Harry Reminick: Memories and inspiration
Excerpt from blog post March 30, 2012
My Uncle Harry lived in San Diego, CA while I was growing up in Cleveland, OH. He would fly back to Ohio every couple of years to visit family. It wasn't nearly often enough, but when he did, it was a big event.
Excerpt from blog post March 30, 2012
My Uncle Harry lived in San Diego, CA while I was growing up in Cleveland, OH. He would fly back to Ohio every couple of years to visit family. It wasn't nearly often enough, but when he did, it was a big event.
Harry Reminick Sep 7, 1937
Uncle Harry was everyone’s favorite relative. He was fun and funny, outdoorsy and creative. He was a kind, gentle peacemaker; the type to carry a spider safely out of the house. In fact I remember him rescuing a few from me. He was an artist – sculpture, painting, a bit of jewelry – and worked for the San Diego Art Museum. The profession seemed surreal to me and unbelievably cool. I enjoyed his penchant for sharing art and culture with the family. He helped shape the way I see the world today.
I was recently delighted to find a poster by my uncle that’s out of copyright and currently available for sale at various poster supply houses. I didn't know he had made it into pop culture! As part of the Works Project Administration's Federal Art Project (FAP), he was commissioned to create a poster for the theatre production of the Emperor’s New Clothes.
"The WPA's Federal Art Project ... brought the avant-garde into small-town America, and started an aesthetic revolution ...
FAP employed 5,000 artists across the country... They created murals, sculptures and paintings, taught community art classes to millions, and produced 2 million posters from 35,000 designs..." (Civilization Magazine, Apr/May 1997)
A Library of Congress (LC) write-up features 16 of those posters, one of which is his. The LC record for it is here. The piece is dated Sep 7, 1937, so he was just 24 years old at the time.
I was recently delighted to find a poster by my uncle that’s out of copyright and currently available for sale at various poster supply houses. I didn't know he had made it into pop culture! As part of the Works Project Administration's Federal Art Project (FAP), he was commissioned to create a poster for the theatre production of the Emperor’s New Clothes.
"The WPA's Federal Art Project ... brought the avant-garde into small-town America, and started an aesthetic revolution ...
FAP employed 5,000 artists across the country... They created murals, sculptures and paintings, taught community art classes to millions, and produced 2 million posters from 35,000 designs..." (Civilization Magazine, Apr/May 1997)
A Library of Congress (LC) write-up features 16 of those posters, one of which is his. The LC record for it is here. The piece is dated Sep 7, 1937, so he was just 24 years old at the time.
These beautiful pieces of jewelry were created by Harry Reminick over the years too, and are my keepsakes to remember him by:
I love owning these few pieces of his jewelry and I often wonder what he might say about mine. I have a long way to go, but I think he would be pleased to see me working at it. Although he is long gone, I still feel close to him as I enjoy things he shared with me. Listening to the Nutcracker Suite. Reading Desiderata (attached for your enjoyment.) Watching birds at my backyard feeder. Last winter I was able to visit the San Diego Art Museum and stand inside the place he worked for so long. It was a nice little connection across the years.
Harry Reminick, 1913 - 1981
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...click to read Desiderata
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