Illustrator James Gurney has a particularly insighful post here: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/rockwell-and-camera.html

Links to additional blogs discussing the exhibit are here:

http://openlettersmonthly.com/blog/before-rockwell/

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/rockwell-and-camera.html

http://aleapopculture.blogspot.com/2009/10/norman-rockwell-behind-camera-by-ron.html

http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-norman-rockwell-behind-camera-by.html

http://openlettersmonthly.com/blog/before-rockwell/

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/rockwell-and-camera.html

http://aleapopculture.blogspot.com/2009/10/norman-rockwell-behind-camera-by-ron.html

http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-norman-rockwell-behind-camera-by.html

http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/2009/10/guest-post-book-review-of-norman.html

http://gizmodo.com/5389780/norman-rockwell-the-original-king-of-the-photoshop

http://www.amazon.com/Norman-Rockwell-Behind-Ron-Schick/product-reviews/0316006939/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/10/norman-rockwell-behind-the-camera/

http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-norman-rockwell-behind-camera.html

http://www.merryweatherbookblog.com/ http://www.jacketflap.com/megablog/index.asp?postid=432777

http://stealsdeals.blogspot.com/2009/11/norman-rockwell-behind-camera.html

http://openlettersmonthly.com/blog/before-rockwell/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/6467302/Mr-American-Pie-Norman-Rockwell.html

http://heckofabunch.blogspot.com/2009/11/norman-rockwell-behind-camera-book.html

©1943 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum

This article ran on October 10th in The Wall Street Journal.
To read the complete article, please follow this link.
Norman Rockwell’s inspiring and enduring painting

By BRUCE COLE
A hundred thousand people came to see them in Washington and New York, a million more in other major cities across the country. They were visited by a vice president, stars of screen and radio, and even survivors of the Bataan “Death March.” They raised millions of dollars for the purchase of war bonds, and were reproduced in over four million copies.
Sponsored by the Treasury Department and the Saturday Evening Post, the 1943 “Four Freedoms War Bond Exhibition” was our first national “blockbuster.” Exhibited not in museums or galleries, but in department stores for a year during the depths of World War II, it made an already well-known illustrator a household name.
What the crowds came to see were paintings: “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom of Worship,” “Freedom From Want” and “Freedom From Fear” (now all prominently displayed in the Norman Rockwell Museum). In 1943 each had been reproduced, along with an accompanying essay by leading literary lights including Booth Tarkington and Stephen Vincent Benét, in successive issues of the Saturday Evening Post, a popular magazine for which Norman Rockwell had worked since 1916.
Rockwell discovered his subjects in Franklin Roosevelt’s State of the Union speech of Jan. 6, 1941, delivered 11 months before Pearl Harbor. In it, the president warns of the looming danger posed by aggressor nations, proposes Lend-Lease, and calls for a major increase in armament production. At the speech’s conclusion he looks toward the future, to a world founded upon “four essential freedoms.” To read the complete article, please follow this link.

Peter Rockwell Carving Grendels Folly Photo 1994

July 11, 2009 through October 25, 2009

As a young man, Peter Rockwell had no interest in pursuing a career as an artist, and intentionally avoided the arts because they were “too much in the family.” A student of English literature at Haverford College, he eventually enrolled in a sculpture class at the prompting of his mother, Mary Rockwell, and “fell head-over-heels in love with it.”

Today a noted sculptor and art historian, Peter Rockwell is the youngest son of legendary American illustrator, Norman Rockwell. His vibrant, animated works, inspired by circus acrobats, animals in motion, gargoyles, and monsters are featured in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, The Bridgeport Museum of American Art, and the Norman Rockwell Museum, which holds the largest compilation of his art. A leading scholar of the history of stone carving, he has documented his knowledge in The Art of Stoneworking, his highly-regarded reference guide. An outstanding collection of the artist’s bronze, marble, and limestone sculptures will be on view on our pastoral landscape in celebration of the Norman Rockwell Museum’s fortieth anniversary.

Press images available upon request

Norman Rockwell Museum announces the honoring of Barbara Nessim as its first Artist Laureate. Nessim, an internationally known artist, illustrator, and educator, also served on the Museum’s Board of Trustees from 1999 until 2008. The award will be presented to Nessim on behalf of the Museum’s new Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies during its annual Board of Trustees meeting, to be held on Saturday, September, 26.

“We are honored to award our inaugural Artist Laureate award to Barbara Nessim,” says Laurie Norton Moffatt, Director/CEO of Norman Rockwell Museum. “The commendation of this award recognizes Barbara’s exceptional skills as an influential visual communicator and an early visionary in the digital arts. Barbara’s ongoing dedication to the Museum, where she has worked closely with curatorial staff, and served as a passionate advocate for the Museum’s expanded collection mission continues as she lends her vision and support- connecting the Museum to new illustration communities and younger artists.”

A selection of Barbara Nessim’s work will also be on view at Norman Rockwell Museum starting Saturday, September 26, and includes “Women In Madness,” an original work generously donated by the artist for inclusion in the Museum’s illustration art collection. Later that day, Nessim will present “Graphic Change,” an illustrated talk about her evolution as an artist and her creative inspirations. The event starts at 5:30 p.m., and is free with regular Museum admission.

About the artist

Illustrator Barbara Nessim has been a vital contributor and influential visionary in the art world over the past several decades. A digital art pioneer, Nessim helped shape the MFA Computer Arts Program at the School of Visual Arts, and was Chairperson of Illustration at Parsons School of Design for 12 years. Her work has graced the covers of “Time,” “The New York Times Magazine,” “Rolling Stone,” and many other publications. Most recently, the artist has been commissioned to create several large-scale works for various building lobbies in New York City. In addition to several years of dedicated service as a member of Norman Rockwell Museum’s Board of Trustees, Nessim acted as liaison to the Museum’s Illustrators Advisory Committee, helped develop the exhibition and participated in early discussions related to the development of the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies. In addition to Norman Rockwell Musuem, an exhibition of Nessim’s art will also be on view at The Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, starting September 25.

For more information, contact sienna@siennagallery.com or 413.637.8386. Visit Barbara Nessim’s Web site: http://www.barbaranessim.com

Norman Rockwell Museum Artist Laureate

Noted practitioners and past members of the Norman Rockwell Museum Board of Trustees, Artist Laureates are dedicated to the museum’s mission and to furthering public knowledge and appreciation of the art of Norman Rockwell and the art of illustration within aesthetic and cultural contexts. Appointed annually by the Board of Trustees, each Artist Laureate will continue to advise museum trustees and staff on pertinent issues relating to the advancement of its mission; provide public service that will advance mission-driven activities and reflect each Artist Laureate’s own artistic and professional goals; and inspire awareness of Norman Rockwell Museum and its activities within personal artistic and professional circles.

Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies

The Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies (RCAVS) is the nation’s first research institute devoted to the art of illustration. Officially launched in 2009, Norman Rockwell Museum’s 40th anniversary year, RCAVS will bring new scholarly attention and resources to the art of illustration, a hugely influential aspect of American visual culture that is only now being studied and appreciated. Through creating new online research tools and collections access, supporting scholarship, and spurring the collection and preservation of important artworks, RCAVS will establish a context for understanding the role of illustration art in shaping and reflecting American culture. Visit the official Web site: http://www.rcavs.org.

On October 8 from 2 to 5 p.m., join Buddy Edgerton and his co-author Nan O’Brien at Norman Rockwell Museum for the launch of “The Unknown Rockwell.” The celebration includes readings from the memoir, book signings, the chance to meet some of Rockwell’s Vermont models, and the special unveiling of a previously unknown Rockwell portrait, recently discovered by the authors. Admission is free for children 18 and under. Adults are free with regular Museum admission.

“Buddy Edgerton’s memoir offers a compelling glimpse of Norman Rockwell’s Arlington,” says Stephanie Plunkett, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of Norman Rockwell Museum. “A warm reflection on the lives and times of beloved neighbors and friends who were immortalized in Rockwell’s art. We are honored to host the launch of Buddy Edgerton’s personal narrative, and to share it with what will surely be an appreciative public.”

In the Spring of 1943, Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary, and their three young sons moved into the farmhouse next door to thirteen-year old Buddy Edgerton and his family in West Arlington, Vermont. What developed was a close, though unlikely, friendship between the Rockwell and Edgerton families that has spanned more than six decades. Edgerton recalls that “life was not easy for my young parents as they struggled to raise four kids during the Depression, but my mom and dad never complained, they just went about their work with a determined hand and an unswerving belief in the proverbial golden rule, and they instilled that same belief in my sisters and me… Our life was like a Norman Rockwell illustration- because for more than ten years, Norman Rockwell illustrated our life.” Buddy Edgerton’s story is a fascinating look at Norman Rockwell and his family from the unique perspective of a close friend, model, and longtime neighbor. Insights and memories include a surprising revelation of the existence of a previously unknown Rockwell portrait. For more information about the book, visit http://site.theunknownrockwell.com/

Special Events

Book Release Celebration
“The Unknown Rockwell: A Portrait of Two American Families”
Thursday, October 8, 2 to 5 p.m.
Join authors Bud Edgerton and Nan O’Brien to celebrate the release of their intimate new memoir, which takes a fascinating look at Norman Rockwell and his family from the unique perspective of a close friend, model, and longtime neighbor, and reveals the existence of a previously unknown Rockwell portrait. A book-signing and reading by the authors will follow. Kids 18 and under are free. Adults free with Museum admission.

Exhibition Opening Celebration
“I Am a Part of Art! The Artists of Community Access to the Arts”
Sunday, October 4, 2 to 4 p.m.
Join us for this inspiring exhibition of works by the artists of CATA, a regional organization which nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities through shared experiences in the visual and performing arts. Free.

Exhibitions
“American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell”
Through October 12
Norman Rockwell Museum’s major traveling retrospective, covering the full sweep of Rockwell’s 65-year career, has been held over through October 12. The exhibition offers visitors a landmark occasion to see the iconic works that form the core of the Museum’s collections reunited in a single exhibition, interpreted and contextualized by new scholarship and archival materials. Guided tours of the exhibition offered daily.

“The Fantastical Faces of Peter Rockwell: A Sculptor’s Retrospective”
Through October 25
Peter Rockwell is a noted sculptor and art historian who is also the youngest son of Norman Rockwell. This retrospective brings together an outstanding collection of the artist’s bronze, marble, limestone, and terracotta sculptures. Guided tours of the exhibition offered daily.

“I Am a Part of Art! The Artists of Community Access to the Arts”
October 4 through 25
An exhibition of works by the artists of CATA, a regional organization which nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities through shared experiences in the visual and performing arts.

“A Day in the Life: Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge Studio”
Studio open through November 1
Step back in time to 1960, when Rockwell was painting his iconic “Saturday Evening Post” cover, “Golden Rule.” Rockwell’s historic Stockbridge studio has been freshly reinterpreted for the Museum’s 40th anniversary, offering a glimpse of the artist’s work environment during a pivotal moment in his life and career- as he moved away from his long relationship with the “Post” and increasingly created works with socially conscious themes.

“Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge Models: A Norman Rockwell Museum Historic Preservation Project”
Stockbridge Town Hall, Stockbridge, Massachusetts Ongoing
Learn more about the faces behind the pictures in this off-site exhibition of photographs of Rockwell’s models posing for his paintings. Free admission. Open weekdays only.

Programs for Children and Families

ArtZone
Daily, October 1 through 31
Explore your “inner Rockwell” by creating your own works of art in the Museum’s ArtZone activity center. Open daily during regular Museum hours. Free for children. Adults free with Museum admission.

Art in Action
Sunday, October 4, 11, 18, 25, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Designed for children of all ages, these Sunday afternoon drop-in art workshops feature hands-on art projects inspired by the art of Norman Rockwell and other illustrators. Free for children. Adults free with Museum admission.

Toddler Tuesdays
Tuesday, October 6, 20, 10:30 a.m.
Designed for preschool children and their adult friends, this multi-sensory learning experience features an age-appropriate gallery tour and a fun hands-on art project. $2 per child. Adults free with Museum admission.

Programs for Adults

Model Citizens
Friday, October 2, 2:30 p.m.
Find out what it was like to pose for America’s favorite illustrator- from one of Norman Rockwell’s own models. Free with Museum admission.

Historic Property Walk and Talk
Daily through October 25 (weather permitting), 10:30 a.m.
Explore the Museum’s beautiful grounds with an expert guide. Learn more about Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge studio and Linwood, the 1859 Berkshire “cottage” on the Museum’s grounds. This lively walking tour takes 45 minutes and is less than a mile. Free with Museum admission.

“The arts sector is a vital contributor to the economic life of Western Massachusetts, and a major component of the creative economy statewide,” said Olver. “These grants will help preserve jobs in this sector while also ensuring that our arts organizations continue to provide public programs that enrich our communities and educate our young people.”

Congressman Olver (D-MA 1st District) is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of its Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. Joining him for the announcement will be Mass. State Representatives Smitty Pignatelli of Lenox and Rosemary Sandlin of Agawam- members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development- along with NEA Director of Dance Douglas Sonntag, MCC Executive Director Anita Walker, and Norman Rockwell Museum CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt. Other participants include state Reps. Dan Bosley of North Adams and Chris Speranzo of Pittsfield, MCC Board members Ira Lapidus and Ronald Feldman of Williamstown, local cultural council members from Western Mass., and officials from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) and Berkshire Creative.

Massachusetts cultural nonprofits provide nearly 37,000 jobs and have a total economic impact of over $4.2 billion. But the economic downturn has hurt this dynamic sector: A recent MCC survey of arts organizations that receive state funding found that nearly half have laid off at least one worker since the start of the current recession. Many others are reducing salaries and work hours, and instituting hiring freezes. In the broader nonprofit sector of Greater Boston, more than 4 in 10 organizations are reducing staff or salaries, according to a recent report by the Boston Foundation.

“The inclusion of the arts in ARRA was a welcome acknowledgement that the creative sector is an important part of our economy, and will be an important part of our recovery,” said Walker. “That could not have happened without supporters like Congressman Olver, and we are deeply grateful for that support.”

“Creative workers are a backbone of the Berkshire County economy and the stimulus funds provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and National Endowment for the Arts will help sustain employment and drive economic recovery. We are grateful for Congressman Olver’s leadership in recognizing the importance of the creative sector which drives 25% of the workforce of the Berkshires,” added Laurie Norton Moffatt, CEO/Director of Norman Rockwell Museum and co-founder Berkshire Creative Economy Council.

More information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

On February 17, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Act included an appropriation of $50 million to the NEA to be “distributed in direct grants to fund arts projects and activities which preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn.” On March 24, NEA awarded stimulus funds to the MCC allocated by formula, based on a total distribution of $20 million to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations.

About the Massachusetts Cultural Council

The Massachusetts Cultural Council promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences, in order to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities.

The MCC is committed to building a central place for arts and culture in the everyday lives of communities across the Commonwealth. The Council pursues this mission through a combination of grants, services, and advocacy for cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists.

NEA Grants to Massachusetts:

Boston Dance Alliance, Inc. Boston $50,000
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Inc. Becket $50,000
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, Inc. Boston $50,000
Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses, Inc. Dorchester $25,000
Raw Art Works, Inc. Lynn $50,000
Aspect, Inc. Brookline $25,000
Grub Street, Inc. Boston $25,000
City of Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville $25,000
Fitchburg Cultural Alliance, Inc. Fitchburg $25,000
Association of Independents in Radio, Inc. Dorchester $50,000
Center for Independent Documentary, Inc. Sharon $50,000
From the Top, Inc. Boston $50,000
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Inc. Boston $50,000
Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge, Inc. Stockbridge $50,000
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Inc. Malden $50,000
Emmanuel Music, Inc. Boston $50,000
Handel & Haydn Society Boston $50,000
Boston Academy of Music, Inc. Boston $25,000
Cloud Foundation Boston $50,000
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc. North Adams $50,000
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School Adams $50,000
Lesley University Cambridge $50,000
Massachusetts College of Art Boston $25,000
Worcester Center for Crafts, Inc. Worcester $50,000
MCC Arts Stimulus Grants (All grants are $10,000) Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington ArtsBoston, Inc., Boston Bay State Performing Arts, Inc., Boston The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield Berkshire Theatre Festival, Inc., Stockbridge Boston Center for the Arts, Inc., Boston Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Inc., Boston Community Music School of Springfield, Springfield DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Provincetown Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton Images Cinema, Williamstown Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Inc., Boston Medicine Wheel Productions, Inc., Boston Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell The Nora Theatre Company, Cambridge Provincetown International Film Festival, Provincetown Shakespeare & Company, Lenox South Shore Conservatory, Hingham Spontaneous Celebrations, Inc., Boston The Springfield Museums, Springfield The Theater Offensive, Cambridge Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, Truro Underground Railway Theater, Cambridge Worcester Art Museum, Worcester Zeiterion Theatre, Inc., New Bedford Zumix, Inc., Boston

New England Foundation for the Arts Grants in Massachusetts:

Performing Artist Fee Support
The Colonial Theatre Association, Pittsfield, MA, to present The Acting Co., New York, NY ($4,500) Lawrence Sons of Italy, Lodge 902, Lawrence, MA, to present Circus Smirkus, Greensboro, VT ($2,500) University of Massachusetts, Fine Arts Center, Amherst, MA, to present Zakir Hussain, San Anselmo, CA ($10,000) Worcester Elementary Arts School, Worcester, MA, to present Patricia Campbell, Newtown, CT ($1,301)

Presenter Salary Support
Celebrity Series of Boston, Boston, MA ($15,000) Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, Boston, MA ($15,000) New World Theater, Amherst, MA ($15,000)