Artist-at-Large
One of my favorite quotes of all time is by the 19th century philosopher and atheist Friedrich Nietzsche, "Life is so meaningless we might as well be extraordinary." How brilliant is that? It is, after all, a short trip from cradle to the grave and the days afforded to us need to be celebrated and used with gusto. Striving to be extraordinary is, however, not always a recipe for guaranteed success. After all, it is the ordinary that people are comfortable with, the status quo, the accepted dogma.
I think that trying to live a life of culture and beauty, kindness and truth becomes more rare each day as our society sinks deeper into a collective miasma of mediocrity. And you know the world of art is suffering big time when even the museums start shutting down — as is the case of the recent closing of the Fayetteville Museum of Art. Yes, you read that correctly, the actual museum closed up due to lack of funds. Funny how cities are always giving lip service about "cultural attractions" in their efforts to seduce new businesses and residents, but when it comes to supporting the arts, it’s all a shell game. When I read the story online recently, I was not only shocked by the story, but by many of the responses by readers, many of whom gave a "who cares?" or "I visited there in 1988, why should I go back?". This is sad and seems to be a fairly common sentiment, and obviously Fayetteville seems more than willing to let its museum, which opened in 1972, fade into extinction.
I know that Fort Bragg looms large over the local economy and society. But the goal should really be for a few more theaters and galleries and a few less strip clubs and tattoo parlors. There was a big stink many years ago about the teaching of poetry at West Point. One Vietnam-era colonel complained that it produced "perfumed princes" who ultimately lost the war. But obviously, if one thinks about it, having the warrior class introduced to the arts only enhances an officer’s moral and intellectual courage, attributes just as valuable as physical courage under fire. There always seems to be plenty of money for war, but always a dearth of money for the things that actually make life meaningful and enriched.
Speaking of the Fayetteville Museum of Art, its director, Tom Grubb, is a talented artist in his own right. He was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 2003 for his outdoor sculpture Star Gate. Several of Grubb’s works can be viewed in area galleries, including Broadhurst Gallery in Pinehurst (www.broadhurstgallery.com) and The Mahler gallery in Raleigh (www.themahlerfineart.com). Grubb is a true professional, and I am certain the closing of the museum will open new doors of creative expression for the artist. His work is distinctly modern and abstract full of subtle use of line, form and color.
I always read the obituary and bankruptcy section of the newspaper, just to make sure I'm not in them, so it was equally extraordinary reading the recent news of Durham's Somerhill Gallery filing for bankruptcy after 38 years. The gallery had only in the past couple of years moved from its Chapel Hill location into spanking new digs in Durham with highly polished floors and a close-up view of the Durham County jail. When I read the bankruptcy notice I almost shot my Earl Grey tea out of my nose; it was such as shock. There must be some sort of collective group of obituary readers in the area because my phone started ringing off the hook about 30 seconds later with people calling to gossip about the news.
After all, Somerhill has been around since the dawn of the Triangle art scene. I've always been impressed by the sheer number of artists represented by the gallery, including the late Maud Gatewood, but I was even more impressed when I read that the gallery is in debt to the tune of $927,000! You know you are really good at what you are doing when you can get into that much debt with an art gallery. Just think of all the hard work that Michael Jackson, Enron and MC Hammer had to do to get in millions of dollars in debt and you start to appreciate the creativity that goes into the process. I'd love to be in a few millions of dollars of debt myself, so if any of you would like to issue me a line of credit, just let me know, I have plenty of extraordinary ideas on how to spend it. I don't think that we should write off Somerhill yet though, after all, this is a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means that everyone could wind up doing just great, especially the lawyers.
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