Category Archives: Space Arts

Republic of the Moon and a Brief History of Drinking in Space

January 26, 2014 TopSpacer

The Republic of the Moon exhibition is underway in London until Feb. 2nd includes a number of special events such as A Brief History of Drinking in Space on the last day:

Sun 2 Feb 2014 – 4:30 p.m.

To date, there has been relatively little consumption of alcohol in space and on the Moon, but that could be set to change. With space tourism taking off, new lunar missions on the horizon and manned expeditions aiming further into space – with all its stresses – could a new era of zero gravity libations be next?  Join Sam Bompas of Bompas & Parr and David Lane of The Gourmand for a speculative look and the past, present and future of alcohol in space. From Buzz Aldrin’s legendary Holy Communion on the Moon to sherry experiments aboard Skylab and ceremonial ‘vodka’ consumption aboard the ISS, we’ll discuss the secret history of a slightly tipsy space age and ask what role our favourite poison will play in the future colonisation of the moon.

Ticket price includes the chance to sample Bompas & Parr’s unique Parabolic Sherry, created exclusively for super/collider’s POP ROCK MOON SHOP® based on Skylab-era research about alcohol in space.

In the 70s, NASA spent about half a million dollars studying which wines would be the best accompaniment for astronauts’ space food – even commissioning Californian oenologists to recommend the ultimate orbital wine and food pairing. Their suggestion? A medium sherry. It’s high alcohol content means that that it stands up to the violence of blast off and travels well. The choice mirrors sherry’s earlier history as a wine popularised by adventurer Francis Drake and appreciated by the British for centuries due to its robustness in travel.

As bottles aren’t allowed in space for safety reasons, Bompas & Parr’s ultra limited-edition sherry is packaged in a space-worthy plastic pouch ready for extraterrestrial consumption, in moderation.)

Education, Space Arts

Space Foundation student art contest winners announced

January 25, 2014 TopSpacer

The Space Foundation announces the winners of this year’s student space art contest. See winning entries here and all the submissions here.

Space Foundation Announces 2014 International Student Art Contest Winners

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 23, 2014) – The 25 winners of the 2014 Space Foundation International Student Art Contest are the most globally diverse group in the contest’s history. Young artists were selected for the top slots from among more than 7,100 entries representing 54 countries, including 43 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories – the largest response since the contest began four years ago.

The winners will receive a certificate, ribbon, personalized astronaut autograph and a prize. The winning artwork will be displayed at the Space Foundation’s 30th Space Symposium, to be held May 19-22 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA. Winners will be invited to tour the Space Symposium’s Boeing Exhibit Center and meet former NASA astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao, Space Foundation Special Advisor – Human Spaceflight.

The Space Foundation invited students from around the world in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to submit original artwork for this year’s theme, “My Spaceship Looks Like…,” challenging students to design their own spaceship – and then interpret that idea into an original work of visual art. The artwork could be submitted in any of the acceptable media/formats – drawing, painting, mixed media or digital art.

A panel of international judges selected first, second and third place winning entries in each of eight age categories: 3-4 years, 5-6 years, 7-8 years, 9-10 years, 11-12 years, 13-14 years, 15-16 years and 17-18 years. One Space Foundation Achievement Award was also awarded, selected by the Space Foundation’s internal graphic arts team.

3-4 YEARS
Armeen Jafry, 1^st Place
Rongdhonu Art Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Endri Zavalani, 2^nd Place
Homeschool, Tirana, Albania
Aishvarya Sivakumar, 3^rd Place
Ezone India School, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

5-6 YEARS
Mehaulo Goryn, 1^st Place
Centre Children and Teenagers Creativity, Zolochiv, Ukraine
Calista Marzouk, 2^nd Place
Cornerstone Christian Montessori, Elkhart, Ind., USA
Cole Josef Lydston, 3^rd Place
Norman Rockwell Elementary, Redmond, Wash., USA

7-8 YEARS
Vivian Liu, 1^st Place
Susan Art School, Milpitas, Calif., USA
Thadeus Christolon, 2^nd Place
Absolute Fine Art Studio, Corona, Calif., USA
Zhou Jiayi, 3^rd Place
Shanghai Pudong Youth Activities Center, Shanghai, China

9-10 YEARS
Tiffany Chen, 1^st Place
Logan Elementary, Ann Arbor, Mich., USA
Francesco Fernando Gregorio Zuñiga, 2^nd Place
Ateneo de Manila Grade School, Quezon City, Philippines
Sherry Pan, 3^rd Place
Creative Art Studio, Ann Arbor, Mich., USA

11-12 YEARS
Sang Yikun, 1^st Place
Shanghai Huangpu Art Activity Center, Shanghai, China
Sabrina Ryu, 2^nd Place
Bret Harte Middle School, San Jose, Calif., USA
Gordon Su, 3^rd Place
Thomas Russell Middle School, Milpitas, Calif., USA

13-14 YEARS
Zi Lu Wang, 1^st Place
Absolute Fine Art Studio, Corona, Calif., USA
Hiba Khamlichi, 2^nd Place
La Sacré School, Rabat, Morocco
Mean-Hie Kim, 3^rd Place
Northwood High School, Irvine, Calif., USA

15-16 YEARS
Rebecca Yu, 1^st Place
Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, N.Y., USA
Jenny Yoo, 2^nd Place
D-DIM Academy, Buena Park, Calif., USA
Lucille Miao, 3^rd Place
Pingry School, Basking Ridge, N.J., USA

17-18 YEARS
Young Gun Kim, 1^st Place
Leland High School, San Jose, Calif., USA
Sayani Karmaker, 2^nd Place
Kishalaya Art Center, Chittaranjan, Burdwan, India
Lautice Taylor, 3^rd Place
Franklinton High School, Franklinton, La., USA

SPACE FOUNDATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Stephanie Chen, age 16
Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, N.Y., USA

Where to See the Artwork
Winning artwork submitted for this year’s contest can be seen on the Space Foundation website photo gallery at http://bit.ly/1hkpYFY and all of the submitted artwork can be seen at www.artsonia.com/museum in the “My Spaceship Looks Like…” Space Foundation art gallery.

About the Judging Panel

The panel of judges comprised:

Lourn Eidal, Assistant Art Director, Crystal Peak Design, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
Richard Green, Senior Environment/Cinematics/Concept Artist, Kirkland, Wash., USA
Carolyn Strong, Director, Young Rembrandts, Denver, Colo., USA
Joe Vinton, Digital Artist, Renderosity Artist of the Year, Burton, Trent, United Kingdom
Hans Wolfe, Middle and Upper School Visual Arts, Visiting Artist Coordinator, Art Department Chair, The Colorado Springs School, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
Mercy Yeo, Professional Artist, Ann Arbor, Mich., USA (originally from Singapore)

Learn more about the annual Space Foundation International Student Art Contest by visitingwww.spacefoundation.org/education.

About the Space Foundation
Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is the foremost advocate for all sectors of space, and is a global, nonprofit leader in space awareness activities, educational programs and major industry events, including the annual Space Symposium, all in support of its mission “to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity.” Space Foundation world headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., features a public Discovery Center including the El Pomar Space Gallery and the Northrop Grumman Science Center featuring Science On a Sphere®, and is a member of the American Alliance of Museums. The Space Foundation has a field office in Houston, and from its Washington, D.C., office, conducts government affairs, publishes The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity and provides three indexes that track daily U.S. stock market performance of the space industry. Through its Space Certification^TM and Space Technology Hall of Fame® programs, the Space Foundation recognizes space-based technologies and innovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth. Visit www.SpaceFoundation.org, follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter, and read our e-newsletter Space Watch.

Pictured top: Winning artwork submitted by Stephanie Chen, of Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, N.Y., USA. She won the Space Foundation Achievement Award.

Pictured second: Winning artwork submitted by Armeen Jafry, Rongdhonu Art Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1st place, age 3-4 years.

Pictured third: Winning artwork submitted by Francesco Fernando Gregorio Zuñiga, Ateneo de Manila Grade School, Quezon City, Philippines, 2nd place, age 9-10 years.

Pictured bottom: Winning artwork submitted by Jenny Yoo, D-DIM Academy, Buena Park, Calif., USA, 2nd place, age 15-16 years.

[ Update: Some background to the contest: This Spaceship Could Use Some STEAM – Space Foundation.]

Space Arts

Micro-miniature space art heading for ISS

January 23, 2014 TopSpacer

Check out the gallery of micro-space-art created by Vladimir Aniskin that will be going to the International Space Station: Miniature Cosmic Art to Fly in Space – RIA Novosti

The miniatures — made under a microscope with movements timed to the artist’s heartbeat — will be affixed to a palm-sized plate of Charoite, a lavender-colored pearlescent mineral only found in Siberia.

When asked how he has so much patience, Aniskin laughed: “it’s not my patience, but my wife’s,” adding that she has supported his work from the beginning.

History, Space Arts

Space artist Francis Van Tine

January 22, 2014 TopSpacer

A reader sent an email last night to ask for any information I might have about the late artist Francis Van Tine. The reader had come into possession of the framed original painting shown here (the photo, taken outdoors, has shadows cast on it).

I had not heard of Van Tine before and the web has little info on him beyond this: Francis Van Tine Obituary – Daily Press – Nov.20.2008. Here is a part of the obit:

Born in Hoboken, N.J., in 1915, to ship captain’s daughter and a longshoreman, he grew up in New York City. He had 6 brothers. At 14, during Great Depression, he left school to work as page boy on Wall St. – Chase Manhattan Bank. Was sole support of his family.
He served in WWII – Army Tank Destroyers and tail-gunner in Army Air Corp.

After WWII, Francis married his sweetheart, poet, Evelyn Sylvia Haynes. He, worked for Bethlehem Steel as accountant, Federal Civil Service as Fiscal Officer, Fort Wadsworth and Camp Kilmer. His only child, Robin, born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York City.

He moved his family to Merritt Is., Fla., in 1956 to work at Patrick AFB as comptroller until, at 45, risked all to become artist for the space program at Cape Canaveral, creating beautiful paintings of imagined future space missions, some displayed in Washington, D.C.

Francis was present for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo missions, witnessing America’s leap into space. Some of his art even orbited Earth in a capsule, later presented to President Lyndon Johnson.

After Apollo program wound down, he became staff artist, Dept of Defense, Race Relations Inst. (now Equal Employment Opportunity Management Inst.)

He once created a header illustration for The Missileer newspaper at Patrick AFB: Base Artist Designs Second Missileer Flag – The Missileer/AFSpaceMuseum – Nov.4.1966 (pdf)

Illustrators often don’t get much if any credit for their work. I’ve seen many great illustrations in documents, old sci-fi magazine covers, etc, with no attribution to the artists.

Let me know if you have any info on Van Tine and/or images of other artwork of his. If you are interested in purchasing the above painting, I will put you in touch with the owner.