A random walk down Main Street

Last Friday, we took an aimless stroll and landed in the middle of an art exhibit that continues to fascinate us today.

Such is the nature of life in one of the coolest small cities on the planet.

About two miles into our walk, as one of us assessed the Avenue for an appropriate watering hole, a gentleman wearing a Dr. Seuss hat approached.

“Are you here for Art on the Town?” he asked.

“We could be,” I said.

Turns out Art on the Town happens in Appleton every third Friday of the month through September. This month’s edition featured a Time Magazine exhibit, the opportunity to participate in a community art project, and a giant paper mache hat. I jumped into all three.

Courtesy of the Jerry Gottleib collection, the exhibit featured signed magazine covers from 1964 through 1974 and included such priceless pieces as a cover of Robert Kennedy, autographed by the senator two weeks before his assassination.

Imagine the prescience of Mr. Gottleib, who, throughout one of the most pivotal decades in our country’s history, ripped off the cover of his weekly Time Magazine and mailed it to the people featured there, requesting autographs. An astounding 250 people responded to his request, including all of the major players in the Watergate scandal. A single cover netted him autographs from all four members of the Beatles, another scored him all of the Apollo 11 astronauts.

The exhibit, called “Moments in TIME,” will be on display at the Trout Museum of Art through June 29.

We can’t wait to stroll downtown and see what next month’s Art on the Town has to offer!

Trout Museum
Named for its generous patrons, the Trout Museum of Art features world-class art exhibits. It is not, as a first glance might suggest, a museum of fish.
The Moment in Time exhibit
We had the place nearly to ourselves, which was astounding given the contents of the exhibit.
Robert Kennedy
Check out the date of this Roy Lichtenstein cover. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated just a few weeks later.
H.R. Haldeman
I wonder if they understood their place in history when they signed and returned these covers in 1973.
Ethel Kennedy and Pat Nixon
Again, it’s the dates of these autographs that astounded us. Ethel Kennedy signed this cover on April 25, 1969, 10 months after her husband’s assassination.
Gerald Ford
A piece of presidential history.
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
20140620_204520
A young Julie Andrews, post Sound of Music, signed and returned this cover.
John Updike Joyce Carroll Oates
Authors John Updike and Joyce Carroll Oates

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