Inside the White Cubicle: Meet the Staff of MCA Denver

Ever wondered about the hopes and dreams of the staff of MCA Denver? How long have they toiled away in their windowless basement under the museum? Where did they come from? What did they want to be when they grew up? What is their least favorite mode of transportion? What embarrassing songs did they once listen to? What do they look to in terms of an inspirational quotation? Here are their answers, part of a new, semi-recurring feature we are calling: MCA Denver: Inside the White Cubicle.

Nick Silici, Exhibitions Manager (pictured above)

Nick has worked with the museum since 2007. He was born in Fairfield, California and has lived in Denver since 1993. While growing up Nick always wanted to be a scientist but then gave up and became an artist. His least favorite mode of transportation is running. Although Nick claims to have exceptional taste in music, he did once own an album by WHAM, a fact he denied until George

Five Questions About Teen Music Night

Kamron Hazel and Bailey Luke curated the upcoming Teen Music Night at MCA Denver. Kamron is a former Teen Council (TeCo) intern who has spent the past summer working for MCA Denver’s special events and programs. Kamron went to Cherry Creek High School in Aurora and joined TeCo during his senior year. Bailey is also a former TeCo intern who attended Colorado Academy in Denver and joined TeCo during her senior year. She has worked over the summer as the technical assistant during Mixed Taste: Tag Team Lectures on Unrelated Topics.

MCA Denver: What is Teen Music Night and who can attend?

Kamron Hazel: Teen Music Night is an event this Saturday, July 10 from 6–9PM. It is an opportunity for teens to come down to MCA Denver to hear six of Denver's most promising young bands play sets on the museum's roof deck. Anyone can attend – teenagers, their parents and siblings or anyone who wants to see local talent.

Bailey Luke: People can hang out with their friends while supporting and learning about Denver's music scene. The evening is FREE for everyone under 18, thanks to the Merage Foundation Grant we received. It is 10¢ for anyone else.

The Doctor Rates Your Pain with Brett Littman

The Doctor Rates Your Pain is a new (hopefully) recurring feature in which MCA Denver Director & Chief Animator Dr. Adam Lerner interviews visiting artists and guests about hypothetical scenarios that might evoke pain. The featured guest today is Brett Littman, Executive Director of The Drawing Center in New York and curator of Guillermo Kuitca: Diarios, on view through September 15, 2013 at MCA Denver.

Interview with Artist Maya Gurantz

Co-Directors of Feminism & Co.: Art, Sex, Politics, Elissa Auther and Gillian Silverman, sat down with artist Maya Gurantz to talk about her MCA Denver installation The Whore’s Dialogue, on view at MCA Denver in the Whole Room from April 11 – June 23, 2013. Maya will be speaking at MCA Denver on Thursday, April 11 as part of MCA Denver's series Feminism & Co.: Art, Sex, Politics.

Fem & Co.: Maya, tell us about the history of the “whore’s dialogue.”

Maya Gurantz: The whore’s dialogue is an extinct genre of literary pornography, in which an older libertine schools a young protégé about sex and seduction as well as society (a lot of time is spent dissecting human nature, local politics, manners, survival tips). The main portion of the text of a whore’s dialogue involves the Mother’s advice to her Daughter; it often includes a Daughter’s response, in which she describes her own experience after her wedding night, her first lover, or after having turned her first trick.

Please welcome new Curatorial Assistant Sonya Falcone

Recently, our former Curatorial Assistant Tricia Robson moved on to Google. Stepping expertly into the vacant role we have Sonya Falcone, formerly of Platform 5280- Biennial of the Americas. Sonya was so kind as to accept my request for an interview, MCA Denver-style.

If you were a fruit, which fruit would you be and why?

A clementine – they love winter and they have the coolest name.

I’ve noticed your cubicle is still a little bare. Guess you are too busy to decorate! If you could have any artwork for your desk, what would it be? Size doesn’t matter, we can get you a bigger desk.

Can we set up my desk in one of the Raphael rooms at St. Peter’s?

Name one of your favorite places in Denver, besides the museum of course. 

Little Man ice cream.

What would you like to be doing forty years from now? 

Living on a lake with a big garden and a great dane (the kind with cow spots).

Please talk about someone from elementary school you still remember.

My elementary school music teacher, Dr. McCaskill, was such a cool lady that the kids in my 5^th grade class would come to school an hour early for choir practice. Our performance of The Pirates of Penzance was unforgettable.

Ouija Interview with Clyfford Still

Our first Ouija interview, with Andy Warhol, met with moderate success (or at least coherence), so Alex and I thought we'd try to interview another dead artist: Clyfford Still. MCA Denver is headed to the Clyfford Still Museum tonight for Art Fitness Training, so it seemed like the right time. 

Andy Warhol Ouija Board Interview

We wanted to interview Andy Warhol since he’s included in the upcoming MCA Denver exhibition Postscript: Writing After Conceptual Art, and we had an idea. Why not try to channel him through a Ouija board? Program Producer Jesse Leaneagh came up with the questions as someone mildly familiar with Mr. Warhol, and Creative and Production Manager Alex Stephens and Audio Engineer Josh Novak rested their hands on the Ouija pointer also. None of us Ouija-ing were Warhol experts. To contact Andy, we repeated his name three times. By the time our interview was over we had unexpectedly brushed up on art history, crackpot methods or not, and gained a weird new respect for the man himself.

Design Within Denver

I caught up with Sandra Fettingis, who curated the MCA Denver trunk show Design Within Denver. Designers and studios involved include(d): Vital Industries, Bussard Design Studios, becky's 

buttons and things + Miss Guindon, MATTER, and Adam Sikorski (Coloradical).