Art Show on a Shoestring

When Brooklyn artist Lara Allen scored a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space grant last year, she thought she had secured both a great gallery and up to $3,000 in funding for a meditation on myth and female power entitled I, Daughter of Kong.

Then the funding LMCC hoped to provide fell victim to the recession.

But instead of canceling the show, Allen brought new meaning to her original idea of an artistic collaboration. She began securing donations and soliciting not just creative work from artists, but contributions of time and labor. As a result, the show has gone on—and is, perhaps, even more creative that it would have been. It opened last week and runs through May 10…

Liberty is Burning

No matter how many homes go into foreclosure, the sun still shines in St. Petersburg, Florida, where most of 18-year-old Cameron Cottrill’s peers don’t have a clue about what’s going on with the Recession. “But they do have Obama Mania,” he admits. A few, though, are seriously concerned. “Some have lost jobs,” says Cameron, “and so have their parents.” These young people worry because “they don’t see any real ‘change’ coming any time soon.” Like Cameron, they are trying to learn about current events, hoping to understand what they need to do for the future. And nobody really seems to have the answers…

Recession Briefing 4.17

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

There are new signs that the recession may be easing up. The pace of new-home construction seems to be nearing a bottom, and first-time jobless benefit claims fell more than expected. (Associated Press)

The banking industry is also starting to see some signs of recovery. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have announced major profits this quarter. (New York Times)

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that the Obama Administration’s ties to Wall Street will doom its bank-rescue efforts. (Bloomberg)

Thinking Outside the White Box

In New York, Chelsea’s contemporary art galleries are feeling the pinch. Last year, the art market only declined by about 4.5 percent, but the post-war and contemporary sectors dropped by 11 percent. In recent months, notable galleries have closed their doors, but that’s not something Michael Lyons Wier plans to do. For the owner and director of the Lyons Wier Gallery, the economic crisis has become an opportunity to let his imagination run free.

For 15 years, the Lyons Wier Gallery on 7th Avenue has featured contemporary art from painters around the globe. But in the downturn, business as usual no longer fits the bill…