The annual Ohio Sauerkraut Festival will be held in downtown Waynesville, Ohio, on Oct. 12-13. Image by Ed! This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
WAYNESVILLE, Ohio (AP) – In the northeast corner of the fourth-fastest growing county in Ohio, Waynesville stands as a testament to historic preservation.
Thirty years ago, the village council created a historic preservation district and board. Its powers include approving environmental changes to properties in the district such as construction and demolition.
Waynesville, a Warren County of 2,834 residents about 40 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati, touts tourism as an important part of its economy,
Since the 1970s, the village has been called “the antiques capital of the Midwest,” based on its high concentration of antiques stores. The preservation board is often credited with remaining true to downtown’s historic charm.
“(The board has) maintained the integrity of the historic district,” said Pam Bowman, owner of the historic Hammel House Inn since 2002. “There’s always somebody that comes in that doesn’t get it. They want Wal-Mart down the street.”
The Hammel House dates to 1787 – 10 years before the village was founded – when it was a log tavern known as the Jennings’ House. The building replaced the tavern in 1817.
The Hammel House fits in well with the downtown, which is largely void of chain stores. Exceptions include a few restaurants – McDonald’s, a Subway, Bentino’s Pizza.
Waynesville native Dennis E. Dalton wrote Waynesville and Wayne Township, a book about the village and adjacent Wayne Township in 2012. He said Waynesville was standing still before the antiques stores came. The village is home to at least 14 antiques stores.
Before 1970, Dalton said, historical buildings were routinely remodeled.
Dalton said the preservation board and antique dealers saved the community’s life and “preserved that illusion of small-town U.S.A. If they had not come along … (Waynesville) would’ve eventually become a ghost town.”
Bruce Metzger, an antiques show producer and owner of Queen City Shows, said Waynesville is arguably the top small-town destination in the area.
In Waynesville, Metzger said, a customer deals with the proprietor, something they won’t find in a big antique mall.
Linda Pelton, 66, of North Bend, Ohio, visits Waynesville two or three times a year to shop for antiques. She called the village “one of the best around within 100 miles or so” because of the density of shops.
Dawn Schroeder, executive director of the Waynesville Area Chamber of Commerce, said she’s visited other small towns that are “kind of shut up. There’s nothing left.”
In September, the Stone House Tavern opened on South Main Street. It’s the first restaurant in the village to serve alcohol by the drink since the 1940s.
Beyond antiques shops, Waynesville is home to art galleries, fabric stores, gift shops, bed-and-breakfasts, and restaurants. Metzger said people who are interested in decorating, especially in country styles, come to Waynesville.
Falls and the holidays are peak times for tourism, but shops are open year-round.
And the despite the recession, the downtown economy is stable with few vacancies. And Waynesville’s government has nearly healed itself from a self-inflicted budget crisis that resulted in the state placing it on fiscal emergency status five years ago.
Molly Forner, along with her husband, Jerry, own Forner’s Wood Shop. She said a lot of people will come on the weekend to shop and eat lunch at The Hammel House. In the summer, they might drive to nearby Caesar Creek State Park.
“It’s kind of a destination place,” she said. “Most of our customers are people that maybe they come to Waynesville two or three times a year … It’s not like running to the mall. It’s a treat.”
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-23-13 2123GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The annual Ohio Sauerkraut Festival will be held in downtown Waynesville, Ohio, on Oct. 12-13. Image by Ed! This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Joan Miro (Spanish, 1893-1983), ‘L’aigrette Rouge,’ aquatint etching, signed, 15/50, 64in x 46in framed, est. $10,000-$15,000. Myers Fine Art image. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Nearly all artists of renown have a private reserve of paintings they display in their own homes but never offer for public sale. Myers Fine Art’s April 7 auction, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers, features a connoisseur’s selection of artworks that qualify for this elite category. Almost every painting, sculpture or work on paper was obtained directly from a noted artist’s estate or from the recipient to whom the artwork was gifted or bequeathed. A sizable portion of the fresh-to-market auction trove comes from the estates of New York artists, with the remainder representing private holdings from now-deceased American and European painters. While all schools converge in this sale, with a dateline from the early 17th through early 20th centuries, the selection is “predominantly modern,” said Myers co-owner Mary Dowd.
The largest grouping from a single artist is the collection of 15 works by 1960s abstract minimalist Leon Polk Smith (Native American, 1906-1996). Influenced by Piet Mondrian, Smith’s highly original style is associated with the hard-edge school, of which he is considered a founder. Smith spent most of his life in New York City, with the only breaks being a two-year tenure at Rollins College in Florida and a brief period of residence in Cuba. His influence and importance are validated by the many museums whose permanent collections include his paintings, such as the Whitney, the National Gallery of Art, and the Guggenheim, where Smith received a coveted fellowship.
Among the Leon Polk Smith paintings in the April 7 sale is a signed 1970 acrylic on shaped canvas painting from Smith’s acclaimed Constellation series. Measuring 19 inches square, it is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Also, a 31½in diameter oil and collage on canvas titled “Vermilion Black” is signed on verso and carries the inscription “Gift to Bob Jamieson 1956.” It is expected to make $6,000-$9,000.
The legacy of New York artists continues with three quintessential Johann Berthelsen (American, 1883-1972) oil-on-board snow scenes of Manhattan landmarks: Washington Square Park (18¾in x 22¾in sight, est. $4,000-$6,000), the Empire State Building (19 7/8in x 24in sight, est. $4,000-$6,000) and Central Park. Each of the paintings is signed and attractively framed.
Howard Gardiner Cushing’s (American, 1869-1916) signed oil-on-board “Portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney” depicts the famous New York art patron and museum founder in a fanciful Leon Bakst-designed costume. A pencil notation on the back of the 18in x 13¼in (sight) painting reads, in part, “Bought by Mrs. Delano, 131 E. 36…” It is estimated at $5,000-$7,000.
“It is interesting how the artworks acquired from completely different estates somehow came together in this sale so many years later,” Dowd said. “The ‘Mrs. Delano’ who purchased the Cushing painting was the wife of architect William Adams Delano of the firm Delano & Aldrich. After Howard Cushing died, Mrs. Whitney helped fund a gallery at the Newport Art Museum to memorialize Cushing’s work. Mrs. Whitney’s good friend, William Delano, was chosen to design the gallery.’
“We’re also auctioning some beautiful New York City architectural prints by Chester Price, who, coincidentally, worked for Delano & Aldrich for many years,” Dowd added. “And bringing it full circle, the sale also includes a collection of artists’ books, one of which is filled with colorful plates depicting some of Leon Bakst’s Ballets Russes costumes similar to the one Gertrude Whitney wore for her Cushing portrait.”
A Gustave Baumann (American, 1881-1971) woodblock print titled “Cholla and Sahuaro” vividly showcases several varieties of cacti, some of them flowering, in a Southwestern desert setting. Pencil-signed with the artist’s chop mark, the 20in x 19in (framed) work is numbered 49/125 and expected to realize $10,000-$15,000 at auction.
Distinctly the work of Balcomb Greene (American, 1904-1990), a dramatic oil-on-linen artwork depicting craggy rocks and chilly waters is titled “The Cove.” It measures 60in x 54in, is artist signed and estimated at $4,000-$6,000. A more placid water scene is William Allyn Nichols’ (American, b. 1942-) signed 53in x 78in (sight) oil on canvas titled “Japanese Foot Bridge,” which is entered in the sale with a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Making it a marine trifecta, Emile A. Gruppe’s (American, 1896-1978) 1958 oil painting “Shelling Longboat Key” is offered with a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.
Alfonso A. Ossorio’s (American, 1916-1990) signed and dated 1952 freeform watercolor titled “Mononucleosis” measures 40in x 26¼in (sight) and could bring $3,000-$4,000 at auction. Another compelling contemporary work is the Louise Berliawsky Nevelson (American, 1899-1988) oil on canvas titled “Cats.” Signed but unframed, it measures 20in x 38in and is estimated at $2,000-$4,000.
Heading the European art section is a Joan Miro (Spanish, 1893-1983) aquatint etching “L’aigrette Rouge,” signed and numbered 15/50. Sized 64in x 46in (framed), it is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. “It is unusual to encounter a Miro from such a small edition,” Dowd noted.
Because the April 7 event is Myers’ first specialty fine art sale in more than three years, co-owners Mary Dowd and Michael Myers were both selective and inclusionary in their final choices. The auction features many excellent, fresh-to-market works by lesser-known artists in addition to elusive paintings by avidly collected, high-profile names.
Myers Fine Art’s Sunday, April 7 auction of fine art from New York, American and European artists’ estates will commence at 12 noon Eastern Time. A preview will be held from 10-6 on Saturday, April 6, and from 10 a.m. till noon on auction day. The gallery is located at 1600 4th St. North in St. Petersburg, FL 33704. For additional information, call 727-823-3249 or e-mail auctions@myersfineart.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Joan Miro (Spanish, 1893-1983), ‘L’aigrette Rouge,’ aquatint etching, signed, 15/50, 64in x 46in framed, est. $10,000-$15,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Elbert McGran Jackson (American, 1896-1962), ‘Labor Day,’ oil on linen, signed, 30in x 23in (not framed), est. $3,000-$5,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Howard Gardiner Cushing (American, 1869-1916), oil on board, ‘Portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’ in Leon Bakst costume, signed, 19¾in x 15in framed, est. $5,000-$7,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Alfonso A. Ossorio (American, 1916-1990), ‘Mononucleosis,’ watercolor, signed on verso, 42¾ in x 29in framed, est. $3,000-$4,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Leon Polk Smith (American, 1906-1996), acrylic on shaped canvas from Constellation series, 1970, signed on verso, 19in x 19in framed, est. $4,000-$6,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Gustave Baumann (American, 1881-1971), ‘Cholla and Sahuaro,’ one of three Baumann woodblock prints in the auction, signed and titled, 49/125, 18¾in x 22¾in framed, est. $10,000-$15,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Johann Berthelsen (American, 1883-1972), ‘Washington Square Park NYC,’ oil on board, one of three Berthelsen winter scenes in the auction, signed, 28¾in x 22¾in framed, est. $4,000-$6,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Leo Lentelli (Italian/American, 1879-1961), oil painting on three-panel folding screen, signed, total size 68in x 60in, est. $2,000-$3,000. Myers Fine Art image.
One of 20+ Christmas cards created by artists and sent to their contemporaries, this one a watercolor by Milton Avery (American, 1885-1965), postmarked Dec. 24, 1947 and sent to Michael Lekakis, est. $2,000-$3,000. Myers Fine Art image.
Emile A. Gruppe (American, 1896-1978), ‘Shelling Longboat Key,’ 1958, oil on linen, signed, 26in x 30in framed, est. $4,000-$6,000. Myers Fine Art image.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – Police on Friday forcibly ejected some 30 indigenous activists and supporters from Rio’s former Indian Museum located next to the Maracana stadium, the venue for the 2014 World Cup final.
As the city’s shock police battalion carried out the assault, supporters of the activists who were outside the building tried to intervene but were dispersed with tear gas.
Demonstrators chanted “murderers, fascists,” as the operation took place.
The planned demolition is at the center of a months-long legal tussle, with authorities saying they will raze the abandoned colonial-style building at the request of football’s world governing body as part of an urban renewal program.
But the agency in charge of protecting the city’s cultural heritage and the Rio’s prosecutor’s office are opposed.
The Maracana sport complex is getting a thorough facelift for the World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.
“We do not want public space to be turned over to the private sector. We don’t want a shopping mall near Maracana, we want a cultural center,” said one activist.
Police carried out the operation soon after midday after hours of negotiations between indigenous people and representatives of Rio de Janeiro state.
More than 250 police faced off against bare-chested native militants donning feathered headgear.
Earlier, some of the activists agreed to leave the building to go to a central Rio hotel provided by authorities.
Twenty-three indigenous families had since 2006 been living in shacks around the dilapidated museum building, which they want to turn it into Rio’s first native academic institution where ancestral skills would be taught.
The building housed the first Indian Museum from 1953 until 1977 when it was transferred to the Botafogo district.
The empty edifice is now owned by the agriculture ministry.
In January, Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral was forced to suspend the demolition of the edifice, which is to be converted into stores for the Maracana complex.
The governor pledged to build a native cultural center in another neighborhood but the indigenous community resisted, fearing this would never materialize.
The activists argued that the former museum evokes the memory of the Maracanas, one of the original local native tribes.
The indigenous community represents less than one percent of Brazil’s 194-million-strong population and occupies 12 percent of the national territory, mostly in the Amazon.
‘Chilled to the Bone,’ New York. Photo by Ilana Novick
NEW YORK – After beating assault charges in London, street artist and yarn enthusiast Olek is free and back in New York, this time choosing the East Village Lower East Side as the setting for her latest cozy, knitted invasion. Having already addressed the charges in a four-panel Martin Luther King quoting work in London, she’s free to address less lofty subjects, notably our seemingly endless current winter.
This time she’s knitted cozy, colorful sweaters for a series of Flexible-Flyer sleds, with the words “Chilled to the Bone” sewn in white yarn on the center. The rest of the sled sweaters were knitted in shades of pink, red and blue yarn, whose brightness is only magnified against the backdrop of the icy winter sky. Like much of her work, which as appeared all over the city (my other favorite is the time she crocheted the Astor Place Cube) the knitting softens the hard edges of the objects it covers, inexplicably, but delightfully making metal appear comforting and cozy.
The sleds were first spotted on the site of the former Billy’s Antiques on the Bowery, and on a fire escape on Second Avenue. Both locations generally get a lot of foot traffic, so it was a treat to see one of the sleds pop up on a fire escape above a Henry Street tenement on a sleepier Lower East Side block, which while close to Chinatown, is not nearly as crowded. It’s nice to see the area getting some street art love, a present for walking off the beaten path.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
‘Chilled to the Bone,’ New York. Photo by Ilana Novick‘Chilled to the Bone,’ New York. Photo by Elie via BoweryBoogie.com‘Chilled to the Bone,’ New York. Photo by Elie via BoweryBoogie.com
A world record was set at Clars when this rare Gold Rush era gambling device, a Hugh McConnell and Frederick Adolph Will (1837-1912) Faro dealing box, lot 4105, sold to an Internet bidder for $20,230. Clars Auction Gallery image.
OAKLAND, Calif. – A new world record was set at Clars Fine Art and Antiques Sale on March 16 when a rare Gold Rush-era gambling device described as a Hugh McConnell and Frederick Adolph Will (1837-1912) faro dealing box sold for $20,230 to an Internet bidder. LiveAuctioneers.com provide Internet live bidding for the two-day auction, March 16-17, which realized just over $1 million.
Created in San Francisco by the famed makers, the faro box bore the name F.A. Will on the under slider and was complete with leather case. Faro is a game in which players bet on cards draw from a dealing box. Presale estimate on this faro box was $1,000 to $2,000 and the bidding opened at $500. Fueled quickly by savvy collectors, the price escalated quickly.
The decorative arts category dominating the sale in both excitement and prices realized.
Excitement returned on Sunday when several lots in the decorative arts and furnishings category realized over-the-top prices. A rare Meissen Armorial plate from the “Swan Service” (circa 1737-1741) was decorated with the coat of arms of Count Bruhl, then director of the Meissen factory. Modeled by Kändler and Eberlien, the plate was conservatively estimated at $6,000 to $8,000. Once again, advanced collectors drove the price to $17,850.
An 18th century Italian giltwood carved chandelier, which had been wired for electricity, also solidly surpassed expectations, more than doubling its high estimate. Executed in the Renaissance taste, the fixture hung in the foyer of the Classical Mansion in San Francisco built in 1904 for noted millionaire Julius J. Jack. Expected to achieve a high $7,000, this chandelier brought an impressive $21,420. A second chandelier from this mansion, an America hanging leaded glass fixture also sold for almost twice its high estimate at $7,110.
But perhaps the most surprising lot of the decorative arts offerings was a pair of Chinese export silver teapots. Each of the pots featured a finely hammered ground decorated with exotic flowers, birds and textured reserves in repousse. Presale estimates had this unassuming pair at $500 to $700 but that didn’t last long as they escalated quickly against heated bidding selling in the end for $16,660.
This sale also featured property from the estate of Frank N. and Frances D. Alioto of San Francisco. A pair of monumental, possibly Sevres, scenic vases was offered for $6,000 of the high side but quickly soared to a final sale price of $11,035. Also from the Alioto estate was a Shreve & Co. Renaissance-style sterling silver jardinière, which exceeded expectations realizing $7,735 and a pair of Baccarat crystal candelabra that sold very well at $4,443.
The other categories in this two-day sale also performed well with the highlights of the jewelry offerings being a Hamilton platinum and diamond covered wristwatch selling for solidly within estimate for $21,420 and a fine jadeite and diamond ring in platinum earning $19,040.
In fine art, the headliners were an oil, sand and oxblood on canvas by Nonda (Greek, 1922-2005) titled Poisson, circa 1962, which sold nicely for $9,520 followed by the top lot of the photography offerings. By George Hoyningen-Huene (American/Russian, 1900-1968), his silver gelatin titled, Divers (Horst with Model), Paris, achieved high estimate, selling for $8,925.
In the Asian category, a number of offerings realized much higher than expected prices. Of particular note were two lots, the first being a Chinese underglaze blue porcelain censer, Ming/Qing Dynasty, that was estimated to sell for $800 to $1,200 but achieved a surprising $9,520. Following were two Chinese Mongolian-style tobacco boxes, Qing dynasty. Offered as one lot, these tobacco boxes achieved $8,887 against their high estimate of $700.
For complete information email Clars at info@clars.com or call at 510-428-0100.
View the fully illustrated catalog for Clars Fine Art and Antiques Sale on March 16-17, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
A world record was set at Clars when this rare Gold Rush era gambling device, a Hugh McConnell and Frederick Adolph Will (1837-1912) Faro dealing box, lot 4105, sold to an Internet bidder for $20,230. Clars Auction Gallery image.
This rare Meissen Armorial plate from the ‘Swan Service’ (circa 1737-1741) was decorated with the coat of arms of Count Bruhl, then director of the Meissen factory. The plate was conservatively estimated at $6,000 to $8,000 but sold for $17,850. Clars Auction Gallery image.
This 18th century Italian giltwood carved chandelier (electrified) surpassed expectations selling for $21,420. This fixture hung in the foyer of a San Francisco mansion built in 1904. Clars Auction Gallery image.
The most surprising lot of the sale was this pair of Chinese-export silver teapots. Expected to achieve $500 to $700, heated bidding drove the final sale price to $16,660. Clars Auction Gallery image.
This pair of monumental scenic vases, possibly Sevres, was estimated at $4,000 to $6,000 but sold for $11,035. Clars Auction Gallery image.
The highlight of the jewelry offerings was this Hamilton platinum and diamond covered wristwatch that sold for $21,420. Clars Auction Gallery image.
This oil, sand and oxblood on canvas by Nonda (Greek, 1922-2005) ‘Poisson,’ circa 1962, sold for $9,520. Clars Auction Gallery image.
The Casa Daros, which opens this weekend in Rio de Janeiro, is housed in a renovated 1866 mansion. Image courtesy Casa Daros.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Long a cultural backwater, Rio de Janeiro has taken another leap toward becoming an art hot spot with this week’s opening of a museum built around one of the world’s premier collections of contemporary Latin American art.
Casa Daros, a 129,000-square-foot space in an impeccably renovated 1866 mansion, will house some of the works acquired the past 13 years by Zurich-based collector Ruth Schmidheiny. Working with German curator Hans-Michael Herzog, she combed Latin America at a time when the art world paid little attention to the region. The 1,200 pieces they bought came from 117 artists, most of them still alive and working.
It was easy pickings, Herzog told journalists at a news conference Wednesday ahead of the museum’s public opening Saturday.
“In Europe, there was zero interest because people there knew nothing about Latin American art – Latin American literature, yes, but contemporary art, no,” Herzog said. “We started to acquire, which was so easy because the field was so very rich.”
Stored in a facility in Zurich, many of the pieces have been shown to the public in twice-yearly exhibits there, but Schmidheiny and Herzog dreamed of having a place to show off the collection in Latin America as a way to spark dialogue among artists across the diverse region.
Initially they planned to put the museum in Havana, but talks with the Cuban government failed. Given the violence that plagued Colombia in the early 2000s, the political situation in Venezuela and the lack of basic infrastructure in the Andean countries, they narrowed their list of possible host cities to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sao Paulo and Rio in Brazil, Herzog said.
But both Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires already had bustling arts scenes, so in 2006 they settled on Rio, which was still plagued by drug gang violence and resolutely off the radar of the art world.
That’s since changed, with the pacification of dozens of Rio’s “favela” hillside slums, the discovery of offshore oil deposits that have flooded the city with petrodollars and Rio’s role as host for the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. The art world is now eager to get a toehold in this burgeoning and lucrative market, and Rio officials hope to capitalize on their moment in the spotlight to turn the laid-back beach city known mainly for its over-the-top Carnival celebrations into a world-class metropolis and Latin America’s newest arts hub.
Casa Daros is but the latest of a host of new museums springing up in Rio. Earlier this month saw the inauguration of the Rio Art Museum, which is dedicated to art celebrating Rio’s picture-postcard cityscapes. Two other big museums, one dedicated to science and the other to sounds and images, are scheduled to open in the coming years.
“Of course we had no idea that Rio was going to become such a hotspot when this project originated,” Herzog said. “But it’s, of course, fantastic for us. When it comes to museums, the more the merrier.”
Casa Daros’ status as a privately financed project distinguishes it from the other new museums, most of which have received funds from municipal or other public coffers. All of the money that’s gone into Casa Daros, from the $8 million price tag of the building to the $33.5 million that went into its restoration to the entire operating budget for the foreseeable future, comes from private sources, museum officials said.
The inaugural exhibition, running through Sept. 8, features Colombian painters, photographers, sculptors and videographers from the 1990s and 2000s, a time when the country’s drug violence was at a fevered pitch. Standout pieces include a series of faux pre-Columbian clay sculptures featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse and other Disney characters by Nadin Ospina and a time-lapse video by Juan Manuel Echavarria documenting the decay of a fine porcelain plate into a pile of white powder that looks suspiciously like cocaine.
Herzog said her team chose to focus on Colombia for the initial show because Colombian art is “almost unknown” here in neighboring Brazil, an illustration of the lack of mutual knowledge and understanding among the national art scenes across Latin America that Casa Daros aims to bridge.
“We don’t want to be a just another museum,” she said. “We want it to be a meeting place from which something more emerges – synergy.”
Copyright 2013. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-21-13 1522GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Casa Daros, which opens this weekend in Rio de Janeiro, is housed in a renovated 1866 mansion. Image courtesy Casa Daros.
The main branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art on Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Los Angeles’ financially troubled Museum of Contemporary Art has apparently turned down a merger offer from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
MOCA released a statement to several media outlets Tuesday saying its board of trustees is in agreement that the best future for the museum “would be as an independent institution.”
The statement does not mention LACMA, but comes about a month after LACMA made a formal merger proposal.
The Los Angeles Times reported the offer included a promise to raise $100 million for MOCA, which was in danger of going under five years ago before a $30 million bailout from financier Eli Broad.
MOCA’s statement says board members understand continued independence will require a significant increase in funds, but says they are working quickly toward that goal.
Copyright 2013. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-20-13 0553GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The main branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art on Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The Gold Rush-era jewelry box is worth more than $800,000. Image courtesy Oakland Museum of California.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – A parolee is facing federal charges in the theft of a valuable Gold Rush-era jewelry box from the Oakland Museum of California, authorities said.
Andre Taray Franklin apparently stole the artifact valued at $805,000 earlier this year, sold it to a business owner for $1,500 and then threatened to report the owner to police if he didn’t give him another $10,000, according to a criminal complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court in Oakland.
“I can prove you are the one that has the (expletive) they want,” Franklin allegedly said in text message to the owner on Feb. 23. “So I want 10,000 or I will send these photos to the police you better tex (sic) me back within the hour on your reply if not you will make the news tonight!”
Oakland police arrested Franklin earlier this month and the owner later identified him in a photo lineup, authorities said.
Alameda County prosecutors initially charged Franklin, 45, with receiving stolen property after his March 3 arrest in connection with the theft of the 19th century gold-encrusted box that was stolen from the museum on Jan. 7. It depicts images of early California history and was originally a wedding anniversary gift from a San Francisco pioneer to his wife in the 1800s.
Franklin allegedly smashed a glass panel on a door and reached through to open the door, FBI Special Agent Beth Alvarez wrote in an affidavit. Franklin then headed straight for the California Gold Rush exhibit and used a black and orange ax to smash two glass display cases, Alvarez said.
Franklin took a miners’ scale used to weigh gold, as well as the jewelry box, which is about the size of a small shoebox and weighs about three pounds.
Franklin placed both items in a backpack and fled, Alvarez continued. The burglary lasted approximately one minute.
The incident, however, was captured on the museum’s surveillance system, and authorities believe that Franklin matches the physical description of the burglar, the affidavit said.
Federal prosecutors say Franklin stole the box after authorities traced his DNA on the ax he apparently used in the theft. His sneakers also allegedly matched the footprints found outside the museum as well.
Franklin was wearing the same sneakers that he allegedly had on during the theft, authorities said. Oakland police discovered Franklin’s cellphone that contained a series of text messages between him and the business owner he sold the box to as well as the owner’s address, the affidavit said.
Franklin is being held without bail at the Alameda County jail. It is not known if he has a lawyer.
Franklin, who has 10 prior felony convictions, could face up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if he’s convicted, prosecutors said.
Copyright 2013. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-20-13 1903GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Gold Rush-era jewelry box is worth more than $800,000. Image courtesy Oakland Museum of California.
A view of the Fort Davidson in Missouri as seen today, one of the Civil War sites scheduled for a spring cleanup. Photo by Valerie Holifield. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Unported license.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Volunteers in Missouri will participate next month in an effort to clean and restore Civil War sites.
The Civil War Trust is coordinating the cleanup on April 6, dubbed Park Day. Nationwide, more than 100 historic sites in 24 states will be cleaned.
In Missouri, that will include the Battle of Athens State Historic Site at Revere; the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site at Lexington; the Fort Davidson State Historic Site at Pilot Knob; Lone Jack Civil War Battlefield and Soldier’s Cemetery and Museum at Lone Jack; and Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield at Republic.
The Civil War Trust says Missourians interested in volunteering should check its website.
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Online:
Civil War Trust: http://www.civilwar.org
Copyright 2013. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-21-13 0905GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A view of the Fort Davidson in Missouri as seen today, one of the Civil War sites scheduled for a spring cleanup. Photo by Valerie Holifield. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Unported license.
The main gate of Eastern State Prison in Philadelphia. Image by Thesab.This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A mounted wooden fish. Dog figurines. Colorful soap carvings of clowns and Santa. A wallet made of interwoven cigarette packs. It sounds like a bad garage sale – until you get to the shivs. And the century-old mug shot book. And the inmate death ledger.
Those items are among dozens of prison artifacts set for display at the historic Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The brief exhibit opens Saturday and runs for 10 days.
The defunct and decayed prison, which once housed gangster Al Capone, was abandoned in 1971 but has since been preserved in a state of semi-ruin, becoming one of the city’s eeriest and quirkiest tourist attractions.
The objects have never before been exhibited because the dank, decrepit facility didn’t have any climate-controlled rooms. But recent renovations will allow the prison to temporarily convert its staff conference room into a “pop-up museum.”
Chronicling the inmates’ arc of arrival, hard time and departure, artifacts range from mug shots and the prison’s original front-gate key to handicrafts, shanks and a death ledger. Many died of tuberculosis; some were executed elsewhere; others served their sentences and went home.
The objects remind visitors that hundreds of people once lived and worked in the now spooky and silent cellblocks, said Sean Kelley, director of public programming. The site also featured amenities such as a synagogue, chapel, print shop and curio store, where inmate crafts were sold to the public.
“Life here was incredibly varied. … A lot of people find that surprising,” Kelley said. “It’s amazing how this place was really a small city.”
The prison sits behind forbidding, 30-foot-tall walls in the city’s Fairmount section. It was an architectural marvel when it opened in 1829, boasting indoor plumbing and central heat even before the White House. Such conveniences enabled solitary confinement that would, ideally, lead to penitence – thus the term “penitentiary.” The solitary system was scrapped in 1913.
After closing more than 40 years ago, the facility largely became a crumbling mess until historical preservationists stepped in. It reopened for daily tours in 1994.
That’s about when former staff and ex-inmates started returning keepsakes of their time at Eastern State, Kelley said. One guard’s widow showed up with a bag full of her husband’s mementos, including a nearly complete set of a magazine that prisoners published from 1956-67.
“The objects have been coming back to us for years,” Kelley said.
That includes an inmate-made model clipper ship, which was returned in 2010 by Edwin Feiler Jr., of Savannah, Ga. Feiler had bought the foot-tall boat – and dozens of smaller ones, also crafted by prisoners – for a Navy-themed party at his University of Pennsylvania fraternity in the 1950s after hearing about the inmates’ handiwork through word of mouth.
In a recent phone interview, Feiler vividly recalled “the crash” of the penitentiary gate as it closed behind him when he picked up the crafts. The ship would later spend decades as decor at his beach house on Georgia’s Tybee Island.
He decided to give it back to Eastern State after his daughter, Cari Feiler Bender, began doing publicity for the site.
“When something like that’s on display, it becomes more meaningful to everybody,” Feiler said. “All you have now are those (prison) walls, but there were people there. It was alive.”
Eastern State archivist Erica Harman said one of her favorite objects is a 2-inch-tall decorative cutlery set that an inmate carved from soup bones in 1856. He used a jackknife, which was allowed during the era of solitary confinement.
Harman called the exhibit “a great reminder of the inmates’ humanity.”
“They’re not just numbers, they’re not just criminals. They’re people,” she said. “That can be hard to remember when you’re looking at locks, cells and keys.”
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Online:
http://www.easternstate.org
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
The main gate of Eastern State Prison in Philadelphia. Image by Thesab.This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.Al Capone’s cell as it exists today at the former Eastern State Prison. Image by Thesab.This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.
