[spectre] Walker Art closes Media dept. and sacks Steve Dietz

[Sarah Cook]

Hi Spectres,
thanks to Honor for posting this... 
i am in transit from banff - a conference on collections and museums -back to england and have been, with colleagues, developing a response to the Walker's decision. As some of you might know, i worked there in the visual arts department...and so am particularly affected, especially given my role at CRUMB of tracking the curating of new media art.
I will be seeing Steve Dietz this afternoon and from there will be writing a letter to Walker director Kathy Halbreich, expressing the regret our communities feel over this -- T.Whid [artist MTAA] has graciously offered to build a site for those wishing to sign the letter - rhizomers, crumbers, thing-listers, catalyst, syndicate - all these lists and others will be invited to sign. 
thanks,
sarah
(www.newmedia.sunderland.ac.uk/crumb)

----- Original Message -----
From: honor <honor at va.com.au>
Date: Monday, May 12, 2003 7:13 am
Subject: Re: [spectre] Walker Art closes Media dept. and sacks Steve Dietz

> Hi Spectres,
> 
> >As a cost saving measure, the Walker Art Center has decided to
> >terminate its new media programming initiatives, including Steve
> >Dietz's position.
> >
> >Dietz's latest project, How Latitudes Become Form, just closed a 
> week ago:
> >http://latitudes.walkerart.org/
> >
> >http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3870414.html
> >Walker Art Center lays off 7 employees, freezes wages
> 
> I just wanted to say how utterly shocked and appalled I was to 
> learn of the
> Walker Art Center's decision to close one of the most significant 
> new media
> art programmes operating within a museum internationally.  As I'm 
> sure many
> of you will agree, the Walker's support of artists using 
> technology over
> the past 5 - 10 years has been highly significant in raising the 
> profile of
> new media art within cultural institutions around the world.  It 
> is hard to
> imagine the new media art landscape without Gallery 9.
> 
> On a more personal note, Steve Dietz has been an intelligent and 
> ebuillientforce not only within the Walker's programmes, but 
> within the more global
> context of new media curation.  I feel very sory that his work has 
> beendevalued in this way by the management of the Walker.
> 
> It is now worth asking some questions about what this decision 
> signifies in
> terms's of art institutions overall committment, or lack thereof, to
> artists who use new media.  It will be interesting to observe what 
> evolveswithin the new media art programmes at the Whitney and 
> SFMOMA over the next
> twelve months.
> If an institution of the Walker's size and reputation can no 
> longer afford,
> or prioritise, their new media initiatives, it is worth wondering 
> whetherother US museums of their size will also ultimately 
> consider these
> programmes surplus to requirements.
> 
> I think this poses some questions for the role of new media art 
> within a
> larger visual arts framework.  I've been reflecting on this over the
> weekend, as we  staged a large symposium at Tate Modern in London, 
> whichtried to analyse some of the issues current within 
> interactive art and
> design practices.  user_mode <" 
> target="l">http://www.usermode.net> provided some kind
> of sign that, at least within the UK, there is still evidently a 
> diverseand growing audience interested in new media art practices, 
> who consider a
> museum like Tate Modern has an active role to play in the 
> development and
> support of the field.
> 
> It is a sad day, that this is no longer thought to be the case at 
> the Walker.
> 
> Best wishes
> 
> 
> Honor
> 
> 
> _______________.hh
> 
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> <honor at va.com.au>
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> 
> _______________.work
> ph: 44 (0)20 74015066
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> http://www.usermode.net
> 
> 
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