Friday, May 31, 2013

Every Picture Tells a Story...

L to R: Norman Rockwell models Ed Locke ("The Runaway"),
Mary Whalen Leonard ("Girl at Mirror"), and Wray Gunn
("New Kids in the Neighborhood"). Photo by Jeremy Clowe
for Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
The June issue of Berkshire Magazine came out last week, and features a nice article about Norman Rockwell's models ("Worth a Thousand Words"), written by my friend/journalist Nichole Dupont. I was interviewed at length for the article, which ties in to the upcoming Models Reunion we are holding at Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, July 6, 2013. Once again, the Museum will attempt to gather as many living reference models who worked for the artist as possible... and considering their advancing ages, there's no time like the present!

Since starting at the Museum in 2001, I have initiated videotaped oral histories with the models, which has been one of the more enjoyable parts of my job, and useful in terms of learning more about the artist's process. The seed was really planted during the first models reunion I helped out with back in the summer of 2001. As I mention in the article, "I set up a little corner of the archives room, and people came in and told their stories. Rockwell, in a way, has given a gift to many of these models, and their story continued on after the artwork." The article has a nice plug for the collection of interviews I have posted on the Museum's YouTube page, as well as an interview with model Mary Keefe ("Rosie The Riveter"), who I have interviewed on a couple of occasions.


Actress Stefanie Powers posing with
her portrait created by Norman
Rockwell for the movie Stagecoach.
Photo by Jeremy Clowe for Norman
Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
On a related and interesting note, a couple weeks back I received a surprise call from the production staff of the touring show, Looped, which was playing at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut. The lead of the show, actress Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart) wanted to stop by the Museum and view the portrait Norman Rockwell created of her back in the 1960s for the movie Stagecoach. Accompanied by members of our curatorial staff, I toured her around the Museum and showed her one of the reference paintings as well as dozens of photographs that Rockwell took of Powers and her fellow actors to create separate paintings of the cast, which eventually ended up on the movie poster. While visiting, Powers even agreed to do a videotaped interview with me regarding her experience posing for Norman Rockwell, and her memories of working on the film. She was very gracious... even invited me to see her show in Hartford. Anyway, never know who you will meet at the Museum... I hope to post the interview online sometime soon.


At the moment I am preparing for next week's opening of our exhibition on the art of Walt Disney's Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. I'm busy transcribing my interview with another model: dancer Marge Champion, who served as the live action reference for Snow White's movements. She is being honored with the Fred Astaire Award this upcoming Monday for her achievements in dance... congratulations, Marge!

Related Links:

www.nrm.org

www.youtube.com/normanrockwellmuseum

www.stefaniepowersonline.com


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Spring Awakening

©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.
Hi there. I know... I've been away from this blog for awhile. My bad. Things have gotten busy, but I hope to find more time to update you on my latest projects... even if it's just a quick note. Still have an eye on the big prize, which is what this blog is really all about.

Today I took the day off for some spring cleaning. Continuing the move from the Hudson Valley to our new digs in Schenectady... still a lot to be sorted, but things are coming along. 

In my last post I talked about my improv group, and how things were in a bit of transitionary period. Well, I'm happy to announce that we've gained surprising momentum, with some relatively new members adding to the enjoyment of carrying the group on... I mean, three straight weeks of rehearsals... imagine that! We're trying out some new things, and it is feeling good. 


This Thursday, May 16, we will try something entirely new− an event called PechaKucha, which is being held at The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. For those not familiar, PechaKucha was started in Japan in the 2000s and is basically a presentation of 20 slides, shown for 20 seconds each (six minutes 40 seconds in total... a Powerpoint rep's dream!). The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe has been invited to try its hand at some improv using the format... here's the catch: we won't know what slides are coming up, so it will be true improv. Of course I appreciate the visual end of things, and know from my experience creating media design over the past few years that there are a lot of crazy images out there! Show starts at 7 p.m., and there will be free adult beverages... so you can't lose.

RBIT rocks the Berkshires, 2013! Photo by Dan McManmon.
Courtesy Spectrum Playhouse. All rights reserved.
The next evening, May 17, I will return with RBIT to the Spectrum Playhouse for our monthly show, starting at 7:30 p.m. I have to give big props to the Spectrum for being most accommodating for us... the space has been great for shows and rehearsals, and they like us so much they already have us on tap for June and into the fall... it's funny... Lee, Massachusetts was never quite that exciting when I lived in the area, but cool to see the progression all the same.

Anyway, nice to have the outlet. Apart from that, I've been taking a lot of cool photos lately, and hope to share some of those with you soon. Ok, back to cleaning... and I promise I'll return here soon... xo

Related Links:

RBIT's Triple Crown Weekend, www.berkshireimprov.com