Art by the Exceptional Child: Revisted
Art by the Exceptional Child: Revisted
N
ot long after the Carroll Reece Museum opened its doors in 1965, an idea for a children’s art exhibition began to take shape. At the time, the Tennessee Department of Education, Area of Special Education occupied offices in the Museum, and together the two staffs developed the exhibition focused on what was believed to be an overlooked and underappreciated group: “exceptional” children. “Exceptional children” is a broad term that refers to children with learning and behavioral disorders or mental and physical handicaps. The initial idea of the exhibition was to celebrate the creativity of these young artists and to instill a sense of pride in their accomplishments rather than focus on their handicaps.
On the Cover:
Carol Lindgren
Age 16 Brainerd, Minnesota Left:
Randy Diggins
Age 14 Tuscaloosa, Alabama
During the spring of 1969, invitations were extended to schools, institutions, and programs across the United States soliciting submissions—an ambitious undertaking for the fledging Museum. Of the thousands of entries received,
seventy were selected to be a part of the exhibition, entitled Art by the Exceptional Child. On June 20, 1969, the Reece Museum opened the show to the public at a reception for the Convention of the Tennessee Association for Retarded Children and Adults (TARCA). The response to the show was so positive that in the months that followed a second show was developed. This second show, consisting of fortyfive additional works, opened on February 3, 1970, in the Great Hall of the Capitol in Nashville. From there, both shows (dubbed Show A and Show B, respectively) were exhibited across the United States until the end of 1971. In the spring of 2015, the staff of the Reece Museum decided to revisit Art by the Exceptional Child as part of the museum’s year-long celebration of its fiftieth anniversary. Art by the Exceptional Child: Revisited contains a selection of works from the original shows, as well as promotional material, media, and correspondences that offer a glimpse in to how the original exhibition was organized, exhibited, and received.
Left:
Patricia Ann Brumson Age 11 Panama City, Florida Right:
Williams Rogers, Jr. Age 15 Covington, Georgia
Left:
Mary Bates
Age 11 Glen Burnie, Maryland Right:
Franklin Brown Age 10 Valdosta, Georgia Far Right:
Michael Carroll
Age 12 Birmingham, Alabama
Right:
Linda Ball
Age 13 Piedmont, Alabama Left:
Gary Couture
Age unknown Harrisville, Rhode Island Far Left:
Tommy Mosely Age 12 Midland, Texas
Left:
Carol Lindgren
Age 16 Brainerd, Minnesota Right:
Joseph Allen
Age 12 Mobile, Alabama Far Right:
Carole Lanzi
Age 16 Birmingham, Alabama
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Art by the Exceptional Child: Revisited is part of the Reece Museum’s year-long celebration of its fiftieth anniversary. The Museum staff would like to acknowledge East Tennessee State University administrators, past and present; the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, of which the Museum is a unit; and past supporters, contributors, volunteers, and staff whose good deeds made what we do possible. Art by the Exceptional Child: Revisited was curated by Justin White, a Reece Museum 2015 AmeriCorps member, who dedicates his curatorial efforts to the memory of Paul White.
Above:
Danny Kriesel
Age 11 Indianapolis, Indiana