Written by ARTS AFIRE! Events at Women’s Rights National Historical Park
Carol Flueckiger, Associate Professor of Art at Texas Tech University
Carol Flueckiger, Associate Professor of Art at Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas, is July’s featured artist at Women’s Rights NHP. Her works will be on display July 1-31 in the park visitor center gallery, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls. She also travels to the park for a special presentation, free art workshops, and a student art reception between July 19 and July 22. The events, collectively called POSTCARDS TO THE PAST, are part of ARTS AFIRE!, a National Park Service initiative to engage the
public in their national parks through the arts.
Flueckiger’s show and workshops incorporate images from letters in the park’s museum collection. Written by famous social reformers to Waterloo’s Thomas and Mary Ann M’Clintock family before the Civil War, the letters have been transformed into paintings that “try on history.” Flueckiger uses transparencies, traditional painting and drawing, and cyanotype, a photographic printing process first extensively employed by British naturalist Anna Atkins in the 1840s. She adds mass-produced 19th century images from the collections of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Mass., and thrift shop clothing to her works to revise and experiment with ideas from the past. Her art has been featured in shows throughout the United States and published in International Contemporary Artists .
Flueckiger will give a special presentation about her research and creative process on Thursday, July 19 at 7 p.m. in the park visitor center, with a reception following. Members of the public are invited to make their own postcard-sized art during stand-alone workshops July 20 and 21, 2-4 p.m., and July 21, 9-11 a.m. The workshop is appropriate for ages 14 and up.
Participants will make two pieces of art; one to take home and one for display with Flueckiger’s show. On Sunday, July 22, participant art will be unveiled at a public reception at 3 p.m.
All events are free and held at the park visitor center, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls. Workshop pre-registration is required at 315-568-2991 ext. 5001 or Anne_Derousie@nps.gov.
