Spring Classes

It's time for spring art classes at LRMA! Our Home School Fridays start up again tomorrow for local home schooled students. This class will take place on the fourth Friday of every month, January through April, from 1:00 to 4:oo PM in our Museum Annex. No registration is necessary, just show up and have a good time! There is still time to sign your child up for the spring pottery class! The class is for K5 to 6th grade students and it will be every Tuesday in February from 3:30 to 5:oo in our Carriage House Studio on Seventh Street. The cost is $40 for Museum members, and $50 for non-members. Don't think that everything here is for the kids! We also have an adult pottery class taking place on every Tuesday in March. The classes are from 5:30 to 7:30 at night, so you can fit it in after work. Beginners are welcome and we will do projects on the potter's wheel and by hand. The cost is $50 for Museum members and $65 for non-members. Call Liz at the museum to reserve your spot at (601) 649-6374.

Guest Blogger: Holly Green

AT THE MUSEUM -

Calling All Gardening Enthusiasts

February is not quite Spring, but almost. After cold, gray winter months have forced us indoors, most of us are looking forward to warm days, spring planting, and all things that bloom. In celebration of that theme, the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art will host an event for avid gardeners and those of us who wish we were.

LRMA will present its 9th annual Garden Lecture at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 4, in the Museum’s American Gallery. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Laurel Garden Club, a member of The Garden Club of America.

The speaker for the event will be Dr. Jeff Kuehny of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Kuehny is a Professor of Horticulture at Louisiana State University. He has taught numerous horticulture classes and his research programs have included new plant introductions and sustainable landscape management. He is currently working on the implementation of a master plan for LSU’s Agricultural Department’s Burden Center. His lecture will focus on plants that can provide year-round enjoyment in any space – large or small.

The garden lecture will be followed by a brief question-and-answer period and then a luncheon at the historic Rogers-Green House located across the street from the Museum. Tickets for the event are $35 per person and include lunch. To purchase a ticket or for more information, call the Museum at 601.649.6374.

The Garden Lecture is just one of our many, exciting events at LRMA. Whether your passion is fine art, music, or gardening, there truly is something for everyone right here - at your museum.

Holly Green is Director of Marketing at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art.

9th Annual Garden Lecture: Dr. Jeff Kuehny

The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, along with the Laurel Garden Club. will present its 9th Annual Garden Lecture on Friday, Feb. 4 at 10:30 a.m. in the LRMA American Gallery.

Dr. Jeff Kuehny, Professor of Horticulture at Louisiana State University, will present "My Favorite Flora for the Southern Garden, Patio and Home" which will focus on plants that can provide year-round enjoyment for any space – large or small.

Dr. Kuehny grew up on a farm in Northern Oklahoma with a passion for horticulture. He pursued his interest, earning a B. S. degree from Oklahoma State University, an M. S. Degree from North Carolina State University, and a Ph.D. from Clemson University. He conducted postdoctoral research at Cornell University.

Kuehny has lived in the deep south for more than 16 years. He has taught numerous horticulture classes, and his research programs have included new plant introductions and sustainable landscape management. He has a passion for all types of gardens and the plant material within. He is currently working on the implementation of a master plan for LSU’s Burden Center, which will help meet the needs of horticulture in the 21st century by combining the historic gardens of Louisiana landscape architect Steele Burden and programs of research, extension, and education in one unique location.

Following the lecture and a brief question-and-answer period, lunch will be served at the historic Rogers-Green House which is located across the street from the Museum. Tickets are $35 per person and include lunch. Seating is limited. For reservations contact LRMA at 601.649.6374 or info@LRMA.org.

The Garden Lecture is presented by Lauren Rogers Museum of Art and the Laurel Garden Club, a member of The Garden Club of America.

The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Seventh Street in Historic Downtown Laurel.

Folk Art Symposium - January 20, 2011

Lauren Rogers Museum of Art will present a Folk Art Symposium in conjunction with the exhibition Take Time to Appreciate: Photographs of Mrs. L. V. Hull and Reverend H. D. Dennis by Bruce West on display in the LRMA Lower Level Galleries. The symposium will be held Thursday, January 20, 2011 beginning at 1 p.m.

Presenters will be Bruce West, Take Time to Appreciate photographer, Emilie Taylor, co-producer of the documentary “God’s Architects,” and Dr. Stanley Harkness of “The Friends of L. V. Hull.”

Bruce West is a Professor in the Department of Art and Design at Missouri State University. He has received a number of awards for his photographic work including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation for the Arts, and the Polaroid Corporation. His photographs are included in numerous public and corporate collections such as The Library of Congress, Saint Louis Art Museum, The Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Paine Webber Corporation. Recent exhibitions include Acts of Faith at the Noorderlicht Photofestival in Groningen, The Netherlands, The Mississippi Story at the Mississippi Museum of Art, Contemporary American Photography at the Internationale Fototage in Mannheim, Germany, and Recent Acquisitions in Photography at The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.

God's Architects, produced by Zach Godshall and Emilie Taylor, tells the stories of five spiritually inspired artist-architects and their enigmatic creations. Taylor is a native of south Louisiana and works at the Tulane School of Architecture as an instructor and coordinator of design-build projects for the Tulane City Center. Taylor’s education includes a technical building background at the University of Southern Mississippi followed by a master’s degree in architecture at Tulane. Before the storm and the rebuilding efforts that followed, Emilie conducted a traveling fellowship across the south to meet, document, and study these self-taught builders. The lecture given at the end of that fellowship was a way of introducing these folk architects and their works to the design community. Between furniture making and screen printing experiments, Emilie is in the process of compiling a book on these makers and their inspired creations.

Dr. Stanley Harkness represents “The Friends of L. V. Hull.” Massey will discuss the group’s efforts to preserve the home of L. V. Hull in Kosciusko.

The symposium is generously sponsored by BancorpSouth, Laurel Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Kia, Mississippi Power Co., and Sanderson Farms.

At the Museum: Research and Copyright

With today’s availability of books, magazines, images, and ephemera, along with the ease of scanning, it's hard to resist the joy of research. Much of the desired information can be accessed through libraries, archives and museums but most institutions have limited staff and space. The downturn of the economy along with institutional closures, staff layoffs and the wide-ranging options available through computers and the Internet are factors influencing the future of long-term collecting, storage and access.

The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art now has the art collection database online and available to the public. The database is an added tool for patrons and it allows the patron to view artwork that may be in storage or inaccessible by distance.

The local history archives will be the next collection to be scanned and digitally stored, but at this time, very little has been done. While requests for copies of local history photos have increased, access to the collection remains limited. To assure someone is available to assist you with your request, please call to make an appointment in advance to view the vertical files and archival material.

For those seeking images, the following process is available: Access the museum's website at www.LRMA.org, click on Collections, then click on Rights and Reproductions. At the bottom of the page, click on Download the Image Request Form. Complete the form and fax it to the Museum.

A fee schedule is also available on the Rights and Reproductions page. The process usually takes around 6-8 weeks depending on availability and staff time. Requests for artwork, library information and archives should all be submitted using this same form.

If you have taken the time to peruse the database from the Museum's website, you will see that each image is available for viewing but is watermarked with our name embedded in the image. This watermark exists to prevent any illegal use of the image. The word "copyright" bears a heavy burden for anyone writing a book, an article, or other intellectual information to be circulated in any form.

The copyright law does not allow for anyone, including scholars, students or just interested persons, to publish the work of others without the creator's written permission even if the original creator is deceased. In many cases, the descendants of the creator own the copyright of materials. Each case is different and must be investigated.

Photography is also a medium included in the law. While the Museum owns many early Laurel photographs, we also own the copyright to those images. In recent times, decorations in local restaurants and businesses include the images of early Laurel photographs. A quick Internet search will also reveal the use of the Museum=s images on web sites and in books. The problem we are now facing includes permissions for these uses. A handful of patrons have asked for permission over the years but most have not. While we must keep stringent rules for art researchers and scholars, we require the same permission requests from local historians.

Individuals generating copies of images to sell or share with others is not allowed. Permissions and copies must be obtained from the source of copyright ownership and not from an outside source. Some other rules for use of Museum-owned imagery include the submission of an image proof, no changes in the image such as cropping or filling in by using a photo editing computer program, a submitted final copy of the published material and the appropriate fees paid by the patron. If you have specific needs for images, please complete the form and submit any special requests by accessing the form found on the Museum's website.

The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art is open Tuesdays - Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. and on Sundays from 1-4 p.m. For specific events and programs, consult the web site at www.LRMA.org or call the Museum at 601-649-6374.


Tommie Rodgers is the registrar at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art.