1 10 1 https://openvalley.org/files/original/1b9310ad6946986c26598f54c3847a4d.JPG dc2165b7edcfaf2477eb014cdfa97e03 https://openvalley.org/files/original/950abf75fd3261c4ba96af7ceaf63def.JPG 5f774c5ec7e000cc39ad0feb132e17e0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Tempera painting Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 17.5 x 21.5 in. Condition: cracked glass, surface dirt Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Scene from Rose and Book Description An account of the resource The references in this uncanny painting aren’t clear. At the front of a stage we see a performer, seemingly dressed as a princess and like Cinderella wearing only a single slipper. She holds in her hand a white flower. Behind her, peeking out from seven “legs” receding into the distance, are stylized characters who seem to be drawn from folk tales: a king and queen, a dour stepsister, and so on. The scene is framed by footlights, curtains, and at far right a rope pull reaches out to us invitingly. Mearns’ title references a yearly festival in Barcelona; the painting’s anarchic energy also may derive from her experience with Hervey White’s summer <a href="https://www.newpaltz.edu/museum/exhibitions/maverick2007/maverick_festival.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Maverick Festival”</a> productions. About the Artist: Born Emma Mearns in Philadelphia, at age 19 she married the poet Laurence Jordan, was divorced from him in 1931, and then married medical writer and publisher Blake Cabot in 1937 (he died in 1974). Petra Cabot, as she was known thereafter, began work for designer Russel Wright in 1939, on his <a href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-ad27-d471-e040-e00a180654d7/book?parent=49ec4200-c542-012f-a65c-58d385a7bc34#page/1/mode/2up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Food Focal”</a> exhibit at the World’s Fair in New York City. In 1947, President Harry S Truman denounced modern art as “the vaporings of half-baked, lazy people....There is no art at all in connection with the modernists, in my opinion.” Mearns-Cabot was one of the Woodstock Art Association members to sign a letter rebuking Truman: “[W]hen a man in high public office chooses to denounce and condemn a large and important group of artists, because he happens to dislike their art, it becomes a matter of immediate and grave concern to all artists” (Kingston Daily Freeman 23 June 1947: 3). In 1952 she made her best-known contribution to American design with the Skotch Kooler, which refashioned metal “minnow buckets” into attractive and affordable picnic totes that became ubiquitous throughout that decade (“How”). Throughout her long life Mearns-Cabot continued to create in a variety of forms: painting, drawing, woodblock, illustrations for books and educational filmstrips, jewelry, and mixed media. 5 works at <a href="http://www.hvvacc.org/cdm/search/searchterm/Cabot,%20Petra/mode/exact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woodstock Artists Association & Museum</a>. 2 works at <a href="https://woodstockschoolofart.org/?s=petra+cabot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woodstock School of Art</a>. Sources Consulted: Douglas Martin, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/nyregion/29cabot.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Petra Cabot, Designer of the 1950s-Era Skotch Kooler, Dies at 99,”</a> New York Times 29 Oct. 2006: A26; “How Two Young Men Saved an Ailing Business,” Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine Aug. 1953: 31-32. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mearns, Petra, 1907-2006 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Gallery Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1936? Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ritz, Abigail (photography) Cooper, Ken (biography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18204 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 854 KB j peg, 8.6 MB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 111 Federal Art Project New Deal Gallery painting Petra Mearns Cabot