Rare Norman Rockwell works coming

A rare collection of limited edition Normal Rockwell lithographs depicting American family life in the 1950s and ‘60s will be exhibited in SUNY Fredonia’s Art Gallery as a gallery benefit in June. 
  
Invited guests will be admitted by ticket only to the opening reception on Saturday, June 17, at 7 p.m.  The reception will feature live music and a visual history of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, which is the oldest continuous book club in the United States. 

“Norman Rockwell: The American Family” will be open to the public from Sunday, June 18 through Sunday, June 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.  Tickets are $10 for the public and $5 for seniors, students and children.  Presale tickets go on sale at the SUNY Fredonia Central Ticket Office on Saturday, April 1.  Group rates are available.

Proceeds from all ticket sales will go toward the Fredonia College Foundation to establish the first endowment fund in support of the gallery, which is housed in the Rockefeller Arts Center.
 
The Rockwell lithographs are on loan to the university from the MassMutual Financial Group, through its local agencies, Waring Financial Group of Buffalo, the Chautauqua Institution, Howard Hanna Holt Real Estate and Spann Law Offices.
 
The reception will be hosted by co-chairs Richard and Marianne Karslake of Chautauqua.  Mr. Karslake – whose grandmother was a member of the first CLSC graduating class in 1882 – is the former president of the Chautauqua Center for the Visual Arts and oversaw its merger with the Chautauqua School of Art.  A graduate of Dartmouth College, Mr. Karslake is currently president of the CLSC Alumni Association.
 
Ms. Karslake has exhibited art at the CCVA and its predecessor, the Chautauqua Art Association, for over 45 years.  She has served as vice-president of the Chautauqua Women’s Club and was the longtime director of its annual flea market.  Ms. Karslake is a graduate of the University of Heidelberg and the owner of an antique company.