Despite Upheaval, Study Trip to China Is Offered Again

The San Francisco Art Institute has decided to again this summer to offer its annual study trip to the People’s Republic of China. The school has made the decision despite having to send a group of visiting American students home after Chinese students were massacred in Beijing’s Tian An Men Square last spring.

“The government (in China) is taking the position that cultural doors should be closed, but our general view is that cultural doors should be opened, and if someone’s trying to close those doors, we should stick our foot in them,” said Fred Martin, the institute’s dean of Academic Affairs. Martin said that about 10 students enrolled in the program were sent home from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou when the massacre occurred last year. He said the school delayed for several months making the decision to continue the program, but after discussions with the Hangzhou school and the students who were there last year, decided to offer it once again.

Martin said that although the deadline to sign up for the May 14-June 25 trip is not until March 30, two students have already done so (a total of 24 spots are available). He said he expects many of the students who were sent home early last year to return this year, as they will not need to repay their program fees. “All they have to do is get the air fare together, and a number of them are planning to do that,” he said.

Cost for the study trip, which includes a week-long stay in Beijing, as well as a month at the Zhejiang Academy and trips to Shanghai and other locales is $4,465, including air fare. Up to 12 units of college credit can be earned. For registration information, call (415) 771-7020.

FILMS: “Michelangelo: Self Portrait,” a 1987 film derived from the master’s letters, poems and diaries, as well as contemporary biographies and Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” will be shown Thursday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Written by Michael Sonnabend and produced, directed and narrated by Robert Snyder, the film opens as the 89-year-old Michelangelo is carving his own work, and flashes back to his early days as an artist. Tickets for the 8 p.m. screening are $10; $8 for museum members, seniors and students. Information: (213) 857-6139). . . . Also the subject of a film screening this week is Marc Chagall. The 1977 film, “Homage to Chagall, The Colors of Love,” includes a rare interview with the artist, in which he discusses his intense devotion to his Jewish Heritage, the small Russian village of his youth, and his work. The film will be shown Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 W. Crestridge Road. Entrance is free. Information: (213) 541-2479.

GRANTS: The American Federation of Arts has received a $450,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to support a three-year exhibition development project. According to the terms of the grant, the New York-based AFA will collaborate with 32 American museums to identify possible national touring art exhibitions drawn from the collections of those museums or based on concepts proposed by their curators.

The goal of the program is to select three museums which would work with the AFA in co-organizing three important exhibitions and accompanying catalogues. Once the museums and exhibitions are selected, the grant will cover many costs associated with implementing the shows, including research, conservation, matting and framing, and hiring guest curators. Each show would have its premiere opening at the co-organizing institution and then travel to an additional four to seven of the 32 selected museums.

The 32 selected institutions are located in 26 cities in which Knight-Ridder newspapers are located. The Long Beach Museum of Art is the only California institution to be involved in the project.

NOTES: Craft artist Maria Torres, whose decorative bread dough ornaments, including traditional wedding accessories, were a crowd favorite at the opening of the Craft and Folk Art Museum’s exhibition “Hands On! Objects Crafted in Our Time,” will be at the museum today to demonstrate her art, called Migajon . The free presentation begins at 11 a.m. Information: (213) 934-5544. . . . More than 100 paintings including works by Vernon Morse, Granville Redmond, George Brandriff and Dana Bartlett will be up for auction Tuesday at the Pasadena Center, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. The works will go on display at noon, and the auction, run by John Moran Auctioneers, begins at 7 p.m. Entrance is free. Information: (818) 793-1833.