Gardens wanted some Moore, and they got it
The Denver Botanic Gardens will be the third and final American stop for an exhibition of about 20 monumental works by famed English sculptor, Henry Moore.
The crowd-pleasing show, which is set to open in March 2010, began its tour last year at the New York Botanical Garden and is on view in Atlanta.
Brian Vogt, chief executive of the Denver Botanic Gardens, said the organization had to work hard to persuade the Henry Moore Foundation to extend the exhibition’s itinerary. Representatives of the foundation conducted a site visit in May and met with an array of community officials.
“By the time they left, they told us they were ready to commit, which we didn’t expect,” Vogt said.
Moore was a groundbreaking yet accessible 20th-century sculptor, whose abstracted, figurative sculptures have been collected by museums worldwide. His flowing, contoured forms fit well in outdoor settings.
“This is our 50th anniversary this year at York Street, and the architecture here has the same kind of modernist feel that the Henry Moore sculptures have, so the blending of the two just seemed ideal,” Vogt said.
Kyle MacMillan
ART
A gift of 50 works
In the 1960s, Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and his wife, Dorothy, a librarian, began collecting art, presciently selecting then-inexpensive works by many artists who would go on to gain renown.
These two New York collectors, who have since become famous in their own right, are distributing the 2,500 works they accumulated through a national program called “Fifty Works for Fifty States.”
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center was chosen as the recipient of Colorado’s share of the works, and the 50 pieces selected for the institution, mostly works on paper, arrived recently.
Included are examples by Wil Barnet, Adam Fuss, Michael Lucero (pictured above), Sylvia Plimack Mangold and Richard Tuttle.
“This was a real surprise, and it will considerably bolster the contemporary collection,” said Blake Milteer, curator of 19th-21st-century American art.
The art center plans an exhibition of the newly acquired works in the spring of 2010.
A screening of a documentary on the couple, “Herb & Dorothy,” has been extended for an additional week at the Starz Film Center (denverfilm ). Kyle MacMillan
TELEVISION
Looks like a hit
“The Wendy Williams Show,” a new daytime TV talker starring the brassy radio shock jock, is claiming early ratings success for the local CW affiliate.
Williams, above, and her upbeat, disco-infused confessional style replaced Maury Povich’s tired show on Denver’s KWGN- Channel 2 this month. In her first two weeks in the 2 p.m. slot, Williams is scoring particularly with younger women, winning the time period, up 76 percent from “Maury’s” share in May.
The wigs alone have to be good for a ratings point. Joanne Ostrow
TELEVISION
Remembering newscaster
“Cronkite Remembers,” an eight-part series the Discovery Channel aired in 1997, will be replayed twice, from 9 a.m. today to 1 a.m. Monday on Discovery. The series is the late newsman’s personal account of seven decades’ worth of pivotal events in history, mixing archival film and pictures with context and anecdotes. At times, it’s as much about his career in print, radio and television as it is about wars, assassinations or the moon landing. Cronkite was billed as executive producer, his son Chip Cronkite as supervising producer.
Joanne Ostrow
FILM
Small film, big splash
In a recent e-mail, local director Jamin Winans encouraged fans of his sci-fi fanstasy “Ink” to let friends in Portland, Ore., know it was headed their way. This is another example of the micro-marketing strategies Jamin and wife-producer Kiowa Winans are usuing — successfully.
“We sold out in New York City last week and we are coming back to Los Angeles for multiple screenings,” they wrote.
This Wednesday and Thursday comes another example of indie filmmakers getting their films seen in theaters. Brothers Jared and Brandon Blake’s dark-comedy debut, “Visioneers,” screens at the Starz FilmCenter at 8 p.m. The film is well-paced, richly composed, dystopian fare about corporate alienation with a fine and understated turn by Zach Galifianakis. And, at $5 a ticket, it’s the best bargain in town. Info: .Lisa Kennedy
