Picturing America Poster report for Frank Carlson Library in Concordia

Displays
Posters were displayed three main ways.

1. Due to very large display space in our children’s area, we could display 4 posters at a time on the main wall. We tried to use posters that were of particular interest to youth in this display area.
2. Our second display area, adjacent to the Circulation Desk, permitted us to display two posters at a time. This permitted us to come up with interesting and imaginative pairings revolving around a central theme.
3. Our third display space was actually a display case. We displayed a single poster inside the case. Wall space above the case allowed us to occasionally display a second poster there, creating a more three-dimensional viewing area that was especially appropriate for posters that depict objects or structures, such as “Pottery and Baskets.”

We had major thematic displays during the months of October, November and December.

• Our October display featured posters that demonstrated the idea of “Democracy”.
• In November our display focused on Native American arts and crafts. Featured posters were paintings by George Catlin, Black Hawk’s ledger books, and “Pottery and Baskets”.
• In December the display highlighted “Mission Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion” juxtaposed with Tiffany’s “Autumn Landscape”.

In January we featured the poster “Quilts: 19th through 20th Centuries.” All winter long, we presented displays of posters with particular interest to children using display space in our children’s section. Among the posters used were Audubon’s “American Flamingo”, the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, Mary Cassatt’s “Boating Party,” etc.

Programs
Our most popular program was “Birger Sandzen and the New Land.” It was held on Mar. 5, 2009 and featured guest speaker Ron Michael, curator of the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas. Sandzen was classically trained in Europe, but was enchanted by the landscapes of his adopted home: The United States. Michael showed how Sandzen fits into the larger tradition of American artists, such as Thomas Cole, N.C. Wyeth, Albert Bierstadt, Grant Woods, and Childe Hassam, thus tying Sandzen’s works into the Picturing America posters on display in our library.

Other programs included Kindergarten tours, held during National Library Week (April 13-16, 2009) that included time spent looking at Audubon’s “American Flamingo” and the Lansdowne portrait of Washington and discussing what these posters tell us about our culture and heritage.

Future Plans
Future plans include tying the posters into our Summer Reading Program. This years’ theme is perfect: “Be Creative @ Your Library”. The posters in the picturing America collection will inspire creativity at all levels. Our adult program, “Be Creative With Art,” scheduled for June 3, 2009 will include an opportunity for participants to be inspired by the creativity in the Picturing America posters. For example, displaying the photo of the Brooklyn Bridge by Walter Evans with “Brooklyn Bridge” painted by Joseph Stella will give participants a chance to study perspective, balance, color and shape.

Other plans for future use include a continuation of the poster display in the children’s area beginning in November 2009, and special displays of selected posters at other times throughout the year in our adult reading area. Proposed poster displays include placing the Robert Shaw Memorial with Childe Hassam’s “Allies Day” for an interesting Veterans Day exhibit; using Copley’ portrait of Paul Revere and Grant Wood’s painting “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” to stimulate discussion of biographical fact and popular mythology.

Radio Broadcast: October 14, 2008
Through the end of this month, you can visit the Frank Carlson Library to view two reproductions that are part of the Library’s Picturing America grant award. The theme this month is “Democracy” and the Library has two reproductions on exhibit near the circulation desk. The two artworks are “The County Election”, an oil painting by George Caleb Bingham and “Freedom of Speech”, an original painting by Norman Rockwell.

“Freedom of Speech” first appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. At that time, our nation was at waging all-out war on two fronts. President Roosevelt repeatedly reminded the public about the importance of the freedoms our soldiers were fighting for, freedoms that are the bedrock of our democracy. When Norman Rockwell personalized these four freedoms, he transformed them from abstract ideas into concrete reality.

“Freedom of Speech” was originally painted in oil on canvas, but most people saw this famous image on the cover of the Feb. 20, 1943 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, a popular weekly periodical. Rockwell went on to paint interpretations of all four famous freedoms, but “Freedom of Speech” was the first of the series. Later, more than a million people viewed the original paintings during a nation-wide tour to sell war bonds. You can see “Freedom of Speech” at the Frank Carlson Library.

The Frank Carlson Library aggressively seeks out grant opportunities such at the Picturing America grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities as a contribution to the cultural life of our community.