The exhibition "Wonders of Work and Labor: The Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art," will open May 5 at the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery ground floor in Steidle Building on Penn State's University Park campus. A reception and opening will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for the exhibition, which features selected works from the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery’s Steidle Art Collection, established by Edward Steidle while dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (College of Mineral Industries) from 1928-1953. The art records extractive industries significant in Pennsylvania in the 20th century.
The exhibition is being held in conjunction with the symposium Labor’s Legacy: Pennsylvania Industrial Art. The symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the American Philatelic Society, 100 Match Factory Place in Bellefonte. The symposium is open to all and hosted by the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery and the Centre County Historical Society. It will address the history of industry and art in 20th century America.
Speakers and topics include:
Betsy Fahlman (Arizona State University)—Wonders of Work: The Art of American Industry
Eric Schruers (Independent scholar)—An Eye for Art: Edward Steidle’s Artistic Legacy
Helen Langa (American University)—Heroic Men, Vulnerable Workers, Economies of Power: Re-reading American Industrial Prints from the Great Depression
Barbara Jones (Westmoreland Museum of American Art)—Born of Fire: The Valley of Work
Hedy da Costa Nunes (Muhlenberg College)—Preserving the Black Diamond Heritage: Public Monuments to the Anthracite Industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania
William Pencak (Pennsylvania State University)—Pennsylvania: America’s Great Industrial State
Angela Breeden (Centre County Historical Society)—Early Industries in Centre County, Pennsylvania
David Lembeck (Centre County Historical Society, Co-curator of A Common Canvas: Pennsylvania’s New Deal Post Office Murals, The State Museum of Pennsylvania)—1930s Pennsylvania Post Office Art
Jonathan Mathews (Pennsylvania State University)—The Legacy of Coal and Its Art
Julianne Snider (Pennsylvania State University)—The Future for the Steidle Collection
Opening and closing remarks by Russell Graham, Director, Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery, Penn State University
Additional information and registration is available at http://www.ems.psu.edu/symposium_flyer1.pdf or http://www.centrecountyhistory.org/eventsexhibits/symposium.html.