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A FORCE FOR CHANGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN ART |
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A FORCE FOR CHANGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN ART & THE JULIUS ROSENWALD FUND
Join Justin Ferate when we visit the Montclair Art Museum (New Jersey) for a special guided tour of: “A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund.”
This is the first exhibition to explore the legacy of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which from 1928 to 1948, awarded stipends to hundreds of African American artists, writers, teachers, and scholars – as well as white southerners with an interest in race relations. Created in 1917 by Chicago businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), who made his fortune as CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company, the Fund was designed to spend itself out of existence after its founder's death. As such, the Rosenwald Fund supported issues that affected the lives of African Americans in the first half of the 20th century.
Among the impressive list of Rosenwald Fellows were some of the leading artists of the decades between the two World Wars, and the work they produced with Rosenwald support was made under conditions of exceptional artistic security and freedom. The work of these artists, such as Elizabeth Catlett, Eldzier Cortor, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, Marion Perkins, Rose Piper, Augusta Savage, and Charles White, is the focus of A Force for Change.
A Force for Change will be complemented by two related exhibitions, one examining the works of contemporary African American artists from the Montclair Art Museum’s permanent collection, and the other a selection of prints noted contemporary artist Martin Puryear from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection. Among the prints exhibited will be selections designed for Jean Toomer’s noted Harlem Renaissance book, CANE.
The exhibition also presents archival footage of performances by two world-renowned dancers who were Rosenwald Fellows, Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus, as well as an original short documentary film about Julius Rosenwald and the Fellowship Program. The list of Rosenwald Fellows includes some of the most influential writers and intellectuals in 20th-century America — including James Baldwin, Allison Davis, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, E. Franklin Frazier, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston — and the film provides background about the foundation’s support of their endeavors.
The Rosenwald Fellowship Program, one of the largest and most influential single patrons of African American arts and letters in the 20th century, has never before been the focus of major scholarly attention. This ambitious exhibition project will allow us to explore the connections between Rosenwald and the enormous range of African American expression that his foundation helped to underwrite and promote. A Force for Change is accompanied by a 175-page catalogue that is available for purchase at the Museum.
Please print out Wolfe Walker Brochure (obtainable on this website) for additional information - including travel information, lunch options, etc.
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| Date: |
Saturday April 10, 2010 |
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| Time: |
10:45 AM
to approximately
3:45 PM |
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| Cost: |
$30 on site |
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| Meet: |
Port Authority Bus Terminal Gate #410 for DeCamp Bus #33 at 10:45 AM for a 11:00 AM Departure. Ticket booths and departure gate are in the SOUTH building on Eighth Avenue, between 40th and 41st Street.
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| Train: |
IND A, C Train to 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal
BMT R, N, Q Train to Times Square/42nd Street. Walk one block west to Port Authority Bus Terminal.
IRT 1, 2, 3, 7 Train to Times Square/42nd Street. Walk one block west to Port Authority Bus Terminal.
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| Tours operate rain or shine. Please
dress appropriately. For more information or to confirm meeting locations
please call (212) 223-2777. Please note that tours sometimes run late. While
tours are rarely cancelled you can call the number above to confirm, or
join our mailing list to keep informed of cancellations due to extreme
weather conditions.
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