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.

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Intimate Interiors

August 26, 2012 – December 2, 2012 // bOhOrFOush gAllery// FREE

Taken from the Museum’s permanent collection, Intimate Interiors presents portraits of intimate moments and spaces including places of religious worship, bedrooms, and entertaining. It is within these spaces that we are at our most comfortable, and oftentimes most vulnerable. The works showcased in this exhibition are alternatives to the racist images of blacks encountered daily in the global visual culture. As cultural critic bell hooks states: the image is not about good or bad, but about “transforming... creating alternatives, asking ourselves questions about what types of images subvert, pose critical alternatives, and transform our worldviews and move us away from dualistic thinking about good and bad.” By exhibiting alternative images, we encourage dialogue about the similarities we all share while celebrating black cultural experiences.

This exhibition is made possible by the generous support of Cadence Bank.

Guided group tours

Guided tours are available for groups of 10 or more starting October 2. Click here to book a tour.

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Arctic Beauty: Inuit Art from Canada

May 20, 2012 - January 20, 2013 // Native American Galleries // Free

This exhibition presents 87 works of art made by the Inuit people of Canada. Formerly known as Eskimo, the Inuit are descended from cultures that have inhabited the Arctic regions of Canada, the United States, Greenland, and Russia for over a thousand years.

Works in the exhibition reflect traditional Inuit ways of life and culture, particularly their close observation of Arctic animals, with whom they share the frozen environment. Although contemporary Inuit no longer rely solely on hunting for food, in the recent past, land and sea mammals provided not only a main source of food, but fur and skins for clothing, and sinews and bone for tools. A wide variety of animals and birds are represented in the exhibition, including bears, walrus, seals, muskoxen, wild hares, and loons.

There are also sculptures of people, families, hunters, fishermen, and an igloo with an interior scene. Some sculptures depict transformational figures, spirits, and shamans—religious practitioners who are responsible for maintaining the proper relationship and balance between the human community and spirits that inhabit and govern the natural world.

The works of sculpture and prints, created by men and women, date primarily from the second half of the 20th century. As modern culture has increasingly encroached on Inuit communities and ways of life, sculpture and print-making have emerged not only as a way to augment family resources, but to guard history, stories, beliefs, and life-ways, and transmit them to younger generations and the broader public.

Modern and contemporary Inuit art is sought after by collectors and museums, and is exhibited internationally. Artists in the installation include Pauta Saila (1916–2009), Lucy Tasseor (b. 1934), Barnabus Arnasungaaq (b. 1924), Karoo Ashevak (1940–1974), John Kavik (1897–1993), and Andy Miki (1918–1983), among many others. The exhibition, installed in the Museum’s Native American gallery, is drawn from a single, internationally recognized, private collection in Alabama.

Click here to book a group tour.

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Woven Splendor

OCTOBER 7–DECEMBER 30, 2012 // ARRINGTON GALLERY //FREE

From the arrival of Spanish settlers in the mid-1500s to their forced move to reservations in the 19th century, the Navajo people have a long history of adapting their resources and practices to changes in their environment. The practice of weaving, in particular, has been an important part of Navajo identity since its introduction by their Pueblo neighbors in the 16th century. This historic art form has survived many changes in Navajo life. The Navajo people adapted the art of weaving, both in design and materials, in order to better suit their needs.

Woven Splendor showcases 17 rugs and five chief blankets from the Museum’s permanent collection, dating from the late-19th to the mid-20th centuries. The chief blankets represent designs popular before American traders established trading posts as the main public outsource of Navajo textiles. These “blankets,” worn by Navajo men and women, were also traded to neighboring tribes and Spanish settlers, who considered them symbols of high status. After the arrival of American traders, the chief blanket was replaced by the rug, which was highly desired by the American market on the East Coast. The variety of rugs shown in this exhibition depicts a small selection of the vast array of designs that the Navajo people created for their new Anglo-American customers.

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