My mom, grandma and Betty Friedan

Note: This was first published in lawrence.com on January 20, 2006

Last Sunday my mom phoned me, and with a flustered and excited tone to her voice said, "You're not going to believe it, there's a picture of your grandmother in the New York Times today!" My grandmother past away in 1980. She was not a public person, and as far as we know, photographs of her appeared only once in a newspaper or magazine during her lifetime. So, unless she had led a secret life unknown to the family, we had a pretty good idea what the source of the photo in the Times must have been - Occupation: Housewife 

 
"Occupation: Housewife" was an eight-page photo essay that followed the daily routine - from breakfast in the morning, cleaning the house, doing laundry, entertaining guests, to putting the kids to bed at night - of an American housewife (my grandmother) and her family. The article, which appeared between a spread for Tyrone Power and Betty Grable's new movie "A Yank in the R.A.F." and photos (that terrified my mom, then age four) of a child victim of Nazi bombing, was published in LIFE magazine on September 22, 1941.

When I asked my mom about how LIFE chose her family, she recalled;  "LIFE wanted a 'typical' American family for the article. Kankakee, Illinois, where we lived was in the Midwest, and at the time was growing fast. The reporter and photographer went to the owner of the Ford auto agency in town, Romy Hammes, to see if he knew of such a family. Romy felt his family was too wealthy for what they were looking for, so he suggested us since we lived only a couple of blocks away from him on Cobb Boulevard." Sure enough, the photo was taken directly from the LIFE article, with one very obvious photo-shopped alteration. In the original photo, my grandmother is shown "picking-up" in the living room. Around her are carefully staged props: a carpet sweeper, dust mop, trash bin, and some papers strewn across the floor. She is bending over the couch. Above her, in an oval frame, is a painting of a stern looking man with an Abe Lincoln beard. This was my great, great, great, great grandfather John Ward Amberg. The Times photo is identical except that, in place of the portrait of Grandpa John, there is a photo of Betty Friedan, author of "The Feminine Mystique."

 
The article by Patricia Cohen that accompanied this 'photo illustration' was titled "Today, Some Feminists Hate the Word 'Choice'." My grandmother would probably agree, because in both cases, in LIFE and in the Times, her image was used to illustrate stories that were not of her choosing. After some consideration, my mom decided to write a letter to the editor, that would explain her relationship to the photo and how it had originated in LIFE. Below is her letter, which appeared in the New York Times on Wednesday, January 18th

To the Editor: 
I agree that issuing marching orders to women today is "not helpful." To try to label women is an act of futility, making them one-dimensional when in fact most women's lives are complicated and change with time and circumstance. But I was most taken with the photograph accompanying your article, because the woman portrayed cleaning her house was my mother, Jane LeValley Amberg. As noted, the photo was taken by William C. Shrout for LIFE magazine and was originally published September 22, 1941, in a feature article titled "Occupation: Housewife." My mother was unhappy with the published article, because she was portrayed as a "typical" American housewife who cared only for home and family. Not mentioned was the fact that, with no college degree, she was also a voracious reader and a committed liberal Democrat who cared deeply about national and international issues. Our first TV was bought so that she could watch the Army-McCarthy hearings. Sixty-five years after the Life article, women still struggle with the rigid, one-dimensional labels of "stay-at-home moms" and "women who work." 
Pamela Loewenstein Lawrence, Kansas 

U.S. Department of Arts and Culture

It's a great honor to have been selected as one of the founding Cultural Agents for the new U.S. Department of Arts and Culture. Later this summer, Lawrence, KS will help launch the USDAC with a major event - stay tuned. Here is our declaration -

WHEREAS

access to culture is a fundamental human right;

culture is created by all and thus should represent all;

cultural diversity is a social good and the wellspring of free expression;

a deep investment in creativity is critical to cultivating empathy and social imagination;

art and artists are powerful forces for accomplishing social change and strengthening social fabric;

WE, THE PEOPLE, DO HEREBY CREATE

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE

TOGETHER, WE CREATE.

 http://usdac.us/

The Rocket Grants Rocketeer

This past winter I had the pleasure of being invited to create new images for the Rocket Grants program. (The program, now in its fifth round, provides direct funding to artists in the Kansas City region for innovative, public-oriented projects in non-traditional spaces. I received a grant in 2012 for my project Give Take Give.) In 2012 and 2013, artists created fantastic drawings that incorporated all of that round's winning projects into one image.

Charlie Mylie, 2012

Drew Roth, 2013

Unlike past years, my task was to create one or two images that represented the spirit of the program as a whole as opposed to illustrating all of the individual projects. Initially I was drawn to the idea of giant space rocket engines and the engineers who design and maintain them - so magnificently complex and cool looking. Later I recalled my own memories of rockets and how I propelled them to fly on missions far far away as a kid (one of my first memories is being awakened by my dad in the middle of the night to watch the first moon landing).

And of course there was the jet pack, my dream and desire ever since I saw the James Bond movie "Thunderball." This was probably the most direct symbol for the lift-off the grants program can provide artists, and it turned out to be the one that the Rocket Grants folks wanted me to develop. I worked it up from a quick sketch to this spraypaint stencil. In the final image, a Rocket Grantee takes off over the skyline of Kansas City captivated by a v-shaped arrow of migrating geese heading south.

The Rocketeer premiered in February and since then has appeared in a growing number of unexpected places...

Deal to re-create popular mural at Ninth and New Hampshire streets in the works

by Chad Lawhorn
from the Lawrence Journal-World

April 8, 2014

A deal is in the works to recreate a popular downtown mural at Ninth and New Hampshire streets, although in a significantly smaller form.

Lawrence city commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting were told the Spencer Museum of Art and a Lawrence-based development group had reached a tentative deal that would allow local artist Dave Loewenstein to either recreate or refashion the popular Pollinators mural on the wall of a new multistory building slated for the northeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets.

But leaders with Kansas University's Spencer museum conceded the new artwork would be about half the size of the current mural, which is on the wall of a building that will be torn down to make room for the new seven-story apartment/office building.

Susan Earle, curator for the Spencer, said design details for the new mural hadn't been finalized. She said Loewenstein's new work probably wouldn't be a copy of the Pollinators, which honors several Black artists who have roots in Kansas. But she said the new work certainly would be true to the spirit of the original work, which was created in 2007 as part of an exhibit on famed artist Aaron Douglas.

KU leaders also said they will be seeking an unspecified amount of city funding for the new mural. The development group — which is led by Lawrence businessmen Doug Compton and Mike Treanor — has agreed to pay $20,000 toward the mural project. Spencer officials are estimating the project will cost about $50,000. Commissioners took no action on the mural but asked both parties to bring back a signed agreement on the issue.

Update
Below is my letter to the editor about this proposal,  published in the Saturday, April 12th Lawrence Journal-World -

To the editor,

Our visual environment, what stories and voices we see represented around us, speaks loudly for who we are and what we value. In Lawrence we aspire (I believe) to openness, diversity and the celebration of a rich and meaningful heritage.

Insuring that the “Pollinators” mural and the story it embodies continue to have a significant presence in our downtown says that we as a community recognize the importance of the great African-American artists depicted, and how their legacy helps to define who we are as Kansans.

I am grateful to the Spencer Museum of Art and the more than 500 individuals I have heard from for their support and thoughtful suggestions. As a work of art made by and for the community, this mural is a shared cultural trust. Not unlike the way we protect and conserve important historical places and architecture, the “Pollinators” and the resonant stories within it are worthy of our care. The Spencer’s proposal, although it is a compromise of scale, expresses that care and keeps the mural where it belongs.

I also appreciate the willingness of the developer and architect to financially and logistically support the mural’s continued life in the heart of downtown. The Spencer Museum’s proposal, when agreed to and carried out, will show that private developers, the university, the city and neighborhood residents can work together in significant ways that support the larger community.

As Lawrence moves forward embracing arts and culture as integral to community life, let’s keep this project in mind. It demonstrates beautifully how art can be woven into the fabric of our bustling downtown, helping to fully express what it means to be a Lawrencian and a Kansan.

New story about the "Pollinators" on Kansas City TV

Click on the picture below to watch the KCTV (channel 5) story about the "Pollinators" that aired on Tuesday, March 18th.

Save the "Pollinators" mural

from the Lawrence Journal-World
Wednesday, March 5, 2014

City hears plea to save downtown mural
by Chad Lawhorn

Before developers can start construction on a seven-story, downtown apartment building, city commissioners want them to deal with a more ground-level problem — how to save a prominent mural on a building slated to be demolished by the project. Commissioners directed a development group led by Lawrence businessmen Doug Compton and Mike Treanor to have discussions with interested members of the arts community about how a 2007 mural by noted Lawrence artist Dave Loewenstein can be saved near the northeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets.

(Go to the Save the Pollinators mural facebook page for updates.)

“It really is an important piece of art for the entire state of Kansas,” Susan Earle, curator at Kansas University’s Spencer Museum of Art said of the piece, which is entitled Pollinators, and features seven black artists who have ties to Kansas. The art museum commissioned the mural in 2007. Earle said the museum has had preliminary discussions with the development group about saving the approximately 20 by 80 foot mural.

The mural is on the northern wall of the former Black Hills Energy building at the northeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets. The building could be torn down later this year to make way for a 114-unit apartment building. Commissioners at their weekly meeting stopped short of saying they would require the mural to be saved before giving the project its final approval. But they said the issue was a serious one.

“A discussion about the mural can’t be put off,” Mayor Mike Dever said. “I want to see what it would take to move the wall or reproduce it, as a worst-case scenario.” Several mural supporters said they wanted to see if the wall could be left in its current location and incorporated into the design of the building.

The mural currently is adjacent to the site of the Lawrence Farmers Market. Loewenstein said the work was designed to be near the activity of the farmer’s market. The mural uses a theme of pollination to show how painter Aaron Douglas, photographer Gordon Parks, poet Langston Hughes and other black artists had their roots in Kansas but spread to other parts of the globe.

Bill Fleming, an attorney for the development group, said the new building is being designed to include space for a mural and public art, but he said he did not know all of the options available for saving the existing mural. Commissioners asked for an update on the issue at their April 8 meeting, when they will have a public hearing about an incentive request for the apartment project.

"NIMBYS" at BNIM in Kansas City

Come see new stuff and some old favorites at BNIM, 106 W. 14th St., Kansas City, MO (in the historic Power & Light Building). The show continues through March 28th.

This will be my second show at BNIM (who could resist those giant windows?). The first in 2009 included a series of images about cell phone etiquette like this -

This time the focus is on NIMBYS (not in my backyard types) and the creatures human and otherwise (like this critter below) out to challenge them.

NIMBYS at 14th & Baltimore

Developers at the Wakarusa Wetlands, Monkeywrencher, Pest Revenge

Duel, Copperhead

Cleaning up Topeka (diptych)

Making Way for the New Arts District (diptych)