The public is cordially invited to attend the McCune Collection Fall and Spring lecture series. All Programs are at 2 p.m. in the McCune Room, first floor of the John F. Kennedy Library, on the third Sunday of the month unless otherwise noted. Light refreshments and conversation with guest speaker follow.
The McCune Collection had a Holiday Tea on December 13, 2015. Included on the menu were a variety of sandwiches (Salmon, Lemon, Cucumber, Dill; Bleu Cheese and Grape; Chicken Salad; and Curried Chicken), sweet treats (Petits Fours; Profiteros; Macaroons; Scones; Whipped Cream; Tarte aux Fruits), and Champagne, Sherry and assorted teas.
Mark J. Martin will be exhibiting his works from a series on the life of Emiliano Zapata and the Mexican Revolution. This examination is part of a broader focus on the history of social justice issues from about 1910 up to the present.
“From DIY punk, street art materials and a psychedelic Pop presentation, I make art that promotes social justice.” declares Mark. “I like to call this form of political art PoliPop and the group of adventurers who help me make the larger installations “The PoliPop Guild”.
Mark may quip that his work is created by a craft aesthetic and street art materials yet, his technique is laboriously time consuming. He layers his work between aerosol spray, acrylic paint, paper collage. The collage elements are mostly black and white ink drawing that he then runs through a digital imaging process and prints as inkjet or LaserJet in a variety of colors. This creates his initial palette. From there he adds a variety of fine art and found papers. These papers can include, rice par, origami paper, phone books, and his own designed paper both computer printed and screen printed.
The final work is colorful and stylish but with a political comment. Sometimes the comment is subtle, like simply honoring a person, and sometimes it is more direct like when he reproduces, large, one of his stickers.
This exhibition will feature a variety of screen prints, digital prints, and small works about Zapata and his soldiers including unknown women soldiers and works addressing current issues of social injustice.
More information about Household Saints and images are available upon request.
Phone: 510.207.8743.
E-mail: mark@markmartinart.com
The Magical Moonshine Theatre and McCune Rare Book Collection is excited to present A Paper Pilgrimage from Page to Stage: the Toy Theatre Canterbury Tales production of Canterbury Miller's Tale, inspired by the Kelmscott Chaucer, one of the rare book gems of the McCune collection. Tickets now available for May 29-30 and June 5-6 in the McCune Room at the John F. Kennedy Library in Vallejo.
Starting in April 2015 the McCune Collection became open to the Public 5:00-9:00pm on the second Friday of each month as a regular venue of Vallejo's 2nd Friday Art Walk. For the first time in many years the McCune is expanding the hours it is open to the Public, and this is first the time it has ever offered regular evening hours. Each month the McCune will also feature the work of one or more local artists on exhibit in the McCune Room. During 2nd Fridays only, visitors can enter the McCune Collection directly from the staircase on the plaza at the corner of Georgia and Santa Clara Streets. Beverages and snacks will also be served.
Any artists interested in exhibiting their work on a 2nd Friday in The McCune Room should contact us either via phone (707) 674-4082 or via e-mail mccunecollection@gmail.com
James Orlando is less interested in how art is produced and more intrigued by the thoughts that go into it. "The thought around art is sometimes more important, perhaps, than the aesthetic object. I'm very interested in interpretation; the ways in which we know art, and the ways we interpret it.” As an object-maker, he is drawn toward expressing components of the human condition; his figures exist within their own individualities; isolated yet nurturing, as evidenced by the incorporation of detailed hand stitching, which represents the passage of time, as well as by the intimate use of bedding and clothing which deepens the personal nature of his works. As a visual storyteller, his sensibilities and outlook have been shaped by a longstanding interest in contemporary and “outsider” art. Find more about James Orlando at www.dirtfloorstudio.com
Dr. Snyder presents a history of The California Newspaper Project, which preserves and indexes the state’s newspapers published between 1846 and 1922. As an important record of local history in the Golden State, the program is part of a nationwide newspaper preservation project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which seeks to preserve the country’s journalistic history. Professor Snyder discusses the tasks and challenges of conducting the survey in California, as well as its metamorphosis into a digital archive and the importance of these archives to historical and genealogical research. Retired professor emeritus of history at the University of California, Riverside, and formerly director of the Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research, he is the author of more than thirty scholarly articles. In 2007 Dr. Snyder was honored at a ceremony at the White House, where he was only the sixth faculty member in the UC system to be awarded the coveted National Humanities Medal. Link: NNEH News Archive
Join Cal Maritime library staff member and campus historian Larry Stevens for a colorful reminiscence of the Academy's 1930's Training Ship history as seen through the diary of a handmade journal by midshipman Perry Duncan (1933 engineering graduate). Memories of California Nautical School’s years of military and seafaring history are contained within, including the 1932 ports of call to Washington D. C. & New York City, as well as the 1933 5-½ month around-the-world cruise. Each page is a time capsule that reflects the era in which it was created. After majoring in Architecture and Art History at the University of Cincinnati, and following another lifetime as a travel agent, Larry Stevens volunteered with the McCune Committee, leaving in 2007 to work for the Solano County and Benicia Library systems. In 2008, he was hired by CMA as a librarian and archival assistant and is the primary contact for the academy’s historical collections and displays. Contact Larry at lstevens@csum.edu for more information or a historical tour of the campus on the Carquinez Straits.
Guy Benjamin Brookshire, author of The Universe War, a collage comic book, and New Oldestland, a chapbook of collages and writings, has been “destroying” (or deconstructing) books to create collages that illustrate his writing for nearly 20 years. Over the course of that time his process and materials have evolved into a reexamination of the technology of books and the world they record. Come hear him apologize for destroying books and explain why he does it while sharing his works and answering questions.
Find more at: Guy Benjamin Brookshire
Due to some unexpected medical treatment, Dr Henry Snyder is unable to give his presentation on Sunday April 19th. However, thanks to the efforts of Tom Snyder, we have been able to arrange for Lewis Halloran from the Mare Island Museum to give a presentation on the "History of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard".
Bravo to all the committee members, adjuncts and others who helped to make the McCune's Art Walk debut such a success - estimates ran from 45-65 attendees with a significant number of first-time visitors.
Printmaker Linda Ardakani, former Assistant Director of the Fine Arts Institute at Washington University in St. Louis and founding member of the St Louis publishers Association, this erstwhile resident of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico shares the fun of exploring multiple printing processes, including hectograph, silkscreen; photocopier images, letterpress, linocuts and even rubber stamps! Linda’s inspiration comes from having lived in a van and camped in state parks for a year with her family; she wrote and illustrated a travel diary documenting her experience. lindaardakani@gmail.com.