OK OK, I know….it’s been forever….I’m over my head. E-merge opened, the Moje show opened, our gallery art handlers have set up almost a dozen installations all over Portland, the factory is preparing for the next Lehr-B-Q, our house is filled with guests, visitors are arriving from around the world. Their faces fly by like gnats past my car window.

THIS is where I want to be. And what you MUST see: Kaneko’s “African Reflection” installed in the Portland Japanese Garden. Beauty. Peace. Tranquility. For someone else.

No time to blog. But others do it better anyway. I think this one takes the prize for the best Moje press I’ve read so far.

I’m interrupting my little factory tour for some late breaking NEWS: the announcement of our 2008 e-merge award winners.

You can see all the finalists with the award winners highlighted here, but to cut to the chase, the WINNERS, announced at last night’s ceremony, are…….

Gold: Sabine Rosenberger, Germany, “Stealth B2″

Silver: Ruth Gowell, USA, “Optical Vase”

Bronze: Essi Utriainen, Finland (studying in Germany) “Idyll 2″

Academic Award: Sarah Vaughan/Southern Illinois University, USA, “Moment of Choice”

Kilncaster Award: Shane Caryl, USA, “Bernini’s Batman”

Newcomer Award: Saman Kalantari, Iranian (studying in Italy) “He Has Come Back”

Popular Prize: Heather Palmer, USA, “Black Coral”

The awards ceremony was attended by a crowd that exceeded both my expectations and my counting abilities. I’m sure that next week Mary Kay’s amazing administrative team will have it all tallied and reported upon. In the meantime, I am simply in awe of all involved: entrants (including the MANY incredible works that did not get into the finals); jurors (whose job was Herculean!); our team of admin & IT people (above and beyond as ever); and especially the remarkable audience of participants and their fans who came from around the world to celebrate this great event with us.

THANK YOU all….you are The Best!

Just about 6 weeks left until GAS arrives in Portland. The dull roar no longer seems so distant. What’s up?

E-merge (May 5 – July 25) has been installed and enjoyed its quiet launch yesterday. Live jurying and the awards reception (May 17) are still ahead, but it’s up, looks great and was visited yesterday by almost 100 docents from the Portland Art Museum, many voting for the Popular Prize.
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We’ve all gotten them: the phone call that starts “I’ve got some bad news. You might want to sit down.”

I got one of those yesterday. It was the Exec Director of GAS.

“We just lost our keynote speaker for the conference. His business went under.”

Looking “Stealth” in the face. Geoff & Jeff install e-merge.

OK. First of all, I heard the sound of my heart cracking. I loved NAU. They were a business that was about more than just business. They had a new vision. Of community, of giving back, of good design married to sustainability.

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