Join, Save, Buy: U.S. World War I Posters on the Home Front – in the main gallery; Arts Against the Great War – Friends of the Gallery Exhibition – in the side gallery

In commemoration of the World War I centennial anniversary, the Truman State University Art Gallery and Pickler Memorial Library’s Special Collections Department have collaborated on two interrelated exhibitions which will run January 26 through March 3, 2017. The aim of these two exhibits is to examine art produced during the Great War—both art supporting but also protesting the war—and to allow visitors to explore all the ways in which our societies have been changed by this major event. A special reception celebrating the opening of the exhibitions will be held on Friday, January 27, 2017 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the University Art Gallery (Ophelia Parrish 1114); all are invited to come enjoy a snack and see the exhibition.

The larger gallery space will feature Join, Save, Buy: U.S. World War I Posters on the Home Front, an exhibition of works from Special Collections’ significant collection of World War I posters. Obtained during the war years by faculty member E.M. Violette, the Truman State University collection consists of 500 political posters and related materials. From this collection, 50 posters were selected by faculty members from across campus. With accompanying labels written by students in Dr. Jason McDonald’s Fall 2016 America During the Age of the World Wars course, these posters provide an opportunity to view samples from one of the major historical marketing endeavors of the U.S. government and to recognize the impact of the war on American citizens, both at home and abroad. This exhibition was generously supported by funds from the Missouri Arts Council.

The exhibition in the side gallery, Arts Against the Great War, looks at works of visual art, music, and literature as well as archival materials including letters from soldiers which explore the war’s complications, violence, and human cost. Many of works in the exhibition are generous loans from local and area collectors; others are from the International Dada Archive in Iowa City and from Truman’s Special Collections. Works from the Dada movement and by artists such as Käthe Kollwitz, first editions of literature such as In Flanders Fields and All Quiet on the Western Front, and letters from soldiers, as well sheet music and objects associated with soldiers’ daily lives, combine to comment on and explore the endurance, suffering, sacrifice, grief, and loss associated with this war. Arts Against the Great War was researched, curated, written, and arranged by twenty-five students in Dr. Julia DeLancey’s Fall 2016 Topics in Art History: Dada and World War I course. The exhibition was generously supported by funds from the Friends of the Gallery.

For more information, please visit: http://worldwari.truman.edu or facebook.com/tsuartgallery

Gallery hours:
Monday-Thursday 8:30-am – 7:00 pm
Friday 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday Noon – 4:30 pm
Closed in between exhibits and during University holidays