2013 exhibits featured nearly 60 works of art from the state’s collections
EXHIBITS CLOSED on Aug. 25, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013 respectively
During 2013 the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs’ Collections, Affiliates, Research and Exhibits (CARE) Team loaned nearly 60 works of art from the state’s collections to two of Delaware’s most prominent arts organizations—the Rehoboth Art League and the Schwartz Center for the Arts.
Working in partnership with the Rehoboth Art League, located at 12 Dodds Lane in Rehoboth Beach, the CARE Team helped to create the exhibit “Memories of Jack Lewis,” a career retrospective on the beloved artist whose work captured Delaware’s unique history, places and people. Lewis died on Aug. 19, 2012 at the age of 99. The exhibit was on display from July 19 to Aug. 25, 2013.
The state of Delaware owns more than 400 of Lewis’ works from every period in his career including a set of monumental murals which adorn the upper walls of both the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers in Legislative Hall, and numerous paintings which grace the walls of public buildings across the state including Buena Vista, the Carvel State Office Building and the Townsend Building. In addition to the loan of more than 30 of Lewis’ works for the Art League’s exhibit, the CARE team matted and framed each of the paintings and created the descriptive labels that accompany each work.
The partnership with the Rehoboth Art League is one of several in which the division has participated in recent years as part of its Affiliates Program which utilizes professionals from the division staff—including exhibit designers, curators, editors, museum managers, archaeologists and historians—who work with history- and heritage-based organizations throughout Delaware to develop joint programs and exhibits, including potential display of items from the state’s collections. The program has had great success in creating new opportunities for the division to serve the public in communities where it has not previously had a presence. Other organizations that are participating in the Affiliates Program include the Historic Odessa Foundation, Middletown Historical Society, Laurel Historical Society, Seaford Historical Society, Bethel Historical Society, the Rehoboth Beach Museum and the Underground Railroad Coalition of Delaware.
At the Schwartz Center for the Arts, located at 226 S. State St. in Dover, the CARE Team created an exhibit of works by Hispanic artists from the Norma Varisco de García Collection which was donated to the state of Delaware in 2012. The exhibit featured 17 paintings by American, Puerto Rican, Argentinean and Mexican artists including five works by Juan Perez, a Guatemalan native who now lives in Georgetown, Del. The exhibit was on display from Aug. 5 to Dec. 31, 2013.
About the collections of the state of Delaware…
The Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs conserves a significant collection of historic materials owned by the state of Delaware including museum objects, archaeological artifacts, works of art, library and archival materials and oral histories which are utilized in developing exhibits and educational programs that illuminate the state’s historical and cultural legacies for the benefit of present and future generations.
Although the state’s collections are featured prominently in division-sponsored exhibits, the sheer number of items makes it impossible for all of the materials to be formally displayed at one time. In order to maximize public access to the collections, the division loans items to museums across Delaware and the nation, and manages a program that places collections objects in government offices and public buildings across the state. Examples of this partnership include the display of murals at the Delaware Veterans Home and Delaware Public Archives; the placement of historical furnishings at Woodburn, the Governor’s House and at the Buena Vista Conference Center; and the display of various paintings and furnishings in Legislative Hall, at the Governor’s three offices and in courthouses across the state. The division hopes to make even more items from the collections available for public viewing in coming years.