By Ron Evans
This Friday The Moses Lake Museum And Art Center will be premiering a collection of WWII era posters with a focus on the relief and recovery efforts.
“Work, Fight, Give: American Relief Posters of WWII offers a wide-ranging collection of original relief posters and memorabilia that provides an exciting new window on understanding a watershed event in our nation’s history. Work, Fight, Give is the first exhibition to challenge our traditional memory of World War II, putting relief efforts at the forefront through an array of visually exciting poster art, poster stamps (known as “Cinderellas”), photographs, banners, and programs issued by the various relief agencies and by the National War Fund—an agency created by Franklin Roosevelt in early 1942 to consolidate the hundreds of relief agencies that sprang up to aid those countries and peoples devastated by war.”
~ A synopsis snippet from ExhibitsUSA
The show opens Friday, April 1 with a reception and speaker presentation from 4-7 p.m. I reached out to the museum’s manager Dollie Boyd for more details about the collection.
Tell us what appealed to you about this particular traveling exhibit?
We like to host traveling exhibits that highlight our collective history. This exhibit appealed to us because of the chance to explore a deeper topic of World War II history, namely the efforts to recover from the devastation of war. Little did we know when we booked the show almost two years ago, it would be such a timely topic.
At the opening this Friday night we will have a speaker delivering a presentation about missionary spies of WWII, there will be food, and a free craft activity for adults.
How many pieces are on display?
There are 41 pieces in the show, 40 original posters and one object, an original donation collection box from the WWII era. Work, Fight, Give was curated by collector, author, and professor Dr. Hall Elliot Wert. It is on loan from ExhibitsUSA, a division of the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
What’s the largest piece on exhibit?
The largest piece is a framed poster depicting Uncle Sam riding into battle - it measures 51 5/16” x 35 5/8” framed. It’s a very dramatic, warrior-like version of Uncle Sam. One of my favorite pieces is for Greek war relief. The graphics are very bold and remind me of B-movie posters from the 50s. Most of the posters are quite dramatic and unflinching in their portrayal of the effects of war.
Is the focus more about the message of the posters, or the art? Both? Strange question maybe but there are certainly multiple facets to a collection of this type.
I think it’s about both. You can tell the posters were designed and illustrated by true artists. The graphics are eye-catching and in many cases, beautiful. There are panels throughout the exhibit that give you historical context to the creation of these posters.
I hope people will appreciate the aesthetics of the collection and gain a bit more knowledge about this pivotal time in our history. I imagine there will be discussions about current relief efforts for displaced Ukrainian citizens. We intend to have information available to our visitors on how they can donate to current relief efforts.
What’s coming up down the road for the museum?
Our next show opens May 6. It’s a group show from the Women Painters of Washington, Eastern division. Also, going on right now in the Community Gallery is a show called Honor Thy Father, by Prosser artist James West Nelson.
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