Michael Fuller, The Museum Classroom and Sara’s Updates from Europe

From: Sydney Cosselman
Krone Museum Director

A Note to Students
In the last museum Blog, I mentioned that Michael Fuller was on campus from time to time researching material for his book. He came back in November, as promised, and this time he posted a special message to you students. Here it is:

Perhaps you have seen the baldheaded old guy in the beret sitting in the library or at a table in the Max and Beatrice Krone Museum amidst scattered piles of papers, a computer, and a small printer. Perhaps you may have wondered who he is and what he is doing here. Certainly, he is too old to be a student – a student here, at Idyllwild Arts Academy, that is, for one is never too old to be a student.

Weird. He looks weird. He knows that. It doesn’t bother him anymore. He is rewriting the history he wrote in 1982 entitled, ISOMATA: The Place and its People. Often, he sees you walking in the hallway on your way into the library or the computer classroom.

He assumes you may have seen the portrait of the man and woman hanging in the hall. Obviously, they are a couple. He wonders if you have really noticed them and if you know who they are. They are Max and Bee Krone, founders of ISOMATA, now known as Idyllwild Arts and Idyllwild Arts Academy. Their portrait was painted by Dot Lewis in 2000. Dot painted them well because she knew them well. That is why they are smiling. Do you have any idea why they are smiling?

They are smiling because you, the students are here. There were not always Idyllwild Arts Academy students. Once upon a time before you or your parents were born, Max and Bee started this place. This “place” was not called Idyllwild Arts then. It was called ISOMATA, and it was not an academy at all but a summer program similar to the one that still exists. In its most mundane sense, ISOMATA is an acronym for Idyllwild School Of Music And The Arts but in the profundity of its spirit, a mantra to the arts spoken with joy by those who founded it, those who taught, and those who came, transcending the fear to sing, to dance, to act, to sculpt, to write a poem and recite it, to create a film, to DO art with the courage that the time taken to create your personal vision will indeed be worth another’s time to witness it.

But you know this already because you are artists. Max and Bee knew that someday you would come and continue to fulfill their vision.

Thank you for doing that.

Museum Classroom
As you all know, Steve Hudson is a gifted storyteller and lecturer. Recently he gave one of his unique art lectures on High Renaissance to Nick Cooper’s class, here in the museum. A laptop and portable screen were brought in to show slides. Because the museum is an inspiring place to hold a classroom lecture, the list of requests is growing. In fact, poet David St. John chooses to hold his two week Summer Program poetry classes in the museum each year. Just give me a call at extension 2325, and I will be happy to put you on the calendar. On another note, I am happy to say that several students have also come in to the museum to research their projects this year. The museum is yours, so use it.

A Note to Teachers
On the same topic, I recently polled teachers to learn how they might envision using the museum space in the days to come. Their responses were quite creative. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who responded; and encourage those who did not have a chance, to do so at anytime. Personally, I do not envision the Krone Museum as being a static room. Instead, I see it as a bridge connecting the past with the present, and as a space that will continue to evolve to meet the needs of Idyllwild Arts teachers, students and staff.

The results of my query showed that many of you wanted to access more information about the history of the school and the area; to view historical photographs and films of former teachers and students; and access Painting’s Edge” lectures and other CD’s, and DVD’s that we have in our collections. Other teachers wanted a place to display works from their classes or have an exhibit relating to their subject; and still more wanted more tables, lamps, and wireless access in the exhibit area. My response is that we can do all of these things. For those of you who want historical information, you should know that a Timeline is being developed for the museum web page and for the museum; historical materials are being archived for easier access; photographs are being scanned; and films, videos and audio tapes are being re-formatted. For others, display cases are available (in both the hall and museum); and wireless is accessible, with your password. I invite you to come in and spend a little time to find out what we have to offer. If nothing else, the museum is a quiet place to grade your papers; meet with a student; read a book in peace or just be still and contemplate the works of teachers who came before you.

Adventures with Sara
For those of you who are following Sara and her adventures in Europe, she recently wrote me that the past few weeks have been a blur. She has been traveling all over Europe and has hardly had a chance to breathe. Sara is returning to the states in January, so understandably she is trying to absorb as much as possible before then. Since her recent email was seven pages long, I will break it into segments in this and future entries. I can tell you I am exhausted after reading it, and I haven’t left my chair. Here goes …

Dear Sydney,
I’m sorry I haven’t written in so long. I’ve been so busy (as you know) working and traveling. Right now I’m on a train to Prague from Brno and writing so I can procrastinate a little longer on reading The Secret Agent for my Anarchy Lit class. I’ve been going all over Europe the last few weeks and will continue to do so until I leave in the beginning of January to go back to Long Beach, then straight to Pennsylvania for the start of the second semester.

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the Czech Republic. Just looking out of the bus window makes me incredibly happy to be alive, especially with good music in the background (right now I’m listening to Elephant Gun by Beirut on repeat, and it is the perfect soundtrack for this journey). I know that must sound cheesy, but it feels like I’m waking up from some dream of disillusion and unattachment. If I get into terrible situations, I could never regret it because at least something is happening, and I’ll make good stories out of it anyway.

That would lead to a good segway to my worst story (might as well get it out of the way) which happened in London a few weeks ago. I decided to go to the UK for eight days a while ago to check it out and see some of my favorite museums. Like I said before, my favorite museum is Tate Modern (until I went to Tate Liverpool, that is) and I actually did my final research paper on it last year in my Museum Studies class. I wanted to return to see if I still loved it as much. At first I thought about spending the whole time in London, but thought it would be a waste to only see one city, especially since I would be missing a week of classes. Luckily, my old roommate from Idyllwild, Isabel Ellison, had a theater show that would be playing there, so I would go to see her too. Then I would spend Halloween with a friend in Romford (a small city outside of London) then travel to Liverpool and visit the museum there as well as Cody Oyama who just graduated from Idyllwild. A few of my friends from Juniata College are studying in York, so I would spend a night there before going back to London to fly out in the morning. I was extremely excited to get my trip started.

The first few days were horrible. Like, nightmarishly horrible. Let me say this as a precursor: this was my first time traveling so far away (excluding the places I’ve been studying) and it was my first time traveling alone. I was entirely under prepared. I procrastinated too much on everything and nearly missed my trains to Bratislava where I would fly to London-Stansted because I was busy getting my plans settled. When I got to the airport, I had 10kg over in my luggage and had to throw out a few liters of beer I was smuggling to my Couchsurfing host in Liverpool as well as a few other things. When I finally got to London I took a long bus ride to somewhere near my hostel. They dropped me off at a random street sort of close to King’s Cross. I had no map and no idea what to do. It was also past 1am. I wandered up and down the streets trying to find my hostel or a bus that could take me there, but besides Brno, I still had never really used public transportation and I can barely read a map. After about thirty minutes of wandering with a huge suitcase, I gave up and hailed a taxi (for my first time ever). The taxi driver had never heard of my hostel. I told him to take me to Kings Cross and I would try to figure it out from there. After about five minutes of driving, he turned back to me at a red light and said, “Oh! Clink78? Did that used to be a prison?” Little did I know, yes. I was staying in a prison for the night. A redecorated, totally hipster prison, but a prison nonetheless. That was my first night.

Check back next month for Sara’s next day’s adventure……

On a sad note…we recently learned that Irv “Kersh” Kershner has passed away. You may recognize him as director of the first sequel to “Star Wars” and later, “The Empire Strikes Back.” What you may not know is that he and Bob Krone, son of Max Krone, built the first photography lab on the ISOMATA campus and that in 1951; Irv became the first professional photographer on the ISOMATA faculty. We are grateful that Irv made a special point to visit the museum in August, during the Lora Steere Retrospect. Irv will always be remembered for his exquisite photography.