NC Institutional Galleries - Carolina Arts

Editorial by Tom Starland, Editor and PublisherCOMMENTARYRetirement?Well, like most goals in life - the advertisementshaven’t met up to my expectations.By the time I could drink “legally” I foundthat it was expensive to drink legally.Buying a car was a bigger responsibilityand legally binding contract than gettingmarried. I’ve been happily married 34years, but where’s that first car I purchased?Buying a home was a joke - Idon’t own a home, a bank owns my home.I’m just paying them rent to live therefor the rest of my life. And, now that I’vereached what was once thought to be retirementage - why am I still working likemad to get by? Where’s my rocking chair?Well, the truth is I reached the agewhere I can start to get my money backfrom the government. My first check willarrive about the time you’re reading this.And, even then I’ll never see a check as itwill go straight to my bank. It’s not a verybig check after being self employed forso long, but I’m taking it early at age 62.I have been advised by folks who knowmoney better than I do to take it as soon asI can - as you never know.Know what? Well, I don’t know howlong I will live, how long the governmentwill still give me my money back, or howlong it will be before they say I’ll have tolive until I’m 70 to get my money back.I’m not complaining except for the factthat it is still taxable income - imaginethat! I guess it’s a big joke from UncleSam - betting we won’t live long enoughto make it to SS. No one likes taxes -especially folks who are rich, and almosteveryone thinks they could do better fortheir future - better than our Uncle. Butmy Uncle probably did better with thatmoney over the years than I would have.I’m happy to get anything back.So there’s not a rocking chair for me noris there a gold watch - I’ll still be workingaway each month trying to get thispublication out on time. If there is a brightside, I might get to travel more around theCarolinas - as I once did - trying to chipaway at our not so massive profits, so Ihave to pay less taxes on my Social Security“income”. There always seems to be acatch to these goals society created for us.Corn Dog Days of SummerIt may not have been as hot yet as itshould be, but it’s hot enough to reallyslow people down. Some people say it’sjust too hot to go anywhere, but I’d rathergo some place that’s probably cooler thanmy house and a good art museum or artgallery might just be the spot to hang out- it’s cheaper than going to a movie or atrip to the mall.But, I guess it’s too hot for a lot ofmedia folks to work. It seems some peoplejust could bring themselves to send an e-mail about their latest exhibit or to botherfinding an image to send with what pressrelease they did send. That’s where the“Corn Dog” comes in - as in Corn DogDays of Summer.Got Your Plan for the 2014 ArtFields Yet?Believe it or not, now is probably thetime to start getting ready to enter the2014 ArtFields competition. Artists shouldrealize by now that just grabbing a workoff the shelf won’t win you $50,000 incash or even get you in the show. So, it’stime to get creative in a big way.The artists who made the cut in 2013have a leg up on everyone else and thoseartists who didn’t make the cut, but wentcontinued above on next column to the rightto Lake City, SC, and saw the event - theyalso know something you don’t. If youdidn’t do either, but want to take a chanceat winning big bucks - you might want tomake a trip to Lake City to look around.I would also suggest looking at lastyear’s entries on the ArtFields website(www.artfieldssc.org) and reading the rulesof the competition very carefully - it costone artist $25,000 last year by not readingthe rules or hoping no one else did.A lot of artists who entered last yearprobably won’t in 2014 based on what thejudges selected to be in the competitionand what was selected as the winners, buttheir place will be taken by other artistswho didn’t hear about ArtFields until afterit was over or couldn’t figure out whereLake City was. And, I imagine there willbe a bigger push to get artists from outsidethe Carolinas and Charleston to enter in2014 so I expect that competition will beeven stiffer in 2014. But creative mindswill always have a shot by coming upwith something different and somethingunusual.A top prize of $50,000 isn’t a lifechanging event for most people, but it surebeats entering a bunch of smaller competitionsor traveling from one gallery to thenext hoping for a space on a wall - somewhere- anywhere.Lightning Strikes Again!It seems that this is going to be a goodyear for Jim Arendt of Conway, SC, thefirst top prize ($50,000) winner of the2013 ArtFields competition. It’s just beenannounced that he has also been namedthe winner of the FY2014 Artist Fellowshipfor Visual Arts. This will put $5,000more in his pocket - if our Governor isn’tsuccessful in cutting the budget of the SCArts Commission this year with her annual“Tea-Bagging” veto.I’m in no way saying that Arendtdoesn’t deserve a Fellowship - 100’s ofartists in SC like him do, but it seems tome like the Arts Commission is doing alittle band-wagon jumping.Arendt would have had to file for thisaward long before ArtFields took place,but I’ve seen the Arts Commission hitchthemselves to rising stars before, somedidn’t even stay in the state long enoughbefore the next Fellowship was to beawarded.Arendt is a talented artist, and he isworthy of such an award - I’m just sayingit seems the Arts Commission has atemplate in which their Fellowship winnershave to fit. They haven’t done a lotof thinking out of that box in all the yearsthey have been awarding this honor - somuch so that some people were given itseveral times.And then there are the artists whodidn’t get given the award until after theywere dead in fear of what they would sayif they ever got it while they were alive.I just don’t like these “official” stampof approval awards. They do more tomake many artists feel like a failure by notgetting one then they do making a few feelspecial. Think about how many artists putyears of creativity into South Carolina tosee these Fellowships go to a select groupof clones - who look the same on paper.I’m happy when deserving artists receivethe recognition, but I don’t think it’sa good program - as it rewards so few.26 Years and CountingThis July 2013 issue marks 26 years ofLinda and I producing an arts publicationand things have changed. I now have aphone that fits in my pocket that is morepowerful than our first computer. Peoplenow read our paper on the Internet anddownload it to their personal phones andtablets.Over these 26 years we’ve seen a lotcome and go - artists, galleries, and even afew art museums. Change seems to be theword in the arts - hardly nothing stays thesame. I wish it did - it would make it a loteasier to do what we do, but then again, itwould probably be boring.Every once in a while I have to gothrough some old issues looking for somedetail from history to make a point andcontinued on Page 11RhettThurmanTHE SYLVAN GALLERY171 King St. • Charleston • SC • 29401Morning Has Broken Oil on canvas 12 x 12 inchesFor additional information843•722•2172www.thesylvangallery.comPage 4 - Carolina Arts, July 2013Table of Contents