Norman Rockwell's America
September 16, 2012 – January 6, 2013 // Jemison Galleries // $15 Click to Purchase tickets
This fall, the Birmingham Museum of Art will host Norman Rockwell’s America, an in-depth look at the life and work of America’s favorite illustrator. Rockwell’s six-decade career coincided with one of the most eventful periods in American history, spanning four wars, the Great Depression, the space race, and the Civil Rights Movement, all vividly depicted in his work. The exhibition includes 52 original paintings and drawings, and all 323 Saturday Evening Post covers Rockwell created between 1916 and 1963. Organized by the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island, the exhibition premiered to critical and popular acclaim at London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery in December 2010. Visitors to the exhibition will also enjoy a supplemental exhibition focusing on Norman Rockwell’s work for The Coca-Cola Company, as well as an exhibition of illustrations from the BMA’s permanent collection, including works by Frederic Remington, N. C. Wyeth, and Maxfield Parrish.
Norman Rockwell’s America was organized by the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island. Local presentation is made possible by Regions Bank. Additional support provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Vulcan Materials Company Foundation, the City of Birmingham, the Members and Corporate Partners of the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Alabama Tourism Department, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and The Friends of Rockwell.
Please note that the last entrance into the exhibition is one hour before the Museum closes (4pm; 8pm on First Thursdays).
Dial in to Norman Rockwell's America
What do an astronaut, a congresswoman, a filmmaker, and a recent college graduate have in common? They are among the special guest speakers featured on the Museum’s original audio tour for Norman Rockwell’s America. A variety of voices engage Rockwell’s iconic images from unique points of view, helping visitors to consider not only the works’ historical contexts but also how they relate to today’s world.
The audio tour is free and can be accessed from any cellular phone, smartphone, or internet-enabled device. We ask that visitors wishing to access the audio tour using the QR code scanner on their smartphones bring their own earbuds / headphones so as not to disturb other visitors. All other visitors should access the tour using the dial-up instructions posted throughout the gallery. Thank you.
GUIDED GROUP TOURS
Two tour options are available for groups of 10 or more:
“Norman Rockwell’s America: Get the Picture” looks at how the artist used line, shape, color, form, and other techniques to build his compositions into American icons.
“Norman Rockwell’s America: Then and Now” explores how artworks in the exhibition relate to contemporary world events.
One-hour group tours are scheduled Tuesday–Friday at 9am and 10am; other times may be arranged by appointment.
Have a large group? Complement the exhibition with guided visits of the Museum’s collection!
Group tours are included with admission; call Nicholas McLaughlin at 205.328.7628 to book a tour for your school or group today.
LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHERS
Strategies for Using Norman Rockwell in the Classroom: This lesson plan suggests how to practice close-observation skills to support the visual arts and science, and makes connections with language arts, social studies, and visual arts curricula.
Design-a-Mag: Using Norman Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post covers from a variety of eras as inspiration, students examine magazine covers to discover the ways in which a magazine cover’s headlines and graphics express the main ideas of the articles inside. Students then select a contemporary article from a newspaper. They analyze its content and create their own Saturday Evening Post cover that summarizes the information contained in the article. Students also choose a political cartoon from which the text has been erased and provide their own text for the image. The product serves as their “letter from the editor.”
