WHAT: MexicoFest 2007
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 13; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
WHERE: Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History
10th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The National Museum of Natural History presents “MexicoFest 2007,” a family festival featuring Mexican cultural and hands-on activities for all age groups and interests, as well as displays about museum projects that relate to Mexico or to the museum’s Mexican collections.

Activities
· Enjoy a variety of Mexican traditional dances presented by the local Maru Montero Company.
· Create traditional Mexican crafts that highlight the relationship between the conservation of natural resources and the creation of folk art. Advance reservations to participate in these activities are welcome. For more information, visit www.mnh.si.edu or call (202) 633-5268.
· Play “Loteria” a traditional Mexican card game.
· Draw biological specimens fromMexico with the help of scientific illustrators.

Displays/Presentations
· Learn about the diversity of Mexican mammals through an interactive Web site developed by museum educators.
· Join volcanologists from the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program in a discussion of Mexican volcanoes and their eruptions.
· See live spiders native toMexico and learn how to identify them with help from a Smithsonian arachnologist.
· Find out about the museum’s expeditions and research in Mexico’s CopperCanyon.
· Learn about the biology and migration of the monarch butterfly between the United States and Mexico.

Many of the interpretive signs will be in English and Spanish. MexicoFest is part of the museum’s 2007 Hispanic Heritage Month activities, and it is organized in conjunction with “Mexican Cycles,” an exhibit about Mexican indigenous festivals which opened at the museum on Sept. 25. The event is organized with the generous support of the Smithsonian Latino Center, the Mexican Cultural Institute, Mexico’s Museum of Folk Art (Museo de Arte Popular), and Washington Hispanic.

Contacts:Miriam Tucker
(609) 397-9374 x 241
mtucker@ragoarts.com

Marilyn White
973-783-3649
MWhitePR@aol.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Through October 28, 2007

Lambertville, NJ – Peter Voulkos, Betty Woodman, Axel Salto and Otto Natzler are just a few of the ceramic artists whose work is offered in Sollo Rago’s much anticipated October Modern Auction Weekend. The auction takes place on October 27 and 28th, with exhibition from October 22nd through the mornings of the sale.“This sale will be a milestone for ceramics” said John Sollo, the partner-in-charge. “Never before has this scope and depth in American and European works come to auction. From vessels to sculpture, there are incredible examples of so many important ceramic artists—it’s almost a complete survey of the field for 50 years.” Included are several important collections including a major private holding of Picasso for Madoura, many pieces from the Garth Clark Gallery and the Daniel Jacobs/Derek Mason collection of British ceramics. John Sollo and David Rago will present these in a sale of approximately 1000 lots of Modern design, fine art, and furnishings.Studio furniture figures significantly in the sale. Among the highlights are exceptional works by George Nakashima, including an early custom rosewood cabinet with burl handles commissioned as part of a Nakashima-designed house for the Hammer family, one of his major patrons. Paul Evans began his career as a silversmith and Sollo Rago is proud to offer one of Evan’s earliest sculptures, emblematic of his transition from metalwork to furniture-making. Also for sale are several exceptional examples of his most iconic studio work, including a rare Argente vertical cabinet. Collaborative works by Paul Evans and Phillip Lloyd Powell (who were friends and studio-mates) are here, as well, including an elegant vertical wall-hung cabinet with a sinuous carved body by Powell and fish-scale-patterned metalwork by Evans. Wendell Castle’s unstoppable creativity is displayed in the incredible range of work offered—from an early stack laminate stool to his molar series in fiberglass and his post-modern work for Peter Joseph in the 1980s. Fine art and furniture by Wharton Esherick, the founding father of the studio movement, is also represented.

Sollo Rago is offering several major pieces of metalwork by the American artist Wilhelm Hunt Diederich, including a dynamic figural weathervane with leaping polo players on horseback. Albert Paley’s dexterity with metal is displayed in several large-scale sculptures which swoop and swirl, a modern play on art nouveau.

Modern and Contemporary Art will be featured throughout in selections curated by Meredith Hilferty, Director of Fine Art. Harry Bertoia is represented by large sculptures including a striking upright tonal Sonambient, a Double-Sided Gong with great depth of resonation and a 66” Willow. Other Bertoia works here include tabletop sculpture, jewelry and monoprints. Vertical Composition II, a ca. 1974 painted wood construction by Seymour Fogel has the great graphic punch of Mondrian represented in three dimensions. Hard-edged works dependent on color and line also play to this aesthetic in works by Josef Albers, Rolph Scarlett, Emil James Bisttram and Richard Anuszkiewicz. Color also assumes importance in the abstract expressionist paintings of the 50s and 60s, seen here in the work of artists Rex Ashlock, Norman Carton and Carl Morris. Street artists Keith Haring, LAII (Angel Ortiz) and Richard Hambleton add an undomesticated element with their acid palettes and riotous imagery. Also in the sale: an important Noguchi abstract sculpture in stone and a sculpture by Claire Falkenstein.The exuberant excess of Memphis/Milano has been much in the news of late and their presence in the sale is prominent, with two major pieces by Michael Graves and Ettore Sottsass’s iconic Casablanca sideboard and Carleton cabinet. Also of note are works by Scandinavian designers Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl, as well as American mid-century pieces by Tommi Parzinger, a prototype Marshmallow sofa by Irving Harper for George Nelson, and a prototype copper dining suite by Warren Platner for Knoll.Exhibition PreviewSaturday, October 20th through Friday, October 26th, noon until 6pm, and by appointment. Doors open at 9 a.m. the mornings of the sale.CataloguesPrinted catalogues are $35 each online at sollorago.com or by calling (609) 397.9374. You can e-mail a request to  info@ragoarts.com and view a complete online catalogue at sollorago.com. Auction Contact Information John Sollo: 609-397-9374 or john@ragoarts.comDavid Rago: 609-397-9374 or info@ragoarts.com Meredith Hilferty: 609-397-9374 or  meredith@ragoarts.com

333 North Main Street Lambertville, NJ 08530 info@ragoarts.com www.ragoarts.com
From left:PAUL EVANS Welded and wrought steel fountain sculptureBETTY WOODMAN Red earthenware Pillow PitcherMICHAEL GRAVES / MEMPHIS Plaza dressing table with matching stool

An exhibition of rare and spectacular masks from China will go on show for the first and only time in Australia at the Immigration Museum, from 8 October 2007.The exhibition Masks of China: Ritual and Legend will showcase around 100 stunning handmade masks. Drawn from the collections of the China Museum of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing, Masks of China, highlights the living tradition of mask-making among the diverse cultural groups in China today.

“This is a unique collection of beautiful and rare objects never before seen in Australia,” comments Padmini Sebastian, Manager, Immigration Museum. “A small number of the objects in Masks of China are from the past two centuries, but the majority have been collected in more recent times and reflect the continuing significance of a practice which is thousands of years old.”In China, masks are thought to have originated from ancient religious ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in ancient rock paintings along the Yangtze River, and it is believed by experts that mask-making developed from rituals associated with hunting and the worship of heads and skulls.

“Masks are a way for humans to transform themselves into non-human forms, such as animals, spirits and gods,” Sebastian continues. “Masks of China brings together beliefs, myths and symbols from Shamanism and Buddhism, and these depictions are designed both to entertain the living and amuse the deities.”“Each mask in the exhibition has been elaborately made by hand from a wide range of materials, including paper, metal, wood, cotton, bamboo and felt. Visitors will experience a range of colours, materials and facial expressions in this fascinating exhibition, which brings adults and children face to face with these beautiful masks.”

Masks of China is arranged along five key themes reflecting the typical uses of masks: Ceremonial Dance, Opera, Weddings and Funerals, Protecting the Home, and Festivals and Ritual.Some of the masks on display include:

The glamour and the golden years of the Miss Australia competition are explored in a new exhibition opening at Melbourne Museum on 11 October 2007.

Did you know that the first competition to find Australia’s most beautiful woman was won by Victoria’s own Alice Buckridge in 1908?  Or that, in 1993, debate over the inclusion of men arose with the entry of Mr Damian Taylor into the quest? Miss Australia: A Nation’s Quest traces the history of the competition, from its beginnings as a magazine promotion in 1908, to its ascendancy as a national cultural event and its end in 2000. “Miss Australia at different times was a beauty queen, an advocate for the disabled, a trade ambassador and a fundraiser,” according to National Museum of Australia senior curator Sophie Jensen. “But across the years Miss Australia was always been representative of an ‘ideal’ Australian woman, and this changing notion of ideal womanhood reflects much broader changes in history and society.”

World first exhibition at Melbourne Museum 

An exhibition unlike any other in the world, Melbourne Museum’s The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth explores the varying capacities of the most complex phenomenon in the known universe – the human mind.

Opening as a permanent exhibition on 21 September 2007, The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth sets an international benchmark for an exhibition based on sensory and exploratory experiences – addressing the science of the mind while also taking a historical perspective of mental health, bringing together psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience.

The Mind will exhibit a wide variety of objects which place the mind in a social context – from a real human brain to the art work of psychiatric patients and objects from asylums dating back more than 100 years. In addition, interactive activities will highlight the diversity of the human mind – allowing visitors to step into the mind of a person with a mental illness or force them to feel certain emotions or showcase the varying states of consciousness.

Investigating the human mind and its central role for individuals and society as a whole, The Mind has been developed around key themes of: Feeling (emotions and motivations), Knowing (perception and memory), Thinking (cognition and consciousness) and Being (identity and interaction). Variations in brain function are also explored, taking a focus on conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, synaesthesia, schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism. 

“We’ve made the exhibition very interactive; very Alice in Wonderland in a way, as it’s like walking into a bizarre world,” explains exhibition curator Dr Nurin Veis.

A real human brain and other specimens have been borrowed from the University of Melbourne highlighting the anatomy of the brain while works from the Cunningham Dax Art Collection examine the ways artists make sense of dreams, trauma, dementia and schizophrenia.

Objects never previously exhibited from the Psychiatric Services Collection shed much-needed light on the experience of patients and staff in institutions across Victoria once known as “lunatic asylums”.  Most of the objects in this collection are from the 100 years prior to 1960.  “It’s one of the best collections of its type in the world, with the greatest depth of objects – from kitchen goods right through to medications and restraining devices,” says Dr Veis.

Highlights of the interactive components of The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth exhibition include:

Mirror pods – The mirror pods allow visitors to gain a perspective of another person’s mind – what it is like to experience mental health conditions (such as bipolar disorder, psychosis and depression), or the phenomenon called synaesthesia, where a person’s senses are linked. The private ‘pods’ provide a one-on-one interaction with a multimedia presentation of an individual’s testimonial of their experience.  As the multimedia plays the lighting on the mirrored surface changes and instead of seeing the person on the monitor, the visitor slowly sees a reflection of themselves – providing a surprising and somewhat confronting effect of stepping into someone else’s shoes

Mood pods – The mood pods take the visitor on a rollercoaster ride of various human emotions. The enclosed pods will allow a visitor to experience moving image and sound with the aim of triggering the emotions of anger, fear, disgust, surprise and happiness – each within a 30 second segment.

Consciousness couches – Visitors will be offered a ‘journey’ on the consciousness couches, interpreting the main states of consciousness from normal active thought to sleeping and dreaming. While lying on one of the consciousness couches experiencing moving image and sound that ranges from rhythmic, hypnotic and trancelike, the visitor will be enticed to relax and surrender to the various states of consciousness.

Language - The interactive language section reveals the difficult, slow process and the many brain functions involved in learning a language. Visitors will listen to a short phrase spoken in one of five languages, which will also be displayed in written form. They will repeat the phrase and a short-term recording will be made and played back to them, allowing them to hear their own mistakes in order to improve. The activity will highlight that continued learning throughout our lives is possible and we can acquire new skills at any age.

Games - Visitors will have opportunities to test their ability to recognise facial emotions, their memory for images and sounds, working out puzzles and identifying their personality.

“The Mind will open the door to the complexity of the human brain.  It will challenge people’s perception of how their mind works and how it interprets the external world.  Visitors will leave feeling amazed at the theatre of their mind and hold a greater understanding of the diversity of perception,” said Dr Veis. 

“We hope that The Mind will encourage debate and discussion on what is considered ‘normal’, as well as showcase how mental health practices have changed over time. We’d like to challenge preconceptions and ignorance, as well as further scientific understanding of the human mind,” she concludes. 

The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth
From 21 September 2007
Melbourne Museum
Nicholson Street, Carlton 

Free with general admission – Adults $6.00, Children and Concession free of charge. For further information visit museumvictoria.com.au or phone 13 11 02. Open 10am – 5pm daily.  

For more media information, images or interviews contact:
Jessica Bendell, Melbourne Museum on 03 8341 7726, 0439 341 007 or jbendell@museum.vic.gov.au

Sally Schwartz, co-founder of the Chicago Antique Market, knew the Pauline Palmer painting she inherited from her grandparents had value, but she had no idea just how valuable it was. When the painting sold this summer for $120,000, nobody was more surprised and pleased than she. Previous auction records, according to AskArt.com, show a high of $50,400 in 2005 for a Pauline Palmer painting.

“I first started thinking more and more about the value of the items I have when I began speaking with Daryle Lambert and reading his book, “31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles,” said Schwartz. I knew the Pauline Palmer painting had some value, but since it’s been part of my inheritance for decades, I never really entertained the thought of what it was worth today, or even considered parting with it.”

The painting, painted by the artist eulogized as “Chicago’s Painter Lady,” was originally purchased by Schwartz’s grandparents, Lillian & Nathaniel Summerfield of Chicago, directly from the Art Institute of Chicago. A beautiful portrait of two young girls, the Summerfields, who both had a love of beautiful art and antiques, purchased the painting because it reminded them of their two daughters, Schwartz’s mother and aunt. As a young girl, Schwartz remembers standing in front of the painting completely drawn into its romance of another time and place. “You couldn’t ignore it. It was too beautiful,” she said.

For Schwartz, this newfound treasure couldn’t have come at a better time in her life. Her Chicago Antique Market partner recently expressed her desire to pursue other interests, and Schwartz found herself having to make some tough ownership decisions or face closing the market. “I love the market we’ve built, and I want to keep it running,” she said. An advocate and lover of the arts, antiques, collectibles, it was Schwartz and her former husband who founded the “Chicago Antiques & Collectibles Festival” several years back, putting on three successful events, before losing their site to a new real estate development in the city. Recently, she found herself, once again, having to make some hard decisions, this time about the fate of her beloved Chicago Antique Market. Recalling her many conversations about the skyrocketing growth in value of fine paintings, with Daryle Lambert, the market’s unofficial advisor and confidant, she decided to explore the value of her Palmer piece.

The gallery representatives who examined the painting were encouraged it could bring a very good price if sold. The decision to part with the work of art that had been part of her childhood memories wasn’t an easy one. “When I knew I wanted the market more than I wanted the painting, I knew what to do,” said Schwartz. She agreed to have a gallery secure a private buyer for her painting, and one was soon found. At a sales price of $120,000, it sold for more than she could have ever imagined. Its sale will enable Sally Schwartz to take the helm of the Chicago Antique Market and breathe the kind of new life into it that she wants to see.

About Chicago Antique Market: The Chicago Antique Market, hailed by Travel and Leisure as one of the top three national urban antique markets, with its festival atmosphere, takes place the final Saturday and Sunday of each month May through October from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. and features more than 200 dealers selling everything from a wide range of antiques to vintage collectibles. The indoor/outdoor market has earned a national reputation as one of the finest in North America, and has been compared to the Paris Flea Market. In Time Out Chicago, Nate Berkus, designer of Oprah fame, raved “I love the Chicago Antique Market on West Randolph Street. That is something this city was seriously lacking. The quality of the merchandise there is incredible.” (www.chicagoantiquemarket.com)

About 31 Inc: 31 Inc. teaches wealth building within the antiques, collectibles, and fine art markets and maintains a growing marketplace and gallery with many consigned pieces. The company aims to create industry millionaires through its wealth accumulation methods set forth in Daryle S. Lambert’s book “31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles. Lambert, founder of 31 Inc. also writes “The Guy in the Red Tie” antiques blog, both available online. (www.31corp.com)

Sunday, October 21st will mark the 22nd year for the California Country Antique American Country & Folk Art Show. This show, rated by Country Home Magazine as the #7 Great Outdoor Show in America, is a twice-yearly event that has the atmosphere of old friends getting together to spend the day enjoying their common interests in country antiques and folk art. The Los Altos History Museum has sponsored the show since its inception. A portion of the proceeds benefits the museum. This is always an exceptional show with over 50 superb antique dealers from across the USA and Canada selling the finest classic & new country style antiques available anywhere. Country to formal furniture, folk art, quilts, hooked rugs, samplers, lighting, woodenware, baskets, stoneware, architectural and garden elements, camp and cottage, toys, holiday items, lots of old original paint and much, much more! Items will be priced to meet everyone’s budget. The show will be held inside and out at the warm and cozy confines of the Hillview Community Center at 97 Hillview Avenue in Los Altos, CA.

The show will start at 10 am and run to 4 pm. Admission to the show is $9.00 ($6.00 after 11am) and show goers will be able to visit the adjacent History Museum at no extra charge. The traditional $100.00 shopping spree drawing will be held at 2 pm on the luncheon lawn. Also on the History Museum patio, right next door, artisans will demonstrate making early American decorative arts and their completed works of art will be available for purchase.

With the addition of old-fashioned barbecued and picnic-style foods, including homemade apple pie, available for purchase and live country folk music makes this a “must” event for antique lovers from the San Francisco Bay area and all over the nation.

The show is conveniently located between highways 280 and 101 in Los Altos. For fly-ins, both the San Jose International and San Francisco International Airports are only about 20 minutes away.

So remember the date, the time, and the place for the California Country Spring Antiques Show and Sale, the premiere “all country” show on the West Coast – Sunday, October 21st from 10 am to 4 pm at the Hillview Community Center adjacent to the History Museum in Los Altos, CA. Be sure to look for the Antiques Show signs directing the way.

For additional information about the show, including a map for directions, check out the website at www.californiacountryshow.com or contact Tom Baker, Show Manager, at 831-479-4404.

The date for the next annual Summer Show is Sunday, June 8, 2008.

Contact:
Tom Baker
California Country
PO Box 495
Soquel, CA 95073
831-479-4404
tom@californiacountryshow.com

George L. Vaught, President Elect-Texas Auctioneers Association

Hang on, here is a story really worth telling.  Quite literally, Keith Landers (dba, Johnny Dee) and I just happened to run across each other at our neighborhood Austin farmers market one Saturday morning last April.  I previously hired Keith’s band “Johnny Dee & the Rocket 88s” last fall to play at TAA’s 50^th Anniversary Party during our annual June convention in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Our kids went to grade school together, and we were reminiscing about family.  During our conversation, Keith said “Hey, why don’t you guys try to set a world record for the greatest number of auctioneers calling bids”.  In short he passed the ball (idea), and I ran with it.

The first thing I did was go to Guinness’ web site www.guinnessworldrecords.com and researched how to make an application for a Guinness World Record™ attempt.  I downloaded their application and agreement to make an attempt which also included some general guidelines as to how they want an attempt documented and verified.  After I submitted the application describing the TAA’s proposed world record attempt, when and where it would be held, etc., I was assigned an identification number and notified that it would take some 6 to 8 weeks for Guinness to reach a decision and notify me if TAA’s proposed world record attempt was worthy of consideration.

There was no previous world record for the number of auctioneers bidcalling simultaneously, so I figured we had a good chance to get it done. I had no specific guidelines before our attempt, so I carefully developed a strict protocol for registering Texas licensed auctioneers to participate just prior to the attempt (much like CE); documenting witnesses to the attempt; soliciting key witnesses who are recognized in our industry; recording by video and photos the actual attempt while it was in process, etc., etc.  Subsequently, I received notice from Guinness that our world record attempt was worthy of consideration.  Since there was no previous world record, Guinness also provided me specific guidelines which their Records Committee developed for us to follow in properly documenting the attempt.  I felt we would easily comply with Guinness’ specific guidelines.

On 15 June 2007, we made the world record attempt between the convention’s evening activities which included TAA’s State Bidcalling and Ringman Contests and our Annual Fun Auction.  We had 102 Texas licensed auctioneers participate in the attempt, and we called bids simultaneously for 10 minutes.  In addition to a third party video documentation provided by Corpus Christi TV Station kiitv, documented witnesses to our world record attempt included Neal Davis (Auctioneer Extraordinaire), Tommy Williams (then NAA President Elect), Jeff Rinard (TDLR Lead Investigator), and Kristina Kaiser (TDLR Director of Enforcement).  Moreover, the TAA’s Guinness World Record™ Committee included Brent Graves, Jim Morganti, Jim and Charlene Sample, John Sisk, Lisa Gay, Tommy and Pam Traylor, Renee Jones, Mike and Lori Jones, Scott and Carla Swenson, Ernie Croucher, Buddy Thomas, Myra Vaught, Vanessa Vaught, and Marguerite Vaught.

After the attempt, I gathered up all of our documentation to make a formal world record claim to Guinness.  I forwarded TAA’s formal claim for our world record in late June.  From time to time, I would go to the Guinness web site and check on the claim’s status via the indentification number I was assigned when I made application for the attempt last spring.  On 18 September 2007, I went to their web site and found that our claim had been approved and a certificate from Guinness is in the mail….pretty exciting!

Texas Auctioneers and Texas Proud!

The weekend of June 16^th 2007 was busy for Texas licensed auctioneers from across our great state who gathered for the 50th Annual Texas Auctioneers Association Convention in Corpus Christi, Texas. In addition to State Championship Bid Calling and Ringman contests, the Texas Auctioneers Association made its Guinness World Record™ bid for the most auctioneers bid calling simultaneously which was acknowledged as a new world record by Guinness this month.

One hundred and two Texas licensed auctioneers participated in this historical world record event.  Some say it’s the competition that attracts them. Others say it’s the entertaining nature of the business. Whatever the case, people everywhere are sold on auctions. Real estate, collector cars, antiques, art, business equipment, electronics, livestock…it’s hard to name something that hasn’t been sold at auction. Texas licensed auctioneers are required by law to attend an accredited auction school, pass a rigorous state exam and maintain continuing educational hours in order to keep that fast talk going. For more information about the Texas Auctioneers Association, please visit: www.texasauctioneers.org

Texas Auctioneers and Texas Proud!

That makes your heart soar when you think of antiques? Jewels? Books and prints? Furniture? Carpets? Paintings? There’s no doubt that antiques possess qualities that makes modern merchandise pale in comparison – qualities like exquisite craftsmanship, character, attention to detail, and timelessness. Similarly, American items that are considered to be antiques – the older items you might find at estate sales and auctions – are youngsters when compared with European antiques.

For more information and informative related articles and links about this subject matter and content, please visit Majon’s Antiques directory: http://www.majon.com/directory/Antiques

About the Author

Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon International. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2007 (Wed Sep 19 2007) Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource web site at: http://majon.com