The Museum of Modern Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Walker Art Center are some of the illustrious cultural spaces where one might expect to see our award-winning film series Art in the Twenty-First Century. It’s true that host organizations have traditionally included such museums, as well as universities, libraries, and cultural centers. But Art21 screenings have also happened in the unlikeliest of places, from a water treatment center in Wichita, Kansas to a research base in Antarctica to a former drill hall in Ethiopia.

In my short time here as Art21’s Director of Education, I have heard incredible stories about enthusiastic individuals and spaces opening their doors to friends, colleagues, and the general public with the sole purpose of sharing Art21’s film series. I can hardly wait to hear new stories that I’m certain will emerge during our yearlong screening initiative Access 100 Artists.

Access screening at artSPACE in Durban, South Africa, 2009.

Access is our external screening program, which started back in 2007 to coincide with the Season 4 release of our PBS series. Now six seasons in and Art21 is celebrating an important milestone: to date, we have profiled 100 contemporary artists. In conjunction with our 100 Artists celebration, we’re offering our entire collection of films (including New York Close Up) totally free of charge to partner organizations new and old.

Access 100 Artists aims to be a worldwide festival of free Art21 film screenings. From a small dinner party with friends to a 24-hour outdoor jubilee, no venue is too small or too large. Anyone can participate. Here’s how:

1. Register at www.art21.org/access. Share your screening dates with us and we’ll announce them here.
2. Use our online resources and discussion guides for pre- and post-screening activities.
3. Promote your event with Access postcards. We’ll mail these right to your door along with other materials that will help make your event successful.
4. Tell us what went down! Who came? What did you screen? What did you talk about? Enquiring minds want to know.
5. Add your pictures to our Access Flickr group and help us grow our visual archive of stories.

By getting involved with Access 100 Artists and sharing your experiences, the education team here gains greater insight into the many different ways that Art21 films are used and shown around the world. We’ll not only share your stories with people in our office, we might get in touch with you and ask for quotes or a blogpost. We’re looking to you to re-think the relationships and connections between the artists we’ve featured. You know what we do. We want to hear your stories!

One of my favorite films of the year is ending its New York run at the Quad Cinema tonight! Treeless Mountain is a beautiful, quiet, and moving film by So Yong Kim that tells the tale of two young girls who are abandoned by their mother and then shuffled among relatives and landscapes. Set in South Korea, Kim’s birthplace, and starring several marvelous untrained actors, the film strikes a common chord of loss, resilience, and abiding hope. It’s a small film in the best sense.

It’s also worth keeping an eye out for Bradley Rust Gray’s (Kim’s husband) film The Exploding Girl, which recently won an acting award at the Tribeca Film Festival. It stars Zoe Kazan (remember her in Revolutionary Road with that lovely old-fashioned face?) in a love letter to confused youth, elusive love, and the city of New York.

Last Sunday, September 6th, Nicole Caruth posted information about the 7th Gwangju Biennale. As a compliment to the events and festivities surrounding the Biennale, Abdellah Karroum will present RADIO APARTMENT 22: GWANGJU 2008. One of the Position Papers curators for the Biennale, Karroum founded Radio Apartment 22 in 2007, which is Morocco’s first exclusively art and culture radio station and is a component of L’appartement 22, founded in 2002. From September 1 through September 9, the online radio station is broadcasting a variety of live and recorded programs from the Gwangju Biennale, its participants, and the surrounding environment.

R22: GWANGJU shifts the usual mode of discourse associated with biennials, such as panels, presentations, etc., to the airwaves, making it accessible to a world wide audience. Visit R22 on the web where you can currently listen to broadcasts from the last 8 days of programming including: interviews and discussions with Okwui Enwezor, artistic director, and other Gwangju Biennial curators, critics, and artists, as well as presentations, performances, events, and formal and informal gatherings related to all aspects of the organization and realization of the Biennale. Log on, tune in, enjoy.