Backstage at The Bushnell

I began my visit of The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut with a look at The Autorino Great Hall. This outstanding space, with its 35 foot gable-vaulted ceiling, provides the perfect setting for a colossal Dale Chihuly chandelier. Its hand-blown red toned glass design brings a vivid theatrical attitude into the room’s light-filled glass-wall aesthetic.

Next, a walk through and back stage of both theaters. The opulent Art Deco interior of Mortensen Hall features a beautifully painted ceiling mural that is suspended from the roof. The magnificent mural was painted by Barry Faulkner in 1929 and is named “Drama.” Its center panel is the largest hand-painted mural of its type in the United States. Another exquisite ceiling mural entitled, "Music of the Spheres" decorates a second theater at Bushnell. The Belding Stage, intimate and lux, was built in 2001.

The last space I visited was the colonial Seaverns Room that is luxurious in its hand-carved woodwork, crystal chandeliers, and chamber stage. I particularly loved the its ornate ceiling and grand fireplace.

I was fortunate to learn that The Bushnell was designed by, the same designers of Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Corbett, Harrison and MacMurray architectural firm. It was built in 1930 with a traditional exterior in the style of Georgian Revival. It was built to honor a Hartford resident, the Reverend Dr. Horace Bushnell by his daughter Dotha.

How did Confucius get to the Bushnell? Interestingly the nine-foot-tall bronze statue on the Center’s grounds was given to Connecticut in a 2006 art exchange by the Shandong Province in China. As a token of the 20th anniversary of our relationship with the province, Connecticut sent Shandong a bust of Mark Twain and as a surprise gesture we received the statue of Confucius in return. The Bushnell agreed to be the home of the statue, fittingly on a site across the street from the State Capitol.

In my opinion, good karma and the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts are both pluses for Connecticut.

MoMA|AMoM

The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan is a favorite place of mine. It sparks my creativity every time I visit. The photos from my trip are a glimpse into some of most loved pieces of art: Umberto Boccioni’s  bronze sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (actually I love many of his works); Giacomo Balla’s Street Light ; Henri Matisse’s The Red Studio; Claude Monet’s Water Lilies triptych; and Pablo Picasso’s Girl Before a Mirror. 

The day began with a wink and a nod to the idea of mirror images and reflections as can be seen in my snapshot of the museum’s facade and banner.  Later, Picasso’s girl cemented the inspiration for my February 2013 Exhibit Space concept. You can see the whole Light Reflected collection on the Exhibit Space: Feb page.

Also, I am thrilled to have learned from the exhibition on The Shaping of New Visions: Photography, Film, Photobook at the Edward Steichen Photography Galleries. The use of extreme camera angles by Charles Sheerer and shift from painting to the culture of light (photography and cinematography) as described by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy are visionary. However, the most prophetic idea I discovered was from El Lissitzky and his self-portrait from the 1920s. He challenged the notion that photography presents just a firsthand singular truth. He suggests that instead a montage, layered photographs, push the viewer to re-evaluate life as we see/know it. Wow was he foreshadowing Adobe Photoshop or what? The image below is me applauding Lissitzky and weaving the Light Reflected theme into my day out at MoMA NYC.

                                                                                    Applauding Lissitzky

PDN Photo Annual Contest

The 2013 PDN Photo Annual, a top industry award competition, is this month. I have decided to throw caution to the wind and enter in the personal category, not only because this contest is being sponsored by my professional association ASMP, but because a split second idea, a photo in my mind has become something tangible. 

Over the past year or so I have put together a strong series of photographs I named “The Guides, a Self-Portrait.” To clarify the title, I have to take you back to a calm winter day as I drove to my office job. I looked to my right and imagined a figure standing in the brush waiting to show me my life’s path. Everyday until I created the first self-portrait I saw the composition with more and more detail. The figure was there again and again waiting, waiting until I was ready. Is the figure a bird? Is the figure a woman? Am I the figure? This premise became my subject matter.

Today I’m thankful to say, that I stopped the car and took that photo, which led to a series and changed the trajectory of my professional life. Please enjoy this collection as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

Intrepid Through Darkness

Journey Beyond the Waves

Linear Time

In Solidarity

Silent Soul Song

Swift Council

Still the Turmoil

Surviving Fright