Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 25

Minneapolis Star and Tribune GO ill i4 Variety CO s-CO ikj 4 co Monday November 141983 GOOD DATE OF SALE ONLY 1C CO Dayton's walk-through fairyland brings Babar to life MUM IJIIIII.11111,1 i TF? 1 it Tin is rL.v I in Dayton's downtown store Walsh and three carpenters were still putting together one of the 24 animated scenes, Father Christmas's workshop, using carved sheets of foam beadboard. "We use plain old caulk, the cheapest stuff you can find," for adhesive, he said. The sets derive their structural integrity from their shapes rather than from glue. The caulking, he pointed out, is sticky enough to make everything hold if By Dave Matheny Staff Writer Babar, the gentle elephant king who lives in the jungle next door to Paris, has ascended the throne in Dayton's Auditorium. Along with Queen Celeste, her children, a dog named Duck, Father Christmas, plus some mice and dwarves, Babar has been brought to life in the downtown store's 20th annual auditorium exhibit called "Babar and Father Christmas." The free display opens today and is open during store hours.

French author and artist Jean de Brunhoff first created Babar and family in 1931 for his children. He died in 1 937 and after World War II his son Laurent resumed writing and illustrating the stories. The regal elephant seems to have started a colony of his own right here. Mayor Donald Fraser proclaimed last Friday as official Babar Day in Minneapolis. Laurent de Brunhoff, author, illustrator and son of Babar's creator, was present for that and for the opening Saturday of "Fifty Years of Babar," an exhibit of original watercolors from the storybooks by both of the de Brunhoff at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Next door to the institute is the Children's Theatre Company, where "The Adventures of Babar" played to packed houses until it closed Saturday. It will resume in January. It was the home of "The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant" three years ago. The auditorium display is based on a story by de Brunhoff pere in which Babar sets out to find Father Christmas. After a series of adventures, including the rescue of a homeless dog and a misunderstanding with mice about together, but impermanent enough to allow slabs of beadboard to be pulled apart and repositioned.

A table saw screamed in one corner. Overhead, a bathtub-like flying machine was suspended. Its rudder carries the marking "P.N. 1 for Pater Noel 1 a reminder of the story's French origin. Artist Mike Bolin and an assistant added all of the paint to the sets after Babar 4C Traveling exhibit to benefit nuclear freeze effort 'V' "Babar and Father Christmas" exhibit Each step of Babar's journey is retold.

An estimated 300,000 people will see 108 animated figures, including Babar brushing his teeth and walking through the snow, the dwarves playing in the snow and fitting Babar for a Father Christmas suit, and the elephant children. The figures, ranging in height from 2 feet to 5 feet, were made by a New Jersey firm specifically for this exhibit. In the auditorium late last week, Rick By Camilla Howell Staff Writer The list reads like a Who's Who in 20th-century art: Milton Avery, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney, Ben Shahn, Stuart Davis, Alice Neel, Robert Motherwell. They are among the 24 contemporary artists and artists' estates to have donated works included in a traveling exhibition called "Art for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze." Minneapolis is one of eight U.S. cities to which the exhibit and sale will travel in its three-month tour.

The other contributors include Louise Bourgeois, Richard Diebenkorn, Jim Dine, Sam Francis, Donald Judd, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Morris, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Kenneth Noland, James Rosenquist and David Smith. Twin Cities residents can view the works today and Tuesday at John C. Stoller Co. 4th floor, 400 Marquette Av All pieces are for sale by silent auction, with sealed bids presented to Stoller. The bids will be held until the show closes in New York City Dec.

3, and high bidders will be announced there. Though the interest of artists in politics is hardly new, the idea for this show began only a year ago, according to Stoller, Minneapolis coordinator of the exhibit. Boston artist Michael Mazur, whose work Stoller represents in this area, began discussions on what the art world could do to help the nuclear freeze movement. Two most-often mentioned ideas were developing a portfolio of prints by interested artists and having a large exhibition and sale Nick Coleman Staff Photo by Bruce Bisping Dorothy Rand, 7, walked through the whether Father Christmas is a real person or just a Christmas tree ornament, Babar finds F.C.'s workshop and transports him back to the elephant jungle for a vacation in the sun. Following designs by Jack Barkla, who also did the sets for the current Children's Theatre production, Dayton's has put together a walkthrough fairyland which recreates the story with animated characters and ceiling-high sets.

i 4 MM 'rs" f( in New York City. "Neither seemed quite right," said Stoller. "The portfolio idea has been used many times, and it's always difficult to sell an entire edition. And a show in New York ignored all the people in the rest of the country who are interested in working for the freeze." When the idea of a traveling show and sale occurred to Mazur, he set out to contact leading artists in Europe and America for donations of their work. "No one thought he would be successful, because artists do not receive tax benefits for gifts of their own work," said Stoller.

European artists were not responsive to Mazur's plan. But it received immediate approval from both Jim Dine and Jasper Johns, said Stoller, and "that was all it took. Once they said yes, the ball started to roll, and there was lots of interest. We were very impressed with the response." Works donated came directly from the artists or their families many are recent pieces, but most do not deal directly with a nuclear war theme. After forming a 53-member advisory -committee, the Art for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze group began planning the show's tour.

In some cities, particularly in California, antinuclear groups played a large role in organizing the exhibit, but in Minneapolis, developing the show has been largely the responsibility of the art world. Patrons paid $25 to preview the exhibit Saturday night at Stoller's gallery, and Stoller hopes to receive six to nine bids on the works while they are in Minneapolis. 'There were 1 8 bids in Los Angeles, 1 4 in San Exhibit 6C Changes don't help WTCN's news ratings There must be days when the folks in the news department out at WTCN-TV (Ch. 1 1 get tired of being right all the time. First, they didn't advertise their switch to new anchors and a new format in September because they were afraid their news shows might be a bit ragged and inconsistent.

And they were right. Anchors Paul Magers and Diana Pierce have looked good but "News 1 1" has been spotty. Then the Channel 1 1 folks said they didn't expect any quick improvements in the ratings for their news shows. And boy, were they right! The ratings for October proved they were so right, in fact, that the station's new owners, The Gannett Broadcast Group, must wish its people would be wrong sometime. Soon.

Despite new anchors, dozens of new employees and the commitment of millions of dollars, the station's 10 p.m. newscast remained mired in a distant third place in the local news wars, Coleman 8C One of the works in the show is Ben Shahn's "Apple Picker," 1935..