People Person

This past month marks my fifteenth year at Norman Rockwell Museum. Originally starting as a docent, giving talks about the Norman Rockwell's life and career, I now serve as one of the Museum's chief spokespeople in my role as manager of media services. Time flies, and I can't believe how much I now know of the artist and the field of illustration.

So, as I'm often asked, what's new at the Museum? Well, our exhibition, We The Peoples: Norman Rockwell's United Nations was a big success at the United Nations Headquarters. I am particularly proud that this exhibition came out, since it is my video about Rockwell's 1953 United Nations drawing that caught the eye of the peacekeeping organization, and inspired the show to mark its 70th anniversary. Nearly 70,000 people, including important delegates, are estimated to have viewed the exhibition (which included my video) during its run.

Celebrating the "Golden Rule": Pope Francis and
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon share a
Norman Rockwell moment at the UN.
Photo courtesy: Samir Afridi/UN

Although the exhibition officially ended on September 15, the Museum continued to loan Rockwell's drawing and Golden Rule painting, in order for the UN to share the works with visiting dignitaries. High on that list was Pope Francis, who stopped by the UN this past month during his first visit to the United States. Alerted by my UN counterpart to his planned visit earlier in the week, I was charmed when he finally sent us photos of the pontiff admiring this beautiful painting from our collection. Just the day before the Pope referenced the concept of "the golden rule" during his historic address to Congress (I like the guy!), so it seemed a fitting backdrop. Days later, President Obama was introduced to the United Nations drawing during his visit, and apparently was impressed (remarking that he would like a copy). All in all, a great way to cap off this historic opportunity for the Museum; I felt honored to have played a part.

Fearless: with Rockwell model, Marjorie Coulter, "Freedom From Fear."
Courtesy: Norman Rockwell Museum.

The concept of "we the peoples" works so perfectly with Norman Rockwell's work, as he seemed to capture the hopes and aspirations of the general public from the twentieth century to this day. Since my earliest days at the Museum, I have taken it upon myself to document the stories of those people who worked with the artist. People were the focus of Rockwell's work, and so his models played an important role. As I told the website BerkshireStyle, "he made all the models very at ease, even the young children. He was a very personable individual and was able to get the expressions he wanted."

Over the years I have captured nearly 100 videotaped interviews with Rockwell models, that now serve as an important document for the Museum's archives. I have heard many stories over the years, yet still can be surprised...as I was back in 2009 when a woman named Marjorie Coulter visited and informed us that she was one of the young children in Rockwell's Freedom From Fear, part of his iconic Four Freedoms series:

Every first Friday of the month, the Museum holds a "Meet Rockwell's Models" program, where visitors have the opportunity to meet the figures presented in his work. Marjorie joined us in September, and for October I invited a woman named Pauline Adams Grimes to share her memories.

Rewind: meeting Rockwell models, summer 2001.
Photo courtesy: Norman Rockwell Museum.

I had first met Pauline back in 2001 during a big Rockwell models reunion that we held at the Museum; that is when I started videotaping models' oral histories, yet only managed to film a few remarks of her remarks. Eight years later, I traveled out to Arlington, Vermont, with one of my colleagues to attend a model reunion being held in the town that Rockwell called home, before moving to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and finally managed to sit down with Pauline and capture her story.

Pauline and her siblings were introduced to Norman Rockwell back in the early 1950s, by folk artist/neighbor Grandma Moses, who knew that Rockwell was looking for a multi-ethnic crowd to appear in a sketch he was working on about the United Nations. The family posed for several photos in Rockwell’s Arlington studio, and Pauline ended up pictured in the bottom right of the drawing. Although traveling to the UN’s headquarters to conduct research and photograph actual delegates to appear in the illustration, Rockwell eventually put the image aside (and revisited the concept for the painting Golden Rule in 1960, which featured Pauline's brother Paul). 

Rockwell model Pauline Adams Grimes
exploring NRM's archives, Oct. 2015.
Photo: Jeremy Clowe for Norman Rockwell
Museum. All rights reserved.

Prior to the opening of We The Peoples, I tried to contact Pauline to let her know about the exhibition. I wasn't sure if she ever received my phone or post card, until I finally heard back from her at the end of the summer; she was thrilled to learn about the show and the existence of the drawing, and ended up visiting the UN with her family to view the original illustration for the first time (and meeting the UN's Deputy Secretary-General); "It was beautiful," she later remarked. "More than I ever dreamed it would be."

This aspect of my job has been one of my favorites: seeing the joy that Rockwell's work creates for people, and being able to help facilitate that and even introduce to new audiences. The fall is our busiest season, and as I helped greet the dozens of tour buses that arrived daily to view the vibrant art and foliage, I couldn't help but remember my start giving gallery talks at the Museum over a decade ago. 

One of my newest tasks is being appointed editor-in-chief of our members' magazine (who says print is dead?), and so I continue to play an important role at the Museum, through my knowledge, creativity, and own passion for the arts. If only my father, an admirer of Rockwell's work and artist in his own right, could see me now.

Related Links:

"Norman Rockwell's Models" (interview), BerkshireStyle, September 2, 2015

"Model UN/NRM" (written by JC), September 2015, Norman Rockwell Museum website

"Honoring The Golden Rule" (written by JC/videos edited by JC), September 2015, Norman Rockwell Museum website

Peace Offering

Happy Anniversary! Celebrating in style at the United Nations.
June 29, 2015. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. 

July is a good month for anniversaries (love you, Sarah).

This year I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention The United Nations. Actually, June 26, 1945 was the date that the original charter for the peacekeeping organization was signed in San Francisco.

Nearly 70 years to the date, I had the honor of attending two special events held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on June 30. The occasion was to celebrate We The Peoples: Norman Rockwell’s United Nations, a new exhibition organized by Norman Rockwell Museum to commemorate the UN’s 70th year, and I played an active role in coordinating an on-site press conference, and documenting and representing the Museum during an evening reception.

UN's "Golden Rule" mosaic (even more
impressive in person). Photo by Jeremy Clowe.

But it gets better. It turns out that I actually played a significant part in the inspiration for the exhibition.

A couple years ago, Samir Afridi, the UN’s senior communications officer, was giving a tour of the New York headquarters to his six-year-old nephew, who was particularly struck by a large mosaic of Norman Rockwell’s iconic Golden Rule illustration (a gift to the UN from the United States back in 1985). After trying to answer questions from the young boy, he turned to the internet to see if he could find any connection between Rockwell and the organization.

What he came across was a 2009 exhibition video I created and posted for Norman Rockwell Museum, detailing the conservation of United Nations, a little-known drawing created by Norman Rockwell. Inspired by the founding and goals of the organization, the artist began work on the drawing back in the early 1950s, going so far as to travel to New York to visit the then newly founded organization to conduct research and take reference photographs. Ambitious in theme, Rockwell never finished the work, but revisited his illustration of a group of world citizens for the Golden Rule painting in 1960 (removing the UN delegates, who they initially watched over in the drawing).

Both the drawing and painting are part of the Museum’s permanent collection, but the drawing had spent years in desperate need of repair, as you will see in the video (one of my favorites I have created over the years). Don’t try this at home!

My friend at the UN then decided to reach out the Museum, and discussions were underway between the two organizations about exhibiting the drawing at the UN’s Visitor Centre in time for its 70th anniversary. I first learned about the interest when Jan Eliasson, the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General, was slated to visit the Museum in Stockbridge last year to view the drawing and the rest of our collection. I was on-hand to photograph his visit, and it was nice to learn of his admiration for the video, and delight in viewing Rockwell’s artwork in person.

United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon tours
the "We The Peoples" exhibition with Norman Rockwell Museum
Director, Laurie Norton Moffatt. Photo by Jeremy Clowe for
Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.

So, the last year has been spent preparing for the exhibition, which is now on view at the UN Headquarters through September 15, 2015. I don’t know if I have ever been so busy at the Museum: conducting press outreach, creating content, and working with the UN to coordinate our efforts. My work is not done, but I was pleased with how well the press conference and reception came together. I was pleased to have my wife on-hand to help me take photographs and share the experience in New York; we are both members of area peace action groups (I had previously filmed Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks during a New York Peace Action event five years ago), so it was meaningful for both us to be there. I also appreciated Secretary General Ban's remarks in recent essays that, "Rockwell’s United Nations, as the UN itself, remains an unfinished work." How fitting.

With civil rights era icon, Ruby Bridges at the United Nations,
June 29, 2015. Photo by Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Also in attendance for the opening was Ruby Bridges, whose historic walk to integrate Southern schools back in the late 1950s inspired Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With painting; I had interviewed Ruby over ten years ago for the Museum, and enjoyed meeting her again (I was especially interested in talking to her about her cousin, Leon Bridges, a talented soul musician who is generating a lot of buzz lately!). Everyone seemed in good spirits about this event, and it was certainly great outreach for the Museum.

Peaceful display at the UN. Photo by Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Regarding the exhibition, our curatorial team has done a great job with the display, and I was really pleased to see my video included in the exhibition. There have been many meaningful efforts that I have been involved with at the Museum over the years, but I must say that here is an instance where it all came together (creativity, communications, artistic appreciation) and supported a cause that I wholeheartedly believe in. 

Peace.

Related Links:

Norman Rockwell Museum's United Nations exhibition site

"Museum Celebrates 70th Anniversary of The United Nations," Jeremy Clowe, Norman Rockwell Museum website

Peace Action New York State

United Nations

Harmonious!

Now that's what I call "The Clowe Show!" Photo ©Jeremy Clowe.
All rights reserved.

Another way Sarah and I chose to celebrate our anniversary was to head over to the WEXT studios last week. Music has been such a big part of our relationship that we thought it would be fun to record a MyExit show together. 

This was my third time in the WEXT studios, and each time has been a great experience. For Sarah, it was her first time DJing... and I thought she did a great job! I was particularly impressed with her volume control (makes sense, knowing that she is a teacher). 

Anyway, you can listen live to OurExit show next Monday, July 22, 11 p.m. ET, and again on Saturday, July 27 at 8 a.m. 97.7 FM around New York's Capital Region or online at exit977.org

Next week should be a great week for music... I'm finally going to see rockabilly artist JD McPherson in concert at Troy's Ale House (should be quite the intimate show!) and I just won tickets to see Scottish indie band Franz Ferdinard in New York City next Monday ("Live at Letterman"). And the hits keep on comin'...!

Related Link:

"The Clowe Show!," blog entry, May 15, 2012

Going The Distance

Butterfly, begin... looking back at our wedding ceremony.
Photo by John Whipple for Jeremy and Sarah Clowe. All rights reserved.

Today was our one-year anniversary... I can't believe it went by so fast! Thanks friends for all your well-wishes. We had a very nice weekend celebrating. 

Yesterday we kept the weekend's exhibition theme going by traveling to the Hyde Museum to check out Modern Nature: Georgia O'Keeffe and Lake George. Sarah has been a longtime fan of the artist, and actually interned at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, during college. It was interesting to see the local influence on O'Keeffe's work: her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, had a family home in the area, and they visited frequently during the 1920s. O'Keeffe's compositions and colors, in particular, are exceptional. I loved seeing the Lake George area translated on to her canvas... I feel like she captured the mood of the area's scenery. Later we walked around downtown Glens Falls... appropriate since the town was known for its paper industry, and this was our "paper anniversary."

No butterflies were harmed during
the eating of this cake. nom, nom!

Tonight we had a delicious Indian dinner (of course) at Lazeez in Albany--probably our favorite restaurant in the area. Then we went back to our place to enjoy wine and de-thawed wedding cake, which they tell me is a tradition for your first anniversary. Well, it was just as delicious the second time around... big props to Villa Italia in Schenectady. We also settled in and re-watched our wedding video... much love and laughter. 

We're doing great, and I'm feeling good... I have given myself a goal of working out every day this month--at the gym or comparable exercise at home. I haven't missed a day, and I'm halfway through July. So here's to another year of health, happiness, and love...

Love. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Special Thanks:

www.hydecollection.org

www.eatlazeez.com

www.villaitaliabakery.com

www.fireflyflorist.com

powersmediaproductions.com

www.johnwhipple.com

Dream Weaver

Let the holiday parties begin! Tonight we visited my cousin and her family in the Catskills. Being the first night of Hanukkah, we lit the first candle of the menorah... there was also a performance from a wind-up toy named Latke Larry... good times! But the best part of the night was hearing my aunt tell of how my father used to rush home on the weekends to watch my mother sing on a local TV talent show called Teenage Barn (sort of an early precursor to shows like American Idol). This was before my parents started dating, and the age difference between them was a little more defined (I think my father was in college... mother was still in high school). Apparently my Dad would ask my aunt if she thought the age difference was too much... they eventually started dating just before or during my mother's own college years... kind of sweet.

On the topic of music and memories, I notice that today was the 32nd anniversary of the day that John Lennon was killed. He was actually about my current age when he died... so sad to lose such a creative genius so young. At the time, I was just ten years old and found myself quite intrigued by all the news stories I was hearing, with TV footage of candlelit vigils, and non-stop tributes on the radio... that was what hooked me on the Beatles' music, and there was no turning back... I loved it. I tried to find all the music I could, "borrowing" my mother's old Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums, and reading all about the creative music and career of the Fab Four... it even influenced my own artwork and writing at the time. John Lennon was definitely one of the quirkier members of the group, and I definitely responded to his defiant yet heartfelt energy:



Becoming immersed in the Beatles' work at that age definitely influenced the type of music I would gravitate towards in the years to come (you may notice a strong, British thread). A few years back my other favorite band, A-ha, contributed a cover of one of Lennon's post-Beatles songs to a tribute album called Make Some Noise: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. It was the kind of humanitarian project that Lennon would have been proud of, and I thought A-ha, who were also most definitely influenced by the Beatles, did a fab job on the late artist's psychedelic #9 Dream:



So tomorrow (the 9th) I'm getting my script and musical choices together for another scheduled recording session in the WEXT studios. This time it will be to finally get my 
A-ha tribute show on the air... something that has been in the works for the last couple years, but it's good timing to coincide with this, the 30th anniversary of the band's founding. I hope it can finally come together... right now... over me(!)


Related Link:

www.amnestyusa.org

Seventh Heaven

I know, I've been blogging an awful lot about my marriage. Well, I can't help it... here's another...

On this date seven years ago I met a beautiful girl out dancing... and this year we celebrated our first dance as husband and wife! Here's to many, many more!

Photo by John Whipple. All rights reserved.

Lifelines

Talk about heroes... today marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of my favorite music group of all time: A-ha. Yes, back in September of 1982, three young Norwegian guys decided to pool their musical talents and shoot for the big time--something that had been seen as impossible for a small country like Norway to achieve. Well, A-ha proved the impossible was possible... moving to London, and after a few years of honing and adapting their sound (synth pop was big in those days), they found themselves with sa string of top ten singles, a Guinness Book World Record for the highest attended concert (198,000 people at Rio's Maracana Stadium, 1991), and influence on such modern acts as Coldplay, Keane, Kings of Convenience, and Sondre Lerche. Here is a clip of me interviewing all three members back in 2005:



Unfortunately for me, the band is usually only known for one song here in the U.S.: 1985's "Take On Me." Over the years I have found myself having to explain to skeptics over and over why I would care about this seeming "one-hit wonder." I'm a big fan of the Beatles as well, and am aware (even understand) a bit of the general prejudice when applied to a group that seemed to make less of an attempt to continue their success in America. That doesn't make it any easier for me, when their music speaks to me in such a way...

In honor of their anniversary, I listened to the newly remastered version of their second album, Scoundrel Days, on the way to work today. This album hit during a rough time for me growing up, as I was dealing with the loss of my father. As I listened to the album again today, one of the lines from an extended version of their excellent song "Manhattan Skyline" stuck out at me, in a new way:

"don't want to see you hurt, don't let me see you hurt" pleads singer Morten Harket. I have always read the song as being about loss and separation on the narrator's part (Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy), but it dawned on me that this line also subconsciously felt like support to me... or, more specifically, the 16-year old me. The tears started to well up, I must admit... their work still has an effect on me, and that's the reason I must go on to proclaim my love: 


"You know
I don't want to fall again
I don't wanna know this pain
I don't want another friend
I don't wanna try again
Don't want to see you hurt
Don't let me see you hurt
I don't wanna cry again
I'll never see your face again..."

A-ha disbanded in 2010, but I still hold my hopes that they will work together again one day. This weekend there is a big 30th anniversary party planned in their hometown of Oslo, Norway. It coincides with a concert by Morten Harket, an exhibition of their work at the Oslo Library, and the release of a beautiful new book by photographer Stian Andersen, who documented the band's comeback from 2000-2010. In November, the members are set to be knighted by the Norwegian king--not bad for a "one-hit wonder," eh? 

I'm still working on my documentary and a radio tribute show... I know... it's very hard to sum it all up. It would be great to have it done before the end of the year, although it is a challenge with full-time job and family... it will get done though--that's a promise. These guys came a long way, and my life has certainly been enriched as I "joined" them for part of that adventure...