ArtLink searches Savannah for emerging artists

By Vicky Jenkinson

Most fine artists, especially students, are looking for their big break. Last week Tal Danai, creator of ArtLink, came to SCAD to review work of students in the photography, painting and sculpture departments.

ArtLink is an art firm corporation that tries to help young artists sell their work. Danai looks all over the world for saleable art that may catch his eye. Danai might be SCAD students’ new best friend. He sat down to answer a few questions about his job and what he looked for while he was in Savannah.

District: In your own words, what is ArtLink?
TD: Art Link was launched 14 years ago with the less-than-modest aim of forming the world’s first market place for emerging artists, on one hand, and packaging contemporary art as cultural consumer product on the other hand. And we believe by doing those two things we’ll enable young artists to actually live off of what they chose to do in life, rather than wait tables, and will enable people to live with art that’s made in their lifetime without mortgaging their cars and houses for it.

District: “What are some of the other notable schools that you work with?”
TD: “If I start from the East Coast, it would be SVA, NYU, Pratt and Parsons. Then Maryland and Baltimore. RISD, Chicago Institute and Boston. The list goes on. There are about 20 in the US that I would consider very very good schools and yes we cover them all.”

District: What are you looking for from the artists who submit their work?
TD: When we see artists in 44 countries and 150 art academies continuously, what happens is that a work, somewhere out there, jumps up. And if it jumps up we stop, we look at it again and we try to understand; why did this one jump? And if we can make sense of why it jumped up, then we call it good.

And I can tell you from my experience, that the best work that I have seen are the works that the artists have dug the deepest to get to the most personal statement that they may have found and it is the most universal.

District: What can you tell me about Ar2Go?
TD: It is where you purchase art (reproductions by the artists). That was the new thing about Ar2Go; the fact that we said that we don’t need your name to sell your art. We’ll sell it because we are trusted as a good source of emerging art. The other side of it was that the market that we so much wanted to develop was set already and the prices started coming up.

District: You have recently taken a break. What are some of the changes you have made since returning?
TD: We started the Ar2Go program and we moved into another commercial venue, which is our main commercial venue today. And that is managing the art side of major architectural projects with an expertise in hotels. It allows us to bring in enough funds to also hold continuous exhibitions and do other things for young artists. Perfect setup.

District: What do you want to accomplish now that you have come back?
TD: There are so many plans and programs that we have in our drawers that I don’t think I am going to see all of them. We tend to use our dreams as blueprints. What I expect us to be able to deliver is a steady continuous platform that has a different number of venues for the presentation and sales of works done by emerging artists.

Tal Danai is constantly looking to improve the emerging artist market. ArtLink has opportunities available for current unknown artists to take advantage of while in school, and once they graduate. For more information please visit their Web site.

Photos courtesy of ArtLink
Contact Vicky Jenkinson.

Groundbreaking on new SCAD museum

By Lee Burbage

“This will be the shining beacon of West Boundary,” SCAD President Paula Wallace said at the groundbreaking ceremony this past Thursday, referring to the new museum that will be built behind the existing Kiah Hall.

Kiah Hall, the current SCAD museum, was just given a large contribution of African American art from Savannah native Dr. Walter Evans.  To house the new collection, Evans and SCAD have come together to create what will be “The Louvre in the United States,” according to Dr. Evans.

“I didn’t get to go to a museum till I was 19 years old.  I can’t say that I didn’t get to go.  I didn’t go. Maybe I wasn’t allowed down here in the South, but by the time I moved up North, I had no interest. If you can get [children] to go to museums when they are young will do better in school. I fully believe that those who appreciate art and certain types of music will do better in math and science.  So that’s why I want this center to be open and accessible to public school[s]. “ Evans said.

The intended plan for the Evans Center is to extend Kiah Hall further west toward Turner House.  The plan includes a light tower, which Wallace has called the “shining beacon” for West Boundary Street. The plans for the new complex are currently on display in Kiah Hall.

“There were many museums that wanted the collection, major museums, but I had already moved back down here.  I wanted it to stay here for it.  I would not have given it if [SCAD] had not asked.” Evans said.

The date of completion for the Evans Center has yet to be determined as Wallace explained: “We are starting now. We’re going to build half of it. It will have some classroom space as well as gallery space and an auditorium.” said Wallace.

“This will be of course open to every major.  There is going to be something for every student to gain here,” she added.

Photos by Vicky Jenkinson

Contact Lee Burbage.

Sidewalk Arts Festival offers fun creative outlet for students

CAILA BROWN Staff Writer
cbrown40@student.scad.edu

KATELAN CUNNINGHAM Assistant A&E Editor
kcunni20@student.scad.edu

The Sidewalk Arts Festival is always a time of bright color and beautiful drawings for the residents of Savannah. This year’s festival held Saturday, April 25, was no exception.

The drawings slowly took form on the concrete sidewalks of Forsyth Park, starting as simple lines and evolving into intricate detailed renderings, hardly reminiscent of the chalk drawings we created as children.

Walking through the park, one could see pieces ranging from colorful design oriented work to photo-realistic portraits that one would expect to see from a Life Drawing class. The artists included alumni, prospective students, undergraduate and graduate students representing both Savannah and Atlanta campuses.

The group who formed squares 393 and 394 created a portrait of Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire from the movie “Funny Face.”

Professional writing major Kaitlin Allen, fashion major Bridgette Blanton, painting major Colby Branum, graphic design major Kathryn Hartmann and photography major Vicky Jenkinson collaborated on the unique monochromatic square.

Jenkinson said that she and her team “wanted black and white because everyone was doing color.” Their piece stood out among its surroundings with its stark black and white with a splash of red. “It’s a good classic movie,” she added.

Fashion alumna Alyssa Couturier-Hemdon also used a photo reference for her piece, but chose to emphasize the bright colors generally associated with the season.

“I picked flowers because it’s spring and they’re everywhere,” she explained.

Others, however, incorporated objects into their work.

“I’m going to serve it at four,” third year film and television major Lindsay Johnston said of the real chocolate raspberry cake that was a prominent feature of her square.

Her chalk design was a striped pattern with the words, “Let them eat,” which with the cake in place formed the phrase, “Let them eat cake,” saying that Johnston reminded passersby was mistakenly attributed to Marie Antoinette.

A variety of “Finding Nemo” artwork was also present, in anticipation of the showing of the film that night in the park.

The Student Activities Council transformed the park into an outdoor movie theater for the previous two nights to show “From Russia With Love” and “The Wizard of Oz,” for an annual tradition called Films in Forsyth.
While many of the illustrations were just of Nemo, one group titled theirs “Eating Nemo.” It featured a half-eaten Nemo on a plate of vegetables, and was a popular piece.

A new addition to the Sidewalk Arts Festival was the 30 Pearls Parade, a performance piece that brought attention to SCAD’s 30th Anniversary.
Everyone watched as the “pearls” ⎯students dressed in white paper costumes⎯ ran and swayed across the park, finally forming a strand of pearls on the east side.

While there was much confusion as to what was actually happening, the idea eventually came across to the general public. Nonetheless, it was a great source of entertainment for the weary students who were tired, sunburned and covered in chalk.

At the end of the day everyone packed up their supplies, took their last photos and went home, leaving their artwork behind for the morning dew to destroy.

But that is the appeal of this festival: the creation of non-permanent artwork is a rarity to students whose grades depend on their work, although you can be sure that they are already drawing up thumbnails and making plans for next year.

Photos by Caila Brown