The Meadow View Playground at Junipero Serra Park is closed until further notice while repairs and updates are made including replacement of the two big slides The date of the reopening of the playground will be announced once a final date for installation has been determined The playground near the De Anza Picnic Area is open for use San Mateo County Parks will perform a 1-day herbicide treatment of invasive Eucalyptus and coyote brush stumps from trees and vegetation removed from the Meadow View Playground This treatment is to control regrowth of these stumps which could cause future hazards within the playground This herbicide treatment will be a direct application and the herbicide will be applied directly to the stem of the stumps only Learn more about the San Mateo County Integrated Pest Management Program Plans to renovate for Junipero Serra Park's Iris Point youth day camp are in development remains closed for visitor safety between trail markers 1 and 9 Pine Trail is partially obstructed by a small slide on the trail Read today's Portuguese stories delivered to your email A group of eight people and a dog were rescued on 3 May after having "accidentally fallen into a stream while walking along Trail 14" "Unable to get out on their own, the group members needed specialised assistance. The rescue operation was carried out efficiently, allowing everyone involved to be safely removed, without the need for medical care", reads a post by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority The Beiras and Serra da Estrela Sub-regional Command received the alert at 5:06 p.m and stated that "a prompt response on the ground was essential to avoid more serious consequences considering the steep and slippery nature of the area where the incident occurred" The rescue operation involved 13 operatives, supported by five vehicles, from the Covilhã, Manteigas, and São Romão Fire Department, the Special Civil Protection Forc,e and the GNR-UEPS Mountain Group We appreciate that not everyone can afford to pay for our services but if you are able to we ask you to support The Portugal News by making a contribution – no matter how small You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time Send us your comments or opinion on this article Reaching over 400,000 people a week with news about Portugal 2025Parade aims to feature only the best products and services Parade aims to feature only the best products and services except the top on this one doesn’t have a collar like the other two It’s an orangey-coral color (not so much red) and it’s solid with no patterns It has a chest pocket and drawstring on the bottoms just like the other two It costs $148 at Bare Necessities and it has the same style or design as the Serra PJs This set is made up of shorts and a button-down seersucker material is more visible on this set and it’s made of 100% cotton While it doesn’t have a nautical theme like two of Aldi’s PJs do it comes in a “Coastal Stripe” pattern which consists of thick pastel blue They’re made of 100% cotton with a seersucker fabric throughout and come in three solid colors: Blue Windsurfer (light blue) It’s a new set and has shorts with a short-sleeve including a “Peak Blue Stripe” which has thin vertical blue and white stripes though it’s still called an “ultralight seersucker blend."As you can see seersucker PJs are apparently a hot commodity for spring and summer With Aldi’s prices and the styles offered their Serra Seersucker Pajama Sets are worth checking out.Up Next: © 2025 Slippery Rock University Athletics Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is “trying to reconcile” with wife Cristina Serra with the shock reason for their initial split being revealed Cy Kellett and apologist Tim Staples sit down with rising Catholic creator Adrian Lawson from Sips with Serra Adrian shares how Tim played a key role in his conversion to the Catholic Church—and how he’s now helping lead the next generation to the faith through online evangelization Thank you for clearing up how to say the name My father is a longtime member of the Sarah Club people always think it’s the Sierra Club You yourself are a convert to the Catholic faith Coming up this Easter will be one year since I have been a confirmed Catholic How did that happen that you came into the Catholic Church it’s quite a long story with some false starts and some runaround which is kind of the tradition I grew up in started to learn about the early church and realized they have some beliefs that really don’t line up with what my church is teaching particularly about the Eucharist and Baptism And that led me to look into more traditional forms of Christianity Catholicism was obviously high on that list The Catholics are pagans or Catholics are idol worshipers or what kind of thing You won’t really be a real Christian those same family members have now come around a little bit more to Catholicism Not in the sense that they’re going to convert but in the sense that they’re more accepting Cy: You don’t know We can hope life is long so after spending two years in the Lutheran tradition I just kept feeling this tug towards Catholicism And a lot of it had to do with some of the work you guys are doing I was reading *Behold Your Mother* at that time I talked about this recently on another channel but I read a couple of chapters of that book Everything the church says about Mary is probably true I’m so convinced because it was just so well reasoned Whereas before I thought they just made this stuff up They don’t know what they’re talking about And then just seeing how well reasoned just the first few chapters were this stuff is actually pretty well founded Very well founded in scripture and in the early church So from there it was just a matter of time until I became a Catholic You’re posting all the time there on YouTube So tell us about what you do there and how that came about So what I do there is just Catholic apologetics but I generally just talk about topics that are interesting to me topics that are commonly misunderstood about Catholicism And really the way this started was I was actually on TikTok a couple of years before I became a Catholic and I was actually doing Protestant apologetics on that channel or on that TikTok account I took some time off of TikTok because I thought maybe I should just keep my mouth shut if I’m not really sure what I believe at this moment Came back to TikTok after becoming a Catholic or soon before I became confirmed a lot of these topics need to be kind of fleshed out in more detail in longer form videos So I brought it over to YouTube and saw pretty quick success with it So I’ve been dedicating basically all of my time into it now Is it Catholics or people who are considering the Catholic Church Adrian: I get a lot of converts and a lot of people who are currently in OCIA on their way into the church just last night I was talking to one of the guys who’s a big supporter of the channel but was not really comfortable with Protestantism because he felt like something was missing there So a lot of the people that I’ve encountered through the channel have that same story what kind of topics are you working on now any given week I’ll be covering a couple of different subjects Lately I’ve been getting into the authority of the church which is one of the main things that attracted me to the Catholic Church at first because I was in a Lutheran church and I had bounced around a couple of different Lutheran churches because some of them were just not very faithful Some of them were doing basically open communion which even Lutheranism is just not cool with And I just felt like if there was a church authority that could just If you want to continue to be a valid church that type of authority makes a lot of sense So just seeing the practical benefits of having a church structure the way that the Catholic Church has really made that a much stronger case to me Cy: Would you like to be Tim Staples someday learn all that he has learned and make a profession out of it Cy: But is that something that’s of interest to you would you like to pursue this as a professional path Not to like make a whole sob story or whatever because you do hear this side from converts The authority of the church is really the linchpin for so many folks I can remember getting to the point where I saw it and it was like But I had so many other questions that I just couldn’t buy it yet And so I had to deal then with the individual issues works and sacraments and Mary and the rest and Mary were like the first three things that I came to accept And then from there I accepted the church’s authority And I think the last thing that clicked for me was the papacy itself that was not the same exact trajectory as you And a lot of product making holding it all together So people your age have been through a lot You were little kids when the World Trade Center a kind of the rise of the social media world all of that is what your generation went through What do they need to come to Christ and to his church I think a lot of what people my age are fed up with nowadays is the age of or the philosophy of relativism that we kind of grew up in And we’ve seen how that’s resulted in a lot of different strange things happening in society today But I think a lot of people my age are kind of tired of that and they’re looking for what is something solid I can stand on what is something solid I can base my life off of rather than just living in this kind of vacuum of purposelessness where there’s no sense of objective truth I think people are looking for something that is opposite of what they grew up with and that’s obviously very easily found in the Catholic Church Cy: What a beautiful answer and what a beautiful work you’ve undertaken We’re really grateful that you took the time with us I’ll be asking if you finished my book BY CHRISTIAN ASTRAN | January 14 I have realized that our responses have not been adequate while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare I could not help but think of this passage from Pope Francis in Laudate Deum as I was fleeing the Palisades Fire on the evening of January 7th, 2025. While I live in Palm Springs, CA, I happened to be in Malibu, CA, on that day with other representatives from ministries across the Jesuits West Province and beyond at Serra Retreat for a gathering on — ironically — ecology and justice I thought of the call of Pope Francis to care for our common home and now of the resounding cries of the thousands of people made homeless in my own home of Southern California The thought that I kept coming back to over and over again as I watched these fires rage and spread for over a week was a simple and profound one: this suffering will not end here this is going to happen again and next time it will be even worse.  Ministers and educators gathered by Jesuits West at Serra Retreat in Malibu look on to the growing wildfire that eventually led to their evacuation The first time I fled wildfire was due to the Klamathon Fire in Hornbrook I watched several places along the Klamath River Basin that I had grown up with burn to the ground I watched places that I have grown to love and cherish in Los Angeles burn to the ground I have seen friends become homeless and some of my former students lose everything and other natural events will only get worse as we move further into the unfolding climate crisis On a recent Zoom call that invited us to share how we were processing the events of the Los Angeles wildfires I could only offer the word “surrender.”  Panoramic photo of the smoke from the wildfire in Malibu The “surrender” I am feeling is not one of inaction and hopelessness. Rather, it is one of acceptance of the painful realization that my home has passed the breaking point that Pope Francis describes in Laudate Deum It is an acceptance that more breaking points are coming sooner rather than later in all parts of our common home; an acceptance that these tragedies are completely of our own making and that no amount of privilege can shelter us from the impacts of it The burning of mansions and trailer parks in the Palisades Fire effectively illustrates that point to the world.  “If you keep in mind an awareness of your ultimate purpose If you are properly ‘indifferent,’ that is free of disordered attachments to created things your freedom and sense of purpose will provide clear direction for your leadership” (p we must discern the following: What do I need to surrender and become free of in order to help heal my relationship with our common home How can I symbolically “go forth and set the world on fire” without actually setting the world on fire?  Wildfire rages as the author is evacuated from Serra Retreat It means we are free to face the new reality resulting from our disordered way of relating with God’s creation The experience of seeing my home state of California burn and of seeing those who I care for lose everything has only invited me deeper into this state of surrender and indifference to old ways of trying to dominate the natural world I invite you also to surrender those ideas of domination and comfort that keep us all from accepting the true cost of the climate crisis—our shared way of life in the United States.  So next time we exhort one another to “go forth and set the world on fire,” are we prepared to model the true cost of that invitation as we see the world literally burning around us Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) is a national social justice network inspired by the spirituality of St ISN was founded in 2004 and is a lay-led 501(c)3 organization working in partnership with Jesuit universities along with many other Catholic institutions and social justice partners Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. A few days after the opening of his new exhibit Rolled and Forged at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea last month Richard Serra took time off from his busy schedule to walk Rail Publisher Phong Bui through the new work and sit down to discuss his life and work Rail (Phong Bui): I was expecting to see more of the large curvilinear pieces where I’d get Richard Serra: This new body of work is not that All the sculptures are based on measuring yourself against a horizontal or planar elevation more or less on eye level Repetitions deals with different heights in a relational movement to an open field and the relationship between these differing elevations The space is defined by your movement through a complex of sixteen elements is composed of six equal blocks of forged steel which are rotated to achieve a condition that makes it difficult to ascertain their sameness the big “Round.” It has a diameter of 84” and weighs 50 tons I set it on a slope in the smallest room of the gallery to be able to see it from above eye level and below There is also a room installation titled No Relief which consists of two sixty foot long six inch thick horizontal slabs flush to the wall on opposite sides of a narrow room They compress the elongated space into a continuum that is slightly destabilizing due to the shift in elevations Rail: Let’s talk a bit about your early years when you were a student a Yale How did you manage to respond to Albers’ teaching logically organized while making paintings under the influence of de Kooning and Pollock During the summer of 1963 he was in the process of putting together his book The Interaction of Color he asked me and a few other students to proof the book with him at Yale University Press You would think that the regimentation coming out of the Bauhaus was very rigorous but Albers’ design course was very experimental You were asked to work out a specific problem for instance figure-ground relationships: how to place lines or dots on paper or other various surfaces; to consider shape You were asked to use materials as light as leaves and as heavy as concrete in relation to specific procedures because you had to deal with a given material in relation to a singular procedure to produce a maximum yield of solutions We had to find ways to enable form to distinguish itself from matter What I came to realize is that matter imposes its own form on form Working your way through a problem with a specific material is not theoretical For me the choice of material is subjective and accounts for one’s sensibility and intuition Albers’ approach to color was not mechanistic but very playful Amongst many other things you learned that the same colors appear different on different grounds or the reverse Albers would even go so far as to assert that colors appeared to be either wet or dry Albers was experimenting by painting on two sides of a glass pane He was constantly investigating the characteristics of different materials and part of his teaching was to encourage just that As far as my student paintings are concerned let’s just say they reiterated the decade that came before My education at Yale was a totally new experience for me I had been an English Literature major as an undergraduate at the University of California in Santa Barbara I sent drawings to Yale as my graduate application It was after I arrived at Yale that I had to learn what it meant to be a painter While trying to get an education as a painter I continued to draw—drawing has always been the key to understanding hand-eye coordination for me and it always was and is a catalyst for all kinds of referencing Rail: You then went to Paris on a traveling grant in 1964 Yale gives one rotating traveling fellowship every year for different disciplines I received one for painting and went to Paris that year I spent a lot of time in Brancusi’s studio at the old Musée d’Art Moderne where you could still sense the aura of the sculptor’s original studio The same with Giacometti: I watched him coming into La Coupole many nights with paint stuck to his hands he too carried the aura of the studio with him More than any other artist he was defined by his working process in the studio The following year I received a Fulbright to study in Italy I dropped painting and started working with stuffed and live animals which led to my first one-man show in Rome at the Galleria La Salita Arte Povera hadn’t really coalesced as a movement—I’m not saying I was responsible for it Kounellis was showing live horses in a gallery What was the teaching experience like for you Serra: I thought if I could teach at as many places as possible simultaneously I could make enough money in one year so I wouldn’t have to teach the following year Sophie Tauber’s School of Fashion Design and Queens College At Queens I taught a design course that dealt with figure-ground and use of materials in the Albers tradition It was there that I got to know Robert Pincus-Witten Rail: He wrote about your teaching in reference to your early work I’d seen and been aware of the work of Oldenburg but after having seen Flavin’s show at the Kornblee Gallery in 1966 I gave up teaching altogether and decided to just focus on my work Rail: How did you get to know Dick Bellamy Serra: While I was in Europe I went to the Venice Biennale in 1966 and it was there that I met Dick on a vaporetto He had heard about the animal show in Rome and asked me to look him up when I returned to New York He became the first witness of my experimentations with rubber and lead and later my first dealer Rail: What was the impetus behind departing from metal and lead into steel Serra: I’d worked in steel mills as a kid and when I was in college—I worked there every summer to make some extra money—so I understood the potential of steel After I had worked through the rubber pieces and the lead pieces the involvement with steel came quite naturally I didn’t use steel as a surrogate for painterly collage like Picasso and his successors I came to steel with the knowledge of its potential for construction That knowledge gave me an advantage in terms of making sculpture although I wasn’t interested in sculpture per se I was more interested in exploring different ways of constructing and principles of tectonics on a very basic level If you put a weight overhead how do you support weight underneath and balance were my primary concerns at that time Rail: You said that your early work was informed by dance performance whose Happenings also dealt with the gravitational force of the gesture as well as extended it into a dance or a performance plus the Viennese Actionists like Gunter Brüs Serra: I think Kaprow was reformulating Duchamp in terms of everyday experience Kaprow’s idea served a very useful purpose in opening up the context away from the object concerns of Duchamp into the field implied by Pollock I was aware of the Viennese Actionists in the early 1960s cultural psychoanalytic approach and the ecstasy that was involved with the making of the work which I’m sure were undeniably real for them I can go back to their work time after time to either reconfirm something that I already know or to be startled by something that I thought I knew but didn’t Their work becomes a reliable resource for me and the source of a continual dialogue Serra: Why not make distinctions between high and low art Nowadays some people think a cat on the street is as interesting as the Sistine Chapel; it’s just simply not true—we all make distinctions every day It is clear that the context into which you’re born has a lot to do with how you understand the field you’ve entered into and the context in which you exist and how you understand what has come before you Rail: It even gets shorter when you’re trying to accomplish what you want out of life Serra: You’d like to leave a body of work that you hope will empower people to strive for the same accomplishments that artists were able to achieve who came before you at Titian’s and Goya’s incredible and broad body of work; not only did they continually reinvent themselves they also managed to dig deep into the emotional depth of their lives and bare it naked on their canvases which timelessly and psychologically affects us all throughout the ages Rail: What are your insights looking back now to the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s Serra: There was a group of us downtown who were trying to find ways to sustain our living and working situation I started a small moving company called Low Rate Movers It was a good job because none of us would work more than two or three days a week so we had the remaining days to do our own work Eventually I was introduced to the dance world At that time Yvonne Rainer and the group around the Judson Church were of primary importance to me because they were experimenting with movement in time and space in relation to matter and materials They were the catalyst for what became the Process Movement I lived with the performance artist Joan Jonas at the time we traveled to Japan together and the experience of the Zen Gardens was important for both of our work Everybody hung out at Max’s Kansas City; you could go there at any given night and see a mix of different people from Waylon Jennings There was an exchange of ideas that weren’t presumptive or prescriptive or hierarchical There was a great energy behind the anti-war movement Artists were not only interested in making work in the studio but were expressing themselves socially As far as the small art world was concerned He was more interested in fostering new ways of thought in relation to what could be made If you were in Max’s and someone came in and said they had just sold out a show too bad.” Because it meant that the buyers understood the work and that meant that it couldn’t be very radical Many things have changed and there is a big market out there now “The biggest thing that happened in the history of 20th Century sculpture occurred when the pedestal was removed.” One needs not refer to Buchloh’s pointing out the first ready-made of Duchamp and the first construction of Tatlin as pivotal examples for initiating this radical change But I also feel of equal importance was the visceral intelligence the nonlinear thinking of artists who are receptive to the pertinent issues or innovative dialogues of their time about the consequences of moving sculpture off its pedestal Traditional sculpture on a pedestal either depicts a person so there is always an allegiance to the theme of the representation it’s in the same behavioral space as the viewer walking around it in terms of how you experience the sculpture in relation to the context and the field and your bodily movement the only comparison that can be made in terms of the three-dimensional world Giacometti’s Woman With Her Throat Cut anticipated the move of sculpture to the floor but as a general concept it didn’t take hold until the late ‘60s As to whether artists are conscious of their inventions because art making is not a program but rather a process of self-discovery Rail: So what do you think of the found object Serra: My problem with the found object is that even though it immediately transformed the field of possibilities I always thought it didn’t lead to a great deal of invention That said it is also undeniable that Duchamp’s readymade is considered one of the most important contributions to twentieth century art It called into question any agreed upon criterion for artistic production Duchamp’s ready-made was an attempt to transcend mass production by placing a mass produced object in isolation and conferring upon it the special status of a fetish In its isolation the object was non relational The problem of the readymade is that it eliminates critical subjectivities by substituting the art of making for the art of selection It is a mere transposition of an object into an art object by display Much of contemporary art has been animated by Duchamp Today the endless re-iteration of the ready-made dominates the market and accounts for a lot of insipid surrealism There’s an offshoot of surrealism now that seems to have extracted it’s way out of and from Pop Art where there are too many impersonal iconographies thrown in sometimes too artificially Serra: I think the great thing about Warhol was his cynical critical banality of conversing with the media Warhol’s provocation is lost now and has been replaced by a superficial simulation of banality; that is banality for banality’s sake where everybody’s in on the meta-joke Only the meta-joke of art about art can become tiresome real quick Cynicism has been replaced with sentimentality The problem with a lot of work today is its predictability Its only allusion is to something we already know; it reframes or re-references the known over and over again It can’t possibly give us the same kind of inventive diversity and fulfillment and complex evolution of the formal language of art that invention can provide I find it interesting that there’s no post-modernism that doesn’t deal with re-representation That’s because art students spend more time in Chelsea openings than they do in the museum—like the way our culture gets confused between information and knowledge But to get back to the issue of formal language I thought it was interesting that Hoffman thought of the new plastic language being sculptural form flattened out; we know he was thinking that in relationship to Picasso Serra: Most sculpture in the twentieth century beginning with Gonzalez and Picasso through Calder and David Smith and Judd seems to originate in painting Painting remains the primary planar reference for three dimensional configurations into the second half of the twentieth century whether the work was achieved by cutting or welding or unfolding things in space or by the painterly surfaces of sculptural objects Gravitational load-bearing was barely dealt with; the work had little tectonic rationale Rail: But there was common understanding by the late 1940’s that the invention of collage gave birth to new-construction sculpture It makes sense because the space is there to be shaped therefore the preferred materials are industrial kinds like iron so I can relate to what you’re saying about Smith’s Calder’s or even Di Suvero’s work as three-dimensional interpretations of paintings Serra: Even Judd who defined the specific object is still involved with the plane and the surface I am only saying that his challenge is painting Rail: When you mention the tectonic for sculpture as you had often criticized that most architects are not concerned with space but rather with the skin and the surface regardless of their having to deal with the internal functions such as plumbing of their buildings it made me think of Kenneth Frampton being one of the few architectural historians/critics who claims tectonic for architecture which I find very interesting because while both architecture and sculpture have common ground in the tectonic they also share a fundamental principle in engineered construction Frampton’s theory of tectonics coincides with how I think He makes tectonics a qualitative criterion for judging and critiquing architecture and to measure invention and form To be interested in form is where ornament falls apart I had to give a talk recently on Bill Rubin at MoMA and I happened upon a statement where he says that he found Picasso’s guitar of 1912 more influential in the history of sculpture than the Demoiselles d’Avignon in the history of painting The Guitar does away with modeling and casting in spite of the fact that Picasso’s guitar bracketed those processes as being history Similarly you can ask whether portraiture is still interesting as a convention But that is not to say that artists have not done interesting portraits since Picasso Rail: But let’s shift the subject a little further to what we were talking about before you were supposed to work with Robert Venturi in the plaza between the White House and the US Treasury Building which never happened because it was suggested that you adjust your thinking to Venturi which basically leads to you resigning from the whole project Serra: I was given a commission and Venturi usurped the project He presented me with a proposal that he wanted me to incorporate into my thinking He wanted to put stars and stripes on two pylons to frame the treasury building I found the idea so banal and obsequious and the patriotism of the gesture so unsubtle that it ended the commission for me Rail: Too bad that he didn’t submit his thinking to yours because Phillip Johnson did just that for Rothko When Rothko was commissioned by the de Menils to do the chapel in 1964 the initial design or plan was of a square configuration which was part of his master plan he had devised for the university but Rothko wanted the chapel to be an octagon and he went as far as stating in his winning appeal to the De Menils that he had spoken with Meyer Schapiro and was told by the esteemed art historian that indeed such an octagonal plan had been used in Christian times The reason I bring it up is because you’ve been extremely vocal and critical of contemporary architects in the last several decades who think they are artists Serra: The fact is that architects have power and leverage with their clients; often they try to intercede when commissions are given to artists claiming that they are artists themselves and can provide not only the building but the art to decorate it as well I think the great thing about art is that it may have a function in terms of empowering people or endowing people’s sensibilities Serra: There are certain conditions that are a given and that you can rely on Sculptural form must necessarily confront gravity The problem for me is to address within a work circulation or movement that is outside of all representation; that is to make movement itself the subject which generates or constitutes the work My development has been up to this point fairly logical and sequential But it’s crucial for me to pay attention to how the work develops and maintain a critical and fresh dialogue with what it is that I’m doing and what I’m intending to do to make the most radical breaks each time out Rail: Your process of discovery as far as how the Torqued Ellipses came to being reminded me of David Rabinowitz’s early works what I recall is that David made some early wooden horizontal constructions that formed a transition between a square and a circle The Torqued Ellipses are based on a totally different concept in that their radius doesn’t change as they rise in elevation You have to imagine an oval void on the floor and the same oval void at the height of twelve or fourteen feet overhead turned at a ninety degree angle in relation to the oval on the floor The steel skin is wrapped around these two voids The space of a torqued ellipse that is created in wrapping two voids that are turned in relation to each other does not exist in the history of sculpture nor does it exist in the history of architecture On the other hand a lot of things have been done with hyperbolic curves in fact if you look at any mathematical program that you can find on any computer The way we built these pieces was to roll the form first and inscribe the bending lines later Math or computer programs will not lead you to a torqued ellipse I remember visiting Borromini’s Church San Carlo in Rome; I thought I was looking at a classical oval on floor and ceiling I wrongly thought that the oval of the ceiling was turned at an angle to the oval of the floor I subsequently became very interested in my misinterpretation I explained the configuration to an engineer who was working for Frank Gehry at the time I asked him whether if I have an oval on the ground and an oval at a right angle to it in the air could they be connected with a surrounding with a skin He was too busy to run it through the computer and I was too impatient to wait so with my assistant I built the first lead model of a torqued ellipse After having contacted several steel mills in Germany and traveling to Korea where they had a large enough bending machine that could handle oversize plate With some trials and errors over the period of one year Rail: What do you think of the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida pretty much the same time if not before you Serra: The person I knew better was Chillida’s mentor whose work comes out of the marriage of Malevich and mysticism He did a tremendous amount of work in a two or three year period Oteiza was probably the world’s leading figure in terms of sculptural invention He was the big force in the Basque country She introduced me to Oteiza when I went to Bilbao twenty-five years ago to participate in a show that Carmen had organized in the museum there Rail: Tell us about the genesis of the Stop Bush image Serra: The whole Abu Ghraib atrocity got me very angry several of us here at the studio started a website called pleasevote.com and we decided to make the image available to anyone who wanted to print it out Subsequently we printed thousands of posters with that image to be distributed at both conventions and we mounted it on a billboard on 10th Avenue Later when the Whitney asked whether I would agree that they include the original drawing in this year’s Biennale I think of the Abu Ghraib image purely as a graphic image made for a political poster Rail: Artists used to do more of that in the ‘60s; for example were among the members of Artists and Writers Protest Serra: Leon Golub was a social-political narrative artist they naturally would be an extension of his vision The same can be said about Nancy Spero’s and Barbara Kruger’s work I’m not talking about the controversy surrounding the public work— my brother Tony Serra is an attorney in San Francisco who has defended the Black Panther leader Huey Newton and he was involved in the defense of BALCO I grew up in a fairly active political family what I do politically from what I do in the studio I really don’t think one thing has anything to do with the other Rail: Isaiah Berlin’s Hedgehog and the Fox represents a great chasm between those who relate many experiences to one single central vision and those who’re scattered and diffused in their thinking The first kind of intellectual and artistic temperament is attributed to the hedgehog I can’t see myself in those terms; what do you think Phong H. Bui is the Publisher and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Rail. Home Was the celebrated Italian writer an anti-Fascist behind enemy lines looked to the Romantics for inspiration—in his case the French master of masters among prose writers But Malaparte’s identification with Chateaubriand figures among his several unconvincing self-mythologies instructs us that Malaparte’s attraction to thuggery together with his revulsion at bourgeois peaceableness to Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party in Italy Life among the Fascists had its ups and downs The tyrant variously smiled on the young Malaparte or reverted to his original affection—boosting Malaparte’s career in Italian journalism then sending him to jail and to exile on pleasant islands off the Italian coast his contributions ran in the armed forces’ magazine One of the styles available is the tan option which has a nude or tan sole and outsole with a woven beige strap that looks like it could be raffia The strap consists of three interwoven straps Two C-shaped straps meet in the middle and a thinner strap goes across the foot above those straps creating a chic design which has a sole and two straps in the same earthy brown color Those two braided straps cross over each other to create a cute “X” that goes over the front part of the foot The iconic slides are $800 and have a similar intricate strap design as the tan Serra woven sandals the Oran Sandal is all one solid upper portion So while they’re not identical twins They’re currently on sale for $55.30 (they were originally $79) and come in a “natural raffia” option which looks like the same material as the tan version at Aldi Plus the interwoven strap is a similar concept This one looks like Aldi’s black slide sandal because of the tan sole and woven black upper strap though this one is made of silver. So if you’re in the market for some new footwear that you can wear for special occasions Aldi’s Serra Ladies Woven Slide Sandals are worth a look Pep Guardiola and his wife Cristina Serra are reportedly trying to reconcile their marriage after three days spent together in Barcelona over Easter Serra Hybrid Dress, $14.99 at AldiOn Aldi’s site this dress is called a “Hybrid Dress Tank,” describing the tank top-esque upper portion It’s semi-fitted and has a scoop neck along with a shelf bra that has removable pads Then it has some ruching around the waist before you get to the gathered which is currently on sale for $99.99 (it was originally $150) It has a similar tank top bodice with a gathered skirt that flows down There are some distinct differences though like this one having a square neck and a dropped waist This has a very similar tank-top bodice but with a sweetheart/v-neckline But the skirt is very similar; this one is also gathered at the waist and flows out and even has a large bottom section that’s separated by a seam (Aldi’s is like this because it is removable this one is just a design choice).If you’re looking for an inexpensive yet cute dress to add to your spring and summer dress collection Aldi’s Serra Hybrid Dress might just be what you need.Up Next: Neighborhood Academy celebrates beating Serra Catholic in the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Courtney Wallace drives past Serra Catholic’s Owen Dumbroski during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Courtney Wallace blocks the shot of Serra Catholic’s Mark Johnson during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Courtney Wallace hits a 3-pointer over Serra Catholic’s Brayden Graham during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Kedron Gilmore drives on Serra Catholic’s Tyler Sapida during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Shamar Simpson scores over Serra Catholic’s Tyler Sapida during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Serra Catholic’s Mark Johnson blocks the shot of Neighborhood Academy’s Derrick Hardenman during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Syncer Nicholson celebrates with Courtney Wallace after dunking against Serra Catholic during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Derrick Hardenman scores past Serra Catholic’s Tyler Sapida during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Courtney Wallace scores over Serra Catholic during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Courtney Wallace blocks the shot of Serra Catholic’s Brayden Graham during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Neighborhood Academy’s Derrick Hardenman and Serra Catholic’s Tyler Sapida fight for the loose ball during the WPIAL Class A championship Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at Petersen Events Center. Mister Rogers is smiling as it is indeed a beautiful day in the Neighborhood Thursday’s WPIAL Class A boys basketball championship game was a microcosm of the season for top-seeded Neighborhood Academy as it dominated the middle two quarters in defeating No Senior and Yale commit Courtney Wallace started slow but came on big in scoring 21 points we have the best player in the WPIAL,” Neighborhood Academy senior Shamar Simpson said “We trust Courtney in whatever we do and I feel like we could do anything and stack up against any team.” It was the Bulldogs’ third win of the season over the Eagles after meeting twice in Section 2-A games this winter Neighborhood Academy won 73-44 at Serra Catholic on Jan and then beat the Eagles at home 84-58 on Feb Wallace combined to score 70 points in the three victories The game was tight through one quarter with Kedron Gilmour hitting a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in the first eight minutes to give the Bulldogs an 11-10 lead after one Neighborhood Academy took the lead for good early in the second on a Wallace 3-pointer The Bulldogs’ defense was a big part of them staying in the game early when the offense was struggling and why they were able to separate and build a double-digit lead by halftime “I think our defense as a collective is really good,” Wallace said “We had a goal to hold them under 40 so our defense carried us because while we weren’t scoring (early on); they weren’t scoring either.” Neighborhood Academy went on an 11-2 run that turned a three-point lead into a 28-14 halftime advantage thanks to a Simpson 3-pointer at the buzzer “Honestly our shots weren’t falling,” Serra Catholic coach A.J we missed free throws throughout the game and we’re down 14 at the half It then starts to set in here we go again.” the Eagles were 7 of 20 from the field and 0 for 7 from behind the arc Neighborhood Academy scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 21-point lead The exclamation point in the TNA victory came in a 15-second span one minute into the fourth quarter Wallace timed his jump perfectly and smacked the attempted layup off the backboard He then hustled backed and tipped a lob pass into the hoop from underneath He then got a quick steal and slammed home two more points to put the Bulldogs up 54-30 Sophomore Mark Johnson added 14 while fellow sophomore Brayden Graham had 11 points for the Eagles Serra Catholic settled for district silver again In six WPIAL boys basketball championship games the Eagles are 1-5 with the lone title run coming in 2008 with a win over Wilkinsburg Three of the Eagles’ four losses came at the hands of Neighborhood Academy with the other loss coming against Class 3A finalist South Allegheny and senior Syncer Nicholson added 10 points The championship run for the small Neighborhood Academy located in Pittsburgh’s Stanton Heights neighborhood is the first district title for the program that joined the WPIAL in boys hoops in 2020 It also is the first WPIAL championship in any sport in the history of the school that opened its doors in 2001 the Bulldogs reached the Class A title game only to lose to Imani Christian despite a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds from Wallace “We worked so hard to get here from the last three years,” Simpson said “We were the hunters and now we are the hunted and we made sure we weren’t killed and continued on the process of being the best team.” Serra Catholic (21-4) will open the PIAA Class A boys basketball playoffs March 7 against the runner-up from District 6 The WolfPack lost in the District 6 finals to Conemaugh Valley Neighborhood Academy (23-1) also will tip off March 7 in the PIAA first round against the No The Vikings qualified with a District 5 consolation game win over Fannett-Metal “The biggest thing with these guys is there’s this misconception that we recruit,” Neighborhood Academy Jordan Marks said “We have three starters that have been with this school since sixth grade and nobody on this team has played a minute of varsity basketball with anybody else so they’ve been together and that’s what makes this so special.” If Javascript is disabled browser, to place orders please visit the page where our photos are available to purchase the San Mateo County Veteran Services Office in proud partnership with the San Mateo Elks Lodge hosted a groundbreaking event: Bridging Generations: Veterans & Students in Conversation This one-of-a-kind gathering brought together veterans and juniors from Junípero Serra High School for a powerful and transformative exchange of stories The event offered roughly 150 high school juniors the unique opportunity to sit face-to-face with 12 veterans representing service from World War II to the present day These veterans came from diverse backgrounds—male and female spanning different racial and cultural identities—offering the students a wide range of perspectives on military service The atmosphere in the room was both vibrant and reflective a profound sense of focus filled the space as students leaned in attentively taking notes and hanging on every word of the veterans’ stories The conversations covered everything from the challenges of military life to the enduring lessons learned through service Veterans shared not just tales of courage but insights on leadership many students took the opportunity to personally thank the veterans shaking hands and expressing their gratitude for the service and transparency shared that day Some even requested photos and continued listening to the veterans’ stories long after the scheduled discussions had ended Serra High School students presented each veteran with a thoughtful gift as a token of appreciation shared that the curiosity and respect shown by these young men left a lasting impact The County of San Mateo Veteran Services Office extends heartfelt thanks to Junípero Serra High School for their enthusiastic participation Many veterans remarked on how meaningful the conversations were with some expressing a desire to continue engaging with the community in similar events This inspiring day was a testament to the power of storytelling and connection across generations The San Mateo County Veteran Services Office looks forward to hosting more events that bridge the gap between veterans and young community members As we reflect on this successful inaugural event we encourage other schools and organizations to join us in celebrating and learning from those who have served our country we can continue to honor the past while inspiring the future Thanks for visiting ! 2024) was an American artist widely regarded as one of the greatest sculptors of his generation These tributes to Serra were collected for publication in the Rail in October 2024 It is odd when a person dies who is as potent a presence as Richard is and then some—his potency will never be subtracted from You feel both things each so intensely—the fact he is gone offered some of the most memorable experiences I ever had I keep remembering the forged round at Zwirner I could believe a blind person could feel that form’s roiling of spacetime—measuring the universe practically—like a lion tamer with a chair A serious training—not without the type of respect a lion tamer has for a lion The sense of it influencing time and space around itself seemed as centering as the sun is for the planets No—inappropriate of course—the jar is gray and bare “and tall and of a port in air.” And as Phong taught me: “Richard Serra does not fuck around Richard Serra never made no hollow nothing.”  I guess we have some idea about how the Florentines felt about their Michelangelo when he lived among them Unaccountable—something of an order of genius that is not entirely and always without terror “Beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror which we can still barely endure,” is what “sublime” means He goes on to say “every Angel is terrible.” My favorite of all Angels is the Angel played by Peter Falk in Wings of Desire If there were something “God”—then this world then God would need beings through which to have arms to enwrap others In such a slow and majestic pace the Angel observes all that humans experience from horrors to beauty to love and loss—slowly and majestically choosing a human life giving up its eternal life in the divine order The divine would appropriately yearn for embodied life and a range of opportunities that you wouldn’t have in heaven In the particular way that this world reveals love is what would make it indispensable ever-active moments in the fabric of time and space and you say nothing,” Einstein said of Bach I like to have words for important experiences His sculptures are far too active to settle for being nouns but I was a student at the time in the 1980s that I first encountered Richard’s works—ten years before we started framing It was the list of verbs/drawing that opened the door for me it was like the ringing of a gong—not an intellectual transfer from artwork to viewer Impacts that serve us toward instants of forgetting so that we can experience our own presence Artwork © Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS) Paul Baumann was born 1962 in Kaukauna, WI and moved to NYC after graduating Bennington College to pursue art making. Paul lives and works in Brooklyn NY with his wife and two sons. SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The City of San Diego says it is moving forward with a plan to convert the vacant Serra Mesa Library into a 100% affordable housing site that has units specifically prioritized for veterans The city's press release says following a City Council vote Monday it has entered a 65-year ground lease with nonprofit developer Community HousingWorks The preliminary project plan intends to turn the 0.34-acre lot including 56 one-bedroom homes and three two-bedroom homes The homes will be known as the Serra Mesa Apartments, and they'll be restricted to households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income for 55 years People in that income range are considered the most at risk of experiencing homelessness. San Diego County's website indicates that as of April 2024 the area median income for the area is $119,500 Veterans will get priority for 30 of these units Mayor Todd Gloria says the project checks several boxes when it comes to the criteria for his housing policies: utilizing underused public land in high-resource neighborhoods with quick access to solid jobs "This project demonstrates our commitment to ensuring lower-income families and our veterans can afford to live in communities that provide the opportunities and stability they deserve," Gloria says but the developer will build the housing and share revenue with the city the developer will turn the improvements back over to the city District 7 Councilmember Raul Campillo says this project is a step in the right direction for providing more affordable housing for veterans in the area “Those who served our country should never have to worry about having a safe place to call home Thank you to all community members who offered input on this project and to Community HousingWorks for carefully considering and speaking to community concerns when this project came to committee," Campillo says The new property will include the following amenities: The city says "if and when" Community HousingWorks closes on the financing the developer expects construction to be done by May 2027.Economic Development Director Christina Bibler says the central location of the housing in Serra Mesa makes this an appealing project “This is a great opportunity to activate a vacant community space into much-needed affordable housing while serving those to have willingly served our nation,” says Bibler when the Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Branch Library opened on Aero Drive The vacant building had been used for storage until 2019 the city started taking proposals from developers and individuals to apply for the ground lease and operation of a permanent supportive housing service at the location the San Diego City Council approved a $4 million Bridge to Home loan to help expedite the start of the project The press release says the council approved another Bridge to Home loan at $3.1 million for another project: The Navajo Family Apartments That development is projected to create another 44 apartments for households making 60% or less of the area's average median income The Navajao Family Apartments will include 11 apartments designated for people with special needs and intellectual or developmental disabilities Pittsburgh Union Progress With nearly half of Serra Catholic’s baseball roster also on the school’s basketball team whose season ended with a loss in the PIAA playoffs last Tuesday — just days before the start of the baseball regular season — one might assume that it would take a while before the baseball-playing Eagles would be at full strength those multi-sport athletes didn’t need much rest or extra swings in the batting cages They actually competed in a baseball scrimmage the very next day and played in the season opener three days later The transition for athletes going from basketball to baseball following long playoff runs might not be as challenging as it is for football players converting to basketball but the quick turn at Serra is still impressive especially when you consider it includes nine players seven of whom are starters on the diamond for a team that reached the WPIAL Class 2A final the past three seasons but keep in mind that even though they’re basketball players their primary sport is baseball,” Serra baseball coach Brian Dzurenda said They had been working out and doing private lessons.” That includes standout senior pitcher-shortstop Owen Dumbroski the school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball who played a big role in the Eagles reaching the WPIAL Class 1A final last month After scoring 21 points in a season-ending loss in the second round of the PIAA playoffs Dumbroski combined with sophomore Jake Anderson on a no-hitter in Serra’s 9-0 season-opening win against Bishop Carroll at Pullman Park in Butler last Saturday Dumbroski struck out six in four innings of work while also going 3 for 3 with two doubles and three RBIs “I actually feel pretty good,” Dumbroski said “I thought Saturday went really well for me.” The Eagles followed up that win with another later that day when they defeated Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Senior Tyler Skaggs got the win on the mound in that one while senior Jake Holmes knocked in two runs and junior Bodi Rieger had three hits Holmes and Rieger are all baseball starters who also play basketball The other three are junior Matt McNeal and sophomores Mark Johnson and Jake Jellison Johnson was the second-leading scorer on the basketball team Senior Xavier Miller and junior Tyler Sapida also play both sports the runner-up to Seton LaSalle in each of the past two WPIAL Class 2A championships but its road didn’t get much easier considering the Eagles compete in a section that includes two-time defending WPIAL champion Bishop Canevin and Eden Christian Dumbroski and Skaggs give Serra a terrific 1-2 punch atop its starting rotation Dumbroski was 7-2 with a 2.33 ERA and Skaggs 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA “Both of them have pitched in the biggest settings so you know you’re going to be in every game they pitch,” Dzurenda said Another of Serra’s top players does not play basketball who batted .316 and drove in 17 runs a season ago While Serra has reached the WPIAL final three years in a row it has come home with silver medals the past two seasons making winning the title a huge goal for these Eagles “It’s the biggest goal that we have right now,” Dumbroski said “We lost the last two years and we lost in basketball Longtime Riverside coach Dan Oliastro has the luxury of having not one but two aces on his pitching staff this season And those aces are really dealing thus far Riverside’s outstanding duo of seniors Zach Hare and Christian Lucarelli has been dominant with both hurlers spinning tremendous season debuts Hare allowed one run and two hits while striking out 14 over six innings in a 10-1 win against Shenango while Lucarelli gave up just one hit and fanned nine across five innings in a 14-0 triumph at Hopewell with Hare driving in three runs against Shenango and Lucarelli knocking in a pair versus Hopewell Both Hare and Lucarelli were outstanding a season ago in leading Riverside to the WPIAL Class 3A final Hare went 9-1 with a 0.95 ERA and had 86 strikeouts in 44 innings while Lucarelli was 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA and struck out 49 in 24 innings Hare is a Slippery Rock recruit and Lucarelli a Duke recruit There might not be a better athlete in the City League than Allderdice’s Lukas Stead who has followed up excellent football and basketball seasons by getting off to a strong start to the baseball season Stead is a 6-foot-3 junior first baseman who went 3 for 4 and launched a two-run home run to lead Allderdice to an 8-0 season-opening win against Deer Lakes last Friday Allderdice competes in the WPIAL in baseball and Stead is trying to lead the Dragons to a big bounce-back season after not winning a section game a season ago He’s coming off a junior season that saw him average 16.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for a Dragons team that won their fourth consecutive City League title Stead scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the championship game and last season helped Allderdice reach the City League title game His athletic future beyond high school might lie in that sport Stead is a talented tight end and linebacker who received an FBS offer from Akron in January Penn-Trafford’s player’s power surge When the lights of the 2025 season turned on last Friday it was a Penn-Trafford slugger providing the power Logan Matrisch had a powerful season debut clubbing two home runs and driving in five runs to lead Penn-Trafford to a 9-3 win against Norwin Matrisch is a junior center fielder and one of the few returning starters back for Penn-Trafford last year’s WPIAL Class 5A champion that also advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals The two home runs last week actually doubled Matrisch’s career total His only previous home run came during his freshman season Matrisch followed up his opening act by going 3 for 4 with a double and RBI in Tuesday’s 13-8 loss to Brighton Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Thanks for visiting A new kind of magazine for a new kind of South Standing Together for a Better South - 2020 Membership drive We want our customers happy. If you have a problem, just email us tell us about your work at The Brigid Alliance and I’m Interim Executive Director of The Brigid Alliance – a leading practical support organization for abortion seekers across the United States When women need to travel or cross state lines for reproductive healthcare We work with our clients and also with abortion funds to provide individualized support for travel and lodging We also provide “comfort care” – say a woman travels from warm climate to very cold temperatures The Brigid Alliance might provide that client with a coat and gloves reproductive healthcare has practically been eliminated in some states but something that worries me a great deal is that we have this notion that some states are OK The truth is that while some states appear to have good policies people still don’t have proper access to reproductive healthcare There was so much energy about protecting Roe When you are in conversation with a woman facing insurmountable challenges and still moving through this world with grace and love – that keeps me motivated It’s heartbreaking and infuriating that there are politicians who want to control our bodies Every time some male politician stands up and gleefully talks about this – it’s devastating and also motivating I have two dogs that I take on long walks every morning Being in the fresh air and saying hi to my neighbors clears my mind My husband (who shares a commitment to justice) and I listen to jazz on vinyl and read the old-fashioned paper in the mornings all the other support organizations – in the face of these radical politicians who want to control our bodies You won’t take our rights away.’ Making abortion illegal doesn’t stop it from happening What these lawmakers are doing is the height of cruelty SS: We are only 6 years old – a very young organization The Brigid Alliance received a surge in visibility and financial support immediately after the Dobbs ruling in 2022 donations to abortion funds and practical support organizations are not keeping pace with the demand for services requiring clients to travel even longer distances and the costs of travel have increased significantly Our goal is for The Brigid Alliance to become a household name so we need people to have conversations with friends Abortion access is something that impacts everyone Someone in your life may need help crossing state lines for their abortion care and we want people to know there is a network of support to help make that happen People who wish to donate can do so at www.brigidalliance.org/donate SUBSCRIBENEWSLETTERGENERAL STORE STORIESPODCASTFOODWAYSPARTNERSHIPS ABOUT USTEAMCONTACT MEDIA KITCUSTOMER SERVICESUBMISSIONS Serra Catholic’s Owen Dumbroski competes against Summit Academy on Feb. 19, 2025, at Serra Catholic. No. 1 Neighborhood Academy vs. No. 2 Serra Catholic On the air: Video livestream: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Neighborhood Academy 0, Serra Catholic 1 (2008) How they got here: Neighborhood Academy defeated No. 8 Beaver County Christian, 66-20, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Aquinas Academy, 69-35, in the semifinals. How they got here: Serra Catholic defeated No. 7 Summit Academy, 80-61, in the quarterfinals; and No. 3 Nazareth Prep, 57-45, in the semifinals. If Javascript is disabled browser, to place orders please visit the page where our photos are available to purchase. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. There have been many artists who made important contributions to their discipline and to a specific medium but only a very few have changed how we think and feel about their discipline or their medium Undoubtedly Richard Serra is one of those few we also greatly admire the way in which Serra lived his entire life in service to his work—which he knew Although Gaston Bachelard has warned us about trying to explain the flower by the fertilizer and we are aware that knowing about an artist’s milieu can never quite explain the work they produce then some components of the fertilizer must undoubtedly have something to do with the flower It is worth noting that Serra found his footing at a time that was shaped by the perpetual political All this to say: Serra’s profound contribution to the art of sculpture has deep roots in the radical experimental culture of film all of which were clearly demonstrated in his 2007 retrospective Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years at the Museum of Modern Art I must confess that Serra’s complex evolution as an artist has greatly inspired how I ways of deploying the cross-pollinations of our creative communities from which the strength and wisdom of the older generation can be passed to the young one through a conduit such as the Brooklyn Rail Serra was a guiding spirit—however it may seem from afar I always felt his presence to be viscerally close when he was four or five years old Serra experienced two ever-lasting impressions that haunted him as reoccurring dreams throughout his life: In the first he had walked along the beach for a couple of miles in one direction while looking at his footprints on the sand Serra was astonished by the differences between the concavity and convexity positive and negative space that gravity had fixed upon the forms The second experience seems impossibly different yet it anticipates this same little boy who was taken to a ship yard to witness the launching of a ship that his father had worked on as pipe fitter: this moment of celebration was simultaneously infused with a blaze of high anxiety; as once again was perceived both as a public spree and a solemn blessing for this dualistic either/or perception would seem to have created an unusual self-inquisitiveness from such a young age which fortified what would be a lifelong endurance that sustained his own Argo ship that sailed the seas One can only hypothe- size about how these two distinct memories set forth his exposure to modern European literature and philosophy at University of California Santa Barbara (during which time Christopher Isherwood scholars had taught and lectured in both institutions) Another important experience was a drawing class Serra took in his senior year with Howard Warshaw who prompted Serra to his next consequential chapter namely at Yale University graduate school as a painting major Although we don’t want to read too much into this the degree of absorption in-between of the post-Bauhaus’s experimental pedagogy spearheaded by Josef Albers and the friction that lies between the tail end of Abstract Expressionism and the emergence of Pop art and Conceptual art—exemplified by artist professors and visiting critics including Jack Tworkov after having graduated from his Yale MFA in 1964 alongside such remarkable classmates as Chuck Close Despite having tried hard in the previous two years in college to translate drawing into painting it was due to a one-year traveling fellowship from Yale to Paris that he had a significant revelation when he contemplated two modernist masters: namely on one hand the serene exploration of biomorphic forms in their surface materials as well as the radical integration of the sculptures with their bases in the works of Constantin Brâncuși; and on the other hand the existential angst embodied in Alberto Giacometti’s painting and sculpture alike especially Woman with Her Throat Cut (Femme égorgée) (1932) punctured figure intended to be placed directly on the floor ensnaring viewers to be in the same physical space Both discoveries I believe were immediately carved into Serra’s mind in preparation for his Fulbright Grant the following year in Florence he absorbed every master work of art he encountered in particularly his trip to the Prado Museum in Madrid where he saw Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1656)—a painting Serra must have felt reached the apex of the art of painting hence leading to his decision to give up painting altogether by throwing all he had made into the Arno River each comprising two identical conical/elliptical sections inverted relative to each other overall: 15 feet 6 inches high x 91 feet 6 inches along the chord x ca 24 feet 6 inches deep; plates: 2 inches thick It was from this point onward that Serra began experimenting with nontraditional sculptural material for he had his first one-person exhibition Animal habitats live and stuffed featuring live and taxidermy animals inside various crates and other “habitats” at Galleria La Salita in Rome 1966 upon Serra’s return to New York City in the same year he continued to explore working with experimental materials such as rubber One could only project how Serra keenly observed all the excitements generating from experimental films and dance in particular while he largely began formulating his own pictorial lexicon in response to what was being made according to the prevailing critical issues at the time in the downtown art scene most of us suspect Serra must have taken the structuralist films of Michael Snow to heart while it was being edited in 1966 He was equally aware of the floor-bound square modules that Carl Andre showed at his first one-man exhibit at Tibor de Nagy Gallery and Barbara Rose’s seminal “ABC Art” essay from the year before in 1965 These led to the radical experimentation that was associated with the Judson Dance Theater movement a loose collection of dancers and artists such as Yvonne Rainer whose performances crossed fluidly between the fields of dance and visual art creating a striking and intellectualized form of performance that denied the theatricality and emotionalism of modern dance in favor of movements that seemed casual and most importantly experimented with movement in relation to matter and materials in time and space on the floor anywhere on the same horizontal platform as the viewers hence eliminating the pedestal once and for all I can only imagine the racing thoughts in Serra’s very active mind while feeling the urgent need to express his own emotional content stored in the body During these artistic shifts and inventions as for the other artists of his generation was an activation of his own dialectical thinking which involves considering multiple perspectives on a topic and reconciling seemingly contradictory ideas Perhaps if we were again to think how Serra had found his own personal synthesis or pragmatic mediation of what could possibly lie in-between the mind and body division—the former advocates for enlightenment putting forth Cartesian logic with the rational mind presiding over sensation and the perception of reality which are to be regarded as the source of ever-endless illusions; while the latter spiritual life in relation to nature as one organic conception of social and political structure Gift of the artist in honor of Wynn Kramarsky Photo: John Wronn / Digital Image © 2012 MoMA As we look back to Serra’s extraordinary ability to think with his head and feel with his body during which time the legacy of Jackson Pollock’s work was being explored in varieties of form Serra must have understood the intense predicament and the essential implication of everything that was being materialized internally as an artist; while at the same time being mindful of external surroundings that would potentially alter or challenge his own identity as an artist the way Serra invented his now famous Verb List (1967) is the most important turning point in his maturity What he compiled was a series of what he called “actions to relate to oneself and process.” Whatever one may have thought of his head as a thinking mind on the pictorial issues of verticality versus horizontality enlightenment versus counter-enlightenment his body had always been equally essential to his art Each of Serra’s works of art is consequential as a singular and iconic creation and Thirty-Five Feet of Lead Rolled Up (1968) Splashing (1968) to Casting (1969); from Strike: To Roberta and Rudy (1969–71) leading to landscape works Pulitzer Piece: Stepped Elevation (1970–71) then urban works such as Sight Point (1972–75) The Hedgehog and the Fox (1999); the legendary works Serra had made over the last five decades for gallery presentations Elevation for Mies (1985–88) to say the seven “Torqued Ellipses” (1996–2004) The Matter of Time (1994–2005) to Four Rounds: Equal Weight When looking at his work one often thinks of his physical being: brilliant head and big emotional body in the way it embodies or evokes stability in matter it also calls forth the total opposite: our own emotional fragility can barely sustain the intensity of this dialectic as we deeply feel Serra’s hard-won unity Which at once is a result of his being receptive to life experience without succumbing to the dangers of obedience and adherence to dogma yet at the same time having the aspiration of ennobling the working body and elevating the mind—which is mightily present as we recognize this perpetual struggle within ourselves Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More LOS ANGELES — The Serra Retreat area of Malibu has been one of the hardest hit during the Franklin Fire some residents decided to stay to protect their homes from the flames.  As Jack Serra neared his high school graduation on Long Island he and his mother had a talk about his future.  Serra’s father had been killed when Serra was one month old leaving his mother and grandmother to raise him on their own Serra’s mother hopped from job to job to make ends meet but Serra knew she couldn’t provide the kind of tuition money that many of his friends counted on she delivered a clear message to her son: “We’re going to figure this out We’re going to get you a college degree.” That started a process of applying for colleges, scholarships, and financial aid that ultimately landed Serra at St. John’s University. After two years there, he transferred to the University of Miami thanks to a combination of financial aid, federal grants, and a scholarship from the College of Arts & Sciences.  “I thank God every day for the impact [the scholarship] has had on my life and the amount of weight that’s been relieved off my shoulders,” he said Serra has made the most of his opportunity He is majoring in history and political science and has a 3.8 grade point average He’s the president of the University’s chapters of UNICEF and the Tau Sigma National Honor Society partly to help people in need and partly to make enough money to give his mother the life she deserves.  “I’m working as hard as I can so that at some point in my life she doesn’t have to do that anymore,” he said.  Serra is hoping to attend the London School of Economics and Political Science to get a master’s degree He has already been accepted into the program and is figuring out how to pay for it Thanks for visiting Serra High’s young and inexperienced boys’ basketball team continued to struggle in the always rigorous Del Rey League with losses to Santa Fe Springs St the Cavaliers fought hard but fell short of the Swordsmen 54-48 Serra (8-9 overall and 0-3 in league) was led by Chinemerem Anyikwa with 16 points the Cavaliers were pitted against last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division IIAA champion St Anthony and the Saints continue their quest for another title Serra trailed 24-16 after the first quarter but St Anthony poured it on the Cavaliers over the rest of the game; especially in the second period that saw the Saints outscore Serra 31-8 for a 55-24 halftime lead Anthony continued to dominate the Cavaliers Serra had one player score in double figures in Graham with 14 points Anthony was led by Aman Haynes with 22 points Mikey Cortez contributed 19 points and Esien Wilson had 15 “We were tired,” Serra head coach De John Frazier said Paul and a game against Bernstein on Monday (Jan we stick to our principle and play with heart We’ll compete against everybody we play against.” the Cavaliers topped Bernstein from Hollywood 72-58 Graham also had eight rebounds and three steals The Cavaliers returned home to take on rival St Serra went on the road to face its other league rival on Wednesday before going to league power St The Cavaliers have a showcase (site unavailable) non-league game against Lancaster on Saturday at 9:50 a.m Monica in Santa Monica next Monday at 7 p.m Serra already lost its first Del Rey game to the Mariners 68-29 on Jan falls to West; fires cancel Gardena High School’s games North Torrance High’s boys’ basketball team began the Pioneer League by rallying for a 55-54 home win over cross town rival South Torrance on Jan Ethan Edwards scored the winning basket on a lay-up with 23 seconds left in the game to pull the game out for the Saxons led North (11-9 overall and 1-1 in league) with 18 points and 11 rebounds who evened their Pioneer record to 1-1 and are 12-9 overall were led by Ben Heinemann with a game-high 24 points which is displaying a 17-3 overall record and 2-0 in league North will play Moreno Valley Rancho Verde in a non-league game Saturday at 9 a.m holiday weekend before returning to Pioneer at South on Jan Gardena had its Marine League games delayed due to postponements caused by the Los Angeles Fires mostly in Pacific Palisades and Altadena-Pasadena from the Eaton Canyon Fire 8 and host Narbonne last Friday but were called off due to the dangerous air quality caused by the fires Barring any further fires that could continue the very poor air quality the Panthers visited San Pedro on Wednesday and Banning in Wilmington on Friday at 4:30 p.m Gardena will travel to Providence High in Burbank for a non-league showcase game against North Hollywood on Saturday at 1 p.m before returning to Marine action at home against Rancho Dominguez Prep from Long Beach next Wednesday at 4:30 p.m North Torrance High’s girls’ basketball team is off to a 3-0 start in the Bay League after recording wins over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa and crosstown rival West Torrance in home games last week the Lady Saxons were impressive after routing a very good Mira Costa team 67-42 the Saxons were led by Keimi Santiago with 27 points Leila Fitzgerald recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds North is currently tied for first place with Redondo as the Saxons showed down against the Sea Hawks (3-0 in league and 12-7 overall) last Tuesday North visits Peninsula in Rolling Hills Estates Friday at 5 p.m before a showcase game (site unavailable) against Glendora Saturday at noon Serra is also 3-0 in the Camino Real League after nipping host Ramona Convent 36-35 last Friday in Alhambra Jaden Foster led the Lady Cavaliers with a game-high 22 points Joseph High from Lakewood last Tuesday and travel to Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary for a 7 p.m The Cavaliers host Bishop Conaty-Loretto from near Downtown Los Angeles Saturday at 3:30 p.m Gardena had both of its first two Marine League games slated at home against Carson on Jan 8 and on the road against Narbonne last Friday postponed due to the Los Angeles fires and smoke causing dangerous air quality Gardena was to host San Pedro on Wednesday and Wilmington Banning on Friday at 4:30 p.m The Panthers will play a Martin Luther King Day showcase game (site unavailable) against Rolling Hills Prep on Monday at 5 p.m before returning to Marine action at Rancho Dominguez Prep in Long Beach next Wednesday at 3:30 p.m Log in to leave a comment I met Richard in the spring of 1999 at Gemini G.E.L in Los Angeles when I was beginning my career as a printmaker He walked past me in his characteristic intense and distinct manner and just said “Hi!” My only experience of “Richard Serra” prior to that encounter was reading in college about Tilted Arc (1981) Little did I imagine I would have a collaboration with him that lasted nearly twenty-five years Richard was electrifying in conversation and in his art I never met an individual who made me believe I could walk through walls I had to operate at my highest capacity just to try and keep up with him His minimal instructions were delivered with lightning speed offering only a few key words for me to try and understand I reassured myself by repeating over and over My work with Richard was physically challenging and evolved through the years into large-scale etchings and prints made with a hand-applied mixture of oil bar I had to be incredibly creative in my techniques to achieve Richard’s printmaking goals He blew up the process of printmaking to unrecognizable levels we made a three-panel oil bar print titled which were aligned together and installed in a three-piece frame creating an impressive final work measuring 8 ¼ by 15 ¼ feet and weighing close to four hundred pounds This was evident in his smile that appeared only when he was completely happy with a result He wore that smile when sharing his work with Sidney B This is great!” The way he thanked me personally in words was minimal but his intense stare as he spoke to me assured me: I was part of a select few in his orbit who got to share in the making of his work I am going to miss the hot summers working on a Richard Serra project in the Gemini studio I miss laboring over Richard’s enormous copper plates and making a giant mess with ink and oil bars in the former lithography studio that came to be known as “the Serra Studio,” due to the growing scale of his works like a pig in mud—an experience I cannot describe precisely in words Richard Serra was more than an event in my life: he was an adventure I will never forget the feeling of immense accomplishment I had at the end of every project and I am grateful to Sidney Felsen for allowing me to work solely with Richard as his Master Printer and longtime collaborator I am eternally grateful to Richard Serra for taking me on the two-and-a-half-decade voyage that has been the most defining experience of my life Richard Serra and Xavier Fumat during a proofing session of Richard’s “Venice Notebook” series