WHAT: Press preview of “NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration” exhibition
WHEN: Tuesday, May 24 (10 a.m.: Remarks; 10:15 a.m.: Gallery tour)
WHERE: Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W.
WHO: Tom Crouch, senior curator for art
Bert Ulrich, the program’s curator at NASA Headquarters
The National Air and Space Museum will host a press preview for "NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration" May 24; the temporary exhibition opens to the public May 28 and closes Oct. 9. Curators as well as other special guests will be available for one-on-one interviews after the guided tour of the exhibit.
"NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration" presents an unparalleled selection of works commissioned by the NASA Art Program. Established soon after the inception of the U.S. space program in 1958, NASA’s Art Program provides a unique way to communicate the accomplishments, setbacks and sheer excitement of space exploration over the past five decades to the public. Drawn from the collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum, the exhibition features more than 70 works of art—ranging from the illustrative to the abstract.
The selected works span the history of NASA and include paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures and other media by such artists as Annie Leibovitz, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, William Wegman and Jamie Wyeth.
"NASA | ART 50 Years of Exploration" was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and NASA in cooperation with the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
Interested media must RSVP to larai@si.edu or mullenb@si.edu.
Norman Rockwell, 1965, Oil on canvas
Astronauts John Young and Gus Grissom are suited for the first flight of the Gemini program in March 1965. NASA loaned Norman Rockwell a Gemini spacesuit in order to make this painting as accurate as possible.
This work was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Mall building from May 28 to Oct. 9, 2011, as part of the NASA | Art: 50 Years of Exploration exhibition.
Peter Hurd, 1973, watercolor on paper.
Peter Hurd participated in the early days of the NASA Art Program, documenting the last Mercury flight. He returned ten years later to record the launch of Skylab, a rocket modified to allow astronauts to live and work in orbit. The three separate crews of Skylab astronauts arrived via Apollo command modules.
This work is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Mall building from May 28 to Oct. 9, 2011, as part of the NASA | Art: 50 Years of Exploration exhibition.
Annie Leibovitz, 1999, photograph.
Annie Leibovitz photographed Eileen Collins at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, during training. Collins was the first female pilot (Discovery in 1995) and first female commander (Columbia, 1999) of a space shuttle mission.
This work was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Mall building from May 28 to Oct. 9, 2011, as part of the NASA | Art: 50 Years of Exploration exhibition.
Mitchell Jamieson, 1963, acrylic, gauze, and paper on canvas.
In a silver-colored spacesuit, astronaut Gordon Cooper steps away from his Mercury spacecraft and into the bright sunlight on the deck of the recovery ship after 22 orbits of Earth. Mitchell Jamieson documented Cooper’s recovery and medical examination and accompanied him back to Cape Canaveral.
This work is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Mall building from May 28 to Oct. 9, 2011, as part of the NASA | Art: 50 Years of Exploration exhibition.