Seeing Our City

Under the title "Seeing our City: The Art of Defining a Place," Reynolda House is hosting a series of free public forums, with talks by leading experts and local leaders, on three successive Thursday evenings in October. The forums are in conjunction with Reynolda House's new exhibition "Seeing the City: Sloan's New York." John Sloan's paintings present a unique opportunity to promote discussion about what makes a city interesting and beautiful. Is it the variety of people that make up its residents? Is it the architecture? Is it the natural parks and places where people can relax by the water, or artists and their creativity that add an indefinable spark to a city? Support for this series is provided by the North Carolina Arts Council and the J.C. Tise Fund of The Winston-Salem Foundation.

Members of the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute to the discussion. Forums begin at 7pm, and a reception follows each forum. On October 9 the forum's topic will be "The Face of Our City: Architectural Characteristics, Unique Assets, and Conscientious Development." On October 16 the focus turns to "The Heart of Our City: Downtown Living, Diversity, and a District for the Arts." The speaker that night will be Dr. James Johnson, a fellow of the Urban Land Institute, director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center, and professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler School of Business. Johnson is a nationally recognized authority on urban development and social justice. A panel discussion that night will include representatives from Goler Community Development Corporation, the Downtown Arts District, and the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership.

Finally, on October 23 the series closes with the topic "Transforming Our City: Bridging Public Art and Public Works." The featured speaker this evening will be Frederick Gottemoeller, an architect, engineer, and author of the classic study Bridgescape: The Art of Designing Bridges. He is recognized for generating significant public involvement in conceptual engineering for major public works projects around the country. In 1998 Mr. Gottemoeller co-organized "Thinking Beyond the Pavement," the national conference that initiated the Context-Sensitive Design Movement. The evening's discussion panel includes representatives from the Public Art Committee of the Winston-Salem Arts Council, the Community Appearance Commission, and the Business 40 Project.

"Seeing the City" - Exhibit and Forums Offer Fresh Perspectives

Beginning this fall, Winston-Salem's Reynolda House Museum of American Art will present “Seeing the City: Sloan’s New York,” a traveling exhibition of John Sloan’s images of New York City, which presents both an in-depth view of the artist’s time there and the effects of the city on his art. By bringing together numerous images in all media from 1904 through the 1930s, “Seeing the City” is the first major traveling exhibition to focus on Sloan’s depictions of New York and the first since the 1970s to present significant new scholarship on the artist. By cataloging in words and pictures the vast changes in the city during his time, Sloan (1871-1951) created a "pedestrian aesthetic" which helped define New York in the popular imagination. The exhibit will be on view from October 4, 2008 through January 4, 2009.

Those interested in the "pedestrian aesthetic" in Winston-Salem will also find of interest a series of public forums accompanying the exhibit. As the Museum's press release notes, "John Sloan’s paintings present a unique opportunity to promote discussion about what makes a city interesting and beautiful. Is it the variety of people that make up its residents? Is it the architecture? Is it the natural parks and places where people can relax by the water, or artists and their creativity that add an indefinable spark to a city?" The Reynolda House forums, with talks by leading experts and local leaders, will be held on three successive Thursday evenings in October. October 9, 7–9 p.m. - The Face of Our City: Architectural Characteristics, Unique Assets, and Conscientious Development. October 16, 7–9 p.m. - The Heart of Our City: Downtown Living, Diversity, and a District for the Arts. October 23, 7–9 p.m. – Transforming Our City: Bridging Public Art and Public Works.

Thanks to Reynolda House for expanding both the conversation and the venues for discussion of how art might serve our city. Top illustration is by John Sloan, "Spring Rain," 1912. Original is oil on canvas, 20 ¼ x 26 inches, at the Delaware Art Museum, a gift of the John Sloan Memorial Foundation, 1986.