Greg Patch: Wilmington, NC Cameron Art Museum puts it on State of the Art/Art of the State

Went to check out the flow of artists lining up to enter their one piece into this unique event around 1:30 PM. Arrived back around 5 to a jammed parking lot and slipped into a spot off the grounds and conveniently close.
I'd applied online and was directed to the "sign in room" to get my entry number. #202 gave me a sense of being well grounded here!. Staff were at the beginning calls, "11 - 20", "21 - 30", etc. A well organized excitement filled the Cameron spaces. I ran into several local artists, a friend from FB, and met several new folk from different areas of NC. By 6:30 "201 - 210"!
Initially I was warmly and enthusiastically greeted by Susan Davidson, Senior Curator, Collections & Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Then a very attentive and personably interested interview about my work, WebhGround 3, by Timothy Anglin Burgard: The Ednah Root Curator of American Art and the Curator-in-Charge of the American Art Department for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco lasted for a couple minutes. Did I talk quickly Timothy?! The staff at the Cameron receiving the work were most careful in listening to and handling my installation requisites.
When I left a little after 7PM they had reached #33o something.
The opening is tonite. The works will remain at the Cameron thru Oct 31.
enThanks to everyone involved!

early line up

http://www.cameronartmuseum.com

State of the Art/Art of the State

May 8 – October 30, 2011

Organized by the Cameron Art Museum, this exhibition focuses on contemporary art by artists currently living in, or native to, the state of North Carolina. Artists are invited to bring a single work of art to be installed in the museum, delivering the work within a 24-hour period (between 5:00 pm Friday, May 6 and 5:00 pm Saturday, May 7, 2011). During this timeframe, one of three internationally renowned curators will be present to greet each artist, shake his/her hand - and direct the exhibition installation. All three curators will attend the exhibition opening on Saturday May 7, 2011 from 6:00-9:00 pm.

The design of this project provides any participating artist equal opportunity to meet a significant curator working in the field of contemporary art today and have their work seen by all three visiting curators. The curators for this event are Susan Davidson, Senior Curator, Collections & Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and Nicholas Cullinan, Curator at the Tate Modern, London.

This event pays homage to the open, creative curatorial spirit of the late art world maverick, Walter Hopps (1932-2005). In 1978, responding to a comment from his junior colleague, Deborah Velders (Jensen) about the problems artists face gaining access to notable curators, Walter Hopps conceived an entirely open, unmediated event to remedy the situation. His program invited any artist to bring a single work of art, to meet Hopps, and see installation of work. This event called “36 Hours” occurred in a gritty, street-level alternative space called MOTA (Museum of Temporary Art), located in downtown Washington, D.C. There was no jurying, no selection (or rejection), and no entry fee. The only restrictions were size (work needed to fit through the door), weight (regarding transporting/placing and support capacity), and the delivery time frame (36 hours). This unprecedented opportunity for artists was covered by the Washington Post, and attracted over 400 works of art, all by artists living and working in the Washington, D.C. area.

Celebrated curators for State of the art/Art of the State event are:

Susan Davidson, Senior Curator, Collections & Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, New York;

Nicholas Cullinan, Curator at the Tate Modern, London, England;

Apsara Di Quinzio: Assistant curator of painting and sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art;

Timothy Anglin Burgard: The Ednah Root Curator of American Art and the Curator-in-Charge of the American Art Department for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

A few more shots;