Should MCAD Have a Library Cat?

Enough with the “Cat-alog” jokes, already . . .

This idea isn’t as off-the-wall as it might sound at first.  The Library Cat Society maintains a listing of hundreds of libraries around the world with resident felines (you can see their map here).

The video documentary “Puss in Books:  Adventures of the Library Cat,” along with its companion book Dewey / The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, chronicles the life and exploits of the late Dewey Readmore, famed feline bibliophile of the Spencer Public Library in Iowa.

http://www.spencerlibrary.com/dewey.shtml 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1141182/Puss-books-How-cat-transformed-town.html 

Here at MCAD, students who are lonesome for their own beloved companion animals waiting for them back home might benefit emotionally from spending a few quality moments with a Library Cat. Before his untimely demise last year, long-time neighborhood resident Yo Yo Meow used to warm many MCADian hearts with his frequent, friendly visits. On evenings when classes were due to wrap up, Yo Yo Meow would hang out by the gallery doors, greeting students and asking them to slow down for a minute, receiving affectionate pets in return.  Also, truth be told, the MCAD Library has from time to time experienced “mouse problems,” which a resident cat could help to alleviate.

Most MCAD Library staffers are "cat people"

On the other hand, most libraries with resident cats are smaller public libraries with limited hours, rather than busy academic libraries with extended hours.  Some people have allergies triggered by pet dander; and other unfortunate souls are ailurophobic (literally “scared of cats”), a psychological condition that goes way beyond just “being generally annoyed by cats.” From time to time, even normally well-behaved companion animals experience stress-related issues (don’t we all?), and might as a consequence sometimes act in a less than sociable manner.  Which, inevitably, raises the question of which staff member would get to be custodian of -- and assume responsibility for -- the Library Cat’s (ahem) litter box?  

In the end, perhaps it’s a good thing that the decision is out of our hands:  College policy forbids keeping animals on campus.

Allan Kohl
Visual Resources Librarian

It's time for the Library's annual book sale!

The Library book sale will be held this Wednesday & Thursday, Nov. 10-11 from 8:30am to10pm in the Library.  The first day is reserved for current students who pay just 1/2 price!  As usual there will be a variety of books and magazines on art and literature plus this year VHS tapes and vinyl LPs.
New this year we're holding a drawing for a lovely art book: Hiroshige's 100 views of Edo.  To win you must be a follower of the Library's Facebook page.  No purchase required!  See you at the sale!

Luis Fitch of Uno Branding lectures @ MCAD 11/1

Luis Fitch, creative director and founder of Uno Branding will speak this evening (11/1) in auditorium 150 @ 6:30 pm. View his presentation at the AIGA business and design conference in 2008 about Uno's branding projects.  See more of Uno's work at http://unoonline.com/

Elliott Erwitt at Weinstein Gallery

Meet a former president of Magnum, a fabulous photographer of those absurd and poignant moments that zip past us.  He is one of the most iconic photographers of the last 60 years and he will be here at the Weinstein Gallery tonight Oct 29th from 6-8:30pm. The show is up until January 9th.

Elliott Erwitt was born in Paris in 1928 but has lived in many locations including Italy, Los Angeles, Germany, France and mostly New York. He studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College and at the New School for Social Research in New York before working for the US Army as a photographer.  After he met and was mentored by Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker he was invited to join Magnum Photos agency and went on to be their president for 3 terms.

He has worked as a freelance photographer for many magazines and done advertising and industrial photography as well as producing 20 books.  He also has made documentary films and comedy programs for Home Box Office.

You can see examples of his work at his website and at Magnum Photos. Take a look at these images and you will realize how many you recognize because they have been routinely published over the years.  They are so beautiful, funny or moving that they are very memorable. You will be glad to have seen them.

Eva Hyvarinen
Visual Resources Assistant
Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Lecture by photographer James Welling Oct. 14

Don't miss photographer James Welling's lecture this Thursday at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It will be held in the Pillsbury Auditorium from 6-7 pm. and it is FREE to MCAD students with an I.D.

And do stop by the Library and have a look at some of the books in the collection on Welling's work. They're now on display in the main reading room.

John Tenniel's Civil War Cartoons

Editorial cartoons and satirical drawings by English artist John Tenniel, famed as the original illustrator of Lewis Carroll"s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, will be the subject of a talk given by Allan Kohl, MCAD's Visual Resources Librarian, at the October meeting of the St. Croix Valley Civil War Roundtable on Monday, October 25, at the Lowell Inn in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Tenniel's cartoons offer an unusual look at the events and personalities of the Civil War from a European perspective.  As the principal cartoonist for the venerable British periodical Punch, Tenniel reflected the political views of that periodical's Tory (Conservative) readership.  These views are evident in his pro-Southern spin on events, and especially in his viciously negative portrayals of the American President, Abraham Lincoln. 

Kohl is particularly interested in the interaction of “high art” and popular visual culture –- including materials such as theatrical posters, political cartoons, sheet music covers, currency, and even advertising -- during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many of the illustrators and designers who created these early examples of “mass publications” began their careers as traditionally-trained artists, and freely appropriated compositions, figure poses, and gestures from “high art” sources such as classical statuary, or narrative and genre paintings.  Kohl’s three-year study of Tenniel’s cartoons commenting on the Civil war resulted in his web publication John Tenniel and the American Civil War:  Political Cartoons from Punch, 1860-1865.  

The St. Croix Valley Civil War Roundtable meets on the fourth Monday of each month at the historic Lowell Inn, located at 102 N. 2nd St. in Stillwater, MN.  Social hour is at 5:00 PM, with dinner at 6:00 PM and program at 7:00 PM.

Four generations of Yoshida Family artists

Did you know that Ayomi Yoshida whose installation, Reverberation, now in the MCAD Gallery was born into a dynasty of famous Japanese printmakers?  For more than a century the Yoshia family has created work wedding traditional and modern artistic practices.

To find out more about their body of work take a look at the book A Japanese  Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists in the Library's collection (N 7359.Y67 A4 2002).  This beautifully illustrated exhibition catalog produced by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which includes essays by Matthew Welch, curator of Japanese art at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and others, "provides new insights into each artist as well as a broad view of major issues confronting Japanese art in the late 19th and 20th century. The unique perspective of a single family also offers a rare opportunity to examine how family ties impact artistic creation."

The Library also has the catalog for Yeodensis, Ayomi Yoshida's installation at Northern Illinois University in 2008 (Pamphlet N 7359.Y674 A4 2008)

Enjoy Reverberation now in the MCAD gallery!

Kay Streng
Technical Services Librarian