The Montclair Art Museum Wins Two National Graphic Design Awards

Posted on April 30, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Apr 29, 2011 – Graphic Design USA, a monthly news and information magazine for and about the professional design community, has honored the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) with American Inhouse Design Awards for excellence for two recent publications: “Inspiring Greatness: The Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund” and the Andy Warhol Factory Party Invitation. Both …

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Jim Crow exhibit delves into racist, hateful things

Posted on April 29, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Seventeen people sat in a room in the Art Center of Battle Creek on Wednesday, intently watching the flickering image of a man in blackface dance in a loose-limbed, foolish fashion. “In 1836, Jim Crow was born,” said the sonorous voice of a narrator. “He began his strange career as a malicious minstrel character of …

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Community mourns death of noted textile artist Magee

Posted on April 29, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Celebrated textile artist Gwendolyn Magee died Wednesday night following an illness. Magee,67, of Jackson turned a traditional art form into profound contemporary art centered around African-American life and history She was honored for artistic achievement with a 2011 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in February. She started quilting for her daughters and rode …

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Alabama Folk Art at Vulcan Park

Posted on April 28, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

At Vulcan Park through August 26 in the Linn-Henley Gallery, The Music Lives On: Folk Song Traditions Told by Alabama Artists celebrates the Year of Alabama Music, a campaign launched in January by the Alabama tourism department. Some of Alabama’s best-known folk artists (Lonnie Holley, Joe Minter, Thornton Dial, and others) are part of this …

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Ziger/Snead to lead $24 million Baltimore Museum of Art renovation project

Posted on April 28, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

The Baltimore Museum of Art has chosen architectural firm of Ziger/Snead to lead a $24 million renovation of the neoclassical museum building. The museum is located adjacent to the Johns Hopkins University campus between the Charles Village and Remington neighbourhoods. The renovation will include enhancements of galleries housing the contemporary, American and African collections, new …

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Oree’s ‘Never Back Down’ jazz opera explores 1851 Christiana

Posted on April 28, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Despite a keen interest in African American history, Warren Oree had never heard of the violent standoff that came to be known as the Christiana riot. Then Oree came upon a two-sentence summary of the 1851 confrontation, which involved three escaped slaves, a strong-willed free black man, and a slave owner intent on retrieving his …

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Quince Orchard art on display this week

Posted on April 27, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Quince Orchard High School art students in the Creative Self Expression national art competition have their work on display through Tuesday at The Great Frame Up, 810 Muddy Branch Road, Gaithersburg. The public is invited to vote for their favorite work before the official judging Tuesday. The winner will be entered in the national contest, …

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Herbert Temple, 1919-2011

Posted on April 26, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

When Herbert Temple decided to pursue a career in commercial art in the 1950s, few positions were available for African-American men in corporate America, his daughter said. But Mr. Temple was determined to use his creativity and eye for aesthetic beauty to make a better life for himself, Janel Temple said. “His mother and father …

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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Posted on April 26, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Around a hundred students and fans gathered in the African American Culture Center in the University of Connecticut’s Student Union Monday night to hear hip-hop artist Prodigy of the duo Mobb Deep talk about the music industry, hip-hop music and his new autobiographical book My Infamous Life. While waiting for Prodigy to arrive, the audience …

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Weekend movies and outsider art

Posted on April 25, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

Community Day at the Gibbes Museum of Art includes art-making activities and special performances by the Three Dudes and Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Children’s Choir. Join in on the Great American Cleanup to beautify Park Circle Butterfly Garden, Quarterman Park, and the KCB Office Educational Garden. Katie Crouch will sign her young adult book, The Magnolia …

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“America I AM: The African American

Posted on April 22, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. The Act, which passed nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation, made 3,100 District residents the “First Freed” by the federal government. Well, last Saturday in commemoration of the historic event that took place nearly 150 …

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Birmingham Museum of Art to hire curators for growing African-American collection

Posted on April 22, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

The Birmingham Museum of Art says it will use a $300,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to hire curators for its growing collection of African-American art. Museum director Gail Andrews says the grant is one of the largest in the museum’s history. The four-year Mellon grant covers two 2-year fellowships for new curators …

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EXHIBITS SHOW THE EMOTIONS OF THE AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN STORY

Posted on April 21, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

By SHEILA WICKOUSKIFOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR A statue of Haitian leader Touissaint Louverture stands at the entrance of the National Museum of African Art’s “African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting.” This iconic work by Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow is the starting point for viewing an exceptional exhibit. Made of mud and straw, and meant …

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A Love Affair with an Historic Home in New Orleans

Posted on April 20, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

My love affair with the S.W. Green house is, perhaps, my fondest memory of New Orleans. Discovering this architectural gem was the crowning achievement of my college years. I discovered – or I should say – stumbled upon the Green mansion while skateboarding one hot, sunny afternoon in 1996, my junior year. I’d been living, …

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Brenda Simmons Is a ‘Woman of Distinction’

Posted on April 19, 2011April 25, 2012 by october

For all her works in Southampton and the greater area, resident Brenda Simmons received the Woman of Distinction Award from Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman on March 28 at the sign unveiling of the East End African American Museum and Center for Excellence, where she is a founding member and museum curator. Not only is …

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