The National Gallery of Art Announces its 2024 Jazz in the Garden Series
By Steven Brodsky
From a National Gallery of Art press release that was issued today, April 8, 2024:
Washington, DC—DC’s favorite summer concert series is back! Our Sculpture Garden turns 25 this summer and comes alive with musical performances. They will include jazz, Afro-Latin fusion, and more. Concerts will run on Fridays from May 31 through August 9, with a break on July 5.
The season kicks off with Grammy-nominated Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas on May 31. Other highlights include a Juneteenth celebration concert with the Muneer Nasser Quintet on June 21, Caribbean steelpan from Josanne Francis on June 28, and contemporary jazz from saxophonist Brent Birckhead on July 26.
To give everyone an equal chance of attending, we’ll once again offer registration through a lottery. The lottery will take place the week before each concert. It will open on Monday at 10:00 a.m. and close Friday at noon. We’ll notify all entrants whether or not they were selected the Monday before each concert. Those who are selected are welcome to register for up to four passes. Registration is required for all ages 2 and above.
A few additional passes will be available at all entrance gates—first-come, first-served—starting at 5:00 p.m. the night of each concert.
New this year: we will offer rain dates to registrants whose concerts are canceled due to weather. If a concert is canceled, we’ll contact those registrants directly.
On concert days, the Sculpture Garden closes from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Gates reopen at 5:00 p.m., and concerts begin at 6:00 p.m.
The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is located on the north side of the National Mall. Entrances are at 7th Street NW, 9th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, and 9th Street and Madison Drive NW.
New data indicates that the arts and cultural industries contributed 4.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), $1.1 trillion, to the nation’s economy in 2022 — an all-time high
By Steven Brodsky
From a press release that was issued by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on March 25, 2024:
Washington, DC—New data released today show arts and cultural industries hit an all-time high in 2022, contributing 4.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or $1.1 trillion, to the U.S. economy. However, growth was not sector-wide, with performing arts organizations, non-government museums, and arts-related construction among the arts industries that have yet to reach their pre-pandemic levels of economic value. These findings and more come from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), a product of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that tracks the annual economic value of arts and cultural production from 35 industries—including both commercial and nonprofit entities. A national summary report and an accompanying interactive graphic are available on arts.gov, along with state-level estimates.
NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, said, “Research again shows that arts and culture make up a significant portion of our nation’s GDP, contributing to the strength of our national and state economies. While this is evidence of important contributions, there is also evidence of a more complicated story in which dimensions of the cultural sector are still struggling. Alongside economic value, we must also remember that arts and culture improve Americans’ lives and communities in many other tangible ways. We will continue to tap rigorous research and evaluation to tell the story of these enduring contributions.”
Arts and Cultural Industries as an Overall Sector
The overall arts economy grew by 4.8 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2021 and 2022, a rate increase far surpassing that for the entire U.S. economy during the same time period. Since the pre-pandemic year of 2019, arts and cultural industries have surged by 13.6 percent. By contrast, the U.S. economy grew by 5.5 percent over the same period.
Top Arts and Cultural Industries
The top five industries by total value added to the U.S. economy in 2022 were: web publishing and streaming, broadcasting, government services (including public schools), publishing, and motion picture and video industries. The largest arts and cultural industry in the U.S., web publishing and streaming services, grew 40.9 percent in value added to GDP since 2019. Yet, from 2021 to 2022, this industry declined for the first time in recent history (by 1.4 percent).
In terms of percent growth in value added, in 2022, 25 out of 35 arts industries posted amounts exceeding 2019 levels, including agents and managers, sound recording, computer systems design, web publishing and streaming, and interior design services.
Arts and Cultural Industries that Declined in Economic Value
Six arts and cultural industries saw substantial declines—custom architectural woodwork and metalwork manufacturing, arts-related construction, printed goods manufacturing, photography and photo-finishing services, rental and leasing, and theatrical ticket agencies. Each of these industries showed a more than 10 percent decline in its economic value from 2019 through 2022.
Recovery of Performing Arts-Related Industries
The value added by three industries—independent artists, writers, and performers; performing arts presenters; and agents/managers—have all outstripped 2019 levels. (For example, the value added by independent artists, writers, and performers has jumped by 13.5 percent since 2019, with 18.4 percent growth between 2021 and 2022.) Performing arts organizations saw a steep decline in value added between 2020 and 2021. Between 2021 and 2022, however, the industry made a sharp comeback (an increase of 76.5 percent). Despite this rise, the value added by performing arts organizations is still below the pre-pandemic (2019) level. Note: the arts and cultural industries tracked in this account include both commercial and nonprofit entities.
Arts and Cultural Employment
In 2022, total arts and cultural employment recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with nearly 5.2 million workers employed to produce arts and cultural goods and services, for $540.9 billion in total compensation. (Note: ACPSA does not count self-employed artists and other cultural workers in its employment figures.) The top arts industries for employment include government services, arts retail, motion picture and video industries, broadcasting, and web publishing and streaming. Most arts industries (30 out of 35) saw gains in employment from 2021 to 2022. Overall, nearly half of all arts industries (17 out of 35) had higher employment levels in 2022 than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Arts and Cultural Imports and Exports
From 2021 through 2022, arts and cultural exports continued to increase; the trade surplus rose from $15.5 billion to $21.0 billion. Top imports in 2022 included jewelry and silverware, audio/visual production services for TV and movies, and other manufactured goods such as glass and china. Top arts export commodities included creative advertising, information services such as audio/visual production for TV and movies, and arts-related software publishing.
State Economic Data on Arts and Cultural Industries
Between 2021 and 2022, every state and the District of Columbia saw growth in value added to their economies from arts and cultural industries, with 21 states showing increases of 10 percent or greater, when not adjusting for inflation. The added economic value from arts and culture surpassed 2019 levels for every state and DC. In terms of employment, although 45 states and DC have seen stable or growing arts and cultural employment from 2021 to 2022, only 20 states have reached or surpassed their 2019 levels.
For information on specific states, BEA has available Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account fact sheets for each state. In addition, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), in partnership with the NEA, has created an interactive dashboard with information on value added to state economies through arts and cultural production, as well as employment and compensation figures for the creative workforce.
Using the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account Data
On April 2, 2024, the NEA will launch a new suite of research-and-data tools as part of its National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center (NASERC). One resource, the Arts Indicators Project, will highlight key developments and trends across four domains, including arts and cultural assets, and will reference the ACPSA along with other data sources. More information will be available in a webinar on April 2, “Monitoring the U.S. Arts Ecosystem” that will explore the importance of public data in the arts. Participants will include NEA Chair Jackson and Vipin Arora, director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, among others. Visit arts.gov for additional details and to register.
The spring 2024 season of the National Gallery of Art’s National Gallery Nights after-hours program has been announced
By Steven Brodsky
From a National Gallery of Art press release that was issued on February 12, 2024:
Washington, DC—We are thrilled to announce the spring 2024 season of our popular National Gallery Nights after-hours program. Events take place from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of March, April, and May in the East Building.
This season we celebrate “Color Theory” on March 14, “Flowers After Hours” on April 11, and “Art Prom” on May 9. Music, live performances, artmaking, and pop-up talks center around each theme. Our April and May programs feature activities on our 4th Street Plaza, which are open to all without registration.
A lottery for admission registration will be run the week before each of the events in this program. Admission is free.
The Brandywine Museum of Art to present ‘Karl J. Kuerner: The Continuity of Creativity,’ in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Museum acquiring the Kuerner Farm, a National Historic Landmark; the exhibition ‘will examine how Karl J. Kuerner’s artistic commitment to the Farm is reflected in his own work through 19 paintings spanning more than 40 years and created across mediums, including works in watercolor, oil and acrylic’; the exhibition will be on view on view January 27, 2024 – May 19, 2024
By Steven Brodsky
… Wow.
From the Brandywine Museum of Art:
Chadds Ford, PA, January 8, 2024 — In 2024, the Brandywine Museum of Art will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of acquiring Kuerner Farm—a National Historic Landmark that was a revered site of creative inspiration for artist Andrew Wyeth for over seven decades—which was generously donated to the Brandywine by the late Karl Kuerner Jr. and his family. In celebration of this anniversary, the Brandywine is thrilled to present Karl J. Kuerner: The Continuity of Creativity, a special exhibition that will honor the continued artistic legacy of this site. On view January 27 through May 19, 2024, The Continuity of Creativity will examine how Karl J. Kuerner’s artistic commitment to the Farm is reflected in his own work through 19 paintings spanning more than 40 years and created across mediums, including works in watercolor, oil and acrylic.
Featuring an early nineteenth-century farmhouse and an adjacent barn situated on 33 acres of land, Kuerner Farm was home to Karl and Anna Kuerner, who arrived as German immigrant farmers in the 1920s and were the subjects of many masterful studies by Andrew Wyeth throughout their lives. The second generation of Kuerners, led by the philanthropic spirit of Karl Kuerner Jr., ensured the property’s future by facilitating Brandywine’s acquisition of the Farm in 1999. In the years following Wyeth’s work there, the Farm has remained a place of vibrant artistic activity and ongoing creativity due in large part to the work of Karl J. Kuerner (b. 1957), an artist and member of the third generation of Kuerners to farm the land.
Kuerner’s body of work reflects the centrality of the Farm to his artistic practice. His first depictions of it proved to be a pivotal moment for the artist, who felt that Andrew Wyeth’s work there was of singular importance. When Kuerner was eighteen years old, Wyeth encouraged him to explore the Farm in his own work, emphasizing the artistic potential the property held. Kuerner later attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia and was also mentored by artist Carolyn Wyeth, Andrew’s older sister, in the early 1970s, who provided valuable advice and critiques. She arranged for his very first exhibition—a joint show with her at the Chadds Ford Gallery in 1977. Many of Kuerner’s early works, particularly those in oil, reflect Carolyn’s strong influence on his paintings.
Featured works in The Continuity of Creativity include landscapes, still lifes, and portraits that explore many aspects of farm life. From his insider’s point of view, Kuerner reveals the Farm as a site of a personal history to which he is deeply connected. This is augmented in the exhibition with an overview of the family history on the Farm, including many photographs drawn from the Kuerner family archives. Kuerner offers intimate views of the property and heartfelt portraits of the people who worked the land that are both specific to his family and convey a broader sense of immigrant and farm life in the United States.
“The artistic possibilities Andrew Wyeth foresaw at the Kuerner Farm have been born out in Kuerner’s work, as he tirelessly returns to the Farm as a subject, doing the difficult work of seeing the place anew with every painting,” said Amanda Burdan, Senior Curator at the Brandywine and curator of the exhibition. “As this exhibition will reveal, Kuerner has carried on the creative legacy of the Farm, not only through his own paintings, but also through the inspiration of other artists, making it a continued site of artistic intervention still to this day.” In addition to seasonal tours of the property, the Brandywine’s ongoing interpretation of the site includes a variety of public programs offered at the Farm throughout the year, including plein air painting and photography events, along with eight-week-long art classes taught by Kuerner.
“The Kuerner property holds a wonderful history and a bright future with many artistic discoveries still to be made,” said Kuerner. “The Farm witnessed so much over the course of its existence and continues to sustain those who see history and art as intertwined, much as the lives of the Kuerners and the Wyeths on this land. It is a landmark for both land conservation and art. I know my father would be thrilled by how the Farm still thrives as a part of the Brandywine Museum of Art and what the future holds.
Karl J. Kuerner: The Continuity of Creativity will be on view in the Brandywine’s second floor Strawbridge Family Gallery from January 27–May 19, 2024. Accompanying the exhibition, a fully illustrated publication includes an essay by Burdan and an artist statement by Kuerner.
About the Brandywine Museum of Art:
The Brandywine Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th-century Mill building with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine River. The Museum is located on Route 1 in Chadds Ford, PA. Current admission rates and hours of operation can be found at www.brandywine.org/hours. Guided tours of the Andrew Wyeth Studio, N.C. Wyeth House & Studio, and the Kuerner Farm—all National Historic Landmarks—are available seasonally (for an additional fee); advance reservations are recommended. For more information, call 610.388.2700 or visit brandywine.org/museum. The Museum is one of the two programs of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
About the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art:
The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art preserves and promotes the natural and cultural connections between the area’s beautiful landscape, historic sites, and important artists. The Conservancy protects the lands and waters throughout the Brandywine Valley and other priority conservation areas, developing sustainable approaches to emerging needs and assuring preservation of majestic open spaces and protection of natural resources for generations to come. The Museum of Art presents and collects historic and contemporary works of American art, engaging and exciting visitors of all ages through an array of exhibitions and programs. The Brandywine unites the inspiring experiences of art and nature, enhancing the quality of life in its community and among its diverse audiences.
Posted 1-9-24
A Conversation With Victoria Browning Wyeth
By Steven Brodsky
Victoria Browning Wyeth is the granddaughter of Andrew Wyeth and the niece of Jamie Wyeth. She is the great-granddaughter of N.C. Wyeth. Victoria is widely known for her dynamic gallery talks and lectures on the life and art of Andrew Wyeth. Victoria is a gifted photographer; her photos have been exhibited at a number of museums.
What are some of your fondest memories of your grandmother?
One of my fondest memories of my grandmother were our nicknames for each other. I always called my grandmother by two names: “Betsy” or “Mamma Sheep Turd.” I realize the second name might raise a few eyebrows so let me explain. I grew up in New York City, but would spend every summer in Cushing Maine with my grandparents. As a young girl, and as a grown woman, I have always detested sand, dirt and bugs. When I was about nine or so, my grandparents purchased Allen Island (near Port Clyde, Maine), and, in addition, a very large flock of sheep to help with the lawn “maintenance. Along with the sheep came sheep turds…. EVERYWHERE. So, she called me “City Slicker” and I called her “Mamma Sheep Turd.” When I was in college and we wrote each other letters, the post office at my college would giggle when they handed me a letter because of the return address. I always smile when I think of the looks people gave us when we used these names for each other.
My second fondest memory was when she taught me to put on makeup and put my hair in a French twist. I can still feel her hands in my hair helping me pin it up. When it came to applying makeup she would always say, “Vic… less is more.” To this day I am not much of a makeup person.
Finally, my most recent favorite memory involved cooking for my grandmother (and my uncle Jamie) on Sunday nights. Betsy was the chef in the family – her meals were simply out of this world yummy. Mashed potatoes, cookies, creamed eggs, popovers, etc. You name it and she could make it. After my grandfather died she scaled back her cooking quite a bit. Around six or seven years ago I started cooking Sunday dinners for my family. I wasn’t the best chef at first; I burned fish more than I would like to admit. One of the things that still brings a smile to my face was watching her gobble up every last morsel. She would look at Jamie and me and say, “mmmmm this is good.”
Betsy handled much of the business affairs of her husband Andrew. What prepared her for this?
She always had such a powerful business sense. I’m not quite sure where this came from, but she handled Andy’s business affairs with such grace and intelligence. She was quite the inspiration.
Please describe how Betsy furthered the career of Andrew?
My grandmother helped further his career by supporting him in numerous ways. The most important was through her love: she loved him with all of her heart. She would always tell him what she thought of his newest painting – if he needed to simplify something, if the color was too intense, etc. She was also very instrumental in titling many of his paintings.
What was the extent of Betsy’s involvement in titling the paintings of her husband?
She had a huge role in the titles. Take the painting Wind from the Sea. When my grandparents were discussing the piece Betsy said, “It looks like a wind is coming in from the sea.” Andy replied, “That’s it!! Wind from the Sea.” Her vocabulary was most impressive. For example, she would do the New York Times crossword puzzles in ink. This gave her an incredible bank of words to choose from when she helped to title the work.
Her ability to title wasn’t limited to paintings: when I was in graduate school and writing long research papers, I would call her and tell her my paper topic. She would then call me back with a title. For example, I wrote a paper on shell shock in British troops during World War I. She came up with the title “Over the Top.”
Were you able to observe Andrew while he was painting? If you were, did he discuss what he was working on?
Andy HATED having people watch him paint. He felt that having you watch him paint was an invasion. The only times I watched him paint were: (1) outside my window in the summer. He would work on watercolors or drawings outside my parent’s house in Cushing, Maine. He didn’t know I was looking, but I was. I couldn’t help myself. This is when I was a young girl (under 13). (2) When I would accidentally walk into the house when he was working on something. I would apologize and he would smile and say, “Hi darlin’. I’m just finishing up.” (3) When I posed. This was my favorite because we got to discuss everything. I would barrage him with all sorts of questions about his work, his life, his friends, etc. The last time I posed (back in 2005) I was giving lectures at the Brandywine River Museum. It was so cool because I would incorporate what we talked about into my gallery talk that day.
How sensitive was Andrew to what critics wrote about him?
He couldn’t have cared less what the critics thought.
Which paintings of his do you believe he remained most attached to?
He was almost always most attached to the painting that he was working on.
To your knowledge, were there times in Andrew’s life when he was without artistic inspiration? If there were, how did he reacquire inspiration?
To the best of my knowledge this never happened. Even when he was in the hospital (for a hip replacement) he drew his hospital room and the view out the window. He was inspired by everything and everyone.
Of the photos that you took of Andrew Wyeth, is there one that especially evokes cherished memories? Can you share those memories with us?
The one I took of him painting outside my window in Cushing, Maine. He was painting me and we would start working very early in the morning – 6:45 a.m. I overslept one morning and rushed downstairs. As I looked out of the living room window, I found him sitting out there with his watercolor pad on his lap, tissues everywhere (to blot the paper) and his watercolor box by his side. Whenever I get sad and miss him, this is what I think of and it always makes me smile.
You’ve given many pro bono talks. Which of those talks have been most gratifying to you? Please tell us why.
My favorite talks, pro bono and paid, have been the ones I have done at the state and local prisons. I feel that those who are incarcerated should be exposed to art as much as possible. Since they can’t go to a museum, I bring a museum to them. For example, this past January I lectured on the work of my grandfather to the gentlemen at the Maine State Prison in Maine. I went on January 16th – which is a very special day for me – the anniversary of my grandfather’s death. It was a beautiful snowy day and I packed my car up with a bunch of my uncle’s and grandfather’s watercolors and drawings and headed to the prison. I thought it would be fun to create a pop-up gallery in the prison and even more interesting to bring one of my grandfather’s models with me. It was a very special day for all of us. I will never forget looking at the reactions on the guys faces as they looked at the art.
The Brandywine River Museum of Art is currently closed to the public (as are other museums) because of the COVID-19 crisis. Is there a painting in the Museum’s collection by Andrew Wyeth that, at this moment, you are especially looking forward to seeing when the doors reopen?
I love seeing my grandmother’s portrait – Maga’s Daughter. I’m very excited to go visit her and say hi.