Artist.
BY DONNA IADIPAOLO
Museums have become public relations
agents for the interests of big business and
its ideological allies, photographer and art
critic Deborah Bright yesterday said to
about 100 students and faculty at the Art
and Architecture Building.
In her presentation titled "Wait 'Till
Donald Trump Buys the Whitney," Bright
discussed how the art market has been
transformed by the demands of corporate
investment and sponsorship.
"The market mentality that pervades the
culture industry these days is actually the
result of over two decades' worth of
changes that have taken place in the inner
sanctums of museum boardrooms as well
as in the more public arenas fo the galleries
and auction houses," said Bright.
Culture suffers fro
Topping $600 million in 1984, accord-
ing to the Business Committee on the
Arts, Bright said corporate donations to
museums such as the Metropolitan and the
Whitney have had a detrimental impact of
the state of our culture industry.
In a slide presentation of advertisers' use
of art, Bright demonstrated the allure social
status to draw on and create popular mar-
kets for certain art and its consumption.
Corporations "tapped and groomed through
sophisticated marketing techniques and
popular education," she said, making art
accessible for "family fun entertainment."
As an example, she said more than_300
museum trustees convened last October in
Florida at Walt Disney World, where they
attended a session titled, "Creating Museum
Magic Through Quality Service Disney
Style."
"Distinctions between museums and
Disney have become increasingly blurred,"
said Bright. "The Metropolitan Museum of
Art has replicated a Ming Dynasty
Scholar's courtyard and Disney has built a
half-scale replica of Beijing's Temple of
Heaven; the Smithsonian Institution has
built an IMAX theater and Disney presents
'quality art exhibitions.' No wonder muse-
ums are looking to Disney for new ways of
dealing with audiences without boring
them."
But Bright also acknowledged our coun-
try's emphasis on the possession of ob-
jects, ownership, and "connoisseurship,"
which she said has brought art into its
commercial existence. "The Art lends its
aura to the owners," she said. "That the
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 9, 1989 - Page 5
m corporations
museum functions to valorize the accumu- $25,000. At the Art Institute of Chicago,
lation of wealth has been true since its ori- for instance, the total of donated art plunged
gins." from 3,000 gifts in fiscal year 1987 to 755
One art dealer told her that "as soon as in fiscal year 1988, said Larry Ter Molen,
people have money today they start director of the La Jolla Museum of Con-
collecting," Bright said. "Art comes right temporary Art.
after the mink and the Mercedes." Bright, who teaches at the Rhode Island
The new tax laws have added to the di- School of Design and has published nu-
mension of art's uses and the deterioration merous critiques in art and photography
of donated art, Bright said. journals, also discussed the racism and sex-
"Art is now a pure investment, often ism which is reflected in art culture.
reappearing at auctions within a year or two "Patently obvious to anyone who looks
of purchase," she said. at the statistics of who and what is traded as
Bright explained that under the new tax Art in this commodity market, is the sys-
laws, high-income donors can deduct only tematic and continued lack of access to the
the purchase price of gifts to museums, but, market of women, racial minorities, and
not the appreciated value. The immediate work that unambiguously critiques the
effect, she said, has been a drop of about 50 passively accepted values and beliefs of
percent in gifts of art valued at more than capitalist liberalism," she said.
22nd Women's Weekend to celebrate women and art
BY KATHLEEN GRIEM
East Quad's 22nd annual
"Women's Weekend" will begin
tonight when internationally
renowned artist Terry Braunstein de-
livers a keynote speech on her life as
a woman artist.
Braunstein's speech, at 7 p.m.
tonight in East Quad's RC Audito-
rium, will kick off a weekend of
events celebrating the impact of
women in the art world.
"We chose the theme 'Women in
Art' to take advantage of our re-
sources - mainly, all of the excep-
tional female artistic talent here at
the University," said Jane Wilson, a
Residential College first-year student
and chair of the event.
"We also felt that a greater variety
of people, including men, would feel
more comfortable attending the event
if we chose a celebratory theme such
as this one, instead of a more con-
troversial women's issue," Wilson
said.
A 1964 graduate of the University
Art School, Braunstein received her
Masters' degree at the Maryland In-
stitute of Art. She is currently a
professor of fine arts at California
State University.
Braunstein's collages, which
combine old photographs with a va-
riety of other mediums, have been
exhibited in the Center Pompidou in
Paris, the Gallery Miyazaki in
Japan, and the Tartt Gallery in
Washington, D.C.
Braunstein is a recipient of the
National Endowment for the Arts
Award.
An art exhibit will be on display
tomorrow from 12 to 5 p.m. in 124
East Quad. The exhibit will show-
case works by Braunstein - includ-
ing her 1982 photo montage book,
Windows - and various women
student artists.
A coffee house featuring female
performing artists will be held on
Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the
I-
Halfway Inn in East Quad. All
women at the University can exhibit
their artwork, or read or sing their
own pieces at the coffee house, said
Megan Barber, RC junior and art
exhibit coordinator.
RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS
T
New Hop-In fuels
local competition
Play Your Cards Right...
Be A Blackjack Dealer at:
Michigras 1989
BY BRADLEY KEYWELL
Ann Arbor's new Hop-In
convenience store opened its doors
last week to a student body that is
"aching for a convience store that
caters to them," said Manager Dan
DePiew.
The store, on S. University and
S. Forest Sts., will be geared toward
student needs, said .DiPiew. Open 24
hours, the store will offer fast foods,
copy and fax machines, public
restrooms, and, eventually, a money
machine and video rentals.
A store suggestion box will
solicit students' input, he said.
The Hop-In represents new
competition for the Stop-N-Go,
around the block on E. University
St., and Village Corner, across the
street on S. Forest.
"The competition seems very
nervous about our appearance. They
are in here three to four times a day
checking us out," DiPiew said.
But Jim Flack, manager of the
Village Corner,. said, "We plan to
beat them at every price and pound
them into the ground as soon as
possible," he said.
Conference
Continued from Page 3
campaigns - 25 years ago.
LSA junior Pam Nadasen, the
panel's moderator and a member of
UCAR, said SNCC developed from
the student sit-ins in the '60s. "It
became a pivotal force within the
civil rights movement providing an
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Call 764-0557
A recent price check proved that,
so far, Flack is keeping his word.
While candy bars at Hop-In are 55
cents, Stop-N-Go stocks them for 45
cents, and Village Corner has them
for 40 cents. Another convenience
item, Nabisco crackers, are 40 cents
cheaper at Village Corner than at
Stop-N-Go and Hop-In.
"By matching or beating their
prices, we are only acting in the first
phase of our plan. There is more to
come," Flack said.
DiPiew, however, said he is
confident because of Hop-In's early
"outstanding" reception. "We are
very well respected at this point by
both the students and our fellow
store-owners on South U," he said.
Students' responses to the new
Hop-In were generally positive. "It's
clean, it's cheap, and it's in the right
location," said LSA sophomore Lisa
Roth.
With store windows on both S.
University and S. Forest, DiPiew
said the Hop-In will place a great
emphasis on cleanliness to win
business. "We're much more visible
than our competitors," says DiPiew.
alternative to the male-dominated,
hierarchical forces at that time," she
said.
Nadasen said SNCC achieved
many victories which young ac-
tivists can build upon, it is
nevertheless "not a blueprint for
students organizing today. They
made mistakes we need to recog-
nize."
For example, she said, sexism
within the organization was a de-
structive problem that was not dealt
with adequately.
Gambling,
Games, and a
Good Time"
11
YOUR FIRST STEP
TOWARD SUCCESS IS THE ONE YOU
COULD TAKE THIS SUMMER.
Army ROTC Camp Challenge. It's exciting
and itmay be your last opportunity to grad-
uate with an Army Officer's commission.
LEAERS~ip
ARMY ROTC
THE SMARTEST COLLEGE
COURSE YOU CAN TAKE.
Find out more. Call Captain O'Rourke:
visit 131 North Hall or call 764-2400.
Casino Mass Meeting
Saturday, March 11, 1989
1:00 Pm
Room 2105 Michigan Union
a
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Offered in cooperation with Boston University
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