Well, THAT was unexpected

We had a real snow here in Laurel last weekend! It stuck for a couple of days, kids built snowmen galore, and I, for one, had to dig deep in the closet for my winter boots, which are a relic of my years in Kansas at grad school.

At the left, you see two sculptures by David Hayes which are inhabiting the jasmine beds through August.

Guest Blogger: Donnelle Conklin

At the Museum: LRMA Library Offers Spring Activities


Beginning January 27th, The Lauren Rogers Museum will present the exhibition, Spectacular Achievements: Audubon’s Animals of North America. LRMA Library will offer a glass case exhibit showcasing the volumes of Audubon’s books from the Library’s collection, which will be located in the Museum Reading Room. The exhibit will run through March 23rd. During this time the Library will also present the video, John James Audubon: The Birds of America, a 30-minute video on loan from the National Gallery of Art. Using his journal writings and illustrations interwoven with nature photography, the video traces Audubon’s development as an artist and his efforts to publish The Birds of America.

In April, LRMA Library will host its annual Video Series featuring a new edition to the collection, Craft in America. The series is divided into three categories: “Memory”, “Landscape” and “Community”, and together they explore the variety and history of American craftsmanship through the work of artists working in a variety of media across the country.

One video from the series will be offered each week on Tuesdays, April 15, 22, and 29 at 2:00 p.m. in the Museum Reading Room. Each video lasts approximately 60 minutes. The Library will replay each week’s video by request for those unable to attend the Tuesday 2:00 p.m. sessions.

For more information, please contact Librarian Donnelle Conklin at 601-649-6374 or dconklin@lrma.org.

back from oblivion

Or, really, back from the holidays. We've all been in and out quite a bit over the last few weeks. We've recovered from Gala, installed paintings in the Stairwell Gallery and travel posters in the Lower Level Galleries, taken down the Christmas decorations, and had our annual staff retreat. skets.

So, it's back to work, where it's just one darn thing after another. Our Native American basket exhibition, which had traveled to nine venues during 2006-2007, came back, and now we have to find a place for a lot of custom-made crates, not to mention proper storage for the baskets.

My next project is installing Spectacular Achievements: Audubon's Animals of North America. We've got a lot planned around this exhibition: a visiting speaker & reception, the Audubon ZooMobile will be here during Spring Break, a teacher workshop, and more. We also have Board and Committee meetings coming up on the double, so we are hitting the ground running this week.

Until I have pictures to post, I thought I'd point interested parties to this useful tool:

Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States

This chart lays out the extent of copyright and conversion to public domain for published works, sound recordings, and architectural works. When it comes to artworks, several copyrights are in play: both that of the artist (or her estate), and that of the photographer. If you wish to publish an image of an artwork, you must get permission from the artist and the photographer. Even if you take your own picture, you need the artist's permission. (Fair Use for educational purposes is exempt from this permissions process). Museums generally control access to reproductions of work in their collections, so if you are looking for a poster or print of a work of art you're fond of, find out who owns it and get in touch with that museum. The museum will have sorted out the reproduction rights already.

The LRMA Gift Shop doesn't do much trade in posters or reproductions, but we do have prints of several works available for sale: Millet's First Steps and Winslow Homer's The Fisherman's Wife.