Hasta La Ideas

(Photo: Alan McAteer)

Visitors can arrive at Riverside Museum in Glasgow by foot, bicycle, bus, subway, train, ferry, or car. The variety of options is fitting for Scotland’s “Museum of Transport and Travel,” which opened the doors to its new home, designed by Zaha Hadid, in June 2011. The museum bested a field of 40 museums from 21 countries to take the title of 2013 European Museum of the Year, an honor presented last month in Belgium. Judging for the 36-year-old award is based on “public quality,” the extent to which a museum satisfies the needs and wishes of its visitors.

The jagged outline of the Riverside Museum “enscapsulates a wave or pleat, flowing from city to waterfront, symbolizing the dynamic relationship between Glasgow and the shipbuilding, seafaring, and industrial legacy of the river Clyde,” according to Hadid. Views through the building’s clear glass facades reveal one of its most memorable features: pistachio-hued walls. Chosen by Hadid in consultation with the exhibition designers, the color makes for a warm yet striking backdrop for displays that range from a wall of automobiles and a ceiling-mounted swirl of bikes to exhibits about long-sunken paddle steamers and glam tramcars from the 1930s.

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Vera Wang during a conversation with Fern Mallis at New York’s 92nd Street Y.

“It was like being in designer heaven.” That’s how Vera Wang describes her stint at Ralph Lauren. “We had everything, anything we needed as designers, particularly as a design director, as a team. It just magically appeared,” she told Fern Mallis during an on-stage conversation earlier this year at New York’s 92nd Street Y. “If Ralph believed in you, he really believed you. And he really supported and believed in me. It was very hard to leave.” That difficult decision paid off and more than twenty years later, Lauren remains a Wang fan. He’ll be on hand this evening at Lincoln Center to present her with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the special honors at tonight’s Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Awards ceremony.

What began as a bridal business backed by Wang’s father (who saw an opportunity in a low-inventory venture that would require a limited range of fabrics) has grown–smartly and steadily–from ready-to-wear and accessories to flatware, stationery, and lines for the likes of Kohl’s, David’s Bridal, and Zales. (Did you know that she designed the uniforms for the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders?) According to Wang, she is very involved in the array of licensing deals. “With all of these lines, you have to come up to speed, not only from a business sense but technically,” she told Mallis. “That learning curve is something I embrace because I love to learn. I’ve worked hard at it for over a decade, but it’s challenging.”

With her name synonymous with a brand that sells everything from perfume to pillowcases in 35 countries, are there any product categories still on Wang’s wishlist? Looking back to her years as an elite figure skater, Wang is eyeing activewear. “I think that for women and men today, there’s such a natural desire to be comfortable,” she told Mallis. “I’d like to do athleticwear. That kind of clothing, it’s just kind of joyous to be able to walk around in. Especially if you can bring a sense of fashion to it. I’d wear it.” She could also be sweet-talked into another deal. “I do love donuts,” she said. “I think I could do a mean donut.”

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A production still from 2012 episode of Art in the Twenty-First Century that featured Glenn Ligon.

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will honor artist Glenn Ligon with its SMFA Medal. First presented in 1996, the award honors individuals “who have made a significant and lasting impact on the art world, and recognizes their commitment to diversifying and communicating with the world through art.” Past recipients include Alex Katz, Kiki Smith, Ellen Gallagher, and Robert Rauschenberg. Ligon will receive his SMFA Medal (complete with red ribbon) this evening at a gala that will take place at the museum and benefit the school. Guests can assess potential future SMFA medalists during a pre-dinner silent auction of student work.
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Paola Antonelli, charmer of Stephen Colbert and the most curious of octopuses, will be honored this evening in New York by the MEDIUM Group. The art and commerce go-between is presenting Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design and director of research and development at the Museum of Modern Art, with an award in recognition of her curatorial achievements and contribution to contemporary culture. Hosting the “Cocktails and Curators” bash, a kind of Frieze kickoff, are Hannah Bronfman, Amani Olu, and Larry Ossei-Mensah. We’re not sure what the award consists of, but might be suggest forgoing a traditional trophy in favor of a carbon-fiber “robo-fly”? “Hello, world’s smallest flying robot!” Antonelli tweeted recently of the insect-scale innovation, the subject of a newly published Science paper. “Where have you been all my life?”

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(Photos from left: Fred Ernst and courtesy Veuve Clicquot)

April is not the cruellest month when you’ve got a Pritzker and projects in progress on most continents. It’s just one more month to collect commissions, continue the epic battle against jetlag, and receive awards. Two recent honors of note: Rem Koolhaas is this year’s recipient of the Dutch state prize for the arts, the Johannes Vermeer Award, while Zaha Hadid has been declared the the winner of the 41st Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award, an honor that we hope comes with a lifetime supply of bubbly.

Koolhaas will receive the Johannes Vermeer Award, a €100,000 prize that is mainly to be used for the realization of a special project, at an October 21 ceremony at the recently reopened Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Past winners of the award, established in 2008 to honor artists working in the Netherlands and across all disciplines, include photographer Erwin Olaf and artist Marlene Dumas.
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