The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Exhibit seeks to capture thrill of moon landing
FALLS VILLAGE — Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will present the group exhibition, “One Small Step: 50 Years of Art & The Moon Landing.” An opening reception will take place on Saturday, July 20, 4 to 6 p.m., exactly 50 years to the day and time of the epic event in 1969. The exhibit will remain on display through Saturday, August 10. This event is free and open to the public.
In an informal survey by curators Garth Kobal and Sergei Fedorjaczenko, the question, “What day of the week did the moon landing occur?” was most often answered correctly with “Sunday.” After 50 years, the level of personal memories of the event is striking. It is estimated that 530 million people worldwide heard or saw broadcasts of the landing as it happened. It wasn’t an event of tragedy or loss like so many in that era, but one of accomplishment and hope, inspiring technological advances in physics, mathematics, space exploration, medicine, and computing. It also elicited an eruption of creativity from the art world in film, music, writing, and much more.
Kobal, a volunteer at the Hunt Library, said that, “As curators of the Hunt Artwall, we are increasingly drawn to group exhibitions that illustrate the cultural role that artists play in expressing historical events or themes to the public. Bringing together artists whose works may be personal, fantastic, literal, spiritual, or critical reveals the diversity of impact and reaction to events that command our attention and memory. Plus, the moon has such a primal and physical hold on us that there’s enough on just that subject alone to inspire endless possibilities.”
One Small Step features artworks from all disciplines, including painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. They range from Leonard Evan’s photograph of his baby daughter watching the moon landing on TV on July 20, 1969, and Victor Valla’s homage to Stanley Kubrick’s movie “2001: A Space Odyssey,” to Karen LeSage’s 2019 oil painting, “Earthrise,” showing the earth from a lunar perspective. Participating artists also include Marsha Altemus, John Atchley, Pamela Berkeley, Don Bracken, John Brett, Jane Capellaro, Kane Clawson, Erika Crofut, Robert Cronin, David Crum, John Dildine, Leonard Evans, Sergei Fedorjaczenko, Zoe Fedorjaczenko, Emily Fuller, Richard Griggs, Michelle Iglesias, Gail Jacobson, Garth Kobal, Karen LeSage, Dylan Marcheschi, Roger Mckee, Ken Musselman, Robert Andrew Parker, Robert Piersanti, Andy Pyle, Bernie Re, Diane Schapira, Nyugen Smith, Jude Streng, Justine Valla, Victor Valla, Kathy Wismar, and Lilly Woodworth.
For more information call the Library at 8608247424 or visit www.huntlibrary.org . Hours are Tuesday and Thursdar from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 3 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. David M. Hunt Library, is at 63 Main St., Falls Village.