Art Lies, Volume 3, October-November 1994 Page: 23

Industry News
Several Houstonians well known to the art scene have decided to waste no time hopping on the "reimagining downtown"
bandwagon. Former art consultant Doug Lewing, Treebeard's owners Dan Tidwell and Janml Mize, preservationist
Mineeto Beesel and urban designer Guy Hegstele have purchased the old DiverseWorks building on Travis, empty since
the fire in 1989. The building's interior has been completely gutted and will be redesigned by Hagstette, best known for
Sesquicentennial Park at the Wortham Center. Upstairs, the investors will build apartments for themselves and a couple of
tenants. Downstairs, one of two commercial spaces will become Lawing Gallery, which will "provide a counterpoint to the
regional art scene." The gallery will open in late January with an exhibit by L.A. abstract painter John Millei, says Lawing, a
recovering lawyer orginally from North Carolina.
Commerce Street Artist Warehouse has done some internal reimagining as well since Dave Rdger spearheaded the ouster of
Wes Hicks (Edgar will be leaving Houston for California soon). The folks at CSAW are once again seeking "real artists" to
join their loosely democratic collective. They're also organizing the Nov. 5 Warehouse Crawl ($20 to enter) and footing the bill
for structural improvements-the gallery has already been equipped with new lighting. New renters include watercolorist
Lidune Berkmen, welder Sheren Kaynes, painters Ren Reed and Bill Pryer, and screen printer and soundman Art
Elder. There are still a couple of spaces available at around $300/month. Call 236-9037.
Actually, downtown must not be all bad, because Selly Speeot moved her gallery from Colquitt to the top floor of Kemen
Lemning's space on lower Westheimer. They had their first shared opening Sept. 8.
Not to be outdone, there's some West End reimagining going on as well. Alchemy House mastermind Den Hevel will soon be
transforming another condemned house, this time in collaboration with Deen Reek and Kate Petley. The project, tentatively
titled "Search for Center," will use circular and organic shapes to connect the house to the Earth and to the house's immediate
surroundings. The project will be completed in April.
Also in the urban rescue league, Pro eet Rew Heeses recently received a $50,000 grant from the Houston Endowment and
$10,000 from the Brown Foundation. The artists for the first exhibit, Oct. 15, have already been chosen; next time around there
will be a jury panel to review proposals. Watch for the Call for Entries.
Update on the Devis/Melain Gallery split: Barbara Davis is sticking with the Davis/McLain name but Robert McLain has
taken his half of the partnership inot a new gallery, Robert McLain and Company (in the site of the original Davis/McLain
Gallery on Kirby). McClain and Company opened its doors with works by the Project Row Houses artists.
Yes, it's time again for earth-toned clothing, all-new episodes of badtv and a fresh crop of Core Fellows at the Glassell School
of Art. This year's group includes:
Bill Allen, Providence; Public News artswriter Mark Frohmen, Houston; Lynn Keble, New Brunswick NJ; Kirk
McCrthey, Seattle; Lee Whibtingten, Los Angeles; and two-timers Mark Allen, Bennington VT; Deoeld Carwell, Los
Angeles; and Aimber Kegle, Oakland, CA. Frohman's residency is the first to benefit from a Texas Arts Advancement and
Apprenticeship Initiative Grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts. The grant ensures that one of our own lonestar Texas
artists will have a spot in the Core Program, which now has fewer fellows, bigger studios and higher stipends.
As the season gets into full swing, several galleries have been caught looking. Since not even MoMA can find a director
(Peter Marzle said he wasn't interested), we're wondering just how long steering wheels will be spinningBlaffer Gallery's
Alexendre Irvlne says a national search is on to replace Marti May*, who takes the helm at CAM this month. Though the
search committee has been given no time limit, she anticipates that it will be a year before a new director is actually in place.
Blaffer recently added A&M grad Jullenno Browne as public information assistant.
The search committee for a visual arts director at DiverseWorks is actually nearing the end of the road (Cerellnae Heer left

in January). Three finalists will be flown in for one last round of interviews this fall. Meanwhile, artist Slhaeren ngelstein
and the Visual Arts Committee are coordinating exhibitions.
And the CAM has yet another search to face. Engelhard Curator Peter Deoeshenke announced his resignation on August
15. Peter is currently curating a major Gallery One exhibition, Dennis Adams, and will stay at CAM through the show's