Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II
Poster exhibit courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II is currently on display on our Rotunda. Click on the Educators’ Guide for more information.
Righting a Wrong poster exhibition traces the story of Japanese national and Japanese American incarceration during World War II and the people who survived it. Young and old lived crowded together in hastily built camps, endured poor living conditions, and were under the constant watch of military guards for two and a half years. Meanwhile, brave Japanese American men risked their lives fighting for the United States. Some 40 years later, members of the Japanese American community led the nation to confront the wrong it had done—and urged Congress to make it right. Based on an original exhibition at the National Museum of American History, the Righting a Wrong poster exhibition centers around eight core questions that encourage viewers to engage in a dialogue about how this happened and could it happen again. Embracing themes that are as relevant today as they were 75 years ago, the poster exhibition brings forth themes of identity, immigration, prejudice, civil rights, courage, and what it means to be an American
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II was developed by the National Museum of American History and adapted by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The traveling exhibition and poster exhibition are supported by a grant from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, the Terasaki Family Foundation, and C. L. Ehn & Ginger Lew.
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 65 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are shown wherever people live, work, and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit sites.si.edu.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
The National Museum of American History is home to more than 1.8 million objects and more than three shelf-miles of archival collections. Through incomparable national collections, rigorous research, and dynamic public outreach, the National Museum of American History explores the infinite richness and complexity of American history. The museum strives to help people understand the past, make sense of the present, and shape a more humane future. For more information, visit americanhistory.si.edu.
Digital Exhibits
Destination Moon
Online digital exhibit courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow
Online digital exhibit courtesy of New-York Historical Society Museum & Library
World War I: Lessons and Legacies
Poster exhibit courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
World War I: Lessons and Legacies explores the history of the war and its lasting impact on American life. Sparked by the assassination of one man, the war eventually included the forces of the world’s major industrial powers (over 18 countries in all) and ended with millions dead. But beyond the countries involved and the people affected, World War I gave rise to significant and enduring changes in America. Wartime technologies and medical advances resulted in new industries and novel ways to both fight disease and treat disability. The critical roles that women and minorities played in the war led to the right to vote for women and a raised consciousness of civil rights issues throughout society.
From the Great Migration to the 1918 flu pandemic and from the unionization movement to women’s suffrage, World War I led to pivotal changes in America’s culture, technology, economy, and role in the world. It redefined how we saw ourselves as Americans and its legacy continues today.
World War I: Lessons and Legacies is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Museum of American History, with funding from The United States World War I Centennial Commission and the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.
Take a stroll around the library’s Rotunda and view the posters as you walk.
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/
Colors of Cancer: A Community Weaving Art Project
January 2 – February 29, 2020
Come in and view the results of our summer of weaving!
Thank you for making this project a success. A special thank you to everyone who came in and participated by weaving in the color of their cancer story. This project was a beautiful way to honor those who have been affected by cancer.
Marten Meyer
September 9 – October 26, 2019
Reception Monday, September 9 | 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Meyer’s work is composed of oil, acrylic, charcoal, and mixed media. He’s located at Studio 30 at the Box Factory for the Arts in St Joseph, MI.
Colors of Cancer: A Community Weaving Art Project
July 15 – August 24, 2019
The Niles District Library is hosting an interactive art project called Colors of Cancer that will display how cancer has affected the Niles community (and surrounding areas). The project will run from July 15th – August 24th and will be displayed at the Niles District Library, at the Berrien County Cancer Service Art Festival, and the Box Factory in St Joseph.
If you would like to weave either your story or the story of a loved one and their experience with cancer, volunteers will be available to help you during the library’s open hours.
To sign up for times to volunteer if you have attended a training course, follow this link to the Sign Up Sheet. Please mark your attendance with your FIRST NAME ONLY. For questions, contact Andrea Burns at andrea.burns@nileslibrary.net or call 683-8545 ext 116
Berrien County Cancer Service Art Play Exhibit
July 15 – August 24, 2019
Reception Thursday, July 18 | 2:00 – 4:00 pm | Rotunda
Art Play is a supportive service for children and families in Berrien County who are impacted by cancer. These workshops are at no cost to children who have been touched by a family member’s cancer (parent, grandparent, sibling, classmate, or other significant person in their life) as well as for stable pediatric oncology patients.
Explore the Early Days of Space Travel
May 21 – June 28, 2019
Hearts are pounding and palms are sweating as the crowds await the final call: “…5 …4 …3 …2 …1 … Liftoff! We have liftoff!’
The thrill of space adventure has been shared by generations of Americans, both young and old, for over half a century. This summer we approach a milestone in exploration history as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of man first stepping on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong declared those now infamous words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
To mark this historic event, the Niles District Library is pleased to invite you to come and explore those early days of space travel – Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo – as well as the more recent travels of the Space Shuttles and the International Space Station. Celebrate with us as we host a special collection of books, photos, and memorabilia – all signed by the astronauts themselves – in our Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery.
Live Your Life in Color by artist Nicole D’Herde
May 1 – June 22, 2019
Reception Wednesday, May 1 | 2:00 – 4:00pm | Rotunda
Nicole was born in South Belgium, but moved around to France and Luxembourg before coming to the United States in 1999, following her husband after a job transfer. They moved to St Joseph, MI, three years ago and Nicole decided to go back to an old passion: drawing and painting, mainly oil and charcoal. She is also a teacher of the French language, history, and traditions. She is inspired by the memories of her beloved Provence, France, where she spent so much time with her parents during childhood. Her artwork also expresses emotion and sadness, but always with hope, joy and love for life and music.
She had exhibitions in St Joseph and Benton Harbor and she is working in her studio at The Box Factory for the Arts in St Joe. It is with great pleasure and honor that she is now sharing a part of her artwork with you in the beautiful Niles District Library.
Enjoy and “Live your life in color”!
Ivan Alvarado – Gray Board Show Reception
Thursday, April 4 | 6:30-7:30 pm | Rotunda
Gray Board Show April 3 – April 29
Born on July 27, 2001 in Niles Michigan, Ivan Alvarado is an artist raised in Berrien Springs, Michigan. His favorite medium is oil painting, but just under that is ceramics. He uses bright colors to create semi-realistic paintings of his friends, family, and just about anything that pique his interest. He’s able to use a wide array of mediums to create portraits, but will sometimes let his humorous side out with a few of his ceramics.
2019 High School Art Show
March 1 – March 31, 2019
Art students from Niles, Brandywine, and Berrien Springs High Schools compete in our annual juried high school art show. The students’ artwork is on display in our beautiful Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery. Prizes are provided by Psi Iota Xi.
Intense colors used intensely. Passion for transparent watercolor shines through Cathy Hagen’s landscapes, still lifes and portraits. This Michiana artist, entrepreneur and teacher uses transparent watercolors that allow the light of the paper to show. Light changes everything.
Join Cathy Hagen for an art reception on October 4th at 6pm in the Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery.
Alli Farkas, “Sky Pads (Water Lilies Collection )”
September 1 through September 24 in the Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery (located in the Rotunda)
All of the paintings in this gallery are oil on canvas. They are of various sizes and are framed in simple white lattice strips, mitered at the corners. I tend to paint in seasonal series, so you will see groups of similarly themed paintings as you browse the gallery.
Celebrating Their Beauty from Artist Sharron Ott
July 2-July 24
Artist Sharron Ott will be displaying her beautiful artwork in an exhibit entitled, “Celebrating their Beauty”, bringing awareness of endangered species and their habitats.
“These vibrant, and expressive pieces of art depict the regal, yet fragile animals that face endangerment on the planet Earth. As an artist, I study their forms: feathers, fur, muscles, and bones, while I create. I find inspiration in each creature’s magnificent design. I mix paint with
various mediums in a free flowing way to achieve the feeling of movement and life. The animals are immersed in their environment yet strangely detached from it. This disparity represents the tenuous position that these species inhabit in their once indigenous homes.
The edges of the paintings carry words, which provide information about the subjects. As the audience bends and twists to read the periphery they are engaged on physical and verbal, as well as visual levels.
My intention is to trigger awareness in the minds of humans, so that many may unite in the struggle to save the wildlife habitats.
The paintings establish a format to embrace these animals and celebrate their beauty rather than mourn their loss.”
-Sharron Ott
The 2018 Brandywine Elementary Art Show features work from students in grades first through sixth. Drawing inspiration from Picasso and drawing from nature, these students have created some works that you don’t want to miss!
The upcoming exhibit in the Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery will feature works created by area high school students. The show will feature art from Niles, Brandywine, and Berrien Springs High Schools.
November 9, 2017- January 22, 2018
Cyndy Callog
From the artist:
My paintings are a celebration of my faith, a celebration of the beautiful world we have, an expression of my love of nature and the beauty and peace I find there. I try to convey the joy of flowers and birds, their myriad of colors, textures and shapes. We take so much for granted and treat our Earth so uncaringly. I paint because it is fun, and I love to, but also from a deeper sense of awe, reverence and gratitude. We fail to understand that we are not distinct from nature. We are part of it. Nature is not “out there”, it is in each of us. As you respond to my work, I know that I have expressed a bit of what I feel. Perhaps more importantly, I have inspired you to take a fresh look at the miracles around us.
Cyndy Callog, artist and children’s book author of “A Windy Day,” will be here at the Library for a book signing. Cyndy just received the 2017 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, the Gold Metal for the Best First Picture Book. Come into the Library November 18th from 11am- 2pm and meet Cyndy. She will have copies of “A Windy Day” for purchase or you may bring in your own copy for her to sign.
http://www.moon
Skein
Gray Lyons & Linda Lyons
October 2-21, 2017
Gray Lyons is a photographer and installation artist whose work addresses themes of memory, history, identity and storytelling. She has received degrees from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Savannah College of Art and Design and Towson University. Her work has been exhibited and published nationally and internationally
Linda Lyons is a photographer who works within the areas of alternative photographic processes and interdisciplina
A Mixed Media Study in Nature- From Canvas to Wood
Art by Hal Meyer
August 1 to September 18
A word from the artist: After almost 40 years in the commercial art field as a graphic artist/designer, I retired in 2014 and my wife Barb and I moved back to Michigan to be closer to family and so that I could pursue my passion.
After almost 40 years in the commercial art field as a graphic artist/designer I retired in 2014 and my wife Barb and I moved back to Michigan to be closer to family and so that I could pursue my passion in art. I have been painting in oils and acrylics off and on for many years, now I am able to take all that I’ve learned to the next level.
In my painting, my focus is mostly on landscapes or seascapes. I love the outdoors. Being part of nature always brings a peace to my soul. I love taking my visions of the world around me and bringing them to life on canvas as a painting in oils or acrylics, or on wood as a wood burning or dimensional art.
The pieces I am displaying here are a cross section of landscapes and seascapes on canvas or as wood burnings. My hope is that as you look at these pieces you will let your imaginations soar. Some of these pieces are based on real places, others are completely from my imagination.
Music and the Dance
Art by Luka Dziubyna
July 1 to 22, 2017
About the artist and the art:
Luka Dziubyna is a Polish born painter and began painting with his grandfather when he was 13. He began showing his art in San Francisco and is the first painter to ever do an exhibit at Google. His work often challenges sociopolitical norms and is designed to make you think about the subject or to evoke emotion from your preconceived notion of the subject.
He received his MFA from Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2014 and this series is, ‘Music and the Dance.’ The work is handled in an impressionistic style with loose flowing strokes and subtle changes even within vibrant color patterns. This series of paintings aims to spotlight both street and big band era musicians.
His work is in the private collection of a few international collectors and he plans on moving to Portugal in February of 2017
Fun with Photography
Art by Mary Beth Thar
June 1 to 24, 2017
Where does Mary Beth find inspiration and where how did her interest in photography develop? In her own words:
“I was given an instamatic camera as a high school graduation present, and that’s when my love of photography started. Those were the days when you took pictures, sent the film off to be developed and waited a week for them to return. Cameras have evolved and I have learned a few things along the way. I recently upgraded to a digital camera and the learning continues.
For the most of my life, photography has been about memories. I have enjoyed capturing pictures of my children as they grew up and of the places that we visited as a family. I would much rather be outside than inside and have started taking more pictures of nature. I am also starting to experiment with long exposures and some different types of photography. “Supportive Husband” is one example of having fun with photography.”
Art to Blow Your Mind
Art by Jake Thar
May 1 to 23, 2017
A note from the artist:
My name is Jake Thar. I love to paint, write poems, and experiment with metal and concrete designs. Acrylic paint is my main medium on canvas, but I have also used oil paint and gunpowder. Abstract is my main theme. Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or questions at jumpnut@comcast.net.
My concrete designs and additional paintings can be seen and purchased at the eclectic SL Consignment Shop in Buchanan, Michigan.
People and Places
Art by Thomas Fehlner
December 1, 2016, to January 23, 2017
A note from the artist:
After a career as a professor of chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, I entered retirement in 2006 with the intention of exploring the world of art. Largely self-taught, my activities to date have ranged from drawing to watercolor to oil painting. Figures and landscapes form the subjects of this art carried out in a realistic, albeit not photographic, style.
The work on display is a nearly equal number of figure studies and landscapes. Most of the former are derived from drawings made from models posing at the Box Factory for the Arts while most of the latter are based on small watercolor sketches made on travels around the United States. In both cases, the paintings were completed in my studio.
Photography by Harry Trescher
November 1 to 21, 2016
Harry Trescher has been a resident of the Niles-Buchanan area since 1953 when he began his photographic career as the staff photographer for the Niles Daily Star. While his career took him in different directions, his passion for photography steadily increased. For over 60 years, Harry has been photographing and chronicling the Four Flags region. His unique perspective, artistic eye, love of nature and historical connection with Southwestern Lower Michigan is evident in his stunning images. Additionally, his travels have expanded his portfolio to include national and international subjects.
The award winning photography of Harry Trescher has transformed the people and geography of this region and around the world into a photographic art form that touches the viewer and stirs the emotions.
First Impressions: Stamped and Altered Pottery
Peter Fauver
September 6 to 26, 2016
Peter Fauver, a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas, was initiated into the art of ceramics at Collin County Community College. After a hiatus of a decade, he signed up for a ceramics class at the Buchanan Art Center and he continues to work in their ceramic studio. In addition, he has his own studio, Fauver’s Folly, in downtown Niles. He offers the public both functional wares (a yarn bowl is illustrated) and statement pieces at his studio as well as via the internet store associated with his web site www.fauversfolly.com.
Peter’s current work plays with the boundaries of old and new. His family has been in the antique business since he was a small child so he appreciates the care and craftsmanship necessary for an item to last decades or centuries. He is also attracted to a well-loved and worn ascetic. Hence, he creates stamps to make marks based on traditional features found in antique furniture which are then decorated with layers of colored slips. In addition, he selectively wears down and creates the appearance of age on the forms. Traditional wood carvings, industrial constructions, and weather-worn objects constantly inspire him.
Larger than Life
Still life photography by Butch Welch
July 1 to August 22, 2016
Butch Welch became interested in photography at an early age. Many summer hours were spent at the small library in his home town of Kinderhook, NY, where he would pore over a Kodak book on color photography.
During his freshman year at the University of Washington, Welch met another student with a camera slung over his shoulder. This soon-to-be best friend and roommate, showed Welch how to process and print black and white film in the lab of the Communications Department, where if you took photographs for the University of Washington Daily Newspaper, you could have free use of the lab. Welch photographed for the paper for the remainder of his time at the University and became a paid staff photographer his junior and senior years.
Butch began photographing full page newspaper ads for JC Penny in the spring of his senior year, and upon graduation, started a commercial studio in Seattle. Welch spent the next 15 years photographing people and products for designers and advertising agencies. In 1985, Welch moved to southern California where he spent 26 years as a photographer and art director in Los Angeles. In 1992, Welch began creating black and white landscape photographs; in both gelatin silver and platinum, and exhibiting in galleries. Taking early retirement in August of 2012, Welch relocated to St. Joseph, Michigan, to pursue his passion for fine art photography.
Art as Therapy – Elise Weiler-Korb
May 2 – June 18, 2016
The work displayed in this show is about exploring the various roles and pathways that are currently a large part of my life. The main themes that I focus on are identity, motherhood, liminal spaces, body-image, and relationships. Many of the themes are closely connected and often overlap in symbolism and motif.
I prefer to work in mixed-media and 3D assemblage because I have fun appropriating found objects and images. I enjoy exploring textures and creating depth within my pieces. I find many of my objects at thrift stores, garage sales, from nature, and items are often given to me by family and friends. I look for the potential in everyday bric-a-brac.
All art communicates and sends a message. My art is my way of self-expression and coping with the issues in my life that I need to address. Some of the subject matter is more easily relatable to the viewer while others are more personal and often need more explanation in order to understand my intent. I want the symbols that I use to create a narrative or to convey a message to elicit the viewer’s own experiences.
I encourage viewers to interpret my work and to develop their own ideas about the possible meaning; whether or not my intended ideas are recognized is solely up to the viewer.
Elise Weiler-Korb
Brandywine & Merritt Elementary, 1st – 6th Grade Art Show
April 2 to 23, 2016
2016 Niles & Brandywine High School Art Show
March 1 to 22, 2016
Eastside Connections School Student Show
“What Niles District Library Means to Me”
February 8 to 20, 2016
Eastside Connections School art students were asked to create a work about what Niles District Library means to them. The work displayed is from Kindergarten through 5th grade, all with art teacher Scott Morgan. The Kindergarten and first grade students work is on display on our grey boards in the Youth Services department, while the second through fifth grade work is displayed in the Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery, located in the Rotunda.