Cover serves as.
THE SILVERMINE GUILD / OF ARTISTS Incorporated / SILVERMINE, NORWALK, CONNECTICUT
250 X 185. Original binding style not determinable; originally issued as pamphlet; designed and compiled by Vassos; lithography by O'Toole & Sons, Stamford, CT. Collection of Columbia University Library.
1 cover / title page 2-35 text 36 map = 18 leaves
This was a promotional publication of the Silvermine Guild of Artists, which was formed in 1922 by artists as a sort of artists' colony and co-op studio space. To be eligible for artists' membership one had to be a practitioner of an art form such as painting, sculpture, pottery... or theater. Membership was by invitation only, and one had to be sponsored by an artist member.
The Guild was quite active in exhibitions, performances, and the teaching of classes. John Vassos, who was president from 1936-1938 was listed on the "board of managers" for 1939; was an instructor in sketching classes; and sat on the Music and Public Relations committees, chairing the latter. His wife Ruth chaired the Entertainment Committee and was on the "Silvermine SILLIES" committee. The "SILLIES" were a variety show in which "there is no censorship or restraint of full expression of ideas, making the "SILLIES" a vehicle for many skits and black outs that neither Hollywood or Broadway would venture to produce." All material was original – music, lyrics, skits, sets, writing, direction – and was contributed by members of the Guild. Felicia Sorel and Gluck Sandor, "pioneering exponents of the modern dance who created a ballet around the Phobia theme with music by Lehman Engel," were also members. (1) For the Phobia inspired piece, they "interpreted its frenetic moods with terpsichorean sorcery acting like possessed automatons" (2)
In 1936, the Silvermine Guild Project "The World of Tomorrow" was conceived and came to fruition with the Guild's "Social Statement" show. The exhibit was on display at the Guild, the Riverside Museum, New York, and the Warwick Galleries, Philadelphia. The purpose of this project was "to make the artist conscious of the necessity of his being part of the social scheme." The works on display had to "attempt to interpret, amplify, and clarify his ideas so that a poignant and clear exposition appears of what might otherwise be inarticulate and confused to the mass mind." The writer goes on to say this movement in art of confronting social issues was brought into being and stimulated by the WPA.
Other pieces in the publication describe the Silvermine Music Festival, the pottery studio, and sketching class, among others. Approximately one third of the publication is devoted to advertising, most of it local.
In an article noting the acquisition of a large portion of his papers, the Archives of American Art Journal (Volume 29, Numbers 3 & 4, 1989) mentions that Vassos, sometimes controversial, was "the sparkplug" of the Guild during a period of ambitious expansion in the 1940's and ‘50's. The papers for the Silvermine Guild of Artists are now part of the Connecticut Artists Project, which is seeking funding for their microfilming. The project is part of the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut at Storrs.
1. The Silvermine Guild of Artists, Incorporated, p.18
2. Contempo, Phobia, and Other Graphic Interpretations, p. viii