Yuu can't just leave!!!

I was yelled at today for leaving with my tour group of two familes before 1:30. Oh heaven forbid that a family that shows up twenty minutes late would not get to tour with us. I just wanted to get it all over with before three oclock. But even without going to the AFO building we still didn't finish everything until 3:30. Two buildings two hours and no first welcome speach.

My pinky is hurting so my mind of course wants to type words with p's those semicolons, and other things that require enter to be pushed.

They had the usual questions, portfolio, requirements, wanted to see computer rooms. DOn't people get tired of looking at computers? I mean we all know that the school will have computers. What is it, do you want to see how much space is between them, know exactly how many will be in the room your student will be in their fourth semester of their education? WHy do you need to see computers. Have you never seen one before? Is it a strange mythical machine that confounds you? What school have you ever gone to that said, sorry we don't use computers here. Those things are the devil's work!

After the oversided caculators, I usually show them the letterpress studio, which looks like a turn of the century printshop, but with hot pink prints instead of boring newspapers. Next we sneak into the Design Center. My treat for people who come durring the summer. Because durring the year the Design center is like fort knox. Today I actually saw someone in the Interior Design department sitting upstairs at one oclock. What a great day indead!

Finished up the interview with Stephen Vitiello for "Studio" magazine. Can't think of anything to write for RVA for this deadline, other than the giant compendium of info I have to put together for whomever they hire to replace me.

Julia is almost in town in an hour, I can not wait to talk to her in person about everything that has happened in the last few day. Most importantly the job. It will be easier in person to talk about this, more real.

DAAP Building

DAAP Building
Originally uploaded by AnDy631.

just found this great shot of the building where I will be working. Holy cow! Eisenman has pulled out all the stops.

Leaving Job, Leaving Richmond

The new contract is in the mail. I will be the newest faculty at the University of Cincinnati, if only for one year. Job interviews at this school have already begun to replace me, and I have one month to educate someone on how to be nice to strangers, convince them to come to school here, and make them feel wanted, respected, and vital to the success of the Arts Program.

With all of these changes happening I have been instructed to make a conpendium of what I say to people, this feels extremely odd. I have given the same speach for over 5 months now and have some form of it down to memory. I try to mix it up each time, add new jokes, take old ones out. My staple jokes are just loosing their punch. New information is added each time, old statistics drop out, and the numbers continually get mixed up in my head. 85%, 87% 92% go on to a job within 6 months of leaving the school. It is all relative. I have to be able to read people, what type of student do they seem like, would they care if we see the painting department even though they say (everysingleone) graphic design. And what will happen to the key? Who will have the power to unlock all the secret doors and retieve the information about the departments. Not me anymore.

This is an excerpt:
After you inform the performing arts students about what is happening you ask the others to join you in the Projection room.

Let everyone get settled then welcome them again by introducing yourself and telling a little about how you got here.

“First off the bat I want to say how completely excited we are that you are looking at VCU. It continually surprises us how many people are interested in our programs. And more importantly how many students want to pursue an extremely rewarding career as a professional artist or designer."

"So with that said we are a liberal arts university, publicly funded, that means that 1/3 of your total education at VCU will be general education. We believe that students should have universal skills and communication abilities that reach well beyond the arts. We are training life long learners, people who are excited by the world around them, who are passionate problem solvers and visually literate."

Wow, that's an interesting option. Two weeks and it will be a bumpersticker. Can you copyright protest slogans.

Last week a man came to the school asking for someone to draw his inventions. It took an hour for him to explain exactly what he needed. His inventions it turned out were memorial ribons that combine everything, N.A.S.A. 9-11, WWII, etc. He wanted to cover all the bases and get the most bang for people's bucks. He also explained a surfboard with a radio built in to listen to music on. I thought about informing him of how much this sounded like something Carot Top showed in a concert back in 1994 in Roanoke, Virginia, but decided it would just make him stay in the office longer.

A few years back I made a bumper sticker that read "Power of Humility" with the American Flag on it in the same design as the "power of pride" stickers that seem to only be on trucks and moving vans in Richmond. Julia and Vaughn both recieved notes on the windshield asking where they got them, but I never went into mass production on them. It was an art work. How silly of me to try to make art out of something that needed to be for the masses. I'll never do that again.

My brother just went to see Tom Waits in N.C. I want to see these guys. An amazing idea, something that I want to try to get to come to richmond. Pop culture, children, phenomonology, and my love affair with magic all together in emo Rock Style!

Harry and the Potters is a band like many others, "they might be giants," comes to mind first, but these guys have found the always mysterious niche of "public Libraries concert series." I wish them well, and can not wait for next years tour. Gallery five should do a partnership with the City Libraries to get them to richmond.

Big, Big news

So the family is extremely excited about Taylor David. I am an uncle, most likely the cooler of the two uncles in 'the mulligan boys.' Chris is a father, his life is now second to someone else. I wish him super god speed!

And with much less amazingness (is that real?) I might be the newest faculty member at University of Cincinnati (just learned how to spell it) in the DAAP. That means art program for those outside of ohio. Looking online at student work has made me super excited about it, plus it is like number 1 in Interior Design, 2 in Arch-a-ma-tecture and wants to make the visual arts as good in the super near future.

I am completely on pins and needles. I can not think about saying goodbye to Richmond, my great job, my awsome roomate, fantastic appartment, and most importantly having a long distance relationship become an extremely long distance relationship. But full time teaching jobs do not grow on trees and this could lead to a surprising new path, a wonderful journey, and some beg exciting changes.

I thinkI have found the perfect person for OCTOBER's SHOW!!! NYC artist Brian forget his last name. (scroll way down)

P.S. The Basement Gallery just had it's first show. Congrats all you fellow VCUites. I miss all of you.

SO hot in here!

Ahh, everyone out there is making posts about the heat. Vaughn loves it, Judy doesn't even have it, and now I am going to talk about it. Why are these people coming to tour the school when it is 101 degrees outside? I had two families call yesterday to make sure the tour was still happening. One other prospective wanted to have a portfolio review. What a silly boy.

The good thing is I have learned the magical art of wiping my brow with a handkerchief while not looking overly southern. We also have encouraged shorter discussions of the outside buildings, and longer meeting with the individual departments in the art school.

Yesterday was the first day I met the new recruiters for the department of Forensic Science. They both looked like blonde Mulder's. (Or is it Skully's?) I never got into that show. But these silly TV shows actually predict how enrollment will change. Look at Project Runway for instance, durring the months that project runway is on the air I have a much larger precentage of students wanting to tour the Fashion Department. I wish there were actual records of past tours for the last three years, but I am sure the number of applicants wanting to go to Parson's has at least doubled.

Two more days of Full time desk work and then a large break and starting August 15th I become a full time worker. Not sure if posts will increase or shrink completely off the map. These things come in spells.
And I just found out about a good food blog. HOORAY for eaters!