Goodwill's Day Habilitation at NCSML

"From the time of his youthful enthusiasm, throughout the period of his fame in Paris and ultimately to his realization of how an understanding of history can shape the destiny of a nation, Alphonse Mucha's lasting concern remains the necessity of combining beauty and goodness."

Petr Wittlich, Professor of Art History at Charles University, Prague

Photo from Mucha Foundation

LADYFITS on 16th Ave bridge in Cedar Rapids, IA 

Back in late 2012, I took Goodwill's Day Habilitation to the National Czech and Slovak Museum's Alphonse Mucha exhibition (ended Dec 31st, 2012).  I toured the group through the largest collection outside of Europe.  It was a wonderful experience to not only act as tour guide, but to also connect with my personal story relating to the Czech lands.  Mucha used a lot of folk details in his work.  The exhibition explored the connection of folk dress to the art pieces along with showcasing the process behind his work (utilizing models to stand in for the layout to his compositions).  I used this time to show my work as the model to explore and connect to various forms and motifs.  I pointed at various parts of my folk dress and had them relate to what was seen in Mucha's work.  The discussion went further into how the symbols served as inspiration and how they personally connected to them.    

Everyone had a wonderful day at the NCSML with loads of inspiration and understanding of another culture.  There will be more explorations at this museum along with other institutions.  This leads into what I have been working on over the past few months.  

As Goodwill's Artist in Residence, I wanted to further my impact into the mission of this organization.  I worked on building a sustainable art program with Goodwill's Day Habilitation - more to come.

Dekuji (Thank you) to the NCSML for allowing us to witness one of the great Czech artists and find inspiration in his work!

Goodwill's Day Hab outside the NCSML