A new feature has been added to the LCA web site called “Art-ifacts” where you can find additional information about the many ways that the arts enrich our lives.

Our first “Art-ifact” introduces a new twist on the role that art can play in our lives.  Art can give us aesthetic pleasure, communicate thoughts and feelings, and challenge our views.  Art can also be a very effective way to teach and learn about history.

Article #1 is an article contributed by LCA member Laurie Holden acquaints us with an exhibition of American and French paintings, sculpture, books, prints, manuscripts, and decorative arts related to Marquis de Lafayette’s triumphant return America after the Revolutionary War.  A trip to the New York Historical Society is recommended to all who have an interest in period art and/or history to experience this blend of the two.  
 
For those who prefer armchair travel, the Picturing America web site (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/) is well worth the visit.  Picturing America is an online gallery of American masterpieces, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, that foster “appreciation of our country’s history and character through the study and understanding of its art.”

On a local level, a little known treasure is making the rounds of Bucks County schools. Art on the Move is a collaborative project between the Bucks County Intermediate Unit and the James A. Michener Art Museum that helps our schools integrate art appreciation into the curriculum.  Through the foresight of County School Superintendent Charles H. Boehm in 1949, the predecessor of the Bucks County Intermediate Unit acquired an extensive collection of original art work that was created by famous Bucks County artists or had scenes and history of Bucks County as subject matter. The purpose was to display fine artwork in the schools so that students would appreciate their local art heritage and its ties to our rich history.  This collection grew to such value that preservation became a concern;  hence, the partnership with the Michener Art Museum.  

A portion of this collection has been designated Art on the Move, and is on display in schools throughout the county on a rotating basis.  Educators have developed a myriad of ways to integrate this artwork into the art, social studies, and language arts curricula for various grade levels.  These lesson plans can be downloaded from the Art on the Move web site http://bucksiu.org/art/form.asp.  Also available on this site:  information about the artists, photos of the paintings, fun pages for students, an exhibit of student art, the history of the collection, and the exhibit schedule for the paintings.  To access this site, fill out the form by checking “other” and typing in “LCA visitor,” then check “other” for the school.  You will surely be impressed by this unique and little-known initiative to use original, local master works of art to “directly touch the intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic aspects of the lives of our students, staff, and community,” and you will learn something about our local history and heritage as well.

Article #1

Exhibit at the New York Historical Society
by Laurie Holden, April 2008

If you’re interested in learning more about the pomp and enthusiasm with which the last living general of the Revolutionary War was greeted when he revisited the United States, be sure to experience the current Exhibition at the New York Historical Society (NYHS).  This major display at NYHS depicts the triumphant return of General Lafayette to the U.S., a country he had been so instrumental in helping to preserve while still a young French nobleman.  When he arrived aboard the packet carrier Cadmus on August 16, 1824, he was greeted by volleys of cannon fire and a huge crowd.  Lafayette remained in this country for 13 months and, amazingly, traveled to all 24 states, with numerous balls, banquets, and parades given in his honor in the major cities.  For example, in a parade in NY, in addition to the usual marching bands, there were even dancing bears and groups of singing midgets. 

For a lavish ball given in Baltimore, a musician named Johnson was hired to write a number of songs honoring Lafayette and to conduct his band in playing this music.  The suggested fee for his services ($140.00) brought protest from some committee members who argued that no “negro” had ever been offered so great a sum for such services.  At the NYHS is a station where headphones are available and you can judge for yourself how well the money was spent.  Another portion of the exhibit that will be of special interest to children is a large animated cartoon depicting some of the toasts written for the occasion of a banquet given in New York.  Many of these toasts were published in major newspapers throughout the nation, and some may be heard through available headsets.  The exhibition ends August 10, 2008.

A coincident major show currently at NYHS features Audobon prints of endangered species, which can be viewed while hearing a background of the calls of these birds.  A video depicts some of these birds in their natural habitat.  NYHS is easily accessible by taking New Jersey Transit trains from Trenton to NYC (Pennsylvania Station), and then taking the “C” subway train uptown from Pennsylvania Station for five stops to 81st Street, which also happens to be the stop for the Museum of Natural History.  NYHS has a small café and a bookstore/gift shop with a selection of biographies and books about Lafayette and his close friendship with Washington.  The latter friendship, which has been characterized as a father/son relationship, was so special for Lafayette that he named his son (who accompanied him on this 1824-24 trip) George Washington Lafayette.