'Picturing America' is on display at the library

Picture America display at the Marion County Library.

By: By Cathy Pruett Special to the Star & Enterprise | SCNow
Published: October 03, 2008

If indeed, a picture is worth a thousand words, the images now on display at the Marion County Library, speak volumes. The story they tell is the story of America.
Picturing America, an exciting new initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, in cooperation with the American Library Association, brings high-quality reproductions of notable American art masterpieces into classrooms and libraries nationwide. Through this innovative program, students and citizens can gain a deeper appreciation of our country’s history and character through the study and understanding of its artistic heritage—our paintings, sculpture, architecture, fine crafts, and photography.
Picturing America gives viewers the opportunity to learn about our nation’s history and culture in a fresh and engaging way. The art serves as a catalyst for the study of America—the cultural, political, and historical threads woven into our nation’s fabric over time.
The Picturing America images span several centuries and feature artists ranging from early American Indian artisans to painters Mary Cassatt and Thomas Hart Benton; and photographers Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, to architects Frank Lloyd Wright and William Van Alen. While these images are not intended to encapsulate the whole of American history or its art, they are a cohesive sampler of significant works that serves as a starting point for learning about both.
An example is Gilbert Stuart’s full-length portrait of George Washington. This image deftly captures Washington’s role as the father of his country. His choice of attire—a plain black suit and no wig—conveys his belief that the United States president was not a king, but a citizen of a land where all men were created equal.
Another work, Walker Evans’ stark and majestic photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge, clearly reveals why this structure was hailed as a marvel of American engineering ingenuity; when it was built in 1883, its two towers were the tallest manmade forms in the Western Hemisphere.
Come to the library and view these masterpieces and more for yourself. You’ll be in the perfect place if you wish to learn more about any of the works on display. In addition to the Teachers Resource book provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the library has many other circulating and reference works to support your study, as well as free access to the Internet to enable you to visit the Picturing American website (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/) and innumerable other sites featuring America’s history and its art.

'Picturing America' is on display at the library

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