‘Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds,’ an exhibition of Amy Tan’s original artwork and pages from Amy Tan’s journals, will be on view at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, June 8, 2024 – August 25, 2024; the exhibition celebrates Amy Tan’s new book, ‘The Backyard Bird Chronicles’
By Steven Brodsky
This press release was issued by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute:
Jamestown, NY – June 4, 2024 – The Roger Tory Peterson Institute announces an exhibition of Amy Tan’s original artwork and journals in celebration of her new book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles.
“Amy Tan is beloved throughout the world as an author,” said Arthur Pearson, CEO of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. “She’s also a gifted sketch artist and an avid birder. Like Roger Tory Peterson, himself, she uses her art and her writing to draw herself into a deeper relationship with birds, which in turn inspires all of us to do the same.”
Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds features pages from Tan’s journals, which form the basis for The Backyard Bird Chronicles, published by Penguin Random House. The exhibition opens at RTPI June 8 and runs through August 25, 2024.
As part of the exhibition, RTPI will host two programs. The first is Observation as Inspiration: The Value of Nature Journaling with Amy Tan and John Muir Laws. During this online program – June 7, noon to 1 pm, EDT – Amy Tan and John Muir Laws will discuss how keeping a nature journal helps us to become more attuned to nature.
“My start in nature journaling and drawing came through workshops with John Muir Laws, co-founder of the Wild Wonder Foundation,” said Amy Tan. “I not only learned to draw, I discovered I could live more deeply in the moment, with curiosity, awe, and gratitude.”
For the second program – Sunday, August 4, 1:30 to 3:30 pm, EDT – Amy Tan will join us in person at RTPI for a gallery tour, followed by a conversation with our Curator, Maria Ferguson. Afterword, Ms. Tan will be available to sign copies of her book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles.
“I would describe Amy Tan’s art practice as that of intentional curiosity,” said Maria Ferguson, RTPI’s Curator. “The result of such practice is a sense of deep observation and wonderment about the birds, through which she exemplifies our shared human desire to feel connected with and find refuge within the natural world.”
The June 7 online program is free of charge, but registration is required. The August 4 in-person program is a ticketed event. The gallery walk is $100 and limited to 25 people. The curator conversation, followed by the book signing, is $25 and limited to an additional 75 people.
To register for one or both events, please visit RTPI’s website at RTPI.ORG, scroll down to Featured Programs & Events, and click on your program choice. Or give us a call at 716-665-2473.
Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds coincides with two other exhibitions, beginning with Kevin Ebi: Five Minutes in Nature. Ebi has spent the better part of 25 years capturing the power and serenity of things great and small in the natural world — from icons in our national parks to solitary songbirds perched atop wildflowers ablaze with the morning sunrise.
The other exhibition is Art that Matters to the Planet: Clarity, which features the work more than a dozen artists from throughout the United States who explore the role of art and artists in protecting freshwater ecosystems.
Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds and her program appearances at RTPI complement a program Tan will present at the Chautauqua Institution on Tuesday, August 6.
This post appeared in the Conversations About Nature section of the Entertainment, Culture and More column.
Posted 6-4-24, Reposted 8-16-24
Attention active-duty military families: The 2024 Blue Star Museums program will run May 18, 2024 – September 2, 2024
By Steven Brodsky
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) issued this press release on May 9, 2024:
Washington, DC—This summer, active-duty military families can once again visit a variety of museums nationwide for free as part of Blue Star Museums, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Blue Star Families (BSF), in collaboration with the Department of Defense. The 2024 program begins on Saturday, May 18, 2024, Armed Forces Day, and continues through Monday, September 2, 2024, Labor Day. Participating museums can be found in all 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additional information and a complete list of participating museums is available at arts.gov/BlueStarMuseums.
“We are grateful to all of the museums that have joined this summer’s Blue Star Museums program and we hope military families will take this opportunity to create meaningful, lifelong memories,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Whether you are traveling this summer, getting to know a new duty location, or exploring what your community has to offer, Blue Star Museums is a wonderful opportunity to create connection and find inspiration.”
“Military families love Blue Star Museums, and we couldn’t run this program without the National Endowment for the Arts and the museums across the nation who show they care by participating,” said Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet. “Access to museums enriches military families, creates wonderful family memories, and helps us feel connected to our communities so that we can thrive and do the hard job we have to do for the country. I am delighted for us to launch the 14th year of this very special program.”
Each year, a wide variety of museums take part, from history, art, and children’s museums to botanical gardens, planetariums, and zoos, as well as small museums that highlight the contributions of a local hero or an invention unique to a region. Participants this year include the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa; Mississippi Museum of Art; New Hampshire Telephone Museum; the Iowa Children’s Museum; Texas Science and Natural History Museum; the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York; Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati; and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. A complete listing of all participating museums is available on the map on arts.gov.
Museums can join the Blue Star Museums program all summer long and the map will be updated regularly. Military families are encouraged to check the map for museums in their community or during summer travels.
This free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States military—Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force, members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps—and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.
We rely on important partners across the nation to help us spread the word about the program, such as:
National Assembly of State Art Agencies
American Alliance of Museums
American Arts Alliance
American Association of State and Local History
Association of African American Museums
Association of Art Museum Directors
Association of Children’s Museums
Association of Science & Technology Centers
Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
National Trust for Historic Preservation
And regional museum associations across the country such as:
Association of Midwest Museums
Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums
Mountain-Plains Museums Association
New England Museum Association
Southeastern Museums Conferences
Western Museums Association
Follow #BlueStarMuseums on X (Twitter) and the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families at @NEAarts and @BlueStarFamily.
Note to readers: This post appeared in the main section of the Entertainment, Culture and More column.
Posted 5-10-24, Reposted and Updated 8-8-24
‘Frank Stewart’s Nexus: An American Photographer’s Journey, 1960s to the Present’ exhibition is on view at the Brandywine Museum of Art
By Steven Brodsky
Frank Stewart at the Brandywine Museum of Art for a Frank Stewart’s Nexus: An American Photographer’s Journey, 1960s to the Present media event
Photo by Steven Brodsky
… The exhibition will be open through September 22, 2024.
Don’t miss this extraordinary retrospective!
Posted 7-11-24
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.
Posted 3-27-24
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.
Posted 6-8-20