What?

Just ran across this in the Detroit Free Press and www.physorg.com today:

1 in 4 Americans doesn’t know Earth circles sun

Like the article states, on the bright side three quarters of Americans realize that the Earth indeed revolves around the sun.

What does this say about the state of science education in the United States?

You can check it out here: http://www.freep.com/article/20140215/FEATURES01/302150062/1-in-4-Americans-doesn-t-know-Earth-circles-sun

Diego Rivera Mural Studies at the DIA

One of the gems at the Detroit Institute of Arts is the Diego Rivera mural. The main panels depict workers at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge Complex. The murals, painted in 1932 and 1933, were considered controversial at the time, partial due to Rivera’s Marxist views. Also, some clergy members were offended by what they perceived to be blasphemy, and petitioned to have it destroyed.

It stands today as one of the DIA’s most significant works and represents Rivera at his best.

The controversy was so great, during the Joe McCarthy years the DIA posted this disclaimer:

“Rivera’s politics and his publicity seeking are detestable. But let’s get the record straight on what he did here. He came from Mexico to Detroit, thought our mass production industries and our technology wonderful and very exciting, painted them as one of the great achievements of the twentieth century. This came after the debunking twenties when our artists and writers found nothing worthwhile in America and worst of all in America was the middle west.”

“Rivera saw and painted the significance of Detroit as a world city. If we are proud of this city’s achievements, we should be proud of these paintings and not lose our heads over what Rivera is doing in Mexico City today.”

I’m wondering where the Rivera mural will wind up if the DIA eventually closes…

To see the rest of the photos go here: http://stefanstudios84.wordpress.com/dia-rivera-mural-studies/

To learn more about the mural go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Industry_Murals

and here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103337403

DIA Deathwatch

The next step in liquidating the Detroit Institute of Arts collection was taken last week when a group of Detroit banks, bond holders and the AFSCME union filed a motion to allow independent evaluation of the collection. They stated that Kevin Orr is not acting “aggressively enough to monetize the art”. The collection is supposedly worth billions of dollars.

Back in August I posted the following on this blog.

Recently a tri-county (Oakland, Macomb and Wayne) millage was passed to keep the DIA open. That will be invalidated if the artwork is sold, wiping out $23 million in operating funds which would probably force an immediate closure. Here are a couple of quotes. The first is from L. Brooks Patterson, the Oakland County Executive:
“If Kevin Orr (Emergency Financial Manager) moves in any way to reduce the quality of the DIA’s collection, I can absolutely guarantee we will go to court to seek suspension of that tax, which was imposed to support the museum as presently constituted. We are not going to pay once some of the finest works are sold.”

The second quote is from Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel:
“Why would we continue a millage for something that no longer exists?”

We’re witnessing cultural bankruptcy and sadly, the DIA is under a real deathwatch. Get to the DIA soon, before it inevitably closes and the art is auctioned off.  

Check out the DIA here: http://www.dia.org

Winter is Coming to Detroit

Winter is coming to Detroit. I plan on producing another photo essay book entitled Broken City, Big Hearts. It will be about organizations in Detroit that help people survive, especially during the winter.
The entire essay will be shot in grainy black and white. I took these test location shots today.

 

I’ve begun shooting this month during late fall…

 

…and plan on shooting and developing the narrative throughout the winter.

Heavy shooting will take place during December, January and February where the chances for surviving in the city hits bottom.

 

 

 

DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts) Appraisal

Here’s a story that I hope doesn’t play out the way it’s trending. The first step in liquidating the Detroit Institute of Arts assets was taken by Detroit’s Emergency Financial Manager by hiring Christie’s Appraisals. Christie’s will appraise “a portion” of the DIA’s art collection and will “assist and advise” how to derive value from the 60,000 piece collection.

Recently a tri-county (Oakland, Macomb and Wayne) millage was passed to keep the DIA open. That will be invalidated if the artwork is sold, wiping out $23 million in operating funds which would probably force an immediate closure. Here are a couple of quotes. The first is from L. Brooks Patterson, the Oakland County Executive:
“If Kevin Orr (Emergency Financial Manager) moves in any way to reduce the quality of the DIA’s collection, I can absolutely guarantee we will go to court to seek suspension of that tax, which was imposed to support the museum as presently constituted. We are not going to pay once some of the finest works are sold.”

The second quote is from Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel:
“Why would we continue a millage for something that no longer exists?”

I see the end coming to the DIA. As of August 6th, Detroit Police and Fire Department lieutenants and sergeants took a ten percent pay cut including cuts in overtime and other pay. What does the average Detroiter want? Police and fire protection or to occasionally look at art? The former, I suspect.
I hope I’m wrong about the DIA, but it seems to be just another indicator of cultural decline.

The Student Loan Debacle

Is there a conspiracy to derail higher education in the United States? It seems like it. Why are student loan rates at 6.8 percent, doubling from 3.4 percent? I make it a policy not to comment on anything political, but this is insane. Society as a whole moves forward on the wheels of education. With student loan rates at 6.8 percent, for many these wheels are coming to a grinding halt and rusting.

The U.S. education system is ranked, from what I’ve read, 17th in a study of 50 countries. Finland and South Korea are number one and two. Will doubling the student loan rate elevate our ranking? Hardly. Forty percent of adults in the United States are either at or below basic reading proficiency and comprehension. In metro Detroit where I live the functional illiteracy rate is 47 percent. That’s almost half the population. With a 6.8 percent student loan rate, where will new teachers come from?

Students preparing to go to college will indeed be forced to re-evaluate their higher education dreams and goals, and we will be worse off for it.

Congress: fix this debacle. Now.