KENDALL MESSICK IN CORAPEAKE, NC

THE ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

In October of 1995, I made my first trip to Corapeake, North Carolina, with my best friend Brenda. Corapeake is a tiny crossroads community just over the North Carolina line from Virginia and the place where Brenda spent the first eight years of her life. We went so that I could make pictures of her aging relatives. That initial trip marked the beginning of a creative journey for me that continues to this day. The people of Corapeake were welcoming and remarkable for their warmth and lack of pretense. Their stories ranged from the simple pleasures of childhood spent living in the rural shadow of the Great Dismal Swamp to remembrances of losses framed by inevitability and hope. These recollections resonated with me, taking me back to stories my white grandfather had told about his experiences growing up in rural North Carolina. The similarities were striking and having lost my grandfather and his stories, I determined that I needed to preserve the stories from Corapeake. So I began recording the remembrances of the people in Corapeake as I continued making pictures. As I amassed more and more photographs and recordings, I started to gather them all together in journals that I would carry with me on each trip. These journals gradually became scrapbooks as I added documents and objects - a fan from church, a cotton boll from the fields, autographs of each person interviewed, funeral programs that used my portraits on their covers - some stories having come to include me as both observer and participant. "Corapeake" is about love and loss and hope and faith. It explores the nature of memory in that it is about what is remembered as much as what is forgotten. These stories are universal in their depiction of a time and experience not limited to the people of Corapeake or to African-Americans or even small towns. I didn’t realize when I started "Corapeake" the profound way in which these people would ultimately affect and enrich my life. It has been both a privilege and a blessing to be allowed into their lives and to become, in a way, part of the story of "Corapeake." - Kendall Messick

CARING FOR YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION

All of us own photographs. Whether they are treasured family mementos or fine art photography purchased from a gallery, photographs hold special meaning for all of us. Despite their prevalence in our lives, few people know how to properly care for photographs. A few simple steps can help ensure the longevity of your photography collection:

1. Know the Enemy

The biggest threats to photographs are sunlight, fluctuations in temperature, and fluctuations in humidity. When displaying photographs, be sure to keep them out of direct sunlight. Even those not exposed to direct sunlight are susceptible to fading over time. It is best to rotate your photographs on view, to allow periodic breaks from light exposure.

Maintaining a stable environment is the best way to protect your photographs. For museum standards, this means a temperature between 68 to 72 degrees with a relative humidity between 45 to 55 percent. Most of our homes are a bit warmer than 72 degrees, and that is okay. The key is maintaining a stable temperature. And who knows the relative humidity of their home? Again, the key is a stable, climate-controlled environment. This means no photographs in the attic, basement, or stuffy closets.

2. Give Them a Good Home

The second key to preserving photographs is proper storage. All too often, photographs sustain damage due to storage in acidic materials. If you purchase a vintage photograph in an old mat, remove the mat right away. Go to a reputable frame shop and have the photograph re-matted using acid-free materials. When storing photographs in boxes, folders, or sleeves, make sure all materials are acid-free. If stacking photographs in a box, layer acid-free tissue paper between each photograph. Also, exercise care when handling photographs. It is best to wear white cotton gloves to prevent the transfer of oils from your hands to the photograph. If gloves are not available, be sure to wash and thoroughly dry your hands before handling photographs.

It is also a good idea to identify your photographs. For fine art photography, record as much information as possible including the title, date, photographer, location, provenance (a record of previous owners), and any other information relevant to the work. For family photos, list the names, location, and date on the reverse of the image using a soft lead pencil. Your kids and grandkids will thank you one day.

3. Use Your Resources

When in doubt, seek the advice of an expert. Museums, galleries, and historical societies are your best resources for the proper care and storage of photographs. These people are the experts, and most are very willing to offer guidance to collectors. And if you own a photograph that has sustained damage, they can refer you to a paper conservator qualified to treat your photograph. But if you follow these guidelines, hopefully you will never find yourself in that situation!


Pam Wall
Associate Curator
Gibbes Museum of Art

TAX BREAKS FOR ART DONATIONS

RESTORATION WORK ON GIFTS OF ART: SENATE BILL TO BRING BACK INCENTIVES FOR DONATIONS

Donating art to museums could soon become attractive again for wealthy collectors.
Reacting to museums' complaints of sharp declines in art donations, a bill announced Friday by Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, could revive the practice of so-called fractional gifts by making the process easier and more tax-advantageous.
Before the 2006 Pension Protection Act, collectors were allowed a tax break when they donated a work of art incrementally, giving away a certain percentage of rights to the work each year. Pieces like the Hope Diamond, given to Washington's Smithsonian Institution, and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Annenberg Collection can be attributed to fractional giving.
View Full ImageAssociated Press

Restrictions in the act prevented donors from realizing tax benefits on the appreciation of the art's value and limited the time allotted to complete the donation to 10 years. Wealth advisers and estate lawyers soon stopped recommending the practice and "these gifts virtually dried up," said Michael Conforti, president of the Association of Art Museum Directors. Now Sen. Schumer hopes to "restore the incentive for collectors to share these works of art with the public," he said.
Among other things, the proposed change allows donors 20 years to complete the donation of the gift and lets them take a tax deduction on some of the appreciation. Here is how it would work: In the first year, if a donor who owns a $10 million painting contributes 10% to a museum, he would receive a $1 million deduction. If the donor gives another 10% the next year and the fair-market value of the artwork has increased to $12 million, the donor receives a deduction on the appreciated value, although it is limited to his 90% stake in the artwork, and thus would amount to $1.08 million.

However, if the art declines in value the same rules apply and the donor's tax break could shrink.
Critics point out that the proposed bill comes at a time when, overall, artwork is declining in value. The art market has dropped 30% so far this year and is on track to return to 2004 values, according to Mei Moses Art Indexes, which tracks 14,000 repeat-auction sales of the same works.

Other new rules require museums to report contributions on yearly tax forms and exhibit the artwork in proportion to its ownership interest over every five-year period, keeping the art from remaining in the donor's private home during the gifting period. The gift also is subject to a binding written contract, to protect against challenges by heirs after the donor's death. Donations valued at more than $1 million would require a review by the Internal Revenue Service's art advisory panel.
"This bill remedies some of the problems with respect to the current law, but it doesn't go far enough," said Neil Kawashima, a partner with McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Chicago who represents wealthy families with respect to estate and gift planning. Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who spearheaded the initial changes, said the proposed bill is already a compromise.
"Some museum officials thought Congress went too far to shut down abuse. I agreed to look at a compromise that would preserve accountability from donors and museums to taxpayers," Sen. Grassley said. "I still think partial donations of art are of questionable value to taxpayers, but museum officials and their champions feel strongly otherwise, so I'm willing to continue to listen."

By Shelly Banjo (shelly.banjo@wsj.com)/ WALL STREET JOURNAL/ AUG 8-9, 2009

ART BUYING 101

Purchasing art can be daunting with so many mediums, artists, and genres available. There is no right or wrong. When purposeful buying, the whole is the greater sum of the parts so the buyer should ask how does each piece relate to the next. Everyone can buy art and collect intelligently and passionately. With a willingness to learn, visit galleries museums, one can develop a connoisseurship that will parlay into solid investments. Applicable to all mediums, the list below is designed for the new and seasoned collector when making a decision about buying art.

● GETTING STARTED

--Buy what you like

--Set a Budget

--Develop a connoisseurship by visiting galleries and museums
--Develop a relationship with reputable dealers (gallerists, private dealers, consultants…)

--Be thorough and patient

--Think about how one piece relates to the next in your collection

● WHO IS THE ARTIST? IS THE ARTIST SIGNIFICANT?
A collector should always research the artist through literature and oral discussions with dealers, scholars, and museum curators. Typically the gallery will provide information on the artist from a plethora of resources: art reference books, gallery/museum catalogues, resumes, exhibition reviews, and art reference books like dictionaries of artists, art indexes, art or artist encyclopedias, and monographs on artists. BEWARE OF EMERGING TALENT.

● WHAT IS PROVENANCE OF THE ART WORK?
Where was the art purchased? Who owned it? What museum or gallery has exhibited the art work? Has the art work been included in publications (articles, books, magazines, etc)? If so, which ones? Did the art appear on a secondary market? If so, which ones?

● IS THE ASKING PRICE FAIR? WHAT ARE THE MARKET COMPS?
Like buying real estate, compare the art work to similar pieces on the market. Ask questions. Research values.

●THE COLLECTORS AND CURATORS
Study who is buying the artist’s work, including private collectors, corporations, and museums. Also, research which curators are taking notice of the artist and including their works in museum exhibitions and catalogues.

●GO THROUGH A REPUTABLE DEALER
There are many reasons to work with a reputable dealer, including the following:
--Dealers are held accountable for certain standards within the industry, including quality of the work and fair market values
--Dealers understand market trends
--Dealers are motion-makers of the market, driving prices and placing works in significant collections
--Dealers have immediate access to experts and curators who are resourceful in various ways—artists to watch, authentication, developing scholarship on the artist.
--Dealers have access to a variety of resources for reselling your art work if the owner wishes to place it on a secondary market.

●SIGNATURE INFORMATION
Is the art work signed? Is not, are there papers a dealer/seller can give you authenticating the work.

●CONDITION
Check the work for its condition. If you buy it in a frame, dealers will typically remove the frame, allowing the buyer to see the piece with a naked eye.

WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK AN EXPERT.

ROAD TO FREEDOM EXHIBITION

ROAD TO FREEDOM EXHIBITION:
Julian Cox organized the exhibition Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968, comprising approximately 130 images by 20 photographers, including James Karales. Road to Freedom has exhibited at the High Museum, Atlanta, as well as the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and will continue to travel to the following destinations:

Field Museum, Chicago
June 5 – September 7, 2009

Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles
November 17, 2009 – March 7, 2010

Bronx Museum, New York
March 27 – July 11, 2010

MONICA KARALES

A special note of gratitude to Monica Karales, widow of James Karales and Exectrix of the estate, for her patience to sift through thousands of photographs and archives to advance scholarship on James Karales and the Civil Rights movement. Monica has helped to develop my eye, as well as to improve my curatorial skills while extending encouragement and support. Her attention to detail and her knowledge of the James Karales collection at large is a great gift to the gallery and beyond. Most importantly, Monica's daily visits to the gallery have been a good, positive source of energy, and I am thankful for her friendship.

JAMES KARALES OF LOOK MAGAZINE

Key photographer for LOOK magazine in the 1960s, James Karales recorded the the Civil Rights Marches, creating a quintessential record of those political and humanitarian upheavals. Karales covered these tumults, not from a newsroom, but from helicopters, back seats of trucks, unheated briefing rooms, hospitals … and the kitchen tables of key politicians. Clumsy with weapons, Karales armed himself with only a camera - and a confidence visible in all his work.

In 1962 Karales met Martin Luther King and began to chronicle this multi-dimensional life: spiritual aspirant, humble father, philosopher – and ultimately, martyr for racial justice. He was one of the first photographers to enter King’s house in Atlanta. Civil Rights had become increasingly bloody. King needed to show a more “humanistic” side of himself.

As the two men sat at the kitchen table, Karales listened-and photographed-while King told his daughter Yolanda that she couldn’t go to Funtown. No “colored” were admitted. King told Karales “One of the most painful experiences I have ever faced was to see her tears when I told her Funtown was closed to colored children, for I realized the first dark cloud of inferiority had floated into her little mental sky.” The caption in the February 12, 1963 issue of LOOK reads “I told my child about the color bar.”

James Karales graduated with a BFA in photography from Ohio University in 1955. That same year, his portfolio secured him an assistantship to W. Eugene Smith, who was then printing his Pittsburgh photographs. Karales continued photographing his own projects while honing his printing skills under Smith’s tutelage. He had two big breaks in 1958 when Edward Steichen bought some of his Rendville pictures for the Museum of Modern Art and Helen Gee exhibited the Rendville photographs at the Limelight Gallery in Greenwich Village. Karales became a staff photographer at Look in 1960, and for the next eleven years traveled the world as a photojournalist. The Village Voice described Karales’ prints as having “the weight of history and the grace of art.” In 1965 Karales recorded the Selma to Montgomery March as scores of people walked for 54 miles in protest. The New York Times called his Civil Rights images, “a pictorial anthem of the civil rights movement.” When Look folded in 1971, Jim Karales went independent—and was criticized for being too modest. That trait may well be the secret appeal of his work.