They Seek A City Features More Than 80 Works by Southern- and Foreign-Born Chicago Artists Created Between 1910 and 1950. On View in the Modern Wing through June 2, 2013
During the first half of the 20th century, the city of Chicago was shaped and reshaped by waves of migration and immigration as African Americans poured in from the South and newcomers arrived from Europe and Mexico. To celebrate these great migrations, the Art Institute of Chicago has organized the first exhibition to focus on the art produced by the diverse communities that made Chicago their home.They Seek a City: Chicago and the Art of Migration, 1910-1950 features more than 80 works created primarily by Southern- and foreign-born artists such as Margaret Burroughs, Eldzier Cortor, Walter Ellison, Todros Geller, Stanislaw Szukalski, and Morris Topchevsky--many rarely seen by the museum's audiences. The exhibition draws on an extensive core of paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs, and books from the Art Institute's permanent collection, and is enhanced by works borrowed from local private collectors and institutional lenders, among them the historically significant South Side Community Art Center and the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. On view in the Modern Wing's Abbott Galleries (G182-G184) from March 3 through June 2, 2013, They Seek A City is a survey of the city's rich art of migration and demonstrates how Chicago became the polyglot, cosmopolitan place that it remains today.
The story of Chicago has always revolved around the movement of people. As a city made great by a network of railroads fanning out in every direction, Chicago developed in the 19th century as the Midwestern capital of industry and retail, eclipsing older, more established cities. After the catastrophic fire of 1871 destroyed over three square miles of downtown and nearby neighborhoods, civic leaders vowed to rebuild on a grander scale. Meatpacking companies such as Armour & Company drove the growth of the city, prompting a demand for labor that was filled by the arrival of thousands of immigrants and migrants. This rebirth also contributed to the cultural advancement of the city: Philanthropists such as Martin Ryerson, Henry Field, and Potter Palmer appreciated the value of a flourishing artistic community, and through their efforts, the Art Institute of Chicago developed its world-renowned collection and the School of the Art Institute established itself as a preeminent art academy.
The vibrancy of Chicago's artistic scene in the period from 1910 to 1950 depended on the complex interchange of immigration, migration, industry, and the arts. European immigrants--particularly Eastern European Jews fleeing political and religious persecution--poured into the city between 1880 and 1920, when newly enacted Congressional immigration quotas began closing U.S. borders to many. As European immigration slowed, the city's industries demanded new sources of labor, particularly during World War I. The demand was soon filled by new arrivals, particularly Southern-born African Americans and Mexicans, who became integral to the city's growth.
They Seek A City celebrates the art produced by these newcomers. Immigration and migration, assimilation and alienation were topics that resonated with artists as they sought to establish new lives in a strange city. Although many of Chicago's artists were social realists who worked in a figurative tradition, avant-garde art by European immigrants also played a role in the city's changing cultural life. Despite sometimes-divergent methods, there was an overarching sense of artistic community, as artists crossed ethnic and racial boundaries, linked by shared institutional affiliations, political beliefs, and aesthetic outlooks.
By examining the art of the city through the lens of migration, They Seek A City not only traces Chicago's rich and dynamic cultural development, but also explores some of the most important social and artistic questions of the early 20th century, including the intersecting issues of racial and cultural identity.
They Seek a City is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 116-page catalogue. The book, by Sarah Kelly Oehler, the Henry and Gilda Buchbinder Associate Curator of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, features 85 color and 10 black-and-white illustrations, plus five scholarly chapters that explore Chicago and the art of migration. The catalogue, published by the Art Institute and distributed by Yale University Press, will be available beginning March 4, 2013, at the Art Institute's Museum Shop for $35.00.They Seek A City: Chicago and the Art of Migration, 1910-1950 is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and curated by Sarah Kelly Oehler, the Henry and Gilda Buchbinder Associate Curator of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Exelon Foundation is the Lead Sponsor for They Seek A City. Annual support provided by the Exhibitions Trust: Goldman Sachs, Kenneth and Anne Griffin, Thomas and Margot Pritzker, the Earl and Brenda Shapiro Foundation, the Trott Family Foundation, and the Woman's Board of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Images: Archibald J. Motley, Jr. Nightlife , 1943. Restricted gift of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field, Jack and Sandra Guthman, Ben W. Heineman, Ruth Horwich, Lewis and Susan Manilow, Beatrice C. Mayer, Charles A. Meyer, John D. Nichols, and Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Smith, Jr.; James W. Alsdorf Memorial Fund; Goodman Endowment; Herman Menzel. Mexican Pool Room, S. Chicago #2 (with Bunting), 1927. Private Collection; Todros Geller. Strange Worlds, 1928. Gift of Leon Garland Foundation.
Source: Press release fro Art Institute
The Center on Halsted's ArtOUT gallery opening reception will take place on Friday, February 22, 2013, from 7p.m.-9p.m, The exhibit will feature the work of artists Zuleyka Vargas Benitez and Stephen Lowell Swanberg, and will continue to Tuesday, April 2, 2013.
2nd Floor Art Gallery Exhibit:
Carnival by Zuleyka Vargas Benitez.
Carnival is a collection of charcoal drawings and black and white photographs inspired by the Carnival season in New Orleans. Fat Tuesday known also as Mardi Gras is the only day during the year where the laws against concealing one’s identity is suspended in the city of sin, New Orleans, Louisiana. .
"The large drawings were derived from my photographs taken at Mardi Gras. I cut 8”x 10” gelatin silver photographs into pieces, scrambled them, and then enlarged each small piece onto paper using the “old school” grid method. I was inspired by David Hockney’s early Polaroid works where overlaid snap shots were compiled to make a larger cohesive image" artist Benitez said.
The work combine squares of paper with various forms made from charcoals you can buy at the store, and some are home made. Rubbing, brushing, erasing and smearing, are the techniques Benitez uses to create his art pieces. The artist enjoys the process of putting the squares together, while he doesn't think about the final result, This process allows Benitez the freedom in creating each drawing which is important to him. "When you look at the various squares you can begin to see the abstraction in the making; some squares lighter, some more detailed, some hurried, some composed, and some are just graphics." Joining the pieces together and seeing a recognizable image proved to be a challenge for the artist, since he never anticipated of putting them together at the first place. "I reconciled the edges and enhancing some of the tones" while making the final piece to work again" said Benitez.
3rd Floor Art Gallery Exhibit:
Abstract paintings by Stephen Lowell Swanberg
"With painting as my medium, I am exploring the expressive use of rectangles,fields of color,and appropriations. In each of my paintings, I attach a smaller and separate rectangular piece of canvas centrally to the main stretched canvas. The main stretched canvas is primed canvas – it is sometimes painted black, at other times painted a variegated, non-uniform field of color. Often the attached canvas is unprimed canvas, and so it is stained by the paint (at least initially if there are several layers) as opposed to the paint resting on the surface of the canvas as it does on the main stretched canvas. This staining of unprimed canvas can yield quite intense colors." by Stephen Lowell Swanberg.
From Friday, February 22, 2013 to Tuesday, April 2, 2013 • the Center on Halsted • 3656 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60613
Cost; A $5 entry fee will be charged at the door.
photos above: art by Picasso by Northwestern UniversirtyCenter will be a new national model of collaborative scientific research in the arts
Northwestern University has received a $2.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts, expanding an innovative partnership between the University and the Art Institute of Chicago that has led to unlocking secrets about many of the museum’s masterpieces and developing new methods and technologies to investigate art. Breaking new ground, the conservation science partnership, funded over six years, will offer its scientific tools and expertise to users from across the country. In the United States, scientific research on cultural heritage objects typically is conducted within the boundaries of a specific museum or cultural institution, with only a few dozen such institutions equipped with the necessary tools and expertise nationally. “I am thrilled that what we have accomplished over the past eight years has been recognized as valuable,” said Katherine T. Faber, a Walter P. Murphy Professor in materials science and engineering at Northwestern. “Now, we are ready to build upon this solid foundation to offer our expertise to others beyond our institutions.” The upcoming show “ Picasso and Chicago” (Feb. 20 to May 12) will include findings from a study of Modern bronze sculptures in which Northwestern and Art Institute researchers traced some of Picasso’s unmarked sculptures to the Valsuani foundry in Paris, based on material evidence. The new center will serve as a collaborative hub, facilitating interdisciplinary research partnerships in art studies and conservation on a national scale. Academic researchers and scholars in training will meet and engage in mutual learning with scientists, conservators and curators. Conservation scientists in and outside Chicago have learned about the partnership’s work through the Art Institute’s exhibitions as well as academic papers and seminars. They have been eager to have the opportunity to study their own treasures, using the latest science and engineering tools offered by Northwestern and the Art Institute. “Art and technology are prime material evidence of humanity’s accomplishment,” Casadio said. “By bringing the two together in this center, we will have a chance to enhance our understanding of the world’s shared cultural objects and preserve them for future generations. “This landmark initiative represents a tectonic shift from the isolated museum scientist to a dynamic hub that will serve as incubator of new ideas and significantly accelerate the rate of discoveries by providing the latest technological innovations brewing in the academic environment,” she said. Casadio and Faber will be co-directors of the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts, which will be based physically at Northwestern. The center will be staffed by a senior scientist and two postdoctoral fellows and will act as an umbrella for all research and educational activities related to the conservation science partnership. Interested parties from museums and cultural institutions will be required to submit proposals for merit review to study objects in their own collections or perform object-inspired research. Faber and Casadio expect three to five major projects and up to 10 minor projects to be carried out each year by researchers from inside and outside Northwestern and the Art Institute. “The new center will be built on the solid foundation of collaborations between the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University that have long been nurtured by the enlightened support of the Mellon Foundation,” said Douglas Druick, president and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute of Chicago. “As the first such initiative in the United States, the center will inspire a new model for research partnerships between museums and academia, and we are especially excited by the promise of bringing museum professionals, researchers and students together to contribute original and groundbreaking research to their respective fields,” he said. “We remain exceedingly grateful to the Mellon Foundation for the important scholarship made possible by their support of these key partnerships and look forward to sharing our findings with the broadest audiences possible in the coming years.” “The new center promises to enhance research and education on works of cultural heritage with new partners at museums and cultural institutions who would benefit from the scientific tools and expertise we collectively offer,” Northwestern Provost Daniel Linzer said. “I have appreciated the many discoveries this highly productive partnership in conservation science has made possible and look forward to future findings as the collaboration expands its scope,” he said. Linzer noted the partnership and its center address all four core areas of the University’s strategic plan: to discover creative solutions, integrate learning and experience, connect our community and engage with the world. For more information on the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts, go to http://www.nuaccess.northwestern.edu.
photo: 2012 Power of One Award Winner Shelley Nizynski Reese was chosen for her work supporting deaf children who are often shunned in Ghanaian society. CHICAGO – January 25, 2013 – The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is currently accepting nominations for the 2013 Power of One Award. The deadline to submit online nominations is February 5, 2013. The Power of One message is essential to the core mission of the Illinois Holocaust Museum which encourages individuals to be upstanders rather than bystanders. The Power of One speaks to the fact that one person’s actions can multiply exponentially to make a difference in the lives of countless others. Special consideration for this award will be given to those whose stories align with the Museum's mission of fighting hatred, standing up to indifference and promoting human rights. Shelley Nizynski Reese, recipient of the 2012 Power of One award said, “This world-class institution compels, teaches and guides us to overcome intolerance and indifference, and I am confident it will continue to successfully execute its critical mission for generations to come.” Through Reese’s creation of the establishments, Midian Education Support and A Better Life for Kids, she demonstrates the Power of One through her efforts to improve the quality of life for children in Ghana, Africa by providing them with medical, humanitarian and educational opportunities. “The missions of these organizations dovetail with that of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center,” Reese said. “We are all working to make the world not only a better place, but a more just place.” “Shelley’s story transcends continents and cultures, and becomes each of ours to share, reminding us that as citizens of a larger fabric of humanity, we all have a responsibility to each other,” said Museum Executive Director Rick Hirschhaut. “I look forward to commending yet another remarkable individual who exemplifies the power of one person to create and inspire extraordinary change.” On January 19, the Museum welcomed 65 volunteers dedicated to helping fight indifference and hatred in today’s world during President Obama’s National Day of Service. Individuals had the opportunity to become a Power of One ambassador, committed to sharing the Museum’s mission with as many people as possible. To nominate someone for the 2013 Power of One Award, visit www.illinoisholocaustmuseum.org/PowerofOne. The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is the largest facility in the Midwest dedicated to preserving the memories of those lost in the Holocaust and to teaching current generations to fight hatred, indifference and genocide in today’s world. The Museum is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.; Thursday evenings until 8:00 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Learn more at www.illinoisholocaustmuseum.org.
FORTHCOMING ENTERTAINMENT SALE INCLUDES OVER 100 LOTS OF BEATLES MEMORABILIA. BONHAMS TO SELL THE GEORGE HARRISON FAMILY COLLECTIONA collection of some of the most important pieces of George Harrison and Beatles memorabilia ever to be offered at auction will be included in the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques, Bonhams forthcoming Entertainment Memorabilia sale on December 12, 2012. The collection, which has never been available to the general public, was gifted by George Harrison to his brother Harry and other members of the family. The most instantly recognisable piece in the sale, representing a key stage in the musician’s career, is George’s iconic Cavern Club and Hamburg era leather jacket. George Harrison was an enormously influential trend-setter and the leather jacket can be clearly seen in many of the Beatles early promotional photographs, including the historic Astrid Kirchherr photo sessions. The jacket was acquired by George during the Beatles residency in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960 and was his favourite onstage garment throughout their 1960-1962 appearances. The jacket will be offered with an estimate of £90,000 – 120,000. A pair of George’s custom made leather ‘Beatle’ boots, synonymous with the band’s style at the height of Beatlemania in 1964 will be offered with an estimate of £12,000 – 15,000. Harrison can be clearly seen wearing an identical pair of boots during the filming of ‘A Hard Days Night’. So influential were the Beatles at the time, their look was copied by teenagers around the world and formed an important part of fashion history. Representative of George’s solo career is his bespoke orange western style shirt designed by Nudie’s of Hollywood, identical to that worn during the landmark ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ in 1971.The shirt is estimated at £6,000 – 8,000. In addition to the Harrison Family collection, a key piece of early Beatles memorabilia will also be sold. A guitar used by Paul McCartney during the 1950s as a member of the pre-Beatles group The Quarry Men, accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from McCartney is valued at £20,000 – 30,000. Celebrating 50 years since the Beatles’ first record release, a large interesting archive of over one thousand photographs of the group throughout their career will be sold with copyright, estimated at £40,000 – 50,000. Also included in the over 400 lot auction on the 12/12/12 at 12 noon are a number of pieces of stage costume and jewellery relating to Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker during their Cream and Blind Faith days, during the late 1960s, as well as numerous lots relating to Rock legends The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Queen, T. Rex and U2. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go to www.bonhams.com.
How an HIV/AIDS awareness day motivates two local Chicago artists? Artists Erin Suarez-Bitar and Timothy Longwith putting together an art exhibit event to benefit LetsStopAIDS, an international charity that focuses on HIV prevention and knowledge exchange by engaging youth and fostering leadership. The art show will take place at Leona’s Restaurant, On Belmont, on November 30th, from 7-11pm. Guests must be 18 years old+. The event will include a variety of musical and poetic entertainment for an evening of mysterious enchantment and fanciful illustration. A portion of proceeds from the sale of the art work (___%) will be donated to LetsStopAIDS. Erin Suarez-Bitar and Timothy Longwith will be showcasing their latest work which delves into the dark, the bizarre and the absurd, connotations of classic fairy tales. “We decided to pool our talents and put on an art exhibit to take some action with our love for art . After struggling for ideas we came up with taking well-known fairy tales and twisting it into our own images. With mediums as varied as paintings to pencil everyone should be able to find something interesting in this exhibit ” explained Longwith. To preview some of the art pieces visit www.instagram.com/phxlongwith.
photos courtesy of Karen and Tony Baroneby Gary JordanThey say over time we all begin to resemble our pets, well what about a city, could the same be said for an entire population? What if Chicago or Denver were dogs, what kind of dogs will they be, and what will they look like? Celebrity artists Karen and Tony Barone think Palm Springs, California would be a pink poodle, which gave birth to the 7’3” Pink Poodle sculpture, titled "Monsieur Pompadour." After the birth of “Monsieur Pompadour” he and a companion piece, “Mademoiselle Coco,” an 8’4” Blue Point Siamese Cat, were acquired by the City of Palm Springs as part of its permanent Art-In-Public-Places collection, and installed in front of the cities new architecturally show-stopping animal shelter. During a formal ceremony to benefit the European Royalty Society, the Mayor declare these sculptures as integral part of the Art-In-Public-Places permanaent collection. This statement received thunderous applause from many art and animal lovers and other citizens of Palm Springs. It was only a matter of time before other critters followed the Barones, and the Coachella Valley desert has gone to the dogs. The Dalmatians breed became the inspiration of the “R. Hero” Dalmatians collection, a series of 6'2" aluminum puppy dog sculptures created to honor the firefighters Palm Springs, California. As a dog lover, and the owner of a rescue dog myself, I couldn’t wait to approach my Publisher/Editor, David Cohen, and offer to fly to Rancho Mirage to interview this eccentric couple, and get a chance to spend a few days at my favorite gay resort in Palm Springs. During my preparation and research for this interview, I have discovered that this laid back married couple, Karen and Tony Barone, have a lot more than the eye can reveal. Their artwork been exhibited and collected by afluent people from all over the world, and overnight they became famous and earned their status as the international talented renown artists who won many awards for their distinctive style in the field of paintings, sculptures, and ceramics. Some of their work was featured on the Muffin Top episode of the popular TV show Seinfeld. That didn't stop them for wanting and letting their creativity to explore more. They used their creativity and the ability to design some of Chicago's top notch interior design for The Brewery, Zanadu, and Tango restaurants. But the trendy “ The Great Gritzby’s Flying Food Show” won them multiple international awards in restaurants concept and design, all while operating from a horse farm they turned into a commercial design studio in Tennessee. During those years in Chicago the couple met, fell in love, got married, and gain the global recognition that puled a worldwide sophisticated clientele to their front door. Commissioned for projects in Hong Kong, Taipei, Japan, Paris and London, The Barone became globetrotting jet set artists. The “ Dalmatian Nation" gave Karen and Toni the inspiration for the “R. Hero” dog sculpture project that became the couple's ArtAdoption new project, and for that reason only I wanted to meet this unusual artists. I couldn't wait for the opportunity to ask Karen and Tony the questions regarding the essence and need to their creativity. Finally, sitting around the pool in their home in Rancho Mirage we began to talk.
Where did the inspiration for the dog sculptures come from?Tony Barone: We were brainstorming one day (a/k/a foreplay) a couple of years back about how people look like their dogs and visa versa. We thought, what if Palm Springs was a dog, what would it look like? ‘Voila’ – “Monsieur Pompadour”! This year, Karen herself was the inspiration for the elegant, almost 7’ tall, Afghan dog sculptures that flanked the entrance to the “Big White Tents” during Fashion Week El Paseo 2012. The radiant all gold Afghan, “Monsieur D’Or” and the dazzling all silver Afghan, “Mademoiselle D’Argent” were subsequently juried into the City of Palm Desert 2013-14 El Paseo Invitational Exhibition and will grace the prestigious median strip along the world famous El Paseo shopping district starting in November. What is the purpose of the unusual concept you’ve initiated, called “ArtAdoption”? The Barones reply, almost in unison, completing each others sentences: we have a vision for our artwork – it is to enrich public spaces by placing large-scale sculptures in communities across the United States. We facilitate this through a funding concept we’ve created called “ArtAdoption.” Under our “ArtAdoption” program, the artwork is a gift to the community and is paid for by the sponsorship of private citizens or through the corporate and business sector. “ArtAdoption” projects give art enthusiasts and community-minded businesses an opportunity to acquire an extraordinary & significant work of art and gift it for the public good & enrichment. The municipality receives the gift for placement at a suitable public site and achieves the lofty goal of supporting the arts within the community without using funds raised through taxation. How did the idea for “Dalmatian Nation” come about? Karen: In a world that has become exceedingly dangerous and where war has no boundaries – we rely on our heroic firefighters more than ever. Living in a post 9/11 world, and with the repeated ravages of wildfires popping up across the country, we realized how much we rely on these brave men and women. We therefore created a unique series of 6'-2" tall aluminum Dalmatian puppy dog sculptures called “R. Hero.” The visually child-friendly sculptures are to be installed across the country at public sites (parks, museums, municipal buildings, fire stations, hospitals, schools, and other not-for-profits) as a means of honoring and bringing recognition to our valiant firefighters who save and rescue humans and animals alike. Through the creative & instructive expression of art, the “R. Hero” sculptures serve as a reminder of their indefatigable heroism. In addition to honoring firefighters, this project allows us the opportunity of achieving a personal goal to create large scale public art that will enhance the quality of life for individuals living in, working in, and visiting a city. Under our “ArtAdoption” program we have “restricted” the purchase of “R. HERO” to only those acquiring the work for donation for the “public good” for installation at an art-in-public-places site. The Dalmatian sculptures executed in different radiant colors allows for a citywide campaign that places different colored “R. HERO” sculptures at multiple site selections – We are passionate about making our “R. HERO” sculptures available to communities across America – thus creating a “Dalmatian Nation.” Was the city of Palm Desert the first to receive an “R. Hero” in the Coachella Valley?Yes, that’s correct, a purple “R. HERO” honoring firefighters was the first in a litter of four to be acquired under our ArtAdoption Program, gifted to the Art in Public Places Program of the City of Palm Desert, and installed in the median strip on El Paseo (The Rodeo Drive of Palm Desert) directly across from the Historical Society of Palm Desert - the city’s first fire station. It is sponsored by Jo Ann & Alan Horowitz, Esq., Contour Dermatology, and Orbit In Hotel, of Palm Springs. The second “R. Hero”, which is bright green, was also acquired through our ArtAdoption Program and gifted by Rancho Mirage residents, Bunni & Rick Benaron, to the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert in Rancho Mirage, CA. It is installed in front of the Museum and faces the adjacent fire station. It really connects the dots for the hundreds of children visiting the museum daily. Our bright blue “R. Hero” Dalmatian is being proposed as a gift to the Art in Public Places Program of the City of Palm Springs for placement at a Palm Springs Fire Station to become part of the cities permanent collection. That is so awesome. You mentioned earlier there were four puppies in the initial litter – what about the fourth Dalmatian, has he found a home yet?Actually, there are now seven Dalmatians and more on the way. One we hope to have sponsored and placed in front of the Rancho Mirage Public Library and the others, as well as future Dalmatians, are waiting to be adopted and placed at additional Children’s Discovery Museums, fire stations, historical societies, libraries, parks, hospitals, etc. What additional sculptures do you have in the works, or are you concentrating primarily on your goal to literally create a “Dalmatian Nation?” We currently are in different phases of completion on a set of three 7-1/2 foot modernist cat sculptures, a toy poodle, and a 6’-3” Scottie. When do you sleep? Sleep! No time for that – only time for performing our art and enjoying fabulous meals with a lot of talk and laughter. Having been given the gift of each other and the ability to make art, we consider ourselves the luckiest two people on earth – who think and act as one. For more information on Karen and Tony Barone visit www.BaroneArt.com or www.facebook.com/baroneart. For up-to-the-minute information of where the little critter can be spotted visit www.facebook.com/RHeroRM.
From: Witeck Communications
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 7, 2012 – The Library of Congress has acquired 10 color fine art prints from photographer Robert Dodge’s Vietnam 40 Years Later portfolio, Robert Dodge Photography announced today.
The images come from an ongoing project by Dodge that documents what has happened to Vietnam since the end of the war with the United States nearly 40 years ago. Dodge made the images acquired by the library during multiple trips to Vietnam between 2006 and 2011.
In a separate acquisition, the library has accepted Dodge’s gift of 165 digital images captured during public and Congressional memorial services for gay civil rights leader Franklin Kameny. The images will be added to other papers and historic documents from Kameny’s life now held by the library and the Smithsonian Institution.
“In both cases, I am very proud that my work will add to the historical record of our country,” Dodge said.
A freelance journalist, Dodge captured images at two memorial services for Kameny, which were held following his death in October 2011 at age 86. Kameny, who was fired in 1957 from his job as a government astronomer for being gay, was a trailblazer in the gay rights movement. Kameny contested his firing with the U.S. Civil Service commission, pressed a legal case to the U.S. Supreme Court and later co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C.
The Kameny images are in digital format. The Vietnam images are 13x19 color digital prints. The prints are on a 100 percent cotton substrate of Moab Entrada matte paper made by Legion Papers and printed with Epson UltraChrome K3 pigment ink.
Dodge’s Vietnam project is coming to fruition at a time when the United States is starting to focus on an important series of anniversaries around U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. During the Memorial Day weekend, President Obama recognized the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the war and called for a 13-year period by federal, state and local officials to honor those who served in Vietnam.
As 2015 approaches, American’s will focus on the 40th anniversary of the end of the war, a time when 77-million Baby Boomers and 2 million Vietnamese Americans are likely to contemplate on how the war affected their lives. Dodge’s project encourages Americans to replace their violent and vivid wartime memories of Vietnam with an updated view of the emerging and vibrant Southeast Asian country. Dodge’s photography provides a compelling and colorful story of a nation at a crossroads, a country with rolling tropical mountains, clear-water beaches and bustling cities, a country with one foot firmly anchored in the traditional life of ancient Asia, another leaping forward to embrace the modern world.
The acquisition by the Library of Congress will help the institution update its own collection of Vietnam imagery and keep abreast of these important milestones in U.S. history.
Dodge’s full website can be seen at www.RobertDodge.com. All the Vietnam images can be purchased as limited-edition, fine-art prints. For more information, contact Robert Dodge Photography at 202-986-1758 or Robert@RobertDodge.com.
“When Americans hear ‘Vietnam,’ they need to start thinking about a country and not just a war,” Dodge said. “By updating their own awareness about Vietnam, they will find the United States is again deeply connected to this faraway country culturally, politically and economically.”
by David CohenONE MAN SHOW: C H R I S T O P H E R J A R R E D ™ THE " TEN WORLDS" know as the ten state of mind or conditions of life that every person experience within himself. Each of us possess the potential of accomplish the ten stages, and we shift from one to another at any moment, according to our interaction with the environment... Opening reception, Friday, June 13, 2012 from 6:00pm –10:00pm. The exhibit will be open through Friday, July 27, 2012, at the South Side Community Art Center at Gallery Two. 3831 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60616. For more information about this art show visit www.southsidecommuintyartcenter.com or call 773.373.1026
TACOMA, Wash. (Jan. 16, 2012) – LeMay – America’s Car Museum (ACM) has finalized an agreement making State Farm the institution’s presenting sponsor for 2012. The museum, set to open its 165,000-square foot facility on Saturday, June 2, 2012. ACM's campus is one of the largest auto museums in the world and projects to pump some $34 million into the local economy each year. The 2012 special projects, including the State Farm Theatre, which features a 360-degree movie screen located in the museum’s Collector Car Center. Located in downtown Tacoma, Wash., the museum main goal is to show how the automobile has fulfilled a distinctive role at the core of the American experience and shaped our society. The spacious Museum with rotating exhibits is designed to be the centerpiece for automotive history as well as an educational center and library. The campus, located adjacent to the Tacoma Dome, also contains a 3.5-acre show field, theatre, car storage, café, banquet hall and meeting facilities. To become an ACM member, volunteer or make a donation, visit ( www.lemaymuseum.org)
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