Art exhibit features works of acclaimed music photojournalist
Three historic photographs by internationally-awarded photojournalist and Hunterdon County resident Stephanie P. Ledgin are featured in the latest art exhibition hosted by Paul Phillips Eye and Surgery Center, Flemington. This is the sixth paneling of works by local artists displayed at the Center, and includes a full range of media, from watercolors to photography.
Ledgin is the author of three acclaimed books, her most recent -- Discovering Folk Music. Her second book, From Every Stage: Images of America's Roots Music, foreword by (former) CBS News personality Charles Osgood, is a photo narrative covering her decades' long career.
A selection from the 200 photos in this tome comprised a companion traveling exhibition, which debuted at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, continued in New York City at Lincoln Center, and was featured for a year at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Kentucky before coming home to New Jersey for several smaller shows.
At Paul Phillips Eye Center, visitors can see Ledgin's stunning photograph of Odetta, known as the "Voice of the Civil Rights Movement," taken at Carnegie Hall in 1985; an expressive 1984 shot captures an all-female a cappella quartet, A Soldier's Fancy, street singing in Greenwich Village; and an action-packed color image from 1988 of then groundbreaking New Grass Revival is anchored by banjo player extraordinaire Bela Fleck, who went on to world renown.
A former New York City radio show host (WFUV-FM), Ledgin was director of the New Jersey Folk Festival at Rutgers University for ten years. For a decade, she managed and brought to the fore Italian guitar virtuoso Beppe Gambetta. The Traditional MusicLine, which she published for 18 years, was an innovative regional events calendar that set the pace for similar newsletters during the pre-digital era. A variety of successful concert productions further endeared Ledgin to East Coast acoustic music aficionados.
The International Country Music Conference, in conjunction with Belmont University, acknowledged her expansive professional accomplishments in 2007 with the Charlie Lamb "Career" Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism. Her first book, Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass, brought recognition as the International Bluegrass Music Print Media Person of the Year in 2005.
A former member of the International Bluegrass Music Association Board of Directors and a founding member of Folk Alliance International, Ledgin is a bona fide Kentucky Colonel, commissioned in 2008 in recognition of her service in the field of bluegrass music.
Paul Phillips Eye Center will host a cocktail reception for all on May 22, 2017, 6:00- 8:00 pm. All art work is for sale and the proceeds will go directly to the artist. It is the Center's goal to present new artwork on a rotating basis throughout the year for patients, staff, and visitors to enjoy. Please RSVP to ArtForDrPhillips@gmail.com, or phone 908-824-7144. The Center is located at 6B Minneakoning Road, Flemington, adjacent to Raritan Town Center.
This item was submitted by Stephanie Ledgin.
Source: www.bing.com