SWEET & SOUR: Taking on the Clay Center
Dissing the Clay Center in any way is THE OPINION THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME. Yet Sweet and Sour give it a go.
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Sour: This blogpost should start off playing DarthVader’s theme from Star Wars epics. The Clay Center. …
‘Duh, Duh, Duh, Duh-da-Duh, Duh-da-Duh, Duh Duh Duh, Dunt-ta-duh, Dunt-ta-Duh, Dunt-dunt-ta-da, Dunt-ta-duntadunt-ta-da, Dunt-ta-duntadunt-ta-da, Dunt-tada-dunt-tada….’ (Did I miss a Duh?)
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Sweet: The Clay Center is really big and awesome.
Sour: Duh.
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Sweet: It’s the biggest and baddest art center ever to be built in WV.
Sour: You mean, overbuilt. And you said “baddest,” I didn’t. You know, the decor actually reminds me of the Death Star in “Star Wars.” Cold, metallic and built to intimidate.
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Sweet: The huge ping-pong, kid -friendly sculpture helps make it friendly.
Sour: Helps make it sound water torture. That “sculpture” would work better if it didn’t echo back off the metal and hard floor. I would pay money NOT to eat there with that awful cacophony going on. A soft wood echo would be much more friendly. I wonder what cost more? The ping-pong sculpture or the ’80s- era swooshed floors? I wish Bob Schwarz or Joe Morris or someone would provide a flow chart of exactly what
$ went for what in the building and staffing of the Clay Center. Inquiring minds want to know. I wish someone would pay me $180,000 to run it.
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Sweet: Don’t knock the staff’s paychecks.
Sour: I’m not knocking the salaries of the administration over there. Get it if you can. Plus, most of them deserve that much for putting up with the board and funders alone. I remember asking some of the board members: “Don’t you think you might have some repercussions from publicizing the staff’s huge salaries over there? When most West Virginians are so poor? And you expect them to support you?” Like, you know, regular people may balk at paying $6.50 a visit plus more for the movies and planetarium shows if they know how huge the salaries are over there? Several of them said: No, of course not, don’t be ridiculous — “the bigger the building, the bigger the salaries.”
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Sweet: You are making that up to be cynical.
Sour: I most certainly am not making that up. I swear. That is a direct quote. I almost laughed out loud, but then I wanted to sell them some art so I didn’t. I acted like I understood where they were coming from. But I did say don’t you think you should get the Clay Family or someone to give a big donation so admission can be free? $120 million raised and rising and admission can’t be free?
Come on, now that would have even me cheering and fund-raising for them. That would be something that would really impact everyone. Not just rich people and their kids and a few token poor kids here and there. Come on powers-that-be, impress us by having more free admission days, to everything, including the movies.
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Sweet: They had a free admission evening and hardly anyone came.
Sour: Are you trying to be cynical?
Sweet: No.
Sour: People probably thought it was some kind of trick. Or else things really are as depressing as they seem.
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Sweet: Well, The Clay Center has a lot of support, a lot of people, corporations and organizations have put in a lot of money because they believe in it. I believe in it. Some really wonderful things are happening there.
Sour: Well, The Clay Foundation put in a lot of money towards it. Everyone else put in money because the board and city powers that be twisted their arms to put in a lot of money to keep it “operational” as they say in Star Wars. I wish I had just one of the millions they wasted in the start -up years. I remember back in the ’80s and ’90s when they were talking of building this behemoth, they were forecasting that people would come over from Cincinnati, Lexington, Pittsburgh to visit it. I could never figure out what they thought was going to bring them over here. The same second-rate touring show of “Cats”? Some singer they could see at a concert hall in their own city? The Sunrise Art Collection?
Clay Center. From DowntownWV gazzphotoblog
If the architecture was something to write home about maybe, but it looks like a cross between a ’70s era bundt cake and an Eastern Bloc government building. (I admit I’m stealing that from some other Charleston cynics who came up with it. But they will remain nameless so they can continue to sell their art to the Clay Center board members.) The Clay Center architecture is suffering from an “edifice complex.”
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Sweet: Very funny, I know who said that first and it wasn’t you.
Sour: Well, don’t let on who the person is so you won’t torpedo their career in the arts.
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Sweet: I think the Clay Center is a success and is a great asset to the city. All the city leaders say so.
Sour: What else are they going to say? It’s here, the Charleston powers that be birthed this monstrous thing expensive thing, let’s put a good face to it. And feed it. A lot. The “great sucking sound” of $ flowing to the Clay Center is what other arts organizations regularly call it.
Again, I wish I had just one of the millions poured in over there. And I bet anyone else in the arts would say the same thing — off the record, of course. In fact, I know they do, since I just stole that quote from someone else in the arts. Suicide to say it on the record. You can’t even criticize it if you want to stay in the arts game. You MIGHT have a slight chance of showing your art over there. Someday. Possibly. Maybe. So don’t criticize anything about it. The ultimate dangling carrot.
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Sweet: I’m encouraged with what they are doing. The Symphony sounds great in there and Tony Bennett himself said the acoustics were better than anywhere he’s ever been. They’ve had some great art shows and where else can you see those huge movies and Pink Floyd laser shows in the Electric Sky theater?
Sour: The acoustics in the hall are great. Should be for $120 million and rising. You could have had a great architect for $120 million and rising. An edifice people would have traveled to see. I am not completely cynical about the Clay Center and its funding. The powers that be would have wasted their $ on something else if not for the Clay Center. At least they spent it on the arts. However you feel about The Clay Center, that is an arts victory in some regard.
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Sweet: “Well let’s go see the current shows….”
Sour: (Enters the art gallery and looks around. On display are some of the Sunrise/Avampato/Clay Center art collection, “In the Realm of the Senses” a private collection from two collectors and a show of contemporary Chinese ceramics.)
Sweet: Well what do you think?
Sour: I cannot tell a lie as George Washington may or may not have said……..The Private Collection Show and The Chinese Ceramics shows are EXCELLENT. Worth
every penny of $120 million being spent on the Clay Center.
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Sweet: You are kidding me? You really think they are excellent?
Sour: Don’t you think these shows are excellent?
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Sweet: Yes, as a matter of fact, I do think they are excellent. Worthy of being shown at any big -time art gallery or museum at any center anywhere in America. Plus both of these shows have a West Virginia connection.
Sour: They do? I get the WV connection with the Chinese ceramics show. Bob Bridges the curator of collections up there at WVU, gets to go on the summer WVU art department exchange in China and bring back some of the excellent contemporary ceramics being done over there. And do a nice expensive catalog for it. Lucky him. These selections are outstanding. Some completely contemporary and some with a combination of traditional Chinese ceramic forms and methods and today’s innovations and expressions.
But I don’t get the Joseph Lovett and James Cottrell private collection link to WV. I have looked all over the wall labels and promos for this exhibit and find no
clue as to why this undeniably great collection is being shown in WV.
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Sweet: Well I remember reading an article Bob Schwarz wrote about them when the show opened a few weeks ago and I think one of them is originally from Marmet or
somewhere.
Sour: From Marmet to this? Wow. Well, it would have been great if they had listed that in the wall text or somewhere. Kids from Nowhereville , W.Va., need to come in here and see that you can come from Marmet and do this. It can be done. This is a great art collection, heavy on newer big time names and styles. Not just blue chip names you know you can turn around and sell back at a higher price if you take care of them. The collectors took some risks and I admire that.
Robert Mapplethorpe
Untitled #4, 1985
Photogravure with watercolor
Also, it hangs together as a coherent collection. It works. Some newer more experimental names and styles along with some biggies like …..Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe. Maybe if word gets out there’s a Mapplethorpe on display (tame ‘tho it is) the Religious Right will come and protest on the Clay Center lawn? Kathy Griffith and Robert Mapplethorpe! Double whammy! I can’t wait for the religious right’s protest against Kathy Griffith. The lead up in the vent lines of the newspapers is hilarious enough already. Kudos to the staff and board for NOT cancelling it. Very brave. Bet they’re squirming ‘tho.
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Sweet: And if the Religious Right protests on the Clay Center lawn, WV will yet again star in the national news as backward morons.
Sour: People get over here to the Clay Center and see these shows! Pay $6.50 if you have to. Let people know you care enough to see the very best. And that we are cultured enough to support such diversity and excellence. In this case, The Clay Center lives up to its hype. These two art exhibits are excellent. Bring your friends from Cincinnati and Lexington and Pittsburgh and Huntington and Morgantown and on and on. I’m on the band wagon for the Clay Center now, after seeing these shows. Who knew?
October 1st, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Just visited the Cincinnati Museum of Art and was pleasantly suprised to find: NO entrance fee, a Cincinnati wing highlighting local art, works by many masters (although not their most famous), a lovely cafe reasonably priced, and a lovely shop with things I would actually buy.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I enjoyed my two visits to the Clay Center. It reminded me of the Verkehrshaus in Luzern, Switzerland: http://www.verkehrshaus.ch/home/home.htm
Admission there is 28 bucks a pop, so I can’t complain about the Clay Center too much.
The second time I was there, I participated in a living history display about medieval times, which was very well received and a lot of fun.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I think they should burn the place down, split the insurance money and call it a day.
There are cracked-out bums at the Transit Mall who could have done a better job of spending $120 million.
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I love the fact that we have something here in Charleston like the Clay Center. However I feel tbat 120 million could have been spent in a more useful manner.
October 4th, 2007 at 11:48 am
While there’s some valid points to be found in Sweet and Sour’s exchange, it seems to come down to this:
The visual arts community feels like the red-headed stepchild in terms of how they fit into the Clay Center picture.
I’ve always felt that the Center was dealt a fatal blow by having to postpone their opening four years ago. Combine that with the ongoing, albeit false, perception that it’s just a playground for the rich folks, and you have a recipe for a PR disaster.
And much as I hate to say this, sometimes content on this site and in the print version could leave readers with the impression that the Gazz is VERY anti-Clay Center. I sincerely hope this is not the case.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Well, given the fact that we cover the Clay Center out the wazoo, from the main hall shows to the Walker Theater — any month’s worth of gazz and gazz covers is very Clay Center-oriented — I hardly think we are donwplaying the place. They are a big enough kahuna, and have sucked in enough of the city’s resources, to be worth a longer glance now and then as to the nature of the place’s operation and impact.
Doug
October 4th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Well, what can I say…….
My kids LOVE the Clay Center and it’s nice to have a place protected from the weather when it’s needed, but it is a bit costly.
I don’t want to comment on the architecture, as I have no real emotional feelings either way. Eh, it works for me.
I like the ping pong sculpture, as I am a bit of an engineer and it’s fun to watch, but the sound does tend to overwhelm after a short stint.
I like the movies too, but I am a bit of a geek (engineer, right).
We need more culture in WV, so I keep sending in my money. It’s like I tell my wife, you occasionaly need to pay full price for the organic produce at the grocery store, otherwise they won’t see the value of stocking it. Don’t wait till it’s discounted everytime.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
To Todd Jarrett: Hey Guy, we have PLENTY of culture in WV. Sure the Clay Center is great, but there are many other facilities throughout the state that could have used some of the numerous millions that went down the Clay Pipe. Think of the Museum in the Community — incidentally, one of the best examples of museum architecture in WV. With a mere shard of the Clay Center’s funding, MITC would still be open for business. “Culture” does not necessary mean “In Charleston.”
AV
January 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
[…] Sour: Well, we ran around all over the region during the holidays. So, here are some postings about of the high points — and, I guess like everyone else did in gazz a couple weeks ago, we should throw in our best and worst of 2007. What are some remarkable things you noticed last month? Sweet: “I would like to remark that I noticed in the papers where the Clay Center is trying to raise yet more money to make admission free for school groups.” (See this past posting on the merits and demerits of the Clay Center.) […]
January 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am
At the Clay Center, there is hardly any parking, so you have to park on the street, frequently at a meter which requires regular, distracting feeding.
If you attend the museum at night, you are haunted by cracked-out zombies and mentally ill homeless people yelling and asking for money because there is NO PROPER PARKING in which to stash your car away from street danger.
The sad truth is that there is hardly anyone in this area who gives half a damn about anything the Clay Center exhibits. Is the intention of the Clay Center laudable? Yes. Is the Center practical, realistic, desired by the actual community of knaves and mutants who make up most of Charleston and the surrounding communities? No. The appreciation of “fine art” is always an activity that appeals to very few, but in this town, it’s even less popular than elsewhere. The money spent on Clay Center would have been better spent improving education or funding free medical clinics or feeding the hungry or providing child care for the working poor in this impoverished, hellish town. Maybe then, in the future, there would be less walking meth-dead hassling the patrons of fabulously wasteful museums with almost no patrons.