Frost is in the air -- and at Poet's House!

Are you going to be in NYC over the holidays? If you have a chance, consider checking out the lovely new Poets House, located in Battery Park City at 10 River Terrace (at Murray Street). Opening on December 2, through January 15, 2010, they’ll be displaying “Robert Frost’s Annual Christmas Cards” -- “...beautiful, illustrated chapbooks of Frost’s poetry” that the poet and his publishers sent out as holiday greetings for almost 30 years. (For directions, click here.)

Poets House is closed December 24, 25 & 26, 2009 and January 1 & 2, 2010.

In 1926, 28-year-old Joe Blumenthal founded The Spiral Press with a partner, George Hoffman. For Christmas in 1929, Blumenthal printed an illustrated chapbook of Robert Frost poems to send out as the holiday greeting from himself and Henry Holt and Company (one of Frost’s printers.) All 275 copies were sent out before they realized that none had been sent to the poet, himself. (Frost insisted that the printer retrieve a half dozen for his own Christmas list!)

Spiral Press was hit hard during the Depression. Blumenthal closed shop and lived in Europe for several years where he designed a new font type (Emerson). He returned to the US in late 1933, settling just north of NYC in Croton Falls, NY, and started up Spiral Press with a small handpress, quickly reestablishing his reputation as a master printer. Each Christmas from 1934 through 1962, Spiral Press printed - in collaboration with Robert Frost this time!!! - new illustrated chapbooks of Frost poems.

Last Call at MoMA

Here's a quick "last chance" reminder for those of you who may be going into NYC this weekend: MoMA's Tangled Alphabet exhibition ends June 15. The show offers a rare opportunity to explore work by two of the most respected 20th/21st C. artists of South America: León Ferrari (Argentina) and Mira Schendel (Brazil, b. Switzerland). You'll find it on the sixth floor of the Museum in the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art Exhibition Gallery.

If you want to learn more, or if you can't make it in to the City this weekend ('cause you're going to be at ARTWORKS or FIGMENT, maybe?), be sure to check out the exhibition on-line before the show ends. You'll find great videos, a slide show of works on display, and can even purchase and download the catalogue. Very compelling work; check it out.

FIGMENT Festival this weekend!!!

Thanks to both Ellen Hackl Fagan (whose incredible Reverse Color Organ installation in The Listening Eye exhibit wowed visitors here at The Gallery back in 2005) and Cindy Stockton Moore (Dangerous Women Two [DW2] participant and an amazing artist and instructor) who each have work in this weekend’s FIGMENT Festival. Their invitations reminded me that the 3rd annual version of this AMAZING event takes place this weekend, June 12-14th. Some of the installations will remain on view as 'City of Dreams', an interactive sculpture garden and the artstop Mini-Golf course through October 11, 2009.

The music/art/performance/installation/anything goes happening takes place across New York City’s historic Governor’s Island. The ferry to the island is free -- as are all of the events - which feature 400+ artists and include everything from performance art to mini-golf.

Ellen's holding forth at location AW05 with her process art workshop, The Alphabet Game. Cindy and fellow DW2 artist Abby Goodman’s found-object sculpture Salvage will be on display in the City of Dreams sculpture garden through October. Cindy plans on being there on Friday. Cindy and Abby documented much of their process in creating Salvage, and you can check it out on Cindy’s site www.cindystocktonmoore.com/figment.html

For more information about FIGMENT - including a map of the events and installations – go to http://figmentnyc.org/2009/

For directions to the Manhattan or Brooklyn ferries going to Governor’s Island (and a schedule) go to: http://www.govisland.com/Visit_the_Island/directions.asp

Note: sketch of Slavage by Abby Goodman/Cindy Stockton Moore