Mrs. Robert N. MurrayMorgan Dunn O’ConnorVeronica ReedKaren and Scott RozzellWilhelmina R. SmithStanford and Joan Alexander FoundationHillary StrattonTexas State BankCynthia TolesNancy and Sidney WilliamsIsabel Brown WilsonE. Wayne Wood Mr. and Mrs. Michael Zilkha

FOUNDING PARTNERSCarol and A. L. BallardToni and Jeffery Beauchamp

Booker-Lowe Gallery and Lowe and Booker Charitable TrustAmy Sutton and Gary ChilesSheila CooganSusie and Sanford CrinerKrista and Michael DumasVictor B. FlattGlobal Impact for UBS FoundationJulie GreenwoodPaula and John HansenNancy and Carter HixonHouston Assembly of Delphian ChaptersLeslie HullAnne and Lee LeonardKatherine and David LuckeClare Casademont and Michael MetzJudy and James NicklosCabrina and Steven OwsleyBeverly and Howard RobinsonJackie and Richard SchmealLisa and Russell SherrillLeigh and Reggie SmithWilliam F. SternKelley and Harper TrammellMr. and Mrs. Ronald B. WalkerWilhelmina W. (Beth) Robertson Fund

THE MARTHA MEIER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP ENDOwMENT FUNDAndrew T. AntonLavinia and Stephen BoydMary Ann and Robert BrezinaLinda BuchananPeggy and Thomas CaskeyGrayson CecilMichael ChmielSallie Morian and Michael ClarkMabeth and Kenneth ColemanNancy and Bert CorkillJoan K. Bruchas and H. Philip CowdinDean DeVossDianne and Robert EdmonsonJennifer FichterCarol and Dave FlemingMichael FranceCathy Coers and Jay FrankEdward GomulkaCaroline Caskey GoodnerPaul D. GrossbardAmir HalevyWarren HaleyTissy and Rusty HardinHelene and Tod HardingAdana and Chris HaynesMarilyn HermanceBonnie HibbertJulia Jervis and O.L. KirkpatrickBillie KoetterJim KollaerShirley A. KopeckyWilliam Lewis

Linda and David LynnGundula McCandlessTerry S. MahaffeyMarsha Amdur MalevPat MaloneMarie Mansour-PartridgeMartha Meier Family EstateClark MartinNancy and Robert MartinEmily MillerBetty MoodyNancy and Lucian MorrisonNational School of Public Relations AssociationNolan-Rankin Galleries, Inc.Marilyn O’Connor and Don Gill Custom Homes Monica and Mark OathoutJanet and Tony ParisiAda PerryTerri and David PetersonEarline Jones and Mike Prescott Peggy Vineyard and Jim Pruitt Sally and Norman ReynoldsNorma and Davis RichardsonDavid W. RoarkShirley and Donald RoseBillie and John SchneiderNatalie C. SchwarzCarolyn and Calvin SimpsonMary Ann and Neal SimpsonGina and Kenneth SonesGrayson and John StokesGwyn and Tolis ThanosAnn and David TomatzCorinne and Charles TracyMary Faye and Peter WayLinda J. WebbNancy and Jim WillersonClinton T. WillourDorothy WrightWilliam A. Zugheri

IN-KINDSeth AlversonArmandosMary and Bernard ArochaBasiquesDeborah BayBergner and Johnson DesignWilliam BettsMelissa BorrellBright Star Productions, Inc.City KitchenContinental AirlinesSasha DelaJonathan DurhamEmilie DuvalFotofestGreen Mountain Energy Michael GuidryMaria GuzmanKara HearnHana HillerovaAllison HunterHedwige Jacobs

Andres JanacuaNicholas KersulisMindy KoberJonathan C. LeachLynne McCabeMarcelyn McNeilMasterson DesignMixed Emotions Fine ArtTeresa MunisteriJessica NinciMcKay OttoPeel GalleryPennWell MAPSearch Ariane RoeschCarolyn RoseSaint Arnold Brewing CompanySavage DesignAnthony Thompson ShumateTEBO DesignShane TolbertTootsie’sSergio Torres-TorresTupelo Grease Co.Kelly UlcakKatherine VenemanDavid WaddellLillian WarrenJeff WilliamsAudry Worster

RECENT GIFTS (AS OF DECEMbER 8, 2008)Elizabeth and Norman BockRichard BravermanElizabeth and Orson CookSara DoddRoger EichhornSusanne and Randall EvansCathy Coers FrankBeverly and Wayne GilbertRob GreensteinDr. and Mrs. Edward R. HaymesHeimbinder Family FoundationKim and Mike HowardOlive and Lynn HughesVernell JessieJacqueline KacenKaren KelseyDavid LakeMarsha Amdur MalevJohn E. (Sandy) ParkersonBeth and Wayne PickettGary Polland Suzanne RichardsRuss RobinsonSafeway, Inc. Brian ShawSandy and Rob ShawScott SparveroApril ThrasherBeatrice Villegas David Ashley White Megan and Jason WilliamsClinton T. WillourXiaojing Yuan

All efforts are made to be accurate. If you identify incorrect information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at 713.743.9537.

Exclusive benefits for $10,000+ Program Partners, $25,000+ Major Contributors, and $50,000+ Lead Sponsors are available. Please call 713.743.9537.

9HHAA00730⁄4041⁄H0097⁄C0717⁄NA⁄41311-42904

MeMBership – Join the BLAffer❑New Membership ❑Renewal Membership

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❑CommunityPartner$35+

❑SupportingPartner$100+

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❑FoundingPartner$500+

❑VisionaryPartner$1,000+

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❑CorporateorDirector’sCircle$5,000+For more information call 713.743.9528 or visit us online at www.blaffergallery.org

$35+ Community Partner• 10%discountonmuseumcataloguesandpurchases

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• Invitationstoselectmuseumprograms• SubscriptiontoBlafferGallery’snewsletter,Newsline

$100+ Supporting PartnerAllofCommunityPartnerbenefitsplus:• 25%discountonmuseumcataloguesandpurchases

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$250+ Leading PartnerAllofSupportingPartnerbenefitsplus:• ComplimentarycopyofanyoneBlafferGallerypublication

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$500+ Founding PartnerAllofLeadingPartnerbenefitsplus:• Complimentarycopyofanyoneexhibitioncatalogue

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$1,000+ Visionary PartnerAllofFoundingPartnerbenefitsplus:• Invitationtoprivateeventstomeetvisitingartistsandcurators

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$2,500+ Corporate or Director’s PartnerAllofVisionaryPartnerbenefitsplus• Complimentarycopiesofselectexhibitioncatalogues

• Recognitiononpromotionalliteraturefortwelvemonths

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$5,000+ Corporate or Director’s CircleAllofCorporateorDirector’sPartnerbenefitsplus:• TheopportunitytohostaprivatefunctionatBlafferGallery

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LocationBlafferGalleryislocatedintheFineArtsBuildingontheUniversityofHouston’scentralcampus,Entrance16offCullenBoulevard,neartheintersectionofCullenandElgin.

DirectionsFrom Downtown and points North:

TakeI-45SouthtowardGalveston.Exit#44CCullenBoulevard.TurnrightontoCullen.PassthroughthelightatElgin.TurnleftintoEntrance16.

From points South:

TakeI-45NorthtowardsDowntown.Exit#44AElgin-Lockwood⁄CullenBoulevardandcontinueonfeederroad.TurnleftontoCullenBoulevard.TurnleftintoEntrance16.

ParkingReservedparkingformuseumvisitorsisalongthefrontofparkinglot16BdirectlyacrossfromtheFineArtsBuilding.Visitorsparkinginthereservedareashouldcheckinatthemuseum’sfrontdesk.

HoursOpenTuesday–Saturday,10a.m.–5p.m.

ClosedonSundays,Mondays,andUniversityholidays.

Allexhibitionsandrelatedprogramsarefreeandopentothepublic.

ThemuseumisADAcompliant.

for information call 713.743.9530 or visit us online at www.blaffergallery.org

non-profit org.u.s.postagepAiDhouston, tXpermit no. 5910

Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry the center for Land use interpretation January 17 – March 29, 2009

Electric Mud January 17 – March 29, 2009

Young Artist Apprenticeship Program Exhibition March 14 – 29, 2009

2009 School of Art Masters Thesis Exhibition April 11 – 25, 2009

Existed: Leonardo Drew May 16 – August 1, 2009

Josephine Meckseper September 12 – November 14, 2009

Jonathan Pylypchuk September 12 – November 14, 2009

the center for Land use interpretation ExxonMobil Baytown plant and Houston Ship Channel.Photo courtesy of the CLUI Photographic Archive.

Brian calvinGuard (II), 2007 (detail)Acrylic on canvas48 x 72 inchesCourtesy Marc Foxx Gallery

FRONT COvER :

45To

Dow

ntow

n H

oust

onFrom I-45North

From I-45South

Elgin Avenue

Cullen Boulevard

Entrance 16

Blaffer Gallery