July 6, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sarah McGreer
sarah@maaa.org

Raymond Loewy Exhibition Receives American Masterpieces Designation from NEA

Mid-America Arts Alliance announces that it has received a $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the exhibition tour of Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture. The Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Del., organized the Loewy exhibition; it is toured by ExhibitsUSA, the national museum service program of Mid-America Arts Alliance. The grant is part of the NEA’s "American Masterpieces" initiative.

Raymond Loewy was the most prominent industrial designer of the 20th century, and his influence is still strong today. Exhibition visitors will experience Loewy's career brought to life by an array of models, products, advertisements, photographs, drawings, and rare film footage of the designer at work.

The NEA’s support of this exhibition will be used to subsidize exhibition rental and shipping for institutions hosting the exhibition. Funds will also be used to create an exhibition brochure, provide institutions with catalogs produced by the Hagley Museum and Library, and develop related educational components, including a programming guide and a children’s activity book.

Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture originally appeared at the Hagley Museum in 2002–2003, where the Philadelphia Inquirer called it “captivating and nostalgia-rich.” The exhibition is curated by three leading staff members of the Hagley Museum and Library: Glenn Porter, Director Emeritus; Lynn Catanese, Head of Manuscripts and Archives; and Jim Hinz, former Library Conservator.

The purpose of Mid-America Arts Alliance's ExhibitsUSA program is to create access to an array of arts and humanities exhibitions, nurture the development and understanding of diverse art forms and cultures, and encourage the expanding depth and breadth of cultural life in local communities.

Mid-America Arts Alliance supports and stimulates cultural activity primarily in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. M-AAA originates and manages regional, multiregional, national, and international arts and humanities programs. Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, participant state arts agencies, and leading foundations and corporations. For further information, visit the Mid-America Arts Alliance Web site at www.maaa.org or contact Sarah McGreer at sarah@maaa.org.

Exhibition Schedule for Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture

Sept. 1, 2005—Feb. 13, 2006
Museum of Design
Atlanta Atlanta, Ga.

March 11—May 21, 2006
Long Island Museum
Stony Brook, N.Y.

June 7—August 26, 2006
San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design
San Francisco, Calif.

Sept. 16—Nov. 25, 2006
Center for Art and Visual Culture
Catonsville, Md.

Dec. 20, 2006—Feb. 28, 2007
Price Tower Arts Center
Bartlesville, Okla.

March 27—June 16, 2007
Parrish Art Museum
Southampton, N.Y.

July 3—Sept. 12, 2007
Bellevue Art Museum
Bellevue, Wash.

Oct. 4, 2007—March 22, 2008
National Heritage Museum
Lexington, Mass.

April 17—Sept. 30, 2008
Museum of the Rockies
Bozeman, Mont.

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