Farewell, CMA

TOUGH TIMES

We were sorry to see the Claremont Museum of Art close its doors at the end of December. We liked the idea of a museum to showcase local artists and hoped it would make a go of it.

The museum had the misfortune of opening just before the economy tanked, and that certainly contributed to its demise. It also may have suffered from too small an audience. We'd always wondered how they'd be able to support itself when its core audience came from a town of only 35,000 people. CMA didn't seem to have much wide appeal outside Claremont. For example, a December, 2008, fundraising dinner in Pasadena ended up costing more than it brought in.

When it was still a going concern, the museum did make a splash with a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor. The donor, however, attached some conditions to the gift, and the museum wasn't able to use the money for its $900,000 annual operational budget. In the end, the donor pulled the $10 million, and the museum's fundraising efforts fizzled.

Facing closure, the CMA came to the City for money last September. They asked city staff for $4,500, and staff dutifully complied by giving the museum the money without a public hearing. That money helped keep the museum open until the end of October, when the CMA again had to go hat in hand to the City for a second cash infusion of $5,721, again without public input.

During that period, the museum made some changes that included expanding its board to include former Claremont mayors Sandy Baldonado and Ellen Taylor (the kiss of fiscal death, if the CMA had really thought about it). We interpret the inclusion of these two as a sign that the 400 had taken up the museum's cause, which made sense because some of the biggest donors came from the 400. In any case, the museum also closed its store, cut back its hours, and laid off all except one employee.

Former Mayor Ellen Taylor
blowing hard
ONCE MORE TO THE WELL

None of the museum's changes made any difference, and by November, the museum had to come before the City Council for $18,879 from the City's Public Art Fund to keep it going until the end of December. The city staff report from the 400's ever-reliable Mercy Santoro gives the background.

At a meeting on November 11th, the City Council heard a pitch from the museum. Among the pitchmen was none other than former Mayor Taylor, who, with her typical Ellen eloquence, explained how the museum go in such dire straits: "...things came [up] and just kicked us in the goddamned butt. [at around 3:17:00 of the meeting video]"

As we might expect, Councilmember Pedroza and Mayor Pro Tem Elderkin were the most sympathetic to Taylor's message from the Claremont 400 that we really need this museum (and you better support it). In her comments, Taylor kept using the 400's buzzword "vision," implying that that anyone who voted against the City donating the money was blind to what was best for the City. In other words, you're either with us, or you're a bad person.

Taylor's words also carried the implicit threat that any councilmember heartless enough to vote against giving the money would be done as a local politician. It's the 400's polite way of strongarming people (or The People) to get money they think they need: Why exactly do you hate the museum? Other societies might call this extortion.

Councilmember Peter Yao was really the lone voice of reason, pointing out first that he was concerned about what might be construed as a gift of public money, which would have been an illegal action. Yao further pointed out that because the City had essentially provided the museum with 100% of its working budget, it had a duty to question how effectively its money would be used. After all, Yao asked, what good would it do to give the museum the city funds if it was just going to delay an inevitable failure?

Another question Yao posed was to asked what plan the museum had to raise the $200,000 they were aiming for to fund its 2010 budget. None of the museum representatives could answer that, other than to say that they had formed a working group to work on a plan to develop a plan for fundraising. In other words, they had no real plan.

The discussion included other absurdities. Among these was the idea, raised by Pedroza and Elderkin, that the museum store was a moneymaker. Despite comments from a museum representative that the store had been "hemorrhaging money," Elderkin, assured as ever of certain certainties, wanted the museum to reopen the store. Elderkin also expressed absolute certitude in the museum's fundraising team, which surely portends greater fiscal problems for the City if, as expected, Elderkin takes her turn as mayor in March.

Still, in the end, the council bowed to the pressure and voted unanimously to give CMA its $18,879 (we never did figure out what changed Councilmember Yao's mind). The museum had its money and went off merrily to find the $200,000 they were sure was waiting for them. Unfortunately a final fundraiser managed to raise only $26,000 in pledges, and on December 27th, the museum shut down.


SONG REMAINS THE SAME

You'd think the 400 would have learned at least a little financial sense from the Claremont Trolley experience. If you'll recall, the City found it cheaper to put the trolley into storage and eat the lease payments rather than continue to fund its three-year $889,000 budget.

Yet, despite all evidence to the contrary and lacking any specific data, the 400, through its mouthpieces, trotted some of the same arguments for the museum that it used in its failed attempt to keep the trolley going: it brings economic benefit to the city; it just needs a few more months to really get going; we just need to make a few changes to turn it around.

Well, they got their way, and the museum closed anyway. In the process, the city frittered away nearly $30,000 at a time when Claremont is having to lay off employees and cut their benefits, reduce services, and raise fees in order to address a $2 million dollar budget deficit for the current fiscal year. As Councimember Yao pointed out, one can be supporter of the museum on the personal level, but one should not turn that personal view into a public one at the cost of vital taxpayer dollars.

With the 400, though, rationality has limits, and Yao's arguments fell on deaf ears. The nearly $30,000 Claremont doled out to the museum may be chump change to city staff, but the city's deficit is really as much the result of the accumulation of decades of these stupid little financial decisions as it is a matter of the current recession.

Our suggestion to future councils is to just say "No" the next time the 400 comes calling, no matter how painful that may be. A little tough love might be good for them and for the city in the long run.

CMA Art Happenings

Time to take a look at what's going on at the Claremont Museum of Art. The retrospective of Claremont artist James Hueter at the Claremont Museum of Art continues for one more week:

James Hueter, Reflections: Blue Triangle Left,
1992, Oil on wood, glass, 24 x 32 in.
Image from Artslant.com

James Hueter: A Retrospective surveys Hueter's art from his early realist and surrealist paintings, through a long period of investigating and refining hybrid forms of painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and architecture. The exhibition culminates with recent works that meld all of these disciplines, exploring multi-faceted realms of representation and illusion. With more than 75 works on view, new generations will discover an artist of diligent devotion to a vision sustained through decades of experimentation, refinement, and perseverance.

This is the first such exhibition to examine the entire range of James Hueter's unique artistic vision, realizing a core mission of the Claremont Museum of Art to celebrate the region's rich artistic heritage through in-depth exhibitions of its most prominent local heroes.

The next scheduled exhibit, featuring new additions to CMA's permanent collection, opens September 20.

CMA will also hold its Sunday Family Art Day this weekend. The event is open to everyone, young and old:

Sunday, July 19, Noon to 3pm
It’s A Puzzle!

Turn your very own artwork into a puzzle. Children and adults will begin with a blank puzzle template and draw or paint a masterpiece, or write a secret message to send to a friend. Very cool. As always, it’s free!

Claremont Museum of Art
536 W. First Street
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-3200

Upcoming CMA Events

The Claremont Museum of Art's next exhibit will be a retrospective of Claremont artist James Hueter's work. The show opens on Sunday, February 22nd with an opening reception at 7pm and runs through May 3rd.

CMA sent out a press release with information about Hueter's work:

Born in San Francisco in 1925 and a 60-year resident of Claremont, James Hueter epitomizes a generation of artists who, attracted to Claremont and the surrounding region after World War II, established their reputations here, contributing importantly to the creation of the art-rich environment we enjoy today. A 1948 graduate of Pomona College, Hueter holds an M.F.A. from the Claremont Graduate School (1951). His life as an artist continues to be as productive as ever.

This exhibition surveys Hueter’s long and fertile career, from the early realist paintings influenced by his teacher and mentor Henry Lee McFee to the most recent works that combine his multiple interests in painting, sculpture, representation, and illusion. The exhibition will introduce to new generations an artist of diligent devotion to his craft through decades of drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture.

While widely admired by those knowledgeable about the arts, James Hueter is also – due to his modest demeanor – one of the best-kept secrets of the arts in Claremont. This exhibition aspires to reveal and celebrate Hueter’s work, while realizing a core mission of the Claremont Museum of Art to celebrate the region’s rich artistic heritage through in-depth exhibitions of its most prominent local heroes

The Hueter exhibit will be accompanied by an outdoor installation by Pomona artist Juan Thorpe titled "Citrus Processor." The work is a large canvas and will be installed in the eastern courtyard of the Claremont Packing House. The CMA's press release said this about the Thorpe work: "Furthering the artist's investigative imagery of deconstructed machinery, this work references the history of the Museum’s home, The Packing House, and the City of Claremont's unique association with the citrus industry."

The CMA will also host the following events in the next few months:

February
Saturday, February 21, 7 – 9 p.m.
Public Opening Reception: James Hueter: A Retrospective

Sunday, February 22, noon – 4 p.m.
Family Art Day: Self-portraits
Free and open to the public
Look in a mirror and what do you see? Inspired by the artwork of James Hueter, the subject for this Family Art Day activity is self-portraits. Join us as we learn how to turn self-observation into a work of art.

All Wednesdays (through the run of the exhibition)
Senior Wednesdays – James Hueter: A Retrospective
$3 admission for seniors 62 and older (Admission is always free for Museum Members)
Docents available for free tours, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; special 20% discount in Museum Store off a single item.

March
Sunday, March 1, 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Curator Walk-through – James Hueter: A Retrospective
Free for Members and under 18/$8 for non-members (includes gallery admission)
Exhibition guest curator Steve Comba walks members and visitors through the new exhibition.

Sunday, March 15, noon – 4 p.m.
Family Art Day: Not-So-Still Life Drawing
Free and open to the public
Ask three people to look at a grouping of objects, and you’ll get three different interpretations. That’s what still life drawing is all about. Family Art Day participants will try their hands at mastering this most basic of art skills using art works from the Hueter exhibition as inspiration.

Claremont Museum of Art
536 West First Street
Claremont, CA 91711
909.621.3200
www.claremontmuseum.org

Hours: The galleries and Museum Store are open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and until 8:30 p.m. the first Friday of every month and closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

Admission: Admission is $5 for adults. Free admission for visitors under 18. Admission is $3 for seniors over 62 every Wednesday. Admission is free for everyone from 5 to 8:30 p.m. the first Friday of every month, and admission is always free for Museum Members.

Here's the full press release, which we've posted on a nifty site called Scribd.com that's great for posting images, documents, and PDF's. Thanks to Calwatch at M-M-M-My Pomona for introducing this to us. It sort of like YouTube for documents. Click on the little box in the upper right hand corner to expand the document to full-screen size:

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other Presentations & Slid james hueter claremont museum of

CMA Alive and Well

We received word from a reliable source that the Claremont Museum of Art's website problems were just due to some technical problems that had nothing at all to do with the restaurant fire in the Packing House.

Even better, the museum's Permanent Collection, current exhibits, museum store, and offices are all okay, just a little smoked out. (Hey, who hasn't been?)

We've been more than a little lax on our coverage of CMA events lately, and we'll try to fix that.

_________________________________


CMA's free Family Art Day series continues on January 18th:

Sunday, January 18, 2009, 12 – 4 p.m.
(rescheduled from September, 2009)
Family Art Day: Kaleidoscopes

Free and open to the public.

Ever wonder how a kaleidoscope makes all those beautiful images when you look into it? Join us for Family Art Day and learn the secret as artist Mike Lardi teaches children and parents how to make their very own kaleidoscope. This is an activity you really don’t want to miss!

The CMA two ongoing exhibits, Multiverse and Passerby Museum have been extended to February 1, 2009, so you can still get over there to see them if you haven't had a chance. Here's some information from the CMA website:

Multiverse
Through February 1, 2009


Multiverse refers to the hypothesis that all of physical reality actually exists within a set of multiple, parallel universes, of which our universe is merely one part. The possibility of many universes raises a myriad of scientific, philosophical and theological questions that have been explored in various branches of theoretical
science, disciplines of thought and fiction. Multiverse will explore these issues artistically in a dynamic exhibition featuring photographic installations, mixed media sculptures, video projections, a light box installation, and sculpture from paper, among other media.

Artists continually create a visual vocabulary for themselves that parallels and portrays an idealized, imagined or fantasized reality. Nature and its mysteries provide endless departure points for fictitious imagery that is recognizable enough to have relevance, yet abstract enough to interrupt familiarity and probe deeper into our psyches. From chimera to corporeality, Multiverse delves into alternative outcomes for the universe we believe exists in singularity. “This exhibition represents the Museum’s interest in ideas that connect the arts and artists to
contemporary thinking and points-of-view,” said CMA Director William Moreno. “Exploring these provocative ideas creates an opportunity for interdisciplinary discourse.”

Participating artists include Sebastiaan Bremer (New York), Jedediah Caesar (Los Angeles), Emilie Halpern (Los Angeles), Violet Hopkins (Los Angeles), Emre Hüner (Istanbul, Turkey), Miler Lagos (Bogotá, Colombia), Nancy Macko (Claremont), Carter Mull (Los Angeles), Diana Thater (Los Angeles), Fred Tomaselli (New York),and Kerry Tribe (Los Angeles). Multiverse artists will engage in an email exchange with local scholars, discussing particular areas of science, psychology or the discipline of his/her choice, which will then be incorporated into the exhibition. Multiverse is curated by Pilar Tompkins.

Passerby Museum
Through February 1, 2009


The Passerby Museum makes its Southern California debut in Claremont! Created in 2002 by María Alós and Nicolás Dumit Estévez in New York City, the Passerby Museum is an itinerant institution dedicated to presenting temporary exhibitions in different cities. The museum draws its collection from donations from people who visit,work or live where it is in operation at any given time, including about 400 objects recently collected at two locations in Claremont.


The Passerby Museum has been presented in Madrid, Spain, Puebla, México, Kitchener, Canada, New York, New York and twice in México City, Mexico and Havana, Cuba. At each location, visitors were asked to donate any random object from their life to the Passerby Museum’s “collection.” The only requirement is that the object fit into a sandwich bag. Its collection – which currently holds about 3,000 objects – has been exhibited to the public in two occasions, last time in 2006, bringing more than 32,000 visitors to the Galería del Ayuntamiento (Puebla) in less than a month and a half. The installation will include each of the approximately 3,000 items collected at all of the locations so far, including the approximately 400 items collected in Claremont.

Claremont Museum of Art
536 W. 1st St.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-3200

Claremont Packing House Fire-UPDATED

Told Fire Started in Forks Kitchen
Estimate a Quarter Million in Damage

See below for Wednesday evening update

An early morning fire damaged the Packing House early Wednesday morning. A brief story was posted on the Daily Bulletin website. No injuries were reported.

Our later information is that the fire started in the Forks Restaurant kitchen, and may have caused some $250,000 in damage. The restaurant will apparently be closed for at least a few weeks--the height of the holiday season.

No word on damage to the Claremont Art Museum [click on the preceding link for an entertaining error message that the Art Museum has evaporated from cyberspace. All we can say is, it was here this morning] or about water damage in the Packing House due to its sprinkler system. Since the Packing house is constructed primarily out of 100-year old wood, and the floor at least is impregnated with polyurethane resin, comparison to a tinder-box is not inapt.

We understand that once the fire-safety sprinkler system goes off, it can dump a whole lot of water in a hurry. Don't know how the system is plumbed, or whether it goes off in zones or all at once.

We'll update as information becomes available. Nothing on the City website as this is written.

UPDATE: The Daily Bulletin has a more detailed article with a photo gallery. It seems that the fire started in a wall and gutted the kitchen. We are not trying to minimize the damage, but truth be told we've seen many kitchens in everyday use that looked in worse shape than the one in the pictures in the photo gallery. Smoke damage--again from the pictures--appears minimal; but then you smell it when you don't see it. See the pictures in the photo gallery at the Bulletin.

Arson was on everyone's lips today, so it was somewhat comforting to see in the article that "arson was ruled out", at least according to owner Mark Bollinger.

The fire started about 3:30 a.m., and was out by 4:30 a.m. Casa 425, across the street, was evacuated.

Kitchen Fires Can Get Out of Hand Quickly