SEEING OUR CITY: THE ART OF DEFINING A PLACE FORUMS AT REYNO

Press Room

"Seeing Our City: The Art of Defining a Place" Public Forums at Reynolda House

Thursday, September 25, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sharyn Turner
336.758.5580
sturner@reynoldahouse.org
or Sarah Mansell
336.758.5524
manselss@reynoldahouse.org

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (September 18, 2008) – "The fun of being a New York painter," John Sloan said in a 1936 Esquire article, "is that landmarks are torn down so rapidly that your canvases become historical records almost before the paint on them is dry."

Winston-Salem in 2008: the baseball stadium, One Park Vista, the Southeast Gateway, Deacon Tower, the Piedmont Triad Research Park. Is our city's canvas changing before the paint can dry?

When Reynolda House Museum of American Art opens the fall exhibition, "Seeing the City: Sloan's New York" on October 4, the public will observe John Sloan's vision of that great metropolis in the early part of the 20th century through his paintings, drawings, and photographs. His work reveals the public parks, theaters, store windows, elevated trains, buildings and monuments through the eyes of the city dwellers that inhabit those spaces.

One of the priorities of Reynolda House is to serve as a community place, not just for festivals, concerts, and exhibitions but also as a partner in planning for our city's future. Reynolda House is using Sloan's images as a springboard to discussions about the state of Winston-Salem as it seeks to define itself for the future. How can we maintain the architectural integrity of the city, restorative green spaces, and vibrant night life? How can we ensure that redevelopment and revitalization will appeal to all our citizens and respect diverse concerns and points of view? How do we preserve our history for future generations while providing for the needs of our citizens now?

These are some of the issues "Seeing the City: the Art of Defining a Place" will address. Each of three free public forums will feature an introduction by a nationally known guest speaker, followed by a panel discussion that will include civic leaders, city officials, preservationists, downtown developers, artists, and architects. The public is invited and encouraged to contribute to the discussions, to ask questions, and above all to help Winston-Salem chart its course and plan for the future. A reception follows each forum.

October 9, 7 p.m.
The Face of Our City: Architectural Characteristics, Unique Assets, and Conscientious Development
Speaker: Michael E. Arth is an architect, theorist, and urban preservationist. In 1999, Arth founded New Pedestrianism, a movement which calls for compact neighborhoods and urban developments where priority is given to pedestrian and bike lanes and ample tree-shaded gathering places. In 2000 he purchased 32 dilapidated homes and businesses in a slum in DeLand, FL, which he restored over a seven-year period. New Urban Cowboy, a feature length documentary released this year, chronicles Arth's rehabilitation of DeLand's Garden District.

What characteristics define Winston-Salem? What structures and natural elements are essential to the city's identity? How do we preserve our historic assets while providing modern amenities to our citizens and to our visitors? The panel will include representatives of the Historic Resources Commission and Preservation North Carolina.

October 16, 7 p.m.
The Heart of Our City: Downtown Living, Diversity, and a District for the Arts

Speaker: Dr. James Johnson, a nationally recognized authority on urban development and social justice, is 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.

How do we provide affordable living spaces for all our citizens while ensuring good design in an urban setting? What is the role of the art community in revitalizing the city? The panel includes representatives from Goler Community Development Corporation, Downtown Arts District, and the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership.

October 23, 7 p.m.
Transforming Our City: Bridging Public Art and Public Works
Speaker: Frederick Gottemoeller is 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 Gottemoeller co-organized "Thinking Beyond the Pavement," the national conference that initiated the Context-Sensitive Design Movement.

Using the proposed replacement of all the Business 40 bridges as a model for other architectural elements, how can we insure that the new bridges will become a distinctive design element in the city, one that is not only functional but also artistic? The panel includes representatives from the Public Art Committee of the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, the Community Appearance Commission, and the Business 40 Project.

The forums are free and open to the public. For information, please call 336.758.5150 or visit http://www.reynoldahouse.org/index.php and follow the link entitled "Special Event: Seeing Our City." Support for this series was provided by the J. C. Tise Fund of The Winston-Salem Foundation.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation's premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its permanent collection. Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features traveling and original exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings, and other events. The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails. For more information, please visit reynoldahouse.org or call 336.758.5150.

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