Press Release

Art In Embassies Selection Stresses The Environment

June 3, 2005

By

Sani Mohammed
Public Affairs Section, Abuja

The commemoration of "World Environment Day" on June 5 affords us an opportunity to reflect on the role of art in the environment and on the artists whose works helps illuminate our understanding of nature.

Ambassador John Campbell chose the environment as the theme for the art exhibition in his residence in Abuja, Nigeria that was provided through the U.S. State Department "ART in Embassies" Program.

Through the ART in Embassies program, thousands of artists, galleries and museums across the United States have lent paintings, sculptures and other original works of art to U.S. Embassies for exhibition in ambassadorial residences.

"Nigeria, like the United States, is a huge country with a wide range of ecosystems. Nigerians, like their American friends, are increasingly concerned about preserving and restoring their natural landscapes, especially the animals that inhabit them," Ambassador Campbell wrote in his welcome note on the ART in Embassies Program brochure.

The careful selection and arrangement of the Art works that decorate Ambassador Campbell's residence invokes awe and depicts the harmony between art and nature in our lives.

The art of five contemporary U.S. artists was chosen by Ambassador Campbell to represent North American natural landscapes. The five artists, Dozier Bell (1957), Doug Coffin (1946), Karl J. Kuerner 111 (1957), Susan Middleton (1948)/David Liittschwager (1961), and Donald Neff (12950) have all generously lent their art for exhibition in the Ambassador's residence.

Explaining his choices of art as represented by these contemporary U.S. artists, Ambassador Campbell said, "The purpose of this exhibition in Abuja is to acknowledge our shared concern and effort."

"Dozier Bell's three acrylic on linen paintings focus on the cosmos, both the mystery of outer space and the beauty of the earth's landscape.

Karl Kuerner's three watercolors and one acrylic depict the lushness of the intensely cultivated land of agricultural Pennsylvania, long a breadbasket of North America.

Capturing life's impact on the planet are two paintings by Donald Neff depicting animals in their natural environment in the Pacific West, while six photographs by Susan Middleton and Davit Liittschwager depict iconic North American animals and a variety of Valley Oak, all endangered species.

Doug Coffin's totem pole "Moon Bird," also stands in the reception room area, paying tribute to the Native American tradition of respecting and living at one with the natural environment rather than exploiting it."

Established by the Department of State in 1964, the ART in Embassies Program is a global museum that exhibits original works of art by U.S. citizens in the public rooms of American diplomatic residences worldwide. These exhibitions play an important role in U.S. public diplomacy by providing international audiences with a sense of the quality, scope, and diversity of American art and culture.