Postcards, generally, are not regarded as a platform of artistic expression. Pictorial depictions on commercial postcards are more often variations on the theme, “Here we are,” with detours into the silly and cheesy.
But every two years at the Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, the Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition (PACE) invites artists to express themselves in this iconic 4-inch by 6-inch format. The winning and honored entries will go on display at the museum through March 27, after which they will be exhibited across Lake County at the Fremont Public Library (April), Waukegan Public Library (May), Lake Forest Public Library (June), Mundelein Seminary (July), Ela Area Public Library (August), Lake Villa Public Library (September) and McHenry County College (Oct. 15-Dec. 6).
The Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition is the museum’s biggest exhibition of local art scheduled for 2016, said Andrew Osborne, superintendent of education facilities for the Lake Country Forest Preserve.
This year’s juried exhibition of 36 postcards, coordinated by Nancy Schumm of Schumm Consulting LLC, was culled from 300 entries. The top three entries were announced at the Jan. 9 opening, while the top 12 postcards will be reproduced and made available for sale. Steve Munro, owner of Munro Campagna Artist Representatives, and Linda Levy, a Midwest agent for WorkBook, were this year’s judges.
The Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition was originally spearheaded by Debra Gust, now retired. She was the museum’s former image and licensing specialist for its Curt Teich Postcard Archives, one of the museum’s signature collections.
“The PACE exhibition connects on multiple levels to our mission,” Osborne said. “Any time a community-based museum can offer an exhibition that engages a broader audience it is a benefit for the institution. So much of our work focuses on our core audience of Lake County residents. This has been a way to broaden our reach to connect with people who otherwise might not discover us.”
It has certainly broadened the reach of participants; entries have come from South Africa and India.
The Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition takes its inspiration from the museum’s famed Curt Teich Postcard Archives, which was donated to the museum in 1982. The Chicago-based Curt Teich Postcard Company was in operation between 1898 and 1978. Postcards, noted Heather Johnson, the museum’s archives coordinator, have a potent nostalgic appeal and are invaluable for professional and amateur researchers looking for a visual record of people, places, and things during different eras.
The collection, she said, “is one of the best visual representations of 20th century America, a visual record that documents daily life and touches on almost every subject one could imagine.”
The postcards created for PACE 2015 are more artistic statements than period documents, she said. “The only restriction the artists were given was (confining themselves to) the 4 by 6 format.”
Postcard Art Competition & Exhibition
When: Through March 27
Where: Lake County Discovery Museum, 27277 N. Forest Preserve Road, Wauconda
Contact: www.lcfpd.org/museum
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