FAIRFIELD HOSTS "THE GRAPES OF WRATH"

Thursday, 03 January 2008 23:53

STURGEON BAY, WI – On Wednesday, January 16, the Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art in downtown Sturgeon Bay will unveil a special exhibition titled “The Grapes of Wrath: A Visual Story” in its third-floor Newkirk Gallery. The art center will host an opening reception at 6:30 p.m., which will allow guests to enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres as they explore the world of the migrant Joad family – the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl – through images. The reception is open free to the public.
 
The Fairfield is hosting “The Grapes of Wrath: A Visual Story” in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts “Big Read” program taking place throughout Door County in January. For its month-long segment of NEA’s The Big Read, county residents and visitors will read and explore John Steinbeck's classic 1939 novel "The Grapes of Wrath" together in a series of special events hosted by well-known public venues throughout the peninsula.
 
“The Grapes of Wrath: A Visual Story” will be a highlight of Door County's Big Read. The exhibition will include the photographic works of Dorothea Lange, Horace Bristol and Arthur Rothstein, all of whom documented the Great Depression. In fact, Bristol traveled with Steinbeck, documenting the plight of the agricultural migrant workers in California. His photographs were used heavily as references when casting the Academy Award-winning 1940 film version of "The Grapes of Wrath," which starred Henry Fonda, John Carradine and Jane Darwell.
 
While many of the featured works inspired Steinbeck as he wrote his novel, many others were inspired by him – his memorable characters, his distinctive voice and the enduring scenes he created. These include book-jacket art and still photographs from the 1940 film, as well as photos, renderings and costume sketches from the play and from the Minneapolis opera version of the book. The exhibition will be on display in the Newkirk Gallery through Saturday, March 1.
 
Also in conjunction with NEA’s The Big Read, the Fairfield will host a “Grapes of Wrath” book discussion at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 31. The book discussion is free and open to the public.
 
“It invites us to enter the text and serves to make us active agents in the construction of meaning, which in itself is always changing, depending on our critical preoccupations,” writes Robert DeMott, Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor at Ohio University and acclaimed Steinbeck scholar. “Invested in the process of interpretation, readers must actively cross boundaries between differing realms of discourse and must remain open to variant, flexible ways of experiencing the story.”
 
“The Grapes of Wrath” is a particularly fascinating book, because it has endured through multiple generations and remains as important today as it was nearly 70 years ago. Each person may take something entirely different from the experience of reading the book.
 
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.
 
The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art is open free to the public, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday during the offseason. For more information about the art center and its upcoming exhibitions and events, call (920) 746-0001, send e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or visit www.fairfieldcenter.org .