Outreach
banjo symbolism highlighted in concert, exhibition
Last spring five of the world’s top banjo players appeared together on the Eisenhower Auditorium stage, a program conceived, produced and presented by the Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with the Picturing the Banjo exhibition at the Palmer Museum of Art.
Dubbed The Banjo Summit, the concert on April 8, 2006, featured Seamus Egan, Béla Fleck, Mike Seeger, Tony Trischka and Buddy Wachter. The players represented a range of styles, including everything from gospel, bluegrass and Celtic to classical and jazz. A review in the Centre Daily Times—which rarely reviews events at the Center for the Performing Arts—heaped praise on the performance, saying “… This was the best concert at Eisenhower in years. Innovative, exciting and new, The Banjo Summit proves that the Center for the Performing Arts and Penn State can put on world-class, one-of-a-kind shows that would make any big city jealous.”
Blue Period with Banjo, 1980, Polaroid ER print, 24 x 20 inches, by William Wegman (American, b. 1943). Collection of Emily Todd. Photo © Rick Gardner, courtesy Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
The idea for a banjo concert originated several years ago with Palmer Museum curator Leo Mazow, who was organizing the Picturing the Banjo exhibition for Penn State. Mazow, who had worked on previous projects addressing banjo symbolism in the visual arts, approached the center about a possible concert in conjunction with the exhibit. Through a series of connections, Amy Dupain Vashaw, the center’s audience and program development director, got in touch with New Jersey banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka, who ultimately became the Summit’s artistic guide. He assembled the team of banjo players and, with Vashaw, established an e-mail group for the musicians to exchange ideas about the upcoming concert.
After numerous e-mail discussions about the format of the concert, the players decided they would all sit together on the stage for the entire performance, with the first set showcasing solo work by each musician, and the second set featuring duets and trios. Singer/banjo player Abigail Washburn, one of Fleck’s friends, was a surprise guest, treating the audience to a vocal performance of “Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet” and then appearing in a duet with Mike Seeger.
An audience of 2,000 attended the event, which was so successful the center is investigating future “summits” following a similar format. “We were extraordinarily pleased with the audience response to this show,” says Vashaw. “Even now, several months later, folks are still talking about it. It was a fantastic way to end the season, and we are hard at work looking for a similar type of presentation for a future season.”
The success of The Banjo Summit drew more visitors to the exhibition at the Palmer, which was on display March 30–June 25, 2006. It originally appeared at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. After the showing at the Palmer, it moved to the Boston Athenaeum through October 21.
According to Mazow, Picturing the Banjo demonstrates how “the instrument’s visual culture is deeply enmeshed with notions of race, gender and folk cultures.” The exhibition appealed to him because the banjo’s symbolism provides “a window into the intersection of these constructs.” “Moreover, some of the most important and visually stunning works in the history of American art portray the banjo-playing subject,” he adds.
The exhibition featured 72 works on loan from 41 collections, including banjo images by artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Mary Cassatt, Norman Rockwell and Betye Saar. In addition, it featured several musical instruments and several “presentation banjos,” which were meant to be seen but not played. A 200-page catalogue with color illustrations and seven essays was published by Penn State Press in association with the Palmer Museum of Art.
Picturing the Banjo has elicited critical praise in such periodicals as Art News andthe magazine Antiques, and has been the focus of Associated Press and Scripps-Howard stories, and a segment on “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio. However, according to Mazow, it was the concert at Eisenhower Auditorium that brought “a whole new level of meaning and excitement to the Palmer exhibition, adding the all-important musical dimension to those stories as told by the paintings in Picturing the Banjo.”
Vashaw agrees the collaboration was mutually beneficial. “We are so blessed to have the many resources available that a University community provides. Through cross-promotion of the exhibit and The Banjo Summit, the Palmer and the Center for the Performing Arts built on a partnership that we know will continue to grow as we collaborate on other projects down the road.” –AMM
Mike Seeger (far left) performs a traditional Appalachian folk song at The Banjo Summit in Eisenhower Auditorium last April, while the other featured pickers, (from left) Béla Fleck, Seamus Egan, Tony Trischka and Buddy Wachter (with hisi back-up musician behind him), enjoy the moment.
