Maurice ‘Pops’ Peterson to Discuss Art and Civil Rights at Rockwell Museum

Maurice 'Pops' Peterson

Maurice ‘Pops’ Peterson

(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – Artist Maurice “Pops” Peterson will explore the relationship between art and the civil rights movement in “Van Der Zee to Rockwell and Beyond: Art and Civil Rights,” at Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, August 6, at 5pm. Peterson was recently honored for his series that re-imagined the art of Norman Rockwell to reflect the realities of 21st century life. The event is free for museum members, or included with museum admission.

Peterson began his artistic pursuits as a painting major at the High School of Music and Art, with further studies at Pratt Institute and Columbia University. For many years, Peterson wrote for such publications as Andy Warhol’s Interview, Essence Magazine, the Village Voice, and New York Times. He also wrote stage plays as well as TV scripts and screenplays, including the 1982 film, “Homework,” starring Joan Collins, and created the world’s first telephone soap opera, “Dial-A-Soap!” with Jon Rupp.

Pops Peterson, ‘Freedom From Fear,’ 2014. (Courtesy Pops Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Pops Peterson, ‘Freedom From Fear,’ 2014. (Courtesy Pops Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Since 2005, Peterson has been the owner and general manager of SEVEN salon.spa, with his husband, Mark Johnson. After nearly twenty years as a web designer and layout artist, he also entered the world of fine art; his debut solo exhibition, “New Frontiers in Pop Art,” was presented at Lauren Clark Fine Art in Great Barrington, Mass., in 2014. He was named the first Artist in Residence of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination for 2015-2016, and honored for his work at the Northeast Regional Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference.

Reservations for the event are suggested by contacting the Museum at 413.931.2221 or register@nrm.org.

Norman Rockwell Museum is located on 36 park-like acres in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Rockwell’s hometown for the last 25 years of his life. The Museum is open year-round; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. From May through October, hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; from November through April, hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Rockwell’s studio is open May through October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission is $18, $17 for seniors, $10 for students, $6 for kids and teens 6 to 18, and free for Museum members and children 5 and under.

 

 

 

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