The Roanoker - March/April 2016 - NR3

WELCOME!

As the heartwarming, truly American work of one of our nation's art icons comes
to the Taubman, it's the perfect time to pay a visit and to join the museum.

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Mine America's Coal, 1944,
U.S. Office of War Information poster
Oil on canvas, 21 x 14 in.
Courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Family Agency
Norman Rockwell Museum Collections

IT'S A STORY THAT CAPTIVATES the observer. We all love
the details of the characters, the believable setting, the
action, and the final resolution. The Taubman Museum
of Art will bring the art of one of America's most gifted
storytellers to Roanoke March 20-June 12, 2016. The
traveling exhibition, American Chronicles: The Art of
Norman Rockwell, will allow each of us to reminisce
about, reflect upon, learn from, and enjoy the familiar

realities to which many Americans aspired.
The works of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), the
nation's most prominent 20th-century illustrator, will
inaugurate the museum's recently completed, final
3,400-square-foot Special Exhibition Gallery funded
by the Taubman Foundation. The new gallery will
impress you with its design, specially equipped, stateof-the-art environment, and LED lighting.
You will find yourself drawn into the humor,
details, and messages in Rockwell's work; it's there
you will experience the comforts of home, the grit
of war, the follies of childhood, and the unwavering
American spirit.
"He constantly achieves that compromise between
a love of realism and the tendency to idealize, which is
one of the most deeply ingrained characteristics of the
American people," a TIME reporter said in 1943. You
are invited to compare your own American experience
with that portrayed by Rockwell.
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman
Rockwell is the largest and most celebrated exhibition
in the history of the Taubman Museum of Art. While I
remain committed to free general museum admission,
this special exhibition will require a modest ticket fee to
support the costs to present it in Roanoke. Tickets are
available online now at TaubmanMuseum.org or at the
Museum's Visitor Services Desk. Or, come on in today
and join the Taubman Museum of Art so you can enjoy
free admission to the Rockwell exhibition and other
annual benefits such as discounted parking and
program fees and free admission to Art Venture, our
interactive children's gallery. When you visit the
Rockwell exhibition, be sure to view our galleries
to learn about famous Americans including George
Washington and the many notable regional and
national artists from our collection.
I promise your trip this spring to the Taubman
Museum of Art will inspire and delight you. See
amazing art, relax in 1940-50's vignettes staged by
Black Dog Salvage, have a retro sandwich in the
museum's café, or take a selfie with a vintage
automobile. Be prepared to get swept up in nostalgic,
timeless moments. I know you will find your own
Rockwell moment. See you soon!
-Della Watkins, Executive Director,
Taubman Museum of Art
TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART | 3

http://www.TaubmanMuseum.org

The Roanoker - March/April 2016

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