Art Lies, Volume 26, Spring 2000 Page: 39
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"This 20th year is very significant time for Connemara," says Amy
Monier, the creator and long-time curator of the Spring Sculpture
Show. "As one of Texas' oldest land trusts, Connemara now is
moving into the forefront of the land use movement in Texas. At
the same time we are celebrating 20 years of overwhelming suc-
cess of our sculpture show, which has not only brought acclaim to
Connemara, but has served to showcase the wonderful talents of
our many participating artists."Connemara Entrance, Allen, TX, John C. Runnels
Commissioned artists begin to install their site-specific, environ-
mentally sensitive artworks in the Meadow during the last week of
February for an opening day in March. Artists stay in the old fam-
ily ranch house and bunkhouse while creating and installing their
work. In addition to the Sculpture Show, Connemara presents
weekend afternoon events, including concerts, dance perform-
ances and nature walkabouts in the Meadow.
Celebrity Shoe Museum
Dallas, Texas
SWAN LIKE THINGS
Long evening gloves. A lace bra. Red high heels. "All inventions
are an extension of our bodies whether physical or psychic,"
writes Marshall McLuhan. And all the above are elegant and
refined extensions of the largest organ of our body-the skin. At
the Celebrity Shoe Museum, "a real-life museum" where profit
and passion co-exist, collecting is a form of creating at Larry's
Shoes. A foot fetish of famous feet is the focus. This venue of view-
ing for pleasure rather than purchase could be an awkward expe-
rience, knowing clerks are compelled to confront, but it is not.
Celebrity Shoe Museum (Larry's Shoes), High Heels of Bette Midler, Dallas, TX,Presented as. professionally as any museum (and immeasurably
more comfortable than most art galleries) this micro museum has
melancholy movie magic with the soul of soles-Dorothy's Red
Slippers. Following in her mother's footsteps there is a pair of sil-
ver pumps worn and autographed with a smiley face by Liza
Minelli. There are bedroom fuzzy-wuzzies worn by the volup-
tuous Mae West. A mellifluous list of starlets toes twinkle from this
collection: Raquel Welch, Ava Gardner, Bette Midler....
It is not an all-girlie show though. For the macho metatarsals, there
are hirsute clodhoppers from Planet of the Apes and Achilles Heels
from football's Troy Ackman. Feet have a dramatic role in our lives,
they are always moving forward regardless of the hands of time.
The Straw Art Museum
Galveston, Texas
YA SHOULDA BEEN HERE YESTERDAY
Star Drug Store, the oldest drugstore in Texas (1909), used to house
the Straw Art Museum on the mezzanine floor before the 1997
conflagration. Poetry of place, the lure of the local is now a pale
pyrotechnic palimpsest tattooed with cheap plastic For Sale signs.
Fortunately, Ray Koshy, rice straw artist, moved his combustible
work before it became tender fuel for the blaze. Pursuing a time-
less family tradition from the Kerla region of South India, Ray per-
sists in his art form in Galveston, getting his polychrome hay from
Alvin and Bay City. Need was the seed in India before familiar art
materials such as ink and dyes were developed. Cutting different
lengths from the nuances of colors intrinsic to hay, Ray completes
his pictures by using only gum arabic (tree sap) to stick the straw
to the support. Proud of his heritage, he has studied the process
diligently and wants to promote this art. The desire to make
images is an eternal universal, whether in caves, rice paddies,
New York, Galveston or on the Internet.The One Time Home of The Straw Art Museum (1909) Star Drug Store/23rd Street Galveston, TX,
To view Ray Koshy's new Rice Straw Art Museum in cyberspace,
click on www.hometown@aol.com.
Continued on page 40ARTLIES SPRING 2000 39
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Carter, Linda Haag & McNulty, Debbie. Art Lies, Volume 26, Spring 2000, periodical, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228056/m1/41/: accessed June 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .