Art Update 12/1/11

                               New York's Public Architecture gets a Face Lift

     New York has a lot of poor, woking-class neighborhoods that have not received federal or state civic improvement dollars. With help from Skolick Architecture & Design Partnership, the city is regaining its shape after years of neglect. A new library has just been constructed and readers love it. The library is now double in size and offers places for toddlers and elderly alike, and even retailers including Starbucks. They have rooms set aside with computers and even recording studios.
    People say that it's the little things that make something look nice. Building designs shape the way we live and determine the lifestyles we accustomed to. Decades ago the city considered good design very expensive and did not see it as a priority, as long as they were able to get by. Now, architectural design is seen as a way to help cheer up residents in the city.
    Another example of architectural improvement in NY City is the Battery Park City Authority is putting in $50 million community center in one of the real-estate development project. The Asphault green space will have a 25-yard lap pool, fitness facilities music classes, cooking classes, and early childhood programs. The neighborhood suffered a setback after sept. 11 2001 but since then added an additional nine residential towers. For more information on this new development please go to

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020401200477070402037187854.html?mod=WSJ_NY_RealEstate_LEFTTopStories.

Art Analysis - The Grinder

The Grinder - Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera was one of Mexico's most important painters and a big artist of the twentieth century. He was born in 1886 in Guanajuato.  This painting is  called The Grinder is now in El Museo De Arte Moderno, INBA, in Mexico City. She is working hard and shows how now a days women aren't as hardworking as before. In this decade woman are used to being more lazy and having what they want at hand. Before this century happened women would be as hardworking as men and make food from scratch like tortillas and bread daily. The women in the picture looks tired and as if she could use a break but she had to do this in order to fulfill her obligations as a women feeding her family.

Art Analysis - Writing to Father, Eastman Johnson

     Eastman Johnson was born in Lovell, Maine. He was the last of eight children. His father owned several businesses. He did an oil painting on a canvas called Writing to Father.  It is a picture about a boy sitting on a chair with the light hitting him from the window while he is leaned over writing a letter to his father. The back round is dark and looks as though it is from the 1900's. 

    The furniture looks classic as though it is a dark room. He seems very alone and concentrated on what he is writing on the paper. He has blonde hair slicked back and he has a serious face expression. The clothes that he is wearing is a dark green jacket with slick jeans. All of these elements show the heartbreak and sadness that he feels from being away from his father. He is probably thinking if he is okay, when he will come back, where is he, and why did he leave. It shows that is it always better for children to be close to their parents and to have that adult model, someone that they can watch and learn from. Even more younger children because they are likely to learn and absorb information around them.