Monday, Sept. 28

STOCKBRIDGE -- "She has a beautiful sense of line," went the compliment, which is not your average, everyday compliment.

But Barbara Nessim is not your average, everyday artist. Nessim's work has been shown in galleries from SoHo to Tokyo, and her illustrations have graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Time and The New York Times Magazine.

Nessim, a native New Yorker, is now making a big impression in the Berkshires, where she has been named the Norman Rockwell Museum's first artist laureate.

That honor was officially bestowed upon the internationally known artist, illustrator and educator during a Saturday ceremony at the Stockbridge museum, where a selection of her work is now on view.

"She is very forward-thinking about the ways people and art intersect," said Stephanie Plunkett, the Norman Rockwell Museum's chief curator and the person who praised Nessim in the opening line of this report.

In fact, Plunkett's precise words were, "Her work is very graphic in its feel. She has a beautiful sense of line."

A digital art pioneer, Nessim helped shape the MFA Computer Arts Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and she was chairperson of Illustration at Parsons School of Design for a dozen years. Most recently, Nessim has been commissioned to create several large-scale works for various building lobbies in Manhattan.

Coinciding with the Rockwell exhibition, Nessim's work is also

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on view at The Sienna Gallery in Lenox.

"We are honored to award our inaugural Artist Laureate to Barbara Nessim," said Laurie Norton Moffatt, the museum's director and chief executive officer.

"The commendation of this award recognizes Barbara's exceptional skills as an influential visual communicator and an early visionary in the digital arts," she said.

Nessim will hold the honorary position for one year, after which a new artist laureate will be chosen. The position is also advisory in nature, meaning Nessim will confer with Rockwell officials while continuing to bolster the museum's mission to advance public knowledge and appreciation of the art of Norman Rockwell and the craft of illustration "within aesthetic and cultural contexts."

The award was presented to Nessim on behalf of the museum's new Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, which is the nation's first research institute devoted to the art of illustration. The center's mission, according to museum officials, is to establish a context for understanding the role of illustration in "shaping and reflecting American culture" by creating new online research tools; making collections more accessible; supporting scholarship; and spurring the collection and preservation of important works of art.

Plunkett said Nessim's cutting-edge style fits perfectly with the museum's push to offer innovative exhibits, such as last year's "LitGraphic: the World of the Graphic Novel."

"She's very active on the issue of how illustration connects with people today," Plunkett said.

For an online sample of Nessim's work, log on to www.barbaranessim.com. To learn more about the Norman Rockwell Museum and its new Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, go to www.nrm.org and www.rcavs.org, respectively.

To reach Conor Berry:
cberry@berkshireeagle.com;
(413) 496-6249.

Stockbridge, MA, September 16, 2009— Norman Rockwell Museum is celebrating the release of a new memoir that offers a deeply personal view of Norman Rockwell, and brings vividly to life the place and people of rural New England in the 1940s. The Unknown Rockwell: A Portrait of Two American Families tells the story of the Edgerton and Rockwell families, next-door neighbors for 10 years in West Arlington, Vermont. Different in many respects—the Edgertons were a long-time farming family, while the Rockwells moved to Vermont from the urbane artist community of New Rochelle, New York—they found common ground in the values of work and decency, and forged a lasting friendship. Now, six decades later, Buddy Edgerton, who was a young teen when he first met Rockwell and frequently modeled for the artist, has written the story of his upbringing and created an intimate, affectionate portrait of the famous family who lived next door.

On October 8 from 2 to 5 p.m., join Buddy Edgerton and his co-author Nan O’Brien at Norman Rockwell Museum for the launch of The Unknown Rockwell. The celebration includes readings from the memoir, book signings, the chance to meet some of Rockwell’s Vermont models, and the special unveiling of a previously unknown Rockwell portrait, recently discovered by the authors. Admission is free for children 18 and under. Adults are free with regular Museum admission.

“Buddy Edgerton’s memoir offers a compelling glimpse of Norman Rockwell’s Arlington,” says Stephanie Plunkett, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of Norman Rockwell Museum. “A warm reflection on the lives and times of beloved neighbors and friends who were immortalized in Rockwell’s art. We are honored to host the launch of Buddy Edgerton’s personal narrative, and to share it with what will surely be an appreciative public.”

In the Spring of 1943, Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary, and their three young sons moved into the farmhouse next door to thirteen-year old Buddy Edgerton and his family in West Arlington, Vermont. What developed was a close, though unlikely, friendship between the Rockwell and Edgerton families that has spanned more than six decades. Edgerton recalls that “life was not easy for my young parents as they struggled to raise four kids during the Depression, but my mom and dad never complained, they just went about their work with a determined hand and an unswerving belief in the proverbial golden rule, and they instilled that same belief in my sisters and me… Our life was like a Norman Rockwell illustration—because for more than ten years, Norman Rockwell illustrated our life.” Buddy Edgerton’s story is a fascinating look at Norman Rockwell and his family from the unique perspective of a close friend, model, and longtime neighbor. Insights and memories include a surprising revelation of the existence of a previously unknown Rockwell portrait. For more information about the book, visit

http://theunknownrockwell.com/

Admission Details

Norman Rockwell Museum is open daily. General public admission is $15 for adults, $13.50 for seniors, $10 for college students, and free for visitors 18 and under (five per adult). Kids Free Every Day is a gift to families from Country Curtains, Blantyre, and The Red Lion Inn. From May through October, the Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Orientation talks are available daily, beginning on the hour. Antenna Audio Tour of select paintings from the Museum’s permanent Norman Rockwell collection is available. For more information, the public is invited to visit http://www.nrm.org or call 413.298.4100, ext. 221.

Press contact:

Museum  Press Contact: Jeremy Clowe, jclowe@nrm.org; 413.298.4100, ext. 290

Publicist: The Unknown Rockwell- Karen Ammond- KBC Media  kbcmedia@att.net

We're hosting a book release event on 10/8. Don't miss it.

Here's a great video about sculptor Peter Rockwell, who has a retrospective at the Norman Rockwell Museum going on right now.