Announcing the
Bradford Brinton Memorial & Museum’s
7th Annual Illustrator Show:
A Boy's Summer - Original Illustrations by Tom Spence.
Are you ready for summer? The original illustrations of “A Boy’s Summer” will help get you started thinking about great summer activities, from kite flying, to raft launching; tree house building, to fishing (of course with your home made gear), and gardening—salads were never better! Summer is also for reflection and remembrance, for crafts, and whimsy. After all, while you are watching the North Star, it may be watching you; and when you release the butterfly you’ve caught poetry, may not be far behind. A basket woven of willow, a journal so you won’t forget, a dandelion necklace to celebrate a day of fishing on the stream—the best summers have room for it all! There’s even a chapter from one of the authors, possibly Wyoming’s most famous lawyer, on winning arguments: How to Make an Argument—for a Pup (or Something Else?).
Gerry Spence and his brother Tom collaborated on this book of short essays and pen, brush, and scratched drawings to inspire first of all fathers and sons to spend more time together “discovering themselves and the world around them.” Tom says: “My brother and I are our father’s sons. But, we had a sister, Barbara, who could run faster, climb higher, and was braver and funnier than either of us. This book is for all for whom summer is a celebration of what is possible--but not necessarily useful--fun, instructive, beautiful, and, sadly, all too transitory. This book and its illustrations are for grandparents and parents, children and teachers, summer pals and members of the secret summer society of worm diggers and willow pole designers.”
According to the artist, "a picture to accompany words is nice. It lightens the burden of the writer and it gives the eye a place to rest and consider. And, it makes for a handsome book. Trying to create a visual correlate to my brother's words was a lot of fun, and having written many of the chapters in "A Boy's Summer" myself, made those illustrations especially fun."
Tom Spence, born in Sheridan, Wyoming, has led a peripatetic and multi-faceted life, from his youth spent in places like Wyoming, Colorado and Bolivia (South America), to art studies, leading to an M.A. degree from the University of Wyoming in 1964, to teaching art, working for the New York City Transit Authority, to building and operating Tom’s Diner in Buffalo, Wyoming. He retired from cooking in 2006. He now subjects his faithful hound, “Ray,” to those long rambling monologues. His wife, Vikki Chenette, is an art teacher in the Johnson County School District. In 2005 two of Tom’s watercolor landscapes were included in the Brinton’s 15th Annual Holiday Show.
• The 7th Annual Illustrator Show opens Monday, April 20 and runs through Sunday,
May 3.
• An Artist Reception and Book Signing are scheduled for Saturday, April 25, from 3 - 5 p.m.
• The exhibition is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
• The gallery and ranch house will be open for scheduled group tours on a first come, first served basis. Please call (307) 672-3173 or e-mail brs_bbm@vcn.com to reserve your time
at your earliest convenience.
• The artist has agreed to meet with our scheduled groups and will be available for questions from the audience.
• Please feel free to share this information with educators who may not be on our mailing list, but might be interested in this show.
• This exhibition is made possible by the continuing support of the Edwin T. Meredith Foundation and a grant by the Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation.
"This year's [exhibition] will be quite a change. I can see all sorts of follow-up activities back in the classrooms: student illustrations of their summer activities (which could include writing, either prose or poetry), individual kite construction (this could result also in some very creative writing about flying kites), team raft building, etc."
Lynn Mavrakis, Executive Director of the Homer A. & Mildred S. Scott Foundation
To reserve time for your group, request a detailed artist biography or another sample chapter from the book, please e-mail Barbara at brs_bbm@vcn.com or call the museum at (307) 672-3173.