In an era in which we are
seeing the demise of popular
magazines,
it is indeed refreshing to
hear of a publication over a
half century old not only
going strong but winning
accolades and prizes along
the way.
On October 14, the recently
formed Archaeology Committee
of
The National Arts Club chose
as its inaugural award
recipient
Archaeology Magazine which
since its founding in 1948
has
investigated human origins
and studied ancient and
not-so-ancient peoples and
cultures. Peter A, Young
the publication’s
Editor-in-Chief accepted the
award on behalf of the
magazine’s staff.
Who could have imagined that
Dali, exemplar of
fantasies surreal,
would give birth to an
Archaeology Committee!
Therein lays a tale.
As Michele Kidwell explains it, “In 2005, Club members traveled
to Philadelphia to tour its Dali exhibition. Conversations flowed.
Some of us on the bus spoke
with National Arts Club
president
O. Aldon James about the
demise of archaeology
evenings.
Wondrous programs often coordinated with articles from
ARCHAEOLOGY
Magazine. Aldon challenged
me with Peter's
name. One glorious summer
day, the three of us had
lunch,
discussing ways to merge our individual visions into a singular
creative forum. Within a year, independent lectures germinated
nto a series. Thus, metamorphically the Archaeology Committee
was conceived from the soul
of Dali”.
For its first award The
Medal of Honor for
Distinguished Coverage of
the Field of Archaeology
Worldwide, The Archaeology
Committee
fittingly honored the
premier publication in its
field. Enjoyed by the
general public and scholars
alike, ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine
is
the world's prime venue for
disseminating archaeological
information. The journal
inspires an ever expanding
audience for this exciting
discipline. It, moreover, cultivates the life of the Club through
involvement in stimulating
programs.
During cocktails in the
library of the landmark
Samuel Tilden
Mansion home to the National
Arts Club, guests were able
to view
four selections from The
Club’s Permanent Collection
curated by
Carol Lowrey, Curator of
the Permanent Collection.
Lowrey chose works
of”pictorial archaeology”
which included Charles
Curran’s portrait
of the stately Dewey Arch in
New York; Harry L.
Hoffman’s
“A Savannah Market”
depicting commercial life in
the early 1900s; George
Wharton Edwards’
Old Wishing Gate-Dinan,
Brittany and Dean
Cornwell’s colorful, “A
Pot-seller in Bethlehem, a
work that alludes to the
role of the craftsman in the
Holy Land.
Members of the National Arts
Club Archaeology Committee
were
on hand to celebrate their
first Gold Medal recipient.
With professional careers
ranging from real estate to
music to education, the
group is an eclectic mix
with a shared passion “to
understand the past so as to
enhance the present and
anticipate the future”. Its
members include Committee
chair Michele Kidwell,
Courtney Brown, Paco Arciz,
Rheda Brant, Andrea
Bucher-McAdams, Erik
Carlson,
Elizabeth Cho, Diane Davis,
Joan Giordano, Robert B.
Koehl, Kenneth Jay Lindner,
Lynn Mayocole, Stephen Pekar,
Lucille A. Roussin, Michael
Skakin, Mira Stulman,
Dorothy
Wiggins, Guy Wiggins and
Peter A. Young. To
the strains of the Triumphal
Procession from Aida, guests
streamed into the dining
room for the dinner,
welcoming speeches and
awards.
Michele Kidwell warmly
thanked all the guests for
their support and introduced
the Committee Members many
of whom came dressed
as their favorite
Archaeologists or figures
from ancient history.
Erik Carlson
performed a Musical
Interlude a la Ray
Johnson and Chicago
House before the esteemed
Dr. Frederick A. Winter,
Senior Director of
Advancement and Leadership
of American
Colleges and Universities
followed by Peter R.
Herdrich, Director
of Industry Programs, The Paley Center for Media.
As is tradition, National
Arts Club President O.
Aldon James made the
presentation to Peter A.
Young to thunderous
applause. Young
noted that despite the
falling sales of magazines”
Archaeology has over a ¼
million subscribers”. He
noted that this was largely
due the fact that the
magazine “features emotional
content rather than academic
and
offers readers the surprise
and delight of discovery”.
Over the last century, The
National Arts Club Gold
Medal Awards for Excellence
have always recognized
significant contributions to
the arts from visual arts to
music to fashion to
architecture and more. The
list of honorees reads like
a global Who’s Who with such
extraordinary talents as
Gordon Parks and
Alexander Lieberman for
photography; Norman
Jewison, Arthur Penn and
Martin Scorsese for
Film; Daniel Libeskind
for Architecture; Lorin
Maazel, Sir James Galway
and John Corgliano
for music; Tennessee
Williams, Eudora Welty,
Isaac Bashevis Singer
and Saul Bellow for
Literature; Geoffrey
Beene, Betsey Johnson,
Carolina Herrera, and
Oleg Cassini for Fashion
and recently a unique award
to fashion designer
Kenneth Cole to raise
HIV AIDS awareness through
his advertising campaigns.
Run by volunteers, The
National Arts Club was
founded by
New York Times literary
and art critic, Charles
de Kay in 1898
with the mission to
stimulate, foster and
promote public interest in
the arts and educate the American people in the fine arts. A
historic staple in Gramercy Park, the Arts Club is located in the
Tilden Mansion which was
built in the 1840's. Today,
The National
Arts Club hosts art unveilings, award dinners, film screenings,
lectures, dances and many
more various types of art
performances. In order to
help recognize untapped
talents, the Arts Club's
committees frequently award
scholarships to young
artists, writers and singers
to help them develop their talent and work towards their dreams.