meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

If you haven't yet made your way over to explore the culinary and boutique delights of Providence's Federal Hill neighborhood, tonight's March installment of Gallery Night is the perfect opportunity.

Image: "Table" by Kallie Weinkle

Students from the prestigious RISD furniture design program will host an opening reception for their revealing show "Sit Down - The Process of Furniture Design" at Gallery Z, from 5-9pm. This exhibit, curated by RISD senior Kallie Weinkle, is a rare opportunity for the public to climb inside of the minds and creative processes behind the future stars of furniture design. With selections created from an array of materials ranging from reclaimed industrial scrap wood to newspaper, the exhibit holds discoveries for every taste.

CLICK HERE to read my full exhibit review, written for the March/April issue of Artscope Magazine.

Gallery Z is located at 259 Atwells Ave. Providence, RI 02903. (401) 454-8844

Recommended local dining: Sicilia's Pizza, Costantino's Venda Ravioli

Fashion-forward blogger Jill Sherman at Trendinista highlighted Crostini Designs' I Palloni Neri (The Black Balloons) signature earrings in a tribute to the color BLUE, following Kelly Osbourne's announcement that she will record a duet of Roy Orbison's 'Blue Bayou' with Brian Evans. Che colori!

I admit, I haven't been the best consumer lately (which in itself may be a source of D.I.Y. pride). Other than the finer basics in life, such as food, flowers and my wedding dress, I just haven't felt inspired to whip out the tired old debit card. Speaking of cards, and of wedding dresses, it's too bad that I have already sent out most of our wedding gift thank you cards, because these vintage-hued, hand-printed examples by Eliza Jane Curtis of Morris & Essex are just lovely:

Working out of her studio in Buenos Aires, she creates these and other designs using hand-mixed inks and a combination of printing methods, including screenprint, linocut and the ever-popular print gocco. I just love her woodsy color pallate!

While the rest of us wring our hands over rising inflation, unemployment and the precipitous state of the housing market, some unshakeable folks are still contributing fresh-faced to development; namely, of domiciles, in locales and for "clients" typically overlooked once the pavers roll off the steaming lot of urban sprawl.

Los Angeles based artist and architect Fritz Haeg explores the implications of our global refacing and the potential for ecological amends in his current body of work, titled Animal Estates. Collaborating with zoological and ecological consultants on specific, art org. commissioned sites, from habitat-hammering shopping plazas to foliated, yet ecologically insensitive neighborhoods, Haeg investigates alienated local species, which he refers to as "animal clients" (e.g. New York's northern flying squirrel). Using field lab techniques, historical data and observation, he then designs and constructs dwellings condusive to welcoming that population back into the environment from which it has been dethroned due to the encroachment of human development.

As part of the 2008 Whitney Biennial, which opens tomorrow at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, Haeg will be installing model homes for twelve disenfranchised native animal "clients" in front of the venerable contemporary art institution. Guided tours of the model homes will be conducted by local scientific and cultural stakeholders, such as Michael Crewdson and Margaret Mittelbach, authors of Wild New York.

If you are interested in learning more about the artist and his project for all creatures fine, furry and feathered, NPR radio show Day to Day aired a lovely interview on March 4th, which you can listen to on their website. 

While researching the RISD furniture design program for an upcoming Artscope article, I came across this unassuming, secretly magical reclaimed oak sconce on graduate student Zeke Leonard's website. If I ever get to build my coveted wooden A-frame in the wilds of Maine, these will have to line my hallways.