Hasta La Ideas

After three months of sifting through more than 1,500 entries, then testing out the five finalists, the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago have finally made their pick for who will spend a whole month living in their museum for their aptly titled promotional experiment, Month at the Museum. Although they didn’t wind up picking either of our two favorites, they still went local, which wins them points, and selected Kate McGroarty. Here are the official details from the museum:

Beginning Oct. 20, 2010, McGroarty, 24, will become the Museum’s roommate for 30 days — taking in all the Museum has to offer, getting amazing behind-the-scenes access, sharing it all with the world — and taking home a $10,000 prize at the end of it all. McGroarty, a teacher and theatre artist, Minnesota native and 2008 Northwestern graduate who now lives in the Chicago neighborhood of Ravenswood, wowed the MSI judges with her natural curiosity, creative spirit, wit and writing skills. McGroarty was also the clear favorite with the public, garnering the top position after more than 20,000 online votes were cast in a week.

And before you start wondering/worrying about where exactly she’ll be living in a museum not usually accustomed to overnight visitors (except for ghosts and mummies), of course they made sure to shore up some choice sponsorship deals along the way:

As if getting to live in the Museum for 30 days wasn’t cool enough, Kate will be treated to sleek and modern living accommodations, delicious meals and a technology package she gets to keep. Both the winner’s office and private sleeping quarters will be designed and furnished by CB2. Sodexo Leisure Services, the Museum’s exclusive caterer, will provide the winner with breakfast and lunch daily, while Whole Foods Market will provide dinner and snacks. And the technology package to document the entire experiment is provided by Best Buy and supported by Geek Squad.

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Q: Is there any money in skyscrapers?
A: Not when you make every floor plan different.

– Heard spoken this weekend by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang who was a guest at this month’s The Interview Show. Among her many great projects, the architect was responsible for one of Chicago’s best new buildings, the Aqua Tower, which earned her international praise and had the New Yorker‘s resident critic, Paul Goldberger, calling her the anti-Zaha Hadid for her focus on problem-solving over shape-making. In the interview, she also revealed that she’d originally wanted to be a veterinarian as a child and as the product of an engineer father who took the family on road trips to see bridges, she once made a traveling bar out of an old pull wagon. Gang was our favorite part of the show, coming across as both friendly and accessible, both in the interview and after when she hung out with everyone at the bar, drinking beer and chatting (we’ve never gotten to do that with Zaha). Footage of the interview should be available in the next month or so. Check back in, as we’ll make sure to post it.

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It’s already been more than a full year of battle between the Associated Press and Shepard Fairey over his now-iconic Barack Obama “Hope” poster. Since then, we’ve seen the artist lie about where he got his source material, admit to lying (much to the chagrin of his lawyers), and hit the road to talk about his deceit. Now it looks like we might be nearing an end to this drawn out process, as the judge overseeing the case has just urged the two parties settle and wrap this argument up once and for all. Unsurprising to anyone, and likely even to Fairey, Judge Alvin Hellerstein has said that he feels confident that the AP will easily win the case, so if the organization will drop its push to have the artist punished for copyright infringement, erasing evidence, etc., and just makes some sort of financial agreement, the process can come to an end. However, despite his recommendations, it doesn’t sound like either side is quite ready to throw in the towel and word from both sounds like the fight will continue, at least for now.

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And speaking of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the institution will ring in the Deitch era with an exhibition of the art of artist, film director, and actor Dennis Hopper, who turned 74 on Monday. Opening July 11 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, “Dennis Hopper Double Standard” (named for his iconic 1961 photograph, pictured at right) will be the first comprehensive survey of Hopper’s artistic career to be mounted by a North American museum. The exhibition will feature approximately 200 works, ranging from an early painting from 1955 and photographs, sculpture, and assemblages from the 1960s to more recent large-scale billboard paintings and film installations. The curator? Julian Schnabel.

“Dennis Hopper’s work has been a springboard for the work of many artists and filmmakers of a younger generation,” said incoming MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch in a statement announcing the exhibition. “His fusion of artistic media has become an inspiration for the new artistic generation who often draw on performance and film as well as painting, sculpture, and photography in the creation of their work.” Helping to further solidify Hopper’s legacy as a creative connector will be a new biography written by Tom Folsom (The Mad Ones). Dutton has just inked a deal to publish the author’s Hopper: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. Publishers Lunch describes the forthcoming title as “charting Hopper’s roller coaster career and the larger than life persona that he came to be as he skirted the edges of American popular culture for six decades in the fields of art, photography, film, and music.”

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Zandra Rhodes is going back to school. Last week the pink-haired fashion designer was installed as chancellor of Britain’s University for the Creative Arts, formed through the merger of the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College, and the Kent Institute of Art & Design. At her London inauguration ceremony (likely the first in history to include a runway show), Rhodes eschewed the typical black cap and gown for a striking ensemble of her own design. “I wanted to create something that had the wow factor but remained in keeping with the sense of the occasion,” she said of her bedazzled fuschia robe and matching hat. “I hope the distinctive color scheme and intricately designed embroidery puts my own mark on what is usually a subdued, black garment.”

Rhodes, who studied at the Medway College of Art (a UCA founder institution) and the Royal College of Art in London, will act as the figurehead for the university, which has five campuses throughout the United Kingdom. She will also preside at UCA graduation ceremonies. But the new responsibilities aren’t likely to slow down Rhodes, who recently launched a new collaboration with British department store Marks & Spencer, attended a reception for fashion industry insiders at Buckingham Palace, and is busy organizing a San Francisco exhibition of the Aida costumes she designed for the English National Opera. She also still makes time to voice her strong opinions about topics ranging from copycat competition to politics. In a recent interview with the Telegraph, she took a swing at celebrity-“designed” fashion collections. “You know that these celebrities haven’t designed any of it,” she said. “They have taken things out of their wardrobes— by Balenciaga or some other brand— and had it knocked up by the chain, which is why [some of these] places lost a lot of their designers.”

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