UPDATE

"Exhibitions like these take on a particular kind of time-tested rhythm," says Curator of Contemporary Art Laura Hoptman of the upcoming Carnegie International. Set to open on October 9, 2004, the museum's preparation for the exhibition, she says, is right on schedule. Just back from Helsinki, Stockholm, and London, and after a recent trip to Istanbul, Hoptman is not yet ready to release the list of artists to be included, but says the exhibition will tell a story "in the broadest sense," dealing with issues that people confront every day.

The last International, says Hoptman, was high profile, but there is a new crop of artists who are unfamiliar with Pittsburgh and its recurring landmark exhibition. "Jf you go to a country where an artist has recently participated in it, they know the International," she says. "But everyone knows who Andrew Carnegie was."

To pull the exhibition together, Hoptman, along with Assistant Curator Elizabeth Thomas and Secretary Sara Hromack, set up meetings in advance in areas where Hoptman noticed interesting activity or exhibitions. She visited artists' studios when she could and met with curators at other institutions for direction and advice. Because many artists today work with video or large-scale installation art, it was often challenging to find a way to see their current projects.

"You establish a relationship with the artist and see what they're doing," she says of this time-consuming process. "There is a necessary lack of spontaneity. The museum has to prepare," both physically and financially. To that end, the Friends of the Carnegie International, a group of collectors and other art lovers chaired by Milton and Sheila Fine of Pittsburgh and Jill and Peter Kraus of New York, has been formed to support the exhibition.

Watch for more news about the upcoming Carnegie International-including the artists who will be featured in the exhibition this fall-in future issues of CARNEGIE magazine.