The 1940s Exhibit

RECPTION GALLERY

October 11 – November 15, 2025

A special exhibition of 1940s era fashion, memorabilia, art, and other items reflecting the resilience, creativity, and culture of wartime America will be on display in the museum's reception gallery. Thanks to sponsor support from Lowell & Nancy Lohman, this curated collection will also feature a selection of photomontage pieces from Alan M. Richards’s History Re-Imaged Series.

EXHIBITION SPONSOR:

Artist Statement

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always had a place for art in my life. I did not choose art as a career path for a number of reasons, but my artistic bent came out in numerous ways. It showed its head during a time when making birdhouses was my passion, then scene-making for model railroads, and then drawing scenes using colored markers. However, it was not until the last 15 years that I truly became involved in what was to become my second career and its’ resultant photomontages. My work history is not in the art world. Rather, I have a background in Hearing and Speech Science, which ultimately led me to a long career as an audiologist and a professor of audiology. I earned a Ph.D. from the Graduate Center, The City University of New York (CUNY). That degree led to a professorial role at CUNY for nearly 30 years. In addition to that role, I maintained a private practice in audiology on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for many years as well. This exhibition at The Ormond Memorial Art Museum features my project called “History Re-Imaged.” It is a project I’ve been working on for a number of years. My background as a “Baby-Boomer” growing up in 1950’s and 1960’s instilled in me a reverence for the generation that preceded mine (i.e., "The Greatest Generation") and hopefully it shows in the work. This work is quasi-historical, and is based upon photographic images that were primarily taken just before, during, and after the WWII years. My artwork is in photomontage and is very often based on past photographic images. In the search for appropriate images, I came across the work of the Office of War Information (OWI) in the archives in The Library of Congress. This office was set up during WWII to document life on the home front. In those archives I came across many images that would be lost to history. In a similar vein, I came across photographs from the Farm Security Agency (FSA) that also documented domestic life in and around the WWII years. Other sources were also used in the work. The goal of this exhibit is to rework these images for a contemporary audience of viewers using the tools and techniques of today.— Alan M. Richards