“It didn’t take Willy Spiller long to understand that there is nothing more New York than its subways, each car a sweaty, rattling microcosm of the city itself—a loud, crowded, colorful melting pot where everyone is thrust into everyone else’s business,” writes Bill Shapiro in the introduction to Hell on Wheels. Published by Bildhalle to coincide with an exhibition by the same name, the book surveys a collection of Spillers’ photographs from 1977 to 1984, forming a now legendary series of images that capture life on the move in one of the world’s largest cities.

On view now at the Amsterdam gallery, Hell on Wheels peers into the graffiti-laden train cars of the late ’70s. Commuters pack into the tiny cabin during rush hour, teenage girls still in their crisp, white school uniforms sprawl across empty seats, and a man with cuffed orange trousers cradles a radio as he waits in the 72nd Street Station. Spiller, who came to New York from Zurich in 1977 and shot more than 2,000 photos of the subway during an infamous time in its history, offers a clear-eyed glimpse of a transitory space, where, for a brief ride from one part of the city to another, people across classes and cultures commingle in a mix of energy, friction, and camaraderie.

Order your copy of Hell on Wheels on the Bidhalle website, where you can also find more of the series.

Rush Hour on Lexington IRT, Subway, New York, 1981

Schoolgirls On the A-Train to Far Rockaway, New York, 1978

Dangerous Ride, Subway, New York, 1983

Lexington Avenue Line, IRT Division of the New York City Subway, 1979

Jerome Avenue IRT Line, New York, 1980

Downtown Express 72nd St. Station, Subway, New York, 1977

The A train to Brighton Beach Subway, New York, 1977

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A New Book Revisits the Grime and Pandemonium of the NYC Subway of the ’70s and ’80s appeared first on Colossal.

Colossal is beyond thrilled to welcome South African artist Danielle Clough (previously) to Chicago for a pair of in-person workshops this September. Whether working on tennis rackets, clothing, or scraps of fabric, Clough is widely known for her vibrant embroideries that expertly translate the principles of color theory into bold, fiber-based works.

Held at 21c Museum Hotel on September 8 and 9, these workshops are the first Clough has taught in Chicago.

During the Friday night session, spend three hours immersed in the artist’s unique thread-blending techniques as she shares tips and tricks for creating dimension and stitching with vivid color. On Saturday, Clough offers her signature Sew Far Sew Good class, which guides students through a six-hour session in learning to embroider from photographs and develop their own styles.

Clough even designed a kit of materials specially for Colossal, which includes everything you need to start embroidering and keep your practice going at home. All skill levels are welcome, and each workshop is different, so we urge you to register for both sessions.

If you’re a Colossal Member, be sure to use the discount code in your account for $10 off. If you plan to travel and stay at 21c Museum Hotel in Chicago for the workshop, you can receive a 25 percent discount on rooms. Reach out to us at hello@colossal.art so we can help you book your accommodation.

Register here.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Join Us This September in Chicago for Two Embroidery Workshops with Artist Danielle Clough appeared first on Colossal.

At the base of Mont-Saint-Grégoire, a short drive from Montréal, the outdoor adventure designers behind The Trekking Group conceived of Canada’s largest trampolines for UPLÅ adventure park. A new location in Stouffville, Ontario, just outside of Toronto, expands the possibilities of play with a series of nets that soar amid the canopy. Suspended between trees and large posts, the vibrant, multi-level networks of spiraling ramps, tunnels, and rooms invites visitors onto a bouncy aerial plane, replete with climbing apparatuses, ball games, and giant bean bags. At night, the nets are illuminated with colorful lights and opened for nocturnal romps, which can be booked in advance.

The Trekking Group creates customizable adventure park that can be installed short or long-term, among other outdoor facilities like rope bridges and treetop platforms. See more of the company’s work on its website, and to find out more about UPLÅ or plan a visit, check out the park’s website and Instagram.

Photo by Bernard Brault

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Bounce and Caper Among the Trees at UPLÅ, Canada’s Biggest Trampoline Parks appeared first on Colossal.

Hays has released its FY23-24 Salary Guide, and it outlines how marketers should go about asking for a pay rise.

With the cost of living continuing to rise, recruitment and workforce solution specialists Hays have found that a significant majority of employers view individual performance as the most important factor when it comes to pay rise evaluations. 

Key elements to go through when looking for a pay rise

The primary factors that employers are looking at when reviewing pay rise requests in marketing include:

• The key responsibilities of the role.
• External median salaries for the same or similar roles.
• The organisation’s performance.
• The employee’s skills and expertise.
• The organisation’s internal set pay structure.

“We know that 95 percent of employers will increase salaries in their next review. But, with salary increase budgets under pressure, employees must make the best possible case to maximise the value of their pay rise this year,” says Matthew Dickason, CEO Asia Pacific at Hays.

“To boost your chances of a stronger pay rise, you must prepare a persuasive case,” he finishes.

Tips to maximise your value

When it comes to negotiation, these are some of the preparation tips as provided by Hays:

• Prepare your evidence: demonstrate why you deserve a raise, with a focus on your individual performance and the importance of your responsibilities.
• Research typical salaries for similar roles: review the recent salaries in the market as back up for your request.
• Set a meeting: ask your manager for a meeting for a salary review and maintain a professional manner.
• Be willing to negotiate: prepare to discuss the salary you feel your results are worth, but with some willingness to compromise.
• Have a contingency plan: if the agreement is not reached in this meeting, put a date in place for another review, or bridge the gap with improvements to work-life balance.

By Janelle Fisher

City Pages Editor

GREEN BAY – Downtown Green Bay, Inc. will fill the streets of downtown Green Bay with art of all kinds next weekend, July 28-30, as the organization prepares to put on the first ever ArtFest Green Bay.

The event will feature three days of visual art, music, food and more, with an art fair, color run/walk, areas for arts education and hands-on experiences, culinary arts demonstrations, a live art competition, three stages for an expansive line-up of musicians and performers and a variety of food vendors.

All of this, according to Samantha Mirkes, marketing manager for Downtown Green Bay, Inc., is in an attempt to give the community an opportunity to experience and support the arts.

“ArtFest Green Bay was created to bring art to the heart of our city,” she said. “Historically, we know that artists and the community love an urban arts festival because they enjoy the vibe that is created by bringing arts and culture together to the streets of a vibrant downtown. The downtown business community encouraged us to create an event that supports the arts and creates a positive economic impact to the Downtown District.”

So far, Mirkes said, ArtFest has been embraced by both community members interested in attending and artists interested in participating.

“The response to ArtFest has been overwhelmingly positive and there has been a buzz of excitement in the downtown community,” she said. “Our color run/walk has reached its max registration. Many other community organizations reached out and have an important role in the event. Local and regional artists are anxious to showcase their talents. Many people have volunteered, and we encourage anyone who wants to get involved in ArtFest to sign up on our website (downtowngreenbay.com/Artfest).”

Mirkes said Downtown Green Bay, Inc. plans to continue to host ArtFest every year moving forward.

“We plan to hold ArtFest annually on the last weekend in July,” she said. “One goal of ArtFest is to create an event that has regional appeal and brings connectivity and momentum to Downtown Green Bay. Another goal for ArtFest is to provide attendees with unique interactive art experiences. There will be classes, hands-on activities, a color run/walk, demonstrations, live music, dance lessons, and a competitive art component called Art Wars.”

Although the event only lasts one weekend, Mirkes said the intent of Downtown Green Bay, Inc. is for each year’s festival to also make a lasting contribution to downtown Green Bay’s art scene.

“Each year, ArtFest intends to leave a permanent mark on downtown Green Bay with a public art installation,” she said. “This year, during the festival, the community is being asked to help create Green Bay’s first clay mural, which will be installed at 238 Walnut Street. later this year. Community members will make their mark and experience clay by creating texture, adding dimension, and applying colorful underglazes to the mural. Downtown Green Bay, Inc. received a sponsorship from Capital Credit Union, and was awarded a $6,000 grant through the Wisconsin Arts Board’s Creative Community grant program. This statewide program encourages arts education, cultural understanding, and community arts development and provides support for projects that are done with the community rather than just for the community.”

For those who plan on attending the event, Mirkes said there are several ways people can find information and optimize their time at the event:

“People can make the most of their ArtFest experience by checking out the ArtFest website prior to their visit (downtowngreenbay.com/Artfest),” she said. “It has everything they need to know including schedules, lineups, parking, and other event details.  When on grounds, if anyone has any questions, or would like an event brochure, they can visit the information booth on the corner of Cherry Street and Adams Street.”

McDonald’s Hong Kong has partnered up with DDB Group Hong Kong to unveil McNuggets’ 40th anniversary campaign, which includes launching a chicken McNuggets art exhibition and creating the first McDonald’s-themed metaverse gaming experience.

This comes as chicken McNuggets have earned their place in pop culture over the past 40 years, with Usain Bolt famously ate 100 McNuggets each day of the Beijing Olympics, and when Rick and Morty revived an old McNuggets dipping sauce. The campaign aims to celebrate the brand’s iconic status by creating a large-scale shared pop culture experience fueled by McNuggets.

The campaign first places McNuggets inside Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, available from 29 July. Done in collaboration withmulti-hyphenate creative director Kevin Poon, the pop art exhibition dedicated entirely to the McNuggets will open at the Arts Pavilion – the “Coach McNugget Art World”. The Arts Pavilion will be transformed into an immersive journey that fuses art, technology, and culture, featuring multinational creatives. 

The exhibition allows visitors to explore the past, present, and future of McDonald’s food icon, inviting visitors from all walks of life to experience the McNugget display. The exhibition begins with a time tunnel that takes visitors through the iconic history of McNuggets over the past 40 years, and then showcases 20 exhibits created by VANDYTHEPINK, Jon Burgerman, UFO907, Gyuhan Lee, and FrankNitty3000.

Each artist’s exhibit will present a series of artworks across different mediums, offering a unique perspective on the McNuggets. The exhibition will also include an interactive element that allows visitors to create their own McNugget shapes and laser tattoos, as well as a series of merchandise designed by VANDYTHEPINK featuring coach McNugget and his team. All proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities Hong Kong.

As part of the campaign, Virginia-based Korean American designer VANDYTHEPINK will debut a new edition of “Team McNuggets”, which will be seen across the exhibition and campaign. The team includes a reinvention of Coach McNugget, the iconic character from the brand’s marketing in the 80’s, his assistant, coach McNugget, as well as four characters on his “team” affectionately named after typical McNugget shapes, Ball, Bell, Boot and Bone.

The campaign then takes McNuggets to a gaming virtual world powered by Web3 done in collaboration with The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands. The “McNuggets Land” created in The Sandbox, will requestplayers to conquer a series of gamified challenges to have an opportunity to win an array of digital and physical prizes, including a year of free McNuggets.

Starting from 20 July, visitors to “McNuggets Land” can also engage with coach McNugget and his new nugget team of pop art characters. The McNugget shapes created by exhibition visitors will also be featured in the McNuggets Land.

In terms of medium of promotion, a series of online videos featuring the new McNuggets characters in a fun museum takeover story, with McNuggets art exhibition producer Poon starring as the security guard, introduce each of coach McNugget’s team members, helping Hong Kong get better acquainted with the loveable pop art characters. 

Commenting on the campaign, Tina Chao, chief marketing and digital customer experience officer of McDonald’s Hong Kong, said, “The McNuggets are often at the heart of fun sharing occasions, but it’s nice to see them getting the limelight on 40th birthday. This campaign is a celebration of the past but also aims to nurture brand love for the new generation by tapping into their passion points of art and gaming to create meaningful engagement.”

Meanwhile, Poon said: “It’s truly a dream come true to curate a show for McDonald’s Hong Kong […] Having the artistic freedom to curate a special exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of chicken McNuggets and spanning fine art, AR, and VR, is an incredible opportunity. I can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction to the show.”

Related articles:
McDonald’s brings back classic Grimace mascot: How brands can tap into nostalgia marketing
McDonald’s unveils McNugget-shaped gaming device for Tetris in China
McDonald’s names Asia marketing chief Eugene Lee as international CMO

The Australian art world is in shock after the body of art dealer Tim Klingender was recovered from waters off Sydney’s Watsons Bay on Thursday morning.

NSW police’s Marine Area Command found a man’s body floating among debris at around 10.20am on Thursday, following what is believed to be a boating accident.

PolAir and a rescue squad are continuing to scour the area for a second man, aged 51, who they believe was also on the vessel.

Klingender, a respected expert in First Nations art, was the senior consultant for Australian art at international auction house Sotheby’s, which became Smith & Singer in Australia in 2019.

The company’s co-owner and former curator of Australian art at the National Gallery of Victoria, Geoffrey Smith, worked with Klingender for more than three decades.

Smith described the dealer as extraordinarily committed and passionate.

“He had an unparalleled reputation, knowledge, passion, discernment, and he was absolutely driven in his desire to promote Australian both here and to the rest of the world,” Smith told the Guardian.

From 2019 Klingender oversaw high-profile auctions of First Nations works in the US, establishing Sotheby’s New York’s reputation as the leader in the Indigenous art market outside Australia.

“There are many organisations and auction houses and institutions who may have different parameters in terms of the ethics of collecting,” Smith said, referring to the complex and frequently controversial world of trading First Nations art on the national and international markets.

“But Tim was driven by his own personal ethics, and that’s what you need to do, to get that kind of reputation. He had his own vision and own beliefs, and he lived by them, and those beliefs evolved over the years because he was always learning.”

The University of Melbourne-educated dealer joined Sotheby’s in the early 1990s, rising to the position of international director in Australia.

He established Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Department in 1994, and the company’s Indigenous art department two years later. He was pivotal in bringing First Nations arts to the attention of a global audience and a global market.

Fourteen years ago he also established Sydney-based gallery Tim Klingender Fine Art.