After an extensive search, the Harry Ransom Center is pleased to welcome Dr. Erica Nunn-Kinias (second from left in photo) as the Center’s Associate Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs. Nunn-Kinias comes to the Center from Colorado, where she was Program Director for the Gallery and Museum Management Masters at Western Colorado University. She previously served as a Curator at Chiddingstone Castle in the United Kingdom and as Executive Director of the Telluride Historical Museum. Ransom Center Director, Stephen Enniss, noted it was the combination of her intellectual curiosity and her practical knowledge of museum practice that made her stand out. “My colleagues and I look forward to working with Erica to advance the Ransom Center’s reach and impact on campus and far beyond it.” [Read more…] about Welcome Erica Nunn-Kinias, New Associate Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs
Movie Posters of the 1960s: Adaptation, Innovation, and Artistic Expression
by ASH KINNEY D’HARCOURT
In the rapidly changing cultural landscape of the 1960s, the film industry explored new strategies to capture audience attention. The restrictive production code began to weaken, allowing for the emergence of the more experimental and avant-garde approaches to filmmaking that gained prominence during this decade. In film marketing, there was a discernible shift away from the traditional design elements of preceding decades that featured glamorous portraits and realism to more abstract representations of cinematic subject matter. In addition, the incorporation of vibrant color palettes, notably the distinctive use of hot pink in several of the posters showcased here, contributed to the evolution in design. [Read more…] about Movie Posters of the 1960s: Adaptation, Innovation, and Artistic Expression
Thrillers to Teenagers: The Shifting Landscape of 1950s Film Posters
by ASH KINNEY D’HARCOURT
The 1950s ushered in a new era of socio-cultural transformation in the United States in which many families were drawn out of cities and into newly developed suburban communities. This shift was accompanied by an increased emphasis on the nuclear family and the reinforcement of rigid gender roles within American culture. At the same time, the film industry was in search of new markets and pursuing new creative directions as a result of its latest competitor—the television. This led to the proliferation of exciting science fiction films, psychological trillers, spy films and proto-Bond heroes that capitalized on the perceived threat of communism and nuclear destruction at the time. [Read more…] about Thrillers to Teenagers: The Shifting Landscape of 1950s Film Posters