New York Cares held a "painting-murals-day" in several public schools on Staten Island on Oct 17-18, 2009. Emily Visnovsky, Shauna Sorensen and Michelle LoFaso, all students here at Wagner, participated in this year's project at P.S. 41. Here are photos of some of the art/murals that were completed.
October 17-18,2009 was New York Cares Day largest day of service, where they recruit about 8,000 volunteers (the volunteers can be a part of a civic, youth, or corporate team as well as an individual volunteer) to help spruce up over 100 public schools. They have over 70 mural artists who dedicate their time to help sketch murals at the schools, that the volunteers can paint. The planning process begins as early as late-August because it does take some time for mural artists to reach out to the school to discuss themes, design preliminary sketches to be approved by the school, and then to sketch out the murals at the school.
Sennacherib’s Palace Without Rival: Court VI Reconstructed
*Introduction*
Sarah J. Scott
I am pleased to present this wonderful exhibit, ‘Sennacherib’s Palace Without Rival: Court VI Reconstructed’ to the Wagner College Community. Made possible by a generous donation from the Fox Fellows Fund, it is a first step in long research project to preserve Sennacherib’s palace and educate the world about this wonderful monument. Students have worked on various issues regarding the palace, and have displayed their work in the gallery. Topics include Assyrian iconography, propaganda, textual evidence, Assyrian history and society, and Sennacherib’s reign.
The Southwest palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, Iraq was built in 704 BCE, as a ‘Palace Without Rival.’ It was the jewel in the crown of Assyrian imperial power, containing images and text documenting the military strength and domestic suave of the king. Intricately detailed sculpted reliefs and inscriptions covered the walls, leaving little doubt in the minds of the Assyrian people regarding the message of their ruler; it acted as a microcosm of imperial propaganda. Sennacherib created this palace at time when Assyrian power was at its climax.
Understanding this monument is essential for an understanding of Assyrian culture, the meaning of their visual world, and the role of textual inscription within this world. Today, however, the sad state of preservation of this once magnificent monument makes it impossible to relay this message to contemporary audiences. It is also impossible today to present a cohesive, comprehensive model of the structure to any interested audience. The marble slabs that decorated the palace walls have been scattered across the globe, a process that began in the middle of the 19^th century when these palaces were discovered. There were originally fifty large limestone slabs carrying this series of quarrying episodes in Court VI of Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh, Iraq, but they are now to be found in several museums and collections in Europe. Twenty-one fragments of these larger bas-relief slabs are on display in the British Museum. This is the largest single collection of these fragments from this scenario. Professor Scott traveled to London during summer 2008 and together with photographers from Factum Arte, Madrid, was able to take high-resolution digital cameras into the British Museum to obtain these images. Factum Arte is one of the only companies in the world who has developed specialized 3D scanning technology for sculptures such as these. Professor Scott hopes to one day use the computer data gathered from these photographs to reconstruct a virtually interactive computer model of Sennacherib’s entire palace.
*Assyrian Palaces*
The palaces of the Assyrian period were the true hub of the king’s empire. They were the administrative nexus, domestic home of the king, diplomatic arena, and religious center. Kings used the images on the walls to broadcast their power, strength, and legitimacy to a large audience. These palaces were arranged in units of rooms, or suites centered on an open courtyard. Courtyards were more public spaces, where larger audiences could interact with one another and perhaps catch a glimpse of the king. Smaller ceremonial rooms, including throne room suites were located off these central courtyards. The palaces were constructed of timber framework and mud brick interior walls. The walls were then lined with marble orthostats carved with narrative relief sculpture. These relief sculptures usually depicted ritual scenes, military battles and processions, or hunt scenes. The narrative reliefs in Court VI of Sennacherib’s palace are a unique example because he chose to include imagery telling the story of the construction of the palace. These quarry scenes were located on the north and east walls of Court VI, while military scenes were shown on the south and west walls. He thus presents his audience with a microcosm of his ideology. He wanted to be known as a traditionally powerful king who was able to defend and fight for his kingdom, but also as an innovator who could provide for his people.
Many thanks to Don Fox for his generosity, and to all students in Art History 291: Sennacherib’s Palace Without Rival. The students in the seminar have all worked hard and learned a great deal about Assyrian art and history. They and I hope Wagner enjoys this exhibit
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" Tugboats, Day & Night", March 01, 2008 - December 31, 2009.
Portrait: Pamela Hepburn, 28"x 40", oil on linen, 2008.
Pamela Hepburn captained tugboats in the New York Harbor for over 20 years.
Her tugboat Pegasus is currently being restored as an historic education vessel.
Landscape paintings also on view.
Executive director and curator, Erin Urban.
Guest curators, George Matteson and Alexis Romano.
Location:
The Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor,
1000 Richmond Terrace
Staten Island, New York 10301
Contact:718-447-6490
www.noblemaritime.org
