Three cheers for the Carnegie Center's public art project catalog launch.

Last evening, the Carnegie Center released its catalog of the New Albany Public Art Project: Bicentennial Series, and there was a pleasant accompanying reception. We looked back on the installations from 2010 through 2013, and were given the outline for a new Today and Tomorrow Series coming in 2015. Many thanks to Karen Gillenwater for the catalog and remarks.

Participating artist Leticia Bajuyo was at the reception, prompting a question: Do you recognize this work of Leticia's? It is called Cinergy: Black Holes.

Maybe it doesn't ring a bell. Perhaps it will make more sense if we look back at her 2010 installation at Bank Street Brewhouse, All Bottled Up.

At the time of dismantling All Bottled Up, Leticia vowed to reuse as much of it as possible. Minus the shelves that held bottles, some of the metal panels above became the basis for Cinergy: Black Holes, as wrapped with fiber optic cable. She gave us a delightful explanation of her thought process in all this; if only life imitated art a bit more often.

October 28: Localism in practice, not theory.

Leticia Bajuyo’s “Brew History: All Bottled Up” began coming down. The New Albany Public Art Project Bicentennial Series installation commemorating New Albany’s breweries and taverns was intended to be temporary, but we'll miss it.

At the opening reception for "Powering Creativity: Air, Fuel, Heat," a joint exhibit of Ohio Valley Creative Energy and the Carnegie Center for Art & History.

Jeff Milchen, co-founder of the American Independent Business Alliance, rallied the New Albany First crew upstairs at River City Winery.

It was Larry Schad's 70th birthday party, too, and Chef Matt prepared a feast, including these duck wings and veggie tray.

Music by Toledo Bend, as booked by The Dandy Lion boutique and shop.

On Oct. 28, you can help NABC say goodbye to Leticia Bajuyo’s “Brew History: All Bottled Up.” Here’s how.

It’s time for NABC to bid a fond farewell to Leticia Bajuyo’s “Brew History: All Bottled Up,” the New Albany Public Art Project Bicentennial Series installation commemorating New Albany’s breweries and taverns.

Leticia’s sculpture has serenely and elegantly occupied a corner of Bank Street Brewhouse’s parking lot since its completion in the late spring of 2010, but it was never intended to be permanent, so on the evening of Friday, October 28th, NABC is hosting a community celebration in the BSB parking lot to mark the occasion of its decommissioning.

It’ll be no ordinary wake, because in the process of honoring Leticia and her creation, we’ll be weaving together elements of art, recycling, alternative energy, localism … and plenty of beer.

Leticia and helpers will spend the day on the 28th gradually disassembling, and officially decommissioning, her “Brew History: All Bottled Up.” The beer bottles inside it will be available to those attendees and passers-by interested in souvenirs, and all the remaining materials will be recycled or incorporated in one of Leticia’s future projects.

("Brew History: All Bottled Up" is featured in the new book, Sculpture and Design With Recycled Glass, by Cindy Ann Coldiron, whose book will be available for purchase on the 28th, courtesy of Destinations Booksellers. Go here for more details.)

Beginning at 6:00 p.m., Bank Street Brewhouse’s usual parking area will be cordoned off for the occasion of the evening celebration, with beer, wine, chili and snacks available outdoors, and the usual menu being presented inside. In case of inclement weather, the party moves beneath the existing patio roof.

As an added incentive, we’ll be unveiling NABC’s IX – Ninth Anniversary Ale, a Smoked Chocolate Port-Barrel Aged Stout brewed last winter by former brewmaster Jared Williamson (available at the Pizzeria & Public House, too). The actual NABC anniversary date is October 25, but we’ll wait a couple of days just for the fun of throwing it into the Friday evening mix.

Music by Toledo Bend is being booked by our good friends at The Dandy Lion boutique and shop, located just a block south of Bank Street Brewhouse. The Dandy Lion will be open later than usual on the 28th, so plan on strolling down and paying them a visit.

But there’s more. From 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the 28th, there’ll be an opening reception for "Powering Creativity: Air, Fuel, Heat," a joint exhibit of Ohio Valley Creative Energy and the Carnegie Center for Art & History. It’s happening right across the street from BSB, and the artists and organizers will be joining us to combine their after-party with Leticia’s decommissioning fete. Go here to learn more.

That’s not all! There’s even more on tap for Friday, October 28, because it’s also the occasion of Jeff Milchen’s visit to New Albany.

“New Albany First is proud to welcome Jeff Milchen, co-founder of the American Independent Business Alliance. Jeff is an international leader in helping communities to build vital local economies and in enhancing economic opportunity through supporting local independent businesses. We're thrilled to have him coming to New Albany.

“The event is set for Friday night, October 28th at 7:00 p.m. for a presentation/discussion on the importance of localism and supporting independent businesses. The event will be held on the beautiful second floor of the River City Winery on Pearl Street.”

I’ve invited NA First, Milchen and all the attendees to make the short walk from River City Winery and join the arts celebration at BSB. Know also that NABC will have beer samples on hand for both the Carnegie Center/OVCE opening (where jazzman Jamey Aebersold will be providing music) and the NA First/Milchen presentation.

Links:

Leticia Bajuyo, “Brew History: All Bottled Up” and New Albany Public Art Project Bicentennial Series: http://www.napublicart.org/bajuyo.php

The Dandy Lion: http://www.facebook.com/thedandylionshop

Ohio Valley Creative Energy: http://ohiovalleycreativenergy.org/

Carnegie Center: http://www.carnegiecenter.org/exhibits.html

New Albany First: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Albany-First/142589112460702

American Independent Business Alliance: http://www.amiba.net/

Destinations Booksellers
http://www.facebook.com/newalbanybooks

"All Bottled Up": What went up, will come down.

Artist Leticia Bajuyo was in attendance Saturday during the Bicentennial Art Walk, taking another opportunity to explain the themes in her "All Bottled Up" installation.

Many people asked what was to become of the piece, and the short answer is this: It is to be dismantled.

While seemingly a fixture over in the corner of Bank Street Brewhouse's lot, "All Bottled Up" always was intended to be temporary. It will remain in place until October 28, 2011, when a party will be held to celebrate the sculpture's life and demise.

This autumnal observance will take the shape of a reverse recycling/decommissioning bash. The major structural components of "All Bottled Up" will be reused for other artistic works, and the bottles will be available for visitors to take away as souvenirs; remaining bottles will be recycled. There will be beer, food and music, and I intend to build a permanent collage of pieces and photos for us to remember the installation.

More Saturday city-wide arts day photos are at New Albanian Brewing Company's Facebook site, and don't forget that we're discussing Saturday's events at the NA Confidential FB site.

EVENT WATCH: New Albany, Possumshaw, and Pecha Kucha.

Text gathered from the Carnegie Center and Bernheim Arboretum web sites:

Possumhaw Plant Electrics: Drawings and Videos by Julia Oldham
August 27-October 23, 2010
Opening Reception Friday August 27, 6-8 pm

The Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit, Possumhaw Plant Electrics: Drawings and Videos by Julia Oldham, on display August 27 through October 23, 2010. Julia Oldham was selected as Bernheim Arboretum’s 2010 Artist in Residence [www.bernheim.org], and during her residency she created a series of videos that combine science fiction and performance. Oldham developed a fictional identity as a technician for Possumhaw Plant Electrics, a company that specializes in measuring radio/electrical emanations from plant forms. Under this guise, she pursued a series of four strange experiments on the arboretum grounds. In her video Radio Prairie, she attempts to locate radio signals in a recently burned prairie landscape; Amplified Colony is a sonic and performative exploration of a carpenter ant nest in a rotting stump; in Radioactive Fairytale she is attached to wildflowers with copper wires and contorts her body to receive outer space signals; and in Reset Oldham attempts to reset the universe by turning cypress knees into electromagnets.



Drawing its name from the Japanese sound for “chit-chat”, Pecha Kucha nights encourage exciting but short lectures. 10 creative presenters will gather at Bernheim and give each a mere 400 seconds to present a visual idea under the theme “Mother Nature told me to tell you this...” Each participant then gets 20 slides at 20 seconds each to wow you with a story.

Curious about Pecha Kucha? Check out PechaKuchaNight Louisville.


Julia Oldham, New Albany Public Art Project artist Leticia Bajuyo, Scottish installation artist Yvonne Mullock (who's been at Bernheim and the Carnegie before), and Carnegie curator Karen Gillenwater will join several other presenters in rapid-fire succession along with live music at 7:oo pm on Saturday, August 28, at the Sunset Amphitheatre on Lake Nevin at Bernheim.

All Bottled Up.

Bank Street Brewhouse's favorite artist*, Leticia Bajuyo, has good news about All Bottled Up, her sculpture at BSB for the Bicentennial Art Project. But, the news as yet cannot be shared, so I'll keep the photo up until matters are official.

* Other than Tony, of course.

Friday, June 11 recap: One fine night with the Bicentennial Art walk.

Plenty of folks were strolling downtown New Albany last evening, and I overheard more than a few who'd been to the Amphitheater for music, stopped to look at the Bicentennial Public Art installations, checked in at Thorpe Woodworks or the Gallery on Pearl, and ended with a meal and libation at one of the eateries. We had a good crowd all night at the Brewhouse.

Leticia Bajuyo didn't really need my help describing the context and inspiration for her "Brew History: All Bottled Up" sculpture, but I stuck around and answered a few questions about beer and brewing history in New Albany.

Slow Charleston, an informal aggregation derived from the group Arnett Hollow, played on the patio and were bluegrassy-marvelous, even for me. The weather largely cooperated with breeezes and a slight reduction in humidity. It's looking like a chance of showers today for the Celts on the River show, but rain or shine, NABC will be serving beers and River City Winery wines at the Amphitheater.

Leticia makes house calls.

She was in town today to replace a few bulbs and tend to her art.

April showers notwithstanding, the Bicentennial Art Project installation at Bank Street Brewhouse is almost finished.

Leticia Bajoyo and her hard working volunteers are battling the elements as they near the finish line for completion of her Bicentennial Art Project installation at Bank Street Brewhouse.

The bottles in front compose the "lightbright" effect, while those on the sides stand upright and document the history of brewing in New Albany.

Upright bottles have been affixed with "retro" labels bearing the names and photos of past breweries.

We think the installation will be complete on Saturday night, although incoming storms add an element of the elements. More later.

Photos of the Bicentennial Art installation at Bank Street Brewhouse.

As noted earlier, Leticia Bajuyo and her cast and crew of volunteers have commenced the installation of her Bicentennial Art sculpture at the Bank Street Brewhouse. Here was the scene on Wednesday morning, following Sunday's and Monday's work pouring the concrete base.

This morning, the wooden forms were knocked out. Frames for holding the beer bottles will rest atop the base.

Regular customer and card-carrying progressive Hank Sutton (to the right, below) stopped by to help, and we'll be watering him (so to speak) in reward for his volunteerism. Obscured by the tail of the tape, Leticia can be seen giggling.

While all this was unfolding, the truck from Cavalier Distributing arrived to pick up a load of NABC kegs bound for Indianapolis. The driver had to wait in line, as River City Distributing (Louisville) already was at the back door taking on cargo. I wish it was this way each day.

I'm headed back that way, and later this evening, I'll post more photos of Leticia's evolving project.

Leticia Bajuyo's installation of her Bicentennial Art project piece at Bank Street Brewhouse starts today.

The past two days have not been the best time to try accomplishing anything, and so this slipped through the cracks, and now I'm scrambling. If anyone locates a peaceful moment, I'm in the market for one.

In short: Leticia Bajuyo's installation of her Bicentennial Art project piece at Bank Street Brewhouse gets under way today. Julie Schweitzer offers this revised installation schedule. Note that Leticia actively seeks volunteers to help her with this project.

I just heard from Leticia and below is her revised installation schedule. She is looking for volunteers to help with the project.

Sunday afternoon (18th) ... bring concrete form, set, and mix. Work till done with pouring pad.

Monday (19th) 2 p.m. - dark ... bring steel, plexi, and glass bottle cutter. Goal is to bolt steel frame together. If there are volunteers, they can peel paper off plexi and learn to cut bottles.

Wednesday (21st) 10 a.m - dark ... bring shelves and shelf backing. Goals include attach steel frame to concrete pad. If there are volunteers, they can poly shelves, finish bottle cutting, and place shelves.

Friday (23rd) 10 a.m. - dark ... bring front panels and labels. Goals include inserting front panels. If there are volunteers, they can label bottles and fill shelves.

Saturday (24th) ALL DAY ... bring roof and lights. Goal: Finish, of course. Specifically, put bottles in the front panels, add roof, install lights.

Previously, all this was explained:

The New Albany Bicentennial Public Art Project: Outdoor sculpture interpreting the city's history and heritage.

More on the New Albany Bicentennial Public Art Project.

Bunches of bottles against the wall.

Yesterday's WHAS-11 news segment on the NA Bicentennial Art preview at Bank Street Brewhouse.

Bunches of bottles against the wall.

Leticia Bajuyo visited Bank Street Brewhouse today to provide a preview of her sculpture for the Bicentennial Art Project, and plenty of empty 12-ounce beer bottles were donated by our customers. Very shortly, the bottles will become the sculpture, and Leticia explained how and why in the context of her work to date.

Matt and Jim Patus topped the bottle donation chart, followed by Don Parsons. A number of others joined the fun and brought bottles. The gorgeous spring day contributed to the festive ambience as art, not sewers, was (for once) the topic of the moment in New Albany.

Permit me to thank Leticia, Julie Schweitzer, Karen Gillenwater, my workers Aleen and Shelly, and all the other people in attendance on a day that provided a measure of restorative cultural encouragement.