Sculpture Exhibition "In Full Bloom" at Norman Rockwell Museum

The Norman Rockwell Museum grounds have become even livelier over the past couple weeks, as artists and craftspeople have been busy installing their entries for the outdoor exhibition In Full Bloom: Artists Design Garden Gates. On view July 4 through September 7, 2008, the show will feature three-dimensional, weather-resistant, garden gates, and complement the Museum's rural landscape with a vibrant display of color and beauty. To celebrate, the Museum will throw a "Garden Gates Garden Party," on Thursday, July 10, starting at 5:30 p.m. The garden party will offer entertainment, light food and refreshments, along with a chance to tour the Museum's scenic river views, Norman Rockwell's Stockbridge studio, the historic Linwood building, and the garden gates exhibition. An opening reception for In Full Bloom will be held on Saturday, July 12, from 3 to 5 p.m., featuring an awards ceremony for the juried show, and the chance to meet the creators of the enchanting works to be displayed at the Museum this summer

Steve Brodner Exhibition Opening a Political Party

Illustrator Steve Brodner was the man of the hour during the opening of Norman Rockwell Museum's new exhibition Raw Nerve! The Political Art of Steve Brodner on Saturday, June 7. One of America's most important art journalists, Brodner celebrated the exhibition opening with a crowd of over 280 guests, including New York Times Book Review contributor Steve Heller, illustrators Barry Blitt and Thomas Woodruff, and filmmaker Gail Levin, who is currently working with the artist on a series of videos for The New Yorker about the 2008 Presidential campaign. In addition to the New Yorker videos, the exhibition features over 100 original works and interactive touch screens with links to Brodner's daily art blog. Guests at the opening were also given the opportunity to choose their favorite candidate in an old-fashioned voting booth, and contrast Brodner's work with a series of political portraits created by Norman Rockwell. A self-described "equal opportunity offender," Steve Brodner will return to the Museum on Thursday, July 17, at 5:30 p.m., for a lecture/demonstration to be held as part of "Open Season," a series of pre-election programs to be held through the season. Raw Nerve! The Political Art of Steve Brodner is on view through October 26.

Illustrator Tasha Tudor Dies at Age 92

Internationally known author/illustrator Tasha Tudor died at her home in Marlboro, Vermont, on June 18, at age 92. Her death was announced on her Web site, www.tashatudorandfamily.com. A Caldecott Honor recipient, Tudor illustrated nearly 100 books for the young and the young at heart, starting with Pumpkin Moonshine, which was published in 1938. Her last book, The Corgiville Christmas, was published in 2003, part of a series of whimsical tales about Tudor’s beloved Corgi dogs. In addition to her books, which have been distributed worldwide, Tudor created Christmas cards, valentines, posters, and other decorative works.

Tudor became a lifestyle icon, cultivating an intimate world inspired by her interest in American life during the 1830’s. In addition to her illustrations, Tudor learned to sew her own period dresses, cook on a wood-burning stove, create her own hand-dipped candles, and spent hours working in her vegetable and flower gardens. The subject of numerous books, her work features in the Norman Rockwell Museum traveling exhibition Tasha Tudor’s Spirit of the Holidays, which will be on view at the 1911 City Hall Arts and Cultural Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana, from November 7, 2008 through January 31, 2009. www.tashatudorandfamily.com

The Lineman Finds Permanent Home at Norman Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell's stunning 1948 painting The Lineman was donated to the Norman Rockwell Museum on March 12, as a special gift from Verizon Communications. The oil-on-canvas painting, recently appraised at more than $2 million, was officially presented to Museum Director and CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt by Donna Cupelo, Verizon region president of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, during a special press conference held at the Museum. The painting, originally created by Rockwell for an ad for New England Telephone, features a heroic lineman high above the ground repairing a telephone line; several modern-day linemen attended and were also honored at the press conference. The original painting had been on loan to the Museum since 2006 from the Verizon collection of art work. Said Cupelo, "We in the Verizon family loved this painting and enjoyed it for many, many years; it perfectly symbolizes our heritage and our commitment to our customers. At the same time, we recognize that its rightful place is with the Museum so that it can be enjoyed by everyone."

Norman Rockwell Named State Artist of Massachusetts

Norman Rockwell has been named the State Artist of Massachusetts, thanks to a dedicated write-in effort by a group of students from the Sullivan School in North Adams, MA. The students in teacher Anna Saldo-Burke's third-grade class submitted the proposal to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick back in January of 2007, and finally learned this week that their bill would officially be turned into a law. With so many talented artists in the region (both past and present), it is a big honor for Norman Rockwell; the artist lived in Stockbridge, MA, from 1953 until his death in 1978, creating such classic works as The Problem We All Live With and Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas, and considered the area to be "the best of New England." The students noted that "even after his death, through his artwork, his accomplishments, his achievements, and the museum that he helped create, Norman Rockwell's immortal legacy as one of America's most beloved artists continues to contribute to Massachusetts." Click here to watch a video about this story produced by Capital News 9.

National Endowment for the Humanities
Chooses Norman Rockwell Image To Help "Picture America"

Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech has been chosen as one of 40 iconic images to be included in Picturing America, a new education initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The program, developed by the NEH in cooperation with the American Library Association, hopes to enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture by bringing some of the nation's greatest works of art into school classrooms and public libraries. Rockwell's enduring World War II-era painting will be distributed along with works by such artists as Mary Cassatt and Frank Lloyd Wright, as a large, high-quality reproduction, with additional materials and lessons plans for use by educators. The NEH states that "by bringing some of our country's finest works of art directly to the classrooms and providing the educational context for these images, we can open more eyes to the legacy of our great country." Freedom of Speech is part of the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum, and representatives from the Museum will attend a special White House reception hosted by President and Mrs. George Bush on February 26, to celebrate the launch of the initiative. To learn more about Picturing America, click here and to check out the lesson plan prepared for Freedom of Speech click here.

Dinotopia Creator Digs LitGraphic

Illustrator James Gurney, who created the acclaimed Dinotopia book series, paid a visit to Norman Rockwell Museum recently to check out the exhibition LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel. In a recent posting to his Gurney Journey blog, he praises the Museum for it's "pioneering spirit in championing American narrative art in all its forms" and notes that the exhibition includes a "diverse and vital field of talent"-fine praise indeed from an artist who has created his own imaginative storyline about a world where humans and dinosaurs live in harmony. To read more about James Gurney's visit, click here: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com, and don't miss the chance to see original work created by the artist in the Norman Rockwell Museum exhibition National Geographic: The Art of Exploration, on view at the Allentown Art Museum through May 25, 2008.

Berkshire County Teens Express
Themselves In High School Art Show

Norman Rockwell Museum once again hosts the annual Berkshire County High School Art Show, now in its 22nd year. On view from February 2 through March 2, the exhibition features 119 original works created by local high school students in a variety of mediums. One impressive submission this year is Freedom, an acrylic painting created by AJ Schlesinger of Mount Greylock Regional High School. Schlesinger was born with severe cerebral palsy, yet was able to create his artwork using a head-mounted tracking device created by Artist Realization Technologies; the system allows people with little or no control over their bodies, to create large scale artwork and still express their inner creative selves. All artists featured in the exhibition learn how to prepare their work for a gallery show, and acquire a personal understanding of the exhibition process. The show is generously sponsored by The Legacy Bank Foundation.

David Byrne Finds "Wild Wild Life"
In Berkshire County Museums

Norman Rockwell Museum received a special visit last week from musician David Byrne, who was in Berkshire County to take in some of its various cultural offerings. In a recent blog found on his Web site (http://www. davidbyrne.com), the former Talking Heads lead singer writes enthusiastically about the trip, which included a stop at The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition to appreciating the current offerings at both museums, Byrne reminisces about viewing work by modern artist Jarvis Rockwell (Norman's eldest son), who in the past has created unique dioramas with toy action figures. Byrne, who also has a background as a visual artist, writes with considerable knowledge about both Jarvis and Norman Rockwell's working methods, and muses about the correlations between illustration and modern art. Read more about David Byrne's visit here: journal.davidbyrne.com

Workshops Offer Visitors
The Chance To Become Graphic Novelists

In conjunction with its current exhibition LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel, Norman Rockwell Museum is offering a number of interesting workshops on the art of creating graphic novels. Covering such topics as storytelling, character development, and self-publishing, these workshops are popular with visitors, particularly students. Graphic novels are one of the fastest growing segments in publishing, and are being used by classroom teachers. The Museum will offer a symposium on graphic novels in the classroom on Saturday, January 12, as well as an exhibition of student-created comics opening on March 15. LitGraphic will be on view through May 26, with a special Comic Arts Festival (featuring several of the artists represented in the exhibition) to be held earlier in the month.

Graphic Novelists Shine at Exhibition Opening

The Norman Rockwell Museum celebrated graphic novelists both past and present at the opening of "LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel" on Saturday, November 10. The event attracted over 340 enthusiastic guests, including such distinguished comic book creators as Brian Fies, Marc Hempel, Peter Kuper, Terry Moore, Dave Sim, and Mark Wheatley, all of whose work is featured in the exhibition. Peter Kuper, whose most recent graphic novel is the semi-autobiographical "Stop Forgetting to Remember," entertained the crowd with an amusing true story about a visit he paid to Norman Rockwell's studio as a kid. When asked by Kuper to critique the rudimentary robot drawings he brought with him on his impromptu visit, Rockwell thoughtfully replied, "learn to draw from life more." LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel will be on view through May 26, 2008.

Click here to read Art New England magazine's recent cover story on the exhibition.

Norman Rockwell Back On The Boards Through Inspired Ad Campaign

Norman Rockwell is the latest in a distinguished group of subjects to be featured in the Inspiration: Pass It On ad series produced by The Foundation for a Better Life. Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait can be seen on both billboards and inspirational e-cards with the message "Saw The Best In Us," alluding to Rockwell's choice of finding the extraordinary in life's everyday ordinary moments. In addition to Rockwell, the ad series includes such inspirational achievers as Mother Teresa, The Dalai Lama, Albert Einstein, Hellen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, and Mohandas K. Gandhi, each with a quote illustrating their talented gift, story, or message.

The Foundation for a Better Life is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the values that make a difference in our communities. Through various media efforts, the organization's mission is to encourage adherence to a set of quality values through personal accountability and by raising the level of expectations of performance of all individuals regardless of religion or race. Through these efforts, the Foundation wants to remind individuals they are accountable and empowered with the ability to take responsibility for their lives and to promote a set of values that sees them through their failures and capitalizes on their successes.

To see the Norman Rockwell ad, and learn more about the organization, visit the Foundation's Web site: www.forbetterlife.org

Museum Unveils New Interactive Timeline About Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell Museum has produced a new interactive timeline, which features extensive information about the artist Norman Rockwell. Found on the Museum's Web site, the timeline will be an online source for people to find information about Rockwell¹s remarkable life and career, enhanced by such interactive elements as slideshows, audio and video clips. Starting with the artist's years in Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1953-1978), the timeline will soon include highlights from the artist's entire career. Rockwell's story is told through extensive research, reference photos, studies and other archival materials, as well as exclusive video interviews with his models, family, and acquaintances. Visit the timeline here: www.nrm.org/page209