Congratulations...let the work begin

Today is a banner day for Augusta's Downtown District. Today with the hard work of many talented people, visionaries and optimistic stakeholders, the Business Improvement District Proposal received the mandated votes needed to present the BID to our County Commissioners for approval.

This, my friends, is a VERY good day for the downtown district and all that live, work and play here. Awesome things are about to happen to help ensure economic viability, community growth and personal safety in our epicenter called downtown Augusta.

The citizens, business owners and patrons of Augusta's downtown district send you a warm heartfelt "Thank You" for everyone involved in the process.

Junk art scam

The hottest thing on the contemporary art market today is Chinese Art. As the director of the Mary Pauline Gallery I decided to go to Beijing and take a look. (although Shanghai has gotten most of the press I figured there is equally wonderful work in Beijing) Anyway, I go down to breakfast my first morning and my father has already been out on the streets and approached by some "art students" who are having a show that will end in one hour..so we must forget breakfast and hurry. I politely told them that we would see them in 45 minutes. I know from my experience in DC that they will be willing to sell the work QUICK at closing rather than packing it up and attempting to get the work back. All through breakfast I am overwhelmed with excitement. Upon arriving at the art show my disappointment is almost immediate. The work is decorative at best. Not contemporary cutting edge work from art students in Beijing! Well after about 15 minutes we left. Luckily my gut was right. The art students at the Forbidden City had the same work, and so did the artists selling "art" at The Wall. I would love to see the factory that produced the work. Trust your instincts when buying art!