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By Sara BusseStaff writer
Sally Groves is an adminis-trator for the U.S. District Court,Southern District of West Vir-ginia. Her daily tasks are typi-cal of any administrative posi-tion, with one exception: shegets to organize art shows thatare seen by several hundredemployees and countless visitorsto the Robert C. Bird U. S.Courthouse every two months.
“Judge [Joseph] Goodwin andthe late Judge [Charles] Hadencame up with this idea,” Grovesexplained. “They decided thatthe courthouse was just madefor art exhibits.”
At first, the judges hired aconsultant to get the programstarted. Groves took over just intime for an extensive exhibit thatcelebrated the 100th anniver-sary of the courts.
“It was a huge project, butvery interesting. I learned a lot,”Groves said, laughing. Sheworked with several longstand-ing court employees, as well asprofessor Forest J. Bowman ofthe West Virginia University Col-lege of Law, local historianRichard Andre and others, andthe historical exhibit opened torave reviews. It contained doc-uments, photographs and other“aesthetically pleasing” presen-tations of the courts history.
Groves said all of the art ex-hibitors who show their worksat the building must have aconnection to West Virginia.While she sought artists in thebeginning, “They usually findme now.” There are guidelinesin place for the exhibitions to en-sure continuity, as well as art ap-propriate for the building.
Goodwin loves the program.“Art exhibitions have not al-
ways been typical for federalbuildings,” he said. “It’s mostlybeen just a bunch of pictures ofother governmental buildings.We’ve had some wonderful ex-hibitions, and we are developinga small group of people whoknow it’s here and enjoy it. The
several hundred employees inthe building love the art, as well.”
Goodwin praised the Gener-al Services Administration,which oversees the building.“They are enthusiastic about it,”he said. “In the beginning, afterevery exhibit, they would comein and fill in all of the nailholes and paint so we could put
up another show.”Special metal art-hanging
strips were installed recently, al-lowing for artwork to be in-stalled with less wear and tearon the walls.
Groves said the art changesabout every eight weeks.
“The minute the works comedown, I start to get calls, asking
what’s coming next. It’s one ofthe most fun things I do, apartfrom my regular work,” shesaid, with a nod to the judge.
Past exhibits can be seen atthe court’s Web site,www.wvsk.uscourts.gov. Clickon “Community Outreach” tosee past shows.
“We’re trying to bring in thecommunity, be-cause peoplesometimes areintimidated bythis building,with the securi-ty and all.Many are afraidto go in,”Groves said.“We want tomake people welcome, such asschool groups and others, to letthem have ownership in thisbeautiful facility.”
Currently, Bruce K. Haley Jr.’sphotographic art can be seen inthe lower and upper levels of themain rotunda. Haley’s worksare striking black and whiteprints with touches of red addedto highlight certain architectur-al elements of the scenes.
Haley explained the exhibit,titled “Capital City Collection:”
“Born in Charleston in 1946,and having lived here most ofmy life, I have many memoriesof our wonderful city: sandlotfootball on the East End, after-school cherry cokes at the Blos-som, movies at the Kearse, Cap-ital, Virginian and Rialto the-aters, the continuous loopsaround Shoney’s Drive-In, Dai-ly Mail and Gazette newspaperroutes, the delicious aromasfrom The Peanut Store, part-time jobs at A.W. Cox; the lunchcounters at The Diamond and
McCrory’s.“Known more for my bold
and colorful presentations of na-ture, I had a desire to applythose skills to a presentation ofthe urban landscape. My great-est challenge was, ‘How do Ipresent Charleston in a newand unique way?’ Consideringthat these images are photo-
graphs, I think Iaccomplishedthat. I couldn’tbring myself tototally abandonmy colorful pre-sentations ofnature. You willnotice that eachpiece includes
some element of color. I have toadmit that the style isn’t trulyunique and was inspired by mylate friend, Doug Goebel. I al-ways loved his beautiful andfascinating pen and ink draw-ings of various landmarks.”
The Capital City Collectionincludes some landmarks, butHaley’s real fascination lies inthe things people walk by everyday without seeing, such as“Mortar Man,” reflections in win-dows, fading store fronts andsigns — “things that make ourcity special,” Haley said.
There are no price tags on theart at the federal building, butGroves will help potential buy-ers by telling them where the artcan be purchased. Haley’s worksare available as limited-editionoriginals at The Art Emporiumon the corner of Quarrier andHale streets in Charleston. Pricesrange from $35 to $95. Haley’sWeb site is www.bkhaleyphotography.com.
Reach Sara Busse [email protected] 304-348-1249.
6M Sunday Gazette-Mail, February 15, 2009
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Courthouse’s art keeps administrator busy
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Sally Grovesis a court administratorwho coordinatesart exhibits in theRobert C. BirdU.S. Courthouse.She is seen herewith pieces fromthe current show,by Bruce K. Haley Jr.
KENNY KEMPSunday Gazette-Mail
“The minute the workscome down, I start to
get calls, asking what’scoming next.”
_______
SALLY GROVES
Installation invitesIraq conversationBy Ula IlnytzkyThe Associated Press
NEW YORK — The rusty, crum-pled, metal shell sits in a largeroom, thousands of miles froma popular Iraqi book marketwhere the car was destroyed ina suicide bomb attack that killed38 people in 2007.
The car, a raw reminder ofthe six-year Iraqi conflict, is theonly object in a new showwhose goal is to get people talk-ing about Iraq.
Meant to be politically neutral,the unscripted project, “It IsWhat It Is: Conversations AboutIraq,” opened at the New Mu-seum on Wednesday. It was con-ceived by British artist JeremyDeller, acclaimed for his collab-orative projects.
Deller has arranged a cozycluster of couches in the centerof the vast gallery — the kindof space that invites conversa-tion. The car, which he various-ly describes as a metaphor fora corpse or a piece of evidence,lies off to the right.
It is the touchstone of theproject, a visual aid for sparkingconversation among the publicand a rotating cast of Iraqirefugees, soldiers, journalists andother experts offering their per-spectives on Iraq and the war.
Among them are DonnyGeorge Youkhanna, who was di-rector of the Iraqi National Mu-seum when he was forced toflee because as a Christian, a re-ligious minority in Iraq, his lifewas in danger. Now a visitingprofessor at the State Universi-ty of New York at Stony Brook,Long Island, he is one of 35 ex-pert residents participating inthe six-week exhibition.
Deller launched the projectbecause “short of going to Iraqitself, there is no substitute formeeting someone who has ac-tually lived there, or been there,”he said. The 42-year-old artist
won Britain’s Turner Prize in2004 for “Memory Bucket,” adocumentary on former Presi-dent George W. Bush’s home-town of Crawford, Texas, andthe siege on the Branch David-ian compound in nearby Waco.
“It Is What It Is” — a term of-ten used by the military to ra-tionalize casualties — is a two-pronged project, created in col-laboration with the HammerMuseum in Los Angeles, theMuseum of Contemporary Art inChicago and Creative Times, aNew York City arts organization.
After closing in New York onMarch 25, Deller and two of theresidents and a curator willboard an RV for a cross-coun-try trip to California, the de-stroyed car in tow. They willstop in at least 10 major cities,pulling up at community centers,Army bases, veterans organiza-tions and random sites such astruck stops.
On April 17, they will arriveat the Hammer Museum, wherethe project will remain untilMay 31. In early October, it willmove to the MCA in Chicago.
Jonathan Harvey, 31, a psy-chological warfare specialist forthe U.S. Army who spent 10months in northwest Baghdad in2007, is one of the two residentsmaking the trip who hopes todeepen the Iraqi understandingbeyond the headlines.
Esam Pasha, a 32-year-oldIraqi artist who now lives inNew London, Conn., is also go-ing on the trip. He wants to fo-cus on Iraq’s rich heritage, artand culture.
Americans “all know that Iraqhad the oldest culture in theworld, the first written word, butthat’s about it,” Pasha said. Hewas a frequent visitor to thefamed Mutanabi Street bookmarket — a thriving gatheringplace for Iraq’s intellectuals andartists — where the car in theexhibition was destroyed.
AP photo
A car that was blown up in an attack on a crowded book market incentral Baghdad is on display Tuesday in New York as part of an ex-hibit at the New Museum called “It Is What It Is: ConversationsAbout Iraq,” a collaborative project conceived by artist JeremyDeller.
