Catherine Wallack, architectural records archivist for University Libraries, will host a gallery conversation titled Letters to Calder at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. This event is free and open to the public.
Alexander “Sandy” Calder, the celebrated 20th century artist, is best known for his mobiles — transforming kinetic sculptures. Attendees will discover a more personal side of Calder and the rewards of exploring primary source documents. Wallack will share personal and professional correspondence between Calder and internationally recognized architect and Arkansan Edward Durell Stone. Letters and postcards from the Arkansas Architectural Archives provide insight into the nuanced relationship between two gifted men in the midst of their professional ascendancies.
“The decades-long friendship between Stone and Calder began in Paris in 1928, before either of them had established careers,” said Wallack. “Who could have imagined that in just over 10 years, Calder would install his impressive mobile, Lobster Trap and Fish Tail, in the main stairwell of the Museum of Modern Art, a building designed by Stone with Phillip Goodwin?”
The Arkansas Architectural Archives preserves the records of significant projects and noted design professionals in the state.
Wallack earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Art/Art History from Rice University and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University. She practiced in the design field and taught design before pursuing a career in archival work. Her research and subsequent exhibition on Edward Durell Stone’s Fulbright Furniture led to her current position in Special Collections at the University of Arkansas.
“Stone’s friendships and professional relationships with people like Bill Fulbright, artist Isamu Noguchi and Clare Booth Luce provide the opportunity for researchers from a variety of disciplines to benefit from a single collection,” said Wallack. “We want to let people know what an amazing wealth of primary source materials are available to them at Special Collections.”