National Exhibition Tour Media Coverage February - June 2014 Part 3

ART & DESIGN
Hey, Hey, Hey! Animated Touchstones ‘Funky Turns 40’ Recalls a Seminal Moment for Black Characters By FELICIA R. LEE MARCH 19, 2014 Photo “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” is among the animated series highlighted in a new traveling exhibition at the Schomburg Center for Black Culture. Credit Collection of Museum of UnCut Funk
Growing up in the 1970s at opposite ends of New York State, two girls were immersed in all things cool, black and funky. Saturday morning cartoons won their hearts. Loreen Williamson, in Rochester, and Pamela Thomas, in the Bronx, would park themselves in front of the “The Jackson 5ive,” featuring a tiny Michael sporting a big Afro, and “Josie and the Pussycats,” with the black tambourine-playing Valerie Brown performing in a hip girl band. Eventually, the two met and bonded over their mutual interests. Not content to leave the funk (or their pasts) behind, Ms. Williamson, now 49, and Ms. Thomas, 51, have amassed more than 300 pieces of black animation art from the 1960s and ’70s, a collection that they believe is one of the world’s most extensive in that field. In 2007, they created the Museum of UnCut Funk, an online showcase for original animation cels, posters, storyboards and other objects celebrating black culture of the 1970s and its standard-bearers. Now, the two collectors have hit the road with a traveling museum exhibition, “Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution,” which represents 24 animated productions, including Saturday morning and after-school cartoons and animated feature films. Photo
Pamela Thomas, left, and Loreen Williamson, who created the exhibition, have have amassed more than 300 pieces of black animation art from the 1960s and ’70s. Credit Christopher Gregory for The New York Times The revolution that it documents is from stereotype to superhero: “Funky,” which is currently at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem and will travel to museums in Chicago, Seattle and West Reading, Pa., honors the cartoons’ image-affirming black characters, including those of “The Harlem Globetrotters,” “Kid Power,” “Schoolhouse Rock” and “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.” The programs are more than entertaining nostalgia, the two curators and some cultural historians say. They represent the fruits of a struggle for a say in the representation of blacks in television images, among other rights, and the newfound ability of popular black entertainers to get such programming on the air, based on their own appeal to a wide audience.
The shows offered a striking counterpoint to the previous stereotypical portrayals of blacks as buffoons in mainstream films, books, theater, advertising and cartoons. “It shows a time in American history when art and diversity and civil rights aspirations all came together,” said Christopher P. Lehman, a professor of ethnic studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and the author of “The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907-1954” (University of Massachusetts Press). “Before 1970, African-Americans were not much on television at all, except as the domestic servants of Jack Benny and Danny Thomas or as guests on variety series.” It was no accident that “Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert,” described by curators as the first “positive” blackcast cartoon on TV (and the basis of the later series), was an NBC prime-time special in 1969, or, in the same vein, “The Jackson 5ive,” the first Saturday morning cartoon series featuring black musicians, made its debut in 1971. Both were created by two entertainment powerhouses, Bill Cosby (Fat Albert and the gang were part of his stand-up comedy routine) and Berry Gordy Jr., the founder of Motown Records, who marketed the family music act to appeal to the broadest possible audience. Recalling her generation’s response, Ms. Williamson, who works as an independent consultant for marketing and business, said, “We got to see Martin Luther King’s dream, at least in cartoon form.” “There was a lot of cross-pollination with what was going on in black culture,” she said. “You could watch the cartoons, go to the concerts, see the stars on variety shows. And our white friends were watching, too.” Ms. Thomas, a preschool teacher, said: “It made me feel like, wow, I see myself on TV. I started feeling good about myself.” She and Ms. Williamson are also avid collectors of blaxploitation film posters and of comic books, stamps and coins with an African-American flavor. The women, who met in 1997, founded an art and animation gallery that they ran as partners from 2000 to 2003 in Summit, N.J. They also sought to bring their art and their historical perspective to the attention of museums. But black history exhibitions typically focused on the most tumultuous aspects of the civil rights struggle, and animation is a far more accepted museum subject in Europe and Asia than in this country. Eventually, Ms. Thomas and Ms. Williamson convinced curators that the Saturday morning children’s cartoons reflected an important but overlooked positive moment in cultural and social history. “At the same time, everybody had a big Afro, and they were saying black is beautiful. You began to see that in TV and film, and you also had this revolution in black animated characters,” Ms. Williamson said. While some of the children who watched the cartoons may have looked like and identified with the characters, some parents did not applaud the stories, feeling that like many of that cartoon era, they were not particularly educational. And some critics noted how carefully calibrated the characters were to avoid offending anyone. Jerry Beck, a historian of animation, said that writers created “a vague persona for the characters,” and “then they painted them black.”
“There weren’t any breakout black characters,” he said. “But they were there, and they hadn’t been there before, and that’s important.” The Fat Albert gang did manage to take on some hard-hitting issues like crime, prison and drug use, said Joseph Wos, executive director of the ToonSeum in Pittsburgh, which presented a smaller version of “Funky Turns 40” in 2012. Black animation “reflects the same time line as acceptance of AfricanAmericans in society,” he said. “A lot of people were resistant to it, because it was going to introduce children to a more open society.” Around the same time, he noted, Peter Jones was introduced as a black character in the Hardy Boys cartoon series. That may have been even more significant than the Globetrotters cartoons, he said, “‘because Peter might live next door.” Mr. Wos praised the “Funky” exhibition but suggested that it might benefit from a timeline to help visitors understand what was happening in the real world of race relations and how children and their families felt about what they saw on television. Yet “Funky” was not intended to bear the weight of a historical survey, Ms. Williamson and Ms. Thomas point out. Christopher P. Moore, a senior researcher at the Schomburg, describes it rather as a “visual continuation of the civil rights movement.” “It is history that not enough people know,” he added. That may change as “Funky” continues to draw visitors, from groups of schoolchildren to those much older. Ms. Thomas and Ms. Williamson say they are hoping the exhibition will stir lively intergenerational discussion in New York and elsewhere. “Our families think we are crazy for all the money we spend collecting all this stuff,” Ms. Thomas said. “But we always knew this had value that went way beyond dollars.”
Have you ever felt the need to research Barack Obama comic books? Are you interested in Blaxploitation movie posters? Then the Museum of UnCut Funk is the place for you. Founded in 2007, the Museum celebrates African American arts culture of the 1970s, from posters and comics to videos and paintings. Black culture and history is often glossed over, and the racial struggles of the era are often best portrayed through art. The Museum of UnCut Funk provides a place to research and enjoy the best of what the decade has to offer. Best part: to go to this museum, you don’t even need to leave your dorm room. The Museum of UnCut Funk is all online. Enjoy a virtual tour by curator Sista ToFunky as she describes the cultural relevance of black animation. If you’re willing to make the trip, The New York Times recently reported that the Museum of UnCut Funk will have a traveling exhibition in New York, Chicago, and Seattle lasting from 2014 to 2015. “Funky Turns 40,” curated by Loreen Williamson and Pamela Thomas, will explore the influence of Black pop culture in the decades since the 1970s. When thinking about the Civil Rights Movement, I usually relate it to political touchstones like The March on Washington and the Civil Rights Act. American schools tend to ignore the post-1960s struggle for racial equality, as they do for most other social justice movements. Furthermore, we don’t really learn about African American art past the Jazz Age of the 1920s, and certainly not examples of it in contemporary popular culture. It’s easy to overlook the cultural significance of Fat Albert and The Jackson 5ive. The Museum of UnCut Funk reminds us that movements aren’t defined solely by great speeches and protests – cultural representation and creation are just as important to any fight as those other two. The 1970s were when Black representation in movies and television really began, and the Museum takes the time to appreciate those artists and remind us that the fight isn’t over. Even with its social justice undertones, exhibits should not be seen as preachy history lessons. The Museum, much like the era itself, is vibrant and celebratory. As Sista ToFunky says, “I started The Museum Of UnCut Funk to share my funky collection with funky people around the world.”
The Black Comic Book Collection is my personal favorite part of the museum. I’m a big fan of all superheroes, and this exhibit especially honors Luke Cage, the most famous black hero of the decade. There’s something for all interests at the Museum. If you’re looking to rediscover funk and learn more about Black culture, then take a trip to the Museum of UnCut Funk. It is the place to be for history nerds and art buffs alike.
Rise of black characters in cartoons traced in traveling exhibit By Felicia R. Lee NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE • Tuesday March 25, 2014 6:45 AM Growing up in the 1970s at opposite ends of New York state, two girls were immersed in all things cool, black and funky. Saturday morning cartoons won their hearts. Loreen Williamson, in Rochester, and Pamela Thomas, in the Bronx, would park themselves in front of The Jackson 5ive, featuring a tiny Michael sporting a big Afro, and Josie and the Pussycats, with the black tambourine-playing Valerie Brown performing in a hip girl band. Eventually, the two met and bonded over their mutual interests. Not content to leave the funk (or their pasts) behind, Williamson, 49, and Thomas, 51, have amassed more than 300 pieces of black animation art from the 1960s and ’70s — a collection that they believe is one of the world’s most extensive in the field. In 2007, they created the Museum of UnCut Funk, an online showcase for original animation cels, posters, storyboards and other objects celebrating black culture of the 1970s and its standard-bearers. Now, the two collectors have put together a traveling museum exhibition, “Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution,” which represents 24 animated productions, including Saturday-morning and afterschool cartoons, and animated feature films. The revolution it documents is from stereotype to superhero: “Funky” is at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York’s Harlem neighborhood through June 14 and will travel to museums in Chicago, Seattle and West Reading, Pa. The tour is expected to continue until 2017, with other locations to be added.
The exhibit honors image-affirming black characters, including those of The Harlem Globetrotters, Kid Power, Schoolhouse Rock and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. The TV programs are more than entertaining nostalgia, the two curators and some cultural historians say. They represent the fruits of a struggle for a say in the representation of blacks in TV images and the newfound ability of popular black entertainers to get such programming on the air, based on their own appeal to a wide audience. The shows offered a striking counterpoint to the previous stereotypical portrayals of blacks. “It shows a time in American history when art and diversity and civil-rights aspirations all came together,” said Christopher P. Lehman, a professor of ethnic studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and the author of The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907-1954 (University of Massachusetts). “Before 1970, African-Americans were not much on television at all, except as servants of Jack Benny and Danny Thomas or as guests on variety series.” It was no accident that Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert, described by curators as the first “positive” blackcast cartoon on television (and the basis of the later series), was an NBC prime-time special in 1969, or, in the same vein, The Jackson 5ive, the first Saturday morning cartoon series featuring black musicians, made its debut in 1971. Both were created by two entertainment powerhouses, Bill Cosby (Fat Albert and the gang were part of his stand-up comedy routine) and Berry Gordy Jr., the founder of Motown Records, the label of the Jackson 5. Thomas and Williamson are also avid collectors of blaxploitation film posters and of comic books, stamps and coins with an AfricanAmerican flavor. The women, who met in 1997, founded an art and animation gallery that they ran as partners from 2000 to 2003 in Summit, N.J. They also sought to take their collections and their historical perspective to the attention of museums. But black-history exhibitions typically focused on the most tumultuous aspects of the civil-rights struggle. Eventually, the women convinced curators that children’s cartoon shows reflected an important but overlooked positive moment in cultural and social history. Black animation “reflects the same timeline as acceptance of African-Americans in society,” said Joseph Wos, executive director of the ToonSeum in Pittsburgh, which presented a smaller version of “ Funky Turns 40” in 2012. “A lot of people were resistant to it because it was going to introduce children to a more open society.”
NYC “Funky” Animation Exhibition Until June 14th those living or traveling to New York will be able to see the animation exhibition “Funky Turns 40,” a showcase of 1970’s television animation. This exhibition is important in several ways both artistically and culturally. It highlights, through the display of original hand painted cels, the work of animators from an often overlooked decade. On another level, the exhibit draws our attention to the reality that this era of 1970’s television was the first time black animated characters were portrayed in a positive manner. This show does put the cultural significance front and center above the artistic merit of the pieces, and it is honest about this intention. The exhibition has been organized through the efforts of the Museum of UnCut Funk, a museum without a physical presence, existing within its web domain. The fact that we can go see in person an exhibition curated by a virtual museum could signal a new trend in curation. The lines between what exists in person for the limited few who are able to travel and what can be viewed virtually for anyone in the world with an internet connection will become increasing burred. People will demand more accessible content online from our nation’s museums and archives while the value of visiting the tangible object becomes a treasured rarity. It is impressive what the Museum of UnCut Funk has been able to achieve here at the Schromberg Center, with the assistance of the Center’s staff.
During the opening reception on February 4th, Curators Loreen Williamson and Pamela Thomas gave a talk about the nature of the exhibition, focusing on select highlights including Fat Albert, Valerie of Josie and the Pussy Cats, and Martin Luther King Jr. In the panel discussion moderated by Roy Paul and including author Michael Gonzales, the curators spoke about how their virtual museum came into existence by way of a physical art gallery. To summarize their goal in staging Funky Turns 40, collecting and exhibiting the animation cels of this era represent a more powerful statement about the African American image in America than trying to showcase animation as fine art. The merits of this exhibition come from its goals and execution more so then the quality of art pieces included. Taking a look at black character animation is a very worthy goal, and should have further scholarship undertaken. For its part the exhibition does a great job of bringing attention to the shift in portrayals of black characters within the medium of animation, while keeping the focus on positivity. These are the first positive depictions of black characters in animation on TV. Representative examples from the Star Trek animation series, Fat Albert, and Josie and the Pussy Cats, are on display but they are not the best artistic representations of these same shows. Original cels hang along side sericels and only one drawing is part of the exhibition. Again, since the goal of the exhibition was to focus on the content of the animated shows, the offerings for view are acceptable. It is so hard to find original production artwork from the 1970’s that it is possible that the show is displaying the best of what has survived the decades. Go to the exhibition and judge for yourself. If you can’t travel to New York or one of the other cities in which this exhibition will be appearing, than feast your eyes on the virtual exhibition, complete with detail images and exhibition catalogue. http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2012/01/08/funky-turns-40-black-character-revolution-animationexhibition/ Funky Turns 40 February 5 – June 14, 2014 Schaumberg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library New York, NY Traveling Tour Schedule July 13- October 20, 2014 DuSable Museum for African American History Chicago, IL November 22- March 1, 2015 Northwest African American Museum Seattle, WA
September 26, 2015- January 3, 2016 Reading Library Reading, PA Note: A first version of this exhibition was originally exhibited at The Toonseum in Pittsburgh, PA in 2012
Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution REVIEW Maya Davis Black people don’t do time travel, right? When we think of the past, we think of slavery, Jim Crow, the Underground Railroad, and every dark, heavy moment in time that follows us like our own shadow. Many times we do not want to look back and stir up the pain our people went through. But not everything in the past was a cause for sorrow. Remember the seventies? An explosion of Black love, pride and celebration made this decade different. The fashion, music, afros and art were vibrant and soulful, including kids’ cartoons. Loreen Williamson and Pamela Thomas have curated over 5,000 artifacts surrounding this decade for their virtual museum, The Museum of Uncut Funk. Their cartoon collection is on display at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in the Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution exhibit. Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution exhibit The Schomburg exhibit showcases Black characters in comics and animation from the late 1960s and 1970s. It was during this time that Black characters broke out from the roles of mammy, Sambo, Uncle Tom and various other stereotypes. Cartoons like the Jackson 5ive, Fat Albert and Josie and the Pussycats centered around positive representations of African Americans at the time. After listening to the Fanbros interview with the Museum of Uncut Funk, I decided to head to Harlem to check it out.
Fabros.com writer Maya Davis and Museum of Uncut Funk Curator Pamela Thomas
I spoke with Williamson and Thomas as they guided me through the displays. The first emotion I felt upon entering was joy. We were walking through the childhood of millions of adults. Most of the cartoons featured were broadcast on Saturday mornings where “the time slot of these cartoons was you’d have your bowl of cereal and you were sitting in front of the television just waiting,” Thomas illustrates. The colors of the walls as well as the colors of the art are bright and inviting, almost 3-D. As Thomas explained, “This top layer is called a celluloid and then you have the back layer which is the background art and in some cases the background layers I would say is on a card stock paper.” “Kind of like a watercolor painting,” adds Williamson. The psychedelic colors reflect the period well.
Cartoon cel of Michael Jackson and friend What also can be noted is the clothing, hairstyles, and gadgets of the characters. A large poster of “Muhammad Ali vs Superman” and a comic about the civil rights movement shows what was topical at the time. The cartoons not only serve as art, but as historical artifacts. The seventies were a period of rebellion, revolution and many firsts in positive representation. The Museum of Uncut Funk educates and inspires the current generation. Thomas affirmed, “When you get a little taste of what was 40 years ago, you know it sparks something in you. You get that soul back,” and I certainly agree. The Funky Turns 40 exhibit will be on display at the Schomburg through June 14, 2014. For more information about visiting the exhibit click here. Make sure to follow the Museum of Uncut Funk on Twitter and check out their YouTube for more funkadelic finds.
Bryant Trew, Sun columnist
As a parent, I’m indebted to my parents Last month I was travelling in NYC, and my mother sent me an email that contained words of support that I can’t recall hearing before. Dare I say it, those insightful words may have been the best thing she’s said to me in my adult life. My girlfriend strongly advised that I should tell her how I feel, to which I replied, “Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and I’ll write a column about it.” Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to get my thoughts on paper, so this is something of a belated Mother’s Day and pre-Father’s Day column. On the next day of the trip, again at the recommendation of my girlfriend, we headed up into Harlem to see an art exhibit at the Schomberg Center for Black Culture called ‘Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution’. This exhibit addressed progressive black animation over the last 40 years. There’s nothing quite like looking at the intro to Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids to remind you of your childhood. Of greater relevance was that this exhibit reminded me a great deal of how I believe that my mother was very deliberate about putting positive things in front of her children. Whether it was Fat Albert, National Geographic or Encyclopedia Britannica, I can look back and see the value of her guiding hand. Likewise, my father drilled us on respect, discipline, academics and progress. Many times during the week we were ordered, “Get a book in your hands!” If you came home with 75%, you were pushed for 80%. Building upon who you were or what you had was his first religion. As a parent, I think my father was the polar opposite of my mother, but the two of them made a synergistic combination — sometimes even accidentally. For example, lessons learned from my parents’ divorce were absolutely instrumental in navigating through my own. It’s rather peculiar that potential grandparents (PGs) don’t tell us about the blood, sweat and tears they must have shed when bringing us up. If they did, I’d bet it would have a negative affect on the national birth rate. PGs don’t warn us about not being able to sleep in on a weekend or holiday any more. PGs don’t warn us about having to review arithmetic and grammar after a gruelling, 10-hour work day. PGs
don’t warn us about how children frequently seek to press buttons and test boundaries. PGs also say nothing about the burning smell constantly emanating from your wallet. On the other hand, PGs say nothing about how fart jokes never get old. PGs don’t tell you how awesome it is to take your kids mountain biking along the railway trail. Snorkelling at Church or Tobacco Bay is an experience with your kids you won’t soon forget. The same goes for taking flashlights down into the caves at Tom Moore’s Jungle. And who would have thought that showing your kids the joy of jumping off a ferry dock would have been so much fun? We’ve heard the phrase before: “You never stop being a parent, even when your children become adults.” But I do think that there is a transition when a parent needs to recognize age and maturity, because at some point “yours” are no longer your “children” but instead grow into full grown “sons and daughters”. In other words, the context of parenting changes as your children become adults. Children eventually must be set free. It is therefore critical to realize that the type of parents we are to them has a direct impact on the kind of adults they will become. They’ll decide on their own which lessons and experiences they want to keep or throw away. The big point is that there are several things they’ll learn from us that will end up being taught to their own children in the future. They say a picture speaks a thousand words.Well, I think this photo very much defines me as a parent. My sons are literally clinging to my shoulders, and are pressed against my heart. But, metaphorically they are clinging to my father’s shoulders, while being pressed against my mother’s heart. I’m blazing my own trail as a parent, but I’m indebted to my parents for the good things I’ve happened to learn from their example.
Happy Mother’s and Father’s Day, Carolyn Swan and Robert Trew, Jr.