New Exhibit: Growth, Part One

The Ziegfeld Collection of International Children's Art is comprised of 361 paintings, drawings, prints, and collages made by adolescents aged 10 to 18 from 32 countries across the world. The Collection was first shown in 1967 at the High Museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. It was assembled by Professor Edwin Ziegfeld, then Chair of Art and Education at Teachers College. Columbia University, who was also President of the International Society for Art Education, an organization he helped found in 1954 under the auspices of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Under the direction of Macy Professor of Education Judith Burton and in collaboration with the Library, the Ziegfeld Collection was first shown at the Macy Art Gallery, Teachers College in 1999. Wrote Professor Emerita Maxine Greene, "this exhibition opene[d] new possibilities for those dedicated to the growth of children and, particularly, to enabling the adolescents of our time to find their way through the entangled forests of a difficult moment in history."(Catalog Introduction, The Ziegfeld Collection: International Artworks of Adolescents from the 1950s: A Celebration). Created after the Second World War, the artworks spoke to the significance of adolescents who would continue the adult work of reshaping the world, its values, aspirations, skills, and behaviors, over the coming decades.

Growth, Part One: Select Works from the Ziegfeld Collection of International Children's Art focuses on representations of the family, school, and friendships -- a foundation for growth of the individual. These topics are also reflected in the Everett Cafe book display, Memorable Memoirs, international in scope but more adult in perspective. We invite viewers and readers to consider their formative years, from the nucleus of the family and schooling, to social growth -- and to explore common human experiences and emotions as they relate to our understanding of ourselves; the world around us; and our development as human beings.

Growth: Select Works from the Ziegfeld Collection of International Children's Art will be displayed in three parts over the Summer and Fall of 2024.

Where: First Floor

When: Part One,  August 2nd - September 20th

Poster Image: At the Window, by Frank Donnelly, from the Ziegfeld Collection of International Children's Art, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University.