Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service's Blog

Science and Art Blend with NASA | ART

At the National Air and Space Museum, just upstairs from the bold black-and-white missiles, sounding rockets, and launch vehicles, is a quiet little preview of some fairly amazing works of art. Of course, these pieces could easily be missed among the colossal machines suspended from the ceiling, but the group of seven works by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Annie Leibovitz, and Normal Rockwell is worth a side step off the bustling main corridor.

The collection represents a small sampling from the new SITES exhibition NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration. In 1962, NASA (just a few years young at that stage) invited artists to document and interpret the accomplishments, set backs, and sheer excitement of stellar exploration. In those days, the space program was all new and tapped into the infectious post-war belief that anything was possible. Frankly, it still exudes that kind of energy for me. Every time a new satellite, probe, or shuttle is propelled into space, I feel the chills ripple up my spine. Indeed, anything IS possible. What could be a more inspiring launch point for artists?

In oils, acrylics, watercolors, and everything in between, the works in NASA | ART reflect a marriage of science and art, technology and the natural world. Take James Dean's watercolor Shuttle Flowers, for example. It's a small, unassuming piece that shows the Space Shuttle Columbia at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Far in the background, the Shuttle is meticulously painted as is the surrounding launch equipment, but of equal visual importance is the field of wild white daisies in the foreground, a homage to the real-life wildlife refuge that encapsulates the space center. Showing the expressive faces of the Apollo 11 astronauts, their wives, the back-up crew, and scientists, Norman Rockwell's Behind Apollo II is also subtle yet evocative.

Other works, like James Cunningham's Imaging to the Edge of Space and Time, are louder and more boisterous, a celebration of color, light, and the essence of space itself. Whatever your favorite style, NASA | ART has something for you.

The full traveling exhibition will open at the Art League of Bonita Springs in Florida on October 25. Check it out in your neighborhood.

More than Art: An Experience for Kids

When was the last time you went to an exhibition that tolerated, no WELCOMED, toddlers? This group of underserved citizens isn't exactly the type that's likely to make a donation or start blogging about the merits of your museum. From an institution's point of view, toddlers and babies might just be the last frontier of constituent cultivation. As the mother of an almost-two-year-old, I certainly understand why this is often the case, but maybe it shouldn't be. Kids this age are actually quite responsive, little sponges that they are, and more eager to learn than most adults who enter an exhibition with a preconceived notion about what makes a successful presentation and what ruins it. At age two, there's none of that. Any new information is good information--the gooey stuff that's likely to become lodged in the sticky corners of the brain.

My daughter's class recently had the pleasure of visiting Jim Henson's Fantastic World (organized by SITES), now on display at the Smithsonian's International Gallery in Washington, D.C. It was a joy to see the youngsters sit on their hands and knees in front of the cases and shout (in outside voices, mind you), "Look! Bert, Ernie!" Seeing Kermit in person was especially exciting for some, but even for those who didn't know Kermit, they were still able to identify him as a happy, green frog. These are big concepts for toddlers, who are everyday striving to make sense and verbally describe the landscapes around them. In Henson's world--as in the exhibition--colors are big and bold; art is imaginative and fresh and as much about "process" as about the finished product itself.

For the kids, the most engaging part of the exhibition was surely the Resource Room, a hands-on and "Hensonesque" space replete with colorful picture books to flip through and story boards to design. A full-scale puppet theater and a heaping basket of puppets inspired them all as they ran around exchanging Big Bird puppets for Elmos, making each babble in its own hilarious voice. Felt faces, mounted low to the ground, were another crowning jewel of the Resource Room. Kids could rummage through a variety of Velcro noses, crazy mouths, furry mustaches, and big ears to create perfectly silly faces (I had to force my child to leave this station). Floppy bean-bag chairs, in every color imaginable, rounded out the experience for the toddlers. When the kids were all bouncing on the chairs--each with a big, toothy grin on his or her face--I realized that somebody understood the need to entertain and educate the youngest of audiences. And when kids are happy, you guessed it, parents are even happier.

Yves Saint-Laurent in More Than Words

The fashion industry lost one of its icons this week--Yves Saint-Laurent, the French designer best known for creating the Beatnik look, thigh-high boots, Safari jackets, as well as the general democratization of fashion.

Gifted people like Saint-Laurent exude creativity in everything they do--whether designing extraordinary clothing or simply writing a letter to a friend. And while we can't profess to knowing much about the former, we do know a little something about the latter.

Such endeavors are the subject of More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. This is a gem of an exhibit, especially in our world of e-this and e-that. Do you really recall a time when people took pen (ink, crayons, and paint, in this case) to paper to communicate with each other? The missives in the show--from artists such as Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, and Yves Saint-Laurent--surely reflect a different time, but they also demonstrate the expressive energy of the authors, people for whom words alone were not enough.

In a 1970 letter to Alexander Liberman, art director at Vogue magazine, Saint-Laurent literally used the language of clothes as his medium, writing affectionately to Liberman on the space of a traditional Islamic cloak worn by women in Marrakesh, Morocco (where Saint-Laurent owned a home). The bold but minimalistic patterns in the background complement the simplicity of the author’s heartfelt message.

If you have just a slight voyeuristic curiosity about this and other personal notes from the exhibition, check out the book (of the same name), very eloquently written by Smithsonian curator--Liza Kirwin.

More Than Words will travel the country until summer 2009. Catch it in a city near you!

Smithsonian and Teen Second Life

Visited Second Life lately? If you haven't jumped on the virtual bandwagon to explore this alternate world, let me catch you up to speed:

Second Life is an online gathering place for people of all ages to play, learn, create, and interact. In this realm, you customize a digital self called an "avatar," (yes, you can become a blonde) the being through which you experience everything from theatrical performances to museum exhibitions. You can go shopping at a high-end retail store one day and build your virtual dream house the next. The possibilities are truly limitless. Teen Second Life, just for kids ages 13-17, is a bit different--more protected, with a focus on education and community but still endless in its scope.

We're elated to report that one of our exhibitions, Transitions: Photographs by Robert Creamer, is now on view in Teen Second Life. The online show was created by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties (NC) in conjunction with the library's real-world presentation of the exhibit (a teen patron actually built the gallery space). This micro version is nearly identical to the traveling exhibit with one exception: Here, the gallery will also house works of scanner art by teens themselves, and unlike a traditional gallery, this space has room to grow, giving students virtual walls on which to hang their digital designs.

Indeed, the library has done a fantastic job of integrating hands-on instruction--scanner photograhy classes that were offered at the library--with the virtual world, the world that these digital natives know so well.

Look for the Second Life photo gallery in the left column . . .

Running the River with John Blaustein

John Blaustein, a veteran photographer from Berkeley, California, is just one of 26 artists featured in the upcoming SITES exhibition Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography. Run the river with John as he talks about getting one of his most compelling shots:

"As a river guide, I made dozens of trips through the Grand Canyon. On a cool, stormy day, we had stopped for lunch on a little beach at the mouth of 140-Mile Canyon, the halfway point through the Grand Canyon. Munching on a sandwich and waiting for the inevitable afternoon thundershower, someone glanced up the talus slope and noticed this bighorn sheep perched on a rock surveying the boats and all the people. 

While I'd seen dozens of bighorn over the years, this was the closest I'd ever been to one. I ran to my boat, grabbed my camera with a 200mm lens and started climbing the slope toward the sheep. When he noticed me approaching, he took a few steps up the slope and then hopped onto a big boulder, putting himself in a silhouette from my point of view. Not only that, his pose was a perfect profile, and then he had the courtesy to turn his head right toward me. I shot two or three frames before he turned and vanished up the slope. Lots of luck is involved with this kind of photography--the perfect pose, the perfect steel gray sky, and being there to shoot it!"

>>Want more images?

New Podcast on Jim Henson

Tired of listening to those same 2,000 songs on your iPod or .mp3 player? Want to hear something different? Download our latest podcast about Jim Henson's Fantastic World, a glimpse into the life of true American original.

Can't wait for opening day at the ballpark? Download Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente to get you ready for that first pitch! This one is sure to move and motivate you!

Walking with Giants in Nashville

If you haven't heard of Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee, it's about time that you do. This working letterpress is steeped in the traditions of yesteryear and, through good old-fashioned hard work and craftsmanship, keeps producing fantastic posters for the music biz's biggest names. Here's what Hatch curator and designer Jim Sherraden had to say about his home away from home.

Q. Why is Hatch Show Print relevant today?
A. One of the many things that isn't lost on me when speaking to some of the tens of thousands of people visiting us each year is that each person perceives Hatch differently, each one of them would answer that same question differently, which is why Hatch is relevant at all. From a graphic designer's standpoint, Hatch is relevant because we've survived all the changes in printing technology to become the antithesis of contemporary digital design. Here at the shop, the printer is the designer, and the designer is the printer. All our work is done by hand. 

And then for a history buff, we're relevant because Hatch is living history. We keep ink on the blocks and dust off their backs. We're in constant production. If one is a music fan, then Hatch is relevant because the music comes alive, either past or present, when viewing a Hatch poster. From the standpoint of a University graphics or printmaking teacher, Hatch is relevant because we teach through our extensive intern program and host several presentations and workshops every year. From the standpoint of a typography student, we're relevant because we demonstrate daily how type is set and how posters are designed and printed.

Q. Hatch has had some pretty famous clients. Had any memorable dealings with famous folks?
A. I'm always quick to point out that we're surrounded by legends every day in this shop, in the shape of their names on posters or their images on photoplates. This place keeps one humble because so many careers have risen and fallen in the years they've been Hatch customers. I'm also proud of the people who feel they can stop by and say hello, show their friends around and be proud as Nashvillians of the heritage of Hatch. Recent guests have included Norah Jones, Gillian Welch, John Prine, Joaquim Phoenix, Chris Isaak, the band Weezer and my dog Rudy. He's famous with the cats--famous for chasing them.

Q. What's your favorite poster in the collection and why?
A. My favorite poster in the collection is, and always will be, the last one we printed before we lock the door and go home because it means that Hatch is still printing, still in business, still relevant in the twenty-first century.

American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print is a new exhibition by SITES and will begin its national tour later this year.

More Than Words

Ever get cramps in your hand when you're doing something called "writing"? It's an old-fashioned concept really, putting a pencil or pen (otherwise known as a writing instrument) to the surface of paper and moving it around to form symbols. The once odious task has become totally foreign to most of us as we typity-type on our computers, laptops, and blackberries. I'm proud to say that I know how to write with a pen, but it doesn't come easy. My third-grade teacher would die if she saw how my penmanship has dissolved over the years.

Those of us immersed in the e-world can take heart that actual, hand-written letters still exist. And better still, that some of the most fabulously creative examples of letters from the 19th- and 20th centuries are touring the country. More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art celebrates this vanishing art form with missives from famous artists like Frida Kahlo, Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, Winslow Homer, and many others. It's a look into the deepest, most surprising recesses of their minds (and their times).

Recently on view at the Georgia Museum of Art, the exhibition obviously inspired a number of visitors who took a shot at creating their own letters, however painful it may have been to their aching hands.

Check out more expressive letters in the More Than Words photo album.

Scanner Photography

Transitions: Photographs by Robert Creamer is no ordinary photography exhibition. In fact, at one point we weren't even sure if the term "photograph" was the right word for Bob's innovative imagery. There's no camera involved, and I'm not describing paintings or drawings. So what are we talking about?

Creamer's images of natural specimens such as flowers, feathers, and animal bones are rendered by a high-end flatbed scanner. The artist/scientist (he considers himself an artist first, but once you see the images, his passion for scientific detail is obvious) lays out elaborate compositions on his glass "canvas" and then uses the technology to produce large-scale, absolutely stunning pictures. Creamer's focus for this exhibition is the process of change that occurs to organic objects over time.

Just before Transitions went on the road with SITES, I chatted with the artist about his technique, his subject matter, and his love of everything natural. Here's what he had to say:

Q. Why use a scanner? Why not a nice, new digital camera?
A. The scanner does remarkable things. The light source is always straight on, making everything look like it was painted with an artist's sense of perfect light refraction. The scanner creates a drop shadow as it illuminates, and suddenly, the light falls off into total darkness. Everything in the picture is crisp and sharp. With a traditional camera the process of capturing something is reductive, trying to record large objects and fit them into a small camera frame. With the scanner, it's like starting with a naked blank slate. This process is totally additive and constructive.

Q. What is it about these images that appeals to viewers?
A. The audience is drawn to the detail in these images. People find the colors to be very curious, wondering whether or not they are accurate. As flowers breakdown, they change color, and the scanner renders those hues as they appear in nature.

Q. What's your favorite subject matter?
A. Irises are my favorite subject because they constantly surprise me. Recently, my daughter's boyfriend brought me an assortment of irises which I put directly into the freezer. When I took the irises out of deep freeze, I broke them apart and placed them on sheets of glass. To my dismay, the freezing destroyed the character of the flowers, including the color, the texture, and the tissues themselves. Instead, the flowers became a gelatinous mush. I was getting ready to trash the entire project when I noticed that mold had started to form on the glass slides. Serendipity. The intricate web of dark mold was ripe with possibilities.

Q. I guess you're never at a loss for things to scan?
A. Everything I do creates a new beginning, and I will never run out of source material. I think three, four, ten project ahead. How about trying seashells, rocks, or something entirely different? But timing is everything. Depending on the object or specimen, I may wait for weeks or even months for the subject to be just right.

Q. Where do you collect most of your specimens?
A. The lotuses [in my images] came from Lilypons Water Garden, near Frederick, Maryland. The irises came from the Botanical Gardens in Florida, and the bones from the Nature Center [a Smithsonian affiliate] in Virginia. I also have a greenhouse at home where I tend to live plants. Outside, there are drying racks for specimens. Inside the house, my wife and kids ask, 'Can we throw this away?' 'No, I'm not done with that yet!' The conversation at dinner usually includes something like, 'Dad took over another room in the house!' The point is just to see what happens with an object.

Bob Creamer teaches digital photography at Catonsville Community College near Baltimore, Maryland. He also teaches digital and traditional photography at the Old Field School in Baltimore.

Lasting Light Kicks Off

Plans are really coming together for our new Grand Canyon exhibition, Lasting Light, which opens in February 2009. Recently I sat down with collaborator Richard Jackson of Hance Partners, the Flagstaff studio that printed the stunning photographs included in the exhibition.

Mr. Jackson shared with me the background story of the exhibition, and his enthusiasm for the subject was evident.

Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography grew out of a conversation Mr. Jackson had with staff at the Grand Canyon Association. As a fine-art printer, Mr. Jackson has extensive experience working with landscape photographers, and thought that in addition to the images themselves, a bigger story could be told: that of the photographers themselves.

"Pictures are only part of the story," Mr. Jackson says. "The stories of the photographers are also amazing. Think of the dedication they have, the effort to go day after day, year after year, sometimes to the same place time after time just to find the right weather, the right conditions to take the picture that truly expresses the place. They're carrying 80-pound backpacks into the canyon, and then there is the artistry and skill to be able to communicate their vision to those who don't make the trek."

SITES is pleased to be able to bring these stories and the resulting photographs to the public through this new traveling exhibition. Stay tuned for more updates on Lasting Light!

--Devra Wexler
Exhibition Project Director