Armed with letters from the Mayor of Woodstock and the Director of the Woodstock Artists Association, plus my numerous TV shows, blogs, etc. I applied for Press Credentials for the 55th Venice Biennale. Yesterday via e mail I was notified that the necessary credentials had been granted to me. I am now qualified to attend all press events, interview anyone at the Biennale who consents, and most importantly gain access to the exhibition during the preview period, May 29 - 31. I am very proud and happy about this achievement.
My class at New Paltz winds down with class number 7 this week (on Rome), and 8 and final one the week later (on Campania). It has been fun, and I will miss it. Not sure of my continuing ed ventures as I may be teaching mathematics next fall, and my stamina could be in question if I decide to do both types of teaching.
Friday's show was a success although new problems with the broadcast were discovered by my engineer. Hard to believe there are actually new problems we have yet to encounter always waiting in the wings. This time the mouse was not functioning which precluded Ellen's ability to use the Tricaster. In retrospect the Focus System, the alternative, worked fine, and she did the usual masterful job, except for a blank free screen during the first 5 seconds of the broadcast. I felt quite comfortable, however, felt rushed since I was scheduled to attend a gallery opening in Rhinebeck right after the show, which incidentally I made on time. I conceived this production many months ago as I was rummaging through our extensive photos and realized there are arches all over Italy. I placed the images in order first talking about well-known arches all over the world, then a history of them going back to the Etruscans, following the progress through Ancient Rome, and then just meandering through many of the places we have visited over the years showing my favorite and most beautiful. Next week I start a two week tour of gardens starting with the Boboli and continuing around the country, but focussing only on the ones I have personally visited. I will also give a tour of the great Pitti Palace which fronts the Boboli Gardens. Those last two shows will be it until June as we will then be off on the next trip.
Meanwhile I opened my other blog which charts my day to day travel experiences, and really should make for an interesting read, finding out what is happening as the trip unfolds. I penned the introduction which describes generally what the trip will look like. The first entry en-route will not occur until May 21 at the earliest. Just go to the Activities Page on my website and follow link to Travels in Italy. We have extensive plans for the trip including the 2 interviews at the synagogues of Florence and Venice, interview with artists and political figures, new places to visit such as Ravenna, Padua, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Pistoia, among others, cooking demos on Orvieto and Florence, dinner at Lidia's family house (I hope they let me do a show on that meal experience). We will cover the Venice Biennale extensively at their main area of Arsenale and Giardini as well as many of the Collateral Events such as Laura Gurton's work at the Palazzo Bembo. For that Palazzo Bembo I hope to interview the organizers of that exhibition, and yet have time to kick back somewhat and relax to do my usual enjoying of Italy.
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