Susan Wheeler's blog

In a new hallway exhibition, Scenes from the Great Depression and its aftermath are presented in the works of recent immigrants and others for the Federal Art Project and the Works Progress Administration.  Works include: The Relief Station, 1938, Lithograph by Oscar Van Young b. Viena 1906 d. U.S.A.1991,  "The Relief Station," a realistic and not uncommon scene in art of the period, reflects the despair and patience of families who could no longer feed themselves without assistance. After coming of age in Russia during the civil war, Oscar was sponsored by influential American diplomats to settle in the United States. In the U.S. Oscar studied painting and became well known. His works were widely exhibited.   Gladys, 1936, Lithograph by Will Barnet "Gladys" was published by the U.S. government's Works Progress Administration, soon after the program's creation.  Its purpose was to create government jobs for the nation's many unemployed in all types of work including the arts. Barnet enjoyed a long career of painting, teaching, and exhibiting his art. He was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2011 presented by President Obama in a White House ceremony.     Charlie Parker Going to Wash Dishes, 1984, Photo-etching on Rives paper by Sue Coe, born 1951 England, active in the U.S.A. 1972 --present  To pursue music, Charles Parker left his home in Kansas City and hitched to New York where he looked for opportunities to play his alto saxophone. To make ends meet, Parker washed dishes at Jimmies Chicken Shack in Harlem.  He would become a major innovator in jazz when, with Dizzy Gillespie, he created "bebop."  

Howard Scott U.S.A. 1902-1983 We Still Have a Big Job to Do! 1943 U.S. Government Printing Office for the U.S. Navy, Industrial Incentive Division Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2012 During World War II, the Industrial Incentive Division of the U.S. Navy sought to improve morale among workers in U.S. industrial plants by emphasizing the importance of the plant’s products in the overall war effort. The morale initiative, begun in May of 1943, employed audio interviews and other messages piped in through speaker systems in the workplace;  exhibited combat action photographs, specially commissioned posters and combat motion pictures in the workplace; and arranged for returned combat personnel to visit the plants engaged in war production. This recently acquired poster, created to boost the morale of defense industry workers during World War II, is on view through April 12, 2013  

On view in the Hallway September 22 through January 14, 2013. Nurses Selected from the Historical Medical Poster Collection and the Collection of Prints and Drawings Dan Smith, U.S.A. 20th century Complete Your Education Then Come With Me  c. 1917-1918 Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2010 John Mills U.S.A. active 20th century Help! c.1917-1918 Purchased through the Kent Ellis Fund 2008 F. Samuels Brummer U.S.A. 20th century Take a Red Cross Home Nursing Course c. 1943-1945 Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2010 Doctors are Scarce 1943 for the Office of War Information Purchased through the Kent Ellis Fund 2010

"Family Doctor" by Grant Wood and Works by Other Mid 20th Century American Artistson view  June 22-September 17 in the library hallwayGrant Wood's iconic lithograph "Family Doctor," for which he used his personal physician as a model, is currently on view with twelve other prints and drawings by American artists.  "Family Doctor" by Grant Wood, 1940Lithograph"Children's Ward" by Robert Riggs, c.1940Lithograph

On View in the Library Corridor through January 6Selections from the Historical CollectionsL.C. Clinker and M.J. DwyerDon’t Waste Food While Others Starve! c.1918Lithograph printed by Heywood Strasser and Voight Lithograph Company, New York, for the U.S. Food AdministrationPurchased through the Lucia P. Fulton Fund 2010Harvey T. Dunn U.S.A. 1884-1952Victory is a Question of Stamina, 1917Lithograph printed by Latham Lithograph and Printing Company, Brooklyn, New York for the U. S. Food AdministrationPurchased through the Lucia P. Fulton Fund 2010