This summer , the center is hosting probably its biggest event – the annual “ 2017 Form , Not Function : Quilt Art at the Carnegie ,” an annual , juried exhibition of contemporary art quilts art from all over the country , which Pflazgraf said is one of the premiere exhibitions of contemporary art quilts in the nation .
This year , there are 284 quilts in the show , which is expected to attract about 1,500 to 2,000 visitors before it closes on Sept . 16 , 2017 .
The center , with its magnificent old building and its efforts on behalf of both history and art , is one of New Albany ’ s real treasures .
But what does this all have to do with skateboarding ?
The center has been staging an annual New Albany Public Art Project since 2010 “ to get public art into the New Albany downtown community ,” said Pfalzgraf , “ and to promote interaction with artwork and public spaces outside our museum ’ s walls .”
For the first seven years , the center would solicit local artists to create a piece of work somewhere downtown to stay up for two years as an integrated part of the city ’ s business and entertainment district .
“ When I came here two-and-a-half years ago ,” said Pfalzgraf , “ our director , Sally Newkirk , asked me to reimagine this public arts project , to see what new directions we might take it in .”
Pfalzgraf said his approach to art exhibits in general is having popular points of reference for people to engage . Thus , the comic book theme of the Pulp Art exhibit . “ Everybody relates to comic books ,” he said . “ I think it breaks down the barriers of people ’ s emotional interaction with art , which they often feel they don ’ t understand .”
For the public arts project , he was interested in playing up a physical engagement with the artwork – “ not ,” he said , “ just something you sit and view passively . Rather , something you can actually get into the middle of ; something that hits all cylinders going on in your brain .”
The cylinders in his brain were hit one day while walking around New Albany looking for ideas . “ I saw the skatepark down by the riverfront and a lightbulb went off .”
A skater growing up and the father of an avid 13-year-old skater , he knows how skateboarders – and BMXers , inline skaters , razor scooter riders , etc . – think about spaces .
“ It ’ s a creative thought process ,” he said . “ They see curves , forms , shapes of concrete differently than most people see them . They think automatically of geometric lines and how they can utilize these forms and features . It ’ s a completely three-dimensional approach : forward , backward , up , down , left , right . And they ’ re always looking for creative ways to adapt and change their bodies and the flow of their direction within the flow of their environment .”
But the current park sadly falls short of satisfying all that creativity . It ’ s 20 or more years old and ,
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