50 students, one
By Kathryn Herr
Editor in Chief
kah92B@psu.edu
By now, everyone has passed
through Stacks Market and
noticed that the couch and chairs
are missing and in their place,
a collection of blue and white
squares is arranged neatly on
the floor. These squares are
more than just artwork. They are
a collection of artistic statements
from 50 different people.
Craig Welsh, instructor of art and
communications, designed this
art instillation to commemorate
the University's 150 anniversary
and incorporated it into his fall Art
Blue and White 150; Mixed media on linmasote. This art piece was made by Craig Welsh and his art
students to commemorate Penn State's 150th anniversary.
Three new television networks seeking
gay and lesbian audiences
By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Three new
TV networks catering to gay
and lesbian viewers are trying
to establish themselves and all
say they support one another - at
least publicly.
Competition breeds interest and
shows doubters the business
is viable, said Frank Olsen,
president of the Q Television
Network. He once applied the
same theory when he owned four
gay and lesbian bars near each
other in Seattle.
"I think there's room for all three
of us," said Olsen, whose network
is the underdog of the trio. "We're
different types of channels, just
like you have ABC, NBC and
CBS."
Sure to be the most visible is
MTV Networks' Logo, scheduled
to start as a basic cable network
on June 30. Q and Here are both
pay services operating now and
available to a limited number of
viewers.
The gay and lesbian community
has been underserved by the
media and these channels
are long overdue, said Damon
Romine, entertainment media
director for the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation.
"There's definitely an audience
out there that is hungry to see
their stories being told," he
said. "We've seen this with the
tremendous success of 'Queer
as Folk' and 'The L Word.-
Logo has two original series that
will be ready this summer. One is
"Noah's Arc," about a black gay
screenwriter from California and
his friends, and the other is "My
Fabulous Gay Wedding," a comic
makeover reality show.
Otherwise, Logo will rely heavily
on movies and documentaries
until it is better established. Logo
has acquired the rights to films
10: Introduction to Visual Studies
classes.
Two classes of 25 students
were each given six squares
and limited instructions to create
three different versions, one of
each color. The first set had to be
covered with any type of fabric,
the next set had to be a flat
surface. The final set of squares
was open to any type of texture.
There are 300 squares total.
Some of the media used include
Fruit Loops, chain, stones, spray
paint, faux fur, and corn kernels.
"I don't think I've ever seen, in
any area of study, where that
many students contributed to
something that is so outwardly
expressed," said Welsh
such as "Angels in America"
and "Moulin Rouge," and has
documentaries about a gay
rugby team in Chicago and the
gay rodeo circuit.
"It will be programmed to the
sensitivity of a basic cable
audience," said Nicole Browning,
president of MTV Networks'
affiliate sales and marketing unit.
Logo's ride to reality hasn't
exactly been smooth. It spent
years on parent company
Viacom's back burner, and
already has seen its starting
date postponed from February.
This year's delay was partly to
get more programming in place
but was also because it only had
agreements to be in 2 million to 3
million of the nation's nearly 110
million television homes.
Browning was quoted recently
as saying she had found some
resistance to the idea of a gay
and lesbian network in meetings
with cable or satellite providers.
One executive threatened
resignation if Logo were launched
in the company's territory. She
downplayed that in a subsequent
interview.
"While there may be some initial
trepidation, once they really
understand what we're doing,
the breadth of the audience and
the breadth of the programming,
they understand there is a great
business opportunity," she said.
She said Logo will begin in
10 million homes, a significant
percentage of the roughly 45
million homes with digital service.
Logo isn't trying to reach analog
homes.
Political trepidation is one of the
reasons Paul Colichman, Here's
CEO, believes his business plan
is superior. Interested viewers
can subscribe to Here full time,
for an evening or for individual
programs.
"Unless you want the channel,
you don't receive it," he said.
With the help of his mom, Welsh
installed the piece on April 10 in
Stacks and it will remain there
until April 24, the end of Penn
State's annual Blue and White
Week. The piece is appropriately
named 'Blue and White 150.'
Welsh's students impressed
him as they completed this
project. While Welsh did not tell
the students what he intended to
do with the squares as they were
making them, he was pleased
that his students put so much
work into this project on blind
faith.
"One student even wove the
fabric into a pattern and I was
glad to see that they saw the
value of taking that time to make
Photos courtesy of Craig Welsh
Colichman claims ownership of
the largest gay and lesbian film
library in the country, with such
titles as "The Crying Game,"
"Longtime Companion" and
"Gods and Monsters," which he
produced. He has original series
on gay families, how gay couples
met and a supernatural soap
opera called "Dante's Cove."
"Look at HBO and Showtime
and what they do and compare
it to a basic cable channel, and
that's where you will see the
difference between Here and
Logo," he said.
Roughly 80 to 85 percent of
homes with digital satellite or
cable can order Here, he said.
But Browning noted there's a big
difference in visibility between an
advertiser-supported network
like Logo, which will be seen
continually in millions of homes,
and a subscriber service whose
audience is likely to only count in
the thousands at any given time.
Q is aggressively marketing itself
but, to date, is only available on
the small RCN satellite service.
Olsen said it would be available
in 16 million homes by June.
Olsen concedes his rivals have
shut him out of the market for
many films.
It has a documentary series,
"In FoQus," which is preparing a
tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, and a
morning talk show which recently
changed its name from "Good
Morning Gay America" to "Gay
Day" after representatives of
ABC's "Good Morning America"
threatened legal action, he said.
When Viacom announced it was
going ahead with Logo, Olsen
said he started getting phone
calls from cable companies
returned.
"Having a company like Viacom
validate the niche automatically
made the concept of a gay
oriented channel more viable,"
Colichman said.
Entertainment
really good," said Welsh." Many
of the students had never been
in a fabric store before and now
they had to go pick out a fabric
themselves," he said. "It was
interesting because they knew
that what fabric they picked
would say something about them
and got them thinking."
Welsh also allowed the students
to choose the arrangement of the
squares. Both classes decided
independently of each other
that a random arrangement was
most aesthetically appealing, so
he installed the squares as the
students suggested.
'Blue and White 150' was
originally to be displayed on
a wall, but the weight and the
logistics were an issue. "It turned
out better than I expected," said
Welsh. "I love the idea of a floor
instillation because it gives it a
different perspective, a change
of terrain."
While the squares are very
tactile and almost beg to be
touched, Welsh said the squares
are very fragile. "I wish they could
touch them. I want to touch it
even when I walk by," he said.
Stacks Market turned out to
be the best place for the display
due heavy traffic and the lighting.
Stacks added the ropes to protect
the piece from those who wish to
touch the squares.
The students are able to see
the reactions of others and gain
from the feedback. "The coolest
thing for me is to think back to
the students in the beginning of
class and see how productive the
students were and how far they
have come," he said.
Welsh hopes to have 'Blue and
White 150' displayed at University
Park. "I think it would be great to
have life from this campus invade
life on that campus," said Welsh.
"UP needs to know that students
at this campus are just as critical
to Penn State as a whole and that
they are a part of what makes
Penn State."
ork of art
Mother and son, Craig and Virginia Welsh teamed up to install the 300
blue and white squares in Stacks Market.
Craig Welsh arranges the 150 blue squares on the floor. Welsh hopes
his next instillation will he at University Park.
The Capital Times, April 18, 2005