TERRA TO CLOSE?
Chicago's Terra Museum of American Art may close its North Michigan Avenue museum and give its 900-piece collection to another local art museum, most likely the Art Institute of Chicago, according to a report in Crain's Chicago Business. The dramatic move comes as part of a negotiated settlement to the dispute that has roiled the museum trustee board for the last year. The museum was reportedly examining options to move to Boston or Washington, D.C., before the Illinois attorney general stepped into the case. A court decision could come as early as next week; the Art Institute had no comment.
JOINT WEBSITE FOR MIES AT MOMA, WHITNEY
The unprecedented collaboration on the Mies van der Rohe blockbuster at the Museum of Modern Art ("Mies in Berlin," June 21-Sept. 11, 2001) and the Whitney Museum ("Mies in America," June 21-Sept. 23, 2001) extends to cyberspace, as the two institutions have teamed up on a co-branded website (at both www.moma.org/mies and www.whitney.org/mies). In addition to a full-scale multimedia tour of some of Mies' top projects (when it comes to Flash animation, it seems, less is not more), the site takes note of reciprocal membership privileges -- free admission to both museums for the duration of the shows, plus 10 percent discounts on bookstore purchases as well as at Sarabeth's at the Whitney and Sette MoMA at the Museum of Modern Art.
FREUD DOES THE QUEEN
Clinical realist Lucian Freud has been commissioned to make a portrait of England's Queen Elizabeth, according to the London Sunday Times. Observers noted that the portrait is likely to be: 1) controversial, 2) the most significant of her reign, 3) destroyed if it fails to meet Freud's standards, and 4) require long sittings. "He chatted non-stop when he did me," said Lady Lambton of the artist, who has a reputation for being temperamental. The 79-year-old painter is expected to complete his version of the 75-year-old monarch in time for the golden jubilee in 2002.
TUNICK TAKES OFF
While most of the art-world is content to embark this July on a visit to the beach (or possibly the Site Santa Fe biennial), naturalist photographer Spencer Tunick is hitting the road on a round-the-world trip designed to allow him to photograph nudes on all seven continents (including Antarctica). "I will use the stark nakedness of the human form to experience each country's unique place and poetry," the photographer writes. Fans can monitor the progress of Nude Adrift, as Tunick has dubbed it, at the sexy online Nerve Magazine, or help underwrite the project by purchasing a portfolio of 16 8 x 10 color pictures from the trip for $1,500 from Dinaburg Arts.
FRIST CENTER SEEKS PROPOSALS
The new Frist Center for the Visual Arts, which opened two months ago in the former main post office building in downtown Nashville, Tenn., has issued a call for proposals to artists who would like to exhibit in the center's 760-square-foot project gallery in 2002 and 2003. Health risks -- live insects, weapons, flames, open food products -- are discouraged, but otherwise any form or medium is welcomed. Deadline for submissions is Aug. 1, 2001. For more info, email curator Mark Scala at mscala@fristcenter.org.
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